Spice and Ice and Everything Nice

By TwinEnigma

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or make profit from this.

Warnings for chapter: Welcome to the late night, double-feature picture show, on RKO, whoa-oh-oh-ohhhhh.

51. The Loving Dead

For victims of a zombie apocalypse, they weren't doing too bad, all things considered. Sure, Sasuke would lose his arm from time to time and Karin's head occasionally came loose when they kissed, but the great thing about not having a pulse was these things could be fixed with the judicious application of duct tape. Really, their only worries were finding more brains and those pesky zombie hunters.

"Brains!" Karin said, gleefully pointing a finger at a living person who'd finally decided to risk the run across the street.

Sasuke shuffled in their direction and he almost let out an amused 'brains' when the person tripped on a cafe's chair and crashed face first into a table.

Karin and Sasuke stared at the unconscious man a moment and then shuffled forward, standing the chairs back up. They sat, dusting some rubble off the table, and unfolded some napkins. Somewhere in the back of Sasuke's rotting mind, he remembered that this was kind of what a date was like.

He gave her a bloody grin and she grinned back, her head tilting unnaturally.

52. Prometheus

"I loathe you," Sasuke said, scrabbling at his stitches with the blunt nails of his hands – hands that had once belonged to cousin Shisui. "What madness could have possessed you to do such a thing, brother?"

Itachi sighed, pulling his brother's hands away and binding them. "Stop this, Sasuke. You'll tear your stitches."

"Perhaps that's what I desire!" Sasuke snapped, kicking at him with a stocking-clad foot. "Look at me, brother! You've made me a monster!"

It was true, Sasuke was no longer as he once was. His skin was still the sallow color of the grave and the sutures from the operations that returned his life would leave his face, chest and arms scarred. In particular, the incisions on Sasuke's face were the most vulgar, ruining his previous beauty. But it was the horrible knowledge of what murderous lengths Itachi had gone to in order to restore his life that had left the most ruinous wounds on the poor youth.

But, Itachi thought, he was alive and that was what mattered.

Sasuke cried out in rage and attempted to attack him, but the bindings stopped him short. He retreated, weeping and curling in on himself, and ignored all entreaties directed at him.

This course of events repeated itself for the next several weeks, even after Sasuke's incisions had finally healed. Sasuke would wake in a foul rage and work himself into fits, until he would collapse in exhausted sorrow.

It worried Itachi, that it did, for he was growing more ill as time passed and, soon, there would be no one left to care for his dear brother.

One day, Sasuke was calm, his face strange.

"You have made me thus," Sasuke said, gravely. "And I loathe you for it. Know this, I will pursue you, my creator, and wreak my vengeance upon you for the loneliness you have cursed me with."

Itachi sighed and stood. "You are right to despise me so, brother, for my crimes are beyond forgiveness. But you are wrong in one matter – you are not alone."

Horror dawned on the scarred, youthful face and it was unbearable. "Brother, what have you done?"

Itachi pulled back the curtain behind him, revealing a red-headed young maiden, the sutures in her torso still healing and her eyes wide, almost blind with terror. It had been a hasty search, conducted in secret, but he remembered the girl his brother had once been fond of as a boy and it was no small feat to arrange an accident by which he might obtain her. Repairing and reviving her corpse was little trouble, now that he knew the secret.

"Karin!" Sasuke cried and then rounded on Itachi, grabbing him by the collar of his waistcoat. "You – you monster! You brought this fate upon her as well, she who's only crime was to care for me?"

"I am ill, my brother," Itachi said, sadly. "Death brushes its fingers upon my neck even now and, soon, I shall succumb. She is my gift to you, a creation of your equal, and it is my hope that together you shall banish your loneliness."

"You're mad," Sasuke whispered, suddenly drawing back, his eyes alight with a strange recognition. He then moved to the girl, gently gathering her into his arms, and started for the door. And yet, his gaze did not leave Itachi, as though the elder Uchiha were some sort of dangerous predator liable to strike without warning.

He watched them leave.

"Everything I did is for your happiness, brother," Itachi said quietly, more to himself than anyone else.

One day, Sasuke will thank him.

He smiled.

53. Du Riechst So Gut (You smell so good)

Sasuke watched the setting sun with a resigned sort of dread. Soon, the moon would rise and he'd once more be a victim to it.

"You'll get used to it," Juugo had told him apologetically after he'd been bitten. Juugo would know – he'd endured the transformations longer than anyone.

It was true, more or less. Sasuke had become used to it as the months passed, but some part of him could not accept what the moon transformed him into.

From the window, he watched as a girl in white moved out of the tree line, her red hair askew and her chest heaving as she fought to regain her breath. His eyes widened as he saw her face and caught the barest whiff of her scent – it was that girl!

She was noble-born as he once was, her scent spicy and rich, and he'd spent the better part of a day tracking her back to her home. When the sun set and the moon rose, he was able to slip inside, masking his presence behind the cursed abilities of his other form, and get close enough to speak with her a while. She was just as fiery and exciting as her scent had promised and he quite enjoyed her company. Had he still possessed access to his family's estate, there was no doubt that he would have offered his hand to her, such was his affection for her. Then, the chaperones had descended upon them and his glamour was undone. But, he had left her with a stolen kiss and the taste of her had lingered the rest of that night. It was more than a beast such as what he'd become could hope for.

His mood afterwards was so drastically improved that Suigetsu had the gall to suggest he'd been replaced by a changeling. A good thrashing had put the other boy in his place and Sasuke resolved to quietly sneak back to that manor house for another visit to the interesting girl. He had planned to convince her to sneak away with him.

But no, she had come to him instead.

Sasuke hurried to the door, unlatching it and stepping outside.

"You!" she shouted, leaping at him. She hit him hard, sprawling him on his back. "I know you! You were the one at the party, the wolf!"

He bit back the urge to growl, her scent stronger and with a familiar edge to it, one that only their kind had. On her breast, he could see the livid marks where his teeth had broken her skin and he knew she was right to blame him – he had cursed her.

"What have you done to me?" the girl cried, threading her fingers in her unkempt red hair as she pressed her hands over her ears. "I feel like I'm losing my mind!"

"You'll get used to it," he said, instantly regretting it when she let out a wail, and he slowly wriggled out from under her. "Come inside, the moon will rise soon and you must meet the others before then."

She sobbed, looking at him from reddened, puffy eyes. "Why me?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, her scent rolling over him. "Because even monsters can long for the embrace of love."

54. Tasty

Karin would later point out that her first meeting with Sasuke probably hadn't been the best as first impressions go. In fact, it was downright embarrassing for both of them. She'd come back from cram school late and, exhausted, flopped down in her bed to sleep, only to be awoken by a noise in her room and realize that someone was standing over her. She'd screamed and smashed her alarm clock into the side of his head, before scrambling to the other side of the room and turning on the lights. What greeted her was a slightly angry and very bruised teen with fangs who insisted she was in his house and had no business being there.

As it turned out, it was a gigantic misunderstanding.

The Uchiha family had once owned the property and, when the last owner had passed on, the house had been sold to Karin's grandmother, who in turn left it to Karin. Unfortunately, it meant that she'd also inherited Sasuke, a kyuketsuki, a fact her grandmother had never mentioned in all the years before the car accident.

It didn't make it any easier for either of them. Sasuke was just as stubborn as she was and they butted heads more often than not. And then there was the fact that he needed human blood on a regular basis.

The first time she'd fed him, it was because he'd passed out. The stubborn idiot had apparently been surviving off a steady diet of pig's blood purchased from the butcher's, a diet that had been abruptly terminated by the car accident that killed her family and grandmother. She'd had to cut her finger to wake him and he'd surprised her with the speed at which he'd woke and latched on to her finger. Her heart had immediately proceeded to go all doki-doki and she resolved to head to the butcher first thing.

The second time she'd fed him was at school. He'd followed her in an attempt to explain himself, ended up scaring her half to death in the library – honestly, what sort of vampire could walk around in daylight-, and then sheepishly admitted that a little bit of her human blood would help him more than pig's blood ever could. She offered him an arm, uncertainly, and was surprised to discover it wasn't as bad as she had feared. There was hardly any pain, just a little pinprick, and it was really more like a kiss, leaving her feeling rather good all day.

After that, it became sort of a regular occurrence. He'd assured her that he couldn't infect her, since he wasn't that kind of vampire, and he wasn't taking all that much from her anyway, just a little here and there to supplement the pig's blood.

They still argued – they'd had roaring good fights over his possessiveness when he'd insisted upon checking up on her study groups and when she incorrectly thought he was eyeing another girl as a snack – but, overall, they got along well enough. The last year or so of living with him had been pretty decent even if he was a stubborn prick half the time. Unfortunately, the sexual tension between the two of them was getting unbearable, especially since it was clear she was getting a lot of pleasure out of his routine feedings on her.

Sasuke looked at her and blushed as he noticed the low cut of her dress, looking away quickly.

Karin sighed, stood up and said, "To hell with it."

He had two seconds to look surprised before he was on his back on the floor with her on top of him.

Hey, she was only human.

55. Invite

"It's a costume party," Sasuke said, frowning at the invitation.

Karin, currently sprawled across his lap, hummed and flipped another page in her book. "Sounds like fun."

"Are you kidding?" Sasuke asked, incredulously. "Naruto is going to get drunk in the first hour, try to pick a fight with me and manage to somehow get Sakura mad at him by opening his big mouth. Kiba will spike the punch, Hinata will spend the entire time trying to melt into the wall – she's still never quite gotten over everyone spying on that date she took Naruto on in junior high school – Shino's going to take her home because he hates these parties anyway..."

"You and your pals spied on that girl's date?" Karin asked, looking over her shoulder at him. "Classy, Sasuke, real classy."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "We were what, thirteen, fourteen? That was ages ago. Anyway, point is that this party is probably going to end in a big drunken bust."

"You don't know that for sure," Karin said and rolled over so that she was on her back, looking at him. "It could be fun."

He resisted the urge to groan. "You've never seen Lee under the influence."

"If it's anything like Juugo, I think I can manage," Karin said, resting her book on her chest. "Besides, you're always complaining that you don't get to see your old friends as often now that we've moved."

Sasuke sighed, flipping over the invitation in his hands. "I know."

"So... costumes," Karin said, smiling. "What shall we go as?"

He shrugged. "I'd rather stay home."

Karin giggled, blushing a little as she sat up and purred in his ear, "Ooh, a private costume party, then, Mr. Uchiha? What would your wife think?"

"Mrs. Uchiha apparently approves," Sasuke quipped, "since she is the one suggesting it."

"If Mr. Uchiha deigns to spend a few hours with his friends in a ridiculous costume, then Mrs. Uchiha promises he will have his private party afterwards," Karin smiled, shifting so that she straddled his lap. "If he's well-behaved, then he gets a special treat, too."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow in curiosity.

"So, costume suggestions?" Karin grinned.

AN: CAUSE IT'S THRILLER, THRILLER, THRILLER...

Sorry, I'm in a Halloween-ish mood. SO, actual notes...

"The Loving Dead" - zombie movies, bonus points if you know what band wrote song I titled this drabble after.

"Prometheus" - It's the return of Dr. Franken-Itachi and his emo brother from Chapter 10 of my Variables series, and assumes they survived the fire. Itachi is out of his mind in this drabble and he's killed the whole family to put Sasuke back together. Ouch.

"Du Riechst So Gut" - Inspired by a music video of the same name that also regards werewolves that can appear human to chase their prey in secret. I like this idea, since it resonates with some of the theories about wolves as allegory in fairy tales.

"Tasty" - he's less of a western vampire and more like a spirit creature, like a youkai or Unseelie. I drew some inspiration from Bloody Kiss's plotline regarding inheriting the house.

"Invite" - Silliness. Hinata's botched date refers to the "Shippuu! Konoha Gakuen Den" extended ending where everyone spies on her date with Naruto and pops out when she appears to have tripped and fallen on him - she's shown running away, upset, in that sequence.