My submission for the Neo-SN-Exchange! I don't know what happened to the first half I posted a week or so ago, but here's the completed fill.
I know I keep asking but a cover page/fanart would be loved by me! It makes me happy to know that people like my stories enough to draw things inspired by them.
Author Notes: Okay, I'm sure while you're reading this, you're going to notice a lot of song lyrics in here so to make it easier I'm going to go ahead and list them in the order they appear here
Kiss Me Deadly—Lita Ford
More Than a Feeling—Boston
I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)—Kenny Loggins
Sunday Bloody Sunday—U2 (Excellent piano cover I envision Sasuke playing watch?v=bz1H09vDTZk)
With or Without You—U2 (Sasuke's piano version watch?v=veKF7H4k4ak&feature=related)
The Chain—Fleetwood Mac
Also, there will be some things not explained in the story, so I'm putting a 'dictionary/reader's guide' here. If Anyone Comes Across a word they don't understand, message me and I'll add it to the list.
Berserkers: The Berserkers are a werewolf pack that takes in orphans and other people with no family and nowhere to go. Everyone they take in is considered a Berserker on some level, but humans are considered to be 'lower level' members who take care of things with the outside world. Members of the Berserkers can choose become a werewolf as early as 12 and to 'prove' themselves they get tattoos somewhere on their faces or necks, they are not changed into werewolves, however, until they're at least 18 (though some choose to push their 'bite dates' back later).
Clavigers: Shikamaru is a claviger. He takes care of both Naruto and Kiba before and after full moons when werewolves are usually defenseless. Clavigers also work as 'spies' because their association with the Berserkers are usually kept a secret.
Instincts—Naruto
"I went to party last Saturday night," a tan, loud blonde sang into a large combination wrench "Didn't get laid—I got in a fight, uh-huh," here, he thrust his hips in a circular motion with a wink to the disgusted faced brunette who stood across the garage "It ain't no big thing." The blonde continued to croon throwing his head back and closing his eyes. There were three parallel marks across his cheeks that resembled whisker marks, which—along with mischievous blue eyes—made the boy seem almost fox like.
"Gah, he's such a fag," the brunette scoffed to a darker haired boy who was lounging lazily in a chair, which had been pushed against the wall. The brunette was tall and skinny with large red upside-down triangles tattooed on his cheeks.
The darker haired boy sighed "He's so energetic, it's such a drag."
"You're so lazy Shikamaru; I bet you couldn't even muster up the energy to fuck a girl, if you ever got a girl under you, that is." The brunette mused. Everything was either too troublesome, or too much of a drag when it came to the older boy.
"Least' I'm not out to hump anything that moves, Kiba." Shikamaru responded slowly, as if talking itself was too much effort. He was the only one of the three that didn't have some kind of tattoo on his face, and was shorter and slightly stockier then the tattooed boys.
Their conversation was interrupted as the blonde cut in, singing louder than before.
"But I know what I like!" This time he had abandoned the wrench and was using a stretched air compressor hose as a guitar "I know I like dancing with you!" he caterwauled, throwing his head back in forth in a light head banging rhythm.
A large hand popped the blonde harshly on the back of the head, causing the three boys to freezing in place.
"Get yer dumb ass back to work Naruto!" The hand's owner snapped gruffly.
The blonde looked at the older man with watering eyes as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sir, yes sir!" he quipped smartly with a sarcastic salute.
Kiba and Shikamaru both chuckled lightly, trying to stifle their laughter to avoid becoming the next targets of their boss's fury.
The older man growled "I'm gonna kick yer ass one of these days if you don't lose that attitude, boy."
Naruto grinned cheekily "Aw, don't be so mean Yoko! You know this place would be dead if you didn't have me to liven it up!"
Yoko huffed and pointed a finger towards the car that the blonde was supposed to be working on "Get yer ass over there before I kick it over there!"
"Your strange fixation with my ass worries me." the blonde frowned exaggeratedly "You know I don't swing that way, right?"
The older man rolled his eyes and gestured once again to the car with a growl. The blonde held up his hands in surrender "Okay, okay, I got it; slow your roll, bro."
Kiba and Shikamaru goggled when the older man simply huffed and turned away. Naruto was the only person who could get away with talking to Yoko like that without getting sent for a ride to the hospital. The blonde just laughed and shrugged his shoulders, when the shaggy haired brunette mentioned it.
"It's 'cause I've been with the Berserkers since I was a pup! You know how it is in the pack, length and loyalty."
The other two nodded, they were both members of the Berserkers as well, but they hadn't been part of the pack nearly as long as Naruto. He had been picked up by a gentle Omega named Iruka when the blonde had been dumped on the forest's edge when he was a baby.
Kiba sniffed slightly as he leaned back against the wall, the people of the city thought of the Berserkers as a gang full of street thugs—and okay, they kind of were, on the surface; but underneath they were so much more. They were a family, a pack. Literally. He held back a chuckle when the memory of how he reacted to finding out the gang that had taken him in after his family had abandoned him, was actually a pack of werewolves, floated up from the depths of his mind. Being the dog lover that he was, Kiba was absolutely delighted; to say the least.
Kiba was pulled out of his thoughts when Naruto lifted his blonde head from under the car's hood.
"The Alpha has been tense lately." The blonde murmured. Shikamaru and Kiba both nodded, they knew that. They also knew that no one was speaking of it aloud, which was why Naruto waited until he was sure Yoko was gone to bring it up.
"You heard anything that would cause trouble, Shika?" The blonde questioned. Shikamaru was the packs eyes and ears, being easily one of the most intelligent—and inconspicuous–out of all of them. The lazy genius rolled his eyes upward in thought. He clicked his tongue and weighed his next words carefully.
"I haven't heard anything recently….." the way he spoke his words slowly let Naruto know that, that wasn't all the lazy boy had to say, The blonde raised an eyebrow at him to continue.
"A few months ago, the Uchihas were spotted a few towns over; it appears they're moving closer, possibly back to Konoha."
Naruto groaned, then sighed "That might put the boss on edge; you know how he has that thing for Fugaku."
Both brunettes noticed that Naruto avoided mentioning his own hidden fixation on the youngest Uchiha.
"Why would they come back here? They know how much…..friction there is between Alpha and the Uchiha head." Kiba asked with eyebrows furrowed.
Naruto snorted "Fugaku Uchiha is not a man who gives a damn what makes our Alpha uncomfortable. He does what he wants, and makes no excuses and gives no apologies," his eyes softened as he added "It's the way Uchihas are."
Kiba rolled his eyes and Shikamaru smiled; Naruto was only ever that soft when it came to the youngest Uchiha—Sasuke.
Whatever was going to be said next was cut off by the song that blared obnoxiously loud from Naruto's phone "It's more than a feeling—more than a feeling—when I hear that old song they used to play! I begin dreaming—more than a feeling—'til I see Marianne walk away. I see my Marianne walkin' away!"
Kiba snorted as the blonde continued to sing—swinging his hips the entire time—even after the phone went silent. When the blonde finished the shaggy headed brunette raised an eyebrow "You finished?"
The whisker cheeked boy rolled his eyes upwards in mock thought "Hmmm…no, no, I don't think so, actually."
Kiba opened his mouth to tell the blonde smart-ass off, but stopped when said smart-ass, pointed to the radio and began doing Michael Jackson-esque pelvic 'pops' in time with the beat until the lyrics came in
"Looking into your eyes I know I'm right; if there's anything worth my love it's worth a fight. We only get one chance, but nothing ties our hands. You're what I want—listen to me! Nothing I want is out of my reach!"
"I'm free!" the shout startled Naruto into stumbling over himself, effectively stopping his singing.
"Heaven helps the man who fights his fear; love's the only thing that keeps me here! You're the reason that I'm hanging on—my heart's staying where my heart belongs!" the singer stepped out from behind the blonde with a smooth body roll.
"Dammit Sakura!" the whisker-cheeked boy whined "You ruined it!"
Kiba snorted "No Naruto, you ruined it when you opened your mouth," it was a lie, of course—Naruto was a loud, clumsy, idiot most of the time, but he could sing; Iruka had once said he sounded like a lighter version Daryl Hall. Kiba didn't know who that was, but he assumed they were good.
Naruto stuck his tongue out in response.
"Seriously though, I'm actually here for a reason." Sakura said, her playful tone leaving. The pink haired girl had a tattoo as well, a small group of cherry blossoms that started behind her left ear and wound gracefully around the back of her neck to stop at her right collarbone that looked like they were being carried by a gently sweeping wind.
All three boys straightened up immediately, listening intently.
"Alpha has called a pack meeting, he sounded…. strained." She said, words sounding just as strained as the Alphas. "I think it might have to do with what's kept him so tense lately."
Naruto and Kiba nodded sharply as Shikamaru let out a small sigh "Do I need to be there?"
"He didn't say anything about clavigers needing to attend," her voice was sharp and Shikamaru wanted to roll his eyes in disdain. She just didn't get that he was satisfied with being Naruto's and Kiba's shared claviger—that they knew he didn't need a tattoo to prove pack loyalty. That it made his job easier without having any permanent (and hard to hide) identifiers—he was fine with remaining human and helping his friends.
Sakura scoffs at Shikamaru and flits over to Naruto, moving as if she were walking on air. Leaning up, she plants a soft kiss on the blonde's lips before waltzing out the door.
Naruto blinks stupidly for a moment before shaking his head.
"Are you really going to take her as a mate?" Kiba asked, lips curled in disgust; he generally liked Sakura. She was funny, intelligent and could be as lewd as any teenage boy he'd met, but the way she treated clavigers—and especially Shikamaru—made him want to kick her in the throat.
Naruto sighed heavily "I promised her….."
Kiba snorted "Yeah, when we were like, five!" he left out saying 'before you met Sasuke!' because he knew that was a touchy subject for the tanned teen.
The blonde shook his head "It doesn't matter right now anyway, because it's still a few more years until I take the bite anyway," seeing his friends opening their mouths to protest he held up and hand and amended his statement "Besides, it's not like there's anyone else willing to take me as a mate… Ya'll can't honestly disagree."
Kiba smirked as Shikamaru glanced at him from under black eyelashes "You know that even if you were to mate her, I won't be her claviger."
The whiskered boy shook his head "I wouldn't even ask you to."
The dark haired brunette tilted his head in agreement.
"But that's not important," the blonde haired boy dismissed "Shika, I need you to go find out more about the Uchiha's and if they're actually coming."
The dark haired boy sighed and murmured a quiet 'troublesome' but slide a pair of aviators onto his face and nodded to the blonde before taking off on a black Yamaha R1.
Naruto stood for a moment, watching his claviger drive off before turning to Kiba with a short "Come on."
Part of Kiba, the small part that hadn't quite conformed to the Berserkers' way of life, demanded he rebel—demanded it be made known that he was no one's pet—but the larger part of the brunette quelled that sudden urge; even if he truly wanted to, he could never take down the extremely dominant blonde. Besides, he wasn't stupid enough to go head to head with the Berserkers' future Alpha.
Instincts—Sasuke
Long fingered hands danced across real ivory keys; the solemn melody drifted through the empty room, amplifying every note. The hands' owner sat, inky locks falling over closed eyes as the he swayed slightly to the song.
When the last note rang through the air the silent player jumped when loud, slow claps filled the air.
"Quite beautiful, little brother, if not slightly ironic," Itachi Uchiha sneered, referring to the fact that his younger brother was a vampire playing a melody about blood.
"U2 is one of the greatest bands of all time, and Sunday Bloody Sunday has spoken to a generation of people." The younger replied stoically, never turning away from the piano to look at his brother.
The older male rolled his eyes, arguing about his brother's horrid taste in music wasn't what he was there for. He growled harshly to himself when he realized his younger brother was no longer paying attention to him, but instead had turned back to the piano.
He held back a gag when he heard the song, "With or Without You? Really Sasuke?"
The younger male, Sasuke, pulled his hands away from the keys with a put-upon sigh and turned to his brother.
"Did you need something, Itachi?"
"As if I would ever need something from you, honestly!" he spat, irritated with his brother's attitude "Father has requested your presence in his study, immediately."
Sasuke stared at Itachi blankly before slowly pushing himself away from the piano bench and striding gracefully out of the room, long black coat swirling around him artfully.
Itachi hissed to himself; he was going to kill that bastard some day, and savor every bit of it.
Sasuke walked tensely down the hallway as he wondered what his father could need him for. Sometimes he felt like his father blamed him for becoming his heir, as if Itachi's failure were somehow Sasuke's fault.
He swallowed tightly, knocked once on his father's study door, and stepped back to wait patiently to be let in. He didn't have to wait very long.
The young raven was startled to see his father stalking back and forth across the room like a caged jungle cat. Finally his father ran a large hand through his hair agitatedly and sighed heavily.
"We're moving back to Konoha." His father, Fugaku Uchiha, said as he sagged tiredly into his chair. Sasuke frowned at his father's defeated posture; surely it wasn't that bad of a thing.
"Why?" Sasuke questioned, not that he minded—his heart thumped loudly at the thought of seeing bright blonde hair and mischievous blue eyes again—but being in Konoha was stressful for his father which, in turn, was stressful on his beloved mother.
"Konoha is where we, as a clan, belong." Fugaku stated, his eyes drifting from his son's to stare at a picture of their main house; that hung innocently on the wall. "And we've been dancing around going home for too long, the other branches grow more and more weary with each year we're not there."
Sasuke nodded his head; he knew that—he could sense it in every letter the branch heads sent. He also knew that he himself was ready to go home. He was tired of heading from town to town, staying just outside of Konoha's reaches, just outside of his hearts reach.
"It was wrong of me to take the three of you away from Konoha so that I could run, but I'm tired of dancing around my problems with the Berserkers, besides," Fugaku said with an almost shadow of a smile "You've matured enough to take my place as clan head, so you'll be dealing with that pack of mutts, not me."
Sasuke tilted his head "Of course father." He'd endure the entire Berserkers pack if it meant being able to get close to his blonde moron again.
Instincts
Naruto stared at the large Victorian manor in front of him, the number of cars in the driveway let him know that he, and Kiba, were definitely the last to the party. He parked the car in his spot and turned it off, but remained sitting. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Hey, calm down, I'm sure Alpha is just going to rant about the UST between him and a certain dark, tall, and ugly vampire," Kiba joked, clapping Naruto on the back.
Naruto huffed. He truly wouldn't put it past the Alpha any other time, but, there was definitely something off in the air tonight. He shrugged it off as he pushed the car door open, and made his way over the lawn and up the steps; maybe it was just the full moon tomorrow that was making him so nervous.
The blonde stared at the large mass of bodies and sighed—it seemed that Alpha had really called in the cavalry on this one—pushing his way into the crowded room and made his way to the front, stopping only to nuzzle Iruka.
This was what he loved about being a Berserker, the physical closeness you had with those you cared about. In any other society, nuzzling yourself into your adopted fathers' neck would be considered weird at the age of eighteen, but werewolves were notoriously more physically affectionate than normal humans.
The blonde pulled away from his dad with a hum of contentment, only to reach back in and bump his nose comfortingly against the older man's.
"Shikamaru's been hearing rumors about the Uchihas moving back, is it true?" Naruto murmured lightly, concerned that Kiba was wrong, and that this wasn't in-fact just a bitch-fest for Alpha.
Iruka's sigh alerted Naruto, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Iruka scrunched his nose up in thought and Naruto took a moment to study his dads' tattoo, which looked more like a scar than a tattoo, running across his nose.
The blonde sometimes wondered why the older male chose that to be his marking. He supposed it could've been the fact that facial tattoos where generally associated with the Berserkers and, seeing as Iruka was a teacher, a facial tattoo just wouldn't fly on Iruka. After all, how many parents wanted their children to be taught by a 'gangster'; Naruto snorted, as if. That'd probably be preferred over the truth—Berserkers with tattoos were (or were going to be in the future) werewolves. Getting a facial tattoo was like a pledge of loyalty to the pack, not some mafia boss. Sakura was one of the only people that chose their necks instead, and that was just because of their chosen professions, Sakura wanted to be a doctor.
Naruto turned his attention back to his dad when the older man began to speak.
"That would explain why Dante has been so agitated lately, he won't even come to bed anymore." Iruka was one of the only people to call the Alpha by his name. It was only his right, Naruto supposed, for putting up with the Alpha for so long, the childish older male certainly couldn't be an easy person to be mated to. However, Dante was undoubtedly the perfect match for the sometimes-too-up-tight Iruka.
Naruto bumped his forehead to his parental figures' to comfort him and held back a wistful sigh. Would his and Sakura's relationship be like Iruka's and Dante's? The gentle yet steadfast love and companionship they held for each other, even when their relationship wasn't sexual?
Because, if Naruto was honest with himself, he didn't think he could stomach a physical relationship with Sakura, not when his instincts cried out for another's touch. It made him ill sometimes, the deep seated longing to be touched by the forbidden; by an Uchiha. By Sasuke. His Sasuke.
"It'll be fine, heaven knows why you love that man," Naruto joked softly, grinning when Iruka smiled a soft smile.
"I'm as clueless as the heavens, I promise you that." Iruka whispered conspiratorially.
"Hey!" a gruff bark startled them into pulling their heads a part to look behind Naruto.
A tall, lean male with wild black hair, which was tipped with red, pouted.
"I thought you loved me Iruka!" the male complained pitifully, throwing the brunette the biggest puppy eyes he could.
Iruka chuckled and brought a hand up to brush a strand of black hair out of painfully green eyes. "That accusation offends me."
Naruto chuckled but averted his eyes at the intimacy—those soft touches were like sex for them— Dante whined again and nuzzled into Iruka's hand. How did it feel to be so complete—he wondered—to be able to so intimate with someone without having sex? It must be wonderful.
"Naruto," the blonde's eyes crossed when a long finger poked him in between the eyes.
He darted his eyes from the wall he'd been staring at to look at his Alpha, who had his head leaning on Iruka's shoulder.
"I need you start the meeting."
Naruto rolled his eyes as Dante buried his head further into Iruka's shoulder.
"Lazy ass," he grumbled before moving to stand at the front of the room, smirking at Iruka's snort and ignoring his Alpha's whine of "'m sleepy!"
The blonde stood proudly at the front of the room, feet planted firmly shoulder width apart and back perfectly erect; eyes blazing with a fierce sort of domination. This is what made him the perfect heir to the Berserkers throne; this is what made him perfect to be the next Alpha. His absolute dominant personality, the way he commanded respect from every wolf he encountered.
Dante grinned as he watched his puppy, his heir; Naruto truly would be a magnificent Alpha. His grin faded into a frown, he just hoped his puppy was ready for what he was about to do.
The raven haired man watched as the blonde went through the mandatory meeting formalities before stepping back and calling Dante forward.
The Alpha sighed and pulled his head from his mate's shoulder.
"As most of you know, I've been slightly….tetchy lately," he steadfastly ignored the scoffs and eye rolls he received when he said 'slightly' "and I'm here to tell you the reason. The Uchihas are back."
The room froze instinctively, it was hard to control the wolf inside when vampires where mentioned. Werewolves and vampires fought like dogs and cats. It wasn't that any of them had anything against the Uchihas (especially Dante and Naruto) it was pure, just their natural predisposition.
He heaved a sigh and placed his hands on the podium "I've called this meeting forth to inform you that I will be stepping down from acting Alpha as of tonight," he paused when the room broke into an uproar. He raised a hand.
"I'm sorry for the short notice, but I have truly begun to feel my age these last few weeks."
Naruto stared sharply into the back of his Alpha's head. What was the man doing? Why was he doing this? Did he honestly think the blonde was ready to take over? The blonde held back a shudder; the thought of running the Berserkers right now, just made him sick.
The blonde was pulled out of his thoughts when the Alpha waved a hand at him to come forward.
"I present to you your new Alpha, Naruto Uzumaki!" the man called proudly.
The room burst out in howls, accepting the blonde as their new Alpha. Naruto stood wide-eyed and stunned.
Dante turned to him with soft, proud eyes "Naruto, four years ago today you accepted blood from Iruka, your father, and in doing that, you accepted the 'disease'." He paused as the Berserkers hissed; none of them had ever thought of themselves as diseased, no matter what the CDC said.
Naruto subconsciously reached up to touch his whiskers; he couldn't believe it'd been four years since he'd gotten the tattoo, that it'd been four years since his heart and soul left him.
"Tonight," Dante continued on, "I'm asking you to accept the bites, the venom, to complete the change. Will you?"
Naruto gritted his teeth, if his Alpha—for Dante would always be his Alpha—needed him to do this, so he would.
He let out a slow breath "Of course."
Dante smiled and nodded in response and the room once again broke out into cheerful howls. He held out a steady hand to the blonde, who took it in his own tan hand and stepped into the raven's personal space.
Iruka stepped up to stand in front of Naruto and bumped noses with him, lacing their left hands—both of which bore identical slice marks, a remnant of Naruto accepting Iruka's 'disease as his own—together. Feeling Dante's fur brush against his fingertips as the man shifted from human to wolf.
It was unusual for someone to 'take the disease' from two different wolves, but Naruto felt it necessary because Iruka was his dad. He would've taken both the 'disease' and bite from Iruka, but he was Dante's heir, therefor—in accordance to costumes—he needed to take the bite from the raven haired male.
Besides, there was a legend that the stronger the werewolf who gave the bite, the stronger the new werewolf would be, and to run a pack like the Berserkers so young, he'd need all the strength he could get.
Naruto inhaled slowly and relaxed his tense body in preparation for the bite. He gritted his teeth as Iruka's right hand tugged up the right side of his t-shirt, exposing his side to give Dante an uncovered area to bite at.
A loud growl was ripped from his throat when the black wolf buried its large fangs into his side, effectively releasing the venom that would react with the 'disease' that lay dormant in his veins to complete his transformation. When the venom finished its chain reaction, he would no longer be a man, but a werewolf.
Instincts
Naruto stood tall in the low lighted room, moonlight shining through the window. His body still ached from the venom that had ransacked his innards for days. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and brought a hand up to touch his side which was still bandaged by long strips of tightly wrapped gauze. Damn, he could hardly breathe. Iruka had wrapped his sternum and stomach the first night.
He stopped fidgeting and sat down heavily in the high backed chair. The Uchihas. Vampires. Fuck. He couldn't believe they were back.
For comfort he reached for his right hand and began to gently stroke the ring he wore on his ring finger there. The ring itself was silver and obviously well loved, small scratches covered the ring for years of abuse and being worn all the time but it was freshly polished and obviously taken care of. It'd been resized several times to fit growing hands and it was slightly thinner than it originally was. Naruto sighed and brought his hand to his mouth to let his lips brush the ring, it was his only comfort in the dark months that he'd weathered when his soul first left him.
It wasn't about 'protecting the people of Konoha' or anything so mundane. In all honesty, vampires were more human than werewolves; after all, werewolves were a result of 'disease', vampires like the Uchihas, were born vampires.
Their vampirism. The result of a mutated gene that caused massive amounts of special hormones—Naruto didn't know what they were called, and frankly he didn't give a damn—which caused a desperate 'thirst' for blood that vampires from ancient times would satisfy by gorging themselves on human blood. These hormones would also elevate fight or flight response and other physical reactions; making them faster, stronger, and all around more alert then humans as well as giving them superior hearing and sight.
Vampires and werewolves just didn't get along. Actually, that was a lie. Sometimes they got along too well, like Dante—Naruto held back a wince, it was strange to think of the man who had been his Alpha for eighteen years by his first name. Ever since he was a baby the green eyed man had been Alpha—and Fugaku; something that both men, who had spouses they adored, deeply despised.
The blonde let his head fall against the table with a thunk. The only small mercy about this was that he wouldn't have to see Sasuke—after all, even if Fugaku brought his heir it'd be Itachi, the first born. Naruto bit his lip at that—he honestly didn't know whether to be happy or sad that he wouldn't see the rave. What would the other boy think of him now? Would the raven still be the person he remembered? Or would Sasuke be different?
Too soon a knock on the door caused him to straighten up, head held high and shoulders back. In his most dominant wolf voice he called "Come in."
He almost fell over in shock when the last person he expected to see tonight walked through the door.
Dark bangs artfully framed a familiar pale face and dark eyes pierced him with strange heat and intensity. The raven haired male before him was tall but nowhere near Naruto's own staggering height at six feet and seven inches.
Naruto held back a whine. He was fucked.
"Sasuke," the name was almost whispered as it fell from slightly trembling lips.
"Naruto," was the breathed response. On some level, it comforted Naruto to know the raven was just as shocked—just as affected—as he was.
The blonde cleared his throat and tilted if head towards the chair across the table from him, silently offering his guest a seat.
The raven took it with a grateful nod before clearing his throat "This was obviously not what either of us expected to happen tonight."
Naruto snorted "No shit. You always were a genius."
"Better to be a genius then a dead last, ne Naruto?"
Naruto almost shivered at the way the vampire purred his name.
Sasuke stared at the boy he hadn't seen in four years—well, he wasn't much of a boy anymore, tall tan and muscled—and he wanted to weep. He hadn't seen that face in so long, hadn't heard that voice or seen those eyes in years, and everything in him was screaming at him, pleading with him to crawl across the table and curl himself onto the other's lap. His fingers twitched lightly and he wondered briefly how it would feel to curl into that broad chest, head buried in the other's tan neck, and simply nap.
Instincts
The blonde stared at the male across from him with a strange feeling bubbling in the pit of his stomach. The longer he stared, the stronger his body's urges to absolutely dominate the Uchiha became. The wolf in the back of his mind was whining 'mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, MINE!'
His throat was suddenly dry when sharp midnight eyes zeroed in on his own, staring as if they were seeing all of his secrets.
Sasuke stared at the blonde with a tight sense of apprehension in his stomach; this wasn't how he planned on meeting the other again. It hurt to think that they could be this tense around each other. He knew he had to do something to break the uneasiness that hung in the air.
He let his eyes fall closed for a moment before an idea hit and he held back a small smile.
"Listen to the wind blow….Down comes the night," he started softly.
"Run in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies," the blonde picked up with a small grin, happy to know that the raven haired boy remembered his favorite song. Happy that the he might just be the same person Naruto remembered him to be. "Break the silence—"
"Damn the dark, damn the light." Sasuke cut him off with a small grin of his own.
Naruto couldn't help back anymore—it was like some spell had been broken and the blonde could finally see the raven for who he was, which was the same person Sasuke had always been—as he launched himself across the table, wrapping tanned arms around a thin waist and crushing the smaller male into him.
"Fuck I missed you."
A light blush covered pale cheeks as Sasuke lifted his own long arms to wrap around a thick blonde neck. He wondered briefly if he could get away with burying his head into the crook of that neck before deciding he definitely deserved it for being away from his heart for so long. He said nothing and tightened his grip anyway.
After a few minutes Naruto pulled back and nuzzled his nose to Sasuke's in what the vampire recognizes as a sign of werewolf affection—he'd seen Naruto nuzzle Iruka in the same way when they were younger—and simply lets the blonde do what he wants.
"What are you guys doing back in Konoha?" Naruto murmurs, eyes closed and still nose to nose with the Uchiha.
"The others were getting restless."
Naruto hummed, sometimes it was hard to remember that Sasuke's family wasn't the only vampire family in Konoha; they were just the strongest and had always been on the Berserkers' radar because of how Dante was affected by Fugaku.
"So where is your father?" Naruto questioned, the sun would be rising soon and they needed to get the actual meeting started.
"I'm not sure, probably hiding out from your Alpha, who I assume is doing the same thing," Sasuke commented dryly.
Naruto chuckled because it was true; Dante had locked himself in his and Iruka's room and was refusing to come out for anything.
The blonde sobered fairly quickly though "Dante is no longer Alpha," he said firmly. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the implications, if Dante was no long Alpha, his father should have no problem attending this meeting.
"You are?" It wasn't really a question—even though Sasuke was wondering how long Naruto had been a werewolf, it was hard to believe the Alpha stepped down before Naruto had reached at least 21.
"Yes, he stepped down last week," and, seeing the question in Sasuke's unreadable (to everyone but Naruto) eyes, continued "I took the bite the same night."
Sasuke nodded and reached up a hand to trace the whisker-markers on the tan cheeks in front of his face; they really did look good on him.
Naruto sighed heavily "I decided to become a full-fledged Berserker two months after you left. I just-I needed…." He trailed off, eye brows furrowed, struggling to find the right words to say what he was feeling "…something, I just felt so…emp-"
Sasuke cut him off by leaning in and nuzzling him in an imitation of a wolf's comforting nuzzle. "I know," he whispered to the blonde; and he did. He truly understood the feelings of emptiness, the incompleteness, the longing to be whole once more; a longing so intense that it drove Naruto to get tattoos on his face, and drove him to brand his skin in a different way.
The raven haired vampire pulled back and stood up, pulling almost completely out of the werewolves arms, which were now clinging loosely to his waist. He inched up his shirt while pulling down the waistband of his pants at the same time. There, set in his flesh about half an inch from his hip bone was a sleeping fox.
Naruto touched it gently. "You had yourself branded?" He was torn between being elated at the brand, or lecturing Sasuke about being stupid; he was leaning towards the former thought, because he wasn't the poster boy for teenaged good decisions.
"Yeah, I needed it." As he was speaking he reached up and stroked the tattooed cheeks, and Naruto understood. Sasuke was always so different from his family—he had once told Naruto he'd never felt more alone then when he was spending time with his family—so he couldn't find comfort in them like Naruto had found in the Berserkers. Maybe the fox tattoo was his way of staying close to Naruto; the way that Naruto still wore the ring Sasuke had given him with the Uchiha fan engraved on the inside. Without even thinking about it, he twisted his right thumb to stroke at the ring.
He was brought out of his thoughts when Sasuke gasped.
"You kept it?"
Naruto paused mid stroke "Of course I did!"
He let a pale hand tug his own up to be scrutinized by midnight eyes "It's thinner," Sasuke mused and continued to look the ring that was once his over.
"My hands got bigger," Naruto quipped with a smile and was secretly delighted when Sasuke smiled back.
The chiming of church bells brought both of them back to reality.
"So, why isn't your father here?" Naruto asked, as clan head, Fugaku had to be there, whether he'd rather to be hiding or not.
Sasuke shook his head as if he were reading Naruto's thoughts "Father has stepped down as clan head. As of last month, I am Lord Sasuke Uchiha, head of the main Uchiha branch."
Naruto cocked an eyebrow "What about Itachi?"
The raven shrugged "He isn't a vampire yet." He wanted to leave it at that but continued with a sigh at the werewolves' imploring look.
"You're aware that 'vampirism' is caused by a genetic mutation, yes?" at Naruto's nod he steeled himself and pushed forward "Well, the hormones that cause this are only released after sexual maturation, or puberty, has occurred; but in order for them to start causing changes, the flood of testosterone or, in women's cases, estrogen has to be at low levels."
Naruto stared blankly and Sasuke wanted to hit his head against the table the blonde was sitting on "In other words, you can't have sex."
Naruto blinked and ran his eyes up and down Sasuke's body, as if the only thing he'd heard was 'vampire=no sex=Sasuke virgin'; the raven wanted to punch him.
"So," the blonde began with a leer "what about afterwards?"
"After the hormones settle, having sex is fine." Sasuke shrugged "Itachi just thought that because he was the Uchiha prodigy, the laws of science wouldn't apply to him."
Naruto nodded, only half paying attention; that did sound like Itachi.
The other half of his mind was thinking about sex…and Sasuke….and sex and Sasuke in the same sentence along with the words 'having' and 'with' thrown in. He froze. He couldn't think like that! He was going to be mated to Sakura, he'd promised! The wolf in his head snarled in displeasure and lunged, trying to reach the forethought of his mind to makes its demands unquestionably clear.
Sasuke could see the change in Naruto as soon as it happened. The way the pupils in his eyes dilated and grew a little more wild, the way his breathing became heavier, and—most noticeably—the way his scent changed, as his something heady was now rushing through his veins. Sasuke wondered if this was Naruto's new side pushing itself to the frontlines.
Naruto's voice and a slight rumbled to it when he spoke "Sasuke."
"Yeah?" it was breathless and Naruto growled slightly, pleased that he could elicit such a sound from his mate.
Suddenly blue eyes widened and Sasuke knew that the more human side of Naruto was back in the driver's seat.
"We're fucked." The blonde breathed, hit by the sudden realization of what Dante was always running away from—the heavy, sense clouding lust—combined with what the older man was always running to in Iruka—the heartwarming happiness at just seeing the other half of your soul—and the blonde knew, despite what the pack thought or wanted, despite what it would do to Sasuke's position as Lord Uchiha, and despite his promise to a dear friend, this was what he'd been missing since Sasuke had left. He'd been missing his soul.
"Yeah," came Sasuke's reply, it was still breathless, but now it had a firm undertone that told Naruto he wasn't going to get away with half-assed excuses. Or any excuses at all, because the vampire was coming after him and this time he was playing for keeps.
The blonde would have been more worried at that if Sasuke didn't choose that exact moment to slide into his lap and catch his lips in a sensual kiss.
Instincts
Naruto sat motionlessly in his car, listening to the music of the eighties while Sasuke leaned against the closed door and talked lowly into the phone that was pressed against his ear. Nothing had been decided in that meeting whatsoever and he couldn't bring himself to care when he caught sight of Sasuke's swollen lips. Not that the blonde was exactly sure what they were supposed to be discussing anyway. The only thing the pair could think to do was try and convince their predecessors to quit being children and talk things out for themselves.
He was almost startled when Sasuke slid into the passenger's seat with a sigh.
"I take it the conversation didn't go well?" Naruto murmured and reached out take a pale hand in his own.
Sasuke sighed again but relaxed when the blonde began to smooth soothing circles on the back of his hand with a warm thumb.
"I had to pull rank. I had to pull fucking rank on my father." Sasuke grimaced in distaste; he almost hated his father for putting him in the position where Sasuke had to treat him like an underling instead of like a parent.
Naruto nodded in understanding and wisely chose not to comment on the fact that Sasuke had just cussed, something that the raven had never done before.
"You want me to take you home?" he said instead. This was all uncharted territory, and he wasn't really sure how to follow up on the whole 'we seriously just made out in my retired-Alpha's study after seeing each other for the first time in years' thing and he was starting to feel a little awkward.
"No," Sasuke said quietly, equally as unsure as the blonde "I would rather be anywhere but home, actually." He was still shaken up on having to pull rank on his father to get him to comply.
Naruto nodded and wordlessly steered the car away from the Uchiha compound.
Tired of the silent tension radiating from Sasuke, Naruto tried to think of something to say; he grinned when he noticed a small white tip poking out from under Sasuke's top lip.
"So, why are your fangs so small, I remember seeing your dad's one time and they were huge!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, the idiot was exaggerating—his father's fangs weren't that big—but answered the question anyway.
"These are temporary, the hormones only pushed these a little farther out, but I have a completely different pair ready to grow in when they fall out."
Naruto blinked and started to cackle "You have baby fangs?"
Sasuke snorted in mock derision "They're called training fangs, if you must know." That was a lie, they weren't called anything because they weren't that big of a deal to vampires; everyone one knew that your 'human fangs'—or incisors—would fall out when your 'vampire fang's where fully developed inside the gum.
The raven's heart warmed as the blonde continued to laugh merrily, he had missed this—the easy banter and free spilling laughter—while he was gone, nothing his family had done had ever made him feel this happy to just be alive.
The blonde continued to smile even after his boisterous laughter had calmed down as he drove. One hand on the wheel and the other curled snuggly around a smaller, much paler hand.
Sasuke blinked when he realized that they had just passed the road that the Berserker house was on, and looked at Naruto for an answer.
"I've been given a separate house from the main one because I'm the Alpha now, and being in close contact with me tends to make the others antsy; Dante said that's what happens to all new Alphas because they haven't learned to control the amount of power that they 'broadcast', he said that I should get the hang of it soon enough."
Sasuke nodded in acceptance and went completely limp in the seat. He was so tired; the day had been exhausting on so many levels.
Naruto looked at the vampire from the corner of his eye and frowned—he hoped Dante would be more mature about this think then Fugaku had been. Somehow he just knew that wasn't going to happen.
Sasuke blinked when he realized that Naruto had put the car in park and simply looked at the house in front of the curbed they'd parked on. It was a small two story house that blended in perfectly with every other house on the block. It was so unlike the Berserkers that—combined with the day's stress—he started to giggle, which earned him a look of incredulity from Naruto.
"Sorry, I'm just tired," he mumbled, rubbing at his face with his hand.
Naruto just shook his head and got out of the car, waiting only a moment to make sure the vampire was following behind him, and made his way up to his front door.
Sasuke came to a stop behind the blonde and immediately tensed when he noticed the way Naruto's relaxed frame stiffened. Sasuke attempted a step towards the door, but was stopped when a thick tan arm reached out to block his progression.
Naruto grit his teeth while the wolf inside howled in outrage, someone was in his den without permission; he could tell by the unlocked door.
The werewolf took a deep breath and scented the air—which Sasuke would how found mildly amusing, with the way that the blonde's nose twitched and scrunched, if the situation wasn't so serious—and furrowed his brow. The only scents he could pick up where pack members; he didn't know whether to be concerned—had someone he trusted come to attack him in his own home?—or irritated—if they weren't there to attack him then someone had entered his house without permission.
His muscled coiled as he reached out and twisted the unlocked doorknob and forcefully pushed the door open causing it bounce off the wall with a loud crack. The person inside shrieked and dropped whatever they were holding—something porcelain—onto the ground where it shattered.
Naruto almost groaned when he realized that Sakura was in his house. He wondered briefly what she had dropped before pushing that thought to the side, he'd find out in a moment anyway. He tilted his head at her in greeting and made his way to sit on the couch.
He was stopped when pale arms wrapped around his neck and a curvy body was pressed against his own. He stared at Sakura with wide eyes, brain working furiously trying to find a reason for her to be at his house at this time of night. His was almost horrified when she pursed her lips and made to plant a kiss on his, he was too shocked to push her away.
The answer to his problems came in the form of Sasuke ripping her away from him and pushing her across the room with a vicious hiss.
Naruto gaped. That wasn't the way he would have preferred to handle the situation, but okay. He took a moment to look at Sasuke. The raven's feet were shoulder width apart and his knees were bent while his arms were stretched both out to the sides and in front of his body, half curled and extended fingers looked like claws (especially since the rave's nails looked longer and sharper than before, but that was probably his mind playing tricks), his lips were pulled back over his fangs in a menacing snarl and his upper body was bent forward slightly.
He was ready to lunge at the pinkette again, and Naruto was completely captivated. Lean muscles coiled and relaxed rapidly under flawless marble skin and a rumbling sound was coming from Sasuke's throat.
For the first time ever, Naruto wondered if vampires were just as animalistic, just as instinctual, as werewolves. He was pulled roughly from his musing, however, when Sakura—who had just moments before been laying dazed on the floor—jumped up and began to contort with a snarl of her own.
The blonde couldn't believe it; Sakura had been turned into a werewolf! With a low growl he moved to interfere, but Sasuke once again charged the girl.
This time she was ready for him. They clashed like Titans snapping and snarling—or in Sasuke's case, hissing—like true animals. Grabbing on to any loose material and exposed skin they could. Naruto was briefly worried but Sasuke proved stronger as he brutally pinned the wolf under him, hands like vices around her neck, clamping down until Sakura tilted her head and whimpered in submission.
With wide, wild eyes, Sasuke slowly moved off of the wolf and watched like a hawk as she shrunk, fur receding, and snout shortening, until she was human again.
Naruto watched warily as Sakura threw Sasuke a dark, yet fearful look and then rounded on the blonde.
"What the hell Naruto!" she snapped, moving to push him. She scuttled backwards quickly, however, when Naruto swiped at her, reminding her who was Alpha. She whimpered once more and hung her head in submission. He tried to take deep calming breaths as his wolf struggled to surge forward.
"Leave, Sakura," he commanded calmly "and if you ever pull a stunt like this—" he was referring to both her entering his house uninvited and her trying to push him "—again, I will have to punish you."
"Yes, Alpha," she said meekly as she swiftly moved towards the exit.
Naruto never saw her leave, only heard the door closing behind her, because he was too busy watching Sasuke who was staring at him with still wild eyes.
He growled when Sasuke dove at him, snapping at his throat—trying to bite into with pointed fangs—and forced the raven haired male back with snaps and swipes with sharpened nails of his own.
Sasuke hissed and charged again but Naruto grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him onto his back, pinning him to the floor. He opened his mouth wide and placed white teeth against the pale flesh of the vampire's throat and began to slowly but steadily put pressure on them, closing them around the raven's jugular. He stopped immediately when the raven whined pitifully and deflated under him. He give a warning yip before sinking his teeth deeply into the juncture of the pale shoulder under him, claiming his mate.
Naruto removed his teeth and lazily began to nuzzle and lick at his mate's throat still breathing heavily. He could be gentle now that he'd asserted his dominance over his mate. Sasuke purred in contentment, quickly getting over the sheer amount of power his dominant had displayed, taking thoroughly to the submissive position in his mate's life.
As their breathing and heartbeats slowed, so did Naruto's licks and Sasuke's purrs as the animal instincts at the front of their minds slowly slipped away and the more human side took its place.
"That was hot." Naruto quipped lightly and Sasuke snorted. Of course something as callous as a werewolf would think so.
"Seriously," Naruto purred sultrily "Has anyone told you how completely sexy you are when you go all feral wildcat-vampire?"
Sasuke's eye roll with belied by the blush on his cheeks when he replied "Well…..it was pretty sexy seeing you go Alpha wolf on Sakura…..and me."
He felt Naruto's chuckle rumbled through him and sighed. "What do we do now?"
His father wasn't going to be happy he was now a werewolf's mate and—he reached up to touch the bite on his shoulder lightly as proof—he was definitely marked as a werewolf's mate. Sasuke wondered how unhappy his clan would be when they realized his was not only a Berserker's mate, but he was a Berserker's submissive.
The Alpha, his Alpha, sobered and sighed "Right now?" he asked and Sasuke nodded "Right now, you're going to feed, and then we're going to sleep."
Sasuke blinked slowly as Naruto tilted his head sideways, it was an immense act of trust for a dominant mate—especially a mate that's an Alpha—to bear his throat for his submissive and Sasuke truly felt honored, and warmed, by Naruto's trust in him.
Naruto hummed as Sasuke reached up and softly bit into his neck, the sensation was quite pleasant. He reached out a hand and gently cradled the back of the raven's skull while his body shifted on its own to better protect his feeding mate in the vampire's moment of weakness.
Sasuke eventually pulled away and wiped his mouth with the back of his right hand. Naruto smiled softly and leaned down for a kiss. He frowned when Sasuke shook his head but chuckled when Sasuke explained simply "Vampire breath."
"Now," Naruto continued from his earlier train of thought "We're going to bed, everything else can wait until tomorrow, preferably tomorrow afternoon," and it could. Dante, Fugaku, the Berserkers, the other vampires, Sakura, they could all wait. For now, he was going to curl around his heart and soul and get the best sleep he'd had in four years.
Review yeah? I've been doing some hardcore writing and reviews are what keeps me going/let me know my work is appreciated.