I really shouldn't be starting a new story, but I decided to put up the first chapter of this and see what kind of response I get. I make no promises on updates, but I'll try to get the next chapter out within a reasonable amount of time. This is AU, as will soon become obvious. Enjoy!
I do not own Naruto.
Bloodline
---Chapter One: Into The Woods---
"Hey, did you hear? Hinata Hyuuga disappeared three days ago."
"Really? I thought her cousin said she was just sick."
"Well, that's what he said, but I heard…"
Sakura Haruno chose to ignore the girls sitting behind her. It wasn't that she didn't care about Hinata; the two girls had been in most of the same classes throughout high school. They hadn't spoken often, since Hinata was incredibly shy and Sakura was usually arguing with her best friend Naruto. It was well-known (except to the boy concerned) that Hinata Hyuuga had an enormous crush on Naruto Uzumaki and was too timid to do anything about it.
But Sakura preferred to believe the official explanation of Hinata's three day absence over the conspiracy theory. Therefore her primary concern at the moment was the math quiz she would be taking in less than ten minutes. The eagerly whispered tale involving vampires- or was it werewolves?- biting Hinata before forcibly kidnapping her barely registered in Sakura's mind.
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"Sakura, I think I failed the math quiz," Naruto complained, leaning against the locker next to hers without concern for the poor soul who might need access to it.
The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes as she stored her math book, having no sympathy whatsoever for her blond best friend. "If you'd studied like I told you to, you would have that problem." She pulled her history book out of her locker before closing it, snapping the lock shut and spinning the dial. The two sixteen-year-olds started down the hall.
Naruto pouted. "Ah, Sakura, you're so mean!" She just rolled her eyes again. His expression sobered instantly. "Did you hear those girls whispering about Hinata?"
Sakura snorted. "Yeah, but who are you going to believe, Neji Hyuuga or a pair of gossips?"
Naruto looked unusually thoughtful. "I dunno… the Hyuugas are kind of weird, and I don't remember Hinata ever getting sick before."
Sakura sighed. Naruto loved conspiracy theories, and the more ridiculous the better. "Your memory's faulty, then."
Naruto shook his head. "No, really! Except for seventh grade, she's been in my class ever since kindergarten. She never even got chicken pox that year when the rest of the class had it."
"You didn't either," she reminded him. "Oh, and I can't walk home with you today. The homecoming committee is having a meeting after school, and I don't know how long it'll take."
Naruto grinned. "All right, but be careful. We don't want you to disappear like Hinata!"
"Naruto!" Sakura shouted just as he dashed into their classroom.
The bell rang, and she let out a groan before following her best friend.
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Sakura shivered slightly. She hated walking home alone, and she knew that Naruto would have waited for her if she'd asked, no matter how long the meeting took. But she hated asking him to do things like that.
So she walked home by herself, her dark red jacket shielding her from most of the autumn wind but doing nothing for her inexplicable sense of foreboding.
The streets of her neighborhood were deserted, since the sun was setting. Konoha children were always inside before the sun went down. It wasn't something anyone questioned; it was just a fact. Sakura increased her pace, her eyes fixed firmly on the sidewalk. Suddenly she landed on her butt, her legs sprawled and the books she carried tumbling to the ground. Her green eyes narrowed as she looked up to glare at whoever had run into her only for them to widen again.
The young man that stood before her looked to be roughly her age and was easily the most attractive male she'd ever seen. His black hair was slightly messy, with the bangs hanging in his dark eyes and a substantial amount of it sticking up in the back. His skin was pale, but so was that of many people she knew. His clothes appeared to be slightly old-fashioned; perhaps it was the uniform of the local private school. She didn't know anyone who went there, so she wasn't sure. The strangest thing about him was the complete non-expression on his face. It was as neutral as a rock. Sakura realized that he was holding out a hand to help her up. She took it and nearly gasped at the coolness of his touch.
"You should watch where you're going." His voice was as cold as his fingers. As soon as Sakura was standing, he pulled his hand back. Putting both of his hands in his pockets, he continued walking past her. She watched him go for several minutes until her cell phone rang. She scrambled to answer it. "Hello?" she said breathlessly.
It was her mother, telling her to hurry home.
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Neji Hyuuga's pale eyes narrowed. "You're sure it was him, Tenten?" he said into his cell phone. He glanced quickly at the open door, making sure his uncle hadn't sent any of the servants to spy on him.
"I've seen his face enough times to know," Tenten replied. "Besides, Lee saw him too. He likes that Haruno girl; as if we needed more reason to hunt down the last of the Uchiha clan."
Neji sank down onto a cushion, his position perfectly suited to his traditional clothes. "What I want to know is what he was doing in that neighborhood at all."
Tenten, several miles away, leaned against a brick building, observing her surroundings and the location of her teammates carefully. "As far as we could tell, absolutely nothing. He was just walking around. The only time he stopped was when the girl ran into him."
Neji frowned. "Did he say anything to her?"
"I think so. She looked surprised afterwards, not that that means anything. She probably just fell for his pretty face."
"Hn," was Neji's eloquent reply. "When are you coming home?"
Tenten smiled. "Soon. We already got two feeders. The victims didn't lose much blood, so they should be okay. We'd have gotten them faster if you were here."
Neji rolled his eyes. "Hiashi prefers I stay out of the hunts after what happened to Hinata. He's halted Hanabi's training altogether."
"I bet she doesn't like that," Tenten said, thinking of Neji's younger cousin's devotion to family duties. It nearly rivaled Neji's own.
"She's repeated everything he ever said about Hinata being weak. I'm not sure she even cares that her sister is gone."
Tenten sighed. "Guess this means I'm stuck with Lee and Gai until Hiashi lets you out again. I miss you already." She knew Neji would catch the double meaning in her statement.
"Be safe," Neji warned. "Mindless feeders aren't the only ones prowling. The real vampires took my cousin. Don't let them take you."
Tenten laughed. "As if I'd 'let' anyone take me anywhere. Not on your life, Neji Hyuuga. I'll see you when I get back." She hung up.
Neji closed his cell phone. He hated sitting around like this. He was ready to get back in the field, back to the hunt. It was his duty as a Hyuuga. It didn't hurt that he personally wanted to end the existence of all vampires, particularly that of Sasuke Uchiha.
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The sun was rising outside when the dark-haired boy let himself into the underground compound that served as hideout for the small group of vampires that continued to elude the hunters of the Hyuuga family.
Sasuke expressed no surprise when the tall, thin gray-haired man with a mask covering the lower half of his face stepped out of the shadows of the complex's library. It was hard to say which of them spent more time in this room.
"You're rather late getting home, Sasuke," the man said casually, his eyes on an orange book he always carried around with him.
Sasuke didn't bother to turn the lights on or look at the man. "I don't see what business it is of yours, Kakashi."
Kakashi shrugged, his mismatched eyes glinting in the darkness as he watched the boy he'd practically raised since the destruction of the Uchiha clan two hundred years ago. "I suppose it isn't. The others did express some amount of concern, though."
Sasuke pulled a book off a random shelf and glanced at the title. Interview With The Vampire. "Hmph. Your taste in books is absurd, you know that?"
Kakashi may have smiled, but his mask made it difficult to tell. "As a matter of fact, that series was an acquisition of Kurenai's. She thought it might tempt our newest member's intelligent side."
"If the girl wants to sit in her room alone all day, let her. It's her own fault if she starves," was Sasuke's cold reply.
"Actually, she's adjusting rather well, considering the situation. Kurenai took her out with Kiba and Shino last night."
"As long as that werewolf stays in during the full moon, I really don't care."
Kakashi shook his head slowly. "So antisocial this morning. I'll leave you to your reading, then." He vanished back into the darkness.
Sasuke frowned at the book he still held before replacing it on the shelf and leaving the library.
---End Chapter One---
So, please leave any questions, comments, praises, or problems in a review, and I'll try to either reply or reveal the answer in a future chapter. Thanks for reading, and please review!