The Trouble With Pets
Chapter 7
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted as he got out of the car. Iruka rolled his eyes, and called Naruto back to help him carry the groceries into the cabin before he ran off to find the cat.
"Naru," Iruka said, "Remember that Kakashi doesn't want anyone to know that they are here. Sasuke belonged to him before he belonged to you. Right?"
"I… Yeah, okay. Sorry."
"It's okay, just pick up all the fruit that got dumped in the backseat and bring it to me before you go find him, okay?"
"Okay!" Naruto hurried to gather up all of the fruit and plopped them all into the same bag so they'd be easier to carry.
Iruka would get mad at him if he forgot anything so he checked the whole backseat again and he was glad he did because he found a bag with chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows crowded into a corner beside an old box of random junk. What were these for?
"Ruka!" Naruto hollered as he ran into the cabin. "I got everything!"
"Good boy, Naru." Iruka said. He and Kakashi were on the sofa, each of them were reading a book and Iruka was resting his head in the other human's lap.
Naruto studied them curiously. "What-cha doing?"
"Just cuddling." Iruka sat up, laying his book down. "Well, if this is everything I suppose I should start my special project now…"
"What special project?" Naruto wondered.
"It will be Sasuke's Adoption Day soon. He just turned five, but his adoption was finalized about the time he had his first match in the arena- right after his first birthday. The committee really gave us the runaround with his paperwork- it took four months rather than four days."
"What's an Adoption Day? Do I have one?"
"You do have one, Naru. But it will be in about 10 1/2 months from now. You and I haven't been together very long yet, right?"
Naruto nodded sadly. "Before that I was in a room by myself…"
"But your birthday isn't too far from today. That's something to look forward to, right?"
"I guess. So… What do you do on Adoption Day?"
"Usually you have a party- it's kind of like a Birthday party. But since we're hiding, it will probably be just the four of us. Sasuke won't mind though. He'd usually rather not have company anyway. But he likes pie better than cake, so I'm making an apple pie and a Key Lime."
"Sasuke doesn't like cake?" Naruto's eyes were as wide as saucers.
"He's not really a picky eater. He'll eat it, but he prefers pie," Kakashi said. "Kind of like his hero, Dean, from Supernatural."
"What's Supernatural- Oh! Hey- wait!" Naruto said suddenly. "Did Sasuke do that training thing he was going to do earlier?"
"Yeah. But knowing him he'll want to do it again tomorrow. You can watch him training then. Today was just a warmup."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Sasuke takes his training very seriously. That's why no one can beat him."
"Tomorrow? That's so long from now!"
"Why don't you go see where Sasuke is. I haven't seen him for a while." Kakashi said.
Naruto nodded. "Okay! Leave it to me!"
With his keen nose, Naruto found him easily. Sasuke was sleeping in his favorite Catalpa tree- although he was a lot higher in its branches than usual. Naruto couldn't actually see him from the ground or from the screened porch.
Naruto scrambled up the tree to join him as quietly as he could. He didn't want to wake him, not yet. It was enough just to be close to him.
He noticed right away that Sasuke's scent was different than it had been this morning. That spiciness he noticed before when they first mated was less noticeable now. He missed it.
Instead, Sasuke smelled more masculine than ever and it made Naruto's tummy feel funny. He liked this new scent too, it was like there were a whole bunch of butterflies in his tummy and they all wanted out.
Sasuke's scent was making him feel hot and they weren't even doing anything… But he wanted... He wanted Sasuke on top of him- touching him and tasting him- inside him. Naruto almost moaned just thinking about it-
What did this mean? It scared him a little- this thought of having something- anything inside him again.
He didn't think Sasuke would hurt him, but why did his body want to-
"Relax," Sasuke purred, picking up his head long enough to nuzzle the fox. "You'll get used to it."
"Get used to what?"
"My scent. Tsunade would say my hormones are finally rebalancing right now. Since we're already going to have cubs, my body doesn't need to be in heat anymore."
"W-What does that mean?"
"Your body knows. I can sense it, that you already want me inside you."
"B-But I don't! Why would I?"
Sasuke nuzzled him again. "You're my mate, Naruto. I would never take you before you're ready for me, and believe me, one set of cubs is enough. We won't be breeding again any time soon."
"Y-You mean you don't want to mate anymore?"
"Silly Dobe," Sasuke purred and kissed him lightly. "Kakashi-sensei is always reminding me that humans mate all the time without wanting to have children. It's the same for hybrids. Once my collar is used to me, it will stop me from getting pregnant again after the cubs are born."
"Y-You mean, you didn't really want to have babies with me?"
Sasuke purred deeply and nuzzled him. "It doesn't matter now. Because it's going to happen, and that's okay because they are yours and mine. You're my mate, that's all that matters- being together."
It sounded good. Naruto wanted to believe that. But the thought of having anything inside him again was- scary… Why couldn't they just keep mating this way?
"Relax," Sasuke purred, nuzzling his neck and then nipping it gently. "In a few more days you'll understand why I love having you inside me. Do you want to fuck me now, Naruto?"
Damn… Naruto whimpered. Of course he did! But that didn't mean he wasn't afraid of what would happen in a few days. Why did he tell him?
"Why? Because I love you and I trust you," Sasuke said simply. "And you need to learn that you can trust me. I know you're scared. I wouldn't want a machine making me have babies either. But I would never hurt you, and I will do anything to keep you safe and happy in my arms."
Naruto knew that. He could tell by Sasuke's heart rate and his scent that he meant it, but-
"Relax. Your body will know when you're ready. There's still time."
"Still time for me to talk you out of this?"
Sasuke snorted at Naruto's hopeful tone. "Time for you to accept it, silly."
"I-I'm scared."
"It's okay to be scared but those machines won't ever touch you again. You're my mate, and you'll always be safe with me."
Naruto let Sasuke put his arms around him and hold him. He felt a little better, being close to him, breathing in his mate's scent.
Sasuke was so strong and confident. He couldn't help believing him and that scared him. It scared him because he didn't know what to expect except more pain and fear…
When he was close to him and he thought about Sasuke entering him down there, his tummy curled and so did his toes. But he couldn't help thinking of those awful machines… How was he supposed to forget that?
"It'll happen. You just need to trust me- and yourself."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you already want me and that feeling will keep getting stronger. Anyway, I'm glad you're back. I've been wanting to play with you."
"You did?"
"Of course, I always want to be close to you. You want to play hide and seek again?"
"Really?" Naruto's tail wagged excitedly.
"You go hide and I'll count."
"W-Wait what if I want to find you this time?"
"Then you can count and I'll hide."
"Really?" Inexperienced as he was, even Naruto knew that the dominant partner was usually the one doing the hunting.
"You're my mate, silly. I like making you happy," Sasuke stood up and stretched, then backflipped out of the tree. He landed in a graceful crouch. "Hey, how high can you count?"
Naruto blushed. "Twenty… Ruka says I don't need to worry about counting or school now…"
"Well, count to twenty, three times then, okay?"
"Count to twenty three? How?"
Sasuke snorted. "Just count to twenty and then do it again two more times."
"Oh!" Naruto sighed. "Okay… But I don't like counting. It's boring."
"It won't take long if you just do it. I counted all the way to two hundred for you…"
"Fine… But hurry up, I want to catch you."
"If you can…" Sasuke purred.
So, where to hide? Well, instinct told him to hide in a tree, but first he had to get away from his mate. He went to the water's edge and then jumped up onto a large tree branch that was high above the water.
This was easy for him, leopards were incredible jumpers. But where to go from here? Well, he didn't want to get too close to another cabin, so he decided to go deeper into the woods. Jumping from one tree to another was easy for him and this high off of the ground his scent would be hard to catch.
Naruto would be looking for him forever, he thought proudly.
A few minutes later, Sasuke found the perfect tree to wait in and not long after that he heard Naruto call out, "Ready or not! Here I come!"
Sasuke crouched low on the branch, it was a large Catalpa tree and sharpened his claws. The tree had large leaves and lots of high, study branches.
He knew Kakashi wouldn't want them to go far from the cabin so he hadn't. They were within easy walking distance if anything happened, and there didn't even seem to be very many hikers today!
His tree was a safe distance from the walking trail, but it was close enough that he would be able to tell who was coming or going by scent.
Sasuke settled down to wait...
"Ha! Ha!" Naruto crowed, looking up at him from a lower branch. "There you are! You fell asleep again? Already?"
"What do you mean, already?"
"You left some claw prints on some of the branches you used to get over here. I knew there couldn't be very many hybrids as strong as you around here so I followed them and here you are. Your jumps were so big I knew it had to be you."
"You cheated, huh?" Sasuke smirked. "You just followed me?"
Naruto snorted. "No! Really, I didn't have to. See, look, one of your claw prints is over there. Some of them were so big I could see them from the ground."
Sasuke yawned and rubbed his ear on the branch above him. "Well, if you don't want to pounce on me, what do you want to do now?"
Naruto blushed. That was kind of the point of playing hide and seek with one's mate. But he didn't feel safe being this high up in a tree…
Sasuke leaned down and kissed him before dropping out of the tree. "Let's go home, I'm hungry. Maybe Iruka will make us a snack."
"He's already in the kitchen making stuff."
"Already?"
"He said it will be your Adoption Day soon. So he's making something you like."
"Wow. I guess it is almost here… Seems like I just had my last one…"
A hint of a strange scent caught his attention and Sasuke looked up just in time to see a shadowy figure behind a tree, aiming something at him. The man was wearing odd clothes for summer. He had all black clothes with long sleeves on and a mask over everything but his eyes.
For a moment, Sasuke froze, then he realized it was a camera and arched one eyebrow quizzically.
'How did someone find us out here- unless they followed Naruto?' He growled, but the person only snapped one picture before running away, toward the hiking trail.
His collar was in safety mode. Sasuke couldn't chase a squirrel right now without getting tranqued by his collar and then lectured by Kakashi and probably Iruka too.
He waited until the person was gone and then crept over to the tree. Naruto followed him looking around cautiously. "What are we doing, Sasuke? Home is the other way..."
"Didn't you see the human that just ran away?"
"I didn't see anyone, just you. I'm not good at getting out of trees that are this big…"
Sasuke rolled his eyes and moved to where the man had been standing. There was something strange about his scent… But what?
After a moment, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes and focusing on the scent. It was definitely a decoy scent… But the smell of the fishing bait was too strong to allow him to catch the man's natural scent under it.
It was no coincidence that the person who took his picture and then ran away, had an unrecognizable scent… "Now we have to go home. I'm going to walk around the house and see if anyone has been there too."
"But you're not supposed to go in the front yard."
"The person who took my picture wasn't some random hiker. And they weren't lost. Someone already knows we're here."
"But, how do you know?"
"Instinct mostly. But probably also from watching too much Supernatural."
"But what's Supernurtual?
"It's the only thing I like on TV. I liked it when I was a cub and I guess I never grew out of it. I don't watch it much these days. I've been too crabby and bored with everything because I needed to find you."
"You needed to find me?" Naruto blushed. "Really?"
"Yep," Sasuke led the way into the cabin through the screened porch. "Hey, Kaka-sensei!"
Sasuke sighed as they walked into the empty living room. "Great. They're mating… Or, having sex as Kaka-sensei likes to say."
Naruto looked around. "Really? Where?"
"Doesn't your nose work at all with humans? Iruka-sensei's bedroom probably. Well, at least they're getting along. But still this is kind of important. Come on, let's go take a look outside."
"But you're not supposed to go out front!"
"For a few minutes it won't hurt. I mean, somebody already took my picture and I had to let them get away because if I get shocked right now it will hurt the babies more than me…"
"Y-Your collar could do that?"
"Don't be scared. An ordinary Hybrid's collar doesn't work like mine. Collars have different settings depending on what breed you are and what you are trained for. Small pets like you just get a mild buzz. Most trained fighters like wolves and smaller great cats get a strong shock. But I'm a priority one hybrid- usually only sharks, bears, tigers and lions are rated that dangerous and even then only when they are actually trained to fight. If my collar detects me attacking without permission, I don't get a warning jolt like an ordinary hybrid of my size because it knows I'm strong enough to shrug it off and attack again. So, my collar will attack me full force like it did in the arena, because it thinks it's protecting any humans who might be nearby. And if I get angry it will tranque me immediately too."
"Don't the shocks hurt? Why did Kakashi let them put that on you?"
"I'm a fighter. If I didn't have a collar I would have to be put to sleep. Iruka-sensei had to put one on you too, you know. Don't be scared. You hardly even notice you are wearing them. They don't hurt or slide around, do they?"
"N-No, but they could kill you? That's awful."
"Yeah, but it's just the way it is. People wanted to keep the first hybrids as pets but they are so dangerous that they needed to be able to control them, no matter what."
"Where did hybrids come from?"
"Iruka-sensei said that scientists made the first hybrids to do medical research on them- testing disease resistance and physical strength. Over time they stopped using monkeys and branched out into other animals instead. Humans decided that baboons, orangutans and gorilla humans and stuff were unattractive and a little too close to human's ancestors in looks and personality. So they made hybrids out of pretty or cool creatures, like wolves, tigers and lions. People liked them and they were still very strong. People started having them fight each other. That's why they started making shark hybrids. Kisame and his brother Zabuza were the very first ones registered. Kisame's so strong and mean that humans decided not to make Great White Shark hybrids anymore. When he was little Kisame killed Zabuza and a bunch of people at a KHPA lab, even though his collar kept shocking him to stop him. He's not the tallest, not even close, but he's probably the strongest hybrid alive. His parents were small humans, if they had used someone taller he'd be even more dangerous. He's the only hybrid in the world who has won more matches than me."
"Sasuke? How do you know so much stuff?"
"I went to school in nursery room 7. Iruka-sensei and the other teachers taught us all about hybrids and our history. They want to make it so that we are considered people and not animals, so we were taught to read and write and do what normal human children are taught. But we learn and grow so much faster than human babies that it scares a lot of people. I think they're afraid that hybrids will take over the world someday so they call us monsters and animals."
"So, what do we do now?"
"Now we try to find out who's been hanging around and watching us. I keep detecting something strange around here. But when I look I don't see anyone."
"I don't smell anything, and I don't see anything either." Naruto said.
"I'm a trained fighter. In the arena you never know when your opponent will attack. You have to be ready for anything."
"If these people are connected to my collar tampering and they bring a hybrid with them you and Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei will be in danger. They will attack you and not me."
"But how do you know?"
"It's what I would do if I were mad at me for beating Suigetsu," Sasuke said. After a few minutes he sighed. "Well, I don't smell anyone strange… Let's check the driveway and the road."
"You're not supposed to go over there."
"I know but you could be in danger. This is important."
Naruto followed him around anxiously. Sasuke checked under the cars and around the road.
"Well, I don't know how that jerk in the ski mask found us if he didn't follow us from here… Come on, let's go see what Iruka-Sensei is doing. I think I smell the barbeque grill starting."