You're Beautiful
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter because we are about to start involving other alien species more than we have previously. It's a big universe out there and not everyone is friendly. ;)
Chapter Notation: Bufo Bufo is the scientific name for toad. That's where I got the name from.
Chapter 10
Kiba had traveled to Sage on a standard trade mission. Sage was a large swampy planet that was ruled by a species known as BufoBufoians. The Inuzuka had privately dubbed them BB's. (Not that he was dumb enough to call them that to their face, of course.)
As soon as his ship descended for a landing, he noticed something was very wrong. The BB's had super long tongues that they used to catch their prey. They could also be used defensively and offensively. One of the massive toads tried to grab his ship in its mouth.
"STOP THAT! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?! WE ARE ALLIES!" He calls out.
"Allies?! You were planning to take over our planet! We are onto you and the rest of the Allied Forces! We never should have joined you. You just want to absorb us into a colony. We won't have it!" The toad roars.
Kiba really didn't get what was going on with the giant toads, but he knew he had to get out of here. Engaging all of those BufoBufoians on his own was not a smart move. Since they were an allied planet, he had gone on the trading mission alone. It simply wasn't a fair fight.
The best he could do is dodge and try to fly off. He'd have to let the other Allied Forces know something was seriously wrong with Planet Sage. He wondered why they though that the Allies wanted to make them a colony, but decides he'll worry about that later. His main concern right now was getting out alive.
"DIE, MANGY DOG!" One of the enormous amphibians snarls out at him as it slammed its massive tongue towards the ship.
Kiba winced as it landed. It felt like a battering ram had just slammed into the hull of his craft. He needed to get out of here. This ship wasn't necessarily designed for combat and there were just too many of them.
"KNOCK IT OFF! You are attacking an ally! I don't know why you think we were plotting against you, but we weren't! Why would we do that? The Allied Forces have existed for thousands of years and successfully cooperated. Why would we target your planet specifically to be made into a colony?!" He shouts into the intercom, hoping that maybe one of them would see reason.
"You can't fool us!" They cry out in unison and the tongues came slamming down on the ship.
Eventually, Kiba had no choice but to crash land it. He jumps out of the ship and runs. Maybe, he could outmaneuver them. Getting to the Stargate was his only prayer of getting off of this planet alive.
"GET HIM!" The largest BB thunders and suddenly dozens of tongues come flying at him at once.
Kiba had never been so grateful to come from a fast species before. There were enough trees in the swamp that he was able to use them somewhat as shields from the tongues and to bob and weave around them on his way towards the Stargate.
He howled in pain as he got shoved onto the ground by one of their tongues. Kiba whirls around and snarls. He bites down on the attacking appendage hard with his fangs.
"Serves you right." He smirks as the creature howled in pain and the Inuzuka raced off towards the Stargate.
Kiba quickly activated it and set it for Konoha. He had to inform Naruto about this. The blonde was the one responsible for bringing Sage into the Allied Forces. He'd know what to do.
"Kiba, what happened?" Kushina cries out in alarm when she saw the canine alien appear through the Stargate entrance to the castle.
"The BufoBufoians attacked me. I don't know what happened. I was going on a normal trade mission. They are all convinced that the Allied Forces are secretly plotting to make them a colony. I was lucky to get out alive." Kiba exclaims.
The red head blinks. That was very disturbing. BufoBufoians were new to the alliance, but so far had been a loyal ally. She had no idea why they would suspect the other allied planets of such treachery.
"Come. Let's get you looked at. Then we can inform your people what happened and the other allies. We'll tell everyone not to go there until this can be straightened out. We don't need anyone to die over a misunderstanding." She says as she escorts Kiba to medical wing.
"Thanks, Queen Kushina. Do you know where Naruto is? He's probably the only one that can talk some sense into them." Kiba asks.
Kushina rubs the back of her head sheepishly. She didn't think that it was wise to tell Kiba that the prince was off on some barely known planet, trying to Mate a species that had only been discovered recently.
Mates from other species were accepted. No one would look down on it. But some people might have concerns about how Sasuke's species would react to the relationship. Human society seemed to be less accepting of exotic matches.
"He's out on a mission right now. But I will contact him after we get you looked at and inform him of the situation." She states diplomatically and calls a healer to look at Kiba.
Back on Earth, Naruto was enjoying cuddling up to Sasuke some more. His Mate was still reading the guidebook. Naruto smiles. Watching Sasuke's expressions while he read various passages was far more entertaining than anything in the actual book itself.
"Sasuke, are you seriously going to try to read the entire book in one day?" Naruto asks in amusement as he places a kiss to his Mate's shoulder.
"I don't think so. It's too big, but I'm going to read as much as I can. You have no idea what a treasure trove this is, Naruto. It's amazing." Sasuke says with a smile.
The blonde alien wraps his wings around his Mate as he read. He was happy that Sasuke was happy. His Mate seemed really relaxed. Maybe he could try his luck again.
"Speaking of big and amazing, do you want to see my other tail again?" Naruto whispers hotly in Sasuke's ear, earning a blush from his almost lover.
"Naruto." Sasuke growls at him waringly.
"What? What, Naruto? I have the most beautiful Mate in the universe and want to Claim him. What's so wrong about that?" He asks.
"I don't think that I'm ready for alien sex. That's all. I don't really know how we'll…you know?" Sasuke asks.
Naruto shakes his head. Sasuke was worried about pleasing him. It would be cute, if it wasn't so frustrating!
"Don't worry about it. We're Mates. We wouldn't be Mates, if we didn't you know, fit together?" The blue eyed alien replies and then sighs when his communicator goes off.
"Hello?" He asks and blinks when she saw his mother's image.
Sasuke's eyes widen. He could see another Jinchuuriki. She was beautiful with long red hair, stormy gray eyes surrounded by orange skin,, and chestnut brown wings. Her tail was golden like Naruto's. It couldn't be, could it?
"Oh hey, mom!" Naruto says brightly.
Sasuke blinks. Yes, it was. This was Naruto's mother. The prince seemed to be using the device like a cell phone. He got reception across galaxies?! What the Hell? Sasuke's cell lost reception if he went into the woods and Naruto could get his to work on Earth? Lucky bastard!
"Baby, it's so good to hear your voice again. I hate to interrupt your courting process, but we really could use your help." She says.
Naruto tilts his head. It was obvious the alien was concerned. Sasuke could tell that the blonde wasn't sure what was up.
"Why, what's wrong?" He asks anxiously.
"Kiba went on a trade mission to Sage, but the people there attacked him. They seem to be under the mistaken impression that we want to turn them into a colony. He somehow managed to escape through a Stargate and is back on Konoha with me, now. You helped to convince them to join us. Maybe you can talk some sense into them." The Queen states hopefully.
The blue eyed alien blinks. He hadn't expected that. It was hard to believe that the toads would flip out on an Inuzuka like in such a way. He wondered what was up.
"Um yeah, I guess I can talk to them. Maybe Sasuke could go with me!" Naruto says brightly.
"Sasuke, that's your Mate's name, right? I can't wait to meet him. Your father says he's a scholar?" She asks.
Sasuke gulps. He wasn't really so sure that he was ready to Meet the Parents alien style yet. That and Naruto's mother was a Queen! What the Hell was he supposed to say to an alien queen?!
"Yeah. He is. Hang on, I'll put him on for you." The blonde says and hand Sasuke the circular communication device.
Sasuke gives Naruto a dirty look. Now he had to say something. He looks into it and decides to try speaking. The biologist wasn't entirely sure how to use it correctly.
"Hello, Your Majesty?" Sasuke says.
Kushina looks curiously. Wow, humans really did look like Jinchuuriki. Well he was certainly handsome. Hmm quite the broad build for a scholar. He must have a decent warrior percentage in him as well. You didn't really get too many people with a relatively even mixture of warrior and scholar percentages.
"Oh well aren't you polite and absolutely adorable? I do hope the grand Hatchlings have your skin! So exotic!" She exclaims happily.
Sasuke rubs the back of his head sheepishly. He didn't even know how to respond to that. She liked his skin tone? That was just weird. Well she obviously meant it as a compliment. So he decided to try to go along with it.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Sasuke mumbles.
"Sasuke, do you want to go with me? You'd be safe back on the ship and we could visits Konoha afterwards." Naruto says excitedly.
The human didn't know how to respond to that. Naruto wanted to take him to another planet. Actually, the blonde wanted to take him to two different planets. On one of them, some sort of conflict was going on. That didn't sound particularly safe.
"Are you sure that it's a good idea? Your mother says that someone got attacked." Sasuke reminds him.
"Oh it was a trade mission. I doubt he was in a ship that was designed or battle. Besides, even they can't crack our warship shields." The prince continues on.
"W-Warship?!" Sasuke stammers and once again was reminded that Naruto wasn't actually human.
He was from an alien species. An alien species that had been around a lot longer than humans and had taken advantage of that fact. God only knows what a Jinchuurik warship was capable of.
"It's already tense. I'd probably give him artificial wings and talons, if you are going to take him. Oh and some makeup around his eyes would help. Hmm I recommend red around his eyes and maybe some dark blue wings. That would look so handsome on him." Kushina observes.
Sasuke couldn't believe it. An alien queen basically wanted to play dress up with him. He looks at Naruto incredulously.
"Yeah. Guess you're right. I really want you to come, Sasuke. But if you don't want to, you don't have to. I just don't know how long this will take and I'd really miss you." Naruto pleads with him and Sasuke noted that apparently his almost lover didn't have a problem with letting his mother play dress up with him.
"Let me talk to Itachi about this first." Sasuke says.
"Yeah. That's probably a good idea. I need to brief Gaara and Kisame anyway." The blonde agrees and Sasuke nods, heading off to find his brother.
Kushina tilts her head to the side. She wondered who Itachi was. She decides to ask Naruto.
"Naruto, who is Itachi? Is he the leader of that planet?" The Queen inquires.
"Oh no. He's Sasuke's older brother. He's also Gaara's Mate, but he doesn't know that yet. Keep it a secret. Gaara is waiting for the right time to tell him." Naruto beseeches her.
"Don't worry. My lips are sealed." Kushina replies.
Elsewhere on the island, Itachi was still in shock. Gaara thought that Itachi was his Mate. He knew that he should say SOMETHING, but the engineer was truly at a loss for words.
"Were you ever going to tell me?" He asks.
"Of course. I just was waiting for the right moment. I wasn't sure how you would react. You are more cautious than Sasuke. I didn't know if you would want me and I didn't want you to feel pressured into it." The red head admits.
Itachi tries to process that. It seemed that the white winged alien was a little bit more patient than his friend. That was good at least. It was one thing to eat lunch with Gaara or to have a conversation with him, it was another to agree to be his Mate!
"That's very considerate of you." He mumbles, not sure what else he should say about this strange situation.
"I try to be. I know it's difficult for you. From what I understand, humans don't really have an instinct in the way that we do. To me, it's the most natural thing in the world. To you, I imagine that it must seem to be a frightening prospect." The Kazekage says and gingerly reaches out to touch his Mate's cheek.
The engineer nods his head at that assessment. He could see that Gaara was reaching out to him. It appeared the other man was giving him time to reject the touch, if he so desired.
Itachi decides to allow it. It was a platonic touch. From what he gathered, it was likely that Gaara had been suppressing his Mating instincts for awhile now. He wasn't entirely certain what kind of psychical, let alone psychological effects that was having on the red head. He could humor him slightly.
"You're right. I'm going to need some time to think about this. Does it hurt you? Does it hurt not to claim me, as Naruto calls it?" He asks softly.
"It doesn't physically hurt, but the desire is there. A bit maddening really, if I am being honest. If you prefer it though, I am really not one to argue about positions. You could do the claiming, if it made you more comfortable." Gaara offers.
Itachi blinks. The alien was offering to let him top during sex. He wondered if Naruto had made the same offer to Sasuke or if Gaara was just more egalitarian in this fashion.
"Good to know." He mumbles.
"ITACHI! I need to talk to you. Oh um hi, Gaara. I guess you should hear this as well." Sasuke says as he races down the hall to them.
Gaara smacks his forehead. Damn it. Naruto's Mate had really lousy timing. Was everyone conspiring against him today? It was certainly starting to feel that way.
"Sasuke, what is it? What's wrong?" Itachi asks.
"It's a long story. But I guess one of Naruto's friends was attacked on another planet. The dominant species there thinks the Allied Forces are trying to colonize them. Naruto's mother wants him to go and talk to them. Naruto wants to take me with him. I think he'd take you as well, Itachi." Sasuke says.
Itachi looks at Sasuke as if he thought his brother had grown another head. He couldn't possibly be serious. Did he seriously expect them to go to an alien planet, where fighting was going on?
"Sasuke, if the species there thinks that it is being colonized, violence will break out." He warns him.
"Naruto, says we'll be safe on the warship." His brother replies.
The elder Uchiha didn't think that Naruto was lying. Still he didn't want to gamble with his only brother's safety either. Damn it.
"Our ships have the ultimate defense for shields. I designed the latest version myself." Gaara says proudly.
Oh good God, now Gaara was actually trying to encourage Sasuke. Wonderful. Now what was Itachi going to do? It was obviously three against one.
"Are you asking my permission to go?" Itachi inquires.
"Maybe a little. I don't want you to worry. I don't know if it's safe. But this is an amazing opportunity Itachi. We will be going where no human has ever gone before." Sasuke says, deciding to try a different approach.
"I can already tell that you have decided to go. Asking me is merely a formality. I will go with you. I'm not going to let you get yourself killed." Itachi states firmly.
Gaara watches the brothers with amusement. He was surprised that Itachi was giving his permission for Sasuke to go. Well he was sorta giving his permission anyway.
"I will go as well. I won't let anything happen to any of you." The Kazekage promises.
On the other side of the research facility, Kabuto calls Orochimaru. It would be good to vent. Surely, the scientist would understand how completely reckless both of the brothers were being. This was madness. Pure and simple.
"Kabuto, it is good to hear from you. Are you going to be returning soon?" Orochimaru asks.
"No, I'm afraid not. It's worse than I feared. Not only is Sasuke completely under Naruto's thrall, there's more bad news. There are two new aliens. One is like Naruto. The other is a species that I don't recognize. Tsunade says he's an Akatsuki. The second Jinchuuriki is now seducing Itachi." He mutters.
Orochimaru sighs. While he was concerned for the Uchiha brothers' safety, there was enormous scientific value in such relationships. There was so much that they could learn about alien species through interspecies relationships!
If Kabuto was thinking with his head, he could see that. Instead he was allowing his bruised ego to cloud his judgment. This wouldn't end well. The dark haired scientist could already see this. Orochimaru had to find a way to prevent a disaster.
"Kabuto, if such relationships are voluntary, there is very little you can do about them. No one enjoys being rejected, but it happens. It's time for you to move on. Besides, think of the enormous scientific value that is being provided by the aliens' interest in them." He reasons.
Kabuto couldn't believe it. Orochimaru was sanctioning this disgusting situation. Had he completely lost his mind? Did he not care about Sasuke and Itachi at all? What was wrong with him.
"That value is probably going to come at the cost of their life. This is about more than my ego. I could have lived with them becoming involved with someone else. I just assumed that someone else would be HUMAN." The silver haired man says in disgust.
"The heart wants what the heart wants. It's not always clear why. Kabuto, do me a favor. Please don't meddle in this. You don't want to start a war or something. Let it be. Come back to NASA. You have a good life here, don't throw that away." He pleads.
Kabuto twitches. He couldn't stand it. Even Orochimaru, his mentor, was on their side. Unbelievable. Those damn sneaky aliens had turned everyone against it. He had head enough.
"I'll talk to you later. Goodbye." Kabuto says and hangs up.
Orochimaru sighs. He was afraid that so somehow he had just made things worse. Honestly, he was just trying to reason with the other man. It looked like it had backfired in a speculator fashion.
"I have to warn them." He says to himself as he calls Itachi and Sasuke's cells.
All the scientists had each other's numbers. You never knew when you might need the other person's expertise. While Sasuke and Itachi had never really been particularly close to Orochimaru, they would at least return his calls. (At least he hoped they would.)
"This is Orochimaru. I need to talk to you as soon as possible. It's an emergency. Call me at any time." He says and hangs up, once he realized neither were currently answering their phone.
Elsewhere, Sasuke hugs Itachi tightly and bounds off to find Naruto. He couldn't wait to tell the blonde the good news. While he was still very nervous about going to another planet, he knew that the blue eyed alien was going to be overjoyed.
"Itachi is going to go with us. So is Gaara, but that's not surprising. He does think Itachi is his Mate after all." Sasuke observes.
"Really?! That's great! Oh and Gaara doesn't think Itachi is his Mate. He KNOWS that your brother is his Mate." Naruto says happily as he spins Sasuke around in his arms, joyously.
Sasuke smiles. The prince's happiness was contagious. It was impossible to feel anxious when someone was smiling at you in such a truly joyful way.
"Oh Naruto, one thing bugs me though. How did I understand your mother? She's never kissed a human." He asks.
"Oh that? The whole acquiring a language thing, is a two way street. You know as much of my language now, as I do. You've just never had a reason to use it because we have been speaking English as a courtesy." The prince informs him.
Sasuke blinks. That was incredible. He knew another language and didn't even realize it. Amazing.
"So don't worry about not being understood on Konoha. Your brain will say the words in our language, but it will understand them in English. Everyone will be able to understand what you are saying and the toads speak Jinchuuriki." He supplies helpfully.
"Great. Um about what your mother said. She mentioned something about artificial wings and talons?" Sasuke asks awkwardly.
"Yeah. It'd probably be easier just to make you look like a Jinchuuriki. Less explaining that way. You don't mind, do you?" His almost lover inquires anxiously.
Sasuke bites his lower lip. He didn't really know how to feel about that. Were they removable? What if he was stuck wearing fake talons and wings for the rest of his life?!
"Can they be taken on and off easily?" He asks.
"Yeah. Of course. It won't be anymore difficult than putting on and taking off a pair of shoes or a jacket. There's nothing to worry about. We wouldn't have the option for our Mates to wear them, if it was painful. That wouldn't make much sense." The blonde reasons.
"Good to know. You might wanna ask Itachi about this. If I have to play dress up, he probably should too." Sasuke says with a smirk.
The blue eyed alien laughs. Oh yeah. He couldn't wait to see Itachi's reaction to that. Maybe he should let Gaara handle that one. On second thought, that was definitely Gaara's job.
"Yeah. I'll have Gaara take care of that. Besides, we still gotta tell Kisame what's going on and let's go get you ready. Gotta make sure we get the right sized wings." He says and drags Sasuke off.
A few minutes later, Sasuke was highly confused. The blonde was dragging him out into the middle of the island. There wasn't anything around by tropical forest.
"Naruto?" He asks uncertainly.
"Ship is cloaked. Once you're inside, you can see it. Just follow me." He says and leads Sasuke inside.
Sasuke gasps once they were inside. This blew away every ship he'd seen on any science fiction movie. Damn. He knew that Itachi would be in Engineer Heaven, when he set one foot inside this place.
"I think you probably need a size large for wings. Do you have a preference for color? I think my mom's right really. Blue would look really good on you." The blonde suggests.
"There's options? Um not really, but what have you got?" Sasuke replies.
"We got everything really from standards to exotics." Naruto tells him.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. God only knows what Naruto's species considered exotic. He got the impression that it was probably like dying your hair to them and some people went crazy with it.
"Like rainbow, neon, shimmers, pink, orange, purple, and so on are all considered exotic." His Mate informs him.
"Yeah. I think I'll have a look at the blue." Sasuke mutters and Naruto nods.
He pulls out some truly massive feathers that had been attached to some sort of metal device that was shaped like wings. Sasuke couldn't tell the difference between the artificial wings and Naruto's at first.
Sasuke has Naruto put the wings on him and looks at himself in the mirror. He blinks. It was a dramatic change.
"How do I move them?" Sasuke asks.
"They will respond to your will. The mechanics are wired to pick up on your electrical impulses that your brain gives off and respond accordingly." He tells him.
"Oh." Sasuke says and he flexes his wings, smiling when they move how he wanted to.
"Mom was right. They do look handsome on you. Let's get you some talons and makeup." Naruto says.
"You are enjoying this, aren't you?" Sasuke asks.
"Maybe a little." Naruto admits with a smile as he shows Sasuke how to put the artificial talons on.