Leech (A challenge by KyuubiWindscar)

AN: This first chapter takes information heavily from Naruto manga chapters 21, 29-31

Dialogue

"Bwahahaha!" – normal speech

'Bwahahaha!' – thoughts/thought speech

"Bwahahaha!" – demon/big summon speech

"Bwahahaha!" – demon/big summon/Inner Sakura thoughts/ thought speech

Chapter 1: First Feed

Naruto rushed through the forest with all the speed he could muster toward a familiar destination. It was the bridge where he had consistently guarded the old drunkard, while being forced into menial labor with his clones. This is not to say that he minded very much, for at heart he was a cheerful and exuberant person. Despite the insults, being ignored, and poor living conditions, Naruto felt truly happy, especially since a few days ago, when he met someone who actually cared about him.

Flashback

He was asleep in the forest, after spending the night blowing off steam and abusing poor trees with his fists and feet. He felt a hand touch his shoulder, and immediately he woke up. His first instinct was to flinch, but he wasn't quite awake and naturally suppressed that part of him. When he opened his eyes, a vision of beauty stood before him. Long, sleek black hair, and a porcelain face, the girl before him seemed the very icon of femininity in this day and age (not that Naruto even knows what half those words mean).

"You'll catch a cold sleeping in a place like this," the girl softly spoke.

"Hnh?" he replied intelligently. Naruto sat up, leaving the kunai he slept with next to his side. "Who are you?"

From there, introductions were done, as he came around, and he found out that the lovely person was named Haku. After finding out what she was doing so early in the morning, he helped put together a basket of the leaves she needed. Some more idle chatter, and he began to open up to this beautiful girl. Eventually, he decided to tell her his dream. This was the moment of truth. And to his surprise, she did not make fun of him for his lofty goal, nor did she put him down as a loser. She genuinely believed he would become strong. This was a new feeling for Naruto. Sure, Iruka-sensei, Teuchi-ojisan, and Hokage-jiji supported him, but they weren't his peers, and there was a lot of negative reinforcement about his self worth from them. As the conversation wound down, and the girl began to walk away. Naruto promised himself, just as he agreed with her, that he would find her again, if only to talk. As she exited the clearing, she casually mentioned.

"By the way I'm a boy."

End Flashback

Naruto refused to believe that the person he had met was, in fact, male. Hell, she was prettier than Sakura-chan, a lot less violent, and overall easier to talk with. No way that could be a guy! This with line of reasoning firmly in hand, Naruto reached the bridge, completely forgetting about the "sneak up and take 'em out" approach that normally works. Instead he decided to do what he normally does: wing it. As he got closer to the floating mirror-things though, something strange began to start. In his ears, he could hear his own heartbeat. First faintly, and steadily, if slowly, getting stronger. He pushed the sound away and focused on the battle. Sakura-chan was guarding the old drunkard, there was a heavy mist on one side of the bridge, and Sasuke was in the shell of mirrors, getting cut up.

'Oh wait, what!?' Naruto groused in his head. 'At least he's not dead, and I can make a big and flashy entrance!! Dattebayo!' Pulling a shuriken out, Naruto tossed it at the fake oinin, who apparently was inside the mirrors. By sheer happenstance, Sakura had the same idea, and decided to throw a kunai, which the fake oinin caught. This left him open to the thrown shuriken, which knocked him out of the mirror. The battle immediately paused, as everyone looked to see who had thrown the shuriken. Naruto took his chance. One large poof of smoke and a cool pose later, and everyone on the bridge knew of Naruto's presence.

-=oOO0OOo=-

As Haku's mask hit the ground, Naruto was devastated. This was his new friend! The person who cared for him, said he would get strong. Was it all a lie? On top of that, the heartbeat pounding in his skull was getting ever louder, and it took a lot of effort to keep back. It tried to compel him to do something, but he did not know what.

"Why did you stop? I killed your precious friend, but you can't hurt me?" Haku plainly asked, a dead look in her face.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed, after seeing Sasuke. He followed through with the punch he had stopped short on, but it lost most of its power. Some of the blood from Haku's mouth landed on his handed, and the world stopped. The heartbeat rose to a roar, filling his ears with an organic drum that wouldn't stop. His eyes focused on the blood on his hand as ever so slowly the, blood disappeared, like magic. 'No, it didn't disappear,' Naruto thought. The blood, Haku's blood, was being absorbed through the skin into him. This was what the heartbeat was calling for. Like a hunger, Naruto stalked forward, in a trance.

Haku noticed the change, and having already accepted death, stood but did nothing else. She wondered what was going on with the boy, but figured that it had to do with his friend's 'death.' This was shattered as the orange clad boy reached a hand toward Haku's face. Surprised, but curious, she didn't move and wanted to see what he would do. As she felt his palm make contact, she froze. 'What's happening! Why can I not move?' Then she felt the pulse, and the flow of her blood to where his hand was. Although her face reddened, Naruto leaned in, and placed his mouth on hers.

Naruto was running on sheer instinct, and currently that instinct was to find more of that blood he had absorbed. Seeing as most of it had come from her mouth, he placed a hand on her cheek, to absorb some the blood there, and to steady her head in quest to sate his hunger. Although he could have simply used a hand to collect the blood, his body called fro him to use his mouth. With the pulse of the beat in his ears, he felt he was in a fog, and lost as he was, he followed its call. As his mouth covered hers, he could hear faint whispers, telling him to breathe in.

This had the effect of drawing a gasp from Haku, who had a full blush. 'What is going on? Why is he doing this and not ending me after what I did to his friend?' her thoughts broke off as she realized she was getting colder, and that Naruto-kun was drawing further into her mouth. She felt her breath begin to leave her body, as he breathed in, and desperately, she wanted to take another breath. She tried breathing through the nose, and it helped some, but Naruto's breath continued to draw hers away. She was further shocked as she was pulled into a pressing hug, their hips touching when she began to fall limp. Before she lost consciousness, she noted how cold it was getting.

Naruto realized something was wrong when the person in front of him began to pale and collapse. He desperately tried to stop what he was doing, but he couldn't, and his efforts only led to the acceleration of his friend's demise. As she fell, he caught her, but had to press her against him to support her with the one hand he could. He idly wondered if dropping her would break whatever technique had been evoked, but was unable to act on it. Thus when the mist blew away and Zabuza was standing, dead from a Raikiri to his chest, Kakashi, Tazuna, Sakura, the thugs at the end of the bridge, and Gato got a great look at him seemingly frenching the enemy missing nin.

-=oOO0OOo=-

Author Notes: This is my first story, and reviews on how this is would be nice. I've already written some of the second chapter, and that will be put up when I finish it. Also, should the chapters be longer, or are they fine at this length?