As Above So Below

As Above So Below
Chapter 11

Night was well advanced, and of the five people in the old cow byre, only the two children were asleep. It had taken younger Sasuke a little time to fall asleep, for the sudden if abruptly broken kiss between his mother, and the young man that bore his name had troubled him greatly. Naruto was his mother! The wife of his fathers. This other man, no matter how much he might look like Sasuke and his Papa, had no business putting his mouth and hands on her. But Narue had stilled his ire when it had happened; her blue eyes filled with a confidence that he himself did not feel. Yet, he’d remained quiet, and had not fought for what was his and his fathers’.

As for Naruto and the man in question, things were very awkward after the intense but thwarted kiss. It was hard, very hard, not to act on the urges that burned so fiercely in each other. For Naruto, it was a heartache beyond anything she’d ever felt before. Here was Sasuke, at long last, within reach of her arms and lips, yet she couldn’t avail herself of him. She belonged to other men. Legal or not, she’d given her word to belong to them, and Naruto Uzumaki’s word was binding.

And Sasuke, he felt he’d slipped in to some nightmare even greater than his time at Sound had seemed. When he risked using the forbidden jutsu that could have cost him his life had he not performed it correctly, he never thought that when he finally found his heart’s desire, it would turn out like this. He’d never, in his wildest dreams, at any time, thought that Naruto would belong to someone else. And deep down in his half frozen heart, fury began to mount. Naruto was his!

To keep himself from doing or saying something unforgivable to her or the man that was her double as well as one of her husbands, Sasuke finally left the byre to find food, and see what news could be found. And while he was gone, Naruto fretted, and Nathan slept.

When Sasuke returned at dusk, he brought a bucket of KFC chicken he’d stolen from some picnickers six miles away, a bottle of juice purloined from a store, and troubling news. Arrest warrants for homicide had been issued for Nathan Arashi, and Stefan Madara, for obviously the witnesses had told police that Nathan Arashi had been in that alley, and had been seen shooting Francis Middlewaithe. And though at the time, Sasuke himself had been mistaken for younger Sasuke, obviously the police had decided that a ten year old boy couldn’t have been guilty of shooting a street punk in the head, and that it must have been Nathan’s husband.

While the children eagerly dug into Sasuke’s meal offerings, which neither Naruto and Sasuke could bear to touch, they discussed the fact that they were too close to Naruto’s burnt out house; eventually, they would be discovered. The tension between them was almost more than either could bear. As for Naruto herself, though she wasn’t wanted in connection with the murders, the police very badly wanted to question her. She would be picked up immediately, and Sasuke couldn’t allow that. In eleven days, the door would open once more, and by hell or high water Sasuke was going to be there, and he was going to take Naruto with him. No matter how much Nathan was like Naruto as she should have been, or how Sasuke’s body reacted to the proximity of Naruto’s double, Naruto was his. And he was taking her home. Home to her homeland, home to the Uchiha district, home to his bed.

But the semantics of getting a woman wanted for questioning away from her wounded husband and children to the scene of a crime without being arrested troubled Sasuke, on many levels. Could he steal Nathan’s and Stefan’s children? Could he deny Naruto hers? Denying Naruto of the men she’d come to love in the last eighteen years troubled Sasuke not at all; she was his, and he would soon remind her why, but the children… that was a very different story.

Sasuke watched them now, eating eagerly, and offering Naruto bites which she smilingly declined, saying she’d eaten earlier. A bald faced lie. Sasuke was half tempted to force her to eat. She looked somehow frail and delicate as she sat against the wall, running her fingers through her son’s hair as Narue snuggled down in her lap.

God he wanted her.

Sasuke had always hated Naruto’s sexy no jutsu with a passion; he didn’t care for the charms of women, and seeing his rival and friend at first, and later his lover in that form had angered him; reminding him of all the times his fan girls had tried to force themselves on him. But now... Now was a very different story. Before Naruto had always had the ability to return to his own natural form, and now, he didn’t. And he was Naruto; always had been, always would be. And Sasuke had discovered that no matter what form Naruto wore, he burned with passion and desire for the blonde. He would take Naruto, even as a woman. Because Naruto completed him, and he had to have him.

If not for the presence of the children and the wounded man still sleeping on the hay, Sasuke would have made love to Naruto, despite her protests. It would have been good, god, so very good, for both of them, and she soon would have forgotten any reasoning she had in his arms. Later he could have dealt with any aftermaths; after he had reclaimed her for his very own. Sasuke had been thinking long and hard since their kiss earlier, and had come to a decision. Naruto belonged to him, and somehow, he would take her back. He would take back the right to be in her arms and in her body. He would take back what had always and would always be his. Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto herself was completely demoralized. Sasuke’s news had distracted her from the heartache of not being able to show him the love she still carried for him, in the light of the possible loss of her children. Yes, they had won their case four years ago. But there were still so many people out there who hated homosexuals, and anyone to do with them. It had been so very touch and go as to whether or not they would lose Sasuke and Narue, and this latest fracas would surely be the nail in the coffin of their life together. With Sasuke and Nathan being suspected as having killed men, and with the bodies of the others found at the house, the tide would surely turn against them now. Even if Nathan and Stefan somehow managed to escape prison, the children would be taken from them.

They had lost everything.

Sasuke found himself staring at the still sleeping man. Nathan was so very… like Naruto. Even though, were Naruto still male, whiskers not in evidence, and stood apart from Nathan, Sasuke would be able to tell who was who, even from a distance. But still… the man’s face, his eyes, his smile, even the scent of his body, was so similar to Naruto’s that several times in their flight to the compound, Sasuke had felt an intense sexual attraction. An intimate relationship with Nathan Arashi would not bother Sasuke at all, had things been different. But Sasuke didn’t want Nathan, no matter how much he was like Naruto. He wanted… Naruto. He had to have Naruto. And somehow, he would have him again.

The children had finally fallen asleep. And Naruto, despite how she tried to hide it, was crying. As Stefan Madara reacted when Nathan cried, so too Sasuke felt when he saw that single lone tear tracking down her face. Wildness. Rage. Naruto should not cry. God, no matter how Sasuke like to anger his dobe, to tease him, it made him want to kill something when he saw grief on that beautiful face, when he knew that bright and shining heart was hurting.

He beckoned her away from her sleeping children, cuddled up beside her sleeping husband, and when she wouldn’t, went and got her.

But to Sasuke’s relief, he discovered that she wasn’t crying over him, but of the potential loss of her children. And though he knew very little about this world, he knew that children should be with their parents; not in an orphanage like Naruto had started out in, not in some stranger’s home who wouldn’t, couldn’t love them like their own. It tore at Sasuke’s frigid heart to think of Narue and little Sasuke separated from Naruto, from their fathers, from each other.

******

Though Nathan had woken, he wasn’t quite lucid, and was running a low fever. Naruto was worried that his wound was getting infected, and she used the very last of the water that Sasuke had also brought, to clean it once more. Nathan groaned, tossed so restlessly that Sasuke had to pin him down for her to finish, and kept calling for Stefan.

He would move in and out of consciousness several times before finally waking, a little more clearheaded, at dawn.

Sasuke had gone out again, and discovered a police barricade by the driveway, and over heard the initial roll call and plans to search the woods; for more bodies, for the two hunted men, and Naruto and the children. He returned to the byre post haste.

Nathan, on hearing the grim news, insisted that they move. When Naruto protested about his wound, Sasuke pointed out that Nathan’s condition would hardly get any better in the holding cell he would be confined in until he was transferred to the prison hospital.

What could she say?

So they woke the children, put Narue on Naruto’s back, the two Sasuke’s together, and both adults helped Nathan stagger out of their temporary shelter.

It was a grueling trip through the woods. Occasionally, they heard the voices of the searchers, that were gaining more ground on them as the day brightened. Finally, they left the forest and found themselves in a rather well to do portion of the city, where they would stick out like a sore thumb. To Sasuke’s surprise, this time Naruto stole and hotwired a car, instead of Nathan. It would seem that as much as Naruto had taught her husbands, so to they taught her.

However, they couldn’t keep the car long; the owners would surely report it, and staying in such was a great way to draw the interest of the police that already wanted them so much. They were forced to abandon it before noon.

Little Sasuke and Narue were unusually solemn, and Sasuke was grateful they did not behave like other children of his acquaintance; whining, griping, and making demands. Not Stefan Madara’s children. In fact, they never even complained about being tired, having to walk so far, or being hungry.

Their plight was rather distressing, as none of the adults could allow themselves to be seen, as they were all very distinctive, as were the children. They had passed by storefronts, collars lifted high, and seen bits of newscasts; all five of their faces were plastered across the screens.

It was time to go aground again.

Naruto finally broke down and called Nathan’s parents. She tried to disguise her voice, and did rather well, all things considered. A rendezvous point was made. And Asuma’s double, the man that had accompanied Jason the morning before, came and picked them up in yet another nondescript alley.

But the man, who asked no questions, drove them to a quaint little farmhouse well into the surrounding country. It belonged to a collegue of Jason’s, who was abroad at the moment, and was just the thing for them.

Naruto, who’d been running on high octane fear and anxiety since the attack on her home the day before, and had not eaten or slept since that morning, found herself dazed, and felt ashamed. She was a shinobi, for god’s sake, no matter how many years had passed since she’d actually acted as one. However, in the last fifteen years, she’d done nothing more strenuous than daily training and a lot of really intense sex. And her concern her lost love with Sasuke, for her missing husband, her wounded husband, and her children’s future, she was emotionally spent, and utterly exhausted.

While Shinra was in the kitchen preparing a quick meal for them, Naruto fell asleep on the couch, snoring softly, the two kids leaning against her on each side, equally asleep. Sasuke doubted that even the scent of ramen would wake her now.

They were woken, however, and Naruto was finally induced to eat by the simple fact that Nathan refused to eat unless she did. Once they were done, she almost staggered into one of the two bedroom to tuck the children in. A few minutes later, Sasuke peeked in to find her laying between them, all above the covers and still fully dressed, fast asleep.

Sasuke tch’d, and took off their shoes and tossed a blanket over them. They could bathe later. If they tried now, they would likely drown, all three of them.

Shinra left after doing the dishes, with news that the Sannins would come to see them as soon as possible, and the little farmhouse grew quiet.

Which left Sasuke the only man standing to care for Nathan.

The older man was filthy, too weak to stand, and running a low and intermittent fever. Though he dreaded it with all his might and main, Sasuke knew he would have to bathe him. Well, at least the site of his wound was clean, and as for other bits, well, there was no way in hell Sasuke was going to clean them. He was too much like Naruto, and Sasuke would die of embarrassment should the blonde man notice the erection he would undoubtedly get if he handled any intimate parts.

Thus, Nathan was rushed through the quickest, yet most thorough sponge bath of his life. Not that he’d ever had many; Nathan was normally healthy as a horse, and seldom needed any sort long term or in depth care.

However, when Sasuke handed him the sponge, making sure the bucket of warm soapy water was handy, Nathan’s lips twitched despite his weakness and horror of having to be bathed like a small child.

Throughout the entire affair, Sasuke’s cheeks had burned, and he’d kept his eyes averted from Nathan’s bare body as much as possible.

Nathan, despite being boneheaded and quite thick at times, could read people like books occasionally. And Sasuke was so very much like a young Stefan that it wasn’t even funny. They had some many of the same mannerisms as well as being identical to each other, save for age. And he had finally figured out what Naruto had tried to tell him so long ago; he was Naruto’s biological duplicate; this world’s version of the misplaced blonde woman, just as Stefan was the same to Sasuke.

Though Nathan had slept a good part of the ride in the stolen car, he’d still had plenty of time to think very deep thoughts. Not that he was incapable of such, it was just that he usually had so much more to think about. How the light caught in Stefan’s hair just right, and made it gleam with almost a blue light. How the curve of Naruto’s cheek was just so alluring. How the flowers smelled so strongly in the heat of the sun, yet held a delicacy once said sun had set. How he loved the taste of ramen, of sugar, of the sweets his husband had made for them. How to best configure the website for optimum returns, and how fond he was of tickling Narue’s pink little toes and making her squeal, and how little Sasuke was so very much like his Papa, so serious and filled with the same dry wit and cynicism.

But now he was thinking about their situation; how his world aligned so perfectly with Naruto’s, and how this world’s Stefan and Nathan were reflected in Sasuke and Naruto.

And he felt both fear, anger, and crushing regret; To know that Naruto felt towards Sasuke as he did Stefan. To know that Naruto lived and breathed for Sasuke’s smile, his lips, his touch, as Nathan did Stefan’s. And to know both men reciprocated the feelings just as intensely in their own reserved but no less passionate ways.

Nathan felt jealousy at first. Naruto was theirs! How dare this dark haired, often cold eyed young man glance her way with such obvious yearning, no matter how hard he tried to hide it? How dare he look so much like Stefan? How dare he make the blonde man think thoughts that should only be reserved for his dark husband, not Naruto’s long lost dark lover? How dare Sasuke smell so enticingly like Stefan? How dare the boy make him feel such intense emotions? How dare he make Nathan watch Sasuke and Naruto interact, and wonder with a feeling akin to excitement what it would be like to watch them kiss? To feel joy that at long last, Naruto would again experience what Nathan did every day when he enjoyed Stefan’s passionate attentions?

Joy and anger, love and hate, pleasure and pain, generosity and jealousy; Nathan’s mind and heart was a tangled jumble of them all.

And this greatest affront of all; not since Stefan had claimed the blonde boy when he was only fourteen had Nathan wanted to touch and kiss a man that wasn’t Stefan Madara. But by all that was holy, as Sasuke ran the cloth over his body quickly and roughly, Nathan wanted to do just that; pull the dark boy down onto his body, arch up into him, and demand that Sasuke fuck the holy hell out of him, as he would have Stefan, despite his injury.

And Sasuke wasn’t exactly impervious to these confusing feelings either; Nathan could tell. They were both experiencing the unsettled feelings of being in such proximity to the counterparts of their greatest loves and soulmates.

And yes, Nathan was a secret, or rather, not so secret romantic. He knew Stefan was his soulmate, and knew too, that Sasuke was Naruto’s.

How could he condone keeping Naruto for themselves, when he would be denying the only woman he’d ever really loved the pleasure of her heart’s choice? How could he deny Naruto what he would kill to have if he was in her place; separated from the man that gave him a reason to draw breath every day.

But… he did love Naruto; god, so much. He wasn’t, and had never been bothered by the semantics of loving and having sex with someone who everyone thought had to be a long lost sister. And now he knew; Naruto was… himself. At worst, Nathan was guilty of nothing worse than the most unique form of masturbation ever. He couldn’t imagine not having her in his life anymore, in his arms, in his bed. The sex between the three of them had never, ever failed to be anything but mind blowing, each and every time.

But again… As pleasurable as their threesomes were, and as much as he loved Naruto, there was nothing like the times it was just him and Stefan, alone together, no distractions, no interruptions. God, the pleasure, the love, the passion. At times it was so intense, Nathan thought he would surely die of it. And all through the years, Naruto had made sure that the pair of them had plenty of time for just each other.

She’d known, from the beginning, what Nathan and Stefan were to each other, because that was what she and Sasuke had been. She’d known, and had always made sure that they both found their renewing passion in just each other.

She’d known… all these years, and had been so uncomplainingly generous.

And now, it was possible for her to find that all consuming passion, that obliterating pleasure that could only be found in the arms and body of a soul mate, and here Nathan could only think about repaying her generosity with unbridled greed and selfishness.

Any incipient excitement he felt towards Sasuke was extinguished like a snuffed candle.

How could he be so callous, so cruel, so… so…

Evil…

He looked up, eyes stark and so anguished, that Sasuke drew closer from where he’d retreated to once Nathan’s bath was done, and the man rebandaged, remedicated, and redressed in a clean bed.

“What’s wrong?” Sasuke was sure he could actually see Nathan’s heart breaking in his eyes, and had a horrible suspicion it was his fault. And he felt strange, both resentful, and guilty.

“I know you want her.”

“Of course I want him,” Sasuke responded with cold heat. “He was mine first. He would still be mine if not for the freak event that brought him here and kept him here. And if he were free, he would be mine again.”

“I see.” Nathan looked away, deeply troubled and wounded in heart. It hurt to hear such things, no matter how true they were. He was losing her, he knew it. And if he were as generous as Naruto, he would let her go, let her have her soulmate, her perfection of union.

But even without the delicate tangle of having children with her, he wasn’t so sure he could just give her up completely, let her go utterly, never kiss her again, never make love to her again, never share her with Stefan again, never wake up beside her again.

Because he did love her. He loved her so much; almost as much as he did Stefan.

And therein lay his dilemma. Almost as much. Naruto deserved better than that. It didn’t matter that he would bleed his heart’s blood to lose her. It didn’t matter that he loved her more than ninety nine percent of anyone alive or dead ever would anyone else; it still wasn’t as much as he loved and desired Stefan. Just as Stefan, despite the great love he’d found for her, felt for Nathan just that little bit more.

And Nathan would keep her to himself and his husband, and deny the woman that had always made sure that Nathan and Stefan kindled their great passion for each other frequently, and deny her this boy, who loved her as much as Stefan did him, and whom Naruto loved as much as he did his dark husband.

He couldn’t think about it anymore. God, he wanted Stefan. He needed Stefan. Come home, Stefan!

And that great stone of remorse and guilt became just a little heavier.

“I’m tired,” Nathan whispered, white to the lips, unable to bear anymore anguish and torment. “I’m going to sleep.”

Sasuke stared at him a moment, having a glimmering of an idea of what was so tormenting the blonde man. But he felt no satisfaction, no hope, for he’d never seen so much pain in eyes that blue. So much pain in eyes that looked exactly like Naruto’s. Without a word, he retreated to his own bed, across the room from the other man.

And as he lay in his bed, all he could feel was anger at how things had turned out. Naruto was his. He wanted his blonde back, and he meant to have him. But seeing the pain in the eyes of the man that was his dobe’s double, it gave him doubt, and that angered him all the more. He should just take Naruto and her children, take them home, give the blonde back his rightful body, and enjoy the love Naruto had always, and would always have for him. He should. He would….

But god, Nathan’s eyes…

If he were to do what he was now contemplating, take Naruto and her children back to Konoha, he had to pause. What of Nathan and Stefan, their fathers? Nathan would grieve endlessly, and he was enough like Naruto that Sasuke found the notion repugnant. He would remember how Nathan’s eyes looked just now, and it would haunt him the rest of his days. He wouldn’t be able to bear that thought that somewhere, in another universe, Naruto’s double was heartstricken and would stay that way until he died. Sasuke… couldn’t do it. And as for Stefan, well, knowing Stefan was his double, he knew the man would not rest until he had tracked down his children, and taken back what both Stefan and Nathan had to have to be happy. And Sasuke would look over his shoulder for the rest of his life. Sure, without Chakra, there was no way to cross over to Konoha. But if anyone could do it, Stefan Madara would find a way.

And Stefan was already in Konoha. Sasuke was sure he would never let Naruto and his children pass him by and blithely return to his own world. No, Stefan would fight tooth and nail to keep what was his, as would Sasuke. But what if… Could he… would it be possible…

Damn, but the man was, like Naruto, breathtaking. It would be no hardship, after all. And though Sasuke would rather kill than share what was his… imagine the possibilities…

Nathan was, after all, just another Naruto. And though the idea of more than one Naruto was a little… scary at times, this man meant so very much to his dobe. And as for Stefan… well, as Naruto herself indulged in the ultimate form of masturbation, what was to stop Sasuke from doing the same? It would be like sharing… but not…

The ramifications of this novel idea was too much, for even a brain of Sasuke’s caliber, and he abruptly sat down and decided to act first and deal later. After all, Naruto had made a career out of such strategy.

Perhaps it was time to borrow a page from Naruto’s book.