Eternally Bugged

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Summary: Cold, dark, drowning… He never would have expected to feel this suffocation. And thus Sasuke sought to revive the only boy who ever accepted him. Third part to my Bug Love series. SasuNaru Vampire/Bug fic, attempt at Halloween fic. Inspired by Lady Dimitrescu's diary entry from Resident Evil Village

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Three days since treatment. Mother suggested a donor colony to kickstart the process. So far, no reaction. The nascent colonies seem to…. congregate around my beloved's eyes. They still look so blue despite the loss of warmth...their radiance, a hopeful light in this dark existence. Now the starter group seemed completely severed from the hive mind. I no longer hear or feel their thoughts, nor can I direct their actions. Mother assured me that this was normal too, but I wish I can do more than just wait and see. Oh, dobe. Please… Come back to me.

A sigh escaped from Mikoto's lips as she closed Sasuke's journal. Her cold calculating eyes observing the mass of black around the blinding golden on the cold sterile table. It had been a week since her son resolved himself to bringing back this angel, the boy who gave light to his life as he boldly proclaimed.

After the satisfying meal, Sasuke came to her, telling her how his heart felt empty, cold and how he missed the laughter of the only boy who ever looked his way. Mikoto was shocked when Sasuke came to her, not realizing the tears that were streaming down his crimson bloody eyes as he ran to the matriarch of the clan; not even bothering to hide the crushing anguish from his face as he buried his face on her neck as he sobbed uncontrollably, still clutching the boy's severed head on his other arm as he clung to her; his flies disorganized around the room; his hive mind without its usual thrum of organized pulse.

She haven't seen her youngest act this way. Since the Uchiha patriarch died and her eldest left the village soon after, her son have been the perfect picture of stoicism. Keeping to himself without a care of those around him.

And so even when Sasuke was set to be the new ruling elder of the clan, Mikoto assumed leadership roles, allowing her youngest the chance to be a "child" for a little bit longer. Yet with each passing day, she can do nothing but watch him recede into the cold quiet shell, his hordes of cannibalistic flies unwilling to commune with the collective hive mind that connects them to the rest of the clan.

And yet, when he came home one day, speaking of a blond haired, blue eyed beauty who came to his rescue, Mikoto was elated to see those dull lifeless eyes shone with such life that she haven't seen for a long time. Those dull midnight eyes sparkled with untold purple and crimson that she couldn't believe what she was seeing. It's as if Sasuke is alive again… glowing even as he talked about the loud mouthed clumsy boy that's in his class.

She could feel every member of Sasuke's colony alight, abuzz, and even their obsessive thoughts for the blond could not be hidden from her. Day in and day out Sasuke would stalk the blond beauty, giving him gifts, observing from afar; sending in scouts and drones everywhere the young boy might go.

So Mikoto was shocked to see the very same Naruto falling victim to her son's uncontrollable bloodlust. She was so sure that her son brought him home to introduce to her; to be introduced to the collective hive and be transformed as a full blooded vampire befitting of her youngest's mate.

And when she came home to smell the fresh scent of blood in the air, of a satisfied thrum emanating from Sasuke's hive, she feared for the worst. And she could do nothing but shake her head as she retreated from her youngest's room, devastated at the loss of the boy that her son seemed to cared for; mourning for the loss of spark in her son's eyes as he hugged the golden haired beauty close to his chest.

But when Sasuke came to her the next day, in tears, in anguish, in grief; desire burning in his eyes for the return of his beloved, Mikoto too resolved to bring the boy back. And she donated one of her youngest queen… embedding it into the boy's cranium in the hopes of sparking some life back into him. It worked. But the death could not be overcome by one nascent queen alone. On the first day of treatment, it was clear that the founding queen would not survive in the cold embrace of death that was Naruto's corpse.

And so she suggested a donor colony and more nourishing blood to help the fledgling queen found her colony. And Sasuke did so. She doesn't know what will happen to be honest. Normally, a vampire of their clan would need founding queens and males from different families to produce an offspring. But the Uchiha clan have been isolated from the rest of the vampire lords for centuries now. And so she's hoping against hope that this will be enough to rebirth this mortal into undeath. For even as she tried to reach beyond the grip of death, the mortal's consciousness was fading fast; its last embers slowly snuffed out by the unfeeling embrace of mortality; his coils of vitality greedily consumed by Sasuke's hungry drones and worker flies.

The soft buzzing of the colony brought her back from her thoughts. The black mass has fully engulfed the boy's head now. And she's no doubt that the queen is alive, thriving with the amount of drones she's producing despite what little mortal coil tied them down to this world. She has sent Sasuke to hunt for more humans.

For even as powerful as they are, they cannot afford to kill every villagers to feed them, much less bring back a mortal to life. But Sasuke have been determined to do whatever it takes; even when he has to risk hunting in other villages to bring nourishment for his beloved.

She took a glance at the writhing mass of flies once more before exiting the medical room. She hopes that the queen fly survives. She doesn't know how her son would react if all hope were to be snatched from him.

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Red eyes scanned the village to his home. He walked the familiar path slowly, his drones bloated from overfeeding. He hunted ten humans for the week. And he still had no desire to come home. He wanted to bring more of the life giving blood to his beloved. But his mother cautioned him that any longer than ten days without his presence and Naruto's consciousness would drift off forever.

And while the body may be reincarnated, the spirit inside won't be. So he made the long journey home, his mind still reeling from the feeling of loss that his hunts have become sloppy and draining. His mother used to tell him that this is how it feels to lose a fated mate. And he can already feel its toll.

There are times when his workers and soldiers won't respond to his commands. He would only transform halfway and even his eyesight can sometimes fade away as the drones around his eyes threatened to lose their form; their coherence shattered by the loss of the hive mind's unity and collective cohesion. But still he pressed on.

Despite the wavering of the unity of his hive mind, despite the loss of coherence of his colonies and despite how his very heart, spirit and mind rages in anguish from within, he pressed on.

He braved the dark waters of Wave, crossed the treacherous forests of Sound and the sweltering desert of Suna just to gather more and more of that life-giving blood. Yet he only stored them in his replete workers, unwilling to consume the blood that was intended for his soulmate. For he doesn't want to come home empty-handed; doesn't want to entertain the notion that what he might bring home won't be enough to restore his beloved.

Sasuke shivered against the cold of Konoha. Despite its lush vegetation and the natural resistant of Konoha to cold, days of not eating has taken its toll on the young vampire. And his drones are rebelling against his hive mind, breaking cohesion, losing heat as they drew away from the hive. He can feel his left arm disintegrating as more and more flies drift away. But he doesn't care. He patted his stomach and glanced at the bloated repletes that were kept in place by a few of his soldiers and drones.

A deep sigh of relief escaped his lips as the manor came into view. As a clans man bows to him at the gates, Sasuke paid him no mind as he wasted no time in entering the manor; once he did so he disintegrated into a mass of darkness, unable to maintain his shape any longer after after days of fatigue and hunger.

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"Sasuke, dear!" His mother exclaimed as she saw the state of her son. She is at loss for words. She knew he took the loss of his beloved deeply. But she never would have imagined for the man neglect himself this way.

"What happened to you?" The matriarch inquired as she tried to compose herself, smelling the strong scent of blood emanating from Sasuke's repletes. The disorganized hive mass in front of her made her shiver. And she wanted nothing more than to slaughter the entirety of this village just to feed her son. But she knew if she does that then the townspeople will rebel, shattering the unsteady peace that's been established between the clan and the village.

"Nothing mother." The buzzing echoed. "How is he?" Mikoto was taken aback. The softness of the voice was in stark contrast to the panic and grief that emanated from the pulse of Sasuke's hive mind as he approached her.

Mikoto bit her lip. She doesn't want to give her son false hope. But throughout the days, she felt Naruto's mortal soul slip further and further. And she feared that even if they were to succeed in recreating the body, what will emerge is less than what they expected; a mindless vampire with no spirit, no soul, no heart; one that will attack anything on site, ruining their hard work and shattering her son's spirit.

She doesn't know what or how to answer her son. And she doesn't want to shatter the lingering hope that tinged his words.

Still, Mikoto's centuries of existence as the matriarch of the clan could never prepare her for this. She rose from her throne and sent some of her own drones and repletes to the black mass in front of her.

"Sasuke, dear… Please… eat. This isn't healthy for you."

"I said… How. Is. He?" Mikoto shuddered at her son's growl as two pairs of red glow illuminated the center of the mass; his soldiers haphazardly flying around the room in perceive of a non-existent threat.

Mikoto swallowed a lump on her throat. Well, she might as well be honest now. Exhaling deeply, Mikoto beckoned her son to the treatment room.

"The colony is thriving, Sasuke. This young one seemed to be prolific in laying her eggs. The colony's number swell with each passing day. And…"

"Cut it out mother. You know that's not what I'm asking."

Mikoto sighed as she opened the door. The mass over Naruto's head have become more or less human-like now. The black flies that congregated over the lips have turned a healthy rosy pink, the hair became a vibrant golden. The trunk still remained a disorganized mass of black swarming mass but that is to be expected, considering the donor bodies they can afford to feed the colony are mostly of younger unhealthy orphans they snatched from the streets of Konoha. Still, the forming hive mind slowly guiding the flies gave her some hope. Whether or not the soul that will inhabit this body is their Naruto is yet to be seen.

And so, she faced her son, who started reforming into his vampire form once more in the presence of his beloved.

"I… I'm not sure if… it's him… Sasuke. I…" Mikoto said cautiously, not wanting to aggravate her son any further.

"It is him! I can feel it!" Sasuke rushed to the blond's side, his eyes unwavering as if he felt the spark of bond connecting with his hive mind. His flies started regaining their coherence once more as he sent his repletes over the blond's lips as they began the process of trophallaxis with the rest of the colony, giving the blood and life-giving nutrients that Sasuke stored in them over his week-long hunt to other members throughout Naruto's hive.

He bent down, and his lips ghosted over the slightly parted pink ones. As his lips made contact with the blond, Mikoto gasped as the closed eyes snapped open to reveal bright shining cerulean orbs. Sasuke's soldiers converged around him as his hand found Naruto's own, gripping it tightly in joy and relief. She watched her son carefully kiss the blond's forehead lovingly.

"Naruto… it's you isn't it? Come on now… Time to wake up, love."

Mikoto steeled herself as those blue eyes flashed crimson, anger in full display as sharp fangs bared against her son. A clawed hand swiped at her youngest, but thankfully Sasuke evaded quickly, despite days of hunger taking its toll on him.

"Sasuke… stay away from him." Mikoto exclaimed, fearing that the body they have before them is nothing more than a mindless, soulless vessel; a ghoul they will have to dispose of. It's just as she feared. Naruto's consciousness is lost. It's been too long after all. And she haven't felt the blond's consciousness for a while.

She was about to intervene when a guttural snarl reached her ears, and she saw her youngest son's lips curled up in a satisfied smirk.

"You bastard!"

Sasuke only drew the blond close to him.

"You came back to me… My Naru." Mikoto could feel the tenderness, relief and joy in her son's words. And she let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding as her claws retracted from her fingers.

"I can't believe you ate me! You jerk!" Naruto tried pushing the young Uchiha away from him. But Sasuke only held on tighter.

"Sorry Naruto… You were so delicious though…forgive me?"

"Gahh! That doesn't make me feel any better, you dumb jerk!"

"I love you, Naruto. Please forgive me? I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you… if you'll still have me." Sasuke was cupping Naruto by his chin now and Mikoto was amazed to see that crimson anger receded to give way to bright blue eyes, cheeks stained pink in embarrassment at the intensity of her son's gaze.

"Arrgghh… Let me… Let me think about it, you bastard."

Sasuke only drew the other for a deep kiss. And Mikoto slowly retreated from the room. As she closed the door, she can't help but notice the pure sheer bliss and the spark of life returning in her son's soulless eyes. Smiling to herself, she felt all tension left her body. It had been a harrowing week trying to revive this mortal.

But seeing the look of satisfaction on her son's face, the utter feeling of contentment and resignation emanating and pulsating from his hive core, Mikoto knew then that it was all worth it.

As she made her way back to her throne, she can't help but think of the future. The wheels in her mind turning already of what the future might hold for these two.

Finally, her son found his home. And maybe then, his forever can finally start. She laughed a little as her keen ears heard the young blond's indignant yells from behind closed door along with Sasuke's deep apologetic laughter. But she's satisfied. And her cold dead heart beats once more.

Indeed, her son's eternity can now begin.

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A/N: Yes, I know this has a lot of insect terminologies. In case your confused, here's some.

Replete: worker ants that the colony used to "store" their food in. They'd feed these workers to three times their size for future use.

Drone: A sterile worker in an insect's colony.

Trophallaxis: Mouth to mouth transfer of food or liquid among social insects.

I know this combines some ant, bees, and other insect's terminologies and concepts. But I like how it turned out either way. I hope you like it as well. Happy Halloween!