Constellations (complete)

When Naruto woke, his bedroom was full of people. Tsunade was there, her glowing hand hovering over his body. Neji was there, his arm around Sasuke. Shikamaru, who looked like shit, had finally returned and come straight to their house, bringing several of his team with him. Hinata was there, her hands over Sasuke’s helping him restrain the demon.

“Can you tell how much stronger the pull is? An estimated percentage?” Shikamaru asked.

“After we blew up the first base, I would have estimated the increase at more than five but less than ten percent,” Neji said. “This time the increase was greater. I would say more than fifteen percent, but less than twenty.”

Shikamaru bowed his head and rubbed his chin in thought. After several minutes, his head shot up. “Damn it!” Then he grabbed his head in both hands, shock filling his face. “How could I be so stupid?”

“What it is?” Sasuke asked, straightening.

“There are four bases,” he said.

“How do you know that?”

“The percentages,” the genius answered. “There may be five, but if your estimates on the pull are close, I doubt it. I think there are four.”

Everyone just looked at him. “It’s like…” He paced for a moment trying to think of a way to explain. Then he grabbed Tsunade and stood her in the center of the room. Next he positioned four of the Anbu in a circle around her.

“Pretend that each of the Anbu is an enemy base. Imagine that each has a string around her waist and is pulling with the same force. Each Anbu is one fourth of the total pull on her body.”

He walked around the group. “Because it is spread around her, and each is only one fourth, she can feel it but it doesn’t move her.” Then he grabbed one of the Anbu and moved him off to the side, making an exploding noise with his mouth.

“We blew one of the bases up and the pull increased by more than five, but less than ten percent.” He waved to the remaining three Anbu. “If they get to absorb his pulling power,” he pointed to the ejected Anbu, “she will feel the pull even more, because of the vectors and the redistribution of the 100 percent.”

“That’s why you think four,” Sasuke interrupted. “After the base blew up three days ago, the pull increased more than fifteen percent, but less than twenty. It went from thirds to halves.”

Shikamaru nodded and shoved another Anbu off to the side. Everyone in the room visualized Tsunade being pulled by the remaining two Anbu and then what would happen if that number were reduced to one.

If the redistribution of the chakra pull to two bases was doing this to Naruto, reducing that number down to one would yank the demon right out of him and kill him outright.

“Hell, they’re hoping that we’ll find their bases, one at a time, and blow them up. It works to their advantage.” Shikamaru rubbed his forehead. “That explains what we found the other day.”

“We have to stop,” Neji said.

“Or get the last two bases at the exact same time,” Sasuke said.

“We don’t know where even one is, much less both of them,” Naruto added. Then he decided the time had come to lay it all out there. “How long do you think we have, Grandma?”

She looked at him, then closed her eyes. “How long do you think we have, Naruto?”

He sighed, then braced himself. “Two or three days.”

“That would be my guess as well,” she said into the stunned silence.

The next day Sasuke was a maniac. He raced around the village talking with everyone he thought might have the slightest information on how to combat the demon. At every turn he was informed that they had already shared everything they knew with Shikamaru.

At the end of the first day, he called a meeting in his kitchen with Shikamaru, Lee, Neji and Naruto.

“I need to know everything you know about the demon,” he said to Shikamaru.

“Sasuke, he’s been studying this for years. He’s even traveled abroad on leads from the toads. He’s been working on this ever since Jiraiya died,” Naruto said quietly, his body slumped, his face pinched.

“Just start talking. We’re wasting time.”

Shikamaru sighed tiredly and Naruto came to his rescue.

“There are some basic facts,” he said. “There’s a consensus that the only way to relieve me of the demon is to let Kyuubi out, and if that doesn’t backfire,” Naruto rolled his eyes, “put it in someone else.”

“Then why can’t we put it in some death row inmate and be done with it?”

“First, assuming I live through the extraction, and that Konoha isn’t a pile of rubble within minutes, and that we could even recreate the seal,” he ticked on his fingers, “there has to be a sacrifice. My father had to die to accomplish this,” Naruto said across the table.

“Second, the host has to be a child.” Naruto looked pointedly at Sasuke. “A prepubescent child.”

Sasuke opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, wishing he could, but unwilling to make the next obvious suggestion. Even under these conditions, he couldn’t suggest doing this to another child.

In the silence during which they let Sasuke digest this piece of information, they heard a dripping sound. They all turned in the direction of the noise and watched in horror as blood ran from Naruto’s nose in a slow stream to drip onto the tabletop.

He realized everyone was looking at him and then saw the pool spreading on the table. His hand flew to his face to cover the blood and he said, “You don’t need me for this.” Then he got up and left the room, Neji right behind him.

In the bathroom, Naruto leaned against the door jam his head tilted back and a rag held to his nose. He coughed as blood ran down his throat. After several moments he looked at Neji. Tears were gathering in his eyes and his chin quivered.

“Is it too much to ask to be able to go with some fucking dignity?”

Neji stepped forward and held Naruto’s head in both hands. “No one in this world sees anything but dignity when they look at you.”

“It’s just going to get worse from here on out,” Naruto said. “Do you think we could do the rest of this in private?”

“I’ll speak with Sasuke,” Neji said. “He needs to do what he’s doing, but he’ll need to understand that he must do it on his own.”

Then they heard a loud crash from the kitchen. When they got there, they found the table overturned across the room, and Sasuke sitting on Shikamaru’s chest, a kunai at his throat.

“Are you telling me to put the demon in one of my children?” Spit flew from Sasuke’s mouth as he yelled into Shikamaru’s face.

“Sasuke!” Naruto leapt across the room and pulled Sasuke off their councilor. “What the hell?”

Shikamaru got to his feet. “I told him that there are only five children in the village with enough chakra to qualify them as hosts.”

“Sasuke!” Naruto yelled. “Shikamaru and I have already had this discussion. He isn’t telling you to put the demon into our children. He’s telling you the facts.”

Naruto stepped in front of Sasuke and repeated, “The facts. Shikamaru spent years looking into a way to eliminate the demon. Jiraiya spent half his life. He wanted it gone as much as anyone. He lost someone he loved to the demon; my father.” Naruto’s voice softened. “That’s why traveling with him was such a mixed bag. He cared about me, but he also knew there was only one answer to my demon problem.”

Naruto took the kunai from Sasuke’s hand and held it up to his face. “This. This is the only answer.”

Sasuke stared at the kunai for several moments, grief on his face and then he shoved Shikamaru and then Lee out of his way and raced out of the house.

An hour later he slammed the door to Tsunade’s apartment open and found her sitting at her kitchen table. He came to stand in front of her and dropped to his knees.

“Please help me,” he cried. “You’re a Sannin. And a doctor. You’ve studied seals and medicine and the demon.” He dropped his head to her knees and sobbed. “Please…”

She caressed his hair for several moments until he looked up, hell in his eyes.

“This is all I’ve got,” she said and reached for the bottle that he’d missed sitting on her table. She pressed it into his hands and patted his shoulder awkwardly; the half bottle she’d already consumed making her clumsy.

He held the bottle and stared at it. Finally he pushed it back into her hands and stood. His head hanging, his whole body the picture of defeat, he walked out of her apartment without a word.

The next day, while Sasuke was frantically ransacking the Uchiha library, Neji and Naruto sat outside watching the children much as they had the other day, Naruto leaning against Neji’s chest. His knees were up and the baby was propped in the cradle made by that position. He was piled on a thick layer of blankets to protect him from the heat of Naruto’s body.

Naruto had tried to hold him close earlier and the baby had thrashed and fussed, then started to wail at the discomfort. After thrusting the baby at Neji, Naruto had dropped to his knees and sobbed over not being able to hold his son one last time.

Neji had gathered a stack of blankets and made a nest in the crook of Naruto’s hips and now the baby was swatting at Naruto’s fingers in delight.

“It’s going to be rough around here for a while,” Naruto finally said. “Have patience with him.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I almost feel like the lucky one.”

Neji nodded. “Yes. He and I have both been left behind. We would gladly trade places with you.”

“This time, you’ll have each other. And now a family.”

“That will make all the difference.”

“I’m so glad. I want you both to be happy again.” Naruto squeezed Neji’s hand. “I love you both so much.” He wrapped a wild blond curl around the tip of his finger. “I love all of you so much.”

That night, Sasuke sat next to Naruto after urging him to get some rest. The bed was covered in towels as blood would sporadically stream from Naruto’s mouth, nose, eyes and ears as smaller blood vessels would burst from the stress on his body.

And a few hours earlier they found Naruto sitting in a small pool of blood that seeped from his penis and rectum. Larger and larger internal organs were failing and Naruto had stopped eating and drinking the day before.

Still he smiled and chatted with Sasuke, keeping the topics to the antics of the children or the weather. And when Sasuke told him to try to sleep, he just nodded and went willingly to lie down. He didn’t really think he’d be able to sleep, because there wasn’t a part of him that wasn’t screaming in agony, but he could lie with his eyes closed for a while if it would keep Sasuke with him for a few hours. This time, he knew, would be the last.

Sasuke sat next to Naruto and watched his chest rise and fall. A kind of madness was stealing over him.

His whole life he’d believed that breaths were good things. They brought life as they filled lungs, fed the brain, sped blood through veins. They brought scents such as a favorite food, the scent of a lover’s arousal, the distinct smells carried by each of his children.

But as he listened to Naruto and the labor of each inhale and exhale, he realized that they actually comprised a clock. A person had so many breaths allotted in life and when that number was used up, life ended. Each breath was a tick that counted down to the end.

He thought that his and Naruto’s lives were so intertwined that perhaps their breaths, their clocks depended on each other; that Naruto was perhaps destined to leave on a given breath in Sasuke’s life. He considered this and then thought that he should stop breathing. If he could hold off that one breath, he could keep Naruto here longer.

Then it became clear; breaths were actually the enemy. Tilting his head, he picked up another pillow and held it in his lap. He cocked his head and watched Naruto’s labor to keep breathing and how his exhales expelled sprays of blood from his mouth and nose. Yes. Each breath was taking Naruto farther and farther away. And they were causing him agony. He just needed to stop them.

Then Naruto opened his eyes. He studied Sasuke and the pillow inches from his face and he smiled.

“We can’t do it that way.” Naruto said gently. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.”

He held his hand out and Sasuke pulled him to a sitting position.

“Hey, bastard.” Naruto squeezed Sasuke’s hand. “I’m about done here.” Sasuke’s eyes closed and his face contorted in anguish. “Just got enough left to do the deed.”

“I want you to listen to me.” Naruto continued. His face was serene and it was easy for Sasuke to pretend that Naruto wasn’t in agony. “I would never leave if I could stop it. Please tell me you believe that. That I’m not some kind of martyr.”

Tears just dripped from Sasuke’s chin.

“You gave me everything.” Sasuke’s voice quavered. “I gave you nothing.”

“Bastard,” Naruto leaned forward, “you gave me a life. You gave me love; so much love. And a family.” He smiled. “Me, the village idiot with a preference for guys., well, just you. I have the brightest, strongest, most talented family in the whole world. They are healthy and happy and I feel like my life actually had a purpose besides demon vessel.”

Naruto’s chin quivered. “You’ve given me a legacy that has nothing to do with death or war or destruction. Just life and love. Stuff a kid living in the gutters eating from garbage cans should never have even imagined.

“I know you don’t want this and can’t imagine being happy again. But Neji is so in love with you.” Naruto smiled.

“You’re my one and only.” Sasuke said. “I can’t live without you.”

“A few years ago, I would have worried about that very thing, but not anymore. What we have is pretty amazing. But what Neji and the kids offer is pretty damn good, too. I know you love him and I’m glad. It was the one cloud in my life; worrying about leaving you alone again.”

“You don’t deserve this.”

Naruto chuckled. “Deserve? What are any of us promised in this life? Not a damned thing. But look what I got anyway.” He cocked his head and said, “You could look at this the way I am. We all want to make a difference. I get to make the biggest difference of all. Twice.” He thought about the images Kyuubi had shown him. “We’ll buy a lifetime of peace today for our children.”

Naruto kissed Sasuke. “Make sure the kids know that, okay? That I mattered.

“Now don’t be so sad. Just be patient.” Naruto patted his leg. “I have it from a reliable source that we’ll be together again some day.”

Neji came into the room then and helped Naruto out of bed. “Can you get the kids together on the porch? The council will be here in a little while.”

Even though the children were young, the twins still only seven, this was the talk Naruto dreaded the most. He’d almost chickened out and snuck off without doing it. He didn’t want to break down in front of the children, didn’t want them to feel his fear and sadness. Finally, though, he remembered his promise to himself about leaving others with regrets and found the resolve he needed.

“You’ve all heard of Kyuubi, right?”

“The monster?”

“The demon?”

“The bad dog that ate grandpa?”

“Yes. Well, he’s been in a cage for a long time, but he’s trying to get out. He and I have been in a fight for a while now.”

“Is that why you keep getting hurt?” Neji’s son touched a blister on Naruto’s forehead.

“Yes.”

“I’m scared.”

“Is he going to get out?”

“No. But today he is going to try to make his big breakout.” Naruto grinned. “I’m going to have to go kick his ass.”

Keiko giggled and covered her mouth at papa using a bad word. A couple of the boys gave fierce little shouts, “Yeah!”

“Papa’s so brave.”

“But I won’t be able to come back after I’m finished.” Naruto dug his fingernails into his palms to keep himself steady.

“Why not?”

“How come?”

“It’s not a place you can come back from.” Naruto shrugged.

“Well, can we come and see you?”

“Hm. You know, I don’t know. Maybe someday you can come and see me.”

“Daddy, Father? Can we go visit papa some day?”

Neji squeezed the children on his lap. Sasuke sat slumped, staring blindly at the dirt under his feet.

“So, before I go open a box of whoop-ass on that demon,” the kids giggled again, “I want to make sure you know that I…” Naruto’s eyes burned and his throat ached as he struggled not to cry in front of his children.

“No father has ever loved his children more than Papa loves you,” Neji said.

He leaned forward and rested his chin on Naruto’s shoulder. “I will tell them of your love every day for the rest of my life. And when they are older, I will see that they know your story. You have my promise.”

Jut then Shikamaru, Lee, Hinata and Hiashi walked up to the porch. Naruto picked up a bundle that had been sitting next to him and stood. He walked down to stand on the last porch step and turned to his family, his Hokage persona in place.

“Sasuke, they will come. When they get here, this is yours. I know you can keep them from even reaching the gates. Keep your head in the game. Don’t let this keep you from protecting our babies and their home.

“Neji, if you will accept, I’d like to name you Shichidaime Hokage.” He held out the bundle in his arms to Neji. It was the Hokage robes.

“But, he’s the strongest ninja…now…” Neji dropped his head and muttered, “will…be.”

“He doesn’t want the job. Besides, with his temper the first act of business would have to be building a bigger prison.” Naruto grin looked more like a wince. Neji took the pile and Naruto continued.

“Shika and Lee have been the best council this village has ever had. They would step down if you preferred another council, but I recommend them.”

There were several moments of silence, as no one seemed to know what else to say.

“Well…” Naruto turned toward the late afternoon sun. He couldn’t look at Sasuke who looked more fragile than the thistle down swirling in the breeze at their feet.

He took his tiny son from Neji’s arms and just looked at his peaceful face for several moments. Then he handed the baby back, stepped forward jerkily and grabbed first Sasuke’s face for a fierce kiss, then Neji’s. Then he turned and poofed away, leaving the entourage to follow.

When the party arrived in the clearing on the far side of the Forest of Death, the Hunters were already there, thronged around the perimeter. They smelled like arousal and Naruto shot Shikamaru a meaningful look.

“Konoha really doesn’t need them after today.” He shook his head and stepped into the center of the clearing.

“Everyone listen up. I know we’ve gone over this a million times, but we’re going over it once more. There is zero room for mistakes. The well being of my home and my family are at stake and I won’t accept anything but perfection.”

The Hunters grunted and fidgeted. Naruto slapped his forehead. “I can’t believe I’m putting the fate of the world in their hands.” He winked at Hinata.

“Anyway, once more. They,” he thumbed in the direction of the smelly, black clad figures, “make the cut. And for the hundredth time,” he gave them a stern look, “hacking me to bits is not part of the plan.”

He straightened. “Then what?”

Hinata jumped forward. “The demon will try to make a break for the seal, seeking a route through whatever organs still contain life. Using Byakugan and Gentle Fist, I will stop his progress until all routes are closed.”

“Right. I have no idea how fast he’ll be.” He grinned at her. “I know you’ll be faster.”

He looked toward the sky. “Then what?”

“Incineration.” Shikamaru answered unenthusiastically, never taking his eyes off a nearby shrub.

“Shika, do you think this will work? Are we forgetting anything?”

Shikamaru’s jaw clenched, the bush seeming to have his entire attention. He shook his head. “It’ll be fine.”

“Hiashi-san, I am grateful that you’re here.”

“I am honored that you wish me here, but my presence is unnecessary. Hinata will not need me.”

“Well then...” Naruto sighed and everyone shifted to their positions except Hinata, who was standing in front of him. She was staring at his face as if she wanted to say something.

“Hinata?”

Then she reached up and pressed her lips to his and held them there while he raised his eyebrows.

Humor filled him. He was beyond telling people what he thought was best for them. If she wanted this, he thought, what the hell. As distractions went, it was pretty good.

He wrapped one arm around her and, grabbing one ass cheek, hauled her body up to his, then he shoved his tongue down her throat. He tilted his head and ravaged her mouth for a good twenty seconds and then set her back, his eyes twinkling.

He laughed as, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Lee’s mouth hanging open. She was grinning and he held her hands in his.

“Now no more of that and that’s an order. You’re going to corrupt our councilors.”

They looked into each other’s eyes, each wearing big shit eating grins. Hers never left her face until her cheeks were splattered with his blood.

For the next two minutes, she was a vision of focus and grace as she moved like lightening to contain the demon. Then she turned and walked out of the clearing alone.

Thirty minutes later, the sun set over Konoha. Kyuubi no Kitsune and Uzumaki Naruto were pages in history.