Disclaimer: I don't own nor have I contributed to Naruto in any way! Nope! None! -
Sky-eyed Kitsune:I'm really sorry it took so long and I admire everyone's patience! Let's just go ahead and get right down to it...
Chapter Twelve: Energy
It had not been an easy to fall asleep without Naruto beside him.
Sasuke was too used to that velveteen tail that wrapped around his waist, and the faultless skin that teased him in the moon-drenched hours of the night. But now, finally, after his incessant episodes of tossing and turning, he could feel the blush of sleep creeping up on him. He welcomed it more than ever before.
Sasuke's eyelids began to lower as he drifted into the abyss of slumber, and he released a yawn for good measure.
He brushed the hair away from his ears as a hot breeze blew past it. He was almost admitted into the realm of sleep when he twitched and a hand flew to his ear as something sharp nicked it.
Sasuke sat up in bed, brushing off his pillow. He turned it over and under, inspecting it. He deemed it spotless and ignored the dull throb of his ear as he closed his eyes once more.
Sasuke quivered a little as he felt a prickling sensation on his neck, and he clasped it only to feel that the area was much warmer than the rest of his body. But, not feeling like getting up now that he was finally tired, Sasuke took the pillow beside him with his own and sandwiched his head in between them.
His eyelids lowered to half-mast as he felt that creeping sensation of near slumber upon him.
Naruto unconsciously placed a hand on his abdomen, his Kyuubi markings hot underneath. Gaara didn't seem to notice as he removed the blond's clothing, wrapping his tail around one of Naruto's nine tighter and tighter.
Naruto could help but shiver when black claws meandered under his shirt and up his sides, lips teasing and nipping his ear. He winced when Gaara sunk his black claws just deep enough to entice blood, lifting his hand to his face and licking the substance off his fingers appreciatively.
Naruto had known that mating in general could be rough, especially if you had a possessive and dominating partner. However Naruto couldn't help but wish he was mating with another Kyuubi bloodline like himself.
Kyuubi no kitsunes were spectacular and loyal lovers to one another, maintaining a gentle ferocity when mating. Of course they were just as possessive, if not more that most mated pairs, but they would never intentionally harm their mate.
Even a little.
Sasuke abruptly smacked one of his sides as he felt something trail along them in an almost tickling sensation.
He jolted up in bed a second later as something sharp punctured his skin, and he hastily lifted his shirt to his abused side, sure he was bleeding.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow when he saw nothing but bare milky skin, though the sensation of dripping blood didn't abandon him.
Naruto responded minimally to Gaara's loving as the redhead purred in his throat and intertwined their tails in kiss after kiss.
Better yet, Naruto thought, if Sasuke had been a kitsune...
Naruto felt his eyes drop to the side.
"Sasuke..."
Sasuke looked around the room in a frenzy as he suddenly heard his name being called...
…by Naruto?
Sasuke leaned over the side of the bed and rubbed his temple with his forefinger and thumb. Naruto still plagued his mind, that was for sure, but even Sasuke found it unusual to hear Naruto, sounding so crisp and clear, calling his name like he had never left.
Naruto bit his lip harshly as Garra slid his shirt off, a sinking weight molding a hole in the blond's stomach.
This wasn't what he wanted. He wanted a mate, a lover, not a friend.
Naruto's eyelids lowered slightly.
Then again, he didn't really have many other options. Denying this now would mean the disapproval of the king and the queen, the loss of a potential mate, the disappointment of Iruka, the failure of creating an heir, and worst of all it seemed, the resentment of himself for not fulfilling his duties as future king.
Naruto's chin was tipped up until his eyes met Gaara's, and without a word he knew what came next.
The analiax marking on Gaara's forehead began to glow a bright red, as did Naruto's markings on his abdomen.
Using a sharp canine Gaara cut a thin line across his wrist, blood immediately spilling forth. He stared down at Naruto expectantly, who swallowed dryly. It wasn't as if he wasn't well versed in the mating process—hell it was the only thing Iruka would teach him nowadays as he prepared to take on a life partner.
Life…they would be together for life…
There was no going back after the ritual was complete.
Naruto slowly brought his wrist to his mouth, nicking his skin on a sharp canine. He could feel his bleeding arm shaking, but he suppressed the quivers. This wasn't something he had a choice on. He picked Gaara, they were both royal, both to be mated; there was nothing to think about.
Gaara pressed his red wrist to the symbol on Naruto's abdomen, and the blond hissed in pain. He retracted his arm, and Naruto mimicked the redhead's action, pressing his own blood against the marking on Gaara's forehead.
Gaara visibly stiffened, breathing in deeply through his nostrils to suppress the twinge of pain.
Their eyes locked, both churning into a crimson hue as the strain of pure demon in their blood was brought bubbling to the surface.
Gaara's hair spiked up with more ferocity, blood red energy flowing over him in visible waves. His teeth elongated and body became much more defined, tail splitting into two and black claws more prominent.
"Naruto," Gaara said, his voice much deeper. Hearing his name Naruto cringed a little, looking up into Gaara's handsome demon face.
Naruto mentally sighed, orange visible energy also engulfing him as his hair grew longer, body defined, and tails grew a thicker scarlet red color, flowing and gathering around him. Both of their transformations complete, clothes were tossed aside like pieces of filth, until they both lay bare.
"This is it…" Naruto thought as he closed his eyes, Gaara staring down at him hungrily.
"Sasuke…I wish it were you I was mating with."
"You're mine now," Gaara growled possessively in his throat, running his bare body along Naruto's.
"Sasuke."
Naruto scrunched his eyes tighter as unwelcome hands traversed his body.
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke tossed and turned in his bed, half asleep as Naruto's voice echoed in his head.
"Sasuke…"
The raven threw off his sheets, hot and sweaty as he thrashed, sensations of power, lust and grief filling his mind dangerously to the brim at the point of overflowing.
Shadowy flashes of pale hands and red hair hovering over Naruto overwhelmed his senses, anger prickling precariously under his skin.
The feeling of grief, and now, lost hope suddenly washed over him, and he bolted upright in bed, flinging out his arms and crying, "NO!"
"NO!" Naruto shouted, a burst of blue energy shooting from his outstretched arms and sending Gaara flying across the room until he hit a bookcase on the other side, causing an avalanche of hardbacks and old texts to bury him.
Naruto panted deeply, droplets of sweat perspiring on his golden skin and hands gripping the bed sheets as if they were the only anchor holding him to reality.
Naruto fell back onto his bed, his form returning to normal. He clutched his abdomen in pain, mind dizzy with unfamiliar but spectacular power. He managed to push himself up through the pain to a sitting position on his bed, and as he caught his breath he saw Gaara emerge from the landslide of books, also having lost his true demon form.
Removing a book from his head and throwing it uncaringly across the room, Gaara silently dressed himself, not meeting the prince's concerned gaze.
"Gaara," Naruto said quietly, and the redhead seemed to tense more in his actions. He was dressed within seconds, and with loud echoing steps he made quick strides to the bedroom door.
He paused with his fingers wrapped around the golden handle.
"Please excuse me, your highness," he said with such formality that Naruto felt its cold slap in the face before the man had disappeared through the door.
Naruto looked down at his hands where the strange energy had burst forth from. Though he couldn't identify this power source, it felt eerily familiar.
Naruto jolted where he sat as there was a polite knock at his door, and he scrambled for his robe. Once it was secured around him he opened the door, releasing the breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding when he saw that it was Iruka.
"May I?" Iruka asked, and Naruto opened the door more widely, gladly inviting him in. Naruto was well aware that they had much to discuss.
Iruka sighed as he sat heavily upon Naruto's bed, like a great weight was bearing down on his shoulders.
Naruto sat next to the man he had known since he was a child silently. Iruka was the closest thing Naruto had ever, would ever, have to a father. The king treated him well enough, but didn't coddle and scold him like a father the way Iruka did.
"How did it happen, Naruto?" Iruka finally said, gazing down at the floor rather than the blond.
"Iruka?" Naruto said, confused.
"The…the collar," Iruka clarified, and Naruto's hand flew up to his neck where Iruka had wrapped bandages around the collar to hide it from other eyes.
"I got scared," Naruto slowly explained. "I transformed in front of a human, and he clasped the collar on me before I could even think."
"How long has it been there?"
"About two weeks." Naruto rubbed the bandages, feeling the stones of the collar jutting out beneath them.
"There's nothing we can do," Iruka said, and Naruto looked at him, surprised. He had never heard the man sound so defeated before.
"Wh—"
"Only the hands that put that collar on can take it off," Iruka interrupted Naruto. "If anyone else tried, either they would die, or you would. The longer you have that collar on the more the stones will sink into your skin. If they sink all the way in, then not even the human who put that thing on you can remove it anymore."
Naruto sighed, brushing his fingers against the bandages.
"Are you aware of the severity of this situation?" Iruka said harshly, and Naruto nodded.
"I'm sorry…" he murmured, and Iruka couldn't help but relinquish his cold glare in favor of heaving a great sigh and rubbing the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb
"Something else is going on," Iruka said, and Naruto looked up at him, almost frightened. Was he really that transparent?
After a thick and uneasy pause Naruto decided that things really couldn't get worse if he just told Iruka the situation with Sasuke.
"The human that put this on me," he started slowly, "I…we…we have some sort of connection."
"How?" Iruka asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sometimes when I'm distressed…I can hear his thoughts, and I can talk back to him with my mind." Iruka's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and he pinned Naruto down roughly to the bed, undoing the top of his robe and staring at his analiax symbol.
Naruto rolled his eyes up to the ceiling as he experienced a sense of déjà vu.
"Has your symbol been burning?" the man asked, his eyes never leaving Naruto's abdomen.
"Yea actually. The first night I met him when he kissed me I—"
"You kissed him?" Iruka said, eyes shifting to burrow into Naruto's.
"Ye-yes," Naruto said, cursing himself for stuttering. "And then when I was apart from him, we were both in pain. I felt like I needed him there with me to make it stop. That's when we started talking with our thoughts."
"And?" Iruka urged him.
"I don't know. I passed out and Sas—the human…didn't wake up until days later either."
Iruka sat back heavily on the bed, holding his head in his palm wearily.
"Do you know what this is, Iruka-san?" Naruto asked cautiously. Iruka mulled over the new information he received before replying.
"No…," he murmured, turning his gaze away from the young prince. "But I do know that you are never to go back to that place. You need to get your act together before the king and queen come home, and prepare to mate with Gaara-san."
"I just tried to," Naruto sighed, flopping back on his bed. "Some kind of energy came through my hands and pushed him halfway across the room."
"Gah," Iruka groaned, cradling his head in his hands.
"What happened to me?" Naruto asked, suddenly more serious.
"You're connected to that person…human…whatever he is. And because of that you can't mate."
"Wh-"
"-you just can't, ok!" Iruka snapped, cutting Naruto off sharply. Naruto's ears pressed against his head and he looked away from his mentor.
Iruka's glare relaxed and another sigh parted his lips.
"I'm sorry Naruto," he said, ruffling the young prince's hair soothingly. "I really can't take anymore questions right now. I'm still stressed from your return."
Naruto smiled a little, and even though Iruka recognized its transparency immediately, he felt a little better.
"Come," he said, standing and beckoning. "Get yourself dressed. You're late for sparring lessons in the courtyard."
Naruto nodded and stood as well, striding to his dresser as Iruka closed the door to his room and left.
Naruto opened the top drawer in his shining walnut dresser, and froze.
His hands quivered uneasily as he reached in the drawer, and gently lifted Sasuke's folded shirt and pants that Naruto had worn during his stay with the raven. Iruka must have stowed them away for him.
Naruto's eyes softened as he caressed the dark blue fabric with a thumb longingly. He brought the clothes to his face, breathing in their scent.
"Sasuke," Naruto thought as he exhaled, holding the clothing tightly against his chest as if clutching a precious treasure. But then again, since Naruto knew that he would never see Sasuke again, it was his only memento of the Uchiha that remained with him.
It really was his irreplaceable treasure.
Naruto placed the clothing back into the drawer carefully, before grabbing a set of clothes with the royal emblem one drawer down.
Naruto undid the tie on his robe, allowing it to fall and pool around his ankles. As he shimmied on his shirt, his fingers brushing against the white bandages wrapped around his neck.
Naruto had almost forgotten that this was another parting gift from Sasuke.
Or to be more precise, a parting curse.
Sasuke had made a decision.
Not a thorough one on his part, but he felt it was a solid decision nonetheless.
Focusing on Naruto would only hinder him in his current state; he had a war to contend with and couldn't be sidetracked by emotions.
Sasuke knew that erasing Naruto from his mind, to really say goodbye to those memories, would be difficult and surmount to several weeks worth of mental preparation, but it would be worth it to not feel consumed with loneliness.
To not feel the ache.
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Sky-eyed Kitsune
