Title: Heartbeat

Fandom/Pairing: Naruto, Sasuke/Naruto

Summary: Living for an eternity just to watch his lover grow old and eventually die was not an option for him.

Word Count: 1,072

Notes: Inspired by my new obsession, the Vampire Chronicles. I'm still only on the first book and I just watched the movie (Interview with the Vampire, not Queen of the Damned) the other day, and I'm finding myself falling in love with Anne Rice's characters and her take on the vampire genre. The relationship between Louis and Lestat is so interesting and since Anne Rice has this "no fan fiction" rule, I figured this would suffice for my needs. I wrote it for my friend at school whose obsessed with Naruto (but I hate writing on paper, so this is a much better version of it). It's just a one-shot piece really, but I hope you enjoy. Oh, and the title is from the song Heartbeat by Enrique Iglesias ft. Nicole Scherzinger.

xxx

Sasuke could already see the colour of Naruto's body drain drastically from a sun kissed tan to a deathly white, could already feel the blood running throughout his veins pumping vigorously but running on end, could already feel his life waning beneath his fingertips, but he had to keep going. It bothered him more than anything he's ever done—more than anything he could possibly ever do, but Naruto had asked for this. He had asked to become one of them, just so he could spend the rest of eternity with Sasuke, his best friend, partner, and, most importantly, lover. Sasuke felt so terrible for doing this—for hurting him in such a way—but felt greater guilt for wanting to do this, feeling so selfish for the thought let alone agreeing to it. Living for an eternity just to watch his lover grow old and eventually die was not an option for him. He would be terribly alone without anyone but himself and Orochimaru—and an eternity with Orochimaru, the snake that made him this way, would be horrifying.

But it didn't change the fact that he was doing this. Naruto looked so weak, so fragile, and so distant now—his eyes were half-lidded, presumably heavy feeling to him now as they were to Sasuke when he'd gone through the same thing, but they never closed. He could still see the radiance of his eyes, so blue and closer to the colour of the sky than to anything else, and saw them dim to such a dull glow that of which reminded him of the sunset breaking into darkness. It was terrifying and now he knew that he needed to stop.

He leaned away from the blonde's neck and up to his ear, his breath surprisingly warm and lips ghosting over the shell of his earlobe. A few drops of crimson red liquid dropped from his mouth as he whispered ever so lightly, "Do you still want this? There is still time to get you proper help, to recover..."

"No..." Naruto's voice was quiet and weak, but never stuttered despite how empty he felt. He was dying and he knew it—Sasuke knew it, damnit, and he was just sitting there waiting for permission from him! It both angered and flattered him, but he would continue with his statement as he raised a shaking hand to run through the back of the others soft ebony hair, "I'm not... going to give up... I want this, Sasuke... please..."

Sasuke slowly lifted his head and nodded, staring at the younger male in his arms. There was very little time as he rose and lifted his wrist up to his lips, sinking his teeth into his flesh and tearing it. It slightly stung, but hadn't hurt as bad as it would if he were human—a plus to being a vampire, he added in thought, but focused his attention on the other male as his wrist hovered over his mouth. Clutching his hand into a fist, blood dropped out of him like a turned off water fountain. The beautiful plump lips of his lover were barely parted as blood dripped against them and as soon as the first drop landed into his mouth, it widened considerably for more. As more blood made its way into his mouth, the stronger he became—his hand lifted and gripped at Sasuke's forearm, bringing the cut to his lips and sucking at it feverously.

Terror coursed through Sasuke's body as he felt himself growing weaker and, with a low grunt, he forced his arm away from the other male and fell backwards onto the bed, landing upon the back of his elbows. His eyes glanced at the gash on his wrist and found that it was already closing before focusing his attention back onto Naruto.

He was breathing heavily now. He couldn't hear anything but the sound of a drum growing louder and louder, the beat repetitious despite the tempo. Buh-boom, buh-boom. It was at its loudest within the matter of seconds and he could feel his body practically dying within him. It was the feeling of fire; complete and total fire, coursing inside of him and attacking all of his organs and bones. He lurched onto his side and clutched at his chest, the actions draining him of energy. Desperately he cried out, but there was no help with this pain. It was something that he would have to endure and it scared him.

"Wh-when will the pain e-end?"

Naruto was wailing this repeatedly, over and over, and it was directed towards Sasuke. Sasuke wouldn't be able to answer, however. All he could do was watch and whisper sweet nothings into his ear to calm him, his hand resting on his shoulder and thumb pad running against his skin gently. He supposed he resembled a mother trying to comfort their sick child from a cold. A mother could practically feel the pain that their child went through yet couldn't do anything about it except for medicines and physical comfort, and they would do anything to trade the pain away from their child. This was the exact same feeling that Sasuke felt and he wished for this to be over repeatedly in his mind.

"When will the pain end? When will the pain end...? When will the pain end..."

His voice was dying down as well as the trembling of his body and Sasuke tilted his head, worry carved into his features. The older male leaned forward once again and his hand lifted up to Naruto's cheek, his thumb running across his soft skin. There was no movement for quite some time besides Sasuke's thumb. He just sat there while Naruto seemed to be resting, looking as peaceful as ever. Sasuke was the same way when he'd changed and figured he shouldn't be worrying, but he was. Dear Lord, he felt sick to his stomach with worry. What if he'd hurt him? What if he wouldn't make it? What if—

"Sasuke..."

The others voice, still very weak from the ordeal he just went through, broke Sasuke from all thoughts. Naruto was smiling widely at him, looking more stunning than ever before. Pale skin, bright blue eyes, messy blonde hair and a smile that of which resembled the breaking of the sun were all rolled into one and Sasuke found himself smiling back at him.

Naruto was now reborn.