This was going to be uploaded earlier, like Monday, but then time got away with me and writer's block was a bitch but HELLO ALL HAVE AN UPDATE. YES GOOD.

Many thanks to all of you who have expressed your like and interest in this story! I was actually sort of worried that the concepts might be so weird put together, no one would like it. But I'm glad you guys proved me wrong c:

Here you guy, chapter two! Enjoy~

Chapter Two

Naruto was floating. Which is stupid since human beings shouldn't float. Then again, in the last 24 hours Naruto had discovered that the world he once knew wasn't infested with only human beings. But back to the floating. Naruto felt... weightless. Limp, boneless, fit any word you'd like there that would create that feeling of being... there. Hanging, like a lifeless puppet. He couldn't move his arms. He couldn't feel anything other than the slurping, the constant ejection of blood, the constant injection of euphoria replacing the blood in his veins.

Everytime Naruto tried to open his mouth, to tell whoever his attacker was to stop, every protest changed into a breathless sigh. As if he enjoyed being completely devoured and dominated. A heavy weight rested on his body. Close, he could just fall into the weightless darkness and have it cling to it. The darkness would never let him go. A cold, chilly embrace numbing him from his pain and agony—

But then he saw it, the beautiful smiling face of his little baby boy. And Naruto realized that he couldn't give up just yet.

Not... not just—

{Double Shot}

The next morning Naruto woke up, honestly, feeling pretty... refreshed? He found himself lying on the couch with a blanket hastily drapped by his waist. "What in the—?" Was everything from last night just a dream? His hand shot up to his neck, feeling with dread two, tiny holes. Holes were fangs could have easily punctured through to tear out his windpipe. But hey, his windpipe was still intact thank God.

So what happened?

"Morning, Daddy."

Naruto snapped to attention then, full body on alert. Out of all the things he was expecting to see—like Dracula hanging upside down from his wall watching reruns of Full House—Aki standing there with a glass of milk was definitely not on the list. "Uh... Aki?"

"Hm?"

"Who got you that glass of milk?" Naruto always placed the glassware above the sink. A place Aki couldn't even think of reaching even if he got out a chair and stacked five pillows on the seat.

The little boy broke out into a huge smile. "From the Dead Guy! But, but Daddy guess what? Dead Guy isn't dead! 'Cause he brought me milk! Dead Guy is really nice." Naruto didn't know whether to be ashamed or amused that Aki could easily be won over with a glass of milk.

'We'll handle that lesson later.' Because, first things first, he had to figure out where 'Dead Guy' went and promptly kick the guy out of his house. Or call the cops. Were there special cops that handled these sort of things? What would Naruto even say? 'Oh hey, I found this guy lying in my alleyway without a pulse but then he woke up and started drinking my blood. Wait. Why did you hang up?'

Yeah, that would work out just peachy.

So Naruto decided to take matters into his own hands. Though getting up was certainly an issue. He wasn't even standing but the act of physically lifting his body from a lying position made him feel all woozy. The room spinned for a few seconds. "Ugh..." Naruto clutched his head, wincing at the wave of nausea that hit his body.

"Daddy?" When Naruto peeked down, he caught a flash of concern on his boy's face. "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah. Just a little out of it. Um... Aki? Do you happen to know where Mr. Not Dead Guy went off to?"

"Your bedroom."

"My WHAT?!" Now Naruto jumped right off the couch. Sure, you can suck his blood but you don't mess with a man's bedroom. That's just all sorts of low. "Why didn't you tell me sooner, Little Man?"

Aki shrugged, taking another sip of his milk. "'Cause you never asked me before."

Why that little...

Naruto was out of the living room in a flash. Energy returned because, oh boy was he about to deliver an ass whooping, Naruto ran up the flight of stairs to his room, kicking the door open and pointing an accusatory at his unwelcomed visitor.

"What the hell?!"

The raven peered over his shoulder. This time, Naruto was met with sharp, onyx colored eyes rather than those blood red optics that had frozen him solid just a few hours before. "Oh. You're awake."

"Oh?" Naruto bristled. "Is that all you can say is 'Oh'?! How about a thank you for dragging your sorry hide out of that damn alleyway?! Or, better yet, an explanation for these!" Naruto went to point at the two holes in his neck, blue eyes shimmering with unbridled anger.

The visitor cocked an eyebrow. "I don't understand what you're blabbering about."

"What isn't there to understand about the two fucking holes in my neck?"

"There aren't any holes."

"There aren't any...?" Naruto quickly dashed over to a nearby mirror on his dresser. His eyes shot wide open when he found out, indeed, there were no holes. Perfectly unblemished skin. As if... as if last night really didn't—

"If you're done going through an early midlife crisis, let's focus on the fact that your closet looks like a liter of orange soda exploded in there." The raven frowned, obviously disgusted, as he pushed through the closet that had literally one shirt for every shade of orange in the world.

Oh, this guy knew all the right words to push Naruto's buttons. Scowling, Naruto stomped over and pushed the raven off to the side. "Uh, hello? Who said you could come into my closet like that! Also orange is an awesome color." He huffed childishly.

"Yeah. For five year olds. Also, my shirt." The man pointed down to the ugly gash that ran up half of his shirt.

Okay. Maybe last night wasn't a dream after all.

"Do you happen to have anything black?"

"Boxers."

The raven frowned. "Not what I meant. Whatever," obviously annoyed, Naruto wondered what the guy was going to do until he saw him reach for the hem of his shirt. Naruto was like a flash, crossing the distance quickly and slapping a hand to the guy's wrist. The raven snarled. "What?"

"No! You are not stripping in my bedroom? Oh God. I've picked up a prostitute."

"Idiot!" The raven hissed. "I'm not about to walk around with a torn up shirt."

"Then wear one of my shirts!"

"I refuse to put them on!"

"You're such a wimp! God, if I find you a different colored shirt will you promise to not strip in my bedroom?"

"That's what I've wanted all along."

"Fine, fine. Sit there and don't move." Naruto muttered a 'prick' under his breath before returning to his closet. Contrary to belief, Naruto did have normal colored t-shirts and things. They were just kept in a little compartment dresser underneath his hung up shirts. Bending down, he went into the drawer and dug around until he found a white t-shirt with blue paint splatter on the front. "Here. Use this." He threw the shirt over his head.

The raven caught it rather effortlessly. "It's dirty."

"Yes, and?" Naruto got up and pointed to the gash on the other's shirt. "Your shirt isn't any better."

"I need a shower."

"You're quite the needy guy, aren't you?"

"You're a terrible host."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't really expecting company." Naruto sighed. This was getting him nowhere. Couldn't really interrogate the guy if they kept on getting into arguments. Admitting defeat, he jerked a thumb over to a side door. "That's the bathroom. Don't take longer than ten minutes in there."

"Why?" Was Naruto hearing things or did this guy sound oddly amused? "Afraid I'll ransack your bathroom?"

"No. Actually. I like to do this funny thing called 'conservation'. Ever heard of it?"

"Foreign topic."

Oh this guy really knew how to grind one's gears. Naruto held back the urge to trip the raven as he made his way to the shower. He followed right behind him.

The raven stopped in his tracks. "What are you doing?" He asked.

Naruto crossed his arms. "Following you to the shower. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"I don't swing that way."

An indisputable blush rampaged across Naruto's face. "That's not what I meant!"

"Uh huh."

"I'm going to time you so you don't go over ten minutes!"

"You can do that in here, too."

"No. I have to be in the bathroom with you." When Naruto was adamant about something, rarely anything could knock him down. And he refused to let this guy out of his sight, not even for a moment.

An intense down occurred between them. Neither side wanted to back down. Finally, the raven sighed. "Whatever. Just don't peak on me, alright?"

"Wasn't planning on it!"

{Double Shot}

Naruto sat on the edge of the sink, kicking his feet back and forth as he listened to the shower run. He'd been in there for about six minutes now. Since apparently Sasuke had wanted to abuse the full ten minutes. In those six minutes, all Naruto was able to get out of the guy was his name. Not even a last name. Just a first name: Sasuke. Any other question he asked such as age or, the most important one, why Sasuke was lying in his alleyway with no pulse, was brushed to the side.

"So..." Naruto started. The water turned off, the trickling of water droplets dripping down to a monotonous pace. The blond averted his eyes as Sasuke stepped out of the shower, as naked as the day he was born. He even slapped a hand over his face to resist the temptation of looking.

"Hm?"

"Decent?"

"Just about."

Naruto dared to peek through his fingers. Thankfully, Sasuke had wrapped a towel around his hips. Not so thankfully, the towel hung rather low, and gave enough fuel to fire your imagination for days.

Then, Naruto caught a glance at the full-length mirror. He saw himself, obviously. But Sasuke...?

No reflection.

Nada.

Zip.

Naruto screamed. Flat out screamed.

Sasuke scowled, stalking over to slap a hand over Naruto's mouth. "Can you stop yelling?"

Naruto ripped the hand off his mouth, pointing to the mirror that was pointing back at him. "Y-You! Mirror! Why don't you show up?"

Being more casual than Naruto could have handled, Sasuke peered behind his shoulder to look at the mirror. He cocked an eyebrow. "Right." He closed his eyes, concentrating, and then a flicker danced in the mirror, forming out into a perfect reflection of Sasuke wrapped in a towel.

Naruto started to shake. He backed up all the way to the door, hands desperately trying to find the door knob. "W-What the hell?" His eyes were wide with fear. "W-What are you?"

A pause. Sasuke tilted his head to the side, onyx damp locks falling to frame his face. He flashed him a smirk, showing off his pointy canines. A glitter. "I wonder."

"You're... a vampire."

Sasuke scoffed. "Looks like you're not that much of an idiot after all." He took a few steps and Naruto flattened his back against the wall. The hairs on his arms stood on end. Sasuke sniffed the air. "Your fear is intoxicating."

"Um... ew?"

"No. No. It's... poignant. Sweet." Sasuke bared his fangs, creeping towards Naruto until he had the blond fully pinned against the wall. The predator was unleashed. Onyx optics flashed to scarlet red, dazzling, the color of blood. Sasuke leaned into the crook of Naruto's neck, inhaling deeply. "I can feel it. The blood rushing through your veins. The sound of your pulse picking up in tempo. The fear—it's so delicious. One little bite—"

Naruto felt immobilized. Frozen as a statue. He could hear his heartbeat pounding restlessly against it's bony confines. It begged to escape. It threatened to fail on him. Blue eyes were trapped by the chilling, predatory stare Sasuke flipped on as easily as a light switch. Frozen. His body refused to move.

He was going to get eaten alive and there was nothing he could—

A knock on the door interrupted Naruto's staggering thoughts. A low hiss of annoyance escaped the vampire's lips. Naruto almost wanted to cry. He was saved!

"Daaaaddy!" Another round of knocking. "M'hungry. Can we eat now?"

"U-Uh yeah, little man." Dammit. His voice was shaky. Naruto cleared his throat. He tried to push Sasuke away but growled when the raven didn't even budge. It didn't help that Sasuke fucking smiled like the obnoxious prick he was, knowing Naruto was the weaker guy in this situation. "Move!" Naruto hissed. "I can't open the door with you like this."

"You could say please."

"I'd rather get skinned alive by cats."

Amusement glittered brightly in Sasuke's eyes. "What a way to go out."

"Move man!" Naruto was also pretty hungry considering he hadn't eaten anything in about an hour since waking up. That, and he'd have to open up the store soon. Sasuke finally moved, causing Naruto to open up the door and bolt into his bedroom.

"Yaaay! Food! Daddy, daddy!" Aki toddled over to Naruto, grasping onto the blond's pants leg for support. Bottle green eyes blinked up curiously. "Why were you and Dead Guy in the bathroom so long?"

'Oh. Nothing major, Aki. Dead Guy, actually his name is Sasuke, tried to drink my blood. I wouldn't recommend it, though, considering that could probably lead to my early death.'

Yeah. If only it was that easy.

"Uh—" Come on brain, work. Work!

Sasuke, thankfully, stepped in to save the day. And oh look, he was actually fully dressed. "Your father was helping me figure out how to use the shower. It's a little different from the one I have back at home."

Oh yeah. Like Aki was going to believe that—

"Kay!" That easy?! Aki was obviously pleased with the answer as he tugged on Naruto's pants leg. "Now feed me, Daddy, else I'm gonna be late!"

Crap. What time was it? Naruto pulled out his phone to check. Quarter of seven. The kindergarten center opened about forty-five minutes ago. "Alright, little man. Let's get you something to eat."

"Yay! I want pancakes!"

Aki always wanted pancakes.

{Double Shot}

Breakfast was, guess what, pancakes. With little chocolate chips baked in to make a plain cake a banging cake. Chocolate Chip Pancakes were Naruto's speciality and don't let anyone else tell you differently. He made about two plates stacked with five pancakes each since he was running low on time. Aki didn't really mind, honestly, as long as he ate a pancake.

"So, do vampires eat anything other than human souls?" Naruto chided as he worked on flipping another pancake.

Sasuke was leaning against the counter, arms folded. He snorted. "Can't say I've ever had the pleasure of tasting a human soul." Then he smirked. "Are you offering?"

"Heck no," Naruto purposefully moved about five inches away after he finished the last pancake. He added it to the stack then took his place at the kitchen table. Aki was about halfway through his plate. He was the kind of kid who liked a hands-on experience. As in, screw the knives and forks, if you could pick the meal up with your hands Aki was going to use his hands or die trying. Naruto clucked his tongue at the mess his son was making.

"Aki, dude, your face is covered with syrup."

Aki paused in his devouring to stop and feel his face. His eyes widened with surprised when he discovered that, yes, his face was super sticky. This just delighted the little toddler as he patted his face repeatedly. "Ne, ne, Daddy! Does this mean that I'll taste sweet forever, now?"

Naruto rolled his eyes but couldn't help laughing at Aki's logic. "You were always sweet, Little Man. But you can't leave the house like that."

"Awwww, but I wanted Haruno-sensei to kiss my cheeks and call me sweet!"

That made Naruto choke on his food. Sasuke, who had been standing by the counter the entire time with a mug of coffee in his hands, raised an eyebrow.

"I'm impressed."

"Don't you dare!" Naruto whirled an accusatory finger at Sasuke before rounding back on his son who was, by all means, extremely giddy over the prospect of cheek kisses. "Why do you want kisses from her, huh? Wouldn't you want cheek kisses from your daddy instead?"

Aki shook his head. "But Haruno-sensei is prettier, Daddy!"

Well, he couldn't argue about that but still... Naruto's pride was wounded a bit. Beaten by the apple of his eye for his son's affections. What a world. And that sad part is, was that Aki would probably get all the cheek kisses from Sakura. While, if Naruto even thought of the idea, he'd get a roundhouse kick to the face.

Sometimes life wasn't fair.

After that, Naruto cleaned up the table and washed the dishes. Sasuke, the freeloader, didn't even lift a finger to help. The prick.

"Sorry. That's not my thing." Oh, Sasuke was not sorry at all.

"Then at least get Aki ready for school. Wash his face and help him get dressed."

"What am I? The Helper?"

"I haven't kicked you out yet so you might as well do something useful. Hey, Aki!" Naruto screamed over his shoulder. "Sasuke-kun is going to help you get ready for school. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, yeah! I want Sasuke-kun to help me!"

If there is one thing in the world that no man or vampire could ever resist, it would be the excited, expectant eyes of a five-year old little boy who expected the world from you.

A part of Sasuke might have crumbled.

Muttering in annoyance, but conceding anyways, Sasuke let Aki drag him up the stairs and out of sight. Finally alone, Naruto collapsed to the ground, arms covered with soap suds. He let out a heavy, shaky breath he had been holding for way too long. When and where did he go wrong in life to end up in this sort of mess? Tied down to Orochimaru. Picking up a prissy vampire with an attitude problem. Honestly, he just wanted a normal, peaceful life. Where he and Aki could find that missing piece in their family and be happy and where Naruto wouldn't have to worry every second of everyday how he was going to make ends meet.

"Maybe I should have just left him there," Naruto mumbled into the sleeve of his shirt. It hadn't even been a day yet, but Naruto could already tell large amounts of exposure with the vampire was not the best thing he needed right now. But deep down, he knew he did the right thing. Okay, maybe not the right right thing, but somewhere Karma must be keeping track of picking up a dead-not-dead-actually dead stranger, cleaning them up, and giving them something to eat.

Okay, the last part wasn't really a charity. Sasuke just took Naruto's blood without much care for the blond's consent.

His spiraling thoughts came to a halt as Aki came barreling down the stairs wearing his shirt on backwards. Backwards!

"I thought I told you to help him get ready!" Naruto could feel every vein in his brain throbbing.

Sasuke, refusing to admit his faults, crossed his arms and scowled. "I got him into the shirt, didn't I?"

"Backwards!"

"Am I cool now, Daddy?" Aki stared up at Naruto with bright, green eyes. The eyes that belonged to a boy who would probably cry for hours if you told him no.

Well, not probably. He would. It's happened before.

Sighing, Naruto mentally counted to ten before bending down to grasp Aki's shoulders. "You're the coolest cat in town, kiddo."

"Meow!" Aki giggled before throwing his arms around Naruto's neck.

A bone-crushing kind of hug, but one Naruto accepted nonetheless as he carried Aki to the coat rack by the front door. He put Aki's coat on, snugged on his little hat, and went for his own coat.

Oh right. The guest.

As he buttoned up his shirt, Naruto peered back. "You gonna stand there like a lump on a lug or are you going to come with us?"

A snort. "I didn't know I was invited."

"Like hel—heck," Naruto quickly amended, "am I going to leave a stranger in my house. Lord knows what sort of stuff you'll get into."

"Daddy, daddy! I want Dead Guy to come with us too!" Aki tugged at Naruto's shirtsleeves.

Naruto playfully rolled his eyes. "Aki, stop calling him Dead Guy. That's not his name."

"Weeeeeelll, he never told me his real name. So Ima call him Dead Guy."

Fair enough. Naruto wasn't about to argue with five-year-old logic, is was about the soundest piece of logic in the world. Though there was one thing Naruto felt like he should ask before taking Sasuke out into the world. "You'll be okay going outside, right?" Because last time Naruto brushed up on his Vampire trivia he was pretty damn sure they couldn't go out into sunlight for long periods of time. Like, at all honestly.

He wasn't too sure how seeing Sasuke burst into a pile of ashes was going to affect Aki's psyche.

Sasuke was now dressed in a coat, one he got from Naruto's coat rack. It was a tight fit, considering Naruto was a tad smaller in width that Sasuke was. And honestly he looked pretty ridiculous but Naruto wasn't going to say that... out loud. Eh, he did. And for it he got an even nastier scowl in return.

"Your curtains are drawn wide open, aren't they?"

Naruto's eyes scrunched together. What did that have to do with anything? So, he looked around. Sure enough, the curtains were drawn wide open so a lot of sunlight could seep into his room. One, big chunk of sun was shining right against Sasuke's back and, oh look, he hadn't burst into flames. How neat was that?

Oh.

"Get it now?"

"How does that even—"

Sasuke snorted. "Folklore is wrong about many things. Only idiots believe the false tales of humans."

It hadn't even been a day yet and Sasuke was already becoming a pro at getting under Naruto's skin without even trying. Excellent. Deciding that, for once, he was going to ignore the jab—for if he tried to argue any longer Aki was seriously going to be late—he let Sasuke have this one as he grabbed his house keys and headed out the door.

{Double Shot}

Once again trying to win over the affections of Aki's kindergarten teacher was a bust. Then again, maybe somewhere deep down Naruto already expected her to reject him. Not like he had much luck in the love department anyways.

Hands in his pockets, Naruto walked out to the front gate where Sasuke was currently leaning against. He honestly looked like Death's Incarnate. Gloom and doom with his hood pulled all the way over his face, head pointing downwards towards the sidewalk, holding steadfast to an aura of 'talk to me and you die'.

How refreshing.

Naruto went over and kicked Sasuke in the side. "Alright, punk. Let's get out of here before someone calls the cops on you."

The blond realized that smiling was probably something the vampire never did. Only intense scowling, frowning, and the occasional smirk did he ever see. Apparently this time he was gifted to the frown as Sasuke slowly pulled himself up.

"You're being over-dramatic."

"Dude, we're in front of a kindergarten and you're acting like some suspicious hoodlum. I'm just trying to have your back."

"Well don't."

"Well fine Mr. Grumpy Fangs." Rolling his eyes, Naruto pulled out his phone to check the time. It was about time he started heading back to open up the store.

"Hey, Naruto!"

Naruto turned his head, fast like a trained dog, as Sakura jogged up to meet him. His head was already formulating crazy schemes about how Sakura would confess his love for him today. Ironically enough, they all ended up with him somehow getting the daylights knocked out of him by the pinkette herself. Not even in his delusions could he get the girl—what a world.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Bright, chipper, and the complete opposite when dealing with Sasuke, Naruto flashed her his brightest smile. "What's up?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to know..." she craned her head to peek behind Naruto. A tiny blush dusted her cheeks, "who your friend was..."

Oh, there came the iceberg making it's home in the pit of Naruto's stomach. Didn't take a genius for Naruto to figure out who Sakura was referring too.

Fix a better smile. Fake a better smile.

Naruto didn't dare to look behind him, to see what face Sasuke was making at her appearance. But Naruto could put on a show. So as he pushed Sasuke down the sidewalk—though he was met with obvious protest—Naruto laughed off the disappointment. "He's nothing special. Just an old bud from college."

"Old bud from college?" Sakura twisted her face in confusion. "But I thought you—"

"—Sorry, Sakura! Gotta jet! If I don't open the cafe now Gaara will ring my neck. See ya~" He was out and around the corner in a flash. His hand was clutched tightly onto Sasuke's arm as he dragged the vampire behind him, ignoring the protests and snarls to let go, though he was pretty sure Sasuke could easily wrench his arm free and then strangle Naruto all at the same time.

"What is your issue!" Sasuke finally snapped, breaking Naruto's hold from his arm.

Fake a better smile. Create a better smile.

Naruto tilted his head, a bright smile firmly in place. "What problem? I don't have a problem. Nope, not one. Hey, by the way... how do you feel about coffee?"

"Don't change the subject!"

"Answer me, will yah."

"I don't particularly hate it..." Sasuke's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why?"

The ends of Naruto smile turned into something sinister. "Oh, no reason. Just that... starting today you'll be working at my cafe. Congratulations! You've been promoted from a freeloader to a paid freeloader!"

"I refuse!" Sasuke was having none of that. He doesn't work.

Naruto clucked his tongue and wagged his finger, pity in his eyes. "You're really in no place to have an opinion since I saved your sorry hide off the street." He had a point. And even though Sasuke was throwing a parade of curses towards Naruto's direction, the logic was sound and justified. For once, Naruto felt like he had the upper hand in life. Which was rare considering any moment of pride he had was immediately squandered by outside forces. But, you know, it was rather nice being the one with all the power for once.

Though, really, how much power could one human have over a vampire?

"You know, Sasuke~" Naruto wrapped an arm over the vampire's shoulder, ignoring the immediate twitch and cringe that followed after, "I think I'm going to like having you around."

"Can't say the feeling's mutual..."