A/N: Hey there!
As you probably noticed, the waste majority of you didn't seem to have anything against turning this into YAOI, so… (grins) Here we go! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL THOSE WHO VOTED! (hugs)
DISCLAIMER: Me, OWN?! (starts laughing hysterically) Oh c'mon, I barely have a couple of pairs of socks.
WARNINGS: YAOI, language, blood, sadness… Eh… Awkay, I think I should stop while there are still some readers left. (grins sheepishly)
Awkay, because it's past midnight around here, I think it's 'bout time we get started. (grins) I REALLY hope ya'll enjoy the newly started ride!
Moonlit Crimson, edited
When did it all start?
Long before us, that's for sure. Long before our time. The decisions that set our whole lives were made centuries before either one of us was born, long before either one of us had the slightest chance to decide. The war of Three Tribes wiped us away without letting us choose.
You won't find our names from the books of history – such like us never make it there. But we were there – creating it, living it, breathing it. Ending it, and dying with it.
I don't have much time, but I want to tell you our story. The true story – not the one colored beyond recognition by nostalgy, rumors, imagination and platant lies.
I want to tell you a story about Naruto and Sasuke. A story about love that should've never been, but what still was and lived, blossomed even through the most harsh of grounds. A story about the man I loved. Maybe after I've told you, the tale won't be forgotten.
I don't know when it started. But this is a tale of when it ended.
/ Despite the bonfires that seemed to burn everywhere the night was unusually dark while Shizune made her way through the coldness of winter, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. She'd almost reached her destination when a certain sight made her freeze where she was.
Right before her – all but crucified to wooden crosses – were the burning bodies of a man and a woman. She staggered a step backwards, bringing a hand to her mouth to keep herself from vomiting as an unbelievable stench met her nose. Her eyes burned – because of the smell, threatening tears or something else, she didn't know.
Vampires…!
Since the old race of vampires had been dragged out of the shadows, she'd seen this penalty being carried out far too many times. She was one of the few people who considered this punishment sadistic.
Just then her ears caught something – a baby's cry. Feeling almost startled she lowered her gaze. A gasp erupted when she discovered a clearly newborn, hysterically crying baby boy, placed into a basket nearby the crosses.
Her eyes started to widen as understanding dawned slowly yet surely.
This… baby…
Once more her gaze rose to the flaming corpses, although they were the last thing she would've wanted to see. Was it their child she'd just discovered, left to die along with the rising sun? At that moment her heart all but broke.
Yes, she knew with much too deep certainty what this baby was, how dangerous it might be to protect something like him. But… If she'd leave this infant freezing to death she'd be a monster, no better than those who'd killed the child's parents.
And with that thought she made her decision.
She smiled faintly, shakily, while kneeling down slowly and picking the baby carefully into her arms. "It's… It's okay now", she murmured, cradling the child close to her. She spoke again when dazzling, dark eyes met hers. "I'll take you home now… Sasuke. So don't worry."
Despite her soothing words the baby kept crying, almost like knowing… /
/ The hospital was even busier than usual while Dr. Kurenai Yuuhi stopped in the middle of a run when noticing a man with brown hair and eyes of the same color burst in through the front doors, with a petrified look upon his face. At first she felt confused, but her eyes widened when she noticed what he was carrying.
It… was an unconscious woman, a badly bleeding one.
"She… She's in a labor", the man managed. "I think… I think something's wrong."
-
During the following five hours every single person who made their way into the theater worked their hardest to save the woman's life, as well as the baby's. In the end, however, the damage done to her was revealed much too deep.
The baby – a boy they hurriedly decided to name Naruto – cried helplessly, as though grieving.
Kurenai sighed heavily while taking a look towards the clock. "Time of death, twenty-three ten", she murmured barely audibly.
"Dr. Yuuhi, the… the baby." A shuddering nurse's voice caught her attention. "There's… something wrong."
She turned around with a frown – and shuddered. Although the baby boy – who had the most amazing blue eyes she'd ever seen – seemed perfectly normal otherwise, she couldn't help noticing some things that unnerved her. There seemed to be a dark fur covering most of the child's skin, and… Were those fangs she saw…?
She swallowed thickly. "Take him to observation, will you? We better keep an eye on him."
By the time the next morning dawned, the baby had disappeared. No one knew who'd taken him. /
CHAPTER 1: Prologue
/ Tokyo, September 2065. /
Unlike most of his pack mates, who – against their truest nature – preferred going outside during days as much as possible to avoid unwanted contacts, Naruto had always loved nighttime.
He loved the scent of danger he felt every time he opened a window and jumped into the freedom, enjoyed the cool breeze that touched his skin as night wind blew in to greet him. It felt like something out there had been calling him, almost. And far too many times he'd surrendered to that call, no matter how much trouble he always got himself into for it. None of the horror-stories he'd heard since early childhood helped; he was a restless spirit, and when his mind was set there was no holding him back. Something was waiting for him out there, and he knew he wouldn't get rest until he'd found it – whatever 'it' was.
His best friend Kiba – who was currently still in his human form – didn't seem surprised at all when finding him stood before a window. "You'll get us all sick at this rate, you know?" the brunet commented, sounding fairly irritated as well as amused. "It's freaking cold, just in case you haven't noticed."
He grinned sheepishly, his sharp teeth showing clearly. "'Sorry. I'll close the window in a minute."
Just then a gleam that always predicted something quite unpleasant rose into Kiba's eyes. "You know what?" The brunet rubbed his already slightly hairy hands together with excitement. "Since you love the night so much, I want to see just how great it is. I wanna see what you're always fussing about."
He frowned, feeling shivers. "You know we're not allowed to go outside at this hour – the rules bind us just as much as humans."
Kiba scoffed, already starting to transform. "Since when have you cared about the rules? I know you've sneaked in to see that human – Sakura – and to that club." The brunet grinned exactly like a canine, his metamorphose was almost completed. "Unless, of course, you're a Scaredy Cat all of a sudden."
He growled from the back of his throat, rolling his eyes. That nickname had finally done it – he was not going to back off. "Yeah, right." To him, the long nails growing and the sharp teeth appearing along with an almost black fur were something perfectly natural. "I hope you're ready for this."
-
As they disappeared with laugh like yelps of delight, they had no idea of the pair of eyes that observed them with a deeply irritated flash.
The shadows over Tokyo were dark and heavy while Sasuke stood on the highest rooftop of the city, his bloodstained eyes fixed on the landscape spreading below and wind billowing in his black hair.
It didn't bother him that it was dark – after all, out of necessity shadows were pretty much all he'd seen during his life. At the moment the city – its sky-high towers as well as the worst, most stinking ones of slums – bathed in darkness, only dots of light that seemed hopelessly small to him providing an illusion of light. It was silent, as though no one had lived in the city at all.
It was deviously easy to imagine that the city wasn't completely torn apart, that the shame marks marring it hadn't eaten away what'd once been vibrant and beautiful.
/ "The war… It's not going to last forever, Sasuke, I promise you. One day we'll be able to bring an end to it – one way or another." /
His eyes narrowed.
"So here you are." Kabuto's voice made his eyes narrow. "Orochimaru-sama's been trying to call you for three hours already."
"Yes, I know." His voice was nothing but a hiss while his fangs became revealed. "I chose to ignore him."
Ah, he could just feel how badly Kabuto would've wanted to hit him. "You know he doesn't like waiting."
He snorted. And you think I care? "So, what's the emergency?"
"A new group of Hunters has been spotted." Kabuto's voice was stiff and formal, back to normal. "We've also received several reports of unauthorized movement."
His eyebrow arched. "And Orochimaru thinks this is something I should bother taking a look at?" Damn, had he pissed the man off this badly?
"It's level five movement. Some lycans have broken the deal."
Now that caught his attention. He nodded, then turned around and walked past Kabuto without giving the other a proper look. "I'll take a look at it, then."
Kabuto's voice stopped him just before he would've managed to walk away. "One more thing." It sounded like a whip's hit. "I may not be able to prove anything yet, but I know exactly what you're doing", the other announced in a harsh voice he'd grown used to hearing ever so often. "You really should choose your side in this war well, Sasuke. You don't want to repeat your brother's mistake, do you?"
His eyes flashed while he snorted, barely managing to control himself. "You just worry about yourself." He kept walking on. "See you later."
He could feel eyes on him while he stood on the opposite ledge of the roof, then jumped into emptiness.
He was fairly sure he heard a scoff just before he was too far down to hear. " Showoff."
That night the wheel of fate spun, pushing two unlikely souls to a dangerous, bloody road that'd inevitably lead them to something forbidden…
TBC, or does it?
A/N: So, what do you say – is this worth a shot? Do you think this deserves a second chapter? (gulps)
PLEASE, do review and let me hear what you think! It'd seriously mean the world to me. (glances with puppy's eyes)
Awkay, because I should seriously be going to bed, I'm tuning out now. (grins)
Thank you so much for reading, and voting!
'Until next time, I hope – with whichever story that may be!
Be good, yeah.