Chapter 17
The physiologic changes characteristic of a male Jinchuuriki's 'heat' are related to the accommodations human anatomy must make for the surge of demonic energy intrinsic to the sexual cycle of the creature. Of course, it should be clarified that calling the sexual phase of a Jinchuuriki's mature rhythms a 'heat' is both an oversimplification and also poorly descriptive. Both male and female Jinchuuriki experience a period of hyper-sensitization and increased libido annually following full maturation but, unlike other animals who experience a heat as a kind of prescribed mating season, the vessels undergo profound physical changes. A Jinchuuriki's heat represents a period of energetic replenishment in which the sexual needs of the demon supersede those of the human, regardless of mating status. Though consistent statistics are unknown, most subordinates report that their Alpha's chakra can increase by ten or even twenty fold during a heat. Many wonder why, if Jinchuuriki are fertile throughout the year, such a phenomenon is necessary and occurs at all. I submit that the effects of the heat have less to do with mating than with the energetic requirements adult Jinchuuriki behavior entails. The thrall and support of any possible pregnancy of the alpha female requires incredible volumes of energy that must be readily available at any time. The convergence of chakra talents bestowed upon a fetus by the Jinchuuriki's subordinates would require energy from the creature to allow the offspring to fully develop, not to mention the gargantuan energetic pull following initiation of a thrall upon a subordinate. Much energy is needed for any kind of reproductive behavior and the heat may be when a vessel attempts to replenish and increase its chakra supply. During a heat, a Jinchuurki's chakra becomes unstable as it grows resulting in the characteristic symptoms of fever, anorexia, nausea, insomnia, hyper-sensitization, parasthesias, cognitive weakness and chronic pain experienced by the vessels. These symptoms are profound, often debilitating, and represent a reaction of the human anatomy to the dramatic increase in particularly volatile energy being cached at this time. Sexual intercourse with a subordinate or mate can alleviate these symptoms, possibly through energetic sharing that may reduce the physiologic burden of the energy a vessel would normally be forced to bear alone.
-Koumyuo Sanzo, Lives and Habits of Far Eastern Demons
Naruto watched them, watched the luscious way Neji's semen dripped from Sasuke, and felt something inside his own control snap. He was breaking under the molten weight of the moment, cracking beneath the power of their beauty, drunk on the heady eroticism in the open amazement fixed on each of his subordinates' faces. It was like Sasuke and Neji had never quite seen one another before, both of them staring open-mouthed and guileless into one another's eyes, nuzzling gently. They were killers, master Shinobi, and it was both odd and warming to watch the tender affection between them. Naruto smiled. It felt good, felt right, that they should love each other and seeing the fondness between them was like a palpable balm to his spirit. Naruto let his hands play over them, enjoying the feel of quivering muscle beneath sweat dampened skin, the subtle play of textures stimulating and sublime. Sasuke whimpered a little as Neji withdrew from him and Naruto dipped his fingers into the raven's body, searching for any injuries, worried.
"I…I'm fine." Sasuke whispered, trembling as Naruto's fingers ghosted over the sensitized flesh.
"Hmmm…" Naruto rumbled and kept checking.
"Sasuke…?" Neji whispered, nuzzling against the raven's cheek, elegant face flushed with arousal.
"I am, Hyuuga. I would know." The raven huffed, trying to sound irate
The effort was ruined by how hard Sasuke was working to make the words steady, by the way he was leaning into the brunette's caresses, by the way he was breathing so shallowly. Naruto knew they were overwhelmed. Everything had probably been far too much too quickly, but there was no way to go back now. Sasuke sighed and gasped a little as Naruto touched him and the sound was like fuel for the roaring heat already aching in his belly. The slickness of his subordinate's open body, of warm tissues made even warmer by Neji's cum, was nearly enough to make him cry out with longing. Neji closed his eyes and breathed, mahogany hair draped temptingly over Sasuke's shoulder, lips moist and trembling as he fought to regain his breath. Kami, how could they be so beautiful? Naruto wanted them, both of them, over and over again until his scent had soaked into Neji's skin and Sasuke could no longer speak for moaning. The jinchuuriki pulled back a bit, swallowing, shutting his eyes and fighting for control, just enough so that he could be careful. He needed to be careful, very careful. The heat was making his skin feel raw and his eyes burn, pain everywhere, but Naruto knew the next part would be very dangerous if he was too reckless.
"Naruto, are you alright?" Neji asked, silver eyes narrowed suspiciously and shining like chips of the very moon in his heated face.
"He's hurting now." Sasuke supplied, correctly, and drew a shaking hand down Naruto's arm.
"But…what does that mean? Are you alright or not?" Neji asked again, his tone close to the one he used for operatives in the field.
"Come here." Naruto whispered instead.
There was no easy way to answer the Hyuuga and the point would be moot soon regardless. He was not alright and yet he was, would be, everything was too complex and the words would just have been caught and mangled by his fangs anyway. Neji swallowed and nodded, moving to kneel beside him, still quivering with the after effects of orgasm and perhaps even something more, something the Fox sensed, but that Naruto could not really understand. His skin was flushed red over his cheeks, the Hyuuga's silver eyes startlingly limpid and, for once, un-caged. Neji stared at him awhile, waiting. Naruto managed a small smile for him and gently pulled his fingers from Sasuke's body, relieved to find no injury within him. The raven sort of collapsed with a sound half-way between a moan and a sigh, laying down on his side and watching Naruto furtively with eyes too fast and too focused to match the exhaustion in his body.
"I want you." Naruto said at last, capturing a strand of the Hyuuga's long hair, letting the silken tendril slide through his fingers.
"I'm ready." Neji replied and Naruto found his tone unnerving close to that of a prisoner awaiting execution.
"We'll be careful, very careful, you'll be okay Neji…" Naruto promised, leaning in to kiss the Hyuuga's forehead.
"Naruto, you…you don't have to…" Neji sighed, looking away.
"Remember to relax, Hyuuga. You have to relax. Don't fight, no matter how much it feels like you should." Sasuke whispered seriously.
"I don't want to fight." Neji replied, firming his jaw.
"Just don't." Sasuke hissed, eyes narrowing.
Naruto said nothing, but moved to pull Neji into his arms, kissing the older ninja hungrily. Neji's long body cleaved to his own easily, muscles made soft and flexible from his previous release, the flesh warm and nearly ready to receive him. The taste of the brunette was made even better by the lingering bite of winter fragrance left over from Sasuke's kisses, complex and harmonious. Naruto moaned against Neji's mouth and allowed himself another minute trickle of ardor, just a bit more freedom to feel, reaching low to pull the older nin's hips flush against his own. The firm strength of the genius's tongue was succulent and cool against the jinchuuriki's mouth and Naruto felt hot excitement arch into his center from the lip-play alone. They licked and nipped, stroking each other wetly until Neji was moaning against him, sucking Naruto's tongue hotly. The vessel pulled him more firmly against his own body, cupping the Hyuuga's spent penis against his palm and spreading Neji's long legs further with his thighs. Neji gasped, shaking as the position finally compromised his balance, forcing him to rest his entire weight onto the jinchuuriki's lap.
Naruto held him easily, one hand low between them where the Hyuuga's body was already twitching into arousal again and one behind, tight against his friend's beautiful ass. Regardless of how Neji chose to move, they touched, intimately. The Hyuuga whimpered a little, thrusting once experimentally into Naruto's hand and wincing a little as the sensitized skin was rubbed. The blond kitsune chuckled under his breath.
"So impatient, don't move yet." He whispered against Neji's throat.
"What do you want me to do?" Neji asked, a bit irately.
"Relax." Naruto replied, biting the Hyuuga on the long muscle of his throat in gentle chastisement.
Neji cried out, the vibrations of the sound moving through Naruto's teeth and deep to the tingling nerves of his jaw. The intimate flesh against his hand was hotter now and more firm as well. Neji was responding, just to the position and to Naruto's lips, so exquisitely responsive. Once he was certain that the friction would feel good, the blond lifted his hand from Neji's penis and moved to pull the ninja's still softened flesh fully against his own. The Hyuuga gasped and cried out a little as his shaft was pressed against the burning hardness of Naruto's arousal, looping his arms willingly around the blond's neck.
"Kami, you're so beautiful…" Naruto said, lathing his tongue over the creamy ridge of Neji's collar-bone.
"Naruto…" The Hyuuga gasped.
"Move against me now." The jinchuuriki purred.
"Kami…" Neji choked, folding his feet delicately against the outside of Naruto's knees.
The Hyuuga obeyed him, undulating his hips like a dancer, moving against Naruto's own swollen sex in heady thrusts. The blond kissed him, commanding his mouth, enjoying the way Neji made his lips soft for him. Time was essential, nothing to be gained by rushing. Naruto made the pace slow, playing his lips over the genius's skin, learning his throat with his tongue, nipping the tender flesh of his nipples. The coconut oil still left on his hand from Sasuke made them glide together smoothly, intimate flesh kissing at the crest of each contraction just as surely as their lips. Naruto did not press Neji's arousal against his own, not actively, but stroked him delicately with his fingers, guiding the direction of motion through suggestion alone. He knew from experience that stimulation of a man's body directly following release had to be approached warily or the touch could hurt. Naruto coaxed him, allowing the brunette to control the rhythm of their love-play, making the contact gradual until Neji's erection was full and hard against his own.
The Hyuuga snarled under his breath, moving more aggressively. Naruto tightened his hand on the other ninja's hip, allowing them another fraction of leverage and guiding the motion. Neji grunted, licking his lips, focus directed inward on the building pleasure already warming his flesh. The feel of him was complex and delightful, every ridge and curve of his shaft pressed in an intimate caress against Naruto's own, the sensation overwhelming. Neji's waist was so small, delicate compared to the muscular hardness of the man's hips and legs. He was moving in sensuously erotic waves, like a snake charmed by a flutist, swaying over Naruto's thighs. The blond ground against the Hyuuga, gradually rubbing him back to full hardness, moving ever more powerfully as Neji's body accepted increased stimulation.
"Ahh…Naruto…I…What is this…?" Neji murmured, crying out as he ground hard against him.
"Is it good?" Naruto asked, smiling hotly against Neji's jaw.
"Oh…so good, so good…" He chanted, snapping his hips against Naruto's body.
"Then what the fuck does it matter?" Sasuke added pithily.
"It…I'm…I've never…Ahhh!" Neji shrieked as Naruto circled them in his hand, pressing their hardened shafts together as he moved.
"It's just love," The jinchuuriki whispered, "Just love. Don't think so much."
Neji thrust into the ring of Naruto's fingers, moving helplessly against the blond oni's weeping penis, hands clutching his shoulders with bruising force. Naruto stilled his own body, letting Neji guide the pace and force of the sex, opening his mouth to catch more of the Hyuuga's scent. There was desire in the brunette's fragrance, heavy with the spice of cloves and the bite of pure steel, along with the subtle tang of fear. Naruto nuzzled Neji's throat, smelling the trepidation on his sweat even if there was nothing of the emotion in the Hyuuga's appearance. Neji was moving hard now, hissing hotly with each slick thrust of their bodies against each other, silver eyes half lidded and heavy with want. Naruto mastered his own need and leaned back, letting Neji ride him, allowing the other ninja a sense of control.
Soon, the silver eyed genius was practically climbing him, imminent release thick on his scent and in the quivering intensity of his muscles. Naruto moved his hand up to squeeze the crown of Neji's erection sharply with his fingers, halting the older ninja's orgasm through sheer visceral reflex. The brunette snarled fiercely in frustration, scowling at Naruto's smile, teeth fierce and cheeks painted with a fetching blush. Kami he was so sexy, but…Control, control was crucial. Naruto had no idea what the Hyuuga's past sexual experiences had been, but his behavior with Sasuke strongly indicated that Neji had not been with other men before. The knowledge made the jinchuuriki weirdly happy, soothing some deeper anxiety he had not yet faced consciously. Just knowing that Neji would be his alone, mated to himself and the others under his control, never belonging to another, was shockingly desirable.
Soon he would be inside the beautiful genius, in his body and in his chakra, and his friend would never be beyond Naruto's touch again. Neji was moving again, breathing hard, but the vessel knew he would not allow him to cum yet. Halting his release would keep the gorgeous nin aroused enough for Naruto to prevent Neji from reacting defensively to the sex and fighting him during initiation of the thrall. He may not like it, but the blond knew that the best way to prepare another person for initial penetration was to keep them close to the peak, body filled with endorphins and mind distracted with pleasure.
Suddenly, Sasuke's hands were on Neji's chest, porcelain-pale against the warm cream hues of the Hyuuga's skin. The raven stroked him a bit before holding the Hyuuga's doe brown nipples delicately and giving the jinchuuriki an opportunity to reposition. Naruto smirked. Apparently Sasuke had decided that he was more than a little invested in Neji's continuing survival. The Hyuuga moaned at the touch, biting his lip as Naruto rose onto his knees and pushed them both beneath his own body, spreading Neji's legs wide. Neji whimpered softly as Sasuke sank onto his side, resting on the bed with them and kissing him roughly, cushioning the Hyuuga's head onto his arm. They were pretty, spread there beneath him, their usually savage bodies made gentle through love. Naruto groaned and let his weight rest against Neji's pelvis, bringing his intimate body against the brunette's once again, testing his tolerance for the position. Neji stiffened a little and Sasuke tightened his embrace around the other ninja like a boa constrictor, holding the Hyuuga still and open for Naruto.
"Relax…relax…" He hissed urgently, mouthing Neji's earlobe.
"Nghh…I…I can't…" Neji swallowed, nervous.
"It's just love, Neji, everything is okay. Just breathe, breathe with me…" Naruto whispered, massaging the tense flesh of the other ninja's inner thighs.
Neji gasped, the sound of the air raw and very erotic, setting Naruto's nerves on fire. Naruto rubbed him, rubbed deeply, pressing the tension out of the Hyuuga's thighs and belly with the firm pressure of his hands. He scooped his hands beneath Neji's back, gripping the twitching muscle along his spine and kneading hard, preparing Neji's body as he had Sasuke's a thousand times before. At first, the Hyuuga winced at the powerful massage, but eventually his muscles began to loosen and warm beneath Naruto's skilled hands. Naruto rubbed him, watching Neji's face as Sasuke kissed and stroked him, his free hand wrapped loosely around the brunnette's weeping erection. So close, nearly ready…Neji moaned, throwing his head back against Sasuke's arm, mahogany hair spread wide and shining around him.
Naruto bent low and kissed them, first Neji and then Sasuke, drawing the air out of their lungs and into his own. The Hyuuga grunted as his lungs gave up their meager reserves of breath and he was left gasping, fingers tight on Naruto's arm. Sasuke, of course, smiled against Naruto's lips and then heaved the air back again, leaving the jinchuuriki feeling dizzy and a bit starved of oxygen himself. Naruto chuckled, nuzzling his smirking Teme as Neji tried to convince his hyper-sensitive body to take a full breath. It was intentional, a distraction, and the jinchuuriki moved both quickly and smoothly to turn Neji onto his belly before the Hyuuga could focus on the change in position and what it might mean.
OoOoOoO
Suki was late. Very late. Hiashi drummed his fingers impatiently on the low table beside him and motioned for the servant to bring him another cup of tea. The woman, Kagura he thought her name was, poured more tea into the cup, bowed and shuffled away. Suki should have returned by now and even though he trusted the woman's skill, she was rarely so late returning from a specific task without any kind of message or sign. Something must have happened, though his other spies confirmed that both Naruto and Neji had returned to the compound without incident. No one had seen Suki for several hours. It was possible that Naruto had hired an assassin to counter his effort, someone more subtle than his brutal subordinate, but unlikely. There was no need for additional operatives when Sasuke could dispatch almost any threat as easily as he had Kyo, Hiashi's team lead, and Naruto would not know the advantages of doing so anyway. The demon was too young and naïve, there was no way he would have called upon a third party, no one he could call that Hiashi had not already eliminated as a possible collaborator and the possibility assumed that the jinchuuriki suspected foul play to begin with.
Neji's marriage into clan Uzumaki assured that Naruto could not take any kind of pre-emptive action against them, not without giving Hiashi the excuse for war he wanted anyway. Sasuke probably knew that the situation was still dangerous, but the marriage had hopefully confused him as well. He had been careful, there was no way they could know enough about his plans to thwart them with an outside assassin, but Suki was still late. The Hyuuga clan head was startled from his revelations by a sharp rapping on the sliding door of his office. He smiled, perhaps she had not disappointed him after all.
"Enter."
Hiashi felt the intense urge to scowl as the door opened to reveal Kiba Inuzuka instead of his favored assassin, not that Suki usually knocked anyway. He managed to keep his expression neutral, barely, as the boy moved to kneel before him and waited politely for the invitation to speak. Hiashi nodded, indicating without words that Kiba could talk, hoping the brat would state his business and leave as quickly as possible. Hinata's foolish pet watched him for a few heartbeats, letting the silence stretch, using it to increase Hiashi's anxiety. Damn him. When had the little mongrel gotten so subtle? A meeting with the house nuisance was not what Hiashi needed.
"You seem upset, Father. What troubles you?" Kiba asked blandly and Hiashi nearly spat his tea out at the title.
"What?" He gasped, off balance.
"Is that inappropriate? Hinata was sure that it was the proper language with which to address ya…" Kiba asked innocently, his rough accent grating on Hiashi's nerves.
"No, not inappropriate, but usually such formal recognition of one's relationship waits until your place in this family is more firmly established." Hiashi said coldly.
"Guess, ya find me presumptuous." Kiba stated, brown eyes uncharacteristically chilly.
"Very." Hiashi said, raising an eyebrow in chastisement.
"Though, wouldn't I be proper to call you Father when your daughter carries my child?" Kiba asked, smiling victoriously.
"What!?" Hiashi snapped, his heart nearly stopping.
"Hinata is pregnant." Kiba said softly, but very clearly.
The damn boy could have crowed it from the rooftop for the smugness in his savage little smile, every line of his body nothing less that utterly victorious. Hiashi stared, trying to understand what the miserable Inuzuka whelp was telling him, trying to find the lie in Kiba's eyes or posture. There was no way Hinata could be pregnant, he had seen to that.
"You're certain?" Hiashi asked, the question coming out more like an agitated hiss.
"Oh yeah, positive." Kiba replied, smiling sharply in a way that bared his long teeth.
"But…"
"The Hokage herself confirmed it. The hime is with child. Children, actually." Kiba said, cocking his head a bit in challenge, eyes gleaming.
"Children…?" Hiashi asked, fingers tightening dangerously on the teacup.
"Twins." Kiba confirmed, smirking.
The teacup shattered. Hiashi swore loudly as the razor sharp porcelain shards cut into his palm, tea mixing with blood on the fine teak wood of the table. The serving woman returned with a towel, wiping away the mess efficiently even as Hiashi poured chakra into the wound, trying to heal the lacerations before the wounds made even more of a mess. Kiba remained where he was, watching with an expression too controlled to be outright hostile, but filled with smug satisfaction and defiance all the same.
"Congratulations. You had it in you after all." Hiashi remarked coldly, working hard not to glare.
"Thanks." Kiba said, bowing a bit as if Hiashi had just paid him a compliment.
"Twins you say? How…unusual." Hiashi noted.
"It's actually quite common in my family." Kiba shrugged
"Yes, I suppose a litter would be."
"Another thing our clans share in common." Kiba said, smiling happily as Hiashi twitched at the uncomfortable reminder of his own twin.
"Certainly a blessing, though such pregnancies are more dangerous…"
"Hina is strong."
"Yes, she must be indeed to give you an heir and a serf to attend him all in one rutting. How perfect." Hiashi mused cruelly, narrowing his eyes
"Your own twin served ya well enough, or so I'm told." Kiba countered tartly.
"Perhaps your own children will enjoy the same…opportunity." Hiashi offered nastily.
"Yeah, well, not everyone disposes of their siblings so easily." The boy snarled.
"Watch your tongue!"
"Or what? You'll kill me? I'd like to see ya try…" Kiba laughed, the sound low and very dangerous.
"Careful, boy…"
"I have as much power in this family as you do now." Kiba said, smiling triumphantly, "Hina will rule the clan and there ain't nothing ya can do to stop her..."
"You're nothing more than a pet!" Hiashi railed.
"Maybe, but I'll be her pet for the rest of your miserable life and that's more than you have to look forward to, old man…"
"How dare you! You'll suffer for this!"
"Yeah, too bad you're powerless already. Hina thinks that maybe you're getting too frail for all your precious intrigue, the stress might be too much. A few more years and no one will blink twice when she decides to replace ya, lock ya up to spend yer sunset years under her pretty little heel…" Kiba continued, flopping onto his side comfortably.
"Insolent brat, she's my daughter…"
"But she's my wife and she got to choose me. Maybe I'll be kneeling at her feet, but that's a lot closer to her ear than you'll ever be. I hear confinement sucks, but we wouldn't want ya to be…strained." Kiba yawned, smiling like a demon.
"You'll never…"
"Oh, I think she will. It'd be for your health after all. The pet of a clan head is a pretty good position in comparison, don't ya think?" Kiba shrugged, crossing his arms insolently.
"Too good, especially for you."
"Ouch, I hoped ya'd feel differently Father…My children will be your legacy after all." Kiba snickered cruelly.
"We'll see. Things are still so…early." Hiashi threatened softly.
"True. Good thing there's two of the puppies. Such a thing does help to make little problems like legitimacy and security of lineage so much easier. Glad I'm so fertile." Kiba said, smiling slow and meaningfully.
Hiashi said nothing, shocked silent by the implication. He knew. They had been so careful, but the dog-brat knew anyway. Hiashi did not know how, but the little bastard seemed to know he had been drugging Hinata with contraceptives. Not only that, but the damned mongrel had thwarted him somehow too and now the girl was pregnant, pregnant with twins. The statement was the threat, a promise that if Hiashi interfered with the pregnancy Kiba would have the means to call upon his own people for a clan war in retaliation. Inuzuka was a low house, rough and uncultured, but a strong one nonetheless. Victory against them would be hard, especially if he suffered losses fighting Naruto, almost inevitable with a jinchuuriki. Kiba might be bluffing, at least about having grounds enough for righteous war, but there was no way to know for sure. Hiashi was neatly tied, cornered between accepting Kiba's legitimacy and risking the chance that the boy's clan would wipe them out, trapped in his own web.
For a moment, Hiashi merely watched the boy's eyes, watched the protective aggression there and knew that Hinata was indeed pregnant as far as Kiba knew. The rage was like frozen mercury in his veins, heavy and cold in his belly, making him sick. Kiba bowed casually, barely a bow at all with his damn nose almost a foot from the tatami, the insult as clear as if he had slapped Hiashi's face. The Hyuuga clan leader seethed and scowled, but remained silent as the brat stood and left with a haughty wave, grinning like a rabid wolf. Hiashi turned and crushed the teapot against the wall, his vision clouding with anger, the crash of shattering porcelain dull against the roaring of rage in his ears. He wanted to kill the stupid cur and his whore daughter as well, crush them into nothing, but he could only sit alone with his anger and ache for violence. Kiba was right. He was helpless.
OoOoOoO
Naruto allowed Neji a few moments to breath before gripping the muscles of his lower back and rubbing again, almost crying out himself at the small sound of pleasure escaping the brunette's lips. He covered the other ninja, kissing the nape of Neji's neck and nuzzling his shoulders, allowing him to acclimate a bit to the vulnerability of another male pressed close against his back. Neji did not seem uncomfortable, even as Naruto pulled him fully against his chest and carded his fingers through the endless mahogany tresses of his hair. The Hyuuga was beginning to lose himself to the moment, overwhelmed by the physical sensation of Naruto's careful teasing. Perfect.
"Sasuke, the aloe…" Naruto whispered.
"Oh Kami…" Neji hissed, shuddering and shutting his eyes tightly.
"Aloe? Not coconut oil?" Sasuke asked as he rose from his side to kneel beside them.
"It's probably better for the first time." Naruto replied softly, turning to kiss the raven gently. Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Is…is it what you used on me?" Sasuke asked, blushing.
"I don't know, Sakura decided that. I don't really…well…I was trying to focus on other things." Naruto said, looking away, lips tight with regret.
Sasuke cocked his head, studying Naruto's tone, but then nodded and moved to retrieve the lubricant. The heat had been so strong when he finally took Sasuke that Naruto barely remembered anything at all except the tightness of the raven's body and his own terror. He'd been young, foolish, and at the very edge of his mental integrity, but Naruto wished he had managed to remember some more of the details. Taking Sasuke's virginity had probably been the most important thing he had done in his life, other than saving Konoha, and yet most of his memories about it were fuzzy and heavily colored with pain. They had both lived, barely, and Naruto remembered coming out of the fevered haze to find Sasuke still and bleeding beneath him, he remembered the terror of it before the raven woke again.
Still, there must have been more than pain and fear and madness, there had to have been sex too, after all. Naruto wished he knew. If there were words, or pleasure or kisses he did not remember, no matter how hard he tried. Sakura said the brain damage he suffered trying to claim Sasuke may have been healed by the preternatural power of Kyuubi, but the memories his mind was trying to make that night had been lost forever. He shuddered a little. Nothing like that would happen with Neji, he would not allow it. He was older now, smarter, and the Hyuuga actually knew what to expect from Sasuke's recollections. Everything would be okay, he had to believe it.
"It…was bad wasn't it?" Neji asked softly, pressing his cheek to the bedding as he had seen Sasuke do before, silver eyes warm and a little sad.
"Don't worry," Naruto soothed, "We were young, we made mistakes. It won't be that way now."
"You don't remember." Neji said, nodding to himself as if he already knew the answer.
"Not much." Naruto confessed, pressing kisses down the Hyuuga's spine rather than elaborating.
"I'm sorry." Neji whispered, arching up against Naruto's lips.
"Shhh, no more talking." Naruto ordered with a low chuckle, setting his teeth gently against the bones of the Hyuuga's spine.
The silver-eyed nin moaned at the touch and shivered, arching into his waiting hands like a cat. Tonight was not about old regrets, but about something new, a chance for previous mistakes to be rectified in some way. Naruto rubbed the Hyuuga's lower back again, digging deep into the muscles with his thumbs until Neji's body warmed and released any stress the conversation might have brought. Sasuke watched furtively beside him, the small jar of thick aloe gel warming in his hands. Naruto pressed a hand against Neji's flexing belly, encouraging the ninja to raise his hips and then sliding one of the many pillows beneath him for support. If everything went as planned, Neji would not be paying enough attention to maintain the position on his own. Sasuke touched him as well, making gentle corrections to the Hyuuga's posture, pushing his shoulders lower onto the sheets and tenderly brushing his long hair away from his face.
Naruto let his hands rest on the brunette's buttocks and when Neji remained relaxed despite the inherent vulnerability of the touch, he continued the massage, rubbing hard. His friend's body was more sinewy that Sasuke's, less thick muscle and more long tendon, which forced Naruto to change his usual technique. He pulled the muscle more instead of only pushing in, gratified when the tension melted from Neji's shoulders leaving the lovely genius in a tempting heap on the bed, panting softly. Using his palms, Naruto slowly pushed the reddened cheeks apart, exposing him slowly to avoid the inevitable discomfort such an action brought as much as possible.
For a moment, the jinchuuriki simply looked, taking in the tiny size of his friend's entrance and the subtle differences in color from Sasuke. The raven's intimate body was very rosy, red if they'd been active, but Neji was a dusky pink and the flesh was tight, closed. So, he probably had never allowed another person to enter his body, at least not for a very long time. Naruto swallowed, suddenly nervous even if his vision was slowly bleeding red with the heat and desire such intimacy stirred in him. Sasuke watched, eyes huge and strange in his normally haughty face, posture uncertain.
"So small…Are you a virgin?" He whispered, looking at Neji curiously.
"Sasuke…" Naruto warned.
"No. I have experience." The Hyuuga huffed defensively.
"Have you ever had a male lover? Tell me the truth, that part is important." Naruto asked firmly, kissing the top of Neji's tail-bone.
"No." He whispered, closing his eyes at the intimate touch.
"Then you are." Sasuke decided, stroking Neji's hip gently despite the tone of his words.
"Pretty sure certain people would argue that." Neji said, cracking an eye to glare at Sasuke.
"Some people lose their virginity to a woman, Teme. It still counts." Naruto said, annoyed.
"Tch, you're such a slut…" The raven sniffed arrogantly. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"That's funny coming from you." Neji replied, baring his teeth.
"Enough." Naruto hissed, using the thrall before they could get into a real fight. Now was very seriously not the time.
"B…Baka…" Sasuke moaned, closing his eyes and shivering as the thrall compelled him.
Neji shivered as well, gasping in ecstasy almost in unison with Sasuke. It was odd, odd that the thrall should excite him, provoke such a similar reaction, when Naruto would have thought seeing Sasuke controlled that way might actually be a bit frightening. As it was, both his subordinates moaned and trembled as if the power of the thrall already united them. The effect was so heady, so erotic, that Naruto was suddenly fully occupied trying maintain his own control. He clenched his fists, pricking the moist skin of his palms with his own sharp claws for the clarity the pain brought with it, clarity he badly needed. The blond allowed himself a few breaths before exposing Neji again, the urge to touch, to claim, still powerful in his blood. He had to be careful, careful…careful as a mole.
"I'm going to touch you. Just touch…" Naruto whispered hoarsely when he could breathe again, coating his fingers in the slick aloe Sasuke offered him.
"Hai." Neji replied, breathing the word into the sheets.
Sasuke said nothing, but watched closely, pressing his lips together in a subtle show of anxiety. The jinchuuriki smeared the chilly lubricant over his fingers, letting it warm before moving to rest the pad of his finger against Neji's closed body. The Hyuuga's reaction was immediate and very startling. He winced, flinching hard away from the touch, fists clenched white knuckled against the blankets. Naruto pulled his hand away, narrowing his eyes with concern. That was bad, very bad, and he had barely even touched him. Neji should not have felt any pain at all. The Hyuuga's response was not right, no way it could be, Master Jiraiya said that no one reacted that way unless... Naruto swallowed even as his mouth went dry, a surge of anger rising up from within to choke him. No, apparently Neji was not a virgin, despite how he looked. Even worse, it was possible that the lover who came before might have broken him. Sasuke glanced at Naruto, the question sharp in his black eyes, but thankfully unspoken.
"Go get the lubricant from Sakura's burn kit, Teme." Naruto ordered softly.
"What?"
"The burn gel, please go get it."
"Baka, that stuff has lidocaine in it! He won't feel a thing!" Sasuke argued.
"We may need it."
"But…"
"Go, Sasuke. Now." Naruto snapped.
Sasuke shivered with the thrall, growling in annoyance even as his eyes filled with ecstasy. He was motionless for only a moment more before rising and grabbing a yukata from the closet. The raven pulled the garment on and left without another word, shutting the door with more of an irate snap than absolutely necessary in Naruto's opinion. Neji flinched again at the sound, biting his lip. Instead of moving away, Naruto resumed his previous position crouched over the Hyuuga's back, stroking his shoulders soothingly. Neji made a sound almost like a curse and hid his face in the coverlet.
"Let's talk." The blond said softly.
OoOoOoO
Neji felt like cursing or running, likely both, but Naruto was pressing him into the bed with both his weight and the sheer magnetism of his presence, neatly keeping him in one position without provoking an argument. He should have known that Naruto would be put off by the way he reacted, by the way Anko had taught his body to react. The response was nothing more than a remnant of one of the kunoichi's many failed attempts to scare him out of her bed and Neji had been planning to simply control himself. All he had to do was hold still and take it, just like she said, and there was the strong possibility that it would not actually hurt at all. After all, Sasuke even seemed to enjoy it and there would be no security for any of them until he was under the thrall. It had to be done and now there was a strong chance Naruto would just decide not to for fear of scaring him, that he would wait and everyone would be treading on eggshells again. Neji cursed himself, angry that he had allowed them to distract him so easily.
He should be able control his own body and the reflex was still subject to his higher mind if he was focused, but the jinchuuriki was very good at diverting people's thinking. Neji bit his lip, angry at Naruto even though he knew it was stupid, knew that he was the one who had messed up. He had been so caught up in Naruto's caresses, so overwhelmed by the pleasure, that when the touch to ready him for penetration came he was not prepared at all. Escape was both impossible and just plain stupid, but the Hyuuga wondered if it was worth trying anyway.
"Neji, talk to me." Naruto whispered kindly, the jinchuuriki's warm breath tickling his ear.
"Why?" Neji snarled softly.
"So I know what to expect. Who was it?" The jinchuuriki asked, unperturbed.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, it does. I want to know who hurt you and how. Believe it." Naruto said, keeping his tone level despite the radiant hostility in Neji's eyes.
The Hyuuga pressed his lips together and turned away. Talk was cheap and nothing could change the past, but Naruto insisted on it anyway. That was dumb, what was the point? He knew that he had no right to be angry, but it was better than the other emotions broiling in his mind, infinitely better than facing the fear and shame. He and Anko had done things with and to each other that most people would not only find bizarre, but outright sick. Naruto would never understand.
"No one hurt me. It isn't what you think." Neji whispered.
"Yes, someone did and I want to know what happened." Naruto argued mildly, smiling gently against his shoulder, trying to set him at ease.
"It's not like I was…It isn't what you think." Neji repeated, swallowing hard.
"Tell me what happened and I'll tell you what I think." Naruto offered.
"No. It's none of your business." He hissed.
"I think it is. Someone hurt you…" Naruto repeated, tone carefully neutral, placing a hand on his hip as if for emphasis.
"No…I…" He struggled wetting his lips nervously.
"Did it happen on a mission?" Naruto asked gently.
"No!" Neji snapped.
"Then, someone… someone maybe you loved?" The blond offered, moving to find Neji's eyes with his own, looking oddly worried.
"Yes." Neji sighed, helpless in the face of the searching blue of the oni's gaze.
"A woman?"
"Yes." Neji answered again, shuddering.
"How?" Naruto asked softly.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"I know, but try anyway. How?" Naruto asked again.
"Her fingers mostly, sometimes other things, nothing really dangerous…" Neji whispered, shutting his eyes at last.
"Were you restrained?" Naruto asked, tracing the Hyuuga's eyebrows with the ticklish tips of his claws.
"No, no! You're making it seem…I mean…it wasn't like she abused me!" Neji spat, glaring again.
"Were you restrained?" Naruto asked again, more firmly, his hand tightening on the Hyuuga's hip.
"Yes, but…"
"Neji…" Naruto breathed, closing his eyes, anger twitching in the muscles of his jaw.
"It was consensual!" The Hyuuga snarled.
"Okay, is there a reason you wanted her to hurt you?" Naruto asked, voice still warm and very patient.
"No, but…She wanted to protect me."
"And that was how she chose to do it?" The jinchuuriki asked.
"Yes…no…I mean, she didn't want to, not really…" Neji struggled.
"I don't understand." Naruto whispered, smiling apologetically.
"Well, it wasn't…it wasn't only her…" Neji breathed, feeling suddenly close to hysteria.
"There was someone else?"
"No, but…We…we hurt each other." Neji confessed, feeling ugly.
Naruto was quiet for a long time, digesting the confession, face closed and more emotionless than Neji could ever remember seeing him. A deep sinking feeling crept into his belly, cold and ugly where before there had only been the succulent warmth of Naruto's kisses and Sasuke's beauty. Neji had no idea what they would think, whether or not Naruto could even accept him now, knowing that his past was so twisted. Neji thought Sasuke might understand, sympathize even, but somehow that possibility was even worse. The emotion roiled in his belly, bringing tears to his eyes, tears he was unwilling to shed. Despite his silence, Naruto never stopped touching him, leaning close and hot over his back. Neji shivered, feeling exposed, guilty.
"Why would a person hurt someone they love?" Naruto asked at last, voice firm if barely above a whisper.
"To try to make them stop loving you, to make them hate you so that eventually you will be forced to let them go..." Neji answered.
"Oh. Yeah, Sasuke tried that too." Naruto said, chuckling a little.
"How did it work for him?" Neji asked, feeling a tender flicker of hope.
"Well, he's gotten himself locked into my house, under my control and mine to have wild sex with whenever I want to. That probably wasn't his original goal." Naruto smirked, kissing Neji's hair.
"Yeah, probably not." Neji acceded with a mad little laugh, feeling relieved.
"How'd it work for you? Did you hate her?" Naruto asked gently.
"No. I never did." He sighed.
"That's probably a good thing." The blond said, nodding.
"Yeah…" Neji sighed.
"But, I won't do that to you. I'll never do anything like that. That is not how love works for me, for us, not ever…" Naruto warned.
"Do…do you still want me?" Neji whispered, worried.
"So bad I think I might die, believe it." Naruto laughed, biting his shoulder teasingly.
Neji laughed and suddenly felt lighter than he had in years. Naruto nuzzled the nape of his neck affectionately, nibbling the sensitive shell of his ear, and he was suddenly aware that the jinchuuriki was still very hard. He shivered. The blond kitsune smiled against the skin of his shoulder and began mouthing his way down Neji's back, playing his lips and teeth over every ridge of the Hyuuga's spine, the touch even more erotic than it had been before. The Hyuuga felt his body warm to the caresses, the velvety skin of the blond's arousal against the tingling flesh of his hip hot and intense. Naruto reached low, grasping his sex confidently and stroking slow and deep. Neji moaned. The friction of Naruto's thumb against the sensitive skin of his penis made heat blossom anew through the Hyuuga's belly like fire through dry tinder, made his breath hitch and his balls heavy with need. By the time they heard Sasuke's irate tread in the hall, Neji was moaning aloud as Naruto loved him, arching his body up against the Jinchuuriki's hands, and tongue and teeth. Sasuke entered the room with a heavy huff, raising an eyebrow as Neji bit down into the bedding to keep from screaming.
"You've been busy." Sasuke accused, crossing his arms.
"Very." Naruto said, smiling triumphantly against Neji's shoulder.
"I got your stupid burn gel, moron." Sasuke spat, shedding the yukata as one would a rain-soaked cloak and stomping back onto the bed.
"Perfect, Teme…" Naruto purred, pausing to bite Neji's left buttock, tugging the captured flesh roughly.
"Ahhh! Naruto…" Neji shrieked, writhing against the mound of pillows beneath his hips like a panicked horse in quicksand.
"That will make it nicer." The blond rumbled
"Tch, I still think it's stupid." Sasuke huffed as he knelt and placed the jar into Naruto's waiting hand.
Despite his tone, Sasuke moved to lay down beside Neji almost immediately, stroking his deadly fingers through the older nin's hair gently. His actions were always at odds with his words, almost meaningless really, and Neji moved to twine his fingers with Sasuke's in order to still the subtle trembling there. Holding hands was odd, something people did when they were too enamored with one another to care about appearances, but it felt good anyway. Sasuke's hand gripped him, bruised him, tight and focused even as Naruto proceeded to melt the rest of his reality into hot, white nothing. The jinchuuriki was stroking his testicles, warm hands wise on the heavy flesh, each touch more deeply pleasurable than the last. Neji moaned, the very marrow of his bones quivering in anticipation of the next caress.
Even now, neither touching nor looking at one another, the demon and his subordinate managed to work together to overwhelm him. Sasuke lay a breath from his own face, nose nearly brushing Neji's own, staring into his eyes fearlessly as Naruto brought his trembling body to the edge of orgasm once again. Neji met Sasuke's eyes and stared, shocked by how expressive the raven could be, how the sooty depths of his gaze seemed endless without the shield of the sharingan to obscure him. There was worry in those ebony portals, and lust and eagerness too along with the shadow of some inner frailty, something still young and very frightened. Neji looked and felt consumed, saturated with emotion as Naruto claimed his body and Sasuke his mind, nothing left but heat.
"This will make it easier, more comfortable at first…" Naruto said and Neji could hear the tiny click as he opened the lubricant.
Neji thought perhaps he should say something, but Sasuke was kissing him, sharp teeth cruel against his lips in odd counterpoint to the gentle affection of the raven's fingers. Naruto spread Neji's buttocks, leaving him with the uncanny sensation of normally protected skin left exposed to the air, of being viscerally open, vulnerable. The Hyuuga tensed his body and managed to hold still as Naruto placed a cool finger against his anus, coating the sensitive flesh with the tingling ointment. His thighs were shaking with the effort of maintaining contact, not pulling away, of fighting the instinctual fear of pain. Naruto touched him for a moment, barely a heartbeat, before removing his hand and allowing Neji's belly to relax and begin unraveling itself from the tight knot it had cramped into after the effort of trying not to flinch. Soon, the tender flesh began to feel cool, then warm and then not much at all, weirdly distant. Naruto bent close and kissed the lower ridge of his tailbone again before blowing lightly against the tight skin of Neji's entrance. The warmth of the air was shocking against the skin of his buttocks, cool on the moisture Naruto's lips had left on the bottom of his spine, but he barely felt anything in the most sensitive place of all. The Hyuuga nearly yelped in surprise.
"But…?" Neji asked, confused.
"Don't worry, the numbness doesn't last long and it's only on the surface." Naruto explained, already moving.
"The surface isn't important." Sasuke added hotly, stroking his face.
Neji felt an odd pressure, very distant, and then Naruto's slickened finger was inside him, moving shallowly. He never actually felt the penetration, the drug numbing the breach so that one moment there was nothing and the next a foreign presence in his body that felt nothing like it had when Anko had done it. There was no pain, very little sensation at all other than a weird kind of fullness, and Neji did not have to fight himself to relax as Naruto stroked his inner body with the pad of his finger. There was movement, but very shallow and without the accompanying sensation on his skin it was very hard for Neji to tell what exactly Naruto was doing. The jinchuuriki was probably looking for injuries, but he already knew that Anko was far too careful to leave scars, at least not physical ones. The Hyuuga relaxed against the pillows and let him mind wander, the penetration still innocuous and quite clinical, far less interesting than the way Sasuke was trying to put his tongue into his mouth. The raven hissed and bit his lips, demanding entrance haughtily. Someone should really teach Sasuke how to kiss without biting, Neji thought muzzily, pinching the raven sharply on the shoulder in reproach.
Despite the anesthetic, the moment lost none of its heat and Neji found himself moaning softly into Sasuke's mouth, enjoying the warmth strength of Naruto's lips on his neck and the small of his back. The jinchuuriki was still stroking his erection constantly, moving gently and relatively slowly, but the rhythm was keeping him hard all the same. It still felt like sex, stimulating and pleasurable, without the shock or pain he had come to expect. Naruto moved within him, stroking, and the sensation gradually began to change. Neji could feel him as the jinchuuriki pushed deeper, feel the texture of his hand, the hardness of his claw and the subtle ridges on the pads of his finger. The blond was moving differently too, no longer exploring, but pushing in and out, the motion rhythmic and sensual. Neji grunted and tightened his body on reflex.
"Relax, it won't feel good if you're tense." Naruto murmured.
"O…Okay…" Neji gasped, shuddering as the rigid strangeness of the penetration began to filter into his awareness.
He relaxed, forcing his body into softness through sheer will, and Naruto rumbled approvingly as he added aloe to the layer of burn gel and used the increased lubrication to push in a bit more. The lidocaine was wearing off, slowly, but the difference was radical nonetheless. Before he had only felt pressure, a sensation of vague visceral fullness, and now every movement of the jinchuuriki's hand came with stretch, heat, friction and a disturbingly intimate kind of pleasure. Naruto moved and Neji was suddenly aware that his finger was nearly all the way inside him, the bony width of his second knuckle introducing a different level of texture, rubbing the inner walls of his body in a way that made him feel vulnerable and very submissive. The skin of his entrance also began to feel unexpectedly tender and raw, like hot water on sunburned skin, but the pain was still only a shadow in his awareness. Pain was hard to think about, hard to really focus on, when every thrust of the jinchuuriki's finger was stroking places Neji could never remember being touched before, filling his body with tingling fire. It was stimulating, sexual, and the fullness had begun to feel incredibly erotic as well.
Neji moaned, thrusting into the hand Naruto still had wrapped around his penis, blushing hotly at the intimate feel of the blond's finger in his body combined with the stimulation of his erection. He was trapped, captured in the kitsune's embrace, and it was the most sensually overwhelming experience he had ever had. The movement of his hips, the instinctual undulation into the close embrace of the jinchuuriki's hot fist, only pressed Naruto's finger more deeply. Soon Neji was moving and helpless to stop, his body open for Naruto, full with him and beginning to ache as the blond moved to stretch the tense muscles of his inner walls. The jinchuuriki was rubbing more confidently now, probably stretching him the way he had Sasuke, working in a widening circle. Knowing how it would work somehow made it better, easier to relax. There was pain, a deep and quivery kind of ache, but it seemed unimportant compared to the sensation oftouch. He panted, shaking and unable to stop, as Naruto thrust into his body again and pressed something searing, electric and mind shatteringly ecstatic.
"Ah! Kami!" Neji shrieked, jerking back hard against his alpha's hand.
"Oh, yeah…There you are…" Naruto said, the smile obvious in his voice and filled with victory.
"Nghh…Ahhh!" Neji shrieked again as the blond moved to touch him again.
"Feels sexy, right?" Sasuke asked, smirking accusingly.
"Oh fuck! H…Hai…" Neji managed, his vision still swimming with the intensity of the pleasure.
Naruto pressed again, massaging the tingling bundle of nerves, and white hot ecstasy pounded through Neji's body. Hot pleasure thundered through his body, building heavy and burning in his belly, sizzling all the way up his spine. He moaned, thrusting back again, meeting Naruto with an aggressive snap of his hips. Whatever the jinchuuriki was touching felt like nothing else he had ever experienced and Neji was screaming, hard and on the edge of orgasm so quickly that his vision swam with the rush of it. His entire body was singing with fire, tingling, the silk of the bedding and Naruto's palm rough against the heated skin of his erection. Neji shrieked and Naruto added another finger, the ache of the larger penetration barely perceptible in the moments before the sensation was lost in the typhoon of pleasure the jinchuuriki was kindling inside him. The blond was stretching him, coaxing the stiff muscles to open, the intimate fullness growing along with the fire arching through Neji's overloaded nerves.
"Almost, almost…" Naruto chanted, pumping him.
"Kami! Naruto!" Neji cried as the blond added a third finger, his body full and hot with the blond as he had never been before.
"Relax, don't fight, relax…please…please relax…" Sasuke hissed, black eyes intense, boring into his own.
Neji shut his eyes, beyond thought, rapidly approaching climax as the sensation crawled over his flesh. The visceral ache of penetration intensified, the raw pain of protected, internal skin being touched clashing with the roaring joy of the caress. Naruto's hand was no longer around his penis and he almost didn't care, the pleasure within was so deep, so strong, consuming in a way sex with Anko had never been. He moaned as Naruto's thumb moved low to stroke the base of his scrotum, almost ticklish compared to the scalding delight thrumming through his body with each aching push of the jinchuuriki's fingers. The fullness was intense, bordering on pain, and Neji whimpered as the blond moved within him. He felt fragile, compromised, totally out of control. Naruto removed his fingers and Neji cried out at the loss.
"Okay. Relax now, baby, relax for me…" Naruto whispered as moved to rub the slickened head of his erection against Neji's open body.
"Naruto…" Neji moaned, a bolt of animal terror lancing through him at the contact.
"Tch, don't call him 'baby', if you want him to relax! Baka!" Sasuke snapped.
"Don't be scared." The jinchuuriki said, still just rubbing experimentally on the surface, his touch burning.
"I am…I am…" Neji replied closing his eyes tightly.
"Take a breath." Sasuke hissed, gripping his chin roughly.
"Sasuke…"
"Breathe, Hyuuga, now!" The raven ordered.
Neji inhaled and Naruto pushed inside, moving smooth and slow. Heavy, visceral pain radiated through his body as the jinchuuriki pushed past the tender ring of twitching muscle and through to enter Neji's body. He yelped, losing the air Sasuke had ordered him to take as Naruto moved inside of him, stretching the tight passage until his muscles screamed and a film of chilly sweat erupted over his skin. The sensation was strange, painful, but the discomfort was minor compared to the frightening intimacy of the act. He tried to writhe away on pure reflex, the throbbing pain too close to what he had experienced before to ignore or control. Naruto's hand was like warm granite on his neck, holding him down, holding him still. Neji panicked, trying to scream, but the sound caught jaggedly in his throat.
"No! No! Just relax! It won't hurt if you relax!" Sasuke shouted.
"Fuck, Teme, I can't…I can't stop…" Naruto choked, the words giving way to a feral snarl.
"Shit!" Sasuke cursed.
The hand upon his neck was tight and strong, graced with powerful claws. Neji jerked, trying instinctively to throw Naruto away, but it was like trying to move against the might of the ocean itself. The blond oni was as powerful as any current, elemental and unstoppable, but Neji fought him anyway. He thrashed, caught helplessly in the blond's inhumanly strong grasp, his body full and aching with Naruto's foreign heat. With a warning hiss, the jinchuuriki captured his wrist and pressed the Hyuuga down hard into the bed, forcing the air from his lungs. Sasuke took advantage of the opportunity to pinch Neji's nose closed, effectively suffocating him for the space of a heartbeat, forcing the rest of his body to relax. Being deprived of air did nothing to soothe his panic, but both he and Naruto were beyond simple logic. As his lungs burned, Neji's was blearily aware of his body releasing its tension involuntarily, redirecting all his physical focus onto the task of breathing. He gasped and Naruto moved, snarling low in a tone that shook the very marrow of Neji's bones.
Braced for agony, the Hyuuga shrieked in shock as fiery pleasure exploded through his body instead, burning away the pain in a molten flood of feeling. He ached still, but the discomfort was indistinct and distant, like a storm in the mountains that could be heard only if one listened. Naruto rumbled, his hand caressing the nape of Neji's neck possessively, deadly claws resting just above his pulse. He moaned, moving back against the blond unconsciously, chasing the thrumming ecstasy. Before, Naruto had touched the delicate nerves within him, but the sensation had been only a shadow of what it was now. Now the jinchuuriki was pounding against him, driving sizzling darts of pleasure through his nerves like sparks from a raging forest fire, each stroke shattering his thoughts into white hot noise. They moved, Neji obeying the powerful gravity of Naruto's hips as the jinchuuriki drove them both closer to the precipice. Naruto's breath against his back was scalding, the sharpened caress of his teeth ticklish against the junction of Neji's shoulder.
There was a breath and a strange moment of stillness, the silence before a cyclone, and then Naruto was sinking his teeth deeply into the Hyuuga's flesh. Blood dripped from the wound, the sharp tearing of skin and muscle piercing and dissonant in the surging pleasure. The jinchuuriki held him in his jaws, rumbling hotly, and thrust deep. White hot ecstasy flooded his body, clashing with the pain, ringing cacophonously. Neji moaned and screamed and moaned again, lost to the feeling, the distinction between thought and reality, love and desire, affection and possession lost as Naruto claimed him. No thought, no pain, just the roaring eroticism of the jinchuuriki's touch and the endless chasm of Sasuke's eyes. In his mind, they almost became one, Naruto in him and Sasuke beside him. Somehow Sakura was with him too, molded together in both feeling and memory, forged into liquid fire thrust like magma into his veins as Naruto loved him. The complexity of it was startling, too much to comprehend. He loved them, Kami, so much… Neji cried out and released, body jerking as his essence spilled into Naruto's ready palm, the tingling heat crawling up his spine.
Naruto plunged into his trembling body a few more times before tensing and releasing as well. Neji moaned brokenly as the jinchuuriki pumped warmth into his body, the heat radiating, filling his bowels and belly. Slowly, carefully, Naruto released him from his jaws, lapping at the wounds even as the skin closed and healed. Neji flinched a little, the itching of the closing skin startling. He was breathing shallowly as if he had run a long distance, hair stuck wetly to his cheek with sweat, body spent and shaking with fatigue. Naruto nuzzled against him, taking his time, fingers pressed lightly against the jumping pulse in Neji's throat. Neji closed his eyes and relaxed into the affection, feeling warm and comfortable, at peace. He whimpered a little when Naruto withdrew, still hard, from his body.
It was only after a few careful breaths that Neji finally turned and gasped at the shock and horror in Sasuke's expression. The raven's eyes were raging scarlet and swirling with his sharingan, mouth pulled back into a snarl, baring his teeth. Neji moved, trying to rise onto his elbows, the movements awkward and clumsy with fatigue.
"What the fuck did they do to you?" Sasuke hissed, sitting up onto his knees angrily.
"What?" Neji asked, blinking dumbly.
"Teme, hang on…" Naruto panted, holding up a hand as if to restrain him.
"The thrall! The thrall! He isn't under the thrall!" Sasuke snarled.
"I know, but…" Naruto hedged.
"What?! But, I am, I…" Neji murmured, shaking his head, confused.
"No! That isn't IT! He didn't claim you!" The raven shouted, interrupting him.
"Sasuke, just calm down…" Naruto said, reaching for him.
"NO! Something is WRONG! Something is WRONG with him!" Sasuke railed, pulling his arm from Naruto's grasp.
"I don't understand…" Neji whispered helplessly.
"The chakra transfer, it didn't happen." Naruto whispered, stroking Neji's back soothingly.
"But…I felt…"
"That was just sex! He didn't…I don't know why…It's not the same!" Sasuke growled, turning away, hands balled into hard fists.
"Sasuke, please. It isn't Neji's fault." Naruto said, sighing.
"Wait, I…I don't understand what's wrong." Neji said, feeling cold.
"They did something to you, they had to! Hiashi must have done something to your energy, they must have…" Sasuke snarled, meeting Neji's eyes angrily.
"No!" Neji cried, eyes widening as he began to comprehend the gravity of what had not happened.
"If they did, it's not his fault. People can't be blamed for what their families do to them." Naruto said pointedly, mouth firm.
"It doesn't matter who's fault it is! You can't claim him!" Sasuke spat.
"Please! Sasuke, Naruto! No one has done anything to me!" Neji protested.
"Shhh, don't worry. It's okay, we'll figure it out." Naruto said kindly.
"No! No! I'm yours! I am!" Neji shouted, terrified.
"You aren't, Hyuuga." Sasuke spat.
"Please…Sasuke…" Neji moaned, reaching for him.
Sasuke stared at him warily for a beat and then moved into Neji's arm, shoulders tight with worry and anger. Neji had no idea what to say and so, for a moment, he just swallowed and tried to find a way to breathe around the sickened knot of his stomach. The heady relief that Sasuke would not simply reject him was so poignant that Neji's lips were shaking and his teeth chattering, his mind spinning, stubbornly rejecting his efforts to think.
"No one did anything to my energy." Neji managed at last.
"He's telling the truth, he doesn't know anything," Sasuke said, pulling back a little, eyes moving too quickly.
"Maybe you just don't remember…" Naruto offered, smiling sadly.
"No! Nothing like that!" The Hyuuga cried, horrified by the implication.
"Maybe it could be done, I don't know how…I don't know how someone could change a person's chakra that much without killing them…" Sasuke hissed, looking sickened.
"I…I would never…!" Neji shook his head, overwhelmed.
"What would be the point?" Naruto asked Sasuke, ignoring him.
"To compromise us, to destroy our stability. They would do it to put a pawn in our midst that we can't control, not even with the thrall." Sasuke hissed softly, stroking Neji's cheek gently, his words totally at odds with the touch as usual.
"I'm no one's pawn!" Neji snarled, eyes tearing.
"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, gaze shuttered.
The jinchuuriki gave him no time to reply, but moved to pull the Hyuuga into an embrace instead, his arms welcoming. No matter what, Naruto's body said, Neji was loved. The affection was there, in the touch and the warmth, in the very scent of the jicnhuuriki's skin and Neji suddenly understood what Anko had meant about the vessels loving utterly. Even now, even confronted with a situation that could easily be a clever trap, Naruto would not reject him. Feeling cold with the realization, Neji clung to him, Anko's words ringing eerily in his head. Sasuke moved into Naruto's grip as well, the three of them clasped tightly in one another's arms, trying to find stillness. The jinchuuriki held them silently, held Neji's face tight against his own burning skin as the Hyuuga began to sob and Sasuke trembled. He was not under the thrall and no one was safe. Neji knew now, knew why the raven was shivering, knew the secret frailty of Sasuke's spirit and felt ashamed even if he was helpless to help his beautiful lover. It was the old fear Neji had seen in his eyes, the fear of a small child left all alone, terrified that everyone he loved would be taken away.