Thank you to all the wonderful people who reviewed!!! -gives you all cookies-
Sorry if this chapter is short, or lame, but really, it'll get better! (I hope...-angst- ) I hope you all enjoy it, I tried to update as fast as possible to keep people entertained!!!
PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THE NOTES AT THE END!!!!
Enjoy!
Sasuke made his way carefully around the mansion, taking care to avoid any and all guards. Glancing upward, he sighed in relief as he realized he was just below his window. Jumping up, he landed on a tree branch several below his own. He lunged to jump again, but froze, throwing his cloak over Naruto to temporarily mask the blond's sent as a guard walked along the wall below him. Holding his breath, not daring to breath, Sasuke waited until the guard disappeared around the corner before quickly scaling the short distance to his room, unlocking the window with ease, before slipping inside.
Sighing in relief, he pulled his cloak back, making his way towards his bed when a voice cut him off,
"Sasuke, you're late! I've been making excuses to Sakura and Ino all night, will you just tell them too-" Satsuki's voice tailed off as she saw the human in her brothers arms, "Kami... Sasuke I know humans in the forest are free game but did you-"
"I didn't do it!" Sasuke snapped, "I tried... but...I..." he trailed off, "I...I couldn't... he was attacked by a wolf... and I brought him here..." he walked over to Satsuki quickly, forcing the blond with such gentle care the younger Uchiha nearly dropped the blond in shock.
"Please... help him... you're better at resisting...the..urge... I can't kill him... but he's sending me into this..this..." he covered his eyes with his hand, "I don't know... I can't think straight with the smell of his blood... all my reason seems to go out the window... please... treat him, I'll go talk to Sakura and her whor-"
"Sasuke..." Satsuki started, giving him a warning glance.
"...I'll talk to Sakura and Ino..." he muttered, before quickly walking out the door, slamming it behind him. Satsuki had barely taken more then a step before it opened again. Gasping in shock, she wiped around, sighing in relief as she saw it was only Sasuke again,
"Don't scare me like that!" she growled, storming over to the bed, laying the blond down carefully with the gentleness that only a mother, or similar figure, could accomplish.
"Please..." Sasuke said quietly, "Take care of him... make sure he's alright...I... I really... I don't want..." Satsuki looked at Sasuke, surprise evident on her face, before a warm smile took over,
"Don't worry nii-san..." she said quietly, "I'll take care of him, you know I'm good at this sort of thing, it's alright, you can trust me..." Sasuke paused before leaving the room again muttering,
"I wouldn't trust anyone else other then you imoto..." Smiling to herself at Sasuke's words, Satsuki quickly walked into the bathroom that connected Sasuke's room to her own, grabbed the first aid kit, and headed back out to the bed, where the slumbering blond lay.
Humming softly to herself, she opened the kit, pulling out bandages and antiseptic. Opening the bottle, she grabbed a gauze pad, applying the antiseptic to it, before started to clean the larger wound on Naruto's shoulder. She winced slightly as the blond jerked violently, white bubbles foaming around the wound to show the cleaner was doing it's job. Sighing, she began to sing the song she had been humming softly, her gentle and musical voice calming the blond slightly. Wiping the gash a few more times, she waited until almost no bubbles appeared when she ran the antiseptic to the wound, before applying a bandage and started on the next cut.
Sasuke sighed as he made his way down the hall. Normally, he'd do all he could in his power to avoid Sakura and Ino, especially Ino. He knew, but wouldn't admit it, that Sakura had improved not that she was going out with Lee, and not clinging onto his arm at every chance she got, but Ino hadn't changed a bit. Running a hand through his hair, he stopped dead in the hallway, glancing to his left. He could hear Ino talking to Sakura about things he honestly couldn't care less about in the next hallway. Taking a deep breath, he forced a smile that he hoped didn't look too murderous, and turned the corner.
"...I mean to say that if-" Ino stopped short, turning around, smiling brightly as she saw the raven, "Sasuke-kun!" she shouted happily, running over, throwing herself on his arm, latching on like a leech to it's pray, "I haven't seen you in soooo long! Haven't you missed me?" No, not at all, in fact, it's been wonderful without you clinging to my arm like some stupid love obsessed schoolgirl.
"Sure..." Sasuke muttered, his eyebrow twitched slightly, going completely unnoticed by Ino, but not Sakura.
"Aww... Sasuke-kun, you're too kind, so how have you been?" she put on a 'sweetly sympathetic' face that made Sasuke want to smack her, "It must be so hard for you right now... after...well..." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched again, and this time Sakura got worried, watching as the hand of Sasuke's free arm clenched and unclenched.
"I'm fine." Sasuke said flatly, the fake smile now gone, unable to hold it up any longer, his usual emotionless look on his face.
"Oh my... thats Sasuke-kun for you, always so strong!" Ino smiled, before frowning slightly, "Unlike your stubborn sister... she's just-" but Ino was cut off as both Sasuke and Sakura shouted at the same time,
"SHUT UP!" Ino blinked, looking at Sasuke with wide eyes, before sending a glare at Sakura, pulling back slightly the took Sasuke's hand in her own,
"Oh Sasuke-kun, I'm so sorry... but she yelled at me today! I'm just so hurt... she was so mean to me and-" she was cut off again as Sasuke jerked his hand back, a glare now on his face,
"Shut up Ms. Yamanaka!" Sasuke snarled. Ino winced, Sasuke only used last names when he was really upset, "I'll thank you to leave my sister out of your crud opinions of everyone but your own little fantasy world, which I wish to have no part in. Satsuki yelled at you, and honestly, I can't say I blame her, in fact, she's to soft, honestly, I wish she'd have the heart to do it more often, but as cruel as you are to her, she never takes revenge on it, because she's a much better person then you." looking up at Sakura he frowned, "Sakura, I honestly don't know why you still hang out with her, I've come to respect you a bit since you changed your ways, but hanging out with...with... someone like..." he glared at Ino, "That is making me lose it fast..." he turned, heading back down the hallway, "And if I ever hear you smarted off to my sister again Ino..." he glanced back, his own sharingan spinning dangerously, "I swear to you, I'll punish your personally."
Ino watched as Sasuke disappeared around the corner before laughing slightly,
"Oh Sasuke-kun... always in denial..." Sakura groaned, brushing past Ino, "Really Ino... Sasuke's right... you need to move on, get over it, and change... I was able to move on, and it's about time you did..." she gave Ino one last sad glance, before rounding the corner, quickening her pace to catch up with Sasuke.
The raven glanced at Sakura before looking ahead again, raising an eyebrow in question.
"Don't you think you were a little harsh?" Sakura asked gently, while Ino was very snobbish, the pale blond was still her best friend, and had been since they were little, even with their long lost rivalry for Sasuke.
"No." Sasuke said simply, "It's about time someone gave her a dose of reality, and if she won't give it to herself, then I'll beat it into her..." Sakura winced slightly at Sasuke's cold tone, glancing at the fuming raven next to her.
"She's really not all that bad you know..." she said, attempting to defend her 'friend', "She really is a nice person... I don't know what happened..." Sasuke paused for a moment, halting in the hallway outside his door,
"...I'm sure that if you were able to change so drastically into someone worth while, I'm sure she can become at least half the person you are." Sakura blushed at the compliment, looking at Sasuke in shock.
"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "You're one of the few people around here I can talk to without getting the urge to punch something, take pride in it. Now, if you'll excuse me..." he brushed past the now frozen emerald eyed girl next to him, opening his door, he slipped inside, shutting it quickly, the small 'click' of the lock echoing slightly in the (nearly) deserted hallway.
"Sakura-chan? What are you doing outside Lord Sasuke's room?" Sakura jumped, turning around, eyes wide,
"I-I... we were just..." she stopped, her eyes falling on the figure in front of her, a smile slowly forming on her face, "Oh, Lee..." she sighed in relief, "Nothing, we were just talking, thats all..." Lee blinked, looking at Sakura for a moment, before smiling brightly, walking over to her with such a bounce in his step, it almost looked like skipping,
"I was just about to go out for a walk Sakura-chan! Would you like to accompany me? The moon is so bright tonight and the air is full of youthful energy! We must enjoy our youth while we have it!" Sakura giggled,
"But Lee, we're vampires, we're not exactly going to age... or die (unless killed) for that matter." Wiggling his unusually thick eyebrows, he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer as he said with a smile,
"Well then, all the more time for us to enjoy our youthful lives together..." Sakura squeaked, her pale skin turning a dark shade of crimson as Lee lead her down the hall, his arm still wrapped tightly around her waist.
"How is he?" Sasuke asked as he walked into the room, glancing at Satsuki who was sitting in a heavily cushioned leather chair sitting against the wall at the end of the bed, with her legs curled up under her, a thick book with a black cover, the text glittering in it's shining silver font, a simple picture of a red ribbon on the cover.
"Hn?" Satsuki looked up from her book, glancing at Sasuke, "He's fine." she said reassuringly, "He's just resting, he lost a lot of blood, I had to..." she trailed off, looking guilty.
"You had to...?"
"He... lost a lot of blood... so I had to get him some more from the reserves in the kitchen... but... I wasn't sure what kind of blood he had so I...I had to... sample his...blood..." Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his mouth thinning into a fine line as a frown etched itself on his face,
"Sample his blood?" Sasuke repeated, anger on the border of utter fury in his voice.
"I..." Satsuki gulped, she'd grown up with Sasuke, so she was immune to most of his glares and attitudes, but even she was not able to brush them all off,
"H-he was going to... I...I didn't bite him...I...some got on my hands while I was cleaning... I...I just used that for sampling... h-he's not mine to... bite or...anything else... you have planned for..." she must have looked terrified, because Sasuke's face softened, as he ran his pale hand through his hair again,
"Calm down..." he muttered, looking at Naruto, "It's fine... you did what you needed to do... I'm sorry I overreacted..." Satsuki opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it again, unsure of what to say.
"When will he wake up?"
"I...I don't know..." she admitted, "Soon I hope... he should be alright, he had a high fever early, but it's gone down a bit... he'll have to be watched for the rest of the night, and probably all day tomorrow if not longer... if you want to sleep... I'll-"
"No, it's fine, you've done enough, thank you Satsuki." the younger twin blinked, not expecting thanks at all. Not that she didn't know when her brother was thankful or not, he just wasn't the type to admit thankfulness when he couldn't do something himself.
"It's fine, happy to help." she muttered, standing up, dropping her book on the chair, "Sasuke... what are you going to do with him?"
"..." Sasuke shook his head.
"You're not going to be able to hide him forever nii-san... someone is bound to notice the smell of human blood, and wherever he came from, they're bound to start looking for him... his parents-"
"They're dead."
"...what? How...?"
"He told be, before he passed out... something happened, I didn't get any details, he just told me his parents were killed, and they told him to run away, he ran into the forest on accident..."
"...normally I'd say he was doomed to run into you... you're not the type to go against the law Sasuke... you know he shouldn't be alive..."
"...I know Satsuki..."
"... Sasuke, you're the prince of this region, if anyone found out you were breaking one of the most important laws-"
"I KNOW!" Satsuki jumped back, half expecting Sasuke to strike at her, "I know... but... I...I can't... I can't.. kill this boy... I don't know why... I just can't..."
"..." the raven haired girl sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, before speaking slowly, thinking her words through, "I don't know why this boy is so important to you... but... I've never seen you so attached to anyone... if you truly care about this boy as much as you appear to... I'll help you hide him, but remember... we can only do so much before someone is bound to find out..." she walked towards the bathroom, "Please... don't do anything you'll regret nii-san... I just want you to be happy..." she glanced at Naruto, "Whoever he is to you... I'd avoid falling in love with him Sasuke... humans and vampires weren't meant to fall in love... you'll only end up crying in the end..." she gave him on last calculating look, before disappearing into the white tiled room, heading towards the door on the opposite side that lead to her own bedroom.
Shutting the door behind her, she leaned back against the dark wood, glancing looking up at the ceiling, Something tells me... my words are too late... and have fallen on deaf ears... she farther into the room, not bothering to turn on the light as she picked up another black book from her beside table, thick bound with a simple picture, very much like the one she had been reading before.
"...the world isn't perfect or warm... it's filled with pain and evil... falling in love... only brings pain..." she tossed the book down, "There's no such thing as a perfect romance... no happily ever after..." she sat down on the bed, hiding her face behind her hands. But... I still wish thats what you could get Sasuke... if only falling in love could be as wonderful for you as it is in the stories...
Sasuke shifted closer to the arm of his chair again as a cloud shifted in the sky outside and sunlight filtered into the room. Cursing himself for forgetting to pull the blinds shut, after opening them when he slipped in the night before, he waited for another cloud to cover the sun, before darting to the window, and pulling them shut with more force then needed. Sighing in relief, he walked back over to the chair he'd pulled up beside the head of the bed, and sat down again, leaning his left elbow against the arm, resting his narrow chin in the palm of his hand.
"You know... the sun isn't going to kill you or anything..." an amused voice spoke up behind him, "Just burn you a bit." Sasuke glared back at his sister as she chuckled, "What? Better a burn then bursting into flames like in that one television program the humans like to watch."
"Hn..." Sasuke rolled his eyes, turning back to the still figure in the bed.
"So, how's out little blondie doing this morning?"
"Naruto."
"Hn?"
"His name is Uzumaki Naruto, I didn't tell you that before."
"Ah, I see..." Naruto? Like... the fishcakes in...ramen? "So, how is he?"
"The fever has gone down," Sasuke muttered as he reached out, picking up the moist towel off Naruto's forehead, dipping it into the bowl of water beside him, which Satsuki noted still had a few small ice-cubes floating at the top, fighting to stay in a solid form, "He seems to be better, he came to for a few moments last night, but it was only a few seconds, then he fell asleep again..." he wrung out the cloth before folding it back up, and placing it on the sun-kissed forehead again.
"Well, that's good, at least he's getting better hm?"
"I suppose..."
"Are you going to go out tonight?" Satsuki asked, "Or should I bring you something back... or perhaps something from the reserves?"
"I'm fine..." he glanced at Satsuki, "What about you? Were you able to catch anything last night?" Satsuki hesitated before answering slowly,
"Yes... I caught something..." Sasuke raised an eyebrow,
"...something being...?"
"... a squirrel..." she muttered in a voice so quiet, no human would have been able to hear it, however, Sasuke was not human.
"Satsuki!" he snapped, standing up, "Stop neglecting yourself Satsuki!" he stood up, "I know you feel like a monster when you feed, but you can't let that stop you!" Satsuki looked out the window, avoiding Sasuke's eyes, but listening as he continued to shout, "Your life is much more important to me then a few measly rodents, and a hell of a lot more important then whatever human that blood came from in the reserves! Don't you remember what happened the last time you didn't feed?!"
Satsuki's eyes seemed to gaze over, her face contorted in pain, and Sasuke instantly knew he'd gone a little too far,
"Ah... Satsuki I-"
"Forget it Sasuke..." she sighed, "I'll go down to the kitchens in a bit ok?"
"Satsuki wait... you don't have to drink human-"
"...I... don't mind..." she muttered, staring hard at a small spot on the rug below her feet, "... I can take it every now and then..." turning on her heel, she walked briskly back through the bathroom, the sound of the door leading out to the hall slamming followed shortly after.
Sasuke stared at the empty space where Satsuki had been standing moments before, before slowly falling backwards into his chair again,
"Damn... I really messed up that time..." he muttered, "I'll have to check on her later... that's always been a sore spot for her..."
"Ngh..." Sasuke's head jerked towards the bed as he heard the small moan. Naruto stirred slightly, his eyelids fluttering slightly, before opening and revealing the bright blue eyes that had captured the ravens attention the night before.
"You're awake..." Sasuke muttered, moving from the chair to sit on the edge of the bed, "How are you feeling?"
Naruto blinked, his eyes darting around his surroundings, a small frown on his face,
"Am I... alive?" he asked slowly, not so much a question, but a self-reassurance that he wasn't dead. Sasuke nodded, smirking,
"Yes, I should say you are, you're lucky too, my sister was able to take care of your injuries and give you back some of the blood you lost." the blue eyes that had started to look around the room again meet Sasuke's obsidian ones, and halted.
"Why... didn't you kill me?" he asked softly, confusion in his tone, "I was already almost dead... you could have..."
"I suppose I could have," Sasuke agreed, nodding, "...however, I did not, as you can tell..." Liar... he thought to himself, You couldn't kill him, just seeing him in pain hurt you... what's wrong with you Sasuke?! He's just a human, a free meal, moving flesh... with the most beautiful eyes and angelic face I've ever- he stopped his thoughts where they were, shaking his head rapidly, "Would you rather be dead?"
"..." Naruto was silent for a moment before muttering, "Yes..." not expecting this answer, Sasuke's face faltered slightly, before he regained his composure,
"Why?" he asked gently without thinking, "Most humans would beg for mercy when they meet something like me... plead and swear an oath of eternal servitude as long as they could live... why would you...?"
"I've got nothing left to live for..." Naruto muttered, "I have no family left, my parents were killed... I never had many friends... no one really liked me..." Sasuke remained silent, watching Naruto with carefully guarded eyes,
"Surely someone must miss you..."
"I doubt it..." he muttered, "Everyone in the village loved my father... and when they find out he died protecting a worthless child like me..." he choked slightly on his words, "They'll only hate me... I could never live up to my father... he was just... perfect at everything he did... and I was... just the laughing stock of the village..." Sasuke stared at the blond, hiding his shock, was this boys life so bad... death seemed easier?
"Um... Uchiha-sama..."
"Sasuke."
"Huh?"
"Just Sasuke..." the raven said simply, "You can call me Sasuke... I'd prefer it..." Naruto nodded slowly, before starting over,
"Sasuke... that other voice I heard earlier... was that your sister?"
"You heard us?"
"Sort of... just... voices... I couldn't really process any words or anything..." Naruto said as he sat up slowly, wincing as pain danced up and down his injured arm.
"Careful..." Sasuke muttered, helping Naruto position himself against the headboard.
"Thanks... but... were you two... fighting?" Sasuke was silent, he looked at Naruto carefully before answering,
"Not... really... we just... disagreed on something..." Naruto gave Sasuke an odd look that clearly said, 'I don't believe you' but didn't push anything. Sighing, Sasuke moved to the chair before starting,
"She's worried... thats all... she doesn't want to see me... hurt I guess... a few years back..."
Satsuki looked around the hallway, making sure it was deserted before slipping into the kitchen. Sure, she was allowed in there, but she didn't like being in there, she just wanted to go in, have a cup of blood and get out. Simple, right? Unfortunately for the young Uchiha, it would not be.
Making her way to the back, Satsuki opened up one of the vaults, grabbing a bag of the red liquid, quickly slamming it behind her, nor caring what type it was, or if it had anything added to it, she just wanted the ordeal over with. Unscrewing the cap, she poured some into a mug, tossing the glass into the mircowave, setting the timer for about a minute before grabbing the bag again, heading back towards the vault.
"My my little Uchiha... it's been... so long since I last saw you here..." Satsuki gasped, dropping the bag of blood in her hands before she could screw it shut. Turning around, her eyes went wide as she stared into a pair of yellow, slit-pupil eyes.
"W-what are you doing here?!" she gasped, looking horrified.
"The same thing as you little one, getting a snack..." the figure held up the bad she'd dropped earlier, having caught it before it hit the ground, "I thought you didn't like human blood...?"
"I...I was feeling a little sick... I wasn't able to catch anything..."
"Thats odd because..." the figure darted forward, digging his nose into her neck, making the raven haired girl whimper slightly in fear, "...you smell like human blood."
"No kidding..." she pulled back sharply, "This place is FULL of it!" the figure chuckled, the sound sent a shiver up Satsuki's spine, and it was pretty warm down there.
"Fresh human blood."
"T-they got a new shipment." she said stupidly, knowing the answer she'd get.
"Oh? But I thought we weren't getting more till next week..."
"I-"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Satsuki sighed in relief as she darted to the microwave, grabbing the mug inside before rushing towards the door.
"Oh Satsuki dear." she froze in mid-step, halfway out the door, "I hope you don't mind me stopping by for a... room inspection... it would be terrible if a human were to sneak into your room... even worse if it was a hunter, in fact, I'll check your dear brothers too, just to be extra careful. You don't mind... do you sweetie?" Satsuki gulped, not wanting to raise suspicion she forced a calm voice and said,
"No, go ahead... see you soon..." gulping down the liquid in the mug, she let it drop to the floor, not caring that it shattered at her feet. Taking off down the hall, she ran as fast as physically possible (which, is pretty fast mind you) upstairs.
WHAM!Sasuke and Naruto jumped as the door to the Uchiha's room was thrown open. Sasuke stared opened mouthed at his sister, who looked more frightened then he'd seen her in a while. Naruto, who only saw a scared girl who looked just like Sasuke, looked between the two confused.
"Sasuke..." she said, her voice shaking, "You've got to hid him... h-he smelled human blood on me... I-I'm so sorry... he's coming to 'inspect' our rooms... can't explain... hide Naruto, NOW!"
"Satsuki!" Sasuke cried, running over to his sister, grabbing her shoulders, "Calm down, whats going on, who's coming?"
"H-him..." she muttered, the look on her face gave it all away. Sasuke's face fell completely, a look of panic taking over as his arms fell limply to his sides as he heard the name he knew was coming, but dreaded to hear, "Orochimaru..."
Yeah, I know crappy cliffie... ANYWHOOOO!!!
Anyone who can name BOTH books Satsuki was reading by TITLE (not series) gets special mention in the next chapter (and an extra cookie!).
Now, for the important stuff...
For Ino, should she...
- Get over Sasuke and move on to someone else (Being Shikamaru or Couji, or someone else you think would work, if Shikamaru loses, I might try and find out how to fit Temari into the story)
- Find out about Naruto and try to kill him (dunno how this would work, but I'll think of something)
- Find out about Naruto, realize how happy he makes Sasuke and move on (again, vote on a guy you want)
- Team up with Orochimaru to find out about what Sasuke is hiding
For Satsuki...
Ok, obviously something is going on here, and I need TWO people for her to fall in (or have fallen in) love with... your options are...
- Kakashi
- Some OC you wish to submit
- Sai (oh god please no one vote here... -can't stand Sai-)
- Neji
- Someone else, you decide
and... thats all that's REALLY important right now, I hope you all vote on these for me, it'd be great help! Thanks!!!! SasuNaru kiss kiss plushies (you know, like the Hallmark Kiss Kiss bears? Only Sasuke and Naruto?) for all who review!!!