Naruto dug through his closet, in search of something nice to wear. It had been three weeks since Sasuke and he had started dating officially, but they had yet to go out on an actual date in public, spending all of their times together at either one of their places, but yesterday Sasuke had actually asked if Naruto wanted to go out to dinner with him. Naruto was silently very happy Sasuke had asked him, not having wanted to push the matter. He had this, hopefully unfounded, fear that Sasuke would be embarrassed to be shown in public with him, that he wouldn't want people to know they were a couple, but it might seem like he had worried for nothing.
After he'd pulled out a pair of dark slacks and a white shirt Naruto ripped the towel he'd put around his waist after his shower off and got dressed. He scrutinized himself in the full length mirror hanging in his bedroom. The shirt was old, and apparently he'd bulked up since then, so it was tighter than what he usually wore, stretching across his shoulders in a way that put his muscles on display. Not his usual look, but maybe Sasuke would appreciate it? The raven always wore super flattering clothes that showed off all his assets, maybe Naruto should do the same? The slacks were plain, in a charcoal colour, but they didn't have any holes, so they would have to do for now. He rolled the sleeves of the shirt up to his elbows and left the topmost two buttons undone, hating how shirts tended to feel like they were choking him. His fingers brushed by the soft skin where he'd only weeks before had his throat nearly ripped out as he adjusted the collar. He could feel soft bumps where the scar tissue hadn't faded completely, and the new skin was still a bit more sensitive than the surrounding skin, but it wouldn't take long until all trace of the attack was gone from his body completely.
Deeming himself presentable he headed back to the bathroom, scooping some hair wax into his hands and trying to beat his hair into submission. It proved to be a futile act, the strands demanding to run free no matter what. Giving up and just ruffling it into their usual messy state he splashed on a tad of cologne, figuring it was good enough for now. Sasuke had only said that they were going to eat somewhere nice, so Naruto hoped this was nice enough. He hadn't eaten anywhere fancy before, so he really had no idea.
Five minutes later Sasuke rang his doorbell. Naruto opened it, his eyes bugging. Sasuke looked… breathtakingly handsome. He had a midnight blue shirt on, the material soft, not quite silk, but not ordinary cotton either. The tie was a deep red, and his pants black, hugging his thighs and probably ass as well, although Naruto would have to wait for him to turn before he could affirm that. The most stunning about him was his hair though. The black tresses were pulled away from his face, showing off sharp cheekbones and his captivating eyes. A small part of Naruto couldn't help but to want to gloat, knowing he was the reason Sasuke had changed his hairdo tonight, remembering the conversation when they went swimming.
A grin spread on Naruto's lips as he hooked two fingers in the belt hoops of Sasuke's pants, pulling him close for a kiss. He didn't think he would ever get tired of kissing Sasuke, to plunge his tongue in that warm mouth, Sasuke's tongue always eager to lash against his in a playful duel.
Finally pulling apart, the kiss having turned into more than the greeting Naruto had intended he saw a pleased smirk on Sasuke's face. "I gather you approve?"
"Hell yeah, you look amazing," Naruto answered, pulling the door shut and locking it, the two of them heading downstairs to Sasuke's Lexus. Naruto didn't have a car, so they always used Sasuke's. Not that Naruto minded, the car was great, and Sasuke was an excellent driver. He was kind of hoping he'd be allowed behind the wheel one of these days though, but so far it wasn't happening. Sasuke just stared at him until he went to sit in the passenger seat if he tried to hint that he wanted to drive.
Fifteen minutes later they pulled into a parking complex downtown, and headed to a high-rise close by. Naruto peered around expectantly, wondering where they were going as the doors to the elevator dinged open at the top floor. His eyes widened as they stepped out, the floor they were on all marble and steel and glass. Suddenly regretting his choice to forgo his tie he followed after Sasuke as he approached the maître d', not even having to state his name, the maître d' just bowed and lead them inside the restaurant to a table overlooking the city. Naruto bounced around on his seat. "This is like insane! Look at that view, I can see everything from here!"
Sasuke just crooked his lips into that almost-smile he did and opened the menu, peering at it.
It took Naruto a bit more ogling before he was ready to dive into the menu, salivating at all the choices. Apparently the place was a sort of Asian fusion, and just about everything on the menu looked tasty.
Kakuzu stood just inside the door, looking over the room in front of him, face a passive mask. He saw a few of the nearest people cast him a vary glance before turning away again. Kakuzu had left his face mask at home, knowing it pulled even more attention than the scars on his face did. People still noticed him though, his Glasgow smile tended to have that affect. Tilting his head forward enough that his long hair fell partly in front of his face, leaving it in shadow he turned towards his partner in crime.
"Have you taken care of the emergency exits?"
"What the fuck do you think, of course I did. Locked and sealed, this place is shut down tighter than your mother's pussy."
Kakuzu ignored the crass words, he was well used to them by now. His eyes trailed the dance floor, seeing a couple dozen people gyrating to the music, completely oblivious to the fate they were about to meet.
Turning around he went back out the main entrance. There was no line outside, it was too early and a weekday to boot. Just as well, it just made everything easier for them. He walked across the street and towards the alley running alongside the brick building opposite of the club, seeing the group of people standing there as they'd agreed upon.
"They are all yours, make sure you block the main entrance after you get inside" he said and continued into the alley, grabbing the lowest rung of a fire escape ladder and hauling himself up, quickly climbing to the top of the building. He heard Hidan following. They walked to the edge of the roof, where they could look down on the club. Prime seats. Kakuzu saw twenty or so dark-clad men and women vanish in the front door of the club, and knew exactly what would be happening inside.
Even across the street they could hear the fain thump of music emanating from the club, but soon it was broken by muffled screams.. He pulled his gun from its holster and kept his eyes on the street below, ready to take down anyone trying to escape the carnage within.
The meal was just as good as Sasuke had expected. He had never been here before, not having anyone to bring, but he knew the owner from last year, and had called in a favour to get them in on a short notice. The owner's daughter had been mixed up with a very bad crowd, stupid teenagers thinking that being a vampire would be a good thing, and Sasuke had been the one to get her out of the den when they'd finally met the beings of the night and realised that there would be no eternal life, but a whole lot of blood and pain and death. Her old man had been happy enough to get her back that he had offered Sasuke a free meal whenever he would feel like it. Sasuke had brushed it off at the time, not seeing any romantic dates in his future, but a lot of things had changed in the last weeks.
Sasuke was about to ask Naruto if he wanted desert when his phone went off in his pocket. He never put it on mute, knowing that the few people who did call him only did so if it was actually important. The caller ID read Kakashi, and he mouthed the name to Naruto before taking the call.
"Sasuke! I need you at work, ASAP," Kakashi said, no greeting to lead on, no teasing, just a very serious demand that had Sasuke push away from the table immediately. This was clearly an emergency. Waving at Naruto to follow him he quickly walked to the elevators, getting a quick update from Kakashi.
Apparently a situation was unfolding at a local club. Someone inside had called 911 and told of vampires before the call got disconnected. The whole Unit was called in to take care of the situation. They were realistic enough to set their goals to stop the vampires from escaping. The chance that anyone would still be alive inside the club was slim to none, and even though no one would say that out loud they all knew it. From the call there seemed to be a group of vampires doing the attack, which meant they would have their work cut out for them. A single vampire was bad enough, stick a whole lot of them together, egging each other on, working together: it would be mayhem.
As they got into the car and set off towards the club Naruto's phone went off, Kakashi calling him back to work as well. Naruto acted like he didn't already know what was up, saying he'd be there soon. Looking over at him Sasuke saw Naruto staring furiously out the windshield. Naruto had a way of connection to everyone, and even though he didn't know a single one of the victims he would feel their deaths as something personal, saddened by their demise, eager to ensure no one else suffered the same fate. Naruto was all about the victims, where Sasuke was more set on taking down the vampires for the sake of ridding the world of them, not out of some pity for people he didn't know. Either reasoning meant one thing, they wanted to get out there and get the demons, sending them back to the hell they had come from.
"Shit," Naruto suddenly hissed. "My weapons are all at home."
Neither had anticipated going hunting tonight, but Sasuke was always prepared, his katana in the trunk of the car, along with various other weapons. He was not about to go anywhere without them, part of him always expecting to suddenly be faced with the demon that had stolen his family from him.
"There's a gun and ammo in the glove department," Sasuke said, eyes on the road as they neared the club Kakashi had directed him to. Naruto popped it open and pulled out a gun similar to the one he usually used, so Sasuke knew Naruto would know how to wield it. The bullets were standard hollow points with silver, so they'd do the job just fine. Naruto loaded the gun quickly, the clip sliding in with a click.
Red and blue lights bounced off the buildings, marking their arrival at the club. Two sole police cars were parked to block the street from incoming traffic. The policemen were doing as instructing, keeping the hell away from the scene. It would be the DPA's job to go inside and take care of everything; the police was merely there for backup, to ensure more civilians wouldn't be pulled into the fray.
Sasuke stopped his car on the sidewalk, and with weapons in hand they hurried towards the scene, hoping they wouldn't be too late. It would be a lot easier to deal with the vampires if they were still inside, rather than have to try and search the city for them.
They saw a familiar shock of hair, the silhouette easily recognisable anywhere, getting out of a car, and hurried towards their unit leader. Kakashi's face was grim, or what they could see of it appeared to be at least. He had his mask and eye patch firmly in place, but his visible eye was narrowed as he stared towards the entrance of the club. He had a gun on his side, and a short sword in a sheath on his back, and looked ready to join the fight. As unit leader he rarely joined them in the field, but apparently he had deemed this dangerous enough to join the fray.
The rest of the unit joined them in the next few minutes. Sasuke was well aware that there might still be people inside alive, but if they ran in senseless and low in numbers chances were that they'd just end up joining the body count.
"The place has been shut down tight from what we can tell. All emergency exits have been locked, and the front door has been barricaded from the inside. No one has left the premises, meaning the vampires are still in there. We have no idea how many there is, or if they are sane. I want Kiba, Kankuro, Sakura and Lee to head to the back, go in by the emergency exit there, I trust Lee can kick in the doors. Neji and Shikamaru, you take the personnel entrance, over in the alley, Gaara and Temari you protect the entrance when we enter, do not allow a single vampire to leave. Sasuke and Naruto, you'll be joining me through the main entrance." Kakashi did not open up for discussions, and Sasuke knew that this was why Kakashi was leader. He might spend hours reading dirty books, but beneath that were a strategist and a fighter.
They scattered, and Kakashi turned towards Sasuke and Naruto as he pulled his gun, flicking off the safety. His hand moved towards his face, hesitating for a moment before grabbing the eye patch and quickly pulling it off.
Sasuke had seen him without the patch before, once, so he knew what to expect underneath, but he felt Naruto tense in surprise next to him, and Sasuke knew the blond moron would like nothing more than to ask Kakashi about it. To be honest, Sasuke had been just as shocked the first time he'd seen him remove the covering. He'd always assumed that Kakashi had lost his eye at some point, the scar running from forehead to cheek fit well with that, but there was a very different reason Kakashi wore the patch.
The red iris flashed in the dark of the street as Kakashi headed towards the entrance as if he hadn't noticed Naruto gawking.
"No one knows what the deal is, so don't ask," Sasuke said to Naruto as they followed their leader.
"It… looks like the eye of a vampire…" Naruto muttered in surprise, eyes wide as he stared at the back of Kakashi's head as if he could see the red eye straight through his skull.
"So does yours when you shift. Now, focus."
Naruto hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. Curiosity could be sated later; right now they had a job to do.
Kakashi took point as they neared the double doors where Gaara and Temari were already waiting. Temari was leaning against a small battering ram, looking more than ready to get down to business. Gaara just looked like he always did, completely blank. Sasuke wasn't sure how why people always thought he was so antisocial when they worked with Gaara as well. Just because Sasuke tended to be hostile towards people where Gaara just ignored them. Temari had confessed that teenage Gaara made Sasuke look like a true people's person in comparison, and he didn't really have to struggle to imagine that.
"You guys ready?" Temari said.
Kakashi answered in the affirmative, and the siblings grabbed the ram, aiming well before sending it slamming into the front door. It shuddered, but withstood the attack. Another swing of the ram and the wood buckled inwards. Sasuke tightened his grip around his blade, knowing the noise from the battering ram would most likely draw the attention of anyone inside.
With a grunt Temari and Gaara pulled the battering ram back again before sending it flying. It connected with the wood of the door, and with a scream of protest the door buckled inwards, shattering out of its frame. Not only had it been locked, but a stack of tables and chairs had been pushed in front of it, blocking it off, ensuring that no one would've been able to escape that way. These vampires were clearly not caught up in the throes of blood lust, these were clearheaded, and that was not necessarily a good thing. They'd be well aware that there would be hunters after them, and they'd be prepared for the fight. Sated from blood they'd be strong and agile and vicious. Sasuke could not wait to carve them to pieces with his blade.
Kakashi was first through the doors, pushing aside the rubble inside to get access to the hallway within. Sasuke came second, with Naruto on his heels.
The carpet underneath their shoes were soggy with the blood that had at one point run through the veins of the five or so bodies left abandoned right by the door to the outside. So close to getting out from hell, but stopped before they could get past the blockade. Their necks were all torn out. The vampires hadn't even drunk their blood, just killed them, for sports or fun, or some other equally pointless reason.
Sasuke looked away. There was nothing he could do to help them, and they had more pressing matters. They needed to take care of the vampires so the clean-up crew could get in and start the process of ensuring that none of the bodies would rise.
The music was still thumping, as if the party was still going strong, but the few people they could see were all bodies on the ground, dead and broken. Sasuke looked away, knowing that seeing them would not help. He needed to be alert, needed to find the vampires. The building was surrounded, so they'd still be here, lurking, waiting for a break to escape or a chance to kill them as well.
There! Movement to his right. Sasuke snapped towards it, arm swinging up in preparation to strike by instinct. A dark hole in the wall with a desk in front of it. The coat check. Coat check girl splayed across the desk, wrist a bloody mess of torn flesh. Hazel eyes wide open and locked on the ceiling. Completely still in death. Not the one to have moved then. Sasuke tapped on Naruto's shoulder and pointed towards the dark maw that was the coat check room. Someone had broken the bulb that would have normally lit up the room, ensuring that it was all engulfed in darkness.
Naruto nodded and followed, alert to anything else around them as Sasuke swiftly moved around the desk and into the small, dark room. A flash of two red circles and his blade flew through the air, angled just below the light, where the neck would be. His calculation was off by a little, carving through half of the vampire's neck before getting lodged on his or hers collarbone. He cursed and yanked the blade away, kicking the half-decapitated vampire to the ground as he lifted his blade again and brought it down, this time finishing the job. He toed the head towards the back of the room for good measure as he scanned the small room, making sure that there were no other vampires hiding in the darkness.
Finding the room empty apart from coats he moved back into the hallway and saw that Kakashi had moved towards a new hallway veering off to the right. Bathrooms. The three of them spared no time kicking open the doors, scanning them for vampires. Kakashi placed a bullet between the eyes of one vampire that had been too preoccupied with sucking at a blonde girl's neck to put up a fight. The beast was thrown back by the force of the bullet slamming into his skull and ended up sprawled on the dirty tiles, the hole in his forehead expanded quickly as the hollow bullet released its silver content, eating at its flesh. It would not go anywhere.
Two vampires taken care of, but they had no idea how many they were up against.
Back in the main hallway they looked down to where the music was coming from. The hallway took a sharp turn to the right, so they couldn't see anything, but they were mentally preparing for the mayhem that the club had likely become. The lack of any screams since entering the club told them that they were too late to save anyone, now it was about ensuring the killers never left this place.
Kakashi went first, and as Sasuke made to follow he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. He looked down and saw Naruto's fingers tighten in a reassuring squeeze for a moment before he pulled away. Sasuke looked up at him, saw steely determination in those blue eyes and could read the "don't you dare die" that Naruto was trying to tell him. Sasuke nodded sharply, telling Naruto the same.
Weapons at the ready they set off down the hallway, into the fight.
"Shit!" Kiba hissed and pressed his back against the wall out of sight for a moment. He'd peered around the wall just long enough to see that the office had two vampires, eyes bright red, faces smeared with blood. They'd noticed him though, and it was only a matter of seconds until they came barrelling out of the room. There were no windows, so Kiba was currently right in the middle of their only way out. Not good.
Kankuro was out of commission. The first vampire they had met had decided to forgo the usual bite-first-ask-later routine in favour of actual hand-to-hand combat. The body the demon had taken over must've been a black belt or something, because he'd pulled some moves Kiba had never seen before, ending with Kankuro messing up his leg before they could plant a bullet in his skull. There weren't really time to do a thorough check, but at best it was a bad sprain, at worst something was broken. Either way, Kank was pretty much useless right now, so Kiba had placed him in a corner where he could shoot anyone coming too close while Kiba set off to get back-up from the others. They could've pulled out completely, but that would have left the exit they were supposed to guard open. Sakura and Lee had already moved further into the building, so they were no good. He'd have to find them before he got Kank out of there. Too bad there were currently two vampires between him and wherever Ms Pink and Mr Bowl Cut had vanished to.
There was really no time to come up with a plan as the very next moment the first vampire came tearing out of the room, fangs bared. Kiba shot. Once. Twice. Three times. One bullet burrowed into the wall behind the vampire. One hit a shoulder where it barely made the demon wince. The third went through its throat, exploding as it tore through his spine. The vampire collapsed to the ground. Not all dead yet, but definitely out of commission for a while.
Kiba barely had time to take a breath before the next vamp flew through the door. It jumped across his fallen comrade, and as Kiba started firing the thing ducked and rolled, taking Kiba by surprise. His gun followed, but a bit too late, bullets digging into the floorboards, and suddenly the vampire sprang up, its shoulder connecting with Kiba's gut.
Air whooshed out of him as he doubled over, but he kept his gun in hand, ready to fire.
He never got the opportunity. The vampire didn't use his chance to attack Kiba, he used it to get the hell outta Dodge. He'd run past Kiba and was currently making for the emergency exit Lee had kicked open earlier. Kiba just got to see him high-tail out of the back when he heard gun shots to his side, from where Kankuro was sitting. Torn between pursuing the fleeing vampire and finding his partner he hesitated.
Then he realised he was being an idiot for not thinking Kankuro was more than capable of taking care of himself and that their job was to stop any vampires and he hightailed it after the fleeing bastard.
"So, the shithead definitely works with the DPA then," Hidan said, running a hand through his hair.
"Appears so," Kakuzu answered in affirmation.
"What now? We bag him up and bring him to Itachi?"
"No, not yet. We investigate further. Itachi wanted to know of any weaknesses Sasuke might have."
Hidan grinned. "I keep forgetting how fucking twisted some of these vampire can be."
Kakuzu just looked at Hidan. The silver-haired man was definitely not one to talk, he used whatever opportunity he could find to create mayhem after all, never happier than when he could tear someone apart limb, by limb. Kakuzu didn't see the need in all of this excessive violence; as long as he got paid he was satisfied. Hidan would give up money if it meant he could play with his victims. Stupid.
Itachi had been more than a little intrigued when Hidan and Kakuzu had told him about just who they met in Las Vegas and had promised them ample payment for finding Sasuke and gather some information he wanted. Itachi didn't just want to kill Sasuke; he wanted him alive and broken. Kakuzu hadn't really bothered to inquire just why, as long as he got paid he didn't care.
They'd spent a while investigating, having tracked down where Sasuke lived. There were very little information on him to be unearthed, but they'd pieced together what they found, and eventually they had his home address, and had tracked him to a building that housed the DPA offices. Which made a lot of sense. His big brother had been attack and turned into a vampire, and then the demon who'd taken over his body had killed their parents as well, leaving Sasuke alone in the world. Wouldn't be the first guy to devote himself to revenge. Useless really, revenge meant nothing.
"Shit, we have a runner," Hidan suddenly said, peering down into the alley.
"Take care of him," Kakuzu ordered, knowing Hidan would love the opportunity. The silver-haired man had wanted to join the fray inside the club, and had only reluctantly agreed to stay out of it. But now one of the fresh turns they had hired to attack the club was fleeing, and they could not allow that. The vampires didn't know it, thought they would have a feat and then go home, but Kakuzu had no intention to allow them to leave. They served a single purpose, and that was to create enough mayhem to draw out the DPA, and then die. They couldn't allow them to talk and potentially harm their plan.
Hidan jumped over the ledge, and Kakuzu heard boots against a rickety fire escape. He hoped Hidan had enough wits to kill the vampire quickly and then come back. Unfortunately his partner had the tendency to get a bit… caught up whenever he got to play.
Kiba threw open the door to the alley, hoping that he hadn't hesitated too long and allowed the vamp to escape. His head snapped from one side to the other as he scanned the area he could see, hoping to see the vampire curled up behind a dumpster or something. What he saw was definitely more surprising than that.
The vampire hadn't left the alley, but not because he was hiding. No, it hadn't gotten away because it was pinned against a wall, knife through his gut like some butterfly on display. Right in front of the vampire a man stood, back towards Kiba. He could see dark clothes and silver hair, and if it hadn't been for the slicked-back style he would have almost thought it was Kakashi, but their unit leader's hair had never looked that neat before.
Kiba lifted his gun, training it at this new man, having no idea who he was or why he was here.
"Hands above your head," he called out, finger at the trigger, ready to pull if it was needed.
The other man shifted, hesitating a moment before his hands lifted and he started turning towards Kiba. Violet eyes flashed in the darkness, and Kiba tensed his grip. The man was obviously not a vampire, but he wasn't human either.
"Who are you?" Kiba asked, sparing a quick glance towards the vampire pinned up against the wall. It wasn't dead, but it wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon by the look of it. The knife through the chest had apparently been busy before being plunged through his ribcage. There were gaping wounds across the vampire's flesh, dark wounds in pale flesh. Obviously the blade was steel, because the vampire wasn't turning to dust.
"I just figured you needed some help," the man said, grinning.
"With torturing a vampire?"
"Well, I was going to kill him. Eventually."
Kiba moved his gun away from the man long enough to pull the trigger and plant a bullet in the skull of the vampire, killing it instantaneously. The silver-haired man didn't even flinch as the bullet sped past him.
Kiba was about to demand some proper answers when a heavy weight slammed into him, knocking him over. FUCK! He'd lost focus, messed up like some goddamned rookie.
He brought his elbow up, felt it crack into something hard and winced at the pain that laced through his arm. Jaw, skull? He didn't know, but the hit was enough to allow him to roll away and get to his feet to face his opponent.
Shoulder-length hair hung in clumps around her face, clotted with blood to the point where he couldn't tell what colour it had once been. Eyes flashed red, and her lips were pulled away from his fangs in a sneer. She was crouching as a predator on the hunt, and Kiba knew it would take her a split-second to be upon him if she jumped.
Kiba lifted his gun just as her thighs pushed her towards him in a leap.
Naruto poked his arm, feeling the beginnings of an impressive bruise bloom on his skin. Not bad to come away from mayhem with only a bruise. Okay, maybe a couple bruises. And a busted lip. Not to mention the scratches down one underarm where one vampire had gotten too close for comfort. Okay, maybe he totally looked like he'd been locked in a cage with a pissed off bear, but he was still standing, and that was helluva lot more than he could say about some of his co-workers.
"Hey, Kank, make sure they get the prettiest nurse to give you a sponge bath," Kiba called out as Kankuro was wheeled into an ambulance. Kankuro just threw up his middle finger. He had been trying to refuse the stretcher altogether, but Kakashi had insisted. The rest of the team didn't look any better. Bruises and cuts aplenty. But they were all alive and ready to get back out into the field. In a few days. Kakashi had insisted on a mandatory three day leave for everyone, no matter how wounded they were. One of the other units would take over dealing with the vampiric forces until they were less… busted up.
Naruto looked over his shoulder towards the club. From outside it looked deceptively normal. No windows to show the carnage inside. He knew exactly how it did look behind the inconspicuous brick though; vampires and bodies lay scattered all around the place. The cleaners would have a hellish day at work tonight, making sure none of the bodies rose from death. Naruto was glad he would not be the one to go through the guts and dusts to identify the dead before shoving stakes through their chests.
Naruto saw Kakashi talking to one of the cops, explaining the situation, that the vampires were dealt with, and that the DPA would take care of any further investigations. They had no idea why a huge den of vampires had decided to attack the club all of a sudden. They must've known that it was a shitty idea. Not a single one of them had been able to escape. It seemed like they had gone inside and locked down the place. Every exit had been locked or blocked, effectively trapping them inside just as much as the humans. It was weird as fuck.
The brightest spot of light in the massacre was that they had, against all odds, managed to save someone from inside the club. One of the bartenders and a young woman had barricaded themselves inside a cabinet in the stock room, and Neji and Shikamaru had been able to get to them before the vampires, keeping them protected until they could get them out.
Naruto's jaws stretched in a sudden yawn. The adrenaline was leaving his system, and he was more than ready to crash for the night. He glanced over at Sasuke. The raven was composed as always, but Naruto saw how his eyelids were drooping a little, showing that he was tired as well. Naruto wanted nothing more than to sleep, and would have loved to do so curled up to Sasuke, but Kiba was walking right behind them, and slung an arm around Naruto. As if Naruto wasn't already covered in grime he was now getting second-hand grime all over himself. Yuck.
"Want a ride home, Naruto?" Kiba asked. Normally Naruto would have appreciated the gesture, but he had kind of hoped he would have caught a ride with Sasuke, seeing as then they could have just stayed at the same apartment. He didn't think Sasuke would want Kiba to know about their relationship though, so he kept that to himself.
"Sure, Kiba, that would be great," Naruto smiled tiredly, following after him to his Honda, sliding into the passenger seat. He cast a last glance at Sasuke as they drove past each other, grinning to show that he didn't mean anything by not coming home with him. It wasn't like they would have the energy to do anything either way, they'd just fall asleep instantly.
Kiba had to shove him to wake him when they reached his apartment building, Naruto smiling sheepishly over the fact that he had dozed off, thanking Kiba for the ride, before dragging himself upstairs.
His face split in a wide grin as he saw who was waiting for him outside his door.
"Sasuke!" he exclaimed, momentarily forgetting he was tired.
"I figured I needed to make sure you didn't fall asleep in the hallway or something," Sasuke said as Naruto unlocked the door, walking in and heading directly for the bathroom.
"Yeah right, just admit it, you can't sleep alone anymore," Naruto shot back as he pulled off his shirt and toed off his shoes, quickly wriggling out of his slacks before jumping in the shower. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but didn't argue as he too took of his clothes and joined Naruto. They rinsed off quickly, only touching each other to wash dirt off each other's backs. They were too tired to even think of anything sexual at this point. A quick towelling and they crawled into bed.
Sasuke always lay proper on his back when they went to sleep, making it so Naruto had to do the snuggling although by the time they woke up Sasuke had moved, snuggling close to Naruto, his sleep state obviously not worried about appearance. Naruto curled up against him, his breath synching with Sasuke's, and soon they drifted off.
A/N: Guys, sorry this is later than usual. I was dealing with a friggin' existential crisis or something where nothing I wrote was good enough so this chapter went through several rewrites. Good news though, it went from 2500 words of pure useless filler to 6000 words of plot-relevant action! Yay! It's like hundred times better than it was, promise.
Also, holy crap on a stick, 200 reviews! Woha, you guys are so awesome I can't even. I'm celebrating it by writing up another of the prompts I got from 100 reviews, I just have another story I gotta finish up first. If ya wanna throw more prompts at me send a review my way, or hit me up on Tumblr or something (my Tumblr is: Miasen. Tumblr. Com)