A young girl lay on the forest floor, struggling to survive. Her name was Kitsune Kage. She heard a twig snap in the distance, and her name being called.

"Kitsune? Where are you?!" someone called.

Kitsune couldn't move or speak. She had to lay there, silent until the person found her.

"Kitsune?" the voice was moving away.

'No! I'm over here!' she screamed in her thoughts. She wanted to shout, to scream so badly. She couldn't stand being alone. Kitsune strained her ears. Nothing. She couldn't hear anything. The voice rang out again.

"Kitsune? Come out! Where are you?" the voice called.

Kitsune could hear footsteps coming towards her.

"Kitsune!" the person shouted. They ran to her. "Kitsune, are you ok?" they asked.

Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill out over her cheeks. Kitsune's breaths came fast and shallow.

"Kitsune? What's wrong?" a boy asked. Now she could tell who it was. It was her friend, Shikamaru. They'd been friends for seven years, since they were six.

Kitsune's breathing slowed, eventually stopping completely.

"Kitsune!" Shikamaru picked her up and ran back to Konoha. He was worried. 'Don't die on me now, Kitsune. You've been on the brink of death before and survived, so don't fail this time.' he thought. As he ran through the village, passers-by watched him carry Kitsune to the hospital. When they got there, a nurse took a single look at her and gasped.

"What happened to her?" she asked.

"I don't know, but she's stopped breathing." Shikamaru replied.

"Take her straight through to the Emergency Room. A doctor will see to her." she said. Shikamaru nodded his head. He brought Kitsune through to the ER.

"What happened to her?" a doctor asked.

"She stopped breathing not long ago. I don't know what had happened before that."

The doctor took Kitsune from Shikamaru, and lay her down gently on the hospital bed. He took her straight through to the ressussitation ward. The people in there hooked her up to the IV, then started trying to revive her. Sadly, their efforts hadn't succeeded. One woman came out.

"We're very sorry, but she hasn't survived." she said sadly.

Shikamaru had to fight to hold the tears back. "Can I see her?" he asked.

"Sure, go ahead." the woman replied.

Shikamaru went through the doors to see Kitsune's body lying on the bed. He went over to her. "Kitsune..." he whispered. He stopped fighting the tears. They spilled down his face. Shikamaru stood in the same position for the next 3 minutes. When he'd stopped crying, put his hand on her's. "What happened to you?" his voice was still a hoarse whisper.

"Excuse me, but do you know this girl's name and address?" the woman from before asked.

"Yes." he said. He told the woman Kitsune's details.

"Thank you." she said. She turned and left.

Shikamaru heard a faint noise. He turned around. He didn't hear it again, but he heard something else. His name.

"Shi.. kama.. ru..." a soft, weak voice said.

Shikamaru ignored it. 'It's probably just my imagination.' he thought. He went back over to Kitsune.

"Shi... kama... ru..." the voice said again.

"What the hell?" he asked aloud.

"Shi... kama... ru..."

He looked around the room, seeing nothing that could be saying his name. He began to panic. "Who's there?"

The voice repeated itself. "Shika... maru..."

Shikamaru felt freaked out. He looked down at Kitsune, as if asking her dead body for help. Then he saw something.

"Shika..." Kitsune was whispering his name. She was alive.

"Kitsune?" he asked, stunned.

"Shikamaru..." she whispered again.

He was shocked. He watched as Kitsune stirred, eventually opening emotionless, red eyes. "Kitsune? You're alive?" he asked in amazement.

"Shikamaru? Where am I?" she asked weakly.

"You're in the hospital. I found you in the forest. You were barely alive. You stopped breathing."

"Oh."

"Are you feeling OK?"

"I feel so weak, like I've lost a lot of blood."

Shikamaru put his hand on her cheek. She was so cold. "I'll go tell them you're living again."

"OK."

Shikamaru left the room, leaving Kitsune feeling desperately lonely. She lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling. She heard something.

"Kitsune..." a harsh voice hissed.

"Who's there?" her panicky voice asked.

"A visitor..." the voice hissed.

Kitsune felt fear rise within her. "Who are you?"

"The man that made what you are..."

"And what am I?"

"A vampire. Oh, and Kitsune? You're father told me to say hello..." The harsh voice laughed maniacally.

Kitsune gasped. "I'll kill you!" she shouted.

Shikamaru ran back in to the room. "Kitsune, what happened? Why were you shouting?" he asked.

She stayed silent.

"Kitsune, answer me."

Silence.

"Did it have something to do with you being nearly dead in the forest?"

She nodded her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

This time she shook it. Shikamaru went over to the bed.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked.

She nodded again.

'She looks so pale...' Shikamaru thought. 'And so much thinner...'

Kitsune tried to sit up. She failed. Suddenly, she felt an intense pain in her neck. She cried out in pain and shock.

"I'll go get someone," Shikamaru said. "I'll be right back."

Kitsune painfully nodded her head as her best friend ran from the room. A moment later, he came back in with a doctor. The doctor went over to her.

"You'll be fine." he said reassuringly. Kitsune felt another surge of pain as her neck throbbed. She screamed. Her screams were shrill and heart-breaking. Shikamaru's own heart sunk every time she cried out. Kitsune collapsed on the bed. The doctor put his ear to her mouth, listening for signs of life.

He brought his head back up. "She's breathing. She's only unconscious." he said. The doctor left the room. Shikamaru realized he was holding his breath. He let it go. A nurse came in. She went to the head of the bed, and wheeled it out the doors. Shikamaru followed.

A boy was sleeping in his bed. It was Shikamaru. A cloaked figure was walking up to him. It stood at the side of his bed. The eerie, silent figure smiled, flashing razor-sharp fangs.

"Dinner." it said harshly.

The figure bent over Shikamaru's sleeping body, ready to kill him with a single bite to the throat. The cloaked figure pulled down the hood of the cloak, revealing the pale face of Kitsune herself.

Kitsune woke up, screaming. She sat up. It was night outside. She heard a noise beside her. The recently turned vampire looked to where the noise was coming from. She felt a sudden bloodlust. Shikamaru was sitting beside her. He stirred and woke up.

"Kistune? You're awake?" he said, still half-asleep.

"How long was I out for?" Kitsune asked, trying to keep herself from lunging at him.

"Uh.. 3 days." Shikamaru replied.

"Oh, OK." she sighed.

"Are you feeling OK?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." she lied.

"You sure? You look pale." He got up to check her temperature.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted.

"W-What?" Shikamaru asked stunned.

"I said don't touch me. If you do, you could die."

"How?"

Kitsune could feel fangs growing where her canines should be. "Bloodlust," she said harshly. "Shikamaru, you must leave. Please. I don't want anymore visitors."

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you some other time Kitsune." he said before walking out the door. Kitsune could hear his footsteps going down the corridor, away from the biggest threat to his life he could possibly imagine.