Another sunset, another beginning.

It's been going on for years.

When I was younger, I thought that there was no way someone could live that long without going mad.

Or at least bored.

But I'm not.

I am... happy.

Since I became what I am now, it's been more or less peaceful. Well, not really, but it seemed so to me.

Becoming a vampire has made some things easier for me. I am stronger, faster, smarter... I am immortal.

The night watch headquarters inside the town were destroyed a while after I joined Gaara. I don't know what happened to Tsunade, Kiba or Naruto, and for some reason, I don't want to find out.

But I guess things don't always happen the way we want them to.

I was standing on the castle's roof. The forest around it looked peaceful, deserted. How wrong.

"Are you ready?" I heard a low voice ask before I felt an arm wrap around my waist.

"Always." I answered with a small smile. Then I turned around to give him a kiss.

After we parted, he took my hand and led me off the roof. Tonight was a hunting night.

One thing a had hard time with after I became a vampire was drinking blood. Every time I even thought about it I would get flashbacks of the night my parents died. It had nothing to do with my emotional connection with them, since I wasn't even sure that one existed anymore. It simply felt wrong. It still does.

And why wouldn't it? If I choose to let my pray live out of mercy, that prey will become a vampire. That doesn't feel right. I chose to become a vampire, and I believe that everyone should have a right to choose. Which brings me to the other choice – simply killing the poor sole after I'm done feeding.

Gaara offered me to drink animal blood instead of human. I tried, but it didn't make me feel better. It didn't change the fact that I am a monster.

Still, none of that matters to me anymore. I was pretty surprised at the beginning, when I wound out how selfish this transformation made me.

All I care about is him. Even if the whole world is destroyed and everything goes to hell, I will be happy as long as I am with him. He is everything to me.

When we came back some time before dawn, Temari was waiting for us at the main hall. She looked worried.

"What happened?" Gaara asked as soon as we approached.

"We were ambushed. Shikamaru got injured." She answered while trying to stop her tears from falling.

"Who was it?" I asked.

"Werewolves." She said with disgust.

"I thought they were extincted."

"We all did." Gaara said before turning towards the door.

"Gaara?" I questioned and went after him.

He turned around and hugged me. "Other lords need to know about this. Stay here, I won't be long."

"Why can't someone else go?" I asked, suddenly scared.

"This is too important to leave it to weaker vampires. Besides, I need to know what others will think about the news."

I wanted to come with him, but decided to do as told. The situation was serious enough without me doing something to make it worse. "I love you." I said before letting him go.

"I love you too." He answered before spreading his wings and taking off. He flew towards the Uchiha's castle.

I turned around and my eyes met with Temari's. She was doing her best to stay strong, but was failing miserably.

Werewolves can do a lot grater damage to us than humans. They could only dream about having such power.

Although Shikamaru was going to be alright, she had nothing better to do than worry. That's what Temari is like.

I remember out first official introduction. I was pretty skeptic about her. I blamed her for what happened. If she and Shikamaru hadn't met, Shikamaru would have never betrayed the night watch and none of this would have happened. Of course, that wasn't completely true, since there was always a chance that I would choose this by myself. I guess we will never know.

It didn't take long before I began to like her. She is Gaara's sister after all. I could say that she is a sister I never had.

At that point I felt whole.

I went with Temari to her and Shikamaru's room. I tried to comfort her, but I was never really good at it. Soon the down came and our connection with the outside world was cut. Gaara didn't come back. I wasn't worried.

Alright, I was. But I kept telling myself that there was nothing to worry about. He probably got held up and stayed at one of the castles during the day. He would be back after sunset.

I couldn't sleep.

Sometimes I think about dumb things. Things like – what would I do if he died?

I want to believe in him, I want to think that something like that will never happen. But sometimes, I can't stop myself from wondering – what would happen to me if he died?

I never have to think too long though – the answer is simple. If Gaara died, I would die.

Why?

Because I refuse to exist without him.

As soon as the sun went down I ran outside. Gaara was still nowhere in sight. I wasn't worried, yet.

An hour past. Still, no sign of him. I tried to go after him fifty-five minutes ago, but Temari stopped me. I tried again and again, but she would simply call more vampires to help her keep me inside. I had to leave. I had to find him.

Since I've joined him, I've never been alone for too long. I've always been with him. I've always liked it that way. I don't know what happened to me when he turned me, but it made every second without him worse than hell. It didn't take me long to realize that I was addicted to his presence. The only thing that kept me sane when he was away was the idea of him coming back.

All that makes me rethink my opinion of myself. I believe I got stronger, but at times like this one, I get to see how weak I really am. I didn't need anyone when I was human. Having someone around was pretty good, but not essential. I was capable of living on my own.

Everything has changed.

I am nothing without him.

I finally managed to get out of the castle. As soon as I was sure no one was following me, I ran towards the Uchiha's castle. That's the direction Gaara went in the last time I saw him.

Sasuke Uchiha. I've never really liked the guy. No one could blame me though. He tried to kill me. Or that's what I though he was doing.

Gaara doesn't like him either. He believes that Sasuke put my life at risk purposely, and not because there was no other way, like the Uchiha had claimed. Still, they are allies, and I guess they could be called friends or something.

It didn't take me long to reach his castle. I was greeted by a few vampires, but other than that, no one stopped me. I went straight inside to see Sakura coming down the stairs.

"Mina! I didn't know you were coming! We haven't seen each other in a while." She said with a smile. As soon as she saw the look on my face she became worried. "What's wrong?"

"Was Gaara here?" I asked, my mind running a thousand miles per second.

Before Sakura could answer me, another voice interrupted her. "He was here yesterday. Did something happened?" Sasuke said. He walked in and stood next to Sakura.

"I don't know. He didn't come back."

"Maybe he went to see the Hyuuga."

I turned around and went towards the exit. If Gaara wasn't here there was no reason for me to stick around.

Werewolves. Until now, they've been nothing but a part of history, creatures I read about in old books and records. They were destroyed centuries before I was even born. Or so we thought. There isn't much to say about them – they are humans who can turn into large wolfs. They are supposed to be strong and fast, and they travel and fight in packs, which is what gives them the upper hand against vampires who usually move around on their own or in pairs. Unfortunately, old documents failed to mention a way to kill them. The usual suggestion was to ran away, if you can.

I got far away from the Uchiha's castle when I heard them.

There were six of them. They were surrounding me.

I slowly stopped. They were too close.

I waited. The sound of paws was slowly getting closer.

Then I saw them. First a large black wolf emerged from the bushes in front of me. Five more appeared around me, forming an irregular circle. Each werewolves' fur was colored differently.

I stood still. There was nothing in all my years of training and life as a vampire that could have prepared me for this.

Fear. Fear for lives of your family, friends, lovers. Fear for your own existence. It's all meaningless. You will live or you will die. How you feel during that moment makes no difference.

I gave up on fear long time ago.

At least I thought I did.

I wasn't afraid of them. That didn't surprise me.

Almost a whole minute passed and no one moved. That surprised me.

Then two of them moved, one on each side of me. The one on my left had dark brown fur. The one on my right was – bright yellow? How ridiculous.

They made a step forward before changing into their human forms.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Naruto and Kiba. I think that leaving them behind without even saying goodbye is the only thing I regret. They were new. They counted on me to guide them, to teach them everything they didn't learn during their training.

I feel like I failed them. I probably did.

Sometimes I wonder – what would happen if we met again? Would they hate me? Try to kill me?

It's strange how attached I got to them in that short amount of time we had spent together.

When the news about the headquarters reached me, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. There was no prof that those two idiots I wanted to call friends were dead, but there was no sign of them being alive either. I should know, I've spent nights searching for them.

I didn't think I'll ever see them again.

A pair of blue and a pair of black eyes met my dark ones. I kept glancing from one to the other – it was hard for me to believe that they were alive.

Naruto flashed me a grin. "What's wrong Mina? You look like you've seen a ghost." He said in a fake worried tone.

Then I realized my eyes were wide open in shock. A second later they narrowed in a glare.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Kiba asked in a low tone.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked while looking straight at him. My voice was calm, empty.

"I don't know... Maybe "sorry"?" Naruto yelled.

"I have nothing to apologize for." I said. It was a lie, but I had to say it.

"Nothing to apologize for?" Kiba asked in an irritated tone. "How about the fact that you abandoned us?" He yelled at me.

"I didn't abandon you. I simply left." I answered. My voice was still as calm as ever.

"You left us behind to die!" Naruto screamed. Was it in anger or pain, I couldn't tell. All I knew is that all that yelling was definitely not doing any favors to my sensitive ears.

I decided to stop our conversation there. I will never forgive myself for leaving them, but it was too late for an apology or forgiveness. There was no turning back. I won't make excuses – only change the subject.

After a short pause, I spoke, "What do you want? I'm in a hurry."

Naruto glared at me without a word, so I turned to Kiba. "If you aren't going to say or do anything, get out of my way."

He smirked. "Does your destination have something to do with the red haired lord?" He paused, waiting for my reaction.

"What if it does?"

"Then you're going in a wrong direction." He answered.

"Really? Do you know which is the right one?" I asked. I was panicking. It surprised me that my voice remained calm – it didn't give me away. Yet.

"You will have to come with us and find out."

I have rarely thought about death. I didn't understand it when I was little – until my parents died. Even then I didn't think about it, I was too afraid. Then I joined the night watch, where death was a part of life, something that was natural – so there was no reason for me to think about it.

After I became a vampire, the concept of death almost ceased to exist. Almost.

I've never thought about my death, but Gaara's, and death of other people I called friends was another story. Still, I've never thought about it too much. I was too afraid of the affect it had on me.

Pain.

We were moving fast. Apparently, there was a great chance we would meet more vampires and they wanted to avoid them.

I didn't say a word since I agreed to come with them. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to do it. Then again, I was never known for my ability to make right decisions under pressure.

Soon, we left the forest. We were moving away from the town. Away from the place I called home.

Kiba and Naruto remained silent. They didn't even look at me. I was grateful for that – I didn't think I could stand their accusing eyes at the moment.

How did I ever become the night watch agent was beyond my understanding. When they first told me about it, I thought they were joking. When they made me a team leader, I almost had a heart attack.

I wasn't made to be a leader. I didn't think ahead, and I certainly didn't put my team before myself.

I've always had a bad temper, and it always prevented me from thinking clearly during crisis.

I did get better though. It probably had something to do with Shikamaru and Tsunade. They supported me even when I made mistakes, they had fate in me no matter what.

Although, there were some things about me I was proud off. My eyes – they could see even the fastest moves, and things that were too far for normal eyes. There was also my ability to see through people and their actions. I could almost always tell when someone was lying or hiding something.

This just wasn't my day. I should have known it was a trap. But I didn't. I was so preoccupied with thoughts of Gaara being captured or dead that I couldn't think about anything else. If I stopped for a moment to think things through, maybe I would've realized that there was no way these werewolves caught him. Then again, if I were capable of logical thinking, I wouldn't have left the castle in the first place.

They took me to their underground base. It took me about a second after we reached the holding facility to realize that Gaara wasn't there. "What are you going to do with me?"

"Nothing yet." Kiba answered me. "We are going to keep you here until he comes. Then we'll kill you both."

"Even if that plan works, there will still be two more lords left. As soon as they find out we're dead, they'll kill you." I said, although I wasn't too sure in those words.

"They won't have time. They'll be dead before they try."

"You're bluffing."

He smirked. "As soon as we lock you up, we are going to look for Sakura and Tenten."

"Do you really think that you'll be able to get them? You're overestimating you strength." I said, almost smirking.

"Maybe. I must say we didn't expect to get you so easily. This is the first time you've been in the forest by yourself since you became a bloodsucker."

I didn't say anything in return. Kiba and Naruto took me to one of the cells and locked me inside. They left without a word.

I was alone in the dark. I felt horrible. It was all my fault. Gaara might die because of me.

Since I've joined him, I've been happy. Every moment spent with him had always meant more to me than life itself. I wanted to give him something in return.

The happiest moment in my life was when I actually did it.

The only good thing that came out of my meeting with my former friends was relief. I didn't feel regret anymore. They weren't the people I once knew, they weren't my friends.

Unfortunately, that was the only good thing that came out of this situation. I don't think anyone will find my freshly formed inner peace comforting.

I considered escape, but thought against it quickly. There were guards and traps all over the base, so I'd probably be dead before I reach the surface.

I felt so weak, pathetic, stupid and every other insulting word I could think of.

I wasn't surprised when I found out I was pregnant. It was expected. Duh.

When I was younger, I didn't think of myself as someone who could ever be a mother. Probably because I never had anyone I would want to have children with.

Then came Gaara.

I was pretty surprised with his reaction. He became overprotective of me. It was irritating.

It became worse when we found out I was carrying twins.

It doubled.

Despite the circumstances, those nine months went by quickly. I still believe that it had something to do with me being a vampire. Time flies when you're immortal.

I was kind of disappointed when neither of them looked anything like me. They we born with and still have dark red hair and deep blue eyes.

Akio and Yuka. Together with Gaara, they are my life.

While I was drowning in self pity, time passed.

Fortunately, I was right about Tenten and Sakura – they didn't get them.

Unfortunately, that didn't solve my problem.

I didn't dare to imagine the rage I would have to face the next time I saw Gaara.

I had a couple of visits during the day. Kiba wanted to talk to me like a friend, which surprised me. He asked me questions about my life with vampires. I answered some of them truthfully, but I lied for the most. I didn't trust him and I think he knew that.

I tried to act friendly, so I asked him a few questions. I found out they left the night watch shortly after me. Apparently, they were attacked by a pack of werewolves while they were coming back from a mission. He told me Tsunade put two older agents in the group with Naruto and him. They didn't like the replacements, but I wasn't sure if that was because they didn't like those people, or because of the people they were replacing. I wanted to believe it was the later. It made me happy to know that at least one small part of my friend was still inside of my new made enemy.

After Kiba left, Naruto came. I had no idea how much my absence affected him. He didn't ask me questions or try to be nice like Kiba did. He just told me that he tried to understand why I left, but couldn't figure it out. He said he would never forgive me for betraying them. But that didn't hurt me as much, as the pain I saw in his eyes when he had said it.

After Naruto left, the night came. There weren't any windows in my cell, but there were a few cracks in the wall at some places. I saw the moonlight through them.

Hours past. I was starting to feel impatient. It was weird, considering my current situation – I had nothing to wait for, except my own execution. But that was hardly something I should get worked up about.

It was silent. I figured werewolves went out again. I doubted they would be able to capture anyone tonight. I was the only one stupid enough to run right into their claws.

Having the twins around made me remember my own childhood. I was glad they didn't have to go through everything I went through. They were carefree and playful. Like children should be. They asked a lot of questions too.

Akio was mostly interested in my human life. He made me tell him everything about it – how I fought, who I fought with, who did I fight against, why did I fight against vampires... even ridiculous things like, what I ate, where did I live, and how come humans can get out during the day and vampires can't.

Yuka was a different story. She was usually interested in my "personal life". She asked questions about my parents, friends and things alike. What really caught me off guard was when she asked me if I loved someone before her father. I wasn't an angel in my past, but to have my own daughter question me like I committed a horrible crime was too much. Not to mention that her little question and my reaction to it got Gaara's attention. It felt like ages before he finally left it alone.

Eventually, since they had a lot of strength in them, Gaara and I had to teach them how to use it correctly.

They grew up so fast.

It has probably past midnight when I heard something crash outside and felt a minor earthquake. Then the alarm went off. The horrible noise went on and on. It was annoying.

Then I heard an explosion somewhere outside my cell. Soon after, the door opened. "Slacking off again? You are lucky I got here before father did."

"And you're lucky you're too old for lecturing, cause you deserved one for using that tone with me Akio."

The younger redhead chuckled. "My apologies mother, I couldn't help it."

"Right." I went passed him into the hallway. "Lets go."

"I wasn't planning to stick around here anyway." He said jokingly.

We reached the stairs and went up. "Where is Yuka?"

"She stayed with father." He said and chuckled again. "You are in so much trouble."

"Really? Why?" I asked in fake interest.

"Lets just say that telling you he was angry when he found out you got captured again would be an understatement."

"Who gave him the right to get angry? I have the right to get caught whenever I want."

"Are you going to tell him that?"

"Maybe."

He chuckled again. The little demon.

We reached the exit and went towards the forest. Gaara and Yuka were there, waiting for us. I expected to see anger on his face, but there was only relief. When we approached them, he hugged me and kissed my forehead.

"If you ever do something like this again-"

"It won't happen again. Don't worry." I told him before giving him a kiss. I could hear the almost silent protests of our children at our public display of affection. I couldn't hold a smirk. They were such children sometimes.

Gaara suddenly pulled away to glare at something behind me. I turned around and searched the area. Then I saw them. Six large wolfs. Two were standing closer to us, completely still.

One of them had dark brown fur and the other one was bright yellow.

They were a part of the past I left behind that came back to hunt me.

I am so sorry for making you wait so long! I will try to update my other stories soon!

Anyway, as some of you might have noticed, this is a one-shot. I might make another one as a sequel to this one, so if anyone is interested in reading about vampire-werewolf fights, let me know.

Again, I am sorry for the delay, I've been busy lately, but I'm working on it, and I will update the rest of my stories as soon as I can.

Reviews are appreciated.