Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto or any of the characters there from; also I do not make any money off of these writings.

Warning – Still nothing much to mention but just you wait, this story will contain love of the man on man variety, bad language and perhaps other things too…Be prepared.

Beta'd – Beta'd by the gorgeous, generous, gifted and great sweetheart bshadowphoenix143/b, who takes my jumbled mess and actually makes it readable. Thank you Sweetie, ILU!!!

AN - So here's a new chappie…finally! I hope you'll like it…and yes I know Neji is ooc but I need him that way. XD Please enjoy!

Holes & Highrises 3.

"So, from what I can gather the excavation will start tomorrow?"

"Why do you always ask questions that you already know the answer to? Yes, the dig starts tomorrow and I can only imagine that he is ready and roaring to go.

"Will he be safe?

"Naruto is a grown man. He can take care of himself, as he's done it all his life… You of all people should know that."

"But will you look out for him?"

"Haven't I always?"

"Fine then, I'll see you when you get here."

oo—oo—oo

Naruto woke Monday morning feeling much like a child would on Christmas day. Even the very vivid and erotic wet-dreams his mind kept supplying without his permission – all centered on a certain asshole – was not going to spoil this particular day for him. Sitting up, he pushed Bo off of his blood deprived legs and stumbled as he tried to stand-up, belatedly realizing that he was still tangled up in his bed sheets. Extricating himself impatiently, he rushed into the bathroom, showering and brushing his teeth in record time.

Today was the big day. His team would arrive and he would finally get to dig his teeth into this project. He was both excited and gut-wrenchingly nervous; after all, it was his first time being the person-in-charge. As an added bonus, he would get to talk to his friends who would be as excited about this assignment as he was; people who would see it for the remarkable and extraordinary discovery that it really was.

It was barely thirty minutes later when he was pulling old Bertha into the parking lot connected to the dig. His lips automatically stretched into a familiar wide grin as he saw the other cars already there. Naruto hurriedly threw the car door open and jumped outside, dragging a still sleepy and sulking Bo with him. The huge Dane was not happy that his blond owner was forcing him to be up and about at such a god awful hour and he had no qualms about showing his displeasure.

Naruto rushed excitedly over to the site with large, impatient strides. He found it slightly annoying that his team had beaten him there, but the joy of getting to see and work with them again far outweighed any feelings of irritation. Even from a distance he could see that Sai was already busy, walking around the site with his digital camera in one hand and his sketchbook in the other.

Sai was a master artist and Naruto was damn lucky to have him on the team. Not only would he document everything with his camera, but he would draw detailed sketches to keep on file as well. In no time at all, Sai would have a perfect replica of what the buildings in this village had looked like when they had stood proud and strong; this would be a huge help as to decide where to start the actual excavation. Sai looked up and gave Naruto a short nod before he went back to documenting.

Kimimaro, meanwhile, had his nose buried in the excavation plans while absently fiddling with the glass containers that would eventually be full of collected bone samples. Karin was busy setting up her gear that happened to look very much like a portable mini lab, which she used for processing seeds and any plant remains that she might find. And Kakashi, well… Kakashi was being his normal, lazy self as usual, leaning against one of the crates and reverently reading one of his customary porn books.

Naruto's stomach instinctively knotted in reaction to seeing the silver haired male again. While their relationship has been over for a long time now, Naruto could still remember how madly in love he had been with the eccentric, but alluring man. Kakashi had been his first true love. Kakashi had also been the one to teach him all about heartbreak. It had hurt beyond all reason to finally come to the realization that Kakashi wasn't made for relationships and that he would never be able to stay monogamous. The hurt had, thankfully, faded through the years and Naruto was happy that they had managed to remain friends. There was no one who knew him like Kakashi did. That was both a good, and a bad, thing since it seemed he could never hide anything from the others sharp perception. Kakashi always saw right through all his pretences.

Naruto stopped in his tracks and took a deep, calming breath. He could do this. He would show that he was capable of being the boss. He would present himself as the leader that he knew he had the potential for, "Okay Naruto, time to put on your big-boy pants and get this show on the road." Naruto spoke firmly to himself, moving steadily forward once again.

Bo, who had finally woken up enough to catch sight of Kakashi, started running towards the unaware man at full speed. Naruto was just about to yell out a warning when the dog tackled Kakashi to the ground and attacked him with slobbering kisses. Bo completely adored Kakashi; Naruto thought that it was because they were two-of-a-kind. Lazy, horny and all-round slobs… just give them free access to their own balls and they're happy. Naruto smiled at his own thoughts and went to drag the overly happy dog off of his friend.

Naruto grabbed a hold of Bo by the collar and heaved the happy dog off of the silver haired male prior to reaching out his other hand to help pull him up. After realizing he wouldn't get to shower Kakashi with affection anymore, Bo abandoned them and went to greet the rest of his team, jumping on each and every one of them with slobbering kisses and a wagging tail.

"Well it looks like our fearless leader has finally arrived. How does it feel to be back home Naruto?" Kakashi asked while absentmindedly brushing the dirt off himself before bending down and tenderly picking up his book.

"To be completely honest, I'm not really sure; but when I figure it out you'll be the first to know. I promise." Naruto replied honestly, giving Kakashi a lopsided grin hoping that he would just let it go.

"I'm sure I will too." Kakashi replied and thankfully didn't ask anything more. "Now, what do you say we get this show on the road huh? I'm ready to be bossed around and we all know how long you've been waiting for the opportunity to do just that." Kakashi teased, giving him a mock salute that had Naruto laughing. All his nervousness suddenly melted away. This was something he knew how to do and there was no way he could fail when he had the best team in the world.

"Alright then, gather around team and I'll tell you what I had in mind." Naruto called out and rolled up his sleeves. Yes, today was going to be a damn good day.

oo—oo—oo

Itachi was beyond frustrated. In fact, that might just be the understatement of the year. For the life of him, Itachi could not stop thinking about the maddening blond, especially the words he had tossed out before abruptly leaving. There had to be a way to use that, right? Just a simple matter of manipulating the blonds' feelings in order to make sure he got what he wanted. So what was the problem? This is where things were starting to get complicated.

Itachi was no longer entirely sure what he wanted more. On one hand, he wanted his high-rise, he wanted to drag Konoha into the modern age and make sure that the name Uchiha was uttered with awe. On the other hand, he also wanted Naruto. He wanted all that passion and all that fire concentrated on him instead of on some broken clay buried in the dirt. Basically, he wanted his pocky, and he damn well wanted to eat it too!

Itachi was, for lack of a better term, greedy. He wanted it all; he wanted his building, his mark on this land and he wanted Naruto Uzumaki in his bed, or against a wall… or any fucking way he could have him! Itachi groaned at the mental images him mind supplied at those thoughts. He had never been so attracted to another person as he was to this dirt rat. Itachi wanted those large rough hands to touch him – to claim his body.

Running his fingers through his hair, he carefully mulled the situation over. He was Itachi Uchiha… why was he lying in bed feeling sorry for himself? Of course he could have it all. He'd always gotten what he'd wanted before, so why would this time be any different? He just had to reach out and grab it. That was the Uchiha way and Itachi was a genius at all things Uchiha. He smirked to himself… Naruto wouldn't know what'd hit him.

Filled with a new sense of determination, Itachi tossed the heavy comforter aside and got up from the bed. He and Sasuke had spent the weekend at their mothers at her insistence. After their fathers passing, Mikoto would often get lonely and even though both men loathed every inch of the gloomy and overbearing mansion, they still loved their mother despite all her flaws. They always did what they could to make her happy.

Stepping into the adjourning bathroom, Itachi stripped the pajama pants off his long legs and walked into the marbled shower. Turning the water as hot as his skin would allow, he let the steaming water relax the built-up tension from his muscles before washing his hair and body. It felt so nice having the almost too hot water beating down on his skin. Stretching out the kinks from his shoulders and back, Itachi finally turned the water off.

Grabbing one of the nearby towels, he dried the water droplets off of his reddened skin before walking back into his bedroom. Tossing the towel carelessly to the side, he pulled on a simple pair of black boxer briefs and braided his still damp hair into a lose braid that hung across his shoulder so that it wouldn't get in the way as he got ready.

Pulling on one of his usual pairs of black suit pants, he buttoned them up; Naruto's words still echoing in his head. Without conscious thought Itachi moved to the large mirror and looked himself over. He turned his back to the mirror and looked over his shoulder, eyeing his ass critically. Was it really a fine ass? Itachi knew he looked good, plenty of people had told him as much but he had never paid much attention to his posterior before. He reached a hand back and gave one cheek a little squeeze.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Sasuke stood in the doorway of Itachi's room, his dark eyes wide with shock, "Are… are you groping your own ass?" he managed to gasp out before laughter prevented him from further communication. He was literally holding onto the door handle to keep himself upright as tears of mirth were running down his cheeks, "Oh hell, this is so fucking priceless… I wish I had a camera with me. My brother, the ice prince, the badass of Konoha, is fondling himself in front of a mirror."

"Shut up idiot!" Itachi glared at his little brother, his cheeks – the ones on his face, mind you – were tinged pink with embarrassment. "What are you doing here anyway? Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Itachi hurriedly finished getting dressed and brushed out the braid before securing his hair in the usual low ponytail. He couldn't believe that he had been caught doing something so embarrassing and by Sasuke of all people. He was never going to live this down. It was all the dirt rats fault… making him do things he would never even contemplate before.

"Mother sent me to tell you breakfast is ready." Sasuke answered, still snickering, "Thank you Itachi for making my day… Hell, you made Christmas come early with your little show."

Itachi stalked up to his little brother and stared into eyes that were so like his own. "One word… breathe just one damn word of this and I swear I will rip your balls off and feed them to mother's cat!"

Sasuke stared back. "Whatever… at least I'm not desperate enough to grope my own ass." With those words Sasuke took off running down the hall giggling with a livid and cursing Itachi hot on his heels. Damn it felt good to be the one doing the teasing for once.

Itachi caught up with his brother in the doorway to the kitchen, he nodded to Mikoto who sat at the table sipping her tea. "I'm sorry mother, but you're going to be down one child. I promise I'll help you pay for the funeral though." He said before grabbing Sasuke around the throat and dragging him out of the room.

Mikoto rolled her eyes and continued to enjoy her tea. It didn't matter how old her sons got; put them under the same roof and they reverted back to the little boy stage. Still, it was nice to see them teasing each other and laughing again. For a while she thought she had lost that side of her sons for good. Mikoto looked down at the wedding ring still lodged on her finger and once again she silently cursed her husband's bones.

oo—oo—oo

Neji Hyuuga sighed deeply before turning the engine of his sleek, silver Aston Martin off and looked out over the field. Why did he have to be the one to deliver the papers from the council to the archaeologist team – and not just anyone, but to Naruto Uzumaki of all people? Honestly, he had much better things to occupy his time with. Besides, this was not what he had signed up for when he had decided to get into local politics. Neji remembered Naruto from school; a scrawny loser who always hung out with that damned flea bag who somehow had managed to worm his way into his family. With another sigh, Neji decided to bite the bullet and get out of the comfort of his car. The faster he got this done with the faster he could get back to the office.

Straightening his navy-blue pinstriped suit, he walked towards the group of people out on the field. Neji grimaced as his soft leather loafers sunk down in the moist ground. He'd better get hazard pay for shitty work like this.

"Excuse me," He called out as he got closer. "I'm looking for Naruto Uzumaki."

A redheaded woman looked up from whatever she was doing on the ground and pointed towards two men who were assembling something that looked like a giant swing set before going back to combing her fingers through the dried, brownish-autumn grass and placing strands of it in different plastic jars.

Neji nodded his thanks but the woman didn't look up again so Neji carefully made his way to the two men and their swings. "Naruto Uzumaki?" he asked questioningly. He didn't see the small fry anywhere; he just saw a silver-haired man and a tall blond with his back turned towards him.

Surprisingly it was the blond giant who turned around and looked Neji over with piercing blue eyes. Neji felt his mouth go dry and. as cliché as it sounded, he got weak in the knees. This gorgeous man, this Adonis, was Naruto? He was nothing like Neji remembered. Neji looked the blond over with greedy eyes; damn, he was beautiful and Neji wanted him.

"Yes?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

Oh god, even his voice was sending shivers down Neji's spine as he stood there motionless, drinking in the other man with pale eyes.

Naruto was starting to get worried. Why did the man just stand there staring at him? He glanced over at Kakashi who seemed to be trying very hard to keep his giggling under control.

Naruto tried again. "Can I help you, Hyuuga?"

Neji blinked up at the blond dazedly, "You remember me?"

Naruto smiled and Neji melted all over again. "You're kind of hard to forget Neji. Now was there something you wanted? I'm not trying to be rude but this is our first day and we have a lot we need to get done."

"Right… of course." Neji pulled out the stack of papers from inside his leather briefcase and handed them to the blond. "These are some papers from the council; nothing much just some rules, regulations and such… oh, and the official complaint from Uchiha Corp. There will be a formal hearing at a later date but I don't think you have anything to worry about." Neji hurriedly added when he saw Naruto's face darken.

"Thank you for bringing these all the way out here Neji. I could have swung by and gotten them you know." Naruto folded the papers and put them in his back pocket.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all." Neji smiled at Naruto. He looked down at Naruto's hands and almost came in his pants… if his hands were that large then he could only imagine the size of err… Neji snapped his head up from Naruto's groin. "We should get together sometime Naruto, catch up on old times."

Naruto looked at the brunet and smiled. Neji really was cute when he was all flustered and not all snotty as he had been when they were in school, "Yeah I would like that."

"Okay then, talk to you soon." Neji looked Naruto over one last time before he turned and hurried back to his car. This time the dirt clinging to his shoes didn't bother him at all. Things had just gotten a lot more interesting in Konoha. He picked up his phone and hastily dialed the flea bag's number. If he could learn more about Naruto then it would be worth the suffering of spending some time with Kiba. Neji wanted Naruto and he would do anything to get him as his own.

oo—oo—oo

Naruto contently stretched out his kinked back and nursed his beer. His body was aching and he was dead tired but he was still extremely happy. He turned to his friends; they had decided to go the local bar and celebrate the fact they had survived their first day at the dig, "It's not just big right? This is huge."

Sai nodded. "For once you're right. The site is huge; it really is a whole village and it's old. I'm happy to be a part of this team.

"Thank you Sai." Naruto ignored the 'for once' comment; he was in too good of a mood to let Sai get to him.

"Anytime dickless." Sai smirked at him and raised his glass in a mock toast.

"Fuck you Sai." Naruto toasted back.

"Thanks, but no thanks; I'm not a fruity little gay boy like you."

"No, you're just fruity." Naruto shot back.

Naruto had missed his friends dearly – even Sai's teasing. As he looked around the bar, he saw that Karin was yelling at the bartender for something while gesturing towards her boobs, Kimimaro was nursing his drink while his nose was buried in yet another book, and Kakashi was chatting up some toothpick chewing, dirty blond dude. Naruto snickered; of course Kakashi wouldn't spend his first night in Konoha alone.

Bo snored loudly under the bar stool as his paws twitched. He had been running back and forth between the team all day, or at least he had been when he hadn't been busy humping Kakashi's leg and now he was exhausted. Naruto looked down at him fondly and scratched his belly with his foot.

He took another sip of his beer and choked on it when sex on legs walked through the door. Fuck! Naruto almost swallowed his tongue as he wiped beer off his face and the bar counter. If Itachi had been gorgeous in a suit, he was positively sinful in a plain white button-up shirt and a pair of low-riding, very tight black jeans. His long dark hair was loose and flowing freely over his shoulders. Naruto wanted to go over to him, run his fingers through those silky strands, tilt Itachi's head back and claim those full, sultry lips that were currently… smirking.

Naruto snapped out of his daydream and met a pair of very amused charcoal-black eyes watching him back. Another raven walked in the door and Naruto instantly recognized the duck-butt hair…he found it quite funny that Sasuke hadn't changed his hair style at all in the last ten years. Itachi leaned down and whispered something in Sasuke's ear that made the younger Uchiha chuckle and cast Naruto a look before the two of them walked to a booth and sat down.

Kakashi sauntered up to Naruto and patted the blond on the shoulder. "Smooth, Goldie… very smooth. I don't think I've ever seen you drool all over yourself before."

Naruto batted his hands off of his shoulder. "Shut up. I don't think you're the one to talk you man-whore." Naruto nodded towards the blond standing by the dart board.

"Ah yes… isn't he precious? His name is Genma and we're about to leave 'cause Gen-ma has promised to suck my cock all night long." Kakashi leered as he dragged Genma's name out, like he was tasting the man just by saying his name.

"Oh God Kakashi, stop telling me these things" Naruto put his head down on the counter with a loud thump. "Just go, but make sure to be on time tomorrow." The blonds' voice was muffled by the faux wood that made up the bar counter.

Kakashi just winked at Naruto and leaned over and kissed him on the forehead before walking off with toothpick man. Neither of them noticed the narrowed gaze watching intently.

Naruto ordered himself another beer and did his best not to look over at the booth where his very own personal wet dream was located… he was failing miserably though. He took another swig from his bottle and glanced over at the booth again tensing up when it was empty. He looked around with wide eyes and growled lowly when he saw his Itachi on the floor dancing with some redheaded, pierced freak with his hands all over the Uchiha. Oh hell no… Naruto couldn't allow that, not when Red over there was touching things Naruto had dreamed of since he had first laid eyes on Itachi.

Slamming his beer bottle down on the counter, Naruto made his decision and stood up from the barstool. Bo grunted at the loss of someone petting him but shuffled closer to Sai and fell back asleep. Naruto resolutely made his way to the dance floor, swerving around Karin who had a terrified looking Sasuke pinned to the wall and walked over to the dancing couple. He tapped Red on the shoulder in order to make him move away from his raven and then wrapped his arms around Itachi's waist.

"May I cut in?" He asked as he steered Itachi away from the competition without waiting for a reply.

"Looks like you already have." Itachi moved his hips against Naruto's. "Just so you know, I still don't like you."

"Good, because I still think you're the spawn of Satan." Naruto replied and pulled the raven closer until there was no room left between their bodies.

Itachi smirked against Naruto's shoulder. He had seen the blonds' reaction when he walked into the bar and he had seen the jealousy blazing in those expressive blue eyes as Naruto walked up to him on the dance floor. Things were going exactly as he'd planned and soon he would have the dirt rat right where he wanted him… in his bed and under his thumb.

TBC…

AN - So there it was, who do you think was on the phone in the beginning and will Itachi manage to deceive Naruto? As always I'd absolutely love to hear from you all. Thank you so much for reading!