Centuries

Celestia193's Author's Note: Alright, so it looks like people are liking progress. Good. Because we've got a whole lot more for you this chapter. Sasuke can only be stubborn for so long! But he's going to be very stubborn before it gets better. It will get better, though, I promise.

Silver's Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. We hope that you enjoy this chapter. There are no line breaks in this one.

Chapter 11

Thirty hours and counting. It was how long it had been since Sasuke fell asleep. And despite moving a little a few times, there had been no success in rousing him. He was dead to the world. Which…really wasn't something new, as he'd been 'dead' for over four hundred years now.

"Jugo, is...he alright?" Sasuke had been asleep for over a day and honestly, it was really starting to worry Itachi.

"Well, no, he's not, but that's far from a new development." Jugo sighs at the sight of his friend, looking small and fragile in the tangle of blankets. "He just needs sleep and a lot of blood, he's running pretty low on it." It was basically the vampiric version of having low blood pressure, as far as Jugo could tell.

"I must have taken too much from him." Itachi frowns at that thought. "I did give him some of my own, of course." It was only fair.

Jugo had figured as much. "But he took less than you did." And that was dangerous. "He usually runs pretty low, but if he didn't take as much from you as you did him…" Or more, which would have been better for Sasuke. "We'll probably have to force it into him, again."

Itachi nods as he gazes down at the man who had sired his own sire. "He's the most stubborn vampire that I've ever met." He shakes his head. "We'll just have to get more blood into his system."

"Preferably at least two or three liters of it. So close to nine bottles of bloodwine." Or enough to kill a human, though Jugo would never resort to such a thing. "I would offer him mine…" Jugo had plenty to spare. "But he refuses to drink from people."

Itachi sighs and and nods as he scurries off and gets the bloodwine. "Here it is." He'd brought a dozen to be on the safe side. A dozen bottles.

"Good." Jugo eyes the bloodwine, frowning. It would be difficult to get anyone, let alone Sasuke, to drink that much wine in one sitting. Two or three liters of blood was one thing, but twelve liters of wine? That was a little much. "How much did he drink from you? A glass' worth of blood?"

"Not that much, I just figured I'd grab extra." The young vampire looks sheepish. "In case he needed it."

"Maybe…" Though an idea was coming to mind that just might work. "The more we try to make him drink, the greater the fuss he makes about it." That, and Jugo wasn't sure that blood that old would really taste that great. "But if it came from a source that appeals to him, if we could concentrate and replenish the blood…" He eyes Itachi cautiously. "You're the first person he's drunk from since the civil war. I'd like to think…we'd all like to think that means something."

"Probably because I'm family and his Childe's Childe." The engineer nods at the thought. "I certainly don't mind him drinking from me though."

Jugo sighs with relief. "As long as you keep your own blood supply up…" He gestures to the bottles. "Sasuke should be able to get everything he needs from you. He'll just need…well, you'll probably need to force him to drink. He's the type to need a very firm hand, and unfortunately, there aren't many who can challenge him on his level."

If Sasuke really objected, there was no forcing him. "I'll try to persuade him in a manner that won't destroy this beautiful estate." Though Itachi suspected that once he had blood in his system, he'd be less stubborn.

Oh boy. Jugo coughs suggestively. "In that case, I would suggest taking advantage of Sasuke's natural…disadvantage." Well, that was something that Jugo would rather not imagine. Suigetsu and Karin were bad enough in that regard. "He does have issues with his hormones." Meaning perpetually stuck as a horny teenager.

"I doubt he'd be interested." Itachi rolls his eyes. "He'll sate his desires with random snow demons though." Well that was a bit harsh, he supposed. It was only one snow demon, but still.

…Well, maybe Suigetsu's bet had some ground for Jugo to stand on. "How did Sasuke's blood taste to you?"

Everyone kept asking him that, but Itachi didn't mind answering again. "Dark melted chocolate and expensive, old fashioned sake." It was the same answer though. The same one he always gave when asked.

"Okay." Not quite what Jugo meant. "But how did you feel when you drank it?" Suigetsu had said that it was possible, but maybe he was off on this. "Did you not feel anything?"

"It tasted delicious. Better than even Kakashi's blood and I had a hard time stopping." He had almost drained Sasuke dry. "That's why he's...like this. I drank too much."

"It was special, wasn't it?" Jugo smiles softly, stepping unusually quietly towards the door. "And yours must be as well, otherwise Sasuke wouldn't have had more than a few drops."

Itachi nods. Of course, it was special. "Yes, very special." It was Sasuke's.

"That's…very good." Jugo's smile widens a little. "Then…I leave him to you. And I hope that you succeed where we all failed." He glances at the old vampire, the one who so looked like a child when he slept. "You might be the only one who can."

"If worst comes to worst, I'll just shove the blood down his throat and force him to swallow." Itachi smiles a little sadistically at the thought.

"Or you could kiss it into him." After all, it's not like vampires needed to breathe at all. Jugo found that to be one of the most unsettling things about vampires. You didn't know they were alive unless they were awake.

Itachi chuckles at that. "Yes, that would be fun until he tries to bite my tongue off." It would be a very Sasuke thing to do.

"He wouldn't hurt you." Jugo shakes his head. "That much is obvious." The half-giant disappears up the stairs, closing the door of the Moon Room behind him, leaving only the two vampires inside.

Itachi wasn't so sure about that. He was already getting far too attached to Sasuke. "What am I going to do with you?" Itachi sighs as he bites his wrist and opens Sasuke's mouth gently, allowing a few drops of blood to fall into the other man's mouth.

Drop after drop dribbles past Sasuke's pale lips, coating the soft pink tongue, before trickling down his throat. His body twitches as he swallows reflexively, a quiet moan unconsciously slipping out as his brow furrows slightly.

Itachi smiles at that as he continues allowing more of his blood to drip into Sasuke's mouth. "Good. Drink." He needed to drink. Sasuke had denied himself far too long.

Groaning a little, Sasuke squirms, drops of blood landing on his cheeks as he groggily starts to open his eyes. "I-Indra?" He blinks up at Itachi, vision still on the blurry side. "Wait…you're not…"

"No, I'm not Indra." He tilts his head. "Though I suppose I should be flattered to be compared to him?" Itachi chuckles at the thought.

"…Itachi?" Pushing himself into a sitting position, Sasuke holds his head as it begins to throb with a dull ache. "What happened?" He felt like he fell out of a tree. While still human.

"I think I drank too much from you and you didn't drink enough." He smiles at him. "Though that's easily remedied. I brought you lots of bloodwine."

"Oh. That's all." Sasuke sighs, shaking his head. "I don't want bloodwine. I already feel hungover." Seriously, he did. And vampires weren't supposed to get hungover. Well, not unless they drank their weight in alcohol.

Itachi frowns and looks at him in concern. "Then you can have some of my blood." Sasuke needed to drink more. That much was obvious.

Sasuke shoots his descendant a scathing look. "I've already had some of your blood." And it had been…incredible. Too incredible.

"You didn't have enough." He needed more. "Sasuke, stop being stubborn. I really don't mind."

"But I do!" That short exclamation has Sasuke's head throbbing again. "I…I could hurt you." Whenever he drank from a person…he usually drained them dry. It's why he never drank from innocent humans. Only the corpses he'd left behind as an assassin.

He really was being stubborn. "Fine, have it your way." He grabs one of the bloodwine bottles and heads to the bathroom briefly, before returning to Sasuke. "Drink." Itachi promptly hands him the bottle and looks at him expectantly. "There is a pint of my blood in there."

Sasuke glares at the young vampire before him. Like hell was he the only one being stubborn. "Why?" He'd tasted it once, and if he tasted it again…even he didn't know what would happen. "Why do you care so much what happens to a lone, old vampire?"

"Because we're family and without you, I would already be dead." Itachi shakes his head as though thoroughly exasperated. "Besides, you aren't that old, really. Compared to Indra, you're a newborn baby, and I suppose I must be something of a masochist. That's why!"

The tone of Itachi's voice is what shuts Sasuke up, rather than the words. The fledgling sounded…angry? Hurt? Frustrated? But…he had no idea what kind of danger he was in. "…You really want me to drink your blood?" Maybe…he could control it? It had been so long…and he'd only gotten one taste. But he already craved it. And he didn't WANT to crave it.

"I want you to drink." Itachi sighs as though Sasuke was being a difficult child by not taking his medicine. "I don't care if it's my blood, bloodwine, or someone else's. You need to drink though."

Hands clenching around the bottle, Sasuke glares at it. He was shaking, he knew it. His whole body was protesting against his restraint, and he could feel the lust for blood rising in his throat. "…Just a little." Itachi would have to be content with that.

Well it was a start. "That's fine. You just need to drink something." At least Sasuke had relented a little. Itachi really didn't want to have to resort to force.

Fumbling with the bottle, his fingers feeling kind of numb, Sasuke stares at it a moment longer, before slowly raising it to his lips. And with the first sip, he wished he hadn't. "…I'm not drinking that." His nose crinkles up, displeased by the taste.

"Well maybe, it was a bad year." He shrugs and bites his wrist again, letting some blood fall into a different one. "Try this."

Tongue still rebelling against the taste of the first bottle, Sasuke tries a sip of the second, only to be met with the same awful taste. "…It's just as disgusting as the first." And Sasuke was sure that it wasn't that the bloodwine was bad, per say, just… "The wine doesn't mix well with your blood." It was the only thing that made sense. Itachi's blood tasted better than this crap.

"Oh hmm…" Well maybe it was because of Itachi's age. "Might be because I'm a fledgling." Who knew really?

Sasuke puts aside the bottle, looking away from Itachi. "No, it's not." It wasn't Itachi's fault at all. "Your blood just tastes better on its own." He clenches his fists, lying back down and turning onto his side as he pulls the covers over him. "…Milk chocolate…strawberry wine…cinnamon, and nutmeg…it doesn't work with the bloodwines."

"That does sound good and rather festive, I suppose?" Itachi chuckles at the thought. "Well, I'm glad you drank something. Are you feeling better?"

No, his head was still throbbing, and he was feeling…nauseous. "I'm fine." Cold, he felt cold as well, like…well, like a vampire who hadn't had enough blood. It was just worse this time, compared to all of the others.

Itachi shakes his head at that. "For a ninja, you are a horrible liar." He sighs as he watches him with wary eyes. Maybe, Jugo had a point. He might have to use some rather underhanded tactics to get anywhere.

"I'm not a bad liar." Sasuke just…didn't really feel like putting a lot of effort into deception right now. Plus, he didn't usually talk to his targets.

"Then you're being lazy and that's only another sign that you need more." Why did Sasuke have to be so difficult? "Don't make me take drastic measures."

Growling quietly, Sasuke pulls the covers over his head, disappearing beneath the silken black sheets. Was he being stubborn about this? Yes, and he knew it. But between his fear of hurting Itachi, his pride, and his fear of…what drinking Itachi's blood had…DONE to him, well, he didn't want to take any chances.

There were times when Sasuke truly did act his age. "Ridiculous." Itachi bites his tongue until it bled and yanks the covers off of Sasuke, kissing him in such a way that he had forced his bleeding tongue into the elder's mouth.

"Mmmpf." Sasuke's eyes widen as the sweet taste of Itachi's blood smears across his tongue and drips down his throat. It was by far the most violent kiss he'd ever experienced, but…there was something possessive and sensual about the way that Itachi shoved his tongue down his throat.

Well it seemed like he had finally taken Sasuke by surprise about something. Itachi would have to thank Jugo for the tip later. He wasn't entirely sure that this counted as a kiss or not. It was far more aggressive than any kiss that Itachi had ever had given before, but it had to be to ensure Sasuke tasted his blood. That he got what he needed.

Sasuke's fangs ached, growing longer, sharper, and his eyes, he knew, were burning ruby red with hunger and…desire, a desire that he'd never felt. Itachi's blood…it just tasted so sweet. He couldn't…couldn't… He reaches up, pushing Itachi upwards, and breaking the bloody kiss as that blood trickles from the corners of his mouth. His fingers tremble, his whole body shivering a little with cold and…other sensitivity as he licks up the blood, smearing the last few traces around his lips. "Itachi…"

"Don't lecture me." It was a good thing that Itachi didn't actually need to breathe or he would have been breathless. "You needed to feed and we both know it." That or worse, Sasuke might lecture him about kissing him in general.

"So your brilliant plan is to tempt me into feeding?" Sasuke's grip on Itachi's arms tightens. The young vampire was just…impossible to resist. "You're playing a dangerous game, Itachi."

"Well more like I was force feeding you, but it is flattering to hear you view it that way." Itachi tilts his head at him. "I didn't think that you could be tempted." Though Sasuke was holding onto his arms tightly. Was he angry with him or just turned on. Feeding and sex were often closely associated when it came to vampires.

Biting his lip, Sasuke's eyes flicker over the tantalizing curve of Itachi's neck. "You…really have no idea…" He swallows thickly, feeling a few more drops of blood go down. "How incredible you taste." The best he'd tasted, and he'd tasted thousands. "You're pure and innocent and…" He licks his lips, the red glow of his eyes pulsing. "Delicious…"

But as soon as the thought of plunging his fangs into that soft skin and drinking, finally being able to sate his century and a half long hunger, occurred to him, faces did as well. Screaming faces. Blood, fire, death. His family lying dead in their home, attacked for being loyal. He couldn't save them, and now he was dragging Itachi into this as well.

"I wouldn't really call me innocent or pure, but that's flattering that you have such a misconceived notion of me." Itachi chuckles, until he saw that Sasuke was panicking again. "Whatever it is, don't. Don't spiral." He could see it in his eyes. Sasuke was reliving some horror of the past.

Sasuke froze up, feeling nothing but ice in his veins. Well, that, and the crushing weight of guilt. Centuries of it. And…hunger, the kind that gnawed at you until you eventually gave in. But he hadn't, not yet. Hunger. Blood. …Itachi's blood. "Itachi…" Reaching up, he pulls the closest source of warmth towards him, holding it tightly against his body.

The next thing he knew was the taste of salt on his tongue, and the feeling of his fangs piercing a jugular vein. And the sweet…sweet taste of blood.

Itachi gasps, but he didn't protest. "It's alright." He was more surprised than anything as he strokes Sasuke's hair soothingly, trying to comfort him from whatever images were plaguing him.

The blood continues to flow, and Sasuke sucks hard on the place where the bite marks could be felt. "Mine…" He was at best, delirious, and at worst, completely drunk on the taste of the blood. Mouthful after mouthful, the sweet taste drove away the images of blood and death. Blood was…blood was good. Yes…good…

"Mhm." Itachi figures it was best to indulge Sasuke in whatever he was seeing or feeling for the moment. "That's better." He was drinking a lot, but that didn't bother Itachi much. He could always nip Sasuke, if he got too lightheaded and it felt good to be praised by the other vampire this way...even if Sasuke likely wouldn't remember any of it.

Over a dozen and a half mouthfuls of blood later, Sasuke opens his eyes, not having remembered closing them in the first place, but finding himself lucid enough to note the position they were in. After taking another few mouthfuls of blood, he reluctantly detaches himself, retracting his fangs from Itachi's neck and licking up the divine-tasting blood. "Are you alright?" He'd probably taken too much. But the fool had brought it on himself!

"Lightheaded, but I'm alright." Itachi glides his hand up Sasuke's arm and pulls it towards him, slowly biting down on it and savoring the taste of his blood.

Sasuke's pupils dilate a little more as he takes in the sight of Itachi drinking his blood. "You didn't stop me."

"No. Should I have?" He laps at the blood. "You needed it and it didn't hurt me. It felt...good, actually. There was no need." He needed to pace himself. There was no point in feeding Sasuke, only to drain him, so he reluctantly tears his fangs away from him.

"…" Sasuke stares up at the younger vampire, his body humming with restless energy. "Was this the extent of your grand master plan?" Because if it was, then it was probably a good idea for Sasuke to sneak out of the estate and find someone to…work off some of this energy excess with. Feeding that much had a habit of getting him all worked up.

"Mostly, I wanted to get you to feed." Itachi sighs as he kisses Sasuke's forehead. "You needed it. You need to take better care of yourself, but..." He glances down noting the impressive tent in Sasuke's pants. "I don't mind taking care of you either."

The innocent kiss was nice, Sasuke supposed, but despite his resolute decision not to sleep with immortals…he rather liked the way that Itachi looked at him. Most people just looked at him with awe or lust, sometimes both. But there really was more there when Itachi's own crimson eyes turned on him. "If you think you can." And…Sasuke's mouth was running away with him again.

"I know I can." Itachi kisses him again. "If you'll let me." He didn't really want Sasuke to run off on him again, but he wasn't entirely sure how much he could get away with either.

What Itachi was offering…It made Sasuke's blood burn and grow cold all at once. And despite having almost no room to move, he turns himself over, pressing his face into his pillow. "Forget it…it's a bad idea…"

"I honestly don't understand." Itachi rolls his eyes. "Your cock seems to like me well enough, yet I am apparently no match for the snow demon or your pretty geishas." He was rock hard and turning him down. Why? Was it because they were both Uchihas? That hadn't bothered Sasuke enough not to kiss him in the first place. couldn't be it.

"That's not it." Sasuke grits his teeth, arms wrapping around one of the many pillows dotting the bed. "…When you get to my age, you've watched a lot of people die. Getting attached…is just setting yourself up for pain."

So that was it. "I'm a vampire like you." He wasn't nearly as fragile as humans. "You've made attachments before though. Jugo, Karin, Suigetsu, and Kakashi." What made him any different? "And do explain to me the difference between having me live with you and training me to defend myself and becoming my lover. Explain to me how becoming your lover makes you more vulnerable because you've already attached yourself to me to a certain degree."

It was a low blow, but Jugo's words came back to him. "You even showed me Aoda. I doubt you show the dragon to just anyone." He shakes his head. "It's one thing if you aren't attracted to me. It'd be one thing if you weren't seeking a relationship, but you've clearly made bonds, even sexual ones, with other immortals before." Well at least one. Kakashi. "Why is this so different?"

"Because YOU'RE different!" A single ruby eye glares back at Itachi, the rest of Sasuke's face still obscured from sight. What was it that Itachi didn't get? "Because getting involved with you means…" Means dredging up hopes and dreams that he'd left behind long ago. "…It means opening myself up to more pain."

"Forgive me, maybe it's my youth but it doesn't seem as though you can get much more miserable than you currently are at the moment." Damn it! What was it going to take? "Opening yourself is risky, but it is better than dying a slow death isn't it?!"

"Risky?" Sasuke laughs humorlessly. "It's ended in misery every time I've tried. Every time I opened my heart, hoping for the best, whoever I loved…they died, and I was the one left hurting. So forgive my reluctance to trust that everything will go right this time."

Itachi sighs as he reaches out to touch him. "Sasuke, you're beautiful. Inside and out." He didn't want the other vampire to do this to himself. To slowly descend into oblivion when he didn't have to. "It would be a shame to watch you wither when this doesn't have to come to pass. You'll find what you're looking for, but only if you're willing to look."

Sasuke tenses a little as he feels Itachi's warmth on his back. "…I know where it is." He'd figured it out while gulping down Itachi's blood.

"Well that's good." Finally, they were making progress. "So act like the vampire ninja you are and take what you want." Well within reason. Though he doubted that Sasuke would actually force someone to be with him. Had he finally found his bloodmate? Had he just been too scared to act on it?

His eyes close as Sasuke sinks deeper into the sheets. "Tell me something…you said that my blood tastes better than Kakashi's. Why do you think that is?"

"I suppose it has something to do with your age and the fact that we're family." He pauses and sighs as though slightly embarrassed to admit something. "And my obvious sexual attraction towards you may also be another factor."

Sasuke sighs, shaking his head, before quickly reversing their positions, pressing Itachi's back to the sheets. "Age affects the potency, and attraction affects your appetite, the family link does nothing. Indra's blood tastes of spiced and honeyed mead. Even so, I still prefer yours. Kakashi must have taught you something. So why do you think that is?"

He blinks at that. The possibility hadn't genuinely occurred to him before, but it would explain a lot. "You think we're bloodmates?" Could that really be it? It would explain his jealousy over Sasuke and why his blood tasted so good and why Sasuke seemed to feel the same way about his own.

Reaching for his collar, Sasuke tugs it down to expose his neck. "Give me another taste, then tell me what you think."

"Alright." He licks his neck slowly. Sasuke seemed to prefer a gentler bite. "I will." A bit paradoxical really considering he was a vampire ninja, but Itachi certainly didn't mind drinking from him. So he sinks his teeth into Sasuke slowly and begins to drink. Sighing in pleasure as the sweet blood coats his tongue.

Sasuke shivers as Itachi's fangs shift in his skin. He'd drunk enough blood that he could spare a little now. Not that he really felt like pushing his luck again, but this was the best way he could see to prove his point to Itachi. "…Do you believe me now?"

"I believe you." His voice was barely more than a whisper. Itachi retracts his fangs and licks the bite mark soothingly.

A wistful sigh escapes Sasuke as he lays his head on Itachi's chest. "…Three and a half centuries after I stop looking…and a century and a half after I give up. The universe sure has shit timing. Or an even shittier sense of humor."

Itachi runs his fingers through the other vampire's hair. "Well they say that it happens when you least expect it." This certainly qualified as that.

"I suppose." Not that it made Sasuke feel any better. He'd still gone centuries without finding this, without finding Itachi. "…Is it wrong for me to wish that you'd been born a couple hundred years earlier?"

"No." Itachi sighs and shakes his head. "I'd say that's perfectly normal." His age was likely going to be an issue in their relationship. "Though there is no point in dwelling on such things."

"Hn." Sasuke smiles, leaning up a little and propping himself up on Itachi's chest. "Well, then I guess the biggest obstacle now is going to be overcoming Kakashi's hands-off approach to your education." That was going to be a little annoying, but he supposed that it could also be kind of fun. "I can pick up the slack, though. I always was a better teacher."

The other vampire snorts. "You're fortunate that you have your looks, your power, and your intelligence, because your pick up lines could be improved on." He shakes his head. "Before you I never had one partner complain about my skills in the sensual arts."

"If that was actually a pick-up line, I would be ashamed of myself." Sasuke smirks, finding the young vampire's reaction to be rather amusing. He glides calloused fingers along the soft curve of Itachi's cheekbone. "But if you think that you can prove my assumptions wrong…well, then I guess we'll just have to see about that."

"As I said before, I don't think I can prove your assumptions wrong." Itachi brushes his lips against Sasuke's in a ghost of a kiss. "I know that I can."

There's a slight tremble in Sasuke's fingers, before he smiles softly, eyes glowing red. "Then prove it."