Sasuke was woken up by the sound of their fortepiano, he had been waking up to the melodies for a month now. Naruto was a ray of sunshine, his laughter, his mischievous mannerisms and pure soul had captivated them all.

Naruto would wake up before sunset and would tend to the gardens, he would cook, read, paint or as today, play his fortepiano. The boy enjoyed music, Sasuke could occasionally find him dancing around on his own and when he finally discovered the presence of the vampire he would blush and stop, the girls were spellbound and had dropped the "Sasuke's pet" name for the boy, they would join him in the dances, dress him up and brush his long hair for hours.

"Do you not miss home?" - Sasuke asked him after sitting down next to him. Naruto continued playing.

"There was once a boy known as the beauty of Konoha, son of the most powerful man in the eastern lands, born to become a man on intellect, raised to fool around and take woman as he pleased because they were mere animals born to satiate our pleasure. But the boy wanted neither of those things, he was born defective because he enjoyed everything that was marked to belong to woman, to sing and dance, to drink tea and saw clothing and paint. And so his father hit him every day, he was forced to be with woman and he was locked in a cage alone and full of pain"

"Doesn't sound like a happy fairytale"

"Mmm, i just hope it has a happy ending, regardless of how it all begun"

Sasuke stopped the moving hands and took one on his own, such delicate hands against his rough and calloused palm.

"Are you happy here?"

"As happy as one can be" - Naruto forced his hand out of the grasp and traced the porcelain cheek with a gentle finger, Sasuke felt electricity run through his body. That gentle hand cupped his cheek and the vampire's body moved on its own to lean against the gesture. "Thank you, for bringing me here, for accepting me into your family, don't get bored of me, not yet" - the blonde leaned into his chest, to rest his head where a heart beat to a lower beat.

It was painful for Sasuke, to see the blonde, to care for him and see him smiling in adoration. Their eternal lives carried a burden no one would ever understand, the sadness and desperation of watching everything and everyone wither away, but he wouldn't turn him, he would not make the same mistake twice.

XxXxXxXx

After three months of living in the castle Naruto felt more comfortable with his surroundings, far beyond the town Sasuke had taken him his first night with them was a small village with a few shops and farms. He intended to purchase some vegetables but on his way he felt the strong embrace of a muscled arm and the point of a dagger pressed on his back.

"You move and i kill you" - the stranger whispered against his ear, Naruto was about to turn when a hand clasped his mouth shut, he was forced to walk into a dark alley and was pushed against the wall.

"You reek of demon" - the man growled

"And you reek ass" - Naruto replied

'funny little guy you are. Confess kid, you live with the demons" The man took him by the hair and smashed his head against the wall.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about"

"Don't act stupid boy, their smell is all over you, rotten smell" - Naruto struggled against the tight grasp and received a punch in the face for it.

"The stupid one here is you, i already told you I don't know what you're talking about"

"One more chance doll, tell me where Sasuke is" - Naruto's eyes widened. "You know who Sasuke is then, my oh my"

The blonde cursed at himself

"I won't talk'

"Wrong choice buddy" - the man pressed the dagger against Naruto's stomach, blue eyes closed awaiting the pain of the fatal wound but instead he heard a groan and felt a splatter of red liquid fall onto his shirt. He opened his eyes to find Sasuke's piercing eyes over him, his clawed hand had broken the man's skin.

With a strong pull he threw the man against the opposite wall.

"Orochimaru sama sends his best regards to you and your family" - the man spoke. "I guess it was just my luck to run into your little toy"

"Tell that creep he can fuck off' -

"Don't insult my master" - the man howled in anger and charged onto Sasuke. The vampire evaded him easily, playing around as if this was a mere game until the man reached behind and pulled out a metal whip from his belt, with a single motion of his hand he grabbed Sasuke by the ankle, the vampire hissed in pain as the metal burned his skin. The mortal pulled hard and with a skilled maneuver he slashed the porcelain flesh with a silver dagger. Sasuke yelled, his skin was on fire, he heard the blond scream his name, felt him move and he raised his hand to command him to stop.

"You are stronger than this lord Sasuke, do you want to hide the monster you are from him?" - the mortal approached Sasuke and slashed once more.

"You can't regenerate now, can you?" - he mocked. "A special gift from Orochimaru, i won't kill you, that pleasure belongs to him, I'm just a messenger"

"I don't want to hear it"

"We're closer than you think, we'll find your enclave and we'll let you have the honor of watching them die… one by one" - the mortal laughed.

Sasuke staggered and stood up, his fangs out in a menacing hiss but he felt weak, his wounds weren't healing and he had to protect the blond. The man smiled, he pulled his cape up to cover his silver hair and glasses and disappeared into the darkness.

Naruto ran to his side in a second, he was fussing over his wounds, talking loudly but nothing made sense, the thin gentle hands cupped his face and his worried eyes pierced his own cobalt ones.

"You're not recovering, I need to take you back home, please stand up, can you walk? We need to get to Kyubi"

Sasuke grimaced and let the blonde lend him his shoulder, they walked over to the plaza and with a loud whistle Naruto called for his horse who was nearby.

"That metal was designed to harm our kind, I've never seen any like that before"

"Why did you hold back? That man said so" - Sasuke did not respond, he remained quiet from then on.

Upon arriving at the castle the two elder women were already at the doors, waiting patiently for the animal to stop.

"No need to explain" - Sakura said when the blond boy opened his mouth. "He needs to feed urgently"

"Juugo went to hunt the attacker, we received your message" - Ino said. Sakura ripped the white shirt to shreds to inspect the wound.

"I'm not sure he can make it if we don't get him to feed, look at his skin, it's rotting"

"He can take mine" - Naruto said with confidence, everyone was astonished. Sasuke shook his head and pushed him away. "I don't mind, i want you to" - Sakura got up and took a step back, she felt she was intruding in a very intimate act. Naruto regained his position by the brunette's side and moved his ponytail to the side, revealing his neck. With loving hands he guided Sasuke's face to his neck and closed his eyes.

Sasuke's cold lips kissed his neck and his arms wrapped around the blonde's shoulders, Naruto whined softly when the fangs pierced his skin.

Sasuke felt the first gulp of blood traveling down his throat, the taste was intoxicating, like wine he had longed to drink since centuries ago, he was dizzy, he was drunk and he could not stop, he did not feel satiated.

"Sasuke that's enough" - Sakura called, she grabbed his shoulder with force and the brunette hissed against the skin.

"He is mine" - his mind screamed, his eyes turning red

"Sasuke stop, you'll kill him, STOP" - Ino cried.

Naruto weakly raised his hand to the other boy's cheek and smiled.

"It's alright, if it's Sasuke then it's alright" - he whispered, his hand falling down as he closed his eyes and lost consciousness.

Sasuke couldn't see anyone, he couldn't feel anything but the pleasure the blood gave him, it was all his and nobody could take it away, his prey. And then, the softness of a voice reached him, his name in such a melodious tone, the strong heartbeat slowed down and the body tightly pressed against his own softened. Sasuke's red eyes turned to cobalt and with a panicked scream he released the body he had held so possessively.

"Naruto" - he called, the pale body laid unconscious in his arms. "Naruto" - he called again in desperation

"Let me take him, he'll be alright" - Sakura took the smaller boy in her arms and disappeared into the castle.

XxX

The blond regained consciousness the next night, he felt weak all over and sleepy. Sakura and Ino were both sitting by his side, the blonde girl whipping his clammy skin with motherly tenderness.

"Is Sasuke alright?" - he whispered. Sakura laughed.

"You almost died and the first thing you ask is if he is fine?"

"Sweet child, he is perfectly fine, now you on the other hand need some time to recover"

"I'll fetch some human food" - Ino finished washing him and left the room.

There was a knock on the door and instead of the female vampire, Sasuke was standing in the doorway with a tray of food, he bowed his head and Sakura took that as her signal to leave.

The brunette helped Naruto sit down against the bed frame and fed him a spoonful of soup. He didn't say a word or look him in the eyes, he silently fed him and when he was done, he left the room without a single glance back to the human.