ZOMG. I haven't updated in several months, which, in internet time, is like eight centuries. Sorry about that. This chapter was just really hard to write. I know it seems weird to say this was difficult to write, so I just want to give some reasoning as to why this was difficult for me: I'm really bad at mushy scenes. Not because I can't write mushy stuff, just the opposite, I have trouble keeping my characters from being too mushy. Also there's a little bit of fight scene which was tough to write from Sasuke's perspective... oh just read it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any affiliated characters, settings, etc. The plot of this story is original work and the property of EverPlotting.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

A Primordial Matter

All Sasuke could think of was that he was in pain. It was like white-hot hot pain Pain PAIN shooting all over his body. He hurt because he wanted Naruto, because he was scared, because he wanted to burst from his body and explode all over the room just to make the searing pain in his groin stop.

Sasuke could hear pleas falling uncontrollably and unceremoniously from his lips. He felt as if he were begging for his life, and some rational part of his mind that still remained hinted that he might be. He found himself terrified; terrified of his best friend.

Naruto removed his mouth from Sasuke's neck and he felt his nether-regions deflate slightly and the pain turned into more of a smoldering burning ache. All he could think about was how much he wanted Naruto at that moment.

"Nhn… Naru…" Sasuke managed to pant out.

Naruto was cooing something reassuring into Sasuke's ear. He could tell because he could feel the heat of Naruto's breath and he could smell Naruto. Sasuke was briefly able to wonder if he could become any more erect. Blood was pounding so loudly in his ears that Sasuke felt like he was underwater. Drowning again, this time in Naruto's scent, in the air that seemed to grow thicker with Naruto's very presence.

Then everything stood still.

Naruto was no longer on top of him, and Sasuke was barely able to comprehend the image of Enzera holding a thick blue tome as if she had just swung it. Apparently she had struck Naruto in the head hard enough to make him fly across the room.

Sasuke's hearing was returning to normal and he began to slowly come to an understanding of what was going on around him.

"Holy shit!" Kiba shouted running down the stairs.

"Good job guarding the door!" Enzera growled. Kiba did not even attempt to retort, he simply gazed across the room solemnly. Sasuke followed his gaze and saw Naruto, unconscious, crumpled sadly against the wall.

"You… You killed him!" Sasuke shouted. Sasuke felt like all of his organs had just been ripped out of him.

"Sasuke calm down," Enzera said firmly. When she had moved to his side Sasuke had no idea, he was too busy having a complete mental breakdown.

"You just … You hit him with the book! And he's dead! He can't be dead! I need him!"

Part of Sasuke could hear just irrational he sounded, but Sasuke found he was unable to control his mouth. Words and feelings just sort of spewed from him unhindered. He imagined drunken people must feel like this, but he didn't have any sort of pleasant buzz.

"Sasuke. You need to calm down," Enzera said, grasping his arm and looking him in the eye. "Naruto will be fine. Right now, your hormones are going crazy and if I don't do something soon you're going to be very sick. So just hold still and—"

Enzera was cut off when she flew several feet backwards in a blur of color.

When everything stilled again, Naruto was standing with his back to Sasuke – Sasuke figured he had struck Enzera – and was slowly approaching Enzera menacingly. Enzera spit blood from her mouth and tried to get up, but Naruto was faster. Pinning her down, Naruto looked positively enraged.

"How dare you try to interrupt—" Naruto paused, and looked genuinely surprised. Sasuke was surprised how much the confusion on Naruto's face made him look like the Naruto that Sasuke knew.

"It looks my brother's been busy," Naruto murmured. Then the blond shoved his face into Enzera's pelvis and Sasuke could hear the intake of breath. "Oh yes. Very busy indeed."

Enzera took the opportunity to throw Naruto off of her and regain a standing position. Instead of rising when Naruto regained control of his body, the blond crouched on all fours, his thick tails streaming wilding behind him.

"Gaara…" Enzera called in what sounded like a warning.

Naruto pounced, but Enzera was expecting the attack and was able to roll out of the way. Naruto proceeded to continue his game of cat-and-mouse, the smirk on his face distinctly contrasting the concentrated frown on Enzera's.

Finally, Naruto leapt and Enzera was caught under her rabid cousin, who leered down at her like he knew he was about to do something sinister. Sasuke watched as Naruto maneuvered his tails to entangle Enzera as he –

It suddenly occurred to Sasuke that Naruto was trying to have sex with his cousin.

Just then, Gaara – seemingly out of nowhere – stabbed a syringe into Naruto's neck. Naruto thrashed for a split second and then collapsed on top of Enzera, his tails falling limply across the floor as Enzera pushed out from underneath him.

Sasuke was so confused and he was starting to feel dizzy. As spots began to appear on his vision, Sasuke wondered if Enzera had forgotten about him. Sasuke blinked to try to make the colors around him return to normal.

"Enzera!" Sasuke called. He couldn't see her. He couldn't see anything.

Sasuke opened his eyes slowly. He looked around as he attempted to push himself up.

"Hey," Enzera said. She was sitting on the floor next to the couch.

"What happened?" Sasuke groaned.

"You passed out. You probably just hyperventilated due to the shock of the situation. Give it a minute. Let your brain reboot."

Sasuke sat all the way up and rubbed his face with one of his hands.

"How long was I out?"

"About five minutes," Enzera replied. "I was starting to get worried, but I think you're fine."

"Fine!?" Sasuke exclaimed, his memories fully returning. "How on earth could I remotely be considered fine!? Naruto… He… I don't even know what he did…"

"He tried to mate with you," Enzera said plainly.

"He… what?"

"It's a type of bonding ceremony sealed by sexual penetration. I think Naruto will want to explain it further when he wakes up. If he remembers any of this, try not to be so hard on him. He's going to feel really bad."

"He's going to feel bad? I'm pretty sure what just happened is along the lines of attempted rape, so excuse me if I don't pity him. In fact, I would really like to take my leave of all of this right now." Sasuke moved to get up, but Enzera pulled him back.

"I don't think so," she said as Sasuke plopped into the soft couch. "See, you can't leave now. Though incomplete, part of the mating ceremony did occur. You'll need to be close to Naruto for a while until your body can adjust. Then you can decide whether you want to complete the ceremony or not."

"Okay," Sasuke said slowly. "I have no idea what half of the words you just said mean… but now that you mention it my neck feels really itchy."

"And you still feel sort of horny too, right?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, but he blushed slightly.

"Here," Enzera said, handing Sasuke the steaming mug that was sitting next to her on the floor. "Drink this. It'll help."

Sasuke took a tip and surprisingly he did feel better. The effect was almost instantaneous. He felt himself grow drowsy.

"You've drugged me," Sasuke muttered, but he found he was strangely undisturbed.

"Drink the rest," Enzera said softly. "You need to sleep. When you wake up I'll explain everything further. No more secrets, just like you asked."

With that thought in mind, Sasuke drifted into the first dreamless slumber he'd experienced in quite some time.

When Sasuke awoke he found himself in a nicely decorated bedroom. The room itself wasn't that large – the full-sized bed he was sprawled upon seemed to take up about a third of the room – but the furnishings were elegantly plain.

Rising into a sitting position and pushing the gold duvet cover off his chest, Sasuke noticed that he was no longer covered in the ink that had decorated his chest before he had fallen asleep. Enzera must have washed it off him.

"Hi."

Sasuke nearly jumped at the voice. He hadn't realized anyone was in the room, especially not Naruto. Sasuke just stared at his best friend.

Naruto was back to looking more like the Naruto that Sasuke knew. Sasuke welcomed the contact with blue eyes instead of red, and though the fox tails had fascinated him, Sasuke was glad to be able to talk with human-looking Naruto, regardless of what Naruto actually was.

The blond sat in a chair, across from Sasuke's bed to the right of the closed door. There was a mug in his hand and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. He wore a button-down shirt tucked into blue trousers, but everything was wrinkled and his hair seemed to defy gravity even more than usual. Frankly, Naruto was a mess; yet, Sasuke could see the alertness in Naruto's eyes, the way he sat leaning slightly away from Sasuke, as if ready to flee the room as any minute.

"How long was I sleep for?" Sasuke asked trying not to reveal any emotion.

"A while," Naruto said, pausing to take a sip of whatever he was drinking. "About fourteen hours I think? Don't worry, Enzera called your parents. The official story is that you're spending the weekend."

"Enzera said I would have to be around you for a while… How long of a while exactly?"

Naruto sighed. "It varies from person to person, but… Sasuke I am so sorry." Naruto finally looked up to meet Sasuke's gaze, and Sasuke could have sworn Naruto was on the verge of tears. "I am so stubborn and… You are the first person I have ever felt so uncontrollably attracted to," Naruto finished quietly.

Sasuke just stared at Naruto, barely able to contain his shock and unsure of how to respond to this side of Naruto he had never seen before.

"I'm so stupid!" Naruto said suddenly, standing up from his chair. "I knew things were going to get out of hand, but all I could think about was seeing you and that probably should have been proof enough that I needed to spend some time away from you—"

"Naruto."

"Hell! Even Neji could tell that I was having trouble keeping myself in check!"

"Naruto!"

"Hm?" Naruto said, looking back at Sasuke suddenly.

"I'm not mad at you."

Naruto looked visibly startled. "Honestly Sasuke I was expecting you to freak out when you first saw me in the room, so… Are you sure?"

Sasuke shook his head in confusion. "I know that I should be angry, and yesterday I was, but … I feel like … you weren't the one that attacked me, like, it was someone else or something possessing you."

Naruto shook his head. "No, Sasuke, you don't understand. I wasn't possessed and it wasn't someone else who just looked a lot like me. I wanted to hurt you, to…" Naruto paused and took a deep breath. "I probably shouldn't think about it."

"Can you come any closer?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Naruto shook his head. "I don't think I trust myself enough."

Sasuke rose from the bed and made his way slowly towards Naruto. Sasuke was still shirtless and he saw Naruto's eyes glance down at his bare chest.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said warningly as the blond took a step back.

"You may not trust yourself," Sasuke said quietly, "but I trust you." Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto and pulled him close. Sasuke could feel Naruto tense against him, and then slowly relax.

"Hey! Look who's here," shouted Kiba as Naruto and Sasuke entered the large room Sasuke had been in before.

Kiba and Gaara were playing some sort of game that Sasuke didn't recognize, both of them sitting on the floor next to the large couch.

"Okay, I have to ask. What is this room even for?"

Naruto laughed. "I guess it is kind of big. Technically it's a ballroom, but we use it for just about everything. It's like multi-purpose space."

"Maybe I should have asked a different question: where are we exactly?"

Naruto's grin grew even larger. "My house," he said casually flopping down on the couch ignoring the expression of confusion and shock on Sasuke's face. Naruto patted the seat next to him to indicate for Sasuke to sit down. "Who's winning?" Naruto asked, glancing at the game board that was laid out between Kiba and Gaara.

"Gaara," Kiba muttered darkly.

"Hm," Naruto said, looking at both of their hands, but made no other comment.

"What are they playing?" Sasuke asked.

"It's a strategy game," Naruto explained. "It's about trying to predict your opponents next move and a bunch of other math."

"What's it called?"

Naruto shrugged. "It doesn't have a name in English."

Sasuke wasn't sure what to make of that, but he was still a little curious. "Is it fun?"

"To play? Yes. To watch? No."

"No one said you had to come over here blondie," Kiba said rolling his eyes.

The room was silent then. Sasuke took the opportunity to study Naruto. The blond seemed so in his element here, so peaceful. Naruto just sat on the couch watching Kiba and Gaara play – even though he claimed he didn't like it – and Sasuke found himself surprised once more at Naruto's ability to shift from loud and annoying to quiet and pensive in the blink of an eye.

"Hey," Naruto said suddenly, his tone tentative. "Where's Enzera?"

"She's not angry with you," Gaara stated.

Naruto winced. "Yeah. I know. Why does everyone have to be so forgiving?" Naruto glanced at Sasuke. "I feel like I deserve to be on the receiving end of some rage."

"Well," Kiba said, "while you were upstairs Enzera finally got a hold of your brother. Apparently he wants to come home to personally check on Enzera's situation, so enjoy the forgiveness while you can."

"Wait," Sasuke piped up, "what's wrong with Enzera?"

"She's pregnant," Gaara stated as he moved a piece on the board. Apparently this was a good move, because Kiba looked forlorn all of a sudden.

"Really? When did she find out?"

"Yesterday," Kiba smirked as he gazed at the board. "Remember when Naruto took a big whiff of Enzera's crotch" – Naruto buried his face in his hands at this comment – "and then freaked out? He smelled the baby."

"You smelled the baby?" Sasuke deadpanned.

"Uh, yeah, see, it's kind of like a pecking order thing… How can I explain this properly?"

"Naruto smelled his brothers seed in Enzera's womb, so his instincts took over and told him to assert himself over his brother by claiming the mother of Kyuubi's child," Gaara stated.

"Nice Gaara," Naruto said staring at the redhead. "Way to keep it blunt." Naruto looked back at Sasuke. "I did a lot of apologizing yesterday when I snapped out of it."

"So," Sasuke began, trying to be tactful, "why were you … like that in the first place."

Naruto blushed. "I, um, smelled you."

"You were smelling a lot of things yesterday weren't you?"

Naruto laughed. "I had things under control — well, mostly — but as soon as I smelled you and my mark on your neck…" Naruto shuddered. "I need to stop thinking about that."

"About what?"

"About yesterday," Naruto replied sheepishly. "The memory of seeing you beneath me like that…" Naruto shook his head again as if to expel the thoughts and then looked as Sasuke apologetically. "I'm sorry if bringing this up makes you uncomfortable."

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up in unison. "Of all the things that make me uncomfortable here, you're worried about the fact that you want me? Naruto, I've wanted to have a relationship with you for months!"

Naruto cleared his throat. "Um, perhaps we should talk about this later," Naruto said gesturing toward Kiba and Gaara.

Sasuke could feel the blood rising to his cheeks. "Oh," he said. "Right."

"For now, if it's not too cheesy, I would just to enjoy your company, as I have been shirking my duties as your best friend lately."

"Hn," Sasuke replied. "I guess I can live with that."

A/N: This ending feels kind of awkward to me, but I guess the whole situation is awkward for the two of them. What do you guys think?

Next chapter we will (finally) get to meet Kyuubi (I hope)! If any of you still have questions, don't worry! I would worry more if you don't have questions. The story's just beginning folks. Good news for you, for me... a lot more work. Damn. ;) (I'm mostly kidding.)

-EverPlotting-