Author's Note: More of this one, yes. This story is crack, and as such, it jumps me at odd times and writes itself a high speeds. As I've sad before: this story is crack. Do not look for any redeeming value. Or even too much of a plot. This is an excuse for a pseudo-vampire fic, people. That really should explain everything. -Repost- I forgot that likes to absorb my page breaks, and one minor correction.

Warnings: SasuNaru/NaruSasu Blood, demons, sex eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Vice

Chapter Five

The alarm went off early. For a long moment, Naruto sat in bed blinking and trying to remember why the hell he was waking up before nine when he didn't have a mission. Then he remembered and nearly let himself fall back to the mattress.

Sasuke.

He was supposed to keep an eye on Sasuke that afternoon, so he had planned to train this morning, before breakfast.

It had seemed like a good idea when it wasn't six thirty in the morning.

Fucking Sasuke.

But he did get up, and he stumbled through the bathroom, brushing his teeth and his hair. He dressed, and he watered his one anemic houseplant--he forgot if he didn't do it in the morning--and he managed only to trip over his dirty clothes once as he stretched and yawned and popped his way awake. He tucked enough money for breakfast into his pockets before he left for the training grounds, and he forgot his keys, but to hell with it. He was a ninja, and if he couldn't get into his own locked apartment, he deserved to stay outside.

The morning was starting to warm, but it was early enough in the year that it was still cool. The stifling summer humidity hadn't rolled in yet. The sky was achingly blue, barely touched by a few wisps of cloud. A stray breeze ruffled Naruto's hair as he walked. Naruto's jaw cracked in another yawn. At least it was a nice morning, if he had to be up. It would be a nicer morning for a nap though. He gave himself a tired shake and hurried to the training grounds.

As he moved, Naruto's tired mind stirred enough for worry. Was Sasuke any better today? Whatever was wrong with him, it didn't seem like something that just a good night's rest would cure, but perhaps it had helped. Maybe, as he'd suggested, Sasuke's own chakra just needed some time to adjust. Maybe losing the Kyuubi's chakra had side effects. How was he supposed to know? Other than him, he'd never heard of anyone else who had fox chakra, and Naruto had never had his taken away.

Could be the stuff was like a drug or something. Could be people got dependent on it.

Naruto scratched his cheek, considering, then took a fist full of his own hair and yanked.

It could be that. Or it could be that the Kyuubi had done something. The memory of his malicious humor was too clear to rule out that possibility. And fuck knew how that thing thought? Might as well ask a rock why it doesn't get up and walk away. The Kyuubi wasn't any more likely than the rock to answer, and talking to a rock wouldn't be as hard on his self-esteem.

Unless people thought he was crazy.

But that wasn't the point.

The point, Naruto thought sluggishly. Fucking Sasuke.

Naruto would ask how Sasuke was later, when he was babysitting him. Hell, they'd dealt with a lot of shit from Sasuke. At least this time, their teammate's head was in the right place instead of firmly up his own ass. That had to be a good start.

This time, all he had to do was figure out the problem and fix it. Compared to fighting or reasoning with an Uchiha with his back up, this should be a cake walk.

They just had to wait for Tsunade to track down someone who knew about kitsune. Then they could get this whole mess straightened out as quickly as possible, and get back to missions, and not wake up at six thirty on an off morning. Until then, he, Sakura and Kakashi would just have to kill time and make sure Sasuke didn't eat anyone.

"I hate waiting," Naruto mumbled, arriving at the training ground. He shook himself again. He'd deal with that later. For now, he had laps to run.

Sasuke had gone back to bed after his experiment with the mirror. He still lay there, listless, when Naruto let himself in a little after noon. The bedroom was starting to smell like a sickroom by that point, and Sasuke knew it, though it wasn't the sticky-sweet odor of disease that was turning stale. Naruto's chakra complimented the smell disquietingly, raising the hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck.

He didn't look up, even though he could hear Naruto standing in his doorway. He could feel the heat of his friend's power on his back. Something in him squirmed toward that.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Sasuke pressed his face further into his pillow.

"Get up," Naruto said impatiently. He felt impatient to Sasuke, sending off little ripples and crackles of energy. The hunger tugged at him.

The Uchiha curled his fingers into his blankets and gritted his teeth. "Fuck off."

The sound of padding footsteps brought Naruto closer to the bed. "Get up and take a shower."

"I said," Sasuke told the other tightly, "fuck off."

"I heard you," Naruto said, and his chakra buzzed in a way that made Sasuke almost queasy. It was like the whole room vibrated with it ever so slightly. Whatever the sense was that came with the Kyuubi's chakra, Sasuke hated it. Naruto kicked the bed, continuing. "Now get up and take a shower. Before I pick you up and throw you."

"I don't want to. So fuck off."

"What was that? I can't hear you, when you bite your pillow like that."

Sasuke turned his head to one side, looking back over his shoulder before he thought about the action. When it caught up with him, he glanced away. "Go to hell."

"If you aren't up by the time I count to three, I'm throwing you in the shower. I mean it."

"You wouldn't dare."

Sasuke didn't have to look to know Naruto was grinning. "Wanna bet?"

"Fuck off."

"Alright then," Naruto said, his voice taking on an unpleasant edge. Turning on his heel, he marched into the bathroom. Sasuke heard the tap come on, then the needle-hiss of the shower as it hit tile. Shouted from the bathroom, "One!"

"Turn off my fucking shower!" Sasuke called back, curling onto his side and stubbornly pretending he was going to go back to sleep.

"Two," this time from the door way.

"Naruto, turn off my fucking shower and go away."

"Why? So you can lay around some more?"

He didn't answer that, lips curling into a sneer. Was it like he had something better to do? He was waiting. He was waiting, and he was being watched, and he couldn't do anything until he heard from the Hokage, because no one knew anything useful about kitsune.

Being around people just made him feel empty.

"No answer?" Naruto asked, offering a short pause for reply. Sasuke ignored it. "Fine then. Three."

Sasuke could have avoided the hand that fisted in the back of his shirt and hauled him out of bed--but he would have had to get up to do it. He yanked himself free of Naruto's grip when he was on his feet, though. "Fuck off, I want to stay in bed."

"You want to mope," Naruto corrected, crossing his arms over his chest and planting his feet. His chakra loomed for him, making up for the difference in height. "That's boring. And it's depressing. And I'm not going to watch you lay in bed all afternoon. Now get in the shower. After that, we're going out."

"I don't want to go out," Sasuke replied darkly, doing his best to ignore the part of him that whined inside, telling him not to start a fight with Naruto. That was the new part.

The part that told him to nip and snarl, that wanted to pick a fight, was sort of new too, but at least the urge was familiar.

"Tough. You don't have any food in the house, and you're already up anyway--Will you look me in the goddamn eye when I'm talking to you?"

Sasuke cringed, suddenly very tired. He looked up and let his eyes meet Naruto's, the bright red-orange he'd seen in the mirror that morning still in the front of his mind. Naruto didn't respond, though. He just held Sasuke's gaze for a few long seconds.

"Thank you," Naruto said. "Now will you get in the fucking shower, or do I have to throw you?"

Sasuke scowled, but suddenly, he couldn't find the energy to protest. He stalked into the bathroom, tugging his shirt over his head as he walked. It was the same one he'd woke up in the hospital--there was no denying that it stunk. Naruto followed him to the door, laughing when Sasuke slammed it in his face.

He kept the shower quick. Even so, it felt better to be clean. The mirror was fogged when he got out; somehow, not having to face his reflection didn't make Sasuke feel any better.

Naruto was waiting for him when he came out, his hair still dripping. He grinned, and asked, "Isn't that better?"

Sasuke snorted, dropping his attention to somewhere around Naruto's elbow.

"You're doing that again," the blond complained immediately. "Quit doing that."

"Quit doing what?" Sasuke snapped, realized he'd raised his eyes, and frowned. He didn't look down again. He half-hoped Naruto would flinch, but he didn't. Maybe it didn't make that big of a difference to him.

That thought rankled. It made a difference to Sasuke.

Naruto's eyes were blue; striking, but not strange. Sasuke had seen them turn red, seen their pupils narrow to slits and thick black marks appear like heavy makeup around them. Right now, they were just eyes. A little odd, but not noteworthy unless you knew what to look for. It wasn't fair.

So why couldn't Naruto at least flinch? Was he trying to spare Sasuke's feelings?

"Come on. Let's get some lunch."

"I'm not leaving the house for ramen," Sasuke groused, turning away. Stalking across the bedroom, he forced his head clear. He rummaged through his clothes until he found a clean shirt, then clean pants.

"Fine, what do you want?" Naruto asked, his exasperation coming through clear. "I'll treat. Just get out of this apartment."

Sasuke's stomach grumbled at the thought of food, and he remembered his craving from the day before. He was still rather sore that he hadn't gotten what he wanted.

Naruto watched him dress, waiting for an answer.

"Onigiri," Sasuke said, and hated how young he sounded when he said it.

"And they say I'm predictable."

"Shut up."

Sasuke's hair still dripped water onto his collar when they left.

Sasuke wondered if Naruto was actually being intelligent when he chose to get lunch from a snack cart and eat it in the relative private of the park, or if it was just his luck. The people they passed, the shoppers and commuters and ninja, were each their own little temptation, and being around so many of them was frustrating.

In a way it was easier than being left alone with Naruto. With so many people, he didn't find himself focusing on any one of them as much.

It gave him a headache, the way he wanted to reach out and touch all of them.

At least Naruto could take care of himself.

The onigiri were good, in any case, and there was a certain strange satisfaction in getting what he wanted, even if it was the answer to a trivial craving. Naruto didn't eat, but lay sprawled on the grass, eyes closed, face toward the sun. His presence was comfortably... inactive? Diffuse? Something. It was still there, but thin and lazy.

Whether it was design or luck, Naruto had made a good choice. Sasuke ate, and when he was done, he sat in the shade.

The breeze that stirred the grass and their hair was hot. Summer was coming.

It was, he had to admit, a good afternoon for being lazy. The air already smelled more like dusty heat than green grass. He breathed deeply and told himself that Tsunade would have an answer soon. He almost believed it.

Sasuke thought Naruto must have drifted off for a nap when, unexpectedly, he said, "What's it like?"

"What's what like?" Sasuke asked, dropping his eyes before Naruto looked at them.

Naruto waved a hand through the space between them, indicating nothing in particular. "What's--" he false-started, then gave up. Instead, he said, "Why do you keep doing that?"

"What?"

"Not looking at me."

Sasuke clenched his teeth. He made himself look Naruto squarely in the eyes. It was hard. It was very, very hard. It shouldn't have been, but especially after the other ninja mentioned it specifically, he couldn't tamp down the insecurity. The thing in him was right there, written on his face.

He held himself firm.

Naruto watched him, his own very human eyes heavily lidded.

"Well?" he said, after a short staring match.

Sasuke started in surprise, looking away for a moment, then back again. "My eyes," he answered awkwardly.

Scowling, Naruto cocked his head. "What about them?"

"Naruto," Sasuke said slowly, meeting his friend's gaze more easily, "how do my eyes look to you?"

A frown line appeared between Naruto's brows and the man propped himself up on his elbow. He stopped puffing his cheeks out. He looked at Sasuke's eyes, his own sharpening as he studied them. Sasuke kept his stare level. Finally, Naruto said, "They look like they always do. Is this a trick question? Are they supposed to look different or something?"

"That's not right," Sasuke whispered, frowning. Unless his eyes were normal again. Somehow, if that were the case, he expected to feel different. He still felt exactly the same as he had yesterday.

Damn it. He didn't like not understanding this. He should have been happy that his eyes were normal, but instead his lunch gave a queasy lurch.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he assured weakly. "It's nothing."

The conversation, such as it was, faded off after that. Sasuke's thoughts spun, but nothing came from them. He just didn't know what was going on. Naruto saw his eyes the same as always, but he knew that if he looked in the mirror, they wouldn't be. They wouldn't be like they always were at all.

Naruto's chakra tinted the air. It seemed to filter the sunlight a little more red than yellow, but it wasn't really seen.

Sometime later, after Sasuke had given up pondering the implication of his eyes, Neji and Lee spotted them. Sasuke had let himself doze off, blissfully free of dreams, but he woke up when he felt them coming near.

Shinobi, he was learning, felt different from other people. He could tell just from the taste on the air and the prickle on his skin that they were powerful. Neji drew his attention. He was different even from others.

A frisson went through his senses. He knew Hyuuga chakra was different, but he'd never felt it before. Lee followed the same pattern as Sakura and Kakashi: a tempting warmth. Neji was cool--not cold, but cool, like an autumn breeze on sweat--and he flowed like a thick liquid rather than burning. It was strangely fitting that the image that came to mind for him was more like milk than anything else.

Milk thick with cream.

Oblivious to this, Naruto cracked an eye open at the arrivals. "Hello?"

"Good afternoon," Neji said, and Sasuke got another frisson. The Hyuuga's chakra teased him.

"What's up?"

Neji answered. Sasuke didn't hear it, though he registered the even delivery. He was too distracted by the temptation to take a taste to pay much attention. He could see himself touching Neji in his mind's eye. He could see himself biting, clawing, kissing. The images were more vivid than they had been with Sakura.

He could see getting Neji to touch him. Could see himself provoking Neji to fight him, to follow him, to fuck him. Could see dangling control in front of the Hyuuga and letting him give up himself. The idea was funny, in a dark way that he didn't like to admit.

Would Neji rise to the right sort of bait?

The memory of the last night's dreams came back, and yes, Sasuke thought he could see Neji in some of those scenarios. He tried not to think of it, but it wasn't hard. It wasn't hard to picture fighting him. It wasn't hard to picture leading him. It wasn't hard to picture using him until he was limp and cold.

He was already so cool.

Sasuke wanted a taste.

Licking his lips, he wondered, could he get just a taste of that? Did he have to be touching? He thought not, but they had to be engaged one way or another. The dream seemed to imply as much. It felt right.

Maybe if it were just a taste, he wouldn't have to be touching, though. More than that, he was sure, required contact. He didn't really know how he knew exactly, and he didn't like trusting the instinct. But then, he didn't like wanting this either. He did, though. He wanted it so bad it hurt.

He was hungry, and Neji was interesting. He was no less vital than Lee, but he was so different. Naruto's chakra, even at rest, was raging by comparison.

Perhaps, he thought, just a taste. What was white chakra like? Could he roll it across his tongue like he had the nurse's, or did that take blood?

The truly human him recoiled. That part was disturbingly small.

He breathed in, looking for Neji's flavor in the air. He could almost find it, sharp and clear, and just a little bitter.

"Sasuke," Neji said, startling him. "Can I have a word with you?"

Sasuke shot a questioning look to Naruto, who shrugged noncommittally. He flipped his wrist at them as though to say, "Don't go too far." He was already shifting his attention to Lee.

"Yeah, I suppose," Sasuke told him, picking himself up off the ground. He shouldn't be doing this. He should say no. He wanted to. He did want to. He wanted to be alone with the Hyuuga more; he wanted the opportunity to take a bite.

It was the fox-thing in him arguing with the human. The problem was--beyond having something that was and wasn't him disagreeing with something that was definitely him--the human didn't like having to fight itself. The human wanted most to believe it was in control. The fox-thing just wanted for them to get up and go with Neji. It wanted him to find someway to draw Neji in, and some way to take.

While the different parts were arguing, Sasuke stood and followed Neji a comfortable distance away from the others.

The white chakra was nearly silky.

Sasuke hadn't reached out for it yet when Neji's fingers struck him low in the throat. He should have seen the punch coming. The air was suddenly burning his lungs, and his windpipe was a knot of pain. His breath creaked past it. Neji's fingers had hit him just so on his throat, not deeply, but deep enough. Any harder and he really wouldn't have been able to breathe.

"That," Neji said coldly, "should not have connected."

Sasuke didn't answer, struggling to stand up straight while he choked. He glared at the other ninja. The corner of Neji's mouth might have twitched toward a condescending smirk. It may have been disgust in his pale eyes. Hyuuga features were hard to read. Whatever passed over them, he wasn't pleased.

"I don't know what you were trying to do," Neji continued, tilting his chin imperiously. "But I do know that you were doing it. Do not do it again."

Sasuke glared, forcing himself to swallow. It nearly started another coughing fit. Neji looked down at him, waiting for his response. That white chakra moved around him, poised. It was bitter really, but a clear taste.

One of Neji's brows kicked up, not impatient. "Have I made myself understood?"

"Perfectly," Sasuke agreed harshly.

Neji snorted, a superior, Hyuuga sound, and then turned away to collect Lee. Sasuke waited until he was breathing normally again before he joined Naruto and informed him that it was time to go back to his apartment.

To be continued.