Sasuke swore. He swore that he would never return to that apartment again. He vowed on his life that he would leave Naruto alone. He would let him live his own mortal life and wouldn't interfere. Naruto would be better off without him anyway. Sasuke would be better off without Naruto as well. Nothing good could come out from a relationship like that, Sasuke thought. No! He was certain that they weren't good for each other. He was sure that to go back wasn't the right thing to do.

Sasuke's oath lasted hardly a day. Because fuck it… he was already dead. He couldn't vow on his own life anyway. And he had something he simply needed to give back to the moron. It was an important item, Sasuke decided.

So there he was, sitting on a metal staircase in the middle of a night, holding said item in his hands. He glanced at it, then rolled his eyes and proceeded to move towards the window. To his no surprise, the favorite window was kept mildly open, inviting anyone to go inside. That was if they felt like climbing long ass slippery emergency stairs. Thus, except icy winter breeze and Sasuke, there was probably no-one who would use this secret entrance. Even burglars were lazy in this era.

The vampire quietly lurked in. He closed the window behind him, at least this would save few dollars on Naruto's heat budget. He looked around, the apartment was dark. Sasuke wished he could say it was silent as well, but that wasn't really the case. Naruto's snoring dragged through the rooms, telling him exactly where the blond was located. Sasuke continued on his short journey, occasionally kicking away junk that got in the way. Several curse words falling off his lips in the process. He couldn't care less if he would wake up the snoring animal. It was possible that the idiot wouldn't even hear him approaching over his own noisy breathing.

Sasuke stopped by Naruto's bed. He watched him for a while, lying there, limbs sprawled all over the mattress, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. How very appealing. He would be delusional if he expected Naruto to wake up only from the feeling of someone staring at him. And who cared that it was many centuries old mass murderer? Well, apparently, Naruto indeed didn't.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "Hey," he huffed in his typical annoyed tone. Not really smart nor creative, but whatever. What should he tell a human in the middle of night anyway? What could wake a person up?

"Fire!" Sasuke yelled. Naruto's snore hitched and he rolled on the other side. That much for his safety.

The vampire grew annoyed.

"I'm an evil demon who came to drain your life."

Yeah, no. He didn't really expect that this would do the job either.

Someone else had been woken up by Sasuke's intrusion though. Kitten named Kakashi neared the familiar vampire and began to snuggle his feet with a soft purr. Happy that someone was here to pay him attention while his master was dead asleep – no exaggerating.

"You're such an idiot," Sasuke ranted under his nose. Naruto advanced on another level of snoring and heightened the volume. The vampire growled with irritation and glanced at the item he was holding. It was the book he had borrowed before and then failed to return. The original was probably still thrown away on the roof, but Sasuke felt a little bad that he stole Naruto's book. So he had bought a new one. What if the boy would want to read it one day? And then he would realize that the book got lost? Hah, bullshit. It was just an excuse. But there he was, with a good excuse at… 3 in the morning. Wait… was that improper? And how should he know?

Sasuke raised one hand and let it hover over Naruto's nightstand for a while, book clutched in its fingers. One, two, three…

Sasuke smirked. "Get up! You jerk!" he roared and smashed the book against the nightstand. Naruto sat up with a shocked yelp. Kitten under Sasuke's legs screeched and dashed under the bed.

"What the-" Naruto fumed hoarsely and taking a pillow he flung it on the dark form towering above his bed. It hit Sasuke right into his face and then heavily fell on the floor. Sasuke's irritated grimace stayed hidden in the darkness of Naruto's bedroom.

The vampire jerked his arm towards the book again, pointing at it. "I've brought your book back."

Naruto blinked several times and then rubbed his sleepy eyes. After some more reluctant waking up he squinted at the night intruder. "Sasuke?" he spoke up, voice still raspy from slumber. "Book? What book?"

The vampire rolled his eyes. "This one," he announced and twitched with his hand to catch Naruto's attention.

"Ugh, couldn't it wait until the morning?" Naruto whined.

"No."

"Bleh… tomorrow?"

"No."

"Then whatever, let me sleep." He plopped back against the bed and petted blindly for something. "Eh, Sasuke… can you give back my pillow?" he asked tiredly.

Sasuke picked up the pillow and threw it on Naruto's bed. He observed as the blond curled his limbs around it and almost immediately fell back to sleep. Not a care in the world that he still had a deadly vampire stiffly standing right above his bed.

What the fuck?

Tomorrow. To Sasuke's great horror, he found himself standing behind Naruto's window tomorrow as well. This time actually at some reasonable hour. There was still light in Naruto's living room. The hum of TV reaching the vamp's sensitive hearing. He had been stalling there for a while now, unnoticed by the idiot who was absorbed in a silly show which was currently on. Sasuke wasn't in a hurry, he simply observed the interior of Naruto's messy home. He didn't need much more than that. He was perfectly fine with just watching. For now.

That was until Naruto's show ended. At least Sasuke assumed it did, because the blond jumped up from his couch and stretched, then hazily looked around. His blue gaze fell on the figure on the emergency staircase. He squinted his eyes in very similar manner like the night before and his lips widened into a merry grin. Sasuke grunted in annoyance. He could be at least a little frightened or something… this instant happiness bothered the vampire. Where did it come from?

Naruto opened the window. "Hey, care to come in?"

Sasuke didn't answer, but he did step inside.

Naruto turned away and began babbling something Sasuke quite successfully ignored. The boy moved to the kitchen, keeping on with his rant and only raising his voice so Sasuke in the living room could still have the opportunity not to pay attention to what he was yapping about. The vampire closed the window; once again being considerate about Naruto's budget, then stepped further in. Two awkward steps seemed to be enough for now and Sasuke halted. Naruto coming out of the kitchen.

"I've tried to kill you twenty three times in the last three months," Sasuke blurted out. He seriously had no idea where that came from. Or why he said it in the first place, but he felt as if a huge boulder fell off his shoulders. Like keeping the secret from Naruto had been what clouded his mind and muffled his reasoning until now.

"Oh." Naruto halted as well and thought for a while. After few tensed seconds and – to Sasuke's great surprise – the joyful boy simply shrugged. "I guess you're doing a pretty crappy job then," he declared and dropped his butt into the same spot on the couch.

Sasuke watched him, stuck in a small awe, but Naruto only stretched one arm towards the vamp. "Beer?" he offered casually. Sasuke noticed that Naruto indeed held an extra bottle of beer. The other one was already opened and prepared to be consumed soon.

Sasuke raised a confused eyebrow. "No?"

"Okay."

Naruto placed the bottle on the coffee table, his feet followed and he made himself comfortable on the couch. It could seem as if he was ignoring Sasuke, but that wasn't really the case. The vampire didn't feel ignored. He felt… accepted.

And so it happened. Sasuke got in. Just like that he became a part of Naruto's life. Silent observer who came to soak in the waves of happiness and comfort which rippled from the miraculous boy. He wasn't hidden in the shadows like before. He didn't cause a threat anymore. He let all the murderous thoughts simply drift away. He seated himself on the other side of Naruto's couch and while Naruto watched TV, Sasuke watched Naruto. Not directly, of course, but he perceived his presence. Naruto brought him peace and warmth. To be around him became Sasuke's new light. New meaning of his hollow existence.

Since that evening Sasuke returned every day after nightfall. Naruto always opened the window for him, smiled and went to sit back into his spot. Occasionally the boy talked to him. Sasuke merely listened. He spoke only when Naruto offered him food or drinks, which Sasuke kept politely refusing. Naruto apparently didn't mind getting very few responses to the things he said. The blond boy was very considerate, Sasuke assumed.

Topics changed. One time Naruto ranted about his job, the other day he ranted about some movie. On one evening he enthusiastically yapped about a new TV show he began to watch, and on different occasion he hummed curse words about how stupid a character from the show was. Sasuke had no idea about what show Naruto was talking about, but that didn't matter. He was tranquil only from Naruto's lively aura. And Naruto seemed to be happy that someone let him blab anything he wanted and never interrupted him.

Every evening they merely sat there. The television playing, Naruto laughing from time to time. Drinking beer, tea, coke or something else. Eating popcorn, chips or other unhealthy food. Sasuke concluded that certain instant noodles were his favorite. They smelled terrible, but Naruto loved them. When there was nothing particularly interesting on TV, Naruto ignored it and browsed through his phone, texting with friends. Some other day he read a book. Few times he shared a joke with Sasuke, but not a chuckle had been squeezed from the stoic vampire. Naruto wasn't fazed by this. He welcomed Sasuke in his life and he simply allowed him to be there. To do whatever Sasuke wanted. Not like the vampire really did more than just some sitting and staring. But for Sasuke this was already a big step. It was heaven to be around someone who never questioned why he was there in the first place.

…

After many days Sasuke let himself in on his own for the first time since the night he returned the book. The window was opened and he didn't suspect Naruto would kick him out. He was right. Naruto greeted him with happy smile, not in the least surprised or offended that Sasuke invaded his home without invitation. It came to him so easily, Sasuke being there, his quiet companionship. Not every person could tolerate an unknown creature capable of many horrific deeds to come and go every evening without reason. Naruto was an exception. Rare gem. He continued to live his life and let Sasuke dive inside at pace the vampire felt most comfortable with.

Few times it happened that Naruto wasn't home. But he always left a paper with a message for Sasuke. And Sasuke kept all the messages. Once – when feeling generous – Sasuke even cleaned Naruto's apartment, only a little. The blond questioned him the day after, brows furrowed in fake anger. Sasuke's answer was a simple shrug. Naruto dropped the topic. He obviously didn't mind the new vanilla fragrance that replaced the old smell of fast food and burnt popcorn.

Several weeks had passed. Naruto lived his life as if nothing changed. Sasuke preferred it that way. He didn't want to be a hindrance, he didn't want for Naruto to make adjustments just because he let a vampire to be close to him. He didn't demand more than be let in every day and then leave after Naruto had went to sleep. That simple.

There were small moments of closeness. Little things that made Sasuke's heart swell and insides tingle.

When Naruto asked Sasuke to hand him something and their fingers touched.

When Naruto caught Sasuke openly staring at him and then smiled back in a different kind of way than usual. As if he understood how Sasuke felt.

When Naruto became bored and he kept throwing small pieces of paper at Sasuke who – for a change – was interested in something that ran on TV. Well... that was actually kind of annoying, but somehow Sasuke didn't mind that much.

When Naruto fell asleep on the couch and Sasuke watched him lie there peacefully before he took a blanket and only after tugging the boy in, he left. Closing the window so that Naruto wouldn't catch a cold.

Many decades and few centuries had to pass, but now Sasuke was finally happy again.

And then one night, after Naruto had gone to sleep, Sasuke stayed until dawn.

…

"Morning," Naruto yawned and absentmindedly passed a vampire who was crouched behind his couch reading a book with kitten in his lap.

"Good morning," Sasuke answered and closed the book. He watched as Naruto walked past him, dressed only in his sleeping pants. The smell of his fresh morning skin was something completely new to Sasuke, and it was even better than the aroma of him in the evening. He took a secret sniff and observed as Naruto's naked back vanished behind the door of his bathroom. The vampire could only guess how Naruto kept in shape with all the junk food he consumed every evening. He deduced the boy had that special kind of rare metabolism and all the food was used to fuel his vibrant spirit.

Half an hour later, Naruto came out of the bathroom, this time a towel hanging low on his hips. Sasuke still sat in his spot. The reason was quite simple. The rest of Naruto's living room was flooded with golden beams of sun. And behind the couch was the only place the treacherous rays couldn't reach. Sasuke was forced to wait until the shiny circle would rise higher on the sky and shadow in the room would grow.

Or…

"Naruto?" he questioned softly.

"Yeah?"

"Can you close the blinds?"

The blond stared at him for a while, deep contemplating deforming his face. And then with a flash of understanding he moved towards the window. "Sure."

"Thank you."

The boy disappeared in his bedroom with acknowledging hum and Sasuke could finally retreat to his spot on the couch. Because yes, now after all the time he could call it 'his spot'.

Naruto walked out - properly dressed. "That's not fair, he likes you more than me," he whined, pointing at the kitten purring in Sasuke's lap and proceeded to the kitchen. Sasuke returned back to reading his borrowed book, flash of a smile he had no idea about tugging up his lips.

Several minutes of making a mess in the kitchen and Naruto returned. "If you're gonna finish the book, don't tell me what it's about. I wanna read it too," he said and plopped on the other side on the couch, settling into his spot.

Sasuke took a piece of paper and made himself an improvised bookmark. "I won't," he said smoothly and put the novel away. He watched as Naruto looked up from his breakfast with a happy grin.

"So… what do you do during the day anyway? I feel like we should do something to kill time, what do you say? Maybe a movie? Or a board game? Do you even like board games?" Naruto began with his talk and continued to consume his breakfast. "I have a day off today, so that's fine, otherwise you'd be stuck here all alone. But I guess you wouldn't mind that. Heh… I've been wondering for a while now… what makes you come back every time? I hope you don't think I'll let you turn me into a vampire like you! No! I love my life! I have big plans! So don't even think about it… got it?!" he suddenly pointed his spoon at Sasuke, fierce stare in his blue eyes.

"Got it," Sasuke nodded.

Naruto went back to eating. "Good," he hummed, mouth full of cereals.

This would normally be the end of their conversation. Naruto would finish gulping the chocolate stuff floating in his bowl of milk and go do his own things while Sasuke would go back to doing nothing in particular. But something in the vampire's brain decided differently, and Sasuke heard himself slowly explain. "I wouldn't turn anyone against their will."

The blond looked up again, spoon sticking from his mouth. "Yeah," he agreed and pulled out the item with a plop. "Makes sense."

And then a question slipped through Sasuke's lips. "What plans?"

"Huh?"

"You said you have big plans…" he quoted.

"Ah, hehe. So you actually do listen, cool. Well yes, I have big plans. I'm trying to earn enough money for a dream I have. One day I want to travel the world," he announced and let his eyes gaze into nothingness for a while.

Sasuke's heart jumped. "You've never spoken about this before," he accused as if it was a crime.

Naruto frowned, thinking. "Well, I wasn't sure it will work out, but I got a raise at work the other day, so…" his voice drifted away, the point was quite clear.

"When?" was all Sasuke could whisper. He feared the answer for he knew that any amount of time would be too soon. Naruto was leaving, leaving him alone with no purpose.

"Uhm… I dunno. Several months? Look, I didn't really want to tell you, because… well… you seemed like you need a friend, so I thought…" he began his babble and put the half eaten bowl away from his lap.

But Sasuke stopped listening after the word 'months'. He only stared, deadpanned. He couldn't believe it. It felt like a slap right into his face. He thought he knew everything about the boy, every silly little detail. He thought that they were getting closer. He was sure they were! But for a human it wasn't that hard to sever some bonds, was it? How foolish he was when he for so much as a second imagined that this boy could be the right one to spend an eternity with? It was stupid, he knew him for few flimsy months. And yet… He hoped…

But it was so obvious! Of course he would leave! Fucking humans! Always on the move! Never really staying in one place for long. Especially not young ones. He should have known… he should have let his instincts lead him and keep away from the boy. He should have killed him! It was clear that he would be gone soon anyway. Sasuke just didn't expect it to be this soon. His cold heart crumbled.

The vampire felt a warm palm cover his own. "Are you okay? I'm sorry if this was a shock…"

Sasuke looked down on the joined hands, the warm of Naruto's touch traveled through his whole body, not really easing the pain and rage. He wasn't angry at Naruto though. The boy had the right to live his life to the fullest. Sasuke was angry at himself. His organs cracked and hot blood was pouring from those wounds. Fuelling the new emotion that brought searing heat into his chest. It took a while, but in the end Sasuke recognized it – fear. Fear of being alone.

He reached for the boy across him in a snap. He saw a flash or terror in Naruto's eyes and somewhere in the back of his head Sasuke understood how unexpected this must have been. To see him move so swiftly and impulsively. But that didn't stop the vampire. Nothing could stop him at this point.

Sasuke grasped Naruto's face and brought him closer so he could join their lips in a hasty kiss. He leaned forward and then forced Naruto to lie back on the couch while he nested atop of him. Sasuke felt every second tick as if the flow of time stopped. He felt Naruto stiffen and then squirm. He felt Naruto's hands push into him, wanting to throw him off. He felt Naruto's heart beat against his own cold chest in a surge of adrenaline. Sasuke didn't budge. He held still, the kiss still forced on the boy's lips. Naruto tasted like chocolate.

The vampire let his eyes tightly closed, but he knew Naruto was staring with his own wide open. He always was. He watched the world with those vivid blue pools. Sasuke wished he could see every image of every place Naruto would visit to mirror inside those eyes. To see his joyful smile…

Sasuke's body twitched when he felt Naruto respond. The blond seemed to wake up from the initial shock and he moved his lips on Sasuke's, coaxing him to calm down. A shiver ran through the vampire's spine and he slowly began to kiss back. Their mouths melted together in a gentle embrace. Lips massaged and nibbled on each other. Soft puffs of air leaving Naruto's nose. Sasuke noticed the boy's body temperature promptly rising. He felt how the need in the blond fed the lust in Sasuke's flesh. As if they shared one brain.

Naruto spread his legs, allowing Sasuke to fit between them. Humans were always so quick to submit to sensations. But Sasuke knew better. Naruto would need air soon. He parted their kiss, meeting the bright blue of Naruto's eyes. He saw him blink, still mildly baffled by what had just happened.

Sasuke caught Naruto's gaze. "Take me with you," he breathed out.

The blond's dumbfounded look stared up at him in confusion. Then a glimmer of recognition and mild amusement shivered within that rare shade of blue.

Naruto chuckled. "I was going to ask anyway."

...and they traveled happily ever after!

A/N: Yes, we have the end here. Thank you all who reviewed and who liked this fic. ^^ I hope the spin at the end wasn't too out of place. I just figured it could be a nice idea... This whole fic was kind of far-fetched anyway. But I had my fun writing it... and at least I got to share my personal (hopefully funny at times) view on vampires. :)

Also, I might pick up on this fic again... not any time soon, but there might be an occurrence of a sequel of some sort. ^^