Of Curry, Fevers, and Kits

It was all Gaara could do to not just get up and run off from the meetings, they seemed to last forever. It was hard enough to try to keep from constantly look out the window in his anxiousness to get back to Naruto. They had breaked for lunch earlier and he had every intention to go see Naruto then, but Temari had insisted that he eat with them and the Nara boy. He had no explainable reason to deny the invitation, and so he had been stuck with them, bored out of his skull as they talked about who knows what.

After that it had been straight back to the meetings with the Hokage. He knew as the Kazekage he should be listening to her more closely, but his mind kept drifting. Drifting to tanned skin that faded to soft, milky white inner thighs, of a pink bud that held molten heat within it and what it felt like to be buried in that silky heat. He shifted in place to discreetly adjust the problem between his legs, clearing his throat softly and hoping to any god listening that he wasn’t blushing. Gods, he couldn’t be thinking about this right now! But his mind wouldn’t go anywhere else!

The meetings would be over soon. He had to keep telling himself that. He had never been a patient man, whatever he wanted he wanted it now and poor soul who had to tell him to wait, but especially now, all he wanted to do was tell the bitch to shut her trap so he could leave then rush back to Naruto! Nevermind that he needed to sleep, he was still used to going days without sleep before his body’s needs caught up with him, so by his calculations he’d be fine for the week and get plenty of sleep when he returned to Suna. He wasn’t wasting a single free moment away from the blond shinobi if he could help it.

Tsunade could tell that the young Kazekage was distracted, feeling a vein pop against her temple that the brat wasn’t paying attention to her, but she kept going, not willing to have these meetings stretch out longer than they had to be. Their words were being dictated anyways, so the brat could just have himself a nice long read whenever he had to recall anything from today. “So I think that concludes everything for today, unless you have any questions?” Gods, she hoped he didn’t. She just wanted to go home, unwind in a nice long bath with a cup or two of sake.

“Hmm?” Gaara’s attention snapped back to the blond woman, then shook his head. “No, I have no questions. Thank you for seeing me about these matters Hokage-sama. It has been a long day.”

Tsunade nodded in agreement. “It has been. Would you like to join me for dinner or would you prefer something be sent to your room?”

“Ah… I think something sent to my room. I will be turning in early tonight.”

“Very well,” Tsunade silently sighed in relief, not wanting her own relaxation time interrupted, either. She was ready to dismiss him.

“What is the news on Naruton’s condition?” Gaara decided to ask, hoping that the woman would report that the blond’s fever had broken and that he was no longer in quarantine. Besides, it would look suspicious if he didn’t ask.

Tsunade sighed, her brows furrowing a little in worry. She knew this would come up eventually, actually a little surprised that it took this long for the red-head to ask “It is very serious, and it has only gotten worse. I’m afraid that Naruto might be out of commission for at the very least a week. I’ve already sent a notice to the village to keep clear of him and his apartment.”

It had gotten worse? Naruto seemed fine and full of energy when he had left him. He almost blushed at how full of energy he had been. Had something happened afterwards? But now that he thought about it, he wasn’t even sure of Naruto’s real illness. His brows furrowed, realizing just how foolish he had been in acting without knowing all the details. “If you don’t mind me asking, what is his illness that it is so serious?”

“Ah…” Tsunade started, about to refuse to tell him, then paused, thinking it over. Gaara was once a jinchuuriki himself. Maybe he would understand, maybe even have some advice. She sighed, pusing a hand through her bangs, looking like she’d rather not say, but, “I… what I am about to tell you in must remain completely confidential, understood?” Aqua eyes narrowed in seriousness, the red head nodding his understanding. Tsunade nodded in return and continued. “Yesterday Inuzuka Kiba came to my office right before you arrived and reported a rather strange thing to me.”

Yes, Gaara had seen him leaving the office just as he was arriving.

“He told me that he and Hyuuga Hinata had crossed paths with Naruto during their date and that Naruto was acting oddly, dizzy, weak. That is all that Hinata would notice, but Kiba, being of the Inuzaku clan, has a very keen senses of smell, noticed more. He noticed many more subtle differences in Naruto than just feverish illness and came to see me as soon as he could.” She paused here, as if not sure how to continue, then decided to just go with the most direct approach. “He told me that Naruto was going into rut.”

Gaara’s eyes registered surprise. Tsunade nodded and went on.

“I didn’t want to believe it at first either, but Kiba assured me that there was no mistaking the very light, almost undetectable, scent he had picked up,” Gaara felt a thrill go through him at a mention of a strange scent, but Tsunade didn’t seem to notice, “We assume that it has something to do with Kyuubi, since such an animalistic act isn’t possible for humans.” Her tone seemed to say ‘though you wouldn’t know it by looking at some people,’ “I still didn’t want to believe it, but I sent my Tonton to confirm it afterwards. There is no denying it now.

“Obviously letting Naruto out in such a condition would be dangerous. He wouldn’t be able to control his actions, and we couldn’t very well let him go around forcing himself on others. Before you arrived this morning I called Inuzuka Kiba back to my office and asked for any sort of assistance he could give. He told me that all we could do was let Naruto ride it out, give him a week, maybe more since we do not know how long the kyuubi would drag this out. Tell me, Gaara-san. Have you ever experienced something like that before?” She was hoping that perhaps the former Shukaku vessel would have some personal input on the matter.

Gaara was silent for a long moment, then simply shook his head dumbly. “No, I… if something like this could really happen, then it wouldn’t have happened to me until around this age as well. Naruto’s body must have reached full maturity. Something like this could become normal, annual, maybe even more often. There’s no telling for sure, really.”

Tsunade sighed again, nodding. “That is the same thing Kiba said. All we can do is quarantine Naruto, then. I know that anything he did, anyone he might have hurt, while he was in this state… he’d never forgive himself for it.”

Dread seeped into the pit of Gaara’s stomach. Would Naruto come to regret their night together? No, Naruto hadn’t forced him. He had willingly participated and was even now eager to go back for more. This was his chance, he knew it was. It was low and dirty, but he would use this time to his advantage. He would make Naruto his, assure him that his own feelings were real, win his heart along with his body. He wouldn’t miss this chance! But he had to go. Now.

“I’m sorry I could not be of further help,” he bowed his head to the hokage, signaling that he was now really leaving.

“It’s alright. We’ve never dealt with this situation before, so there really is no precedent for it. We will try to get through it as best as we can. I’ve ordered Kiba to check the grounds around Naruto’s apartment each day to see if there’s any change from one day to the next.”

That made Gaara tense a little. If the Inuzuka’s sense of smell was really so keen would he be able to detect his presence when he was with Naruto? He’d have to be careful. But for all he knew, the dog nin had already made his rounds, so he could very well be safe. He’d be on guard either way.

~

At that same moment Inuzuka Kiba felt his ears burn, sneezing and hoping that he wasn’t getting sick on top of all of this. He had been quite shocked himself to think that Naruto could really be in rut. It was amazing how the monster within his friend could affect him so oddly. He had been hesitant to volunteer to check on Naruto’s status. If Naruto was really in rut he didn’t want to be affected himself. But he knew that his preferences leaned towards the female gender, so he assured himself that he had nothing to fear.

Besides, it wouldn’t be like he’d be entering Naruto’s apartment and checking up on him personally. Just checking the general area would be good enough. If he detected any changes in Naruto’s scent he would report it back to the Hokage.

That was where he was now, getting clearance from the jounin guards stationed around Naruto’s apartment. It was a small building, and slightly run down so right now Naruto was one of the very few tenants currently living there. The other was an elderly couple who had been moved out earlier this morning just in case.

At a close, but safe distance he closed his eyes and concentrated. He took a deep breath through his nose and shuddered, feeling heat pool in his groin. He chanted to himself that he wasn’t into males, that he loved Hinata and only Hinata. He was stronger than to succumb to the sex pheromones of another man. Still, there was no denying his arousal, he just had to keep away. It made him wonder how the guards weren’t affected. But then their senses of smell weren’t as sensitive as his own.

Hoping that he wasn’t digging his own grave he took another deep breath, trying to analyze what he was smelling. The scent in the air was… His eyes opened in surprise. The scent in the air was fading, slowly but surely. It was a strong scent, but it was also… about half an hour old, meaning that no new pheromones were being released. Could it be that Naruto was already out of rut?

He took one more deep breath just to be sure, and then frowned. There was more than just Naruto’s scent permeating the air. There was the scent of another’s sex… and another… and another… And it wasn’t just the scent from masturbation. There were certain chemical reactions that made subtle changes in one scent different between masturbation and participating in sexual relations, and the scents in the air were the latter. What was more, they were closely intermingled in Naruto’s scent. Naruto had had sex… with three different partners, all male. At different times if the varying strengths and… freshness of each scent was anything to go by. And the thing was, he instantly recognized two of them, and the third seemed familiar as well.

He’d have to report this to the hokage. Three shinobi had gone against the hokage’s orders to keep away from Naruto, but perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing, since it seemed that it helped Naruto burn through his rut all the faster. There were just too many things to take in to be sure of that yet, though.

~

Gaara was walking down to the steps to the Hokage’s building, every intention of going back to his room for a quick shower, then head down to Naruto’s with some food, no doubt the blond was not in the right mind to remember to eat right now. It wouldn’t do to let him starve even if he had to find creative ways to make the rutting jinchuriki eat.

He caught sight of Inuzuka Kiba quickly rushing towards the building and figured the dog nin was on his way in to report on Naruto’s condition. What he didn’t expect was for the brunette to stop short when he saw him. He saw his nostrils flare as he took a deep breath, then those wild eyes widen in recognition. “You…”

He got a strange feeling of de ja vu, “Me?”

There was no doubting it in Kiba’s mind, the last, familiar scent belong to the Kazekage. “You have to come with me. Quickly!” He grabbed hold of is wrist and tugged him forward, only to have the hand yanked back and frighteningly flashing aqua eyes glaring at him hard. He swallowed thickly, then grit his teeth. “Please come with me. This is about Naruto.”

That caught Gaara’s attention. He was still pissed that the dog boy presumed he had the right to just touch him how he liked, but he’d follow him if it was about Naruto. He nodded tersely and followed the other teen back into the building, up towards the Hokage’s office.

“Kiba? Gaara-san?” Tsunade looked like she was ready to leave and was a bit annoyed by the interruption, but Kiba wouldn’t only be reporting on Naruto’s condition right now so it could very well important. “Has there been any changes?”

Gaara stood just away from the door as the Inuzuka boy walked around the Hokage’s deskand started to whisper to the blond woman. In the pit of his stomach he was worried that he had been discovered, but what were they going to do about it, really? Naruto hadn’t abused him, and really he was helping the blond through his problems by relieving what had to be a powerful ache.

His fears were confirmed when the older woman’s eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger, that anger turning right to him. He wasn’t ashamed, nor would he apologize. The Slug Princess might be a fearsome foe, but he wouldn’t back down from making Naruto his.

~

What he hadn’t expected was for the blond woman to all but yank him to the medical building, muttering the whole way about disobedient brats. He had a blood work done then he was placed in a large private waiting room. They probably thought that there was a chance that Naruto’s current state could have affected him. But he felt fine and he knew the blood work would report the same.

What he didn’t suspect was that Uchiha Sasuke would join him in the room about twenty minutes later, and another shinobi he didn’t recognize but vaguely resembled Sasuke was ushered in ten minutes after that. Both of them when similar bandages on their arms where blood had been drawn. He felt his hackles rise, putting the pieces together. Had they been with Naruto, too?! No! Naruto was his! But Naruto was also a slave to his most basic desires right now. Could he really blame the blond if he had lost control when those black haired rates came to him? He glared hard at them both.

Sasuke glared right back. It appears that he had come to the same conclusion as the red-head had. His eyes were making the same threat. ‘Back off, he’s mine!’ Sasuke couldn’t believe this! When they had come for him they had explained Naruto’s condition on the way. It made absolutely no sense and all the sense in the world at the same time. And he knew that while it was a bit low that he could finally claim the blond as his this way. He hadn’t fought them as he was escorted to the medical building. What he didn’t expect was to find Gaara to be there as well, and his rage only built when Sai joined them soon after.

The last looked at the two with a fake smile that seemed a bit strained. He looked between the two, then tried to break the ice by introducing himself. “Hey, I’m Sai. You may call my casually.” He extended his hand towards Gaara.

Gaara just glared at that offered hand until it was slowly withdrawn. Sai sighed. He wasn’t an idiot, he had pretty much gathered that they were all there for the same reason. Sasuke he wasn’t surprised to see there, but this red-head guy. He was the Kazekage of Suna. What did he have to do with Naruto?

“I take it we’re all here because we all fucked Naruto like bunnies?” He could have almost flinched at the two death glares he became the target of, the energy in the room crackling with animosity. “What? Are we supposed to pretend that it’s not why we’re all here?” Then tension in the room rose tenfold and neither of them spoke still. Sai sighed softly. He always had a hard time speaking to Sasuke, it seems like this kazekage guy would be no different. He’d give anything to be with a friendly Naruto right about now. Or better yet a horny one. He was eager for another round.

“Well it does explain why Naruto was acting so strangely, doesn’t it?” He kept going, knowing that he really should quit while he was ahead, but if there was anything he was good at it was pissing people off with his attempts to be social. And he knew that out of the three of them he was probably the one that was just here by chance, though really he couldn’t say for sure what type of relationship Naruto had with the kazekage, but the red-head looked angry and possessive, so at the very least he was attached to Naruto if not the other way around.

Naruto had told him that he was a friend who needed help, and so he had been a friend who had given his help. He could pretend that there was more to it than that, but he’d only be kidding himself. He wouldn’t fool himself into thinking that he had a chance at something more than that, no matter how much he wanted to.

The air in the room was stifling with dark, threatening energies, even the nurses around the area felt, shuddering at the fearsome energy, goosebumps breaking out over their skin. That was the scene that Tsunade was greeted with when she finally returned with the test results.

She was having none of it, still thoroughly pissed that the three had gone against his wishes and orders. She had told Gaara herself that Naruto would be under quarantine, Sai and Sasuke just pissed her off because they always went against her orders, only enraged further that she hadn’t seen this coming. Really? What made her think they would obey her this time?

“You three morons are all lucky nothing seems to be wrong with any of you! You were all exposed to very strong pheromones, I’d say to the level on par with the strongest aphrodisiac in existence. Something like that could warp your very psyche. You risked the chances of having your senses and minds permanently warped!” She took a deep breath, then let it out to try to calm herself. “But the fact of the matter is that you all seem to be perfectly healthy. So get the hell out of my sight. I have to check on Naruto’s tests results now.”

All three heads shot up. “Naruto is here?” Sai beat the other two in asking.

Tsunade glared hard at them again, warning them without words not to do anything foolish. “Yes. He is here. We had him brought in a few hours ago. He was weakened with hunger, was suffering from dehydration, but nothing more serious than that that we could detect. You are not to go near him until I have given him a clean bill of health. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?” No matter how strong or powerful the three teens were, they all couldn’t help but cower under the fearsome gaze of the woman. All three nodded mutely.

“Good. You can leave, or you can wait until Naruto is allowed visitors. Your choice. Just stay out of my way.”

There was no hesitation in any of the boys. None of them were leaving. He left the private room and followed the blond woman down the hall until they reached Naruto’s room. Tsunade gave them a hard look, motioned that they park their behinds on the bench outside the door, grabbed the folder with Naruto’s tests results from the slot beside the door and let herself in.

~

Tsunade read the results once, twice, a third, fifth, and even a fifteenth time just to make sure what she was seeing was accurate. She looked up from the file, shock clear in her eyes, so that her gaze landed on the still slumbering blond. She had never in her life seen anything like this before. But the blood work had been tested in triplicate and the results were always the same.

She jumped when she heard a sleepy mewl and realized that Naruto was starting to wake up at last.

“Uhn…? Where…?” Naruto was only vaguely aware that he wasn’t in his bedroom, but it didn’t take long for his mind to register the familiar surroundings of a hospital room. What had happened? The last thing he could clearly remember was… heading home after Hinata and Kiba had told him to get some rest. He had been feeling sick. He also remembered the hours of stomach pains afterwards, but after that… Just a rush of memories that came by too fast to be able to grasp at a single event. And he couldn’t even remember being brought to the hospital. Had someone checked up on him and had him rushed in?

“Naruto? How are you feeling?”

His eyes were still having a little trouble focusing, but he recognized the fifth hokage when his eyes finally landed on her “Granny..? Ughn… I feel… like my body is mead out of lead.”

The busty blond woman smiled, glad to see that Naruto really did seem to be back to normal. “I’m not surprised.” She lightly ruffled his hair. “Naruto, are you aware oh… everything that’s happened?” She decided treading lightly was the best way to go.

“Hmm..? Oh… I… uh… I got sick… It was Lee’s stupid curry, right? I ate so much of it.”

Tsunade shook her head, stroking Naruto’s hair in a maternal matter. “No, the curry had nothing to do with your illness. The blame all falls on kyuubi this time, I’m afraid.”

“Kyuubi?” Naruto asked in confusion, lifting the bed sheet to see the seal on is stomach. “Why would Kyuubi make me sick? Sure he’s a bastard, but he’d only be putting himself in danger by making me sick, right?”

Tsunade sighed. “Ah… well the thing is… You weren’t really sick Naruto… Not really.”

Naruto’s head tilted in confusion, arms crossed and brows furrowed, “Of course I was sick. I felt horrible!”

“I have no doubt in my mind that you did. You had all the symptoms of illness, fever, dizziness, shakes, stomach aches. But you weren’t really sick.”

“Granny, you’re not making any sense, how can I look and feel sick and not be sick?”

Tsunade sighed. Might as well get this over with. “Because we thought you were in rut, Naruto.”

That only served to confuse Naruto further. “Wassat?”

A very light flush dusted the hime’s face to have to explain this. “Rut is something that male animals can go through, Naruto. The body becomes feverish and they want to… to… have sex… constantly until the rut is over.” She could clearly see Naruto’s mortified, glowing red face, but continued. “We’re sure that this was due to the nine-tailed fox residing within you. Now that you’re an adult his animalistic energies affected and overwhelmed you.”

Naruto thought it was a miracle that he could find his voice at all in his embarrassment, “But… b-but it’s over now, right? I… I mean… I feel fine!”

Tsunade nodded, “Yes… it seems to be over… But… Naruto… I…” She took a deep breath, “We took some tests when we first brought you in to make sure if you were really safe. And… the tests confirmed that you weren’t in rut.”

“… Okay, now I’m confused again. If I wasn’t in rut, then what was wrong with me?”

A blush colored her cheeks again, gathering her nerve to continue. “The tests prove that you weren’t in rut, Naruto,” she repeated, then went on. “But that rather that you were in heat.” At the blank look that answered her she sighed and closed her eyes in slight annoyance at how naïve the boy could be. “Being in heat is the female equivalent of rutting.”

She was having a hard time reading Naruto’s expression, but really she shouldn’t be surprised at that. She was still in shock of it herself.

“W-what… I… I don’t understand. W-what is that supposed to mean, Granny?”

Tsunade bit her lip gently, rubbing her fingers soothingly against her temple. It seems that she had no choice but to drop the bomb. “It means you’re pregnant, Naruto.”

~

They couldn’t hear anything that was going on within the room, which would have been a welcomed distraction, in Sai’s opinion.

Gaara and Sasuke looked like they were ready to kill each other and then him as well. This was going to be really troublesome, not to mention very awkward for Naruto as well. He tried to wonder how Naruto was doing to distract himself from the murderous glares being thrown two him and past him from Gaara to Sasuke and the other way around as well.

“WHAT?!” The scream shook the walls and more than just got their attention, all animosity forgotten as all three recognized that voice right away. It was Naruto’s.

~
To be continued!

Oops...? XD; What's gonna happen next, I wonder?!

As I wrote this the song "I Wanna Have Your Babies" by Natasha Bedingfield kept going through my head! XD! I know, I'm weird.

And also, I don't want to seem like a total review ho, but comments and feedback really inspire me to keep writing, so if you could spare a word or two that would be great! ^_^