Midnight Vampires: No Escape
Hi there, Im back with a new story. Don't worry, the first one has NOT been discontinued, but this one just sounded better, so I wanted to see how well this goes first.
DISCLAIMER – I do not own anything or have any associations with Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto owns it, not me, and so credit for the characters go to him.
Anyways, enjoy!
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Chapter 1: Rude Greetings
Sakura Haruno stepped down from the coach, followed by her best friends, and looked around her surroundings. A stiff breeze was blowing in from the sea, half a mile away, tugging her mid-length pink hair into her emerald eyes. She could smell the sea water, and from the light scowls on her best friend's faces, she knew they could as well.
She pushed her hair back behind her ears in frustration as she gazed around. Irritating flute music was being played loudly from the speakers, adding on to her annoyance.
Her best friends Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuuga and Tenten were besides her, as the rest of the school group milled about between the coach and the entrance to the Historical Konoha experience.
The ticket booth was set into a tall log fence, next to a large sign which read: 'Welcome Students to one of the First Settlements in Konoha! Explore and Discover History as you Travel back in Time 400 Years Ago!' The idea, as interesting as it sounded, didn't really fascinate her that much. Unless of course, they really did travel back in time.
Hinata, one of her best friends, studied the sign with her large, strangely pearl coloured eyes. "That would be pretty cool," She said, "If we really did go back in time four hundred years ago." Sakura smiled, knowing that Hinata would have had the same thought as her.
Tenten, her other best friend, kissed her teeth and patted one of her two brown, Chinese-styled hair buns. "Too bad it's just a theme park." She finished, before fixing her brown eyes back onto the coach.
But it wasn't a theme park, strictly speaking, redirected Sakura, it was only a rebuilding. The Konoha Historical Experience had been built on the site of a genuine original settlement, but she decided not to say so out loud. She didn't want to sound like a snob or a nerd.
"It's just stupid education disguised as a good time, that's all this is." Ino spat out, angry cerulean eyes scanning the area, because to put it simply, she was pissed. Very. Not only because she was going to miss her manicure appointment, but because she had to get up extra early, just so she'd come to this stupid trip! She flicked her long, blonde high ponytail back before crossing her arms and pouting like a child.
Sakura thought that the only thing missing was the childish stomping and tantrum.
"Hey, quit complaining. At least you're getting out of the maths test." Grumbled Tenten. She wasn't too eager about this trip either.
"So are you!" Pointed out Ino.
"Yeah, and I don't mind missing tests, but I do mind missing my karate practice. They were going to show us how to use weapons!" said Tenten, balling her fists and lashing out with one foot at a passing fly.
Sakura had to roll her eyes, whereas Hinata just smiled. No one would have ever pictured her, fragile, shy; Hinata as a 64 palms master, a Hyuuga clan sport passed on for generations to only a selected few.
"Well, im looking forward to It." smiled Hinata. Just then, Iruka sensei, their History teacher, stepped forward and clapped his hands. "Line up class, line up!" He called. The four friends shuffled into a rough line with the rest of their history class.
"Are you looking forward to this youth, Sakura, Tenten?" Said Gai Sensei, or as Tenten rudely liked to call him, 'Gay-sensei'. Gai was the Hidden Leafs High school sports teacher. He had largest eyebrows Sakura had ever seen, and though he was only 30 years old, he boasted on about youth and did strenuous acts that made him seem at least 10 years physically younger. Tenten called him 'Gay-Sensei' because he wore this ridiculously tight green spandex suit. He didn't even wait for an answer, not like he was going to get one in the first place, as he moved along the line to torture another unfortunate being.
"Now everybody, the park is quiet big, so if you get lost or separated from your friends, just make your way back to the main entrance. There are plenty of people and signs there to help you out." Spoke Iruka.
"Like, aren't we old enough to figure that out ourselves? We're 16 for god's sake!" Ino whispered to Sakura, who only shrugged in return.
Tenten grinned. "Hey if I get lost, I'm just going to look for Sakura's hair in the distance!" She laughed, followed by Ino and Hinata.
"Hey! At least mine is worth looking for!" She remarked, self-consciously patting her bubble gum pink hair.
"Don't stand near any bushes Tenten," Laughed Hinata, "We'll never find you!"
Said girl looked down at her army jeans and olive coloured tank top. "It's just in case I want to slip away." She said, smiling mischievously.
Iruka Sensei produced a group of tickets at the desk and they pushed their way on through the turnstile. When they came out on the other side, it really did seem like they had gone back in time- apart from the tarmac tiles and the piped music.
From what they could tell, they were standing at one end of a street lined with wooden buildings. Some were log cabins with sharply pointed roofs; some looked more complex with walls made of planks and boards. Each house stood on its own, surrounded by a small wooden fence which enclosed an area that seemed more like a miniature farmyard than a yard. Chickens pecked at the ground and pigs rooted around for food. Sakura suddenly smiled.
"Hey Ino, it's you in the past generation." She smirked, pointing at the group of pigs. Following her gaze, Tenten and Hinata laughed while Ino just gave her a sarcastic look.
"Oh ha ha, at least my forehead isn't the size of Argentina." She replied. It was her turn to laugh now.
"Come on guys; let's go check these places out." Suggested Hinata, before war broke lose. They followed their classmates and teacher through the path, taking uninterested glances at their surroundings.
To Sakura, this didn't feel like a town. It felt like someone had just cleared a small area out of the wilderness and dropped a community into it, but she soon realised this was basically what must have happened here 400 years ago.
There were lots of actors posing as settlers in authentic period costumes. Most of the men wore three cornered hats, long coats and rough breeches, whereas the women were wearing bonnets and long puffy skirts with blouses. Some of the actor's clothes were shabby and stained though, to add effect.
To her, the clothes didn't seem one bit comfortable, but the actors made it seem like it was normal everyday fashion. They all bustled around, seeming to be busy with 'their lives', though one or two would look over and nod or smile. Obviously it wasn't as real as it would have been but Sakura still thought that it was missing…something.
Iruka Sensei came to an abrupt stop as he suddenly called out "Ok everyone, you will all be getting activity sheet, so put yourselves into groups of three or four and look around at your leisure. I want all of you back here at the main entrance in 2 hours, no more. Well, enjoy yourselves!" He instructed.
The class started to split themselves up, scattering in different directions, while the girls decided to check out the centre of the town first. The closer they got to the middle, the more Sakura thought it looked like a conventional, olden time's village, and her thoughts slowly started to change. Maybe at first glance, it didn't look that great, but the more time you spent exploring the village, the more convincing it looked.
At the very centre of the village was a square of grass with a duck pond in the middle, where 3 winding streets connected. It was strange really, to see so many people working, with no cars or light bulbs or electricity, no phone lines, nothing.
As Sakura turned her gaze around, she saw 2 long poles stretching out above everything else. After a slight glance, she realised that they belonged to a sailing ship.
Hinata was reading the guide book. "Hey, they've even got a harbour area with its own replica of the Konoha ship." She said.
She peered over Hinata's shoulder as she stared at the map of the village, given with the guide book.
"This place is kind of neat," Ino said though with grudging admiration, "I can almost believe it's real."
"The real thing would have been much dirtier, since there was no hot water for washing and people would have stank and would have been followed around by fleas." Pointed out Tenten.
Ino made a face filled with utter disgust. "Ewww! Im so happy I'm in the 21st century!" She exclaimed.
With a roll of their eyes, they started to wander up the street and followed a noise which sounded like two pieces of metal being smashed together. It turned out to be just like what Sakura had suspected; a blacksmith.
The way his muscles bulged underneath his skin, sweat soaking his face and hair, streaming his blue eyes, all looked so real. Then slowly but surely, a shape emerged. It was as if something was buried deep within the glowing lump of metal and it was determined to make its way to the surface. It gradually thinned out, and took over the form of a long, curved blade, dangerously pointy at the tip.
The blacksmith picked it up with a pair of tongs and plunged in to a bucket of water. Gouts of steam burst from the bucket, making the air smoky and damp. If Sakura hadn't seen it with her own two eyes, she would have said it was machine made.
Then someone began to clap, and soon, the rest of the crowd joined in. It looked so real, so delicate, so –
"And that, young squires, is how an honest man makes a good plough. Next demonstration will be held at 3 o'clock." He ushered the crowd out and pulled a very modern safety shutter down over the front of the smithy.
"Whoa, what a way to kill the moment." Muttered Ino, and from the light frowns on her friends faces, she knew they thought the same too, except for Tenten's expression as she looked as though an angel had just dropped down from heaven.
"Did you see the way he made that sword? Hey, do you think if I asked him nicely, he'll make one for me too? Or at least teach me how to make one?" Squealed Tenten in excitement, her love for weaponry becoming clearly evident.
"Sorry Tens, but I doubt it." Hinata tried to sound sympathetic, but she failed miserably and giggled instead, earning a frown from Tenten.
"Come on, all that demonstrating made me thirsty! Let's go to the café, I'm sure I saw one on the map." Whined Ino. They all agreed that a café was a good idea and set off towards to it. As they walked, Sakura spotted a tree so large she though it was fake.
"I wonder if that tree is real." Sakura asked thoughtfully, looking at a large oak tree that stood a few metres away from them.
The others looked at her oddly.
"Well, it's not going to be plastic, if that's what you mean." Said Ino, slowly.
"No, I meant if it was here, 400 years ago" She corrected, laughing at her friends comment.
By now they were quiet close to it and Sakura had to tilt her head right back to be able to see all of it.
"It looks pretty ancient" Added in Tenten, moving away from the path to examine the tree. "And oak tree's live for hundreds of years. It was probably here before the first settlers even arrived."
When they were almost underneath it, and Sakura started looking around the tree, to see if there was a sign anywhere, like you sometimes see with things saying ' This tree was brought here by so- and- so' kind of type.
Well, there was certainly something there, 5 of them actually, sticking out from underneath the ground. She looked a little closer, and saw, to her surprise, that they were small gravestones.
"Ino, look out!" she cried, but it was too late. Ino had already walked in front of one of them, right over the grave itself, actually. Ino looked back at Sakura curiously. Then her eyes followed Sakura's pointing finger to the gravestone and she jumped of the grave with a shriek.
Tenten and Hinata hooted with laughter.
"It's probably fake Ino!" Hinata laughed, while Tenten imitated Ino's leaping and gave a shriek of her own.
"Ooh" she squealed, "It's a haunted grave stone".
Ino looked annoyed. "Cut it out guys." She whined, frowning at her friends.
"Actually, it looks pretty real," Said Sakura, bending down curiously to read what one said, though to her disappointment found that years of rain and wind had eaten away the stone, making it difficult to read what was written on them. "This one says SASUKE UC..IHA, though I think I can make out an H for the second name so it's Sasuke…Uchiha. That's it? No date or epitaph?" She asked confused. Curious, Tenten and Hinata bent down to read the others.
"Well… N….UT.. ..ZU..AKI. It's not that clear so I can't really read the full name, but Im sort of guessing it's something like Naputo Uzunaki or Uzumaki from the way the letters have been engrained. And like the one you read Sakura, there's no date on this one either." Hinata read, gazing curiously at the grave.
To everyone's surprise, Ino also found herself reading some. "This one says…SAI, just Sai. And the one next to it is SHI..A….RU N..RA." She pointed out, shrugging her shoulders.
Sakura looked up to Ino. "Well, what do you think it says?" She asked in anticipation.
Ino shrugged again. "How should I know forehead? The letters have practically blended in with the stone!"
Rolling her eyes, Sakura groaned in frustration, before pushing Ino away from the gravestone and read it herself. "Ugh! Move over pig, let me see…It says Shikamaru Nara you idiot! Anyone could have read that! The letters look like someone carved them yesterday!"
"That's only because you like this sort of crap. You should know that no-one really cares-"
"Erm, guys, I think you really need to see this one" Tenten interrupted, and from the way that she had sounded, Sakura suspected that it wasn't going to be something good.
"Well Tenten… what does yours say?" She asked as she walked up towards said girl.
"Neji Hyuuga." she replied, confused eyes staring up to meet the wide ones of her friends.
"An H-Hyuuga?" Stuttered Hinata, eyes wide in shock and disbelief although it quickly changed into slight anger and denial too. She quickly walked up to the grave herself and took a look. "But that's impossible! All of the Hyuuga's were buried in the Hyuuga Cemetery. I've seen them all with my own eyes! I've even studied them all and Neji Hyuuga has never been mentioned." She explained, before bending down to re-check that the name on the grave was actually Neji Hyuuga, and to her incredulity, found that it clearly did say 'Hyuuga'. "They're fake. They have to be fake-" But she was suddenly interrupted by Ino.
Said girl pushed past Hinata and Sakura and moved Tenten away from the gravestone before squatting down in front it and with calculating eyes, studied it for a while. Sakura raised her eyebrow in question. What on earth was she doing?
Tenten yelped in surprise before quickly standing up and glared at Ino. "What the hell Ino! If you wanted me to move over, you could have just asked me to okay! No need to be-"
"Shush," Ino cut in again. Tenten opened her mouth to retort, but Ino beat her to it again. "There's writing on these, right at the bottom. I've checked all of the other graves and they all have them. It's small but still readable. I think it's that…what did you call it again Sakura?" she asked.
Without saying a word, Sakura rushed over towards Ino and decided to read the writing herself. Skimming the grave stone quickly, she came to a sudden halt at the bottom. "I…I don't think it's an epitaph at all. It reads 'Here lay the Vampyr children'. Its spelt lik R" She said in a confused tone.
"Vampyr?" They all questioned simultaneously in reply.
"Isn't that the same thing as Vampire?" Ino pointed out.
"Sure is kid." Answered an unfamiliar voice from behind them.
They all shrieked in terror and self-consciously huddled up close to each other before turning around to face the newcomer.
As they turned around, they saw that it was actually an old women in a black skirt and bonnet; one of the local guides. Her face was wrinkled and her lips puckered over toothless gums.
"'Tis not a tale for you young girl's ears," she continued, putting an act with wild, staring eyes and an accent so thick it was hard to understand. "Terrible they were, the Vampire children. Strangers from beyond, blood sucking demons, so the tales say." She put particular emphasis on the way she pronounced her 'R's', Sakura realised.
"Right old lady," Said Ino, "Do I look 4 years old to you? I hope these 'Vampire Children' knew how to throw good parties, because I sure need one!" The friends laughed.
"Ah, ye may mock, young squire! But even now, their dark powers live on. Sometimes they may be seen about the town, late at night, when the sky is dark, though none dare to approach them. Sometimes you can hear the screaming of our folk as they-"
"So why are their graves here? What is a 'Hyuuga' doing here?" Hinata interrupted impatiently, something not like her. Sakura guessed she was still shocked from the whole ancestral family thing. "What's wrong with putting them in a church yard?"
"What a strange question, young miss! Bury them among the decent folk of our town? Nay! They are lucky they have a grave at all- out here, alone, so that good people could rest easy."
"Yeah, whatever," Said Ino. She looked down at the ground she was standing on, and suddenly grinned as an idea came to her head.
"I, hear you heart, cry for love but then you act like there's no room room for me, or anyone though disturbed is all I see…"
Tenten grinned as she joined in the dance and the two laughed while they continued singing. Hinata and Sakura couldn't help but giggle too.
The women threw her hands up and said "Aye, well, don't be surprised when they come and visit ya," she told them, and then she suddenly reverted to modern English as she walked off. "And don't forget the gift shop before you leave."
"Wait! I have a question," Sakura suddenly called out. The women slightly turned around to face Sakura, signalling for her to continue. "How many of these graves are there?"
The women looked at Sakura for a while, before switching back into her character and said "We don't know , but Hidden Leaf has 5 and the Village Hidden by Sand has some too." Then she turned around.
Sakura watched her walk away. Just before she reached the end of the road, she turned back and called "Oh, by the way, those graves happen to be real. It was left from the original settlement."
The smile vanished from Ino's face as she leaped off the grace with another squeal, which sparked another round of laughter from Tenten and Hinata, this time without Sakura joining in.
"What the hell is the 'Village Hidden by Sand'? Is it some sort of made up place?" Ino asked, diverting the girl's attention away from her.
"It was the original name given to Sunagakure," Answered Hinata, "Just like Village Hidden in the Leaves is the original name for Konoha."
"But that's not important. The important thing here is that these 'Vampire' graves are real, and there are more of them." Said Sakura, taking time to look at all the graves again before focusing her attention back onto her friends.
Tenten shrugged. "So what are you trying to say, that these 'Vampire Children' existed?"
"I don't know." Sakura answered.
"Well I still think they're fake. Vampires don't exist, they never have and they never will. It's all crap!" Said Ino.
"Yeah but you don't know that for sure Ino. You never know, maybe they did." Hinata suggested thoughtfully.
Well, that was the first chapter. How was it? Did it give you that sensation that makes you want to read more? Did it, DID IT?
Well, I had fun writing it and yes, it has been edited as well, so please take your time to tell me what you think, it won't take up much of your time.
Review! I need reviews like a human needs water…well I want reviews but that's not the point! The point is…REVIEW!
But seriously, your comments matter to me because I want to see is this is worth my time and I want to know how to improve. I'll accept all comments except for flames, because you can always give me some constructive criticism instead.
And the little song that Tenten was singing is actually Heart Vacancy by The Wanted. Check it out, it's pretty nice.
Muchos love, xx-Ash-xx-1