Chapter 22 - Courtroom Confessions
A/N: PLEASE see notes at bottom

The drive to the flophouse on the south side of Konoha had been interesting. Kakashi had introduced Kiba to the FBI agent that was taking over the case, and given them an address that had come in through one of the anonymous tip lines.

Unlike the hundreds of useless tips, however, this one looked like it actually might lead to something. There had been two calls saying pretty much the same thing: that there had been someone matching Hidan's general description staying in that house for the past two weeks, and he'd seemed to spend a lot of time around one guy in particular.

They had been given the name and room number of the guy. It was their first real lead, and Kiba was hoping it wouldn't be a tremendous let down. Given how the trial was progressing, they were pinning most of their hopes on this panning out. They could not afford to blow it.

Kiba paused on his way up the stairs and sniffed the air. They were looking for apartment 6B, but they didn't have to look hard. It was the only unit with smoke coming out of it, and it wasn't from a cigarette either, judging by the pungent, sickly sweet odor in the air. It was some strong-ass weed. A good batch too. Kiba swore he was getting a contact high just from standing there, but it wasn't like he was enjoying it or anything.

Temari scowled, covering her nose with a gloved hand. Kiba chuckled, nudging Temari playfully with his elbow. "It sure takes me back," he half-joked, hoping to get a smile out of her. It didn't work. She maintained the same hard-ass face she'd had since they were assigned to each other and just rolled her eyes.

"FBI!" Temari shouted, starting to aggressively pound on the door. "Open up!"

"Fuck!" A panicked curse came from inside the apartment. They must have freaked the guy out (Kiba was sure he was probably stoned out of his mind), because they heard a string of curses from the other side, followed by the sound of multiple things being knocked over. "Shit…-! Uh… fuck, I'm coming, hold on a second!"

Kiba heard a few windows being opened in a late attempt to air out the place. Several minutes later, the door was carefully pulled open, and they were greeted with a lean man of somewhat average height, whose blond bangs covered one blue eye, while the other dazedly looked back at them. His long hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, held together by a red hair tie, and he was wearing a red V neck, sleeveless, midriff shirt, with faded blue jeans and black sandals. As the man nervously pushed the hair away from his face, Kiba noticed a tattoo of a mouth with a tongue sticking out of it on the palm of his right hand.

"Are you Deidara Katsu?" Temari asked, her face expressionless.

Deidara swallowed, glanced at Kiba once, then nodded his head.

"Y-yeah, that's me… What can I do for you, hm?"

"This is Officer Inuzuka," Temari said while Kiba helpfully held up his badge, "and I'm Agent Sabaku. Let me get straight to the point…" Temari briefly assessed the man's nervous gaze, and how he was already trying to close the door slightly on them. This was not someone who would voluntarily help them in the investigation. And they didn't have time to play nice. She narrowed her eyes, and Kiba swore the temperature dropped ten degrees. "Are you aware that possession of cannabis in Amegakure is a criminal offense, punishable by law?"

"Wait, what?" Deidara blinked, "I wasn't-..."

"Don't say you weren't smoking it. I could smell it from down the block," Temari's voice was hard and all business. She wasn't playing games. Even Kiba felt a little scared, and it isn't like he was being interrogated here. "Are you also aware that anything above seven grams is a Class A misdemeanor, and that is the highest grade of misdemeanor offense? And if you have over a kilo, that's a felony and I can arrest you with intent to sell. "

"Hold on a…!"

"Anything below seven grams can be a Class B or C misdemeanor, and can range from one-hundred and sixty days to six years in prison. Given the smell and the complaints filed by other residents, I have reason and authority to search your apartment. On the high chance that my partner and I find anything that looks like a joint, you're looking at prison time."

"Wait a minute...! You can't do that!" Deidara began to shout, shaking his head wildly, only to be interrupted once again when Temari help up a firm hand. As fun as it was to see this guy sweat, Kiba was about to stop her and remind her that they weren't here on a drugs bust but another reason entirely. That is, until he saw something that made him pull back.

Temari slowly lowered her hand, and in place of her tight features was a cruel smirk. Kiba's breath caught in his throat as he watched her lean forward until she was practically nose to nose with the man. "...And if I'm not mistaken, Mr. Katsu, just one month ago you were accused of arson. A fax machine mysteriously blew up at your place of business?" Temari smirked, causing Deidara to swallow hard. "Your court date isn't for another week, and I'm sure another drug charge wouldn't bode well with the judge."

"What do you want?" Deidara's voice broke.

"What I want, is for you to answer all our questions truthfully," Temari casually shrugged her shoulders, "then maybe Officer Inuzuka and I won't have to search your apartment. We can forget about all of this and be on our way."

That's blackmail.

Kiba was pretty damn he just witnessed real time blackmail.

Was this how the FBI operated?

"...What… do you wanna know then, hm?" Deidara muttered angrily, glancing to the side.

Kiba wasn't surprised it worked. There were probably shittons of drugs in there, but that was a problem for another precinct on another day.

"Hidan Yugakura was your neighbor. Did you ever talk to him?"

"Or notice anything suspicious," Kiba added, hoping that they didn't make the trip down here just to get nothing in return.

"Oh… him," Deidara muttered, and although his voice was slurred the discomfort was clear. "Yeah, I remember him. Crazy fucker, yeah? Kept to himself mostly, but when I was around him it would always creep me the hell out."

"What do you mean?" Temari prompted, and Deidara gave a heavy sigh. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the door. Crossing one foot over the other, his brows furrowed in recollection.

"What I mean is, that he was handsy, yeah?" Deidara said, clicking his tongue, and Kiba raised an eyebrow at that. "Hn, he'd try to feel me up a bit. Sometimes he'd knock on my door and ask to borrow milk or something lame like that, but he'd try to get me to let him in. But I'm not that dumb, yeah?"

Deidara paused, as if trying to recall some fine detail he was missing out.

"He was here for less than a month, I think. I don't know, yeah? I tried to keep my distance from him. Shit it was bad enough when I realized he was my neighbor again. I thought I'd seen the last of the crazy fucker years ago."

Temari's head snapped up at that. "Years ago? You mean you knew him before moving here?"

"Yeah. Creepy fuck went to the same school as I did when we were kids. He was always weird. His dad was, too. Crazy-ass family, hm."

"Where? Where did you go to school?" Kiba asked, ignoring the glare Temari threw him that he was supposed to leave the questioning to her.

"Amegakure," Deidara said, shrugging. "West side."

Kakashi, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Naruto sat in the conference room in the District Attorney's office.

"We still have a chance, right?" Naruto asked, looking between Sasuke and Shikamaru. "I mean… the jury believed my testimony. They… they won't let him walk."

Shikamaru and Sasuke exchanged a glance. Shikamaru decided he would leave it up to Sasuke to explain the situation. It was too troublesome for him, and dealing with Naruto was Sasuke's responsibility now, anyway. And he didn't want to get another 'talking to' from Itachi. He still woke up in cold sweats from the last one.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, noting the exchange.

"Naruto…" Sasuke began, not wanting to send his boyfriend into a panic but also wanting to be realistic. "The burden on us is higher than it is on Orochimaru. He doesn't have to prove that Hidan isn't a serial killer. He just has to convince the jury that there is a 'reasonable' doubt as to whether he is or isn't. The jury believes that Hidan kidnapped you and tortured you. But he didn't kill you. And they clearly believe some of what he said about the police tampering with evidence to get back at him for hurting you. They might just find him guilty of kidnapping and assault. But that won't necessarily put him in jail for life."

"But… I'm a cop. Doesn't that make the penalty higher?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Only if he knew that you were."

Naruto opened his mouth and Sasuke held up a hand to forestall him. "Only if we can prove beyond any doubt that he knew in advance."

Naruto's mouth closed. "So… unless we find the other bodies…"

Kakashi stirred, his face grim. "If we can't get more evidence, chances are he'll get out after a few years."

"Fuck," Naruto said, trying to tamp down on the swell of unease at the thought of his tormentor free on the streets again. Trying not to think of the things Hidan had promised to do to him if he ever had the chance.

"How is the search going with the Feds?" Shikamaru asked Kakashi.

"Kiba and Agent Sabaku are tracking down a new lead, but we still don't know where Hidan was based out of. The warehouse in Konoha had trace evidence of only 4 victims, including Naruto. He was somewhere else before this. We just don't know where."

Fugaku walked in, taking in the somber atmosphere in the room. "Where are we on the case?" he asked Shikamaru and Sasuke.

"Not where we need to be," Shikamaru said flatly.

Fugaku looked at his son, then over to where Naruto was sitting. "I want to see every motion that Orochimaru has filed, and Danzo's response. Kakashi - I want you to search Danzo and Orochimaru's bank and phone records. I also want you to prepare motions for last minute additions to the witness list and new evidence submissions in case the Feds find anything. We need heavy precedence so that Danzo has to accept it. And I want you on the phone with the Feds and make sure they follow protocol down to the dotting of the last 'i'. No more evidence is going to get thrown out on this trial. We are not losing this case."

The District Attorney turned to his younger son, his eyes softening briefly. "We are not losing this case," he repeated firmly.

Sasuke nodded, drawing in a shaky breath. Naruto had done his part. Now they would do theirs.

Kakashi's phone started to ring, and four sets of eyes snapped to him as he picked up.

Kiba was on the phone with Kakashi before the door to Deidara's apartment had even closed. "Kakashi? He's from Amegakure. If he's got a secret body dump, it has to be around there. We need the address and phone number of every business that owns a meat locker in the city, starting with butcher shops. We can cross-check with the Feds on the employment lists and see if we can get lucky and Hidan used his real name at work. If not, we'll need to get an assload of warrants and search door-by-door."

"Done. You go to Amegakure with Agent Sabaku. I'll have a list for you by the time you arrive. Start going door-to-door on the list seeing if anyone recognizes Hidan. If we can narrow it down to a neighborhood, or get someone who saw him entering any of the buildings, we'll be able to get a warrant. Let the Feds take the lead on this. We can't have any fuck-ups."

Kiba turned to see Temari putting her phone back in its holster. "We're pulling the records of all the tax filings in Amegakure to see if there is anyone claiming Hidan as an employee. There was no employment history under his name, but if his boss was more honest in their taxes than he was, we might get lucky."

"And if he used a fake name and there aren't any records of him there?"

Temari raised an eyebrow cooly. "Then I hope you have your big boy panties on, because we'll be going door to door checking every cold room in Amegakure until we find the bodies."

Kiba looked skeptically down at the heels the female FBI agent was wearing. He smirked. "You sure you can handle it in those shoes?"

Temari's lips twitched. She brushed her hair back and glanced cooly at him. "I can search the city and still have time to kick your ass before getting my nails done after filing the paperwork." Then she walked away.

Kiba whistled, and the tips of his fangs showed with his wide smile as he watched her go.

Because damn, he kind of liked this bitch.

Itachi sat in the arm chair, watching his little brother work. Sasuke's sleeves were rolled up, his tie long gone and the collar unbuttoned. Clearly he'd been there a while. Stacks of paper covered his desk. It was times like these that he missed the army of minions that Sasuke had in private practice. The city couldn't afford it, so he and Shikamaru were pulling late nights basically every night. Naruto had brought dinner by earlier, but Sasuke had sent him home shortly after so he could concentrate.

Sasuke had been surprised when Itachi had walked in the door. Especially because he knew that the building was closed, and no one other than members of the DA's office were supposed to be able to get in.

"How is it going?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke sighed, running his fingers through his hair in an uncharacteristic display of stress and exhaustion. "Hn. I think we can prove that Danzo has been taking bribes from Orochimaru. If the trial doesn't go our way, we have more than enough grounds for appeal. In any case, once it's over, we'll be launching a full investigation into both Danzo and Orochimaru. Father isn't going to let this one slide," Sasuke's voice held more respect for his father than it had since he was a child. Fugaku had been working late on the case just as much as Sasuke had. It had been…. surprisingly nice.

Itachi nodded thoughtfully. "And how is the case looking?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Orochimaru has managed to put doubt on every piece of evidence we have, except for Naruto's own character. The jury believed their own eyes rather than what he tried to feed him, but…"

Itachi didn't need the dots to be connected for him. "But you need to find the rest of the bodies if you want him locked away for good."

There was something subtle in Itachi's stress on the word 'if' that caught Sasuke's attention.

Sasuke's eyes locked with his brother's. "Why wouldn't I want him locked away for good?"

Itachi smiled. "Why, indeed. If you ever have an answer to that question, Little Brother, then you can give me a call."

With that, Itachi stood and left Sasuke's office.

Sasuke stared down at the papers in front of him, the words and the implication of them playing through his head. Honestly, if it were up to him, he would have been tempted to play it out that way. Throw the case, get Hidan out of the safe confines of the prison system and then… deal with him permanently, where no manipulation of the legal system could set him loose again.

But Naruto would never accept that. Naruto believed in the system. And Sasuke would do his best to make sure that faith wasn't misplaced, no matter how much that blind faith frustrated him.

Naruto's fingers flew over the keyboard as he tilted his head to the side pinning his phone between his shoulder and his ear.

"Kiba, shut the fuck up and listen to me. We have two days until closing arguments. Sasuke and Shikamaru have appeals to reverse some of the decisions that Danzo made, but it isn't a sure thing. We need to find the bodies, and if you go searching through these warehouses in alphabetical order, we won't make it in time."

"We know that, dumbass. The Feds went through all the employment records and tried to find one that listed Hidan as an employee, but none did. If he works at a butcher shop or meat packing shop in Amegakure, he did it under a fake name. But it's a huge fucking city. It's just going to take time."

Naruto growled in frustration. Time was something they didn't have. "Send me the list of names of employees and owners," Naruto said finally. "While you guys are going door-to-door, I'll try to see if I can narrow down the list."

Naruto heard Kiba talking to someone, presumably his FBI contact. Finally he came back on.

"Temari will have someone e-mail you the files. We'll call you if we find anything. Speaking of Temari, bro, she's really-"

Naruto ended the call and rolled his eyes. While he was happy Kiba met someone who could keep him on a leash, he'd have to hear more about her later. Naruto waited impatiently for the file to come through. Twenty minutes later, it arrived in his inbox. He opened it up, and saw that there were thousands of names in the file of every employee related to the meat industry in Amegakure.

He did a quick search under Hidan's name, even though it had already been done, but came up with nothing. Sighing in frustration, he decided he'd just print the whole thing out and stare at it the old fashioned way to see if he recognized anyone at all from all the names he'd read in Hidan's case file.

Luckily, Sasuke had bought a printer to keep at Naruto's place since he was spending so much time there. Naruto quickly plugged his laptop into it and hit print, watching as page after page of names and addresses came out.

Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he spread the pages out over the kitchen table and started to read through them...

Sasuke came home well after midnight to find Naruto asleep on the stack of files he'd been looking at.

Sasuke picked up one of the pages, looking at the lists of companies and their employees. He sighed, bending down and running his hand gently through Naruto's hair. "Hey," he said softly. "...dumbass."

"Mmpff," Naruto groaned, sitting up and flinching at the stiffness in his neck. "Fuck. I fell asleep."

"Obviously," Sasuke murmured affectionately. "It's late. You can look through this in the morning. Come to bed."

Naruto scrubbed his hands through his hair, trying to get blood moving to his brain again. He looked at his mostly empty, completely cold cup of coffee and sighed. "No. I want to finish going through the list. We are running out of time. Kiba and Temari haven't turned anything up yet. They aren't even a quarter of the way through all the places they need to canvass. We have to narrow it down."

Sasuke sighed, but didn't disagree. "I'll make a fresh pot of coffee."

"No, you should go to bed, Sasuke. At least one of us needs to get some sleep."

Sasuke glared at him. "Idiot. I'll keep you company. I've read the files as much as you have by now. I'll look through the lists, too."

Naruto nodded, rubbing the grit out of his eyes as he picked up another page and started reading through the list of unfamiliar names.

He felt himself drifting off again an hour or so later when a name caught his eye. I've seen that name… I think. Naruto thought blearily. He frowned at it, blinking for a moment before he went over to the files that Sai had left at his apartment the other day.

Sasuke looked up, sensing the tension from the blond officer as he thumbed rapidly through the folders before grabbing out a piece of paper.

"Did you find something?" he asked, trying to not get his hopes up.

"Holy shit! We have him!" Naruto bursted out, waving a page wildly in front of Sasuke's face before gesticulating in several directions. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist so he could actually read it. It was a copy of Hidan's birth certificate.

"What am I looking for?" Sasuke asked, bemused, not sure what Naruto was so excited about. They'd searched under Hidan's name in the database, and there had been no hits.

"His father. There is a butcher shop owned by someone with almost the exact same name. Only the last two letters of the last name were transposed, so it didn't show up in the search. They guy's been dead for almost a decade, so they didn't search too hard for stuff in his name," Naruto's voice was shaking with excitement. "And what better place to hide the bodies than your dead dad's butcher shop."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he grabbed the copy of the birth certificate, then the page where Naruto had been reading. He looked back up, his eyes locking with Naruto's. "You found it."

Naruto picked up his phone, dialing Kakashi. It was after three in the morning, but he knew the man would pick up.

"I'll make sure we can get a warrant," Sasuke said, standing up to call his father. Fugaku might not have jurisdiction in Amegakure, but he had influence. And the home phone number of the top three judges in that city. It was the first time in his life Sasuke was taking advantage of his father's connections. He had no regrets at all.

Naruto was a nervous wreck. Kakashi had relayed the information to the feds while Fugaku had made sure that a warrant would be waiting for them. The warrants for every property owned by the small butcher shop were set to be executed simultaneously. Based on city records that the FBI dug up after Naruto's discovery, they found three properties that belonged to Hidan's deceased father. One appeared to be a residential address, and there were two others.

The feds were going to search all three today. The teams had been scheduled to go by nine in the morning. Naruto glanced over at the clock. It was already almost four. If they had found anything, there should have been news by now. Orochimaru had called yet another questionable witness to testify that they had been mistreated by the Konoha police department. The jury was eating it up.

They had to find the other bodies.

Sasuke and Shikamaru had prepared the evidentiary paperwork just in case. Everything had to be done by the book. There couldn't be a single mistake. They could always take another shot on appeal. Sasuke had more than laid the groundwork for that. But it would mean making Naruto go through the whole process all over again. Naruto was strong. He would do it if he had to. But Sasuke was doing everything in his power to make sure he didn't have to.

Sasuke noticed Naruto glance for the tenth time to the closed doors of the courtroom. Kiba had been told to stay in Konoha today. The operation would be FBI only, so no one could make accusations that the evidence had been tampered with. As soon as he had anything, he would bring the evidence down for Shikamaru.

Sasuke reached over and grabbed the tan fingers that were drumming nervously against Naruto's thigh. He held them lightly. He had already reached out to Itachi. If justice couldn't be achieved through the court… there were always other ways. Naruto didn't need to know that, however. He glanced at his watch. The warrants had been executed first thing in the morning. It was already almost end of day. If they hadn't found anything...

Just then, the doors to the court were flung open, and Kiba ran in, panting and ignoring the glare from Judge Danzo. He went directly to Shikamaru, bending down and whispering in his ear. Shikamaru's bored look fell away to reveal an almost feral smile as Kiba shoved a thick packet into Shikamaru's hands.

"Your honor, the prosecution has two final exhibits that we would like to enter in this case," Shikamaru said, rising and approaching the bench as he thumbed through the materials.

"I object, your honor," Orochimaru said, also rising. "The prosecution has already rested.

Shikamaru's smile widened. "I am calling a rebuttal witness. The defense has repeatedly stated that the Konoha police department behaves unprofessionally. I would like to call Agent Sabaku to the stand to give testimony about her work with Officer Inuzuka."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, realizing that Shikamaru had allowed him to call his 'questionable' witnesses because then he could call his own.

"I will have to allow it," Danzo said, frowning.

Orochimaru clenched his fists. "Fine. The witness can testify, but I object to any other evidence being entered in by the prosecution. The defense has had not time to view these materials."

Shikamaru handed Orochimaru a duplicate set of the photos and documents that were in the pack. "You got them less than two minutes after I did. And it is related to Sabaku's testimony, as proof that the earlier evidence was not tampered with. Your honor, I have a brief here that gives no less than six examples where such evidence was allowed on similar grounds in the past."

"What exactly are these materials?" Judge Danzo asked skeptically. He couldn't be too overt in his favoritism. He knew he was under investigation.

"Photos and preliminary forensic reports on thirty bodies, each having the same pattern of injuries that were inflicted on officer Uzumaki," Shikamaru said. There was a murmur from the jury, and Danzo glared at them.

"That is inadmissible, and prejudicial!" Orochimaru shouted. "I demand that the prosecutor's comment be stripped from the record, and the jury ordered to disregard. The judge has already ruled that other murders cannot be discussed in this trial unless there is specific physical evidence that ties them to my client."

Shikamaru glanced over at Naruto and smirked. "These bodies were found in a meat locker… owned by the deceased father of one Hidan Yugakura."

The jury gasped, and Orochimaru's jaw worked as he tried to come up with a response. Finally gathering himself, he said, "This evidence was brought in by Officer Inuzuka, the same officer currently being accused of tampering with evidence of the original crime! This is inadmissible on the same grounds."

Shikamaru's smirk widened. "And the second exhibit I am adding in an affidavit from the FBI, stating that the entire discovery of the crime scene and collection and processing of the evidence was done without any members of the local police force, and processed in federal labs. Agent Sabaku will be able to testify to that fact as well."

Judge Danzo knew he'd been boxed in. He reluctantly accepted the packet, glaring at Shikamaru the entire time. "Very well. We will enter these into evidence."

"Your honor. I request a brief recess to discuss this with my client," Orochimaru said, his voice cold. He shot a scathing look at Shikamaru. "We will likely be meeting to discuss a deal."

Shikamaru raised a smug eyebrow. "We found all the bodies. I don't think your client has anything left to offer now."

Hidan had heard enough of the discussion, and stood. "No. I will NOT cut a deal! I will NOT go without saying my piece to the court."

Orochimaru whipped his head towards Hidan and glared at him. "Sit down, don't say anything you will regret!" He hissed, but Hidan had other plans.

In a blur of movement Hidan pushed Orochimaru to the ground, climbed over the table and launched himself at Naruto in the witness box. Naruto instinctively stood up, his hands coming up defensively as Hidan's hands reached for him. In a move Haku had taught him, he used the man's forward momentum, grabbing Hidan's wrist with one hand as Naruto's other hand made satisfying contact with the man's jaw. Hidan's head snapped back, dazed, as they guards finally reached him and dragged him back away from the witness box. Danzo banged his gavel over and over again.

Naruto's heart was racing, and he flexed his hand as he felt a satisfying throb from the force he had used to connect with Hidan's face. He kept his gaze locked on the man that tortured him, ready in case he broke free again. He would not let him touch him again. He would not be rattled.

Hidan strained against the guards' hold, trying to break free, but their grip was too tight.

"MY BRETHREN WILL BE INSPIRED BY MY EXAMPLE! I AM BUT THE BEGINNING….THE OTHERS WILL FOLLOW, YOU'LL SEE!" Hidan screamed, and as the guards began to drag him away, his eyes lit up as equally crazed and hungry as the night Naruto first awoke in the warehouse. "You'll be mine… sinner. You'll be sorry. MY LORD JASHIN WILL -"

"Bailiff! Remove this man from my court," Danzo said irritably once again, and Naruto watched him leave, his laughter echoing around the courtroom and leaving a stunning silence in its place.

The remaining two weeks of the trial had been spent with Hidan mostly watching from a closed circuit viewing room, due to the fact that he kept disrupting the court proceedings with his outbursts. Orochimaru had tried to use this as grounds to get Hidan declared incompetent to stand trial. Danzo had said that his mental state would be determined as part of sentencing, but if he were found guilty, he would spend the rest of his life in a high security state mental facility. Danzo had already somehow become aware of the investigation he was under. He had stood his ground and refused to declare a mistrial no matter how much Orochimaru offered him. The evidence was just too overwhelming at this point, and he knew they'd get caught.

It was all in the jury's hands now. Sasuke and Naruto had gotten the call from Shikamaru less than an hour after getting home that the jury had already reached a verdict. It set a record for the shortest deliberation ever in a case this size. They had only deliberated for three hours after closing arguments. Given the sheer volume of documents and testimony that they had to review from the three weeks of trial, Naruto didn't see how was that even possible.

Naruto's knee was bouncing up and down nervously as he watched the jury file back into the courtroom. He honestly didn't know what he would do if it were a hung jury and he had to go through the trial all over again. And if they found him not guilty… Naruto's heart seemed to freeze in his chest at the thought. He needed the system to work. He needed to be able to go to bed at night knowing that Hidan was never going to set foot out of prison again.

Sasuke squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Relax. I told you, this is a good sign. It's too early for them to have gridlocked, so it can't be a mistrial. And there is too much evidence for them to come back 'not guilty' this early."

Naruto's parents sat on the other side of him, Kushina holding Minato's hand and reassuringly stroking Naruto's hair. They would face this together.

Naruto chewed his lip, nodding faintly. Sasuke was good at reading juries, and he had a lot of experience. "See," Sasuke whispered. "They're not looking at Orochimaru. They're looking at you. That means 'guilty'. Trust me on this. It's going to be fine."

Naruto didn't respond other than to continue chewing his lip and jiggling his knee until Sasuke's hand came and pressed down gently on the wiggling appendage.

The judge accepted the piece of paper from the bailiff, reading it quickly, then turning to the jury. "Has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?" he asked

The foreman of the jury stood and nodded to the judge. "We have, your honor."

Judge Danzo turned toward the court. "Will the defendant please rise to accept the verdict?"

A heavily sedated Hidan was helped to his feet by Orochimaru.

"In the first count of murder in the first degree of…" judge Danzo read through all twenty-seven counts of murder, as well as the kidnapping, attempted murder, and assault of a police officer. "How does the jury find?"

"We find the defendant, Hidan Yugakura, guilty on all charges."

His mom was the first to stand up and erupt in cheers, followed by his dad and the entire police department. Danzo banged the gavel to bring order, but everyone ignored him at first. Naruto completely understood the euphoria. Hell, if he could get any air into his lungs, he'd be cheering, too. They'd won.

Kushina jumped and nearly squeezed the life out of Naruto first, then Sasuke, then Minato. She rushed to give Shikamaru a hug as well, and Naruto watched his dad run after her to prevent her from getting thrown out of court.

"Honey, slow down!"

Naruto couldn't help but grin when he was pulled into wild hugs from several of Jiraiya's 'girls' who had come to support him in court. Haku and Zabuza were congratulating him, then Kiba and Sai. Naruto felt as though an incredible weight had been lifted from him. The system had worked - at least this time - and it felt amazing.

Danzo was finally able to get the court back under control by threatening to find everyone in the room in contempt. Naruto vaguely heard Danzo saying that the hearing on sentencing would be held in two weeks. None of that mattered now. Even with the most minimal sentence on each individual count - Hidan would never set foot out of prison in this lifetime.

Naruto sat back down, turning to look at Sasuke as the courtroom slowly emptied of people and everyone rushed to spread the news of the verdict of one of the most high profile trials in years.

"See?" Sasuke said in a familiar, condescending tone that almost made Naruto snort if it hadn't been for the softness in the black eyes that fixed on him. "I told you not to worry, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did…" Naruto whispered, breathing out a sigh, and his eyes were locked on Sasuke's. The unlikeliest person who had been there for him through everything. Who had risked his own career to bring Hidan down when he thought Naruto was dead. Who had held him at night when he'd woken shaking from the nightmares. Who never complained that Naruto had installed so many nightlights their apartment looked like it was perennially Christmas time.

The intensity of his feelings for his former rival surged through Naruto. He honestly didn't know if he would have been able to make it through this all without Sasuke. "Sasuke, I…" Naruto stopped, not really sure how to say what he was feeling, his eyes searching Sasuke's for some cue of how to explain it.

Sasuke's hand brushed along Naruto's cheek, cupping along his jaw. "Dumbass…" he said, leaning forward to whisper in Naruto's ear. "You really need to stop looking at me like that, or I won't be held accountable for my actions."

"I just…" Naruto leaned forward, brushing his lips across Sasuke's. "Thank you," he said softly.

Sasuke's eyes were clouded with arousal, and he blinked a few times as he realized what Naruto had said. "For what?"

"For being there," Naruto said, bringing their lips together again. He knew he would never have been able to be as strong without Sasuke's support. He given Naruto something to focus on beyond his own damage, someone he wanted to be strong for. Someone whose respect he had wanted to earn.

Sasuke slid his fingers into Naruto's hair, pressing their mouths more forcefully together. "Idiot," he breathed against Naruto's lips.

"Maybe," Naruto conceded. "It would explain why I'm dating a bastard like you, I guess," Naruto's lips brushed against Sasuke's ear as he leaned in.

Sasuke gave a shuddering breath, and whispered back, "Didn't I tell you not to look at me like that?"

Naruto smirked. "What? We're in a public courtroom. It's not like you can do anything about it."

A gleam appeared in Sasuke's eyes that had Naruto rethinking the wisdom of that statement. He began to push away, but Sasuke's arms wrapped around him tightly. "Hn," Sasuke gripped Naruto's hips and pulled him onto his lap. He trailed his lips down along Naruto's jaw to his throat before sucking harshly, leaving a bruise that could be seen from the smallest camera on the courthouse steps when they finally left the building.

If they ever made it that far.

"I don't think I ever told you about the dream I had about you in this courtroom, did I, bastard?"

"More pancakes, honey?" Kushina asked Naruto.

Naruto's eyes lit up as he nodded eagerly. He and Sasuke had slept in late, and they hadn't had a chance to eat before heading over to his parents' house for a celebratory brunch the next day. Fugaku, Mikoto, and Itachi were there as well. Based on the delicious taste of the pancakes, Naruto suspected that Mikoto had arrived early to help with the cooking, but he wasn't about to risk his mother's wrath by asking directly. Sasuke made a disgusted sound as Naruto slathered his pancakes with syrup.

"What?" Naruto asked, pretending to be affronted. He dropped his voice. "You didn't have much issue with my syrup the other day."

Sasuke tensed. He glanced over to where his parents were happily chatting with Naruto's, oblivious to their conversation. He almost breathed out a sigh of relief until his eyes moved one seat over, where Itachi was watching them both with amusement and froze.

"Sasuke. I just thought I would let you know that I was keeping an eye on Naruto during the trial. We had extra cameras installed just to be sure that there were no surprises since the police were never able to establish if Hidan were working alone or as part of a broader cult, as he claimed."

Naruto started coughing as a piece of pancake stuck in his throat at Itachi's words. He looked frantically over at Sasuke in the hopes that he was misinterpreting what Itachi was saying.

"Oh, don't worry. It was on a closed circuit feed. Only my team had access. I think next time, you'll find the bottom desk drawer will be stocked with things you might need."

Sasuke's cheeks turned a light pink, and he busied himself with the fruit slices on his plate.

Itachi smirked before glancing at his watch. "Well, I have business to attend to." He stood, placing a kiss on his mother's upturned cheek, and giving a nod to his father and Naruto and his parents. "Walk me out?" he enquired of Sasuke.

Sasuke stood, "Excuse me a moment," he said politely before turning and following his brother.

"What, you didn't get to embarrass me enough at brunch, so you wanted to continue in private before you left?" Sasuke said half-kidding, half-serious.

"No. Actually, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be out of town for a month or so. If you need me, you can call this number," he handed Sasuke a card. "Just in case."

Sasuke looked at the card. There was no name, no logo. Just a number. "What exactly is it that you do?" he asked, not for the first time.

But this time Itachi's answer was different. "If you ever get tired of working for Father, and you really want to know, then call me. Either of you," he said, flicking a meaningful glance at where Naruto was sitting behind them with their parents.

Sasuke nodded slowly. Itachi gave a brief nod in response, then turned and left. Sasuke stared after him for a moment before the sounds of laughter brought him back to the present. He went and joined Naruto and their parents, letting the conversation wash over him.

With Hidan put away and the case closed, things would most likely be peaceful from now on. Or at least as peaceful as things could ever be around Naruto. Sasuke smirked slightly. He caught Naruto's eye, and their gaze held for a moment. There would surely be challenges, but at least this time they were at least able to face them together.

"So… which of you is wearing the white dress at the wedding?" Kushina demanded, obviously joking, but her gazed fixed on Sasuke.

Naruto's mother was probably the first obstacle.

Thank you for reading!
Kizukatana and I are glad you stuck through to the end!
(Honestly we're happy it's over) and we're glad we could make you smile and gasp and all that jazz.
We look forward to working together on stories again in the future!

Their was a smut scene in this chapter, but it will not be found here.
The smut scene from Chapter 20 (I think) we also removed.
It can now be found in Archive Of Our Own and Y-Gal
Under the same Fic Name: The Worst Shift, or our pennames
which are the same as they are here.
(The link is on my profile)

Why? We had to do this because of certain homophobic-anon reviews,

and threatening reports.
Sorry. =/

But thank you, thank you!
And we love you all!
Seeyou next time!
- Love Kizu and Noodles