Crossing Dangers - A Naruto fanfic
by adriatic-air
Chapter 1: Naruto – Hunter or the Hunted?
The sun was shining high above in the noon sky, sending its deadly, heated rays down into what was known as the planet earth. The largest star in the galaxy was long ago worshipped by ancient human religions for its life-giving energy, and later on the humans harnessed this energy as a source of solar power to run their appliances. But for now, the earth's main occupants fervently despised the sun.
Naruto was okay with it, though. He felt the sweltering heat all through the double layers of his black shirt and fishnet vest, black leather trousers and dark crimson trench coat, but other than that, he was doing just fine with the sun out.
Which was more than could be said for most of the other night creatures. They were all shut in coffins and underground holes at this time of the day, hiding from the deadly ultraviolet rays. It was the main reason why Naruto liked the day. Because they weren't there, thus making the day much more peaceful than the night.
He traipsed casually through the soft white sand of the desert, looking out for any signs of fights the night before. Damn, the vampire and werewolf breeds were so hot blooded. Every single night, Naruto came upon at least one huge cross-battle, and he had to use all means necessary to stop them.
Naruto hated violence, as a rule. But he dealt with it all the time anyway. It was only through violence that he could settle all the violence anyway. It sounded like he was contradicting himself, but it simply meant Naruto hated to see vampires and werewolves at each others throats all the damn time much more than he hated violence.
He was a peacemaker. One that brought peace to others… okay so maybe sometimes he exacerbated those fights just by showing up, but still, in his heart, he wanted peace. He really wished he didn't need to see blood flying every which way each night.
Naruto stopped as he caught sight of something lying on the sand. To the untrained eye, it might have seemed like there was nothing lying there. But to Naruto, there was a pile of gray ash, of a slightly different shade from the sand around it, lying on the sand. It had a vaguely humanoid shape to it. Naruto bent down, grasped a handful of the ash, and let it fall through his fingers, the wind scattering it in a small arc of gray particles.
"May your soul rest in peace," Naruto muttered quietly, before scattering more of the ash in the wind. He wasn't a superstitious guy by nature, but he'd heard somewhere that vampires could come back in worse forms if the ash of their bodies were not scattered soon after their release from this world. So every time he encountered a pile of dead vampire, he would scatter its ash. He'd rather not take the chance of encountering a ghost vampire, thank you very much.
As Naruto scabbed around in the sand around it, his hand hit something hard, as he thought it would. He wrapped his fingers around the object, which was burning hot, and pulled it out of the sand. It was a silver stake, warmed by the sun's rays, and must have found its mark to the vampire's heart the night before.
Naruto held the stake up to the sun, and admired it. It was made of pure silver, and there were tiny rubies embedded in it. Engraved along one end was one world: Helsin. So it was a royal weapon, and came from the House of Helsin itself. The equivalent of werewolf royalty.
Naruto chuckled to himself, then pocketed the weapon. He had an entire collection of weapons from the House of Helsin, most of them stakes, robbed from the dead after battles like these. Seeing as the werewolves' only true enemies were the vampires, it wasn't surprising most of their weapons were stakes. Naruto had heard a myth that lycans and vampires could be burned by silver, once. He'd laughed his butt off when he heard it. Utter bullshit. The royal families had a tendency to make their weapons from silver because they were vain. How could they have used weapons that hurt them?
Since the stake had come from the House of Helsin, the battle last night must have been between the two royal houses of both breeds. Naruto sobered and frowned. He hated fights like these. Not only were they the hardest to be stopped in his natural form, there was also the fact that both parties would undoubtedly be after him.
The royal families had wanted his life for as long as he could remember. So long, that he was used to it.
Naruto looked about him surreptitiously. These vampires and werewolves were close by. The vampiric ash that'd been left to fester in the sand suggested that the fight hadn't ended. Usually, members of the royal house tended to clean up after themselves, and left no remains of the battle behind. This time, they'd probably been interrupted mid-battle by the rising of the sun.
Which meant they were currently slumbering somewhere beneath Naruto's feet deep in the sand now, having dug holes to escape the sun's rays. It was a sinister thought. Naruto sure didn't want to be around when they woke up and poked their grisly heads out. But he marked the place in his head, anyway. He would be back tonight.
To stop them killing each other.
Then he walked on, the wind blowing sprays of sand at his face and body. He could taste grit on his tongue, and lifted his black muffler to shield his face from the sand. His windpipe might get choked up with it and he could suffocate to death if he wasn't careful. There were plenty of cases like these occurring in the desert.
Naruto's stomach growled loudly in the surrounding emptiness, reminding him he hadn't eaten in months. As a rule, he hated eating too, but now he would have to find some food, or the hunger pangs would interfere with his fighting later tonight. A rabbit or two could go a long way. If there were any left in this godforsaken land.
Naruto stilled in the middle of the desert and concentrated hard. He could hear things a long way off if he cared to. A few meters away, deep in the sand, there were two tiny heartbeats. Rabbits. He pounced on them, reaching through the layers of sand that separated them from him, and broke their necks. The little creatures died instantly.
Squatting on the ground, Naruto held up the carcasses to his face and wrinkled his nose. The rabbits dangled lifelessly before his eyes. "Ugh." He really didn't want to skin these things himself. There would be too much blood. There was, however, someone who could do it for him.
Sasuke's eyes snapped open in the darkness, the red of his irises flaring up like two tiny flames. It was that time of the day again. Time to wake up. For a moment he almost panicked, then he remembered where he was. Oh, right. He was stuck in the middle of the desert again. He wasn't accustomed to sleeping in the wilderness, for god's sake.
Slowly, he reached out and sifted the sand away from him, scrabbling upwards to the air above. He broke free to the surface, took a huge gulp of the fresh night air, and looked about him blearily. He'd risen early today, just as he'd planned. The sun had barely set, and the sky above was streaked with brilliant hues of pink, gold and orange.
The motorbike was close by too, in the exact same position it was in when Sasuke had gone to bed this morning. Good. That meant Naruto hadn't gone anywhere far. Slowly, he stepped out of his makeshift tomb, and the sand fell in little rivulets out of his hair and clothes, pooling at his feet. Dammit, how did all that sand get in anyway? Sasuke supposed he fidgeted a lot in his sleep, but still. Unbuckling his knee-length black boots, he emptied out the sand that had miraculously gathered there during the day before slipping into them on again.
Now, where was his blond-haired companion? The guy had a habit of wandering off by himself. More often than not, he couldn't be found with his motorbike when Sasuke woke up. Sasuke walked lazily in a random direction from his resting place, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It was so troublesome, having to look for him every day.
"Naruto?" Sasuke called out. Ah, there he was. Lying ten feet away, spread-eagled on the sand, his red coat billowing slightly in the wind. Sasuke ran up to him, then stopped short. Naruto was fast asleep, head tilted at a slight angle, and soft snores issuing from his mouth. He looked tempting. Sasuke smirked.
Using all the grace of the vampire that he was, Sasuke crept stealthily up to the sleeping guy and planted both feet on either side of his hips. Glancing down to make sure Naruto was still deep in sleep, he lowered himself onto Naruto, so that he was now straddling his hips comfortably. Then he ran his hands teasingly inside the black shirt, up the tan body, relishing the feel of the cool skin beneath his hands. Naruto shifted slightly, but didn't wake. So Sasuke leaned forward, putting all his weight on Naruto's chest, and whispered as seductively as he could, in his ear.
"Good evening, Naruto."
The eyelids fluttered open, confusion evident in the startling blue eyes. Sasuke didn't give Naruto time to react, before lunging down and shoving his tongue down his throat. Naruto moaned loudly into the kiss, awake at once, and devoured Sasuke's lips hungrily, before rolling to trap Sasuke underneath him. They kissed passionately with a thoroughness for several long minutes, before Naruto broke away, panting heavily, his body on fire.
"Sasuke, I need to eat."
"Then, go eat." Sasuke said, and he pulled Naruto towards him, kissing him once more. Naruto moaned again around the hot tongue in his mouth, and indulged Sasuke for a few more minutes, but when Sasuke began to unzip his leather pants for him and reach inside, he got up off him, pulling a surprised Sasuke to his feet in one fluid movement. With his other hand, he zipped up his pants with snap. Then Naruto smiled.
"Evening, Sasuke," he said mischievously, to the scowling vampire, not letting go of his hand. "Don't you look sexy tonight." It wasn't a question.
"Then fuck me already," Sasuke said sullenly, his face a perfect picture of gorgeousness. Naruto almost tackled him to the ground then and there, but he restrained himself.
"I will, later on. But now, I got a job for you," Naruto said, looking away to clear his head. Damn, but Sasuke was really, really tempting. Those black leather shorts hugged his ass in a way that left no room for imagination, and revealed his pale, endlessly long legs perfectly. And those knee-length boots he wore! Naruto suspected he had a fetish for buckles and boots; he got horny just looking at them clinging to Sasuke's legs. Waist up, Sasuke wore nothing but a black vest over a fishnet shirt, with a steel tag on a chain hung around his neck, which had "No. 237" engraved on it.
Number 237. It denoted Sasuke's number when he was working in the palace of the royal vampire family. He was a renegade vampire guard, run away for reasons of his own. And now, he was with Naruto. Naruto didn't know the palace guard uniform was meant to be so sexy.
"What?" Sasuke asked, eyes lighting up, in response to Naruto's previous comment.
"Will you…" Naruto turned behind him, then whipped out the two rabbits he'd killed earlier that day. "…cook these for me?"
Naruto knew the guy would be pissed, but he wasn't prepared for the intensity of the glare Sasuke leveled him. "Fuck off," Sasuke said, and stomped back in the direction of Naruto's bike, arms crossed and nose in the air.
"Awww, pretty, pretty please, Sasuke?" Naruto said, catching up with him and dancing around him, slinging an arm around his slim, pale shoulders. Naruto had no idea how Sasuke managed to still look pretty when he was mad, but he was doing a good job of it.
"No." Sasuke sniffed.
That was when Naruto suddenly ran in front of him, grabbed him by the shoulders, and lowered his face to Sasuke's so that they were eye to eye. "I said, please, Sasuke," Naruto uttered, his voice lowering by several octaves.
And just like that, Sasuke relented. "I don't know what you'll do without me," he said huffily, snatching the rabbits from Naruto. "But I'm pretty sure you wouldn't eat at all." Then he stomped away from the blond to prepare the meal. Naruto let him go. They both knew Naruto hated the sight of blood anywhere else except on the battlefield.
"You're absolutely right, Sasuke," Naruto said in a whisper. "In more ways than one." Then he walked off in the opposite direction to sharpen the blades in his array of weaponry, with a little more vigor than was needed to.
An hour later, Sasuke appeared, just as Naruto was polishing his blades for the ten-thousandth time. "Dinner is ready, master," he said sarcastically, arms folded, posing in a way that was deliberately (in Naruto's eyes) suggestive.
"I thank you for it, Number 237," Naruto replied, and this time he did tackle Sasuke to the sandy ground, and kiss him with such ferocity that they were both breathless within seconds. Naruto moved on to nip roughly at Sasuke's neck area, inducing more moans, and slowly pulled down the zipper of his vest.
"Naruto… don't… stop…" And just as the words left Sasuke's mouth, Naruto stopped, rolling off him and getting to his feet. "Damn you!" That jerk!
Sasuke pulled a dagger from his boot and lunged at Naruto. It was made of silver, encrusted with emeralds, and would hurt very, very bad if it pierced Naruto's skin. No matter. Sasuke was furious. The dagger made a hissing sound as it cut through the air, inches from Naruto's face. The blond jumped out of the way in the nick of time, laughing madly, then ran like the wind towards where the food was stewing in its pot, while Sasuke chased him in a fine rage, shouting curses at his back.
Naruto had just finished spooning every bit of stew from the pot into a metal bowl, when Sasuke came into view.
"Thanks, Sas –" Before Naruto could complete his sentence, a glint caught his eye, and a silver blade flew straight through the air at him. Naruto's mouth fell open in horror as the blade headed right at him. There was no way to stop it. Sasuke couldn't be serious, it was going to pierce… And then Naruto ducked, the blade whistling harmlessly above him, slicing off a lock of his hair. "Dammit, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.
The disturbingly gorgeous, raven-haired vampire smirked as he walked slowly up to him. "Oh, did I scare you?"
Naruto grumbled something unrecognizable in response, retrieved the dagger from the sand behind him, and flung it at Sasuke, who caught it deftly, before digging into his food. "You bastard. Any more of that, and I'll leave you."
"You won't," Sasuke said sweetly, going to sit beside Naruto, and curling a bare, white arm about his chest.
"And how do you know that?" Naruto growled, deliberately avoiding the vampire's eyes, and shoveling food into his mouth. He knew what Sasuke was doing, of course, and he wasn't going to give in.
"Well…" Sasuke slid effortlessly into Naruto's lap, and knocked the empty bowl from his hands, forcing Naruto to look up at him. "Just because." Then he pushed his stiffening erection at Naruto's crotch, causing the blond to go glaze-eyed for a moment. Exactly the reaction he was looking for.
"Sasuke," Naruto said. "I have another fight to stop tonight. It's…" Sasuke rubbed against him, harder this time, pushing their erections together, and Naruto swallowed a moan. "hmm… ah… between the royal houses of the vampires and werewolves."
"Is that so?" Sasuke breathed, wrapping his arms around Naruto's neck. "Then I regret to inform you that I cannot accompany you tonight."
"Fine by me," Naruto said, kissing the beauty before him. Sasuke was hard to ignore. Then he lifted him bodily from his lap and placed him on the sand. "Now be a good boy, Sasuke, I need to leave soon." Naruto slapped himself on the back internally for his self-control.
Sasuke's cheeks were flushed, and he looked disgruntled, but he didn't try to grab Naruto again. "Don't get yourself hurt," he said, sounding uncharacteristically down.
"Who are you talking about, Sasuke?" Naruto laughed. "Because you couldn't have been referring to me. You haven't forgotten who I am, have you?"
"They're from the royal houses tonight," Sasuke said, looking at the ground. "They'll be after you."
"And I will be prepared," Naruto said assuredly. And that was certainly true, judging by the number of weapons he'd managed to cram into the pockets of his trench coat. He'd even hidden a brand new gun in one of them.
"I believe you," Sasuke said. Then he looked up at Naruto, and he was the same old Sasuke again, cocky and full of himself, smirking his characteristic smirk. "I'll see you later tonight. Don't tire yourself out, master."
"Again, who are you talking about, Sasuke?" Naruto smirked back. "I have endless stamina. Don't fall asleep waiting for me. And one last thing." Naruto started walking slowly backwards, his eyes trained on Sasuke. "Don't follow me." And with that, he took off into the cool black night, his footfalls making no more noise than gentle thumps in the soft white desert sand.
Sasuke watched him go, a lone figure disappearing from view at high speed. Naruto's magnificent red coat billowed back like a great cape, and he looked like he was flying. Maybe he was. "Vampires don't sleep at night, Naruto." Sasuke said. "Though I wonder sometimes where you get all that energy, since you hardly sleep at all."
The battle was in full swing by the time Naruto was near enough to see what was going on. He'd spent too much time playing around with Sasuke just now, and the beasts had risen more than an hour ago. The moon was hanging high overhead, casting a silver glow down on the night creatures battling on the sand, illuminating them sufficiently for Naruto to see. Snarls and growls issued from the throats of the great wolves, while the stately vampires cracked their knuckles and bared their bloody fangs.
Naruto hid himself behind a rock to observe the battle. There were five large gray wolves, and five vampires clothed similarly to Sasuke in total, so they were evenly matched. Naruto knew enough about the royal houses to know that these creatures were not of royal blood. Rather, they were soldiers in the employment of the palace, and their skills were higher than the average vampire or werewolf he met on his travels.
Still, they were absolutely no match for him. Naruto was special. He was of a unique breed. He hadn't met his match in battle since twelve years ago. These weaklings were nothing but flies waiting to be swatted away. Naruto could feel his demon blood getting agitated.
He got up from his hiding place behind the rock, and walked towards the rowdy group of creatures, wondering how long it would take for them to notice his presence. The vampires sensed him first, and they stopped their motions abruptly, slinking back together as a group to watch his approach. Their long nails glimmered like glass, and their fiery red eyes fixed upon him warily. The wolves, usually more hotheaded than their cooler counterparts, caught sight of him later, and when they did, the hackles on their back rose, and new growls emerged from their throats.
"Rrrrrrrrrr… it's the hybrrrrrid this time…" the largest wolf growled. "Let me rrrrrrrrrip him to pieces…" He opened his jaw wide and let out a snarl, eyes tiny and bloodshot.
"He is our prey," stated the leader of the vampire group, walking with such grace towards Naruto that it seemed like he was welcoming him, rather than what he was actually intending to do, which was attacking him. "The hybrid has got two hundred million on his head, and I intend earn it." Then he struck out at Naruto with a fearsome yowl, irises flashing a brilliant orange. The edges of his glittering sharp nails left three large rips down the front of Naruto's shirt.
Naruto stumbled backwards, clutching his front. The vampire had missed his bare skin by a millimeter, but he had something to say before anything else happened. "Wait a minute here, guys," he called out, holding up a hand. "I have a name. And it's not 'the hybrid'. It's called Naruto. I'll appreciate it if you call me that."
The creatures only let out various snarls, growls and hisses in response, and in unison, all ten of them leaped at him. Naruto sighed, and disappeared into thin air, reappearing somewhere behind them. He hadn't teleported, he'd just moved with such great speed that it seemed like he had. It was almost ironic the way the two breeds could cooperate when it came to matters about him.
If it was a fight they wanted, then a fight Naruto would give them.
Closing his eyes, Naruto concentrated on mustering up the demonic power that lay dormant within him most of the time. He felt his energy levels shoot sky high as his hybrid blood was stirred, rushing from deep within him to the surface in a large torrent, flowing through his veins, enhancing his five senses, causing the physical changes in his appearance to manifest themselves. His irises burned and flashed from blue to blood red, his blond hair grew down his back and was bleached pure white, the fangs in his mouth lengthened to three inches, protruding from his lip, while his nails grew up to half a meter, sharp, deadly and gleaming with black venom, characteristic of the werewolves. Naruto felt his body struggling to change into wolf-form, but he fought against that transformation. He always felt comfortable fighting in a more vampiric state.
"And now," Naruto rasped, spitting the words from his lips in a very different voice from before, as he flexed his long, curved nails. "Are we ready to begin?"
The vampires and werewolves could only stare mutely as Naruto walked towards them, a wild fire dancing in his crimson eyes. Then his mouth slowly widened in a frightening, lazy smile, to show the twin rows of pearl white teeth sharpened to razor points. And they took the cue to run.
Sasuke's jaw dropped into the sandy dunes of the desert. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. This was utterly insane. Those vampire soldiers had to be Level Fours, at the very least. And those huge, disgusting werewolves were powerful too, but all of them had been dispatched with equal ease. What was Naruto? Who was Naruto? Sasuke had never seen that unfamiliar, dangerous form before. It was enough to send shivers down his spine.
Naruto looked about him slowly, the bloodlust slowly clearing from his mind. He hadn't killed these creatures. He hadn't lost that much control, yet. They were lying in rough circle around him, very much alive, some of them were groaning in intense pain. It was the venom that had got to the vampires. As for the werewolves, Naruto had, for the most part, slammed their skulls into the sand. They'd reverted back to their humanoid forms straight away.
Naruto chuckled, a slow, rumbling sound that erupted from his throat. "You silly creatures of the night," he hissed. "I told you I would prefer it if you got along. But you don't listen, do you? If you insist on fighting, I will take the fight out of you."
He watched them tremble for a moment, feeling and relishing their fear. "Vampires from the House of Ashflang," he said. "The poison will spread and consume your bodies unless you make it back to the palace for the antidote in time. You have three days. Don't underestimate my venom. It cannot be compared to the likes of those werewolves."
"Werewolves, from the House of Helsin, return to your abode if you don't want to feel my wrath again. And to both Houses, tell your Kings they will never have me. I am Naruto, the one and only hybrid of the Vampire and Werewolf, and I am a hunter. I will not be hunted. I will never be captured. Now get out of my sight."
In a few seconds, they were gone. Naruto lowered his head finally, and stared down at his hands. His nails were bloody, black and red were running through them, mixing and dripping down, splattering the once pure white sand. He'd transformed tonight. He hadn't used his weapons at all. He had been a true, wild beast tonight – the monster hybrid.
Naruto heard a noise behind him and he turned, baring his fangs in a silent snarl. But it was only Sasuke. Shit. It was the Sasuke. Oh no, dear god… The look in Sasuke's eyes, that told Naruto he knew he'd seen something he wasn't supposed to see, and wished he really hadn't seen was enough the crush Naruto.
"I thought I told you not to follow me," Naruto said, looking into the distance, at the sand behind Sasuke, at the rocks in the desert, at the stars in the sky or anywhere else, except at Sasuke's face. He hadn't wanted Sasuke to find him out like this.
"Naruto…" Sasuke said, and his voice was trembling ever so slightly. "Are you… really a hybrid of a vampire and werewolf?"
"Yes." Naruto said. He could feel himself reverting back to his old form, fangs, nails and hair returned to their original length, his hair became yellow, and his eyes turned back to blue. He averted his gaze. "Why did you come, Sasuke? I didn't want you to see me like this." His own voice sounded oddly hollow to him.
"Naruto…" Sasuke's voice was trembling more than ever, and this time, Naruto looked up in alarm at him. Sasuke's face was stark white, and he looked more shaken than Naruto had ever seen him in his life, even compared to the first time when Naruto met him. "If I… had been one of those vampires in that pack, would you have done the same to me?"
Naruto felt his world tilt. "Sasuke," he said heavily. "I'm sorry you had to witness what happened just now. But it had to be done. They would have fought to the death, otherwise."
Sasuke's chin trembled, and Naruto couldn't help himself. He reached forward to touch his cheek, and Sasuke flinched, moving away. Naruto retracted his hand at once, dropping it to his side. He looked away. Dear god, what had he done to this guy? "Sasuke," Naruto began, desperately, but Sasuke turned and fled from him, leaving Naruto with the emptiest, loneliest feeling he'd ever felt in his entire life.
-To be continued-