Summary: Uchiha Sasuke isn't someone Naruto would want to spend the rest of his life with - especially since his life as a fox demon won't end anytime soon. Too bad that his wishes don't matter to Sasuke; since suicide is obviously out of question, only one option remains...
Warnings: male slash, yaoi, lemons, some violence, cursing, minor character bashing (Kagome)... Okay, more than just minor Kagome bashing ^^
Author's note: This chapter has been beta'd by XxDreaming of RealityxX
Author's note the 2nd: Sorry for taking so long to update. It was a hard chapter to write. I hope it'll be better with the next one. Enjoy reading.
Disclaimer: don't own anything T.T
"Talking"
"Demon talking"
'Thinking'
'Inner demon'
Dreams/flashbacks
Chapter 11: Planning ahead
No, there was a better way he could pass the time until Naruto woke up. He still had a snake to deal with.
Not bothering with his kimono he grabbed Tenseiga and exited the hut, clad just in his hakama.
Leisurely, he returned to the spot where he had left the corpse of the snake demon that had assaulted Naruto, all the while ignoring the urging of his inner demon to return to the hut. The blonde wouldn't wake for a while so there was no real need to hurry. He would have more than enough time to get the mercenary to talk.
Soon he had reached the right place. Everything was just as they had left it. The ground was still littered in throwing knives and the corpse was still lying on the ground, its head turned in an awkward angle.
Carelessly, he grabbed the snake demon's leg and proceeded to drag him deeper into the woods surrounding the human village. He didn't want the agonized screams of the hebi youkai to reach the ears of the villagers as he didn't want to be interrupted during his interrogation. So he continued farther into the forest. To his annoyance, the forest floor proved to be a bit of a nuisance. The clothing of the mercenary would constantly get caught up on tree roots or in the undergrowth.
After one of the snake demons arms got caught up by another tree root, he ripped it free with a vicious tug. Ignoring the snapping sound that indicated that he had broken a bone, he threw the corpse over his shoulder to avoid further incidents of the same kind. It was a good thing that he had killed the snake by snapping his neck as he preferred not to sully himself with the blood of weaklings and cowards.
After deciding that he had walked far enough, he carelessly dumped the dead body on the forest floor. With practiced ease he proceeded to draw Tenseiga out of its sheath. When he had revived Rin, the sword had sang with the need to be used, but now, faced with the corpse of the snake demon it remained silent. But that was mo hindrance for the demon lord as he had long since learned to how wield his father's fang.
Finally, he stepped close to the body of the mercenary and concentrated on the task ahead of him. Soon, the familiar pall-bearer imps that retrieve the souls of the dead appeared before his eyes, crawling all over the dead hebi youkai. With a swift swing of his sword, he cut through the creatures and watched how the snake demon's neck righted itself and the mercenary came back to life, gasping for breath and disbelievingly touching his healed neck.
As soon as he got over the shock that he was indeed back among the living and caught sight of Sesshomaru his eyes widened in horror.
"This Sesshomaru advises you to not even think of escaping. Your chances of succeeding are more than miniscule. And there's no need to make this any more painful on yourself, is there?" The dog demon spoke, before his prey had the chance to think of something idiotic.
From the way the other demon's shoulders slumped and a resigned look appeared in his eyes, Sesshomaru knew that the snake was well aware of his situation. Though that didn't mean that the demon lord would keep a very close eye on him until he had finished with the mercenary and had returned him to the dead.
"Well, then. Perhaps this Sesshomaru should inform you of the options that are open to you." He said, ignoring the confused look on the snake demon's face.
"Options….my Lord?" The stupid creature asked timidly.
"Yes, options. Two options, to be precise." He continued, annoyed at the interruption. "Your first option is to tell me why you attacked Naruto and who hired you before I grant you a quick death."
"Why would I choose that?" The snake demon interrupted again, staring at the demon lord horrified.
"You are under the misconception that your other option is more favorable. You can either tell me what I want to know of your own free will or I will have to use force to get you talking." Sesshomaru replied, smirking sadistically.
"This Sesshomaru knows many creative ways to break your will and get you to spill all of your secrets. And thanks to my father's fang this Sesshomaru can bring you back to life every time your body shuts down. And when I have everything I've wanted to know I'll leave your mutilated body to the scavengers." He continued, enjoying the rapid paling of the mercenary's face.
It seemed like the hebi youkai had heard rumors of his favorite methods of dealing with his enemies.
Of course most of those rumors were exaggerated. As if he had the time to torture every little adversary that came his way. Only foes who were especially persistent and attacked things or people who were important to him warranted the use of torture. He would have loved to have had some alone time with Naraku to inflict as much pain to him as the spider had caused Rin.
"Well?" He asked lazily, scrutinizing his nails impassively.
"I choose...neither!" The snake demon cried, and launching a volley of knives at Sesshomaru. Gone was the image of the intimidated creature that had covered before him, when the snake turned to flee. Faster that Sesshomaru had thought him to be possible the mercenary raced into the forest.
Sesshomaru would have rolled his eyes at that pathetic attempt, but such reactions were beneath him. And to be honest he had kind of hoped that the mercenary would try to flee. Their earlier confrontation had been short and he hoped that the interrogation of the hebi youkai would help him reduce the aggression and tension that he had built up during this whole mess with the council and his search of Naruto.
With practiced ease, he activated his poison whip that wrapped around the snakes ankle with a flick of his wrist. With a tug, the fleeing demon landed face-first onto the forest floor. Disappointing, really.
"I take it you choose the second option." He growled, dragging his captive back to himself while the snake demon cursed and clawed at the ground trying to prevent that. Sesshomaru could practically smell his fear, and his panicked heartbeat was music to his ears. Still, the snake fought. Not that it helped him much. He couldn't hope to compete against the strength of a daiyoukai.
He really hoped that his prisoner wouldn't spill the beans too fast. He had quite some time on his hands until Naruto woke up. Going back to the hut was out of question if he didn't want Lord Yuuki on his trail for defiling his only grandchild on a cheap futon on the floor of a little hut in the middle of a human village. And he knew that he wouldn't be able to get any sleep.
With another flick of his wrist he flung the snake demon right into a tree, taking care to keep his whip wrapped around his ankle, feeling satisfaction at the cry of pain the mercenary let out when he forcefully crashed into the tree trunk.
"I had hoped that you would choose that option." Sesshomaru confessed, smirking darkly.
Then he proceeded to hang the snake demon upside down from a tree branch, using his whip like a rope after detaching it from his fingers. He would need the use of both his hands for what was to come. And the position his captive was in would certainly be helpful. Humans could die if they were left hanging upside down for too long. And while it wasn't fatal for demons it was definitely uncomfortable and even painful, after some time.
"Now that we're all comfortable we can begin. Would you like to say something first?" Sesshomaru asked, proudly admiring his work.
His captive only continued to struggle with his bindings and snarled at him in reply.
"No? Well then, where to begin?" He continued, circling his victim and wondering.
"Cut him!" His inner demon demanded.
'Hmm…'
"Many little cuts, everywhere. The small ones always burn like a bitch. If he doesn't spill the information we want to hear, we'll up our game?'
'Poison in the cuts next?'
'And if that doesn't help, we could still put some wooden splinter under his nails, cut off a few fingers, toes or whole limbs or threaten to castrate him… and there's still Bakusaiga…'
'Very well.' He thought and returned his attention to the situation at hand.
Unsheathing his other sword, Bakusaiga, he cut off the clothing that covered the snake demon's torso. It would only get in the way anyway. The he proceeded to place many long but very thin cuts all over the mercenary's chest. They were not life-threatening; still they bled sluggishly and Bakusaiga's special ability negated the snake's demonic regenerative capabilities. But still, he continued and even though his captive didn't make a sound as he sliced his skin, Sesshomaru could smell that he was hurting. His captive stopped struggling, obviously afraid to injure himself further. He winced every time a cut was added and soon his whole torso was covered in bleeding cuts.
"Now, would you like to tell me who you are and why you attacked my future mate? I assure you, these little scratches are just a little warm up. There are many things I have in mind for you, should you continue your silence."
But the hebi youkai didn't say a word, he only glared at the demon lord hatefully. He was afraid and in pain, he betrayed that, but he stubbornly kept quiet.
"You are obviously a mercenary. Why would you endure torture for some rich lord?" Sesshomaru mused, while he considered his next step.
"Fuck you!" His captive snarled, and resumed his struggling.
"You have already had a taste of my poison, didn't you?" He asked, ignoring the insult and sheeting Bakusaiga for the moment.
If things didn't progress as he hoped they would the sword's special abilities would still come in handy. For now though he would give the mercenary another taste of his poison.
Circling his prey, he considered where to start, his hands already dripping with poison. And though the snake paled when he saw how his poison dipped onto the forest floor, where it sizzled and dissolved everything it touched in record time, he didn't say what Sesshomaru wanted to hear.
Finally the demon lord dripped some of his poison right onto the still bleeding cuts. And contrary to his reactions to the cuts, the snake demon's reaction was instant. Just like last time, the flesh that came in contact with his poison turned black and the acid burned its way through skin, accompanied with familiar acrid smell. This time the other youkai couldn't suppress a cry of pain.
"We can stop this anytime," Sesshomaru reminded his captive, "having your flesh dissolved by acid can't be very pleasant"
But still the mercenary retained his silence, aside from an occasional cry of agony, even though the demon lord continued dripping his acidic poison all over the cuts he had inflicted on his victim earlier. And just like when he was inflicting the cuts he took his time, slowly upping the intensity of his torture. The snake demon would talk soon enough.
"Is it loyalty that holds your tongue I wonder?" He asked, watching the other closely for any kind of reaction. The snake demons face was red from all the blood that was pent up in his head because of his position. From the way he was panting and his facial expression Sesshomaru didn't even need his nose to tell that his prisoner was in a considerable amount of pain.
A flash of emotion passed over his prisoners pained face. Had he blinked he would have missed it.
"No, that's not it. What hired mercenary would endure any kind of torture for his employer? Is this a matter of pride then?" The demon lord wondered aloud. The fierce, hateful glare the snake demon gave him despite everything let him know that he was right.
"Foolish, really. Your life is forfeit no matter what you do. Your persistence might prolong your miserable life for a while, but it will also make your last moments in this plane extraordinary painful."
When the snake demon didn't say anything, Sesshomaru decided to use Bakusaiga's special ability to achieve his goal. Beside the effect of nullifying regenerative powers of demons it had another interesting ability. With a single touch it could decompose any organic material the blade came in contact with.
Somehow he wasn't really enjoying the situation as much as he had thought he would. But it was also very hard to concentrate on dealing with his prisoner when all he could think about was the half naked blonde kitsune who was sleeping not far from here. And though the snake demon had proven to be more of a bit of a challenge, he could hardly compete with the temptation that was Naruto.
'If you finish this quickly we might still have some time to have our way with Naruto before the humans and our brother wake up."
'Naruto deserves more than a quick romp in some shabby hut. End of discussion.'
'Yeah, yeah… get on with it.'
"This Sesshomaru is getting bored. I thin it is time for you to get intimately acquainted with Bakusaiga." The dog demon stated and drew his sword from its sheath.
The young lord was getting impatient. He wanted to get his answers now and Bakusaiga would help him to achieve his goal. None of his enemies had been able to keep their silence after he had started rotting their limbs, while they were still attached to their bodies.
"I am sure you have heard of Bakusaiga's powers. If you don't want to watch your flesh rot bit by bit, you should really get talking soon. I am losing my patience very quickly and your reactions are quite boring."
From the frightened, wide-eyed look on the snake demons face he had indeed heard of Bakusaiga. Sesshomaru could tell that the other was considering from the way he swallowed heavily and his scent of his fear reached a new high.
Not wanting to waste any more time Sesshomaru slid the sword over his prisoner's skin, just so that the blade didn't break the skin.
"I will start small of course. Maybe with your fingers and toes.,," He explained meanwhile. Slowly he let the sword slide up from his prisoner's hand, along his arm and his ribcage.
"Your arms and legs will be next…" He continued- His captive shivered in fear when the sword slid past his navel. The scent of fear spiked when he realized where Sesshomaru was going with this.
"… That's right, if you are still disinclined I will continue with your cock." The demon lord smirked, enjoying the whimper his captive couldn't suppress when the blade wandered up to his crotch and stopped just short of his member.
"Perhaps you need a demonstration." He said, removing the sword from his captive's privates.
Then he proceeded with swiping his sword over the hebi's hand and watched it rot. At first the skin took on an ugly grey color, and then it started to shrivel up and decompose. In some places, the skin tore and a foul smelling liquid streamed out. For the first time since he had started his interrogation of the snake demon, he screamed in agony without even trying to suppress it. It was not a pretty sight.
When the process was finished the other demon was openly sobbing in pain.
"Would you like another demonstration? Or will you tell me what I want to know? Who are you? And why did you attack Naruto?" The demon lord tried again.
"Ka-Katsuro… my name is Katsuro. And I… I was hired to-to prevent him from returned to the western palace." The snake demon finally admitted, between pained sobs.
"So someone hired you to kill him?" The dog demon growled angrily.
"No- no… killing him was only supposed to be the last resort."
"How else did you plan to accomplish your goal?"
"… if he already had a mate… he would have no reason… to return."
"So you planed to force him to mate with you!" Sesshomaru snarled, viciously kicking his captive in his ribs until they cracked.
The Lord of the West was so enraged that he had a hard time controlling himself after that revelation. Even the pained cries of the mercenary were hardly satisfying.
"Who hired you?" He questioned after one final kick.
"Coun- councilman …Ito-itomaru." Katsuro rasped fearfully.
"Were any of the other councilmen involved?"
"I do- don't know."
"... Hmm." Sesshomaru hummed thoughtfully.
Finally, he let the piece of his whip that has been holding the snake demon dissolve. Painfully, the sobbing mercenary crumbled to the ground. Before he had the time to react, Sesshomaru had beheaded him. After all he had promised the snake demon a fast death in case that he told the demon lord what he had wanted to know.
Besides, he had many things to think about after the revelations the interrogation had brought forth. The corpse of the mercenary was carelessly left behind. Sheathing his sword, Sesshomaru turned away from the body; he had no further use for it.
'How dare that old bastard interfere? Killing or forcefully mating the heir of another lord is an open declaration of war. This time the council went too far.' He thought, making his way back to the village.
'We should return home as soon as possible. There is no telling on how far this treachery stretches.'
'Grandfather may possibly be surrounded by traitors. Who knows what they are willing to do for a little bit more power.'
As he continued on his way to the village he couldn't help but notice his brother's scent mixed with that of the wolf prince Kouga. The two of them couldn't be far away.
'Maybe I should ask Inuyasha to return to the palace with us. He could be useful in case of confrontation.'
'Do you smell that? It seems our brother has finally decided to stop dancing around the wolf.'
'All the more reason to search them out.' The demon lord thought. Even though he didn't have the best relationship with his brother he wanted to have a word with the wolf prince. A son of Inu no Taisho deserved the best after all.
While he was making his way through the forest into the direction where his brother's scent was originating from, he tried to make as much noise as possible. There were after all some things he didn't want to see. His little brother being deflowered being one of them.
He sincerely hoped the two of them would be forewarned and would at least cover themselves.
He knew that he was getting closer to them when he heard loud cussing and the rustling of clothing.
When he finally reached his brother and the wolf, both were still half naked. Kouga only wore his pelt around his hips while his little brother was still busy tying the sash of his hakama. Both of them were flushed, sweaty and smeared with a familiar while fluid. But the thing that really caught his attention was the fresh bite marks both of them were sporting.
"I see you finally stopped dancing around each other." He said mockingly.
"Oh shut up, asshole." Inuyasha snapped. He crossed his arms in front of his chest while a heavy blush crept up his face.
Contrary to the young half-demon, Kouga just smirked at him, completely unashamed about his appearance.
"That is not the way to talk to your older brother who wants to congratulate you on your mating."
"Keh. What are you doing here anyways?" The hanyou asked, "Judging from the painful screams that we heard a while ago it was nothing pleasant. What poor bastard crossed your path this time?"
"… It was something personal." He replied unimpressed.
"Whatever." The half-demon shrugged, stretching his arms above his head.
It was then that the demon lord notice that something was missing. The cursed necklace that had been adorning his brother's neck for years was finally gone.
"You finally got rid of that eyesore around your neck." Sesshomaru said, motioning at his brother's bare neck.
"Yeah."
"Why now? You could take it off at anytime and you didn't."
"My clan elders would never have accepted Inuyasha as my mate while he was still wearing that cursed thing. It wouldn't do for a human to have that much control over the mate of their prince." Kouga explained.
"I see." The demon lord nodded in agreement.
"May I ask why you are truly here, Lord Sesshomaru?" The wolf prince asked.
The demon lord had no time to answer him before his brother interfered.
"Sesshomaru?! Why the fuck do you smell like horny fox demon?" He exclaimed, completely bewildered.
"…"
When Sesshomaru didn't answer a look of comprehension crept over Inuyasha's face.
"Oh my god! Are you serious? You and Naruto?!"
"Indeed."
"Don't tell me it was Naruto who had been screaming a while ago. Those were screams of pain, weren't they?" The hanyou asked with a look of disgust on his face.
"Of course it wasn't Naruto who had been screaming." Sesshomaru sighed. If he wanted his brother to accompany him to the Western Palace he would have to explain the situation to Inuyasha.
He didn't look forward to it. His little brother was a terrible listener.
It was still very early in the morning but Itomaru was wide awake and pacing in his personal chambers. Sleep has been evading him the whole night. And how could he even think of sleeping when nothing was going the way he wanted it to.
Sesshomaru still hadn't returned to the Western Palace. Even though the demon lord had a habit of roaming the lands, Itomaru had a bad feeling about it.
He couldn't help but worry. What if the mercenary he had hired wasn't able to find the kitsune before the demon lord? What if he had been too weak to subdue the young fox?
'And I don't even want to imagine what could happen if Sesshomaru got a hold that damn snake.'
That would be the absolute worst outcome. Sending a mercenary after the heir to the Lord of the South was certainly not his best idea. He knew the daiyoukai well enough to know that he wouldn't walk away with his life. And if Sesshomaru would not kill him, he was positive the Lord of the South would do it instead.
And as if he didn't have enough on his plate already, his daughter made a complete nuisance out of herself. Just about every day, she would come into his study and rave to him about Sesshomaru. "When will he be back?" and "You promised me that I'll be the next Lady of the West." were just a few of her favorite sentences.
'That girl comes completely after her mother. Impatient and spoilt. I should have taken a greater interest in her education.'
But he knew that it was far too late to change the girl. Too long had he indulged to her whims. Now he could only hope to mate her to some poor sod, preferably Lord Sesshomaru, and let her mate deal with her.
In addition to that the other council members were driving him crazy as well. Mating season was approaching fast and all their plans were coming apart. Since Sesshomaru had left the castle they were running around like headless chicken and were pestering him for his input all the time.
He had more important things to worry about. He had new plans to make. He had to prepare himself for the worst case scenario. If Sesshomaru returned to the castle fully aware of what he had done, he would not go down without a fight. But for that he would need allies first.
Waking up that morning was not a very pleasurable experience for Naruto. In hindsight, it had a great resemblance to that night he had awoken to find himself in the healer wing of the Western Palace. His body was aching a little and he had a headache the size of Mount Myoboku.
'What the fuck did I do last night?' He thought, massaging his temples.
All in all he was feeling very disorientated. His memories of the night before returned only very slowly.
' Kami, I'm never drinking that shit again. Never!'
'Good idea. That piss nearly costed us our life. Your hand-eye coordination is absolutely terrible when you're drunk.' His inner demon scolded.
'What in kami's name are you talking about?' Naruto groaned miserably.
'Do the words Snake-faced mercenary ring any bells?'
'Oh… Well shit.'
'We're lucky that Sesshomaru came to our rescue.'
' Sesshomaru? ... Oh shit, Sesshomaru!' He moaned; suddenly he started remembering things more clearly.
Instantly, it was as if a switch flipped and he remembered everything. From the attempt on his life, to his reconciliation with Sesshomaru and so on.
His first reaction was of course very relieved. For one because the snake demon wasn't able to do any more damage. But more importantly, because the situation with Sesshomaru had finally been resolved.
'Oh it was more than just resolved. That man certainly knows how make up after an argument.'
'I'm just glad that it was a misunderstanding. It really hurt hearing those things from him.' The blonde admitted.
'Oh, now you can admit it.'
'And I agreed to become his mate, just like that. Do you think I left him off the hook to easily?' Naruto wondered.
'He apologized to us. From what Sesshomaru and Rei Inu told us that is a very big thing for him. He doesn't apologize easily. He's never apologized to Inuyasha, and he treated him much worse.'
'You think so?'
'I do. And besides, we'll have a lot of time to make him pay for it. Subtly of course. That comes with us being his mate. We could even make him apologize to Inuyasha.' His inner demon snickered.
'Hmm.'
'You see. I'm also very happy that we've made up with him. Or rather made out with him. It is just too bad that it ended so early.'
'Oh god… I passed out, didn't I?'
'Kind of.'
'And he didn't even…'
'Yes, poor Sesshomaru was left hanging.'
God, he was so embarrassed. How could he have passed out like that? And right in the middle of something?
'Oh, come on. Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not like you have a lot of experience with these things.'
'Sex?'
'That too. But I actually meant the alcohol. You've never had any demon sake before. You've underestimated its effect. You won't make that mistake twice.'
'You can bet on that. But it's still so embarrassing.'
For a moment, he thought about hiding under his futon forever and never leaving the hut Kaede had provided for him. Of course, he knew that it was a stupid idea. He couldn't hide from it forever. Though he was sure that he wouldn't be able to look at Sesshomaru without blushing furiously for quite some time.
'What if he decides that I'm so horrible in bed that he doesn't want to mate with me anymore? Maybe that's the reason we woke up to find him gone.' The blonde thought wildly.
'Don't be stupid. You know that he doesn't sleep all that much. Besides, he knew that you were inexperienced. Why would he care about that now? And he seems to be one of those men that enjoy knowing that their partner is previously untouched. '
The comments of his inner demons weren't helping his embarrassment at all. Turning onto his back, he decided to take another nap before getting out of bed. Sesshomaru was nowhere to be seen.
As he was lying on his futon silently, trying to go back to sleep, he finally noticed the voices outside. While he had been busy worrying and dying of embarrassment he had failed to notice the loud conversation that was going on outside.
From the voices he could tell that it was Inuyasha and Sesshomaru who were talking. Sesshomaru was as calm as always, while his brother 's tone was more or less whining. Having missed an essential part of the discussion he was becoming more and more confused by the things he was hearing.
"Oh, come on. Do I really have to go with you to the palace? That's just about the last place I would want to visit." Inuyasha complained.
'Why would Inuyasha go to the palace…?' Naruto wondered.
"Inuyasha. I have already explained to you that I don't know how far the treason has spread. I do not know how many of the councilmen were involved in this…"
' Treason? What treason?' The blonde thought.
"But..."
"And you have to remember that each council member has their own men. Your presence would be an advantage."
"I know that, damn it. But I don't have to like it. I hate that place. All those simpering nobles that try to butter you up all the time but insult you when your back is turned. I can't stand them."
"That is something that we have in common. But you will have to bear with it. Besides, you better personally inform grandfather of your mating with prince Kouga. I don't believe he would like to hear it from someone else."
"Yeah, yeah." The hanyou pouted.
Wanting to know more about the conversation Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were having Naruto forced himself to overcome his embarrassment and decided to step out of the hut. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't stay in there for the rest of his life.
'Okay, I can do that!' Taking a deep breath he opened the door and exited the house. In a matter of seconds several pairs of eyes were on him.
It seemed like Naruto was the last person to crawl out of his bed. Sango and Miroku were still sitting on the same furs they had passed out the night before, looking just about as horrible as Naruto was feeling. Both had dark rings under their eyes and winced at every sound. Only the cups of tea in their hands told him that they must have been awake for a while.
The fire they had lit the night before had gone out. Shippo was happily playing with Kirara, ignoring the adults around him, while Kaede was nowhere in sight.
Inuyasha, Kouga and Sesshomaru were also sitting around the remains of the camping fire. And while Kouga and Inuyasha clothes were looking a bit tired and their clothes a bit rumpled, they also generally looked happy. Sesshomaru looked as perfect as ever. No hair was out of place. But seeing Naruto he also looked more relaxed and content… in his own emotionless way of course.
"Why good morning, princess?" Inuyasha interrupted Naruto's musings, taking in the blonde's appearance and smirking widely.
"Oh, shut up Inuyasha. I could ask you the same thing!" Naruto replied, blushing heavily.
It was just like him to forget that he was half naked before leaving the house. For a moment he looked down himself fearing the worst. But his stomach was clean. It seemed like Sesshomaru had cleaned up the mess he had made last night. Naruto couldn't help but be grateful for that small mercy. The situation could have been that much more embarrassing had he still been covered in his own spunk.
"We had a very good night, foxy boy!" Kouga replied easily, while Inuyasha's cheek's pinked in response.
"Yeah, that's kind of hard to miss." The blonde pointed out, motioning towards the bite marks on the hanyou's and Kouga's necks.
"We're officially mated now!" The wolf prince stated proudly.
"Congratulations you two!" The kitsune replied smiling at the duo.
"Took you long enough." Sesshomaru commented, speaking for the first time since Naruto joined them.
"Good morning, Naruto. Would you like to take a seat?" The demon lord continued, addressing the fox demon and motioning at the place beside him.
"Morning, Sessho!" Naruto replied, pink cheeked and smiling a bit sheepishly.
Sesshomaru blinked at his new nickname but didn't correct the blonde. If anything Naruto could have sworn a small smile had flitted across the demon lord's face at his new pet name.
Ignoring the snickering Inuyasha, Naruto sat down right beside his future mate. He was feeling just a tiny bit awkward after the night before. It would have been so much easier without the spectators. With Inuyasha and Kouga in front of him he was too embarrassed to even give his future mate a good morning kiss.
"Soo, would anybody please enlighten me about the conversation you were having before I joined you?" He asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.
" and I will accompany you and Sesshomaru back to his palace." Inuyasha replied moodily, obviously still unhappy with that decision.
"Okay. May I ask why?"
"While you were sleeping this Sesshomaru had a pleasant conversation with the mercenary that had been sent to attack you." The young lord answered.
"And?"
"It is as I have toughed. He has been hired by a member of my council. By Itomaru to be precise. But I do not know if any of the other council men have been involved."
"Yeah, I heard that part."
"In the meantime we will send for your grandfather."
"Why?"
"I am sure he would want to be part of our mating ceremony." Sesshomaru replied easily.
"Ma-mating ceremony? We'll have to do a ceremony?" The blonde whined.
"Of course."
"But Inuyasha and Kouga didn't have one." Naruto complained.
"Naruto. You're the heir to the Lord of the South and I am the Lord of the West. Many of the nobles would be offended that they weren't invited. We would never hear the end of it if we mate without a ceremony."
"Well damn. When would this ceremony take place then?" He pouted.
"In a few weeks. First we have to resolve the situation with the treasonous councilmen and then we will have to send out invitations. But it will have to take place before the season begins, just in case."
"When are we leaving?"
"Today. I think in this case it is better to leave the sooner the better." The demon lord replied.
"When do you want to contact my grandfather?" The kitsune asked.
"That would be where we come into play." Miroku commented, saying something for the first time that morning.
"You, Sesshomaru, Kouga and Inuyasha will go to the Western Palace while Miroku, Shippo and I will go to the South on Kirara." Sango continued.
Well it seemed like Sesshomaru had taken care of everything. For the rest of the morning the group rested for a bit and packed their essentials. Soon they said goodbye to Kaede and split to go in different direction, but not before Naruto had invited everyone to his mating ceremony. He didn't know a lot of people in Edo and would certainly appreciate a few familiar faces among the hordes of nobles that would be present to watch his mating with Sesshomaru.
And though he was glad to return to the Western Palace he was sad to leave the village. It had kind of grown on him.
In the Elemental Nations, Sasuke returned to the Namikaze estate after a few weeks of being absent. This time he wouldn't leave it before he found a way to Naruto. Even if it was the last thing he did.
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