The Heart of the Demon

Chapter 23

The Sickness

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters

Authors note: Sorry I didn't quite get it out on the weekend, I'll try to do better in the future. Anyway I've been rereading this story to try to make sure I don't make any continuity mistakes and have noticed that there are a fair number of errors, spelling, grammar, or just plain missing a word so I was wondering if anyone wanted to be a beta reader for this story, I could probably use one for Crimson Roses too. I don't really know how the beta process works but I can't imagine it's too complicated so anyway if anyone is interested pm me. Well that's all I have to say, enjoy the chapter.

Raiden bounced slightly in his chair as he messily ate the ice cream in front of him, Naruto smiled softly enjoying the time she was getting to spend with her son. Sasuke watched Naruto intently it was interesting seeing her like this, she seemed so content, there was a light air around her, it was almost like she was glowing. For perhaps the first time since she lost Gaara, she actually seemed genuinely happy.

"It suits you."

Naruto slowly turned her gaze to Sasuke "What?"

"It suits you, being a mother, more than I would have expected."

She raised an eyebrow at him "You didn't expect me to be a good mother?"

He shook his head "No I had just never really thought of you as a mother, it wasn't something I would have connected with you."

"Are you trying to compliment or insult me?"

Sasuke sighed it had sounded clearer in his head "I mean I hadn't ever thought of you as mother, but seeing you as one, you are a wonderful mother."

She gave him a small smile "Good I thought I was going to have to hit you and I didn't want Raiden to see that."

Sasuke gave a short chuckle before returning to what he was saying "Why are you hiding him out here, why not take him back to Konaha with you?"

She looked at him like he was an idiot "Are you kidding me? I had Rai when I was 14, people back home have enough to gossip about me without me giving them ammunition, all the hate and fear they radiate, I didn't want Rai exposed to it. Here he's with people who love him in a village that doesn't judge him for who his mother is. I hate being away from him but if everything goes well then we'll be together again soon."

He raised an eyebrow "What do you mean by that? Do you think things will suddenly change in Konaha? Or are you planning on leaving again?"

"Things will change, I'll make them change, and Rai will never have to go through the things I did when I was a child."

Sasuke let the conversation end at that wondering slightly how she planned to change things. Raiden finished his ice cream and ran up to Naruto "Thanks for the ice cream!" he cheered.

"Well of course, it's not every day you turn four."

They spent the next few hours perusing the shops and playing in the small park in the village. Raiden started to warm up to Sasuke who to Naruto's surprise was quite good with him, she hadn't expected Sasuke to be so good with children. She had hoped that they would get along but it was turning out better than she would have hoped, Sasuke was important to her plans and his being so good with Raiden eased her mind of some of the worries she had about the future.

They finally started making their way back to the isolated home, Raiden was happily riding on Sasuke's shoulders having lost all hints of the shyness he previously held. Kit happily trotted beside Naruto, she was her personal summons after all, she had missed Naruto almost as much as Raiden had.

"So how are things going in Konaha? How much longer are we going to have to wait here?" Kit asked eagerly from her spot next to Naruto.

"Things are progressing nicely; I'll be starting the next phase of the plan when I get back, if all goes well then I'll be ready in a few months."

Kit nodded "Well you know I'll keep Rai safe while gone."

Naruto smiled down at the fox "Of course Kit, I know you'd never let Rai get hurt."

They arrived at the house shortly after and got ready for dinner. Tsunade and Shizune had made a small feast for the occasion; the primary item on the menu was of course Ramen as it was both Naruto and Raiden's favorite food. They had made other foods as well; some red bean soup, a rather large bird, and salad clad with lots of little tomatoes, there were also dinner rolls that didn't last long with Raiden there as he loved them almost as much as he loved Ramen.

"Thank you guys so much, it all looks delicious." Naruto said with a bright smile as they sat down at the table.

"It was no problem; it's a special day after all." Shizune said smiling at Raiden.

Naruto made up a plate for Raiden as everyone else started making up their own plates, after she took a rather large amount of meat from the bird and put it on a plate for Kit before finally getting food for herself.

"So Naruto, how have you been? Are you readjusting to Konaha?" Tsunade asked once Naruto was finally settled.

"I've been good, I joined ANBU but you know Jariya, he took the first chance he could to take me off active duty."

"Really what happened?" Shizune asked

"There was an incident." Sasuke provided and Naruto shot him a wary glance.

"What kind of incident?" Tsunade responded with a worried tone

"It wasn't anything serious, there was a small diplomatic issue when my team ran into a group of sand ANBU on a mission and we ended up fighting. Jariya took me off active duty to prevent any more issue, I guess Suna still has some issues with me."

Sasuke hadn't realized how good a liar Naruto was before, she could spit out complete bullshit without any hint that she was lying, It was a useful skill as a ninja but if she could lie so easily to the woman that had taken her in and helped her through what was no doubt the hardest time in her life then what had she lied to him about?

Tsunade raised an eyebrow "How bad was this fight, how badly did Suna take it?"

"The fight wasn't that bad, no one died, but several of their ninja were wounded, one might not recover enough to rejoin their active shinobi forces. With the tentative peace we have with Suna Jariya took me off active duty as a sign of good will to them."

Tsunade nodded accepting the lie as truth moved on "So how much longer do you think it will be before you take Rai back with you? Not that we want him gone or anything, he misses you and it's not good for you to be away from him for so long at his age, he needs his mother."

"Hopefully I'll be able to take him back sometime in the next few months, I haven't been able to get everything ready yet."

Tsunade nodded to the answer and Naruto made up another plate for Raiden. Raiden could eat a lot for his age but he couldn't keep up with Naruto, she was just too big for him to keep pace much to his disappointment.

"Okay Rai, that's enough Ramen we want to save room for cake don't we?"

His eyes brightened at that, he had forgotten about the cake "Yay cake!"

Naruto chuckled "How about we open presents first?"

Raiden started bouncing in his chair a giddy smile on his face "Presents?!"

Naruto smile and picked Raiden up leading the group to the living room where the presents were stacked. Sasuke felt a little bad had he know where they were going when they left he would have gotten Raiden a present but no one could blame him for not getting one, he didn't even know Raiden existed yesterday much less that it was his birthday.

Naruto sat on the couch with Raiden on her lap Sasuke sat next to her with Shizune and Tsunade taking the couch opposite theirs, Kit laid down next to the couch Naruto was on. Naruto set Raiden on the ground and he immediately shot over to the small pile of presents and grabbed one. He read who it was from with only a little trouble "from Tsu-Tsunade" he tore open the wrapping to find a set of action figures of the previous Hokage, to Naruto's distaste Jariya was included in the set.

Raiden's eyes lit up and he rushed to Tsunade "Thank you grandma!"

Tsunade accepted the hug still annoyed at being called grandma but used to it now. "I'm glad you like them."

Naruto stared for a moment at the action figure of her father; she had mixed feelings for the man that had set her life on the path she had lived. For a long time she blamed him for everything, but she had learned to look at it differently, she had lived through so much pain because he made her a Jinchuriki but in doing so he brought her and Kurama together, and together they would change the world. Ultimately she appreciated what her father had done even if she couldn't bring herself to forgive him for leaving her alone in this hellish world.

She was brought back out of her thoughts when Raiden opened his next gift from Shizune. She had gotten him a connecting gift with Tsunade; it was a playset battle ground for the action figures to fight on full with an arsenal of little plastic weapons for them to use. The other gift in the pile was from Bee, he had grown close to her and Raiden while they were in Kumo, Naruto was glad he still thought of them, she hadn't spoken to Bee in almost a year, her recruitment effort hadn't gone very well with him, he was nothing if not loyal to his brother.

Action figures of former Kage seemed a theme as Bee's gift was a set of the former Raikage along with one of Bee himself. Naruto was happy she had grabbed another little gift while Raiden and Sasuke were playing in the park, she wouldn't want to be left out at her own son's birthday.

"Alright, time for me and Sasuke's gifts." Naruto said with a smile. Sasuke was surprised she include him as he hadn't actually gotten anything as he didn't know to.

Naruto opened a storage scroll and unsealed the presents "This one here is from Sasuke." She handed Raiden a small package and he quickly ripped the wrapping away.

He smiled brightly at the set of practice kunai and shuriken "Does this mean I can start learning to be a ninja like you?" He asked excitedly looking back and forth between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Well you'll have to ask grandma or Shizune to help you practice with them but in a few months when we're back together I'll start training you officially." Naruto knew that Raiden was eager to be a ninja like his mom and had decided he was old enough to start with simple things like kunai handling. She didn't want Sasuke to be the only one who hadn't gotten a gift so she gave that one in his name.

"Okay next gift, these ones are from me." She smiled and handed him the other two packages.

Raiden tore away the wrapping as he had with the others and stared in awe at the contents, there was a stuffed fox that he already loved, he held the same affinity for foxes as his mother, and another action figure but this one was special, this one was his mother. He jumped and hugged Naruto tight "Thank you! You're so awesome, no one can beat you!"

Naruto chuckled "You really think so? What about the Raikage or the previous Hokages?"

He shook his head "Nope none of them could win against you." He said it with all the conviction he had.

Sasuke chuckled at that, he wasn't sure how true it was but it was sweet to see how much Raiden idolized his mother.

"Alright Rai I have one last thing for you" she pulled a small golden locket out of one of her pockets; it had the Kanji for family engraved on the front. She clicked it open "I know you're a boy and it may seem girly but I wanted you to have this." She showed him the picture on the inside of the locket; it was of her and Gaara "This is me and your father."

Raiden looked at the man in the picture, he didn't know much about his father, his mother didn't talk about it much his grandma told him it was because it hurt for her to talk about his father. He didn't want to hurt his mother so he did his best to avoid asking about his father. "Where is daddy." He asked without thinking.

Naruto held Raiden close in her lap "Honey, your father died, before you born. He never got the chance to meet you but he loved you so much, he loved us both." She wiped her eyes before the tears forming in them could fall "But I wanted you to have this, so that you'll know we're both here watching over you, no matter what." Gaara had of course died before Naruto even knew she was pregnant but she knew that he would have loved their child just as much as he had loved her.

"How did daddy die?"

"He was killed in a battle; I'll tell you more about it when you're older."

He nodded and looked at the picture, he was glad to have something that connected him with his father even if it was just a picture.

Jariya sat in his office and rubbed his temples, god he hated this job it was way too much work, he had never wanted to be Hokage the only reason he had agreed to it was because he wanted to be a better man to try and make up for everything that had happened to Naruto. He saw taking the positon as his best chance to make an actual positive difference in her life. She didn't want him though, no matter what he did or how hard he tried she rejected and scorned him, not like he could blame her though, after everything he had put her through he didn't expect her to forgive him easily.

His newest source of stress came from a message from Suna accusing Naruto of breaking into their village murdering over a dozen of their ANBU and stealing the kettle that had Shukaku the Ichibi temporarily sealed within. He had called Naruto into his office to ask if she knew why Suna would be throwing such outrageous accusations at her but no one had been able to find her or her 'bodyguard' all day. He was worried as the last anyone had seen or heard of either of them was Itachi who saw them leave their house early this morning.

It was dark now and there wasn't anywhere in the village that hadn't been searched which could only mean that Naruto and Sasuke had left the village. There was a knock on the door and when he gave permission Naruto and Sasuke walked into the room.

"There you are where the hell have you two been?"

"Why? What do you want?" Naruto spit out with venom in her voice.

"Damn it Naruto show me some respect! I'm your Hokage and this is important!" Naruto just narrowed her eyes at him a hint of disgust on her features. "Now where have you been I have something urgent I need to talk to you about but you couldn't be found anywhere in the village, where did you go?"

"If it's so damn urgent then why don't you spit it out already?"

"Naruto you should show some respect for your Hokage, even if you despise him." Sasuke bowed to Jariya before continuing "I'm sorry for her behavior, we were training just outside the village making sure Naruto was fully healed since her casts were just recently removed, I decided it would be better to do so outside the village as some of her jutsu can be very destructive, I thought we were close enough for it to be okay."

Jariya narrowed his eyes at them "You went against my direct orders, if you wanted to leave the village not matter how far it was duty to get clearance from me beforehand. Even so if you were as close as you claim to have been we should have been able to sense you or have seen or heard the destructive jutsu you went out there for."

"I put up a privacy barrier around where we were training so that no one would be able to detect us, that was your whole reason for keeping me trapped inside this village isn't it? To keep me safe from the monsters you're afraid are still lurking around?"

She looked Jariya right in the eyes as she fed him the bullshit and it was apparently enough to convince him it was the truth, Naruto really was an amazing liar. "From now on if you want to do anything like that again you come to me first and a full ANBU guard will be posted with you. You can't go out just the two of you like that, you're important to this village and we need to be able to contact you at a moment's notice."

Naruto growled low in her throat "Fine."

Jariya gave a small nod "Alright, now on to the why you were called here in the first place, Suna recently sent me a message accusing you of attacking their village and stealing their recently reacquired tailed beast, do you have any idea why they would throw such outrageous accusations at you?"

Naruto shrugged "I don't know I've never been to Suna, they probably still have it in for me because they blame me for screwing up their plan to invade Konaha."

Jariya nodded though it wasn't common knowledge the village leaders along with several high ranked shinobi and clan heads were aware how close Suna had come to invading Konaha nearly five years ago, it was another reason why he took their accusations with a grain for salt, they were still looking for their opportunity to try again.

"Alright then that's what I thought, not only were you too injured to have done what they are accusing you of, you haven't left the village since the incident, at least not until today, right?"

"Yeah that's right."

"Alright then, if you two don't have anything else to say you may go." Naruto turned and left without another word, Sasuke gave a quick bow and followed. He sighed to himself it seemed they needed to start preparing for a possible attack from Suna, he had feared it would happen but it was starting to look like the beginnings of the fourth great shinobi war.

Naruto stretched her arms as she walked into house with Sasuke close behind. She sat on the couch and sighed they had run for another couple of hours to get back to Konaha after the party was over and almost immediately after they got back an ANBU approached them and told them to report to the Hokage immediately, it had been a tiring experience but it always was when Jariya was involved.

Sasuke hung his jacket on the coat rack by the door and put his tanto on the counter before taking a seat across from Naruto. His brow was furrowed and he stared at her like he wanted to ask her something. She raised an eyebrow at him "You have something you want to say?"

"I never knew you were such a good liar, to Tsunade, and then to Jariya, it just makes me wonder that's all."

"You're a pretty good liar yourself, that was some quick thinking with that story you sold him. What does it make you wonder about?"

He looked her in the eye intent on getting a clear answer from her "It makes me wonder what you've lied to me about."

She returned his gaze and didn't speak for almost a minute "Yes I have lied to you, I lie to everyone it's part of the job." She sat forward placed a hand on his knee "But I promise you Sasuke that I will tell you everything, once I'm ready."

Sasuke sat back and shook his head "How can I even trust what you're saying? Nothing I do can tell me if you're lying or telling the truth."

She looked him in the eyes and red flashed over them for a second "I would never hurt you Sasuke, it's the truth when I say I'll tell you everything, I just can't yet, I've worked too hard setting everything up, I can't risk it now. I've been betrayed before and this is too important to risk, even for you."

Sasuke was frustrated he believed her but he couldn't understand why, did she really not trust him after everything they had been through? What the hell was she planning? He wrapped his hands around one of hers "Please Naruto just tell me, do you really not trust me after everything?"

"It's not that I don't trust you." She looked around before standing up and leading Sasuke to her room, she didn't know where Itachi was but she couldn't risk him hearing anything more. She pushed him into the room before activating a privacy seal to prevent eavesdropping.

"I don't understand Naruto why did you bring me in here?"

"Sasuke, I want to tell you I really do, I want you to be part this with me, I just don't know if you're ready for what it would mean."

"Naruto how can you even say that? I'm with you no matter what, nothing you say can change that."

Naruto rubbed her arm nervously "You don't know what you're saying Sasuke, right now you're separate from this, if it turns bad you'll be fine but if I tell you you'll have to make a choice I don't think you're ready to make."

He put his hands on her shoulders "Naruto I said it before and I'll say it again, I'm with you no matter what."

Naruto sighed and took a seat on the side of the bed Sasuke sitting next to her "Alright, but you have to know this is everything to me, I can't, I won't let it fall apart, if you betray me." She started seriously into his eyes "I'll kill you."

Sasuke nodded he was ready for anything she could say even if she didn't think so, he would never betray her.

She looked at the wall thinking of where to start "I've been through a lot of pain in mine time on this planet, that pain has taught me one simple truth, this world is sick. The shinobi, pathetic men tearing the world apart by messing with powers they can't hope to comprehend. They need to be stopped the world needs to change, starting with Konaha."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the state of the world and the pathetic men who claim to control it. It's a repeating cycle of destruction that will destroy this world and I'm going to stop it. Konaha along with the other major hidden villages are the heart of the problem and they must be taken care of."

"What do you mean taken care of?" Sasuke said nervous of her answer.

"In the years I was away, I wasn't just training with Tsunade and wondering the world, I was building an army. An army for the war to end all wars, and our first target is Konaha."

"Wait, you're saying you're planning on destroying Konaha? What about everyone that lives here? All the innocent people? What about your friends?"

She gave a mirthful smirk "The people are hardly innocent, but no the plan isn't simple to destroy Konaha, soon I'll start recruiting hear as well, the younger generation, our generation doesn't want to continue this tradition of destruction, they don't want to be part of the spiral that ends the world. I'm talking about taking the people who are ready and willing to join the movement in creating a new world, a better world, and then yes removing the sickness that ails this world, the ninja that rule, Jariya and his henchmen."

"You're talking about a coup, you want to take over Konaha, I don't understand is the world really that bad?"

"You know what I've been through, I'm just one of many, victims of the cruel world that has been bred by the cowards in power. I won't let the cycle continue, I won't be a victim anymore, I'm changing this world and the pathetic whelps who have for so long sustained their power by tearing down those superior to them will wither and die."

She wrapped his hands in hers and looked him in eyes, they again flashed red marking her use of the Ayatsuru "You said you would be with me no matter what, please Sasuke please don't make me regret telling you this, help me form this new world."

Sasuke was freaking out, he didn't realize how far she was planning to go, how much she was willing to do. He loved her and desperately wanted to follow her to the ends of the earth but this was so much, could he really betray the village, could he really help lead a coup especially after the failed coup his own clan attempted not ten years before. "I don't know, this isn't what I was expecting, I don't even know what I was expecting."

"I know it's a lot to take in Sasuke, but please I don't want to do this without you, I love you."

His eyes widened and his heart fluttered, those three words he had longed for her to say for longer than he could remember after all this time, after everything she had finally said them. That was it he made his decision he would follow her to the ends of the earth, no matter what it meant. He smiled at her before giving her a passionate kiss. She returned the kiss just as passionately and after a few heavenly moments pulled away "So does this mean you're with me?"

"Till the day I die." She smiled and pulled him to her instigating another kiss, she was glad it had worked she had sincerely been worried for a moment he would chose the village and she really didn't want to have to kill him. Luckily he saw things her way in the end, now the real work began, but first they deserved a little fun.

[LEMON]

The moment quickly heated up when Naruto started trying to remove his shirt, he was happy to comply and pulled away just long enough to remove his shirt. She laid back as he pushed forward and he was soon laying over her as they kissed. They separated again so Naruto could strip and Sasuke took the opportunity to remove his pants.

Naruto got her shirt and mesh top off and was surprised when Sasuke suddenly pulled her skirt and mesh armor off leaving her bare on the bed. She gave him a foxy grin as he climbed on top of her. He quickly placed his mouth back to hers only to pull away a second later when she bit his lip. "It's only fun if it's rough, even if it's only a little."

"Oh really, we'll just have to see." He again started kissing her but this time he grabbed a fist full of her hair and when she started to bite he started to pull.

She grabbed his cock and started stroking it "Quit teasing and put it in already." She positioned it and Sasuke roughly thrusted into her. She let out a moan and he pulled her head back by the hair and lightly bit up and down her neck as he thrusted. She dug her claw like fingers into his back and he started to thrust harder, faster, and deeper.

Soon he was at his breaking point and tried to pull out but Naruto wrapped her legs around him and held him in "No, do it inside." Sasuke gave her a questioning look, Sakura had always been very adamant that he never cum inside her, then again Naruto was very different from Sakura, and it was clear Gaara hadn't pulled out so why should he.

He smiled at her "As you wish" and started thrusting again until he shot his load into her. Naruto came at the same time and held him tightly as they did.

Sasuke flopped over next to her panting slightly "That was amazing."

She propped herself up on her elbow and rubbed his chest slowly with her other hand "You're not off the hook yet, we're far from done."

"Really?"

She sat up and positioned herself on top of him, his cock was again hard and she slid down on top of it and started riding him. He smiled before she bent down and they started kissing again, yes she nothing like Sakura.

[END LEMON]