A/N: Just a reminder, new chapter here officially means new chapter over on the P atreon now, where my patrons are currently voting on the future direction of this story!
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Naruto would be lying if a small part of him didn't want to just go along with all of it. Sasuko was acting so out of character, but there was something undeniably hot about having the Last Uchiha on her knees before him, her hands wrapped around his cock. All their lives, Sasuko had been this untouchable, aloof, and altogether haughty girl who had looked down upon him every chance she got.
Sure, they'd eventually become friends, or so Naruto liked to think, but there was simply no denying years and years of icy distaste bordering on hatred. The only reason Naruto knew Sasuko had never truly hated him was because he could tell that she focused all of her real hatred on one individual and one individual alone. The man who had killed her clan. Her own brother.
That all said, this was wrong. It felt good, certainly, but Naruto was more than emotionally mature enough by this point to know that it wasn't always about physically feeling good. While that small part of him DID want to let Sasuko keep going, Naruto just couldn't allow himself to go through with it. Her frantic actions, combined with the words coming out of her mouth… it put quite the damper on the whole situation.
And so, rather than letting Sasuko continue to jerk him to full hardness, Naruto places his hands on her shoulders and drops into a crouch, bringing himself to eye level with the Last Uchiha as he shakes his head.
"Sasuko, no."
Freezing, Sasuko looks at him with wide, wounded eyes. When she begins to tremble, Naruto doesn't hesitate. He can tell she's about to flee from him, and so before she can, he all but lunges forward, capturing her in a hug and holding her tightly. She stiffens up in his grasp, going as still as a statue as Naruto embraces her right then and there.
"You don't have to do this. You don't have to do ANY of this unless you actually want to. I don't need you to pay me back for saving your life. You're my best friend. I was paying YOU back, if anything."
A slight jolt goes through Sasuko at that last bit.
"What… what are you talking about, idiot?"
Grinning back behind her ear, out of her line of sight, Naruto chuckles.
"Forgotten already? How you took those senbon for me back in Wave?"
It was a long time ago, to be fair. But Naruto would never forget it. Maybe because it was one of his last coherent memories before falling under the control of Kurama's bestial chakra for the first time. What he'd done to Haku after Haku had seemingly killed Sasuko, Naruto still couldn't fully remember, even all of this time and one ironclad agreement with his passenger later. But he remembered that moment. He remembered Sasuko's words before she'd passed out, seemingly dead at the time.
"I don't know why… my body just moved on its own…"
He'd carried those words with him all these years, and now Naruto realizes he did so just so he can throw them right back in Sasuko's face.
"When I saved you, it wasn't even really on purpose. I didn't choose to do it."
Stiffening in his grasp again, Sasuko jerks back a little bit, though Naruto doesn't let her go.
"Wha-?"
Instead, he overrides her, his tone colored with amusement.
"When I saved you… it was like my body just moved on its own."
He can feel it in Sasuko's reaction to his words. She may not have carried that moment with her all these years like he had, but he's triggered a remembrance all the same. And just like that, the tension seems to flow out of his former teammate's body. The Last Uchiha lets out a low sigh and relaxes into his grasp.
Naruto holds her for a moment longer, giving her a good solid squeeze. If Sasuko had gotten more hugs throughout her life, he feels like she would have turned out far better adjusted. But then, the same rang true for him, didn't it? They were two peas in a pod… it was just how they'd ultimately chosen to react to the world around them that was different.
Regardless, once he's absolutely certain she won't try to flee again from him, as well as a few extra seconds of hugging beyond that for good measure, Naruto finally pulls away, and carefully tucks his dick back into his pants.
The last little while had been something… special, that was for sure. Sasuko had not only asked to join his clan and marry him, but she'd also tried to initiate sexual activity between the two of them. But that moment was passed now, and Naruto could tell from her flushed neck and averted eyes that she's embarrassed by her actions.
"Sasuko… let's talk. I don't… I'm not rejecting you, to be clear. Not as my friend, and not as anything more either. But if you want to be something more… then I need to understand why. And selling yourself off as my bride in order to ask me for a favor is not a very good reason."
Sasuko's flush spreads, and she opens her mouth before closing it again. Only after a moment does she slowly nods and finally explain.
"I need to find my brother… and I need your help to do it."
Naruto blinks, taken aback by that. On the one hand, that was about par for the course with Sasuko. The Last Uchiha had been obsessed with finding and killing her older brother all their lives, ever since the massacre. And really, Naruto couldn't say Itachi Uchiha didn't deserve it. His actions were monstrous, and incredibly damaging to the village at that.
The thing was, Sasuko had made it abundantly clear, even after they became comrades on Team Seven, that hunting down and killing Itachi was her path and hers alone. She was obsessed with personally growing strong enough to take down the S-Ranked Missing Nin by herself. It was why she'd left the village in the first place, because Orochimaru had promised her the strength and training that she felt Konoha was holding her back from!
So, to have Sasuko ask for help after all this time… her near-death, near-possession experience at Orochimaru's hands must have been more traumatizing then Naruto thought. But then, of course it would be. Even watching that Snake Bastard try to burrow into the back of Sasuko's throat, blood flying everywhere… it'd been traumatizing.
He really had acted on pure instinct then, and thank fuck that Tsunade had been there too in order to heal Sasuko up, otherwise it might not have meant anything in the long run.
Still, it was done. Even Danzo was done. But Itachi was still out there and now Sasuko was asking for help. To say Naruto wasn't bolstered a bit by that would be a lie, and he can't help smiling a little.
"Of course I'll help you. All you had to do was ask."
Giving him a very dry look, Sasuko finally gets up off of her knees, prompting Naruto to rise from his crouch as well. Crossing her arms over her chest, the kunoichi shakes her head.
"I need your help because… I don't want to kill him. Not yet, anyways. I need him alive so I can ask him some things."
Now THAT is a bit of a shocker. Naruto's eyebrows raise high on his head, something Sasuko notices and scowls at. For a moment, she hunkers in on herself… and then seems to forcibly relax her shoulders, straightening up and thinning out her lips for a moment before speaking.
"I guess there's no helping it. I'll have to explain, won't I?"
Seeing as Sasuko seems to be convincing herself quite easily, Naruto doesn't say a word. He simply nods encouragingly and gives her his full attention. Even then, it takes the Last Uchiha a moment to come to terms with having to tell him anything. Communication has NEVER been Sasuko's strong suit, which is probably why she'd decided that seducing him was better than just actually talking about her feelings.
Finally, though, Sasuko begins to speak. And Naruto does the only thing he can do. He listens.
-x-X-x-
When the information is done spilling forth from Sasuko's mouth, Naruto has to admit, he's feeling a lot of different emotions. Anger, mostly… but all directed at an already dead man. Sure, there was the fact that the Uchiha had apparently been plotting to overthrow the Third Hokage and replace him with one of their own. But that only happened because Danzo did everything in his power to make it a reality.
If it wasn't for Danzo Shimura, the Uchiha Clan would probably not only be alive today, but might also be productive and beloved members of Konoha. If it wasn't for that rat bastard doing everything in his power to push the Uchiha away, to ostracize and separate them from Konoha as a whole…
Heh, finding out that his and Sasuko's mothers were apparently good friends was just icing on the cake. Naruto hadn't expected to cry today, but the tears had streaked down his cheeks all the same when Sasuko got to the part about his parents. Life… life wasn't fair. Naruto knew that better than most, though probably not better than Sasuko herself.
Still, it hurt. It hurt to imagine a world in which Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki hadn't been cut down in their prime. It hurt to imagine how good of a world that might have been, if Naruto and Sasuko had been allowed to grow up with parents, to have loving families, and to know each other from a young age as friends perhaps, rather than simply classmates.
A lesser man might have turned that hurt into hatred and pain and continued the cycle of violence unabated. It was certainly very fucking tempting to find someone to blame who wasn't already dead and make them fucking pay.
But vengeance was never a long-term answer. The cycle could not be allowed to continue, not on Naruto's watch. He would respond to the hurt of 'what could have been' by focusing his eyes forward, on 'what WOULD be'. He would make the better, brighter future. Perhaps it wasn't one where his or Sasuko's parents survived, but if they worked hard enough, it could be nearly as good.
In that regard, Naruto is happy that Sasuko no longer wants to kill her brother outright. What Itachi did… one might still say it was unforgivable, even with all of the extenuating circumstances. He deserved to answer for his crimes, and Sasuko still deserved to hear an explanation for his actions from her brother's own lips.
Stepping forward, Naruto sweeps Sasuko up in his arms again, giving her another big hug. The Last Uchiha stiffens for a moment, before hugging him back. Stiffly at first, but after a moment she hugs him no less fiercely than he's hugging her.
"I'll be happy to help you, Sasuko. We'll find your brother together, and we'll get you your answers."
A quiver runs through Sasuko before they reluctantly pull apart. The dark-haired kunoichi has always been the quiet, stoic type… and yet, in that moment there's a lot of emotion in her eyes. Giving her a cheery, almost teasing grin, Naruto shrugs his shoulders.
"Afterwards, I'll help you restart your clan right alongside mine, alright? There's no need for you to join the Uzumaki Clan… after all, it'll be time for the Uchiha Clan to rise again!"
Sasuko scoffs at that, rolling her eyes bit with a hint of affection behind them.
"Idiot. How does one woman restart a clan, huh? Not like I can sow my oats in every field like you've been doing. I AM the field… and I can only be plowed so many times."
… Did Sasuko just make a lengthy innuendo with several crass undertones to it? For a moment, Naruto just gapes at her. The Last Uchiha flushes and scowls under his shocked look, crossing her arms over her chest again and looking away. After a moment, she endeavors to change the subject.
"So… where do we start? All I know is that I need to find Itachi. But I don't even know where he is, or what he's been doing. The last time I saw him was when he was hunting you all those years ago."
Naruto nods his agreement.
"I know a fair bit more than you. You've come to the right man, Sasuko! See, your brother has fallen in with a rough crowd called the Akatsuki. And I just so happen to know exactly who to get in touch with for information on them."
Sasuko lifts a brow at that, before her eyes widen a moment later.
"Your mentor, the Toad Sage!"
Heh, she's quick at least. Naruto grins and nods.
"Yeah! Jiraiya will be able to help us. In fact, from what I understand, he left me behind after all those years together specifically to investigate them more closely. We just need to decide the best way to get in contact with him…"
As far as Naruto sees it, there are two ways he can get in touch with Jiraiya. Through Tsunade… or the Toads. Since both he and his mentor are contracted with the Ninja Toads of Mount Myoboku, it would be simple enough to ask them where to find Jiraiya, and from there, go and track the old man down. But that WOULD leave Tsunade out of the loop, and Naruto hadn't done that with Orochimaru or Danzo, so was it really right to be doing it now?
Still, this was perhaps a step too far for Tsunade to condone. After all, she and he had already had a talk about Jiraiya and his work. But that was then, and this was now, so maybe-
Naruto's eyes widen, as a pair of lips suddenly land on his. He'd gotten caught up in his own thoughts and hadn't seen it coming, but this time around it's Sasuko who initiates the intimacy, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply. For a long moment, their lips press together. No tongue or anything like that, but it's still very much close contact.
When she finally pulls away, Sasuko is bright red and scowling at him preemptively.
"T-Thanks. We should probably get going."
… Right. Yeah. Get going. Just had to decide what 'get going' looked like…
-x-X-x-
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