High Stakes

Sasuke stopped outside the gate to the mansion. He knew if he walked in the front door, with a human supporting him, a simple wound at his side that had yet to be healed, he would be the laughing stalk of the vampire world. And the other vampires wouldn’t stand for a weak leader, and he’d be fending off challenges left and right. He scowled as he realized that’s probably exactly what Gaara had planned.

“Why’d you stop? Come on, we need to get you inside.”

“Take me to your house.”

Naruto looked up at the mansion, and then thought back to his little hole in the wall apartment. “You’d be better off here. Plus, my place is far away, we don’t have for this. You might bleed to death.”

With some effort, Sasuke managed to pull a cell phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open and dialed her, “I’m outside. Get a vehicle quickly and pick me up.” He hung up.

Naruto shifted so he could better support Sasuke’s weight, “Who was that?”

“Temari.”

“That’s not the way to talk to a wife.”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“Maybe I should let you bleed to death. I hate people like you.”

Not another word was spoken until Temari pulled up in a car.

Naruto opened the back side door and helped Sasuke in, before he got in beside him.

Temari looked back through her rear view mirror and raised an eyebrow, “Are you bleeding?”

“Shut up, woman.”

“Where to?” She couldn’t keep the smirk off her face.

Sasuke glared over at Naruto, obviously his sign that it was his turn to speak.

“My place.” Naruto muttered, as he wondered why in the world he was helping this bastard out, “I’ll give you directions.”

“No need.”

The rest of the ride was silent, but it was obvious Temari had several questions. Her eyes kept drifting up towards the rear view mirror and she constantly drummed her fingers up against the steering wheel.

They stopped at the bottom of the apartment complex. Windows had been busted out, the entry door was off one of its hinges, and the entire place needed a good wash and paint job. But neither said anything about it to Naruto.

With Temari’s help, Naruto was able to get Sasuke up the stairs and down the hall towards his apartment. Naruto’s heart began to flitter as they came near his door and it was slightly ajar.

“Forget to lock up?” Sasuke muttered as he removed his arms from Temari’s and Naruto’s shoulders, and prepared himself for any sort of attack.

“I…uh…It was probably my friend. He’s got a key. And he’s so forgetful at times.” He smiled at the two of them, trying to keep any fear from showing. He pushed the door open. Naruto’s heart sank as he saw the living room. Books had been pulled from his shelves, pages torn out and splayed across the apartment. Plates and glasses were shattered in the little bar area. The couch had been flipped over. Naruto took a deep breath to keep from sinking to his knees, and stepped inside.

Temari and Sasuke followed in behind him. Temari put her hand on Naruto’s shoulder, “Should we call the police?”

“No…I’ll clean it up later. Maybe the bed is still in tact.”

They silently followed Naruto into the bedroom, and luckily the bed was okay, but everything else in the room had been broken.

“Lay down on the bed, and I’ll go get my medical kit.”

Sasuke sat down on the bed and looked around the room. “What do you know?”

Temari picked up the remains of a froggy piggy bank. “I can’t read his mind at all now.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means my brother is the only one who can control his mind now.”

Sasuke felt a ping of jealousy go through him. But he quickly smothered it. He didn’t care about the boy, so it didn’t matter what Gaara was trying to do with him. And yet, when he had seen the look on Naruto’s face when he entered the apartment, he had almost gone to comfort Naruto. He was glad Temari had done it first though, and snapped him out it.

Naruto came back in with a grin on his face, “We’re in luck, the first aid kit is still in good shape.”

Temari and Sasuke exchanged glances. “I think I’ll…uh…find something to do in the living room while you work on Sasuke.” She walked past Naruto and closed the door behind her.

Naruto stepped over a few broken trinkets and kneeled on the bed. “Can you lift your arms?”

Sasuke did so, and Naruto helped pull the bloody shirt off of Sasuke.

“I’m going to stitch you up some. I don’t have anything to numb the pain though.”

“It’s fine.”

Naruto cleaned the wound up as well as he could, and then pulled out some string and a needle, and began sowing Sasuke up.

Sasuke closed his eyes, not wanting to watch what was happening to him. But the second his eyes closed he was bombarded with an overwhelming sense of sadness, fear, and hopelessness. He knew they weren’t his emotions, and almost instinctively he knew who they belonged to. He opened one eye and looked down at Naruto. The boy was smiling, and quietly humming while he worked. It was all a façade. Sasuke closed his eyes again. He wouldn’t care. He couldn’t care, not about anyone, and certainly not about a human.

“Is someone after you?” Sasuke asked, despite his effort not to. And he immediately regretted it. The emotional pain he could feel of Naruto’s seemed to strengthen.

Naruto shook his head, Temari obviously hadn’t told Sasuke all of his history, and he was thankful for the little fact. “I’m sure it’s nothing. They probably came to rob me, but I don’t have anything worth taking…”

Sasuke felt a stinging pain in his heart, “What did they take?” Whatever had been stolen, it had meant a lot to Naruto.

“It’s silly.” Naruto shook his head.

A picture of a fox statue flashed through Sasuke’s mind. Sasuke scowled, Temari had said only Gaara had access to Naruto’s mind, so how had it become so easy for him to read it? He wasn’t even trying.

“Are you fond of foxes?” Sasuke winced as Naruto jabbed the needle into him harder than needed.

“I…It’s just a thing. My dad gave me this statue before he died. It was a fox with all these tails.” Naruto pulled the needle through for the last time, and cut the string with a pair of scissors, “I think that will take care of it. Should we get going now?”

“What time is it?”

“It’s about…wow, its 5:30. My shift starts in less than fifteen minutes.”

Sasuke knew that there was no way they would make it back before the sun rose. “I…think I need to relax for a little while. Don’t worry, Temari will take care of me while you’re at work.”

“Oh. Umm, what if the robber comes back?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But…”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and did the only thing he could think of, he grabbed Naruto around the collar of his shirt, pulled him in, and kissed him. Naruto stiffened, and pulled away, and smacked Sasuke across the face.

“What the hell is wrong with you!?” Naruto growled as he stood up, “You…you…you’re married.” He hissed.

Sasuke put a hand against his cheek. He could sense the rage bubbling inside Naruto, but he knew it wasn’t from the kiss itself. But there were so many emotions running around inside Naruto’s head, that Sasuke couldn’t pick out the real reason for it.

Sasuke sighed, “Sorry.”

Naruto shrugged, “Well, you did lose a lot of blood. Some people don’t think right when stuff like that happens. I’m going to work.”

Sasuke watched as Naruto walked out of the room. A few minutes later he heard Naruto slam the door as he left.

Temari poked her head into the room, “What did you do to him?”

“I thought you said you couldn’t read his thoughts anymore.”

“I can’t.”

“Then how come I can?”

Temari scowled, “This is not good.” She disappeared from the doorway again.

“Temari!”

Temari stomped into the room, “We only have 10 minutes to prepare for sleep. I’ve called Kakashi to come over here, to make sure nothing happens while we’re sleeping. You’ll heal during your sleep, since you can’t heal yourself.”

Sasuke grinded his teeth, “Why can I read his thoughts, whether I want to or not?”

“Beloved. And that’s all I can say on the matter. Maybe you ought to do some more research on vampires. You suck at being one.”

Sasuke growled, “You better watch how you speak to me, Woman.”

“Heal up, Husband.”


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Naruto looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, since their boss wasn’t around, nobody seemed to be working very diligently. He didn’t see anyone, so he quickly stepped outside and ran towards Kiba’s place. When Kiba had first insisted on moving with Naruto, Naruto hadn’t thought it the best idea, but at current, he was thankful Kiba had done so.

He stopped at Kiba’s door, and banged on it, until Kiba came to the door. Kiba opened the door, wearing nothing but a pair of Scooby Doo boxers.

Naruto smirked, “Your obsession with dogs is bordering on creepy.”

“Get inside.” Kiba grumbled.

Naruto stepped inside. Kiba had actually gotten a pretty nice place, which only reminded him of how trashed his own apartment was.

“It’s past noon, and you’re just now waking up?”

“No. I was woken up. Where have you been?” Kiba grabbed himself a glass and poured in some milk. “Want some?”

“No. I got a new job.”

“I knew you couldn’t handle the morgue.” Kiba smirked as he took a drink.

“A dead guy attacked me.”

Kiba spit out his milk and laughed. “Figures.”

“Someone broke into my apartment.”

Kiba quit cleaning up his milk spill and stepped over to Naruto, “Do you think it was him?”

“My fox statue is gone. The rest of my apartment is trashed. Books, dishes, pictures, everything is ruined.”

Kiba sighed and put his arm around Naruto. “Are you okay? Do you need a place to stay?”

Naruto shook his head, “I’ve got a place.”

“He might find you again.”

“No, it’s pretty well guarded.”

“Well, it may only be noon, but I think we need a drink.”

Naruto smiled, “I’m technically still at work.”

“If they fire you, you can just come live with me. I’ll always be here to take care of you.”

“Thanks.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sasuke flipped through several books. He had healed, and Naruto’s stitching had all come out, but he had gotten out of Naruto’s apartment before Naruto could get there. It wouldn’t look good if Naruto saw how quickly he healed. But he now felt fairly certain that he could heal himself if the need arouse again, after reading some books about it. And from Gaara’s threat about five more, he would need to. But he hadn’t found anything about a Beloved in any of the vampire history books. And regardless of how many threats and demands he made on Temari, she refused to say anything more. “Worthless wife.”

He stepped back over to the stacks and looked for any book that might help him. Of course, no book just said ‘Beloved’ on it. “I hate you, Temari. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were…” He paused when he saw a book that said “Myths” on it. Well, he hadn’t found anything in the facts about a Beloved. Maybe he would find it in the myths.

He flipped open the book and sure enough in the content section was a page number for “Beloved”. He quickly flipped to the page.

It read:

Beloveds are the only way to return the soul to a vampire. After following the steps to unity, a vampire’s soul will be restored. However, this does not mean that a vampire will cease to being a vampire. Blood will always be a part of a vampire’s life; unfortunately the only source of blood a vampire can consume is the Beloved.

Most vampires can sense their Beloved right away. But for the denser vampires, there are some signs.

The minds of Beloveds can not be easily controlled or read by anyone but their destined vampire.

Beloveds can read the minds of their vampire.

Sasuke closed the book, without bothering to read the rest. “Certainly sounds like a myth.” He put his hand over his chest where the constant emptiness was, “A myth. Plus, he can’t read my mind.”

Sasuke tapped the cover of the book, but Temari had never lied to him before, regardless of how much she hated him.

//Oh, God. He’s here.//

Sasuke jerked his head up. He had heard Naruto’s voice.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Naruto stared at the closed door. He wasn’t sure if Sasuke would still be inside or not. He had stayed with Kiba for the remainder of his shift, so he wasn’t sure whether Sasuke returned home or not. He sighed and stepped inside. The living room was fairly cleaned up. There were a few trash bags lined up against the wall, but the place looked bare. There were no more books and no more trinkets.

Naruto closed the door and locked it. He walked into his kitchen and opened one of the cabinets. It was empty. Everywhere he looked; he was reminded that his ex had been there, was still ruining his life.

He stepped into the bathroom and splashed his face with water, hoping the cold wetness would calm him down. He looked up into the mirror to look at himself, but noticed he wasn’t the only reflection in the mirror. He gasped, and was just about to turn around when a powerful arm wrapped around his neck, and a cloth with chloroform was pressed up against his nose.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Naruto woke up with a severely dry mouth and a dreadful sensation. He groaned, and tried shifting and felt the familiar feeling of ropes against his skin. He opened his eyes and sitting in front of him was his ex boyfriend.

“You’re awake.”

“Sai.” Naruto cleared his throat, “Can I have some water?”

“You don’t have any cups.”

“Can you untie me?”

“I haven’t drawn you yet.”

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before he opened them and looked down at his body. He was tied in a way that only Sai could do. His legs were tied to the outside legs of the chair, so he was completely exposed. Some of the rope was wrapped around his balls, and he knew the second he got erect, there would be no way to lose it again until he was untied.

“Sai, don’t you have enough pictures?”

Sai stood up, knocking the chair backwards. He reached around in a bag behind him and threw a folder at Naruto. Naruto winced as the sharp corner caught his chest. Papers flew across the floor. One landed on Naruto’s lap. He looked down at it. It was a drawing Sai had done of him. He was on his knees, with his arms tied behind him to his ankles. He had large welts on his chest and back from Sai’s whip. The floor was decorated with rose petals, and he had a pacifier in his mouth. Naruto shook his head to get the memories of their past out of his mind. He tried shaking the picture off of his leg, but he was tied so well, he could hardly move.

“They’re old.” Sai muttered as he stared at the wild display of pictures, “You left me.”

“You sent me to the hospital, Sai. I had to leave.”

“You did not!”

Sai swatted the drawing off of Naruto’s leg. “I’ll make a lot of new ones tonight.”

Naruto closed his eyes. He had learned one way to control Sai. The only problem was most of the time it backfired, it made Sai even crazier and he got more violent. But he had to try it. He couldn’t be the subject of some perverted bondage art again. “Sai…don’t you think your brother will miss you if you aren’t home?”

He knew it was risky, but sometimes Sai would forget that his brother was dead.

Sai paled, “I’ve got to go.”

Naruto took a deep breath of relief as Sai ran out the door. He shifted in the chair, he knew there was no way he could untie himself. He leaned his head back.

“You have some interesting habits.”

Naruto jerked his head up, “You.” Immediately, Naruto noticed the whole black look Sasuke had going. And the long black cloak only topped it off. In fact, Sasuke looked so good, Naruto momentarily forgot he was naked and tied to a chair.

“Where is he?” Sasuke asked as he looked towards the kitchen.

Naruto blinked a few times, “He Who?”

Sasuke huffed as he continued to stare at the kitchen, how could he explain he knew about some guy Naruto was terrified of without telling him the crazy truth that he could hear some of Naruto’s thoughts.

Naruto cocked his head to the side as he watched Sasuke. Obviously, Sasuke was trying not to look at him. “Sasuke, do you think you could untie me?”

Sasuke nodded and stepped over to Naruto, and stared at the array of knots on the back of the chair. He had no idea which one to undo, so he pulled the knife out of his pocket and slit all the different little ropes.

Naruto shook the ropes off of him and stood up, “Thanks. I’m going to take a shower.”

Sasuke thought he should say something, but he didn’t. He just watched Naruto’s backside as he left. He was almost thankful that he wasn’t hearing any of Naruto’s thoughts at the moment. He looked around the apartment, it looked almost decent, except for all the papers. Sasuke bent down to clean up, and grabbed a paper. He was about to throw it away, but thought better and looked. It was a drawing of Naruto hog tied with a dildo sticking out of his ass. Sasuke growled and crumpled the paper up. He was almost felt sick about the pictures.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t look at them.”

Sasuke looked up to see a wet Naruto in a bath towel. “What?”

“I’d rather you not look.”

“You came out of the shower because you knew I was looking?”

Naruto shrugged, “They make me sick, too.”

Sasuke froze. Maybe Naruto had been reading his thoughts, and just hadn’t realized it. Maybe Beloveds did exist. Sasuke felt his chest again. There was a possibility he could be whole once more. And it rested in the hands of the blonde boy who had connections to Gaara.

***********************
A/N: Don't worry, I'll explain Sai's character later on!