Author's note: Woah. Okay, so I moved house again in February and only just got Internet this week. That's right, I had no home Internet for almost three months. They write apocalyptic stories about that kind of scenario. But now I'm back, and I can get back to work! You'd think those three months would have given me lots of time to write, but I spent most of the weeks panicking about how I was supposed to get my uni stuff done. The answer was, I didn't. I'm not having a great semester. XD

I'm also a little bit worried, since it's been so long, that this chapter will feel a bit disconnected from the last one. I kept having to go back and fix continuity errors. Hopefully it all works out. Enjoy!

Recollection

As Sasuke led him through the twisted tunnels and out past Kankuro (who turned a blind eye, nicely enough), Naruto was struck dumb by the fact that for the first time ever, he was sneaking out of home. Even when he was a normal person, his parents had died so long ago that he never got the typical, sneaking-out teenage years. Of course, there were some quite obvious differences between this and how he'd always imagined it to be: for one thing, he never expected to be sneaking into his own apartment instead of out of it, but that was exactly what he intended to do if Sasuke gave him the chance.

He missed home. There was no doubt about it. Being a vampire was fun, obviously, as was having Sasuke as his … boyfriend? Extremely good friend? Well, that was still a bit unclear. They'd only been 'together' for three months, and in Naruto's moderate-but-not-at-all-excessive experience, that could mean anything. Either way, the fun parts could only occupy so many hours of the day, and when they were over there was a lot of time for boredom, for longing for all the creature comforts lying locked away in his bedroom hundreds of miles away. Worse, sometimes he felt like he was the only one who ever felt that way. Maybe he was, being the only one used to twenty-first century luxuries.

He hoped he could convince Sasuke to let him go back home, if only for a minute.

"Watch your eyes this time," Sasuke warned him as soon as a speck of light became visible at the end of the long tunnel.

"I know, I know! I'm not an idiot."

"If it talks like an idiot and walks into the sun like an idiot …"

"Once! And as if you never did it."

"No, I definitely didn't, because I'm smart, you see."

"Of course, the genius Jesus," Naruto grumbled under his breath.

He did slow down and close his eyes enough that he was just barely able to peer through the slivers of his eyelashes, but he tried not to let Sasuke see that he did. Perhaps he needn't have bothered, though: when they emerged from the cave, the sky was a stencil of greys and whites and was so drab that the sudden influx of light didn't feel damaging or painful at all. After a few quick blinks to cope with the glare and a short walk to civilisation, Naruto was able to look around and take in the sights of his home city.

It looked exactly the same. Two years wasn't that long, Naruto admitted, but he still expected a little bit of innovation. There was a tower in the distance marring the skyline in a way he didn't remember, and the nearby strip of shops appeared to have been renovated, but that was it. No 1984-style dystopia, no global warming disasters, no alien invasions.

No aliens, but plenty of vampires, he mused. That's something, I guess.

A few streets later, it became clear that Sasuke was deliberately lagging behind, not pushing Naruto in one direction over another, wordlessly offering him freedom of choice regarding where they were to go. As soon as Naruto realised this, his brain nearly exploded with possibilities.

He could find Sakura.

He could go shopping.

He could stuff himself full of as much greasy food-court food as he could handle before collapsing on a real bed.

Although, come to think of it, vampires weren't actually able to digest food, were they? And it wasn't like he had any money on him with which to go shopping. (Come to think of it, what would have happened to the meagre savings he'd accumulated when he was working?) And, most importantly, the whole being-invisible thing would put quite a large dampener on his plan to stroll into a department store and grab everything in sight … and to speak to Sakura at last …

If Naruto was honest with himself, now that the opportunity was present, finding Sakura wasn't quite at the top of his priority list anymore. He still missed her like crazy, but somehow his desperation to contact her at any cost had dialled itself down lately, probably courtesy of Sasuke providing such an enormous distraction. The fact that Naruto knew that Sakura knew he was fine only made it easier to see that the emergency just wasn't there now. Plus, he never actually figured out what he planned on saying if he did see her – tell the truth? Would that even work?

What if she went all Twilight on him and begged to be made a vampire, too? That didn't sound like her, true, but underneath her cool sensibility there was definitely a layer of girly romanticism. Throughout their teenage years, posters had lined every inch of her bedroom walls, with very noticeable themes: actors, most of whom Naruto didn't recognise, all some years her senior, from Broadway productions, sci-fi movies and period piece dramas. She had had a weakness for the typical tall, dark and handsome cliché; although she'd never admit it, she had wanted her own fairy tale romance for years.

Naruto threw a sideways glance at Sasuke, who looked back.

"What?"

"I just realised," Naruto said. "You'd be totally Sakura's type if … y'know."

"Her 'type'?" Sasuke appeared to reflect on that for a moment, but he didn't make any sort of comment, nor ask how Naruto had planned on finishing his sentence. That was probably a good thing, because Naruto wasn't entirely sure himself; he had gotten tongue-tied and found himself teetering between three options.

'If you were born in the same century.'

'If you swung that way.'

'If you weren't mine.'

He even emphasised 'mine'in his head. It was weird, if not a little embarrassing. Was he getting possessive or something? That was kind of insane, considering he and Sasuke weren't even a real couple. They were … hard to define. Which was good. It would be boring if it was easy. But the point was, if they only had the faintest semblance of what anyone would call a relationship, Naruto would be stupid to get territorial over it.

Besides, it wasn't as if Sasuke was the promiscuous type, so it was a moot point. That cheered him up slightly.

Guiltily shelving his thoughts of Sakura, Naruto mentioned that he wanted to go home, just for a minute, and to his surprise Sasuke nodded without hesitation. It was a decent walk from where they were, a trek that usually left Naruto breathless and weak in the calves, but either pleasant nostalgia or the fact that he had all these tough, new vampire muscles made it easy.

"You lived here?" Sasuke remarked distastefully when they arrived, staring at the dull, gargantuan apartment building before them.

Naruto bristled. "For someone who lives in a cave, you're awfully judgmental. What did you expect, a mansion?"

"It doesn't suit you. You're far too optimistic for a place like this, not to mention far too eager to return. I hope it's better on the inside."

"Sure, as long as you don't mind regular harassment from the landlord, trying to catch you sneaking in a pet, or drugs, or … or …"

He trailed off, realising something that made him feel completely stupid. Sasuke raised an eyebrow inquiringly at him, but it was so embarrassing that he wasn't sure he wanted to share it.

"I'm an idiot," he wearily said after a minute of internal berating. "I rented this place. No one's been around to pay my rent for two years. What do you think the odds are that any of my stuff is still anywhere near this building?"

"Ah." Sasuke's expression managed to turn slightly sympathetic. "Almost zero."

His frankness wasn't really what Naruto wanted now that he had to mourn the fact that he'd lost his home; still, he would only be an even bigger idiot to expect some huge emotional display out of a guy who wouldn't even spontaneously kiss him. Maybe it was being three hundred, or maybe it was a result of some other weird repression, but Sasuke and openness were at opposite ends of the dichotomy. One quick look of sympathy was probably all he was capable of showing.

Not that Naruto minded, normally. He liked Sasuke a lot. This whole apartment thing was just a big mood-killer.

"So I've got no more home," he said soberly.

Sasuke still offered no encouragement, although he bowed his head so that the shadows on his face deepened. Was that in itself meant to communicate something?

Pressing him, Naruto demanded, "Well, what now? This whole trip to the surface was your big gesture, so where does it go?"

Still nothing but another turn of the head. Christ, it was like trying to interpret alien signals! Maybe next time Naruto was in the mood for a laugh he'd make up a chart. Understanding the Sasuke: your guide to glares, glances, growls and more! Everything from eye rolls (which mean he thinks you're an idiot) to super eye rolls (which mean he thinks you're a colossal idiot, but also sexy and completely irresistible).

He allowed himself a small grin. Even now, he was easily amused.

"Just go in," said Sasuke.

He blinked, surprised. "Huh?"

Sasuke's head was tilted up as he stared at the highest windows on the front of the building. His hands were scrunched deeply in his pockets and his eyebrows were knitted into a frown, but not the usual dissatisfied frown that he'd sported for nearly the entire first year Naruto had known him. In fact, this was a face that Naruto only distinctly remembered seeing once before: when Sasuke had first laid eyes on Neji – or more specifically, Neji's bow.

At the time, he'd said, "That's inconvenient," like it was just another ant-sized obstacle to step over.

"Which storey is yours?" Sasuke asked quietly. "Which window?"

"The – the third. Right on the left corner, that's my bedroom. But what –"

"You've come this far. Maybe the new tenants kept your furniture. Maybe this place is shit enough that there are no new tenants. You'll feel more stupid if you don't find out."

Naruto was caught in disbelief. He'd certainly gathered over the years that Sasuke was no stranger to rule-breaking, but this must have been the sort of crime that was worth the vampire equivalent of capital punishment. He couldn't help but get a sickly warm feeling in his stomach at the thought that Sasuke would take illegal risks just to give him something he wanted. That was … kind of cool. A bit sappy, but cool.

"All right, you've successfully cheered me up." He laughed. "And I won't pretend I'm not really, really tempted, but it's got to be a dumb idea, doesn't it? I know I usually have the dumb ideas and you have the good ones, but not this time. I mean, how would we even get in? I don't have my key handy."

"That didn't stop you at the Hyuuga compound," Sasuke pointed out.

"So I should climb up the wall and break a window? I can't tell if I'm supposed to be Spiderman or one of the villains." By now Naruto was finding it hard to keep a straight face at all.

"I'm not joking."

"That's what's funny."

With a perfunctory glance to make sure they really were invisible – not that there were any bystanders to spot them – Naruto wandered around to the corner of the building and stood up against it to gauge its height. The idea of climbing it was definitely borderline insane, but theoretically he supposed he could see how it should be done. A window ledge here, a makeshift clothesline there … and this style of climbing and jumping was exactly the sort of thing he'd practised a few times with Gaara.

Still, in the arena, he had felt agile and invincible. Out here he was his normal, clumsy self, and his body had never felt heavier.

He looked despairingly at Sasuke, who was beginning to look impatient, but he didn't want to ask for help. He used to always be the one who never needed help doing the scary stuff: when he went to amusement parks he was the first in line for the massive rollercoaster every time, and he laughed when his friends turned green with nausea. He was no wuss. Anyone would be freaked out by the idea of climbing a three-storey wall with no protection whatsoever, not just him.

He reached for a low-sitting pipe that was just above his head and pulled on it experimentally; it creaked and wobbled, so he quickly withdrew his hand, but then he wasn't sure if wobbled because the pipe was weak or because he was really strong.

"Just jump," said Sasuke.

"You just jump!"

Sasuke shrugged and grabbed at the pipe.

"Hey, I didn't mean it!" Naruto exclaimed furiously. Not allowing himself to lose, he seized the pipe again, too, just as Sasuke used it to vault himself up to the first-floor window sill. It was such a clean, fluid movement; Naruto couldn't possibly have matched it in a hundred years. All the same, he tried, wrenching with all his might and jumping simultaneously.

The pipe snapped off, leaking water everywhere.

"Don't say anything," he growled at Sasuke, who was smirking above him.

"You need some self-control."

Naruto grumbled some unsavoury things under his breath as he grappled for a new place to launch himself up. Self-control … it was all well and good for Sasuke to preach self-control; it was easy to control yourself if you apparently had no natural urges whatsoever. Yes, this was venturing into very different territory, but he obviously didn't have the control to stop his thoughts going there. No matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, he was getting frustrated.

Why did Sasuke refuse to do anything past kissing? Apparently it wasn't some ancient, seventeenth-century code of conduct issue. What possible, fathomable reason could there be, after the age of about eighteen, to postpone having sex for three months? He must have been a robot. A stupid, exasperating, handsome, wildly fun-to-kiss robot.

Seething, almost unconsciously, his hand found a brick that was jutting out from the others and pulled him into a one-armed chin-up. He didn't even notice until he reached another window, on the same level as Sasuke's. When he did, he blinked dumbly.

"Did I just do that?"

"Remarkably so." Sasuke had a small frown on his face, which was only visible for a second before he turned and began reaching for another pipe higher up.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Sasuke was trying to beat him.

Well, he wasn't going to let that happen. This was his apartment building and his chance to perform some awesome stunts. He looked up, but the pipe Sasuke was using didn't extend all the way along the wall, so there was nothing to grab. In fact, the wall appeared to have nowhere smoother and straighter than right above this window.

For a minute he was tempted to see if the window was unlocked and try to sneak in. it was a long minute, but he came to his senses and kept looking for another way.

It was no use. There was nothing besides that pipe, and there was no way he could reach that far. It must have been two, three metres away. Meanwhile Sasuke had reached a second-floor air-conditioning unit and was comfortably perched on top, watching.

Okay, Naruto said to himself. Just think. But thinking under pressure wasn't his strong suit – he was more of a 'leap before you look' kind of guy – and to make matters worse, he had just accidentally looked down. It wasn't even that high, but his balance was precarious at best, so his heart and adrenalin were pumping way too fast to allow him to think. Suddenly it seemed insane to be here, on this window, when the one Sasuke had been on was so obviously safer … and it wasn't that far away, really …

"What are you doing?" Sasuke's voice sounded distant, but Naruto wasn't paying any attention as he launched himself off his ledge towards the other one. "Stop!"

Too late. He was in the air, flying forward, his body now so overcome with panic that it had gone completely numb. He could count time in quarter-seconds … a half … three quarters … one whole second … and his feet connected painlessly with the brick window sill. He reached out for something to help him steady himself, but there was nothing. His nails scraped against brick, against glass, but nothing he could hold – his own weight threw him sideways and he was falling away from the wall – he could see movement as everything rushed and blurred around him …

Then Sasuke was grabbing his arm, holding onto the air conditioner only with his legs. He was completely upside down. Naruto hung on awkwardly.

"You," Sasuke said quietly, "have got to be the biggest idiot in the world."

Now that he wasn't jumping or falling, Naruto felt his face burning as he, too, realised exactly how stupid he'd just been. "You didn't have to –"

"Believe me, I considered letting you break your leg. What the hell happened? I've seen you climb before."

"Yeah, with Gaara, but this is my apartment building! Maybe it's all the same to you, but I don't really feel very vampire-y right now. I think I had a panic attack or something."

It looked like Sasuke rolled his eyes, but it was hard to tell when he was upside down. In one smooth move, he lifted his body into an impressive vertical sit-up that got him back on top of the air conditioner, bringing Naruto up with him. Naruto's stomach lurched at the new altitude, but at least he was sitting on something solid. Small, but solid.

Sasuke examined his arm and frowned: Naruto had left fingernail marks all along it. "The whole point of training with Gaara is so that when you need to, you can use what you learn there on the surface. You need to have skills that humans don't have. For all you know, scaling a building may be all that keeps you alive one day, when the battle happens."

None of that sentence appealed to Naruto. He wanted to object, to say that he still wasn't totally convinced that any battle against humanity had to occur since their intentions weren't sinister, but on this issue he knew Sasuke was like a brick wall. Sasuke didn't bat an eyelid when it came to violence – in some contexts it was actually really cool – and he was obviously really proud of being the One, even if he never said so. Naruto hadn't forgotten how livid he'd been when that rumour about him being replaced started spreading. Who started that, anyway?

"Do you need me to carry you the rest of the way?" Sasuke smirked.

"Oh, bite me."

"Vampire jokes? Because, as you may recall, I did bite you once." He pretended to reminisce. "You tasted … sub-par."

"Sub-par!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're such a dirty liar. I'll bet I'm the best you've ever had." He tried to mime pushing Sasuke off the edge, but somehow managed to lose his own balance again; Sasuke had to wrap his arms around him to keep them both steady. Naruto observed with amusement that this was the most physical contact they'd had in ages. "Besides, how long ago was it when someone bit you? I'll bet they thought you were terrible."

"Well." Sasuke's breath was hot against Naruto's ear. "Perhaps eventually you can taste me yourself and find out."

Naruto swallowed, throat suddenly tight. That remark didn't quite fit a conversation about blood.

"Let's – let's keep going, shall we?"

He tried not to think about it as they slowly climbed up the rest of the way, but Sasuke kept a hand on him the whole time. At first it seemed overly cautious, but it did make the ascent easier, although Naruto did not want to admit that. At last they were gripping intently onto the bricks right below his old bedroom window. Inside, he could see that the ratty blind was pulled down, still looking as cheap and depressing as when he'd left, rippling slightly from the breeze that permeated the thin glass pane. He apprehensively reached to test the latch and, to his surprise, it flipped open with no resistance.

"Woah! It's unlocked. Uh, what do I do now?"

Sasuke looked at him like he was stupid.

"I just … go in?" Naruto said uncertainly. "What if someone else lives there? What if they're home? What if they work the night shift and sleep in the afternoon, so I climb in and fall right on top of them in their bed? I don't think I could explain my way out of that."

"If you would learn to use your ears instead of imagining the least likely scenarios, you'd know there's no one even close to this apartment," Sasuke pointed out.

"Oh."

"You can't have scaled the whole wall without realising you'd be going in. That was the whole point."

Naruto shuffled nervously. Yeah, this wasn't exactly unexpected; he just had no idea how alien it would feel. This was nothing like breaking into the Hyuuga place, which had the atmosphere and technology of the average heist movie. This felt properly criminal. A small part of him even wondered, if he was willing to do this, would it turn into a slippery slope where he wouldn't mind doing worse crimes in the future? Like mass murder of humans?

Still … he was inches from being home. He had to see if there was any remnant of his old life here. Quashing all the uncomfortable feelings, he opened the window as far as it could go and pushed aside the blind. Climbing through wasn't easy, but a minute later he was falling onto a small bed, thankfully without anyone inside it. When he lifted his head, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Sasuke," he whispered as the other slipped in after him. "Look."

"What?" Sasuke frowned.

"It's – it's my home."

"That's why we're here, isn't it?"

"No, I mean it's really my home." Forgetting his worries, Naruto sprang off the bed and sprinted into the next room. "That's my bed. This is my table. Oh my God – this is my savings box, and it's still got all my money in it!"

Unbelievable happiness welled up inside him as he stared at the old dollar bills, their enormous implications swimming in his head but refusing to settle. All of his belongings were still here after his years of absence, nothing even remotely out of place. The apartment was as much his as it ever had been. Walking around in a daze, filled with nostalgia, he ran his hands longingly over his couch, his tiny TV, the stack of library been studying (though he tried not to imagine the late fees they must have accrued). Dust covered almost everything, but he didn't care.

He turned around to ask Sasuke if he'd be allowed to bring back a few souvenirs, only to find that Sasuke hadn't followed him out of the bedroom. Returning there, he commented, "You can explore, you know. I've got nothing to hide."

Sasuke looked extremely disturbed.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, hoping it was nothing so he could continue to be cheerful.

"I'm trying to understand how this makes sense."

"The apartment?"

"You said it yourself. After a tenant disappears, what sane landlord waits years before clearing out his belongings? Nothing's been touched in months, at least, so no effort has been made to replace you. This isn't normal." Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes became alert and aware. "Unless this place is still being treated as a crime scene after your disappearance."

"No way," Naruto said, his happy grin fading. He couldn't believe that. No one he knew had the power to authorise a three-year-long investigation by police; besides, didn't Sasuke tell Sakura – the only one close enough to him to demand that sort of thing – ages ago that he was fine?

Sasuke ignored him. His eyes darted around the room, focused on the ceiling, possibly trying to spot hidden cameras or microphones. Naruto was positive he wouldn't find anything, but stopping him seemed impossible. Defeated, he muttered, "I know it's fine. If you need me, I'm going to have a shower."

He didn't feel dirty or anything, but that shower would definitely relax him and make him feel like he was home for good. Entering his shoebox of a bathroom and undressing, he tried not to ask the same question that was plaguing Sasuke: why was everything normal? He told himself firmly that it was just good luck, that something was allowed to go his way for once, and that it was nothing suspicious; then he stepped into the shower and eagerly twisted the tap.

Nothing happened.

For a second it didn't register. Naruto blinked in confusion and twisted a little bit harder, to no avail. He got out again and tried the sink instead: nothing. The water must have been shut off.

There were no words to describe how crushingly disappointing this was. Naruto slumped to the floor, suddenly drained of all energy. All he could think about was how much he wanted that stupid shower. It would have made everything all better and he couldn't have it. There probably wasn't any food or electricity either, was there? Great.

Minutes later, the sound of footsteps approached the bathroom door and Sasuke's voice rang out. "Have you finished? The apartment is –"

"Don't come in!" Naruto yelled, leaping to his feet, but he wasn't fast enough: the door handle rotated from the outside and Sasuke walked in, only to find Naruto standing there, completely naked, eyes frozen wide.

Sasuke didn't move at first – during which time Naruto fumbled for something to say – before giving a wry smile. "Bare. I was going to say, the apartment is bare. No hidden surveillance."

Naruto snapped out of his embarrassment and hastily grabbed the sole towel in the bathroom. He tried to convince himself this was no big deal, but it was. Since getting together, he'd barely been allowed to put his hands on Sasuke, let alone see him naked (did he ever change clothes?) and this was getting a bit one-sided. "The – uh – the water's not working. I'm just getting dressed again."

That weird smile didn't leave.

"What?" Naruto said apprehensively.

"Don't."

"Don't …"

"You should kiss me instead."

That almost made Naruto laugh. So that was what the smile meant! "Seriously, now? Why?"

"Because I want to kiss you."

It was incredible how much Naruto's emotions were jumping all over the place lately. Happy to be above ground, sad to lose his home, happy to have his home back, sad about water … now Sasuke was turning him into a grinning idiot because he found him good-looking. That was it, wasn't it? They liked each other's personalities just fine, which was why they'd survived living together for two years, but it was only after seeing each other as they really were, in healthy colour, that anything changed. They first kissed because they'd each seen how hot the other one was.

Come to think of it, it was always when Naruto did something to his appearance that Sasuke instigated kissing. There was his haircut earlier; there was the time Kiba had given him a pair of sunglasses he'd acquired from some mysterious source; and of course the time Temari punched him in the stomach and he'd peeled his shirt up to examine the bruise.

So it was all a physical thing. Well, okay. Naruto could deal with that. It didn't hurt that Sasuke was pretty fine physically himself.

"Well, I want you to kiss me," Naruto said, confident now that he knew where he stood. "Go ahead."

For some reason, a spasm of conflict passed over Sasuke's face. That didn't happen often. "No," he said quickly.

So much for being confident. Why would he change his mind? What issue he was grappling with, Naruto had no idea, but he didn't really like it. He didn't want only half of Sasuke's affection, even if it was entirely superficial.

He paused before deciding to experiment a little. He took a step forward so that he and Sasuke were almost nose to nose, and as he walked he allowed the towel around his waist to drop to the floor. He heard Sasuke's breathing shift and watched him try to keep his eyes steady. It looked difficult. Naruto had no doubt whatsoever that, for the first time, they were doing things on his terms. "I want you to kiss me," he said boldly.

A strange glaze had come over Sasuke's eyes; barely audibly, he whispered, "Damn you," before grabbing Naruto's shoulders and shoving him against the shower door. They were kissing, Sasuke's hands were on him, and his hands were on Sasuke and were not being stopped.

He wasn't going to waste this chance. He slipped his hands under Sasuke's shirt, feeling the angle of his hip, the warm, flat skin of his stomach, and his smooth, strong chest. It filled Naruto with an incredible sense of right; this was exactly what he was supposed to be doing and he could keep doing it forever. He pulled Sasuke in closer, pressing them chest against chest, groaning into his mouth. One of Sasuke's hands was encircling his waist, holding him in place. Their tongues worked together to allow each of them to experience every wonderful taste and movement. For the first time since becoming a vampire, Naruto felt hot, on the verge of sweating.

As his fingers ran up to bury themselves in Sasuke's dark hair, Sasuke's other hand was going in the opposite direction. When it reached its mark, Naruto's eyes widened and he accidentally gasped, "Oh, Jesus!" But he forgot that in an instant. He was going to get a hand job. This wasn't the crazy kissing back-and-forth they'd been entertaining for the last three months. He, Naruto Uzumaki, was being given a hand job by Sasuke, and by God he was going to enjoy it.

It was lucky that being killed and brought back to life as a different species didn't seem to be making any of the equipment malfunction.

Sasuke moved with the pace of someone who knew exactly what he was doing, the right combination of slow, fast and firm. His face was tense with concentration; Naruto tried to relax it with more kissing, but it was hard when he couldn't keep the desperate vocalisations from escaping his throat. It was difficult to do anything besides stay on his feet and accept the amazing feelings being bestowed upon him.

Finally, he felt that agonisingly familiar sensation building inside him. He tried to move Sasuke, still fully clothed, out of the way, but that only made him draw closer. The overload of body contact pushed Naruto over the edge and he peaked, breathing heavily against Sasuke's neck as he did. His knees swayed under him as the waves of relief followed. He thought fleetingly that he ought to be doing something to reciprocate the pleasure, but his own hands didn't quite seem to be working.

"Fuck," Sasuke muttered, drawing away as if electrified. "Fuck, I shouldn't have done that." Barely hearing him, the only response Naruto could give was his ragged breathing as he recovered, but Sasuke wasn't even looking at him. Then, he quickly seemed to snap back to normal. "So, was coming back here everything you thought it would be?"

Head swimming, Naruto smiled weakly, getting his balance back. "Well, considering that I gave up after realising the apartment probably wouldn't still be here, and that I almost broke my neck getting inside, I'm pretty confident in saying you're the only reason I made it back at all. Not what I expected, but I guess I can live with it."

"And yet if I hadn't bitten you, there would be no need to come back because you wouldn't have left." They stood and looked at each other reflectively. Sasuke stole one last, long glance at Naruto's body before Naruto cleaned off and clothed himself, when they noticed that Sasuke's own clothes were now in less-than-pristine condition. With no water to wash them, Naruto just offered up some of his own wardrobe as a temporary replacement. The new clothes, even in black and white, seemed too bright for Sasuke, but they would have to do.

Both exhausted, they collapsed side by side on Naruto's bed, the still-open window telling them it was now past sunset. The building began to rumble with the sounds of tenants returning home from work.

Bleary-eyed, Naruto asked a question that had been weighing on his mind. "Hey, Sasuke, why did you bite me?"

Sasuke frowned thoughtfully. "You might not be very satisfied with the answer to that."

"I can take it."

"If you insist … I was angry, and you were the one I took it out on. I enjoyed taking out my anger on unhappy humans so they would have just enough time to finally appreciate their lives right before dying. It was gratifying to watch them plead with the Council, saying they had so much to live for, like it was the first time they'd realised it themselves."

"That's it?" It was a long time ago, but it did sting. Naruto knew he should have next been asking why Sasuke was angry, but something else was more immediate. "You thought I was unhappy?"

"You were."

"No, that's crap. Maybe when I was sixteen, sure, but after that I was doing great and I knew it. Oh God – you were being the guy from Saw! I can't believe you tried to Jigsaw me!"

"I don't know what that means."

"The only reason I complain now is because of how grateful I was for my old life!"

"Then why did you look unhappy?" Sasuke didn't look like he had much patience for this, but Naruto didn't care.

"I didn't! I – I –"

He abruptly stopped himself as something flashed into his brain. He couldn't remember much about the night he'd been bitten, but there was a hazy recollection of something from earlier in the day: something unsettling. It had definitely weighed heavily on his mind. Had there been something that made him look upset enough to draw Sasuke's ire?

"I heard something," he said slowly. "Or found it. I'm not sure, but I do remember something weird happening. Maybe that was it."

A conversation at work? An ad on TV? An SMS? No, no, it was more unusual than that. It was really unexpected …

"Because it was a letter!"

Sasuke sat up and looked at him. "A letter."

"Yeah, and I never get letters!" Naruto exclaimed. "I hadn't checked my mailbox in, like, a month, but I did that morning. It was all junk, except –"

He lunged over Sasuke to the chest of drawers beside the bed and rummaged through the top compartment. The letter had been creepy enough that he'd buried it deep enough that it was hard to find, but had been too nervous to throw it out. Here it was, yellow around the edges but still intact. The message was short, unaddressed and unsigned.

I'm coming back for you.

Yeah. Creepy. Naruto shuddered before passing it to Sasuke. "Here. Is that a good enough reason to look unhappy for one day?"

Sasuke took the letter and studied it. Naruto expected him to roll his eyes and say it was obviously some kind of joke, so it was strange how silent he remained. His eyes flickered from left to right and back again as he read the sentence repeatedly, and his expression grew more and more troubled. In fact, he looked positively shaken.

"Shit, Sasuke, it's not that bad."

"It's not for you."

"It – what?" Naruto asked, perplexed.

"It's not for you," said Sasuke, eyes wide with shock. "It's for me."