The Meaning of Midnight
Summary: Every midnight of every day, the world stops spinning and the dead rise from their graves. That time that the world has stopped spinning is the "Midnight Hour", when anyone and everyone can die, and when blood ties can only weigh you down.
Warnings: Lots of gore, yaoi, cussing, and death. Happy endings, hip hip hooray, I don't have one for you today.
Disclaimer: I own nothing…coughexceptItachicough…
A/N: I should be doing homework…whatever. -.- I am lazy and concussed, and therefore could not give a shit. BTW, if certain parts of this stop making sense and you say "What the fuck is she thinking?", I have a concussion thank you very much and I'm not sure my brain is working. I also recommend listening to "The Howling" by Within Temptation while reading.
And, if it isn't obvious, this is a one-shot…
-Hakai-sama
-0-:The Meaning of Midnight:-0-
"Are you sure all of the doors are locked?"
"Yes, Sasuke. I checked all of them."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Do you need me to go around and double check?"
"No. I've done this a thousand times, for chrissakes."
"Yeah, but…I hear tonight is going to be worse than usual."
"Eh? Why?"
"Since the Shaking."
"Well shit, man. Natural disasters during the Midnight Hour? Talk about the end of the world!"
"Tell me something I don't know."
"Maybe you should go around and check, then. You can never be too sure."
"Yeah. We should lock our room from the rest of the house, too."
"Sasuke, my family would never try to kill us!"
"Yeah, but…during the Midnight Hour…everything changes…"
Naruto sighed, slumping back into the chair. "To believe it's been a year since the Midnight Hour first happened…"
Sasuke turned away, expression clandestine. A sense of lassitude dimmed on him as the din of that first night came back with its entire lurid milieu. A copious tacit mood descended on the two, both abased by the happenings of that enigmatic night. Naruto was the first to dissemble into a sanguine mood, and Sasuke followed in attempt to abbreviate his cogitate.
"Well, I'm going to bed. Follow me or sleep in another room, 'cuz I'm triple locking the doors."
Sasuke descended upon his boyfriend, osculating him mercilessly. "Where do you think I'm sleeping tonight?"
Naruto blushed in attempt to prevaricate away from the implied happenings. Sasuke seized Naruto's hand, engulfing it in his, and led him into their bedroom, both allowing their carnal instincts to take over.
However, time was elapsing through the night. As the two became further rapt in one another, they scarcely noticed the tick-tocking of the chronometer atop their nightstand. As midnight inched forward, the two took no notice of their unlatched bedroom door, and, more importantly, the swinging open of the front door of the family home. They took no notice of the wails from the first floor. They took no notice of the sounds of bone-breaking, no notice of the sounds of massacre happening below.
They only noticed once both had finished the bout that it was the Midnight Hour. And they only became cognizant of their open bedroom door as Naruto's Mother's dead body meandered in, bloodthirsty and predisposed to slay the two residents of that room.
"MOM!"
Naruto squealed out, clinging to Sasuke and shaking as he did so. Naruto's nonplus allowed Sasuke to process the happenings and tranquilize Naruto's mom with the gun he kept to the side of his bed. The two stumbled out of the room as Naruto cried from shock of seeing his mom fallen, and Sasuke endeavored to pull his wailing boyfriend away from his mindset. They broke for the exit of the house, climbing out of the nearest window only to caper to the ground. Sasuke winced as his ankle made a distinct crack, but contravened it as Naruto pulled him to his feet. The two sprinted off, Naruto still sobbing, and beelined for the forest, escaping the carceral milieu. Hand in hand, the two staggered through the overgrown taiga, breathing in opaque air that evoked memories of that first Midnight Hour. Naruto fought for breath in the harsh environment, wanting to close his eyes and abscond the harrowing Earth. The pain residing in Sasuke's ankle seemed to be assimilated by the howling of heretofore lifeless lupus. The couple sprinted in a fleeting pace, transfixed by the howling. Sasuke snapped his knife from his side, preparing it for a fight. Naruto's tears solidified on his cheeks as a panoply of wolves began to materialize from the looming shadows of trees.
However, the two's running momentum refused to cease as a cliff gained in, and they lobbed themselves off of it. Together they plummeted, as if to their doom. All was not to be lost, though, as they landed in a high tree, far off the ground. They clung to one another, teeth chattering in blissful fear.
"Sasuke…I'm scarred…" Naruto cried softly into his lover's ear. Sasuke could only caress Naruto's arm in comfort, for he, too, feared the end of his life. Sasuke looked down at his watch, specially programmed for the Midnight Hour.
"There are only ten minutes left, Naruto. Then it's over. I promise, it's over. It'll all be okay, just hold on ten more minutes. I know you're scarred, Naruto, but just relax. Ten more minutes, live ten more minutes and you'll see the light of day again." As Sasuke leaned over to cradle his lover even more, though, the tree limb that the two were huddled on fractured, and they began to fall. They hugged one another tightly, staring at possible death on the ground.
"Trust me, Naruto. Ten minutes. Ten minutes, and you'll live on." Sasuke whispered as he positioned themselves so Naruto was on top of him.
Sasuke hit the ground.
Still clinging to Naruto, he bounced little, and the back of his head began to sprout blood. Naruto helped him stand, crying as he clung to him, ashamed that he let Sasuke take such a blow for him.
But their night was not over yet.
A myriad of wolves sprung from the shadows, rapidly approaching them, yearning for a taste of blood. Fear flourished itself in Naruto and Sasuke's eyes, and they ran towards the tree they had just fallen from. The wolves dually followed, and it seemed their masses only expanded as the couple gazed upon them from the base of the tree.
"Climb the tree, Naruto! Hurry!"
Naruto, self-preservation instinct taking over, leaped on the tree, striving to reach that first branch. Sasuke, too, began to climb, and as Naruto gained further progress to his goal, he remembered…the wolves would be able to reach the branch.
"Come on Naruto, hurry! We have five minutes! Just five minutes, and it'll all be over!"
Realization dawned in Naruto's eyes, and, with a forceful kick to Sasuke's pale hands, he sent his lover down to the masses of wolves to be devoured. Sasuke screamed out as he realized, crying as the wolves tore into his flesh, calling out Naruto's name over and over. His calls chilled Naruto's spine, but he continued climbing.
"Naruto! Help me!"
Sasuke cried out in anguish as the wolves tore him up. However, Naruto only remained silent, ignoring the pains of his moribund boyfriend.
"Naruto! Naruto!"
Sasuke continued to scream out until, finally, the ephemeral lives of the already-passed wolves vanished into the depths of the dark.
Naruto scrambled down from the tree to the still, bloody body of his love.
"Naruto…you…"
Naruto wailed as he realized the mistake he'd made.
"Sasuke! Sasuke, I'm so…so…sorry! Don't die! Please! Live, for me!"
Sasuke only smiled.
"I…I l-love…y-you, N…Naruto…forever…"
Sasuke's hand went lax, falling from Naruto's grasp.
Naruto, however, only remained silent, unable to cry as he fumbled for the knife Sasuke used for defense. He ran his finger along the sharp blade, and, without a second thought, sunk it deep into his chest and ended his own life.