WARNING: This story is a Naruto/Sasuke/Sakura THREESOME meaning there will be YAOI AND HET. If either squicks you or you dislike multiple partner relationships then do yourself a favor and hit the back button on your web browser, instead of flaming me. Thank you.
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It All Started That Night
I. Pitch Black
"The darkness shrouds the woods. The stars in the sky and the flames lit by man rebels against this darkness, but it is futile without the light of the moon." A red-eyed man says from his perch upon a high cliff overlooking the forest. He turns to the person standing next to him and says, "The night is when man is most vulnerable." The figure nods his head in agreement.
"I understand."
"I don't need anyone slowing me down." The man says calmly. The figure turns his head, locking the red eyes with his gaze.
"I know." His voice is even and unwavering. The red-eyed man smirks and turns to the other figures standing behind them. "Very well then. It begins."
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"My lady, we have to set up camp now. It will be too dangerous to travel further after the sun sets." The sky had been streaked with reds and purples when she heard those words. Now the darkness has settled in the peaceful camp. In one of the tents lies two young women, wrapped in blankets. One hugs herself tightly as chills run down her spine.
"Are you cold, Sakura? I can have the men bring in another blanket for you." The blonde woman says kindly to her handmaiden after hearing the soft chattering of teeth. Sakura shakes her head in response.
"That is not necessary Lady Yamanaka. It is just that the night is filled with fearsome beasts…" She hugs herself tighter as she keeps her eyes low, even though it is impossible to make deliberate eye contact in the dark.
"How many times have I told you, Sakura? You may address me as Ino. We are friends after all." Ino says cheerfully. "And don't worry so much. My father wouldn't let us go without his strongest men protecting us."
Protecting you, you mean. I'm expendable. Sakura thinks to herself bitterly. Outwardly, she smiles at her lady. "Yes, madam."
"See? You're doing it again! What kind of a servant are you?" Ino sits up and points her finger towards the direction of Sakura's voice. "You can't even follow your lady's orders!"
"I'm sorry, madam." Sakura keeps her head low as a good servant should. Her lady sighs and lies back down on her back. She places her hands behind her head.
"My tutor gave you one of those lectures before we left didn't he? Don't listen to him, Sakura. Regardless of your status, I think of you as my little sister and I'll protect you with my life." She turns her head and smiles at Sakura through the darkness.
"You shouldn't say such things, my lady." Sakura says as a warm feeling in her chest travels to her cheeks. "It is unfitting of-"
"Someone as regal and noble as me, right? That Ebisu is so full of himself and he's always sucking up to mother and father." The blonde rolls her eyes. "Forget him, Sakura. Now be a good little sister and get some sleep." She says and turns on her side. Sakura makes no reply, instead pulling her blanket up to her chin.
"Good night, Lady Ino."
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"Do you smell that?" A small red fox sniffs the air.
"What? The humans? We have no reason to mess with them, even if there are women." A large stag rests his head in a bed of grass. "Right now would be a good time for a nap, don't you think?"
"Get up, you lazy ass!" The fox nips at the stag's behind with his teeth. The stag looks at the fox with half-lidded eyes.
"I'd kick you, but that would be too troublesome."
"Don't you smell, you know, tainted blood?" The fox yips out. The stag lifts his nose to the air breathing deeply. He sighs and gets up on all fours.
"Go back and inform the Alpha. I'll go ahead and keep watch on the humans."
"But I-!"
"Don't make this more troublesome than it already is. Besides…" He turns to the fox, looking at him straight in the eye. "I outrank you, Omega." The stag turns away and runs off. The fox's fur visibly bristles from the words, as a soft growl escapes through his teeth.
"Understood, Gamma." He sneers and bounds off in the opposite direction.
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It is a tranquil night, with just the soft crackles of campfire, the silent awareness of vigilant guards and an innocent deer watching just a few yards away.
Hmmm…This group is larger than the normal companies that pass through this valley. There's a tighter security force as well. A pair of guards are standing directly outside the central tent. There's a woman's scent coming from there. A princess or noble perhaps? The deer thinks to himself as he quickly analyzes the situation. The tainted ones, considering the origin of their scent while factoring the wind direction, are roughly less than thirty meters away. Without reinforcements, all these people will die within an hour…
"Ah! Ow!" A loud, high-pitched voice breaks his thoughts as his head swivels to a fox who had the misfortune of stepping on a rather sharp and pointy rock.
"You moron, I thought I told you to inform the Alpha." The deer says pointedly, while the fox grins in response.
"I did. Did you forget about my special technique?" The fox says brightly. Like hell I'm missing out on kicking some ass just because of my rank. He thinks to himself, knowing without a doubt that the Alpha would've ordered him to stay behind.
"What a drag." The deer mutters. "Don't get in the way, troublesome fox." The fox partially squints his eyes at the deer and huffs.
"Get in the way, huh. Pfft, watch this." The fox disappears leaving a puff of smoke behind.
"Wait, you moron! Damn it!" The deer swears under his breath. Don't get killed, Naruto.
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A loud high-pitched scream rouses the silent camp to full wakefulness. Sakura trembles in the embrace of her captor. One cold, callous hand is placed over her mouth and the other is wrapped around her arms and torso. A tear falls from her eye as fangs scrape the nape of her neck.
"The guards outside are already dead." The man whispers into her ear. His hot breath sends shivers through her body. "Come with us quietly and your life will be spared."
"Let go of Sakura this instant, you monster!" Ino yells at the man, only able to see his glowing red eyes. Damned Marked…I can't tell where Sakura is. If I try to attack, I may hurt her. A flash of white light illuminates the tent for an instant before turning a deep, dark red. A muffled scream resounds in the tent while a blade greedily saps the blood of it's victim. Tears spill freely from wide, green eyes as blood drips over pink, parted lips. The tearing of skin, followed by the howl of a man is heard as the feral warcry of a pink-haired beast shakes the Earth.
"SHANNARO!" Sakura rushes wildly at the tall, dark-haired man that had just run a katana through her Lady's abdomen. The man calmly grabs her wrists holding her in place. She thrashes as green eyes gaze hatefully into vibrant red. She clamps her teeth into one of the arms that holds her. The man makes no response other than to use his other hand to grab onto her long, pink hair instead. He pulls back tightly, but Sakura holds firm.
"Crazy bitch." A voice mutters from the corner. The first man who had held her, is cradling his arm which had four deep, red lines running diagonally along it. "This woman better be worth the trouble." The taller pale man ignores him and instead knees the woman in the stomach. She gasps, releasing her hold and crumples to the floor on her knees.
"Come with us quietly, and I'll let her soul reach heaven." The taller man says to the hunched form. She looks at him, still dry heaving, and growls.
"Sa…ku…ra…run…" A soft whisper draws the girl's attention.
"Ino!" Sakura calls out between breaths. Ino stands up and pulls the katana from her body. She holds it in front of her, taking advantage of the light offered by the sword.
"Run for it…" The blonde demands in a broken, nasal voice as she charges the taller man. She raises the sword above her head. The black-cloaked man plunges his hand deep into her chest. She screams in pain as a blinding white light emits from the wound.
He's going to rip out her soul! Sakura thinks to herself. "NO! STOP!" She calls out. "PLEASE!"
"Does this mean you'll come quietly?" The shorter male behind her asks and she turns to look at him. His eyes glow menacingly at her as the blade's light tints his pale skin red, making him look like a demon from Hell. The black stripes, white fangs, and long, bushy hair only add to his monstrous look. A katana is strapped to the back of his black yukata. He stares at her blankly, showing no sign of affect. He almost looks bored with the events. Her teeth grit together tightly. Her only friend is being killed in front of her and he dared offer no remorse, no sympathy, for what he's letting happen?! As can be expected from a monster like him. She snarls inwardly. Another scream tears her attention away as the blue eyes of her mistress start to dilate.
"Ino…" Sakura whispers as she lowers her head, ready to submit to their demands.
"HEY BASTARD! THAT'S NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY, YOU KNOW!" A loud, brash voice snaps her head up in time to see Ino fall to the floor. Three red foxes clamber over the taller Marked. One has it's jaws firmly clamped into the arm that had been ripping Ino's soul out before. Another is on the man's head, digging claws into the man's scalp. The third clung onto the Marked's back, with it's claws entangled in the man's long, black cloak with red cloud designs. The Marked man slams his arm against the side of the tent making the fox disappear in a puff of smoke. Two more foxes dart through the tent flap and leap at the Marked man.
"Goddamn kitsune! Get off me!" The second Marked yells as he thrashes wildly, covered in his own pile of vulpes.
"Hey, you're pretty cute." She whirls toward the same voice from earlier, coming face to face with blue eyes, blond hair, and whisker-like scars on lightly tanned cheeks. He's also wearing a garish black and orange jumpsuit with a black bandana tied over his forehead. One eye closes as he winks. "Come on! Come on! I'll get you out of here!" He grabs her arm and pulls her along before she can speak.
"W-Wait a minute! Lady Ino is still-!" She turns her head back in time to notice an identical blond man carrying Ino, who still held the odd sword, out of the tent in his arms. What the? What's going on here? She thinks to herself. Her longs legs are moving faster than ever just to keep up with the boy. Rocks, twigs and various other fauna cut into her bare feet. The wind slices through the thin layers of her nightgown bringing gooseflesh upon her skin. None of it matters compared to the beating of her heart, pounding louder than thunder in her ears.
Sakura nearly slams into the boy's back as he suddenly stops. She then notices a pair of red eyes glowing in the darkness, no less than twelve feet in front of her. "Give us the girl, you damn fox." The voice of the Marked man says coldly. His eyes seemingly wince as they flicker between red and black.
"I don't think so, bastard." The blond grins widely and points his finger at the man. "I'm going to protect humans from scum like you and become a kyubi! Believe it!" A loud, grinding chuckle is heard in response to his declaration.
"It's your funeral." The man snarls. White sparks flicker along a black outline. "Chidori!" He roars as hot, white light surges towards the two. The boy pushes Sakura out of the way and screams as he takes the brunt of the attack. Sakura screams soon after as she watches the boy's body vaporize in front of her eyes. The red-eyed figure breathes heavily. His shoulders rise and fall steadily with each breath. "Now that that's settled, you're coming with me." He stalks over to her. She quickly glances around the area, finding no one, not even the other blond and Ino.
What do I do? She asks herself as she steps backward. The ragged breaths grow louder, while the red eyes grow dimmer. She barely notices a glint of red, just a short distance behind the Marked man. Another one?! She thinks to herself as adrenaline fills her body, urging her to run. However, her mind screams that she could never outrun a Marked and should just go quietly in the slight chance that her life would be spared.
In an instant, the red glint disappears and the red eyes disappear shortly afterwards. The breathing stops with a soft grunt followed by the soft thud of a body falling onto grass. "Hey! You okay?!" A blond boy emerges from the darkness with his hands behind his head.
"You! You're alive?!" Sakura gapes.
"Of course! That was just a clone, you know. I send a lot of 'em out to scout out Marked and help humans escape and stuff." He says with a wide smile, giving her a thumbs up. "When that bastard destroyed my clone, I brought a little help."
"Help?" She inquires.
"Yo!" A grey-haired man steps out from the darkness with a person thrown over his shoulder. He has a black headband tied over one eye and a mask that covers his lower face.
"Hey Kakashi-beta! You're gonna kill this jerk, right?" The blond boy asks the older man as he looks over the black-haired boy.
"I've sealed the effects of his mark and bound his wrists and ankles with special energy draining rope. I think it'd be best to see if we can get some information first before we dispose of him." Kakashi says to the blond.
"Eh? That's no fun. I guess that makes sense though." The blond responds.
"Hmmm…" Kakashi looks over Sakura, who tenses under his gaze. "Naruto is right. You have a pleasant scent." He closes his eye cheerfully. "May I have your name, miss?"
"Ah, Sakura Haruno." She responds with an edge of nervousness in her voice.
"I'm Naruto!" The blond says loudly.
"Kakashi." The grey-haired man turns his back. "The Marked are withdrawing. We need to head back to camp. Miss. Haruno, if you could accompany us…" He starts to walk away. Sakura hesitates. Naruto takes her hand.
"Come on! Come on! The sooner we get back, the sooner you can see your friend!" He says to her. Her heart skips a beat, as wings of hope flutter in her chest.
"Ino? Lady Ino will be there?" She asks, grabbing the boy's collar desperately, drawing his face an inch away from her own.
"Yeah, yeah. The pretty blonde who was with you earlier. One of my clones dropped her off with the healers a while back." He says waving his arms erratically. She smiles and lets him go.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" She clasps her hands behind her back and follows Kakashi. Naruto takes a moment to fully appreciate her form.
Not bad for a human. Curves are in all the right places, even if they're isn't much of a curve to them. Must be a late bloomer. His eyes linger on her nearly visible pink panties, peeking through the slightly transparent nightgown. "Oh!" Naruto says to himself as a realization strikes his thoughts. He runs over to Sakura's side, tossing his jacket on her shoulders. "Here! It's a little cold to be walking around without a jacket, you know?" Her cheeks flush as she slips her arms into the jacket's sleeves.
"T-Thank you." She says. She arches an eyebrow, when she notices the fox boy's holding his nose with wide eyes. She lowers her gaze to find that her nightgown had slipped exposing herself. Her cheeks grow a darker shade of red. "NARUTO!" She slams a fist down on his head.
"Ah! Ow! Ow!" Naruto whines, nursing the growing bump on his head. "Sakura…" She turns away and zips up the jacket. Her feet pound the forest floor as she walks.
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Authoress Notes: Well, that's the first chapter. More information on the Marked and our lovely animal friends will be revealed next time. This was originally going to be a standard vampires vs. werewolves fic, but I decided to incorporate more of the Narutoverse into it. So as you can see, the Marked "eat" souls not drink blood. The animals can transform at any time without the aid of the moon. And humans are humans of course :P.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This fiction is made purely for fan services and entertainment.
GhostlyMaiden
