Chapter 7
Much goes into the selection of subordinates by a Jinchuuriki alpha, though the motivations of the creatures in choosing one subordinate over another have rarely been accurately described. Political stability is often a consideration for marriage, but even favorable political matings are commonly rejected if the person offered is too weak or generally incompatible. Jinchuuriki are believed to, subconsciously, prefer pairings which simultaneously strengthen the chakra abilities of their own offspring and also monopolize the breeding capabilities of powerful competitors. A male subordinate mating with the alpha female will, of course, produce fewer of his offspring than if he were mating with a female in an exclusive relationship. Those children carry the chakra of the Jinchuuriki and so perpetuate the demon's energy, which is a favorable outcome regardless of sire. However, the factor so many times overlooked is that by taking subordinates, Jinchuuriki effectively control the reproductive capacity of multiple, powerful ninja who might otherwise represent selective competition. Only truly powerful ninja carrying exceptional genetics can survive the initial mating and establishment of the thrall and so the creature either controls a potential rival or removes the threat from the gene pool. Naturally, Jinchuuriki are not consciously aware of the elegant brutality that their mating habits achieve. As all creatures, they breed and love and mourn the loss of any member of their family unit, far more than either humans or true demons. Regardless, a subordinate breeding in the pack is not producing offspring elsewhere and thus the Jinchuuriki's own genetic line obtains a better chance of survival.
-Koumyuo Sanzo, Lives and Habits of Far Eastern Demons
Naruto winced as Sakura straightened the bones of his fingers, re-breaking them so that the digits could heal straight and strong. Normally, his body was able to re-set itself into the proper pattern of healing, but the bones were small and Sasuke had practically crushed them when they had tumbled out of a particularly high tree earlier that day. He might have been annoyed about that, re-breaking bones hurt dammit, except that Sakura had re-broken the raven's cheek bone first as punishment for being too rough. The bruises were still dark and obvious on Sasuke's face, but Naruto knew that soon there would be no sign of injury on his subordinate at all. He did that for him, by sharing energy through their bond, and Sasuke was practically invincible. The thought made Naruto happy even though Sasuke had been nearly invincible to begin with anyway, a force feared not only by people, but by nations. Teme was undisputedly the most talented ninja alive and had been since Itachi succumbed to the grave. After all, it had taken poison and a team of three ninja, including the unstoppable Neji Hyuuga, to even bring him back to Konoha. He wasn't looking terribly invincible at the moment with bruises all over his face and Sai picking twigs out of his hair, but appearances could be deceiving. Naruto smiled.
The blond suddenly hoped that the child sleeping in Sakura's womb was Sasuke's, because then nothing would ever be able to hurt their baby. She would be unstoppable, just like the raven haired genius who sired her. He had started thinking of their baby as a girl ever since Sasuke had turned his sharingan onto the chakra pattern forming in Sakura's womb and announced that the meridians looked feminine. Though the kunoichi was barely showing, Sasuke insisted that the child was female, that the pattern of her energy told him so. He said the child was a daughter, their daughter, a miracle Naruto had barely allowed himself to dream of somehow made real and his subordinate had seen her. Naruto was almost jealous, jealous of a power like the sharingan which allowed the raven to see into everything, no matter how uncertain. With an ability like that, it was no wonder that Sasuke was so brutally confident, so haughty, so totally secure in his own supremacy.
Knowing that someone like Sasuke Uchiha was in love with him made Naruto breathless and suddenly, even with his left hand a mangled mess, the jinchuuriki desperately wanted to have him again. He would have loved Sasuke even if he hadn't been an unearthly beauty, but he was and so Naruto was wholly at the mercy of his own desire. Sasuke looked lovely, even covered with dirt and blood, every inch of him pure seductive elegance. The worst part was that he knew how good it would be, how hot and intense and perfect. Naruto sighed and tried not to let the sound seem too frustrated. Any kind of intimacy had been badly dampened since Sai joined the pack and everyone had been totally celibate for almost six days. Despite what Sakura said about him being a sex crazed maniac, six days was a long time!
Sasuke sat, shirtless and gorgeous, allowing Sai to brush the dirt and dried leaves out of his hair with a comb. Sai smiled, obviously enjoying the closeness and the scent of Sasuke's hair, which the raven allowed with a haughty kind of tolerance. Sai appeared utterly absorbed in the task, only pausing to run a hand almost sneakily over the hard, rounded flesh of Sasuke's shoulders with the pretense of wiping away the blood drying there. Naruto could tell that the artist was utterly fascinated by his raven haired terror and wondered with a sudden flash of heat how it might be to bed both of them. He had never really been attracted to Sai before, but looking at him now Naruto could not deny that the artist was comely. Long legged and as slender as one of his own brushstrokes with hair soft and heavy as the most expensive Konohan silk, Sai achieved a kind of sensual aesthetic few men could. People often remarked at how alike Sasuke and Sai were in appearance, but Naruto thought the similarity was rather superficial. Both of them had black hair and fair skin, but the angles of Sasuke's face were strong and angular, while Sai's features looked softer, flatter. Sai was like a shadow cast by a willow tree, curvaceous in a way that had nothing to do with his flesh and everything to do with the angle of his hips and shoulders. Even if his almost ghastly pallor was startling, the artist had the kind of body every dancer dreamed of.
Naruto felt his breath catch imagining his Sasuke wound up in Sai's graceful limbs and Sakura's hair. The two of them, both pale of skin and darksome, would be lovely against the rich orange sheets of his bed, writhing together against him... Naruto blushed hard and Sasuke raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Coughing loudly, mostly from sheer lack of air, Naruto tried to bring his heartbeat into a more natural rhythm. He might have succeeded, except that Sakura decided to choose that moment to straighten another one of his fingers.
"Ow!" He yelped.
"Be more careful next time. Idiots." The girl said tersely as she cracked the bone and reset it.
"It's Teme's fault! He was the one who broke it in the first place!" Naruto whined.
"Is that why you broke his face?" Sai asked, cocking his head curiously.
"That was an accident!" Naruto shouted.
"Tch…As if you could ever manage to hurt me on purpose." Sasuke said haughtily.
"It's called sparing because nobody is supposed to require hospitalization afterwards and you are just as bad as he is!" Sakura grumbled and pushed the shards of bone back into alignment.
"Ow! That hurts woman!" Naruto snarled.
"Dobe, keep your voice down. All your whining is going to piss her off." Sasuke hissed, glaring at him meaningfully.
"Fine." He huffed, pouting.
"Stop being such a baby, I'm almost done." Sakura said, concentrating fully on the bones of his hand.
Left with nothing to do other than fantasize about his subordinates and accept the pain, Naruto took a moment to really look at Sakura. The girl was bent over his fingers, her graceful hands tracing the lines of the bones, making sure that they set properly. She was beautiful as she scowled in concentration, a few strands of her glittering pink hair drifting down to pool in his palm as she worked. Naruto studied his wife closely, noting with relief that her color looked better and that she had gained back a bit of the weight she had lost before. Tsunade had obviously been right to dismiss Sakura from duty at the hospital and, though he knew she wasn't happy about it, the girl was looking stronger every day. Naruto almost sighed with relief to see her alert and recovering. Perhaps everything would finally begin to slow down a bit, now that she wasn't so sick, and they could all enjoy a little peace. Naruto brushed his free hand in a light caress against his wife's cheek so she would know he wasn't really all that annoyed. Sakura looked up at him, a little worried by the unexpected gesture, but she recognized the affection in the jinchuuriki's eyes and smiled. She would be okay, he would protect her and Sasuke would relax and everything would be fine.
Sakura blushed a bit under Naruto's gaze and Sasuke let a small, true smile to spread over his face. She was so gorgeous with her piercing green eyes and flushed cheeks that he might have kissed her if she hadn't decided to re-break his little finger at the same moment. Life was weird sometimes. Naruto groaned and bit his lip to avoid making any other damning noises that might be construed as 'whining' by his subordinates. Sakura sighed and let his hand slip into a ready basin of ice water. He gasped. The cold was almost as painful as the broken bones had been, but Sakura worked herself into his lap and Naruto forgot that he even had a hand, much less a broken one. The kunoichi's breasts were soft and luscious against his chest as Naruto let his nose drift into the fragrant silk of her hair, inhaling deeply. By Kami she smelled good, too good, better than any human being ought to smell. The girl made a soft purring sound that somehow reverberated through the very bones of his spine and Naruto struggled against the urge to ravish her just as they were, the consequences be damned.
So much time had passed and so much had happened, Naruto wanted the solidity that the act would bring, the reassurance that balance had been restored. He wanted her and he wanted Sasuke and maybe even Sai, so badly it hurt, but everything was still too delicate. Naruto knew that if Sai was rushed into intimacy with the rest of them, things could go very, very badly, especially considering how utterly clueless the artist was about any kind of personal interaction. He let his eyes slide over Sai's body, over the slender arms and the muscular torso, and wondered. Sasuke had allowed the artist to stay with them for the time being, but that did not mean he would be ready to sleep with him. Naruto sighed and made do with kissing Sakura's throat, listening to her heated noises and wondered how anyone managed to navigate this kind of mess. Sai ran his hand over Sasuke's shoulder again and the raven tilted his head up to glare at him.
"Will you stop that! You're only spreading it around anyway!" Sasuke snapped.
"Hmmm…it's sticky." Sai replied, licking his lips.
"Well…Go get a washcloth or something!" Sasuke ordered haughtily.
"Ok!" Sai shouted excitedly, leaping away to hunt for something to sponge the blood off with.
Sasuke blushed hotly and Naruto could tell that the raven wished had just kept his mouth shut in the first place. Sakura laughed a bit under her breath and Sasuke glared darkly at them, but that only made her laugh more. Sai returned with a steaming bowl of water and several small towels. Sasuke grimaced, but said nothing as Sai proceeded to give him an extremely thorough sponge bath of the sort that would have made even master Jiraiya blush. Naruto felt himself harden as he watched Sai stroke the dirt away from Sasuke's alabaster skin, his breath fast and ragged as the artist's dexterous hands played over the raven's nervous flesh. Sasuke bit his lip and tried to ignore the fact that he was being methodically caressed, that Sai was touching every inch of available skin. As for Sai, the artist clearly had some idea of what he was doing, but not enough to stop or make any real headway. After another few breathless minutes, Sasuke looked as if he might either pass out or kill someone and Naruto wondered if he should intervene.
True, the artist was making his feelings known, but Naruto was willing to bet that he did not have the slightest idea how Sasuke might react to the advance. Even if the raven decided to sleep with them instead of simply assaulting Sai, Naruto worried that things might not go smoothly. Sai was totally inexperienced and Sasuke was often unreservedly rough, which would be an awful combination. Naruto winced even thinking about it. Already, Sasuke overpowered Sai through the sheer force of his personality, dominating him without even laying a hand on the artist physically. The blond did not have much trouble picturing Sai hopelessly overcome by him, despite the fact that Sasuke was often a very awkward lover. As for Sai, Naruto had no idea how a person who had forgotten their emotions might react to sex, of any kind, much less with three other people. Kyuubi had told him to exert authority, but a kind of hierarchy was already forming and moving quickly beyond his influence. Sasuke and Sai were already performing a tempestuous dance of their own and if he didn't find some way to join them, something very bad might happen. Naruto wet his lips, watching them and feeling both aroused and terrified at the same time.
Sakura hummed seductively and licked his earlobe, sending shivers through Naruto's body as her warm mouth played over the sensitive flesh. Carefully, because Sasuke was looking overwhelmed and would never admit it, Naruto raised his good hand from Sakura's hip and beckoned to Sai. The artist noticed the gesture and paused, his hands stilling flat and firm over Sasuke's belly as if unwilling to move from the raven's quivering flesh. Sasuke glanced at Naruto, swallowing hard, cheeks flushed with both arousal and embarrassment. Naruto caught his subordinate's eyes, silently searching the obsidian depths for disapproval or anger and finding only well masked relief. The jinchuuriki waited a heartbeat and then another before Sai moved to kneel in front of him. The artist looked at him, and at Sakura, with the same kind of unswerving curiosity with which a child might survey a riksha accident, but said nothing. Naruto shifted Sakura onto his right knee, leaning close to Sai, testing his tolerance for the invasion of space. Sai blinked at him and leaned a little closer, moving close enough to taste Naruto's breath, but still too far away to truly engage. Sakura reached towards him, running her hand softly through his heavy hair, the touch both comforting and seductive.
"Come here." Naruto whispered, huskily.
"Why?" Sai asked.
"Because I'm going to kiss you…" Naruto replied, softly.
"Oh." Sai breathed, his eyes widening a fraction.
Obediently, the artist leaned closer and allowed Naruto to brush the milk-pale lips with his own. The touch was soft, charged with tension and something deeper, erotic and so different from kissing Sasuke. Sai was totally still against him, his lips smooth and dry, and as if afraid to move, afraid the moment would crack if he so much as breathed. Naruto let his mouth fall open, breathing deeply, searching for Sai's scent and the information that it would yield to him. The artist made a small sound, exciting and also worrisome, a sharp gasp of indrawn breath. Naruto sniffed, but smelled nothing. Suddenly bold, he pulled Sai closer and buried his nose in the smooth, heavy locks of Sai's coal black hair. Sai was there, close and willing, if tentative, but Naruto could not glean any scent from him. The jinchuuriki had no idea if the artist was aroused or frightened or angry… If he hadn't practically pulled the slender ninja half into his lap, Naruto would have never known that the other man was even there. He could smell the fresh, wintery smell of Sasuke's skin as the raven moved closer, running his hands appreciatively over the graceful angle of Sakura's hips. He could smell, too the musky, floral femininity of Sakura's arousal, but Sai was like a hole in the jinchuuriki's perceptions. The artist had no smell, none at all.
Naruto pulled back to look at him, slightly disturbed, but the artist's face was blank, placid, and his lips were moist and tempting. Root must have done something to him, something drastic and physical, to mask his smell so completely. Some kind of forbidden procedure, a drug or a chemical, was the only explanation for something so obviously unnatural. Sai blinked at him, waiting, awkward and a little afraid. Naruto brushed his cheek with the tender pad of a single clawed finger, feeling protective if no longer fully aroused. The experience had been like kissing a ghost, a phantom only partly ensconced in this world. Sakura watched him, her green eyes still and focused, letting her hand drift between his chest and Sai's hair and Sasuke's wrist. The girl moved a fraction and brushed her lips, feathery soft, over the artist's lips. Sai closed his eyes, relaxing into the kiss, letting Sakura lead him. The delicate flush over Sakura's cheek bones and the silky brush of Sai's eyelashes was lovely to watch, far more so than the jinchuuriki had imagined. She moved against him and the softness of her exquisite curves melted any reservation Naruto had left in his burning brain.
Smell or no smell, Sai was exquisite and familiar and Naruto wanted very much to understand him, his body, his reactions. Sasuke made a kind of giddy sighing noise as Sakura broke her kiss with Sai to suck the raven's fingers sensually into her mouth. Sai watched them, his breath coming in short gasps, paper pale cheeks colored with the barest hint of a blush. The jinchuuriki kissed him again, gently coaxing the quivering muscles of Sai's jaw to relax with slow, circular motions of his fingers. The artist opened his mouth, awkwardly, trying to follow and lost anyway. Naruto hummed hard and low, letting the sound drift against the pale ninja's uncertain lips, enjoying the thrilling quiver that cascaded through Sai's inexperienced flesh. Sasuke trembled as well, eyes growing large and dilated as the sound reached him over Sai's shoulder. Naruto brushed his tongue, light and unthreatening, over Sai's lower lip, enjoying the smooth texture of the other's skin and the delicate taste of his mouth. There was a kind of innocence in Sai's body and in his mouth that Naruto had never experienced before, a bit of wonder in the way that the artist gasped and leaned eagerly into the kiss.
Naruto pulled him close to straddle his left hip even as Sakura undulated against his right, enjoying the feel of Sai's knee against his growing erection and the slow slide of Sakura's body into his side. Sasuke was kissing Sakura deeply, his tongue plunging hard into her mouth even as she wound her powerful fingers through his ebony locks. The girl tensed against him, the hardened points of her nipples palpable against his chest. Sasuke hissed as Sakura's hand found his hardening erection, biting her lips sharply. His lovers warred with each other, both dominant and aroused and subconsciously seeking to assert power over one another. Naruto's breath caught just watching them. The kunoichi snarled a bit, nipping Sasuke's throat hard, inflaming his passion further and drawing him close against her back. The raven rocked erotically against the girl, grinding himself against the soft curve of her buttocks and thrusting her more fully against Naruto's body. Sasuke made a frustrated noise, reaching forward to hold Sakura's breasts through the thin silk of her robes. He caressed her, his hands against her flesh both possessive and supportive as the quiet tension of uncertainty slowly melted from Sasuke's limbs. Sakura blushed and leaned back into Sasuke's arms, submitting to his ardor.
"Sasuke…ah…" She groaned as he rubbed both thumbs over her nipples.
"Hmmm…big." He whispered appreciatively, stroking the tender flesh.
Naruto gasped, feeling warm and excited, and moved to hook a finger into the collar of Sai's fitted shirt. Sai swayed against him a bit uncertainly as Naruto pulled him into another kiss. The artist leaned fully into his body then, allowing Naruto to stroke the elegant curve of his waist. Sai's body was like a steel cable, thin and hard and exceptionally flexible. The jinchuuriki shivered as he pushed his tongue into the pale man's mouth, savoring the easy submission that Sai offered to him. Sasuke reached for him then, trailing his fingers softly against the sensitive flesh of Naruto's nipples. Even through the light t-shirt, the touch was electric and Naruto cupped his still injured hand gingerly over the raven's cheek to feel the slight pressure of Sakura's tongue from within. Sasuke, his Sasuke, was flushed and delicious as he boldly thrust a hand into Sakura's kimono and cupped the other around Naruto's aching length, rubbing roughly beneath Sai's knee. Sai gasped to see it, suddenly looking slightly unsure, but Naruto's arm around his waist was like iron. The jinchuuriki explored the white perfection of Sai's neck, enjoying the texture of the fine scars on the artist's pale skin. He sucked and nibbled, enjoying the firm strength of Sasuke's hand as the ink nin shivered against him.
Naruto held his mates and Sai in a hot tangle of roving limbs and wanting mouths, the feel of them almost overwhelming his control. He ran the deadly tips of his claws over Sasuke's naked shoulder as his other hand came to rest comfortably on the muscular swell of Sai's buttock. Sasuke groaned at his touch and Sai moved wantonly against him, both of the artist's hands holding tight to his shoulders. Sakura's kimono had been tugged down from her shoulders by Sasuke's powerful caresses and the rosy mounds of her perfect breasts were visible above the cloth.
Tentatively, Sai reached across Naruto's chest to run his fingers over the tempting flesh of Sakura's almost-naked breasts, his breath coming fast as the girl arched up into the touch. Naruto rocked his hips against them, the unswerving roughness of Sasuke's hand against his erection making him moan aloud. The feel of them, it was too hot, too much. Naruto groaned and moved to pull Sai's shirt off, eager to see the smooth expanse of his muscular chest as Sasuke finally pulled Sakura's kimono down around her hips. Sai stared at her exposed breasts, only moving when Naruto tugged at his shirt impatiently. The artist raised his arms, allowing the jinchuuriki to undress him and then all of them were topless and flushed with desire.
"Naruto-sama?"
"Ah!" Sakura shrieked in shock as Sasuke moved to cover her with his hands.
The whole effect was to make the pink haired kunoichi look even more scandalous than before, with Sasuke's hands flat over her breasts and her clothing in hot disarray around her hips. Not that Sai looked much better, flushed and shirtless and shamelessly straddling Naruto's thigh. Naruto almost growled, but bit back the sound, pulling all of them closer protectively.
"Yuko-san!" Sasuke snapped, blushing hard.
"Forgive me the…err…intrusion. I had no idea that you might be so engaged in the sitting room." Yuko san said steadily, taking in the sight of the four of them with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah…um…why are you here?" Naruto asked, grabbing Sai's hair as the artist tried to kiss him again.
"There is a Hyuuga delegation at the gates requesting an audience. Neji Hyuuga is with them." The old woman said quietly.
"Kami…" Sasuke breathed, eyes wide and startled.
"What could they want?" Naruto asked the raven, but his subordinate just shook his head.
"I don't know." Sasuke replied quietly.
"Oh, does that mean no more kissing?" Sai asked, sounding mildly disappointed as he rocked against Naruto again.
"Sai…" The jinchuuriki hissed, wondering if it was possible to pass out from embarrassment alone.
"Yes, Sai. It does." Sakura sighed, blushing hotly as she pulled the cloth of her robes over her naked chest.
Naruto groaned and released his grip on the artist's ass, letting Sai slide out of his lap to sit on the floor with an awkward kind of finality. Sasuke gently helped Sakura to her feet, putting his body between her and the door as if assassins might come bursting through the portal at any second. Naruto flexed his injured hand, trying to calm the panic twisting in his guts, trying to think, to decide what to do. Sai looked at him steadily, trying to understand.
"Everyone hurry and go get cleaned up, we don't have much time. Sakura, find Sai some livery. You can borrow one of my kimonos or Naruto's, but he has to look definitively like he's with us." Sasuke ordered.
"Am I definitively with you?" Sai asked, still sitting on the floor.
"You're already letting Naruto have his way with your mouth, so I would say so." Sasuke snapped irately, obviously worried about how to handle the situation.
"No one's fucked me yet." Sai noted.
"That's because you keep acting so stupid! Get MOVING!" Sasuke barked.
"You are easily upset. That must be…inconvenient for you." Sai said dully.
"You have not seen me upset…" Sasuke growled.
"Take it easy Teme, he's going. Sai, go with Sakura. Now." Naruto ordered softly.
"Come on Sai, let's get ready." Sakura said gently, tugging the artist up and towards the bedroom.
"Okay." Sai said, smiling rather falsely at her, but following nonetheless.
"Yuko, respectfully serve them our finest tea and wait for us, we won't be long. Do not answer any questions or allow them to make any additional demands of you." Sasuke said to the worried housekeeper who nodded and rushed off to fulfill his instructions.
"What do I do, Teme? I don't know how to do this." Naruto whispered, feeling lost.
Sasuke locked eyes with him, his face steady and still, but Naruto could read with quiet terror in his posture and the subtle way that the raven moved on the balls of his feet. He was worried, very worried and trying hard not to show it. Naruto sighed, allowing himself a moment of panic as well, wondering what such a meeting could possibly be about. Sasuke came close, close enough that the hot ghost of his breath warmed Naruto's cheek. He smiled, the gesture both innocent and dark with a hint of teasing conspiracy, the smile of a child who knew beyond a doubt that he was cleverer than everyone else. Naruto stared into the inky depths of his subordinate's eyes and saw, as he always had, love sharpened by fierceness. Sasuke tilted his head and kissed him softly, his lips strong and sure against his own. The strength in his mouth was a lie, but it was a good one and Naruto needed to believe so that he could do what was needed.
"Be strong. Only compromise when I gesture to you." Sasuke whispered.
"I will. I am…so glad that I have you, baka. Believe it." Naruto replied, embracing him.
"I know. You'd be lost without me, moron." Sasuke whispered and kissed him again.
OoOoOoO
Sakura sat nervously, feeling awkward in her formal kimono as she locked eyes with the Hyuuga team kneeling on cushions across the tea table. Naruto sat in the center of his family with Sasuke situated just behind his right shoulder and Sakura behind his left with Sai kneeling close by her side. The artist looked strange in Sasuke's kimono, the clothing being just a bit too big for him, but his face was as impassive as ever and so far he had chosen to remain silent. Naruto coughed a little into his tea and Sakura was tempted to reach for his hand, but worried that the gesture would be noticed by the Hyuuga ninja and somehow used against them. The jinchuuriki tapped his fingers against the hidden hilt of his kunai and Sakura knew that he was very nervous even if he was hiding it well. Sasuke, however, just looked annoyed. The girl sat quietly and tried to look relaxed while still keeping one hand wrapped hard around Sai's wrist in case she had to silence him quickly. The artist certainly wasn't stupid, but fragile political negotiation had never been his forte.
Sakura drank her tea, barely tasting it, and focused her attention on Neji where the Hyuuga genius sat ensconced within the center of his team. Something about the way that the other ninja had arranged themselves around him gave her the distinct impression that he was not their leader, though that would have normally been the case. Neji was dressed in a pale green kimono of silk so thin that it was practically transparent and Sakura knew that Naruto was specifically trying to avoid looking at him for fear of blushing again. She had already seen Neji totally naked while treating him in the hospital, but the clothing was still quite shocking. With the dramatic addition of black eyeliner to his already striking silvery white eyes, Neji's appearance had startled all of them and even Sai had to be prevented from pointing at him when they first entered the room. Sakura had never seen Neji use cosmetics, not even during the mission they had run to Suna where the sun was so bright that even Kiba Inuzuka had relented and applied the kohl to guard against the glare. Even more worrisome was the dark red blush spread over his cheeks and the way that he seemed slightly out of breath, panting softly with his mouth open. The man almost looked feverish, but Neji wasn't pale or ill looking and there was a thin mist of sweat over his skin. He looked Sakura thought, like some weird combination between a Suna courtesan and a victim of jungle fever. Either way, Sakura was certain that something was seriously wrong with him.
"What business brings you to us today?" Naruto said with a wide smile, his teeth looking just a little too sharp.
"The business of a debt unpaid, my lord." The female ninja leading the group, Sakura was pretty sure her name was Suki, replied.
"A debt?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Yes. You saved Neji's life…" Suki continued, bowing low before him.
"Oh! Well, that was nothing, I mean…not nothing of course…but, he's my friend and all…" Naruto laughed, nervously rubbing the back of his head.
"Regardless, Hyuuga Hiashi-sama offers you the marriage contract of Hyuuga Neji in appreciation of…" Suki continued in a polite monotone.
"Wait! What!" Naruto shouted, almost rising.
"Hyuuga Neji is offered to you as a subordinate in recognition of your service to the Hyuuga clan. He will serve you well and give strength to your offspring." Suki continued.
Sakura swallowed hard and glanced at Neji, but he appeared almost unaware of the announcement, his expression distant and listless. Sakura bit her lip, her hand shaking so badly on Sai's wrist that the artist turned and put his other hand over top of hers as if to still it. Naruto looked as though he might presently have a seizure, sitting with his mouth open and his eyes wide with shock. The jinchuuriki probably would have been standing except for the firm grip Sasuke had on the back of his belt. Sai blinked and looked like he wanted to ask a question, but Sakura caught the ink nin's eye and shook her head.
"Um…That is very, very nice… and all, but um…well…I'm not even really sure the bed is big enough and…" Naruto fumbled, red faced and panicked.
Neji swallowed, his mouth becoming a thin, tense line. To Sakura, he seemed almost terrified by Naruto's hesitance, but the girl had no idea why. The Hyuuga closed his kohl lined eyes and waited as Naruto stuttered.
"We accept your offer." Sasuke said, his voice strong and heavy with authority.
"We…we WHAT?" Naruto hissed.
"We will gratefully accept Neji as a member of our household." Sasuke announced as Naruto's mouth fell open.
"Sasuke…" Naruto whispered, uncomfortable.
"Forgive my alpha. He is startled by the great honor you show us in offering such a match." Sasuke continued, shooting Naruto a significant look.
The jinchuuriki quieted though his face was pale and very serious as he turned to face the waiting Hyuugas. Naruto was angry, very angry and hiding the emotion as well as he ever hid anything, which was to say rather poorly. Sakura suddenly felt extremely nauseas and hoped desperately that her discomfort did not show on her face. Sasuke, for all his chilly confidence, was clearly upset, his fingers twitching angrily against the hilt of his lavender sword. Naruto took a breath and glared with enough blue eyed brilliance at the wood of the tea table that Sakura thought it might actually ignite. The jinchuuriki allowed a tense moment to pass before speaking again.
"Forgive me, I was surprised. I accept the marriage proposal, gladly. Neji is an excellent ninja and I would be honored to have him by my side." Naruto said and bowed formally onto his elbows.
"Yuko-san, please escort our honored guests to the gate." Sasuke ordered softly.
The old woman appeared from the other side of the screen doors, bowed low before Neji's entourage and silently led them away. Naruto sat for a heartbeat and then another, arms crossed over his chest, and scowling savagely at the floor. Neji looked at him and then at Sakura and seemed to deflate a bit. The air was thick with Naruto's anger and Sasuke's secrets and the only sound was Neji's soft panting. Taking a breath through her nose in an attempt to ward off the nausea, Sakura stood and moved to kneel beside the Hyuuga. He looked at her, but the gaze was unfocused and Neji leaned heavily onto his left arm as if close to swooning.
"Sakura…have you come to save me again?" He whispered, smiling bitterly.
"Everything is going to be okay, Neji." She whispered, gently taking his hand and reading his pulse.
Neji closed his eyes, frowning slightly, clearly disoriented. Naruto rose from where he had been kneeling, looking only slightly less furious than he had before, and moved over to crouch next to Sakura. The girl ran a nail experimentally over the flesh of Neji's palm, feeling a deep chill when the Hyuuga shivered and sighed at the touch. Naruto's eyes widened and Sasuke bit his lip. The Hyuuga had obviously been given a powerful aphrodisiac, which explained both the flush and the glassy cast to his eyes. Such drugs were forbidden, and with good reason, but she had read that some of the high families still used them in secret. Even more unnervingly, Neji had also taken some kind of sedative, making him weak and unbalanced. The drugs were, perhaps, the only way to make someone powerful and dangerous into a victim. The thought made her even sicker than she already felt and Sakura struggled to keep her expression neutral as she assessed the rest of his vital signs. The more she learned about various clan traditions, the more Sakura came to loathe them, especially the ones that endangered someone's health. She grit her teeth as Neji shakily mopped his face with the back of his hand.
"We had to agree. To refuse a marriage offer of this kind would have meant war!" Sasuke hissed, angry with Naruto's silence.
"Yes…War…please…we can't have war…" Neji panted.
"We will discuss this later, Teme, believe it." Naruto snarled at Sasuke.
"They've drugged him." Sakura whispered.
"We had no choice." Sasuke said again, his voice tight and angry.
"What did they him?" Naruto asked, still furiously ignoring Sasuke.
"A potent mix of aphrodisiacs and sedatives…" Sakura sighed.
"Why?" Sai asked.
"To make it easier for someone to rape him." Naruto spat with disgust.
"It's just tradition…" Sasuke tried to explain.
"Sasuke…" Naruto warned.
"You don't understand how these things are done!" Sasuke argued.
"I don't understand." Sai said quietly.
"Peh, neither do I." Sakura hissed sarcastically.
"Enough." Naruto growled, the sound low and livid.
Sakura bit her lip and Sasuke swallowed whatever it was that he had been planning to say. Sai looked from one to the other, his fingers nervously stroking a kunai, obviously confused and trying to make sense of what had just happened. The jinchuuriki ground his teeth, took a steadying breath and moved to pull Neji into his arms. He lifted the Hyuuga genius as one would a tired child, holding him against his chest with Neji's long legs draped gracelessly over his arm. Neji moaned and quivered as Naruto's hand brushed over his sensitized skin and even Sasuke blushed and looked away in shame.
"It's okay, buddy, you'll feel better soon." Naruto whispered, meeting Neji's eyes.
"I…I'm fine. No war…please…no war." Neji whispered.
"No. There won't be any war. You did fine. Just relax." Naruto said, forcing a small smile.
"W…Would you have ever thought…you and I…like this?" Neji asked, stroking Naruto's face in a gesture both disbelieving and slightly forward.
"Yeah, the Hyuuga clan's greatest genius and the village idiot. Life can be weird." Naruto agreed.
Neji smiled a bit at that and let his head rest against Naruto's shoulder. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment and Sakura thought he might say something more, but the jinchuuriki just sighed instead and moved to stand. The glistening curtain of Neji's long mahogany hair swept the floor as Naruto rose and there was something so strange and erotic about the pale disarray of his limbs that Sakura found herself blushing. Sai finally stood and moved to open the door for Naruto as the jinchuuriki turned to take Neji into their home. Gently, Naruto carried the man who had once been his most challenging opponent from the room.
OoOoOoO
Neji woke to bright sunlight scattering off of pure white bedding and orange ochre tapestries sparkling with tiny steel bells. Everything was unfamiliar, certainly not any place he had ever been. Neji bolted awake at once, sitting up suddenly and regretting the action as soon as the unrelenting pounding in his head clarified into the true agony that it was. He groaned. Every muscle in his body ached, cramping hard even at the slightest movement, and he felt decidedly nauseas. The sensation was not completely unlike how he had felt the morning following the time he and Anko had shared a bottle of sake that had turned into many, but the pain was several times more intense. Neji was sweaty and cold, but his lips were dry. He tried to get a bearing on his surroundings finding both a door leading deeper into the building and opposing sliding doors left open to the morning breeze. For that he was grateful, even if the slight edge of cold on the wind chilled him a bit. The open doors soothed any feelings of confinement and Neji felt his heartbeat begin to slow a little.
Though his memories of the previous day were fractured and uncertain, Neji knew at once that he was in the Uchiha manor, probably some accessory room away from the main living quarters. Even if he hadn't remembered anything, Neji would have known at once that this was Naruto's home from the sheer profusion of orange, the fiery blond's favorite color. The dark, polished wood of the floor reflected the morning sunlight as gauzy orange curtains stirred in the slight breeze and there where orange sitting pillows piled in comfortable disarray on tatami mats in the far corner. The décor was tasteful, if bright, and Neji found that he liked the combination of the creamy white walls with the dark orange curtains and tapestries. Naruto loved obnoxious colors, everyone knew that, but apparently someone had managed to make the bright orange a pleasing accoutrement to a room. Neji could not really imagine Sasuke being capable of any kind of tasteful decorating scheme and so he figured that Sakura must have been the one to design the home. Someone had left a full cup of tea near his head and Neji sipped the beverage gratefully, wondering what to do, how to start. He sighed, gritting his teeth against the pain in his head. The tea was a mixture of mint and chamomile and it warmed him without setting his already frantic nerves any more on edge. The birds sang enthusiastically outside and the Hyuuga wondered briefly if it was their song that had woken him, at least until he heard the shouting.
"I don't care what other clans do! You are NOT entitled to make a decision like that without even asking everybody else!" Naruto roared, his voice only slightly muffled by the wall.
"I did what I had to do to keep us safe!" Sasuke snarled, sounding equally angry.
"You're the one always worried about spies! What the HELL were you thinking!" Naruto railed.
"Look, I didn't want to, but there wasn't any way out of it…" Sasuke snapped.
"So I'm just supposed to, what, wait a few years and then send him back?" Naruto argued.
"No. Keep him and put him under the thrall."
"WHAT!"
"Fuck him and then you control him! Until he is under the thrall he's a threat to us!" Sasuke urged.
"Are you completely out of your FUCKING MIND!"
"That's the only way to be sure!"
"Be sure? Be sure of WHAT? What the HELL are you even talking about?" Naruto shouted.
"The thrall will ensure that he won't work to betray us…" Sasuke said, sighing with exasperation.
"Oh, sure, I'll just go rape one of my friends. Yeah. Of course. Right away. We've been through this, Teme…!" Naruto spat bitterly.
"I doubt he'll resist you." Sasuke growled.
"Sasuke! You just don't get it! You can't just DO that to people!" Naruto argued.
"Just FUCK him, Naruto! You can have your petty moral dilemma about it later, when we no longer have an active THREAT inside our home!" Sasuke shouted.
"No, dammit! I'm not your FUCKING WHORE!"
Neji winced as a large crash resonated through the house. There was the sound of stomping feet and furniture being shoved aside and another heavy thud that shook the very floor upon which he lay.
"Naruto, don't break things just because you're angry!" Sasuke shouted.
"SHUT UP! All of this mess is YOUR fault!" Naruto roared.
"My FAULT! How DARE you!" Sasuke returned.
"You shouldn't have just agreed! You decided, on your OWN, for us to MARRY somebody!"
"If YOU hadn't overstepped your bounds to save him, NONE of this would have happened! And what about Sai? You made that decision for all of us and you sure as FUCK didn't ask ME!" Sasuke roared.
"Sakura made the decision and that's different! Sai was our teammate all the while you were off sacrificing the fucking world to your own GOD DAMNED EGO!" Naruto shouted.
There was a soft knock at the door and Neji jumped a little. Taking a breath and trying not to look too startled, he softly invited the person in. Sakura opened the door with her toe, carrying a large jar of sandalwood oil, and a kettle of hot water. The girl smiled at him shyly. Sai followed her carrying a small stack of towels and a small basket with a hair brush, tooth brush and a few other items.
"Sakura…" Neji said, blushing hard and unsure what else to say.
"Good morning, Neji. How are you feeling?" The rose haired kunoichi asked, smiling a bit uncertainly.
"Um… awful actually." He whispered.
"You look awful too." Sai noted.
"Eh, Sai, that's rude…" Sakura hissed.
"No…I mean…I'm sure I do." Neji sighed, feeling awkward.
"You HAD to know that this would happen! It's just a political marriage, Baka! It doesn't MEAN ANYTHING!" Sasuke snarled.
"How can something like a MARRIAGE mean NOTHING, Sasuke!"
"They are fighting." Sai said, his face impassive.
"Yes. They are." Sakura said tightly as she poured the water into a large, white basin.
"Have…have they been fighting long?" Neji asked softly.
"All night." Sakura replied, setting the towels into the water and looking carefully at her hands.
"They fight a lot." Sai said, shrugging.
"Not like this." Sakura sighed.
"Oh…I'm so sorry." Neji said, biting his lip.
"When I asked for your help this was NOT what I MEANT! DAMMIT!" Naruto railed.
"This was the only thing we could DO! They put us into a CORNER! Don't you UNDERSTAND?" Sasuke roared.
"I would if you ever bothered to EXPLAIN anything!" Naruto countered
"I wouldn't HAVE to if you weren't so fucking STUPID!"
"Bastard!"
"Moron!"
"Asshole!"
"Dead Last!"
"Crazy mass MURDERER!"
"See, they're almost done!" Sai said, smiling brightly.
"Right, it's only been a mere 14 hours." Sakura grumbled.
"Done?" Neji asked as the sound of breaking glass rang through the house.
"Don't worry about it." Sakura said, smiling comfortingly.
"You are sincerely the DUMBEST person I have ever met!" Sasuke railed.
"And you're the CRAZIEST!"
"Just FUCK him already!"
"I said no GOD DAMMIT and I mean NO!"
"Are we going to sleep with Neji? That seems somewhat…sudden." Sai said, blinking.
Sakura colored brilliantly and coughed into her hand. Neji blushed as well and decided that the weave of his comforter was suddenly very interesting. Sai crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Neji. Somehow the expression carried no emotion whatsoever, merely a gesture that the artist had learned to copy, likely from Sasuke. The overall effect was quite creepy.
"Um…no, not right now." Sakura whispered, looking slightly green.
"BAKA!"
"BASTARD!"
"Tell me how you feel exactly Neji." Sakura said rubbing her temple as if to soothe a headache of her own.
"Just sore, though I do have a fairly severe headache." He replied.
"Hmmm. I thought you might. I don't know what the drugs you took were, exactly, but those kinds of aphrodisiacs force your nerves to fire inappropriately. The effect is to make you more sensitive to touch, especially erotic touch, but after the drug wears away your nerves are fatigued and unresponsive to their normal signaling. The muscle pain is from disruption of the neuromuscular junction. That's also what causes the muscle spasms." Sakura explained mainly, Neji thought, to have something to say.
"Oh." He replied.
"Can I give him a sponge bath?" Sai asked.
"No."
"You know, you're a SHITTY alpha!"
"Well…you were a SHITTY best friend!"
Silence reigned after that, though Neji did not miss the fact that Sakura put her hand over her mouth, as if to stifle a sound she never made. For a moment everyone was frozen, too tense to move, waiting. Sakura took a shuddering breath and Sai put a hand protectively against her shoulder. Neji felt suddenly very much as though he was intruding upon something very personal and very private.
"I wasn't trying to be your friend…" Sasuke said so softly that Neji had to strain to hear him.
"Teme, I'm sorry. That…that wasn't fair. It was DIFFERENT with you, it was…you would have DIED!" Naruto shouted desperately.
"No. It's fair and….there isn't anything I can do about that. What you don't realize is that it IS the SAME. If you had sent Neji back with your refusal…they could have easily KILLED him." Sasuke shouted, his voice shaking only a little
"Sasuke…but…why?" Naruto asked, his voice shocked.
"I don't KNOW! For failing, for the sheer SHAME of it! Look, I get it, okay? I know that this isn't the world you know, the one you grew up in. You are just going to have to TRUST me!" Sasuke urged, sounding desperate.
"You BARELY understand it yourself!"
"Dobe, just…AHHHH! Why are you SO DIFFICULT!" Sasuke railed.
"Look! I'm SORRY! Okay? I just…this is big, okay? I don't know what to do about this. I'm not ready to just FORCE him. That won't make anything better, believe it." Naruto said firmly.
"You really ARE being stupid…" Sasuke hissed hotly.
"I don't CARE. You know, you KNOW that isn't right!" Naruto shouted, sounding close to tears.
"It's what they expect…"
"I KNOW that!"
"Whether you like it or not, he is HERE, with US! There isn't anywhere else he can go!" Sasuke said.
"I just want…I just want all of us to be okay." Naruto said, sounding very tired.
"I know." Sasuke replied, speaking softly again.
Neji let out the breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding. His head hurt very badly and his chest too and he had never wanted to so badly just to disappear. Sakura sighed shakily, cupping her hand briefly over her eyes, before turning again to her task. The girl added a bit more water to the basin and rearranged the other items again before she raised her face.
"Sai, please go check on Sasuke and Naruto." She ordered softly.
"What if…" Sai began.
"Just go." Sakura hissed.
Sai rose and wordlessly left the room. Sakura took a deep breath, clenching her fists tightly before meeting Neji's eyes once again. The look in the emerald green portals was enough to send a shiver coursing through his spine. The girl looked furious and terrified and concerned all at the same time, her green eyes both damp and hard in a way Neji had never encountered before. Even Anko had never managed such depth of emotional complexity, especially with the many ways in which the woman masked her feelings. To see it, so much, laid bare and raw before him was new and startling. Neji swallowed hard and closed his eyes against the agonizing pounding in his head. Carefully, because his muscles seemed inclined to refuse his commands, Neji allowed himself to sink back down onto the mattress. The ceiling was easier to look at than Sakura's face and, lying down, Neji at least removed the danger of fainting and breaking his own nose.
"I…I'm sorry about that. I really should have warded this room so you couldn't hear them." Sakura said after a while.
"No. I should hear it. All of this is my fault." Neji replied, turning away.
"No! That's wrong! Not any of this is your fault!" Sakura hissed, her voice low and angry.
"But…How can you even say that?" Neji whispered, amazed at the fierceness in her tone.
"Did you choose to come here? Did you choose to do so drugged into a stupor and wearing that?" Sakura snarled, gesturing angrily to where the sheer green kimono hung by the door.
Neji winced and looked away. Perhaps she was right, he hadn't chosen to simply throw his life as a respected ANBU officer away in favor of being Naruto's courtesan. Neji didn't know anything about how jinchuuriki conducted their households, but if Gaara's lifestyle was any indication, he had entered the Uzumaki house with the lowest status of any of Naruto's subordinates. Still, there hadn't been any choices, no other options, even if Hinata seemed to think differently. Everything about being here, as both a peace offering and a spy, felt wrong.
"It's easy to choose when you have no choices." Neji whispered.
"Yes, that is easy." Sakura said and her tone was mildly reproachful.
"My opinion upsets you." Neji said, his voice growing colder.
"I…I do not think that you value yourself highly enough." The girl replied as she wrung one of the now steaming towels between her hands.
Neji said nothing as Sakura bathed his face with the cloth, the heat of the water wonderful against his dry, aching skin. With barely a pause, Sakura parted his kimono and proceeded to wash his chest with a thoroughness that only someone who had worked in medicine for many years could achieve. Neji blushed, only Anko had ever touched him so intimately, but allowed her to bathe him without complaint.
"Just relax. It's only water, it doesn't mean anything. Here, sit up." She whispered.
Neji complied, moving to kneel with his back to the pink haired kunoichi as the girl tugged the kimono off from around his shoulders. Neji gasped and bit his lip, hoping desperately that Sakura hadn't heard the noise. Whether she heard or not, the girl moved the hot cloth over his shoulders in soothing circles, gently easing the fiery pain out of his muscles and cleaning away the sweat from the night before. After a while, Neji found himself relaxing a little into her ministrations. Her hands were so soft, nothing like Anko's calloused palms, and confident as she gently cupped his elbow and moved the cloth boldly over his arm and wrist. She washed his lower back all the way down to his hips and both of his arms before gently turning his hands up and washing his palms. There was something intimate in the act and yet totally unthreatening.
"Better?" She asked, smiling a little.
"Yes…" Neji whispered, finding it just a bit hard to breathe.
"Lie down and I'll do something for the pain." Sakura said, pushing the glittering pink haired out of her eyes.
"I would not refuse a painkiller." Neji admitted, though his headache was already beginning to ease.
"I can't give you a painkiller. Most of those drugs work the same way your aphrodisiacs did and your synapses haven't recovered enough for it to make any difference." Sakura explained.
"Oh. Then…?" Neji asked.
"Something a little nicer." Sakura said as Neji moved to lie prone, letting his head rest on his own crossed forearms.
The girl poured a measure of the oil into her hand and waited a moment, letting the lubricant warm a fraction against the heat of her own skin. Neji licked his lips, suddenly quite nervous. Sakura coated his back and shoulders in the fragrant oil and gently began to knead the hard, painful knots out of his muscles. The massage was painful, at times almost excruciating, but the relief it brought was unmistakable. After what felt like a very long time, his muscles had relaxed enough for the touch to be pleasurable and Neji let a soft sigh escape his lips. Satisfied with the state of his back, Sakura rubbed the tension out of his arms and hands, pausing only to crack the stiffness out of his spine or re-align the bones of his wrists. Soon Neji could only manage to focus on the sensation of her hands and the gentle way that she was chasing the terrible ache out of his flesh.
"Hmmm…What an interesting scar…" Sakura murmured, running her clever fingers over his left shoulder.
Neji's breath caught hard in his throat as Sakura touched the same place where Anko had cut him. He swallowed hard as her fingers traced the lines, unerringly mapping out the evidence of his single night of masochism. The mesh-like series of wounds had healed well, with barely a mark to attest to their existence, but apparently Sakura's hands were sensitive enough to tell the difference. Neji blushed hard and was unable to stop as a deep quiver ran through his flesh.
"Yes…I…I…" Neji stuttered, panicked.
"Shhh…we don't have to talk about it." Sakura said and continued with her massage as if nothing had happened at all.