I am so sorry for how long it took me to finish this, especially since it's a quick wrap-up. Unfortunately, the first week of med school left me staring dumbly at a wall and drooling. I'm better now.

First two requests are up. Feel free to still send me requests! It's definitely a writer's exercise for me as well.

I hope that you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it!

Chapter 16: Epilogue

If anyone wanted to bother to look for Naruto, he was out on the dance floor. Alone, since Sasuke was away on "business". A new coven had established itself not too far from the city and Sasuke had wasted no time in making contact with them and strongly suggesting that they adhere to Sasuke's rules of feeding. The meeting with the new coven's leader had made Naruto a little uneasy, especially since Sasuke had left Kakashi at the house to manage things there and decided to go by himself. Naruto hadn't wanted Sasuke to go alone and had suggested that he go with him, but Sasuke hadn't liked the thought of taking him into an unfamiliar coven. Fortunately, the answer had arrived on their doorstep. Gaara had become a surprising ally since Itachi's demise. With Gaara traveling to meet their new neighbors with Sasuke, Naruto relented to staying home.

Their new-found ally wasn't all that had changed in the past year. The coven, now half the size as it used to be, all lived in the same house. Sasuke had moved everything into the second, more comfortable house. The bigger house was used for formal meetings and for storage. By the time Naruto was strong enough to emerge from the underground, Sasuke had moved all of his belongings to the second, now first, house. Naruto had his own room across the hall from Sasuke's, but to be honest, Naruto didn't spend too much time in there. In his defense, he had tried to sleep in his own room that first night, but after a year of sleeping next to another person, he felt too exposed and vulnerable attempting to sleep by himself. So, he had wrapped himself up in a comforter, careful to not leave any skin exposed, and made his way across the hall into Sasuke's room. Sasuke had been awake and welcomed him to his bed with open arms. The next night, Naruto had moved all of his things to Sasuke's room. Sasuke took the invasion well, with a light grin and minimal snarky comments.

Naruto supposed that the reason Sasuke didn't put up much of a fuss was because he felt just as uneasy about being separated from him. It was a nice side-effect of their bond that Naruto could always tell what Sasuke was feeling. Their bond had developed quickly, even to Sasuke's surprise. Naruto wasn't; he was a quick learner, especially when he put his mind to it. Now, there was a heavy presence of Sasuke in the back of Naruto's mind that lingered around him like a security blanket. It was an immense comfort to him, especially during the last couple of weeks while Sasuke was away. Naruto would sometimes find himself curled in the corner, just focusing on Sasuke and their connection, and it was almost as if Sasuke was there with him.

Another beneficial development of their connection was their ability to talk directly to each other through their connection, even through the difference of several miles. Sasuke would tell Naruto directions to running the coven, to which Naruto may have slightly distorted ("Shino, Sasuke says that you have to strip, run around the house, and sing 'Ba Ba Black Sheep'") that Kakashi inevitably would correct. During the day, when Naruto couldn't sleep, he would talk to Sasuke, tell him about his night, and ask how negotiations were going. The conversations were pointless, since Sasuke already knew how Naruto's day went and Naruto already knew that negotiations weren't going well. He had been playing a weird board game with Shikamaru one day when he had felt a flair of anger, adrenaline, and slight panic before an unimaginable pain ripped through his shoulder. He had screamed, not from the pain, but knowing that Sasuke had been attacked. Shikamaru had jumped from his seat in shock and Kakashi had ran into the room, looking just as panicked as Naruto. It didn't take long for Sasuke to reassure him, saying that the leader of the new coven had just gotten a little frisky and that everything was okay. Naruto had tried to reassure his coven that Sasuke was fine, but he had spent the rest of the day in his and Sasuke's bedroom, following his connection back to Sasuke, happy to know that he was annoyed, but alive.

Yesterday, Sasuke had told Naruto that he was finally coming home, the leader of the neighboring coven finally coming to the conclusion that it may be beneficial to be Sasuke's ally rather than Sasuke's enemy. And so Naruto was here, at the club, waiting for Sasuke to come back to him. But Sasuke was running late and Naruto had a short attention span, so that led to his current position on the dance floor. His eyes were closed so he couldn't see the bodies around him, but he could feel them pressing into him and smell their drunken arousal. He knew that Sasuke could feel what he could, and he could feel Sasuke's irritation. Naruto hoped that it would cause him to move a little quicker, but he didn't want Sasuke to cause too much of a riot, so he kept his hands in the air.

"Naruto, are you behaving?" Sasuke's voice rang clear through his head and Naruto could feel the distance between them closing. He wasn't far now.

"Define 'behave'."

"Naruto…" Sasuke's voice was a warning. Naruto grinned and felt an idiotic, drunk girl wrap her arms around Naruto's neck. Naruto felt Sasuke's anger rise up expectedly and could almost feel his deep growl reverberating through his body.

"Then I suppose you'll just have to come find out!" Naruto most definitely felt the growl in his chest that time, as well as the tell-tale itching of his gums that told him that Sasuke's fangs were extended.

Naruto finally opened his eyes as he felt the girl with an apparent death wish push closer to him. He smiled down at her, careful to keep his lips pulled down over his teeth. She pouted up at him.

"You don't want to dance with me?" Her speech was slurred and Naruto could smell the alcohol on her breath. Hell, he could get drunk off that alone. He shook his head to clear it of the odor before trying to focus on what she was asking him. He supposed she was referring to his refusal to put his arms around her. He grinned at her and shook his head again. She frowned and pressed her chest, low-cut dress, cleavage and all, closer. "Why not?"

Naruto considered his options before deciding on a mostly honest reply. "I don't think my boyfriend would like that much."

The girl scowled, her drunken mind trying to sort through Naruto's comment. She didn't have much of a chance. Naruto leaned back into the strong arms wrapping around his waist and relished in the familiar scent. The girl's eyes drifted over Naruto's shoulder and her jaw dropped. Naruto felt almost bad for her.

"Hello," Sasuke's deep voice drifted by Naruto's ear. He tried, and failed, to suppress the shiver down his spine. "I believe you are manhandling what is mine."

"Huh?" She sounded dazed and Naruto didn't know if it was the alcohol or Sasuke's presence that was the cause. He felt one of Sasuke's hands leave his waist to wrap around the girl's wrist, pulling it away from his neck. The itching was back in his gums and he carefully closed his mouth and attempted to smile comfortingly at the girl. There was the familiar popping of flesh yielding to fang and the sweet coppery scent of blood. From the corner of his eye, Naruto could see the members of his coven freeze and carefully look to the little scene on the dance floor. He surreptitiously wiggled his fingers to let them know everything was okay.

The girl's eyes were beginning to flutter and the weight of her other arm started to slip off Naruto's shoulder. When she began to sag against him, Naruto finally relented and wrapped his arms around her waist, supporting her weight. "Sasuke…" Naruto warned. Sasuke growled, but Naruto could feel his gums retract.

"I have been gone for three weeks, and when I return it is to see this pitiful creature hanging off of you."

"She didn't know what she was doing." Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the excuse, but Naruto grinned at him, testing his patience. "Punish me, then. Not yourself." Because Naruto knew that if Sasuke took his jealousy out on the girl, he would regret it. The hardness if Sasuke's eyes finally softened and he relinquished the now unconscious girl fully to Naruto.

"Get rid of her then." Sasuke turned and left the dance floor, leaving Naruto gaping at his back.

"Yea, sure. Right then." Naruto glanced around the room before he noticed a few wide eyed girls he had seen with the one in his arms. He made his way towards them, struggling to move with the added load. The girl was light, but she was an awkward dead weight. "Hello," he crooned as he approached the girls. "I think your friend's had a bit much tonight. I think you should take her home now." Slowly, they nodded and moved to relieve him of his burden.

Naruto stretched his arms out and watched the girls leave with their friend before turning to find Sasuke. He was leaning against the wall by the door to the alley. Naruto grinned to himself before moving towards him. Sasuke smirked back at him evilly and in the next moment, Naurto was in the alley being pushed against the wall.

Sasuke kissed him hard, splitting his lip. Naruto didn't mind; it was already healing and he was so enjoying having Sasuke here with him.

"Missed you," Naruto purred in his mind.

"And I you." Sasuke kissed and nipped his way down Naruto's throat. Naruto only had the familiar tingling in his gums as warning before Sasuke's fangs were imbedded in his jugular. Naruto didn't mind that either and he smiled wide as he tilted his head back to allow his sire better access. He had known that he would be hungry when he finally made it to the club and had taken a bit more blood than he usually would have to prepare for Sasuke's return. Tonight, Naruto wanted Sasuke all to himself.

Sasuke licked the wound closed and buried his nose at the back of Naruto's jaw line, lacing their fingers together. He gently ran his nose across Naruto's cheeks to end by pressing their foreheads together. Naruto saw the last of the red fading from Sasuke's eyes. He grinned and went to kiss the lips that were so close, but was interrupted by that damned door slamming open.

"Oops!" Kiba. Figured. Naruto rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow at Kiba. Sasuke sighed and rested his head on Naruto's shoulder. "I'll just…go. Sorry, I didn't know…um…see you back at the house." Kiba went to go back inside the club, but stopped and re-opened the door. "Good to see you back, boss." Sasuke raised his head and nodded once in Kiba's direction. Kiba grinned, wriggled his fingers, and retreated back into the club. Naruto felt like laughing.

"Come on. I want to go somewhere."

Naruto vaguely acknowledge that it was possible that Sasuke was almost more uncomfortable than he was.

"Does that night still frighten you?" Naruto kneeled down at the spot where, a little over a year ago, his would be mugger met his untimely end. Naruto thought about his answer before replying. The fear he had felt at seeing what Sasuke was had been real. But now, the love and affection he had for Sasuke had changed his perception of that night greatly.

"Yes." Naruto felt Sasuke's shot of pain as clearly as if it had been his own. He winced and rubbed at his still chest before continuing. "But not because of you. I still remember that man's eyes when he pointed that gun at me. His eyes were crazed. He would have killed me." He turned to look back at Sasuke before he teased, "I don't think I ever thanked you properly for saving me that night." Sasuke grinned at him and kneeled down next to him.

"Then, why did you wish to return here?"

"Because this is where it began." Sasuke wrinkled his brow, so Naruto knew he had to elaborate. "For me, at least. The beginning of all my dreams coming true." Sasuke chuckled.

"You dreamt of having your life stolen from you? Of all of the pain and blood?" Naruto laughed as well.

"Well, perhaps I dream in shades of red. I am a vampire now, after all." Naruto stood and watched as Sasuke followed him. "And you didn't steal my life. You gave it back to me. You've given me a home. You are my home. That night, I was trying to figure out who I was, remember?" Sasuke nodded.

"I remember. Do you know now?" It was Naruto's turn to wrinkle his brow as he considered the question. How to explain? He shrugged.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Sasuke chuckled. He didn't need much more of an explanation. He could already feel the assurance Naruto had from that fact.

"Well, well. I am glad that you now know that to be true." Naruto smiled back, but his smile faded as another thought entered his head.

"What about you? Are you still angry at me for running that night?" Sasuke scowled.

"Of course not. I never was. In fact, if you had not run, I would have been concerned. It would have meant that you had given up on all self preservation." Sasuke's scowl deepened as he ran his hand over Naruto's stomach, over where he still had a scar. "Of course, that, I suppose, is still up for debate." Naruto grinned.

"So, you aren't sad that I ran?" Sasuke's scowl melted away into a smirk.

"No. You were not that hard to catch."

"Huh. Well, I suppose that we're more evenly matched now." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are we then?" Naruto nodded and leaned forward to kiss Sasuke. He grinned into his kiss and as he felt Sasuke shift to move closer to him, he turned to take off running.

It was a few seconds before he heard, "You little cheat!" behind him. Naruto laughed out loud as he hit the forest at an out and out dead run. He could feel Sasuke practically breathing down his neck, but his amusement was heavy in the back of Naruto's mind.

Naruto sighed and briefly closed his eyes, letting the cool night air wash over him, before deciding that maybe he'd let Sasuke catch him. This time.