Description: This is a continuation of Finding More

Pairing/s: NaruSasu

Warnings: Explicit adult content; malexmale relationships. If this will offend you, do not read.

Disclaimer: The Naruto world belongs to Kishimoto. I do not make a profit from this FanFic.

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Chapter Nine

Sasuke smirked as he hung up the phone, chucking it into his pidgin-hole located at the back of the small room. The noise of the shopping centre grew louder as the door opened and closed, and a man in an elf costume that was the red twin to his green one stepped through the door.

"Sasu, what're you doing? You've been gone for ages, and the munchkins are getting restless with only one elf to entertain them." Haku flicked his braid over his shoulder and looked expectantly at Sasuke.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. I was just on the phone with Naruto… He's got work tonight, so he can't make dinner, but I said that we'd go over to his new workplace for a Christmas Eve party instead, if it wouldn't blow his cover," Sasuke's smirk widened. "He said it won't blow his cover, but he's not sure that that taking you to the Pheasant Plucker's Fantasy adult toy store is really an appropriate Christmas hangout."

For a moment, Haku was distracted, his forehead creased with confusion. "Pheasant Plucker's? What kind of name is that for an adult toy store?"

"Swap the first two letters of the words beginning with P."

"Pleasant Phuck- Oh!" Haku grinned as it clicked. "I hope you told him we'd come, no matter where it was."

"Yeah. Apparently a few of his colleagues are bringing people too, though I'm not sure who…"

"Sounds fun. I'll let Zabu know, and we can head off at seven."

There was a loud knocking on the door of Santa's workshop, letting them know that it was time to go back to being Santa's elves. So, both donned their hats and headed back out into the hordes of excited children.

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Naruto sat reclined in a chair behind the front counter, looking at the large white analogue clock on the wall, eyes following each tick of the seconds' hand. Seven o'clock, Sasuke and the others would finish up at the mall, which meant that they'd be here by seven thirty, provided nothing went wrong. He looked around the store doubtfully. This really wasn't a suitable place for a Christmas party.

Shikamaru's chair rolled into the doorway at the back of the store, its occupant yawning widely and running a hand through well tousled hair. Glancing at the clock, he stood up and made his way over to Naruto, pulling himself up to sit on the counter. "Who else is coming to the 'Christmas party' tonight? I mean, there's you and me, 'cause someone needs to monitor the cameras, Chouji and Sasuke, obviously, but everyone else… You gave 'em all the night off, right?"

"Yeah, as we've had no indication that anything is going to happen over Christmas, and The Snake is yet to make contact with Yamato… I reckon just you and I monitoring for tonight and tomorrow should be fine. Other than Chouji and Sasuke, Haku and Zabuza are in town for Christmas, as usual, and they've decided to join us. Sai's 'contacts', as Sasuke put it, are all interstate, so he's coming too." Only the small frown on his lips betrayed the fact that Naruto still wasn't happy about Sasuke's continued friendship with the man, but there was nothing much he could do about it. "Ah, Kiba also said he'd come tonight; he's bringing along his new girlfriend, which should be interesting. Says that he can't be bothered dealing with the family on Christmas Eve, and he'll see them tomorrow anyway."

"I see. And…Minato?" Shikamaru asked hesitantly.

A flicker of concern crossed Naruto's features, the blonde running a hand through his hair. "Well, he's been out of contact for the better part of a week. When Shizune contacted the agency for me, they said that it was relevant to the current investigation but it was important that we not make contact with him, in case it blows the cover he's using. So I really don't know what he's up to at the moment."

Shikamaru said nothing, but his eyebrows drew together. It was never a good thing to hear that the FBI was withholding information. Hopefully this wouldn't come back to bite them on the ass. He realised that Naruto was talking again and gave himself a mental shake and tuned back in.

"And Lee, of course, is going home to stay with Hinata and Yumi for Christmas Eve. He's pretty much been working as Yamato's handler and police contact on his own. I wish we could work that position in shifts, but because The Snake is so cautious, we can't afford to have any more than one of us in contact with Yamato. If he noticed that his new contact was hanging out with the guys who just happen to have taken over the adult toy store near his business… It would be too much of a coincidence to pass off as a chance occurrence. Anyway, Yamato made contact a few days ago to say that he was going to stay in for Christmas so that Lee could spend the time with his family—"

Before Naruto could continue, the door to the shop was flung open, bringing in a gust of icy air followed by the rush of people eager to escape the evening's chill.

Haku threw back the hood of his long, black coat and grinned. "First time Christmas partying in a porn store, Naru!" he said, sliding behind the counter and pulling Naruto into a hug. "I bought some beer and champagne…got a fridge somewhere?"

"Yeah, upstairs where Sai's been doing tattooing and piercings, there's also a kitchenette. Just chuck it in that fridge," Naruto said, the door opening again and Chouji and Sai entering the shop too. He did the rounds of greetings and introductions, seeing as Sai had never met Haku and Zabuza.

Soon, some chairs had been dragged downstairs and everyone was drinking and chatting – bar Shikamaru and Naruto who were still on duty, of course – and then Kiba arrived with his newest girlfriend. The blonde and he had obviously been arguing, but set aside their difference of opinion to greet everyone.

"Hey, Temari," Sasuke said, his eyebrows bouncing in surprise. He wondered if Gaara knew that his sister was dating a cop.

"Sasuke… I hadn't realised you guys were throwing this party," she said as she threw a dirty look over her shoulder at Kiba's back. "Gaara's going over to the Hyuga household tonight and since Kank's working tonight, I thought I'd go out to wherever Kiba wanted to take me. He and Neji were hoping that you and Naruto would be dropping by next week."

"Oh? Will you tell him I'll call on the twenty-seventh? It's a bit hectic at the moment," he replied, the polite chit-chat continuing. Things relaxed as everyone's levels of inebriation rose, and soon everyone was acting like old friends.

Sasuke glanced around as he sipped from the cheap bottle of beer in his hand, grimacing at the taste. Naruto wasn't in view, which meant he'd traded places with Shikamaru in the surveillance room for a while. Slipping away from the rest of the group, he opened the door to the back room and sidled in.

Naruto's cerulean eyes flicked away from the screen and he rose a hand in greeting as Sasuke dragged a milk crate over from the corner of the room, turned it upside-down and sat on it.

"Got stuck in the back room, huh?"

"Yeah, Shika was in here for hours; it was time for me to take over, at least until eleven." Naruto rubbed his eyes, before adjusting the headset he was wearing and staring at the monitors showing the hospital's different entries and exits. There was nothing. No movement, no suspicious people entering and leaving the medical complex, nothing.

Sasuke's mouth tightened as he observed the dark circles forming beneath Naruto's eyes, and the slight thinning of his face which reflected the weight he'd dropped in the last month or so. His desire to try to make Naruto quit the police force was restrained only by the knowledge that it would cause irreparable damage to their relationship. This job was Naruto's passion. If he asked Naruto to quit, if he tried to force his hand, he knew that while Naruto might acquiesce, the resentment would build, and he would end up hating Sasuke.

Unaware of the turn of Sasuke's thoughts, Naruto changed the subject. "What do you think of Kiba and Temari as a couple? I didn't see that one coming."

"Mm," hummed Sasuke, dragging his thoughts away from the black abyss of anxiety that sometimes threatened to take over. "I think…explosive make-up sex will be what makes it work. They've both got headstrong personalities; I know Temari takes shit from no man. Probably lots of arguing and vying for dominance, but I think the sex probably evens it out."

Naruto chuckled, rolling his shoulders. Sex made a lot of couples he hadn't thought would go together work out. Physical chemistry was a powerful component of a real relationship; at least, in Naruto's opinion it was. "Yeah, I guess that'd be right. Ah, the mysteries of love, eh?"

Sasuke's mind was still in that troubled space and he wished there was something he could do to end this investigation faster and get Naruto out of danger. Instead, he bit his tongue and shuffled the crate forward to rest his arm and forehead against Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto was surprised by the action and glanced down at his boyfriend. "Everything okay, Sas?"

Sasuke turned his face downwards so that Naruto couldn't see his expression. "Nah, just tired. It's not as much fun doing Santa's workshop without you*, even if Haku and Zabuza are there. Plus, I wish I hadn't decided to do the summer course for legal. Yeah, we get two weeks off around Christmas and New Year, but the assignment is going to occupy most of my spare time. Monday – fifth of January – I'll be starting back up again. Barely feels like a break."

"I see," replied Naruto, feeling sorry for Sasuke. "Yeah, I remember Sai said he was taking on a summer course too; something about a unit that he missed because of this operation. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Quit taking dangerous assignments and settle for a nice desk job, Sasuke thought. Aloud, he said, "Nah, just keep being you."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, just savouring each other's company; between the operation and Sasuke's university (and elf) life, there hadn't been much time to spend together of late, one always seeming to arrive as the other was leaving.

An hour and a half later there was a knock on the door and Shikamaru peered around the corner. "Yo. It's time for me to take over. Everyone's planning on heading off soon, too."

Naruto nodded, passed his headset to Shikamaru and stood to stretch, Sasuke following suit. They exited the back room just in time to see Haku balancing in a handstand on the counter, his hair carelessly knotted and pinned in a bun, a small dagger gripped between the toes of his right foot. With a sharp, graceful flick he sent the dagger flying towards Zabuza, who swung his custom-designed broadsword to meet the dagger, sending it spinning end over end to plant itself in the centre of a target they'd set up on the far wall.

Temari whooped and Kiba grinned. Sai was the only one who looked vaguely surprised as Haku and Zabuza bowed.

"Told you we're the best," said Haku, a sweet smile crossing his lips as he looked to his partner. They were never in their element as much as when they were performing. "You guys should come to our show next March. I've been practising some new acts using senbon."

Their audience nodded enthusiastically, agreeing to go see the show next time the circus was nearby.

Temari was the first to make a move, shrugging on her jacket and tugging at Kiba's arm. She and Kiba bid everyone goodnight, heading out into the cold. Chouji ducked out to the back room and said farewell to Shikamaru before heading off, saying that he still had paperwork to be done back at the station, though Naruto was pretty sure that he was just missing Shikamaru being at home at the same time as him. Finally, Haku and Zabuza decided it was also time for them to head back to the hotel, promising that they would catch up with Naruto and Sasuke privately before the end of January.

Sai flopped into the chair behind the counter and took a swig out of the wine bottle in front of him, offering the bottle to Sasuke, who declined.

"Not heading home, Sai?" Naruto asked, curious. He pulled up a couple of chairs and Sasuke joined him.

"No. No one to head home to," Sai replied, closing his eyes and clasping his hands behind his head.

"Ah, I remember Sasuke telling me something about the people you know all being interstate, right?" Naruto saw Sasuke shaking his head and trying to catch his eye, but it was too late and the question was already out.

Sai opened his eyes and stared at Naruto for a moment, trying to decide if the question was intended as a barb, or whether it was an innocent, genuine curiosity that had prompted the blonde haired man to ask. Eventually, he decided that it was the latter and he stared back up at the ceiling before speaking. "I don't have much family; the people in the group home I was raised in were constantly changing. When I joined the FBI, I had met someone…he became my boyfriend…but he tried to recruit me to an international agency and when I refused, he started using me to try and get access to the FBI's databases. Jerk."

In the two months that he'd been working with Sai, this was the most Naruto had ever heard the man say about himself. He felt an instant sense of empathy when Sai had brought up the group homes, and so much of what he thought he knew of Sai clicked into place – his ability to lie flawlessly, his somewhat warped sense of right and wrong, his seeming lack of emotion. All of those things were things he'd seen in children who had experienced violence in the home.

Lost for words, he simply said, "That sucks. I'm sorry."

Sai nodded and took another swig from the bottle, before the three men settled back into comfortable silence.

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Naruto held up a hand for silence, listening to the sounds that were being streamed into the security room of the adult toy store. There was a low murmur in the background as someone discreetly talked to someone else, the rustle of clothing muffling the words.

A red light on the dashboard of incomprehensible surveillance equipment blinked on, catching Naruto's eye and earning a muffled, "Yessss!" from Shikamaru, who had spent the past four weeks monitoring the security footage with Chouji's help. There still hadn't been much to report. It was obvious that Orochimaru was a very cautious criminal.

Catching Naruto's questioning look, Shikamaru just grinned. Ten seconds later, perfectly clear audio filtered through to the room. "Yamato managed to drop one of the shoe bugs. They're small and only have a battery life of seven hours, but it's in the high security sector of the hospital."

An answering smile stretched across Naruto's own lips; this was good news. Hopefully once Yamato left the room, Orochimaru would slip up and give them sensitive information. Naruto tuned back into the conversation that was going on in the building across the street.

"…have some merchandise you might be interested in purchasing. I've heard from a couple of mutual sources that you are in the same market as they are." Yamato's voice echoed as if he were in a large, somewhat empty room.

"Merchandise, hmmm? And why should I purchase from you when I have my own supplier?" Orochimaru's low tones echoed down the line, sounding as though he was taking pleasure in trying to intimidate Yamato.

"Competitive prices. Simply put, I have a contact in a small town across the border with access to whatever you are looking for, on request. I can get it to you within seventy-two hours, as long as I'm paid upfront and in cash."

Silence followed this statement, and Naruto was holding his breathe.

This could be the break that they were waiting for. The past four weeks had yielded little new information. There had been some notes made about people who'd entered the private hospital facility, without seeming to come back out, but as no complaints had been made there was no legitimate excuse to enter the building in a legal capacity, so they'd been forced to sit back and wait. Furthermore, they were a man down as Minato was still out on assignment and had only checked in with the team twice to report a few new leads.

Finally, Orochimaru responded. "Well, as a business man, I never take any merchandise that has been unverified. Kabuto," he said, his voice commanding. There was the sound of a door opening and closing, then more silence.

Naruto cursed silently; what he wouldn't give to have a camera in the room.

"Orochimaru tells me you have some scarves that I absolutely must buy, and for a great price," said Minato's voice, causing everyone in the surveillance room to mutter to each other in surprise. Even Sai's eyebrows were raised.

There was only the slightest hesitation before Yamato responded. "Who are you? I don't sell to people who don't have a reputation for being able to hold their tongue."

Orochimaru chuckled. "This," he replied, "is Seizu. He is completely trustworthy, I assure you. He, on occasion, tests the wares before I decide to purchase them. Quality checking, if you will."

"…Fine. Let's talk business."

"Step into my office," replied Orochimaru.

After that there was a great deal of static and the audio feed dropped out.

Shikamaru swore and dropped his headset on the table. "They must have a frequency disrupter. Whatever room they've gone into is electronically secure. The only thing we have going for us is the fact that the bugs on Yamato are so small that even though they've been compromised, they still won't register as a device that's been disabled. If they were standard issue, chances are that the frequency disrupter would have picked them up as audio devices and reported it to whoever monitors the system."

"To be honest, I'm more concerned with why we weren't informed about Minato's presence," Naruto replied grimly. He put through a quick call to Shizune and was guaranteed some answers.

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The next day was back to the uneventful life of store owners; there was no new news on Orochimaru, and Lee reported that Yamato had returned to his cover house unharmed. Kiba stood at the counter, flicking through a magazine, occasionally pausing to 'read an article' (also known as ogling the female anatomy) when the bell on the door jingled. A young woman in a practical and attractive black business suit entered, her long purple hair pulled back tightly.

She looked out of place in the grungy shop, and Kiba was instantly on alert, wishing that Akamaru was there to sniff her out. She perused the store for five minutes before approaching the counter with a magazine. Kiba was about to put it through, when he realised that there was a message scrawled across the front – the words 'Security room?'

Kiba looked up and nodded, leading her to the tattoo parlour upstairs.

She looked around sharply. "This isn't the security room."

"Nope. This is the tattoo and piercings parlour. If we took a customer into the security room and any of Orochimaru's men were watching us, it would give us away. Take a customer into the tattoo and piercing area, then it's just business. I'll send Sai up; Naruto will be up as soon as he arrives. Feel free to take a seat."

Kiba headed back down the stairs, placing a quick call to Naruto's cell. He ducked out the back and sent Sai upstairs to keep an eye on the woman, as well as to maintain the cover of a woman getting a tat or piercing.

Twenty minutes later, a sleep deprived Naruto arrived looking more irritable than Kiba had seen him in a while.

Naruto was muttering under his breath as he entered, carrying a coffee cup the size of a small elephant in his hand. "I get away from this place for two fucking hours and now I'm back again." He took a mouthful of the lukewarm brown liquid, the taste enough to remind him of why he never bought coffee from gas stations. "What've we got?"

"Er, nothing so far. We were waiting for you. I put her upstairs in the tattoo parlour with Sai," Kiba replied, heading back behind the counter. "I'll keep up appearances while you go talk to her."

Naruto gave a nod and headed upstairs. When he entered the room, he found Sai sitting in a chair by the door and the woman sitting on the tattooing chair.

"Finally," she said, impatience colouring her tone. She extended a well-manicured hand. "Call me Ms Black. The FBI sent me to fill you in on the details of Namikaze's placement as Seizu Kiroi."

Naruto shook the offered hand and took a seat at the end near the small window overlooking the back alley.

"Talk."

The woman spared him a condescending glance, irritated at his attitude. Despite this, she began speaking without further prompting.

"Namikaze was placed in the team that was investigating The Snake three to four years ago. He went undercover as a go between for those wishing to purchase smuggled people for medical experimentation. Our original hope was to catch Orochimaru engaging in the purchase of humans; but he was more cautious than we gave him credit for.

Initially, he thought to test Namikaze by first convincing him to purchase people on his behalf. Though this might seem like catching him in the act, he was always careful to use language that refers to legal product – silk, medicine for his private hospital, anything but human livestock." Ms Black shrugged as if to indicate any cover was acceptable. "In order to convince him, the FBI did in fact use a container of people who'd been smuggled over the border. In exchange for visas and shelter, they played the part of people used for human experimentation.

We converted an abandoned warehouse into a makeshift medical centre, and the smuggled people were hooked up to various machines, and bandaged to look like they'd been experimented on by Namikaze himself. At this stage, we hoped that he would take this as evidence that he could trust Namikaze. Instead of tempting him to buy through Namikaze, he began using Namikaze as a sounding board; running clients and suppliers by him while never conducting his own business through him." She sighed. "Eventually, it became more important to maintain Minato's cover in this role instead, as it gave us information into a whole network of previously unheard of criminals."

Naruto chewed the information over for a couple of minutes before speaking. "How did you stop The Snake from becoming suspicious about Minato's absences?"

"Oh, that was easy. Namikaze simply implied that he was travelling to each country to acquire the goods in person. Each time he goes away, he brings through a new group of people to pass off as his wares. Sometimes they're actors, sometimes they're refugees…" She offered another shrug; it made no difference to her where the people came from, as long as it helped maintain Minato's cover.

"I see. So basically this is good for us? That he's using Minato to check whether or not Yamato is legit?" Naruto looked contemplative.

"Yes. Now, I'm not authorised to offer any further information. Namikaze will most likely be contacting you within the next few days. Good luck." She stood and offered her hand to both Naruto and Sai this time, before sweeping down the stairs and leaving.

Naruto looked at Sai, gesturing for him to speak.

"She seemed to be telling the truth; everything she said makes sense. I say we go ahead and plan for our next contact with Minato." His face was impassive, though Naruto now knew better than to think he didn't care about what was happening.

"Okay," said Naruto, coming to a decision. "I'll start making a list of things we need Minato to do."

He stood and followed Sai down the stairs, looking into the security room to say hi to Chouji before he left. Once he was in his car, he sighed and slumped back in the seat. Everything that had happened today meant one thing. He had paperwork to do.

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Two nights later, Naruto was sleeping, completely dead to the world until he was suddenly being shaken awake by an agitated looking Sasuke, whose hair was pointing in all directions making him look like a younger version of a mad professor.

"Phone. Emergency. You. Fucking too early," he muttered, collapsing back into his pillow and yanking the doona up to protect him from the chilly morning air.

Naruto glanced at the clock – four forty-five – and headed into the hallway to keep from further disrupting Sasuke's sleep.

"Yeah, what's up?" he said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"I think the shit's about to hit the fan, Naruto," Shikamaru said, his voice completely serious. "We've lost contact with Yamato, and he didn't check in with Lee last night. His emergency tracking device was activated ten minutes ago, near his cover home, but within three minutes, we lost the connection. I think it's safe to say, his cover is blown."

"Shit."

"That about sums it up."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Call in Minato too."

"Will do." Shikamaru hung up without further discussion.

Naruto stood in the hallway doing deep breathing exercises, trying to steady his accelerated heart rate. This was going to me a long night.

*The Santa's workshop thing refers to the extra chapter All I Want For Christmas

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A/N:

Hey guys!

I hope you are all doing well – and if you're students doing exams that you are surviving it okay. I'm being buried alive by my upcoming psychology and criminology exams T_T But I owe a chapter, so I took some time out to write this one (I was so tired that I kept writing adult toy story instead of adult toy store XD)

So, I finished outlining the rest of the plot and I have to tell you, we are reaching the end of MTW – two more chapters, and maybe an epilogue and it's all over. So, yeah, just giving you some warning, so that it doesn't come as a huge shock.

What did you guys think of this chapter? It was more focused around the police work side of things this time. I'd love to hear your thoughts; leave a comment if you have time ^_^

Happy reading~!

dusk. xo