By This Blood We Are Bound

A Naruto Fanfiction.

You knew it was coming; it was only a matter of time before I wrote a Vampire!SasuNaru fic. I love vampires and I love SasuNaru- of course I was going to merge the two together.

This is a very important story- it's written for my friend (and my Naru's) birthday. I am really, really unsure about how this is, so far. I NEED feedback, seriously. Like oxygen, or water.. or anything. I just really need to know what this is like. Please, I'm begging for some constructive, harsh criticism that I can use to improve this BEFORE February the 8th- her birthday. I'm on a time limit, so I'm stressing enough as it is.
(Review, please, please, please! Or email me at .uk )
I will actually do anything for a helpful review! A story request- anythingggggg! Help me, please.

Halp meh!
Thanks,
Connie.

Chapter One.

Fate is a bitch.

There's no pretending: Fate is a whiny teenage girl who has nothing better to do than mess with other people's lives. She is the type of girl who wants everybody around her to suffer, and she's not even related to destiny. Fate and destiny are two different people; Destiny is a cold, stoic man who knows what needs to be done and why it should be done. He writes down the paths of life and he makes the rules.
Fate will do anything within her power to corrupt this- in any way possible. She likes to dig her freshly-manicured, claw-like nails into human beings' business, until it's no longer recognisable as what Destiny created it to be.

An example of this could be;
You have a very important exam one day, and you have to be at school for it. But you miss your bus. Destiny is that you need to take this exam- it's life-changing.
Fate is the cruel witch who made that bus leave just one minute early, or made you trip over your untied shoelaces as you hurtled down the road towards the retreating form of the bus.

That's probably okay. You miss an exam; you can most likely retake it. Or if you mess up on it because you couldn't sleep the night before- that's all right too. There's a second chance.

There's no second chance in life. There's no 'backspace' button and there's no 'rewind' function. Fate can chew you up and spit you out- and then your whole life is thrown out of whack.

Destiny made me a lucky person. That's what was written out for me by his skilled hand; I've met my soulmate.

Fate made us two different creatures. Don't get the wrong idea- my story doesn't include bestiality of any sort. The only way I can think of to explain it, is; we were beings of different worlds and we were thrown together by some unseen force. We scrambled blindly in the dark and we fought together because of the instincts that tainted our blood.

All along the way, we just couldn't decide… were we fighting against fate, destiny, or ourselves?

There was an incessant, itching need that burned its way throughout my whole body. It started in the pit of my stomach, a bubbling, viscous acid that travelled up my windpipe and assaulted my tongue. It was impossible for me to ignore it, to neutralize it and sate my hunger- but I could dampen it down if I tried hard enough.

They bustled around me; weak, weak teenagers, hugging each other in greeting- oblivious to my concealed strength. I could see it- feel it- it was tangible in the air. The metallic tang of the blood that coursed through their veins- it was so tempting. So tempting to just reach out, to grab one of those mindless students as they passed me. I could sink my sharp teeth into their neck and it would all be over for them. My hunger would be sated- temporarily at least.

Lightly, I ran my tongue over my prolonged canines. I was designed to be a hunter; humans were my prey. My teeth were dagger-sharp, blunt nails that could slice open an animal's flesh and acute senses. I was a predator, and my fists clenched and unclenched at my sides as I watched, with dark eyes, the students moving past me in the walkway. Adrenaline washed through me, causing my breaths to quicken. I wanted to pounce- to go in for the kill.
I jerked forwards, nails ready to rip apart someone's arteries for my feeding pleasure.

A hard shoulder slammed into me from behind, before I could reach my target. I was sent stumbling forwards, reflexes failing me because I was caught off-guard. I was brought back to reality in an instant- it came crashing down on me like an avalanche. I had almost attacked, and some unknowing schoolmate had prevented a disaster.

He looked back at me as he walked away. His dark blue eyes sparkled in the low mid-winter sun, and there was a hint of something that I just couldn't comprehend; knowing. If I wasn't so choked up from what could have potentially been a personal tragedy, I would have laughed at the thought. Perhaps I was so paranoid, that I was actually imagining that everyone around me knew what I was:

A vampire.

It was in my soul- it was who I am. I drink human blood, so I'm no innocent. Though, I am not thoroughly evil. I only drink the blood of those that are dying or dead. There is a friend of my clan; his name is Kakashi Hatake, and he works in a hospital. I get my blood from him- it's the safest way for me and all around me. I'm a danger.

Slowly, I regained my composure. The bell rang out from the main school building, so I dragged myself over to my form room. It was worse when I was inside. Their heartbeats were so loud in my ears and I could feel the thick taste of the blood practically radiating from their fragile little bodies. Everything was so much more concentrated in an enclosed space. I worried my bottom lip between my pointed teeth, fingers drumming rhythmically against the wooden surface of the table I was sitting at.

My face was becoming flushed purely because of the effort it took to keep myself under control. The girl who sat next to me- a typical, demure high school girl with long brown hair- kept shooting me concerned looks. It irritated me vastly, but she meant well, so I bit down harder on my lip so that I wouldn't let a snide comment slip out.

I couldn't talk very well; my vocal cords were too tight. When the teacher called out my name in registration, my reply came out as a strangled cry. This, of course, earned me many a confused look.
After a vicious glare that held more than a hint of warning in it, all attention that was previously on me was removed instantly. I almost sighed with relief.

The bell rang to signify the beginning of our first lesson. I swung my bag onto my shoulder, zipped up my black hooded jacket and I was out of the room before anyone else was out of their seat. Advanced speed was just one of the many benefits to being a supernatural being. No matter how brilliant the advantages were- I would still trade anything for a human life. I've never been human- I was born this way. Born into the Uchiha clan; the most powerful vampire clan.

In most ways, I am human. I need food and water to survive, I feel, I experience, I breathe and I cry. I have emotions, and I'm not dead. The only way you could differentiate between me and a human being within five minutes of meeting me would be my skin temperature. I do have a pulse, but my heart pumps at a slower rate than a human's. Therefore, my skin is cold. I don't feel like ice, but I constantly feel like someone who has been lying in snow for half an hour or two. I don't need as much oxygen, either- but I do need some.

Blood is necessary for my survival. I am not just one of those kooky human beings who think they need blood to survive- it's like a second air for me. I can go up to four days without human blood before I snap, but any longer than that, and I turn into a monster.

There are not many of us left, anymore. There are only two surviving vampire clans; the Uchiha and our cousins, the Hyuugas. Generations of breeding of the two has left us with dwindling numbers. That's not to say that there are not many lone-travelling vampires around- because there are. Only around four hundred spread across Europe, and perhaps two hundred in America, but still enough to exist as a danger. Vampire hunters are our biggest threat. They always have been; for centuries.

You may think that vampires are everything you thought them out to be- but you're wrong. We're so much more and yet so much less. There is no way to explain it.

He was there; in my mathematics class. Everyone was staring at him- he was new, but he just kept his dazzling eyes trained on me. I recognized him- I never forget a face. He was the kid who banged into me earlier that morning, when I was about to strike. There was a slight crease in between his eyebrows as a small frown marred his features. My heart skipped a beat- why was he staring at me? Something about the knowledgeable look in his eyes unnerved me.

"This is Naruto Uzumaki." Mr. Umino lightly clasped the new student's shoulder, smiling warmly. "Play nice. Take a seat, Naruto."

Naruto nodded, and he walked straight past me. I heard the scraping of chair legs against the linoleum floor as he sat down at the table behind me. I instinctively stiffened. I always tried to sit at the back of the class, because I didn't like having a blind spot. Unfortunately, I had been moved forward one desk by the teacher, who wanted me to be able to 'hear better.' Which was ironic in itself, considering my hearing reached a much larger range than any human being's.

As if his irises were pools of sapphire fire, I could feel his fixed gaze burning into my back. Straightening up in my chair, I forced myself to pay attention to what Mr. Umino was saying. It was boring; 3D Pythagoras.

The rest of the lesson continued in exactly the same way. I was extremely conscious of his presence behind me, and when he stood up to retrieve something from the front of the class, I watched him. When he turned around, those unsettlingly intense eyes were boring into mine.

*

Lunchtime was similar; I travelled around in a daze, mind whirring as I tried to figure out his intentions. Maybe he didn't even have any intentions- but there was something different about Naruto Uzumaki, and I didn't like it one bit. It angered me that I couldn't read him. I wanted to know what he thought- or what he thought he knew. I had never felt that need before. I had previously thought it was impossible to be as irritated by him as I was.

I was standing in the lunch line, tapping my foot impatiently as I waited for the excruciatingly slow queue to shorten. A shiver ran down my spine when my roaming eyes passed over the pot of thick, red tomato soup that was being ladled out by the dinner ladies. I licked my lips, tasting the tang of the soup in the air, but my confused senses falsely identified it as something else. I hadn't fed for four days- I was due to again, tonight. I was getting a fever, my skin was itchy and my mouth tasted like bile. It was disgusting.

I brought a shaking hand up to grasp my throat, desperately trying to will the burning pain away. Feeling concerned eyes on me, I raised my gaze to find Naruto Uzumaki staring at me- again. Then, he was looking at the soup I had previously been distracted by. When his eyes came back to mine again, they were wide, shocked. My own eyes mirrored his.

"How?" I choked out, and pushed myself out of the queue.

I ran away as fast as I could. I didn't stop at the school gates- I sprinted home and locked myself in. I didn't like people looking at me like that.

Night was falling, the darkness swallowing up everything in sight.
The temperature of the air outside had dropped considerably, and I hadn't bothered to adjust the heating in my house, so I was freezing.

Curled up on my living room floor, I was shaking. Sweat covered me in a thin film, cold and damp. Kakashi had not arrived yet, and I needed blood. My irises were turning red- like blood melting into the onyx depths. We called it Sharingan. Young vampires develop it at an early age- and it activates automatically when you enter the first phase of pure Vampirism. That is when you change, you transform into something uncontrollable. Your conscience disappears and you become a monster. When you get to stage three- they kill you- member of your clan, anyone. They will hunt you, and they will burn you alive because it is the only way they can stop you. I've been through to stage two, once.
It was horrible. I wanted to die, myself and I almost killed Kakashi. That is why I will never let myself go through that ever again.

My front door was slammed open, and then Kakashi was by my side. His knuckles were white because he was clutching the glass bottle so tightly. He unclenched my fists and pushed the bottle of fresh blood into them.

"Fuck, you look like shit, Sasuke." I used my sharp teeth to bite the neck of the glass bottle off.

The shards of glass cut open my lips, tongue and chin, but I ignored the minute pain, knowing that they would help the human blood enter my bloodstream more quickly. Spitting the glass to the floor, I swallowed the blood hungrily. I felt it slide down my throat and into my stomach, where it bubbled upon contact with my vampiric stomach acid. Instantly, I craved more. Luckily, Kakashi had another bottle. He handed it to me, and this time, I used my hands to uncork the bottle.

He was watching me, his grey eyes wide with concern.

"That was close." He breathed, crossing his legs and relaxing a little.

I swallowed the last few sips of the tangy, metallic blood. Wiping my mouth on the back of my sleeve, I put the empty bottle on the floor, its inside coated with the residue of the blood. "I know. Where were you?" I inquired, collapsing onto my back on the cold wooden floor.

I was still sweating, but the blood was already making a difference to my incapacitated state. It was being absorbed into my own bloodstream, and my body was finding renewed strength. Soon, I would be back to full power. It felt good.

"I got held up at work. The ice on the roads has caused so many accidents- Accident and Emergency was chockablock." Kakashi explained. "I'm sorry." He added.

I nodded, getting to my feet and picking up the empty blood bottles on my way to the kitchen. I put them by the sink- they had to be recycled. Leaning against the counter, I turned to face Kakashi, who had followed me in. He ran a hand through his silver hair.

"There's a new kid in town." He stated, and I simply shrugged in reply. Our 'town' was just a small village. "Lives on your street- alone."

"Am I supposed to care?" I drawled, absently noting that I needed to buy some more groceries tomorrow, because I was running out of bread.

"I don't know. He's an Uzumaki. There's something familiar about the name, but I just can't place my finger on it." Kakashi replied, frowning.

"Oh, well. We can handle it, whoever the hell he is. He's damn annoying though." I snapped, the conversation dredging up the feelings of irritation that I felt towards the blond.

"Hah, he's in your class?" There was a smirk that tugged at the corner of Kakashi's lips. I scowled at him for enjoying my annoyance.

"Yes, unfortunately." I turned to the electric kettle that sat on my white kitchen counter. "Do you want a drink?" I offered, supposing I should be polite. It was a wasted effort; Kakashi knew I wasn't very well-mannered.

"No, thanks. I should really be going. I have a date," He smiled, eyes lighting up. "With-"

"Like I care, Kakashi." I cut him off, not interested in his love life, in the slightest.

"Oh, but I think you do!" My friend's eyes were laughing as he replied. My curiosity spiked a little.

"Who's your poor, unsuspecting victim this time?"

"Iruka Umino." He sang, leaning forward to poke my shoulder.

"Oh, God. My Maths teacher? That is just wrong. In fact, it's wrong that you find amusement in the fact that this bothers me!" I groaned, walking to my front door, Kakashi in tow.

"Heh, I knew you'd be happy for me. I'll see you later, jackass. Perhaps I'll phone you later to tell you all about my wonderful date with Iruka's fine ass!" He chuckled, stepping out into the streets.

"I'm unplugging my phone then!" I called after him.

The icy winter winds carried his voice back to me, "You have a mobile phone!"

"I can turn it off!"

"As if, techno-phobe!"

I shut my door, the tiny smile that graced my lips dropping almost instantly. There was a warm feeling of friendship that settled in my stomach whenever I laughed with Kakashi. When he left, it disappeared so quickly that I actually doubted it was ever there in the first place. The house was dark, cold and it smelt like blood. I shivered, not wanting the bloodlust to fire up again. Stumbling into my living room, I collapsed on the couch. My eyes slipped closed and I fell into a deep sleep, losing to the dark world of my subconscious and its torturous dreams of eloquent blue eyes.