Peace for Traitors

Hanyou are not a separate species, as I have stated before, and so cannot be studied as such. At best the creatures may be understood as an anomaly of the close and violent interaction humans come to have with increasing frequency with demons as we encroach further into the wilderness. Usually the product of rape, such creatures have no place in either human society or the mysterious hierarchy to which demons cleave. They are profoundly alone and their fundamental nature, as it must, reflects this enforced solitude. The behavior of hanyou is shockingly individual, having far more to do with the type of demon lending to its parentage and the circumstances in which it was raised. The problem of a half-demon is considered by many, not entirely inaccurately, as being akin to the dilemma presented by a rabid dog. They are creatures both achingly familiar and terrifyingly unpredictable, close to being human in many ways and yet dangerously foreign in many more.

-Koumyuo Sanzo, Lives and Habits of Far Eastern Demons

Sakura chose to dress warmly, bundling her ungainly body in thick layers of padded silk and soft cotton, hunting doggedly for her favorite pair of slippers. Part of her wanted to use the clothing to convince the mirror that she was not, in fact, as big as she felt, but the rest was actually just kind of cold. The snow still falling gently outside made her feel chilly, even if the house was warm and the bed even warmer if she wanted to rest for a few more hours. She could, Tsunade even said she was supposed to rest more and it was early, but the weather made her restless. Sai was still fast asleep, curled tight and small in the very center of the massive bed, only a few strands of black hair and the fingers of his right hand visible above the comforter. He was burrowed in the bed, hiding from the world and from his own dreams, and that was probably the only reason the artist was able to sleep so well…that and the fact that Sakura had probably fucked every last neuron the poor man had into an endorphin induced coma. She smirked. A little sleep wouldn't kill him.

When they had been teammates, Sai often liked to lie against her side or drape himself over Naruto's bedroll and nap, but the artist rarely slept so deeply if left by himself. Before she really met him, before they were a team, Sakura had wondered if Sai slept at all. The ink nin always volunteered for the last watch, sketching even when it was probably too dark for him to see, seemingly immune to exhaustion. Knowing him as she did, Sakura now realized that the behavior was probably more likely an odd symptom of anxiety instead of true fortitude, but that did not make it any less powerful. Naruto had collapsed trying to match Sai's endurance, refusing to order rest until he was practically crippled with fatigue, and that was a tremendous feat in and of itself. Despite his easy smile, Naruto wasn't human and he did not lose things like rivalries of stamina easily, but Sai refused to stop. As for herself, Sakura learned quickly that trying to compete with the artist in anything having to do with endurance was a losing battle, that Sai would probably die running on his feet before allowing himself to rest without permission. The kunoichi was proud and she hated as much as anyone to appear weak, but Sakura was pragmatic enough to recognize when someone's will surpassed her own and sensitive enough to be grateful her spirit hadn't been not sharpened the way Sai's was.

There was something darker there, something ugly in Sai's refusal to stop until Naruto dropped to the ground in a panting heap and started whining about his blisters. She had once treated Sai for a tibia fracture that actually stabbed all the way through the flesh of his leg before Naruto smelled the blood and called a halt. The artist would never stop, never, not unless he was told to or his heart ceased beating. Danzo had done things to Sai, things no one should ever be allowed to do to another person, and Sakura knew it was beyond her own ability to understand. There was simply too much darkness, too much evil, so much that she was almost scared to know even though she kept looking anyway. Sasuke thought she was stupid for trying to find empathy for it, for trying to explore something as pervasive as Sai's psychological injuries. He often scoffed at how she struggled to understand a perspective that was so alien, a world view for which she had no basis of comparison. She smiled a little as she thought about the last spiteful diatribe the raven had hurled at her over Sai, hissing and spitting all kinds of cruelty when everyone knew he was just as attached to the artist as everyone else.

Sasuke couldn't see why Sakura wanted to thrust herself into the darkness, why she would ever want to take something as consuming as Sai's past and try to make any kind of analytical sense out of it. He said that the kind of pain Sai had survived was beyond human comprehension and had nothing to do with logic, but Sakura disagreed. Logic meant control, a weapon, a kind of power over the evil that had harmed her loved ones and Sakura would have that power. Sasuke could mock her, but the raven never said what he really meant and he enjoyed the same compassion, the same stubborn attempts to understand, even if he was considerably less grateful for it. They were her men, both of them, and there was nothing in them too shameful or twisted or evil for her to look at. She had always believed that anyone could be saved, healed, and it was an idea she had devoted her life to. Surrounded by killers, people shattered by forces beyond her reckoning, the only thing left to do was struggle and strive and try to comprehend it. She knew Sasuke's cruelty was only another shield, that he loathed anything he thought might be weakness, but it wasn't weakness what she did. No, of that Sakura was absolutely certain. Trying to see through Sai's perspective and facing Sasuke's venom without poison of her own wasn't weakness, it was love, and that was a thousand times more dangerous.

Sakura did not know when it happened or if the feeling had always been there, but she loved Sai as much as she loved Sasuke or Naruto. She loved him so much that thinking about his past made her ache. The artist was part of her family now, or perhaps nothing changed at all and he always was, but even knowing that he was badly broken in ways she could never hope to grasp made no difference. Sakura would do whatever she could to help him be whole again and face the consequences, whatever they might be, as they came. And there would be consequences, of that she was already certain.

The artist had been a breath away from killing her child, something Naruto should probably never find out about for the sake of his own sanity, with only quick thinking and outright pleading stopping him from committing an atrocity that would have torn their family apart. Just the memory of him, body tight and cold around hers like one of Sasuke's cobras, made her heart want to skip a beat and her fingers shake. Sakura could appreciate why the ink nin came so close to such an unspeakable act, why he felt that the murder of an innocent life would be acceptable, collateral damage, but that only terrified her more. Most people, or at least anyone who spoke to him for more than five minutes, had a prevailing tendency to think Sai was insane, but she knew it wasn't the case. There was a kind of rationality, a brutal and animal reason, to the way Sai perceived his world. The whole thing almost made a savage kind of sense, an idea aligned with the fundamental tenets of kill or be killed, but nothing could change what had almost happened. Sai was an enigma, and even knowing the artist as a lover didn't allow Sakura to predict his reactions perfectly, not well enough to stop him in the future.

When Shino brought him to the hospital, Sai had been in pain that he could not ease and so he prepared to die, as any creature would. Sai would never stop running because any who fell behind must, by the laws of nature, be left to die. He had seen her baby as a threat and acted accordingly. All of it was something that only made sense if a person could think about it in the right way and adopt a perspective free from the softness of humanity. Sai just didn't consider the world the way other people did and sometimes his judgment was frighteningly different from her own, totally different from how Naruto thought. To Sai, things were either an active threat or something that he could ignore, either predator or landscape. Since lovers could not fit into either of those categories, he was overwhelmed trying to understand a concept his own pattern of thinking could not permit. She sighed. Naruto had likened the situation to teaching someone a new language, but it was really much worse than that. Showing Sai love was like taking someone blind and giving them eyes, like trying teach a child to walk for the first time, forcing him into a world where none of his defenses worked. Knowing that, Sakura couldn't help worrying about what the artist thought about their lovemaking the night before, if he'd had enough time to think about it at all, anxious that she might have gone too far faster than he was ready.

The girl drummed her fingers against the wood of her dresser, staring at the snow without really seeing it, lost in thought. Both she and Naruto realized that the ink nin required a different, more delicate approach to romance than Sasuke had or Neji likely would. They had talked about it and she knew that the jinchuuriki was both deeply concerned about what might happen when he tried to take Sai under the thrall and already totally invested in his survival. The blond wanted Sai to live and saw it as his own responsibility even more than he had with Sasuke. Her gorgeous murderer had come to their bed knowing he might die, but he had been chasing his own reaper for years. By the time he gave in, even Naruto couldn't deny that there was no saving the raven unless Sasuke found the will to live in the first place. With Sai there was no desperate suicidal motive to fight against, only raw niavete, which was probably worse.

Naruto was right to be afraid, she could not argue the truth of that, especially because the energetic synchrony needed for the thrall required a kind of surrender Sai had been deeply conditioned to refuse. Danzo had taught him that surrender meant death, that to fall behind or yield to an injury meant abandonment, but to be a jinchuuriki's mate meant giving in to a greater force. It meant falling into death without struggle, being overwhelmed, drowning in foreign energy. The artist had done well with sex, better than she had expected, but it was a hard thing to judge and the stakes were so high. Naruto would never forgive himself for Sai's death and life without the artist seemed so impossible now. In matters of life and death, or love for that matter, Sakura knew there was no room for mistakes.

She shook her head, trying to chase the circling thoughts away, and pulled a heavily embroidered uchikake over her winter kimonos. The layers of colored silk were very beautiful in the soft morning light, hiding her well under a filmy facade of red, lavender and pink. Sakura would bury it for now, bury the fear as she buried her own swollen body, cover it up and then no one would know. Action was the key and she had to be strong now, everyone had spent too much time worrying about her already. The weight of the heavy cloth was sure to make her even clumsier than she already was, but the snow outside brought too many memories of another day, a colder day, and there were too many things making her nervous. It had snowed the morning Naruto almost died too, the morning when Madara Uchiha came to take Sasuke away from them. Snow had always seemed like clean, quiet death after that day, no matter how hard she tried to remind herself that weather and murder were not related. Sakura shivered. Clearly, Sasuke's paranoia was infectious.

The young matriarch sat down with an irritated huff and focused on plaiting her hair into a braid neat enough to convince the staff that she hadn't actually spent the previous evening ravishing her one-time teammate in ways that would have shocked even Master Jiraiya. Finally dressed, she poked her head briefly out of the bedroom and into the hall, rolling her eyes when only yawning silence greeted her. All the servants were either still asleep or in another part of the house. Grumbling, Sakura left the room and hunted about. She was uncomfortable leaving Sai alone, but she only needed to be gone for a few minutes, just long enough to find someone who could bring a pot of tea and pass orders to Yuko. Sakura searched the kitchen, finding no one and headed briskly to the washroom, mildly annoyed that no one had thought to prepare something as ubiquitous as tea already. Everyone always drank tea in the morning. If Sasuke had been the first one up this morning, and he usually was, the raven would be raising all kinds of hell at the oversight.

Even just walking about was making her tired and Sakura had to avoid the urge to pant. The kunoichi finally spotted a maid, one that Sasuke had hired, rushing to bring towels to the large bathing room and obviously lost in the wrong hallway. For a moment the servant hesitated before rushing over to where Sakura was trying to lean nonchalantly, hopefully looking bored instead of wracked with fatigue. The girl bowed nervously as she clutched the towels to her chest, eyes glued hard to the floor and mercifully oblivious to the dark scowl Sakura leveled at her. Naruto was right, servants were a pain in the ass.

"Where is Yuko-san?" Sakura asked, keeping her tone level.

"I don't know, my Lady. She was in the kitchen earlier, but then went out for a bit to buy eggs. I haven't seen her for hours…" The maid replied, quivering.

"Don't be scared, just get some pots of tea ready and bring them to my rooms as well as wherever Naruto is." Sakura ordered.

"And…Shall I bring tea for Sasuke-sama and Neji-sama as well?" The girl asked timidly.

"They'll be with Naruto." Sakura replied, smirking.

"Oh." She said, blushing.

"Tell the others to find Yuko –san, I want to know what's kept her." Sakura ordered.

The girl bowed low and scurried off. Sakura shook her head and tried again to catch her breath. She was just so big and it was harder to take a full breath, to inhale fully with the baby pressed against her diaphragm. Walking sucked, but there was no sense being angry about it since the little servant probably had no idea what she was supposed to be doing in the first place. Sakura took another shallow lungful of air and puzzled to herself. Something about the situation seemed more than a little odd. Maybe it was just oxygen deprivation or maybe old Yuko was slipping. Either way, she wanted to know what was going on before Naruto or Sasuke could find out and freak out about it. The woman usually had tea waiting for her by this hour and never seemed to have problems keeping a schedule, but everyone occasionally got held up by one thing or another.

Sakura shrugged and returned to the bedroom. If the she happened to incur Sasuke's wrath, old Yuko had already proven her abilities to handle him as well as anyone. Besides, the raven was always more bark than bite when it came to the servants and Naruto had probably worn him out enough to sleep until noon. Sakura sighed in relief as she entered the bedroom to find Sai still gently unconscious in the bed. The artist moaned and shuddered a little in his sleep as she slid the door closed, but Sakura resisted the urge to wake him from the dream. He was tired, both emotionally and physically, and she knew that the ink nin rarely slept without nightmares.

Sakura had worn him out. That was not her original intention, but Sai was just so…she bit her lip as the heat surged through her again. There was no word to describe how he was. If Sasuke was the moon, ever distant and perfect, and if Naruto was the sun, hot and radiant, Sai was something totally different than either of them. He was just as cosmic, equally essential, but not nearly so obvious…The stars perhaps…something too easily overlooked, subtly luminous and lovely if only one were to pay enough attention. She shut her eyes, the image of him sprawled in a gorgeous heap over Naruto's ochre bedding playing unbidden through her thoughts. The mere memory of how the artist looked the night before, his untouched body pale and willing in her hands, was enough to quicken Sakura's heart and bring a blush to her cheeks. Most people thought that Sai was cold and unfeeling, an automaton, but nothing could be further from the truth. His passion was there, waiting to be kindled and eager for fuel, fuel she knew far too well how to provide.

She had bent him from his training, from the harsh edicts of Danzo's control, and into every conceivable erotic position. He was like a supple willow branch, moving with the winds of her desires, drinking up the sex like a thirsty man would the rain. The ink nin was so soft, delicate and sexually submissive in a way that she had never imagined a man could be. Loving him was nothing like loving Naruto or Sasuke, like nothing she had ever experienced before, fire as smooth and sweet as honey. He followed her leadership easily and without question, achieving positions that Naruto could never have managed and Sasuke was too prudish to try, tying himself into knots around her with only the barest encouragement. She had only to whisper a suggestion and Sai obeyed, opening his body like a lily for the sun at the most meager caress. In this she was almost certainly his teacher, but the artist was a swift learner and a zealous lover nonetheless, pliant and eager for more, always more. The ink nin was not what anyone would describe as dominant, not really, but he certainly wasn't passive either, at least once he had an idea about what to do.

Unlike Sasuke, who usually chose to lie there and pretend indifference until she and Naruto broke his walls down, kissed him senseless and forced him to abandon his pride, Sai was strangely unreserved in his lust. When she kissed him, he bent his mouth against her, moving hungrily. When she mounted him and taught him how to please her, Sai moved into her body eagerly, fully engaged in the sex. His fingers, fingers deft and agile enough to sketch a face in the time it took most people to understand what it was they were looking at in the first place, were equally talented in giving pleasure every way he chose to use them. No matter where he touched her, the contact was like hot oil, like warm coals; stimulating and delightful. The exotic softness of him, of his naturally obedient nature, made her ravenous and the heady desire he expressed so effortlessly made it easy to push him. The sex had been gentle and very patient, but Sakura could not deny that she had plundered him in every way physically possible. They went well beyond her own expectations, beyond safe boundaries, doing things she would have done with Naruto. Sakura pulled a fan from her sleeve to chase the blush. Sai's enthusiasm and naiveté had proven too addictive for his own good. Chuckling softly, the girl wondered how Naruto and Sasuke had done with Neji as she collapsed gratefully into a chair and watched Sai sleep.

Moments passed and her heartbeat gradually began to slow back to normal and she almost felt like she had enough air. Sakura was too heavy, too clumsy, and there would be more before it was over. The baby would not be born for another couple months, if she even delivered on time and that was not a certainty given the extreme energetic abnormalities of the pregnancy. The kunoichi could hardly wait to see her baby, to hold her and protect her, and to have her body back to herself once again. So much had happened that the very idea of actually bringing her daughter into the world seemed so fragile, like a fever dream, a frozen delight that she barely deserved. Any eagerness or dreaming aside, Sakura was just grateful that she had the luxury of hoping for something so far into the future. Sasuke still looked at her with too many shadows in his eyes and Naruto, usually so easy going, had agreed with his significantly more paranoid subordinate that Sakura should not leave the house alone. They were scared, the reaper had come too close, and for once Sakura could not really argue with the restrictions. Even with the careful chakra isolation Neji and Sasuke had done, she still felt exhausted from the normal drain of just being so pregnant and sustaining two life forms. Staying cloistered for a while was a minor imposition. Soon though, soon she would have her prize and everyone would be able to relax again.

It was foolish to set a date, an invitation to frustration, but Sakura was ticking off the days in her head anyway. Sixty days, maybe less, and no one would have to worry about her anymore. She hated being under so much scrutiny, the object of so much concern, when she already felt weak and vulnerable. The constant hovering of four paranoid, emotionally unstable, occasionally homicidal men was eroding her sanity, but there was nothing to do except wait it out. Neji thought she would be late and Sasuke thought she would be early. Naruto didn't care as long as nobody died and who knew what Sai thought about it. Sakura chuckled, her life was too complex.

The bedroom was warm, though, and the gentle tinkling of her wind-chimes soothing as the snow continued to fall in soft white flakes outside. There was nothing to be gained by thinking so much and Ino always chided her for spending life chewing on cognitive bones instead of living. With a sigh, Sakura leaned back and watched the snow, it really was pretty. She was more comfortable and nearly dozing again when a soft knock came to the door.

"My Lady, may I come in?" Yuko's soft voice came through the door.

"Yuko-san?" Sakura asked blearily.

Sai startled awake, moving defensively, practically jerking himself into a low crouch under the blankets, black eyes darting fearfully to the door. He was comfortable in her presence, but the threat of another was enough to pull him instantly from sleep and into what looked like a near panic. Sakura cursed a bit, chastising herself under her breath, and motioning gently to Sai. Yuko knocked again and Sai hissed, the sound of it sharp, like tearing paper, and wholly different from Sasuke or Naruto's version of the noise. Sakura frowned a little, he had never made that sound before in all the years she had known him and it wasn't the first time someone had startled Sai awake. Sakura fretted. She really should have woken him herself before the servants arrived; he was obviously more upset than she had anticipated.

Rising, the girl moved towards Sai, moving slow and whispering a few affectionate reassurances to him. The artist blinked at her once and then again, lips drawn back over his teeth in a half snarl. As soon as his eyes fell upon her face, his expression softened into one of sleepy confusion, even if his posture remained fixed. Sakura shushed him and ran her hands through his silky hair, gratified when he relaxed beneath her touch. He watched her silently for a moment and then yawned.

"Sakura? Are we okay?" He asked softly.

"Of course we are. Everything is fine. You just woke up too suddenly." She said, smiling.

"Oh. I slept." Sai stated, looking muddled.

"You did. How do you feel?" Sakura asked, laughing softly.

"Warm…A little sore." He replied with a smile.

"That's normal, as long as you're okay." Sakura said with a smile of her own.

"Hmmm, I'm fine. I don't mind being sore in this way."

"I'm glad, you had me worried for a second. What was that sound?" Sakura asked, rubbing her thumb over the ridge of his cheek.

"What sound?" Sai asked blearily.

"You were hissing."

"Hissing?"

"Yep."

"Naruto hisses when he's really angry, like a fox with a mouse or maybe a cat. I've always wondered what would be the best way to describe it. He hissed once when I broke my leg, was it like that?" Sai asked, unperturbed.

"No." Sakura said simply, worried.

"Oh. I wish it was. I like it when Naruto hisses. I think I find it arousing." Sai muttered.

"That's really weird." Sakura sighed, "And tells me absolutely nothing."

Sai shrugged, smiling happily and Sakura figured that the conversation was officially over. Sakura sat for another heartbeat, stroking his hair and thinking. The artist sighed and let his body unwind, nuzzling down under the blankets as if nothing had happened. Biting her lip, Sakura called for Yuko to come in. The old woman practically threw herself through the door and onto her knees on the floor.

"My Lady! There has been a murder, I believe there may be problems!" Yuko whispered in a rush, bowing hurriedly.

"A murder? But Sasuke…" Sakura fumbled, blinking.

"Isn't the only killer in the western woods, nor the worst, apparently…" The woman whispered grimly.

"Who was it?"

"Who could be worse?" Sai asked dubiously, cracking an eye.

"Sai!" Sakura snapped.

"They aren't saying, but Hiashi himself is at the scene! I think it might be a Hyuuga operative!" Yuko said, wringing her hands.

"Good." Sai mumbled with another yawn.

"Sai-sama?" Yuko asked, looking confused.

"Operatives die all the time," He shrugged, "And Sasuke hates the Hyuuga spies."

"But… we had nothing to do with that!" Sakura cried, indignant.

"Even so, my Lady, even so! I worry Hiashi will use this against you!" Yuko moaned, clearly upset.

"Don't worry, Yuko-san, I will handle this." Sakura said with a tired sigh.

"Do you think the murderer might come here?" Yuko whispered franticly, eyes large with terror.

"No, Yuko-san, the house is very well protected…" Sakura began.

"…And if he does, Naruto will tear him apart and Sasuke will set fire to the pieces." Sai said with an affectionate smile.

OoOoOoO

Neji lay on his side, watching the snow fall, a single finger tracing the burning porcelain of his teacup around and around. He was tired, mentally and physically tired, but he couldn't sleep even though Naruto's warmth and the calming wintery scent of Sasuke's body lay only a few feet away. They slept, wrapped up in one another the way only lovers could, one of Naruto's hands extended in unconscious invitation for Neji to return. The jinchuuriki loved him, loved him completely, even if he was only a ploy, a tool for Hiashi to use against them. Maybe that was what he had been all along. Neji sighed, aching with the implication of it, if not from any of the love play the night before. Naruto had taken him and Sasuke multiple times and in multiple positions, the Hyuuga knew he should be sore from the penetration if nothing else, but his body was oddly comfortable. He felt strong, very strong, flush with energy even when by all rights Neji knew he would normally have been exhausted. None of it made any sense.

He sighed, grateful the servants had finally brought some tea since sipping it at least gave him something to do with his hands. The snow fell, beautiful against the black branches of Sakura's ornamental maple trees, and Neji looked out into the woods beyond. The forest of Sasuke's home was dark and very deep, shadowy with secrets and loud with the calls of birds and other animals. Out there among the glittering boughs, in the holy sanctity of the Uchiha woodland, one of his kinsmen had died. One of his own cousins had been cut to pieces by the man Neji had made love to only a few hours ago, by the man he had once sworn to kill. There was something twisted about that, something that made Neji feel like a traitor even though he was only here at behest of the Hyuuga clan, ordered to be here as a sacrifice.

The Hyuuga sighed and stared into his tea, watching the leaves settle into meaningless patterns. The ground of the Uzumaki fiefdom was already christened in Hyuuga blood and yet it felt so much like home here, free the way his own family's holdings had never been, comfortable. Neji knew he could leave at any moment, that he wasn't anyone's prisoner the way he had been in Hiashi's household, that Naruto would let him do whatever he needed to in order to be happy…He could get up and walk away into the forest and just keep walking, run away as Anko had once suggested and never come back, but the very thought made him ache so deeply he almost gasped. Neji was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost didn't hear Sakura approach.

The kunoichi was shockingly beautiful as usual, looking like a little snow-goddess in her thick pink and cream silks, leaning heavily on Sai as she toddled forward. She was big with her pregnancy, walking carefully, lithe feet clad in silk damask slippers the same shining pink as her namesake instead of the combat sandals she normally wore. Sakura smiled at him as she came closer, walking on the deck that surrounded most of the mansion with one hand held protectively over her abdomen, her passage protected from the snow by an attractively slanting roof. The girl's hair was neatly braided and she wore red jade earrings so finely carved that he was certain Sasuke had bought them for her as neither she nor Naruto had such exquisite taste. Regardless, the long jewels accented her graceful throat and the soft shape of her jaw. Sai was smiling as well, but not at him. The artist was grinning at Sakura, looking at her with love and something a bit like worship. Neji hoped he would paint her as she was today, looking more lovely than any woman he could ever remember seeing with her pink hair so vibrant against the white of the snow and her cheeks rosy with the cold. Finally she stood beside where he reclined and Sai helped her down to her knees.

"You look too gorgeous lying there with your kimono so loose on your shoulders, Neji. You should be more careful, people might be tempted to harass you." Sakura teased and Neji blushed at the compliment.

"I could say the same to you." Neji replied, running a finger along the edge of her robes.

"Sakura dislikes being harassed." Sai stated blandly, crossing his arms.

"I'd never do anything she dislikes." Neji said, meeting the artist's eyes and noting the challenge there.

"Sai, go cuddle with Naruto." Sakura ordered, pointing towards the open sliding doors and into the bedroom where the blond oni was still gently snoring into Sasuke's hair.

"Cuddle?" Sai asked, confused.

"It means go lie down beside him and relax, let him pet you." Sakura elaborated easily, obviously used to explaining things for Sai. Neji rolled his eyes.

"Oh. I do like being petted." Sai mused.

"Most people do." Neji added sarcastically.

"Even people who insist on hiding in their rooms?" Sai asked tonelessly, the plastic smile stuck like a curse onto his otherwise emotionless face.

"Go on." Sakura urged, throwing a look at Neji.

Sai shrugged and hurried inside, his false expression softening into something like true desire as he gazed at where Naruto and Sasuke still slept. Sakura watched for a moment as the artist kicked off his slippers and wormed his way into the bed and under one of Naruto's arms. Neji felt a small pang of jealousy, but then Sakura smiled and the expression was so beautiful that he immediately felt soothed of the emotion. Jealousy was a useless feeling, especially here, especially knowing that he was the one who didn't belong. The artist might be the most damaged person he knew, but Naruto still loved him without even thinking about it. Naruto would love anyone; not that the jinchuuriki's acceptance was his to judge in the first place. Sai had every right to be close to them, he wasn't the one sent here to be a weapon, to be a traitor…Neji frowned and little and gazed moodily into his tea. Sakura leaned closer and wound a strand of his hair around her fingers.

"Something's on your mind, Hyuuga." Sakura said softly, coiling the tress through her fingers.

"Shouldn't I be an Uzumaki now?" He laughed bitterly.

"I don't know. Do you feel like one?" Sakura laughed playfully.

"I'm not sure I feel like anything."

"You let Naruto see your curse-mark, that must have been difficult." She whispered, unperturbed by his reticence.

Neji startled for a moment, raising his hand to the naked skin of his own forehead, surprised that he had completely forgotten the bandana. Sakura smiled and ran her hand delicately over the mark, fingers tracing the tattoo firmly, claiming the damn thing just as surely as Naruto and Sasuke had the night before. Neji gently caught her hand in his own, rubbing a thumb over the tiny scars on her knuckles, fascinated by how long her nails had grown during the forced inactivity of her pregnancy.

"It was, but I thought it would be worth it." He muttered.

"Was it?"

"Yes…no…I wish I knew." Neji sighed, looking away.

"Was it…bad?" Sakura asked, incredulous.

"No! No, nothing like that, but…the thrall didn't work." Neji confessed.

"That's impossible." Sakura said, her hand stiffening into a fist even as he held it in his own.

"I don't know what to say." Neji whispered.

"Say that you love us." She replied easily, tugging gently on the hair still captured in her fingers to regain his attention.

"I love you." Neji replied without thinking, meeting the emerald clarity of her eyes with sudden trepidation.

"Then nothing else matters." Sakura said, smiling like she truly believed it.

Neji felt for a moment like he might start crying again the way he had in Naruto's arms, the emotion to sharp and too close to the surface, not buried the way he was used to. Sakura never gave him the chance. There was a breath of floral sweetness and the silken warmth of her lips was against his own, her fingers still wrapped in the heavy tresses of his own hair, cupping his jaw confidently. She kissed him, softer than Sasuke and sweeter even than Naruto, female, thrilling, delicate and very tender. Her tongue played along his lower lip, teasing, lively, fearless. Neji sighed and leaned into the embrace.

"Sakura…" He murmured against her mouth.

"I love you." She whispered, smiling around the words, nipping his lips.

"How can you?"

"How can I not? Maybe you make me weak, Neji Hyuuga…" She laughed, a fraction bitterly, as she used his own words against him.

"You only convince everyone that you're weak, woman. I know the truth." Neji replied, letting his scarred forehead rest against her smooth one.

They rested that way for a while, listening to one another breath, and Neji allowed himself the nearly shameful boldness of staring into the emerald depths of her eyes. Sasuke veiled himself with the power of his Sharingan and Naruto's eyes were always open, filled with everything he felt or thought. Sakura was different, even if there was something of each of them in her approach. In a look she could praise or condemn or pity and perhaps even all of it at the same time. Such was her nature, hopelessly complex and enigmatic, if not truly mysterious. Their woman hid nothing, always painfully honest, even if she managed to temper the truth with kindness most of the time. The very intricacy of her very nature kept secrets from them all anyway. Sakura was keeping a secret now, maybe even several, and he could see them swimming in her eyes. Like ice in the normally temperate pools of her shining green eyes, Sakura's secret worries lurked, translucent and subtle and very sharp. Even Naruto could not read her perfectly and of all of them he knew her best.

Sakura stroked her fingers over his face and Neji knew that his words had affected her even if she was too kind to react the way Sasuke had. She smiled and kissed him again, easily, like it was easy…simple. Could anything be so simple? Her eyes were so beautiful now, unclouded by the pain and sickness that used to haunt them, that had tarnished her all the time he had loved her. She was sick before Neji ever came to live with the Uzumaki clan, probably even as she pulled him back from the brink of death, and before he thought she was weak. He had been stupid. The silly commoner girl was strong, strong when everyone else crumbled, and only Naruto had noticed it right away. Maybe it was a subtle kind of strength, but Sakura suffered, more than any of them knew, and she bore it so well that he hadn't even noticed the difference until now. Now, he looked at her and all the shadows were gone. In their place Neji saw the same fire he had the day they sparred and he lost to her, the day she wrenched him to the ground and begged him to yield instead of allowing her break his shoulder. The shame of it was still so poignant, so close in his memory, but the crystalline green of her eyes held nothing except love and laughter and the slightest hint of worry. She always worried about everyone else, about how they would all be able to coexist, foolish woman. He smiled despite himself.

"So Naruto loved you." She said, closing her eyes at last.

"Yes." Neji replied, trembling at the memory.

"Are you alright?"

"I think it was the most incredible thing that's ever happened to me." Neji replied with complete sincerity. Sakura smirked.

"He's good, isn't he?" She asked, like it was a secret.

"Well, his Master was the biggest pervert in the country." Neji shrugged, returning her smirk.

"Now you sound like Sasuke."

"He and I have much in common."

"So I hear." She laughed, sounding weirdly sad.

"Sakura? What is it?"

"Apparently…you guys have more in common than I had hoped. I guess I hope that…well…nevermind. You both come from rich, powerful families, families who follow the rules of clan nobility…" She sighed, gently extricating herself from his hands.

"What's happened?" Neji asked, stiffening immediately.

Sakura bit her lip and looked away, her expression once again that of the uncertain little girl he had met in the ninja academy so many years ago, insecure and overwhelmeded by those around her. It was the same way she had looked so many years ago when they first met, standing in the presence of what she considered to be a prince, awkward and self-conscious. Neji scowled. Something had changed and whatever it was had to do with his family, with Hiashi or with clan politics that Sakura barely understood. The very thought sent shivers through his spine.

"Suki Hyuuga was murdered last night." Sakura whispered at last, brushing a strand of pink hair from her face.

"Sasuke was here with us the entire time…" Neji began.

"It wasn't Sasuke, I think everyone knows that…It's just…well… I can't keep ignoring Hiashi's demands to speak with you." Sakura said, looking away.

"What?"

"He's been asking to have you visit the Hyuuga compound, formally asking, for weeks. It's just that, with everything that's happened…I just thought you needed a little time to recover…" Sakura explained guiltily, green eyes apologetic and very tense.

"Suki's dead?" Neji asked, too shocked to fully understand what she was saying.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I don't really know much about it…" Sakura said, squeezing his hand.

"I…I just…When?" Neji fumbled, feeling cold.

"Last night, in the woods. She died near the entrance to the Uchiha compound, probably just coincidence that it happened so close to our borders, but I'm worried about what Hiashi will think." Sakura whispered, staring with a kind of frustrated intensity towards where the others dozed.

"You're frightened about what he would do to your family." Neji said bitterly.

"Yes. I am. Could he…could he take you from us?" She asked softly, breath billowing smoky and white into the chilly air.

"No. He wouldn't do that." Neji sighed, slightly ashamed that he had ever even worried that she was more concerned for the others, Sakura didn't think about things that way.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Neji. Were you close?" Sakura asked gently.

"No, nothing like that, it's just that she was Uncle's favorite operative. I never would have suspected anyone could take her down so easily…" Neji whispered, shaking his head.

"I haven't been to the scene. Sasuke would have a fit the second I set one foot off the estate, but…my servants say that nothing about her death looked easy. I just have no idea what kind of impact this will have on us." Sakura said, biting her lip.

Neji nodded. He understood her frustration. Sakura was far out of her league with something like this, unsure what the appropriate protocol would be and unable to leave the compound for fear that doing so would compromise her own safety. Her health was too fragile, not to mention the effect leaving like that would have on Sasuke's sanity…Neji cringed. Allowing Sakura to deal with the Hyuugas was not an option. Normally, the head of household would have been the one to deal with any clan politics or intrigue that arose, but Naruto was totally clueless and Sasuke unflinchingly vicious. Either one of them was perfectly capable of starting a war, whether through ignorance or pure savagery. The only one who had a chance to make any kind of headway in this situation was him, even if it was Neji's own clan on the other side of the table. Sakura was helpless to face Hiashi as she was and there was nothing that they could do without more information anyway. Neji felt a sudden rush of ice at the thought of facing his uncle.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to." Sakura said grimly, pressing his hand.

"I can't very well refuse him." Neji sighed.

"Yes you can. He doesn't control you." Sakura hissed, suddenly fierce.

"Little vixen, would you protect me? Protect me from everything?" Neji laughed bitterly.

"You don't think I can?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Maybe you'll let me save you for a change?" Neji teased, kissing her nose.

Sakura blushed fetchingly, the tender curve of her petal pink lips drawn up in amusement that didn't quite reach her eyes. Neji wondered what she must think of Hiashi after what happened in the stadium, after he was brought to them as a marriage offering too drugged to be coherent, all of it must have seemed very strange. Sakura rarely spoke of it, preferring to keep her opinions private on both his and Sasuke's families, Neji only knew about how she had saved him from talking to Hinata and Naruto. Someone had already died in the conflict slowly brewing between the two houses and while he was an almost laughably friendly person, Naruto would never allow something like an outright threat to go unanswered. What would Hiashi want? What if Sasuke was right and all he was in this was another pawn? Neji swallowed and tried to ignore the way his stomach was trying to tie itself into a series of knots.

"I'll go." Neji said quietly.

"I'll allow it, only if you promise to come back." Sakura teased, smiling affectionately.

"Don't worry." Neji laughed, smiling to soothe her even if the very thought terrified him.

"Please…Please don't let anything happen…" Sakura began, her façade falling a bit, the terror seeping through in her eyes and the trembling of her lips.

"Don't worry…" Neji whispered again, kissing her forehead.

OoOoOoO

Hiashi looked towards the carnage of what had once been his favorite assassin, her death coming too quickly upon the heels of Kiba's little announcement for his liking. Her blood was still red and garish against the white of the forest floor, having frozen almost instantly, and the body was half buried in both snow and ash. There was almost nothing left that had been spared, but the unusual auburn shade of Suki's hair had been enough to identify the body. The head of the Hyuuga household still had nin out in the woods searching for all of the pieces, some of which had almost certainly been plundered by wild animals. He sighed. The corpse had been left too long. Hiashi would have liked very much to at least do Suki the respect of recovering all her remains so that she could have a proper funeral but, like anything else, there was only so much he could do.

Whoever had killed Suki was unbelievably skilled and also trying to make some kind of statement, most likely that the Uzumaki clan had powerful allies, but that was only another reason for the blond terror to be dealt with. Perhaps her death had been unexpected, but Suki was not the first of the last casualty of this war and soon all of Konoha would realize that demons were unwelcome. Hiashi clenched his fists. What an atrocious inconvenience, having to fight a war without her, his best, by his side!

He had trained Suki since she was a child, grooming her towards the goal of ultimate perfection and she had excelled nearly as much as Neji. True, she lacked his nephew's unshakeable motivation and chilly disposition, but her agility and ruthlessness was unmatched. The beast had taken something important from him, and he would pay dearly for the loss, but Naruto had only compromised himself by acting prematurely. That was, of course, assuming that Suki had died under the jinchuuriki's orders at all. The boy was probably too naïve for something like this, but it hardly mattered. The murder would only accelerate his plans.

Hiashi sighed as he cupped the frozen wreckage of Suki's hand in his own, her nails still painted pink even if several fingers were missing. She had suffered, as was her duty, but it was ugly to see. The old man closed his eyes. The girl was a prodigy, a beautiful and finely honed weapon, one that had been carelessly shattered before her time. Thankfully, like all tools, Suki was replaceable and her death would not be in vane. The murder was the catalyst he needed to circumvent Sakura's meddling. Soon Neji would return, as he must, and the yellow haired atrocity would die as his father before him. Even as a jinchuuriki with powerful friends, even carrying Kushina's power in his veins, Naruto was still only a commoner born of common blood and destined for only common things.

"Yes, my Suki," He whispered, "Even in this you serve me. With your death you have given me my war."

OoOoOoO

"I'd like to say again that this is an incredibly stupid idea." Sasuke snapped, looking positively venomous in his black and orange livery, like one of the poisonous snakes in the western deserts.

Despite his temper, the raven was still very beautiful, very sexy, and Sai was more than happy to just look at him even if the rest of Konoha tried desperately to shuffle out of their path. People actually tripped over themselves to get out of Sasuke's way, pointing and shooting terrified glances towards them from every window and every store front. Sai waved in what he hoped was a friendly manner. Naruto would be very upset if they managed to scare someone into having an accident or something equally unfortunate. The good villagers of Konoha ignored him and continued scurrying left and right out of their way. Sai didn't blame them. Sasuke was a predator and a powerful one and it was the first time he'd been let off of Naruto's leash in years.

"He's been asking for me." Neji muttered, looking moody and nettled as usual.

"What are you? His dog?" Sasuke sneered, crossing his arms.

"He's my uncle. I can't just ignore him!" Neji growled.

"You could. You're very good at ignoring people." Sai noted.

"Fuck you, Sai." Neji spat.

The vendor selling oranges a few houses away abandoned his stand in favor of outright fleeing, tipping oranges everywhere in his hurry. The rest of the villagers who were trying to make a swift, but slightly less hysterical, retreat suddenly ended up tripping on the spilled fruits. Soon people were falling everywhere, splattered with orange juice and speckled with mud from the melting snow, the soggy ground making the market square slippery even without the help of terrified citrus peddlers. Sai almost wanted to pull out his sketchbook and draw the spectacle, which was getting louder and muddier by the second, but he didn't want to risk being left behind or getting dirty. Sakura was very firm that they should look presentable and Sasuke's pace left very little room for deviation from their set course in any case. Naruto said there was no reason to hurry, but forcing the raven to wait would only make him more furious and it would be very bad if he and Neji decided to fight. They had both been in a foul mood since leaving home and Sai noticed that it only seemed to get worse the further they got from the Uchiha compound, the further they got from Sakura.

"Clumsy idiots! Now it'll take even longer to get there!" Sasuke groused, bunching his fists in poorly concealed frustration.

"Stop shouting, Sasuke." Neji hissed.

"I'll shout if I feel like it, Hyuuga!" Sasuke snarled.

"We could always run along the rooftops." Sai suggested, waving again.

"Will you stop that! You're only making things worse by being weird!" Sasuke snapped.

"That might make all this worse." Neji sighed, gesturing angrily to the general chaos erupting around them, "They're panicked as it is."

"They should be panicked…" The once-uchiha spat.

"Sasuke…" Neji groaned, looking at the sky.

"Shut your mouth and keep walking Hyuuga!" Sasuke ordered, wading through the mob as if propelled by a motor.

Neji sighed again and followed after him, looking equally annoyed even if he chose to be less vocal about that the feeling. Sasuke's shouting really hadn't made anything better and Sai didn't think it would be long before ANBU had to show up just to control the mob, not to mention the fact that the market would likely be damaged. Going places with Naruto was never this troublesome, but Naruto was not a mass murderer so he supposed it was to be expected. Neji scowled ferociously at a particularly clumsy civilian who had managed to trip not once, but twice, nearly running into them and spraying his bundle of straw everywhere. The man tried to apologize while running away and only succeeded in smashing into an already rickety looking tent. The whole structure collapsed, taking the two adjacent sake stands with it and sending people screaming everywhere. Sai's eyes widened. If Sasuke's presence had upset them, seeing Neji in such a foul mood drove the crowd into something nearing an all-out riot.

"This is ridiculous." Neji snarled, sounding fully angry.

"The village seems very lively today." Sai said, as way of pleasant conversation.

"Morons. All of them." Sasuke huffed, steering them away from the wreckage.

"You know it's your fault everyone is reacting like this. Maybe if you tried being civil people would calm down." Neji sniped.

"Doubtful." Sai said, looking to where a small troupe of Nara guards where shoving each other in their hurry to get into the library.

"I'd be happy to civilly kick your ass." Sasuke hissed under his breath.

Neji rolled his eyes and matched his pace to Sasuke's so that they were walking in unison, the long braid Sakura had woven swinging against the middle of the Hyuuga's back in counterpoint to the irritation in his steps. The pair of them achieved synchrony easily, really without even trying, even if Sasuke was still ostensibly leading them through the square. There was something queer about that, but Sai wasn't sure what it was so he focused on waving instead now that Sasuke was turned away from him. The whole thing almost felt like a parade to the artist, like how it was when they returned home from subjugating Sound, only better because he was a part of Naruto's family instead of just his team. Though that parade had been significantly less hysterical, Sai reflected.

"Move! Now!" Sasuke snarled at a cluster of civilians who'd become stuck behind a noodle wagon.

"I wish he'd just calm down a little, this isn't making anything better." Neji whispered to Sai as they walked behind the darksome avatar of malevolence that was also Sasuke Uzumaki.

"He doesn't like leaving Sakura." Sai explained quietly, "I think being away from her makes him grumpy…"

"Fucking morons! Just go around the damn thing!" Sasuke roared.

"Whatever gave you that impression?" Neji asked, raising an eyebrow sarcastically, watching Sasuke snap his fingers at the terrified villagers as they scurried to do his bidding.

"Well, he always hates to leave her alone. He says so." Sai explained, Neji's irony passing like vapor over his head.

"I don't really like it either." Neji acceded, setting a hand on Sai shoulder to guide him around the wagon.

Sai bristled a bit at the touch, but allowed it. They were in the same family after all and if Sasuke had accepted Neji then he would have to try too or Sakura would definitely be upset and Naruto would be forced to say something awkward. The ink nin let his shoulders relax a fraction and Neji did not rush to remove his hand. Sai had the distinct desire to break the other nin's fingers, but focused instead on the colorful obscenities issuing from Sasuke's mouth as they walked.

"Sakura is a person that it is uncomfortable to be away from." Sai said at last, hoping Neji would stop touching him.

"Yeah, I guess. I can't explain it, but I've been really feeling nervous ever since leaving this morning. Maybe it's just because I haven't been sleeping very well." Neji replied, looking away and finally taking back his hand.

"Sasuke feels nervous any time he's away from Sakura and he doesn't sleep much either. It's hormonal or something." Sai said shrugging.

"Hormonal?"

"Naruto thinks it's something like that, he's not really sure. Apparently Kyuubi said something that makes him think so." Sai explained, a bit coldly.

"Like he's on his period of something?" Neji sniped sourly, glaring at Sasuke's back.

"Sasuke is male…" Sai pointed out.

"Thank you. I'd noticed."

"…And if he is experiencing some kind of hormonal imbalance, it's safe to assume you are as well." Sai continued.

"You think I'm cranky?" Neji asked.

"I'm not sure I could say what's wrong with you." Sai replied and continued following Sasuke.

"From you, I'm just going to take that as an observation that I'm not in the best mood." Neji sighed imperiously.

"Yes." Sai agreed, smiling.

The Hyuuga resumed his scowling, hands thrust into his sleeves, and they finally cleared the main part of the market. Sai had to admit that even if Neji wasn't his favorite person, the brunette did look rather impressive in the dramatic orange and black of the formal Uzumaki kimonos. The bright colors accentuated the shining mahogany of Neji's hair and the preternatural silver of his eyes, making the taciturn genius look even more severe than he usually did and also more deadly. The masks they all wore over the lower halves of their faces only accentuated the effect, probably contributing to the response of the villagers too, but Naruto had insisted. The jinchuuriki was very weird about how they dressed, outright refusing to allow Sai to go in his usual midriff fighting gear, which the blond had apparently thrown away. The artist didn't think it was particularly nice to throw out people's clothing without asking, but since he had new clothes anyway it didn't really matter much, though Sasuke said he should be mad about it.

Sai did not see the advantage in being angry about something that he was clearly not angry about, even if Naruto had said that his old clothes were "slutty", which made the artist wonder if he had been thinking that way the entire time. He supposed that an exposed midriff was unusual for most nin, but armored jackets were difficult to replace and Danzo only preferred to by clothing for his soldiers once. As long as Naruto still kissed and cuddled him and put him under the thrall, Sai didn't really care what he wore, but Sasuke thought the whole thing was offensive on principle. They had argued about it for nearly an hour. Sakura said it was the raven's way of holding onto his pride, but it seemed silly. Sasuke complained loudly any time the jinchuuriki dictated their clothing and today was no different even if he was already dressed before the raven started heckling Naruto about it. The whole thing was largely counterproductive in Sai's estimation, which no one asked about, so he kept his thoughts to himself. Neji hadn't said anything either and Sai's only opinion on that mask specifically was that it kept his nose warm.

Nothing about the clothing was uncomfortable or ugly and Sai had not idea why anyone would refuse to wear it, in fact he felt very…showy. Sakura had given him some of the silver bracers decorated with the Uzumaki whirl and it was the first thing that Sai could ever remember owning that was just supposed to be beautiful for its own sake. She had woven some of her own silver clips with the Uzumaki whirl symbol into Neji's braid since he didn't have any bracers and the ornaments glinted in the afternoon sun like sparks from a fire, eye catching and spectacular amidst the snow. Sai was excited as usual to wear the clothing of their clan, even with the mask, and happy that he now had kimonos tailored specifically for him as well as the one he had stolen from Sasuke. The borrowed treasure was still resting in a cherished bundle beneath his futon and he had no intention of giving it back, but it was still nice to have clothes of his own. He was also glad that Sakura had the foresight to give him a nice set of padded under-robes to wear beneath the livery, the air was still chilly and he would have been cold in his usual, scant clothes.

Sai wondered when he had started noticing the cold. Normally the weather barely fazed him, only becoming a problem when his body was in danger of serious injury, but lately he had been feeling more sensitive to things like temperature. The warmth of Naruto's body had been so delicious earlier that morning, warm like a furnace beneath the blankets, and the heat of Sakura's mouth even more so. He shivered. Danzo would have said that they were making him weaker, teaching him to feel so much, but perhaps the change was not so much a matter of weakness…Perhaps it was merely a product of attention instead. Sai studied the idea as Neji and Sasuke bickered beside him, wondering if his awakening senses were actually ones he had learned to ignore in favor of survival. Root was not a good place to feel things. Feeling things there would have hurt, but maybe it would have been better than nothing, better than the yawning darkness. No way to be sure.

It also felt good to be out in Konoha with the others, walking together for all to see, even if they were only going to visit Neji's uncle whom Sakura had pithily described as "Konoha's biggest and most important asshole". Naruto said he wanted them together to visit the Hyuuga compound, able to support one another just in case anything happened, which was the way that the blond liked to talk about the possibility of Sasuke losing his temper and killing someone. Sai knew very little about the Hyuuga clan other than that Sasuke disliked them and Neji was supposed to be some kind of peace offering to prevent a clan war with them. As peace offerings went, Sai thought they might have chosen one a little less secretive or violent, like a fruits basket or perhaps some nice paper. Regardless, Naruto needed them to do this while he stayed home to protect Sakura and Sai was fully prepared to deal with anything that might arise. It was a mission, nothing else. He would protect Sasuke and he would protect Neji and he would bring them all home alive even if he had to raise the Hyuuga compound the ground.

In the meantime, he enjoyed the walk and tried to remember how Sasuke and Neji looked so he could draw a portrait of them in their Uzumaki finery later. He hadn't drawn Neji yet and it might be interesting. Even if Neji was an unwelcome intrusion and a possible threat, not to mention generally unpleasant, he saved Sakura's life and he did have very appealing hair. Sai liked the way it cast shadows against his almond cream skin and framed his face, the harmony of color and form attractive if not particularly striking. The brunette was not as pretty as Sasuke or as nicely textured as Naruto, but he had very elegant bones and Sai thought he might be able to draw him with an appreciation for the architecture alone, much like a rendering a building. The hardness of his features and the luxurious softness of his hair would be difficult to render accurately without one feature overwhelming the other, challenging, but also very unique.

Sai captured the end of Neji's braid as he mused, brushing his fingers through the shining weight of the hair. It was such a complicated color, dark and radiant at the same time, warm with shining honey undertones. The Hyuuga turned back towards him and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as the ink nin played with his hair. Sasuke was still cursing under his breath even though there weren't any more people blocking his way and the sound of it was familiar and soothing. The Hyuuga slowed his steps so that Sai could hold the braid without pulling and the artist felt a small surge of appreciation for the gesture. He smiled at Neji, the expression effortless and natural, feeling warmed when the brunette smiled back. The Hyuuga really was much prettier when he smiled. There was something intentional, something constructed, about Neji's features that probably had to do with directed breeding and it was very graceful.

Sai hadn't been told much about the breeding programs employed by the higher clans except that people were often stuck marrying their cousins or siblings and that tended to produce offspring with mental illness, if nice cheekbones. Naruto said that it really explained kind of a lot and Sai assumed he was referring to Sasuke's crazy brother, Itachi, but wondered if the comment might include Sasuke too. Sakura often said that the raven wasn't completely stable, but that it was okay because Naruto was. Sai was very glad that Naruto was stable because he didn't want Sasuke to have to be crazy. Being insane was both painful and very lonely and he hadn't enjoyed the experience at all. No one had said anything about Neji being mentally ill, but Sai felt that it was a strong possibility given his background and general propensity for being a jerk. The artist also felt that if Naruto could anchor Sasuke then he might be able to save Neji too and that the brunette deserved that chance as long as it was being offered. Naruto was special, he could save anyone. The artist smiled at the thought and pressed a kiss to the end of Neji's braid. The Hyuuga colored an amazing shade of red and coughed into his hand.

"What in the fuck are you two doing?" Sasuke asked, turning back towards them to glare with annoyance.

"I'm not completely sure." Neji replied lamely.

Sai just smiled at him, feeling something hot and fluttery in his chest when Sasuke made his "tching" noise and smiled at them with his eyes before turning back to the road. Maybe he could do Neji's portrait in sepia; that would capture most of the colors. Most, except for Neji's eyes, he'd have to add some kind of metallic paint to get the silver gleam of the genius's eyes right and then it would just look creepy. Neji was sort of a creepy person, though, and maybe it would work. The balance of the piece would make up for the contrast in color and the effect might actually be very striking. Balance was, after all, everything.

OoOoOoO

The Hyuuga compound loomed before them like a frowning sentinel from a time long past and better left forgotten. Neji felt his throat go dry as the gigantic steel and ironwood gates were pulled open to grant them access, the chilly silence of the perfectly manicured gardens heavy and unnatural in the snow laden air. To his left, Neji felt Sai creep a little closer and felt grateful for the artist's presence even if he was bound to say something awkward and probably get them all killed. Sasuke sneered at the gates like they had offended him in some visceral and essential way, like he wanted to burn them down which knowing the darksome murderer, he probably did. Neji put a hand on the raven's shoulder and simultaneously tried to remind himself that the man he had come to love so much, the man he had skeot with, thought nothing of chopping people up into tiny pieces and sending them home in boxes. Sasuke had killed people, killed his own kinsmen only a few months ago, and it felt wrong to love him so much. Neji felt twisted inside, his loyalty torn in conflicting directions, and the spartan simplicity of the Hyuuga compound only seemed to mock his inner turmoil with its silent grace. To think, he had once found the elegant emptiness to be relaxing.

Sasuke let out a long breath which misted into the freezing air like an omen and marched inside, the glowing red of his Sharingan firmly in place over the hardened ebony of his irises like armor. He was watching, watching beyond the capabilities of human eyesight, searching for the slightest whisper of danger anywhere in the Hyuuga clan holdings. The raven was probably the one person left alive and not a Hyuuga who could see that way, who could appreciate the subtle art of buildings specifically designed to capture and magnify chakra, but Sasuke's sneer remained firmly on his face. Neji sighed. He desperately wanted to finish with the errand and go home, back to the sunny warmth of Naruto's bed and the fiery orange everything. This house was supposed to be his sanctuary and yet it felt so foreign after the warmth and openness of Naruto's family, so cold and uncomfortable. Neji swallowed hard and followed Sasuke, catching a hint of movement out of the corner of her eye. He activated the Byukuugan, but relaxed instantly as he recognized the energy of the person as his cousin, even if she wasn't alone. He smiled. Sasuke tensed a bit, but then relaxed as he recognized Hinata running towards them, panting hard in her hurry.

"Neji! You're here!" She shouted excitedly and a flight of winter doves rose from the garden in fright.

"Hina!" He called waving.

The frightened cooing of the doves, still flapping about in feather pandemonium, made Neji grin. The stupid birds were probably just supposed to be ornamental. It was nice to have a little bit of natural noise in this garden where everything else was so eerily silent, muffled even more by the snow still falling lazily around them. He had forgotten how quiet the main house could be and it was jarring after the boisterous racket of Naruto's household. Sai's eyes flickered nervously, but his posture remained calm as Hinata barreled towards them grinning excitedly. Sasuke glanced beyond her to where the Hyuuga common soldiers were performing exercises, but kept his expression relatively neutral as well.

The girl stopped just in front of them, bowing deeply to Sasuke before hurling herself into her cousin's arms. Neji laughed as he lifted her and the brooding spell of the Hyuuga compound's silence seemed broken. Hinata kissed him roughly on the cheek, sleek black hair blowing around her face and getting stuck in his mouth. His cousin's cheeks were flushed with the cold and she looked happier than he ever remembered seeing her, the kind of happiness too pervasive to hide for the sake of manners. It was warming. They hugged again and Neji hoisted her onto his shoulder as he had when she was a child, laughing at the raucous shriek the girl gave at the sudden movement.

"Neji! You're okay! I was so worried!" Hinata said, clutching awkwardly at his head for support.

"Silly. You should know better." Neji chastised her with a huff, trying to avoid being poked in the eye.

"But…are you alright there? Not being able to be in ANBU anymore must be hard and there are…other things…" Hinata said shyly, gripping his bandana.

"It's fine. I like it." Neji whispered.

"He likes it too much." Sasuke sniped, rolling his eyes.

"I'm glad. I wanted you to be happy." She said softly.

"You're pregnant." Neji said, smiling up at her. Hinata blushed and hid her eyes.

"Yes." She whispered, "I knew you'd be able to tell."

"It's pretty obvious. Are you feeling well?" He asked.

"Oh…Oh yes, fine."

"Really?" He pushed.

"Yes, I am, it's just…I'm so relieved! Kiba and I have been trying for months and I was really starting to get worried, thinking that something might be wrong." Hinata said, peeking between her fingers.

"Sounds stressful." Sai said blankly.

"Very." Sasuke agreed, giving Hinata a knowing look.

"Um..yes, very." She agreed shyly.

"How's Kiba?"

"Oh, wonderful! We're both wonderful! I still feel so terrible about hurting you though, I hope you were able to heal well…"

"Don't be stupid. It wasn't that bad." Neji scoffed.

"But Sakura said that you nearly died and that you'll probably have pain from it forever." Sai argued.

Sasuke elbowed him sharply in the guts, making the artist cough, but it was already too late. Neji sighed, glaring at the ink nin and feeling annoyed that the topic had come up in the first place, so much for keeping secrets, even useless ones.

"Oh…" Hinata said sounding miserable.

"It's nothing Hina, less than nothing. Sakura said that, but I haven't been hurting much at all. Whatever she did made it heal beautifully, I barely even have a scar!" Neji said cheerfully.

"I just…with everything…and I thought I'd never see you again…" She whispered, slapping his cheek gently.

"I told you not to be dumb! Everything is fine. We're just here to visit Uncle is all." Neji said, yanking a strand of her long hair where it trailed by his face.

Hinata quieted at that, but made no move to escape his shoulder as they were guided forward into the estate by a pair of guards. Sai looked around nervously, obviously checking for threats, his face a perfectly emotionless mask once again. Neji didn't blame him, even if it hurt to see the fragile smile gone so swiftly and replaced with icy nothing. Sasuke glared ferociously at the common soldiers once again, and allowed himself to be led into the maze of buildings warily. Neji bit his lip. As far as they were concerned, this was enemy territory and even with Hinata there the tension in the guards was unnerving and palpable.

The walked towards the main audience hall, saying absolutely nothing, and Neji felt Hinata gently squeeze his fingers where they rested against her knee to hold her onto his shoulder. As they walked, more soldiers joined the procession and he could tell that they were making Sai nervous even if the artist showed nothing of it in his face. Sasuke, however, had begun to look bored, which was probably even more dangerous. He wanted to pretend that this was only a casual visit to chat with his cousins, but Neji knew better: it was a war council, a last and desperate effort to solve their problems diplomatically before resorting to bloodshed. It was narrow on the path between the buildings and Neji had no idea why they were being led by this route instead of the main path through the bonsai garden, but said nothing. They couldn't be planning to attack Sasuke, no way Hiashi would be that stupid, not to mention that an attempted ambush would be suicide…

"Hime-sama, you should not be held that way in your condition." A rather unpleasant voice said from behind them, Neji paused.

"I'm fine!" Hinata hissed.

"Come down." The voice, which Neji recognized as Bunta, ordered.

He groaned. Bunta was one of the oldest warriors of the branch house and as such had been tasked with enforcing the stringent rules of the family, especially those concerning the protection of the royals. He had been the bane of anything loud or fun or friendly since they were children. The Hyuuga guards were probably trying to keep Hinata in isolation, ostensibly as a form of protection during her pregnancy, but it was only just another show of power. With the next generation of Hyuuga royals on its way, however, Hiashi had to know that his days of such abuses were numbered.

"I'm not your prisoner, Bunta!" Hinata snapped.

"I am your guardian. You may think of it however you wish. Come down and return to your rooms with me at once." The old veteran ordered softly.

"The Lady said no." Sai said blandly, hand toying gently with his kunai.

"Sai stop it! It's not your place!" Sasuke hissed.

"Hime-sama, look at the trouble you are causing…" Bunta whispered accusingly.

Hinata crumpled at that and Neji felt a sharp spike of anger to see her treated that way, even though it was no different than how they had always treated her, how they treated everyone. Sighing softly, the girl extended her hand and Neji took the cue to set her gently onto her feet, hugging her once more in consolation. The girl looked at him, silver eyes hollow and very worried. Still, there was fire in her expression too, smoldering fire that was patient enough to wait. Neji smiled.

"Go with him for now, Hina. It won't always be this way." Neji whispered and she smirked.

"You've found yourself again, cousin." Hinata replied, laying a hand on her own belly. Neji looked again with the Byukuugan, startled to see two fires kindled there instead of one.

"Twins!" He smiled, "Just like my father and Uncle."

"No! Not like that! Never!" Hinata hissed, silver eyes flashing, and Neji was taken aback.

"But…if there are two then only one can be born first…" Neji said, genuinely confused.

"Yes, but it won't matter. I will give birth to my babies alone and no one will know which was born first. I will not allow one to serve and one to rule as Uncle and Father did. None of my children will be slaves." She whispered, lips drawn back from her teeth aggressively.

"Everyone is someone's slave." Sasuke huffed.

"That is the way it is, Hina." Neji said sadly, stroking her hair, "You cannot change fate."

"And when they are born, everything will be different." She whispered fiercely.

"Change takes time."

"And time has passed, Neji. I have waited patiently. I am ready." She smiled and for the first time Neji glimpsed the fierceness she had shown in the arena in the triumphant curve of her lips.

"You knew…you were planning all along…" He breathed, eyes widening.

"I admire your ambition, matriarch." Sasuke whispered and bowed deeply to her. Hinata tipped her head in deference for the gesture and they shared a look, one filled with anticipation and no small portion of muffled violence.

"I am a prisoner for now, Uchiha-sama, but I won't be forever. I would ask a favor from you." Hinata said.

"Ask." Sasuke murmured, the red of his eyes blazing.

"Please remember that I am a friend of clan Uzumaki. Please remember that I consider Naruto an ally." Hinata whispered.

"Hime-sama, we should go." Bunta snapped.

"I will remember and I will remind my alpha as well." Sasuke said and his tone was that of a person taking an oath.

"Hime-sama…"

"Be safe, cousin. Guard your honor." Hinata said and turned away from them, forcing Bunta to follow her instead of the other way around.

"I'm confused." Sai said, cocking his head.

"I'll explain it to you later." Sasuke whispered, watching her go with a small smirk, "Naruto was right about her."

"Naruto is right about many things." Sai added self-importantly.

"But most of the time he's an idiot." Neji laughed.

"True." Sasuke huffed, rolling his eyes

The continued walking and Neji thought about Hinata and her coup de etat, a bold move made even bolder by that fact that her plans were obviously no secret to the rest of the family. Apparently she and Kiba had enough popularity, enough sway, to move forward without worrying about conservative opposition from people like Bunta or anyone else for that matter. Kiba was an outsider and Neji would have never thought that he would have been so easily accepted, certainly not to the degree that Hinata suggested by her behavior. More guards streamed in around them and soon Neji was walking several feet behind Sasuke and Sai, becoming more separated with every additional person added to the procession. He grimaced. There was something intentional about that, but before he could call out to Sasuke, a hand was pressed over his mouth and the Hyuuga was dragged with a jerk into one of the buildings they were passing. Neji only had enough time to see a perfect copy of himself fall into the line, before he was pulled completely into the room and the door shut silently.

"Welcome, nephew." Hiashi's voice said from behind him and Neji turned to see his uncle seated comfortably at a low table on the other side of the room.

"Uncle…" Neji breathed warily, moving to kneel low before him.

"You look well, nephew…despite your new duties." Hiashi commented, appraising Neji in a way that made him feel almost naked.

"I was instructed to please…" Neji whispered, blushing hotly.

"No doubt you do, but we have little time for pleasantries. Two of our family have already died and I needed to speak with you privately. I need the information you have gathered for me." Hiashi ordered coldly.

OoOoOoO

"We are being led in a circle." Sai whispered to Sasuke.

"I know." The raven replied, feeling the cold edge of danger rippled over his skin.

"Why?" Sai asked.

"I'm not sure. To delay us for some reason. They're plotting something." Sasuke replied quietly, glancing at the guards around them.

"They've forced Neji to the back." Sai noted.

"All of it may just be a fucking scare tactic." Sasuke hissed, studying the bland energy of the Hyuuga common soldiers.

The exercises he had observed earlier were not simply standard training protocols. The Hyuuga warriors were practicing jutsu specifically meant to confound another visual ability, most likely his own, as well as techniques that he had never seen before. Sasuke could not be sure, but the movements seemed to rely heavily upon synchrony, one of the ways his own master had described to effectively assault a jinchuuriki. Unfortunately for them, it was also one of the strategies he had taught Naruto how to defend against. Sasuke smirked.

"I am not afraid." Sai said, his tone even colder than usual.

"But they are." Sasuke sneered nastily.

OoOoOoO

"I have little useful information, Uncle, I'm sorry. There is barely anything to report at this time." Neji said, bowing low before his Uncle in apology.

"This was never an easy assignment, but you will report what you have found out." Hiashi said.

"I have been kept strictly in confinement for most of the time I have been with them…" Neji hedged.

"What have you seen with the Byukuugan?" Hiashi pushed, scowling in disapproval.

"Not much, nothing of strategic value…"

"Neji, I will decide the merit of what you have learned. We must prepare as best we can for the creature's attack." Hiashi said coldly.

"He has no intention to attack anyone…" Neji whispered.

"And yet your cousin is lying cut into pieces in the snow." Hiashi snapped.

"It wasn't them!"

"Who is their ally?" Hiashi asked.

"Sensei, I don't know…"

"The report what you do know! Now!" Hiashi snapped. Neji flinched at his tone.

"Naruto only cares about Sakura and her child. He has been utterly focused on her, especially since she had been unwell…" Neji whispered, feeling cornered.

"You expect me to believe he cares only for the welfare of his female? He is massing subordinates!" Hiashi hissed.

"Sai was added at her behest…"

"Then he is even weaker than I thought." Hiashi mused darkly and Neji felt his mouth run dry.

"No Uncle, it isn't that. She is important." Neji hissed.

"How so?"

"He loves her…" Neji offered miserably.

"Peh, the fool." Hiashi smiled, drumming his fingers, "Perhaps his affection really is a weakness the way my operatives thought…"

"No! It's not!" Neji cried, Anko's words ringing like sirens in his head. Jinchuuriki love completely or hate completely, there is nothing in between…

"Does he love you with the same mindless devotion?" Hiashi asked, his expression savage and curious in a way that made Neji's blood run cold.

"No! It's isn't just love! That's not all of it!" Neji backpedaled frantically.

"No?"

"Without her Naruto and the others physically cannot survive, her energy is tied with Naruto's too tightly, he can no longer harmonize his chakra without her. She is strong, they all are." Neji whispered, feeling a sense of dread settle into his belly the moment he spoke.

"And she has been ill?"

"Passingly." Neji said, his heart hammering in his chest.

He had to give Hiashi something or his uncle might believe that Uzumaki was weak enough to attack and the information surely wasn't important, but..it still felt like a betrayal. He was helpless again, just as he was as a child, damned no matter what he said. He felt off balance, unsure what to do. People had died. Hiashi needed to be convinced that Naruto only wanted peace, but Neji had no idea how to accomplish such a thing when his uncle was already so suspicious.

"Have they forged alliances with the other clans?"

"Naruto has many friends." Neji hedged.

"That isn't what I asked."

"I'm not sure about formal alliances. I have not been informed of their political connections, but Naruto is held with great regard by Inuzuka and by Gaara in the kingdom of Sand."

"That is common knowledge. Has he forged a treaty with Sand?" Hiashi asked.

"I'm not sure…"

"What do you know?" Hiashi growled impatiently.

"They have no intention to make war. Sasuke has become increasingly paranoid as the months pass, some kind of reaction to Sakura's pregnancy, and he has absolutely no interest in anything beyond keep her safe and the borders secure. He is obsessed with the security of their fortress. Naruto has been overwhelmed by Sakura's health problems and he has withdrawn from his usual activities in Konoha, he certainly isn't planning something as complicated as a coup. Suki's murder was a surprise to them as well." Neji reported mechanically, trying to remain as vague as possible.

"What is the state of their defenses?"

"Impenetrable. Naruto has tied the wards to his own consciousness and is instantly aware when anything crosses the border and Sasuke changes the orientation of the sentinels frequently without telling anyone. They are well protected, but have made no preparations towards an assault." Neji said.

"The wards are all tied to his psyche?" Hiashi asked, raising an eyebrow, "How is that even possible?"

"His energy is limitless, like nothing I've ever seen…" Neji replied, hoping the vastness of Naruto's strength would deter Hiashi.

"Apparently not. Not if Sakura's health affects him."

"It affects the harmony of his chakra, not the amount. He is synchronized with his subordinates as well." Neji replied, hoping he was not revealing anything important.

"Have you been put under the thrall?" Hiashi asked.

"Yes." Neji lied, "He compels me."

"It is to be expected. Has he taken the other as well?" Hiashi asked, looking worried.

"No." Neji replied, hoping that the fact that Sai still remained unclaimed would soothe his uncle's paranoia.

"You will tell me when he does. We must be ready to deal with whatever subordinates he acquires." Hiashi ordered.

"I…I can't…I am not free to…"

"Do not fear his reprimand, nephew. We will not allow him to hurt you and the addition of another subordinate will represent an even greater threat to us if it occurs without our knowledge!" Hiashi pushed.

"Sai isn't a threat, I promise…"

"I know that this will be difficult, but it is only a single piece of information, one that will become common knowledge as soon as the artist is claimed. I just want to know in advance so our own defenses can be reinforced." Hiashi explained, interrupting him.

"The situation is stable. There is no need…"

"Suki is dead!" Hiashi roared and Neji flinched again.

"Her murder was unrelated. Clan Uzumaki is not a threat at this time." Neji argued softly.

"That is not for you to decide. If you want peace then you must give us what we need to remain safe. Uzumaki obviously has forces at his disposal that we are not aware of, that you are not aware of…" Hiashi murmured, looking away.

"H…Hai…perhaps…" Neji whispered, studying his hands where he knelt upon the tatami.

"You knew the nature of this mission. We must be able to protect ourselves."

"I know, Uncle, but…If they think I've done something to compromise them…"

"You fear the Uchiha's wrath." Hiashi sighed, nodding sadly, "I don't blame you."

"It's not that! Sasuke is deeply paranoid and if he believes I've done something…My mission will fail." Neji said firmly, trying to still the quivering terror in his guts.

"I see and I understand your dilemma, but without intelligence we will have no choice but to probe his holdings ourselves once again…"

"No! You can't! Sasuke will kill them!" Neji cried.

"It will be an acceptable loss. It is what they were trained for and it's true, we cannot compromise your position." Hiashi said with a sigh, rubbing his temple.

"No Uncle! Please! It isn't necessary! If you send another team they'll all be killed!"

"Then we will send more."

"No! Please! They'll die and you won't gain anything!" Neji pleaded.

"Can you get the information out or not? That is the only alternative, Neji. We cannot go on without knowing!" Hiashi hissed, pinning Neji sharply with his eyes.

"I…"

"Can you do it or not? Tell me the truth." Hiashi ordered.

"Hai. I can." Neji said softly, bowing and praying that he was doing the right thing. If he didn't, too many others would die.

"You're sure?"

"Hai, sensei." Neji responded formally, touching his forehead to the floor.

"You will send the message via a summons that I will prepare for you, it will be dormant until you choose to activate it. If another of our kinsmen die it will mean war, Neji," Hiashi said gently, "Don't fail me."

Chapter 20: Chapter 20
The male jinchuuriki is most vulnerable following the claiming of a subordinate, unlike the female whose body is weakest during the end stages of pregnancy and birth of offspring. This is an obvious and easily exploited flaw, but the male's physiology has adapted accordingly to provide protection to him, I indirectly. The alpha grows temporarily weaker, but those under his thrall are granted tremendous power. The heat, an optimal time for mating, also represents a period of vastly increased, if unwieldy, energy generated by the jinchuuriki as a response to the reproductive needs imparted by the demonic aspect of its nature. Many demons similarly demonstrate periods of heightened sensitivity and energetic instability associated with their reproductive cycles, males and females alike, but the case of the jinchuuriki is unique. A heat for full demons represents a time of tremendous energy expenditure without the subsequent gain, but the bonding achieved with mates is only a transient event and the energy expended in a given mating season is inconsequential. The vessels, by contrast, bond their mates for life and amass the reserves of chakra necessary for such a proposition. Jinchuuriki are, indeed, substantially weaker after a claiming, but their subordinates enjoy unparalleled power following the act. The phenomenon, not surprisingly, has even been confused with the gift of immortality by more primitive cultures, and indeed a subordinate newly claimed is amazingly difficult to kill. Again, this is no supernatural blessing, but merely a reflection of the wisdom of nature. The vast energy bestowed upon a subordinate following consummation represents a natural protective mechanism designed to both facilitate healing after the trauma of chakra transfer and allow the subordinate, now fully compelled by the thrall, to protect his alpha.

-Koumyuo Sanzo, Lives and Habits of Far Eastern Demons

Sai turned in Naruto's embrace, nuzzling his face beneath the jinchuuriki's chin demandingly, enjoying the radiant heat of the blond's skin. Naruto responded slowly, playing his lips affectionately over the tingling flesh of Sai's ear and ignoring the soft huff of frustration that the artist released into the angle of his throat. Being touched by Sakura was succulent, sweet with the promise of easy love and gentle acceptance, but there was something even more thrilling about the jinchuuriki's embrace and it was something that probably had a lot to do with sharp teeth and the inhuman stillness of his eyes. Sai was at least observant enough to recognize that sex with Naruto was a temptation partially because it was dangerous, because it meant completely losing control, but he was so tired of control.

He wanted to feel the way Sasuke did when the gorgeous murderer screamed and wept and fell apart in Naruto's ready arms. He wanted to experience the emotion that moved through Neji when he threw his head back against Naruto's shoulder and begged in fevered whispers for the indomitable blond to take him, harder, deeper, more. The way the others were with the kitsune made Sai wonder if living could be like painting; if he could lose himself in Naruto's hands without sketching them, if the power that he felt in the ink was only a shadow of what was really possible. The ecstatic madness of being a subordinate might have scared him once, but now seeing the spectacle only filled him with desire. Fear was a useless emotion in Naruto's bed, at least in Sai's opinion, though he was beginning to understand why some people were afraid of death. He might be afraid too if it meant never feeling like that again, if it meant going back to the aching nothing, the chilly emptiness he had suffered before. The very thought sent a shiver down his spine and Naruto squeezed him a bit tighter, intuitive as always to his mood even if Sai did not understand it himself.

The lanterns hung throughout Sakura's garden had all been lit on one of the girl's whims earlier that evening and the soft light glittered off the snow to cast the bedroom in flickering illumination almost like sunlight on water. All the doors had been opened to let the chilly air in against their fevered skin and the crisp breeze felt wonderful even if Sai was certain leaving the doors open in such weather was decidedly inefficient. Sakura had wanted to watch the snow fall while they made love and no one would deny her. Once he would have argued about something so obviously counterproductive, heating a room just to cool it again, but then again Sai had never known something like cold or snow to be delightful. The effect of the refracted glow and accompanying shadows against the nude bodies writhing against the silk was nothing less than inspiring, though Sai knew it would be a hard image to ever capture completely. Even in oil, he would never be able to make Sasuke look so smooth or find the right hue for Sakura's delicate blush and the constant flickering of the light against them was moving too quickly to render easily.

For once, Sai found that he did not care. The way that they looked, the way the shimmering glow caught in the soft spikes of Naruto's golden hair, would be something that he would never forget. His memory was enough and the sketchpad lay forgotten somewhere on the floor underneath Neji's kimonos and Sakura's slippers. The artist brushed his fingers against Naruto's shoulder and noticed that he did not feel the almost frantic urge to draw the way he had when making love to Sakura, that his hands were comfortable in their emptiness and it was enough just to touch. He smiled. The light was warm, forgiving and diffuse, glowing in indulgent splendor over the lovers and bathing Sai's own knuckles in vanilla illumination that somehow managed to smooth all the scars.

Sasuke groaned as Neji slowly pushed inside him, face buried in the nape of Sakura's neck and hands fluttering nervously against her heaving breasts. The girl moaned as well, rocking back against the black haired killer as much as she was able in her veritable cradle of pillows, the movement sending a spark of heat racing through Sai's blood. She was uncomfortable with the weight of the pregnancy and had to be positioned carefully just to sleep, much less to have sex, but the girl did not seem unhappy about it. Sakura liked making love, especially with the baby so close, and on nights like these she was insatiable. Increased libido was normal in pregnancy, Sasuke told him so, but there was still something almost miraculous about being with her now. She took him and Naruto together, coaxing them with the irresistible rhythm of her own desire until Sai thought the feeling might actually ignite the marrow in his quivering bones, but she still wanted more.

Naruto could probably make love to her forever, even with his heat mercifully past, but her passion seemed to have infected them all. She was hungry and so they all were, she wanted to twine and twist and become one, so they would. The winter nights passed in the glowing haze of their love, the dead season made warm and beautiful with pleasure and anticipation. Sai thought the phenomenon was almost like Naruto's heat, except weirdly in reverse. The jinchuuriki's lust had been consuming and dangerous, a weapon only Sasuke was reasonably capable to wield, but Sakura's was fulfilling and ecstatic. She filled them and made them all drunk on joy like one could be on wine. To love Naruto during his heat, when he maintained so little control of his own energy, was to risk destruction, but being with Sakura felt like nothing less than pure salvation. Being swept up in her desire was like being healed, like being pulled from freezing water into the warmth of the sun. She was creation in elegant counterpart to Naruto's destruction and no less powerful. Maybe this was what Danzo had been so afraid of, Sai mused, the inexorable force of male and female united. He could see why.

The artist watched Sakura with Sasuke and Neji, watched as she danced with them, viewing the love play from the succulent warmth and unshakeable security of Naruto's arms. The sex was devastatingly beautiful to him and it shouldn't be since it was only flesh, bodies moving together, but Sai couldn't tear his eyes away. The lovely contrast of Sasuke's pale hand against Sakura's blushing skin, the muscular surge of their hips, the sticky way Neji's hair clung to her cheek was so striking… She was kissing Neji's fingertips in a way that made Sai ache and holding Sasuke's hair like she might never let him go, face flushed with pleasure and lustrous hair draped over her shoulder like a sparkling, pink waterfall. Neji thrust into Sasuke, his breath catching on his teeth, eyes closed with ecstasy and sepia lashes brushing his cheeks in trembling shadows. The Hyuuga moved confidently and the others followed his rhythm, but it was not like watching Naruto make love to them. There was none of the perfect synchrony or easy dominance and Neji's body was tossed against the others as much as he drove them. Still, they were obviously enjoying it together and it was lovely.

Sakura held her breath and shuddered against them in a pattern of movement Sai recognized as orgasm. The ink nin worried a little about the woman's body since she had gotten so large and the experience looked so intense, but he said nothing. Naruto had told him that this was important, that she needed to stretch for when the baby came, but the artist hadn't quite gotten used to the idea of everyone loving her this way when she was still so delicate. Sensing his trepidation as he sensed everything else, the jinchuuriki turned them so that Sai's belly was pressed into the cool sheets and Naruto was sprawled over his back like a giant, purring blanket. Sai felt his muscles relax and his intimate body stiffen as the blond lathed scorching kisses across the vulnerable skin of his neck, pausing to hold the nape delicately in his sharp teeth. Sai trembled in the keen embrace, viscerally aware of the brush of those fangs over the ridge of his spine. Naruto liked to kiss and nibble on areas of the human body where someone could be easily killed, focusing on the vulnerable places, touching in a way that made Sai feel exposed and oddly acquiescent. The jinchuuriki touched him, loved him, until his body seemed to respond of its own accord and his entire focus was directed to the feeling. The jagged edges of the old sharp thing shifted closer to the surface with those commanding caresses, rising in his awareness along with the pleasure, but the artist didn't care anymore.

There was release in the Naruto's love, a kind of freedom he had never even known could exist without the finality of death and it was something he wanted more than anything. Sai could not be afraid of the decrepit, frozen secret hiding in his mind when that liberty was so close. The Naruto's kisses made him reckless and his grasp made him desperate in a way that the artist had only ever felt when deprived of water on long marches through the desert. In many ways Naruto was like the desert, golden and scorching, consuming everything around him so completely that it was both easy and dangerous to become lost in him. Sai raised his hips up against the velvety ridge of Naruto's penis, feeling a surge of heat when the jinchuuriki instinctively ground down against his buttocks. He knew now, because of how Sakura had loved him, that Naruto could easily be inside him in this position and the knowledge made the molten spring of emotion tightening in his gut tighten a bit further. Sai arched his back, moaning, as Naruto's hand moved down his side to rest against his hip like a hot coal kicked loose from a fire.

The powerful kitsune was stirred, that much was obvious, but Sai knew that it would take much more than this for Naruto to be compelled to enter his body the way Sakura had. Naruto was still worried that Sai would die that way, extinguished in the surge of the thrall like a moth in the heat of a flame, but it was beginning to physically ache not being connected to them. The hurt of it was almost like the pain of being in love and alone, but sharper, more tempered with fear. It felt like watching the others run on ahead, barely within Sai's vision and slipping further every moment, knowing that he was falling behind and that no one was coming back. They were not safe yet, even if being with Sakura made them all feel that way, and Sai knew there was still a chance everyone might die if something went wrong when she gave birth. He wanted to be taken now, kept in Naruto's heart the same way he was in Sakura's, kept close so that he would never be left behind again. He was ready, he felt ready, hungry for Naruto's touch as he had never been before. Neji vehemently argued against any claiming until after the baby was born, but the jinchuuriki had claimed him and so the Hyuuga could never know what it felt like to be excluded this way!

Sai arched his back, pressing up into Naruto, biting his lip against the needy whimper that threatened to escape him. For a few precious moments they were moving against one another, almost as if practicing the rhythm of lovemaking, so close…but then Naruto was snaking his hand beneath Sai's body to caress his stiffened shaft from below. The artist clenched his teeth in frustration. He already knew what would happen; that Naruto would stroke him to completion, drink away the evidence like he always did, and mount Neji or Sasuke to find his own release. He wanted him, more than he wanted air, and yet Neji had said wait, so of course everyone did. The Hyuuga was pretty in his own way, but his attributes did not make him any less of a nuisance and Sai was almost as tired of waiting as he was of control.

Sai tried to hold back, but his foolish body followed the friction of the blond's palm and soon he was approaching the edge, helpless to do anything to stop it. The feeling was too addictive and Sai was too inexperienced. Sasuke could hold back and sometimes even manipulate the love play to make it last longer, he had seen him do it, but the artist simply did not have the skill or confidence and so Naruto always controlled the pace and direction of the pleasure. The artist moaned, shivering between the warm hardness of Naruto's chest above him and the clever resistance of his hand still wrapped around his sex. The jinchuuriki was making that noise, a sound like thunder, but warm and comfortable instead of alarming. It was a sound Sai liked very much, maybe too much, and he felt his belly contract obediently in response to the unspoken suggestion. The rumbling vibrated through Naruto's chest and out, tingling against his ribs and through his jaw, thrumming deep into his bones until Sai could feel himself coming closer to the edge from the sensation of the sound alone. It felt good, so good, but not anything like being filled…like being claimed.

"I want…your fingers…" Sai panted, digging his hands painfully into the sheets, quaking delicately as Naruto gathered the pre-cum already beading at the head of his straining erection and smoothed it over the shaft.

"Fingers?" Naruto purred, voice close and hot against his ear.

"I…Inside…" The artist managed before another cresting surge of pleasure broke over him.

"Hmmm…I suppose, but you've only done that with Sakura." Naruto argued softly, sounding concerned.

Sai practically sobbed with frustration, wishing Naruto would give him a moment, a breath to find the words. As it was, the blond continued to stroke him as he considered the request, making Sai's toes curl as the overwhelmed artist fought to still his hips, to avoid thrusting on instinct into Naruto's scalding hand. Sai's teeth chattered as he felt his body tighten in preparation for release, knowing that at least Naruto was thinking about it, that he might do it if given enough opportunity. Being touched there by Sakura had been frightening; open in a way his body was still unsure how to facilitate without drifting dangerously into panic, but it had also been the most intensely satisfying experience of Sai's empty life. Fingers were nice and Naruto's were the best of all even with the claws, so it would probably be even better than before.

"I want your fingers…" Sai said again, his voice trembling only a little.

"Okay." Naruto whispered and the word seemed to blaze a path of molten hot whiteness through Sai's fevered thoughts.

The jinchuuriki rose up onto his knees, hunting about for the small jar of almond oil Neji had used to enter Sasuke a few minutes before. The heady fragrance filled Sai's senses, even stronger than when Neji had used it, nearly pungent enough to drink in along with the air. A deep ripple of quivering emotion moved through his spine to rest in a heavy hotness somewhere in his pelvis. The scent of almonds was quickly becoming robustly linked to sex in both his mind and in the instinctual reactions of his flesh, probably to the point of classical conditioning. Sai felt his skin warm and the muscles of his lower back relax as the fragrance washed over his senses, heavy and sensual with promise, numbing his logic. The scent alone was a kind of preparation for penetration and Sai wondered if Naruto intended it that way or if the whole experience was entirely coincidental. Regardless, it was shockingly effective. The artist found himself panting and sweating rivulets, staring down at his own hands with a rapt kind of fascination, and trying to call back his shattered thoughts before Naruto touched him and sent them tumbling again. There was so much emotion, and all from something as simple as a scent. Sai was not sure what would happen if he ever tried to eat almond nuts again, but hoped that whatever it was didn't happen in public.

Sai blinked his eyes, willing his body to relax. Close enough to touch, Sakura's lovemaking with Sasuke and Neji was reaching a slow crescendo, building the way a storm might, vast and effortless. The beautiful girl clenched her muscles and climaxed again in Sasuke's arms just as Neji raised his eyes to where Naruto was pulling Sai's hips up and against his own, gently guiding the ink nin's body into the same position that Sakura had used to enter him before. Neji scowled and Sai willed him to remain silent, to let it happen, but of course the Hyuuga had to take every opportunity to interfere and insist on more waiting for reasons he wasn't willing to make clear to anyone else.

"Be careful, Naruto." Neji whispered, silver eyes glinting in the twilight of snow and Sakura's lanterns.

"I will be." The jinchuuriki breathed, mouthing scalding kisses against the base of Sai's spine.

The Hyuuga stilled, watching them with an expression that Sai could not hope to interpret and would not have wanted to try anyway. How anyone could make a face like that with the most tactilely sensitive part of their body buried in Sasuke Uchiha's beautiful ass, Sai would never know, but he was relatively certain that the answer involved some kind of mental illness. Sakura would say that people who lived in glass house shouldn't throw stones, but Sai had never understood the proverb to begin with so expending effort feeling chided by it was worthless. Besides, he had far more important things to think about, and Naruto hadn't actually stopped what he was doing, so there was no purpose in attempting to solve the mystery of Neji Hyuuga for the time being. Sai relaxed a little more and let a pleased sigh escape his lips as the jinchuuriki's wise mouth nibbled along the edge of his hip, stimulating the delicate skin and raising the flesh into goose bumps despite the heat.

Neji's mouth tensed into an unappealing line at the sound and the effect that reminded Sai of a trip wire pulled too taut, which was probably not what the expression was supposed to convey. The artist found himself wishing that the brunette would get over whatever it was he fixated on and smile again; Neji really was very tempting when he smiled. When he smiled the Hyuuga looked nice, like well-polished hardwood, if such a thing had the capability to occasionally become peevish and completely ruin its own aesthetic through sheer moodiness. Sasuke turned over his shoulder to glare at Neji, hissing in protest when the morose Hyuuga remained still.

"Neji! Move dammit!" Sasuke snarled, biting him viciously on the forearm.

"Sasuke!" Sakura chided fiercely, frowning at him as the small injury began to bleed.

"Teme, be gentle." Naruto rumbled, smoothing a bit of the oil over Sai's lower back, the scent of the almonds cloying and delicious in the air.

"I just don't want anything dangerous to happen." Neji whispered, nuzzling Sasuke tolerantly despite the biting.

"Love is dangerous, sweetheart, but I'm not really sure why you're so worried about this in the first place…" Sakura said gently, stroking Neji's knuckles.

"I just think…" The Hyuuga began stubbornly.

"Now's not the time for thinking." Sakura purred.

"And Naruto knows what he's doing, so move or I'll be the one fucking you instead!" Sasuke snapped, annoyed and moving swiftly towards fully irate.

The strange expression melted from Neji's features almost instantly, leaving only the edge of something chilly and furtive in his eyes and then that was gone too as if the look had never even been there. Sai narrowed his eyes. Something was off, though he was not sure what it was. Perhaps the problem was that whatever was wrong only added another layer of tension to the Hyuuga's normal rigidity and so the change was too subtle. Neji moved his lips back to Sasuke's neck, kissing the porcelain flesh apologetically, and began rocking them again with the same slow rhythm he had been using before. Sai wondered what the significance of such an exchange might be, but he did not have the luxury of pondering the problem for long. Naruto was kneading the trembling muscles of his lower back, moving more roughly than Sakura had, but also with considerably more finesse. Sensuous heat crept from the jinchuuriki's powerful palms into his muscles and higher, moving through his back and hips in luxurious waves, making him arch like a cat into the caress.

Naruto let the almond oil drip, warm from his hands, into the dips of Sai's lower back. He spread the artist's buttocks so that the lubricant could run with gravity over the tender skin of Sai's anus and below to drip ticklishly from his testicles. The ink nin gasped, licking his lips nervously as Naruto followed the oil with the pad of his finger, stroking the hidden skin in a slow circle. The jinchuuriki did not hesitate the way Sakura had and moved without allowing Sai to first become accustomed to the sensation of simple contact against his intimate body. Instead his alpha blended the touch with motion, stroking him both behind and below, trapping Sai's pelvis between his hands. The feeling was unnerving, the pleasure clashing dissonantly with trepidation, familiar contact mixed with something new and far more forceful. The visceral reaction of being open, exposed and wholly vulnerable in the blond's practiced hands intensified, bordering on fear even with the way Naruto was still stroking his erection. Sai swallowed hard, trying to remain calm. If he started to panic now the way he had with Sakura at first, the kitsune would probably stop immediately and any hope he had of going further with him would end. Sai did not want it to end, not when he knew it would feel so good.

True, the love play was different, not nearly as slow or patient as Sakura's version, but Naruto's hands and voice and lips kept moving and the delicious sensation only intensified. Sai could not focus on any kind of uncomfortable emotion for long; he was too easily distracted by the blond's fingers against his skin and the soft words whispered into his ear. Despite the complexity of it, the artist still felt everything. The coolness of Naruto's claw, the edges of his callouses, even the pattern of his fingerprint felt etched into his tactile consciousness like a daimyo's seal into hot wax on a scroll. Focus itself, on anything, was rapidly becoming more difficult with the thundering pleasure Naruto was kindling in his blood.

The warm desire, the tingling love in his chest that always lent a little heat to his body, was rapidly igniting into a raging inferno that threatened to burn away his sanity. Too much, far too much, just as Sakura said it would be…Sai slowed his breathing, allowing the intimacy of the contact to move through his awareness unchallenged, like a wave through a placid lake. He shivered, bowing his face lower against the bedding in reflexive acceptance of Naruto's dominance, letting it happen. The jinchuuriki moaned and Sai was not sure if it was his posture that excited him or the feel of his body or something else entirely. The kitsune was rubbing him, the friction intense and almost abrasive against the delicate, sensitive flesh. Perhaps the touch was even painful, there was an element of rawness to the sensation, but it was so utterly softened and smoothed with the oil Sai could not be sure.

Pleasure, pain, fear and lust all seemed to meld in Naruto's embrace, until everything except for the heat of his hands and the pinch of his teeth faded from Sai's fevered awareness like shadows from the light of dawn. His body responded of its own accord, his hips moving in gentle counterpoint to the intimate massage, chasing the ecstasy. He moaned, moving with Naruto mindlessly and compelled by him as intractably as the ocean is by the whims of the moon. The simple truth of the kitsune's influence made it different, more intense and also more frightening. This was the difference between making love with him instead of Sakura or anyone else, the difference between sex and acceptance, the power that scared all of them including Naruto himself. Sai thought that the thrall was surely already present in the way Naruto's touch and voice and mere presence could make him feel, the easy way that he seemed to command Sai's very flesh to open this way. He was exposed now, in a manner he had never imagined he could be, and something so insane should feel bad. Being peeled open like a bud in the sun should feel like being flayed or eviscerated, like damage, but instead the only emotion in Sai's body was a kind of manic joy.

For an eternity the kitsune rubbed, slowly moving deeper, until the sensation grew into almost a molten kind of ache that trapped Sai's entire body into the rhythm of Naruto's lovemaking. He moaned, moving with the tempo of the touch, feeling wanton and also desperately overwhelmed as his testicles tightened in preparation for release. Naruto braced his hand against the curve of the artist's buttock with intention and Sai had no time to prepare before the man's finger was inside him, sliding easily into the throbbing tightness of his most intimate body. The fullness bordered on pain, his muscles twitching in reflexive spasm against the intrusion, and the cry was torn from his throat before his mind could close his lips to stop it.

"It's okay baby, it's okay…Relax, it's just me." Naruto whispered, kissing his ear.

"You…you're in me…" Sai gasped.

"Yeah," Naruto purred, "You feel so good."

Sai swallowed at that and shut his eyes, trying to relax, to control his panicked flesh. There really was no need. Naruto moved deeper with a confidence and sensuality that Sai knew was unique to his personality, stroking as he went. The jinchuuriki gave him no time to think or worry, cupping his testicles in the warmth of his palm as he pressed in, stroking slowly through the thin skin to the mysterious structures inside. The feeling was so pleasurable, so instinctively gratifying, that Sai's body melted for him without any effort at all. Naruto chuckled.

"You're so good, so easy…I love you so much." Naruto whispered and Sai felt dizzy with the words.

"Ea…Easy?" Sai asked.

"Yeah, I touch you and you just respond, your body reacts so effortlessly. Whatever I do, you just go with it. It's incredible…" Naruto breathed appreciatively.

"Ahhh! That…that doesn't sound difficult…" Sai panted, crying out again as Naruto thrust his finger deeper, raising a chilly film of cold sweat over his trembling skin as the ache of penetration increased.

"It is." The jinchuuriki replied softly, his voice tight and breathy with desire.

Sai was beginning to notice the pain, his inexperienced body stretching for Naruto and sore with the invasion as the blond moved deeper, sinking in past his second knuckle. There was still pleasure, just as intense as before, but now Sai was as full with him as he had been with Sakura and beginning to feel the rising tension in more than just his body. The secret was close, jagged and frozen and moving with the rhythm of Naruto's hand, rising in his consciousness along with the strange stimulation of his entrance. The artist felt delicate this way, vulnerable with his ass full of Naruto's pushing finger and oddly ungainly, as if any movement he made might touch something too deep and too internal.

Naruto hummed a little under his breath, working his strong hand in a patiently widening circle, massaging the tender tissue and encouraging it to stretch. It was hard, far more invasive than Sakura had been, but also more intensely pleasurable too. Sai winced a little and then shouted in shock as the jinchuuriki found the sensitive place within, pressing against his prostate without hesitation and sending white hot geysers of scalding delight ricocheting through Sai's belly and higher, sizzling up his spine to burn like the after-image of lightning in his brain. He shrieked, bucking back against Naruto in animal reflex, the aching fullness dimmed by the arching joy flooding through his nerves with every targeted press of the jinchuuriki's fingers. He had been too overcome to completely notice when Naruto added the second digit, but it was there now, feeling very big inside of him and still pressing eagerly against the sensitive organ hidden within.

"Oh, yeah…so gorgeous…" Naruto gasped as he pumped Sai with his hand, "So tight inside…"

He knew that he should say something, but the words only came out as raw sound, untempered by will or consciousness. Naruto moved into him ever deeper and he was bursting, but the feeling was just as erotic as it had been before. Sai's eyes were open, but his mind refused to make any kind of sense of what he was seeing. He blinked and realized that Sakura had moved closer and that she was staring into his eyes, the temperate green of her irises warm and a little aggressive, watching him come to the edge. Sai drew a ragged breath and it felt more like a sob, the air catching hard in his chest and sticking, but it was alright because Sakura's hands were in his hair and he was safe. Naruto pushed once more, touching him inside, and his belly clenched hard in ecstatic release. The artist came forcefully enough to steal the very sound from his cry, pumping semen into the warm basin of the jinchuuriki's outstretched palm.

"Neji…" Naruto hissed, his voice rough, coming through gritted teeth.

Sai wanted to cry out, to tell him to stay, to stay inside, but Neji was already moving obediently to bow low on his elbows beside them. Naruto pulled his fingers away with a wet sound and Sai was left feeling both open and empty, the experience unfinished. Neji opened his body wantonly and Naruto embraced him with a hungry little groan that made Sai's blood boil, but whether the feeling was lust or anger he wasn't sure. The Hyuuga stayed close and glanced at him, his hooded silver gaze almost apologetic as Naruto began to move inside him. Sai was not sure he would have had the strength to watch if it had not been for Neji and the intensity of his expression, the way he locked eyes with him, trying to share some kind of emotion. Sai knew from experience that being loved by Naruto was consuming, but the man did not close censor his face or turn away. They were sharing this somehow, even if Sai had no idea what it meant or why something as simple as staring into Neji's eyes could hurt so much. He felt like screaming, but did not have the breath to try. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right, he was ready, every nerve felt ready and open and…Sai tried to move, but only succeeded in collapsing against the deliciously chilly silk and Sakura's lustrous hair.

His body sang with it, the last tremulous notes of a symphony unfinished still ringing through his flesh, lovely and torturous too. Sai reached out and felt Naruto take his hand and squeeze lovingly even as he moved further into Neji's ready entrance, but it wasn't enough, not by far. Neji moaned and trembled as he yielded to the jinchuuriki's movements and the hurt grew worse, eating like a hot blade through Sai's awareness. Naruto was saying something that sounded like it might be an explanation, but the artist could not bring himself to care. Sai only gripped his hand sobbed, wishing he could find some way to tell them, to tell Neji, to make them understand what he was feeling. Sakura was saying soothing things and Sasuke moved to lie against his left shoulder and all of them together should have been enough. It wasn't. Sai choked back a soft whimper and Sasuke kissed him, pressing his palm over the artist's eyes so that he wouldn't have to see it, so that he would not have to watch as Naruto spent his passion in Neji's body instead of his own.

OoOoOoO

The mission was a failure. He had failed everyone, utterly, and there was nothing left he could do to stop it. The situation was fast spinning out of his control, hurtling away from his influence like a meteor towards gravity, plummeting closer to some unknown doom he could not yet foresee to prevent. Once he would have been comforted with the knowledge of Hiashi's intentions, with faith that his leader knew what he was doing, but he couldn't remain ignorant of the fact that the Hyuuga clan head was following a more dangerous agenda than he pretended. People had died and Hiashi was willing to sacrifice even more, more of his own kinsmen, and all for the sake of information that seemed, at least at face value, totally worthless. There were things Neji didn't know, things that he was too afraid to ask and now his last attempt at compromise was not going to work either. Hiashi had badgered him, demanded results, and Neji had never been able to act insubordinate with him the way Hinata was. He was a soldier and Hiashi his leader, it wasn't his place to argue. Maybe his ridiculous little cousin really was the stronger after all and maybe she would have been able to say the things he could not, but he had been conditioned that way. Neji was taught from infancy to obey main house authority without question and now, when faced with it, he buckled despite his intentions.

If there were ever a time for questions, it would be now, but asking those same questions might get him thrown from Naruto's household forever or murdered by his uncle for the sake of expediency or nothing at all. He had no way to know without understanding the stakes, without being privy to what Hiashi hoped to gain from this intrigue, if it was even intrigue at all. Maybe the whole thing was simply garden variety paranoia, as he had first assumed, but Neji knew that possibility was growing less viable by the second. Tactical sacrifices were not so easily made for the sake of suspicion alone, not by Hiashi anyway, and the Hyuuga clan head was prepared to sacrifice entire teams to accomplish his goals. The whole situation felt like being at war again, the way it was when Sasuke had stirred up aggression from the neighboring kingdom of Sound, like trying to decide how much blood to pay in a raid. The only problem was that this…this mess that Hiashi had trapped him in the middle of was not a war at all, not against a real enemy anyway, and the blood paid would all be from his family. Whether Uzumaki suffered or Hyuuga, it was all people he loved and cared about!

Neji paced, blowing on his hands in the cold air as he walked. Civil war, fuck! It was happening and he seemed to be the only one still actively trying for a diplomatic solution. Naruto was basically ignoring the problem, Sasuke was subtly preparing for a siege and Kami only knew what Hiashi was doing. Tension between the two families had only been increasing since their meeting at the Hyuuga compound, though Neji was nearly positive that Sasuke and Sai did not realize that he had been waylaid for a secret meeting. Regardless, Sasuke was not an idiot and he knew the exercises being practiced and the general air of industry in the Hyuuga holdings could only mean one thing: preparation for pitched battle. Even as the Uzumaki clan drew ever further into itself, hiding within the estate and directing their focus to Sakura, the raven haired killer spent his free moments making traps and filling the cellar with nonperishable food and medicine. Clearly he thought that the estate might actually have to be actively defended, like a castle, and Neji already pitied whoever would be on the first line trying to penetrate the Uzumaki defenses. Every time he caught Sasuke dipping darts in neurotoxin or sharpening the teeth of his foot traps, Neji could only imagine Kou or Yuki or Kami-forbid Hinata being murdered by the deadly devices. Naruto sensed his worry and soothed him as best he could, but even the jinchuuriki noticed that Sasuke was preparing for an attack and made a point of giving his lovely murderer free reign to do as he thought best.

The woods were eerily quiet and even though he knew Sasuke's little arcade of death was still some ways off, Neji could not help but feeling as if the Uchiha forest was preparing itself for yet another slaughter. The air was frigid even if the snow was no longer falling and his breath plumed out before him in misty waves. He was not really dressed for the weather and the cold was slowly making his hands and ankles feel stiff and sore. Sakura was making a hot pot with scallops for breakfast and he really should be with her, sitting in the kitchen on Naruto's lap drinking tea and watching Sai methodically shave the onions of existence. Instead, he was stomping about through the snow like a madman wondering how to avert civil war between the people he was currently sleeping with and the ones who had raised him as a child. Neji had originally hoped that a walk might help him clear his thoughts or at least get him out of range of Sai's searching looks so that he wouldn't have to feel so damn guilty about the night before. Sai was an adult, a crazy one perhaps, but still an adult and he had every right to make choices about his own body without interference. The whole idea had seemed so plausible at the time, an easy way to make everyone happy and fulfill his obligations without committing some brand of treason, but he should have known that something so blind would never work.

Neji had agreed to report to Hiashi, to give one piece of information because doing so had seemed completely harmless and refusing would only get more people killed. At the time, kneeling before his leader in a hidden room of the Hyuuga compound while a clever copy followed Sasuke around the garden, it had seemed like the only option to prevent tragedy. There was no harm in following Hiashi's orders as long as Naruto waited to claim Sai, waited until after his daughter was born and preliminary agreements could be reached with Suna for arranged marriage. Neji had planned to send the offer himself, to marry Naruto's daughter the moment she was born so that his new family would be safe from Hiashi and everyone else. Gaara would readily agree, especially if the rumors were true and Matsuri would actually be able to conceive again. No one would dare insult Naruto with the royal family of Suna bonded as in-laws and Gaara's considerable temper to reckon with besides; everyone knew that the Sand God of Suna was not above genocide if it served to protect his friends. Unfortunately, that plan was falling apart and all because of the jinchuuriki's infuriating inability to say 'no' to Sai. Sai pushed and Naruto yielded. The kitsune was, apparently, far more vulnerable to simple whining than he was to Sasuke's threats or his own thoughtful manipulations.

As for the artist, he was terrified of being left behind by the pack if Sakura or Naruto were to die and pushed desperately for consummation any moment he was conscious; consummation their blond idiot was warring with himself every moment not to grant for the sake of desire alone. Naruto would mate Sai and he would do it soon and trying to stop them would only make Sai into Neji's enemy for the rest of his worthless existence. Sai already made a point of arguing with Neji over everything and the Hyuuga's insistence that Naruto should wait was poisoning their tentative attempt at a relationship even more. The others trusted Neji, more than he wanted to admit, but he could not tell them why waiting was so important and so little by little they pushed towards the claiming anyway. It was hopeless; there was no way to save everyone, no way to remain on neutral ground between Naruto's bed and the Hyuuga clan's secretive expectations.

Neji paused in his frantic pacing and knelt heavily in the snow to meditate, trying to shut away the turmoil of his feelings. He tried to find the quiet, find the center where he could think, but the emotion within only raged with even greater fury. He had failed, failed, and people would be hurt because of it. All they had to do was wait, wait for Sakura's baby and then Hiashi would be considerably less of a threat to her, to all of them. If Naruto decided to claim Sai now, before the birth, it would leave him vulnerable and…and the truth was that Neji didn't know what would happen. He did not know if Naruto would be harmed in some way or if Sai would even survive, if the energy would weaken Sakura more or even if the simple distraction of it could be used to facilitate more of Hiashi's unspoken designs. If he said nothing, more of his kinsmen would die by Sasuke's sword and if he did as he had been ordered…Neji shut his eyes and swallowed. The situation was only growing more volatile and there was no way to win if he couldn't anticipate what might happen in response to his actions.

"You look anxious, Hyuuga." Sasuke said.

Neji practically jumped out of his skin as he turned to find the beautiful murderer lounging in the branches of an ancient pine just behind him. Sasuke looked relaxed, as if he had been there all along. He was tracing the path of the brunette's unhappy pacing with the bloody glow of the Sharingan, watching as lazily as a viper might the movements of a cricket. Neji scowled. The darksome subordinate met his eyes and released the jutsu in a subtle show of trust, letting the true ebony of his irises meet Neji's gaze. The Hyuuga huffed a little.

"Where you following me?" He hissed.

"Yes." Sasuke said easily.

"Why?" Neji snapped.

"So that you won't be tempted to do something stupid, something you'll later regret." Sasuke said with a sigh.

"Sasuke…" Neji began, but the other nin raised a palm to silence him.

"I realize this is difficult for you. You know that I am preparing to kill your kinsmen." The raven haired ninja whispered, "This is an…unfortunate situation for everyone."

"Hiashi is just being paranoid." Neji said defensively.

"Maybe. Maybe he's being homicidal or aggressively political or frankly psychotic. I don't actually give a shit. Either way, I understand how manipulative a person's family can be." Sasuke said, leaping down from the tree to stand beside him in what was obviously supposed to be camaraderie.

"I don't want to hurt anyone." Neji whispered, looking away.

"I know, but you may have to and if you do I will ensure that it will be our enemies." Sasuke said, moving to lean casually against Neji's shoulder as if they had been lovers forever.

"Our enemies…?" Neji murmured feeling overwhelmed.

"Enemies of clan Uzumaki." Sasuke clarified, a bit tersely.

The way they were standing, shoulder to shoulder and each facing a different direction, Neji was spared the force of whatever emotion was lurking in Sasuke's eyes. The distance did not make him feel better. They were touching, almost embracing, and yet there was something aggressive in the contact too, something that promised violence if Neji chose to disobey.

"Sasuke, do you honestly think…" Neji began.

"I honestly think that it's difficult for someone to refuse their family, especially a clan." Sasuke began haughtily.

"I don't…"

"…And that's why I'm watching. It has nothing to do with trust." Sasuke finished, more gently than before.

"I thought, I was told that if I came here and Naruto accepted me…" Neji trailed off.

"That we might have peace?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

Neji nodded. The raven haired killer sighed and pulled his fingers through Neji's hair, smiling a little as the tresses flowed over his hand in the cold air. For a moment there was nothing between them except the touch and the almost childlike affection hiding in the corners of Sasuke's mouth. The way he wound Neji's mahogany tresses around his fingers in a coil only to let them spring free again was almost playful, a bit coy. It was a stolen moment, a tempting glimpse into how the world might be if there were no secrets, no deadly intrigue. Neji caught Sasuke's hand and pulled it to his lips, kissing each finger slowly, hoping to hold the illusion a moment longer.

"There is no such thing as peace." Sasuke said at last and the ebony wells of his eyes were dark and very deep with an emotion almost like pity, but far more savage.

Neji merely nodded, his decision made. Given a choice between losing operatives and simple paranoia about the possibility of a danger yet undefined, there was really only one option: to follow orders. Naruto was well protected and pacifying Hiashi, even for a few more weeks, may eventually solve any potential problems for him without sacrificing anyone. It was a calculated risk, but there was nothing else to do. Neji met Sasuke's eyes and smiled sadly. He would send the summons, tonight if Naruto was still touching Sai that way, and the only obstacle left was Sasuke's surveillance. The once-Uchiha was formidable, but Neji already knew how to distract him. It was something he had learned long ago from his sensei, something always teasing at the edge of his mind whenever Sasuke watched someone bleed. Part of the mystery surrounding the poignant smell of winter…

OoOoOoO

Naruto stroked Sai's shoulders, feeling inexplicably guilty even as the artist sighed beneath his ministrations, bending forward in obvious pleasure. He was seated comfortably on the jinchuuriki's lap in the warmth of the bath and the moment really should have been relaxing, but Naruto could not help thinking that he barely deserved the artist's easy company. They were alone for the first time in weeks and Naruto had hoped that the added intimacy might soothe Sai's frustration a little bit, but so far the bath was only oppressively quiet. Naruto tried to speak with touch, to let his hands say what his foolish brain always failed to convey. If Sasuke were here, he would have said that having everyone shut up for once was bonus enough and to be grateful. The jinchuuriki ran his fingers over Sai's spine and wondered, wondered if he was misreading the situation somehow, losign some level of subtlety with his subordinates. It was certainly possible. Sai had been so upset the night before when he made love to Neji, even though the love was good and the ink nin came easily, even though everyone knew that Naruto had no intention of going all the way. He sighed.

"Do you love me?" Sai asked suddenly, the question loud and very abrupt in the sunlit mists of the bath.

"Yes, very much, believe it." Naruto responded and pressed a kiss to the nape of the artist's paper-pale neck.

"Can you un-love me?"

The question felt like a ball of cold steel had been dropped into Naruto's belly, sudden and uncomfortable. The way he loved Sai, the way he loved all of them, was like breathing and the idea of simply not was almost unfathomable. Losing them, anyone, would feel like losing a limb. He would be crippled without them, his pack, his precious lovers.

"No, of course not. Why do you ask?" Naruto chuckled, feeling sick.

"I wish you could. Sasuke says that you won't take me because you love me, so if you didn't, then you could. I'd rather be with you and have you un-love me than be alone." Sai said, his tone blank.

"You aren't alone." Naruto said, pulling him tight against his chest.

"I feel alone, I feel…disconnected…I feel like I'm falling behind." Sai whispered.

"Why?"

"I'm afraid. The sharp thing inside me, it's dangerous, if it comes out…If it does and it cuts you…" Sai trailed off, shivering.

"Sai, what is it?" Naruto asked softly, narrowing his eyes.

"I don't know. Something old and dark from before, before I was a ninja maybe, but I'm not sure. Before I was anyone maybe." The artist mused cryptically.

"What does it feel like?" Naruto asked gently.

"Like a memory or a feeling, but bigger, like knowing when someone is following you even if you don't know who it is." Sai said, obviously struggling for a description.

"It's part of you." Naruto guessed.

"Yes, though unfamiliar." Sai nodded a little.

"Are you afraid I won't love you because of it?" Naruto asked gently, pulling the artist's head back to rest against his shoulder.

"Yes." Sai whispered, shutting his eyes tightly as a child might in the dark.

"I will always love you. I probably always have." Naruto whispered and he relaxed a little.

He was so striking, like coal and snow, nothing like any other person Naruto had ever seen. The black of his lashes against his cheeks were like calligraphy painted onto fine, white silk, the contrast almost too shocking to be truly beautiful. Naruto brushed his lips over Sai's neck, feeling the thrilling trill of his pulse jump at the kiss as his eyes fluttered. The ruddy glow of the late afternoon sun lent almost no warmth to Sai's skin, leaving him pale against the pink reflections of the sun against the rose marble of Sasuke's family bathroom. The desire surged in Naruto again, the powerful wanting that filled every nerve and made him ache helplessly. The feeling came whenever he was with Sai, a potential mate yet unclaimed, and it had barely waned following the conclusion of his heat. Kyuubi said it was because of how close Sai was with them, because even his body knew that they should be bonded. Naruto winced, clenching his hand.

"I want you." Sai whispered, turning in his arms.

"I know, but we can't…" Naruto sighed, gritting his teeth as the ink nin straddled his hips and looped his arms around his neck.

"Why?"

"Neji said…"

"Neji's wrong." Sai hissed.

"If anything happened to you, I don't know…" Naruto began but stopped as the artist's clever little teeth found his earlobe.

"It's hard, doesn't that mean that you want me?" Sai whispered, looking up through damp lashes the same coal black as his hair even as slender fingers below the water circled the jinchuuriki's length.

"Sai…" Naruto choked out, but the rest of the words were swallowed by the artist's kiss.

The heat was like an explosion, but sweeter, like nothing else in the world and Naruto was helpless against the force of it. Sai kissed him hungrily, mashing their noses together and sucking on Naruto's lips awkwardly, artless and imploring. He had to maintain control and regain distance, but the luscious curve of the other nin's buttock fit so naturally into his hand, the smooth flesh rippling with muscle as Sai undulated in the water. Kami, it was tempting and Naruto could feel the velvety kiss of Sai's hardened erection against own in the warm buoyancy of the water, just the barest touch and his belly jerked in anticipation. Sai moaned, low under his breath, almost a whimper. Searing passion ignited within him and, before he could regain his senses, Naruto was pulling Sai flush against his chest and grinding up against his graceful hips. Sai cried out, the sound filled with both passion and surrender, pressing his knees tight against Naruto's sides in a savage embrace.

He was overwhelmed and it was impossible to resist Sai this way, not when he was so soft and so eager. The jinchuuriki gripped the heavy dampness of Sai's hair in his other hand, forcing the man's head to the side to deepen the kiss even as he thoughtlessly pulled him closer. The elegant ridge of the artist's spine arched and Sai leaned backward a little, exposing the paper-whiteness and well sculpted muscle of his powerful chest to Naruto's hungry gaze. His nipples were small and still soft with the heat, a shade paler than even Sasuke's pink temptations and more like Sakura's in shape, like the first tender buds of plum or apple blossoms. So beautiful and made even more so with the sinuous way he was moving, like a willow blown in the wind, Naruto could feel his control fraying.

"Sai…I can only love you, I love you so much…" Naruto panted against his lips, struggling hard not to give in.

"I want you in me." Sai whispered.

"Kami! Don't say things like that!" Naruto hissed, nipping his throat aggressively.

"I do. If you're in me, then the secret thing won't matter anymore." Sai said tonelessly, spreading himself over Naruto's lap like a scroll unrolled upon a table.

"We don't know that, baby…"

"I want you. I want you to be inside me. I'm empty and the others are full, it isn't fair." Sai said, the barest hint of emotion leaking into his voice.

"Sai, we should wait." Naruto groaned, hands twitching against the artist's hips.

"I have waited. I've waited all my life." Sai said his voice beginning to be a bit raw.

"I know it feels that way, but we have time. We have time." Naruto said, feeling almost as if he were convincing himself.

"Dying is no different than this, no different than waiting instead of living. I'd rather die." Sai said, his tone at odds with the heat of the words.

Naruto closed his eyes and held him, moving almost subconsciously, skimming his claws over the snowy expanse of Sai's back. The ink nin shivered, but only clung to him more stubbornly, hands tangled in Naruto's hair with a lustful boldness that neither Sasuke nor Neji ever achieved. In this, Sai was really more like Sakura, his succulent aggression tempered with tenderness in a way that his other subordinates could never match and it was both familiar and stirring. Like a beautiful cup might hold tea or sake, Sai received his affection with such natural ease and Naruto could never quite find the strength to deny him. Sasuke said that Sai loved Sakura in the same way a person might love God, but that he loved Naruto like a man, that his passion was human in its hunger and mindless wanting. Sasuke said that was what made it so dangerous. Naruto thought he might have an inkling now what his beloved subordinate meant.

Sai's mouth was soft and sweet, too irresistible to deny, moist lips trembling against his own with fragile arousal. Sasuke submitted to him with practiced elegance and Neji threw himself recklessly into Naruto's arms like a sacrifice, but there was always an element of violence with each of them, of forces colliding and being overcome. Nothing like the natural way Sai opened himself for the jinchuuriki's touch, the unmistakable craving in the way he Sai responded to his advances, always tempting the contact to continue. He knew that Sai was devouring him, taking his passion like a thirsty man might water, and it was wonderful. Naruto had never before felt such unconditional acceptance, such perfect surrender, as he did now in the cloying delight of Sai's arms and mouth and body.

With a ragged sigh, the jinchuuriki gave in, running his hands up the damp skin of the artist's sides. Sai grunted a little and arched his back, pressing his hips into Naruto's waiting hands at the end of the caress. A heartbeat and the unmistakable sensation of slipping beyond safety into pure instinct, and then Naruto was touching the twitching flesh of Sai entrance with his second finger. Sai gasped, but did not flinch away as he had before, a striking blush coloring the paper-white contours of his cheeks as he breathed open mouthed against Naruto's lips. He quivered as Naruto pressed against the bath-warm flesh, testing the other man's acceptance of the intimacy, and pressed more firmly against the jinchuuriki's tingling body.

"I want it, I want it there…" Sai murmured, biting his lip as Naruto began to caress him.

"You're so soft here." The jinchuuriki mused, dipping his fingers into a bit of shampoo to ease the penetration, "So good to touch…"

"Deeper…" Sai pleaded, pressing back against him.

Naruto let his finger sink into the exquisite tightness, the unique softness of Sai's body, gasping as the artist moaned low and sensual against his neck. The shampoo made him slick and he knew it would be too easy to go fast, to treat Sai as he would Sasuke, so Naruto stilled his hand for a moment and waited for his breathing to quiet. Sai was practically gasping, pausing every so often to hold his breath entirely as he was stretched, body quaking in Naruto's arms. He sighed and let the artist's own weight in the steamy water push him further into the invasion, pausing when Sai's breath caught hard in something almost like a cry.

"Does it hurt?" Naruto asked gently.

"Yes…No…it hurts and the pain feels oddly pleasurable…" Sai shook his head, unable to describe the sensation.

"Sasuke says it's a weird feeling." Naruto chuckled softly. Sai nodded.

"It is…I feel full." Sai murmured.

For some unknowable reason, the words seemed to go directly to the molten arousal coiling low in Naruto's belly and an explosion of unexpected heat rocked him, stealing the very breath from his lungs in a rumbling cry. Sai moaned at the sound and began to move again, taking him deeper and thrusting against the aching hardness of Naruto's own arousal. They kissed again, tongues tangling wetly against one another and Naruto knew that he could not pull back, pull away. Loving Sai was like falling over a waterfall, more than easy, as inexorable as gravity and he was caught by the current.

OoOoOoO

Sasuke cocked his head, as if listening to some distant sound audible only to him, and a dark blush spread over his face. Neji raised an eyebrow, but he suddenly felt too inexplicably aroused to ponder the mysteries of Sasuke Uchiha beyond how the angle of his throat could possibly be so utterly perfect. He stepped closer, pulling Sasuke's silk kimono aside to lap at the racing pulse just beneath the man's jaw, moaning as Sasuke cried out in surprise. Neji was hard, his erection filling so swiftly that he felt mildly dizzy, the crisp scent of winter on Sasuke skin almost lost in the snowy forest around them.

"Ah! Naruto, he's…he's going to fuck Sai…" Sasuke gasped as Neji began jerking him out of his clothing.

"What?!" Neji asked, his passion suddenly cooled. Sasuke nodded, almost to himself.

"He is. He's going to take him." Sasuke said, shivering a little in reflected ecstasy from his alpha.

"So soon. Can…Can I stop them?" Neji asked, hands slipping from Sasuke's waste as the enormity of the news hit him.

"Nothing can stop Naruto when he's like this." Sasuke whispered, looking away.

Neji felt his belly grow cold and tighten, but he could not falter now, not when his inaction might bring even more death. Sasuke shivered again, whining a little under his breath as if he felt every caress, but his eyes were firm and very suspicious. Neji bit his lip, looking away.

"Why don't you want them fucking anyway? Why should it matter?" He asked, voice cool despite the deep flush staining his face and neck.

"Sakura's energy…"

"Sakura's energy was fine while Naruto was fucking you." Sasuke countered, shutting his eyes as another wave of arousal hit them.

When he opened them again, the darksome murderer's eyes were glowing with the Sharingan and shifting too fast, studying his energy with a furtive curiosity that made Neji's blood run cold. The Hyuuga swallowed hard and made his decision. He hoped that Sasuke would forgive him and that his theory would actually hold water in the first place. This was reckless, too reckless, but there was nothing else he could do.

"Ouch!" Neji gasped as he drew his hand as innocently as possible across the edge of a kunai hidden in his sleeve.

"Be careful! Moron." Sasuke snarled.

The wound was shallow, just deep enough to bleed, but there was barely a heartbeat before the warm gush of his own blood flooded down Neji's arm to drip from his fingers in steaming red. He shuddered a little, the sensation of being cut and bleeding melding powerfully with the cresting arousal warming his marrow as Sasuke reacted to Naruto's lovemaking. It was too familiar, too much like Anko, but of course that was the point. Neji rubbed the blood through his fingers, turning just a fraction so that the gesture would be noticed, playing the way he had a thousand times before when he tested the edge of Anko's control. Sasuke startled, the Sharingan snuffed from his eyes like a candle blown out in a sudden gust of wind, staring at where Neji was letting the blood run from his fingers in rivulets. For a moment no one breathed and then Sasuke turned away with a half-hearted little huff, hands shaking slightly.

"Yeah, sorry…" Neji muttered, running his other hand through the blood sensually, tipping his head back in invitation just as he did with his sensei so many years ago.

"Only an idiot cuts himself of his own damn kunai!" Sasuke spat, thrusting his trembling hands into his sleeves.

"I was distracted." Neji chuckled, smiling in what he hoped was a enticing way.

"You…You're really bleeding…" Sasuke said stupidly, staring at the dripping crimson like a python might a minnow. The enticement was apparently a success.

"Yeah…clumsy…" Neji murmured and moved the hand to his mouth, wincing a bit as he began to lick the blood from his fingers.

Sasuke's eyes widened, following the movements of Neji's tongue with such perfect fascination that it sent a shiver up the Hyuuga's spine. There was nothing human about that, about the near frozen focus of Sasuke's eyes and the manic desire surfacing in the dark mirrors even as Neji clenched the injured hand to make it gush, gasping a little at the tiny shock of pain. Sasuke swallowed, his throat moving mechanically, the pretty blush chased from his face by passion of a darker sort. Neji stiffened his resolve and allowed a little of the blood to smear across his lips. Sasuke gasped as if he'd been burned, backing away like a startled rabbit. Neji smiled, trying to focus on the triumph instead of the ugly feeling of betrayal twisting his belly. The killer's beautiful face was conflicted, like an opium addict watching someone slip poppy essence into their tea, mad with want and terrified at the same time. Neji could only hope that this, this sickness that he had slowly come to believe Orochimaru instilled in his students, was not the same. Sasuke licked his lips.

"You…You…" Sasuke stuttered, teeth chattering a little as he watched.

"Don't worry, it doesn't really hurt." Neji purred, meeting his eyes.

"I…I can't do this…I don't want to do this…" Sasuke whispered, hands clenching and unclenching even as he moved closer.

"Do what, lover?" Neji asked softly.

"Naruto…he…he doesn't know…" Sasuke moaned, following the bleeding hand with his eyes even as a single tear crawled down his face.

Neji felt a cold stab of disgust with himself. The way Sasuke moved, tried to resist, nervous and agonized was so like Anko and for a brief and awful moment he knew that it was just the same, that they were addicts made slaves to something darker than even his worst suppositions. Orochimaru had done something, something having to do with the cursed seal of heaven, that changed both Sasuke and Anko in ways far more fundamental than anyone else knew. They weren't human anymore, not completely anyway, but whatever it was they were…it was nothing he had ever seen before. Sasuke hungered for blood just as Anko did and he smelled the same way, their bodies altered in some invisible way, made the vessel for a tremendous evil. Neither of them could not resist an active seduction with blood play and Neji was knowingly using is against his lover. This was too horrible. He wanted to die.

"It's just a little cut…" Neji whispered, offering his hand in a cup to Sasuke.

"I…I don't want to be this way anymore…" Sasuke cried, his face crumpling in desperation.

"What do you mean?" Neji asked, even as he shuddered at the evil of it.

The blood gathered in his palm and Sasuke eyed it like a sane person might a poisonous snake, obviously charmed and terrified at the same time. Kami, Neji had never dreamed it would be so powerful for him! Anko had never resisted the blood play, but she had always seemed so much more controlled, almost nonchalant. Sasuke was trembling just looking at the grisly offering. Neji took a breath and promised himself that he would never do this again, not ever, not even if Sasuke begged him. Only once, only once and it would all be over. A single sin to pay for peace.

"Neji…" Sasuke moaned.

"It's okay…have a taste." Neji whispered, even as Sasuke gripped his arm in bruising fingers and ran his hot tongue over the Hyuuga's bloody fingers.

Sasuke's eyes rolled back into his head and he shuddered, lapping at the blood with darting flicks of his tongue, just like a snake scenting the air. Neji gasped, feeling powerfully aroused and nauseas at the same time, watching Sasuke drink his blood like it was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted. Naruto would never forgive him for this and Anko, Kami Anko! If she only knew that he was using the lessons learned in her arms to manipulate someone, to dull their sense to he could pass one last desperate message to Hiashi, his useless life would be over. Still, he'd gone too far and after this, after this all of it would be over and he could devote himself fully to trying to make amends.

"Nghhh…So good…" Sasuke moaned, sucking his fingers so eagerly that Neji felt his skin tear on the other nin's teeth.

"Naruto doesn't have to know, this can just be for you and me." The Hyuuga whispered, moving closer.

Sasuke was occupied, utterly absorbed in the sensuous lure of the blood-play, oblivious to the hand Neji held behind his back. The summons, a wriggling one eyed serpent, writhed to life at the directed jutsu he performed one handed against it's frozen body. The vicious little beast snapped savagely at Neji's fingers as he held it a moment longer, eager to be off to its master with news of his deception. He welcomed the pain and wished vaguely that the damn thing was poisonous. Sasuke hissed, just like a scalded snake, undulating against his body in wicked abandon as the would clotted and ceased to bleed. The Hyuuga met Sasuke lips, feeling a familiar thrill of erotic terror as Sasuke lapped at the blood still cooling on his mouth, just like Anko. They were creatures of the same species, but Sasuke was male and his reaction was already far more violent than Anko's had ever been, holding Neji in his killing hands like hapless prey. Neji knew he was playing with forces far darker and more powerful than he had initially realized, but the damage was done and now only Kami and Naruto would decide what would happen next. He released the summons and it raced to Hiashi across the snow like a malevolent shadow.

OoOoOoO

Sakura felt it, powerful emotion happening simultaneously and almost too potent to for her to easily comprehend. She felt the surging passion of Naruto's ecstasy as he surrendered to Sai's love, something she had been expecting and yet nearly enough to knock her to her knees in the library where she stood reading the most recent medical journal. The woman gasped and tried to clear her vision. There was more, something dark awakening that she hadn't felt since the early days of Sasuke's marriage to Naruto, an urge she had almost forgotten. She felt the hunger and also the chilly sucking of evil, something that drew all light into itself, the darkness that Sasuke had nearly drowned in so many years ago when Orochimaru took him.

"Sasuke! No!" She cried, knowing that he couldn't hear her and helpless to silence herself.

The woman struggled to her feet, beaten by the conflicting experiences of her mates like the cliffs in Grass country were by the waves of an angry sea. The emotion through the link was synchronized, feeding off of its own momentum like a vast weight rolling downhill, gaining power as every moment passed. It was a vicious cycle and the link they shared allowed the anguished lust to bleed into her own awareness as well, making her thoughts foggy and her body too slow, the hunger almost too much to ignore. She had to stop it or Sasuke might be lost, consumed by the darkness he had been struggling against for years, sucked into the abyss his master had opened in his soul.

OoOoOoO

Kiba recognized immediately that something had changed, though he could not explain why. The movement of the soldiers on the parade grounds had inexplicably ceased and everyone not standing in formation was gathered in the main hall. The men seated inside were just as still as the others, resting silently in tight groups and drinking sake in small, nervous sips. Everywhere he went, people were herding the children indoors and harvesting winter vegetables from the gardens that were barely even ripe enough to be edible. A grim sense of industry gripped the compound, present like a shadow in the way the women were polishing the already polished sets of armor and in the way the men seemed even more reticent than usual. He had immediately tried to go to Hinata, to ask what in the hell might be going on, but she was being kept in strict isolation and the guards refused to answer any of his questions. Something was happening in the clan, something very bad, and he wanted to know what it was before the situation got any worse.

The Inuzuka shoved his way through several columns of soldiers, moving towards Hiashi's scent as the elder moved along the rows of men in what could only be an inspection. The clan head was avoiding him, along with everyone else, but Kiba refused to be shut out completely and the branch house members would never outright refuse their princess's consort. He moved faster, practically jogging, until he saw the glint of fine armor. So, they were readying for war.

"Hiashi! Who are ya gonna fight when there's no war!?" Kiba shouted, his voice booming through the empty silence like a flash of lightning through a moonless sky.

"It's none of your concern." The elder muttered, tightening the fastening on the jaw shield of one of the soldiers.

"Do they even know? Did ya even bother to tell them what you're getting them ready to die for?" Kiba snarled.

"Silence! They know how to follow orders, you could learn greatly from the example of even the lowest Hyuuga. Perhaps your time would be better spent trying." Hiashi hissed, moving to the next man in the row.

"Only a rabid dog makes war in a time of peace!" Kiba roared.

"The only dog here is you and you are little more than a bitch with a jeweled collar." Hiashi said calmly, leveling his chilly silver eyes onto Kiba's flushed face.

"Yer crazy! It's your OWN people!"

"My people know their duty." Hiashi snapped, jerking a knife out of its sheath on a trembling youth's hip with enough force to make the soldier gasp.

"Your people deserve better!" Kiba snarled as Hiashi inspected the blade with frigid indifference.

"Stop shouting or I'll have you removed."

"At least tell yer men who you're planning to attack! They deserve to know that you're trying to kill Naruto…" Kiba hissed, more quietly than before but still readily audible to anyone who was listening.

A murmur went through the massed soldiers like a ripple through a stream and a few of the men closer to Kiba visibly palled. Kiba didn't blame them. When the hidden village of Glacier attacked Suna three years ago, Gaara practically smashed the entire nation into dust singlehandedly and sold what few people managed to survive into slavery to the kingdom of Wave. Jinchuuriki were not to be trifled with and Gaara's demon was only the single tailed Shukaku, demon of modest power compared to the Fox. No one knew what Naruto, bonded to the nine tailed Kyuubi, might be capable of now that he had gained control over the beast…what horror might be unleashed if he were truly angered.

"The target is irrelevant. A Hyuuga does his duty." Hiashi murmured, scowling.

"Bullshit! The target is everything, especially if it's a Jinchuuriki!" Kiba snapped.

"Silence your barking or I may decide I like you better without a tongue."

"You wouldn't dare…"

"I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. What can my dearest daughter do to protect her pet when her delicate condition requires therapeutic isolation? Besides, maiming you might serve to improve my daughter's humility, it would be good for her to have a small reminder of your rather obvious vulnerability." Hiashi said, smirking wickedly.

"That's just yer pride and it's gonna get um all killed!" Kiba hissed.

"Our pride, Kiba. Our pride and honor as a house and something that I had hoped you would learn to respect eventually. Now, quiet your mouth and dress." Hiashi said, turning to survey him with an expression of triumph.

"Dress?"

"Yes, in your armor."

"Ya can't be serious! He's…He's my friend!" Kiba gasped, feeling his blood run cold as he turned to see endless rows of Hyuuga faces, their silver eyes turned away.

So close and dressed in the identical house armor of common soldiers, all of them looked too shockingly similar, as if he was trapped in a house of mirrors instead of a courtyard filled with people. Hiashi meant to attack Naruto, a powerful being who had always protected Konoha and he meant to do it with Kiba at the head of his army, a sacrifice to his pride and blood lust. So many would die, so many no matter what he did and now he would watch them die while fighting a friend who had come to his rescue time and time again, as constant as the sunrise. Kiba felt his balance begin to fail a little, swaying a bit as the enormity of what such an atrocity would mean fully registered for him.

"You are a member of this house now, a leader in the Hyuuga clan and as such you will be the one leading them as a Lord should. May you return victorious." Hiashi said mildly, tapping a finger against the steel of his own breastplate.

"Please don't…" Kiba whispered, falling to his knees among the forest of his new clansmen.

"Perhaps I'm not as toothless as you hoped, my dearest son in law." Hiashi said and laughed, his voice filled with victory and murder.