Originally posted on aff 2009-01-07 - 2009-04-05

I

Killing was what a shinobi did for a living. Bloodshed was something a shinobi was used to. Maybe it was because they were so steeped in blood that they were affected so much. Naruto leaned his forehead against the rain-cooled glass of the window and sighed. Almost three hundred years ago, those streets down there had been dirt and these buildings hadn't even been a twinkle in their builder's eye. Three hundred years ago, Naruto had been a boy of twenty, barely into his prime years when the final war had taken place.

No one really knew hot it happened. One minute every ninja was fighting the enemy, the next they were screaming and writhing in pain. Those that survived that changed in a way no one could have imagined.

Suddenly, the ninja became the enemy instead of the protectors and it took Naruto three months to figure out why.

Those steeped in blood had become creatures that needed it to survive. Almost every ninja became the vampire, and almost every ninja survived until the first kill. Those chuunin rank and genin rank were the first to die, whether by the hands of others or their own no one really knew. Then those of jounin rank were affected by the madness. By the fifth year of being cursed like this only the Rookie Nine, Sasuke, Kakashi, Iruka, the Sand Siblings, and a handful of others were left alive. They banded together, drawn to each other simply because everyone was familiar.

By the turn of the century only the Sand Siblings, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba and Shino were left. Neji and Shikamaru had let themselves starve, much to Gaara and Kankurou's unhappiness. TenTen, Ino, Hinata, and Lee had vanished one night, and decided to see one final sunrise. Kakashi and Iruka had died together, a twin suicide.

Some could handle the idea of killing to live. Some couldn't. Some went made with the bloodlust. Some were just tired.

Naruto couldn't fathom what had been going through their heads when they chose the final rest, but he'd let them go. He'd cried for them, mourning for them, and made sure he kept their pictures in the locket around his neck as a remembrance.

Oh, Naruto wasn't alone in the night world. Sasuke and Sakura were there, along with the Sand Siblings. Kiba and Shino dropped by on occasion but they lived in the Land of Seasons now on their kennel farm. The Land of Seasons used to be the Land of Snow, but ever since Koyuki-hime had finished the machine, the name had been fought over until the current one was chosen.

Naruto turned away from the window as he heard the creaking of the upstairs floorboards and went back to minding the coffee pot.

There were plenty of other vampires wandering around the world, though he never really interacted with them. Each had their own territory and hunting ground and mostly left each other alone unless someone got brave or stupid.

Naruto canted his head and sighed. Being a blood-sucking fiend wasn't all that bad. Sure, he was allergic to sunlight and he had to consume blood on a regular basis, but he could still eat food like a normal person. He could even have sex if he wanted to albeit he was, essentially, sterile. Not like it mattered anyway.

The sleepy side of the link finally began to wake, and Kyuubi came down the spiral stairs, clad only in grey flannel pants. Naruto looked up at the biju, knowing he'd done it on purpose. Kyuubi's seal had also been affected by the vampirism, weakening but strengthening it at the same time. So while the biju wasn't able to completely escape his cage, he could expend chakra to create a body and, through their link, move his consciousness and spirit to that corporeal form.

Kyuubi hit the landing and stretched. Naruto looked away before his sex drive got the better of hm. Still, the orange-haired biju seemed to know anyway, and purposely brushed up against Naruto on his way to the kitchen.

"Coffee ready?" asked the elder creature, carefully hiding his smile.

"Of course it's ready." Naruto snapped. "It's always ready."

Kyuubi laughed and abandoned the coffee pot to nuzzle at Naruto's throat. Naruto let out a growl but bared his throat anyway, closing his eyes and waiting for the gentle nip that usually signaled Kyuubi wanted to mate. The nip didn't come. In fact, Kyuubi seemed content just nuzzling Naruto's throat, so Naruto relaxed and let the nine tailed fox do what he wanted.

Theirs was a simple existence. They had a nice house, one that Naruto had built about one hundred and fifty years ago and had been "passed down" ever since. Naruto had learned enough over the years to change his appearance and his name every fifty years or so – and had once gone ten being a girl. Sometimes he chose to look like someone from his past. Sometimes he was just too lazy to expend the chakra and just dyed his hair and covered up his whisker-scars.

Naruto was careful to spread his feeding ground out and wasn't above breaking into the morgue to get at the tubs of blood set aside for disposal.

He'd come to terms with his immortality and figured as long as he kept his secrecy, he could continue to live until the end of days.

"So," Kyuubi said, drawing back from his jinchuuriki to get his coffee, "what are today's plans?"

Naruto sighed. "I was going to visit Sasuke and check up on Sakura. I also have work tonight so I can't be limping."

"With all that money stashed away, I don't see why you even bother to work."

"I get stir crazy." Naruto gave the demon a wan smile. "Sex can only sure so much."

"Damn." Kyuubi said in a cheery voice.

"Yeah, what a shame."

Whatever Kyuubi was about to say was drowned out by a loud crash of thunder, and the lights flickered once. Then a steady drum of rain began and Naruto fought not to deflate at Kyuubi's sudden grin.

"Looks like you're stuck here." Kyuubi said as he sipped his coffee.

Naruto stared at the treacherous weather. "Looks like."