30. History repeats itself

Nagato was arguing with Kiba and Miku. He wanted to leave right away, to drive to a hospital as quickly as possible. No cell phones worked here apparently. They couldn't call for help. Nagato wanted to just drive off but Miku and Kiba were trying to convince him to wait for Naruto's return.

On the meantime Suigetsu gasped and ran toward the two. He held Sasuke's arm before pulling him into a warm hug. Sasuke returned it. Naruto didn't mind. Actually it was convenient.

"Be right back," he said and locked eyes with Suigetsu momentarily, as though telling him not to let Sasuke out of his sight even for one second.

Naruto ran toward the car. He was exhausted but he wanted to use his powers again, to save Nagato's boyfriend if he could.

"What are you doing?" The red head practically yelled as Naruto hopped in the back and let his hands hover above the thin, dark-haired male.

"Where was he hurt?"

"You saw!" Nagato exclaimed, looking behind his shoulder, "Didn't you? When we got here he shot their leader and then… then that guy just grabbed him and threw him he landed on the car but I mean… I think he has a concussion and maybe his spine is hurt and oh god…"

Naruto barely listened. It didn't matter what injury he suffered from exactly, did it? He was confident in his powers now. If someone needed to be fixed, then he could fix them if he put enough of his magic into it. But with Kamijo, there was no telling if he was indeed healed or not. Soon Naruto was panting and completely exhausted, even more so than before. He ran a shaky hand through his messy blonde locks as he stepped out of the car and backed away. Nagato crawled to the back and touched his boyfriend's cheek, before glancing sideways at his nephew.

"Did you… do something? What did you do?"

"Try to wake him up," Naruto said weakly, on the verge of passing out. He leaned his arm onto the top of the van.

Nagato talked softly while caressing his boyfriend's hair and the latter woke up and blinked a few times. He sat up and it seemed he was fully recovered.

When Naruto looked behind his shoulder, he saw that Suigetsu and Sasuke had come closer. The raven was leaning on his best friend for support. But they both glanced down at Deidara, who was still unconscious. Naruto sighed, and without waiting for anyone to ask, well he sat next to the skinny blonde male and proceeded to heal him too. Ino stepped closer to watch, fascinated. Nagato hugged his boyfriend in the car. Suigetsu and Sasuke just stood tiredly, also watching Naruto's miraculous powers in action.

Deidara was curled up on his side when he finally woke up, his neck completely healed now. Still, he brought one hand to touch the side of his neck and winced in pain, but it was probably more psychological than anything. He slowly looked up at Naruto as he sat. His clear blue eyes widened in shock.

"You… saved me? You did, didn't you? Oh my god… and I was always such a jerk to you! Naruto, the truth is, I think you're amazing, and I was always jealous of you… You're so great, and perfect, and everyone loves you, and I… Naruto?"

There was no time to listen to Deidara's emotional rant right now. Naruto had noticed Kiba was hurt, too, and he wanted to heal him before passing out. Kiba was indeed abnormally pale and his breathing heaved as he leaned on both the car and his girlfriend for support. Naruto approached him and touched where Kiba was holding his side.

"You don't have to," he said weakly but his hazel eyes betrayed that he was in pain.

"It's okay," Naruto whispered.

He used the very last of his energy to heal him. The others stood in respectful silence. Kiba's eyes widened in disbelief at what was happening. Surely enough, his ribs were healed thanks to Naruto's powers. The next instant he was thanking him, rather emotional and grateful just like Deidara had been. But Naruto wasn't listening.

He couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. He couldn't move his body. His ears were buzzing and the others' voices were fading away.

"Kiba," Sasuke's low voice said behind him, "let's get him in the car…"

"We should hurry," Ino said, "we have one, maybe two hours before dawn."

Naruto felt safe when he felt Sasuke's hands on him. He drifted completely to unconsciousness. His body desperately needed to rest now.

F & I

Suigetsu and Ino had volunteered to sit in the trunk of the car, behind the seats. They had no choice. There wasn't enough place for everyone. Sasuke sat in the back, with Naruto and Deidara sleeping on either side of him. Sasuke was pressed close to Naruto, holding him with one arm as the blonde head rested on his shoulder peacefully.

Sasuke was terribly angry and frustrated. He wasn't scared anymore. He hated Varin so much – even more than before, and he hadn't thought that could be possible – for everything that had happened now. At the same time, he was very troubled by his ancestor's revelations. But there would be time to think of that later. For now, he was content just holding Naruto in his arms. He didn't mind that he was a vampire. Actually, he was grateful, and he chose to express it to Suigetsu, breaking the heavy silence. Indeed it was utterly quiet in the van. Miku and Kiba were sleeping in the middle. Nagato drove while his boyfriend held his hand comfortingly.

"Thanks for changing Naruto," Sasuke said simply, briefly glancing behind his shoulder, and down at Suigetsu.

With Ino they sat on either side, facing each other. Sasuke had yet to be filled in on everything that had taken place. But he figured Ino hadn't lied to him, and had remained on their side the whole time.

"No problem," Suigetsu answered with a small smile. "I couldn't let him die."

"Thank you," the raven said again in a low, sincere voice.

Suigetsu just nodded.

"Do you have any idea of where Varin and the others could have gone?" Ino asked, addressing Sasuke.

He shook his head, "You should know more than me. You were pretending to be one of his minions for a while."

"Don't remind me," she said darkly, "there was no point in the end. I couldn't even hurt him in the slightest."

"None of us could," Suigetsu commented softly.

"What happened exactly?" Sasuke asked, "They just vanished or what?"

"Yeah," Suigetsu shrugged, "seems your twin back there had the same power as your lover boy. You know, the teleportation one. He disappeared with Varin and Sakura and Neji. Just like that. We don't know where they are now."

"He's my ancestor," Sasuke said, "and he's also very powerful indeed just like Naruto."

"You knew about him?" Ino arched a delicate eyebrow as she looked up.

"No," Sasuke answered tiredly, "I just found out earlier, when he drank my blood… It's a long story – literally. I have no idea how he conveyed all of it to me in the little time that he spent drinking my blood. But he did."

"You'll tell us…?" Suigetsu inquired.

"Later," he replied.

The two nodded in understanding. Sasuke would tell the story, to whoever wanted to hear, much later, when they were well-rested and fully recovered.

The rest of the drive back to Kyoto was silent, save for some comforting words exchanged between the driver and his partner. Sasuke didn't listen. He held Naruto close. The raven felt sleepy too but he wanted to wait to make sure they would be safe.

After all, Naruto was a vampire now, and the sun was a threat. Right now, dawn was near. And it would be one of those freezing cold, yet sunny days. Sasuke could feel it. His body still felt cold and hurt. Having Naruto near was extremely comforting. At least they were together. But it wasn't over.

Varin was still out there. Sakura and Neji were unimportant. But what about Izuna? Sasuke wondered. Which side was he going to pick? Was he even going to pick one? In other words, what happened now? The story which had been revealed to Sasuke was rather confusing. He still had no idea what were his ancestor's intentions. And then there was Varin. What were his intentions now that he had achieved his goal of awakening his old friend?

Ah, worrying about Varin again. Fearing him. Same old, same old… Sasuke let out a heavy sigh, and closed his eyes. But he didn't fall asleep. His thoughts were too troubled. They were going round in circle. There was no point in over thinking things now. Later, Sasuke thought, later he would tell Naruto and Suigetsu the whole story, and listen to their advice.

F & I

When they got to Minato's house, the handsome, middle-aged man was up. He looked incredibly exhausted. He welcomed his daughter with opened arms, and she cried as she returned the hug.

"I'm so glad you're all right," Minato said, caressing her long blonde hair. Kiba stood right next to them. Naruto, Nagato and Kamijo stayed at a respectful distance.

The others were waiting in the van. Next they were going to Deidara's apartment. They had to hurry up. The sun was about to rise. But Naruto had just wanted to make sure everyone was all right. They were still his family - bloodsucker or not, to use Kiba's terms.

"Do you think we could stay here for a little while, Minato?" Nagato asked. Even though his boyfriend's life was no longer in danger, he held him protectively.

"Of course," Minato nodded.

Naruto had been awakened when the car had stopped. He'd insisted to come inside but now he regretted it. He felt so weak that he wasn't even sure he could walk back to the car.

"Anyway, thank you so much guys, for everything," he managed in a weak voice and he was about to go, but his father stopped him.

Actually he hugged him warmly, just like he had done for Miku. In that moment, Naruto felt two very conflicting emotions. First he felt terrible, because he was so thirsty that he was tempted to sink his fangs in his father's neck, and the thought was horrifying. But also, repressing his urges like that, it was all worth it, because he felt good. So good that he wanted to cry. His father still loved him. It sounded silly, and so simple, but it meant so much to him.

"I'm glad you're okay," Minato said.

"Thank you," Naruto replied in a little voice before pulling away, and taking a few steps back.

"It's not over though, is it?" Kiba inquired.

Naruto locked eyes with him briefly, and sighed. "It's over for you guys. I promise I won't involve you anymore."

They all somewhat nodded in understanding. No one said it out loud but they all knew the truth. They were helpless against Varin anyway. There was no point in risking their lives once more.

Naruto left. He managed to reach the car, and he hoisted himself to the back seat next to Sasuke. The raven was still sleeping. Deidara was awake now, but he seemed a bit groggy as he sat in the middle of the van. Suigetsu drove and Ino was in the passenger seat. Soon they were on their way to Deidara's apartment.

"Deidara you wanna go steal some blood for us again if I stop by a clinic?" Suigetsu asked.

"No…" he whined, "Why does it have to be me?"

"Sasuke's still out," Naruto said as he held his boyfriend in his arms, watching over his sleep, "and I haven't even tried compelling yet."

Deidara glared behind his shoulder, "Idiot. How hard can it be? Ever watched Star Wars? You stare at the person and you give them orders."

"So I have to use the Force?" Naruto mocked.

"You're such a fucking retard."

"Whatever happened to, I'm amazing and you've always been jealous of me and all that crap?"

"I was delirious," he said defensively.

"Uh-huh."

"Guys," Ino exclaimed, "fret not. I'll do it. For your information Naruto, I don't always compel them." She smiled as she shifted in her seat, and turned to look back at them, "I have my own ways."

Suigetsu studied her face, before staring back at the road. He made a turn and spotted a twenty four hours clinic on a busy street.

"Curious?" Ino taunted.

"You're gonna tell me anyway," Suigetsu shrugged.

"True," the blonde female laughed, "well, I seduce one of the guys – the cutest one preferably," she added as she flipped her hair behind her shoulder, and looked toward the entrance of the clinic. Suigetsu had parked the car. Ino said, "I tell him I'm a vampire, flash my fangs, the whole deal. I seduce him. I tell him I've been watching him for a while. It might sound creepy, but they like it. Makes them feel special," she snickered, "they think it's sexy. They think vampires are sexy. Blame modern culture."

"We are sexy," Suigetsu commented.

Ino continued, "I tell him we'll have a secret affair. In exchange he needs to give me blood regularly, or whenever I ask. Men love needy women. I swear. They love it. I've got a few of them back home," she glanced at Suigetsu, "in hospitals… And hey, if they get caught, even if they tell the true story, no one's gonna believe them. They'll never trace back to me."

"What if," Deidara said mockingly, "there's just girls working at a certain clinic?"

"Doesn't matter," Ino replied, unfazed, "lesbian or bi-curious women are everywhere these days."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Naruto said from the back, and they turned to glance at him. "I mean come on, that's gonna take forever. Deidara or Suigetsu should just go and compel someone it'll be faster…"

Still gripping the wheel, Suigetsu shook his head, "It's not that stupid Naruto. She has a point. If we get caught stealing, it's trouble. They have cameras and stuff. Who knows? We might stay in Kyoto for a while. And if we're gonna be pacifists and leave humans alone, we need a blood supply."

"All right it's decided," Ino smiled, removing her hair tie and letting her long pale locks loose, and putting her hand on the door handle, "just let me do my thing."

It didn't take that long. Faint light appeared on the horizon but it wasn't uncomfortable yet. Ino came back a few minutes later, holding an insulated grocery bag, undoubtedly full of blood bags. Naruto felt guilty for stealing this precious resource they needed at clinics and hospitals. But this was better than killing humans. It sounded so wrong but Naruto thought hey, technically, the donors were still saving lives...

Ino had seduced some guy after all, apparently. He stood by the doorway as he watched her leave, his brown eyes wide like he had just seen a ghost, or an angel. Well, for his defense, Ino was indeed being over dramatic. She glanced back at him, standing in the freezing cold in her light clothes, hair blowing in the violent wind, while showing no sign of trembling or shivering. The guy was staring. Ino finally tore her gaze away, and came back to the car. Once she was seated in the front, putting the bag next to her legs, Suigetsu drove off without wasting any more time. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe that actually works."

Ino laughed, "Told you."

F & I

They took turns in the shower. Ino borrowed comfortable clothes from Suigetsu, and Naruto borrowed some from Sasuke, since the two males still had their suitcases in Deidara's apartment. They drank lots of well-needed blood. The shades and blinds were tightly shut in the small, fancy apartment. Soon they were all setting off to sleep for the day. Suigetsu had invited himself in Deidara's bedroom. The others assumed the blonde male didn't care since Suigetsu hadn't come back. In the living room Ino slept on the couch, and Naruto and Sasuke lay sprawled on the carpet on the floor. It wasn't ideal but they didn't really care – they were too tired to be whining about it.

But as tired as they were, they didn't fall asleep right away. They held each other comfortingly, their eyes open.

"Your eyes are different," Sasuke whispered, running his fingers through Naruto's damp blonde locks lightly.

"My teeth, also," Naruto flashed his fangs, trying to lighten the mood. Sasuke made an almost smile. It was better than nothing.

"You're beautiful."

"So are you."

The raven made something close to a chuckle, as he rested his hand on Naruto's arm softly. "You know what I mean. You never saw me as a human. I did. And I find you beautiful both ways. It doesn't change the way I see you, just wanted to say that."

"You didn't need to. But thanks."

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm saying stuff like that," he licked his lips, looking down, "I guess you've made me all emotional, saving my life for the third time and all, you know…"

Sasuke was referring to the time Orochimaru had tortured him with the intent of killing him slowly, right after they had met. The second time had been due to Sasuke's reckless visit to Kiba. And of course, last night...

Naruto thought about those past events and squeezed him tight in his arms and kissed his hair. Sasuke smelled so good after the shower. This was happiness, being reunited with him after being so worried these past few days. He smiled. "Anytime… So many people after your sexy little ass, huh? But I won't let them hurt you. Not anymore."

Suddenly a feminine voice said, "Guys, not that this isn't lovely and romantic, and believe me, I feel privileged to witness such an intimate conversation, it's like something out of a shounen-ai manga, you know? My inner fan girl is squealing. But, I'm trying to sleep."

Sasuke lifted himself up on his elbow slightly so that he could arch a fine black eyebrow at her, "Inner fan girl?"

Naruto said, "Don't ask, Sasuke, don't ask."

Ino laughed softly, closing her eyes. Sasuke didn't ask. They finally went to sleep after that.

F & I

When the night fell, Ino went out to get some more blood. She came back successful. No one commented. They just drank in silence. They were all pretty much fully recovered by then. Recovered physically, that is, Naruto thought as he sat on the couch with his arm draped around Sasuke's thin shoulders. The raven had made nightmares all day long.

Deidara sat on a sofa across the room and Suigetsu took place on a chair. Ino leaned on the wall and crossed her ankles and her arms. They were all waiting. Now was time for Sasuke to tell them what he knew. Naruto just sat with him, waiting like the others, and of course holding Sasuke and ready to offer moral support if needed.

But Sasuke was strong. He appeared strong on the outside, anyway. His voice was very calm as he spoke, and it was clear he wanted to get straight to the chase.

"So Izuna's my ancestor, we all know that already. He was also a warlock…"

"How come you're not one then?" Deidara asked, throwing his long, skinny jeans clad legs onto the nice black coffee table, "If I understand this bloodline logic correctly you should be right?"

"I'll get there," Sasuke tilted his head, his black eyes ice cold, "and would you be so kind as to not interrupt me? You should know, Deidara, I'm merely tolerating you right now."

"Oh come on!" Deidara protested, "You don't have to take it personal, I did it for money…"

"You don't have to take it personal?" Naruto repeated, practically shouting in anger as he held his boyfriend close protectively, "You fucking shot him in the heart! Because of you, he was tortured, and…" his voice broke. Sasuke glanced at him sideways, his eyes softening.

"It's okay, Naruto. You don't have to say it. They all know what happened. I know who my true friends are now," Sasuke's eyes drifted from the blonde to Suigetsu, and they exchanged a slight nod in understanding. There was pain, too, in Suigetsu's violet eyes as he was well aware of what Sasuke had been through.

Deidara sulked, glancing out the opened living room window at the winter night. Ino spoke up in protest though.

"I was faking it, you know that!"

"Yeah," Sasuke scoffed, looking up at her in disdain across the room, "and what for? So you could have some fun bitching Sakura? So you could fuck that Neji guy? You wanted to live the life for a little while with Varin. You were probably disappointed when he brought you guys to some old decrepit house in the middle of nowhere. No more five stars hotels for you. How sad."

Ino became very flustered. She clenched her fists and frowned but it seemed hard for her to argue with that. Suigetsu took her defense, although reluctantly, it seemed.

"She tried to attack Varin back there. She really did. And honestly, Ino's one of the fastest, strongest vampires I know. It was a honest try but…"

She finished for him, "But you were right Sasuke. All those years I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't understand why you were so scared of him." She raised her hands in surrender, "But like I said you were right. He's unbeatable. I tried. We all tried. Even that… shape shifter Inuzuka kid. No one could hurt him."

There was a heavy silence. Naruto eventually cleared his throat and said, "Why don't we just… listen to what Sasuke has to say?"

"Yeah," Suigetsu agreed.

"Wait," Sasuke locked eyes with Ino again, "I just want to ask something. When you saw me in the basement, you said something like, why are you doing this to yourself. What was that all about? That kinda pissed me off you know."

Naruto kept his arm around Sasuke and stroked his shoulder softly with his thumb. But Sasuke was indeed pissed and nothing his boyfriend could do would change that.

"I was referring to the fact that you could pretend instead of going through the torture. Like I did. Pretend to like him."

"You think I could've deceived him? You think you deceived him?" Sasuke spat, "He probably saw through you the whole time. Or he just didn't care."

Suigetsu leaned forward in the chair, looking at Ino as well. "Varin didn't look surprised when you attacked him," he said, reinforcing Sasuke's argument.

"What do you want me to say," the blonde girl sighed, "I'm sorry, okay? Is that what you want to hear, Sasuke?"

He ignored her completely. He said, "Maybe after I tell you guys what Izuna showed me, you'll understand. Even if I had pretended to like Varin or whatever, it wouldn't have changed anything. He wanted to hurt me. Wanted to put me through all that… It was his revenge, you see."

"They did mention something like that when they were talking," Suigetsu said in a low voice.

Sasuke looked up at his best friend and started telling the story, "That Izuna guy, he had an older brother, back when he was human. His name was Madara. They were just like my brother and me, back when I was human, actually. You know, they were always, training together, and spending time together. They were travelers. He showed me images of that," Sasuke waved his hand vaguely, "but that's not really important, I guess. The important thing is that they possessed really powerful magic. Just as powerful as yours, Naruto, I'd say. Maybe even more. The older one was stronger. He wanted to find a spell for immortality…"

Suigetsu's violet eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Wait, wait, wait, are you telling me you're about to explain us how our whole race got started?"

Sasuke waited a beat, then nodded, "Pretty much. It was that Madara guy. He started it all."

Naruto pulled away from Sasuke. He was shocked by this information, too. He shifted so he could look at Sasuke's face properly.

"Then why was it Izuna, and not that other guy we saw yesterday?"

"Because Madara changed his little brother. Now I'm gonna answer your question Deidara. For his spell to work Madara had to make big sacrifices. He had a really big family. They all had magical blood. Well, after Madara performed his immortality trick, all of a sudden, they didn't. He sacrificed the Uchiha bloodline's abilities. Instead he could turn them just like him so they were all immortal, together forever… But he didn't have time. He changed his brother first but Izuna didn't want this. He freaked out. He… was so horrified and he sort of went crazy and he killed Madara."

Deidara frowned as he stared at his maker. He raised a hand as if he were a student in a class wanting to ask a question. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that I don't care about all that crap…"

"Are you insane?" Ino glared at him, "This is really interesting. You have no idea how long I've wanted to know how all of this started. Us. Vampires…"

"Well now you know," Sasuke said.

"And what does Varin have to do with any of this?" Suigetsu asked.

"Yeah, I was waiting for that question, um," Sasuke replaced some black hair behind his ear as he continued explaining, "it's complicated. I told you they were travelers, well, they met Varin when they were all just teenagers. Well Izuna met Varin. And he was in love with him for some reason."

"Why am I not surprised?" Suigetsu chuckled darkly.

"Yeah." Sasuke licked his lips, sighed, and held his head with one hand. "It's all very lovely," he said sarcastically, "from the memories Izuna showed me, well, Varin already had some kind of childhood friend, or girlfriend, or whatever, it wasn't very clear, and she was a witch. Anyway, Varin kinda liked Izuna at first, they became friends, the whole deal, but then he met the older brother, and he kind of liked him better. They actually became… a thing, Varin and Madara, with today's vocabulary, you would say, fuck buddies."

"Right," Naruto swallowed hard, trying to understand, "and that was… before… the spell?"

"Oh, yeah," Sasuke said apologetically, "I'm not really good at the whole… story telling thing. Anyway, yeah. It was before that. They were fuck buddies for a while. Izuna was kinda miserable. He never stopped loving him, or whatever…" clearly Sasuke wasn't too comfortable talking about Varin in such a way.

Naruto tried to speed things up, for Sasuke's sake more than anything. "So what happened when the brothers became vampires?"

"Right," the raven sighed, running a shaky pale hand through his hair, "let me summarize this crazy, fucked up story for ya. Basically, after killing Madara, Izuna was still pretty much insane. He started killing other people for blood. When he regained his senses he went to Varin – pretty much his only friend – and told him everything. He wanted to change him so they could be together. Also Izuna didn't want to be alone, the thought scared him. Varin freaked out and he said no. Also he wasn't too happy that his fuck buddy was dead. Um… so basically," Sasuke spoke very slowly at this point, as he let out a heavy sigh, "Izuna precisely did to Varin, what Varin, much later, did to me."

There was a silence. Then, Suigetsu said, "I had a feeling you'd say that."

"What did Varin do to you anyway, except raping you or whatever, that part I figured out, but…" Deidara said questioningly.

Naruto and Sasuke both glared at him. But the raven answered his question anyway, although indirectly.

"Izuna compelled Varin to kill the people he loved. Madara was already dead. So Varin killed his close family. Then Izuna changed him into a vampire against his will."

Deidara went quiet. Something flashed through his clear blue eyes. Guilt maybe, for the way he'd been talking to Sasuke. Across the room, Ino slowly let herself slide down the wall, until she sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Some fucked up story," she said, "but what about that witch girl you told us about?"

"Turns out Varin didn't really love her," Sasuke looked up rather tiredly now, "so he didn't kill her. It was unrequited love on her part. Actually she loved him so much that she avenged him."

"She put Izuna to sleep," Suigetsu said in understanding.

Sasuke nodded, "It killed her. In that case, the sacrifice for such a powerful spell was her own life. Can you believe how much she loved him?" From his tone of voice, Naruto could tell that this was hard to grasp for the raven. Understandable. "There was a counter spell, like all spells do. After a thousand years, he could be awoken with the blood of his descendant turned into a vampire. Varin found out by reading her journal."

"In other words, you," Naruto sank into the couch. He brought a hand to his hair, detangling a few strands before dropping it. He glanced sideways at his boyfriend.

Sasuke looked back at him. Quietly he said, "Yeah. I have no idea why he let me see all that."

"Maybe the guy felt like he owed you an explanation, right?" Deidara pointed out. No one argued with that. It sort of made sense, sadly. Sasuke had suffered for crimes he hadn't committed.

After a long silence Sasuke crossed his arms, thoughtful. "The only thing I don't get is how he still has his powers. And how you still have yours." He addressed Naruto.

He just shrugged. He had no idea either.

"Do we know for sure people like Naruto are supposed to lose their powers when they become vampires?" Deidara asked.

Ino took this one. "Oh yeah, for sure. I've known many people in my long life, my friends. And some witches out there, they were tempted by eternal life. Giving up their powers in order to stay young forever. For some, it's tough to resist."

Naruto thought about this. It was true. He had himself been ready to give up on his powers, and even on his family and everything that was his human life, to be by Sasuke's side, a vampire. Now that it was accomplished, he didn't need to worry about that, or feel guilty about it anymore. In the end, it was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

"They all lost their powers as soon as they became vamps," Ino said simply.

"What if it's a gender thing?" Deidara offered, "Naruto and Izuna are guys so…"

"Oh I said witches but I've known some guys too, believe me," Ino said.

"Madara lost his powers," Sasuke said in an absent voice, again reminiscing the images Izuna had showed him last night, "It's just Izuna who kept them. And Naruto you're the only other I know of."

"Same here," Suigetsu nodded. Now everyone was staring at Naruto. It was rather intimidating.

"I don't know, you guys," he just said lamely. He decided to change the subject. "I just want to say something. This whole story, it doesn't excuse what Varin did." Naruto's deep blue gaze hardened as he clenched his fists until his knuckles were white. "Just because Sasuke looks like Izuna doesn't mean it was okay for Varin to do that. I mean," he swallowed, staring at his boyfriend, "you had this done to you, but then you didn't feel the need to do the same to anyone else…"

Sasuke held his gaze, but something seemed broken inside of him. The dark gray eyes were sadder than Naruto had ever seen them, and it worried him deeply.

"You know I killed tons of people in my life Naruto," he whispered darkly.

Naruto felt like crying. He reached out to wrap his arms around him. Sasuke leaned into the embrace but didn't hold him back.

"I don't care," Naruto breathed in his ear, "we've talked about this already. This has nothing to do with anything. You were lost and you didn't have the will to live and whose fault is that, huh?" he meant Varin, of course. Everyone understood.

"Yeah Sasuke I mean, we all killed tons of people," Ino said softly, "Don't worry about it."

"Ha, not me," Deidara chuckled, "I mean, when I was human I killed some people. But ever since I became a vampire, no one."

"Ignoring the first part," Suigetsu rolled his eyes, "well, neither did Naruto. That's because you guys were lucky enough to have friends with you, helping you through the first steps. My maker was some crazy bitch – anyway, long story, won't go there – and I was alone from the start. I know Ino was on her own too. But we're all good now. Good vampires. Whatever that means."

"Means it's okay to live in this world, I think," Naruto said quietly as he pulled away from Sasuke. Their black and pale blonde hair entangled slightly as they looked at each other.

"But Naruto," Sasuke said, "you're right. About Varin. I always suspected something fucked up happened to him in the past, for him to be like that. But I didn't care. Whatever it was, I wouldn't care. I still want my revenge. Even more now actually. Honestly, I don't give a fuck about Izuna. I just want Varin dead. That hasn't changed. It's never gonna change."

Naruto's dark blue eyes never left Sasuke's. He said, "I know, baby, I know. We'll find a way. We'll kill him."

"Course we will," Suigetsu said, breaking the intense moment between the two lovers, "for you, Sasuke."

"And for the money he promised me," Deidara added.

"And for Deidara's money," Suigetsu rolled his eyes.

"What?" Deidara said defensively. "It was a lot of money!"

Suigetsu replied, "Whatever the reason. Varin's as good as dead."

"Sure," Ino said, getting back up to he feet, "I'm in. Only question is, how the hell do we do that?"

It was, Naruto thought, a valid point she had there. First problem was, they didn't even know Varin's current location. And the second problem was pretty obvious, and the reason why they all fell silent. Varin was next to impossible to kill.

But suddenly a thought struck Naruto. "Hey what if I can attack him now? I mean, with my powers?"

Removing himself from Naruto's hold, Sasuke looked at him intensely. "You mean…"

"To every spell there's a counter spell right?" The blonde said, getting more excited, "What if that's the counter spell. If an Uzumaki becomes a vampire, then he can hurt Varin."

There was a glint in Sasuke's eyes. "Worth a shot."