A/N: Dedicated to all my lovely readers and reviewers! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! 3

Oh, and the sequel is called Hunter/Hunted, up in a few minutes.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

The Price of Salvation

The Eighth Hokage placed the last file in his out tray, sliding his pen into its holder on his desk in the same movement. He ran his eyes over the curved wooden surface. It was neat, everything in place. He was standing, feeling his robes settle around his legs as he stood, when his assistant entered the office.

"Is everything prepared?" he asked the younger man in his deep voice.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Konohamaru replied.

"Excellent." The Hokage took his hat from where it sat on a stand. He paused, looking at it.

He didn't usually wear his official garments. Only for really important occasions. Today could definitely be termed the most important day of his life. Just how important was probably known only to him. Not even the day he'd made Hokage was as momentous as today… but it was close, he thought with a smile. He placed the hat carefully on his head, arranging the draped material just so. "Walk with me," he told Konohamaru.

Together with Udon and Moegi, Konohamaru was also his bodyguard and escort for all excursions out of the village. Udon and Moegi stood outside the door of his office. They fell in step with the Hokage, matching his purposeful strides.

***

The prison was specially built and set several miles outside of Konoha. An area deep in the forest had been cleared of trees. The prison was steel, reinforced with chakra, and guarded night and day by an ANBU unit and two Tokubetsu Jounins. Of necessity one of those Jounins had to be Hyuuga, in order to seal the prisoner's Tenketsus.

The Hokage set the pace at a steady walk. His escort walked to either side and behind him, vigilant and silent. It was early afternoon and the weather was crisp and cold.

Konohamaru glanced at the Hokage, working up the nerve to-

"Speak," the Hokage commanded mildly.

Damn. He always knows what I'm thinking. Konohamaru cleared his throat. "It's nothing, sir. I just… wonder if this is such a good idea."

"Because?" The Hokage kept his eyes straight ahead, his expression unreadable, though his voice held a hint of amusement.

"Because he hates you, sir! You've had me go there everyday for the five years he's been imprisoned, I know for a fact how he feels."

The Hokage smiled, a small half smile. "And what did I have you do each visit?"

Konohamaru sighed, not seeing a need to state what the man already knew. Disobedience was out of the question. "Before you were Hokage, you had me tell him all about your day, things you did, what you ate, etc."

"And after?" Still that hint of amusement in his voice.

"I would bring him gifts from you, making sure to tell him they were from you, as instructed. And tell him about your day and ask him, as instructed, if there was anything you could do for him." Konohamaru fell silent.

When nothing else was said, the Hokage glanced in his assistant's direction. "I'm still waiting to hear why you think this is a bad idea."

"Oh," Konohamaru flushed. "He might try to harm you, sir."

"I think I'll manage." This was said dryly.

"I just don't understand why, when you already know how unstable and evil he is, you felt it wise to constantly remind him of you. I mean, you killed Madara and nearly killed him when you brought him back to Konoha, don't you know how much he hates you? I report to you everyday after I visit him, and every day I tell you how he's waiting for the opportunity to kill you. I can sense it even if he doesn't say it." Konohamaru stopped, afraid he'd gone too far.

"You don't need to understand why I do what I do," the Hokage said with finality.

Talking did not resume after that. As they neared the private prison, he did give some thought to his actions regarding the prisoner.

The world wasn't getting any better. Things were deteriorating and though he was a good ruler, it was hard to uphold his dream of leading a prosperous, happy and safe village. He and Gaara often spoke of how difficult it was to maintain peace within their borders when so much of the world was given to chaos and hate.

There was a lot of symbolism involved in what he'd done with this prisoner. Which brought him back to why today was so important. He'd spent five years preparing both the prisoner and himself for this day.

It wasn't enough that he'd brought him back to Konoha, the Hokage thought as the prison came in sight. He had to save him.

***

The guards let him in, apprised of his visit beforehand.

Konohamaru tried one last time to make his friend, his teacher, his mentor, change his mind. "Sir, you've never even visited him before! He doesn't know you're coming… at least wait a day or two, let him know you're coming so the shock doesn't cause him to-"

"That will be all, Konohamaru." The Hokage stopped on the threshold of the prison, speaking without turning around. He took the keys from the guard. "Leave. All of you. I want to be alone with him and no one is to interrupt me for anything or enter this section of the forest."

The ANBU unit exchanged glances. This was news to them. One of them stepped forward with a low bow. "Of course, Hokage-sama. For how long?"

"Three days."

Konohamaru made a sound that he choked off when the Hokage's head turned slightly toward him. No one said anything, and after a few seconds, they left. The Hokage was alone.

He entered the single-story structure. The door led down a short hall to another door. He walked slowly toward this door, feeling nerves that he kept in control. He was calm. Nervous but calm. He had to save him. He had to.

He did not believe, as Konohamaru did, that his prisoner was evil. Or rather, he did not believe he was beyond redemption. The prisoner had chosen to commit the atrocities he'd done, had chosen to betray everyone and everything… but he'd done it for a reason. And before… There had been something. Not much, not even friendship, really, but it had been something. A grudging acknowledgement. Something worth saving. It was because of the prisoner's motives and that small thing, whatever it was, that he believed the prisoner could be saved. He had to try.

Because if he could save this person who was so sunk in darkness, so lost, so alone and immersed in revenge… then there was hope for the world, and his dreams weren't in vain. If he could save this one person, he could save himself from the hopelessness creeping up on his eternally hopeful soul.

He reached the door. Unlike the outer door, it was not locked with keys. There was a seal that required a certain amount of chakra to release it. Nothing less than a full-fledged Jounin could release the seal. He placed two fingers on it and had it undone within seconds.

He opened the door, heart thudding heavily.

As prisons went, he supposed it was posh. Now. When he'd arrived it had been nothing more than a steel room with a moth-eaten blanket and a toilet. He'd spent the first eighteen months in it chained to the wall, since he attacked whoever came near him. Outrage and pure, killing fury over being kept like an animal had him nearly insane, lashing out verbally at whoever entered his cell.

Aside from whichever Hyuuga was working duty on a given week and the ANBU who came to feed him, there was only one visitor. The same one. A kid, Konohamaru.

The visits were always the same. Hi, how are you today? Can I get you anything? Is there anything you want him to send you? No? Okay, well he thinks about you every day, every minute, every second. Here, he's sent you this to let you know he won't give up on you. Anything you want, just ask. Today he did-

And the kid would go on to describe His day and the things He'd done. He of course, was the one who'd cut his revenge short, killed the only one who'd been helping him with it and dragged his ass back to Konoha. He'd woken to find himself in a cell, drained of chakra, hooded to prevent any Genjutsus being cast… and chained.

All because of Him.

And the kid kept bringing him news about the guy. As if he wasn't inarticulate with white-hot rage and boiling black hatred for his captor.

The gifts were little things. A salve for the chafing on his wrists from the manacles, or a warmer blanket. A bench to sit on so he didn't have to sit on the cold floor. After eighteen months, his rage and hate for his captor had submerged itself sufficiently beneath the surface to have him calm. He was asked if he would refrain from attacking. He'd said yes. The hood had been removed.

Slowly, over the months, he'd convinced his guard he was stable enough to have the chains removed. Once they were, Konohamaru's gifts from Him changed.

A mirror appeared on the wall, giving the prisoner his first glimpse of himself in more than two years. A rug shaped and colored like the symbol of his clan. He refused to acknowledge these gifts from his captor whenever Konohamaru brought them, but after the kid left, when he was alone, he would spend nearly every waking hour on that plush rug, basking in the soft feel of it, in the ache that seeing his clan's symbol called up. Once, he'd taken off his ragged clothing and rolled naked on the thing. Then he'd quickly gotten up, not wanting to dirty it with his filthy body.

He hated his benefactor. With passion, quite as much as he hated the ones who'd destroyed his brother. But he was also the only one, throughout the years, who'd never given up on him, who'd remained as constant as he had about his revenge. The gifts were never pointless, always designed to ease his life in some way, tailored specifically to bring him some measure of comfort.

Konohamaru's litany never changed when he came to visit. But now, he would tell the kid that yes, there was something he wanted. He didn't ask every day, but he asked often enough to lull his captor, whom he knew the kid reported to as surely as the sun rose and set, into thinking he was mellowing out. Sometimes it was a book. Some clothing. A certain meal. Nothing extravagant.

An entire bookcase of books had been brought, brand new clothes with his clan symbol on them, a wide selection of foods. There had been more. A futon, a chest for the clothes, a few large candles.

And always news of his captor would spill from Konohamaru's lips. He let the kid, now an older teen, talk without interruption. Now he welcomed the news for two reasons. The first was that it kept his hate, his rage, nice and fresh and sharp. The second was that through these newsy visits, he got to know his captor the way he'd never known him when they were children. But he never asked questions. He never spoke to Konohamaru other than to occasionally ask for something.

The turning point came when Konohamaru arrived one day, ahead of several medic nins, bearing a corpse on a covered stretcher. He'd wondered what was going on. Konohamaru had been somber. The words he'd spoken were forever etched in his mind.

"He went out and searched for months and finally found him. Madara had hidden and preserved him well, probably thinking to use him later. We've brought him back to Konoha. The Hokage thought you'd like a moment alone with him before he's buried."

And the sheet covering the corpse's face had been drawn back to reveal his reason for living, his beloved brother. Beaten, but recognizable.

He'd been given not a moment but some hours with him. When they took him away, he'd sat on his rug and cried. The episode had at once renewed his vow to see his brother's murderers dead, while making him question his captor/benefactor. He detested the constant, obvious generosity. It smacked of weakness. Yet the man knew enough to never visit him here in his cell. That smacked of other things that were difficult for him to name. Intelligence or respect, perhaps. An urge to thank his captor had settled in him. He squashed it ruthlessly. Why did he keep sending gifts? Why did he go out of his way to ensure that all his thoughts circled around him with Konohamaru's visits? What did he want?

A week ago the news on his captor had stopped. Konohamaru had likewise stopped asking if he needed anything. He would come, check on him with a quick once over of the eyes and then leave. It left him feeling off balance. Five years of a routine and now it was gone? Something was up. He'd tried asking for something, a journal, two days ago and Konohamaru had ignored him.

This morning, two Jounins had brought in enough food to feed a family of four for days. They'd held him down and forcibly cleaned him as he hadn't been cleaned in years, shaving his dark bush of pubic hair and trimming the waist-length hair on his head until it was chin level. They'd taken his heater. Then they'd left. Konohamaru had not visited this morning, and the young man always visited by 9 am. He knew this because of the clock hanging on the wall, a gift that had come a year ago.

He sat in the plush arm chair (printed with his clan symbol), shivering, trying to engross himself in a book he'd read several times. When he heard the outer door opening and closing, he'd looked up at the clock automatically, the way he always did. Konohamaru is hours late today. I'm going to ask him what the hell is going on.

But that was not Konohamaru's tread coming down the short hall toward his room. This person was heavier, the steps slower. He heard the seal being released on his door and stood from his chair. The door creaked open and his eyes widened.

Uchiha Sasuke, last Uchiha alive… his prisoner. He took in this first sight of him in five years. At twenty-one, Sasuke was thin and tall, though not emaciated. Konohamaru had given reports about how Sasuke performed regular katas in this cell to keep himself as physically fit as he was able to under the circumstances. He was athletically built, but extremely pale; Sasuke was never allowed outside and his cell had no windows.

He entered, set a bag on the floor, and closed the door behind him, locking it with not one, not two, but three seals, specially crafted to open to his chakra alone. He turned around, lowering his head so that the brim of his hat hid his face. He leaned against the door and watched Sasuke from beneath this brim.

So. It was Him. Come at last. Sasuke had of course been apprised of when he'd made Hokage two years ago. He knew every detail of his life.

At seeing the red and white attire he felt a thousand emotions slam through him, throwing his carefully crafted calm into turmoil. Had someone told him his eyes devoured the man beneath those formal robes, he would have scoffed.

Konohamaru's informative reports had never gone into the physical maturity of his captor. What he remembered and what he was seeing now were so different… and yet there were similarities.

He moved the same way, and his hair was the same, though longer. But the wildness of his former personality was tamed to something you'd see in a sleeping lion. Gone was the extroversion, the all-over-you blabber that used to constantly spew from his mouth. All of it, everything, was polished and smoothed into this controlled, yet clearly dangerous man. Not a boy, a man, and one who'd filled out considerably.

Sasuke's eyes took in the way one sleeve pulled taut against a bicep twice the size of his own when the fresh seals were applied. As the Hokage brought his hands together to activate them, his broad back threatened to split the material of his robe down the center. When he turned from locking the door, the robe swished around thick calves. The action of leaning back against the door, crossing one ankle over the other, had the robe exposing the length of one meaty, muscular thigh. The arms folded, torturing the poor robe further, the chest straining against it. Honestly, couldn't the man afford a seamstress to tailor the thing properly? Only the hat fit well, sitting on his bushy spikes without complaint.

Sasuke estimated that he himself was close to six feet, just under or just over. The man standing across from him had several inches on him. The book he was holding creaked faintly as his hand tightened on it. His mind was temporarily blank, giving the Hokage a chance to lift his head enough to let his chillingly blue eyes look directly at him.

"Hello, Sasuke," Naruto said quietly.

The sound of his voice – deep, even, controlled – had every feeling Sasuke had carefully cultivated rushing to the fore. He'd imagined this meeting a thousand times and what he would say. He wanted the man dead. He wanted the eyes ripped from his blond skull and crushed in his fist. He'd half expected to be let out of prison when he became Hokage… after all, he'd gone out of his way to make it clear that he 'cared' about Sasuke, hadn't he? But no. He'd sat here rotting, while Naruto had enjoyed life outside.

And yet, he did care. Sasuke could grudgingly admit that to himself. He'd gone out and found Itachi for him. Maybe he hadn't released Sasuke from prison, but he'd done everything else in his power to make sure he was comfortable. He'd tried to tell himself repeatedly that he didn't care about comfort, and that all he cared about was revenge… but alone as he was, certain things had been admitted. He hated Naruto for bringing his crusade to a halt, while being grateful to him.

Conflicted though he was, seeing Naruto managed to make him remember only one thing. He was a prisoner. Five years of his life had gone by and suddenly the only thing he felt was abhorrence.

Still. He remembered the boy – man – as being disgustingly reasonable. Despite all the apparent changes in him, maybe he still was. Maybe he could exploit Naruto's misbegotten ideas of their long-dead acquaintance. He forced himself to choke down the loathing enough to be reasonable as well. "Hello."

Naruto gave an odd half smile. He took his hat off and set it on the dresser to his right, running his other hand slowly through his thick hair. Sasuke's eyes followed the hand as it left the hair to drop to the fastenings of the ridiculously tight robe. The fingers deftly removed the buttons from their loops, the heavy shoulders shrugging out of the robe, which was laid beside the hat. Naruto was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt that looked to have been painted on. Sasuke saw, with some fascination, that Naruto's nipples poked clearly through the cotton material. His eyes dropped quickly to the black pants that hugged the thighs, were slightly looser around the knees, only to hint at the girth of the calves again. His huge feet were clad in snow-encrusted boots.

Sasuke recalled himself sharply to the task at hand. He waited for Naruto to speak as he settled against the door again. He didn't. So Sasuke did. "How long am I to be in this prison?"

"Until I save you," came the low reply.

What was that supposed to mean? "I wasn't aware I had any enemies after me still."

"From yourself," Naruto added.

Save him from himself? Sasuke didn't bother analyzing this statement. He wasn't going to be let out and that was the only thing he registered. That and the disappointment that rose up, large and unexpected, in him.

He'd entertained detailed thoughts of how he would attack and kill Naruto the second he laid eyes on him again. These thoughts came to him now, tightening his nearly frozen body with adrenaline. If he'd had an ounce of chakra readily available, he knew his eyes would be red. Hell Susanoo, Amaterasu and every other jutsu he knew would be obliterating this place and the backstabbing ass across from him… but all he could do was crush his book in his hand. Taijutsu wouldn't cut it; he was out of practice and Konohamaru had gone into detail about how Sage Mode worked, what it was capable of. He would lose and Sasuke would open his own veins before he suffered that humiliation on top of his imprisonment.

Reminding himself that he was trying to be reasonable, he swallowed what he was feeling until it was nothing but a hot ball in his chest. "What do you mean, save me from myself?"

Naruto was disappointed. He'd expected Sasuke to attack, had counted on it. He was sure Sasuke would attack eventually during the next three days; the hatred had been there, naked on his face, curling off of him in waves that Naruto felt even all the way across the room. Well, he thought with private amusement. It just meant he would have to attack Sasuke in order to access that rage. Unless Sasuke let it out, Naruto couldn't begin saving him. "Give up your revenge, Sasuke. Come back to us."

Oh. So that's what it meant. The same garbage as ever. "No. Never."

The blonde pushed off from the door and walked forward. Sasuke held himself stiffly. Naruto noted that the tips of his former team mate's hands were blue, as were his toes. Good. He was cold, as Naruto had wanted him to be when he'd instructed that his heater be taken away. He would help Sasuke warm up shortly.

He reached Sasuke and stopped. This close, he could smell the shampoo the Jounins had used on the black hair. Sasuke stared at him as if wishing Naruto would conveniently drop dead. "I'm sorry to hear that," Naruto said.

"I seriously doubt you are."

"You're so full of hate. Aren't you tired of it already?"

"It's the only thing I have left."

"You have me…"

Sasuke's eyes didn't change, but Naruto could nevertheless see the sneering contempt. Fine. If that's the way he wanted it…

"Don't hold back your feelings, Sasuke. I know you want to hit me. Go ahead," Naruto invited. "I won't stop you."

Well since he was asking for it, Sasuke thought.

He slipped a shard of broken glass from between the covers of the book he was holding. He'd nursed thoughts of attacking Konohamaru with it if he refused to tell Sasuke what was going on. He kept this shard hidden in his hand now as he swung, fast and underhanded, at Naruto's broad face.

The slice opened the skin just beneath Naruto's left eye. Sasuke's wrist was grabbed and twisted, the glass digging into his own palm to draw blood.

Naruto walked, backing him up to the freezing wall to hold him there with his body. A body that was a veritable furnace of welcome heat. He lifted Sasuke's hand, squeezing the wrist until it opened and dropped the bloody shard of glass. It shattered on the floor.

The blue eyes studied the blood welling on the pale skin and Sasuke held still, shocked, as Naruto's tongue came out and licked his palm clean, sucking briefly on his wound.

Was he warmer? He was. It had to be the way Naruto was leaning his heavy weight against him, and not the way that mouth was sucking his palm clean. Wait, why wasn't he fighting?! Sasuke hiked his knee into Naruto's groin, following with a well-aimed blow to his temple.

Sasuke was flipped around and pressed face first into the wall, Naruto's body coming to bear down on his back. A broad hand settled on Sasuke's hip, just as Naruto's mouth lowered to his ear. "Yes, Sasuke," he whispered indulgently. "Fight me. Here… let me help you."

And Sasuke was thrown across the room, landing with a crash against the wall, all the air knocked out of him.

He reared to his feet, the red mist of rage clouding his judgment, and retaliated without thinking, the dam of his control broken wide open and flooding his mind with acidic hate. His wrath was explosive in the confines of the cell and Naruto turned to face it head on, welcoming it.

It was most un-Uchiha-like, the way Sasuke snarled and attacked with manic abandon. The years had honed his fury until Naruto was mildly stunned. This beast of violence couldn't be the clear-headed fighter he'd known as a boy, could it? Not even when he'd captured Sasuke five years ago had he displayed this amount of recklessness. Perhaps leaving him alone in a cell for years had bent his mind. Naruto threw him down again and again, the impact shaking even this stalwart room.

***

Sasuke lasted until well after sunset. Naruto's shirt was in shreds, and Sasuke's clothes only just covered vital parts of his anatomy. The blonde, after waiting until he was sure Sasuke wasn't getting up, walked to where the Uchiha lay in a boneless heap.

Naruto had made sure to confine the fighting to the side of the room not containing the cabinet of food. He didn't want that spoiled. He stooped and slung Sasuke over his shoulder, ignoring the punch that bounced off his hard backside. He felt Sasuke's teeth digging into his back and grabbed a fistful of Sasuke's ass where it sat near his ear. He squeezed. The teeth stopped. Naruto relaxed his hand, letting it rest on Sasuke's ass. After a moment he gave it a small, experimental rub.

Sasuke forgot his humiliation to go completely still. What was this shit??? He suddenly remembered the way Naruto had sucked his palm, and, oddly, the way his body had pressed against him. That hand didn't belong on his ass and it most certainly should not be rubbing it. He bit Naruto's muscled back savagely, growling through the meat in his teeth as his hands tried to claw the flesh away. It shamed him to be reduced to these tactics, but it was all he could do in his current state.

The hand on his ass squeezed again, harder and harder until Sasuke had to release his bite to scream. He bucked in outrage, getting his second wind back, and nearly toppled them both.

Naruto staggered under the floundering man before he could slam Sasuke down on the futon, holding him immobile with a knee pressed to the small of his back.

Sasuke struggled weakly, his muscles overtaxed after years of no fighting.

Naruto released him long enough to stand. He began calmly removing his boots, of which the print of one was firmly outlined on Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke held back from cursing. He was watching… thinking. The palm thing, the hand on his ass… and now the boots. The food. The seals from the inside of his cell… this unprecedented visit...

Cold suspicion reduced his eyes to slits and his pupils to tiny beads of speculation. The boots were off and what was left of the pants was being calmly unbuttoned. Sasuke's hand, where it lay by his head, closed into a defensive fist as understanding skated across his mind, slipped, and left behind a faint, impossible realization. His heart thudded in his chest, his skin crawling in apprehension. He licked his lips nervously. "What… what are you doing?" He was proud that his voice didn't shake or betray his growing alarm.

Naruto glanced at where Sasuke lay and the look on his face had him laughing. He tried to hold it in, his shoulders moving up and down as the air hissed in and out of his nose, but Sasuke's comical look of terror was so out of character that it was impossible. Naruto's lips stretched in a broad grin and his laugh rang around the room, bouncing off the walls to make Sasuke wince. When he'd calmed down, he removed the shreds of his shirt and stood, bronze and beautiful, in his form-fitting boxers. "Tell me honestly, Sasuke. What do you think I'm doing?"

Sasuke sat up. He crossed his arms over his chest, trying not to shiver with cold. He didn't respond.

Naruto decided to supply an answer. "I'm cold." He wasn't, though.

"So?"

"So I need to cultivate heat next to your body. Without clothes."

Sasuke's lips tightened until Naruto was silently laughing again. "Leave," he said evenly.

Naruto came to the futon, ignoring the command and crowding Sasuke as he sat close to him. He looked at him seriously, all laughter gone. "Is there anything you love, Sasuke?"

Sasuke edged away from the intense stare. His back brushed the ice-cold wall and he jerked at the contact with his bare skin. He refused to answer, quietly waiting until his strength returned. It galled him to be so helpless, when he knew he was capable of so much.

Naruto did not intend to let Sasuke ignore his questions. He rested a palm high up on Sasuke's thigh, slipping his fingers low, almost brushing – "Answer me, Sasuke."

"No," came the slightly breathless reply. Naruto knew Sasuke was breathing shallowly in disgust and tension, not desire. The man didn't like to be touched.

"What do you hope to do with the rest of your life?"

"Kill the rest of the council. And I will do it, Naruto. This cage is only temporary."

"I see. And if you managed to do that, what then?" Naruto's tone was curious. Sasuke's was stiff, the words dragged out between immobile lips to prevent that hand from going higher.

"Rebuild my clan." Sasuke dropped his eyes briefly to Naruto's neck, wondering if he could be quick enough to bite his throat out.

"With who? Sakura no longer wants you."

"Whoever."

"And then? You would be a father to your children and live out your life?"

"Yes."

"Would you love them?"

"Yes."

"So you know what love is. You understand it."

"Leave me alone. I have nothing more to say to you."

"You understand love?" Naruto persisted.

"Still the same dumb shit you always were."

"Do you?"

The hand slipped down between Sasuke's thighs, brushing against him obscenely. Sasuke clenched his thighs shut. His lips were painful from pursing them into a tight line. "… Yes."

"What would you say if I told you I love you?"

Sasuke turned his head away, silent. This was worse than the fight.

"That I have always loved you?"

Still silent. Please let him shut up soon, Sasuke thought with a touch of desperation.

"That your hatred of me is welcome… because it means you care?"

Sasuke swung around, mouth open to utter a scathing denial, but Naruto kissed him.

There was time for Sasuke to register that he'd never been kissed, time to understand Naruto really meant to perform some kind of depraved act with him in this room. There was even time to marvel in sick wonder at how he'd never anticipated this. Naruto was forcing him, heedless of Sasuke's disgust at his touches, his rage or his pride. Then he wrenched his face back, swinging his fist up beneath the blonde's chin simultaneously. He threw himself off the futon.

And was dragged back, Naruto almost pulling his arm from the socket.

He was shoved under the hot tanned body, a leg thrown over his to keep them still, his wrists cuffed by Naruto's hand as the blonde's other hand held Sasuke's head still for another kiss, this one longer.

Sasuke bit, spat, gagged and writhed to no avail. Couldn't the bastard see his revulsion? Sasuke thought in panic. Naruto's mouth only pressed to his, but it was enough to make his skin crawl. It wasn't even because it was a man. Sasuke had long ago surmised that he was largely asexual. He'd sire children and that was it, but no… he bucked futilely because it was Naruto. He hated Naruto with a passion, hated the man touching him, hated everything about him, he decided. Gratitude was gone.

Resistance did nothing. Naruto breathed calmly with his lips on Sasuke's until Sasuke eventually became quiet and still.

Naruto picked his head up. "Was that so bad?"

"Yes, you-"

"You didn't enjoy it?"

"No."

"I see. Well, then. Since you won't enjoy it, I'll just have my way and leave at the end of three days."

Sasuke's eyes widened beneath a fierce frown. "Three- wait, what do you mean have your way? If you think-"

"I think," Naruto said as his eyes lowered to Sasuke's mouth, "that I'm done talking. There's no reasoning with you. I will show you what I feel, then I will go. No more talking. I've talked and talked over the years and nothing I say shows you the error of your ways or that I mean it when I say you're important to me."

Sasuke was breathing heavily now, pulling on his hands to free them. "No, wait, you-"

"Shut up, Sasuke. Talking's done."

And so it was.

Naruto's mouth came down on his with crushing force, so much that Sasuke had to open his mouth or risk his teeth being cut against his own lips. He immediately regretted it as the shock of Naruto's hot tongue entered his mouth.

Naruto's hips settled against his and the distraction of how that felt had Sasuke briefly halting the twisting motions of his head. Naruto rolled his hips against Sasuke's and the Uchiha was visited by a sense of unreality. He bit the tongue hard, tasting blood. Naruto jerked upward, his face frowning down at him.

"You're crazy," Sasuke panted. "What kind of Hokage are you to rape your prisoners? Saving me, showing me you care, call it whatever you want, but it's rape. Get. Off. Of me."

A warm hand slipped into the hem of Sasuke's pants and ripped the torn garment away. His rag of a shirt went the same way and Sasuke was nude. He swallowed, prepared to immerse himself in his hate, his comforting hate. God, he would see the blonde dead for this. It was clear now that all the gifts and consideration had been nothing more than an attempt to prepare him for this, perhaps had even been supposed to make him willing.

But Naruto didn't ravish him. He sat up and walked to the door to retrieve the bag he'd brought in. It was a small duffel. He dropped it by the futon, where it clunked as if many items were inside it. Sasuke watched as Naruto quickly unzipped the bag, withdrew a bottle and came to kneel beside him on the futon.

Oil was poured into one broad cupped palm and rubbed between the tanned hands. The exotic smell of the stuff wafted around the room. Sasuke bit his tongue to keep from crying out at how good it felt to have those hot hands placed on his freezing skin. He would endure Naruto's abuse, use it to feed his hatred, and add payback for this outrage to the many things he planned to do once he was free.

***

Naruto smoothed the oil over Sasuke's chest and abs slowly, working it into the white skin to chase away the chills and goosebumps. He massaged firmly, attuned to Sasuke to gauge when he pressed too hard or when a spot brought pleasure. Sasuke didn't display the pleasure as anything but a slight loosening of a tensed muscle. Naruto worked silently. If nothing else, he could tell Sasuke was grateful for the way the oil kept the draft in the room from chilling him further.

Pale arms, with lean muscles. Smooth shoulders, soft neck, pulse beating rapidly. Oil glistening faintly in the glow of the candles, over the hairless chest, over one brown nipple. A thumbnail flicked across this tiny peak, the bud tightening, rising, and puckering. The flat of a palm moved in slow circles on the nipple. A pause… then the nipple hardened as it was pinched.

Sasuke gasped before he could stop himself, his face reddening in anger at his slip.

On to the other nipple. Time taken to pour oil directly on the chest, watching as it slides down the shallow indentation between pectorals. A trail scooped up and smeared on the other nipple, rubbed in with the rough pad of a thumb. A quiver through the pale body. A tiny sigh.

Smoothing the oil over the abs, circling the navel lazily… lazily, as the stomach rises and falls once. Then once more as one hand comes to rest on the recently denuded pubic bone.

Tension. Pale body coiled to spring.

Bottle of oil upended on the sleeping organ curled against one thigh, and on the thighs themselves, drizzling the amber liquid over the stiff legs, over the pale, blue tipped feet. Blue eyes study the juxtaposition of brown hands on white skin, as the oil is rubbed firmly into the thighs, parting the locked limbs to do a thorough job. The legs resist and he is forced to position himself between them to keep them open.

Each leg is taken in hand and given meticulous attention. The muscles are kneaded and molded until they are soft as putty. The knees elicit shudders from their owner, causing the hands to linger over them. The kneecaps are massaged until a pale hand comes down to punch the futon. A glance at the pale face shows eyes squeezed shut, lips being bitten. The knees are left alone.

The calves are attended to for long minutes, but particular consideration is given to the feet. They are slender, but solid. The hands leave them for a short while to rub together briskly, generating heat. The hands return to the feet, to apply this warmth to the blue toes and a groan is released from their owner. The pale body relaxes entirely.

Each toe is seen to, rubbed and held until it is pink and warm. The soles are kneaded until the pale body arches slightly off the futon. Another moan, issuing from the white throat.

***

Sasuke is afloat on sheer bliss. His resolve to remain aloof evaporated under the constant pressure of those strong hands. Right now the only thing he cared about was being warm and the hands were doing a scrupulous job of keeping the cold at bay.

Of course he was still furious, was angry and livid that Naruto planned to rape him, but… oh, right there, the way he rubbed his frozen feet. He had to keep from squealing (not that he would ever admit to being capable of such a sound). He dimly registered that he had never allowed anyone to touch him like this when he wasn't at death's door with an injury or unconscious. He could not recall ever enjoying someone's touch. Not since he'd lost his family.

He was gently turned over. The long, slow, delectably warm process was being repeated. He felt like going to sleep, he felt so good just then. The hands rasped over the backs of his knees, the calluses abrading his skin deliciously- he didn't just think that. No, screw it, it was delicious and when a blunt finger pressed behind his knee, another one of those hateful moans escaped him. He muffled it with his arm.

His thighs were spread, the big body kneeling between them. He briefly wondered how it was that he wasn't embarrassed to be nude in front of Naruto, his ass bare and spread for his perusal… and suddenly those hands were inching towards his ass.

He stiffened. But the hands bypassed that area to move on to his back. Sasuke slowly relaxed again, experiencing the same relief he had when he'd thought his penis would be touched and then wasn't.

Ahhhh, but the hands on his back were divine. He arched plainly now, not caring if Naruto saw, completely focused on the deliberate path those rough palms were taking. Press upward, dig with the thumbs, drag downward. Again and again. His spine was traced by the hard press of a knuckle. He realized his mouth was open and that he was drooling. He wiped his chin.

***

Naruto caused the limp man to sit up. Sasuke did this, crossing his legs and placing his hands docilely in his lap. The blonde brows drew together, remembering how Sasuke had looked before he'd captured him those years ago: bloody, murderous, hell-bent on revenge and killing anyone who got in his way. Even now, a short while ago, he'd had the same look, had attacked with a ferocity that had Naruto fearing for the man's sanity.

And now he sat in calm silence, hands folded in his lap, so relaxed and unguarded that he was starting to lean back on Naruto's chest.

He massaged the white shoulders firmly, amazed at the power of human touch. He wondered if Sasuke had ever experienced it, or anything that wasn't fighting, training, and more fighting. He wondered if Sasuke really knew what love was. Maybe at one point he had, before his clan had been wiped out.

***

A low sigh. His body settled back further against the bronzed chest, and the hands stilled on the shoulders long enough to retrieve more oil. This was poured into his mop of black hair.

Time was spent working the oil into each straight strand, coating the hairs from the roots to the tips. Then the hard fingers dug through the thick mass until they located his scalp.

Long strokes, pressure on temples, thumbs pressing on the crown. His dark hair was combed backward from the brow, the fingers maintaining contact with his scalp the entire time. His scalp was sensitive; he shuddered, moaned, and collapsed fully against the hard chest behind him.

***

An hour spent on the scalp. Sasuke was barely conscious when it was over, easily maneuvered to a position flat on his back. He picked up one of the man's limp wrists and let it drop back to the futon. No resistance whatsoever. The man was nearly asleep. Yosh.

Lips. Warm, soft lips. First on the hands, where they lay palm up on the futon. The cut from earlier tasted, nuzzled.

Sasuke shifted where he lay.

A small hesitation. The palm doesn't close. The lips continue, over the inner wrist. They stop, are utterly still, feeling the faint pulse there. Slight pressure of the lips, a fleeting kiss.

Upward, tracing blue veins to the inner elbow. More nuzzling. The lips part to capture a thin fold of flesh.

A murmur. A pale leg moves slightly against a tanned hip.

Lips moving over the bicep, noting how the muscle jumps. Soft, barely felt kisses on the shoulder. Nuzzling in the neck… that is suddenly exposed as the head is turned aside without prompting. Up the jaw and throbbing carotid artery.

Stop. The lips stop, the blonde head behind them hovering over the face that is slowly turning back.

A pair of pale lips an inch beneath the fuller pink ones. A glance at dark eyes that are closed. White nostrils quiver as air is sucked into obviously nervous lungs. The white eyelids crinkle as they are squeezed shut tighter still… and the pale lips purse upward ever so slightly. An invitation. No, permission. Permission for the pink lips to make contact.

Pink lips land elsewhere, on the chest. They pause as teeth are sucked in annoyance. A faint sound, but amusing, all things considered. Rape? Not likely.

The nipple again. Lips circle it, exploring around it as if the peak weren't tight for attention. Lips pass close to it, blow air on it, retreat. A hand touched a tanned shoulder briefly, the first touch from the pale man. There and gone, as if it had never been. Lips decide to reward the slip in control.

More than a sigh escaped the pale throat as hot, wet heat engulfs the brown nipple, making the hand settle on the shoulder and squeeze. Come to think of it, the other hand is in the blonde hair, clutching as the nipple's owner arches upward. There is panting and moaning of a certain name. Neither come from the pink lips since they are busy suckling quite insistently on the poor brown nipple. Teeth graze that nipple and a few blonde hairs are dragged free.

On to the other nipple. It is ready, standing up in expectation. Blue eyes regard it before moving lower, ignoring it. No sucking of teeth this time, but a whispered oath was offered to the otherwise silent room.

The abdominals were tasted, found acceptable, and licked in one long swipe that stiffened the pale body. The navel made acquaintance with the tongue and the two got on famously, the tongue lingering until a hand found its way into the blond hair again. Navel was sucked. Bitten. Licked. Sucked again. More panting, more oaths, more blonde hairs lost. What was the word that had been used? Rape? Surely not.

Lower. The pubic bone. A discovery.

The organ was standing up.

It was very smooth, very… perfect. Pretty enough to be cast in marble and preserved for private enjoyment.

Not yet.

He turned from the erect appendage and rubbed his face in the pubic bone, opening his mouth to place a strong, almost painful hickie on it. Sasuke bucked, hissed… wrapped a leg over a broad, muscular shoulder. Honestly. The man needed to learn the definition of the word rape.

But the gesture was welcomed. He rubbed the pale leg, curving his hand over the thigh. He turned his head and kissed the inner thigh, sucking there as well, making the hips rock upward. The hard erection nudged his shoulder, causing Sasuke to gasp.

***

Naruto turned him over again. Just when he was about to rub himself on his shoulder once more. This time that burning mouth went straight to his ass. He had to cover his mouth with a hand to keep from shaming himself when one cheek was first lightly bitten, then kissed, then sucked. Sucked hard. Oh God. Just no. How could something feel so good? He was enjoying it,didn't want it to stop, had wanted to be kissed…

Yes. All right. He'd lost so much, what was one more thing? Here, jailed, the Hokage himself and once a person that had frightened him with his overwhelming enthusiasm for life sucking on his ass, what was the loss of his pride? Of his dignity as he gave in to these touches? His perception of himself was undergoing a radical shift, possibly (hopefully) temporary, but a shift just the same. Was it so bad, so wrong to want his kisses?

Kisses. Kissing. He let his mind explore this word that was almost another language, it was so alien to his thoughts. Kissing. Kiss. Lips. Naruto had kissed him before and he'd been appalled. He'd failed to kiss him later and Sasuke had been disappointed.

Madness. But he wanted to be kissed now. God, he didn't know who he was anymore.

The mouth stopped. He waited. Nothing happened.

***

Naruto moved until he was lying beside Sasuke, stretched out next to his length. Sasuke turned over, showing the pink stain on his cheeks. He looked boldly at Naruto. Naruto met the look, waiting to see what would happen. Sasuke turned his head away.

He edged closer to where Naruto lay propped on an elbow. Inched and scooted, head looking steadfastly in the other direction, as if what his body was doing wasn't actually happening. Oops, he was suddenly pressed to Naruto's front. His hand was trapped between them, resting against the cloth-covered bulge of Naruto's own erection. The hand twitched, as if discreetly confirming what it was touching. Confirmation received, the hand seemed to accidentally press against the bulge.

Naruto hid his smile behind a bland expression, reaching out to turn Sasuke's head sharply back to look at him. He held the chin firmly. Now he did speak. "You want me to touch you again, Sasuke?"

No hesitation. "Yes."

"How?"

The blush deepened.

"How?" he repeated. He let his hand rest over a nipple. "Here?" He moved his hand lower, resting it on the trembling stomach. "Or here?" Lower still, sliding along the pubic bone to stop just short of the semi-erect penis. "Or maybe here?"

"Kiss me," Sasuke said. His eyes were closed. He opened them again when Naruto shifted.

"I thought you didn't like that."

"Just do it."

"I don't take orders, Sasuke. I give them."

"… please."

"Please what?"

Sasuke felt a ghost of his former hatred coming back, his pride tagging along behind it. But then Naruto brought his hand from where it rested below his waist to brush a thumb over his lips, his palm cupping his cheek. And his hate and pride withered in defeat. "Please kiss me, Naruto."

He did, but not where Sasuke wanted. Naruto kissed his shoulder, his neck, his chest. He was moving to kiss Sasuke's neck again, when Sasuke stopped him. "No."

"No?"

"O-on my mouth." Sasuke flicked his eyes at Naruto's face and found the blue eyes dark with something, some feeling.

This time Sasuke didn't resist, was in fact ready for the pink lips with his own paler ones parted. He worked his mouth clumsily until Naruto gentled his movements, taking control, going slowly to show him how it was done. He caught on quickly and then the kiss was a mutual decent into dark, swirling pleasure.

There was nothing in all of the world but the hot mouth above his, the sensuous glide of the slick tongue, the hands that gathered him close and positioned him on top of the broad hot body. The arms crushed around him, the head tilted and Sasuke was obliterated in the gale of passion that flooded out of the blonde. What was left had no name, no past, no future… He was just some creature made solely to give in to the sensations roiling inside him, to give in without restraint.

Naruto was suddenly holding a writhing, moaning, dangerously ravenous man in his arms. He'd be bald at the end of three days if those hands dragged much more of his hair out. He'd never been kissed so enthusiastically, Sasuke's Uchiha genes catching on to the act unnaturally fast. And the sounds he made! He had to push him back, push him off of him as he felt himself changing. God, not now! Sasuke rolled right back, latching on to his face and kissing him again.

"No Sasuke, wait… wait, dammit… I-can't. Sasuke, move!"

The urgent tone penetrated his reeling senses enough so that he stopped kissing Naruto, but he didn't move. Naruto had a hand clutched to his head. Sasuke watched as the hair grew bushier between the grasping fingers, fangs lengthening. A growl rumbled in Naruto's chest, vibrating through Sasuke's own chest where it was pressed against him.

Sasuke waited. Naruto eventually looked at him again, his eyes red. "I don't want it to be like this. I want to be the one touching you, not Kyuubi…"

"Naruto… at this point I don't care."

"I do."

"I don't. Finish what you started." And he slipped his hand into Naruto's boxer briefs to wrap his fingers around the thick length that felt nothing like his own.

Naruto lost himself then, a little. Enough so that Sasuke was thrown beneath him with a growl, his mouth already going to the soft tissue of his neck, looking to sink his fangs in and mark him. He didn't. He held off from that act, barely, by kissing him instead. Sasuke opened for him, opened wide, trying to swallow him whole.

***

Hands were everywhere. Brown ones, pale ones, broad ones, slender ones. Backs were clutched, faces caressed, buttocks squeezed. Palms rubbed, fingers pinched, scratched. And the kiss never stopped, both minds behind the mouths gone as the bodies rolled and rolled and rolled.

The larger body separated itself from the slimmer one, bending to press his face between the white thighs.

"UUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNGGG…." It was a grunting growling moan of base pleasure and need. Sasuke issued the sound again, the heat and suction sliding down his organ too much to allow him to be silent. Oh… lord…

He felt a pooling of warmth, a sense of heaviness in his scrotum, sensation tightening and coiling until he arched, borne on a cry of release as he erupted down Naruto's throat. He felt the spurts, lasting forever, pulsing again and again. Naruto swallowed what was coming out of him. The swallowing, the way he purred on his flesh, made Sasuke shake uncontrollably. When it was over, he had a dim memory of dreams in his youth, this same thing happening in his sleep, waking before dawn to wash his pants…

His legs were pushed to his chest and the mouth, that indecently pleasurable mouth, was working down between his-

Sasuke yelled. Just opened his mouth and yelled, to hell with control.

He raised his head and met a pair of blue eyes staring directly into his own, Naruto back in control of himself once more. Without breaking eye contact, Naruto brought his mouth to the most personal, secret, private place on Sasuke. That mouth covered his quivering entrance and he watched, yes, watched without blinking even as Naruto watched him in turn, as an indolent seduction between tongue, lips and anus began.

Naruto worked slowly, but forcefully. Suck… pause. Suck… pause. His eyes never wavered from Sasuke's face. The black eyes glazed over with the eroticism. Watching, watching himself be pleasured like this, giving his express consent for it to continue by holding the blue gaze with his own. Naruto's cheeks became hollow and released, hollow and released. Sasuke's tongue circled his lips, smearing them with saliva. His penis hardened to a painful degree, leaking moisture. His stomach muscles quivered under the strain of holding his upper body at an angle so he could look at Naruto. He reached one hand between his legs to latch onto the blond hair, simultaneously relieving his abs and pressing that mouth harder to his needy flesh.

Yes he needed it. He held his legs higher and still Naruto sucked, still Sasuke watched. Sasuke's rectum was sore, painfully sensitive, and still Naruto didn't stop. Sasuke pressed the blonde head harder, licking his lips again. Now his erection throbbed and beat in time to the suction of Naruto's mouth. His stomach was coated with his discharge.

Sasuke released the hair in his hand and hesitantly grabbed his shaft, jerking hard at how that felt. Swollen as it was, the touch of his own hand had his head falling back briefly. He brought it back up to resume eye contact.

He began stroking, moving his hand instinctively up and down, the blue eyes showing approval. The suction increased, but now there was a twist. Each downward stoke of Sasuke's hand brought the new sensation of Naruto's rough tongue entering his body. Sasuke had to bite his lip, his body stiffening. Again. His hand brushed the head of his meat by accident and that had his legs jerking down in response as a small gush of his fluid eked from him. Afterward, he alternated rubbing his shaft and circling the head, barely able to maintain eye contact with the man between his legs. The tongue remained inside him now, the suction almost hard enough to draw blood. God, what were they doing???

Motion from hand and mouth sped up, each man breathing heavily, groaning, murmuring in Sasuke's case. Right before the eruption this time, Naruto rose up and positioned himself to catch the hot, white spray in his face. Sasuke aimed it correctly, the sight of Naruto hanging his tongue out to catch the stuff making another wave of pleasure slam through him, causing another stream to arc out of him.

***

He fell back against the futon, his breathing labored. Naruto snagged him behind the neck and dragged him back to a sitting position. He was pushing off his underwear.

Sasuke studied the organ that bounced as the waistband of the boxers was finally pushed all the way down. It was fat and heavy. Darker than even Naruto's tan complexion, veined and kind of long. Not too long, but longer than his. The slit was open, revealing a deep pink interior. The head was wider than the shaft, round, glistening, the only smooth-looking part of the entire thing. The sac beneath it was heavy, large and lightly furred with blonde hair.

Naruto pulled him by a shoulder. He lifted Sasuke's chin on broad fingertips and slid three fingers of his other hand into Sasuke's mouth.

"Suck," Naruto demanded softly.

Sasuke sucked. Slowly at first, working his tongue around the thick digits.

"Yes, like that," Naruto sighed. "Don't stop looking at me."

Sasuke didn't. At times Naruto pushed his fingers far down Sasuke's throat, making him gag. He would keep them there until Sasuke mastered this reflex, then draw his hand out, sucking the other man's saliva from his fingers while staring deeply into Sasuke's eyes. Then he would push the wet fingers back into Sasuke's mouth. This happened several times, as Naruto seemed to enjoy tasting Sasuke's saliva.

Finally he pulled his fingers out of Sasuke's mouth for the last time. He threaded both hands through the longish black hair and held Sasuke's head steady. "Open. Wide. Wider."

Sasuke closed his eyes as his mouth was filled to capacity, both insulted and aroused at having Naruto's member shoved in short, shallow thrusts past his lips until the blunt head touched the back of his throat. The thing felt as hard as concrete, the large vein on the underside beating against his tongue.

Naruto began a tight, controlled pumping of his hips, keeping Sasuke's head still by the hands in his hair. Sasuke's hands came up and circled the thick wrists, holding tight to steady himself; he was close to fainting from lack of sufficient air and from just how good it felt to have Naruto use him this way. When he could manage it, he tried sucking, the salty appendage in his mouth jerking spasmodically when he did.

"Open your eyes. Look at me, Sasuke."

He did. Naruto's face was flushed, sweating, beautiful. The blue eyes held his own, the mouth panting as the shaft in his mouth moved faster. It swelled, making sucking impossible as his jaws protested. Then Naruto was spilling copiously down his throat, choking him, drowning him and he struggled frantically to pull his head off the pulsating organ.

Naruto tightened his grip in Sasuke's hair, yanking him forward so that his shaft went down Sasuke's throat. "Swallow," he said between clenched teeth. His orgasm was brilliant, shattering his voice into a ragged snarl. "Swallow it."

Some inevitably went down Sasuke's throat as he swallowed defensively, in an attempt to find relief. If he didn't get air soon…

Naruto backed out of his mouth and Sasuke sucked in oxygen noisily, gasping and panting and spitting out the strange thick slime still attached to Naruto's organ by a thin thread. Naruto scooped it up and rubbed it on Sasuke's face, on his own face, sucked his fingers clean and then came and kissed Sasuke hungrily.

***

Sasuke was melting into the kiss, becoming accustomed to the taste when he was pushed back gently to lie on the futon. Naruto got up and located fresh candles. He lit them, the frail light dancing on his golden musculature as he moved silently around the room. He dug in his bag and withdrew a different, smaller bottle. This one squirted out clear, jelly-like fluid into Naruto's hand. Sasuke watched as the blonde coated his organ, hard again, liberally with the stuff, before squeezing another small mountain into his hand. He moved between Sasuke's thighs.

The first touch on his rectum had Sasuke parting his legs, expecting more pleasure as before. The finger entering him was a surprise, but he didn't complain, relaxing his muscles without being told. Now he knew what was coming. His eyes settled on the shaft bobbing and swaying between Naruto's legs, wondering what it would feel like. He was told quietly to hold his knees and he complied.

The second finger had him wincing. He was still sore from Naruto's mouth. He blinked through the discomfort, gritting his teeth when the fingers spread, scissoring back and forth. His body was too spent to tense up at the pain this caused. He rode the sharp sensation out in silence as the pain receded. When his ring of muscles was completely relaxed, Naruto altered the position of his hand.

Sasuke only realized he'd blacked out when his vision cleared to find Naruto's face hovering above his own, eyes concerned. He was speaking, but Sasuke didn't at first hear him.

"-ou okay? Sasuke?"

"Yes."

Naruto held his hand still. He moved it again experimentally, carefully and Sasuke's hips came off the futon, his hand raking four long scratches down Naruto's face before he knew what he was doing. Naruto withdrew his hand, muttering "Too sensitive" before coming to lie between Sasuke's shaking legs.

He gave Sasuke time to collect himself. His tumescence rested at Sasuke's entrance as the Uchiha slowly came down from the stimulation to his prostate.

Breathing. Heartbeats. Waiting.

Naruto lowered himself until he was resting on his elbows, Sasuke's head cradled in his hands. "Hold on to me, Sasuke. Put your arms and legs around me. Don't let go. No matter how rough it gets, don't let go."

Sasuke wrapped his long limbs around Naruto, the feel of being at his mercy acute and unnerving. Like offering himself up for slaughter. Then his eyes found Naruto's and he was less afraid. He maintained the gaze, letting the blue eyes steady him as the penetration began and a scream built in his chest at the pain.

It wasn't just pain. It was submission. Yielding. Complicity in his own subjugation. He lost the blue eyes as his head turned aside, denying the act…

Lips on his jaw, near his ear, whispered words. "It's okay, Sasuke. It's okay."

It was. He was impaled, skewered, stretched to bursting and it was okay. It was Him. He turned his head and found the blue eyes again, a color never encountered on another soul, though he'd fought so many enemies. They held him, the blue eyes, and Sasuke breathed.

Shallow thrusts, the hot, hot organ creating unimaginable friction inside him. The hands held his head, the eyes held his soul and Sasuke knew love, knew it at last, knew something other than death and revenge and darkness. For awhile.

***

It was a rough ride. Had Naruto's heavy body not being holding him in place, Sasuke would have crashed headfirst through the wall. The pain was monstrous, the pleasure even more so and he finally let go and yelled in surrender, yelled in Naruto's arms as the blonde grunted with his own pleasure, dropping his head at last to bite the tender flesh that joined neck and shoulder.

Day and night were not known. Only the pleasure ringing through the cell.

***

Sasuke sobbed as Naruto had him standing up, his muscles bunching and working as he slammed Sasuke up and down easily.

He mewled at being taken from behind, kneeling in the armchair, Naruto's hands braced on the back of the chair. He bit one of those brown hands, drawing blood, before his head was yanked back by the hair sharply.

He kissed Naruto senselessly as his back slid up and down the wall, Naruto tilting them both against it as he pumped his exhausted rectum furiously.

A break. Food. Drink. Sleep.

The oil again. Long strokes on tired muscles, pale body stretching languidly beneath worshipping hands. Oil was poured onto the tanned body and then Sasuke was pulled on top, shown how to lower himself on the turgid length. His head fell back, mouth open at this new dimension in the act. He rode slowly, picking up speed at the urgent commands given in that rough voice. Then he was rolled and slammed to his back, a hand jerking his leg onto a broad shoulder, the hips pounding, pounding, pounding fit to kill him. He screamed, hard and loud and long.

On his back again, Naruto on his knees, holding his hips up and circling them on his shaft.

And that mouth. That voracious mouth with the demonic lips.

Naruto's essence was sucked from Sasuke's cavern in noisy slurps, the Uchiha howling with his face pressed into the futon. His body was enslaved to that mouth. No part of him was left alone; his toes were sucked, his knees, his organ and the eggs beneath them, his nipples, his shaved armpits… this last caused Sasuke such severe pleasure that he leaned down and left a set of deep, bloody teeth marks in the blonde's whiskered cheek, pleasing Naruto greatly.

More food, more rest.

Waking in darkness, candles all spent, to feel the rough hands on his body, the mouth on his, the organ seeking entrance. He opened himself, mouth, arms and legs, and Naruto descended, unseen, but felt everywhere. Tongue and shaft piercing him equally, arms closing around him.

***

Undulating in the darkness. Words. Whispers. Lusty cries and grunts of animalistic pleasure. Wet smack of joining. Liquid gush of release. Heat. Savage, savage coupling. Things said. Terribly sexy, naughty things said. Even naughtier things done. In the dark. In the deep, fragrant dark.

Sleeping.

A large, hot body curled around his back.

He was weightless.

He was awake.

Naruto stood across from him, the door open. He turned to look at Sasuke and spoke. "You know what you said during our time here."

He'd said he loved him.

"I do."

"Leave your revenge, Sasuke. It's over. Come back with me. We can each rebuild our clans. Be with me."

And yes. He knew something other than revenge, death and darkness. But he could not release them. Not even for the serious blue eyes that pleaded silently with him.

"I can't."

"But if you achieved your revenge?"

The stare was long. It lasted until the outer door opened behind Naruto and Konohamaru walked forward, stopped, and ran back out, covering his nose and coughing at the stench coming from the cell.

Naruto turned and walked away.

A week and a day.

Naruto sat at his desk and placed the last file in his out tray. He slid his pen into its holder in the same movement.

"Don't do this," Konohamaru begged. "Please."

"It's the only way to save him," the Hokage said stonily. "And if I don't save him, I can't save myself." He stood. No ceremonial robe this time. The business at hand was better celebrated with his black shirt, his black pants. He looked at his long-time friend. "This job has changed me, Konohamaru. It's not an easy thing to make sacrifices for the bigger picture. If I don't do this, he'll just get worse. He might get free one day and then we'll be right back where we started."

Konohamaru watched as Naruto slid Sasuke's sword, confiscated upon his capture, off of a shelf. "No," he said to the blonde. "You're doing this because you're selfish. You're right. This job has changed you. The man I knew wouldn't do this, wouldn't give up."

"I'm not giving up, Konohamaru. I'm giving in. Sometimes you need to surrender in order to win. If the prize is big enough."

"And you think you'll win like this?!"

"Yes. I have faith that if I do this, I will win. I will save him."

The younger man cursed, turning his head away. Then he looked back at Naruto and regarded him with tearful eyes. "You were my hero."

A blue glance. "Will you quit my service?"

Minutes pass. Then, "No. I don't always agree with you, but I won't abandon you."

The Hokage nodded. "Is everything prepared?"

"Yes," his assistant sighed.

"Fine. I'll go alone."

Sasuke sat in his armchair. His body still felt the effects of those three days. He didn't read, only sat. There was regret. For the look on Naruto's face when he'd left, for not being able to change.

Konohamaru no longer came.

The outer door opening had him glancing up at the clock. Quarter to midnight. The door to his cell opened and Naruto stood there, holding his sword.

Ah. So this is how it ends.

He said not a word. Neither did the blonde. His Tenketsus were freshly closed, no chakra available. And then he was outside, no guards in sight and the shock of air on his skin for the first time in five years had him going still.

It was wonderful. At least it would end beneath the sky. And at least it was Naruto.

***

They walked. Miles passed in silence, Sasuke behind Naruto. Escape was pointless and impossible.

And when they stopped, Naruto turned to Sasuke. He held the sword and looked at it thoughtfully as he spoke.

"This is why I will trust you: A few hours into my last visit you could have called up your chakra and killed me. You didn't. You let me into your soul for the first time in our lives. I've seen inside, Sasuke. I've seen and I know. At last, I know."

He looked up and met Sasuke's gaze. "There has to be justice."

Sasuke did not flinch as the sword swung toward him.

It stopped, held out hilt first. Searching the blue eyes for understanding, he raised his hand and took it. Naruto stepped back. He pointed into the trees ahead of them. Sasuke frowned, but turned and walked, alone, in that direction. His sword felt at home in his hand and he breathed deeply as the moon illuminated an overgrown path.

At the end of the path was a clearing. In the clearing, bound and gagged, sat Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura. Their eyes were wide with fear.

The smile on Sasuke's face and the gleam on his sword reflected the moon.