Chapter 1: It's Too Late
Ride on, ride till early morning sun
Ride on, like the dawning of the day
It's too late, to let all your feelings show
Go on, til the night is swept away
"It's Too Late" -Evermore
A raging wind tearing through the open rafters of the barn woke one of the two occupants huddled close together under a pile of hay that was rapidly shrinking. A boy with golden hair popped his out from underneath the pile and was immediately soaked. He cursed the barn for losing its roof and the weather for being so unpleasant. He pulled his head back under and desperately tried to fall asleep again, hoping that maybe the storm would pass while they were asleep.
The pink haired girl stirred beside him, and opened two impossibly green eyes and stared at his blue ones.
"Naruto, how long have we been here?" she asked sleepily as she began to sit up. He immediately pulled her back down
"Don't sit up, we'll both get soaked. And, Sakura, I really don't know. It seems like it could be much shorter than it seems, but I dunno. Man I would kill for a nice warm bowl of ramen right now," Naruto said loudly, but his voice was barely heard above the howling wind.
Sakura snorted. It was just like Naruto to only think of ramen in a situation such as this one, stuck in what could almost be a hurricane still days away from-
"Naruto! We're going to be late," she shrieked, her eyes widening in fear. Within seconds, his eyes widened the same amount and were filled with the same fear.
"But we can't be late! We left enough time to get there with a few days to spare!" he said, panicking.
"Maybe, but I'd feel better if we left now," she replied, seeming to calm down. Deep inside, however, she was panicking.
"Sakura, we can't. We'd be blown away by the wind and we'd never get there," he whispered, his voice barely audible above the wind. Naruto wasn't sure if there was actual truth in his words, but the wind sounded angry and it really wasn't a good idea to mess with it.
She nodded silently and curled up next to him, obviously hoping to get back to sleep so she would be able to move quickly when the time. Naruto looked at her pathetic form and cursed the stupid people who had agreed to this stupid treaty. It would be so much easier to send the criminals directly to the vampires instead of this whole hunting thing.
Although, he mused, it wouldn't be as much fun for the vampires. All animals loved the thrill of the chase right? Well, the vampires weren't exactly animals. Most of them were, but not all.
When he was younger, Naruto was sort of friends with a vampire. Because he lived in the Borderlands, vampires were allowed to come and go as they pleased as long as they didn't kill anybody. It was part of a treaty written nearly a hundred years before, but the same vampires who signed it were probably still around.
Naruto had been very small; it was just when he arrived in the Borderlands, and so he still hadn't figured out where all the good playing spots were. He was following a trail that was barely visible when he happened on an open field. It was beautiful with tall golden stalks of grass swaying in the wind, which was gently humming.
Even as a boy Naruto loved listening to the wind. It always had something to say if you listened properly.
So as Naruto starting prancing around this field, he felt no sense of impending doom, as one would often feel when a vampire was nearby. It was when he tripped over something and burned his hand as it came into contact with burning skin. The vampire he had tripped over looked surprised, as Naruto had smacked him in the head with the side of his hand.
It wasn't well known, but a vampire's skin would become very hot in direct sunlight and when Naruto's hand grazed the vampire's forehead, it was burned. It would have been okay if he had hit the mask the vampire was wearing, but luck had never been on Naruto's side.
After a few seconds, the dark haired vampire blinked and started up at this new development, sighed, muttered something inaudible, and turned his eyes back to the sky, watching fluffy white clouds pass overhead. It was there the sort of half friendship began; one that Naruto had trouble remembering. But he did remember everything the vampire told him, although it wasn't much.
A loud whipping noise broke him out of his reverie, signaling that the roof had finally been ripped off. Strangely enough, the pile of hay covering them was undisturbed. Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on the wind whirling past and felt…nothing. It was the first time that he couldn't feel the wind at all.
And that seriously scared him.
He had been alone for most of his life, without a real friend. The wind whizzing past him chortling about things he didn't understand was definitely a reassurance that perhaps one day he would be happy. Naruto assumed that since he couldn't hear the wind that maybe things were changing. If this storm kept up, probably for the worse. Naruto closed his eyes and focused on a bright sunny day where he was surrounded by bowls of ramen with a faceless person laughing beside him, eating with him. Hopefully this dream would be able to hold him over until the storm passed.
Naruto was surprised that he had actually managed to fall back asleep with that storm going on. When he woke up, all traces of the storm vanished, leaving him with a clear blue sky, one that can only be seen after a large storm.
He turned and bent down to wake up Sakura. He was actually glad he was able to sleep, it replenished his energy, which would hopefully allow them to move quickly and maybe, just maybe, they would make it in time.
"Sakura, c'mon we need to get going," he whispered as he shook her. She moaned slightly and then snapped upright.
"Naruto! Why didn't you wake me sooner? We could have already been moving!" Sakura huffed as she pulled herself to her feet. She glared at him, grabbed her pack and set off only to realize that the door wasn't where it was supposed to be. Sometime during the storm it had been ripped off and now a rather large tree sat there. "Um, where is the door?" she asked rather dumbly.
"I think it got blown off."
"No kidding. But if a tree that large landed there, how are we alive?"
"No idea," Naruto said, not really having any clue as to their survival. From the look of the hay they were lying in, the wind had passed them over. "But I think we should figure a way out of here so we can get moving as soon as possible."
Sakura nodded and they made their way carefully through the rubble that was once the barn. It was around lunch time by the time they were able to get out, but they did not stop for lunch. Naruto figured going a few days without food wouldn't hurt and if they did get caught, then it really wouldn't matter if they were hungry or not. Pretty soon they were off at a quick pace, trying desperately to make up for lost time.
The sun was starting to descend into the horizon when they arrived at one of the larger towns in the area. It wasn't as large as the Konoha fortress, but it was still important. On a regular day, the roads would be bustling with traffic as people from nearby villages would be coming to sell their goods in the marketplace. Often people had to set up along the sides of the road because of the lack of space in the center.
Naruto had visited the city once when he was younger with Iruka. His 9-year-old eyes had trouble taking in all of action and he had a sore neck the next day because he whipped his head around so much.
But now it was empty. Naruto imagined those ghost towns of the stories Iruka used to tell him would look a lot like this one. The streets were silent and empty, and the wind whistled hauntingly as it whipped past the empty buildings. Naruto closed his eyes to hear what it was saying but was troubled when he all he heard was whooshing.
"Naruto, this place is creepy," Sakura's voice echoed of the sides of the building. "And if this is Yonoka, then we're still two days away."
"Maybe if we hurry we can make it. The gates are usually open right?" Naruto asked. It was common practice for the Fortresses to leave their gates open for those poor unfortunate souls that happened to be late.
"No this year that changed. Didn't you right the sign? The central government decided that too many criminals were escaping."
"Bastards. That doesn't even make sense! It takes at least a week of travel from the areas they release the criminals in! The vampires would have already gotten to them by then," Naruto reasoned. Out of all the days in the year, this one was the worst simply because of those damn vampires.
It was in a treaty that on one specific day in the year vampires were allowed to roam free in the borderlands and take whatever humans were around back to their country to presumably kill. The vampires demanded a specific number of people each year and the central government filled this number with criminals from jails.
It was a known fact, however, that if a city wasn't meeting its quota it would often prey on the innocent, taking people off the streets and sending them to their deaths. The government wasn't all that popular, but this was what kept the vampires at bay so it was justified.
'And now they've gone further,' Naruto thought angrily. By closing the gates, they obviously hoped that there would be enough people like Naruto and Sakura so make up for their lack of people to give.
"Well we'd better pick up the pace then if we don't want to die."
Sakura had a point so they made their way through the city. Naruto had never realized how simple the design of the town was. Any other time he would have stopped and thought about for a while. It always took him a little longer than others to grasp certain subjects, although if he was determined enough, he could keep up.
They were almost to the edge of Yonoka when they heard a wrinkly old voice speak out.
"No what are two young things like you doing out here so late?" They turned in shock only to see an old woman, wrinkles lining her face and white hair whirling upwards in soft tufts. "It's tomorrow you know."
Naruto's eyes widened. That meant they had the rest of that afternoon and the entire night to get what would normally take two days moving at a quick pace.
"Sorry, old lady, but if that's the case then we have to get moving! Bye!" he called as he grabbed Sakura and almost started running out of the city.
"Wait, Naruto! What about that old lady?! Won't she die?" Sakura called as he dragged her along.
"No she'll be fine. Vampires don't like old people."
"How do you know?" she demanded.
"I just do." Sakura had finally caught up to him and they started jogging, trees surrounding them the instant they left the ghost city. Naruto knew this from the lazy vampire who sat around all day because he had once complained about how Naruto smelled like "one of those nasty old rotten blood sacks that are way past their expiration date."
Sakura said no more as they continued running.
Running.
Running.
Running.
Time seemed to slip past in a quick sort of slowness as Naruto seemingly lost touch with himself. It was almost as if he had been separated from his body and was just watching time fly by, the inevitable countdown coming to an abrupt end. He was so lost in his twisted thoughts that he didn't hear Sakura until she grabbed his sleeve.
"Naruto," pant, "I…don't…think," pant, "I…can do…this any more," she gasped out. Naruto looked at her and then looked through the trees at the sky, a fading red that signaled sunset.
"Get on my back." His response was short and to the point, which was so unlike him. She only nodded, too worn out to say much else, and climbed onto his back. He adjusted her slightly before beginning to run again. Running…
He was running, running for his life, for her life, running out of time, running out of everything…
Hey! Thanks for reading this chapter and welcome to Black Parade. This fan fic will have vampires in it (gotta love the vampires) as well as slash (boyxboy). It won't be emphasized, since this is more of an adventure story than a romantic one, but it will be there. Anyway, review! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, and if you have any questions, leave a review! Anyway thanks for your time and PLEASE REVIEW!