Finding His Mate

Chapter Four

While his owner was working on Naruto, Sasuke held the three kittens close to his chest. He wished he could feel their tiny heart beats, to know that they truly were still alive. But he felt nothing but silence and it made his heart hurt in a way that it had never hurt before. Looking down at the three bundles, Sasuke wondered why Naruto's owner had felt the need to go so far as to do this to newborns. Why put Naruto through all that hell? Surely it wasn't just because he had gotten pregnant? If that was the case Sasuke wouldn't mind having a go with the man.

"Sasuke perhaps we should do something with the bodies." Itachi said, from his place by the wall where he was watching his brother grieve over the loss of the kitten that he hadn't even known existed. Sasuke shook his head in disagreement.

"No, I just want to hold them a little longer." Sasuke murmured, using his thumb to run down their backs. It wasn't fair these babies hadn't even had the chance to live, what had they done to deserve being boiled alive? Maybe if he hadn't been such a jackass to Naruto, then the other would have told him about his pregnancy and maybe then Sasuke could have protected him and the unborn kits. Then again since Naruto hadn't known that he was going through heat at the time, Sasuke doubted that he would have known he was pregnant. Now he would never get to know the babies, and he didn't know if he would get to know the mother either, because he was pretty badly injured himself.

"You know unless Iruka has you neutered, you can always have more." Itachi said softly. Sasuke frowned but kept his gaze on the tiny babies in his arms.

"If he comes anywhere near me with the intention of taking what's mine." Sasuke said lowly. "I will claw his eyes out. It should be my choice if I want to mate or not. He has no say in that." Itachi shook his head, chuckling lowly.

"He does have the right to not want you to get every female pregnant or male for that matter." Itachi said. "It's not like we need any more moody Sasuke's around."

"Doesn't look like that's going to happen now is it?" Sasuke murmured. "Not without them being murdered before they even had a chance to live."

"Maybe it was better that they died." Itachi told him. "it was too soon for them to be born, they could have had so many problems because of their birth."

"Maybe." Sasuke said. "I want to know what that dickhead done to Naruto that forced him to give birth early. It couldn't have been anything good if you look at Naruto's current condition."

"I don't know." Itachi said. "I wouldn't want to know, I would lose my temper and probably kill him."

"I never knew that people could be so cruel to such harmless creatures." Sasuke murmured. "Now I know that that's not the case." Sasuke ran his thumb down the tiny backs again, wishing that he could have been there when Naruto was giving birth, Sasuke could have protected them.

"Why was I such an ass?" Sasuke murmured, "I could have prevented this if I had known that Naruto was pregnant. Which I doubt he would have realized until later on, since he didn't even know he was in heat."

"Hindsight is 20/20." Itachi said. "Now it looks like you're going to have to help Naruto recover."

"If Iruka allows him to come home with us." Sasuke said. "He was a dick in the park if you recall."

"I suspect he had more reasons than either of us know about to have said what he did." Itachi replied. "I suspect that Naruto was being watched, and he didn't want you to get involved."

"Why would Naruto have been getting watched? It's not like he's gone out of his way to harm anyone, there is no reason for that." Sasuke wondered.

"I suspect that Naruto's owner is a little insane, hence what he put Naruto and those babies through." Itachi replied.

"That's not insane that's down right cruel." Sasuke replied then asked. "Would Menma have put two and two together and figured out that I was the one that knocked him up just from having him watched at the park."

"Perhaps." Itachi replied. "I think that perhaps Iruka didn't want you to give Menma a reason to come after you."

"That's insane though, at the park there was no way of even knowing that he was pregnant so why the curiosity?" Sasuke wondered. Itachi shrugged.

"I didn't say the man made sense. Nothing he's done so far has made much sense." Itachi said and as he fell silent, a piercing pain filled yowl filled the air. Sasuke's ears twitched and fell to his head as he scowled at the operating room doors. Hadn't Iruka heard of anesthesia? Sasuke stood, holding the kittens to his chest as he made his way towards the room where Iruka was working on Naruto.

"Sasuke." Itachi warned. "Iruka knows what he's doing, its best to stay out of his way."

"He's hurting him." Sasuke hissed. He didn't like the sounds of Naruto's pain. If Naruto cried out in pain again, Sasuke was going to claw Iruka's eyes out. Itachi sighed, there would be no stopping Sasuke once he got all moody like that. Itachi was pretty sure that's how the whole pregnancy with Naruto had gotten started.

Sasuke scowled at Itachi again, before disappearing through the doors to find Iruka working over a hissing Naruto.

"Haven't you given him anything for the pain?" Sasuke demanded, glaring at his owner.

"I did, but because of his genetics he's burning it off quicker than most." Iruka explained, glancing at Sasuke before returning his attention to Naruto, before turning and staring at Sasuke who was still clutching the tiny kittens.

"I can you a place for them." Iruka said. "They probably need to be buried soon anyways."

"No." Sasuke hissed, baring his teeth at Iruka, and with his flattened ears, a pissed off Sasuke was a sight to behold. "I didn't get to see their birth so I'm not leaving them anytime soon." Iruka shook his head and returned to attempted to cover Naruto's third degree burns with salve.

"His fur will likely never grow back with the way these burns are." Iruka murmured, ignoring the hissing coming from Naruto. Sasuke winced, no fur meant a harder time staying warm in the winter. Iruka better let Naruto come home with them, Sasuke would be the only one warming Naruto.

"What about his eyes?" Sasuke asked quietly "Can the glue be removed?"

"It will probably require surgery." Iruka said. "but I think I can do it, and remove the glue from other areas as well." Sasuke scowled. Just what the hell had Naruto's owner done to him? Walking up to the table, Sasuke placed the kittens by Naruto's stomach, and bent down and ran his tongue over Naruto's head and around his ears.

"He's trying to help you." Sasuke murmured. "I know it hurts, but your going to be okay."

"My babies." Naruto whispered, taking comfort in knowing that his babies father was there with him. "My babies are gone."

"We can make more." Sasuke whispered, ignoring Iruka's glare as he licked Naruto again. He couldn't imagine how Naruto felt watching his master kill his children right in front of him.

"Keep him calm." Iruka told Sasuke. "This is going to hurt quite a bit." Sasuke nodded and returned his attention to Naruto, talking to him quietly, lightly nipping at Naruto's ear when he started hissing at Iruka again.

"How did he burn the pain medicine off so quickly?" Sasuke wondered as Iruka finished wrapping bandages around Naruto's burns.

"I suspect it has something to do with who is father is." Iruka replied, "but I don't know for sure." Naruto panted heavily, exhausted from the painful ordeal. he felt the weight by his stomach disappear as Sasuke had picked up the kittens again, Naruto whimpered wanting them to be back at his side.

"Not a good idea. Naruto's going to need some room to heal." Iruka told Sasuke. "And we are going to have to find a place to bury those babies." Both Sasuke and Naruto hissed at him and Iruka sighed. If Sasuke was like this with dead ones who knew what he would be like if they were still living.

"They are going to decompose eventually." Iruka said. "Besides don't they deserve a respectful resting place?"

"Of course." Sasuke muttered "But I'm not ready to let them go just yet."

"If you're unbearable now, man I would hate to see what you would be like when they got older." Iruka said. Sasuke glared at him.

"Is Naruto coming home with us?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know that moving him would be a good idea." Iruka said. "And I'm not leaving you here to stay with him."

"How do you know Menma won't come after him here?" Sasuke asked. "He tossed Naruto out in the street to die, but if he finds out that Naruto is still alive, he might come and finish the job."

"You do have a point." Iruka murmured "And we do have that pillow bed that would be easy on his injuries."

"Then he's coming home with us." Sasuke said, not caring if Iruka really agreed or not.

"I guess he will." Iruka muttered, "but first I have to get a catheter inserted in him until I can get that glue removed. I might need your help holding him still." Sasuke nodded and placed the kitten back by Naruto's stomach and returned to Naruto , kneeling down in front of Naruto, even though Sasuke knew that Naruto couldn't see him. He knew just being able to hear Sasuke talk would ease some of his panic.

"What's he doing?" Naruto asked, feeling Iruka's hands around his male part.

"He's going to insert a catheter to help you pee until he can get the glue off." Sasuke said, his hand reaching up and stroking Naruto's ears. He hated how stressed the other hybrid was, he wanted to make it better.

"Iruka don't like me." Naruto said softly to Iruka.

"He doesn't know you." Sasuke replied, "and for that matter neither do I, but I want to know you more."

"Why?" Naruto whimpered softly, Iruka's fingers hurting the sensitive organ.

"Because I was jerk to you before, and I want to be able to make it up to you. I didn't know what your master would do to you because I impregnated you." Sasuke murmured. "I feel guilty as hell that you endured such torture because of what I done."

"It's not your fault, not entirely." Naruto whimpered, hissing as Iruka broke off enough of the top of the glue to get the catheter inserted. "Menma would have found some other kind of torture for me to endure eventually, he never wanted me to begin with and he would have found a way to dispose of me." That hurt Sasuke's heart, why keep an animal that you didn't want, only to abuse it before dumping it in the streets to die? That wasn't fair to Naruto and it only made Sasuke hate Menma even more. If he ever came across the man, he was going to claw his eyes out.

"Am I going to have to get you declawed?" Iruka asked, after hearing Sasuke's wish to claw Naruto's owner's eyes out. Sasuke turned his head and hissed at Iruka.

"Looks like I'm going to need to get you declawed and neutered." Iruka said, knowing that Sasuke wouldn't like that idea.

"Come near my balls and see what happens." Sasuke hissed, "they are mine to sink into whomever I wish, not yours." Iruka chuckled and reached over and rubbed Sasuke's ears.

"Relax kitten I wouldn't do that do you." Iruka murmured. "Unless you keep knocking up neko's."

"Whatever." Sasuke grumbled, his stiffened posture relaxing a little. Iruka could say he wouldn't do but Sasuke wouldn't put it past him to do so anyways. He wouldn't allow Naruto to be neutered either, because once Naruto was ready, Sasuke would make more babies with him, and raise them whether Iruka liked it or not.

"How did Itachi end up being so calm while your always a moody little critter?" Iruka asked, after finishing the catheter placement. Sasuke shrugged, he could be calm when he wanted, he couldn't help it that the world got on his nerves.

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Liz

I will be working on the next chapter of somebody save me next