A/N: YES YES YES YES YES there is a reason I changed the title. For one thing, it's no longer and M rated story. I don't feel confident enough to make it mature. And I think COR is more appropriate, as you'll find out later on.

on with chapter ni!

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It wasn't longer than ten minutes after Naruto arrived at the bridge that the adrenaline had drained from him completely.

Naruto stood facing Sasuke, weaker than a newborn lamb. He didn't show it, of course. He'd rather look and loose tough than look and loose weakly. But if he could land one hard punch on Sasuke's almost too perfect, vampire like face...

Wait, what the hell? Sasuke? Vampire? Yes! Sasuke --

"I knew it!" Naruto shouted too loudly as he pointed his pointer finger at Sasuke's nose.

"You knew what, dobe?" That explained everything. It explained why Sasuke acted so tough, why he was so pale, why he hated the heat, why he was so… pretty.

"You are a vampire!" Naruto grinned from ear to ear as he uncovered Sasuke's... secret. Sasuke looked at him dumbfounded, wondering what in Naruto's right mind would tell him to think he was a vampire.

That's right; Naruto didn't have a right mind.

"Wow. That's nostalgic."

"Huh?"

"You used to accuse me of being things I wasn't when we were friends. Back in the day, I mean."

"Huh, I did, didn't I?" Naruto pondered, totally forgetting what he came here to do in the first place.

"Hn," Sasuke sighed, looking out at the flowing river. From where they were standing it was more than easy to see the sun set clearly. It was a pretty sight, seeing the sun's rays reflect in the shimmering water. The wind was blowing at the perfect pace and it wasn't too cold or too hot. The day was ending, and if they weren't there to hurt each other, this would have made for a stroll after a dinner date.

The boys sat on the railing of the bridge, facing the sunset with open eyes. They were abnormally close; barley a foot away from each other. No punches had been thrown in almost thirty minutes, and the adrenaline rush that both of them had been gone and they were able to keep their cool.

Keeping their cool was only 'normal' when they were alone – and they hadn't been three years. Sasuke's scowl ceased to appear and Naruto's stupid grin had shrunk into a thoughtful smile. Way back when, the boys would sit on a bench or on the grass for hours at a time, sometimes in silence, other times listening to each other's day or just counting birds and telling jokes. Of course, that was long ago. Now, it was just awkward.

Naruto seemed to be calm and gentle, while Sasuke seemed to be losing himself. It was like he couldn't act like he was better. It was like he was a small ant while Naruto was an elephant with friends who loved him for being him. He envied Naruto for that very reason. In Sasuke's eyes, Naruto was the perfect vampire, and he was the loser. That was the reality, and Sasuke was living in the alternate universe.

"Sasuke, the sun's gone for the night."

"I see that, idiot." Sasuke snorted. Even if he was the vampire, he was so dim.

"I meant in the sense that we ended up doing nothing and none of us has a scratch." Naruto said, pulling out a small pocket knife and holding it to his whiskered cheek.

"What are you doing?"

"Making it seem like you got me, duh." Naruto said, looking at Sasuke with a puzzled look. Blood slowly dripped from his cheek, oozing from the shallow cut. Thankfully it wasn't deep, but the blood seemed to be more wet and warm than it should have been. "S-Sasuke?!" Naruto stuttered. Sasuke's face had never been so close since they shared their first kiss, again, back in the day. "What are you--?"

"What a stupid question."

"I m-meant why..."

"Your blood was..." So irresistible... and the taste is so... intoxicating...

"You're still mad 'cause I called you a vampire, right? Well then get the hell over-"

"Yes, Naruto, I am a vampire. Idiot." And to a vampire, your blood is what I thirst for. Sasuke thought as he licked the blood from the cut. Naruto shivered beneath his school uniform, hoping that Sasuke didn't notice it. But one thing made the scene erotic: Naruto didn't push him off, and Sasuke kept licking his face.

Pale hands moved from the rail and placed themselves lightly on the blonde's waist as his lips moved ghostly along the jaw line of the tan face. Said blond let his head hang back as the lips moved down his neck, letting the other claim his territory with hickeys and marks. He then moved his way up to the bottom lip, where their lips almost met; just inches -- no, centimeters away from each other --

Slam!!

Sasuke's head jerked the opposite direction, his nose now dripping wildly with blood. He knew he deserved that, but he couldn't go back to school with a broken nose and let the other boy go without a scratch. Sasuke Uchiha had a reputation to keep. And so, without thinking about it, Sasuke Uchiha whammed his fist into Naruto's stomach, sending Naruto down to his knees. Sasuke, now furious, took his right foot, pressed it to Naruto's head and slammed it into the wood of the bridge. There was a quick crack and a cry of sheer pain.

The raven stepped back away from Naruto to let him get up. The act was out of sympathy for his opponent. When he finally did, his eyes were blood shot and blood spilled from his mouth and nose. But the bleeding from the cut had stopped. Sasuke's evil smirk was back, and Naruto's adrenaline had found its way back to him. Naruto charged straight for Sasuke's face, landing his final blow to Sasuke. Sadly, he missed the target, but Sasuke would leave there with a bloody eye. Both of them collapsed; their bodies unable to sustain the amount of pressure they put on themselves from the adrenaline and the strikes.

"What the heck..." He held his face as his eyes narrowed. "...did you do that for?"

"You..." Sasuke breathed heavily. "hit me."

"No, I meant... why... did you kiss me?" Naruto panted, leaning against the poles on the bridge for support. "You haven't done that since... well, a long time ago."

"I..."

"Why... I don't understand. All of a sudden... you just... you just do that!"

"I'm sorry." Naruto's eyes widened. Did Uchiha just say 'sorry'? "I couldn't help it, Naruto. And I know you liked it just as much as I did." Naruto couldn't say anything back. He just let Sasuke do all the talking for now. "I... I see you staring at me all the time... I just…" I wanted you to know that I'm still here.

"Sasuke, you're insane." Naruto looked at the darkening horizon, smiling softly. "You were the one who walked away." Nothing about this night was making much sense. Naruto just smiled at himself dumbly, figuring that he could just smile this entire place away. It would be in his dreams for the next week, so he might as well just pretend not to care.

"You told me that it wouldn't have worked. We had a past, Naruto! If you weren't so hard headed about it, it would -- we would have lasted! And stop pretending to not care!"

"Like it isn't your fault! After your parents died you weren't Sasuke anymore! You changed!"

"I don't have time for this." Sasuke stood up with shaking knees. "If you tell anyone in school what I said, you'll regret it."

"Don't walk away from it Sasuke. What do you want?"

Sasuke hung his head and sighed. He was really going to kill Naruto one day. He cocked his head to the side, blushing and pouting."I... I want you back, Naruto."

He snorted. "Tch. You don't act like it."

"I have a reputation to keep. I'm not you, Naruto. I can't get in trouble and get beaten up and still keep friends. That's your gift, and I've wanted that for myself since the day I met you."

"Sasuke," Naruto started, but Sasuke didn't let him finish. "I don't know…"

"Just shut up." Sasuke said quietly. He moved quickly towards Naruto and kissed his chastely on the lips. Naruto pulled away first.

"Why? Why all of a sudden you want to start over? Why wait till now?"

"I couldn't do it before. I was nervous. I was scared. I was… afraid that you would reject me."

"You expected me to take you back? You left me! And three years of leaving me in the dark broke me into pieces! How do I know you won't do it again!?"

"I'm making the effort to be here, aren't I?"

Naruto stopped his bitching. He sat there, looking at Sasuke with his knees up and his arms resting straight forward on top of them. Sasuke was right, yet again. It must have been Sasuke's plan all along. He dragged Naruto there, making him think that they were going to settle things in a violent manner, but instead, he meant in a heart filled and verbal manner.

"I can treat you," Sasuke moved in between Naruto's knees, taking his face in his hands as he spoke. "Better than anyone could. That's why we're here. It can be our secret. No one has to know. I'll be better for you than I did before. I promise you that much. I won't leave you."

Naruto chuckled sarcastically. "I can't believe you."

"What?" Sasuke asked, running his thumbs on Naruto's scars. "I can barely believe I'm doing this." He let go and sat crossed legged, eyes on the moron he fell in love with all that time ago.

"I meant I can't believe you want to do this again and you don't want something to change. I can't go through that again. If nothing changes, it'll end the same way. I don't wanna go through that again."

"You haven't tried. You don't sound like the Naruto I knew. You're giving up, aren't you?" Sasuke almost whispered. He made his choice to be here. He conjured up the strength and courage to face Naruto, but Naruto wasn't making this easy. He turned it all around on the Uchiha.

"Sasuke, just how much are you willing to give up doing this again?"

"Are you considering?"

"No, I just want to know."

Sasuke couldn't answer that.

The wind blew a little harder through Sasuke's dark hair. His bangs fell on his forehead as he stared at his feet. His eye started pulsing and his nose started to hurt, but he ignored it. In all honesty, all he wanted to do was kiss Naruto again. His lips against those big, juicy ones… Of all the lips he'd kissed before, the ones on the tanned face were his favourite. Naruto was a great kisser, for an idiot.

He didn't have to use his tongue to make Sasuke want to kiss him. One simple peck from the boy was enough to make Sasuke crazy, and he probably was going crazy. Naruto had that effect on him and it was not a good thing.

But he had his good effects. Like the way he used to make Sasuke feel like he had a place to return to everyday. He made the brunette feel wanted. He gave him the butterflies in his stomach each time they held hands. Even when they weren't touching, his presence made Sasuke comfortable.

"How did it end?" Naruto spoke up after the long silence.

"We got caught and the cops pulled us off and took us home,"

"Alright," Naruto backed away from Sasuke and stood up to leave. Sasuke watched him from the bridge, somehow knowing that deep down inside of him that Naruto wanted to kiss him, too.