Story: Sunset's Downfall

Author: Dizzy-Sauce

Rating: T

Pairing: NejiHina (NejixHinata)

Hello there! I'm tomato-box, a fairly new writer here! I've already got a story here, but unfortunetely its on hiatus, as I've lost the following chapters in a computer crash. Until I can be bothered, I'l be stalling it. Sorry D:

I've read a few fanfics of myself, and I have many authors here I admire :D I'm an especially big fan of NejiHina, and they're probably my most read fanfics. Unfortunately, not everyone likes NejiHina, but it happens, you can't expect everyone to like your OTP. I have too many OTPs D: So I really wanted to write of my OTP and I'll hope you'll read it regardless of your likes and dislikes and perhaps enjoy it :)

Anyway, my story isn't the best one written, but I do like to write, so I can only do my best! So , if you do happen to like my story, please review! I would really love at least one, or two, or lots!

Um, I forgot to mention this is an AU, but it doesn't stray too far from the main story line, so maybe it's a parody? I don't know! But Naruto doesn't belong to me, if it did, I would have had Sasuke hit with the fork of common sense by now. He's just fail in a can really.

Oh, this is a vampire fic too by the way, so I'm going to have much of the ninjutsu and stuff fall into magic, if that's ok :D

My chest heaves as blood drips from my mouth, setting my already bloodied teeth on edge as I watch his gaze drift from my naked chest and into my fearful, expectant wide eyes.

His eyes are white, rimming the irises with a brilliant bright red.

His non-existent pupils focus on my neck, laced with playfully-made bite-marks, saturating my skin with a red as brilliant as his eyes.

He leans in. I shudder convulsively as his lips close over my neck, puncturing my skin, drawing blood.

My eyes close. Everything blacks out.

I wonder, as the darkness closes in, am I going to die?

I embrace it, for surely death can't be this sweet.

"Hinata, stand up."

A stern voice breaks the silence as a pale woman, with hair dark as the night, attempts to pull herself from the ground, panting heavily, kunai in hand.



"Hinata, I said stand up." The harsh voice said again, impatience slipping into his deep tone. "Raise yourself from the ground. You call yourself a Hyuuga?"

The woman known as Hinata gritted her teeth, cutting off any further pants. Tears blurred her vision and she hastily wiped them away with a shaky, bloodied hand.

A familiar blonde figure slipped into her mind, grinning. She smiled weakly.

I will not lose to him. I will become strong, become acknowledged by him.

"You are our heir. My daughter, the representative of the Main House! You cannot afford to show such weakness! Not in the face of the Branch House's Heir!"

The Branch House's Heir. Neji Hyuuga.

The prodigy of the Branch House, heir to it's malignant brilliance. He had inherited the most, the very best of the Hyuuga talent.

He was also a vampire.

Hinata remembered the first time she saw him. It was her third birthday, the day of when the Main House announced it's heir. It had been a brief encounter. Though the Branch House did not care to so unashamedly show off it's heir, the Main House was no so bereft as to pass up such a chance to flaunt it's brilliance.

Hyuuga Hinata, the dainty little beauty of the Main House.

She remembered a small, brown-haired boy, his gaze held hers in a haughty manner, smiling at her without shame. He whispered words too his father as she blushed, hiding in her father's kimono.

She remembered the sad look in his eyes as he gazed upon his son.

That was the last and only time she saw Neji's father. Her father's brother. Her uncle.

Her enemy.

The Main and Branch House had been enemies since the founding of Konoha.

The Branch, a deviant race of vampires, elite in their services for the village, wily in their hunting in the village.

And the Main, who so subtly hunted them.

Hinata, the heir to that house.

Of course Neji was her enemy. Of course she hated him.

Of course...right?

Hinata sighed. Pulling herself to full height now. Straightening herself, she brushed herself down. It was her opinion, that it was only a cruel slice of fate that separated the two houses, those houses which once were one.

As heir to the Main House, she had never once hunted and killed a vampire.

As heir to the Main House, it was her duty to ensure the death of the heir of the Branch House.

As heir to the Main House, it was for her to kill Neji Hyuuga.

Her cousin.

She breathed once, then charged.

It was late evening, a quiet night in Konoha. People chattered excitedly, utterly absorbed, totally engrossed, not noticing that something was afoot tonight. Something not right.

"Hinata," a gruff, friendly voice came, breaking her train of thought. "Pay attention, I'm still talking."

"Ah, I'm sorry Kiba-kun!" Her voice pleaded apologetically, frantic. "I was just... thinking."

"Yeah, what's got you all wrapped up?" Kiba inquired, worried. "You've been away with it all night, you seem really tense. And you keep looking around, like you're looking for someone. Who are you hoping to see, anyway?"

"She's distracted," Came another voice, quieter this time, softer than Kiba's, more consoling somehow. "How do I know this? Because she's had a hard day, it can be seen in her eyes."

"Rrrrright." Kiba commented sarcastically. "Nothing get's by you, does it Shino?"

Hinata giggled lightly, then twisted her head sharply to the left.

There's one of them here tonight... and... two humans?

"What is it, Hinata?" Kiba asked, sounding very far away. "Is... something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, n-nothing, nothing's wrong." She said quickly, blushing and avoiding eye-contact. She knew this presence; she could only guess who the two humans were also.

He was close now, a few twenty feet away, and getting closer, making a beeline for them. She could feel his suppressed frustration, his anger. Hinata shuddered, suddenly frightened.

"L-lets go, I'm hungry, l...let's get something to eat, why don't we?" Hinata asked, shaking, her voice urgent. Memories were flooding in, clouding judgement, forsaking vision.

Face down. The ground at her fingertips.

And erratic heartbeat. A cruel voice. Encouraging words.

Blood, lots of it. More anger.

He was scared now.

One hit was all it would take now. She could barely stand. But she did anyway. Words came, poisoning his mouth, rolling from his lips. Cursing her. Hating her.

"No, Neji-nii-san, you are the one who is suffering."

More blurring scenes, he ran towards her, angry. All was hazy now. She was aware of a crowd between them, but she paid them no notice.

A pain in her heart.

"Did I change... a little?" She asked the blonde one in my head. "Even a little?"

All was dark now.

"Please, let's go," She urged them, he was too close now. "L-Let's go."

"Don't leave on my part. You only just got here after all." A cold voice came, heard so long ago, yet so definable, she knew it instantly. She heard his voice every night. In every dream. "Hinata-sama..."

She froze, her eyes wide, instantly speculative, instantly scared. She turned on the spot, slowly, turning her head, her hair falling over her shoulders, she heard his sharp intake of breath. She heard his heartbeat pick up and even faster beat than what was already abnormal. She could feel her heart pounding, feeling it in her throat, her chest, everywhere.

"Hinata...?" Came a voice, so far away now. She could not hear the worry in her friend's tone.

"Ne...Neji...Neji-nii-san..." Her voice sounded, trembling as she mouthed the syllables, so alien to her, yet so very known.

She turned to face him, eyes wide.

Her face grew set as she watched his eyes widen also. The world was shut off to them. And all was seen.

She could see the wrath in his eyes, the infinite hate he harboured for her, the bloodlust that lay dormant in his eyes now. Yes, she knew what he was, and he knew it. He knew it was her duty to kill him, and he taunted her for it. She knew, as he knew, that she could not possibly defeat him, never mind kill him. She had heard of the countless missions he had successfully accomplished, how revered and admired he was in the village. Hinata could not think to kill him. Yet she had to. She had to.

She could not look into his eyes, with all its conflicting emotions, shining as they did now; she wondered what he was thinking. She wondered for herself, as heir to the Main House, what his duty as heir to the Branch House was to her?

She remembered as her mother used to tell her, how in the olden days that the Hyuuga houses lived as one, a long time ago, but in cruel injustice.

The Branch House was made to serve the Main House as the Main basked themselves in a seemingly never-ending superiority. They branded the Branch with a terrifying mark, made to bend the 

unwilling to their line of thinking, to force them into submission. A terrifying jutsu which, when activated caused great pain and if prolonged, it even meant death.

It was cruel. And the Branch knew it to be so. They broke off, the other, supposedly lesser of the two branches of the famed Hyuuga clan disappeared, into the night.

It was said that they Branch went to the Uchiha clan, the prestigious vampire clan, feared for their meticulous eye-techniques, of which no one lived to tell the story of.

The Main Branch, in it's fury cast of it's ties, and proceeded to hunt them down, to kill those who were once family.

It was a practice that became tradition, and family proceeded to kill family each day.

She vaguely heard the two at Neji's sides engage Kiba and Shino in conversation. She stared for another second into his eyes, and watching, ever so slowly, she watched the edges of his white irises fade into red. Her eyes widening, she broke off eye contact. She felt her face pale and then her cheek colour red in fear.

Distantly, hazily, she heard the black haired one at Neji's left suggest they should ALL head for something to eat.

'What,' Hinata felt her lips mouth. 'What what what'

Hinata pleaded with all her soul that Kiba and Shino should refuse. 'Oh god, please say no'

"Sure!" She heard Kiba say, a bounce on his feet. "I'd quite do for some yakisoba right now, beef, I think, what about you, Shino?"

Shino shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not?"

"All right then." The brown-haired girl who hadn't spoken yet announced from Neji's right. "My name's Tenten by the way, you probably don't know me, but you might have recognized me from the chuunin exams, maybe?"

"Yeah, we remember you, with that Temari chick, right?" Kiba remarked, grinning now. "Yeah, I remember that, you lost pretty badly, didn't you?"

She nodded, smiling shyly. "Yeah, that was me. But if I remember right, you didn't exactly do great either; you lost to that Uzumaki kid, right?

Hinata kept her gaze on the ground, her face hidden by her hair, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She could feel his gaze burning into her, and she knew he wasn't listening to their friends bickering either, forming friendships.

"I think we should go now." Shino said quietly, his gaze training on Hinata, worried, even though it didn't colour his tone. She was behaving strangely.

"Yes!" An exuberant voice broke out, his tone melodious, searing, cutting through her like a hot knife. She had met him before. Rock Lee. He was so nice it hurt. "We'll make it there in two minutes, to the noodle cafe we go!"

And he was off.

"Oi, Leeee!" She heard Tenten call, chasing after him. Kiba grinned, setting a pace and walking in pursuit. Shino followed on, two paces behind. Still watching her, Neji slowly followed, leaving Hinata standing alone.

"Hey, Hinata, are you coming or what?" Hinata heard Kiba call over the crowd. She looked up sharply, and realised there were tears in her eyes. She hastily wiped them away with the cuff of her sleeve. "Hinata!"

"Y-yes!" One quick look up, and he was staring. "I-I'm coming!"

In her room that night Hinata played over the night's events over and over in her head as she stared into the ceiling. It had no been an enjoyable night for her. During the whole course of the meal, Neji had stared at her from across the table as she tried to eat her udon.

She never finished her dish.

Hinata scared herself with all the possibilities as to why he should stare at her so much. It unsettled her, thinking of how intense his gaze was, unerring as it was, he never once looked down to see his chopsticks pick up the greasy noodles from it's bowl. She tried hard not to look up, so very hard. But it was impossible, she would peak up from beneath her eyelashes to find his ever unwavering stare on her. She didn't like it. They way he looked at her went against both House's code of conduct! How could he breach it like this? Uncomfortable now, Hinata shifted in her covers, and turned to her side, and stared out of the window. She sighed, and let herself fall into a fitful, restless sleep.

He haunted her, even in her dreams.

He came to her in her special place, in her dreams, and stalked in places no one else could go. She found herself falling into his eyes, a vivid white, with their red lacings, she found herself pulled to him.

She dreamt many things that night, finding herself falling further and further into demise, into him.

She wanted it to go faster. Fasterfasterfaster. She wanted it to never end.

And it scared her.

She woke up with a gasp and threw herself forward, unsettling the quiet in the night. Her breath came in quiet, but heavy gasps and her eyes were wide in fear... and something else?

She shifted in her place, to realise that her pants were now soaked through to her robes and so she got up to change still disconcertingly unsettled. Sliding the door open carefully, a new robe and underwear in hand, she padded quietly into the hall and off into a corridor which would take her to her new bathroom. Wide awake now, she changed, and proceeded into the main Hyuuga halls, and crossed into the washroom, quiet so as not to wake anyone. She lay her clothes in the appropriate pile, and without thinking, she passed on into the kitchen switched on the small light and broke down into tears.

Morning.

Morning meant breakfast, and breakfast meant eating with the family. Hinata didn't like her family. She didn't wish to face up to that this morning and thus, Hinata skipped breakfast and went out to train, heading straight through the forest and to her favourite training spot. Her favourite tree was there. It calmed her to look at it and she found herself hugging it appreciatively and letting it's rough bark cut into her face drawing blood.

She slid down slowly, sitting down upon the ground, more cuts on her face now. She was crying again.

He was in her tree. He was in the droplets of water in her shower. He was in her food. He was in her mind. He was everywhere.

No matter what she did, he was always there, plaguing her thoughts, an invasion to her mind, a sore incursion to her spirit, an infiltration, upon her body, though no marks showed. Yet. She sorely thought. She knew how he looked at her, and she recognized it for what it was.

He wanted her, all of her. Her mind, her spirit, her body... her blood. And she knew, despite of herself, that she wanted him too.

Four and half hours later, Hinata returned to the Main Branch Household, glistening with perspiration and utterly exhausted. She had pushed herself further than ever, and despite her obvious fatigue, she smiled in spite of herself, proud of her achievement. Her father, on the other hand, didn't quite share her feelings.

"Hinata, where have you been?" He demanded, the instant she set foot into the main doorway. It was obvious to Hinata that he had been waiting for her, standing in the main training area, glaring imperiously upon her, his white eyes glinting menacingly. "Why were you not at breakfast?"

She knew it was not out of worry that he asked her this, but out of pride. As leader of the clan, it was his very intention that his family all be present at breakfast to convey unto the rest of the Main Branch how utterly supreme and superior the leader's family was. It did not appeal to Hinata how unreservedly supercilious her father could be; even to his own family. To her.

"I...I went out to train..." Hinata said hesitantly; suddenly very conscious of the ticking vein of her father's eyebrow as he raised it in a dictatorial manner. "I..I thought it would be good...t-to see how missing out on breakfast would affect my training, so to say... it didn't make much difference...really..."

Hiashi's eyebrows raised to an amazing height before lowering again, falling into his usual indifferent expression. Hinata sighed inwardly, but straightened up all the same. She couldn't afford to show any weakness now.

"Well, whatever," He said, waving a hand in an unsympathetic manner and looking away. "Just don't miss out on breakfast again, or any meal at that, without consulting me first. If you're going to train, have someone to train with; Perhaps Hanabi, or myself if I'm not busy with anything important."

He paused, thinking again. "On that note, have you gotten around to taking out that task yet?" His gaze returned to meet hers, cruel in its steadiness. Hinata hesitated.

"N-no father..." Hinata mumbled, her eyes trained upon a rock on the ground, she kicked it meekly. "I-I have not had the chance..."

Hiashi grunted apathetically. "Hurry up with it, you're nearly 18 now, we don't want something inconvenient happening, like you marking on him or something."

Inconvenient.

Yes, Hinata knew what it was. She knew what had happened. She could not kill him now.

"F-father, what if I don't succeed? What is his task?" She demanded abruptly, as he turned away, not uninterested. "What... what, as heir... t-to the Branch House...What is his duty? What is he meant to do... to me? Is he... to k-kill me?"

He voice shook as she mouthed out the last verb. Hiashi did not turn, hard and uncaring in her trepidation.

"Should you not succeed... he will bite you, and you will be like him, like them." He pronounced the last word with such venom that his voice shook with it. "Do not let that happen. If such a situation should arise, kill yourself first. I will not have a vampire for a daughter."

And with that, he walked away.

That was it then, he would rather have her...dead than alive, as a vampire, yes, but alive! Hinata didn't think her father cared if she lived her not. She had always secretly suspected that her father wished her dead, so that her sister, Hanabi take up the role as leader.

Her sister, who once was stronger than her. Hinata wouldn't let that happen again. She wanted to be seen by her father, be recognized for what she was! Even an upgrade to chuunin failed to get much attention from him. Hinata sighed, and once again trooped out of the household.