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Chapter 25: Catharsis

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"The contract, as you know binds Sarada to the Uchiha clan. It was a fail-safe provision that will ensure that no matter what happens, Sarada will always be an Uchiha. This is because antiquated laws in Konoha favors the mother greatly when it comes to custodial rights and no amount of lobbying from the Uchiha's side can change this. Itachi was the one who helped draft the contract actually, because he knew back then that I had no intention of ever marrying Sakura."

The alpha looked up to Naruto's face and saw relief in them. Spurred by his omega's response, he continued to explained.

"Custodial rights was originally drafted by the clan heads. We realized it too late that laws drafted by the clans can only be dissolved by the clans. Absence of one clan's vote will automatically cause a veto of a proposal. So no matter how many Uchihas we tried to pump into the council at that time, getting the majority vote was meaningless if one clan says no. When asked about their reasons, many clans such as the Inuzuka and Aburame for example have been largely matriarchal, even though they have no direct leadership. We posited that the Aburame clan derived this mentality from their close relationship with insect. And the hierarchy in the insect world is largely matriarchal in nature, ruled by the queens. The pack mentality of the Inuzukas have also largely influenced their valuation of their female population. So even after convincing most of the clan heads to abolish the law, we couldn't do anything."

"That was when Itachi finally got the idea of drafting an agreement with Sakura. She would be accepted into the Uchiha clan and gain access to multiple privileges as long as she hand over Sarada to the Uchiha name. To this day, that agreement have been upheld. Even when Sakura and I weren't married, Sarada carries the Uchiha name and not Haruno. That's basically the main gist of the contract Naruto." The alpha searched the omega's face, and found him deep in thought, as if contemplating what was just said.

Naruto seemed to be contented with the alpha's answer however when he responded.

"Makes sense. Now that I think about it, that is rather unfair don't you think? That the laws favor the female parent."

Sasuke gave a small smile at this. At least Naruto has understood his position at the time.

"And with Sakura being a female alpha she had all the privilege of bargaining. By all means, an alpha female shouldn't be able to give birth. But she did anyway, earning her somewhat of a legendary status in the older more superstitious members of the Uchiha clan. But the explanation is far simpler than that. She's only ¼ alpha. The rest of her DNA is entirely made up of beta material. So rather than being born with no uterus, she was born with a defective one, albeit a functioning one."

"So her pregnancy became a difficult one then?" Naruto at this point have finally sat down on the couch, and Sasuke didn't know when it happened but apparently he's now sitting in between Naruto's legs too, his head on the omega's chest bringing a small amount of comfort within Sasuke's chest as he reveled in his omega's scent.

Maybe Naruto really did got tired of seeing him kneeling on the cold hard floor and decided to lift him up to the couch, Sasuke still doesn't know. He was far too focused in answering his omega's questions and his head was still swimming from the amount of pheromones that the omega had released in the room, sending the alpha in an almost euphoric high, nearly incapable of lying or rejecting a question even if he wanted to.

Sasuke felt Naruto's clawed hand absently playing with his hair and he can barely suppress a shudder at the tingling sensation that those sharp claws were sending down his scalp.

"Yeah. It was a particularly difficult one. But it wasn't impossible with our technology and influence. Coincidentally, you also were successful in bringing back Tsunade at that time and she has already made a lot of improvements in the way that the medical procedures are run at the Konoha hospital. So while difficult, she pulled through it."

The alpha felt the omega's hand stopped. Looking up, he saw some amount of guilt in Naruto's face.

"Don't be guilty about it Naruto. We didn't know back then that female alphas weren't supposed to give birth. In fact much of what we know about the alpha and omega genders were pure speculation even until now."

"That's not it, teme. She had such a difficult time having Sarada and here you are talking about taking her daughter from her. I can't help but feel bothered about it, Sasuke." Came the omega's soft reply.

And Sasuke understood immediately. He's aware of how attached Sarada has grown to Naruto over these last few days. Even back at the Uchiha mansion, he could see that Sarada have been eyeing the omega with pure adoration and respect. He had been particularly surprised that instead of running to Sakura or his room, Sarada had run to the guest rooms after having a nightmare.

That had been the talk among the Uchiha attendants and even his mother Mikoto had teased Sasuke about it, much to their father's disdain.

"I know Naruto. But Sarada have been raised with the mindset of an Uchiha. To rip that away from her now would be cruel don't you think?"

Naruto was silent for a while. "But wouldn't taking her away from her mother be more cruel too?"

"To tell you the truth Naruto, we weren't exactly the best of parents. Sakura wasn't particularly interested in a child. Though she didn't voice it out, it was apparent that back then she wasn't ready to have a child. Nii-san overheard her complaining about it all the time and that she only did it because she was promised the Uchiha name."

"Is that why you never married her?"

"Partly, yes. I hated the fact that she was only interested in the clan's name. But also because I was still in love with you, Naruto." Sasuke felt the omega stilled. He stole a glance and once again saw that the omega's face was unreadable. He didn't know if Naruto took to the confession kindly or not. But he would sooner know the answer when the omega next spoke.

"If you were so in love with me… why then did you leave me, Sasuke?" Sasuke felt his heart dropped. He knew it would eventually come to this. He had been dreading it. He feared it. He kept hoping that it would never come, that Naruto would somehow forget about it. But it's finally here.

He shifted his body so he's now facing the omega, he knows that this is a serious conversation that will make or break the two of them.

"I was afraid Naruto. Father and the clan leaders were against omegas at that time. But there was one incident that changed it all for me. I heard how Shisui was disabled by a nameless alpha. It was supposed to be a simple mission. But he had his first heat during the mission. That was the time where we thought he had died. In a clan full of alphas, I feared that you would get hurt if I let you in it. I know now Naruto. I was stupid back then. I decided to end it and cut off all ties with you. I said things that even to this day have haunted me through the nights. And I know I said those words only so you won't come after me. But you have you to believe me when I say that I never stopped loving you Naruto. If I only knew you were pregnant I would never have-" Sasuke felt the omega stood up and made way for the other side of the room.

"So you left me because you were afraid? And on top of it all you only would have stayed if you knew I was pregnant?" Sasuke cringed. Now that Naruto said it like that, it didn't sound too good either. But he was young and stupid back then.

"I regretted it ever since Naruto. Please. I know now that it was wrong of me to do that. You have to believe me. There's not a day that I haven't thought of you." Naruto's eyes were glazed with tears as he balled his hands into fists.

"I think we're done here Sasuke." Was his only quiet response, his voice oddly devoid of emotions.

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. His omega's questioning has come to an end. But he didn't like how quiet Naruto has become. He looked on as Naruto trembled, but said nothing, afraid that he might make it worse. Fearing for the worst, he braced himself for the eventual fallout. He knew that his answer have been a particularly bad one.

But he was not prepared for what happened next. A deafening roar filled the room which was followed by a large explosion as Naruto punched through the wall of the Hokage's office. And before Sasuke even comprehended what happened, Naruto propelled himself with his tails and jumped through the hole that he created and took off without looking back.

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"Sasuke! Sasuke!"

Sasuke's eyes came into focus over Itachi's worried face. In his shock, hadn't even realized that Naruto has left.

"What happened here? We heard the explosion and-"

Sasuke looked up to Itachi with tears in his eyes. "I lost him Niisan. I screwed up."

"Did Naruto did this? What the hell did you do Sasuke?"

Sasuke was surprised. For once, Itachi had lost his calm and composed demeanor. Shisui on the other hand was examining the damaged wall and whistled in amazement.

"This is the strongest wall we had in the village. It's built to withstand a bomb, Sasuke." Shisui said as he examined the cracked concrete and reinforced material that now had a hole, exposing the Hokage's office to the outside world.

Sasuke could only stare at the damaged wall as tears fell from his eyes, his chest feeling empty all of the sudden.

"Don't worry Sasuke, we'll find him."

But Sasuke shook his head.

"I'll find him Niisan." With resolve in his eyes, Sasuke left the office. He created this mess, it's his to fix.

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It had been almost late afternoon when Sasuke would find him. It was not hard to find his omega. Not when explosions and anguished howls and roars kept ringing through the village. With each explosion, the whole of Konoha could feel the ground shake. Sasuke has ordered the troops and military to stay away, fearful that the appearance of the Uchiha police and the ANBU would only worsen his lover's mental state.

Sasuke need only to trace the fallen and uprooted trees beyond the forest of death. He noted the devastation wrought upon the forest. And everywhere he looks, there's still signs of destruction. Three mini tornadoes could be seen at the heart of the forest before they slowly dissipated and Sasuke knew then where to find his omega.

When he reached the clearing at the center, he saw his omega curled up against a fallen tree. His hands were bloodied, his kimono had tears in them and even the fur on his tails were matted with dirt, grime and blood from his rampage.

Cautiously, he approached the curled omega and his heart broke as he heard the pained sobs from the man as Naruto hugged his knees.

"Naruto." Sasuke said softly and was heartbroken when see the omega looked up. Naruto's eyes were red, his fangs sharp, protruding beyond his lips and his whiskers are thicker and dark. Naruto didn't say anything as his head dropped to his knees once more, still sobbing as he cried silently.

Unable to take it anymore, Sasuke drew the omega into a tight hug. Naruto struggled for a minute before slowly melting into the alpha's embrace.

Sasuke drew comforting circles into the omega's back with his palm. "I never stopped believing in you, Sasuke."

Sasuke was surprised when he heard Naruto's shaky voice.

"Which is why it hurts…that you stopped believing in me all those years ago. You know I would have fought for you."

"I know Naruto. I'm sorry."

"I hated this. I hated feeling like this, Sasuke. Despite everything… despite all that has happened I still can't stop myself from loving you. What does that even make me huh?"

Sasuke couldn't say anything. His heart stilled at his omega's state and his hold on the anguished man tightened.

"I swear Naruto. I'll make it up to you. I know you're tired of hearing this already. But I mean it when I said that I will spend the rest of my life in making it up to you. I wish I could erase what I did all those years ago. I wish I could change what I thought back then. But I couldn't. So please. Let me love you again? Please open up for me again. Tell me what I should do so you can forgive me please." Sasuke's voice was getting more and more desperate.

Naruto laughed bitterly as he trembled in Sasuke's arms.

"To be honest Sasuke…" He sniffled against the alpha's shoulder. "I've long forgiven you for everything. I must be some kind of fool. You might think I'm an idiot for this. But I realized now that no matter what you do, I can never seem to hate you. Why? Why can't I hate you Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked at his omega, surprised and relieved at the same time.

"You're not an idiot Naruto. It just means you're heart is too big. And this time, I'll never let go of it ever again. I promise." Sasuke said, his eyes filled with resolve.

He picked up omega bridal style and set slowly made his way back to the Uchiha mansion. He won't let his omega slip away from him.

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Previous for the Next Chapter.

"What? We're going to Wave?"

Itachi smirked. "They finally said yes, Sasuke. It's time."

Sasuke noted the excitement in his brother's face, surprised to see such a rare expression on the man's face.

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A/N: Ugh my apologies if this was rather anticlimactic. I just want for Naruto to release all the pent up emotions within him. Ugh. I promise that they'll patch things up more once they come to Wave. So I hope you'll tune in for that. I was just in an angsty mood for the day so that's why I setup these chapters. My apologies. As always, tell me what you like or don't like about it. Until the next update.