Oops. I didn't mean to be gone that long. The wedding turned into a road trip. It was actually a lot of fun, full of adventure and drama. Maybe one day I'll write about it.
Anyway, a small explanation about the first part. Anyone who has passed out from blood loss will be able to sympathize with poor Naruto. Experiences may vary, but I wrote from my personal experience. It sucks. A lot. I wouldn't recommend it.
Hope this chapter makes up for my delay.
Chapter 9: Phase Changes
The first thing that Naruto became aware of was that he hurt. It felt like he had just run fifty miles; his muscles felt exhausted and his lungs were struggling to draw in breath. He groaned and tried, and failed, to open his heavy eyes. It was then that he heard a delicate giggle, which led to his second realization- he wasn't alone.
"You'll get used to that. You're a little anemic at the moment, so your body doesn't have enough oxygen getting to the muscles. That's why you're having a little bit of trouble moving. Hang on; I'll help you sit up."
There was a small, yet strong, hand on the back of his shoulder pulling him up. It let go when he was upright and Naruto slumped over. Another giggle, and then she was helping him lean back into a pillow. There was a straw at his lips.
"Drink this." It took a few tries, but Naruto was finally able to crack open an eye to send a half-hearted glare at Karin. She wiggled her fingers. "Morning. Drink that."
Naruto groaned. Five minutes later, he was finally able to take a sip. He was expecting water, and so was surprised at the metallic taste. He went to spit it out, but Karin's hand clamped down on his mouth and tilted his head. "Swallow." He did. Karin resettled his head, and Naruto looked in suspicion at the red liquid in his glass. Karin sighed. "It's an iron supplement pill I melted down in water so it'd be easier to swallow. It'll help the recovery." Naruto hummed at the back of his throat and took another sip. It tasted awful.
Karin waited until Naruto finished the glass before taking his chin in her hand and tilting his head to the side. "Oh, very nice, Sasuke! No bruising and you can hardly see the fang marks. He was very careful." Naruto immediately tried to get up; he wanted to get to the mirror to see where he had been bitten! But Karin's hand was on his shoulder, forcing him to stay down. "Nope. You are to take it easy today."
Even the attempt to stand had exhausted him, so it didn't sound like a bad idea to him. Naruto sighed and relaxed back into his pillows. "What time is it? Where's Sasuke?" His speech came out slurred, but Karin seemed to understand him. She checked her watch before she answered.
"2:52 in the afternoon. Sasuke's asleep now, but he told me to stay with you today to make sure you were okay." Naruto tried to huff, but it came out like a slightly more forceful exhale.
"I'm fine."
"Uh-huh." She handed him another drink. "Drink this. Do you need anything else?"
Naruto shook his head around the straw in his mouth. He didn't have much of an appetite; he felt like he was going to be sick, either from the iron super drink or from the after-effects of passing out. Karin eyed him for a little while longer before she brought forth a package of crackers.
"I sometimes feel a little queasy when I come to. If you do too, this will help." Naruto mumbled his thanks and worked the packet open. He munched on his crackers in silence for quite some time. Karin was still watching him as if he was going to fall over and die. Now that he was feeling marginally better, it was becoming unsettling.
"I'm feeling much better now."
Karin nodded. "Good, good." She went back to watching him. Naruto chewed his lip and finished his drink.
"Well, I'm a little tired." It was an understatement; he was struggling to keep himself awake. "So, I'm going to go to sleep now." Karin reached out and helped him settle back into his bed.
"I'll be here." Naruto would have slapped his head, if he could lift his hand.
"You don't need to stay, Karin." She shook her head.
"Nope, Sasuke said I had to stay and watch…"
"Karin!" Naruto waited a bit for his head to stop spinning from his rather loud interruption. "I'm feeling a lot better, I'm not going to die, and I'm positive you have better things to do than to watch me sleep."
She considered him for some time before replying slowly. "You're just going to go to sleep?" Naruto found the strength to role his eyes.
"What else am I going to do?" Karin grinned at him and stood. After straitening his blankets and kissing his forehead, she turned to leave.
"Pleasant dreams, Naruto."
Naruto gave a little wave and tried to go back to sleep.
Tried.
His mind, despite how tired his body was, seemed to going into over drive. Despite the heaviness in his body, it was comforting to know that the reason was Sasuke. Sasuke was his! His! He finally had someone to be his. And, almost even better, he was someone's. He could believe that the heavy feeling on his body was in fact the comfort of the knowledge that he belonged, that he was wanted. It was all of his childhood dreams come true.
The only thing wrong was that he was alone. He had sent Karin away, but she wasn't the one he wanted. He wanted Sasuke.
It was that feeling that prompted him out of his bed. He was able to stumble three steps before his knees gave out and he fell. He lay on the floor for several moments, catching his breath, before he pushed himself to his hands and knees and crawled to the door. He reached up and pulled himself up by the door knob. He leaned his head against the door and was shocked to see that he was sweating. He was so tired. It was sheer will power that pulled the door open. He rolled across the threshold of the door to lean against the wall. He struggled for breath a bit longer before he pushed himself off the wall to stumble across the hall. His shoulder hit hard, and he was worried that Karin had heard and would come and check on him. He waited, straining his ears to hear for any sign of movement, but there was nothing. The entire house was silent as the grave, an eerie sound he had still not gotten used to. But he was so close now! A few more steps and he was at Sasuke's door.
He knew that Sasuke was dead to the world, but he was still careful to be quite as he opened the door. Without waiting for his eyes to adjust to the pitch darkness, he stumbled across the room in the direction he knew the bed to be. He caught the edge of the bed just before he fell, and struggled with the canopy for a bit before he found the opening. Exhausted, he climbed into bed. His eyes were beginning to adjust, and he was just able to see the outline of Sasuke's facial structure. Shifting close, he rested his head close to Sasuke's shoulder and draped an arm across his chest. Dear Lord, he was so, so tired.
But if he focused just right, he could almost feel his blood in Sasuke's veins.
"Sasuke! Sasuke, I can't find Naruto!" There was a bang from what Naruto's sleep muddled mind decided was the door. A hand brushed across his forehead.
"He is here, Karin."
She sighed in relief, and Naruto only briefly felt guilty. "Oh thank God. How'd he end up in here?" There was a low vibration coming from his side before there was an answer.
"You may leave now, Karin."
"Oh…right. Ok. Bye." The door shut much more quietly than it had been opened, and Naruto was grateful for that. He briefly considered going back to sleep, but he wanted to see Sasuke. It was a bit of a struggle to open his eyes, but he was rewarded for his effort. Sasuke's face was relaxed, and he seemed happy. Naruto smiled at him. Sasuke's return smile was soft and small, but Naruto rejoiced in the knowledge that he had put it there. The hand that had brushed his forhead reached out to him again to run its fingers through his hair. This is what he had been missing, this closeness. He hoped that Sasuke realized how much better this was.
"I am sorry she woke you." Naruto reached up and tangled his fingers with Sasuke's.
"I'm not." Sasuke grinned slightly at him before taking his chin and tilting his head slightly. Naruto supposed he was checking the bite mark to make sure it was healing. Sasuke seemed satisfied. He nodded his head once before letting go of his chin and taking his hand once more.
"How do you feel?" Like shit, Naruto thought. But there was no way in Hell he was going to tell Sasuke that.
"Fine." Sasuke narrowed his eyes and observed him for a moment.
"Are you hungry?" Starving, but this moment was so perfect he didn't want to ruin it.
"No." Sasuke fought a grin.
"You are. I will go get you something." He went to leave, but Naruto grabbed onto Sasuke's wrist and whined.
"No. Stay." Sasuke leaned back over him and kissed his forehead.
"I will be back. Rest."
He was gone before Naruto could catch his breath from this kiss. Sasuke was so much more open with him, willing to touch him and be with him. Perhaps he finally got through to him. For the first time, he felt truly happy. If he weren't so tired, he'd run around the house screaming it. But, as it was, he could just smile and cuddle back into the soft blankets.
He was almost asleep when he heard to door creak open. He rolled over to face the door and almost laughed in glee. Sasuke had a lap tray balanced on one hand and several books in the other. He pushed himself to sitting, and was ecstatic that movement was worlds easier than earlier today, and accepted the tray. Sasuke climbed into bed next to him and opened one of the books. It was Italian, Naruto knew, and Sasuke had been pouring over it looking for any information on vampires for the past week. Sasuke nodded his head to the tray. "You need to eat all of that."
It was steak, rare from the looks of the juice surrounding it, and a dark green salad. It appeared that even Sasuke was trying to get more iron into him. "No problem."
It wasn't. Naruto was very near starving, and even though he usually ate his meat a little more well done than still bloody, he wasn't picky. He finished and put the tray on the floor to take down later before he curled up next to Sasuke. He was warm, fed, and happy, but he couldn't get to sleep. Now that Sasuke wasn't holding back from him anymore, he wanted to know everything about him- what made him smile, what made him sad, how he liked to touch and be touched. Everything.
Sasuke must have felt his gaze because it wasn't long before he turned to face him. "Can I help you?"
It was then that Naruto noticed something. Though, it wasn't so much as noticing something new, just coming to a realization. Without thinking, Naruto sat up fully, stuck a finger in Sasuke's mouth, and lifted his lip. Where did Sasuke's fangs go? Naruto knew that Sasuke didn't have his fangs out all the time, but the rest of the time, Naruto wouldn't even know that Sasuke had fangs. The canines where the fangs would be were sharper than most people's, which gave Naruto an idea. What if Sasuke's fangs were retractable, like a cat's claws? Ignoring Sasuke's indignant growl, he ran his finger up his canine to the gum and pushed down. His brief glee at seeing the fang extend was cut short by said fang embedding itself in the web part of his hand at the base of his thumb.
"Ouch!" Sasuke grabbed his wrist and sighed.
"Idiot." Sasuke brought his hand to his mouth and sucked on the wound until it stopped bleeding. "Just ask if you are curious." Naruto pouted.
"Well, fine then. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would." 'It' didn't need to be clarified. Naruto waited for Sasuke to stiffen at the reminder of last night, but was pleased when he didn't. Instead, he considered Naruto's question before he answered.
"Little research has been done on a vampire's anatomy, for obvious reasons of maintaining our anonymity, but I have a few theories. A vampire bat contains a pain suppressant in their saliva. Most animals that drink blood do. It would stand to reason that a vampire would contain one as well."
"Huh." Naruto shifted closer to Sasuke and rested back into the bed. Sasuke's hand was still wrapped around his wrist, so he took his fingers and toyed with them. "So, I learned where your fangs go. Where do your claws go?" Sasuke chuckled.
Yes, Naruto was truly happy.
A new routine developed in the following days. For one thing, Naruto had become almost entirely nocturnal. The silence of the house during the day had become too much for him, and it allowed him more time with his friends and, more importantly, Sasuke.
The second change was how his time was distributed. He still spent a lot of time playing games and talking with his friends, but a majority of his time was spent with Sasuke, either outside on the grounds or in the study. They had once walked all the way to the second house, which was actually a huge log cabin. Sasuke had explained that it was modeled off of a cabin his family had owned when he was little. Some of his happiest moments were in that cabin, so when he had a chance to build a new house, he tried to recreate it. It was the only thing that Sasuke ever mentioned from his childhood, and Naruto didn't ask for anything more.
With the bond between them growing every day, Naruto also found his desire to physical touch Sasuke grow too. Simple touches, like holding hands, or sitting close enough that shoulders touched, were enough. He just wanted to be in Sasuke's space. His chair on the other side of Sasuke's desk had moved so he could sit next to him. He was there, sitting in his chair with his legs draped over Sasuke's, when Sasuke stiffened and stood. At first, Naruto was concerned that Sasuke had gotten fed up with Naruto in his space, but he turned and ran a finger down Naruto's cheek.
"Sasuke, what's wrong?"
Before Sasuke could answer, Gaara entered the room. Naruto quickly stood and Sasuke took his arm and moved him to stand behind him. There were several vaguely familiar people that followed him in, and several of Sasuke's own coven. Gaara's eyes flicked to Naruto. Sasuke shifted to block the gaze.
"Gaara. Your visit is most unexpected. Is there a way I can help you?" Gaara sneered.
"Keeping your pet on a short leash, are you?"
"As I have mentioned to you before, Naruto is a guest in my house, and no one's pet."
Gaara seemed to ignore the comment, which also seemed to frustrate Naruto more than it did Sasuke. "Perhaps I could borrow your pet for a couple of days."
"That is not possible."
"As part of the negotiation agreement, we were not to take a human prisoner. Are you breaking your own rules?" Naruto fidgeted when he noticed that both sides had fangs and claws extended. They were moments away from breaking into a fight, and Naruto was positive that he didn't want to see that.
"He is not a prisoner here. He can come and go as he pleases."
"Then there would be no problem in Naruto coming and being a guest in my house." There were several growls and snarls around the room.
"Gaara, it seems that you are under the mistaken impression that my tolerance of your ill behavior has been for your sake. My forbearance for you is for Naruto's sake alone. I made the mistake of loosing my temper in front of him before, and I would greatly dislike to do so again. However, if you continue to test my patience, you will have to face the consequences." Naruto looked at Sasuke in shock at the speech. Sasuke's blood red eyes were narrowed into slits, and his entire body was stiff and still as stone. He looked like he was coiled, ready to spring across the desk the next time Gaara opened his mouth. And even though Naruto really didn't like him, he also knew it would probably be bad if Sasuke killed Gaara, especially since they had just formed an alliance. It might send the wrong message to other covens Sasuke had an alliance with. And if there was one thing that Naruto was positive of, Sasuke needed all the alliances he could get. He thought quickly before deciding it was time to interfere.
"Oh, is that the problem?" He reached up and covered his eyes and grinned big. "Well in that case…carry on." There were a couple of snorts of laughter around the room, but with his eyes covered, he couldn't see Sasuke's reaction. That was until a gentle hand wrapped around his and pulled it away from his eyes. Naruto was relieved to see that Sasuke was smiling at him. Sasuke leaned forward and kissed his temple, and Naruto felt that gave him enough strength to finally address Gaara. He squeezed Sasuke's fingers before he spoke. "Thank you for the invitation…" Someone scoffed, and Naruto was sure that it was Kiba. He struggled to keep his face straight as he continued. "…but I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer."
Gaara stared at Naruto with a blank face for several moments more and Naruto thought he might faint. The only thing keeping him staring back at Gaara was Sasuke's gentle grip on his hand. Finally, Gaara turned and addressed Sasuke. "I have a matter of great importance to discuss with you." The rapid change of topic took Naruto's breath away. His knees almost gave out from underneath him. Sasuke gracefully sat back down into his chair, pulling Naruto to sit down beside him. He motioned for Gaara to speak, but Gaara seemed frustrated. "Privately."
"Oh Hell no." That was Kiba, but he wasn't the only one voicing his displeasure. Gaara's coven, surprisingly, seemed just as surprised and against the idea as Sasuke's, but they were keeping their opinions to themselves. Sasuke raised a hand to quite the remarks.
"You should take our guests on a tour." It was the end of the discussion, and Sasuke's coven begrudgingly moved to escort Gaara's out of the room. Ino particularly seemed smug as she took another blond by the elbow.
"I'd be glad to show you around. Have you seen our basement?"
Naruto looked in alarm to Sasuke. He wondered if Sasuke had actually removed the torture chamber from the basement or not, and whether or not Ino would actually use it. Sasuke rubbed his thumb over Naruto's knuckles. Naruto sighed and shifted to stand, but a tightening of Sasuke's grip on his hand made him pause.
"You will have to forgive me if I do not trust to have Naruto out of my sight with your coven wondering around my house." Gaara crossed his arms across his chest.
"I do not believe that it would be appropriate for him to be present for this conversation."
Sasuke motioned for Gaara to sit in the chair on the other side of the desk. "He stays."
As the door clicked shut behind the two covens, Gaara carefully sat across from Sasuke. Naruto shifted at the obvious tension between them. After several agonizing minutes, Gaara finally spoke. "I have come to warn you." Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"Are you threatening me?"
"No," Gaara drawled, "but there are rumors of concern. Rumors that certain members of your coven are no longer under your control, due to your attention being diverted." Gaara flicked his eyes to Naruto, who sank back into his chair. Sasuke started to rub Naruto's knuckles with his thumb again.
"What happens in my coven is none of your concern." It was Gaara's turn to narrow his eyes. He leaned forward in his chair.
"It does if they are aiming to find a way to bring back your brother. Itachi did not just slaughter humans, if you remember correctly."
At the mention of his brother, Sasuke went still. Naruto kept a close eye on Sasuke's face, looking for any betrayal of what he was thinking, but Sasuke's face remained frustratingly blank. If anything, the lack of emotion showed how much Sasuke was being careful to not show emotion. "I remember." Gaara continued his attack.
"It is well known that you did not succeed in removing Itachi as a threat. You have buried him and attempted to forget him. But there are many of us that can not forget."
"I assure you, I have not forgotten him," Sasuke growled. Gaara finally seemed to relax back into his seat.
"Then you can understand our concern. When you succeeded against Itachi, you surprised many of us by keeping alive his most faithful followers. They have continued to search for him, devotedly trying to find a way to free him. They have not kept it a secret, and yet you have left them alive. I did not believe it was any of my concern whether or not you kept them or not, as long as you kept them under control." Once more, Gaara's gaze rested on Naruto. "Recent developments, however, have caused your attention to be turned from your duties of controlling them."
Like a lightning strike, Naruto understood. Gaara wasn't asking Naruto to come with him because he wanted him. He was trying to refocus Sasuke's attention solely on Akatsuki by taking him away. It made him sick. What if Itachi came back and killed everyone he loved, all because he was being selfish? He just found his family, he couldn't loose them. Should he go with Gaara then? He looked back at Gaara and knew he couldn't do that, but maybe he could just leave, go back to his old life. He could do that for Sasuke. He wouldn't like it, but he could do it.
As if he was reading Naruto's mind, Sasuke tightened his grip on Naruto's fingers. "Your point has been noted. You may leave now." It was a clear dismissal, but Gaara seemed to want to say something else. He didn't get the chance. Kakashi appeared seemingly out of no where.
"Well, I think you're done here. Time to collect your little minions and leave before the cats and dogs start to fight." He took started to herd Gaara out of the room, but Gaara finally got the last word.
"Uchiha, reconsider where your duty lies." Then he was gone, leaving Sasuke and Naruto alone again. Sasuke huffed before turning to look at Naruto. Naruto considered Sasuke, and his options, before voicing his own concern.
"So, about what Gaara said…" But Sasuke cut him off before he could finish.
"Most vampires, by nature, dislike change. Living an eternity with time changing around you tends to do that. Do not concern yourself with Gaara, or his fears. They are unfounded." He narrowed his eyes are growled out, "I remember very well what my duties are."
It was Naruto's turn to huff in frustration. "But, it'd be my fault if…" Again, Sasuke cut him off.
"It would not be. I think you underestimate a vampire's ability, and compare it to your own. If Akatsuki eventually wakes up Itachi, then there would be very little that you could do to stop it. In all honesty, there would probably be very little I could do to stop it." Sasuke stopped himself, but then he continued. "And while I am being honest, Itachi will some day be brought back. Sealing him was only ever a temporary fix." He paused, and seemed to loose himself in thoughts and memories, before he looked back at Naruto and grinned. "Though, I doubt that will happen in your life time."
Naruto refused to allow the shock register on his face. In his life time, Sasuke had said. He had thought…he had assumed…that Sasuke would want…that Sasuke would eventually...damn. Naruto swallowed hard. "Maybe I should leave." Sasuke had the nerve to look confused. Naruto tried to clarify. "I can't go with Gaara, but I should leave. Go back to the city." Sasuke growled.
"No." Naruto glared back at him and pulled his fingers from Sasuke's grasp.
"I thought you said that I wasn't a prisoner here. That I could come and go as I pleased." Sasuke leaned back in his chair and stared at Naruto for a long moment.
"Fine then. If you leave, I will come with you." He smirked. "How wild do you think Akatsuki will run then?" Naruto's jaw dropped. He sputtered for a few moments before he could sum up his thoughts.
"That's not fair!" Sasuke's smirk widened.
"Is it not?" Naruto sputtered a bit more before he threw himself back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
"You're really close to having that other lamp thrown at your head." Sasuke chuckled and leaned forward to kiss Naruto's pouting lips. Naruto allowed the kiss, but stubbornly refused to return it. Sasuke seemed more amused than upset. He ran a finger down Naruto's cheek.
"I appreciate your concern, but you have nothing to worry about. So do not be afraid. I will take care of you." Naruto shook his head.
"I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about you! I keep having this nightmare…" Naruto cut himself off this time, but the seriousness that crossed Sasuke's face was just as effective.
"What nightmare?" Naruto fidgeted, and tried to recall the dream without panicking.
"Well, you're standing in front of a mirror and your reflection kills you." There, keep it simple. There'd be no point in telling Sasuke the overwhelming fear he felt every time he looked into the reflection's face.
"Does my reflection look like me?"
"Yes," Naruto answered before thinking. Of course reflections looked like the person looking in the mirror. But Naruto's brain finally caught up to his mouth. "No." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "It looks like you, but not really."
"Well, I am so glad we cleared that up." Luckily, the amusement was back in Sasuke's eyes. It relaxed Naruto enough to explain what he meant.
"It looks like an older, scarier version of you. With long hair. And really weird eyes." All amusement faded again and, if even possible, Sasuke's frown deepened. He was silent for several moments, seemingly lost in thought. The hairs on the back of Naruto's neck started to stand on end again. Something was wrong. "Sasuke?"
Sasuke shook himself out of his thoughts and gave Naruto a weak, small smile. "It is just a dream, Naruto. Please do not worry about it." He leaned forward to kiss him again, and this time, Naruto returned the kiss. When he pulled away, the frown lines were still there, between Sasuke's eyes. Naruto reached forward to rub them out. He tried to smile, for Sasuke.
"Yea, a silly dream anyways. Vampire's don't have reflections anyway, do they?"
Sasuke's face finally relaxed into a grin. "Well, that depends on definition. Light reacts differently with vampires. We have reflections, but humans cannot see them."
"Fascinating," Naruto deadpanned. Sasuke chuckled. As he leaned forward to kiss him again, Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He hoped he was still just uneasy about seeing Gaara again, and that his premonitions would be proven wrong.
The next few days passed without incident, but Naruto still couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of wrongness. He was still waiting to wake up one evening only to find that Sasuke had been killed during the day. In an attempt to counter the feeling, Naruto began sleeping next to Sasuke during the day, and following him around like a lost puppy at night. He felt ridiculous and desperate, but those feelings were better than the alternative fear he felt when Sasuke was out of his line of sight.
So, it was no surprise that Naruto slightly panicked one evening when he woke up alone in Sasuke's room. He tried to tell himself to not panic, but he found himself moving at a fairly quick pace down the hallway, a flight of stairs, and into the study. There was a brief moment of terror when he didn't see Sasuke at his usual spot behind his desk, but another breath caused him to look around the room to find Sasuke standing by the window. Naruto exhaled and crossed the room to be by Sasuke's side.
Sasuke was holding an open book, but Naruto didn't get the chance to see what was written. In his relief, he wrapped his arms around Sasuke's waist and rested his head on the back of his shoulder. To his surprise, he felt Sasuke jump. He immediately went to pull away, but Sasuke's hand grabbed his arm and squeezed.
"I am sorry. I did not hear you come in." Naruto peaked around to look at Sasuke's face in shock.
"You didn't?" Sasuke grinned at him.
"I was distracted." He inclined his head to indicate the book. Naruto finally looked at it. Instead of written word on the page, however, there were a series of small pictures.
Naruto motioned towards the page. "What is that?"
Sasuke sighed. "This is a book compiled by my brother." Naruto forced himself to remain relaxed. It was the first time he had heard Sasuke bring up the topic of his brother. "Kakashi, no doubt, has told you about him." Naruto nodded against Sasuke's shoulder and struggled to find a way to turn the topic away from Itachi.
"What are those pictures?"
Sasuke traced one of the pictures. "These are glyphs." Sasuke waited for Naruto to show any sign of comprehension, but Naruto just stared back at him. Sasuke hummed. "How do I explain? Vampires themselves are not magical, in any sense of the word. But, when they were first created, it required a large amount of power to turn a human into a vampire. There is a residual amount of that power still flowing through our veins, passed on from sire to fledgling. We ourselves cannot control that power, but we can guide it through the use of these glyphs. Each glyph is like a word. Different combinations will cause a different response."
It made sense enough, Naruto supposed. If one suspended one's disbelief. But he supposed very little could surprise him anymore. He motioned to the page again. "What do those do?"
Sasuke looked back to the page, but didn't immediately answer him. "My brother, in his endless quest for power, compiled these glyphs. I have learned what all of them do, except this series here." Naruto looked back to the page. The hairs on his arms started to stand on end again. He knew that it could be nothing good, if he knew anything about Itachi. "But, I am beginning to think I understand it." He slammed the book closed and put it back on the shelf before turning to face Naruto, looking for a change in topic. Naruto was eager to comply.
"So, how to glyphs work?" Sasuke grinned at him.
"Would you like a demonstration?" Naruto grinned at him and nodded. Sasuke motioned towards the desk and guided Naruto to sit down in his regular chair. "May I have a couple of strands of your hair?" Naruto nodded at him again, and Sasuke leaned forward and cut a tuff of his hair with a claw. He then cut some of his own hair and mixed it with Naruto's. He bit carefully on one of his fingers, and ran the bleeding tip over the strands of hair. Meticulously, he arranged each strand of hair to form a picture on the desk. Or a glyph, Naruto corrected himself. Sasuke then cupped his hand over the glyph and, pressing his fingers into the desk, dragged his hand across the glyph. Behind his fingers, the hairs were forming a chain. When Sasuke's fingers hit the end of the glyph, he jerked his hand back from the desk and shook his hand out. Left on the desk was a solid gold chain, braded with strands of black leather.
"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed. He reached out to touch it, but Sasuke slapped his hand.
"Wait." Sasuke laid his hand, palm up, flat on the table. One of Sasuke's claws on his other hand extended again, and Sasuke started to carve a glyph into his hand. Blood oozed out of the injuries and started to pool on his palm.
"Oh! Sasuke, wait." Again, Sasuke slapped Naruto's hand, this time away from his own bleeding palm.
"Wait, Naruto. It is fine." He picked up the chain and looped it in half. Laying the loop of the chain on his wounded hand, he made a fist and picked his hand up off the desk. Slowly, he rotated his wrist so his fist was perpendicular to the desk. At the bottom of his fist, a drop of blood started to form. Naruto waited for it to fall, but it seemed to solidify. As fresh blood started to drip, it too solidified, pushing the solid blood out. Naruto looked closer to see that the solid blood looked like a gem, clear and sparkling. Sasuke opened his fist to show Naruto the result of the glyph. On Sasuke's healed palm rested a ruby. It was attached to the loop of the chain. Sasuke held it up and Naruto finally realized what it was. It was a necklace. Sasuke leaned forward and hooked the necklace at the back of Naruto's neck. As he was hooking it, he whispered something in his archaic tongue in Naruto's ear. He leaned back and Naruto looked to him for an explanation. "Never take it off?"
Naruto looked down at where the ruby rested against his chest. He ran a finger over it before smiling widely up at Sasuke and launching himself forward to kiss him hard.
"Never!"
But even as he slid from his seat to straddle Sasuke, Naruto couldn't shake the physical ache in his chest telling him that something was very wrong.