Chapter 12

Black eyes shot open as the ringing coming from somewhere on the floor, wouldn't let him rest. The infernal device wouldn't leave him alone, and just when he had finally managed to fall asleep too. He groaned, the wound on his arm pulsing and burning as he weighed on it to sit up, ignoring the pain as he reached towards his bed stand to pick up the offending thing and rolled his eyes as he read the name flashing on the screen stubbornly.

He wasn't surprised as he had been expecting the call hours ago and had been wondering what had kept his boss from calling earlier.

"About time, Nagato" he answered with his usual stoic and calm tone, as if his boss was calling him out of concern, and not to lash out at him for being so irresponsible.

"Tell me Itachi, when did blowing up half of Konoha's precinct sound like a good idea to you?"

The fact that he had overlooked that he had called him with his real name, gave Itachi an idea of how angry Pain truly was. Not that he cared, if anyone could use his true name and get away with it, it was him. The only one who wasn't afraid to stand up to the fearsome man.

"You should blame that on Deidara, you know he's the one who likes to blow up stuff" he stated calmly. He hadn't asked the blonde psychopath to blow up the freaking building after all, although he had intentionally let Deidara eavesdrop on his and Kisame's plan, he wasn't sure he and Sasori would actually show up, even if Itachi had been sure that Deidara's curiosity and search for glory would have a winning factor in their decision. Itachi was known for his sharp mind and ability to always have a backup plan, he never left anything up to chance and as usual had planned everything up to the most insignificant detail, for he was aware that he would have needed their help in case they were discovered, and he had been proved right, after all, he had taken into account Deidara's unpredictable nature.

"He wouldn't have felt the need to do so if it wasn't because of the dangerous situation you had put yourself in. Did you really think you could infiltrate the district so easily and, without letting me know in advance?"

Itachi could sense the stress in the man's voice and knew something was up as Pain was one that never showed his emotions.

"Do you know how much trouble you've put us in? Our protector is not happy at all with your little exploit"

The Uchiha tensed at the words and stood up from the bed walking up to the window in his bedroom, he stared into the black night. There were only a few lights on in the now deserted streets.

He picked up his jeans from where he had thrown them on the floor and pulled out his lighter with a pack of cigarettes, lighting one up as he sat on the window sill, ignoring the pain that shot through his arm. He sighed

"You know he won't cut us off, he needs us doesn't he?"

He might not know the identity of the man who supported them, but he did know how precious Akatsuki was to him, even if only as pawns in his hands to get what he truly aspired to.

"Still, it's not a reason to be reckless. We need him too" Pain hissed through the phone, the alliance was important if they wanted to keep control over the city. Itachi knew that better than anyone. Power was always more valued than anything else, even human life.

"Did you find anything useful at least?" Nagato's tone was dead serious. Apparently he was expecting some sort of good news after all that chaos. He was sure it would justify the means he had to use to get to them. Pain would probably get off his back if he found what they were so desperately looking for.

"No. There was nothing left of Shisui's work. All the documents have probably been destroyed by now"

"Tsk...this is not what I was hoping to hear."

The Uchiha groaned, leaning his head against the window sill, it was too early for all that bullshit. He rubbed his fingers on his forehead, he was starting to get a headache.

"It has been four years Nagato."

"Those documents are out there and we need to get our hands on them before the police do."

Itachi sighed, he knew how important this mission was for his boss.

"I'll find what you want, Nagato." he growled through the phone, unhappy of how this all situation was turning out. If anything, now Nagato would have his eyes on him, and it would be more difficult for him to move as freely as he wished. He already had to bring Kisame with him on every mission, he didn't want to be held back any more than was necessary.

"You better. You're the only one I trust"

He dismissed him, cutting the conversation short, leaving the Uchiha more tense than comfortable. He looked at the clock, it was early in the morning Nagato must have been really angry to call at such an indecent time.

He groaned it was impossible for him to go back to sleep now, and he laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling deep in thought. He had to plan his next steps now with caution, and he knew it wouldn't be easy. Kakashi probably knew what they were after by now, he knew the man was very smart and capable, and that made him very dangerous. Itachi wasn't really worried though, he knew he was already two steps ahead of everyone else, he just had to make sure to keep that advantage.

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"How was this possible?"

Fugaku looked at the destruction the Akatsuki had caused to the building. It wasn't as bad as he had thought, but it would take months to restore the damaged left-wing, something he wasn't looking forward to. He would have to move offices around and secure the area so that no one would get hurt. It would be difficult to reassure the citizens that the city was safe, as news of the assault was already all over the news. The secrecy Hiruzen was hoping to keep had already been compromised.

Kakashi had accompanied the chief to verify the damages, and being one of the few that had witnessed the whole thing he needed to file a report on the incident. The furniture was completely damaged and needed to be replaced, half of the windows had been blown off by the explosion and the floor was covered in bits of glass and gravel from the damaged walls and ceiling. Only the two of them were allowed to assist, as the forensics team collected evidence.

"They did a fine job in wrecking this place, got give it to them" he still couldn't get over at how Akatsuki had managed to simply disappear after the explosion. He had ordered some of his men to follow the vehicle the four had escaped in, but they hadn't been able to locate it, as it disappeared as soon as it reached their territory.

Fugaku simply groaned in response, he wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"I would have never thought they could infiltrate so easily. We need to double the surveillance, we should have expected something like this to happen" he grumbled as he rubbed his forehead. He had got little to no sleep last night and felt overwhelmed by the whole situation.

"Itachi knows how to move around, he knows this place well. We shouldn't be surprised at how he managed to infiltrate, but we should be worried about the reason he did so"

"We know Akatsuki is after the code, but why? What use is it to them?" The Uchiha mused, he was just as confused as he had been for the last past years. All this trail of death and destruction was all because of some documents that no one had seen for years. He didn't understand how his son had become involved in this war, or the reason why he had accepted to go against his own family and people.

"He went into Shisui's old office" Kakashi said, his hands in his pockets as both men turned to look in the direction of where the Uchiha's office used to be.

"I know, I don't understand what he would be looking for in there though. No one knew about the case he was working on, not even Ita- wait a second" Fugaku stopped abruptly, and turned to a surprised Kakashi.

"Itachi knew about Shisui's mission"

Kakashi though, didn't completely agree with his boss. The facts didn't match up, although the story was starting to get more twisted every day that went by.

"That's not possible. If Shisui came across those documents and Itachi knew about them, Akatsuki would already be in their possession, they disappeared after Shisui got shot"

"That means that there was someone else out there that was after them"

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Author's note

Hi everyone! I know this chapter was long overdue, but I had a bad case of writer's block, so I had a very hard time to complete this chapter. I know where I want this story to go, and I want to write it out as best as I can, and make sure everything goes out as planned.

Just so you know, I planned for this to be a slow burn romance, so, it's going to be a while before the actual romance between Itachi and Naruko starts, they have to get there they a have a bumpy and difficult road ahead of them. I know a lot of you expressed concern for poor Gaara. He's one of my favorite characters, I will try not to make him suffer too much.

Oookay...enough with the spoilers, I hope you guys are all staying safe, I know we're living very hard and difficult times, I wish everyone the best, and I hope that my stories help to take your minds away from this horrible situation.

Last but not least, I have decided to republish a revamped and improved version of "One of the Boys" I will not cancel the old version so you are still going to be able to read it. If anyone is interested, I should be publishing the first chapter by the middle/end of next week. Quarantine...in love? my new story will be updated sometime around next week as well. Let me know what ya'll think of this chapter and thank you for all the kind reviews!

Stay safe everyone!

Dark Shadows92