OMG, I'M SORRRRRRRY!! I havne't been here in soooooooooo long! D: I've been hanging out at this place called y!gallery (Just look it up on google) and well...it's eaten my soul. DX If you want to read the full version, go there, or to aff, or mediaminer.
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A vampire's first taste
Stepping into the darkness, Pein barely made a sound. Yet the chained figure within the dark heard, shifting in a startled way. He was only able to hear Pein with his increasing senses. Before, his ninja skills wouldn't have picked them up.
Pein suspected that the slightly rusted shackles must be making screeching, painful echoes within the captured teen's skull because of this. The sounds surely have been magnified naturally as well, by the sheer quiet of the room.
"Have you thought over my proposition?" He asked. A small, inhuman hiss, almost to low for humans. Pein might have missed it if he weren't trained beyond most human limitations.
"Never." The Nara sounded so resolute in his choice. Pein had come to admire him in that, in his own way. He'd stopped treating him as though he weren't at the very least a minor threat, showing in this action his admiration and views on the once peaceful Konoha ninja.
The Shinobi stepped closer, pulling his hand out of the hem of the heavy cloak. He heard the shifting again, minimal. The chains had to be hurting his sensitive ears.
"Work for me. Work for the Akatsuki. There is no place left for you but this." He touched the metal bars, scarred from the preternatural beings claws. The first few days he'd merely been locked up, able to roam within the cage. No breath came from the one sitting, now chained.
They were so ferocious during their first few months, fierce as a tiger poured into human shape…
"Kill me first." The Nara spat. Pein could only smile.
"I can't kill you." Shikamaru made a low hissing sound again, anger coming hotter then ever in his human life. He knew the next part to this sentence, and if he could he would slash Pein's throat to stop its coming.
"You're already dead."
"Hidan has been dispatched." Itachi barely moved upon hearing the news. The leader continued without much more preamble. In the Akatsuki death need not be cushioned after all.
"He was dispatched by a Konoha youth. A Nara named Shikamaru." Itachi made no response while he searched all that he knew. Nara, which meant a shadow user. Shikamaru. It rang a small bell within the Uchiha's mind. One of the vessels friends.
"Did you ever wonder why Hidan was 'immortal'?" Pein continued, eying the black eyed Uchiha with his own unique eyes. The Uchiha remained impassive, nonchalant. His eyes held monotonous emotion and showed apathetic views on the worlds in which he lived. So very much like an uncaring doll.
"It wasn't because of his religion." Nothing. A doll might have held more reactionary qualities, thanks to the new mechanisms they were making for them. If ever a miniature of the being before him was created, no mechanics would be required to bring life. It would take skill to recreate the exact likeliness of his potently uncaring stare. A china doll, perhaps.
"Tell me, what do you know of vampires?" He asked the pale being before him. Often times when dealing with the young ninja he'd been reminded of the fabled creatures. Even now he would still wonder. The Uchiha never smiled, so how was he to know? He could be hiding fangs.
"Vampires?" Itachi stated, only the barest lilt giving it the quality of a question. Pein shrugged his shoulders, nodding his head. It was off-topic to the Uchiha, maybe, but it would make sense later. He bid him to go on with what he knew.
"Fantasy beings, pale and harmed by sunlight. Blood drinkers." Pein smiled internally, feeling the slight shifting in his facial piercings as he kept it from showing. Short and to the point, as ever Itachi. He sat a moment, thinking over the best way to describe the situation.
"True, but for the first part. Pale, yes, for in the beginning sunlight irritates them. Mostly their eyes, but by covering them they may go out. Extremely weak ones might be hurt by the sun." He began. Itachi raised an eyebrow, slightly. Pein continued. "Yes, they are real. They do drink blood as well. They cannot stomach other substances. It doesn't kill them, but most give up once they realize any amount of intake will result in painful regurgitation."
"Hidan was a vampire." Itachi finished, having concluded this moments ago when the leader had confirmed that they did, in fact, exist. Pein's battle with his smile ended as he nodded.
"Yes, a fairly old one at that. Able to walk in sunlight as if he were still a mortal, glaring with uncovered eyes even in high noon. He'd long since passed the need for blood, only taking it during his sacrifices." Itachi recorded this information to memory.
"Why does this matter?" He asked. Pein's eyes narrowed, though if it was at Itachi or not was unclear.
"The way to pass on this…trait, is for a vampire to die, transferring its power to another mortal or immortal. This can be accomplished through many means. A mortal could trick a vampire, seduce one into giving it up, or receive the trait by accident. If an immortal receives it, their power is increased by however strong the other vampire was. This is so that the breed doesn't grow out of control." Pein spoke, explaining.
"How is the transfer accomplished?"
"Blood. The vampire will give away his blood, or have it taken. While the other being is partaking of this, the original vampire must be hurt with a killing blow. Otherwise, the one wishing to gain power will go unchanged." Pein concluded.
"So this Shikamaru is a vampire now." Itachi stated. Pein stood, turning his back as he contemplated.
"He might be. We're not sure. He's buried Hidan under rubble. You're mission is to find out." He turned back to Itachi. "Go to where Hidan is. See if he is truly dead or merely imprisoned. If he is still alive, bring him back. If not, bring back the Nara. Do not let anyone know of his condition if this is so. Kill any who seem to have suspicions."
"What of the Kyuubi vessel?"
"If he gets in the way, bring him as well. Your mission prerogative is Shikamaru."
"Understood." Itachi said, standing. Pein nodded, handing him the scroll that contained the directions Zetsu had given them about Hidan. The Uchiha stepped forward to take them, then turned and left. During the whole exchange he'd barely showed emotion, hardly even blinked.
"Most definitely a china doll." Pein concluded finally, turning towards other scrolls, other missions.
"Shut up!" Shikamaru snapped, feeling his hands ball into fists. Pein stood, smug and satisfied, while his captive stood up faster then his body should have allowed, lunging against his bonds. The chains straightened, the bolts holding them straining in various places.
They'd have to find a stronger restraint soon.
"You used to be so calm, so neutral. So weak." Pein contemplated out loud. Shikamaru continued straining towards him, paling skin becoming bruised under the force that he exerted. "What vampiric blood does to humans…"
"I didn't want this! I didn't even know about it!" Shikamaru said hotly, hands outstretched, clutching towards Pein uselessly. Pein shook his head, narrowing his eyes.
"You haven't drunk any blood yet. You're not truly turned." He spoke, rubbing his hand over the bars. Shikamaru bared his teeth, small fangs showing through.
"And I never will be!" He stated, eyes smoldering with anger and hate. Pein shrugged, continuing to touch the cold metal. His other hand toyed with a kunai under the pads of his fingertips.
"Oh, you'll come around. The thirst will simply grow until you finally beg for it. Though I am impressed you've lasted so long…" Pein admitted the last. Shikamaru snorted, sitting back, anger still burning within him.
The vampire blood, the blood slowly turning him from human to blood sucking fiend, was changing his emotions as well as his body. Enhancing them like they where his body. Where he normally felt a small splash of anger he felt a hot wave; a soft caress of happiness was transformed into a jarringly fierce stroke of giddiness.
"Never." Shikamaru affirmed. Pein held the kunai up, barely nicking the rough skin of his palm. Shikamaru instantly straightened, eyes narrowed and alert. Pein smiled at him, flexing his hand, pushing out more droplets.
"Never?" He lifted his kunai, cutting a longer gash, deeper. He reached through the bars, offering his hand. He watched Shikamaru's eyes, following every and all of his hands movements, doe eyes drinking in the sight of his blood. He saw the boy's body begin to shake delicately, only a fine tremor traveling under his skin.
The Nara remained where he was, quivering, eyes clearly betraying his hunger and thirst, his utter torment. But he remained.
"Very well. Another week alone you've chosen." Pein drew back his hand, turning and walking away from the cage, dropping his hand to his side. He paused, his eyes narrowed further at the air, a small, cruel smile coming onto his face.
"You'll be mine soon enough, Shikamaru." He stated, turning back to glance at him with finality, before heading back to where the faintest of light was. In his wake, due to his still bleeding hand, he'd left a small pool of blood just outside the cage.
Shikamaru could see it glimmer with his unnatural eyes, smell its metallic scent in the air. He heard the far off door close, leaving him.
In the darkness he watched the blood. He smelled it all the more, now that Pein was gone. Tasted it like the tantalizing food smell that comes through rooms. He moved to the end of his chains, sniffing.
He shook his head, biting his lower lip. He wouldn't give in.
Itachi ran soundlessly through the forest. The only things that might have a chance of hearing him would be the animals around. He didn't much care if they did.
He stopped by the obvious site of destruction. Moss and ivy had already started crawling over the boulders, beginning to cover up what had taken place.
If Hidan was alive down there, then he must be emaciated, driven mad. Internal bleeding, broken bones, starvation, most assuredly insanity. Eternal solitude, only hard stone for company. No animals to even yell and curse at.
Itachi didn't linger on the extreme torment a Konoha shinobi had been willing to place upon a human. Or what they thought to be human, at any rate. He set to work on removing the heavy rock and stone as fast and quietly as he could, making his way down.
It was a deep hole.
Eventually he made it to the bottom. He surveyed the emptiness around him, not much of anything left. No bones, broken or whole, no blood, black or red. So the Nara must be changing at this very minute. He jumped out of the hole, just then sensing someone very close.
"Uchiha Itachi."
Shikamaru continued to look at the shallow pool of red on the ground. He wasn't sure how many days had gone by, but it wasn't a week. Maybe two. It felt like the third day.
He was so thirsty…
He'd watched the blood all this time. Scented it. Imagined it hot and rolling, even as he watched it dry and cool. At this point, he was so thirsty, even scraping the dried paint of it off the floor and licking it from his claws sounded good, downright erotic in his need for it.
Just a taste. That's all he'd take. Just a little nibble at the edges of his claws once he pushed them into the congealed mess. Not actual drinking.
He pulled at his bonds, testing them. It would take a while to break loose, but he would do it. It wasn't actually a matter of breaking the chains, but pulling them out of the wall. The bolts were already showing the strain of holding him.
When Pein next came in, he would be waiting for him, ready to kill.
But first, that little taste.
"Nara Shikamaru." Itachi responded. This simplified things greatly.
"What are you doing in my family's forest?" The boy demanded. The Uchiha made no move, surveying the Nara. He noted a deer standing by the boy, staring at him with intellect. So that was how he'd been discovered. He discarded the information, turning his eyes back to the boy.
He seemed paler then the picture he'd been given. His disposition was said to be calm, level-headed, and calculating. At present, the boy appeared irate, not liking his being there at all and showing it.
"Checking on Hidan." Itachi spoke, not motioning with any sort of body language towards the rocks. Shikamaru's eyes found them anyway, taking in with narrowed eyes the now empty pit.
"Leave." He commanded, turning back to the Uchiha with a fierce look in his feral brown eyes. He tensed, like he'd wanted to take a step forward, but held himself. The changes he was undergoing weren't that far along it seemed. His cautious nature still showed through, at points.
"I must finish my mission." Itachi said, neither moving closer or further from the boy. Under the cloak he fingered a kunai, debating. He despised unnecessary fights, but this boy didn't seem to realize his predicament. He wouldn't back down.
"You've obviously checked on him. Leave." The Nara did take a step this time, bristling slightly. The Uchiha remained where he was, measuring his choices. He still had the element of surprise, for all it was worth. The shadow wielder still didn't know the rest of his mission.
Suddenly the Uchiha was next to the young teen, fist aiming to connect with the Nara's stomach. The boy saw it coming, barely, dodging more from reflex then conscious. His side ached from where the Uchiha had hit, but he wasn't knocked out the way the older male had wanted. He found himself hissing again, without even meaning to.
"What is the rest of your mission?" He snarled, jumping back as far as he could and still be within hearing range. He'd started to get used to the little changes, the heightened hearing and strength, though he was still internally terrified that they were even happening.
Itachi appeared behind him before he could really gain his rhythm back. Pain in the back of his skull alerted him to his lack of speed, even with it steadily increasing. The sensation of falling, of air moving past, filled his ears. He barely heard the response he got from the Uchiha.
"You, Shikamaru-kun, would be my mission."
Blood. The only thought the Nara had anymore, along with ways to get at it. His will to not give in had crumbled, and he was currently tugging on the chains as close to the bolts as he could reach. It was the 6th day, drawing near the morning of the 7th.
He felt the chains sag on his right, dominate side. A smile came to him, small fangs prodding his lips. Soon he would be licking the delicious flecks off his claws.
It wouldn't turn him, since it was so old and dry. It needed to be warm, living blood for the change. That much he knew.
He needed the blood anyway. The pounding need for it was louder then the screaming sound of the metal on metal, the agony he was forcing on himself by moving his chained body. Soon his left hand was free.
He was free! Free to move, to set up a trap for Pein. He already knew he couldn't get through the bars, had already tried, but he could still set something up.
After he got as much of the blood off the floor as he could, of course.
"Mmm…Yes. After." He stepped forward, wincing as he heard the metal, still clinging to him. He'd work on getting that off later. He'd surprise Pein with it, silently waiting, un-tethered and quick.
Approaching the front of his cage, he easily dropped down flat on his stomach, reaching through the bars and scraping his fingers across the ground, eyes closed in fantasy as he enjoyed feeling substance scrape away and enrich the space beneath his nail and finger.
Ah, delicious it would be.
He brought his hand back, mouth salivating. In the back of his mind he knew that even though he wouldn't be truly turned, he had fallen. No longer human. Dreaming of feasting upon the one's who had housed and loved him.
He found he couldn't care at the moment. Later, yes, but not now.
He brought the laden claws up to his nose, sniffing delicately.
Nothing but dirt. His eyes flashed open, anger assaulting his mind as he beheld dirt crusting under his claws. He reached out again, turning, maneuvering for the farthest reach. His shoulder came up, pressing against the cold bars of his cage.
The pool of blood remained, just out of his reach. Inches. If his arms were only a few inches longer, fingers just that much more. He felt a roar of agonized furry bubble in his chest, but held it in check. Something stronger, hotter, and more muted filled him.
He hated Pein for this. He'd planned it. That step he'd taken from the cage, that thoughtful step! Calculating how long his reach was, judging it with a ninja's trained eye. Shikamaru felt loathing in him, as he began to claw at the bars, gouging them but not breaking.
"Pein, you'll die. You'll die." He whispered as he growled in despair, reaching through the bars yet again, despite the futility of it. His thirst was stronger now that he could not indulge it with the comfort of available blood. It burned in his throat, overwhelming his mind, making him claw at the ground. Tears filled his eyes.
"Damnit Pein, please!"
"Itachi, come with me." Pein instructed. The Uchiha made no facial response, but stood. Pein was satisfied with the response, moving on down the hall. The footfalls behind him, barely audible, told him his command was being heeded.
"I'm sure by now he's half crazy for blood." Pein spoke, turning down a corridor. Itachi followed, silent and unresponsive. Yet again, doll like to Pein. The assumed leader of akatsuki gave no heed, mentally shrugging. He would see how far Itachi's lifeless visage would go.
"A vampire is bonded to the first being it feeds on. The first human it drinks of will have control over it. The vampire, if clever enough, can find a way to quickly kill the human and be free. Hidan, obviously, had no qualms disposing of his mortal master." Pein explained, stepping into the last hall. At the very end was a turn, and then the door into Shikamaru's cell. Pein stopped, turning to Itachi.
"This obviously will cause problems. If the human is clever, they will become like their charges, sleeping when they sleep and ordering them around when awake. But, it takes one little nap while the vampire is awake for the vampire to come and slice the human's throat." Itachi stood impassive, already knowing what Pein would want of him now. Pein nodded, assuming the Uchiha had caught on.
"You will be the one he drinks from. You will be the one issuing his commands, to which he must obey. With practice, these commands need not even be verbal. The only time he need not listen to you is when you sleep. It will be up to you to figure out arrangements for this." Pein finished. The Uchiha remained the same, appearing uninterested in all this. Pein knew he was probably working through all the different ways this could work out. Pein smiled internally, the last little catch in his plans for Itachi pleasing him. He would see just how strong the Uchiha mask was.
"One more thing. The more, intimate, the first drink, the stronger the bond." The Uchiha raised one brow, the most show of life since Pein had first spoken to him about vampires. "So, before you enter, you must first prepare yourself."
Pein felt satisfaction at the small amount of emotion Itachi allowed to play across his features at this. He was sure the rest of this venture would be amusing. Very amusing.
"Well?" Pein asked, waiting for a response from his subordinate. Itachi remained quiet, impassive, hiding his emotions as always. Pein stepped forward, not allowing the smile that so wished to spread across his face. "I'll leave you, for the moment, to collect your thoughts."
"I will be ready." Itachi spoke before Pein could leave. He stopped, waiting for the Uchiha to step up behind him. He nodded to the air, accepting the Uchiha's affirmation. He opened the doors, stepping into the room.
Immediately the Nara lunged at the bars, hissing. Pein walked further in, steadily, after closing the door behind him and Itachi. Itachi stood by, waiting and watching as Pein stepped further still.
"Are you ready to give in?" Pein asked, surveying the deep gouges in the floor by his blood and imbedded in the bars. His eyes took in the sight of the Nara, eyes dangerous and mouth open, showing the even more dangerous fangs. Perfectly savage.
"Give it to me." He snarled. Pein allowed his lips to twitch, his satisfaction nearly controlling his facial features. He gestured to Itachi, watching the Nara's eyes move to the male, widening only slightly. The thirst was to strong for much emotion.
"Itachi will be giving it to you." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, turning back to Pein with suspicion. Pein remained as he was, allowing the Nara's eyes to go between him and the Uchiha, suspicion rising as time was allowed to ferment between them. He watched as the boy became agitated by the prolonged silence.
"I can hear your heartbeats…." Shikamaru said, licking his lips. He jumped, eyes widening more then ever, drawing his tongue back. He'd pricked it on his canines.
"Itachi, are you ready?" Pein asked, glancing over. The male remained stoic, his hand appearing in the middle of his cloak, pulling it off. Shikamaru's eyes followed his movement, watching as the Uchiha dropped his cloak to the floor, leaving him in his standard ninja attire. He stilled, hand on its way down. Pein watched, noting the lack of obvious stimulation the Uchiha was feeling. No matter.
"Here." Pein handed over a knife.
-insert sexies-
"That's enough, Itachi." Pein spoke from the sides. Itachi let go of the Nara, drawing back. The teen seemed disappointed, but not as blood hungry as before. He looked like the need had left him, leaving him level-headed again. Pein stepped up, standing near the Uchiha as he situated himself again.
Suddenly Shikamaru's stomach tightened, a snarl coming from his lips as he clutched to his lower gut. His throat tightened, pain stinging the back of it as bile came up. He lent forward, hands hitting the stone, the beautiful blood pouring back out of him, tasting like fire on his tongue. His stomach kept convulsing, pushing out every last drop of what was within.
"I forgot to mention, Shikamaru. A vampire can only consume blood. The rest, such as other bodily fluids, is rejected by the body." Pein explained as he watched the teen fall sideways, groaning in pain and curling. "But you did partake of our blood. You will now listen to both Itachi and I, though Itachi will have more command over you."
Pein stepped up to the slightly trembling body, kneeling down. He grasped the chin of the Nara, turning him to meet eyes. He held his lower jaw in such a way that the blood and seed smeared on Shikamaru's lower lip and chin didn't touch his hand.
"Now, Shikamaru, you are mine."