SasuNaru, yaoi, m-preg, OOC , OCs and unbeta-read
Naruto belongs to his creator. -grins-
As usual, a heartfelt thank you to guys for still being here.
Chapter 51: Painful downpour
Naruto unblinkingly stared outside from his office window, waiting patiently. For once, he wasn't pressured to look at the reports gathered on his desk. His work for the next three days was to attend a convention bigger than the annual economic summit he attended.
This event was where world leaders gathered to discuss a lot of important matters concerning diplomacy and the world at large. And considering that the participants came from different countries, one could assume that it would be fun to mingle with them. But no, it wasn't, in Naruto's opinion. Most leaders were pompous asses who were all self-centered while others were too boring. But Naruto wasn't too worried about getting bored because Gaara, Sumaru, and Yukie were attending too. But if things would get worse, he could create a shadow clone to substitute him. The only problem was that Shikamaru, who would be one of his companions, wouldn't allow him. He was certain of that.
Speaking of companions, the elders had taken the liberty of choosing his escorts because being a shinobi village, the host country won't send an entourage of guards for Naruto. That was the agreed arrangement between any non-ninja countries with the hidden villages.
He swiveled his chair around when he felt few people joining him. He knew these people were the elder's chosen ones. When his eyes landed on his companions, they almost popped out from their sockets.
He expected Shikamaru to be there because he was his assistant instead of Konohamaru who would assist Neji, the office-in-charge, during his absence. He also expected the elders to assign a medic-nin to his team and who would be better than Sakura? But he had never expected that his guards would be Sasuke, Kiba and Yuuzuki who were all ANBU captains. Did the elders really think he couldn't protect himself?
Naruto 'che'd. "I'm the hokage for Christ's sake," he muttered, pouting.
"That's why we're here. To protect you and prevent you from engaging in battle at all costs," Kiba explained. The blonde pouted more, in fact he wanted to sulk but decided not to. Instead, he produced six scrolls.
"These are the invitations," he explained while distributing it.
Yuuzuki looked at the item and noticed the Konoha logo, "Excuse me for my rudeness, hokage-sama, but isn't this our very own scroll?"
Their hokage chuckled, "actually, there's only one invitation and since right now it is the most coveted item for missing-nins, bandits, terrorists and leftists, I decided to leave it here and..." he trailed off as he saw understanding dawning on them that those scrolls when opened together would summon the invitation from wherever Naruto hid it.
"But why so many?" Sakura asked.
"There are only three. The rest are fakes so the scroll you have could either be of the two."
"I see. Another precaution," Yuuzuki said quietly.
The blonde looked at them seriously as he was about to give them an irrevocable order, "those scrolls are yours to protect even at the cost of your life. Don't give it to anyone even to your comrades or me, understood?"
"Crystal," they replied.
Naruto stood from his chair, "good. Let's go."
-SasuNaru is love-
The receptionist of the Green Dawn inn seemed to have almost forgotten to breathe as he gaped at the gentlemen and their lady companion. And although the blonde wasn't wearing clothes that would give away his position, she knew who he was just as she could tell by the weapons his companions were carrying that the maskless gentlemen were ANBU members. Luck was shining down on her and her brothers. This was their opportunity to rewrite their destiny.
With a grin that wouldn't look too eager or predatory she catered their request for rooms. After taking care of their needs, she went to inform her two brothers and her younger sister.
-SasuNaru is love-
Naruto sighed as he submerged his body into the hot water. "Sa-ku-ra-chaaan," he called out to his friend who was also soaking in the women onsen just on the other side of the fence. "If the loneliness is too overwhelming, you could join us," he suggested making Kiba and Yuuzuki snicker.
"Naruto," the kunoichi replied in a warning voice.
"Or," he giggled, "I could join you there in my female version." He was about to transform when Sakura's voice rang in the air.
"Or you could just drop dead," she half-shouted as she threw the biggest wooden bucket she could find. She grinned in sadistic victory while her inner self pumped her fist in the air as she heard the resounding thud of the bucket hitting the target.
"You're troublesome as always, Naruto," Shikamaru muttered while Kiba and Yuuzuki chuckled.
"It hurts a lot," Naruto murmured as he rubbed the growing lump on his head.
"Serves you right, dobe," Sasuke said in his usual indifferent tone.
The blonde was about to retort when a lanky man approached then. The man bowed as he introduced himself as the inn's manager.
"It is an honor to have the Konoha ninjas especially the Rokudaime here," he said. "There's a complimentary massage waiting for you." He trained his eyes on the grinning blonde, "Assuming that hokage's work is mostly paperwork then I'm sure a massage would be perfect for that lean body."
Sasuke snapped his head towards the man, ready to strangle him to death if he was flirting with his Naruto.
"My brother is an expert masseur and I'm sure it would feel nice if those skillful hands-"
"Are you implying that the hokage is a pervert?" somebody asked in a cold voice. The manager looked at the inquiring man and found himself at the receiving end of a cold death glare. He laughed sheepishly, "Of course not."
Kiba sighed at the man's obvious ignorance of the hidden meaning of Sasuke's words.
"Okay, I'll take the offer but," he gave a scowling Sasuke a glance, "I want a female masseur to do it."
That request seemed to make Sasuke relax a bit. He never liked anyone touching his wife but if Naruto wanted a massage from an expert then he preferred the masseur to be female rather than male.
Noticing that his four companions were getting out from the steaming water as well, Naruto looked at the manager, "I think all of us-"
"Don't get us wrong," Kiba said, "we only want to check the room first for anything suspicious." He then almost yelled for their kunoichi friend to hear, "Sakura, we need you to come with us."
"I'll be out in 30 seconds flat," Sakura answered.
-SasuNaru is love-
Yuuzuki frisked the masseur for anything before joining his seniors in searching the room. While they do that, Sakura was sniffing the massaging lotions and creams. Her training under Tsunade, experiences and exposures to different herbs made her nose sensitive to their scent. With just one sniff of any medicinal concoction, she could tell what the ingredients were.
Sakura nodded her head to them, telling her comrades that there was no poison or any harmful ingredient mixed. Satisfied with the results of their search, Sasuke nodded to the masseur. He approached Naruto and leaned forward t whisper, "If anything happens we're just outside."
"It's not like I can't do anything," the blonde responded, a bit annoyed.
"But we exist to keep you safe. I exist to protect you." With that he quickly brushed his lips against the blonde's ear before he left and the others followed.
Naruto sighed feeling nervous and all because of the way his guards were acting. This was the first time that he was being guarded like this and he couldn't help but feel that their actions were ominous.
"Please lay down here," the masseur said softly, patting the bed. The blonde nodded and lied down on his stomach.
"I'm going to start now," she announced as she covered her palms with lotion.
Minutes later, moans were slipping past Naruto's lips as his muscles started relaxing. He felt like he was floating towards heaven in a way different every time he and Sasuke were making out or making love and also different from when he was eating ramen. Tension was flowing out from his system and it felt so nice.
No matter how hard he tried to stay awake, he found himself slowly dozing off until he had fallen asleep.
When the masseur noticed this, she smiled. She dipped two of her fingers into a vial of translucent cream and traced characters on the blonde's back starting from left to right. After that, she bit his thumb and traced her blood on his spinal cord. When she was done, she leaned back and watched as the translucent characters glowed before it seeped into his skin together with her blood. She continued massaging for another twenty minutes before she stepped out to inform the hokage's guards who were waiting outside that their blond hokage was sleeping.
-SasuNaru is love-
"Thank you for coming," the manager bowed and his siblings followed suit as the hokage and his party was about to leave at the crack of dawn. As they leave, the four continued waving good-bye. When they could no longer see them, they siblings went back and walked into the hokage's room.
The two men started searching for strands of hair that had fallen to the floor or on the bed or the towel the hokage had used. The two hoped that luck would be kinder to them and let them find what they were looking for.
Their sister who was the receptionist was busy drawing on the floor a perfect circle then a pentagon inside that circle then an eye inside the pentagon using a black chalk. Their youngest sister who was also a masseur was drawing the same shapes but the character inside the pentagon was just an inverted triangle.
Almost four hours later, they were able to find five strands of blond hair and they placed each strand on the tip of the star's points. Their youngest sister started chanting as she marred her older sister's face with her blood. That would be their connection. Then the two started undressing before sitting on the center of their own symbols. Each of them was chanting different words.
The female masseur finished first. She had already activated the text she had trace on the hokage's back. Its purpose was to confine the blonde's consciousness at the same time act as a talisman to manipulate the demon to their advantage.
Her older sister finished chanting ten second after her and when she did, she cut herself with a family heirloom knife and flailed her arms letting her blood taint the circle and the pentagon. She pressed her blood-covered hands on the eye character, activating the whole seal. She found herself being thrust towards the direction where the hokage was and entered his mind easily.
Her brothers knew she was in control when her eyes became empty and she sat like a statue. The two men looked at each other and grinned. They could imagine the money they would receive if they'd be able to take the invitation from the hokage and sell it to the black market. The thought of cash flowing in like flood made them drool.
-SasuNaru is love-
Yuuzuki was known to be professional even with his chichiue. He never made a mistake of calling the hokage chichiue at wrong times until he saw him started falling from the branch he just landed. In that instant he had forgotten his role as just a subordinate.
"Chichiue!" he shouted, fear erupting within him. Adrenaline flowed through him thrusting him towards his father. It didn't even occur to him that Naruto was too heavy for him.
His shout had alerted the others and Kiba who was closest to Naruto caught him.
The two landed on the moss-covered ground gracefully and quietly. The rest gathered around them, worrying.
Naruto grinned apologetically, "I'm fine. Just sleepy. I can't keep them open... too heavy," he mumbled.
Sakura checked on Naruto immediately. "Nothing's wrong with him," she said minutes later.
"He was sleepy just as he claimed," Yuuzuki said.
"We have no choice as to take a rest, seeing that he is asleep already," Shikamaru said.
Sakura beckoned Sasuke to follow her. The two walked until they were no longer within Yuuzuki's earshot. The kunoichi looked at her friend expectantly.
Sasuke arched an eyebrow.
Sakura's left brow began to twitch. She wasn't going to be fooled by that innocent look.
Whenever Sasuke was assigned to be one of the shinobi to accompany Naruto during his business trips, the ANBU captain always shared rooms with the other guards while the hokage had his own. Although that was always the arrangement, it didn't mean that the rokudaime's quarters were of off-limits from him. He could join the blonde in there whenever he wanted. And she had caught them having done it too many times that it was logical for her to assume that the dark-haired man was the culprit.
Sasuke sighed then confessed, "No, I didn't join him nor did we have a wild romp anytime yesterday or even in the last 2 weeks."
When Sakura still looked at him unconvinced, he added, "you could check his body for any telltale marks." Kyuubi was kind enough to not interfere by healing the marks he made during such activities.
The kunoichi blushed and decided that it was enough. I wonder what made him sleepy at this time of the day.
Thirty minutes or so later, Naruto woke up. He sat and stretched his body.
"Glad that you're awake," Shikamaru said, "let's go."
The blonde nodded, "just give me a moment." Then he rummaged through his pouch then his bag, getting panicky as he couldn't find what he was looking for. Shikamaru sighed. Naruto was getting more troublesome than usual.
"What now?" Kiba asked when worry and fear crossed the blonde's face.
Naruto laughed dryly while rubbing his hand against his nape. "I can't find the invitation."
The honest admission caused everybody to scowl.
"I think I dropped it somewhere." Noticing the dark looks his companions were sporting, he immediately added, "but we could retrace our steps. We have to."
He yelped in pain as he was slammed against a tree. He looked up, to reveal dull blue eyes to Sasuke who jumped away from him.
"He's not him," he said.
"Wh-how?" Yuuzuki asked, "we never had our guard down."
Naruto covered half of his face with a hand, chuckling. He peered over them through his fingers and said, "or one of you have it."
"Don't be an idiot!" Kiba snapped. "Why would we have it?"
The blonde shrugged, "it doesn't matter. I'll take it from you." With that said, his blue eyes glow red, his whiskers more pronounced and his fingernails grew. "It's either you hand it to me or die."
The youngest captain gaped. He had never imagined that he would fight against his father/hokage. Fight with, yes but against? He never even had dreamt about it. He knew this would be different from their sparring. Spars were like simulations of fights and his father was always holding back during those sessions. He gulped as he felt ominous red chakra flowing from the hokage and Yuuzuki knew Naruto won't be holding back because right now they were just enemies. The prospect of their inevitable clash scared at the same time excited him. This was his moment to test how strong he had become.
Everybody readied for the impending clash against their hokage. They won't hold back. They would fight him with everything they have and if things escalate to worse, they have to kill the hokage or die trying. But could they really kill Naruto?
They all scattered when Naruto lunged towards them.
Instinctively, the ANBU captains knew who the blonde would attack first because that was the basic knowledge of fighting - get rid of the weakest first. And among them, Sakura was the weakest because she was a medic-nin and medic-nins were healers rather than fighters. They save rather than kill and destroy.
The pink-haired kunoichi knew she'd be attack first but she was ready. Healing wasn't the only thing she learned from Tsunade after all.
Kiba intercepted the hokage on his way to their medic-nin.
"You're an obstacle," Naruto muttered in annoyance before he easily flung the man like a twig. With the brunette out of the way, Sakura took it as a moment to deliver a powerful punch.
Moss, stones and soil rose up as the blonde was pinned in the center of the crater with her fist.
When everything cleared, Naruto 'poof'ed into a wood and a second later it split apart - a result of the medic-nin's strength.
They all looked up when they heard an evil chuckle from one of the tall branches. Their opponent was looking down at them as he stood there arrogantly. And he had every reason to because he was more powerful. It was just a matter of time before he'd get what he wanted.
He fluidly leaned sideward letting Yuuzuki passed by, evading the lad's kick. Falling to the ground, Yuuzuki whipped out his wires and let the other end curl around his chichiue's, no, his enemy's body, restraining him. Naruto arched an eyebrow in amusement and mischief. He manipulated the wind around him to free himself and he grabbed the remaining wire and using it he threw the boy carelessly like he was just playing with a yo-yo.
Yuuzuki's back would have been pierced by the sharp wood jutting out from the trunk if he didn't maneuver his legs. With his feet pressed against the rough surface, firmly suspending him from the ground, he breathed fire. His flame quickly crawled on the wire but before it could reach its victim, they were snuffed out and the wire became nothing but tiny shreds. The youngest captain watched as the wind intensity settled between them.
Sasuke half growled when his punch was block at the very second. Naruto turned his head and smirked at him. The dark-haired ninja leaped back just in time to move away from the flying fist. The blonde followed him.
Suspended in the air, they exchanged blows. Sasuke had his sharingan activated and was ready to plunge his opponent to his genjutsu once the latter would look at him.
Now's the time, he thought as an eye contact was established. The blonde winked at him and closed his eyes.
What the fuck? How would his genjutsu work now? Sasuke twisted around and pushed himself from the ground to meet Naruto halfway. He sent his leg flying aiming for the blonde's head but Naruto, still with his eyes closed, blocked it with his own leg.
A drop of sweat trickled on to side of his face as he realized that Naruto had increased his speed. It was now almost inhuman. His sharingan could register each movement two seconds after it was executed. And by then the attacks were almost too late to evade. He found himself predicting which was difficult as the blonde was always known for his unpredictability.
His world burst in pain as he took a very strong direct hit which sent him crashing through six trees.
"Asshole," he muttered, gasping for breath. It wasn't 'dobe' or 'usurantonkachi' because the man he was fighting against wasn't Naruto but someone else- a parasite. He clenched his jaws together to push back the pain.
Naruto was about to walk towards the gasping ninja when he realized he couldn't move.
"Perfect," Shikamaru said looking please with the way his plan was working. With the trees' shadows he had created a stronger shadow bind.
Kiba didn't have to wait for his friend's signal to attack with one of his and Akamaru's finer combination technique. They realized they were tricked again when Naruto poof into thin air.
"A clone!" Kiba muttered displease.
"When did he?" Shikamaru asked. They were truly in a bad position. And it would get worse if they provoke the blonde in using his wind element and Kyuubi's powers to maximum.
"What the-" Kiba never managed to finish his sentence as he and Akamaru found themselves rising in the air before they were being whirled in a tremendous speed. Akamaru let out a whimper. When they were so high in the air, the whirlwind stopped and they were falling so fast, the gravity pulling the greedily that it was so hard for them to break their fall. Finally Akamaru managed to land on a sturdy branched and Kiba found the momentum to grab another one. But the effects of the wind on his muscles had caused them to go numb and Kiba fell once more. But his fall this time was short as Sasuke caught him.
"Shit," Shikamaru breathed the moment his view was filled with peering red eyes. Although he had quickly leaped away, the blonde managed to grab his ankle. One split second he was suspended in the air and the next he was on the ground wheezing in pain. It had been so fast that he wasn't able to escape or felt the moment when his back slammed the ground with a crashing force that the soil was molded in his form.
"Naruto," an angered Sakura screamed, "that is enough." She speeded towards him while taking out syringes of sedatives. She paused when the blonde who was few meters from her disappeared. She slowly turned her head to the right as she felt something lightly perching on her shoulder. It was a wickedly grinning upside-down Naruto whose whole weight was supported by his hand on her shoulder. Before Sakura could move, the blonde leaned to the direction where their backs were facing and slowly gracefully he arched his legs. That was the last thing she saw before a foot on her back sent her flying and tumbling on the ground like a ragged doll.
Yuuzuki saw the kunoichi hurling towards him but instead of catching her, he moved a bit so they won't collide with each other and he continued towards his target. His hands moved quickly and his flame foxes appeared and attacked Naruto.
But the blonde just walked through them while absorbing the flame into the orb in his hand.
He slammed that same orb into Yuuzuki's body sending him towards the trees.
Sasuke looked scared. Was that the deadly rasengan? No, it couldn't be. Rasengen sends enemies spiraling while Yuuzuki was sent in a perfect straight line. Could it be that it was just a chunk of compressed wind?
Yuuzuki slumped on the ground, blood trickling on the side of his mouth. His muscles were stiff and he found no strength left in him. That ball of compressed wind had caused him to be like this.
"Dammit," he muttered in frustration. Compared to his father, he was weak. He couldn't even hit him even once. Why was the difference between them so wide?
Shikamaru was more pressured to think of a good plan that would work against him. But there were so many things to consider like his unpredictability or his ability to manipulate wind, fire and plants. If the blonde would use his last two abilities against them, death would be the only thing that awaits them. He knew one thing for sure that they were just being toyed by the parasite inside their hokage.
"Think of something," Sasuke said, "I'll distract him from you." He had enough. Definitely enough.
"Hey," he called out in a loud voice. "If you want the invitation then I'll give it to you."
A pleased smile graced Naruto's malicious visage. Sasuke took the scroll, careful to hide the village symbol.
The blonde approached him and looked at it lying on the other man's palm. He looked at resigned obsidian eyes then nodded.
When tanned hand closed around the scroll, Sasuke gripped Naruto's wrist with his chakra-covered hand just to make sure his hold won't be broken.
"What are you doing?" Naruto demanded as he felt Sasuke's chakra. There was a tremor in his voice and Sasuke took it as a good sign for his little plan to work.
He smirked then pushed his head closer to Naruto's making the man leaned back. He then said, "taking back what is mine." With that he swooped down and took Naruto's lips.
Sasuke's other hand dug into those golden tresses, making sure the blonde won't pull away. However that was the least thing Naruto was capable of doing. The moment their lips had met his body was losing its strength rapidly because such intimate gesture caused wonderful prickling sensations. His body was surrendering and offering it self just like so many times. Against Naruto's wishes, his eyes closed and his jaw slackened. He shivered as he felt the other man's tongue moving and seeking.
Their companions gaped at them in surprise and waited in abated breath to see that moment when Sasuke would be sent hurling across the trees but it never came. To them, the blonde seemed to even press closer.
Across the distance at one particular inn, two brothers arched an eyebrow as they saw the blush coloring their controlling sister's cheeks.
Sasuke continued his delicious assault. The closer Naruto pressed against him, the more torrid his kisses became until he could feel the blonde gasping for oxygen. He traced his hot mouth from his jaw to his ear, leaving a wet trail. He proceeded in nibbling his earlobe before he breathed against it, "Aren't you going to join me, Naruto?"
There was seduction in his teasing voice that made Naruto's knees turn to jelly. He would have crumbled on the ground if he didn't throw his arms around Sasuke's broad shoulder.
"B-bastard," Naruto muttered before he pulled Sasuke's head and slammed their lips in another furious kiss.
This time, the other shinobis couldn't help but blushed. Yuuzuki looked away not only was he embarrassed at looking at his parents straining against each other but also because he felt his longing for his girlfriend got stronger. He missed her more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.
Back at the inn, the mind controller bit her lower lip drawing blood. Her control was breaking and she could see the fox demon getting restless and looking at her like a prey does to its predator. She had to gain back absolute control.
The female masseur seemed to have a hard time too but it wasn't something she couldn't do about. She started muttering a more powerful chant just to keep things to their advantage. She offered more blood, darkening the color of the light highlighting the circle.
"What's wrong?" her manager of a brother asked as he felt the desperation in her action.
"He's breaking free. Thanks to one of his companions."
Sasuke rained Naruto's jaw with light kisses before dipping his head to feast on the column of skin.
"Sasu...ke," Naruto rasped, his fingers gripping dark locks in urgency. "Kiss me once more. I'm falling to darkness again."
Sasuke leaned back and watched as blue eyes shifting from dull to clear.
"Sasuke..." he breathed. His eyes were wide with plea, desperation and fear. He didn't want to sleep in that forced darkness. There was something in it that made him see flashes of fights between him and his companions. The nightmare looked so real it scared him.
The dark-haired man gathered him in his arms and held him tight. "I won't let you." And he plunged both of them to the sea of pleasure, allowing them to be lost and to be unaware of everything around them.
By this time, the others had looked away and Sakura took the moment to start healing the team. Their eyes were pulled back to the kissing couple when a light burst beneath them.
"What's that?" Kiba and Sakura asked in chorus. Shikamaru took in the circle, the pentagram and the perfect eye. He wasn't mistaken. It was one of the magical symbols utilized by a nameless group. He had read about it one time and he had never thought he'd see one of the symbols. If his memory served him right, the small group had mysteriously perished almost hundred years ago. He wondered if whoever was using the symbol was a descendant or just someone who had found the group's teachings and studied it.
"Hey, Shika?" Kiba called out when the genius remained silent.
The other brunette lightly scratch his head then sighed before saying, "it's one of the magical symbols for mind control practiced by a nameless small group."
"Magical," Yuuzuki repeated almost in disbelief. They were fighting against such people? How incompatible and utterly inconvenient.
"Damn. How the hell did they manage to get Naruto?" Sakura asked. It looked like she and Shikamaru shared the same opinion on who were the culprits as they were the first they came in contact since they started on this trip.
"More importantly, how are we going to get rid of it?" Kiba wondered out loud.
Shikamaru shook his head, "the book I read didn't mention anything about that but Sasuke is doing a great job so far."
The Hyuuga leader looked at the couple and saw hands wandering lower and he snickered, "how far would they get before the spell is broken?"
Yuuzuki crinkled his nose at that. He was absolutely sure that he'd be the first one to walk away if their making out gets heavier.
"It won't be long," Sakura commented as the light outlining the symbol started falling like golden dusts being blown by the wind.
Both sisters let out a piercing scream while the floor beneath them cracked and the symbol disappeared. Naruto's hair burst into flame. The mind controller had just been rudely kicked out by Naruto and the thing inside of him. Mental exhaustion overcame them and they collapsed. Both brothers kneeled beside them. They knew their plan had failed and they were slowly embracing the fact that they could only be rich through hard work.
Sasuke stifled the urge to slip his hands under Naruto's tight black spandex and settled to grip the blonde's firm buttocks while pressing their growing erections together. He wanted more of this contact but reminded himself that this wasn't for pleasure but for saving Naruto from the parasite. He could hear his wife moaning at the back of his throat and continued sending them to dizzying heights.
Irritated that Sasuke wasn't stopping even though he was now okay, Naruto placed his hands against Sasuke's chest and pushed him away at the same time wrenched his mouth from his spouse's.
Sasuke looked at him, surprised and confused. "You're okay?" he asked with slight disappointment gracing his voice.
"I was trying to tell you that," Naruto said.
"Oh. I thought you were moaning."
Naruto blushed deeper, "I could have spoken if your tongue wasn't shoved in my mouth."
The other man smirked at his bluntness. The blonde looked embarrassed as he remembered he had other companions who, he was fairly certain heard what he said and them ravaging each other's mouth. With a sheepish smile, he turned around and froze. When did his nightmare become real? Was he still in that darkness?
God, please no.
He couldn't look away from the damage he made nor could he close his eyes to blot the disturbing scene. He backed away trying to deny what was right in front of him. He had hurt them- the same people he sworn to protect even at the cost of his life.
Words of apology were about to tumble from his lips but he swallowed them back. They weren't enough. They could never be enough.
What have I done?
He leaned against the tree to help his shaking knees in supporting his weight.
Seeing the self-loathing and guilt in those blue eyes, Sasuke moved to comfort him.
"Don't come," Naruto said when the dark-haired ninja took a step forward. "I said don't come." He couldn't trust himself anymore from hurting them. Pushing them away was the only option. He gasped when strong arms pulled him against a warm chest. He smelled Sasuke.
"I told you not to come," he whispered.
"Like hell I would listen," Sasuke whispered back.
"You should because it wouldn't be long before you'll be murdered by me." He pushed Sasuke away from him and walked away. He knew it was better that way. If protecting them meant separating himself from them then so be it.
Sasuke gripped his wrist and whirled the blonde around with so much force it won't be a surprise if the latter dislocated few bones.
"Don't you dare walk away from me," the dark-haired man hissed, his eyes flaring red. He was irritated with how the blonde was treating himself. Must he always be so unforgiving and so hard on himself?
Naruto too was annoyed that his husband was making it so hard for him.
Shikamaru sighed. As troublesome as getting involved, he couldn't stand with the way his blonde friend was beating himself. "Hey, Naruto, you were being controlled so it's not like you really wanted to do it."
"B-but..." Why couldn't they understand?
"If you wanted you, you could have killed us with just a snap of your fingers," Kiba chipped in while flexing his arms testing his muscles.
"All the wounds you give us aren't something I couldn't fix within four hours," Sakura added too.
"And you made me realize how I still have a long way to go," Yuuzuki said. "Chichiue, next time we spar, fight me like that."
There were assurances from his loved one but Naruto couldn't see that because he was always like that. He threw his head back to laugh and when he looked at them there was a crazed look in his eyes.
"Are you masochists? Do want to die that much?" he asked, hysteria making itself known. "Why do you have to be like that? Why do you have to suffer for this shit? What-?"
His face snapped to the left and his hand automatically came to rest on his bruised cheek. The resounding sound produced by Sasuke slapping the blonde was so sharp that it made the others cringed.
"Get a hold of yourself!"
Naruto took a deep breath and took control of his emotions, locking the painful memories away until he was alone. When he looked at them, his face was schooled and void.
"Let's go. I don't want to be late for the convention," with that said, he started moving.
They looked at each other.
"It's pointless to go after them. They are defeated, after all," Shikamaru said. The rest agreed. They were no longer a threat to the hokage.
-SasuNaru is love-
Despite Naruto's infamous unpredictability, Gaara could predict his friend just as easily as he could see past through his mask. So when he noticed that the blonde's smile was strained, he approached him during the leaders' banquet.
He leaned forward and whispered, "Walk with me somewhere." And he took a hold of Naruto's hand to make refusal a bad option. Once the blonde nodded, he half-dragged the other man and led him to the bricked walkway winding through the vast gardens.
"Why so gloomy?" he asked frankly.
"It's nothing, Gaara."
"It's something if it made you like this," he stated. Even his interaction with his companions seemed strained. "Tell me, Naruto." It was an order at the same time a plea.
He stopped walking halfway when he felt Naruto pressing his forehead against his back. He was about to turn around when Naruto's broken voice stopped him.
"Don't. Just let me borrow your back." And in a shaking voice, he narrated what had happened to him and his team.
"They don't understand the danger they're in every time I'm with them. What do they understand? They'd never completely grasp everything."
Despite Naruto's earlier request, Gaara turned and gathered him in his arms. Luckily, any guards weren't allowed in the premise so he didn't have to worry about an angry Uchiha making an appearance.
"Naruto, you also don't understand them," Gaara stated quietly. "They want to sacrifice everything for you because you're one of their precious persons. I thought you're the one who understand about these kinds of things the most."
The blonde shook his head.
"If you think about it, you'd know they understand you more than you think."
Naruto looked at his friend, "Whose side are you on?"
"Usually yours but right now, no one's."
Naruto snorted.
"Despite what you're thinking, you're worthy of their sacrifices. You're worthy," he said so quietly it was almost a whisper. He combed the golden locks with his hand before he let the blonde go.
Naruto looked at his fists and raised it towards the moon. He would protect his precious persons even from himself. Yeah, that was fitting.
-SasuNaru is love-
Plagued by the day's event, Naruto didn't notice somebody had entered his room until the bed dipped under the said person's weight. The blonde's reaction was instant. He pulled one of the kunais under his pillow, twisted around and pressed the weapon against the intruder's throat, drawing blood.
"Sa-sasuke?" he breathed as his eyes met obsidian eyes and the weapon immediately slipped from his hand. "W-what are you doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Sasuke replied as he reached for his wife.
"No… don't," he said fiercely.
The dark-haired man cupped his face with hands and said so softly, "If you don't want me to hold you then you shouldn't have married me."
Blue eyes widened at such statement before he was pulled into a tight embrace. Sasuke lied down beside him, occupying the side of the bed Naruto never occupied reasoning that it Sasuke's to occupy if he wish to join him.
Tanned arms wrapped around the man's neck.
"Ne, Sasuke, thank you for breaking me free from the darkness. If you didn't, I would…"
"No, you wouldn't" he contradicted fiercely. "Even if your mind had completely been manipulated by some asshole, your heart and body still retained their memories. You could have killed us instantly with your powers yet you could only manage to hurt us. Your heart won't allow you to kill us. And your body… it recognized my caresses. I know you'd eventually break free sooner or later, I just made it happen earlier than you could."
Naruto just nodded his head. "I'd be lambasted when my critics would hear about the incident," he said. It was one of the rules that everything that happened during their travel would be recorded, especially their fights.
"If they hear it."
"You guys are going to break the rules?"
Sasuke nodded. They had agreed earlier not to mention the incident in their journal because they knew where their loyalties lay and it wasn't on the set of rules or on the councilors. He looked down and realized Naruto was fighting sleepiness. Was the blonde that scared to fall unto that darkness or to be plunged into his nightmares?
Soft lips brushed against tanned forehead in comfort and reassurance before Sasuke said, "Sleep, Naruto. I'll watch over and hold you."
The blonde pushed himself up to kiss Sasuke who kissed back with aching passion.
"Good night, dobe," he whispered as his wife settled above him, burying his face against his neck.
He felt the blonde's lips moved against his necks to inaudibly say familiar words and Sasuke smiled because he knew things were now okay.
I love you, bastard.
This idea was born when I thought what if it was Yuuzuki against Naruto... Although their fight was just short at least I gave you the idea how Yuuzuki is still (quoting Echizen) mada mada da ne.
Next chapter: Ever since he trained under his aniki, everything comes eash for Akemi. He didn't have to work hard for anything until he participated in the Jounin exam. Even a genius had to work damned hard especially when the tides are against him. Next chapter: Clash of the prodigies. Please look forward to it.