12. Lovers quarrel

Sasuke couldn't take his hands off Naruto as they sat in the backseat of Suigetsu's car. He couldn't wait to be home, in his bedroom, preferably with Naruto naked on his bed. That was always a plus.

"Sasuke you're so drunk. I can't believe you're drunk," Naruto laughed, pushing him away playfully.

He kept doing that. It only made Sasuke even hornier – if possible. Suigetsu finally drove into his entryway and he exited the vehicle with his new little friend. The two others did the same. The vampire and his prey. This was how Sasuke saw things right now. Why not? He was having so much fun. The night air was rather cold and it had started raining but Sasuke could barely feel it. His skin was heating up wherever it came in contact with Naruto's.

Suigetsu was getting impatient, so Sasuke went to unlock the door so that the four of them could get in.

"You guys feel like a foursome?" Suigetsu asked.

The brunet guy checked them out and exclaimed, "Fuck yeah."

"Fuck no," Sasuke replied as he pulled Naruto close, "I ain't sharing," he added, making Naruto chuckle.

"Oh well," Suigetsu told the other guy, "looks like it's just you and me baby."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and taking Naruto's arm he led him all the way upstairs.

"I'm kinda drunk too you know," Naruto whispered in his ear, "are you gonna take advantage of me?"

The raven hurried to his bedroom and once they were inside he ravished his lips. When he pulled away he whispered huskily, "Oh I will."

He started unbuttoning his shirt and he kissed his neck at the same time. When he was done he threw away the piece of clothing and he ran his hands across smooth and tan skin.

"You're so hot Naruto. You're perfect. I want you, so bad…"

"I want you too…" Naruto whispered and he lifted the hem of his shirt.

Sasuke lifted his arms so that Naruto could take it off. They pressed their bodies closer and kissed each other's necks, jaws, until their lips met once more. Sasuke brought his hand to Naruto's jeans to unbutton them. He pulled them down and as he moved up again, teasingly gave Naruto's erection a lick. It made the blonde hiss in pleasure. Then Sasuke stripped off his own clothes, Naruto helping him.

They moved things to the bed and Sasuke climbed on top of Naruto. This time he was intent on keeping that position, and he made it known. He kissed Naruto everywhere aggressively and soon the blonde was moaning and writhing in desire. Sasuke had him right where he wanted.

"Are you ready to do this?" He purred in his ear.

When Naruto didn't reply he pulled away to lock eyes with him. Such beautiful blue eyes. He caressed his cheek, suddenly tender. Naruto took his hand.

"Yeah…" Naruto finally said.

Sasuke frowned, "You sure?"

Despite being drunk and horny he still cared about Naruto's feelings. And he didn't want to hurt him by going too fast. Naruto smiled.

"Now I am."

"I told you not to do that," he said but he wasn't really angry. He decided to let the mind reading thing slide this time. "I won't hurt you," he reassured him.

Using lube which he had bought very recently, and specifically for this occasion, he proceeded to stretch Naruto with his fingers slowly. He had to be patient. Naruto's expression looked slightly pained and Sasuke kissed him passionately to distract him.

"I'm kinda drunk so it won't be so bad I guess," the blonde eventually said, chuckling.

Sasuke whispered, "This is your last chance to tell me to stop. Once I've started, I can't make any promises…"

Naruto shook his head slightly as he caressed his long raven locks, "No I want this. Don't you dare stop."

He smirked and he positioned himself to slide inside of Naruto. When he did the blonde let out a pained moan. Sasuke was feeling so good though. This had been his constant fantasy lately; having Naruto under him like that, at his mercy. But he had promised not to hurt him.

So he moved very slowly and carefully. Naruto's expression relaxed and he wrapped his arms around him to pull him close. They held each other tenderly as Sasuke moved inside of him. Soon Naruto relaxed even more. Sasuke spread his lover's legs even more and pushed them up so he could shift and have an even better position.

"You can go faster," Naruto whispered. His voice was so hot, and his lips were darkened from being kissed all night.

Sasuke didn't have to be told twice. He picked up the pace. Naruto's moans became ones of pleasure. Sasuke kissed his lips passionately, and moaned through it. They both did. Naruto's hips were matching his movements showing just how much the blonde wanted more. Sasuke's thrusts became harder and faster inside of him, bringing them both closer to climax.

When he slowed down again, wanting to prolong the moment, Naruto made a cute little sound of protest. Sasuke kissed him and when he pulled away he whispered, "I don't want it to be over just yet…"

Naruto smirked, "Who said there wasn't gonna be a round two?"

"No one," the raven smiled.

"Exactly."

"You're amazing."

Sasuke let loose all of his passion and desire. It wasn't long before they came together, but just like Naruto had promised, they were far from done for tonight…

"My turn," the blonde said in his ear.

His smirk was nothing but devilish at this moment and Sasuke absolutely loved it. Well damn, this was definitely the best night ever.

F & I

When Naruto woke up he was hungover and his body hurt everywhere, and yet he felt so happy. Maybe this was love? Being hurt and hungover and still being happy? Probably. Naruto smiled at his silly train of thoughts and he pulled Sasuke close in his arms. It didn't wake him up. Naruto had learned by now that the vampire was almost impossible to wake up during the day. So he let his hands roam freely on his smooth pale skin. He enjoyed the cool feel of it and he also very much enjoyed feeling Sasuke's muscles. They didn't change the fact that he was rather skinny, but Naruto didn't care. He loved everything about him, every inch of his body, and his mind also. He leaned even closer to his face as he caressed the soft raven locks.

"I don't care if you're a stuck up bastard sometimes," he whispered, "you don't have to get drunk for me to love you, that was so silly..."

Sasuke's bed was beyond comfortable, but Naruto was still human and unfortunately he had to get up and go to the bathroom. On the way he picked up his clothes and got dressed; he wouldn't want Suigetsu or the other guy – if he was still there – to see him naked. They would probably jump on him and force him into a threesome.

When he was done in the bathroom he decided to go outside to breathe some fresh air since Sasuke wouldn't wake up in another few hours anyway. Suigetsu was probably still sleeping because Naruto didn't encounter anyone in the mansion.

He sat on the porch and just relaxed for a moment, looking at the beautiful view of the ocean, and enjoying the wind in his hair. The ringing of his cell phone brought him out of his contemplation. He answered it. It was Shikamaru.

"Naruto I've been trying to call you for hours."

"I'm sorry I was sleeping. What's going on?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking… About this vampire thing. You know me, no matter how troublesome it is, I'll think things through until I'm satisfied. And I've also been talking a lot with Temari – don't worry, I didn't tell her anything, although it was hard…"

"Where are you getting at?" Naruto asked, confused.

"I know Sasuke's your boyfriend and you love him a lot but you need to hear me out. With Temari we ended up talking about Kankuro last night. She was telling me how much she missed him. You remember Kankuro?"

"Gaara and Temari's brother, yeah. He ran away a few years ago, right?"

"That's just it. We don't know. He was never found. Cops said he had run away because he was somewhat of a rebellious teenager. And he was an adult so they didn't even make a case. But I knew him, Naruto. I considered him my brother, too. And with Temari we agree that he would never have run away."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Naruto asked on a rather harsh tone, which he regretted right away. But it was because he knew all too well where this was going…

"I think Sasuke killed him. I think he's killed a lot of people. Every mysterious disappearance in the area, Naruto, it's gotta be him."

He swallowed hard. He didn't know what to reply to that. This was something Sasuke and him had put on the list of things to talk about later. Later meaning possibly never. But Shikamaru was forcing him to confront the idea that he was dating a murderer. Which was the undeniable truth.

"I don't know how to say this Naruto. He needs to pay for his crimes. And he needs to be stopped, otherwise more people will die."

"He's a… he needs blood to survive though."

"That's not an excuse! There must be other ways. Did he feed from you without killing you?"

Naruto's heart sank. It was so true… and it hurt so much, because now he had no choice, he had to face the facts. Sasuke had killed so many people, when he could've just taken a little bit of blood without killing them.

"I'm sorry Shika I… I gotta go."

"All right but this conversation isn't over."

"I know…" He said before hanging up.

Naruto turned his head to look up at Sasuke's bedroom window. He wasn't even certain which one it was but he was pretty sure he was looking in its general direction. Anyway, then he just got up and started walking back home. He could've just used his powers, but he needed some time to think. His mind was desperately blank though. He simply didn't know what to think. Nothing would change the past. Nothing would change what Sasuke had done before. Was the past a good enough reason to end what he had with him?

He didn't know. He had no idea if he would be able to completely overcome the fact that Sasuke was a murderer one day. It had been nagging at the back of his mind lately and so far he had been able to ignore it well enough. But not anymore… Not after what Shikamaru had said.

And then, as he walked, thoughts started swirling in his head, making him feel almost dizzy. He remembered, a year ago, Hinata crying in Gaara's arms because she missed one of her friends from med school – he'd been reported missing, and he probably still was. He remembered, a few months ago, when Jey's cousin had gone missing. Everyone had thought he was a run away kid. Maybe it wasn't so… He remembered Kakashi mentioning that one of his colleagues was claiming that her daughter had been kidnapped, because she would never run away from home. Kakashi had told Naruto to be careful back then. He remembered so many times when he'd heard about disappearances on the news. Of course, and thankfully, sometimes people were found again. But when they weren't… Did it mean, all those people had been killed by… vampires? And if the only vampire around had been Sasuke…

Naruto leaned against the wall of an apartment complex. He wasn't that far from home but he just needed to stop for a moment. He had a hard time breathing suddenly, his throat felt dry and he felt like throwing up. This was just too much to take in. The fact that Sasuke was a vampire in itself didn't bother him. But all the things he'd done… Could Naruto ever overcome that?

He managed to walk the rest of the way back home. He probably looked miserable because Kakashi got worried about him, and asked questions. But Naruto shrugged it all off and went to lock himself in his bedroom. He stripped off his clothes and tossed them on the floor, adding to the mess.

Feeling utterly exhausted, he decided to just lie down on his bed. He closed his eyes and drifted into sleep after a few minutes.

He was walking down a dark alley. He had no idea where he was, or why he was there, but he kept walking. There was something strange, a smell… It smelled like blood.

He came across a body, and in the dark he had to approach to recognize the person. His heart sank and his blood ran cold when he finally recognized Hinata. She had bite marks all over her. When he looked up again he saw a vampire standing nearby. Suigetsu.

"Come on man what're you gonna do?" He shrugged, "We're friends aren't we?"

Naruto clenched his fists and gathered his strength, focusing on his powers, but to his surprise nothing happened. This made Suigetsu laugh. Why were his powers gone? He needed to burn him! Suigetsu needed to pay for what he'd done to Hinata! She didn't deserve this!

Then the dream changed, as dreams often do. It was Sasuke standing in front of him now. And on the ground lay Sai and Jey's bodies, and also further another one. Naruto let out a yell of anger when he recognized Shikamaru.

"What did you do?"

"I couldn't let him wander around knowing my secret and tell everyone about it," Sasuke said. "And these two well, they were just annoying as hell. You're better off without them, aren't you?"

Naruto jumped on Sasuke to punch him with all his strength. But Sasuke just disappeared.

"You're not fast enough," he taunted.

Naruto turned around quickly. Sasuke was just standing casually with a smirk on his lips.

"Why would you fight me, Naruto? We're boyfriends, remember?"

Naruto felt so confused and angry as he woke up with a start. He'd somehow known all along that it was only a dream, and yet he'd felt the pain of losing his friends as if it was all too real. His heart felt heavy in his chest and the confusion was so overwhelming. Everything had happened so fast recently, and now he was doing all the thinking at once and it wasn't such a good thing. He felt conflicted beyond understanding.

He decided to take a quick shower, and when he was done he got dressed in simple black jeans and matching tee and he stood in his room, immobile for a moment. He closed his eyes. He needed to confront Sasuke. He wasn't good with thinking things through. He wasn't like Shikamaru. He needed a direct confrontation. So he visualized Sasuke's bedroom in his mind.

When he opened his eyes he was standing right in front of Sasuke's bed. And the latter was still asleep. Naruto didn't hesitate one second; he went to open the blinds. It was the evening but the sun was still bright enough. Slivers of light flooded in the room and lighted up Sasuke's pale, beautiful face. The vampire let out a pained moan in his sleep. The skin on his chest, arm and face started reddening.

Sasuke woke up with a start and threw himself onto the floor to escape the light. He shouted, "What the hell? Naruto?"

"We need to talk."

Naruto shut the blinds, and Sasuke, looking somewhat like a frightened animal, slowly stood up. His skin had already healed, and it was pale white again. His eyes were a bit watery though, and he looked shaken up.

"Not a very nice way to wake me up," he said on a low, angry tone.

"We need to talk," Naruto simply repeated.

Sasuke frowned, and he went to put on his black sweat pants. Then he leaned against the nearest wall and crossed his arms.

"About what?" He finally asked.

The blonde let out a deep sigh. He leaned against the window frame, averting his eyes. Unfortunately, there was no subtle way to talk about what was on his mind.

He looked up again, and locked eyes with Sasuke across the large bedroom. "Just… just how many people did you kill? Tell me."

The raven held his gaze for a moment, and then looked away, clearly troubled and startled by this. Naruto felt a pang of guilt in his chest, but at the same time, he had no choice. They needed to have this talk. He needed to hear Sasuke out, and decide if he was going to be able to forgive him and move on.

When Sasuke didn't reply, Naruto insisted, "Tell me! Tell me the truth!"

"Why do you want to talk about this? What's the point?"

"I need to know," he said desperately.

Sasuke whispered, "I don't know. I don't have a number to give you. I mean, what kind of answer do you want from me?"

Naruto took a step towards him. "Do you even regret any of those killings?"

The raven uncrossed his arms and slowly looked up at him. His dark eyes said it all; he didn't regret. He was completely indifferent.

"I'm sorry Naruto."

"No you're not!" Naruto stepped closer, "No you're not, and that's the problem!"

"What do you want me to say?" He exclaimed helplessly.

"I don't know," Naruto said, frustrated, "but… I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can be with you, knowing that you've killed so many… taken so many innocent lives!"

"You realized this only now?" Sasuke arched a delicate black eyebrow, "Yes, I'm a monster, Naruto. I'm not human, and I don't care about humans. They're food to me. Happy now?"

"But you were human once!"

"Yeah six fucking centuries ago!"

Naruto's blue eyes widened. He'd been just about to take another step closer but he went completely still. He realized Sasuke had never told him his age before. Six… centuries? Had he heard right?

"I really don't know if I can do this," Naruto whispered.

"I've read enough books and seen enough stupid movies to know that this is called breaking up. Well good for you. Maybe you should go back to Jeremy. Or that other idiot… Sai I think?"

"Leave them out of this," Naruto hissed, remembering his dream.

"Oh how cute, you care about them," Sasuke said, still on that bitter and sad tone. Now it was his turn to step towards Naruto. When they were close enough he parted his lips enough to reveal his fangs. "See that? I killed people with that. Maybe I killed some of your friends, or classmates. Who knows? I don't even remember them."

Almost reflexively Naruto unleashed his powers and Sasuke was sent flying across the room. He crashed onto the wall so roughly that it cracked, and the house seemed to shake a little. Naruto turned to the side, looking up at the vampire, and held him there with his powers.

"Why are you telling me this?" He exclaimed, "Do you really want me to hate you?"

Sasuke glared at him, "It would make things easier for you, wouldn't it? You could just kill me. Would solve all your problems."

Naruto produced a flame in his hand. Sasuke didn't look scared in the slightest.

"Be careful what you say, Sasuke. It would be so easy for me to kill you."

"I know that."

Those three simple words only infuriated Naruto even more. But the flame disappeared and he let go of Sasuke. He fell onto the floor, but somehow managed to get up graciously. Only because Naruto had stopped using his magical powers didn't mean this was over though. He walked up to the vampire quickly and punched him hard, again and again. Sasuke wasn't even defending himself.

"You bastard! At least fight back! Tell me something, anything, that would give me a reason not to hate you! Not to kill you!"

Sasuke eventually stopped his fist with his hand. But he didn't crush it or anything. He just stopped it, and wiped the blood on his lip with his free hand. His face healed right away. It was like Naruto had never hit him.

"I got nothing," he said in a mere whisper, a whisper so sad that Naruto's anger faded. He pulled away.

"That's not true," he argued, "that's not true and we both know it. There is good in you. I can sense these things. The same way I could sense that there was no good at all in that Orochimaru guy."

Sasuke looked up at him with such bitter onyx eyes. Then he glanced down and went to sit on his bed. There was a long moment of silence, and Naruto simply stood, watching him, waiting.

"You wanted to know," he whispered, still glancing down, and his raven bangs were hiding his eyes, "about my past."

"…Yeah," Naruto whispered.

"I'll try not to… make a fool of myself but… that tends to happen…"

The blonde reached out and focused on Sasuke's mind briefly, only to find out that by making a fool of himself he meant breaking down into tears; Sasuke was afraid to cry in front of him. Naruto frowned as he sat in the chair by the nice oak desk. He brought it a little closer to the bed and said, "That's okay. Just spill it out. I want to understand you. As much as possible, anyway."

Sasuke took a deep breath and lay down on his back. He put one hand under his head and with the other he fisted the sheets.

"My father was a land lord in Kyoto," he said. His voice was emotionless, but Naruto had the feeling it wouldn't stay that way for very long. "My mother was the most beautiful woman in the region. People often told my brother and I that we looked just like her." He sighed, "I loved them a lot, if that's what you want to know, yeah, I was a human, and a pretty normal one at that. I was um… actually I'm not even sure of how old I was," he chuckled, and turned his head slightly to look at Naruto, "kinda pathetic, huh?"

Naruto's eyes softened and he gave a slight shrug, "You look like you're twenty. Maybe a little younger."

The raven gave a slight nod, and looked at the ceiling, folding his leg slightly, "Something like that I guess. Whenever I was out at night, I kept getting the feeling that I was being followed, and watched. It was freaking me out. But I didn't tell this to anyone because I didn't want to sound crazy. And one night, well… I met him."

"Who? Varin?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke flinched slightly.

"Yeah," he whispered, closing his eyes. "He was as tall as me, his skin was pale white, and he had long, wavy brown hair. His eyes were green and from his appearance and accent I could tell that he was a foreigner. It was rare at the time, you know? I remember being freaked out. He was talking to me but I couldn't understand his language. Then he started talking in Japanese... I remember he kept telling me that I was perfect. I was totally scared but I couldn't get away. He told me not to scream so I couldn't scream. And then he drank my blood. Almost all of it. I passed out, but then he gave me his blood and I woke up. I couldn't stop drinking it. He had to stop me actually. And then I became a vampire, just like that. Well of course it hurts while your body's changing at first, but I mean, it's fairly easy for a human to become a vampire, when you think about it. Fairly easy for a life to drift into darkness. Into this fucked up mess…"

Sasuke's eyes opened and he looked at Naruto. The latter frowned; he was seeing something in the beautiful dark grey eyes that he didn't like. He saw despair, frustration and sorrow.

Slowly the slender male sat up on the bed and hugged his knees. But he remained silent. Naruto decided to encourage him. He wanted to know the rest of the story.

"Then he took you away?" Naruto asked in a little voice.

"…No," Sasuke whispered, "I wish he had… But he… first he… ordered me to… kill them. To kill my parents and my brother."

Naruto bit his lip, and brought the chair a little closer. Before he could think of something to say Sasuke went on.

"So I went to get my sword and I went in my parents' bedroom first. I slaughtered them both. It felt like I was in some fucked up nightmare," Sasuke swallowed hard, and his voice kept getting shakier, "you know, I couldn't… I couldn't control my body. So then I went to my brother's bedroom. Itachi… he… he was… awake. He looked so shocked. So betrayed… You know, he was the one who gave me that sword. He was also the one to teach me how to use it. I'm pretty sure he didn't expect to be killed by it… by me."

Sasuke closed his eyes and bloody tears rolled down his cheeks. Naruto didn't know what to say. He could only listen.

"Then yeah after that he took me away. We went to his house in the South of Italy. Sakura was waiting for us there."

"Sakura?" Naruto asked. This was the first time Sasuke told him about her.

He let out a bitter chuckle, "What could I say about Sakura? She was Varin's companion, you know? She liked the luxury of living with him. But I wanted nothing to do with them. Varin had no choice but to mind control me constantly. I was literally… a slave. How could I say this... I wasn't just the type of slave that does chores in the house. "

Naruto closed his eyes. His heart dropped in his chest and it became difficult to breathe. Yeah, Sasuke had been right; his past wasn't exactly a beautiful tale. He knew what he meant by that last sentence. Sasuke had been raped in the past, he knew that much.

"How many times… did he…?"

"I can't count them," he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. He fell on his back and pressed a hand to his eyes, as if it could stop him from reliving the memories.

Naruto couldn't bear seeing him like this anymore. Forgetting all the anger and frustration he had felt before, he crawled on the bed next to Sasuke. Carefully he put one arm around him comfortingly.

"It wasn't just him, it was Sakura, too… I mean, I was compelled to do it. Somehow it was even more humiliating."

Sasuke opened his eyes, but he didn't look at him. Instead he looked at the ceiling, but he was seeing right through it, looking into a distant past. His pale hand reached out to take Naruto's hand though, and he squeezed it slightly.

"He was also using me for art. Sometimes he invited friends over in the evening; painters, sculptors, and they were using me as a model. I was compelled of course. I always was, constantly," Sasuke insisted on that fact, clearly it had been very humiliating for him. Naruto pressed himself closer slightly. "I felt lifeless. Like an object. The only person to acknowledge my suffering, well, I already told you about her."

"Kushina," Naruto whispered.

"Yes. I already told you about the deal she had with Varin. Their relationship could be defined by the saying, keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer. Unfortunately in that case, Varin had the upper hand because of the spell he had forced her to cast on herself and her descendants. She risked her life for me. She tried to help me escape. I'll never forget that," he made a little sad smile, and turned on his side to face Naruto.

"I wish she'd succeeded," Naruto said. He kept his arm around Sasuke firmly.

The raven reached out to caress his hair, "You remind me of her. I know I told you already but… It's just, intense, you know? This feeling that somehow you're just like her. So… so kind, so caring… I was so sad when she died. And the last bit of me that still felt alive died with her."

After a pause Naruto asked, "How long did you stay with those two?"

"About one hundred years," he whispered and he looked so miserable as he relived those horrible memories. Naruto just had to pull him close in his arms. He was on the verge of crying.

"One hundred years? Are you kidding..." he sighed. That couldn't be right.

Sasuke just buried his face in the crook of his neck and a few bloody tears fell silently. "I was dead. I was… their toy. I'd been controlled so much that my mind felt completely dead and broken, just like my body and my heart. Everything about me was just… utterly destroyed. That's how I felt anyway. I wasn't really aware of time passing by. We travelled around the world but I couldn't admire any of the new places. I was always locked up somewhere. Sure I tried to kill myself. But when you're a vampire that's kind of... impossible. My only consolation was that Kushina's children had managed to escape. Sometimes I dreamed about them. They were coming to save me. But then I stopped dreaming. I stopped existing. I don't really know how to explain… I became so lifeless that at some point Varin just stopped compelling me. He didn't even need to anymore."

"And you escaped?" Naruto asked softly.

"…Yeah. It was Varin's mistake. He must have thought that it was fine, that I was brainwashed for good and that I would always stay with him. I probably gave him that impression. But I guess deep down there was still something alive inside of me, because one night I just… took off. Things are kind of blurry when it gets to that part. It was just like a dream. It didn't seem real to me at all. I ran and ran. I found shelters during the days. I somehow managed to get to Japan, and Kyoto, and the place where I was born. The place where I killed my family. Everything had changed of course but I didn't care. I dug my own grave in the ground and I just fell asleep."

Naruto caressed his hair softly, "How long did you sleep?"

"A while… A really, really long while."

"What, like, years?"

"Nearly two hundred, yeah…"

"Holy shit…"

"I wasn't conscious," Sasuke explained, "I was... dead. And I wanted to stay dead. But the thing with vampires, you can be brought back to life. Suigetsu found me. He told me his story countless times, so I might as well tell you. It's nothing spectacular. He was turned by some really young vampire girl who'd taken a liking in him, and then she killed his family so that they wouldn't ask questions or cause trouble... so he was pissed at her and killed her. I guess that's something we had in common, except the vampire who changed me was way too powerful for me to kill him. Anyway, after that Suigetsu was bored and he sought other vampires. He told me he felt something even though it was very faint. That something was me. He found me and fed me his blood to bring me back to life. You know the rest I guess… But," he swallowed hard and pulled away slightly so he could lock eyes with Naruto, "since you know everything now, I guess I can tell you this. It took me a really long time to feel alive again. I never talked. I never wanted to do anything. Suigetsu was patient. He really wanted us to be friends. Somehow he knew that I hadn't had it easy so he wanted to help. If he hadn't been there I'd probably just have returned to my sleep underground. He… Suigetsu brought humans to me so that I could feed. He did everything for me. He often called me a suicidal idiot because I wanted to stay out there in the sun during the day, and I wanted to starve. He was always saving me," Sasuke chuckled sadly, "that's how it was at first anyway. At some point I got better… the acting thing helped. Like I told you I felt like I could forget everything, and be someone else. So I found my voice again. I was alive again – somehow. But I… I didn't consider myself human anymore. Up until a few weeks ago, when I met you, I was killing humans whenever I needed to feed. It was that simple. I just didn't care."

"So you're not doing it anymore," Naruto said. He wanted to hold on to that. If Sasuke could make that promise, then maybe, things could work out…

"No," he said, "I'm not. You know, I never forgot about her. Kushina. I kept hoping that maybe someday I'd get to see her descendants. And I met you. It made me realize that… they're humans, too. You're human. I guess after all this time, I care again."

"Good," Naruto whispered, and kissed his forehead softly, "I'm glad. Let's forget about the past then. As much as we can."

Sasuke looked up, and leaned closer to kiss his lips tenderly. "Thank you, Naruto. I… I…" In a mere whisper Sasuke finally said, "Suki..."

"I love you too Sasuke."

"You knew that?"

"I've watched a few anime," he smiled, "By the way I love your accent, and your voice."

"Stay with me forever, Naruto." He said the words in Japanese, and Naruto didn't understand. But he cheated, and read his mind. Apparently, with this power, no matter the language, he would always understand his lover's thoughts.

And Naruto understood the true meaning behind those words. He knew that Sasuke was talking about him becoming a vampire too. For a lack of a better thing to say, he replied, "I can't give you an answer right now. But… I'll think about it."