Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

The Sacrificed	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 5667 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor make profit of it. Kishimoto owns it.

Chapter List
- 1-Part 1
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 8-Part 8
- 9-Part 9
- 5
- 6
- 7
Author's note: Many, many apologies for the delay. These first three weeks of university have been a near nightmare with this week being an entire shitfest, so yeah, sorry it took me so long to finish this part. I worked until two thirty in the morning to finally finish this (do not copy me, you will regret it immensely when you have to get up early like me).
Warnings: relatively darkish chapter; character death; working through trauma; minor time skips
I hope you'll like it!
Part 6
"Move?" Naruto repeated numbly. "Move to where?"
Were they going to start the journey to Sasuke's family after all? He wouldn't be against it, but he could admit that he would miss this cave that had become his new home and he definitely would miss Tsunade and Kakashi.
"There's another cave network deeper into these woods," Sasuke said, grimacing when he stretched out his injured leg. "Hard to reach on human legs, so it will provide us better protection than this cave. We'll stay there until next spring arrives and then we'll leave."
"But why can't we stay here?" Naruto asked confused. "This cave has enough tunnels to confuse them. They attacked us in the meadow, not here."
"They've been in some of the tunnels," Sasuke replied darkly. "Their scent was faint, but I still caught it. They didn't find this cavern, but I'm not taking any chances. More might be send after us once they notice I disposed of them. Before that happens, we'll be gone."
Naruto swallowed, a foul taste coating his tongue at the realisation that those hunters had found their home. They really had been part of the ultimate elite.
"Do we – are we taking the stuff here with us?" he asked, resigned to saying goodbye to this cave.
Sure, it had just been a cave, but being here with Sasuke, living with him, it had felt even more like a home than his old shack had done. To now have to say goodbye to it, all because hunters decided to mess up their lives … It felt bitter.
"We can't take everything with us," Sasuke answered and stroked Naruto's cheek apologetically. "But we'll take as much with us as we can."
"Right, when do we leave?" Naruto gnawed on his lower lip, staring despondently at their nest.
It was stupid to get upset about something as simple as a nest, something that could easily be rebuild, but he liked this nest. He liked the sense of familiarity, of home that clung to it. It smelt like the both of them combined and he would be sorry to say goodbye to at least part of it.
"In two days," Sasuke said thoughtfully. "I need to be at full strength before we make the trip as the other cavern isn't that close by."
His face softened when he took a good look at Naruto and he pulled him down with him in the nest, cradling the blond to his chest as if he was the injured one, and not the wolf. "I know you like it here, but we can't risk staying any longer," he murmured, pressing his nose against Naruto's temple and breathing in deeply. "I can't risk either you or our baby and I don't know how long the disappearance of those hunters will remain unnoticed."
"I understand," Naruto said, his voice muffled as his face was tucked into Sasuke's neck.
He understood, but – he just hated that they were forced to leave their home. Why couldn't everything just have stayed good like it had been all these months before?
The scent of blood was thick in the air, cloying, filling his nostrils with its sickly rusty smell, and he gagged, doubling over. Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but red, red, red, pooling around him, sinking into the earth, decorating the trees, the leaves, the bushes, the sky …
And in front of him laid the hunter, his face unrecognisable, smashed to smithereens, one eyeball popped out of its socket, dangling down his cheek. Blood smeared fingers reached out to him, the dead man rising up slowly, bones cracking, blood streaming down like a river, splashing down on the ground.
Even more blood spilt when he opened his busted open mouth, gurgling, "Y-you d-di-did t-this t-to m-me!"
He stumbled back, horrified, sick to the core, shaking his head, because he couldn't have done this, he couldn't have killed that man, that wasn't him, he couldn't have done that, but then he looked down, down at his hands, his hands which were still clenching around a bloody rock, his skin slathered with blood as if it was an ointment and he started screaming, screaming until his throat grew hoarse, until his vocal chords were shot to hell, until he –
"Naruto! Naruto! Wake up!"
He shot up, heart beating like mad in his chest, his breathing loud in his ears, and looked around wildly, expecting to seen nothing but blood and a cracked open skull, bloodied hands reaching out to me.
But there was nothing but a dimmed cave, the fire in the hearth close to dying out, and Sasuke. Sasuke who was kneeling next to him, his hands clamped around his shoulders, claws pricking through his shirt; alarm and worry warring on that beautiful face of his.
"I – I – what – what happened?" Naruto questioned, trembling for some reason even though he was far from cold. Their baby was fussing almost violently inside of him, as if startled as well, and he barely remembered to place his hand on his stomach, stroking it in a futile attempt to calm his child down.
Eyeing him carefully, looking like he was expecting Naruto to lose consciousness at any second now, Sasuke answered slowly, "You were having a nightmare, I assume. I could smell the fear and the panic on you and your heart was going crazy."
"Oh." A nightmare. Right. Of course. That made sense. Of course the sky couldn't be drenched in blood. Of course dead men couldn't rise up to accuse him.
The memory of the man, the hunter he had killed, had him clenching his eyes shut, swallowing back the bile threatening to escape. His throat burned as if he'd swallowed acid instead and he pressed the back of his hand against his mouth, fearing he was going to throw up any moment now.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sasuke asked softly, cupping Naruto's face, brushing his thumbs across his clammy skin.
"Just – I dreamt about – about him. The hunter. Who I – who I - " The words refused to leave his mouth and he bit down savagely on the inside of his cheek, hating himself for not even being able to say the words aloud.
He had killed someone and he couldn't even utter those words? What was wrong with him?
"I wish you didn't have to do that," Sasuke murmured and gently tilted his head up, forcing him to look at soft dark eyes. "You were protecting me and our cub, never forget that. They attacked us first, you defended us. You're nothing like them."
"I didn't – I didn't mean to kill him," Naruto said in a small voice; his fingers tightening around Sasuke's wrists. "I just – I wanted to stop him, I wanted to keep him from hurting you further and - " He took a shuddering breath, nausea swirling in the pit of his stomach.
"I know, I know, ssssh," Sasuke soothed him. "I know you only meant to stop him. This is not your fault, all right? Nothing that happened in that meadow was your fault. The hunters attacked us first. They deserved what happened to them. You only did what your instincts told you to do: protect our family. Nobody can fault you for that."
It sounded so reasonable when Sasuke laid it out like that. It was true: all he had done was in response to the hunters attacking them. He'd only thrown that rock at that guy to make him stop and when he had seen him getting up again, instincts had taken over his body and he'd reacted before he was fully conscious of it. All he had been thinking about during that moment was that he needed to protect his family, that he needed to help Sasuke, or risk losing both his mate and their unborn cub, and he couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let them get away with hurting his family, with taking them away from him.
But now blood clung to his hands, he'd taken a life. Never once in his life had he thought he would be capable of murdering someone. But when those hunters had hurt Sasuke … Every last shred of reason had left him and he had just operated on instincts only.
Did that make him a bad person?
"You could never be a bad person, Naruto," Sasuke whispered, embracing him to his chest. He lowered the both of them back into the nest, Naruto's head cradled against his shoulder. "You did what you had to do, that's all. You protected our family; someone who does that can never be a bad person."
That was also true, no? He knew Kakashi was sometimes forced to take a life during his missions if they turned foul. Did that make him a bad person? He'd never considered the man to be bad; he was merely doing his job after all, protecting the village.
He had killed that hunter, yes, but he had only done so because he had wanted to protect Sasuke, terrified to lose his mate.
If Kakashi wasn't a bad person for killing someone for the sake of the village – then Naruto couldn't be a bad person for killing someone to protect the man he loved, right?
Sleep took a long time to find him again.
The kettle, the cups, the tealeaves and the small jars of jam were stuffed in one bag and would be carried by Naruto. Around half of the nest ended up in another bag with Naruto's blankets and pictures carefully stored on top.
The remainder of the nest and the bear rug would remain here, too big to be carried to their new home. Naruto was still sad about that, but contented himself with the knowledge that at least most of their belongings could be brought with them.
The most important part, though, was that they were both still alive to be able to move. It was a thought he clung to whenever his treacherous mind attempted to linger in the memory of what he had done. Yes, he felt awful for having killed someone – but he couldn't feel awful when that meant Sasuke was still with him, hadn't died underneath that onslaught of arrows.
He had killed someone to save his mate and he would just have to learn to live with that.
"Ready to go?" Sasuke inquired, already in his wolf form.
His injuries were fully healed to Naruto's relief and amazement. Sasuke had said he would be completely healed within a day, but given how severe his injuries had been Naruto had thought that he'd been too optimistic about his healing progress.
He had ended up being right instead, with not even a single scar left as evidence that he had been attacked. A wolf shifter's healing power really was something else.
As the other cave was rather deep into the woods at a place unapproachable on human feet, Naruto would sit on Sasuke's back for the journey, keeping a hold on both the bags so they wouldn't lose their belongings. They had got up early – so early that Naruto was still rubbing sleep out of his eyes – so that they could make the trip in one day instead of having to spend the night in the woods.
Naruto worried that making the trip in one day whilst carrying him and the luggage would be too much for Sasuke after recently healing, but the wolf shifter had assured him he would be fine and that he wasn't even feeling the aftereffects of healing anymore. Naruto had no choice but to trust him. Sasuke wouldn't lie to him, not when it could potentially put them both at risk, so if Sasuke said he could handle the trip, Naruto would trust him.
Naruto took one last look around the cavern; his gaze sliding over the remains of their nest, the burnt wood in the hearth, its cinders slowly dying out, smoke trailing like a thin rope into the opening above. His eyes rested upon the bear rug for a moment, the fur dull looking with no flames to illuminate it.
He looked at the crudely crafted table and chairs, brushing his fingers across the rough wooden edges, gazed at an oddly rusty coloured spot on the wall next to it; a smear Sasuke had never explained but which had one day just appeared on it.
One last look at the second home he had known and then he took a deep breath, inclining his head. "Yes, let's go."
Towards their new home.
Even though the chances of being followed without Sasuke knowing about it were small, Naruto was on edge throughout the entire journey, casting nervous glances around him, pricking his ears every time a branch creaked or a twig cracked.
They went deeper into the woods than they had ever done before. The trees were denser here, no naturally created paths presents anymore like in the rest of the forest. Naruto started to understand why Sasuke was so certain that no humans would be able to find them.
The underground was treacherous here, rocks and holes creating an uneven path. Sasuke ran across it with no issues, jumping over bushes he couldn't avoid, but Naruto was certain he would spend more time tripping and falling flat on his face if he tried to walk now. At the very least the difficulty of traversing this part of the woods would make any potential followers think twice.
"How did you find this new cave actually?" Naruto questioned when they took a small break to eat. They were near a small brook; insects buzzing above the water surface.
Sasuke shrugged, rolling his shoulders. "Back when I first arrived here, I spent some time scouting out the forest and found the cave during one of my explorations. I settled for the first one because that area was easier to navigate and humans didn't dare to come that close after I showed them what happened if they bothered me too long." His smile was humourless, edging on grim.
They continued their journey shortly afterwards, Naruto having to hunch every time a branch hung too low. The roofs of the trees entwined here more, dimming the sunlight trying to worm its way through the leaves. The animals here were still as lively as in the front part of the woods, however, so even though it was darker here, Naruto didn't feel particularly uncomfortable.
The remainder of the trip was spent looking around, taking in the various types of bushes and long swaying grass filling in the gaps between the towering trees. His baby was fussing mildly within him, rocked to sleep by Sasuke's swift running.
Evening was settling in by the time Sasuke slowed down considerably and Naruto looked up, confused by the change of pace. Were they taking a break to eat dinner?
The reason why he had slowed down became clear pretty quickly and Naruto uttered a noise of surprise, sliding down Sasuke's back. They had arrived at the cave; the opening half hidden behind low hanging branches. The rock looked almost an onyx black, blending in perfectly with the darkening surroundings. Only the last lingering sunrays made it possible for Naruto to actually see the opening. Once it was completely dark he wouldn't know where to even start.
"It should be big enough for the three of us," Sasuke grumbled, shaking out his fur. "It doesn't have a complicated cave system like our previous den, but it's not just a one way tunnel either."
"That's fine," Naruto said, grabbing one of the bags. "Does it have some sort of fireplace as well? It's not winter anymore, but I don't think I'll be able to see a lot in the cave."
He hadn't been able to see without a fire in their previous home, and given how dark the stone of this one looked like, he doubted he would fare much better here.
"Should be one," Sasuke confirmed and transformed into his human form, grabbing the other bag. "I don't think it's as big as the other one, but it should be enough to keep a fire lit at all times."
He grabbed Naruto's hand, leading him through the half hidden entrance. As expected, the deeper they went, the less Naruto could see and it was only Sasuke's hold on him that kept him from walking into any walls or stumbling over loose bits of rocks.
"Wait here for a moment," Sasuke told him, making him stand still.
His voice appeared to echo a bit, so Naruto thought it was safe to presume that they had arrived at the heart of the cave, their new home. With one sense cut off, his hearing seemed to have amplified and he could hear the rustling of the bag when Sasuke placed it down and went through it. The wolf shifter walked away then, somewhere across from Naruto, and something like blocks were placed down. Then a whisper and –
Naruto blinked rapidly when fire erupted all of a sudden, filling the cavern with its dancing flames. It was a small fire at first, but Sasuke adjusted the wooden blocks and the fire ate them greedily, growing bigger quickly.
"When did you have the time to chop wood?" Naruto asked surprised, lowering his own bag to the ground.
"I chopped some before we left," Sasuke replied, stretching his arms. "I wasn't sure exactly how late we would arrive and I didn't want to take any chances." He walked over to Naruto, cupping his stomach with both his hands and kissing him softly. "What do you think? Think you can feel at home here too?"
Naruto looked around, at the uneven walls coming together somewhere high above them; at the onyx black colour gleaming in the flames. The cavern was only a tad smaller than the previous one, but he didn't need a large cavern to be happy. He would have been more than happy with a small cave too as long as he had Sasuke with him.
Smiling, he wrapped his hands around Sasuke's neck and pecked his lips. "Yeah, definitely."
Black eyes glistened. "Well then, let's start preparing our new home."
"I'll be back soon," Sasuke promised the next morning, nuzzling his cheek. "Just shout if you need me, I'll hear you."
"Sure," Naruto nodded and watched him change into his wolf form before bounding into the bushes, disappearing from view.
They had just spent their first night at their new home and Sasuke had now left to catch some breakfast and lunch for them. Naruto had expected to have trouble sleeping in a new environment like he had experienced during the first few weeks after he'd been dropped off at the first cave. Surprisingly – or perhaps not so – he hadn't had any trouble whatsoever falling asleep. Having the majority of their nest still and Sasuke cradling him within his embrace definitely had helped him catch sleep and it had been as if they hadn't changed caves at all.
Obviously they wouldn't be permanently settling here, but he thought he would like the time they did stay here. The cave itself wasn't bad at all and the surroundings were very nice to look at it, with its blooming trees, the rose bushes coming to life, tiny violets dotting the ground and –
A blue haired woman gazing frankly at him from between two trees.
He froze and could only stare at her, at the way her short, blue hair glistened in the early morning sun, as if tiny diamonds were interwoven with the strands; at the light blue rose wrapped around the bun in her hair; her grey eyes intensified by the purple colour on her eyelids. She wore a deep blue dress which shimmered as if doused in water drops and a ring around her finger.
Who was she and how on earth had she managed to reach this place? Sasuke had said no human could come here on foot!
She took a step forwards, unnerving him when he realised her footsteps weren't making any sound at all. "When I felt the border being breached, I didn't expect to find someone like you," she murmured and her eyes trailed down to his stomach.
Instinctively he covered it with his hands, trying to shield it from her view, and she blinked slowly, raising her eyes up again.
"Not entirely human anymore, so what are you?" she asked, tilting her head to the left. "You're not alone here, are you?"
"My – my mate, he's left to find food," he stammered, growing more and more nervous the longer she kept standing there, studying him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know this place is yours."
"Clearly," she said dryly and took another step closer. "Why are you here? Who is your mate?"
He didn't want to answer her, not really, but she was giving off a strange vibe; not entirely hostile, but not entirely friendly either. Instinctively, however, he knew she wasn't one to mess with and she would retaliate if she perceived any insult.
"My – my mate is Sasuke and we – we had to move here after hunters found us," he answered haltingly, swallowing; hyper aware of how every few seconds her gaze flickered to his belly as if she could see how his baby was fussing fiercely. "Sasuke said we would be safe here."
Her eyebrows rose up a smidgen. "Hunters?" she murmured. "What did you do to incur the wrath of human hunters?"
"We - " He couldn't go on, unwilling to admit that the hunters had been sent after Sasuke because the village had grown too afraid.
"Because blood had been spilt in defence of my mate," Sasuke's voice grumbled out of the blue and Naruto whipped his head around, his mouth dropping open when Sasuke meandered out of the forest, freshly killed rabbits held in his hands.
The woman's grey eyes lit up as if in recognition and a faint smile graced her lips. "Wolf," she greeted him. "It has been a while since we last encountered each other."
Sasuke dipped his head at her. "It has been. My apologies for intruding upon your ground, but I needed a safe place for my mate and my cub."
"I understand. I was merely curious who had dared to trespass," she said and folded her hands together in front of her. "Are you planning on staying here indefinitely?"
He shook his head. "No, as soon as my mate has whelped and our cub has grown strong enough, we will depart for my home."
She nodded slowly, her gaze briefly landing on Naruto again. "Well, if it is you and your mate, I have no reason to cast you out. You will find safety here for the rest of your stay."
Sasuke inclined his head. "Thank you for your generosity, Rígan Konan."
She smiled and then in front of Naruto's astonished eyes her body started to glow and began to shrunk until she was so tiny she was nothing more than a glisten of gold in the air. One blink of the eyes and she was entirely gone, as if she had never been here in the first place.
"Who was that?" Naruto asked in a strangled voice, completely thrown off by how familiar Sasuke and the strange lady had acted with each other. "How do you know each other?"
How had she managed to disappear like that? What kind of being was she?
"She's the Queen of the Fae and the guardian of this forest," Sasuke answered frankly and walked over to him, dropping the dead rabbits on the ground. "I've met her before when I first entered these woods. I didn't know this cave belonged to her actual territory, however. I should have asked permission first." He looked chagrined with himself for having forgotten to do so.
All the blond could focus on, however, was the comment about her being the Queen of the Fae. "We trespassed on the Fae Queen's territory?" he squeaked, hands flying out to grab Sasuke's wrists. "Sasuke, what if she's mad about this?" he asked worriedly.
"She isn't, didn't you hear our entire conversation just now?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"She could be lying!"
"The Queen doesn't lie," Sasuke told him, pursing his lips together. "There is no need for her to do that. If she says she won't cast us out and that we're safe here, then that's exactly what she says. She has no reason to speak in riddles to me."
"Why not? What makes you so special?" Naruto demanded, narrowing his eyes slightly.
The wolf shifter huffed. "My brother's mate is Fae too. She could sense his presence on me the first time we met and decided that that meant I could be trusted."
"Oh." Naruto blinked, taken aback by that information. He knew not everyone in Sasuke's family were wolf shifters as the other man had mentioned knowing couples with human mates before, but he hadn't thought they would have a Fae in their midst as well.
He furrowed his eyebrows when Sasuke squeezed his hands, and when he looked at him he was greeted with a smirk. "What?" he asked warily.
"Were you jealous perhaps?" Sasuke teased; his black eyes glittering.
"I wasn't! Why would I be jealous?" Naruto instantly denied hotly. "There is nothing for me to be jealous about!"
"True," Sasuke mused, releasing his hand to cup Naruto's left cheek. "Because you know you're the only one for me."
His cheeks heating up with a heavy blush, Naruto pouted and glanced away. "You're an idiot," he muttered.
"Whatever you say, love," Sasuke smirked and tilted his head up by his chin, pressing a firm kiss on his mouth. "Let's go have breakfast."
They had been living at the new cave for around three weeks when Sasuke started to act a bit off.
It began when he'd returned from finding breakfast and was more silent than usual. It was true that Sasuke wasn't exactly the type to chatter senselessly, but the particular type of quietness surrounding him now unnerved Naruto, made him feel on edge and he worried.
Because whatever got Sasuke this quiet couldn't be anything good.
But this place was safe; Sasuke had reassured him of that and the Fae Queen had basically implied it as well. So if neither of them had lied, why was Sasuke acting so strangely then?
When Sasuke shifted into his wolf form during an early afternoon, preparing for another border run – "Nothing wrong with keeping an eye on the surroundings, just in case." – Naruto sat up in the nest, his hands cupping his rounded belly. At six months, the baby had become even more active and currently they were furiously pushing their hands out, pressing back against Naruto's fingers whenever he poked his belly gently.
"Is something wrong?" he asked bluntly after three days of having an oddly contemplative wolf mate next to him.
"Wrong? Why would something be wrong?" Sasuke asked surprised, turning his large head around.
When he was in his wolf form, he easily blended in with the dark stone of the cave. He had surprised Naruto several times already by making him think he was somewhere in the tunnels until he turned his head and blood red eyes would be staring back at him.
"I don't know," Naruto said slowly, his thumb rubbing circles around his bellybutton where the cub was currently kicking him. "You're acting somewhat strange. You're more quiet than usual."
Sasuke titled his head to the left slightly. "Just thinking about something," he answered after a pause.
"About something bad?" The blond furrowed his eyebrows.
"Depends on your definition of bad," Sasuke replied mysteriously and left before Naruto could open his mouth again.
Frowning, he stared at the gaping hole in the cavern, the only entrance and exit of the hollow room here. "Your father is acting off," he complained to his baby, poking the right side of his stomach petulantly.
He got a push back in response, which he chose to interpret as "Yes, father is being very strange."
Good to know he wasn't the only one suspicious about Sasuke's behaviour.
A firm kick against his bladder forced him right out of the doze he'd fallen into and he snorted awake, blinking rapidly. Another kick, stronger this time, had him grimacing and he sat up, rubbing his stomach.
"I'm awake, I'm awake," he muttered and pushed himself up, sitting on his knees before standing up.
He took a couple of seconds to find his balance again and then went into the tunnels, unable to ignore the call of nature any longer now that the baby was pressing firmly against it. As he went into the tunnel on his left, he wondered how late it was. Sasuke wasn't back yet, but that didn't tell him anything. Either Sasuke hadn't been gone for that long yet and he had just started dozing quickly or Sasuke was already gone for a while, in which case he wondered how much longer the wolf shifter would stay away.
There was a small creek running alongside the cave, nearly hidden behind a row of bushes and he used the cool, rushing water to wash his hands after he had finished his business. He splashed some water across his face, shivering when some of the cold drops slipped down, soaking the edge of his shirt.
The coldness of the water helped remove the last traces of sleep and as he rose up, he shook out his hands, getting rid of as much moisture as possible before drying his hands off on his trousers.
He turned around and stepped across the smallest bush, intent on going back into the cave and wait there for Sasuke to arrive when rustling noises had him shifting around in the direction of it.
Perking up at the sight of a large, dark haired wolf coming into view, he opened his mouth to greet his mate – until his gaze lowered, falling on something that Sasuke was dragging towards the cave.
No, not something, someone.
Numbly he stood there, staring as Sasuke tugged and pulled at the body, mercilessly dragging it from underneath the thorny rose bushes. Could only watch as Sasuke spat the person's arm, panting slightly from the weight he'd been dragging along for who knew how long.
Could only stand there, frozen, as the person groaned and flopped weakly onto his back, revealing –
Danzo's face.
"Sasuke? What's this?" Naruto asked in a small voice; heart beating erratically at the sight of the man who had condemned him to the fate of death, who had considered him to be less worth than the cattle roaming the fields, even less than the dirt underneath his shoes.
Danzo had always been a proud man, looking well put together even at his advanced age. There was nothing left of that arrogant pride, not with his shirt ripped to shreds in several places, bleeding gashes peeking through the holes. Not with the large cut on his forehead bleeding profusely, covering the left side of his face in blood.
Especially not with the way his right leg was bent in an uncomfortable angle, causing him unable to walk, let alone run away. All he could do was sit up slowly, his entire form trembling with the pain he no doubt was currently experiencing.
Even nearly ripped to shreds by a giant wolf, his gaze was colder than ice when his dark eyes landed on Naruto, a sneer twisting his mouth.
"He actually left you alive," Danzo said hollowly, his eyes burning with an unholy fire. His gaze shifted downwards then, landing on Naruto's belly, and his sneer widened, twisting his facial features even further. "And turned you into an even bigger freak than you already were, I see."
A paw shot out, slamming straight into his throat and Danzo choked, grabbling weakly at Sasuke's paw. The old man, weakened by age and his wounds, was no match for the powerful wolf however, and Sasuke bared his teeth, visibly putting more pressure onto Danzo's throat.
"You don't deserve to talk to him, let alone look at him!" Sasuke snarled; his eyes glowing an ominously red colour, dark red like the blood steadily dripping down Danzo's face.
"Sasuke, why – why is he here?" was all Naruto could think of to ask.
How had Sasuke managed to grab Danzo of all people? As long as he could remember, the older man had always been surrounded by at least two guards, never travelling alone. How could he be here alone then? In the middle of the day, no less!
"He's been on my list ever since you've confided in me," Sasuke said and his calm tone stood in sharp contrast with the manner he kept his sharp claws wrapped around Danzo's throat, getting dangerously close to cutting off his air supply.
"He was however also the one who was the best protected amongst the entire village," Sasuke continued and sneered. "So I bided my time, figuring I could take him last. Until he sent the hunters after us."
Leaning closer into Danzo's space, baring his large fangs, he grumbled threateningly, "Until a little birdie informed me he was intent on sending twice as many hunters into the woods. So I decided I was done waiting. I decided it's time he answers for everything he's done to you, from protecting that vile scum to treating you less than dirt. It's time he gets punished."
Naruto knew what Sasuke was going to do. He was going to kill Danzo, just like he had killed all those other people, like Mizuki, people who had hurt Naruto throughout all those years, people whose names he'd willingly given up to the wolf shifter several months ago. People he hadn't spared a second thought to, because he didn't even know in what ways most of them had suffered, preferring not to be told about them.
It had been enough to know that Sasuke was punishing them on his behalf, had been enough to have the knowledge that all those people had gone through the same hell they had often put him through.
He had never seen Sasuke kill one of them before, had smelt it on him at times, had been told about them, but hadn't actually witnessed it.
Now he was going to see it happening right in front of his eyes and there was nothing he could do about it, nothing he could say that would sway Sasuke into releasing the man he considered responsible for his mate's suffering, the man who had sent the hunters after Sasuke and in doing so, had put Naruto and their unborn cub in danger as well.
The worst part of it all? He couldn't even find it in him to stop this. Couldn't muster up even the slightest shred of sympathy to help the old man escape from the vengeful wolf's wrath.
Danzo had thrown him literally in front of the wolves, sparing no thought for his safety, content to let a boy die instead of a cow or a pig. He had sent hunters after Sasuke when he had figured out who was behind the attacks on the villagers, had nearly succeeded in having Sasuke killed.
And now he had apparently been planning to send twice as many hunters after Sasuke, twice as many people ready to maim, hurt and kill the man Naruto had come to love.
"You can't do anything to me!" Danzo spat, glaring at Sasuke. "You think the villagers will be content to see me killed? They'll be demanding vengeance the moment they know and what will you do then? They'll come after you and that nasty whore of you with his freak be-"
He choked, doubling over when Sasuke's fist slammed into his stomach.
"You really are not that smart at all, are you?" Sasuke asked calmly. "You think the village will cry for you? The man who ensured that scum could keep harming their children?"
He bent towards Danzo, who was coughing, one arm wrapped around his stomach. "That is, of course, if they even know you died. As far as they are aware, you left the village, done with the stench of death clinging to it and retreated elsewhere, leaving them behind like cattle waiting to be slaughtered."
"There is no way they will believe that," Danzo denied, spitting out blood. "As soon as they notice I'm missing, they will come for me!"
"As soon as they notice you're missing, hm?" Sasuke stepped away, considering him. "Do tell me: how do you think I got to you in the first place?"
Danzo stared at him, speechless for what had to be the first time in his life as he tried to comprehend what Sasuke was telling him. Sasuke in the meantime turned his head towards Naruto, and his blood red eyes softened just the tiniest bit.
"If you want to go back to our den, I won't mind. I just wanted to show you that he's not getting away with what he did to you."
Naruto wanted to accept that way out, the excuse of being able to pretend that nothing happened. If he went back to their nest now, he could pretend Sasuke wasn't going to kill Danzo in cold blood, could imagine that he wasn't the cause of someone else's death.
Something kept him rooted in place, however, kept him standing there instead of allowing him to retreat. He had done this: he had given Sasuke all the names he needed to start his vengeance, had given him implicit permission to hunt them all down and kill them. He might not be the one doing the actual killing, but in a way, his hands were just as soaked in blood as Sasuke's were.
Sasuke was his mate, the father of his baby, one of the very few people who cared about him, who loved him for who he was. The only person willing to go to unimaginable lengths to take care of him, to show him what he was worth.
The only person willing to kill for him.
The least he could do was stay and show that he deserved to be called the wolf's mate, that he deserved to stand next to Sasuke. He was a wolf's mate and it was time he embraced that reality fully.
So he shook his head and refused to budge, not even when Sasuke looked at him imploringly.
"I – I don't want to go back. Not yet," he said, licking his lips and balling his hands to fists.
"It's not going to be pretty," Sasuke warned him, slamming his claws down on Danzo's leg without even glancing at him when the man tried to crawl away.
The claws dug into Danzo's legs, embedding themselves within his skin and muscles, and the man screamed briefly before he bit down on his lip, glaring foully up at Sasuke.
"I know," Naruto said, releasing a shaky breath. "But you're doing this for me."
The least I can do, is stay here.
Sasuke inclined his head and turned his attention back to Danzo, who froze at whatever he witnessed in those glowing, blood red eyes.
"You're lucky I don't want to upset my mate too much," Sasuke murmured, a snarl hidden within his gravelly voice.
He opened his jaw, revealing rows of glittering, white, sharp teeth and slammed Danzo down to the ground, keeping him immobile there with just one paw. In a flash he bent down and right before his teeth closed around Danzo's throat, Naruto closed his eyes and looked away, his nails digging into the vulnerable flesh of his palms.
He refused to move, however, and kept standing there, even when there was no way to ignore the dying gurgles of Danzo, no way to pretend he didn't hear the gory sound of teeth tearing into flesh, bones cracking and splintering underneath the force of the massive jaw.
All became silent then, the air filled with nothing else but the chirping and singing of the birds once more, insects buzzing loudly above the creek, squirrels, mice and other small animals racing through into the trees and underneath the bushes.
Slowly he opened his eyes, his mouth drying up at the sight of Danzo's lifeless body, surrounded in an ever growing pool of his own blood. And there, right next to his body, was his –
Arms – human limbs – wrapped around him, a strong hand pressing his face into an equally strong naked shoulder.
Lips tenderly brushed against the top of his head, a hand reaching down to cradle his stomach, in which their baby was only softly fussing around now. "It's over," Sasuke whispered, running his free hand across Naruto's back. "He can't hurt you any longer. It's over."
It's over.
It's over.
It's over.
The words reverberated in his mind, bouncing back and forth, and had him clinging onto Sasuke tightly, taking shuddering breaths and burying his face in the wolf's neck, inhaling his comforting scent.
It was over. After so many years of feeling useless, of being looked at like he was worthless again and again, after being treated less than dirt …
It was over.
Finally.
"Who told you that?"
"Hm?" Sasuke opened one eye, his hand which until now had been lazily trailing up and down across Naruto's naked side stilling, resting on the side of his belly.
"That Danzo – that he was planning on sending hunters after you again," Naruto asked, pressing himself as closely to Sasuke as he could with his belly in the way.
"That man – Kakashi you call him? – told me that."
"You spoke to Kakashi?" His heart started thumping quicker, his eyes widening. When had that happened?
"Briefly," Sasuke replied, and opened both eyes now, giving him an apologetic look. "He couldn't stay long because people were waiting for him. He told me Danzo was planning on calling more hunters soon. I couldn't risk it. This place is safe, but I couldn't let hunters just traipse around in the forest. We're not the only ones living here." His forehead crinkled with a slight frown.
"So you went and grabbed Danzo to kill him," Naruto murmured.
"I went out and grabbed him to kill him, yes," Sasuke confirmed and kissed him softly. "I don't care how many humans I have to kill if that means keeping you and our cub safe."
It really did say something about him, Naruto mused, burying himself closer into Sasuke's embrace, that Sasuke's words didn't even disturb him anymore.
AN2: Rather darkish, but given the evens in this one, it couldn't be avoided. The next one (last one? Not sure yet) should be a lot lighter, though :)
Rígan = queen in Irish (correct me if I'm wrong).
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
Cuddles
Melissa
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The Sacrificed