We are coming close to the end of this tale and I want to thank, once again, everyone who has spent the time to write a review. This story, originally a bit of post exam madness, nears its completion because of your support and enthusiasm. I especially want to thank Stormingnight, without whom this story would have certainly been merely one of those odd singular chapters that never goes anywhere. I also want to thank Darkhellia, Greenaceofspades, Graybear and Wolftracks17 for their thoughtful and, often, extremely helpful reviews. To Fireflyleo, I am so glad you are enjoying and I hope the threesome bit is still believable, if not canon. I really hate love triangles and the drama between these three was just too juicy to resist. As this story will likely come to its conclusion in the next couple chapters, I would like to ask a question of everyone: Should I write a sequel or, perhaps a companion story in the same universe? I have some very interesting ideas about a sequel involving more focus on the political complications introduced in "Peace for Monsters", a clan war with the Hyuuga and a focus on Neji and his issues. However, Gaara and his whole situation does also beg rather desperately to be explored and I have ideas for that tale as well. Gaara's story would likely involve a lot less canon and more original world creation along with quite a few original characters, but I think that might make it even more intriguing. Please let me know your thoughts on this and, as always, enjoy!
Sakura gathered herself, moved into a lower stance, feeling the power flood through her body. The singing joy that Naruto had brought to her flesh when they made love returned as she moved, flexed and struck the practice field. The turf exploded, literally shattering under the force of her attack, raining dust down onto her opponent. Neji tried to counter, moving to avoid the calamity Sakura had wrought on the Earth beneath them. With barely a flick of her wrist, the girl surrounded him with the very turf of the field, forcing it into vast jagged peaks around the struggling Hyuuga. The movement of the chakra was smooth, nearly effortless as the field bucked and rolled beneath Neji. He spun, trying to dodge both the flying clods of dirt and the girl's deftly moving fists. Neji parried brilliantly, his hands too fast to see, face totally composed. The Hyuuga's byakugan was fully active, stretching the flesh surrounding his eyes, seeing Sakura move before she ever even twitched. He blocked her easily, again and again, but her attack was relentless. She struck at him, kicking, twirling, fighting him with every fiber of her body. He caught her foot and used the momentum to slam her against the ground. Sakura rolled as she hit, avoiding his next attack by millimeters. The girl flipped back over her hands, retreating, as he moved into a deeper stance. Neji's posture changed, growing still, too still...
Sakura knew he was preparing for the Gentle Fist, she saw it in every line of his body, in the very way he was breathing. If he touched her, even once, he could defeat her. Sakura smiled. She could fight him without ever being close enough to touch. Taking a deep breathe, she concentrated the chakra in her belly, letting the energy grow hot and volatile. Neji waited, his cold face impassive and Sakura wondered if he had any real motivation in the match at all other than merely gathering information. For a moment, Sakura hesitated. Sasuke had worked with her, but the technique was still incredibly difficult. The self-doubt crept around her, close like a poisonous vapor, but she pushed it aside. Spitting fire had been her obsession since she was a child, even though fire was a difficult element for her to use. Perhaps, she had hoped that mastering the difficult technique, one of the Uchiha's favorite techniques, would gain her some of Sasuke's respect.
Fire was, in its most fundamental form, a violent and unwieldy force, easily turned back upon any that would wield it. However, the Kyuubi was, at its core, a creature of fire and the demon's strength was now as much a part of her energy as her own soul. She could control the flames now, mold them to her will. As she pressed the energy tighter, letting it ignite in her body, Sakura wondered why she had ever been so afraid of fire jutsu. Something about the fire element, once so wild and terrifying, now felt almost...familiar. Sakura was no longer afraid, not of anything, and her skills had improved drastically. Sasuke had rather tartly attributed the change to her increased power, everything was power to him, but she knew that the source of her new strength came from a deeper place. After being filled with Naruto's being, after facing death and turning the darkness aside, she felt invincible. There was no doubt of her strength, she had fought for her mates and won. The primal satisfaction of that simple truth filled her belly with a calm warmth even as the fire roared and struggled to escape her hold upon it. Sakura was loved by the two most powerful ninja in all of Konoha. She had survived her mating to a jinchuuriki, shared his chakra, faced Sasuke's demons and her own. Sakura felt that she could do anything and perhaps that was all she had ever needed.
Sakura spat the flames, the fire roaring from her body like a river from a breached dam. Her focus was perfect and the fire leapt to obey her will. Sakura was careful to control the chakra as it left her, the flames rushing past the delicate membranes of her lips without burning. She directed the inferno into a tight column, hotter than a laser, straight into Neji's face. The Hyuuga grunted and sprang aside. Sakura moved her will into the flames, spreading the fire into a burning sheet all around Neji, surrounding her opponent in a net of flames. Neji's eyes widened with shock. Not keen to waste the advantage, Sakura dashed forward, unafraid of the scorching heat. The scalding energy brushed her, but the flames were turned aside by the powerful waves of chakra rolling from her body. Neji tried to block, but the dancing fire was distracting the Byakugan, using chakra faster than he could stand to give it. He easily caught Sakura's fist, but her knee connected sharply with his guts. The Hyuuga grunted, doubling over her thigh. Sakura brought her elbow down hard on the back of his head.
There was a sickening crack and Neji began thrashing madly, movement uncoordinated. She had disrupted his vision. It was a friendly match and she had no desire to kill him, but she had been a medical nin and a skilled surgeon long enough to know just where in the visual cortex the nerves supplying the Byakugan lay. She struck him again and Neji screamed, his vision flashing dark. Ruthlessly, Sakura pinned the Hyuuga genius to the ground, wrenching his arms up behind his back. She leaned her weight against him, pressing his face hard into the ruined soil.
"Do you surrender?" She asked calmly.
Neji was silent. She jerked, thrusting against his shoulders and it was a credit to the Hyuuga ninja that he remained silent as his shoulders were painfully strained. He struggled against her, but Sakura was too strong. The girl tightened her hold and struck him hard across his shoulders. Neji twitched, but still said nothing.
"Neji! Give for Kami's sake!" She snarled. The proud Hyuuga trembled beneath her.
"I..." The Hyuuga began and then stopped.
"I can choke you out if I have to. You were the one who wanted this match, now give!" Sakura whispered harshly against his ear. Neji seemed to deflate.
"I..I...surrender." Neji spoke the words as if he barely believed them.
"Oh dear! How awful, cousin! You lost and Father will surely want to know." Hanabi smirked cruelly from her sister's side where the Hyuuga girls watched the match.
"Hanabi..." Hinata chastised softly, her soft voice heavy with shame. Hanabi dropped her eyes.
"But Sister! He lost the match and against Haruno too! He lost!" The younger girl hissed.
"Yes." Hinata said softly, her eyes filled with pity for her cousin.
Neji hung his head in shame.
OoOoOoO
"I can't tell if it is hubris or just pure stupidity. The damn Oni has already claimed the girl! His power grows as we speak! Dammit! What the hell are you waiting for!" Hiashi Hyuuga railed at the sullen shadow sitting in the damp alcove of the Valley of the End.
"Patience, Hyuuga. True, I had expected my opportunity to come earlier, but events favor us either way." Madara yawned, sounding bored.
"Opportunity! You have had EVERY opportunity!" Hiashi shouted.
Another starless night and another distasteful meeting with the immortal wretch, apparently for nothing. Weeks had passed and still Naruto lived. Lived and prospered. The newly forming Uzumaki family relaxed even as the season's changed, totally unafraid, a shameful foreign blight on Konoha. Madara should have wiped them out weeks ago, before the demon brat became bold enough to begin his claiming. Naruto had certainly afforded the madman enough bloody time, but apparently Madara's insanity was equaled only by the man's laziness. Now Sakura shared the demon's chakra, her power a hundred fold what it had been before. Sasuke could, even now, be buckling beneath the blonde oni as well, adding his strength to the illegitimate little upstart's pack. He would certainly be none the wiser, Hiashi thought bitterly. The Hyuuga leader had no way to know what occurred on in the Uzumaki household since Naruto's wards were totally impenetrable. Even a tiny ant summons could not find a chink in the vast energy barrier that the jinchuuriki had erected around the old Uchiha manor. The lack of intelligence make Hiashi nervous and with good reason. The ability to place spies was essential, knowledge was power and Naruto had effectively blinded him. The Hyuuga would never have even known that the girl was claimed if Neji hadn't lost rather spectacularly to her during a sparring match earlier that week. Neji, his Neji, the chilly and unstoppable token of his twin's loyalty, had LOST and to the common Haruno bitch no less. The whole situation was swiftly growing intolerable. Naruto even had the gall to parade his whores around in public! The thought made Hiashi grind his teeth.
"You worry for nothing. I fully intended for him to claim both the girl and my pretty weapon and so, you see, I wait only upon his lust. Let Minato's brat claim whoever he wants, doing so only suites my purpose." Madara Uchiha chuckled darkly. Hiashi's stomach turned over at the sound.
"What! You intended all along to let him build the pack! Do you WANT him to become stronger? That is the very thing I sought to avoid!" Hiashi spat, incredulous.
"Be calm. The pack is meaningless..."
"Meaningless! You have betrayed me!" Hiashi shouted.
"You misunderstand. Try not to be too damn simple Hiashi! Your accusations try my patience." Madara hissed.
"If I misunderstand it is merely because your logic is too convoluted. Damn you! How does this serve your purpose, other than to anger me!" Hiashi fumed.
"Listen, your little Oni clan is nothing more than a serpent. A strong little beasty, true, but easily defeated if you know how to go about it." Madara said.
"Oh? And just how would you accomplish the task, I wonder." Hiashi spat testily.
"Like any snake, you focus on the head. If you capture the head, the body can only flop uselessly against you. Catch the head and the serpent is helpless. Let its body grow strong, it makes no difference, only the head of the beast matters in the end."
"Naruto." Hiashi guessed.
"Yes. He is the head. And my weapon will become a chink in his armor the moment Sasuke is claimed." Madara whispered gleefully.
"So...you wait for him to claim Sasuke? Why not attack now and save your little murderer the indignity?"
"The sharing of chakra is difficult, dangerous, for both parties. However, while the recipient of the energy recovers quickly, the donor does not. Until his body re-balances and the demon energy can be fully harnessed, Naruto must sustain the thrall over his pack from his own chakra reserves. Vast as his chakra is, Naruto will soon be at his most vulnerable. Just as female jinchuuriki are most compromised during childbirth, males are weakest during their first claiming. While the body grows in strength, the head becomes weak, vulnerable. The claiming weakens him, taking the girl nearly killed him! With each subordinate he claims, Naruto only becomes weaker still. The more of males that he claims, the weaker he will be. If you are so impatient, you should offer him a few more pretty boys instead of nagging me!" Madara yelled, laughing rudely.
"If he nearly died taking Haruno, why would Uzumaki be in any rush to have Sasuke?" Hiashi asked, unconvinced.
"You don't know very much about Jinchuuriki do you? They aren't people. One must not approach them as people or risk being confounded. They are monsters, beasts, and must abide by certain rules as all animals do. Their strength is vast, but they are helpless against the laws of nature by which they are governed." Madara explained, as if to a very young or very stupid child.
"What the hell are you babbling about now?" Hiashi growled, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Look, even if you are very hungry you can refuse to eat. Right? If your body's urges are at odds with logic, you merely resist nature's pull. Is it not so?" Madara asked, mildly exasperated.
"Of course..."
"Well, the Jinchuuriki cannot resist their urges. Perhaps something simple, like hunger, but not the urge to mate. You see, in this they become perfectly predictable because a jinchuuriki will mate and take subordinates, despite the risk. The fact that he waited so damn long is an unforeseen boon since now the act makes him even weaker than it would have before!" Madara explained.
"I...I still do not understand." Hiashi admitted.
"Like I said, you don't understand because you don't know much about jinchuuriki. Once he has tasted the pleasures of the flesh, the brat won't be able to resist. How he resisted the heat for so long is a mystery, but he won't stop now. A day, maybe two and he will claim again and then I will take him. The Kyuubi will be mine once again!" Madara said cheerfully.
"Obviously Sasuke's rape doesn't disturb you. You've practically thrown him into Naruto's bed." Hiashi snapped quietly, disgusted.
"Not in the least. Sasuke belongs to me." Madara shrugged.
"Why offer your only kinsmen up to the demon's lust anyway? Not that I would put it past you, but I don't see the purpose. I thought you would be angry to have your precious weapon become the bitch of your greatest enemy's whelp." Hiashi nettled.
"Ignorant fool! Watch your tongue!" Madara snarled.
"Oh, so Sasuke is not merely a sacrifice then?" Hiashi smirked.
"You are a small minded idiot. By bedding my Sasuke, the kitsune only fuels my weapon's hate and hate makes him more powerful. Pain, anger, humiliation...these are what always make the Uchiha clan unstoppable. I cannot deny Sasuke the pain, doing so would only make him weaker. His brother was the same way. Itachi blossomed in the forge after the massacre, the agony making him more than a man. A god of vengeance! Sasuke, too, will be unstoppable, and without Itachi's mental weakness. Like forging a beautiful sword, the metal must be tempered, heated...pounded." Madara explained with an obscene hand gesture. Hiashi shuddered.
"You are insane."
"Perhaps, but hasn't Neji grown strong from the pain you have forced upon him? Imagine if you doubled his suffering, would his strength not also increase in turn?" Madara said, cocking his head.
"I have told you before, my nephew is not merely a weapon." Hiashi growled.
"So you say. A weapon is only as good as the hand that forges it."
"Well, if Sasuke dies in Naruto's bed then we will know whose forge is stronger, won't we?" Hiashi hissed. Madara crossed his arms.
"Yes." The Uchiha agreed, tightly.
"So we wait." The Hyuuga sighed.
"Yes, but not for long." Madara replied, his voice low and eager.
OoOoOoO
"Old Lady, I was thinking..." Naruto began.
He stood before Tsunade like a guilty child caught reading comics during lessons. The Hokage smiled a little as Naruto shifted his weight from foot to foot, obviously trying to find the right words. She could have saved him the trouble, she already knew what he was going to say. It was the same thing that almost all jinchuuriki asked after their first time: Isn't there another way? True, some of the vessels simply didn't care who suffered, but thank the gods they were rare. Tsunade could see the struggle in his face, in the fatigued lines of his body. Nature was a cruel thing.
"It's about Sasuke. I was wondering if..." The jinchuuriki started.
"No, Naruto."
"You haven't even heard what I was going to say!" The blond whined.
"You were going to ask if there was some other way that I would excuse his crimes. You were going to tell me how Sakura nearly died in your arms and how you just can't stand to ever claim again. The heat is all over you and so you were probably also going to ask for permission to go away for a while...how am I doing?" Tsunade asked gently. His lips tightened.
"How...How do you know...?" Naruto asked, looking slightly creeped out.
"You aren't the first jinchuuriki to ever take a mate. I have seen this reaction before. That, and you are incredibly easy to read." The Gondaime Hokage replied teasingly.
"Am not!"
"Naruto..." Tsunade whispered gently.
"Please Old Lady! Please! I don't want to lose him...not like that." Naruto pleaded.
"Naruto, I'm sorry, but the truth is that if Sasuke dies in your bed, it will only save me the trouble of executing him. If he lives, secure in your thrall, then, I suppose that that is also an acceptable alternative. Either way, I cannot simply let him go." Tsunade said softly.
"I know that, but what if..." Naruto pushed.
"No. I accepted your solution because it was a feasible alternative to his death that still preserves the Uchiha blood line, but that is as far as I am willing to compromise. I have already moved beyond the true realm of my influence in this and I have no more room to maneuver. If I were to try, which I won't, the council will get involved and Sasuke will die anyway." Tsunade said with an irritated wave of her hand.
Naruto looked at the ground, his hands shaking slightly. He looked awful, but she supposed that that was expected considering how long he had resisted the heat. How he had ever managed to hold it off for so long was a mystery to the her, but Tsunade ached to see him so weak, so afraid.
"Gaara said only the weak were at risk...that the demons wanted strong nin on purpose, but..." He whispered.
"But?" Tsunade urged gently.
"But Sakura is the strongest person I know and...she...she was dead..." Naruto choked.
"I am sure that it was not as serious as you thought." Tsunade laughed gently.
"She DIED! She wasn't BREATHING! Her heart...her heart..." Naruto roared, hands splayed upon the Hokage's desk. Tsunade sighed softly and put down her cup of sake.
"Naruto, now listen to me."
"NO! You don't understand!" He shouted, his eyes filling with tears.
"Uzumaki! Get a grip on yourself! Now, dammit!" She growled.
"H...Hai..." he sobbed.
The fat teardrops fell to her desk as the young man before her deflated, leaning on his hands with quivering, unsteady arms. Tsunade was immediately sorry for her tone as Naruto's bravado broke and he began to cry in earnest. She had seen the rough little orphan shed a tear or two once in a while, but now he was crying like he didn't know how to stop. She took a deep breath.
"The claiming is never simple, never easy, never predictable...at least from what I know. What I DO know is that as bad as it seemed, Sakura was never far from you. I knew she would use all her strength, all her will, to stay with you because she loves you. I was never afraid for her. Love, that is what makes real strength. Her heart might have faltered, but her love never did and so she returned to you. There is more to the body than anatomy and more to the heart than raw desire. Sasuke, too, will be safe if his love is strong. Sasuke is not afraid of death." Tsunade said as she stood and let her hand fall onto Naruto's heaving shoulder.
"I know Sasuke isn't afraid of death, but that isn't the problem! He loves death, worships it! THAT is what worries me." Naruto whispered, rubbing his eyes.
"His decision to live or die is not one that you can make for him. Sasuke has been chasing his own demise for a long time." Tsunade said softly, her tone kind.
"H...He thinks that by dying he will make it all right somehow! Kami! For a genius he is so...so...stupid!" Naruto hissed through ground teeth.
"Naruto...I have thought for a long time that if Sasuke is determined to leave us, well...that he may do it by your hand. You are one of the very few people strong enough to be any match for him. As for death, if he finds it in your bed...send him into the darkness with love. That is all you can do." Tsunade said with a sigh.
"I...I'm really tired." Naruto groaned, his eyes wet and red.
"I know. I know. Hang in there kid, it will be over soon." The Hokage soothed.
OoOoOoO
"Mother, forgive me. It has been...it has been many years since I spoke to you." Sasuke began quietly.
He knelt in the small Uchiha family shrine, far away from the main house, surrounded by the solitude of the forest. Sakura had hung wind chimes here too and they tinkled softly in the coming darkness. The scent of fresh, green tatami mixing with temple incense was rich and nostalgic, but Sasuke kept his composure. The candles cast a dim, solemn light over the glittering gold characters of the Uchiha clan's many ancestors. It was so close, all so familiar, reminding him of the terrible day he had visited the temple as a child by Kakashi's side after the massacre. The funeral had been solemn, the rows of coffins carried to the graveyard in a winding parade like they did after great battles. There had been too many coffins to carry all at once and so the parade was more like a giant loop around the Uchiha compound. No one had spoken. No one knew what to say. No one told Sasuke what to do, so he simply followed the coffins until everyone had been laid down, walking in circles hour after hour. Itachi had not spared any of the other children or the elderly and the coffins had been made in every size. He watched and walked and cried, but once the graveyard was full, there was nothing left to do and he went to the shrine.
His mother had always said that the shrine was for talking to the dead, but she had never mentioned that the dead never talked back. He had felt so lied to. So betrayed. How could she have said those things to him and now, when he really needed to hear her, give nothing but silence? Sasuke had been too young to really understand. He had read all the plaques, the names of everyone he knew, all gone. Sasuke had called to his mother, his father...but no one had answered. He had been left behind.
Kakashi found him there, many hours later, and took him away. Sasuke had not returned since that day, until now. Nothing had changed. The windows were still high and old, the light of the sunset painting the shrine purple and orange. Naruto had polished all of the family plaques and left fresh flowers too. White lilies. His mother had loved those, but he had never told Naruto that. The flowers must have been on sale in the market today, Naruto loved bargains. Regardless it was fitting.
"I have done all I can. I have given everything to avenge you. I have killed all who slighted you and many others too. I would kill anyone, everyone, just to bring you back! I...I just don't know when it will be enough. I don't know when there will be enough blood to pay for how you died. I don't know if there are enough people left to kill, ever, to fill up the hole you left. I kill, again and again, but I still feel the pain. The numbness never lasts." Sasuke said. He sighed.
Talking to a stone with a name on it was stupid, but he felt so lost. Kakashi and his damn words had made too much sense, had forced him to put logic onto a situation that he had only ever viewed emotionally. Sasuke had made his hatred his only ally and perhaps it had betrayed him too.
"My choices have been taken away and...maybe...I don't know...maybe being a slave is better. Maybe it is better this way. That or death, I suppose." Sasuke blushed in shame, "I have been a slave anyway, ever since you left me. I have obeyed Itachi without thought and let my anger consume me. I obeyed my brother's every command, your murderer, because it was easier. He told me to kill him and I did. He told me to make war and I did. I wanted everyone to hurt as I do, but death does not make it better.
Is it supposed to be better? Is pain merely the goal? If I had chosen to kill Sakura, I don't think I could have gone on. When I saw her. Cold and dead. I was not happy. I should have been happy that she was gone, that I had been saved the trouble of killing her, but...I...it was just the same. I felt the same agony. I felt the same pain as I had when you died. Her death did not make me stronger, I felt weak, helpless..."
"Is Kakashi right? What will I do when there is no one left? If I killed Naruto and Sakura, would anything be different? Would it make it better?" The question was spoken softly as if in fear of reproach.
"Is that what you really want? Do you want me to kill them?" Sasuke whispered. Only silence answered him.
"I love you, only you and my clan. I did not want to love anyone else, but I betrayed you. I gave in, somehow, and now I love others too. I tried not to...but I failed." He took a breath. "I am weak, just as father always said. I love them. Tonight, if I go to join you, please forgive me. If I die, if Naruto kills me, please let me come home?" Sasuke pleaded into the silence.
OoOoOoO
There was something solemn about it, Sakura thought. Something quiet and serious and almost worshipful about the way Naruto pulled the kimono from Sasuke's shoulders. The white garment fell away baring skin nearly as pale as Naruto pushed Sasuke against the wall. The Uchiha did nothing to resist him, allowing himself to be pressed, captured. Sakura ran her fingers over the porcelain ridges of Sasuke's clavicles, the flesh already warm from Naruto's touch. His skin was smooth, decorated with tiny scars too pale to really see. Sakura could feel the evidence of Sasuke's violent life beneath the pads of her fingers and the texture of him excited her. He was strong, powerful, and he would soon belong to her just as surely as Naruto did. The animal satisfaction of possessing the man who had always been out of reach made her breath come quickly.
Naruto kissed the flesh, devouring the pale column of the Uchiha's neck, his hands stroking the firm planes of Sasuke's chest. The raven haired ninja bent into the caress, giving in to Naruto's greater strength, moaning quietly at the touch. Seeing the submission in his body made Sakura want him even more and she knew that the behavior was eroding Naruto's control as well. Naruto captured Sasuke's wrist, holding him roughly against the wall, rumbling softly against his throat. The primal sound sent a shiver down her spine and through the Uchiha as well. Sasuke trembled in Naruto's grasp as the jinchuuriki undressed him. Soon there was nothing between Naruto's flesh and the porcelain perfection of Sasuke's body. He was lovely. He had practically been bred to be and even knowing that, the Uchiha's beauty still took Sakura's breath away. They were like the sun and the moon, Naruto and Sasuke. One hot and golden, shining with effortless passion, while the other was cool, distant and powerful.
Naruto's wild, foreign beauty was breathtaking against the cultured elegance of Sasuke's form. They moved against each other, snarling at the sensation, mouths open to better taste one another's scent. Sakura let her mouth play over Naruto's shoulders, tasting the coiled tension in his muscles. The desire rolled off of the vessel in waves, the need in it making Sakura dizzy with want. The demon chakra tingled inside her as the girl reached around Naruto's waist to grasp the jinchuuriki's erection. The flesh was hard, hot and throbbing in her hands. Sakura stroked him, shivering at the satin texture of the intimate skin as Naruto shuddered beneath her fingers. Groaning helplessly as she touched him, Naruto moved his clawed fingers over the pale curves of Sasuke's hips. The raven haired ninja's eyes were huge and filled with heat as the jinchuuriki gripped his chin, forcing Sasuke's mouth against his own in a rough kiss. His tongue swept deeply into Sasuke's mouth and Sakura knew how strong the agile muscle could be. Even though the dance was hidden from her eyes, she already knew how the kiss would end. Naruto would stroke him, lap at his tongue and dominate him until Sasuke gave in. Even now Sasuke was whimpering and soon the Uchiha would soften his lips and suck Naruto's tongue, yielding to him fully. She knew because she too surrendered to Naruto's kisses. It was a part of the private ritual that had come to be part of their love play. Her men always kissed that way, testing eachother's resolve. There would be a fragile moment of near violence and then Sasuke would give in. He would surrender and not because he had been beaten, but because the only thing Sasuke truly respected was power and Naruto's kiss had enough strength in it to satisfy him.
The jinchuuriki bent to taste Sasuke's nipples, lapping and nipping at the tender peaks until they were firm and flushed. Sakura pumped her hands over Naruto's body, feeling her own flesh thrum with arousal as he gasped. They moved together in a shivering kind of synchrony, touching, stroking and licking until Sasuke was flushed and Naruto's teeth were long and deadly. Naruto dropped to his knees and took Sasuke's hardened penis into his mouth, the razor fangs caressing the heated flesh as Sakura moved to take the Uchiha's mouth. He tasted fresh and pure, like snow or water from the very highest mountain spring. Sasuke gasped brokenly against her lips and Sakura knew that Naruto was pushing his tongue into the tender slit of the man's shaft. She had taught him that. There was a roughness to the gesture strangely tempered by the position of the lovers. Even though Naruto was on his knees, there was no doubt as to who was in control. The Uchiha's breath was coming hard and fast, his chest heaving. Naruto lapped at him and the ebony curtains of his lashes closed over his eyes. He fought it. Why he fought, Sakura had no idea, but he did. Sasuke warred with the reactions of his own body, as if he could keep himself distant from them, from life itself.
"Too much...too close..." He whispered shakily against her mouth.
"Shhhh, let it happen." Sakura whispered in return, running her fingers through his hair.
"But..."
"It's good. It will help you relax." Sakura crooned, nibbling his jaw.
"Relax...?" He murmured.
Her other hand was tangled in Naruto's sunshine mane, moving with him as he sucked. Sasuke was trembling, his now free hands cupping Sakura's breasts with passion and trepidation in equal measure. The contact was glorious. She pressed herself against him, the silken texture of his flesh electrifying against her own. He grunted and struggled a little against the dual arousal, but Naruto's hands on his hips were firm. Sakura held his jaw as she kissed him, soothing the wild passions roiling in his eyes. She wanted him to know that it was okay to be afraid, okay to feel whatever it was he needed to feel. Sakura wanted him to trust her but more than anything, she wanted him to know that he was loved. Sasuke turned away from her, hiding his dark eyes behind the curtain of his hair, but it was too late. She had seen it, the emotion hidden in those obsidian depths now unveiled in a moment of passion. She had seen the uncertain want, the tender hope and the icy guilt. All of it. She did not understand it, but Sakura had never needed to. Despite what Sasuke was thinking, despite what madness his brother had forced onto him, she loved him. If that made her weak and foolish in his eyes, so be it.
He bit his lip, fighting the moan threatening to escape as Naruto loved him. Sasuke was on the edge, his control shattering, the war of it written in his eyes. He was shaking. Sakura responded by brushing her lips over the tender place behind his left ear, licking the skin there softly. The captive air was released with a harsh cry. He stiffened and with an almost agonized noise of surrender, came hard into Naruto's mouth. The jinchuuriki rumbled, the sound heavy with approval and satisfaction.
Sasuke collapsed, his body limp and quivering in Sakura's arms. Once he would have been heavy, once she would have struggled to hold him, but now the Uchiha was barely a burden at all. Naruto stood and kissed him, his blue eyes nearly purple as the demon chakra began to bleed into his own. Sasuke returned the kiss, letting his hands rest on Naruto's jaw. They kissed a long time and it was both rough and gentle in turns. Naruto finally pulled back, resting his forehead against Sasuke's, looking him in the eyes.
"Tell me to stop." Naruto whispered.
"You know you can't." Sasuke replied just as quietly.
"I will..."
"It would hurt you to try. You can't stop."
"I don't want to hurt you..." Naruto pleaded.
"Idiot. Like you ever could." Sasuke hissed, but there was no disdain in his tone. There was nothing in it. The words were, for once, only words and that made Sakura afraid. Sasuke's proclamations had never been so empty before.
"Stay, Sasuke. Stay with me." Naruto growled and pulled him onto the bed.
OoOoOoO
Sasuke moaned helplessly and undulated against Naruto again, the slick glide of their erections coaxing a cry from the blond as well. Sasuke's mind had forgotten how to be ashamed, how to fight the feelings that Naruto's hands and mouth and smile pulled from him. His usually exacting brain was a warm blank, filled only with pleasure and the glittering beauty if Sakura's hair and nothing else. Here he sat, straddling Naruto's hips like a common whore, and feeling nothing but ecstasy for it. The act was wholly wanton, as brazen and shameless as anything he had ever done, but they made it feel so good. Even as the demon beneath him fought for control, Sasuke knew he himself had lost it long ago, knew that he couldn't stop.
Sakura knelt over Naruto's legs behind him, kissing his shoulders and running her clever fingers over the spot behind his ear. He sat couched against the ethereal softness of her body, firmly trapped in the new found strength of her arms. Naruto held Sasuke's hips against his own, his large hand encircling both of their straining organs in a heated embrace. They moved together, the rhythm slow and maddening, as Naruto smeared the warm pre-cum over their aching bodies. Sasuke was fully at the mercy of it, trapped between the demon and his mate, moaning and writhing for them as they played his body like a well tuned instrument. Sakura bit his shoulder and the incandescent moment blazed fully into an inferno that threatened to consume him. Naruto stilled beneath him and some silent communication passed between the jinchuuriki and the rose haired nymph behind him. Sasuke would have puzzled on it and perhaps felt suspicious, but then Naruto was pulling him down over his chest.
The hand upon his neck was possessive, the claws long and wicked against his vulnerable pulse, but Sasuke was not afraid. He looked into Naruto's eyes, their fuchsia depths evidence of the struggle the blond still fought to remain in control. The strain was etched into his face, his lips pulled back from the sharpened teeth in an expression that was almost a grimace. Naruto held Sasuke down against him, kissing him roughly and the razor edge of one tooth nicked Sasuke's lip. Unperturbed, Naruto licked the tiny bead of blood away and continued his ravishment of Sasuke's mouth. The kiss was so consuming, so complete and sharpened by the tiny pain that Sasuke lost himself in it. For the second time that night, he did not merely endure the touch, but kissed Naruto like a lover.
He was so lost, so warm and aroused that at first Sasuke's fevered brain did not register the hands against his ass. The girl was rubbing him, massaging the muscles there. Sakura spread him, fully exposing the most intimate part of his body before the raven haired ninja ever reacted. He struggled against Naruto then, but the jinchuuriki's powerful right hand was like steel against his neck and Sasuke's wrist was pinned in the other. Sakura kissed his lower back soothingly as she moved her hands over him and then...
Sasuke yelped and thrashed. He wasn't an idiot, he had known all along that this was the only possible conclusion this psychotic adventure could have, but her fingers...she was...it was too intimate. Sasuke panted, quivering in near panic in the iron cage of Naruto's arms as Sakura rubbed her oil slicked fingers over the tender skin of the tiny opening. A strained whimper crept past his lips as a deep quiver settled into Sasuke's flesh. Undaunted by his reaction, the girl rubbed him, coating the tight flesh liberally with oil, massaging the intimate opening with warm fingers. It felt strangely pleasurable, hot and very, very stimulating in a way he had never experienced. Sasuke had no idea how he could feel so much there, no one had ever touched him there before. Even the ridges of her finger pads were rough against his flesh as she rubbed the sensitive opening. A whispered moan escaped his lips as his body slowly began to adjust to the close contact and the strange pleasure vibrated through his body. Her movements became a little deeper, more insistent and there was more oil. She rubbed the virgin flesh, stroking his body into grudging acceptance of her fingers until Sasuke's reality narrowed to only the sensation of her touch. He tried to breathe, to think, but there was only the soft press of her fingers and his own body opening to the touch. Sex, even after the weeks of frustrated foreplay, had only been an idea, a theory and now Sakura's hands were there...against him. The pad of her finger slipped in and he bucked hard against Naruto's hold. God, she was inside him!
"S...S...Shit!" He gasped.
"It's ok. She knows what to do." Naruto purred heavily against his neck, lapping his throat in a strange display of animal affection.
Her finger remained within him, still and foreign inside the trembling ring of virgin muscle. Sasuke had never felt so vulnerable, so open, but his body was still loose from the previous release and did not reject her. Her finger, just a single digit, felt huge within him. Sasuke could feel his tense flesh stretching and aching around the invasion. She pushed, slow and deep, rubbing as she prepared him. Sasuke gasped and struggled, but Naruto's hands on his neck and wrist were firm and unmoving. Sakura never halted, moving in a firm circle, stretching the tight opening and rubbing as she went. There was pain, sharp like hot water on raw skin, but the penetration was stimulating too. It was not a feeling that he could block out or ignore. Naruto writhed beneath him, kissing his neck hungrily, trying to distract him from the intimate ache. The Uchiha grit his teeth and tried to relax, tried not to think.
After a while, the slight pain gave way and only thrumming pleasure remained. Sakura moved inside him with with confidence now, stroking his inner walls, thrusting in and out. Her hadn was sensual and methodical, coaxing little sparks of ecstasy from the tender flesh. He shuddered as her finger brushed something electric deep inside his body and he moaned against Naruto's throat. With the easy competence of someone who knew anatomy very, very well, Sakura found his prostate and pressed. White hot ecstasy exploded at the base of Sasuke's spine, sending scalding waves of pleasure ricocheting through his body. He cried out, arching against her hand in pure carnal reflex. Naruto purred in approval, the sound making his teeth chatter as the blood turned to erotic fire in his veins. He shouted in rapture only to have the sound swallowed by Naruto's kisses.
Sakura pumped him, rubbing his prostrate until Sasuke was nearly on the edge of orgasm from the stimulation alone. He moaned, thrashed against Naruto's hard body, all thoughts of dignity and vulnerability fully washed from his mind by the heady pleasure. He was moving his hips against her hand and could not seem to stop. Sakura gasped, her thumb moving to lower stroke against the heated skin of his scrotum and Sasuke practically screamed. She added another finger and the pain returned, hot and abrasive. He cried out, but the sound turned into a nearly agonized moan as Sakura's clever fingers found the tingling bundle of nerves again…and again, and again, and again. Naruto was undulating beneath him, his eyes fully scarlet now and his teeth sharp and rough against Sasuke's skin. A deep snarl of heavy desire and shattering control and the Jinchuuriki's claws were against his cheek, the other hand tangled painfully in his hair.
Vaguely Sasuke realized that Naruto had succumbed to instinct, that there was no going back. Had there ever been a possibility of going back? The finality of Naruto's claws sinking into his hip should have been a call to combat, a trigger to fight, but Sasuke's fevered brain barely even registered the pain. He moaned and the sound was strange in his own ears, breathy and almost desperate. A third finger and a gasp of indrawn breathe. Push and pull. Ebb and flow. A deep sense of urgency from both the feral creature beneath him and the kunoichi at his back. Time was short. Too much sensation for him to fully comprehend. Sasuke fought to maintain some form of control, his psyche a hot blank, his body a glorious cacophony of pleasure and pain.
There was movement, too fast to be human and his chest hit the bed with a dull thump. Naruto was covering him, one hand on the nape of Sasuke's neck and the other clutching his hip. His burning lungs fought to regain their air. The deep instinctual fear an animal of prey feels in the shadow of its predator and then Naruto's teeth were sinking deep into the juncture of his neck and shoulder. Sasuke grunted, the pain bringing a sort of fractured clarity to his fevered thoughts. He had a breath, maybe, two, and then he felt the heavy pressure of Naruto's arousal against him. The proud Uchiha bit his lip as the jinchuuriki pushed and deep visceral pain bloomed in his body. He groaned as Naruto entered him, filling his body and stretching the tender flesh to its limit. He had to relax, Sakura had told him to relax. He struggled, but Naruto's hold on him was absolute and Sasuke only earned a throaty snarl that rang through the bones of his skull for the effort. He hissed as the blond demon penetrated him further, a heavy burning ache filling his body until Sasuke was panting with the pain of it.
Sasuke had lived a life colored by agony and he had known much worse pain, but this...it was so intimate, so consuming and unavoidable. There was no calm behind the pain, no retreat, he could not merely close his mind to it. His knees trembled with the visceral ache and Sasuke focused on breathing, breathing and not screaming, as a film of chilly sweat misted over his skin. Naruto groaned in ecstasy as he penetrated Sasuke's tight heat, the muscles of his chest jumping against the Uchiha's shoulders. The jinchuuriki filled him, filled him completely and then more. With a grating snarl, Sasuke tried again to writhe away from the full ache only for Naruto to press his face into the bedding. Sasuke groaned. He was full with Naruto and his body strained as the jinchuuriki finally sheathed himself completely. A half choked whimper escaped Sasuke's lips. Blood poured generously from his shoulder, but the pain of the wound was distant and mild as the Uchiha sought to relax. To breathe. To find his calm. To relax.
Naruto moved. Sasuke braced himself for what he knew would be mind shattering agony, but shrieked in shock as pleasure thundered through his already saturated nerves. Sasuke's eyes were wide open, but his vision blurred with the feeling of it. His blood ignited as Naruto found the place within and thrust against it. The pain evaporated, burned away by the most all consuming ecstasy Sasuke had ever known. There was the slick slide of bodies against one another, the sound of ragged breathing, but all of it was far away. All lost beneath the white hot stimulus pounding like waves through his body. Sasuke was screaming, moaning, his body once again hard and hot with erotic fire. The bedding was rough against his sensitized skin and Naruto's teeth in his flesh tingled as his overloaded psyche tried to remember how to feel them. There was no pain. No guilt. No thought. Only the storm of rapturous erotic sensation, only Naruto within him. Too much...too close... With another broken shriek, Sasuke came hard into Naruto's ready palm...and the sensation did not change.
Sasuke's body was trembling with the warmth of post-coital fatigue, but the electric flood of pleasure never ceased. The feeling pounded through Sasuke's veins like a flood swollen river, unstoppable in its course. The Uchiha could feel it, the demon chakra pouring into his own, filling his meridians with fire. He moaned as his body tried to cum again, but the action was unnatural and he could not release. Sasuke's muscles locked in spasm and he jerked against Naruto who still held him down with granite strength. The energy was foreign, the flood of it an invasion that Sasuke reacted to violently. The urge to resist, to maintain the distance was more than instinct, it was the foundation of all that he had grown to be. Sasuke did not surrender, he had never surrendered to anything or anyone, no matter how powerful the foe. He fought, fought to push it out, to regain control of his chakra.
Cold hurt seared through his body as Sasuke halted the scarlet flood and pushed it back. The strength of the demon energy was awesome, but Sasuke would not yield to it. Naruto snarled and dug his claws into Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke grunted, but kept fighting. The demon energy flared, pushing into him again and Sasuke violently threw his own life force against it. The roiling clash of energy burned him, tearing his chakra pathways apart. The agony was terrible, but Sasuke did not waver. His sight darkened, growing shadowy around the edges. On the very edge of his consciousness he heard Sakura shouting to him. Sasuke, shook away the agony, stilling his mind to fight the scarlet poison again. He fought, blocking the chakra each time it flared, but he couldn't force it away. The power of it was too strong and waxing with every moment. His own chakra clashed against the Kyuubi energy again and again and each time the agony drove him to the very edge of consciousness.
Sasuke growled weakly as he beat back the possessive energy again, the icy agony lancing through his body. Naruto was still moving rhythmically, but the physical sensation of it seemed so distant and unimportant compared to the battle warring within his own energy channels. Sasuke fought it with every ounce of his will, but the red chakra surged forward inch by inch anyway. It was vast, more vast than the heat of the very sun, an ocean of life force surging against his own in pulsing, indomitable waves. Sasuke was losing, but fighting with everything he had, everything that he was. His father had always said that he was weak...
With an agonized snarl, the raven haired ninja, beat back the demon's advance within him as another wave of numbing torment scalded him. A thin trickle of blood began to flow from his nose as the ringing agony filled his head. Still he struggled, fighting to hold on to himself, to assert his control over his own body. Sasuke knew his strength was flagging. He coughed and there was blood on his lips too. The Uchiha no longer had the strength to hold his eyes open. He let them close, focusing deeper on the invading energy and pushing it away. He would not yeild, not to Naruto, not to Kyuubi, not to anyone for anything EVER. The pain was making him sick, weak and dizzy. Darkness crept close around his mind, stronger with every moment. If he let the flood claim him then... He was not that weak.
"No, you are very strong. Strong in the worst way." The voice came as if from a great distance, whispering in his head.
"Kyuubi." Sasuke whispered.
"It costs me to speak to you this way. I have never done this before, but...you are precious to him." The Fox said, its voice like thunder on the ocean.
"Precious?" Sasuke spat, his voice ragged.
"He loves you."
"He is a fool."
"Perhaps...but it is true nonetheless." The Fox murmured.
"Get out of me." Sasuke hissed, feeling the blood pooling in his lungs.
"I cannot. Nature will run its course one way or another. You damage yourself by resisting." The Fox sighed.
"I...I can't...stop." Sasuke ground out as he pushed the chakra back again.
"You are very close to death now, Uchiha. Yield. Your body will not sustain this battle much longer. "
"Why...Why do you care so much?" Sasuke panted. There was a breath of silence in the pain.
"He is...my kit. I cannot live within him and care nothing for those that he loves."
"Love..." Sasuke whispered bitterly into the darkness.
"Accept his energy. Accept his love or you will die." Kyuubi urged.
"I can't!" Sasuke moaned.
"Accept him."
"No!"
"Foolish child!"
"I...I...I'm not weak!"
"You are. You are dying even now."
"I'm not afraid to die."
"Let him love you. Just let go..."
"I can't!"
"Do it. Do it now or you will die here, in bed, held in the arms of a lover. There is no glory in that!"Kyuubi hissed.
"I can't! I can't!" Sasuke shouted.
"Trust him."
"I can't! I can't! I CAN'T!"Sasuke screamed as Naruto came in a hot rush deep inside him.
The energy bucked and whirled through his chakra pathways and finally surged through.
OoOoOoO
As the scarlet veil fell away from his vision, Naruto already knew something had gone wrong. Even without control, without true cognizance, he had known that Sasuke had resisted him until the very last moment. The claiming had been difficult, taxing in a way that taking Sakura had not been and he was almost too exhausted to remain conscious. His heart labored as it had before, but there was terrible pain too, burning behind his eyes. The agony of seared nerves, trying to heal and too little energy to do so wracked every inch of his body. Naruto tipped his head back and tried to breathe. He ached, ached deeply with every fiber of his being, hands shaking as the claws sunk away into his flesh. He could hear Sakura trying very hard not to cry. The body in his hands was too still. Naruto swallowed, but his mouth was dry. Oh Kami, no…please no…
As gently as he could with arms still shaking violently, Naruto turned Sasuke to face him and saw the blood. Sasuke was bleeding from his nose and eyes, specs of the damning fluid around his lips as well. The jinchuuriki shuddered to see it. Naruto sighed and felt hot tears creep into his eyes. Sasuke would not want him to cry. Sasuke only respected strength. Sakura wailed somewhere behind him and Naruto knew he should comfort her, that he should say something. Had it always been destined to be this way? Naruto's heart ached and shuddered in his chest. With another heavy breath and no small amount of effort, he pulled Sasuke's limp form into his lap.
"I hope…I hope you are home… Tell them that I'm sorry." Naruto whispered.
Sasuke's eyelids twitched and Naruto forgot to breathe. The obsidian pools opened, still murky with blood, but clear and aware. Sasuke took a shuddering breath and then another, coughing hard as air rushed over the damaged membranes of his lungs. Naruto felt his vision swim as the Uchiha looked into his face.
"Naruto?" He whispered.
The jinchuuriki smiled and kissed Sasuke softly on the mouth before collapsing into oblivion.
OoOoOoO
"What do you hear?" Madara asked softly of the large eared fox demon by his side.
Her vast ears, twice as large as her pointed face, swiveled as she listened. The little oni was a lesser creature, barely more than a mortal, but she had her uses. He had captured the little kitsune in a land far to the west, a dry place of endless grasslands. When he had seen her, hunting for mice beneath the ground, Madara knew her ears would be an asset. He had not been proven wrong. With her, he could monitor the happenings within the Uchiha estate without ever crossing beyond the wards and risking his presence being detected. Once the claiming was complete however…it would no longer matter that the jinchuuriki knew of his presence.
"A sharp cry, almost human. Perhaps a sound of pain…or completion…hard to say." The great eared fox said.
"And…" Madara prodded.
"Silence now."
"Wait." Madara ordered and the fox re-directed her ears to the sounds. Moments passed.
"I hear human voices." She said, ears quivering with the effort of discerning such distant sounds.
"How many?"
"Three, though one only for a moment and very soft. Two male and one female."
"And their hearts?" The fox grimaced with effort and listened more intently.
"Three. All beating, one irregularly." She said.
"Excellent." Madara replied with an ugly smile.
"Lord Madara…I…I have done as you wanted, now release my kits!" The little fox begged, baring her tiny teeth.
"Your kits are free and have been for some time." He replied, enjoying the look of pain that crossed her features.
"Liar! Release my children! You have no need of them!" She snarled, her golden eyes wide and desperate.
"True and I have. I released them from all things, even from the shackles of this life." Madara replied with a chuckle.
Her face contorted with agony, her great ears tight and close to her skull. It was delightful, the pain, pain from such a simple action. If she had been a creature to cry, perhaps the little fox demon would have wept, but as it was she merely wilted. The care that monsters had for their mates and young was always predictable. Even the great Kyuubi was the same. Such vulnerability was not something the Uchiha clan had ever fostered, it was their distance from such foolish cares that made them powerful. Love was only weakness.
"I…I should have known." She whispered, tail low.
"Poor dumb beast. The uncertainty was enough to chain you." Madara sighed, smiling at her grief.
She leapt at him, teeth sharp and gleaming. Her teeth penetrated his wrist, tearing bloody gashes through the flesh. Madara swatted the oni aside. She fell on her feet, but the wave of his chakra crippled her. The demon strove to rise, her eyes gleaming madly. Madara laughed and set his booted foot to her side, ruthlessly crushing her ribs. She jerked, snarling viciously. Here chakra flared menacingly, the image of her prone form doubling in the swirling energy. Nevertheless he held her fast.
"He…He will kill you! Kyuubi will bathe in your sordid blood and I will be avenged! My kits will be avenged!" The fox wailed in fury and pain.
"Wrong little monster, he will be mine just as you were. The vessel will die, as will his mate and Sasuke will rise above it all even more powerful than before. They will join you in the next life and all will be as I have designed." Madara replied.
"I am no monster, YOU ARE!" She screamed as he struck off her head.
With a disgusted flick of the blade, Madara scattered the demon's blood over the grass. A pity to waste such a fine tool, but his manipulation of her could only last so long. No matter. Should he had need of such a creature again, it would be easy enough to capture another. She was only a minor spirit, unlike Kyuubi, and common enough to find if one knew where to look. He pondered her last words, truly an interesting thing for a kitsune to say, but then no one really knew what oni thought.
"Prepare yourselves! We attack at dawn and rescue Sasuke!" Madara called down to a waiting Suigetsu and Jugo.
The ninja rested anxiously at the base of the small hill. He had told them that the demon would only speak to him and the poor idiots believed him. They were far enough away that he had to shout, which suited his purposes. Underlings were troublesome if they knew too much.
"About time! Has Sasuke been hurt?" Suigetsu shouted up to him.
"I don't know, he is in the jaws of a demon. I know only that he is still alive. If only we had found a weakness in the barrier sooner!" Madara replied with false regret. The fools still believed that Sasuke's rescue had been delayed by circumstance and not design. Still, even Sasuke's band of simpleton's had their uses.
"We will rescue him! I pray we are not too late!" Jugo exclaimed. Madara nodded.
"Rest. Tomorrow we slay an oni greater than any you have seen." Madara cautioned. The other nodded and moved off to make camp.
"Enjoy my weapon for now monster. Tomorrow your blood will be mine." Madara chuckled into the darkness.