OBSCURE

CHAPTER 2: DON'T FEAR THE REAPER

There is always this moment of dumb clarity that usually comes after receiving terrible news. It's as if one's head was filled with cotton and the only thing that is in the front of one's mind are the words, those terrible, earth shattering, universe altering words. It seizes you for a moment, a few seconds really, before a gripping chill crawls up your spine. That's when the rest of the emotions comes crashing in. Disbelief, skepticism, anger, confusion and a waning sadness that threatens to take over your heart. All at once and all consuming.

As Naruto stared at Sasuke with an incredulous look that Sasuke might have found amusing had it not been for the current state of things, he struggled to swallow down all of these emotions and found out just a little too late that he might have taken more than he could chew.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" His croaked voice whispered into the thick air.

He felt the grip on his arm loosen a bit and taking the chance he ripped his arm away from the deceitful man in front of him. Anger kicked in when the dark haired man's face didn't change.

"I can't be dead! How could you have killed me, if I'm still alive? What the hell did you do to me?"

The dark haired man remained impassive, his face blank and unreadable and Naruto's fist itched to disfigure that infuriatingly pretty face.

Without betraying an ounce of emotion Sasuke smoothly responded, "I turned you."

Naruto just gave him another confused look, "Turned me? Turned me into what?"

Again with the cool detachment, "Into a vampire."

Honestly, Sasuke had been expecting violence and yelling. It seemed like the rational reaction a recently turned human would have. As such he was unprepared for the laughter. He couldn't fathom were the hilarity in this situation was, considering that it was something that should not be taken lightly. This was most irregular and Sasuke was not one to get caught off guard. He decided then and there that he would have to keep a close eye on the blond. Though, this hysteria was most unbecoming.

Naruto seriously hoped that this was all a joke. A very tacky and horrible joke, and that any minute his friends would jump out and yell 'surprise!' and he would beat the shit out of them and carry on with his life as it was.

But the so-called vampire standing in front didn't seem to be an actor or amused in the least or giving any hint at all that Naruto's desperate hopes were true. As he tried to get a grip he realized that he would much rather live in his own fantasy world.

"You must be out of your fucking mind. What do you mean; you turned me into a vampire? Vampires don't exist!"

Finally the face made of ice moved, proving that there was muscle underneath the marble skin. Even if it was just the one eyebrow.

"Vampires do exist. You're proof of that."

Naruto snorted, "And just how the hell do I know that you are not lying to me?"

There was that damn eyebrow again. But this time it was accompanied by a slight twitch of the lips that Naruto just barely caught. Without looking away or giving anything else away, Sasuke reached into the pocket in his black pants.

"It has been a long time since the last turning. But the rules have always stayed the same."

Naruto watched as the man pulled something out of his pocket. Sasuke took a small step forward and brought his other hand up. Naruto narrowed his eyes when he saw that Sasuke was holding a small glass phial in his hand and that he could barely make out the dark substance swirling around in the crystal. The tiny cork stoppering the phial was twisted and popped out.

It was like getting hit in the face with a wet towel. The smell was so intense and it felt as though his face was doused in the substance. It was…familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had smelled it before. It must have been something incredible because it smelled even better than ramen (the possibility boggled Naruto's mind). He contained the low growl rising in his chest as a deep hunger overwhelmed him. It was a hunger Naruto had never experienced before, worse than anything he had ever felt in fact. It was like an animal trying to claw its way out of his chest.

Sasuke kept advancing and soon Naruto found himself backed up into a wall. They were standing very close now and Naruto started panting as he tried to control the hunger tormenting him. Sasuke held up the glass phial keeping it level with Naruto's mouth, watching intently as the hunger overtook the blond man's once human features.

"It's best if I provoke the hunger here, where we can control you if things get out of hand. It'll keep you from doing something you might regret later."

Naruto wasn't listening. It was as though Sasuke's words were coming to him from a faraway place and all he could focus on was on the glass phial that produced such a strong reaction from him. Then the piece of glass was moving closer to his mouth and for a brief moment he felt as if his eyes were burning and he felt as if he were slowly drowning in the smell and hunger. There was a brief pause were Sasuke pushed the rim of the glass phial against full soft lips.

Sasuke was secretly thrilled as those baby blues turned into a very ravishing red. Anticipation crawled through him as he saw the enlarged canines gleam through slightly parted lips and with his other hand cupped the blond's jaw tilting his head back.

"Drink." And Naruto opened his mouth.

Bloody red eyes widened. The thick liquid slid over his tongue teasing his taste buds with the most decadent tastes he has ever experienced. It was like a red wine but fuller and warmer making even the tips of his fingers and toes tingle. But it wasn't enough, there was something missing and a sudden fury rose up in him when he realized that marvelous substance was almost gone. When the crystal was pulled away from his lips he opened his eyes and the first thing to meet his ire was Sasuke.

"Juugo!"

Sasuke knew that he had very little time when the phial was emptied out and just as he ducked to avoid a clawed hand going for his throat the door burst open. Sasuke was grateful for his added strength because the blond man's struggles were like trying to contain a wild snarling animal. A large orange haired man strode into the room over to the two struggling men a human shaped burlap sack tossed over his shoulder.

"Juugo! Now!"

The large man let the sack fall with a sickening thump. Juugo flipped out a blade and bent down to cut through the tie keeping the sack closed. He roughly pulled back the wrapping to reveal a semi-conscious woman lying face down. Without hesitation he grabbed the girl's hair and jerked her head back and exposing her pale neck. There was a slight jerk from the prey when Juugo nicked the tender skin of her throat with the blade and blood oozed from the wound.

Sasuke grunted when the blonds struggles doubled and a sharp knee dug into his ribs. He suddenly resented the height difference. Smelling the blood as well and really not caring if Juugo was out of the way or not, Sasuke released his hold on Naruto.

Naruto had absolutely no idea what he was doing. But all of his instincts drove him to follow that delicious smell and find more of that succulent substance. He didn't have to wait long.

Juugo went to stand beside Sasuke who was silently watching the devouring of prey. It didn't matter who the victim was, it was probably just some hooker Juugo managed to pick of from the streets. They were very common here in Suna and hard to miss.

There was no sympathy as Sasuke watched Naruto consume his first meal. It was messy though and more vicious than Sasuke remembered it having been. Blood was being splattered everywhere and covering and staining Naruto's clothes and the entire bottom half of his face. His glowering red eyes were half lidded, the short growls rumbling through his chest as he swallowed the copious amounts of blood flowing freely from the ripped out arteries and veins.

"Juugo."

"Yes?"

"Go get Karin. We'll need her soon." The burly man nodded once and headed out of the room on his new assignment.

It didn't take very long for the newly turned vampire to satiate his hunger. When the last satisfying drop of blood was consumed, the blond head tilted back and a crimson tongue darted to lick across red stained lips. His breath was coming out fast as a result of the rush of adrenalin and the foreign blood coursing through his body. It was like a drug, a heady amplifier of the senses and it was the most wonderful high and he didn't want to ever come down.

But he did. He had to. The effect of the blood could only last so long and all good things couldn't last for shit anyways. There was a blur at first then everything was clear again.

Blue eyes widened in horror when he saw the dead woman in his arms. Her head was tilting back at a grotesque angle; her throat had been torn to ribbons. It was the woman's face that had his head reeling with disgust. Her glassy eyes were still open, her face twisted in such pain and terror that Naruto quickly let go of her body as if it had burned him. He stood up abruptly, the body falling with a wet thump onto the floor.

Staring down at himself, he saw the blood. It was everywhere. His hands, his shirt, his pants, his shoes. Looking up on unsteady feet, he found himself staring at his reflection in a mirror that hung innocently on the wall and it was more than he could take. He screamed.

Sasuke didn't even flinch when the horrified blond picked up the closest chair and flung it at the mirror. He took a step forward when the man fell to his knees again and looked on the verge of ripping his hair out.

Sasuke walked around the gibbering man, ignoring the squelch of the blood soaked carpet underneath his shoes and crouched down onto the balls of his feet.

"Do you believe me now?" Sasuke ignored the fist slamming down onto the floor, "You are a vampire, Naruto. There is no going back."

There was an ominous pause and for a moment Sasuke thought the blond had fainted. He was proven wrong when a hoarse voice broke the sudden silence.

"You son of a bitch."

Sasuke's head was jerked violently to the side and then doubled over when another fist sank into his ribs. Without missing a beat Sasuke's hand snapped out and grabbed a good fistful of thick blond hair. There was a hollow thud as he slammed Naruto's head into the floor. Naruto struggled to bring himself up again but his efforts proved fruitless when a sharp knee driving between his shoulder blades shoved him back down.

"You piece of shit! What the fuck have you done! You had better find a way to fix this or I'll skin your skinny ass-"

Sasuke rolled his eyes (one of the few human gestures he had still kept), "There is no going back, I just told you that."

"What? What do you mean-? That can't be true!" The blond struggled some more.

Sasuke never had much patience even as a human. His brother made sure to remind him as often as possible. So, tired with the blond's denial and stubbornness, he leaned forward and came out frankly.

"You are a vampire, Uzumaki Naruto. Nothing can change that, because to the rest of the world and humanity you are dead. The life you had before this is over and you can't go back to living like a mortal. Whatever plans, pathetic little dreams and delusions of a normal life are void, null, shot down and flushed down a fucking toilet. From here on out you will be living off of human blood and if you don't want to become a monster, I suggest you stay here in this mansion so that you can learn how to control your urges."

Naruto had lain still during the raven haired vampires speech. He really had no choice then…

"Why?"

Sasuke frowned, "I just told you, you must learn to restrain your-"

"No, that´s not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I was getting to that!"

"Psh, get on with it then."

"Will you just shut up then?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the one sided glare coming at him from the blond pinned underneath him.

"I meant why me? Why out of all my other team mates did you have to go after me? Why didn't you save them too? What the hell did I ever do to you?"

Sasuke stared. It was odd listening to this coming from a man covered nearly head to toe in another person's blood, pinned down by the very one that had sired him into vampirism. But it was an awfully good question. Why indeed…

"You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, I suppose. In a way I saved you from the same fate as your companions. From an absolute death. If I had left you there you would not be here right now."

"So you had nothing to do with my team's massacre?"

"None whatsoever. However I was there to investigate the same thing as your team. The series of murders have something to do-"

The red head woman from before, burst into the room cutting into Sasuke's explanation.

"You called?"

Sasuke was forced to close his mouth and look up at the red head standing over them with one hand on her hip. Looking back down, he stared at the single blue eye.

"Yes. Sedate him and get him cleaned up."

Upon hearing the word 'sedate', Naruto started struggling again.

"What the hell! We're not finished bastard! What the hell were you doing at the old Uchiha District?"

Giving the blond another unreadable look, Sasuke answered him, "We'll have more time to talk."

Naruto was too busy glaring at the raven haired man to notice that Karin had crouched down next to him with a needle. He felt a pinch in his neck, before everything faded into black again.

A/N: Short, I know but I wanted to update on the Day of the Dead, considering that its such a special day of family and tradition and I thought it would interesting to have Naruto consume his first meal on a day meant to honor the dead. Don't ask I'm just weird like that -_-'

Anyway, if it was worth the read you might as well review. So...REVIEW DAMMIT!