NaruSasu: Implied Mpreg. Untitled
 
He didn't have the guts to kill. Not anyone.

The Fox knew when the hunt started, that was what had kept him safe from the dogs all this time. Fingers on strings, Naruto had found ways of manipulating the system to keep his intentions safe; certainly, people might have suspectedhim, but those people were kept close enough to render them powerless. The instance he caught the scent of mutiny, Naruto knew, above all else, to flee.

He didn't have the guts to kill. Not anyone. And they knew it, respected it.

There wasn't much keeping Naruto human now, failure after failure had punctured holes in his control - the fox seeping through into various instances of Naruto's persona. His anger had become rage, his tenacity, addiction. Abandonment issues were engulfed by too strong a need for retribution, obsession fuelled rebukement - Naruto rarely participated in missions with his peers; indeed, Naruto rarely participated full stop. His desire had doubled, trebled - become something of a beast itself - and Naruto fought his urges enough to be careful around sweet-smelling, warm, pink-haired things. Sakura did not suit shiners and blood did not make for good rouge, despite the practicality.

He didn't have the guts to kill, not yet.

The fox hadn't pushed him that far, but it would inevitably and Naruto knew then that he had to rid himself of the only thing, the only attatchment he possessed which would undoubtably force the fox out of its den once the dogs teeth held it. They'd understand - those ones who knew.

"I thought you hated city living," he stated gruffly, picking at a spot of peeling paint on the doorframe. He'd closed the door, but he still stood within the close boundaries of the wooden struts. He didn't feel welcome yet, but he knew better than to expect any nuance of hospitality on his host's part. Sasuke simply didn't have the face for it.

"Inner city." Sasuke replied shortly, his gaze as flinty as ever, despite his body's resemblance to a skeleton tree. He huffed, blowing his long, lank bangs out of his eyes. Naruto noted how much like Itachi he was looking nowadays. "I said inner city."

"Specifically," Naruto fought the urge to roll his eyes. He couldn't really - they were glued to Sasuke; Sasuke's eyes, Sasuke's chest, Sasuke's arms. Couldn't have moved them if he wished to. The fox inside growled a little, unsure of what it was up against - Naruto didn't feel this ways around people, not that he knew. This was a cupboard that hadn't been opened in many years and one he hadn't a key to. "Always about the specifics, aren'tcha?" He paused a moment, before nodding curtly at the bundle cradled against Sasuke's chest. "She looks like you."

"She would," Sasuke joggled the curled up, scrunched up weight of baby in his arms and pressed his lips to her thick neck. "I made her, after all - that bastard's genes were probably to decrepit to even give her an eyelash like his."

"He's seen her?" For a moment, Naruto felt a twinge of sympathy for Orochimaru. The bastard was evil incarnate through and through, but still, the kid was his. Unlikely that he was even around for the birth now that the Akatsuki was on his case. They'd nipped off his tail several times in the past months and Naruto doubted he'd had time to let it grow back.

Then again, he was a snake, not a lizard, right?

"He was only up for one show of grunting and groaning." Sasuke raised a thin brow. "And that was at the opening. Ticket office, even." He looked down finally, breaking his glare to offer his sleeping daughter a quiet smile and another affectionate nuzzle. Naruto felt a juvenile jealously rise, along with a sharp, tight feeling in his crotch. "He never knew her." Sasuke continued. "And he won't. I doubt you'll ever hear much from him again."

"No love lost." Naruto cleared his throat before padding closer, a strange, wonky smile tilting his features. Stripes bend upward, grinning on their own. "Better off without him, anyway."

"That's what I said about the other bastard." Sasuke, turned away a little, sheltering the infant with his shoulder - consequently having to glare a little over it, which further warmed Naruto's appetite. "But after him, there was nothing."

"You've got her now." The blond interjected, motioning lightly. Sasuke only scowled harder.

"Yeah, and for how long? I know why you're here, Uzumaki. I don't get a slap on the hand this time. Konoha doesn't kill their own."

"I know that." Naruto looked down, finding that scuffing his bare toe against the rough concrete - crudely disguised as a floor the strategic positioning of a curling, ratty shred of lino - was strangely comforting. "I also know it wasn't your fault."

"That's your opinion," Sasuke sniffed. "Doesn't mean the elders think the same. They're scared shit of you now, but they're still as myopic as ever - they won't see the truth - "

"They might be lenient on you to sate me." Tanned shoulders bounced, causing the long tails of Naruto's ANBU tattoo to wriggle like tiny black asps. "They do things to please me..."

"Like enlisting you in the Special Forces?" The other snorted. "Easier to get rid of you if they give you more challenging missions."

"Always thinking of me, huh?" Naruto cocked a brow. "And you're supposed to be a challenging mission?"

"I know you won't kill me unless I hold your hand."

He had to get rid of him, it wasn't a matter of pride, of love. It was a matter of survival

"You wanna die that bad?"

"Uzumaki." Sasuke rolled the name about on his tongue - tasting each syllable before he spat it out, following with a chaser of: "Naruto. Idiot. Do I look like I want to die?"

"Yeah," Naruto sucked his lower lip in and out between his teeth, feeling the chapped skin catch a few times before he seized that and gnawed on it instead. "You do."

How else could he explain it? Sasuke had a baby - a beautiful baby girl of whom he'd created, carried and birthed as only a perfect hermaphroditic androgyne as himself could - he had something to live for, he had another mission. But that was how it was for Sasuke - he simply moved from mission to mission; whether that mission was revenge on his murderous brother or bearing and caring for an infant. He didn't live, he survived. And he knew it. He couldn't swallow it any more.

"It won't solve all your problems, you know." Naruto warned him, reaching out to take the child, nuzzling her dark, damp head along with Sasuke's lingering fingers.

"I trust you." Sasuke offered him a smile so gentle, Naruto could have sworn it was a mirage.

"What are friends for, huh?" The blond placed the baby on the moth eaten couch cushion and stepped away, watching silently as her mother admired her - rubbing the visage of her into his memories. "You wanna say goodbye properly?"

"I've already done it." Sasuke cuffed his hair out of his eyes again, trying not to notice the heat gathering in the corners. "No coddling. She doesn't need it. She doesn't need to remember me like this."

"Sasuke..."

"Neither do you." Sasuke moved closer to his ex-teamate, his blond - removing a small knife from his pocket to push into his palm. He didn't doubt Naruto had plenty of kunai already, it was simply the last ellipses before the point was made.

"I've got plenty of good memories already." Naruto tried to smile as his fingers worked a variety of ancient seals - tapping over them with ruthless, emotionless efficiency before he held them up to Sasuke's throat. "I can share them with her. There were more good points about you than you probably want to admit."

"You're right." Sasuke replied as he wrapped his hands around Naruto's wrist, tightening them enough to pinch. "But... thanks."

Naruto's eyes flashed, lightnening against a pallid grey sky of indecision.

"I love you."

"You're a fool." Sasuke replied.

"I know that. Say it back anyway."

"Now you're just an idiot."

"Obsessive." Naruto leaned in as his fingers touched flesh and sizzled angrily. Sasuke drew in a tight breath. "Obsessive compulsive... But I got to save you in the end, right?"

"Amen." Sasuke choked, before the white seals burnt through his flesh, flooding down his throat - blocking his air. He clutched his friend for a moment, pushing the pain aside to throw the slightest smile Naruto's way before he stiffened and collasped into the blond's arms; fading into the fathomless blue of his eyes as his life left him.

Naruto touched his middle briefly, before he gently laid his friend down on the floor - fingers gliding over Sasuke's eyelids to close them. He could smell the dogs already.