Author Note: It took me a ridiculously long time to finish this fic, but I thank you all for taking this journey with me! I love you all. I mean, seriously, I am so touched by the support I've gotten and idk I'm just glad! For those of you who aren't interested in the explicit version, you've reached the end!

For all the rest, a link to the explicit/uncensored version of this chapter is in the links sections of my main profile page. Also, there is an explicit epilogue up on my AO3 profile as well. It's also in the links section of my main profile page.

Moving Memories
27: Peace & Harmony

~ (^.^) (^.^) ~

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered.

Silence.

"Naruto… you awake?"

"Mm," Naruto eventually grunted softly, sleepily lifting his hand to card through Sasuke's hair.

"...nothing," Sasuke murmured.

"Mmkay," Naruto yawned. As he let his voice just slip away into the night with his consciousness, his hand slowly stopped moving.

Almost imperceptibly, and once he thought Naruto might have been sleeping, Sasuke mumbled, "Mine," and squeezed gently.

Naruto suddenly shifted, turning his face toward Sasuke. Eyes still closed and lips half pulled into a smile, he whispered, "I know."

Sasuke was slightly embarrassed to be overheard, but mostly he was stricken with adoration. Sasuke could finally let go in another's company again. There was no reason to break his back trying to constantly temper himself, not anymore. He'd been looking at Naruto with the wrong perspective. Naruto was not just some human who had been causing him all this undue pain. Naruto was his one and only, his mate.

Vampires were commonly known to attach themselves exclusively to other vampires, but it wasn't unheard of for things to end up happening in other ways too. It was, admittedly, extremely taboo for a vampire to consider a bijuu as their mate, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was not Naruto's label or the words that the rest of the world would use to try and describe him. What mattered was what he'd done, and only someone as special as a mate could do those things for Sasuke.

The day he'd killed Ren was the day Sasuke had separated from his humanity completely, and he supposed that such a point came for every vampire. All were tested, torn from whatever expectations they'd placed on their own lives and reminded of what kind of life they were cursed to live. And Sasuke supposed that there was a Naruto out there for each and every one of them, someone to help them realize that fear is only ever within one's self.

Because Sasuke was broken, because he'd lost his ability to meld the two parts of himself as one, he'd never been able to live outside of his own fear. But with Naruto, Sasuke was not broken. He was neither this nor that. He simply was, and so there was no separation, no battle to be waged, no war to be lost. Naruto was the most freeing thing Sasuke had ever experienced. By giving himself over entirely, he'd finally learned how be the master of his own self again. He was not broken. No, not at all. In fact, he'd never been so full and intact in all his life.

This was what Naruto had brought Sasuke to realize just a couple of weeks prior. They wasted no time in indulging in each other, but it became clear that, for both their sakes, they needed to take things slowly. For one, Naruto's senses sharpened too much to be pleasant when they became intimate. Sasuke was used to the various ways his senses could affect him. He was used to tempering them without having to pay attention to the details. He'd been doing it for almost his entire life. Naruto, however, was still working on mastering the gradual build so that he could do more than simply kiss Sasuke.

Not only that, but Naruto wasn't used to the surplus of energy Sasuke filled him with. As opposed to having to worry about his lovelust impairing his judgement, Naruto found that he had to tell Sasuke to back off sometimes because he was starting to lose sense of himself entirely. This feeling of inebriation from the energy that passed between them was what threw his senses over the edge of control. It was amusing for Sasuke to watch Naruto practically be reduced to nothing but whimpers in those times, but it also wasn't funny at all because Sasuke knew that it wasn't a pleasant feeling to be so sensitive. A touch could feel like a slap. A whisper could sound like a scream. It was difficult to handle, so Sasuke tried to be as accommodating as possible.

As for Sasuke, well, he was acclimating too. His bloodlust didn't just disappear. He had begun to trust Naruto and practice using it as a positive tool, but that was extremely slow going. Of course, Naruto was as understanding as Sasuke managed to be with him.

A combination of the two struggles was what caused them to sit so idly by now. They lay on Sasuke's bed, completely clothed and just enjoying each other's company. They mutually agreed in silence that it was good to just relax. Being too aware of the tension between them that came with intimacy could get monotonous. Of course, there was never a way to completely erase the sexual tension. After all, how could they help themselves when their partner was so sexy?

As Naruto cracked his eyes and smiled at Sasuke lovingly in the wake of Sasuke's quiet declaration, Sasuke decided that there had never been a more appropriate moment in his life to kiss someone. Naruto was more than glad to accept the kiss, and he wasn't complaining about the shift he felt in Sasuke's mood either.

There was something different about this exchange though. There was a lack of inhibition, arising a passion in the way Sasuke touched him with dwindling restraint.

When Naruto moved his hand into Sasuke's black hair and tugged, Sasuke found and embraced his conviction. And Naruto found himself suddenly on his back with the offending hand pinned to the bed. Sasuke, now straddling one of his legs, smirked down at him as he grabbed Naruto's free hand and lifted it to his lips. Playfully, Sasuke scraped his teeth across Naruto's thumb and smoothed it over with a lick before kissing the skin and pinning it above Naruto's head as well. Naruto felt an excitement roil deep inside as Sasuke leaned down, but he stopped just short of Naruto's mouth.

"Let me bite you," Sasuke whispered, his voice unimaginably sexy. And his eyes— Oh, his eyes. They were not the deep, fathomless depths that Naruto had grown so used to. No, there was a limit to them, an end. There was a boundary to which Naruto could travel and touch, and he was free to experience everything in between its walls. He briefly imagined going through with this experience while Sasuke was so open. Just the idea of being able to witness every ounce of Sasuke's pleasure being expressed so freely was deeply arousing all on its own.

"Do you even need to ask?" was Naruto's easy reply.

The End