Primal
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
Naruto talking to Kyuubi in bold.
Kyuubi talking to Naruto in bold italics.
Chapter Notation: There is a brief brutal scene in this chapter. Warnings were put up before and afterwards. If you are particularly squeamish, you should skip it. Neither Naruto, nor Suki was the victim in this scene though. Obviously, these types of techniques should never be used in real life. It's just a plot device.
Chapter 14
Suki was very tempted to forget the rest of the world and just stay snuggled in Naruto's arms. She knew better though. Sooner or later, Itachi would come for her.
He had once before. Her brother would do it again. This time, she would be ready for it. The Criminal Ninja was going to pay for what he did. Suki would make sure of it.
"How did you go from feeling all cuddly to feeling all scary, so fast?" Naruto asks.
"I was thinking about how nice this was and then my thoughts drifted to Itachi. We're never going to be safe until he's dead." She says with a sigh as she rests her head on his chin.
At the moment, Suki couldn't fully articulate why she had gone to the Sound. She had thought that it would make her stronger and it had, but that was nothing compared to this. This connection that she felt with her lovable dumb blonde.
"And you're back to cuddly again. That's really weird. Well I'm glad to finally known what's going on in that head of yours. Sorta." Naruto says as he smiles and kisses her forehead.
Once Itachi was gone, everything would be better. He still couldn't believe what they had done just a few minutes ago. The blonde did know one thing though. He wanted more.
Actually, he knew two things. Naruto wanted more and he wanted to Itachi dead. Itachi had hurt Suki badly. He had murdered his own family. If anyone deserved to die, it was him.
"I'm glad you know too. That and it seems like I'm not the only one who can be scary. Your side of our Bond just went a lot darker." Suki whispers as she brushes her thumb against his lips.
"Yeah. I mean you mentioned that murderer. So I got mad. He hurt you. Itachi killed a lot of innocent people. In a lot of ways, he's worse than Orochimaru." Naruto says as he leans in to kiss her.
He wasn't sure how he knew exactly that gesure was a signal to kiss her. The blonde just did. He decides to pawn it off to their Mating Bond.
Suki smiles and kisses back. She quickly wraps her arms around his neck and deepens it. Yes, it was extremely tempting. She could just stay here with Naruto and let Itachi die of whatever illness he had. It would be so easy.
"She's thinking about Denning. You should encourage it." Kurama says.
"Denning? What are you talking about?" Naruto asks in confusion as he continues kissing his Mate.
They really should have done this years ago. Well maybe not years ago.. They had been a little young when they were on Team Seven for this stuff. They could have been at least dating and kissing though. Holding hands and things like that, instead of hurling Chidoris and Rasengans at each other.
"It means she wants to create a home with you. Most likely, she's thinking about having children. Denning means putting down roots." He explains as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Naruto blinks in surprise. He hadn't expected that. Suki wanted to just stay for once? She wanted to stay with him and not run off? That was a first.
"Naruto, you alright?" Suki asks, breaking the kiss.
She could feel his confusion through the Bond. That made her feel confused as well. What was so confusing about kissing?
"Yeah. I'm fine. It's just I didn't think that you'd ever want that." He says as he embraces her tightly.
"You lost me? You didn't think that I would want what?" The raven haired woman replies in a baffled tone.
"Well you know, want to stay. You've always run away from the Leaf. From me. I could feel from our Bond though that you want to stay." Naruto answers her.
Suki sighs and caresses his cheek. She hated that he thought that. Naruto actually thought that she didn't want to stay in the Leaf? He felt like she was constantly running away from him. That hadn't been the case at all.
"I've always wanted to stay. I just couldn't. That's all. Naruto, I love you. I want to be with you. It's just that there are a couple of things that I need to do first." The Uchiha assures him.
Naruto grins. He still couldn't believe that Suki was actually saying that. It was Suki. He beams and holds her even more closely.
"I love you too." He whispers.
"Danzo clearly knew something though. Itachi wouldn't have killed him, if he didn't." Suki says.
That's when there was a tap on the window. Naruto tilts his head to the side and decides to go investigate. What he saw, surprised him. It was a crow with a scroll attached to its feet.
"Naruto, what is it?" His Mate asks as she follows him to the window.
"It's a scroll. Probably a letter." He says as he opens it and reads it out loud.
Dear Foolish Little Sister,
I regret that our last meeting was cut so short. Meet me at the Valley of the End in three days time. You can bring your plaything, if you like. It truly makes no difference to me.
Itachi.
Suki shivers. Almost as soon as the words left Naruto's mouth, his chakra took on an extremely ominous feeling. It was even more vicious than when he had faced Orochimaru.
He was her Mate. Naruto loved her and Suki was honestly terrified at that moment. His chakra was so potent that a mini tornado had formed inside her house. Several objects were swirling around just because of the sheer force of the swirling, angry chakra.
"Naruto, calm down. We can't afford to lose it. We've got to be smart about this." She says, hoping that would actually break through to him.
She would have been furious, if she wasn't so worried about Naruto. How dare Itachi taunt her in such a fashion?! How dare he speak about Naruto like that?! He was her Mate! Not her plaything!
Orochimaru was the first person that he had ever truly hated. Itachi was the second. Once again, the blonde was forced to acknowledge that it was a powerful feeling.
It was no wonder that Suki had succumbed to it. It was hot and felt like poison burning inside him. Some primitive part of him believed that the only way to stop the burning was to kill him and to protect his Mate.
"Naruto?" Suki asks warily, as she senses his thoughts taking an even darker turn.
"It's okay. I'm in control. Don't worry. I'm not going to let him or anyone else hurt you, ever again." Naruto promises as he kisses her possessively.
Suki returns the kiss. It almost took her breath away. This one was far different from his usual loving and playful kisses. This one was down right primal.
It wasn't painful, but it was fierce. She could barely keep up with it. The youngest Uchiha feels herself moan into it and the blonde conquer every corner of her mouth.
There really wasn't any other word for it. Her Mate was taking no prisoners this time. Normally, she would have fought him for control of the kiss. That would have been futile though. This kiss was a force of nature.
"I know you won't. You're a good Mate." Suki says, after the kiss ends and she bites down lightly on his Mating Mark.
She wasn't sure where the words came from. Any other time, Suki would have said that she could take care of herself. Naruto needed to hear this though and it was the truth.
The other ninja had already proven that he'd do anything for her. He'd chase her around for years, trying to rescue her. He had even burned a man alive to protect her. There was no denying that Naruto was a good Mate.
"That feels good." Naruto growls in pleasure as he tilts his neck to the side, exposing it more to Suki.
"Good." Suki tells him with a sly smile as she licks the mark affectionately.
Meanwhile Itachi and Kisame were heading to the Valley of the End. Kisame couldn't for the life of him understand why Itachi wanted to wait three days. He obviously wanted to die. So why was he stalling?
"I'm sure she'll take the bait, but why the three day wait? Are you getting cold feet about this?" The blue skinned man taunts him.
"I've never been more sure about anything in my life. I waited three days because she just had an eye transplant done. The crow informed me of it. Those aren't her eyes. They belonged to our mother." He says.
"Your mother? How is that possible though? The woman's been dead for like ten years. How could the eyes have survived that long? I'm no medic, but it would seem to me that they wouldn't be useable, if they even survived that long.." The Akatsuki member muses with a morbid curiosity.
Itachi clenches his fists so tight that he was certain his nails were cutting into his skin. It was the only way that he could hide his fury. His anger wasn't at Kisame though. It was a legitimate question.
His anger was at Danzo. That man had actually taken the eyes of his Clansmen and Clanswomen and put them on an arm. He was wearing the dead as if they were a sleeve. It was beyond barbaric.
"It seems that he somehow acquired ten Sharingans. My best guess is he had someone dig up the graves while they were fresh or collected them over the years. Perhaps both. Whatever his methods were, he acquired ten Sharingans. Suki must have cut off his arm or at least grabbed two of them before his Seal activated at the time of his death." He explains.
Kisame pauses as he considers this. He was an S Class Criminal Ninja. There were very few things that could turn him green around the gills. The idea of wearing the eyes of dead people like a bracelet though, well that did it.
"That's disgusting. You must be glad that you killed that bastard." The Akatsuki member says.
"I can't deny that I took no small amount of pleasure in it." Itachi says with a smirk.
Honestly, he had never enjoyed killing before. If given the option, he would always choose peace. It was just that he had been born into a world where that wasn't much of an option.
"Good. Do you want me to be there with you for the fight?" Kisame inquires.
"You are not too take the Nine Tails. He is now connected to Suki. Before the Mating, I would have been more than willing to allow you to take him back to the others." Itachi begins.
He knew that he had to try to make Kisame understand. The Bond between Mates was unbreakable. If Kisame killed Naruto, he was killing Suki and that was just unacceptable.
"Now things are different though. If you have any ideas of capturing him, I would urge you to leave. If you value your life, you won't act on such impulses. Otherwise, you may stay if you like. This is a fight that I do not wish for you to assist me in." He finishes.
He wants to die, that's what Kisame hears in Itachi's words. His main concern was giving Suki her pound of flesh. After that, he wanted to ensure that her Mate would be safe. Beyond that, Itachi truly didn't care what happened.
"Well you know that I'm supposed to bring the Nine Tails back to the rest of the Akatsuki." He says.
"I'm aware of that. If you aren't suicidal, you won't though. After my death, you'll leave. Go somewhere that the Akatsuki will never find you. Perhaps the Land of Iron, an Island Nation, or one of the neutral territories. You're intelligent. You might try to hide it, but we both know that's true. You can avoid them. It's just a matter of you deciding to do so." Itachi whispers.
He hoped that Kisame wouldn't do something stupid. Itachi really hoped that his partner wouldn't be foolish enough to attack Naruto Uzumaki. If he was though, Kisame would be joining him in the afterlife.
"Alright. Alright. I won't touch your baby sister's boyfriend. Sheesh." Kisame says with a chuckle.
"Thank you. That's all that I wanted to hear." Itachi says with a smile.
The next day, Suki heads to the Leaf's Market with Naruto. She had decided it would probably put everyone more at ease, if she was seen with him. That and she just enjoyed being around her Mate.
"They got a sale on tomatoes." Naruto says cheerfully.
"Mhm." Suki says as she kisses his cheek without thinking about it.
Soon everyone's eyes was on the new couple. Nearly all of the people at the Market had already been staring at Suki, but now they weren't even bothering to hide it. The former criminal had just kissed Naruto's cheek.
Suki mentally sighs. She probably shouldn't have done that. Now rumors would be flying all over the place by sundown. Most likely, that kiss on the cheek would somehow morph into her being pregnant with his baby by this time tomorrow.
"I probably should have thought that though more. It was just that it was so cute that you remembered the tomatoes." She whispers.
"It's alright. I want people to know. There's no reason why we should have to keep it a secret." Naruto tells her with a grin.
Suki finds herself smiling back. It didn't matter that everyone was staring at them. The whispers ceased to register at all. The only thing that she could focus on was his sunny smile and how his eyes practically glowed with happiness.
It didn't take much to make Naruto happy and for that she was grateful. Suki didn't really know how to do the romance thing. With them it had always been about passion and aggression.
"I guess that's true." She says with a smile.
Despite the fact that they were still almost as likely to kill each other as make love, it was the little things that showed they cared for one another. The little things like ramen and tomatoes. Maybe deep down, they were both rather simple creatures.
It didn't matter though. They had each other and that was enough. Neither of them had need for things like poetry and sappy declarations of love.
"Come, Jinra. We have work to do." Sai states as another man follows him.
Immediately, Suki's eyes narrow. She had seen that skinny ninja around the village before. Usually he was close to Danzo. Danzo might be dead, but his groupies weren't.
"On second thought, let's forget the tomatoes for now." She tells Naruto and hopes that he would be able to pick up on what she was about to do from their Mating Bond.
She didn't have time to explain. Suki couldn't lose them. With that thought in mind, the raven haired woman stealthily follows the two members of ROOT.
"What's she doing?" Naruto asks in confusion, taking off after his Mate.
"She's tracking two ROOT Members. They worked for Danzo. Your Mate believes that they may have the answers that you seek." Kurama replies.
That was all Naruto needed to hear. Stealth wasn't his greatest asset, but he was a ninja. He could be stealthy, when he HAD to be and this was definitely one of those times.
The two ROOT members head inside a building and Suki darts in after them. Naruto does likewise. That's when the Mates realized that they had found some sort of meeting.
"Our Seals are gone." One of them states as if his observation was of profound importance.
"Lord Danzo placed them on us to ensure that we wouldn't be able to spill the organization's secrets. It was a smart move. Paralyzing anyone who was about to tell others about ROOT was clever. Unfortunately, I'm not certain that anyone else in our organization knows how to perform the Seal." Sai says with a sigh.
Suki frowns. Oh yes, these people had definitely worked for Danzo. They had secrets that the elderly man had thought needed to be Sealed away. If she and Naruto could get them to talk, they might find out what secrets Danzo had carried to the grave with him.
"There are far too many secrets that we can not leave to chance." Another says.
"I am well aware of that. There is the Uchiha Downfall in particular. Should the truth behind that circumstance ever get out, it will ruin the Leaf." Sai says softly.
Suki glances at Naruto. She could only hope that somehow he would be able to tell what she wanted to do from the Bond. He could pick up on feelings, but not exact words. It would have to be enough.
"Your Mate wishes to attack and extract information from them. I suggest that you should make some clones." Kurama informs him.
"Got it!" Naruto says as he produces dozens of clones.
"I think that I'd like to her more about the Uchiha Clan's Downfall." Suki snarls as she goes rushing at Sai.
"GET HER!" The ROOT Members all shout in unison.
It was no use though. Between Naruto's clones and Suki's fury, even the highly skilled members of ROOT stood no real chance. A flurry of kunais, ink attacks, Genjutsus, and Taijutsu moves were hurled at each of the Mates, but none of them slowed Suki or Naruto down.
"I just wanted to have a civilized discussion, but we can do it your way. LION'S BARRAGE!" Suki snarls out as she slams her feet and arm into Sai.
The artist falls to the floor in pain. To his credit, he gets up quickly and draws a shield. That was no match for Suki's Chidori though.
"You are going to tell us exactly what we want to know or you will join Danzo in death!" She screams at him.
"Twenty against two isn't a fair fight." Naruto says with a smirk.
"We're ninjas. Besides, you were foolish enough to attack us. Now you will both die!" Jinra yells at Naruto as he charges at the other ninja.
Naruto dodges and grabs the man's hand. He sends him flying into the wall hard. He meant it when he said that he wasn't going to allow anyone else to hurt Suki. That included ROOT Members.
"I mean that it wasn't a fair fight for you guys. Twenty was never going to be enough." Naruto retorts as he clashes with the other ninja.
"Tsukuyomi!" Suki yells as her eyes bleed red and she locks her gaze with Sai's.
"Kurama, what's the Tsukuyomi?" Naruto asks.
"It's a powerful Genjutsu technique that can only be used if one has the Sharingan and even then, it is quite rare. She is essentially trapping him in an illusion. A world of her own making. To us, they haven't moved. To them though, days might pass before she releases him." The Nine Tails explains.
Suki glances around at the black and red world that she had created. This was her first time actually using the technique. She knew what to do in theory, but putting it into practice was something else altogether.
"What did you do to me?!" Sai demands.
"I captured you in my Genjutsu. You are going to tell me what I want to know or you'll regret it. I think I'll start by slicing off your nose." She says as she unsheathes her sword.
"I may no longer have the Seal, but I would not betray ROOT or my village in such a fashion. You'll have to kill me." Sai tells her with a fake cheerful smile.
Warning Brutal Scene
That smile was really annoying, Suki thinks to herself. Well if he wanted to play it the hard way, that's exactly what they would do. She brings her sword down on Sai, slicing off his nose.
Blood splatters everywhere. Suki smirsk as she hears his howl of pain. Pain was good. That meant that he might talk.
"Never. I'll never tell you. Let the dead rest in peace." He tells her.
"They'll rest in peace, once I have avenged them." Suki says simply as she severs the artist's left arm.
None of these injuries would be real once he work. The psychological effect was just as powerful though. In the end, he would tell her what she wanted to know. She was sure of it.
It wasn't that she enjoyed doing it. She just knew that it was the only way to break him. She swings her sword over and over again.
The Uchiha woman even used her Chidori to stop the bleeding from Sai's arm. While he couldn't die here, she wasn't entirely sure that he wouldn't pass out mentally and she couldn't allow that. She needed answers.
"I'm not going to tell you anything!" He hisses at her.
"Yes, you will." She says as she hurls fire at him.
This world was an illusion, but it felt so real. She could smell his flesh burning. His screams. The taste of smoke in the air. All of it. It was all so real to her.
Days pass in the Jutsu, but Suki knew that it was only seconds. Sai might have also realized that, but eventually he gave in. He gave in once Suki was covered in his blood and he would have been dead about eight times over, if this were not a Genjutsu.
"The Massacre was an order. Itachi agreed to it only on the condition that you were spared. The Uchiha Clan was planning a coup. Itachi chose to stop it. He didn't want the Leaf to end up in a Civil War and potentially trigger another Great Ninja War." Sai grunts out in pain.
End of Brutal Scene
"Release." She whispers in horror.
While she had been interrogating Sai, Naruto and his clones had been fighting Root. Her Mate had somehow managed to knock most of them out. That was a damn good thing because Suki could only gape at Sai in horror.
Could it possibly be true? Was Itachi not the villain, but the victim in their Clan's sad history? She had tortured him for "days." Was it possible that he had really come up with such an elaborate lie in an effort to be released?
She didn't think so, but she had to know. Suki knew one thing. She needed to see Itachi now, more than ever. Thankfully, she knew that she would soon get her chance to do so.
"Naruto, let's go. We got what we wanted. They can't exactly go to the Hokage and report us for attacking them. Their organization isn't supposed to exist anymore." She whispers.
Naruto nods in agreement. He mentally winces when he feels what Suki was though. It was intense to put it mildly.
An ocean of shock and horror. That was the only way to describe it. She was practically drowning in it. Naruto had never felt anything like it before and he never wanted to feel anything like it again, especially not coming from his beloved Mate.
"Alright. What happened though?" Naruto asks as he takes her hand and Flickers off with her.
"I'll tell you later. I just can't right now." She says in a voice barely above a whisper.
Naruto could tell that she was struggling not to cry. He sighs and wraps his arms around her. Whatever it was, it was bad. Suki didn't cry easily.
"It's alright. Whatever it is, we'll get through it. Believe it!" He says cheerfully.
"That whole believe it thing sounds as stupid today as it did when we were twelve, but I love you anyway." She mumbles as she buries her face in his neck.
She takes a deep breath and sighs as she inhales his scent. The feeling of Naruto's arms around her was just so soothing. Suki wasn't sure how, but she knew that somehow they would get through this. Together.