Author's note: I apologise for the delay, but here is finally the last part!

IMPORTANT NEWS. In November I will start my first job. That means I'll have to change my schedule regarding the chores I do in the household and it might take me a bit to figure out how to plan everything efficiently. I will do my best to keep the updates regularly, however. But in the case I do end up missing a week or longer, you know why. Some stories are easier to write than others, so yeah, that's another issue that affects how my writing goes.

Anyways, I figured I'd give you all the head's up already.

Thanks to the following reviewers: 666snoopy; Guest; Nellana; Kayla LoveAnime

Warnings: Suspense; implied mature content

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like the last part!

Part 2

"Are you sure that the Snake Demon is telling the truth?" Fugaku asked sceptically. "It wouldn't be the first time an outsider tied to sow discord in our clan."

As soon as Mikoto had arrived home, she had called her husband and her eldest son into Fugaku's private study room to inform them about what the Snake Demon had told her. The study room had been soundproofed the most out of all the rooms in the manor, ensuring absolute privacy. If the Trickster was truly among them, it would not be right to leave the others oblivious to its presence but as long as they did not have a plan to deal with the Kitsune, Mikoto was loathe to tell the others about it. The last thing they needed was for clan members to either start panicking once the gravity of the situation sank in or do something immensely stupid and try to confront the Trickster on their own.

"He came across as truthful to me," Mikoto replied, pursing her lips. "If anything, he appeared quite jealous that we could count such an … interesting demon amongst our own."

"But to have that demon be the Trickster of all beings," Fugaku commented, frowning as he crossed his arms.

"It would fit, though," Itachi unexpectedly spoke up. "Foxes have been appearing more often since Sasuke knows Naruto. For someone who's supposedly human, Naruto was always quite comfortable with us since the start. I know he has seen some of our members with bloodied faces before and he apparently was never disturbed by that."

"And we all know that Sasuke would never cheat on Naruto; if the Snake Demon did see Sasuke kissing somebody, it could only be Naruto," Mikoto added.

"And if he's indeed the Trickster, it wouldn't be difficult for him to pretend to be human," Itachi said calmly, but his eyes were slightly narrowed. "The Trickster can be everything, after all."

"How will we get proof, though?" Fugaku asked, uncrossing his arms and rapping his fingers on the desk behind him. "We can't just accuse him out of the blue and expect him to be honest if he is indeed the Trickster. If he is just human, we might break his trust by accusing him. If he is indeed the Kitsune, he might actually harm us for exposing him."

This truly was the very definition of being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Whichever possibility they ended up with, it might make things either awkward or even dangerous. They had to find out if the Snake Demon had been telling the truth, though. If only for their peace of mind.

Mikoto straightened up when she suddenly recalled an ancient tale she had read centuries ago. She had discovered it in a rare tome; only four copies existed of that tome and they were spread all over the world. The book had been filled with rituals meant to capture supernatural beings, ranging from vampires to werewolves, from harpies to winged demons – and Tricksters. As interesting – and dangerous – as the tome had been, even back then the only ritual that had captured her attention had been that of the Trickster, precisely because it had been the first and only time she had encountered a ritual powerful enough to trap a Kitsune. She remembered being absolutely fascinated by that chapter, wondering if that ritual was indeed strong enough to capture a Trickster of all beings.

She had no idea whether the ritual would work, but considering the others in the tome had proven their success throughout the centuries, she was inclined to believe the ritual wasn't just some nonsense put together to cover all beings.

"There might be a way to find out the truth," she began slowly as she recalled all the details of the ritual. It had been centuries since she had read that tome, but it didn't take her long to remember the whole ritual.

"How exactly?" Fugaku's eyebrows drew together in bemusement.

"Centuries ago, I discovered a tome that contains rituals to capture all sorts of beings," she replied. "Including a Kitsune."

"There is a ritual powerful enough to bind a Trickster?" Itachi asked bewildered.

"According to that tome, yes," she confirmed. "The other rituals turned out to be successful, so it is only right to assume that this ritual would work as well."

"I have never heard of this particular ritual before," Fugaku admitted.

"As far as I know, there are only four copies of that tome in existence – maybe even fewer since it's been centuries," she said, linking her hands together in front of her. "If we can be frank, I doubt many have tried capturing a Kitsune before. Not many are powerful enough to dare to sneak up on one, let alone try to capture one."

"That's true; most try their best to keep away from a Trickster," Fugaku said thoughtfully. "If this ritual will make it clear whether or not we're dealing with an actual Trickster, though, I say we should give it a try."

"Let's go make the preparations then," she said decisively.

They were going to find out whether their clan truly had attracted a Trickster's attention or not. Mikoto truly could not say what kind of outcome she preferred to have happen. The only thing she could hope for was that none of her family would suffer, regardless of the outcome.

"Did my son leave you all by yourself?" Mikoto questioned lightly, walking into the study.

Naruto stopped his wandering around, halting near the desk. He offered her a grin. "Hm, seems somebody was having some kind of problem they needed his help with. That's probably going to be the last time they ask his help, though. He didn't look happy," he snickered.

Even though she knew very well how adapt Tricksters were at disguising themselves, she couldn't help but discreetly study him, trying to find something that alert her he wasn't actually human. Naturally she didn't find anything. His grin might be on the rather sharp side, but she had seen similar grins on other humans' faces; that alone wasn't conclusive enough to decide he wasn't human after all.

"Sasuke doesn't tend to have a lot of patience when he thinks others are being stupid, I'm afraid," she replied airily.

Blue eyes glittered while slender fingers danced across the edge of the desk. "No, I have noticed that," he said amused. "I'd say I feel sorry, but well, better them than me."

A rather flippant if selfish response, but again, nothing out of the ordinary. Everybody knew how selfish humans could be.

"I'm sure he'll be with you soon again," she reassured him and walked over to the window, glancing out of it.

It showed her part of their garden, of course; a beautiful view with its blooming roses in various colours. Karin and Suigetsu were walking there; she was rolling her eyes at whatever Suigetsu was telling her but they had yet to reach the stage where she sniped at him. He must be behaving himself remarkably then; he usually couldn't resist teasing her to the point when he went slightly too far, causing her to snap every time.

Still for all that Karin claimed Suigetsu was too annoying to deal with, she could be often seen together with him. The rest of them pretended they didn't notice the odd … something those two had going on.

"Oh, I know, I don't mind waiting," Naruto said lightly.

As she had suspected – and hoped for – he wandered over to join her at the window, bracing his hands against the windowsill while he peered outside. He chuckled when he caught the two outside.

"How long have they been playing that game?" he asked, sounding thoroughly entertained while he shifted closer to the window when she surreptitiously took a step to the side.

"Oh, for a while now," she answered offhandedly. "I think they just enjoy playing around like this."

"You think they would eventually get tired of the same game," he snorted, shaking his head.

"You would think so, but they are still having fun with it," she remarked and glanced quickly at the position of his feet.

He stood right where they wanted him.

"Well, before I leave you be, I'm afraid I need to ask you a question," she began casually.

He turned to face her, cocking his head to the side. "Oh? What do you want to ask?" he questioned curiously.

"We're holding a family gathering in a month," she started to explain. "I was wondering if you and your family would like to join us?"

He raised an eyebrow; something unknown flashed up in his eyes. "How come you suddenly want to meet my family? Don't want to be rude, but you didn't seem interested in that before."

That was because before they had all believed that Naruto was simply human, which made his parents naturally human as well. While Naruto had reacted well to the discovery that they were vampires – a bit too well in hindsight – that didn't mean they were eager to let even more humans know that they existed, however. Perhaps eventually they would have agreed to meet his parents, if they would have been absolutely certain that Naruto's parents wouldn't betray them.

With the possibility that Naruto wasn't actually human, however, it was actually imperative that they would find out if he still had his parents. If there were two more Tricksters out there … That could spell disaster for everybody if they decided to band together.

"Also at the risk of sounding rude, we were hesitant to get to know your parents earlier because of, well, because of who we are," she replied, giving him a self-deprecating smile. "Truthfully, we weren't sure how long Sasuke's interest in you would last – no offence meant with that. Considering you've been together for a year already, though, it is only appropriate that we get to know your family too."

"You know, I really want to believe you, but I think the cat's out of the bag now, hm?" he suddenly said casually.

She kept her smile on. "I'm sorry? I have no idea what you mean."

"Oh, I think you do," he smiled, but at once the temperature seemed to plummet in the room and the glister in his eyes disappeared, leaving them dark and empty. "I find it curious that you only decide after a year that you're suddenly interested in my parents."

"I told you we're a cautious - " she started to say, but he cut her off.

"You say you're cautious, but apparently you trusted me to keep my mouth shut about your true nature for a whole year," he said, raising an eyebrow.

The door to the room slammed shut out of nowhere and she couldn't supress a flinch. That didn't escape Naruto's notice and the smirk he aimed at her was so dark, she actually stiffened with fear for the first time in centuries.

"You also forget that Sasuke tells me everything – if there had been a family gathering my parents would have been invited to, no doubt he would already have mentioned that to me," he continued and waggled his finger at her. "You see, there are no secrets between us – something I don't think can be said between you and your son."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," she denied coolly, but his smirk merely deepened.

"I know you didn't tell your son that you wanted to capture me with a ritual," he purred, snickering when her eyes widened with shock. "Hm, you thought I didn't pick up on the subtle notes of the ritual you drew on the floor? In every room, I might add. Really covering your bases, huh?"

To her increasing shock, he walked away from the window as if nothing was amiss.

"I have to give it to you and the rest of your family: in an ideal world you would have actually succeeded," he said amicably, spreading his arms and regarding her almost friendly.

That only made him even more terrifying to look at.

"Setting up the ritual in every room because you had no idea where Sasuke would leave me behind after you created that diversion – amazing hard work, props to you," he continued, sounding actually amazed. "That takes a lot of energy and a lot of hard work, I can respect that. I do have to disappoint you, though: as you can clearly see, the ritual's a bust."

She shook her head, feeling an odd sort of numbness descend over her. She wondered where Fugaku and Itachi were until she looked at the closed door. Perhaps Naruto had done more than simply use a smidgen of his powers to close the doors. After all, what did they actually know about Tricksters?

That you shouldn't cross them, no matter what.

Ice filled her entire being.

"The rituals in the tome work," she brought out through numb lips.

"Most of them do," he corrected her and leant back against the desk, grinning cockily. "I know which tome you're talking about. You see, while the writer did do his due research and actually tried out his rituals before writing them down, he never did manage to capture a Trickster to try out his last ritual. Apparently he was rather arrogant, though, and he firmly believed that none of his rituals would ever fail. Except, well, obviously one did." He gestured grandly at the window where the focal point of the ritual had been put and which should have been where the Kitsune would have become fully trapped if the ritual had done its job.

It hadn't. It had failed to work – or it had not entirely failed, she supposed with a growing sense of hysteria. Because while the ritual had failed to capture Naruto, it had ironically succeeded in proving that he was in fact a Kitsune.

For the first time in her life she experienced what all-consuming fear and utter dread actually felt like.

"What are you going to do?" she dared to ask and wondered if she would have enough time – or be able to do something – to warn her family on time.

He tilted his head to the right and regarded her with a sharp smile and even sharper eyes. "If you had been anyone else, I would have razed this entire place down to the ground and made you beg for your miserable immortal lives," he said serenely. "I wouldn't have granted you death for a really, really long time, however. I'd make you regret ever having even considered crossing me. You however are very lucky that your son loves you very much. I happen to be very fond of your son and I would hate to see him hurt. So, this is what we're going to do."

He pushed himself away from the desk and meandered to her, stopping right in front of her, looking for all the world as if he was pleasantly chatting with her.

"I'll be gracious enough to forget that this whole ritual bullshit ever happened," he began and narrowed his eyes, leaning towards her. "Only for Sasuke's sake, however. And you only get this one chance. I don't mind fucking around but my patience isn't unlimited. If you or any of your clan members ever try to pull this shit again, you won't even have time to come up with a plan because I will know and I will destroy your entire clan. It's that simple."

He spread his arms again and smiled sweetly at her. "I'm not a complicated being, Mikoto-san. You leave me alone and I will leave you alone, it's that easy. You understand?"

She nodded, unable to say anything.

"Great!" He lit up and clapped his hands together. "I'm so happy we could have this conversation! And sure, I'd love to attend your family gathering with my parents."

How could one smile look so sweet, yet so terrifying at the same time?

"I have no doubt my parents will love meeting you all," he grinned, looking positively sinister.

The door suddenly opening had Mikoto swallowing her scream just in time, bracing herself against the wall.

"Sorry it took me so long to get back," Sasuke started to say aggravatedly, stepping into the room. "It's fucking unbelievable how brainless those idiots can – oh, mother, sorry, I didn't know you were here." He blinked at her bemused, closing his arms automatically around Naruto when the Kitsune sidled up to him.

"Your mother just invited me and my parents to your family gathering," Naruto chirped, wrapping his arms around Sasuke's waist.

If she hadn't just witnessed with her own eyes how devious Naruto truly was, she would be hard pressed to believe him to be anything but an innocent human. She couldn't help but marvel at how absolutely thorough his human disguise was.

"We're having a family gathering?" Sasuke echoed confused and looked at her. "Mother, you didn't mention this before."

She plastered a smile on her face, brushing her hands down her dress. "Well, you know how insistent some of your family members can be. They have been hounding me for a gathering for a while now and I decided to give in."

He tsk'd, shaking is head. "You're going to regret that," he commented. "You know even you can't stand them and you're the most patient of us all."

"Well, it would only be for one evening," she said lightly and walked to the door. "That would be doable if that gives us a couple of centuries of peace. I'll leave you two be."

She left the room and couldn't help but wonder just how ensnared her son was with the Trickster. Was he even aware of who he was dating?

A sinister chuckle echoing through the corridor had her stiffening and she curled her hands into fists when a shadow shot past her.

"Don't you worry, your son knows perfectly well who I am – and he doesn't mind one bit," the Trickster's voice hissed in her ears.

His mocking laughter followed her all the way to her own room.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea it would take me so long to solve their bullshit," Sasuke sighed, brushing his lips over the throbbing vein that was calling out to him so sweetly.

He groaned when muscles squeezed around him, drawing him deeper into that tight, wet channel.

"Don't worry, I knew what I got myself into when I started dating the leader's son," Naruto retorted teasingly. He hissed, digging his nails into Sasuke's shoulders when the vampire thrusted harder into him.

"Always an answer ready, hm?" he muttered darkly and no longer seeing any need to restrain himself, he sank his fangs into Naruto's neck; his eyes rolling back when another burst of pleasure – unlike the sensation he felt when sinking into his lover – hit him like a freight train as the Kitsune's blood coated his mouth before he swallowed it down.

"Always having the fangs ready, hm?" Naruto shot back, but his voice was taking on that strained, breathless edge he only got when he was close to coming.

Sasuke smirked against Naruto's neck and doubled down on his thrusts, listening to Naruto curse and moan. He had to make it up to him for earlier after all.

Perhaps he should also create some goodwill for the upcoming family gathering. Really, sometimes he did not understand his family at all. Why give in to the demands of a couple of annoying whiners?

Fingers tugged at his hair, pulling back his head and a pair of hungry lips found his own, devouring his mouth. Fuck the gathering; he had someone more infinitely amazing to pay attention to.

The End

AN2: You don't get anything past a Trickster. I hope you liked this last part!

Anyways, I want to be smart - for the first time in my fic writing career, hah! - and I want to plan which fics I'll write next year. So I'm curious for your guys' input: which sequels would you want to read the most? You have until the end of December to let me know!

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in my future stories! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.