Kakashi stretched his arms over his head as he walked back to his office, arching his back like a cat, feeling the snaps in his bones that always came when he'd been sitting hunched over for too long. He'd spent the afternoon in meetings with Director Tsunade and the other unit leaders, and he was bored out of his mind. He could only take so many discussions on the intricate workings that were budgets before he started looking for a window to throw himself out of. Days like this made him miss being in the field, chasing bad guys, doing something to right the wrongs in the world. As it was now he only went into the field in case of emergencies. The rest of his time was spent assigning missions, making sure his unit was performing to the best of their abilities and an endless stream of meetings.

Collapsing onto his desk chair he smothered a yawn before adjusting his mask. He hadn't had time to shave today, and now the stubble was pulling at the fabric, making it itch more than usual. Realising no one would see he pulled the mask down to pool around his neck and let his nails go to town, scratching at the irritated skin to his heart's content.

"Yesss," he groaned as he hit a particular spot that had been bothering him the entire meeting. The fabric of the mask was too thick to scratch through properly, so he'd just had to endure it. Tsunade was the only one who knew why he wore the mask and the eyepatch, so it wasn't like he could've done this until now. Although, it certainly would've made the rest of the unit leaders happy. He'd heard some of the rumours about what he hid underneath his mask, one more outrageous than the other, and he found it hilarious. He might have made up a few of the rumours himself when he got too bored and needed to entertain himself. It was surprisingly easy to spread them when you knew exactly who had the biggest mouth out of the unit leaders.

Finally satisfied he pulled the mask up again, just in case someone from his unit decided to rush into his office without knocking first. Both Kiba and Naruto was prone to do just that, seemingly forgetting that he was their boss and should be treated with respect. Kakashi snorted. As if that was likely to happen anytime soon.

Nudging his computer mouse he woke his computer from its slumber, quickly scanning through his messages to see if anything had come up while he was away. His agents would start pouring into the office soon, and he needed to make sure they all had assignments for the night, either dealing with cases, or patrolling.

The intelligence gathering units had sent out several leads, so it looked like all of them were going to be busy tonight.

He typed up the information and sent it to their inboxes where they could read it and prepare when they came in. None of the cases were dire, so there was nothing that needed immediate attention, just some vague leads to follow up on and check out. Most of the times these leads would be duds, people seeing a goth neighbour and figuring she or he had to be a vampire, and so on and so forth. Sometimes they were more accurate though, so they treated all of them as if they were the real deal.

Kakashi wanted to start reading his book, he was getting to a very exciting point, just when the hero realised he didn't love the princess at all, but rather the stable boy. He'd read the book before though, it wasn't like he didn't know exactly what was going to happen, so it could wait. When his agents was all dispatched there was little other for him to do but paper work, and being ready for any unforeseen happenings.

He spent a few minutes scanning through the reports from last night. Five vampires executed, seven causalities, all unpreventable because they'd already been dead when the agents arrived. Two people rescued.

Kakashi sighed. They'd saved two people, as well as all the ones that wouldn't be attacked by the vampires in the future, but seven people were still dead. Seven people they hadn't been able to save, because they were always one step behind, unable to take out the vampires before they actually killed someone, making themselves known.

They needed something more than just agents, they needed to find a way to stop the demons from even coming into this world in the first place, needed to shut down the veil, and then they could work on getting rid of every single vampire already in the world.

It wasn't like no one had ever thought about that before. Scientists and witches alike had tried to shut off the world from the demon realm, but so far nothing had yielded any results. They had no idea how it worked, if it was a parallel dimension, or something else, so for now all they could do was to take out as many vampires as possible with what resources they had, to keep their numbers from getting too high.

Hearing the chatter of voices from the bullpen he pushed his chair back and headed towards the noise, intending to check up on his unit.

The room was mostly full, people chattering and checking their computers, getting ready for a night in the field. He saw Kiba perched on Sakura's desk, obviously flirting with the pink-haired agent. Kakashi didn't think that was likely to happen anytime soon, judging by the way she was glaring at Kiba. She looked more prone to kicking his ass than dating him.

Shikamaru was leaning over his desk, seemingly fast asleep, while Kankuro was nudging Temari. Kakashi vaguely heard something about, "that lazy in bed as well?" before Temari punched him in the shoulder. Kakashi had heard some rumours about the two of them, but he had no idea how far beyond rumours it went. They were a lot more discreet than Naruto and Sasuke had been. The way the two of them had been looking at each other had been pretty easy to interpret.

On the other side of the bullpen Lee was headed towards the kitchen, apparently aiming for the coffee maker, because the moment Neji noticed he pushed away from his desk to intercept him. Lee on caffeine was about as good an idea as Lee on alcohol.

Gaara was sitting at his desk, reading a file, ignoring everyone else around him. Nothing out of the ordinary there obviously. Gaara had never been very sociable, and he'd struggled with a short temper when he was transferred here from another unit, but he'd calmed down the last year, and now he was just a silent type, his anger directed at the vampires they fought, which frankly was a lot healthier than at his fellow agents.

The elevator dinged a moment later, and the final two members of their unit stepped out of it. Naruto had a grin on his face and an arm around Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke was rolling his eyes at something Naruto said, trying to shake Naruto off of him, but it was obvious that he didn't really mind the touch. Sasuke had changed a lot these last months, and even though he still was a bit of a closed-off bastard he had come a long way. Kakashi had no doubt in his mind that it was all due to Naruto.

Kakashi had hoped Naruto might be a good match for Sasuke when he signed on the shifter, but he had never imagined they'd fit together quite this well. He'd just hoped Naruto would be stubborn enough to deal with Sasuke's bitching. Obviously he was, and then some. He knew some of the unit leaders frowned upon interoffice romances, but seeing the two of them together just made him even surer in his conviction that a relationship between partners could strengthen the bond and ensure they performed even better than before. Sure, they were screwed if they had a falling out, but it wasn't like he couldn't reassign either of them. He didn't really think he would have to though. Sasuke might have put up a fight at every point along the way, but now Naruto had gotten so close Kakashi didn't think Sasuke would give up on him anytime soon. It was clear in the way Sasuke looked at him.

Kakashi shook his head. He'd obviously been single for too long if he got this invested in the relationships of his agents. He probably needed to get laid, but there wasn't really anyone interesting to him, at least not within reasonable distance that was.

A smile spread underneath his mask as he looked over his unit. They were all exceptional agents, and he felt that they had a great team now, filling each other out, supporting each other, keeping each other sane. They all reminded him why he did this job, even though it was a shitty one. Even though it was a hard fight he felt like they were making a difference in the world, helping those who needed it. It wasn't enough, but it was something, and right now that was the best they could do.


"Seriously, I can't believe you haven't seen it, it's like the best thing since… ramen!"

"I'm not sure anyone but you think ramen is that high of a bar, Naruto," Sasuke said back as they waited for his computer to boot. Naruto hadn't even bothered firing up his own, he just wrapped his arms around Sasuke and rested his chin on his shoulder, looking over it. Chances were that they'd get the same assignment anyways, seeing how they were partners and all. Filing useless old documents or dusting behind some shelves or some other shitty job to keep them occupied. Naruto was sure Kakashi was having a blast finding the most menial tasks for them. He just wasn't sure if it was because of his sadistic joy in torturing them, or some overall plan to make Sasuke so bored he got over whatever issues he had through the power of sheer boredom and could go back on active duty. Naruto nudged his temple against Sasuke as Sasuke typed in his password.

Naruto tried to act professional when at work, but here in the office, where everyone knew about them already he sometimes couldn't help himself. He just needed to be close to Sasuke, needed to feel him relax back against him. At times he still found himself baffled with how lucky he had been to find Sasuke, someone who actually loved him, despite of what he was. Sure, Sasuke had never actually said it in so many words, even after they'd been together for several months and had gone to hell and back, but Naruto knew him, could see it in the way Sasuke looked at him. Even when he looked at Naruto as if he was an idiot. There was love there, Naruto knew it. Right beside a healthy dose of annoyance.

"Oooh, do we have an assignment?" Naruto said as he saw the message from Kakashi on Sasuke's screen. Sasuke didn't answer, just brought up the message, skimming through it with Naruto hanging on his shoulder. He might grumble whenever Naruto was clingy, but the tension in his shoulders always seeped away whenever Naruto wrapped himself around him, so he was pretty certain it was all for show.

Naruto groaned when he read the message Kakashi had sent over. They had seemingly archived every single abandoned folder in the DPA, so tonight they'd join the cleaners again. A demon summoning gone wrong, the link not strong enough to contain the gluttony demon. Which meant one thing. Guts. Everywhere. It would probably have exploded the moment it materialized in the world, and it would not be a pretty sight.

Complaints forming in his head as Naruto turned towards Kiba to ask if maybe they should just change partners for the day so Kiba could go scrub demon guts and Naruto could go ash some vampires, but he was rudely interrupted by Kiba's phone going off before he got as far as to ask. It was a brand new phone, the old one having died a hero's death a few days earlier in the skirmish between Kiba and Kankuro.

Kiba hadn't ever really grasped the concept of inside voices vs outside voices, so it wasn't hard to hear what Kiba was saying to the person on the other end of the line. "Kank! Dude! Where are—what the fuck, man, are you dying?" Kiba's face scrunched up for a moment. "Why the hell are you throwing up when you are talking to me, if this is some lame joke I swear—you are making me sick just listening—I told you that seafood from that place was a horrible idea—" he interrupted himself, listening for a moment before adding in a chuckle, "Sure sweetie, love you too," and then hanging up.

"Have you driven your partner to calling in sick because he can't stand being around you?" Sasuke muttered, loud enough that Kiba definitely could hear it.

Kiba growled as he stood up from his chair, looking like he wanted to say something bad back, but then he just spun around and stomped towards Kakashi's office, knocking as an afterthought as he pulled open the door.

Naruto read through their job for the night one more time, noting the area, and who they'd be working with. He didn't recognise any of the names, but then again, they didn't spend a lot of times around the other units.

"I shouldn't have put on my nice pair of shoes," Naruto complained.

Sasuke looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "You don't have any nice pairs of shoes."

Naruto sputtered. He so had nice pairs of shoes! These didn't even have any holes in them, and the fake leather was only a little scuffed at the toes. And he'd even polished them! Not this month, but he had polished them at some point, he was sure of it.

Bottom lip pushed into a pout he walked over to his own desk, sitting down and crossing his arms, just as the door to Kakashi's office slammed open.

"You are mine today!" Kiba yelled, and as Naruto looked over he saw Kiba's finger point right at him.

"Huh?"

"Kank is out with food poisoning, and I have a mission. You are the only one that's currently available for fieldwork but partnerless, so you are coming with me."

Naruto blinked once before he realised what it meant. No clean-up job! A grin spread on his face. He'd never actually worked in the field with Kiba before, it could be fun to see him in action. Apart from Sasuke Kiba was his best friend in the office, in fact, he'd been contemplating the need to ditch Sasuke for a night or two in order to hang out more with Kiba. Sasuke kept insisting that it would be a horrible idea, claiming that Naruto and Kiba was much too alike and should never be placed in the same room for a prolonged amount of time, or they'd start breaking stuff.

He was probably right actually, Naruto grinned to himself. They both had the tendency to be loud and all over the place. Fuck, he wished he had known Kiba back in high school, they would have had so much fun back then. If Naruto hadn't attended the most bigoted high school known to man that was.

Kiba bounded down the steps and headed in his direction, and soon Naruto found himself pulled out of his chair, a strong arm wrapped around his neck as he was bent forwards, knuckles rubbing the top of his skull. He yelped and tried to get away, but Kiba kept up the torment for a little while longer before finally releasing Naruto. Naruto answered by socking Kiba's shoulder before trying to salvage his hair. To be honest, even with the vigorous rubbing it wasn't much different from what it had been when he left the apartment earlier. Unlike Sasuke he tended to just rock the bedroom hair look.

"Dude, I finally get to see the infamous Naruto Uzumaki, shifter slash moron, in action!" Kiba exclaimed with a grin.

"And I finally get to see if a mutt can really take on a vampire," Naruto shot back.

"Hey! I'm not a mutt," Kiba pouted, "Stop calling me that, moron."

"Then stop calling me moron, mutt!"

"Pft, I call it as I see it."

"And I call it as I smell it," Naruto shot back, smiling in victory at Kiba's outraged look.

"I do not smell like a dog!"

Naruto just stared at him. "Sure, Kiba. Keep telling yourself that. It's not like it's driving the ladies away or nothin'."

Kiba frowned and looked over his shoulder towards Sakura who was typing away on her computer, seemingly oblivious to him. He seemed to consider the numerous times he'd flirted with her and been shot down. He slowly turned back towards Naruto and not-so-subtly lifted the collar of his shirt to his nose and sniffed it.

Naruto guffawed, but was rudely interrupted by a light smack to the side of the head.

"Stop provoking the dog and pay attention," Sasuke said, ignoring Naruto's yell about being used as a punching bag.

Naruto peered at him, and realised that Kakashi was standing there as well, looking at them. He looked more amused than annoyed, as far as Naruto could tell.

"Heh, Kakashi, hi," Naruto said, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck, giving a sheepish grin.

"I gather Kiba has told you about the situation then?"

"I'm to partner up with Kiba for the night. Kill some vamps, and look good doing it."

"Well, you are half-right anyways," Kakashi deadpanned, moving on before Naruto could ask what he meant with that. "There's reports of a house where several girls have been seen enter, and no one has been seen exiting. We are fairly confident that it's a den, and need to flush it out. There's unlikely to be a lot of vampires in such a tight spot, but there's probably gonna be more than the one. All the other teams have their own cases, and this needs to be dealt with tonight, so you going with Kiba is the only option."

Naruto nodded. Anything to get him back on the streets, doing what he had been trained to and—

"No."

Naruto turned towards Sasuke. No? What did Sasuke mean by no?

"I'm not sending him out there with Kiba," Sasuke said, looking at Kakashi with a steady gaze that didn't open up for arguments at all. "He's my partner, and I'm not letting him run into a den without me for backup."

"Didn't you hear Kakashi? The other teams are busy, I can do this, it won't be a problem," Naruto said. He didn't like the implications that he wasn't good enough without Sasuke. He was an agent by his own right, as was Kiba.

"If you are going, so am I," Sasuke said, crossing his arms and leaning back, levelling a gaze at Naruto.

"You have not been cleared for active duty, Sasuke, you are not going out there," Kakashi said, and for once there was no hint of amusement in his voice.

"Naruto is my partner, and I'm not letting him put himself in danger without me."

"Out of the question," Kakashi said.

"Damned it, Kakashi! I've been going to all my sessions, I haven't had a single panic attack since that one time, let me go out there just once. Kiba can come as chaperon." Sasuke slammed his palm against the desk, punctuating his annoyance.

"No," Kakashi said, "it's not going to happen. Not until Shizune specifically tells me you are cleared for duty. I'm not going to risk it."

"It's not for you to risk!" Sasuke was getting angry, and Naruto didn't know what to do or say to defuse the situation.

"I'm your boss, Sasuke, I'm in charge of every single one of you. Anything happens to you and it's my fault. You think I don't have a hard enough time sending you all out there every night as it is? I'm not letting you into the field, Sasuke, a few weeks of therapy is not enough by a long shot."

Naruto saw Kiba sink back, letting the arguing to the others. His eyes flicked towards Naruto's, and he twisted his mouth into a look of oh shit, that perfectly matched Naruto's feelings. He didn't think he'd ever seen Kakashi yelling at anyone before, and Sasuke wasn't really the type either, not unless it was at something stupid Naruto did.

Naruto saw the way Sasuke clenched his hands into fists, his face set in a scowl, jaw tense. He didn't look like he was about to back down at all, but he took a pause as if to gather his thoughts before he spoke, and he was no longer yelling. "I can't sit here while he's out there, Kakashi, if something happens I'd..." His gaze flickered towards Naruto for a moment.

"Both Naruto and Kiba are trained agents, they can manage without you for a night," Kakashi said. His shoulders had sunk back into his usual slouch, and Naruto realised how tired he looked, something he didn't usually notice.

"Please, Kakashi," Sasuke said. "I need to do this. Fuck, I won't even go in, I'll just stay in the car as backup, I just need to know that I'm close if something happens."

Kakashi gave him a long stare, as if he was trying to find some way to persuade Sasuke to stay back in the office, and then Kiba suddenly spoke up. "Uhm, I'll make sure he doesn't come in? If he's in the car it should be okay, right?"

A grey eye turned towards Kiba and Naruto, and Naruto could see the moment Kakashi realised he had lost. Sasuke wasn't about to back off, and he had no other options right now. He sighed, and it was clear he was not agreeing at all, but found himself backed into a corner. "Kiba, you are in charge of making sure Sasuke does not leave the car unless it's a life or death situation. If I hear anything else you are gone, Sasuke. I'm kicking you out of the DPA for insubordination."

Sasuke didn't say anything, but he nodded, and Kiba affirmed that if necessary he'd handcuff Sasuke to the steering wheel. Kakashi made sure they knew how little he appreciated this, and that he thought it was a shit idea, but soon after the three of them were leaving the office.


Sasuke didn't even bother asking which car they were taking, just walked over to his Lexus, popping the trunk to make sure his weapons were all there and ready. He heard Naruto and Kiba discussing who should get the front seat, as if they in fact were five years old.

When they were still discussing as Sasuke closed the trunk and walked over to the front seat, Naruto stating his claim on account of being Sasuke's boyfriend, and Kiba saying Naruto got to sit in the front seat of the car every day, so it was clearly his turn, Sasuke took the decision for them. "Neither of you get to sit in the front." He slammed the driver's door shut for good measure, and then he heard the two others get in the back, elbowing each other, trying to place the blame on the other.

He shouldn't really been surprised by the fact that the two of them spent the entirety of the trip chattering and telling really bad jokes. He had long since realised that Naruto and Kiba together was an awful idea, and he had no idea how that would work in the field. One thing was when they went to the bar and the two got drunk and did stupid shit, another was when they were going into a vampire den together.

He really didn't like the idea of being stuck in the car while the two of them went in, seeing as how they had no idea what really waited for them in that apartment. A single vampire they took out easily, or a full den. He knew Naruto was a hell of a fighter, but Naruto and he was a team, working together seamlessly. Naruto and Kiba might be friends, but they didn't have that bond, and Naruto wouldn't have the backup that he had in Sasuke.

Only, Sasuke hadn't been a backup for Naruto at all the last time they were in the field.

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. He got why Kakashi wouldn't send him into the field, would probably agree if their places were switched, but the thought of Naruto going in without him was a vice around his chest. Sasuke wouldn't be there to help him. Sure, he'd be in the car, but if things went to hell it wouldn't be enough would there? Naruto wouldn't have time to go fetch him, and Sasuke would sit here, no more of use than any civilian.

By the time they arrived at their destination Sasuke had all but decided to ignore Kakashi's warnings and go inside. If he could show him that he could do this without any issues he'd let him back on the force, he had to. Sasuke was a great agent, and one little setback shouldn't be enough to stop him from doing the one thing he was good at.

He hadn't gotten the door open more than an inch before it slammed shut. Sasuke looked up, and saw Kiba standing with a palm pressed against the window, leaning against the door. "No way, Uchiha. I have orders, and you better not be thinking about leaving this car."

"Screw you, Inuzuka. Let me out."

"Not happening."

Sasuke glared at him, but then there was someone else standing next to Kiba. "It'll be fine," Naruto said. "I'll be careful, okay? Please don't leave the car, you know Kakashi will be forced to fire you, you can't keep pushing him."

Sasuke slammed his hands against the steering wheel, angry. At Kakashi and himself and that one stupid panic attack that seemed to have messed up everything, and all the shit that was the source of that panic attack and his nightmares and everything that made him broken.

He heard the faint click of the door opening, and then there were arms around his neck, pulling him into an awkward sideways hug. "I'll be careful, okay?" Naruto said, "I'll ash a few vampires for you, yeah?"

"Don't you dare get hurt," Sasuke said, and Naruto grinned at him, kissed his cheek and then he left with Kiba. The laughter and jokes were gone, and Sasuke could almost see the way they settled into work mode, backs straightening, more aware, ready for whatever could happen two floors up.

Sasuke did leave the car as soon as the front door shut behind the other two, but only to grab his weapons and sit down on the hood of the car, ready to start running at the first sign of trouble. He wasn't sure which apartment the vampires were supposedly in, they might not be on this side of the building at all, but if he heard anything remotely like screams or sounds of fighting he'd be up those stairs in a split-second, killing anything that might threaten Naruto.

The katana felt familiar in his hands, the weight of it somehow grounding him, making him more focused.

As minutes passed without anything happening he felt himself wind tighter, fighting with himself not to run up there, find out what was going on. If anything happened to Naruto because he didn't disobey Kakashi he would never forgive himself.

Shit, he should go up there.


Kiba had gone into the apartment figuring it would be business as usual. Ash a couple of vamps, maybe save a girl or two, or at least find bodies for distraught parents to bury. They'd hoofed up the stairs, kicked in a door and done their things, feeling pretty on top of the situation as they took out four vampires between them with matching headshots. Then they came upon a bolted bedroom door, and considering there hadn't been a single trace of any victims yet they were expecting to find girls locked away as midnight snack. Things turned to shit the moment Naruto tore the door off its hinges, bypassing the lock altogether.

Oh, they found girls alright, several of them, but rather than terrified girls hunched away in a corner they were met by the screeches of half a dozen starved newborns. The vampires hadn't just fed on the girls they lured into the apartment, they had been turning them, and now fresh turns came at them, eyes wild, a group of scantily clad killers who would do anything to sate the hunger rushing through their body.

A vampire with matted blond hair launched herself at Kiba before he could even lift his gun, slamming him hard against the hallway wall. She snapped her mouth in his face, elongated fangs nearly taking a chunk out of his nose. He just managed to throw an arm out and press it against her throat, holding her far enough away that she only got a mouthful of air.

He heard a gun go off, and hoped that meant Naruto was on top of the situation, because right now he definitely wasn't. The vampire had locked her long nails on his forearms, and as she fought to get to the blood in his veins she was digging bloody furrows in the flesh of his arms. It was hard to focus on holding her away when the pain was like fire burning over his skin. He needed to end her immediately, because he was well aware of the fact that there had been at least five more vampires in the room, and he needed to help Naruto, because if none of them were attacking Kiba it meant that they had all gone for Naruto.

He heard another shot, and hoped Naruto's bullet had found its target, but he couldn't check, because his vision was obscured by a face so twisted up in furious hunger that she no longer looked remotely like the pretty girl she'd probably once been. Her face was nothing else than the demon who had taken her corpse as its new home.

Knowing he couldn't push her off like this he tried to find some other way to get his gun pointed at her face rather than into thin air. She pulled back fractionally, probably preparing to strike at his throat again, and Kiba used the opportunity to drop down, getting away from her teeth. He didn't hesitate and brought his hand up, aiming his gun at the underside of her jaw just as her mouth snapped just where his face had been a mere second ago. He pulled the trigger, getting a faceful of dark blood as the bullet ripped through her head. She dropped to the ground, a crater where the top of her head had been moments earlier.

Kiba wiped clotting blood from his eyes and followed the sound of a deep growl. The hallway was empty, the sounds coming from the living room. He got to his feet, ignoring the pain racing up his arms as he ran in that direction, ready to take down any vampire hurting his friend.

He bust into the living room, dreading what he was going to see. Naruto was tough as hell, but five newborns was still a hell of a lot to take on on your own. Kiba hoped he wasn't too late, that Naruto was holding them off.

One vampire was lying on the floor, face mostly gone, torn away by a gunshot that must've entered from the back of her head. The other four was still alive, although one appeared to have only one functioning arm, her other hanging uselessly from a busted shoulder. The other of the gunshots Kiba had heard must've missed its target.

Naruto was lying on the ground, one of the vampires sitting atop his hips in what could've looked like an intimate moment apart from the fact that she was trying to eat him in the strictly literal sense of the word.

As Kiba watched one of the other vampires grabbed Naruto's arm and sunk her fangs deep in the fragile skin at the nook of his elbow. Kiba saw Naruto buck from the pain, his other hand going up to pry off the vampire that was pinning him to the floor. Both hands were empty, gun probably lost when he was thrown to the ground.

Kiba fired at the vampire that had her fangs in Naruto's arm, bullet tearing through her ribcage. He hadn't dared taking her out with a headshot, afraid he'd hit Naruto if he tried.

The vampire howled, her fangs ripping away from Naruto's arm, fiery red eyes locking on Kiba, she appeared torn between attacking the new prey or finish what she was doing, but the scent of blood under her nose won out, apparently.

Just as well, because one of the other vampires had decided to take on Kiba. She was crouched down, her short skirt hitched up obscenely, her t-shirt in tatters. Her dark hair was a mess around her face, and eyes set in dark shadows of smeared makeup.

She was fast, too fucking fast, and as she leapt at him Kiba couldn't get in a good shot, not without potentially hitting Naruto behind her, and he wasn't going to risk that. As a shifter Naruto's healing abilities would far surpass his own as a measly human, but he was pretty sure a bullet to the face would take out Naruto, and Kiba did not want to be the one to tell Sasuke he had accidentally killed his boyfriend.

Kiba wasn't about to make the same mistake as the vampire he'd left ashing out in the hallway, so he didn't let her get the upper hand. He brought a leg up and twisted his body as she came close, sending his booted foot into her hip, kicking her well away from him and to the side, giving him a clear shot to finish her off with a clean headshot.

There was still three vampires in the room, all three of them on Naruto.

Kiba rushed over, intending to get the one sitting astride him, pull her off, but before he came close enough she was suddenly flying through the air, slamming into him, sending them both sprawling to the floor. Kiba felt his gun fly from his grip, and a quick glance saw it spin across the room, way out of reach.

He didn't hesitate to dip his hand to his side, grabbing the handle of the large knife he had sheeted there. He intended to bury its blade in the vampire's skull or carve over her throat, but before he got that far she had pushed off him and run at Naruto again.

Kiba got to his knees, and was about to get up to his feet and try again when he saw exactly what was happening. Naruto had three set of fangs locked on his body, but he wasn't letting that stop him. The air was shimmering around him as if there was a distant fire in the room, and then he arched his back, dislodging the vampire who had again found her perch atop his hips.

He surged to his feet as if the three vampires were nothing but annoying bugs hanging on him, and ignoring the long fangs deep in his flesh he ripped his arm away, tearing ragged wounds to match Kiba's own.

Kiba knew that Naruto was a shifter, that had never been a secret, but he hadn't given it much thought before. It was just one of those facts he didn't care about, because Naruto was first and foremost an agent and a friend, and apart from the scars across his face he had never seen anything else to remind him of the fact that he wasn't just human.

Kiba fell back on his ass as Naruto tipped his head back and roared, sounding nothing like the laidback guy Kiba knew him as. He was sitting on his haunches, and his eyes were glaring red, eerily seminal to the three vampires that crowded him. One of the vamps threw itself at his back, claws digging into his shoulders, long fangs digging into his flesh.

Something was wrong, like really, really wrong. Kiba had learned about shifters in the academy, and even if he hadn't seen any of them shifting in real life he knew this was not how it was supposed to be. Naruto wasn't fluidly moving from human to animal form, he was stuck somewhere in-between, all fangs and claws. He reached behind himself, his claws digging into the vampire, and Kiba watched as Naruto's hand tightened around the vamp's throat, and with a yank sent the small body flying through the air to slam into the wall right by Kiba's head. He looked over and saw the hole where there only moments before had been a throat. Dark blood bubbled to the surface as it clawed at the floor. Flesh was knitting over, slowly, no silver on Naruto's claw to disrupt the healing, and Kiba only hesitated for a moment before he brought up his knife and finished the job, slamming the silver coated blade between ribs, destroying the heart. The vampire crumpled to the ground and he looked over at Naruto again. Dark blood dripped from his mouth, and the remaining two vampires were slowly ashing out on the floor, one with a gaping hole where its heart had been, and the other mangled beyond healing. Naruto growled deep in his throat as his head swung around, red eyes locking on Kiba.


Sasuke took the stairs two at a time. He had been sitting on the hood of the car, waiting like a good little minion, counting off the seconds while he tried to follow Kakashi's orders, but as seconds turned into minutes and he lost count, he realised that there was no way he could just sit here. It should not take this long to wipe out a group of vampires, something must've happened. He wasn't supposed to go up there unless he was called for, but if something went wrong it wasn't like they'd be able to call for him.

Stupid, the plan had been stupid. He should've never agreed to sit downstairs and just wait. He should be right by Naruto's side as he went into danger, supporting him. He wasn't fragile, he'd had one panic attack following a series of increasingly bad nightmares, but that was to be expected with what he'd gone through, surely. It had just been the one time, he would be fine, as long as Naruto wasn't... wasn't...

He clenched his eyes shut while he took the last few stairs, willing the flashes of pictures that rose in his mind away. He couldn't afford giving into the pain now. If only he got there in time everything would be fine. Probably wasn't anything anyways, they'd killed all the vampires and was taking care of survivors or something, it would be fine, it had to be.

Sasuke made his way into the apartment through a busted front door, and saw the remains of vampires in the hallway and kitchen. He also heard a deep growl, and ice filled his veins. He knew that roar.

Skidding around the corner he found himself in the living room. It was carnage. Dark vampire blood had seeped into the carpets, and there were several bodies lying around in various stages of ashing away into nothing. Too many for just an ordinary group of vampires, something was wrong, this wasn't an ordinary case of a couple of vampires banding together to tear a bloody path through the city.

He saw Kiba first, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. His face was sprayed in blood, too dark to be human. His eyes were open, showing too much white in the midst of that dark red. He held a knife loosely in one hand, darkened with more blood.

Sasuke's eyes followed to find what Kiba was staring at, and saw Naruto sitting in the middle of the room, back hunched over, hands splayed on the floor to steady himself, claws curled into the carpet. Sasuke could only see him mostly from the back, but he knew exactly what he'd see. Red eyes, lips peeled away from sharp fangs, face twisted into something more beast than man. He'd clearly torn through the vampires, leaving only the three agents in the room, and currently Naruto's gaze was directed at Kiba.

Sasuke carefully edged along the wall, intending to break his gaze when Naruto threw his head back and roared. He lifted his hands to his face, claws digging into the skin and dragging bloody furrows down his cheeks. The roar broke into a hurt sound as he fought with the instincts that were trying to take over control.

It was the Uchiha manor all over again. Naruto had been pushed past his control, and now the beast was there, fighting for its place.

Sasuke rushed over, dropping to his knees hard, the impact jarring against his kneecaps. Naruto's red eyes snapped towards him, but before he could do anything Sasuke had placed his hands on the sides of his head, cradling his face, thumbs resting on scorching warm cheeks, the rest of his fingers buried in his wild mane. He held Naruto's head still, keeping their gazes locked, not wavering at all as he begged him to come back.

He thought Naruto had this under control, thought that he was stable, but right now there was no trace of Naruto in those eyes, and he felt the vibrations from his growls against his fingers, and for a moment he was afraid that Naruto was going to hurt him, that he couldn't tell him apart from the vampires he had just carved his way through.

"Naruto," he said, hearing the pleading note in his voice.

Naruto blinked once, twice, eyelids dragging heavily over his eyes. They were still bright red, and now Sasuke could see how the pupils were slits, decidedly not human. He focused on the eyes, not looking on the blood that coated the lower half of his face. He willed Naruto to come back to him, to find the strength to fight.

He'd thought Naruto had this under control, thought Naruto had managed to shut away the beast, but he had been wrong, and now he was scared that it was too late. He should have spent more time finding the answer, should have gotten over the hurt of his own past to help Naruto.

He counted the fact that Naruto wasn't trying to eat him as a good thing. Somewhere in there it was still Naruto in charge, and he refused to be afraid of him, refused to let Naruto for a moment believe that he was a monster. This wasn't Naruto, this was something else. A parasite.

The growl in Naruto's throat died out, turning into a soft whine, and Sasuke knew Naruto was coming back to him, that he just needed a little more time to fight of the other, and then he'd be back to him, and then…


The sound of growls were loud in the room, only broken with the sounds of the city outside, moving on as if nothing had happened at all. Cars drove past, a siren blasted in the distance, and there was a steady thumping Kiba couldn't quite identify. A neighbour complaining about the noise most likely, unknowing or uncaring about what had and was happening here. Kiba was still sitting against a wall, his knife in his hand as he stared wide-eyed at what was happening. For a moment he had been sure Naruto was going to leap at him, tear out his throat as easily as he had disposed of the vampires, but then Sasuke had burst into the room, dropping to his knees as if he wasn't scared at all.

Kiba was trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Naruto hadn't shifted into the fox Kiba had always though he would, but he didn't look much like the Naruto he knew either. His mouth was open, as if it couldn't close around the long fangs that had replaced his normal blunt teeth. His eyes shone a deep red, and his normally blond hair had darkened into a reddish colour. His nails were claws, and he was hunched over, as if his spine was no longer quite the same. Kiba thought he was bigger too, stronger.

Just as disconcertingly was the flickering red light that surrounded him, as if he was encased in flames. Kiba had no idea what was going in, he had mentally been going through all the various paranormal beings they had learned about in the academy, but he had run out some time after wendigo. This was wrong. This wasn't Naruto. There had been nothing left of Naruto when those red eyes had swivelled at him earlier. In that moment it had been clear that this thing, whatever it was, would have no qualms about killing him.

He'd been sure it would tear Sasuke apart the moment he dropped down in front of him, and for a moment it almost looked like it would, but something happened as Sasuke cradled its face and talked to it. It impossibly calmed down, the red light flickering around it dying out. It was as if it was melting away, turning back into Naruto.

Kiba wanted to get his phone and call in Kakashi, but he was afraid that if he moved he'd break whatever was going on. A great shudder passed through Naruto, and it was as if he was shaking off whatever had come over him, and when he looked up again his eyes were blue.

Kiba let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, easing the death grip he had on his knife. It was going to be okay, Sasuke handled this, and soon they could head back, and he could get Naruto to talk, because this shit wasn't normal, and he really needed to know what was happening.

The slam of a door snapped his head to the side, and he scrambled backwards when he saw what came bursting from the room they had accidentally freed the newborns from earlier.

It was another vampire. It had probably been female at some point, but it was hard to see. There were remains of cloth around its waist, but the rest of the body was naked, showing the hollowed stomach, and the hard ridges of a ribcage. The skin was grey and dry, and red eyes were sunk deep in a skull. It looked starved, more like the mummy he had seen in a museum as a kid than anything that should still be moving.

There were ropes around its arms and legs, as if it had been tied to something and had only now managed to tear itself free.

It stopped, eyes snapping around the room, as if the sheer amount of blood spilled was too much, overwhelming it. The perfect opportunity to get in a headshot, if only Kiba hadn't lost his gun earlier.

If newborn vampires were bad, vampires on the brink of starvation was worse. It would do anything to get blood, and no amount of pain would stop it, only death.

The thumping sounds he had heard earlier, the ones he thought was some neighbour complaining about the ruckus, it was this wasn't it, the vampire working on its bonds, trying to get loose, driven mad by the smell of the blood spilled in the living room.

Knife brought up, feeling like it wouldn't be enough to keep him safe at all, Kiba got to his feet, back pressed against the wall, preparing for the vamp to get over being overwhelmed and chose its target. Kiba chanced a glance over at Sasuke and Naruto.

Sasuke had his back towards the vampire, and Naruto's gaze was unfocused, flickering between Sasuke and nothingness, not still here. Shit, Sasuke hadn't heard the bang of the door, or at least he hadn't registered it as danger, too focused on Naruto and whatever he was doing to bring him back. It was up to Kiba, he needed to help, but before he could even think about shouting out a warning or attack, the vampire chose its target.

The fresh blood covering Naruto, pooling around them, was too great of a temptation, and it didn't even look in Kiba's direction as it leapt.

Several things happened at once. Kiba yelled out a warning as he started moving, Sasuke's head snapped around as he realised the danger, and Naruto lost whatever control he had the moment his eyes locked upon the vampire headed straight at Sasuke's back.

Red flared as he was lost in the beast from earlier, and now it was hard to see Naruto behind this… thing he had changed into, fangs and claws and red fur. A tail snapped behind him, reddish with a white tip, and then he moved, shoving Sasuke away to meet the vampire.

His fangs locked around an arm, and Kiba could hear the crunching of bone.

He'd stopped moving towards them, realising that right now the only thing he could do was stay the hell away, and hope Sasuke could get Naruto to get back from this again.

The vampire didn't feel any pain of its now useless arm, and it wriggled away, clawing over Naruto's face, leaving ragged lines, before it pushed forward, jaws snapping, its two elongated canines seeking out any weak points it could find.

There were none.

This thing that was half Naruto, and half something else entirely, tore the vampire apart as if it was made of paper, limbs breaking like crackers, papery skin nothing against claws and fangs. The vampire kept screeching right up until the point Naruto's hands locked around its head, crushing its skull with brute force.

Sasuke had gotten to his knees, crawling towards Naruto, a hand held towards him.

"Naruto!" he yelled, and Naruto's head snapped around, his hand striking out immediately, driven by some instinct to fight.

Long claws curved through the air, tearing across Sasuke's unprotected chest.

Sasuke didn't scream in pain or fear, as if it was too much to process, but his eyes grew wide, head tipping down to where four deep wounds carved across his chest.

Blood.

Too much blood.