Kiba's boots pounded loudly against the stairs as he ran up the floors towards Naruto's apartment with Kankuro hot on his tail. They'd been patrolling downtown when the call had come in from Kakashi to get to Naruto's apartment ASAP. They'd wasted no time in getting to the car, and driving like bats clean outta hell to get there. Apart from the fact that something had obviously happened they had no idea what they would find, but if something had given Naruto trouble it wasn't likely to be some common burglar.

Apparently all Kakashi knew was that Naruto had been talking to Iruka on the phone, gone to open the door, and then there'd been a sound like someone getting punched before the call had been disrupted. When Iruka had tried to call back it had gone straight to voicemail, and he'd called Kakashi in a panic. Something had happened, and now Kiba and Kank were going to fix it. They had no idea what they'd find, vampires, ghouls or Naruto sheepishly trying to fix a phone he'd dropped on the floor, but they had their guns drawn, loaded with the expanding silver bullets that would take down most of what they'd meet on the other side of the door.

A quick glance at Kank and a nod to show that he was going in and Kiba slammed open the door, peering down the length of his gun, taking in the room in front of him. It was hard to miss Naruto. He was lying on the floor, curled up awkwardly, eyes shut, face smeared with dark blood. Next to him laid a body. Neither was moving.

Kiba stepped closer to see if he could identify whoever Naruto had fought with, but it proved rather difficult.

"Kank, check the perimeter!" he called out and rushed to Naruto's side. Whoever the body belonged to wasn't going to get up anytime soon, so unless there was anyone else around checking on Naruto was his top priority.

He kneeled next to Naruto's prone form, hand moving to his neck to check for a pulse. A strong, albeit slightly erratic, beat thrummed against the pads of his fingers, and he let out a relieved sigh as he quickly moved to assess for any wounds that would be potentially fatal.

Naruto's nose was crooked, obviously broken at some point, and he was sporting an impressive shiner, but other than that he looked to be in good shape, just not conscious. Various cuts and bruises littered what Kiba could see of his body, but none of them seemed severe. The other man was… decidedly worse off.

He was checking the dead body for some kind of ID when he saw the empty syringe lying on the floor. He cursed when he realised that this might very well be the reason Naruto was unconscious. The other could have shot him up with anything, and Kiba had no idea if it was a simple sedative or something more ominous. He quickly dialled Kakashi's number.

"Naruto is alive but unconscious. It appears he's been injected with something, the assailant is dead."

"Any idea who or what it was?" Kakashi asked.

Kiba glanced up when Kankuro stepped around the couch, holding something up for him to see. Kiba grimaced.

"Well, Kank found his head, but I still can't say I have any idea of who or what."

"Found his head?"

"It looks like Naruto might have… removed it at some point."

There was nothing but silence on the other end for a moment.

"Just send someone to check up on him okay, he seems stable, but I have no idea beyond that," Kiba said. He slid his gun back in its holster and sat down next to Naruto, looking around the living room and kitchen. It was surprisingly tidy for a place that had just seen a fight, but that might be because there weren't a whole lot of furniture there. The coffee table was broken, and the couch had a fair few blood spatters on it, but otherwise looked whole. The floor was drenched in blood though, and Kiba noted the deep claw marks marring the wood, showing just how Naruto had managed to kill the other so… thoroughly.

Obviously he had shifted at some point. The claw marks decorated the dead body just as much as it did the floor, and the ragged mess that had at some point been a neck showed that Naruto certainly hadn't used a blade to separate head and body, it looked to have been torn right off. Kiba scrunched his nose. The coppery scent of blood was thick in the air. The apartment would need some thorough cleaning before it was habitable again.

"Dude, what did you get mixed up in?" Kiba said to himself as he glanced over at Naruto, worried for his friend.

The first words through Sasuke's mind when the darkness finally slipped away was Naruto. Panic instantly flared through him, and he struggled against the heavy fog that still had him in its clutches. He needed to get to Naruto, needed to save him, needed to stop Hidan before it was too late. He couldn't lose Naruto, he just-

"Hey, take it easy, Sasuke," he heard someone say and his body stilled when he instantly recognised that voice. He opened his eyes only to shut them again when the glare of light hurt his eyes.

"Nar…" he started saying, but his tongue felt all papery, and wouldn't quite cooperate with him.

"I'm right here, Sasuke," Naruto said, and soon Sasuke felt a warm palm close around his hand, squeezing it slightly.

"You are at the hospital. Everything is okay now."

Sasuke felt a rush of relief flood through him, and he allowed himself to relax, only now realising that he was resting on a soft mattress rather than the rough concrete he had passed out on.

"Wha…" he started saying, but he couldn't quite do it. He still felt like he was only half awake, like the fog that had gripped him still tried to keep him in its clutches.

He cracked an eyelid open slightly to filter out the harsh light and twisted his head to the side, seeing Naruto sitting by his side.

"Oh, here!" Naruto said, and let go of his hand. Sasuke didn't say anything, but he missed the touch the moment it was gone. He'd been so afraid of losing Naruto, and now he was right here, safe and sound. He let out a shaky breath.

Naruto returned moments later, thrusting something at Sasuke's face. It took his muddled brain a moment to realise that it was a glass of water with a drinking straw in it. He gratefully lifted his head enough to sip at it.

It took five more minutes until he felt hydrated and clear-headed enough to actually do some proper talking, and ten more minutes until he was caught up on the situation. He had no recollections of anything since the point where he had passed out after the fight with Kakuzu, but Naruto had been updated by Kakashi.

Apparently Naruto's dad had been on the phone with Naruto when Hidan had attacked, and upon realising what was happening called Kakashi in a panic. Kakashi had instantly dispatched Kiba and Kankuro to take care of the situation, and when he couldn't get to Sasuke he had tracked his cell phone and sent Neji and Shikamaru to find him.

Sasuke had been lying in a pool of blood next to his car, with Kakuzu in an equal pool not too far off. Neither had been dead, but neither was that far off if it hadn't been for Naruto's dad calling in he would've likely bled to death in a dirty parking lot before anyone knew where he was. Sasuke had been rushed to the hospital, needing blood transfusions to replenish what was now left on the concrete. He'd been patched up and drugged up, and was only now coming back out of the heavy sleep he'd been in since. It was a full two days since the fight and Sasuke felt like utter shit. He was on strong painkillers, but he still felt groggy and stiff, and he still ached whenever he moved his shoulder. He was glad to find that it still worked though, shoulder wounds could be nasty, and he just hoped he'd be able to use the arm properly once it healed.

"What happened to you?" he asked, more interested in Naruto than himself. His boyfriend looked pretty good apart from a yellowing bruise on his cheekbone and a bandage across his nose.

"Well, Hidan got me by surprise, but I showed him that you don't mess with Naruto Uzumaki. I went all ninja on his ass."

"So you used your nose to fight with then?" Sasuke said. It came from out of nowhere. He had no intention of saying anything resembling an insult slash joke, but it came out of nowhere. Too much time spent pretending to despise the other guy most likely, old habits being hard to kill. Naruto wasn't too offended though, judging by the sudden laugh that peeled from him

"Bastard broke my nose. And because I heal fast it had healed in the most awkward crooked position ever, so the doctor needed to break it all over again. It sucked."

"I'm… Sorry I couldn't help you," Sasuke said quietly. Naruto's blue eyes met his dark, wide in surprise.

"Are you seriously apologizing for getting your ass beat up right now?" he asked incredulously. Sasuke just ignored it.

"It's all my fault."

And it really was. If it wasn't for him Hidan would have never gone after Naruto at all. The only reason they'd been confronted by the duo back in Las Vegas was because of Sasuke and his brother-turned-demon. If it wasn't for him Naruto would've been safe, wouldn't have had to fight for his life at all.

Sasuke could not accept the fact that Naruto was in danger because of him. Sure, Hidan and Kakuzu were dealt with, but Itachi was out there, and he could easily send someone else after him. He didn't want to kill Sasuke; he wanted to break him, and what better way than through the only person he truly cared about? It was what his plan had been, and Sasuke had no reason to think that it had changed. And right now there was only one weakness in Sasuke's shields.

At some point Naruto had burrowed straight into his heart and set up camp there in a way no one had ever done before. He had blasted through all of Sasuke's defences, and Sasuke still had no idea just how that had happened. Through sheer stubbornness most likely.

He looked over at his boyfriend. Naruto was wearing one of those god awful hoodies he tended to favour whenever they weren't working, and his jeans were baggy and littered with holes. His hair was a mess, as per usual. Naruto was… chaotic, whereas Sasuke himself had always prided himself on being completely in control. Sasuke always looked impeccable, always kept his feelings in check, keeping up an icy-cold facade that scared most people away. Naruto wore his feelings on his sleeve, and he latched onto people instantaneously, even if he had been kicked away for most of his life. Naruto had managed to keep innocence about him, and a faith in people that Sasuke couldn't fathom. Maybe it was this faith that had made Naruto able to get through to Sasuke though. He seemed to have this undying belief that Sasuke was actually a decent guy underneath the crap Sasuke threw at him, and he had slowly, but surely, chipped away at the shields until he found the raw core of the man underneath, bringing out something in Sasuke that Sasuke himself hadn't even known where there. Naruto was good, through and through, and Sasuke didn't deserve him in a million years. He could not allow Itachi to kill Naruto just to hurt Sasuke, he would not allow it. Not when Naruto had finally managed to drag him, kicking and screaming, out of the darkness he had shrouded himself in.

There was only one thing Sasuke could do. He needed to get the hell out of this hospital and stop this. Needed to find the demon that called himself his brother and needed to kill him. It was time to face his demons head on.

Sasuke was still groggy from being pumped full of painkillers, so Naruto was sitting alone at the kitchen table, poking at a grilled cheese sandwich. He knew he should eat something, but his appetite was long gone. He'd gotten one good bite in before it turned to ashes in his mouth. Ketchup dripped to the plate in a thick, red blob, and that was it, instant flashback. It was just under a week since he'd fought Hidan, and he'd worked his damnedest to just forget about it, but it never was far from his mind.

Naruto had killed before, but there was something very different in killing vampires than it had been killing Hidan. Not just because the vampires disintegrated into neat piles of ashes where Hidan very much didn't, but because of how it all happened.

When Naruto hunted vampires he was very much in control. He decided when to pull the trigger or throw the knife, but when Hidan had attacked and pushed him over the edge he had lost all control. The beast had come roaring out of the cavern he tried to contain it in and took control of him.

The memories of the fight were blurry at best, fractured pictures of blood and flesh and claws and fangs. He knew Hidan had gotten some good hits in, but they hadn't even slowed him down, just showed up as rapidly healing bruises later on. Hidan hadn't stood a chance when the beast decided that it wanted the taste of flesh. Naruto still remembered the feeling of claws tearing through flesh, and the sickening sound Hidan's neck made as Naruto dug his fangs into his throat and pulled, the beast finishing what it had started some months earlier.

He knew it had been kill or be killed, and knew Hidan wouldn't have hesitated for a moment to off him, but it was the way he had killed that bothered him. He'd been fighting hard to keep the beast within under control for years, but it seemed to become harder and harder, and he was afraid of what would happen if he stopped fighting, was afraid the beast would take him over completely. He knew that shifters were supposed to live in symbioses with the beast, that they were one, the person always in charge, but it didn't feel that way to Naruto, He had always seen his beast as another being, living inside him, wanting to be free.

With a shudder he pushed the plate away, deciding that what was done was done, and he needed to get over it. Just not right now. Right now he needed to take care of Sasuke.

As if on cue the door bell rang, and he abandoned his lunch to let in the nurse he'd been expecting over. Sasuke had been allowed to come back home as long as Naruto was there to take care of him, and they allowed a nurse Kakashi had arranged with to come over and tend to Sasuke's wound, making sure it healed well and didn't get infected. Sasuke had predictably bitched about it, but Naruto and Kakashi had ignored him. They both had practice doing just that.

A few minutes later Naruto found himself standing by the couch, chewing on his thumb nail as the nurse gently peeled back the bandaged fastened over Sasuke's shoulder.

"This looks good; you'll be good in no time. It was a clean wound, through and through, and it shouldn't affect your use of your arm too much as soon as it's healed," she said as she poked at the wound.

Naruto cast a glance over and immediately regretted it. It did not look good. There was a dime sized patch of puckered skin stitched together, the skin slightly red around it. Dried blood still clung to the skin in-between the stitches. Naruto hated this. Sasuke didn't have the healing he had, it would take him a while to heal, and it was a constant reminder to how close Naruto had been to losing him. He was never letting the other out of his sight again. Stupid bastard getting shot.

"You need to take these antibiotics to ensure it doesn't get inflamed, but other than that just make sure to change the bandages and keep it clean and dry. Don't use the arm until I give you the clear, I don't want you putting any strain on the stitching."

The dark-haired nurse, Shizune if Naruto remembered correctly, placed a bottle of pills on the nightstand. "Instructions are on the bottle. Follow them."

All through the proceedings Sasuke didn't as much as wince, even as she prodded at the wound. His face was set in a perpetual frown, and Naruto didn't like it one bit.

"Kakashi told me that you would take care of him," Shizune said to Naruto as she packed away her supplies. "Plenty of bed rest, and make sure he takes his medication. If he's in pain give him pain killers, being in pain will not make him better any faster."

It was clear the dark-haired nurse had been working with stubborn agents long enough to know that acting tough kind of came with the occupation. Naruto would make sure Sasuke wasn't one of them though; he was going to stuff pills down his throat the moment he looked to be in pain.

Soon there was only the two of them left, and Naruto was officially on nurse duty. He should really get a new outfit.

It took Sasuke all but two minutes to start complaining. All Naruto had done was asking if he needed more pillows, or something to drink or to eat, or help to get to the toilet or...

"Will you just shut up," he called out. Naruto stopped what he was doing, and pulled his head out of the fridge. He'd been rummaging through it in search of food before Sasuke had even had time to answer if he was actually hungry. "It's bad enough that I'm stuck here; don't treat me like an invalid."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, feeling a bit embarrassed. He needed something to do, to stop himself from worrying, but apparently he had taken his nurse duties a bit too far. Closing the fridge he walked over to Sasuke and kneeled on the floor in front of the couch Sasuke was propped up on. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried, you know?"

"I'm fine. Not the first time I've gotten hurt."

"Getting punched is not the same as getting shot," Naruto stated.

Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. It looked like he was about to say something, but he didn't, apparently having deemed it unworthy of passing his lips. Naruto was a bit amazed at how Sasuke did stuff like actually think before he talked. Naruto had never learned that ability, landing him in trouble more times than not when he said something he really shouldn't have.

Sasuke looked like he was retreating in on himself, his shields slamming into place one by one, an air of indifference surrounding him, even if Naruto knew he had to be brimming with emotions right now. He could read Sasuke well enough by now. He needed to relieve the tension, knock those shields down before they got time to fully form again.

"Hey, I have an idea," he said.

Sasuke tilted his head to the side, looking like he was preparing to shoot down the idea before Naruto even told him.

With a flick to Sasuke's nose he stopped him before the raven could say anything. "Shut up. It's a great idea. I was thinking… you smell like shit right now."

One thin eyebrow shot up, Sasuke seemingly not seeing why telling him he reeked was a great idea. Naruto rolled his eyes and continued.

"You haven't showered since you got home from the hospital two days ago, and your hair is a mess. You are a dude, and I'm sorry if this is going to offend your highness Uchiha, but dudes smell." Okay, so maybe Naruto was elaborating. Sure, Sasuke smelled, but mostly just a vague hint of sweat, hardly anything to be bothered by, but he had a plan in mind, and that plan entailed a dirty Sasuke, so Sasuke would just have to go with it.

"And you can't take a shower because of your shoulder, and since I'm technically your nurse right now it might only be right if I gave you a sponge bath?"

By the look on Sasuke's face that was not the idea he had been expecting. Naruto grinned like the fox he was and leaned closer, lowering his voice to a husky whisper, knowing just how to distract Sasuke.

"I'd have to remove all your clothing though, and run my hands all over you, making sure to wash every little inch of that flawless skin. " Naruto's grin widened as he saw a sudden flash of lust cross Sasuke's face. Yeah, this would do the trick just fine.

Before Sasuke got the opportunity to say anything to shot down his idea Naruto leaped away, hurrying into Sasuke's bathroom to fetch supplies. They had taken up camp here since his apartment was kind of a crime scene right now, and he'd gotten familiar with the place because Sasuke slept a lot and there were only so many soaps Naruto could see in a day before he shot himself.

With a bucket of soapy water, fresh towels and washcloth in hand he walked back into the living room, trying not to trip. Sasuke was lying in the same position he had been when Naruto left, propped up on the long couch, wearing nothing but low-slung sweat pants. Naruto couldn't quite help the way his eyes dropped to trail all over that exposed skin, from the dip of his collarbone, across rosy nipples and all down to where a faint trail of hair vanished beneath the waistband of his sweats. Sasuke laid there quietly, his dark eyes following Naruto's moves as he stepped closer and placed a knee on the edge of the couch. He dipped the washcloth into the bucket and wrung out the excess water before he leaned over Sasuke, running the cloth across his chest. He heard Sasuke's breath hitch, and knew his lover would start to lose the control he was working so hard to maintain any minute now.

As Naruto brushed the cloth against rosy nipples he gently twisted the fabric between his fingers, and a sudden moan from Sasuke told him that he was definitely getting to him now. He leaned in and ran his tongue over the same nipple, and felt Sasuke start twitching underneath him.

"You gotta make sure not to move, bastard, I don't want you messing up your stitches," he said with a smirk against pale skin, hearing a predictable hn in answer.

Naruto just ran his tongue down Sasuke's abdomen before he latched onto the skin over his hipbone, sucking hard enough to leave a reddish mark behind. It was hard to miss the erection that was starting to strain at Sasuke's pants, and Naruto ran a hand over it, cupping it, gently moving his hand over the hardening flesh. Sasuke hissed, his hips shooting off the couch, silently begging him for more. Naruto had every intention of giving Sasuke just that, but a doorbell interrupted them.

"Shit", Naruto whispered, moving away from his lover to open the door. Sasuke's wrist shot out, stopping him.

"This time you check the peephole," he said insistently, eyes narrowed.

Naruto just nodded and headed towards the door, checking the small hole before opening the door, just as instructed. As if he would ever forget to do that again after the surprise he'd gotten the last time he'd attempted it. A fist to the face was not a good welcome dammit.

Pale eyes and long hair made the person on the other side of the door easily recognisable. He clicked open the lock and opened the door.

"Hi Neji, he said, stepping to the side to let their co worker in. A quick glance behind him told him that Sasuke had pulled a blanket over lap, and was lying back on the couch, eyes clothes, looking very much like he was resting, and not like they'd just been interrupted during some pretty nice foreplay.

Neji walked in, face set in a mask of indifference, pale eyes searching out Sasuke. There was the slightest tension around his eyes when he took in Sasuke, bandaged and bruised. Naruto only noticed the reaction because he had training reading Sasuke, otherwise Neji would have looked as stoic as ever. The two were actually really similar, could've been related. Had that whole aloof bastard thing down to a T.

"Kakashi told me to bring this over," Neji said, any surprise at seeing Sasuke's battered state gone. He held out Sasuke's katana. "Kakashi got the techs to save it from evidence. The car is not salvageable, and will stay in lock-up for now.

"He also told me to specify that you are only getting this back as a token and not as an invitation to do anything but stay in bed."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, not happy with the orders. Naruto ignored him, grabbing the katana and laying it on a side table, well out of Sasuke's reach.

Neji left soon after, heading out to patrol with Shikamaru. Naruto made sure to lock the door behind him. "Let's get you to bed, and I'll continue where we left off."

Kakashi had his hands in his pocket and a stack of folders under his arm as he stepped into the interrogation room. He knew his slouch and carefree attitude made people think they could push him around, which was a good start in many interrogations. They didn't know what hit them when he showed them just why he had become the youngest Unit leader the DPA had ever seen.

The room was small and dark, with the token one way mirror and bolted down table. On the side opposite the mirror the man who called himself Kakuzu sat. Lank, dark hair hung in front of his face, and a grim face looked back at him. Heavy scars travelled from each corner of his mouth up his cheeks, and his eyes were an eerie combination of green on red. If it was tattoos or supernatural in origin Kakashi had no idea. All in all they had very little idea on anything about this Kakuzu. Any tests they had done told them both him and his partners were humans, but the DNA samples always came back saying that there was something corrupted in it, something unidentifiable. Fingerprints came back connected to various crimes, but no one had any idea just who he was, and so far he had alluded being captured. There was no trace of him or Hidan in any of their systems. It was like they were ghosts. Only they weren't, because Kakashi had met many ghosts, and they tended to be rather intangible. It appeared they had both been fully human once, but wasn't anymore. Whether science or magic was the culprit no one could say, at least not until the tests they'd taken came back from the lab, but the fact that the headless corpse in the morgue wasn't showing any sign of decomposing, or even rigor mortis, told Kakashi that it was most likely something supernatural in nature.

The forensic pathologist had expressed an interest in sewing the head of the corpse back on and see if it could be reanimated that way, but for now head and body was kept safely tucked away in separate drawers, just in case.

Kakashi dumped the folders on the table and sat down opposite Kakuzu with his signature slouch.

"Maa, you've created a lot of problems for us," he said, shuffling the folders around, searching for the right one.

"Attempted abduction of one of our partners, not once, but twice. A string of various crimes in Las Vegas, including the abduction of one business heir, the crushing of one drug ring and the murder of not one, but two politicians on business trips." Kakashi pushed forward a new folder, flipped open to show the pictures inside, at every new crime.

"And these are just the ones we've been able to pin on you this far. I'm going to venture a guess that we'll find more as we keep digging."

Kakuzu looked as calm as ever, leaning forward on the desk, his hands chained to ensure he couldn't reach over and smash Kakashi's face into the desk. A fair few had tried just that over the years before he took over a vampire hunter unit. Now there was little interrogation and mostly executions to deal with.

"So far we don't have any true motive," Kakashi continued, but Kakuzu interrupted him before he could say anything else.

"Money." his voice was gruff, matching his face in its roughness.

"I figured as much."

From what Sasuke and Naruto had told him of their encounters, and what he had been able to dig up, Kakuzu and Hidan was common thugs-for-hire with a supernatural twist. They had the uncanny ability to come away alive, no matter what. Which was probably a handy ability to have when dealing with the shadier side of life.

Money was a good motivator, and Kakuzu would hardly be the first to sell himself off for it. There was one good thing about money though, it did not buy loyalty. Any man willing to kill for money would be willing to give up their previous employee for the promise of more money.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask.

A/N: Hey, what do you know, not a massive cliffhanger this time. :3 Also, guess what I did? I got the awesome Danicat to draw me a couple of pictures for Partners. :D They are so so good. Go check them out and give her lots of love! Cookies for the one who can tell me which scene the picture with Sasuke and Naruto is from! :D (And if you were wondering how Naruto looks when he shifts this is it! :D) danicat91 . deviantart art / SasuNaru - Commission - for - Miasen - 519798829 (Remove the spaces to get to the right page- or just go to the proper link at the top of my profile! That's probably easier. :p)