Starting up this story, I realized what a geek I am when it comes to supernatural type stories. I'm going to bend some of the lore here, but I think my influences will become clear enough. :) Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I'm glad I've captured your interest! -tasukigirl

Hunger 02

Hunted

The silence between them was stifling. The vampire's pale green eyes were fixed on him, but his thoughts were elsewhere, another time and another memory. Naruto leaned forward a little, certain the movement would catch his attention. Or at least the baring of his neck.

"Then we can help each other," he said.

The vampire snapped to attention, eyes focusing exactly where Naruto wanted them.

"No," the vampire said. The hungry look in his eyes vanished instantly, his young face human again in the warm glow of lights. "I must get back to my home. I cannot stop to search for missing children. But I will let you follow me. I will lead you as closely as possible to Orochimaru's circle."

"That's not good enough," Naruto challenged. "I have to find Sasuke."

His eyes flashed with anger, bleeding gold around the edges and in that moment his face aged, years, decades, a glimmer of some power that Naruto could not fathom. The bright red tattoo etched across his forehead seemed to burn against his skin. Naruto braced himself for a strike.

"You are a shifter seeking entry to vampire circles," he hissed. "I will risk my honor to vouch for you, but no more. Press your luck any further and I will take my chances with the wolves."

Naruto leaned back in his chair. The vampire sat on the edge of his; a boy in an oversized coat, skittish and ready to bolt at a moment's notice. Naruto smiled. He reached over with a forced calm, picking up his beer lazily and pressing the cold glass ring to his lips. To all outside observers they were simply a pair of guys; two friends relaxing in the local bar.

"Fine, but we investigate one thing first. There's a house in the woods. The place where you slept last night- meet me there. I won't drag you, but if you try to escape... Remember, I've caught your scent. And so have my buddies at the bar."

"We don't have time," the vampire began.

"An entire family was murdered there. By your kind," Naruto cut him off. "And it's very likely that Orochimaru was one of them." Naruto watched his prey carefully. The other man's protest died at the mention of the vampire's name. "I think we can make a little time."

Naruto drained his bottle and set it down with a resounding thud. The legs of his chair screeched along the wood as he stood up. He turned and noticed Kiba watching them from the counter. He hunched over his bottle, eyes crazed like a caged animal waiting for a moment to pounce.

Naruto gave his best smile, trying to disarm his friend. He gave a friendly wink to signal that all was going according to plan. "Woo, I'm beat." Naruto stretched his arms above his head. "Gonna head out and catch some shut eye." Kiba's dark eyes slid to the figure behind him. His jaw muscles clenched, his hand gripping the brown bottle anchored to the bar. He met Naruto's gaze and nodded begrudgingly. "Thanks for the drink Mrs. Inuzuka!" Naruto waved. The bartender gave him a nod of thanks.

Naruto kept up his cheerful appearance as he pushed the door open and stepped out into the cool autumn night. The smile dropped as his steps crunched along the gravel. His limbs felt jittery with anticipation, with nervous excitement. Out here in the cold, he took a deep breath and caught the faint whiff of the vampire on the wind. His limbs shook with anger again and he fought against it. He was too eager to change right now.

Naruto slipped around the side of the building, trekking into the dark brush surrounding the roadhouse. The smells of the forest were crisp in the cool air. He willed his body to take it in, to calm himself until he could make it to the denser patches of trees. He began removing his jacket and let it fall to the floor. He left it there among the dirt and fallen leaves. The Inuzuka's would pick it up for him later.

His ears perked up as he heard other sounds; other creatures moving through the forest or perhaps the vampire following on his heels.

Naruto felt his anger flare again. It called to him and the image of Hinata, her pale neck torn and bloody flashed in his mind. He pulled off his shirt, feeling his muscles ripple. His hands had barely reached his belt when his bones began to slide. His hands practically melted into paws his body shifting like water. He grew dizzy as the world changed, his vision growing sharper and the night became brighter. The smell of earth grew sharp against his nose. He caught the vampire's scent along with the dried blood of his childhood friend. Naruto sent his paws hurtling forward and broke into a run, following the scent like a beacon.

The vampire moved through the forest quickly, but Naruto knew its turns. He knew the forest like the back of his hand and so he loped leisurely, keeping his target at a safe distance. His mind was alert, his senses keen to detect any move that might stray from the path or lead them away from their destination. But this was his home turf and he was prepared for anything.

Still, it was a relief when he recognized the path to Sasuke's old house.

A cool breeze ruffled his fur as he flew past the brush. He heard other creatures prowling in the forest, but none would bother him tonight. They detected his power and that of the vampire. None would be foolish enough to challenge them both.

When he was yards from the abandoned house, Naruto paused. He considered going back for his clothes, but he couldn't risk it. The vampire might escape in that time and so he willed his body to change, to straighten out and stand on two legs. It was more difficult this way around. Not when his body craved to run wild.

He hated the way his senses seemed dim in human shape. Stepping out into the brush, his steps were louder. Too loud in his own ears as he approached the cleared area before the house. The air was chilly against his bare skin and he felt the goose pimples rise along his arms and legs.

The vampire waited for him by the door. He seemed unsurprised by Naruto's nakedness, his face a mask wiped clean of any emotion. He seemed unimpressed as well. Naruto ignored this slight and opened the door. The wooden boards groaned under his weight, his bare feet warm against the naked boards. He glanced around and noted the few spots that could use repairing. He had hoped to keep it habitable for the day Sasuke decided to return. Or the day Naruto made him.

"Come in," Naruto said with exaggeration. The vampire snorted and stepped inside despite having slept there just hours before. The house was abandoned; its master no longer living. Nothing, save brute force, could keep the vampire out should he desire to enter. Last night had been proof enough.

Naruto walked to the kitchen where he had left a few candles. He grabbed a metal trash bin standing upright in the corner and the box of matches. He brought them both to the living room.

"Take it off," he said to the vampire standing in the dark. The pale face glowing in the moonlight looked at him blankly. "The shirt," Naruto emphasized. "It reeks."

The vampire remained motionless, his pale green eyes glowing eerily in his ashen face. He was proud, this one. He made no move, as though he had not heard the threat underlying the command.

Naruto let his anger roll off his skin. He felt the change calling to him again, urging him back into his other form.

The vampire's fingers slid to the buttons of his coat. Naruto urged his body to calm down, energy still flaring as the vampire slipped free of the dark woolen folds. Naruto's eyes were drawn to the dark brown stains on the white button up. He averted his gaze when he remembered those cold hands gripping Hinata, locking her body against him; and the way the blood seeped into the ground.

"Burn it," he said, holding out the box of matches.

"I have no spare," the vampire said.

"Burn it!" Naruto growled. "I can't think with the smell of her blood filling my nose!"

The vampire undid the buttons of his shirt. He slid it off his slender shoulders and dropped it into the metal waste bin. Naruto slid the box of matches open. He grabbed a yellowing magazine still on the coffee table. He dropped it on top and struck the match against the side of the box. A small flame lit up the darkness, bouncing off their bodies with alternating shadows and light. He tossed the match into the bin and the pages of the magazine caught on fire. A tendril of smoke wafted upward, following by a growing cloud. The vampire picked up his coat. Instead of pulling it over his bare shoulders he held it out to Naruto.

Naruto shook his head. "It's fine. You can keep it." His eyes slid to the fire, the smell of burnt paper filling his nostrils, replacing the faint smell of blood. The vampire kept the coat suspended in the air between him. He realized it was an offering.

Naruto snorted. He pushed the hand away and walked calmly toward the bedroom. "Come on, I'll lend you a shirt," he called. He strode confidently as though he was lord of the small cottage, his nakedness a simple afterthought. His hands reaching for the dark handle, he threw open the white door to the tidy bedroom made up for a young boy.

The dark blue coverlet had been left uninterrupted, an assortment of toys and figurines still lining the bedroom wall. Naruto knew where he was going, his hands reaching for the closet doors and his hand rummaging inside the dark space. Hangers clattered against each other and Naruto was pulling a t-shirt off the wire. He grabbed another as an afterthought. He shuffled over the the drawers next and opened the top. His head turned to survey the contents and he pulled out a few items before sliding the drawer back in place.

"I keep a spare," he said over his shoulder. The vampire's green eyes were practically glowing, reflecting the moonlight like a cat's. The affect was eerie, but Naruto held his gaze until the other turned his head. Naruto smiled as he bent over to pull on the boxers.

The vampire wandered over to the window, finger tugging back the thin gauzy curtain to peer into the darkness beyond. The moon was bright and it cast a bluish glow on the wide open spaces, but the trees were a dark smattering of shadows that hid anything inside.

Naruto zipped up his jeans while his attention remained on his companion. The window was locked and too small to escape through. As though detecting his thoughts, his prisoner shifted, inspecting the well kept room.

For a vampire he looked scrawny. Naruto's gaze ran down the other's body. What light was afforded them bounced off the crevices of his skin. He was pale as alabaster, his body sculpted and just as hard. He wasn't bulky. More David than Goliath, but Naruto suspected that slender form was deceptive.

The vampire caught his gaze. Nonplussed, Naruto held out the black button up shirt. The other man grabbed it, slipping his arms inside until he was cloaked in an inky black that blended with the shadows in the room. The shirt was slightly large on his frame. He rolled the sleeves back until they reached his mid forearm and pulled the coat over.

"This was a child's room," he pronounced.

Naruto nodded. "Sasuke's. I've kept it for him ever since he went missing." Naruto looked at the dusted bedside table. "I mean, since he ran away."

"To search for his brother," the vampire continued.

"Yes," Naruto replied.

"What was he?" the vampire prompted. His gaze flicked about the room, taking in the mundane details of a seemingly ordinary child.

"What do you mean, what was he?" Naruto asked. The vampire glared at him, a withering look that made him feel like he was either deaf or stupid. He wondered how often he practiced that one. Naruto shrugged. "He was human," he said. "They all were. His entire family lived out here in the boonies for no other reason than that they enjoyed it. Sure they were athletic, and naturally gifted, but there was nothing two-natured about them."

"Packs don't allow trespassers on their territory," the vampire countered.

Naruto tried to shrug off his annoyance. Like this vampire knew more about weres than he did. "The Inuzuka clan isn't exactly traditional. They took me in, didn't they?" Naruto challenged. He immediately regretted it. He had just admitted, without meaning to, that he had no pack. An adoptee, an oddity as far as pack rules went. The vampire's mouth parted slightly. His mouth shaped a perfect bow before he pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Then an exception was made for these humans as well," the vampire concluded. Naruto startled. The idea had simply never occurred to him. He had simply assumed Sasuke's family knew nothing of them. Kiba's mom had allowed the children to play together, but there had always been warnings, or small reminders that Sasuke couldn't know about that other side of them. There had never been any suggestion that they were there because the Inuzuka's had invited them. It wasn't like the Hyuugas.

The vampire's steps were silent against the wood. He roamed slowly, eyes searching out the darkest corners of the room, fingers brushing small items.

"Tell me what happened," the vampire spoke.

He turned to look at his opponent and in the sliver of moonlight, his face looked young. No more than 16 or 17. Just a kid, by human estimation. He wasn't surprised that Hinata had welcomed him inside. Only his eyes hinted at what he was. Hinata had probably believed him to be one of them.

Naruto tamped down the anger threatening to rise with this one thought. He turned his back, not caring that it was unsafe. He sank onto the mattress, the springs groaning beneath him and reminded himself why he was here.

"I was about six when Orochimaru showed up around here. I remember because we had just started first grade- Sasuke and I, that is." His hand reached out for a beat up action figure standing upright on the table. The one they had tramped through dirt and mud and just about everything they could find. "He claimed to be a good friend to a distant relative, but had you asked me at the time I would have said he was just an old perv."

"You didn't know he was a vampire?" his companion asked. Naruto shook his head. "He came out during daytime... he ate regular food. How could I tell?"

"You didn't know about the pure bloods?" the phrase ended in a lilt of surprise.

"I was too young to understand. But the adults began speculating when their cousin Shisui turned up dead a few days later. And then the disappearances began." Naruto paused. Sasuke couldn't have understood what was happening, but he had caught on to his parents' anxiety. He had watched as Sasuke pleaded with Itachi to let him join the search.

"A pure blooded vampire walked into shifter territory for a family of humans?" the vampire challenged.

Put that way, Naruto felt a twinge of doubt himself. He steeled himself against it and reminded himself that this was Sasuke he was talking about. His best friend, the one he shared everything with except the one thing that was most important to him. "Yes," Naruto said almost sadly.

The vampire was silent beside him, pale eyebrows knit in thought. This small piece of information seemed to pique his curiosity.

"Sasuke and I were playing by the pond the day the murders took place. We stayed out later than we were supposed to. Kiba was with us too. The rule was to be home by sundown, but we insisted on swimming a little longer. For us it was no problem finding our way back in the dark. And then the wind came with the smell of blood on it. Kiba's sister came for us. She seemed nervous and excited, but she made us go back to Kiba's house and wouldn't tell us where the smell came from. I learned later that there were bodies, everywhere. Some went missing, some were left on the ground, bled dry. That day I learned about vampires," Naruto growled.

He could feel the energy crawling over his skin again urging him to change; and to turn on his companion with claws and teeth. He reminded himself that this was the vampire that would help him. Who would be forced to make up for the rest of his kind. Naruto willed himself to calm and held off the change. He looked to his prisoner for an answer.

"Did you ever find the missing bodies?" He seemed unfazed by this turn in the tale. Like such violence was common place. Like an entire family being wiped out was no more interesting than the weather.

"Of course not!" Naruto spat, feeling his temper rising again. "And Itachi was one of them." He jumped from the bed, pacing across the floor with his hands buried in his hair. He was fighting off the change urging him to drop to his knees. The vampire watched him, expression unreadable as ever.

"Sasuke ran away, unwilling to believe his brother was among the dead. He ran away on a fool's errand for his brother's murderer." His nails lengthened into claws. His canines grew long enough to brush against his bottom lip. He held himself still and imagined gathering the energy around him. He shoved it all into a tiny ball and pushed it back inside himself. He filled his lungs with the cool night air and exhaled slowly. When he looked up, he had control of himself again.

"Why did he think his brother was alive?" the vampire asked. He lifted his head, alert suddenly. He turned to look out the window, body still as a statue while his eyes swept the perimeter. Naruto paused and strained to hear, but he sensed nothing.

He thought back to the question. "There was no body and no blood. None of Itachi's anyway. I asked the other wolves about it later and they said it was true. None of the blood that day belonged to Sasuke's brother."

"He was taken then. Either to be drained or turned later." The vampire seemed antsy. On edge almost. Naruto was feeling anxious just watching him.

"That was our guess. I like to think he was killed. I can't imagine Itachi willingly becoming one of the monsters that killed his family."

The vampire's head turned to the window again. His whole body shifted with him and this time Naruto heard it. Footsteps outside the cabin, and more than one set. He sniffed the air but it was too full of the cabin's own scent, overwrought by the smell of burning still drifting from the living room.

"You weren't traveling alone," Naruto accused, glaring daggers at the vampire. He felt his anger really rise this time. "Who is it? Other vampires?" Naruto marched over to the window, pushing aside the vampire while he took a look outside. He saw only shadows.

"I told you there was no time to stop," the vampire moved toward the door. Naruto pounced on him before he could reach the doorway. He shoved the other man against the wall, pinning his wrists awkwardly against a picture frame.

"Who is it?" Naruto stared down his nose. The arms pushing against his were not weak. Naruto found himself working to contain him, ears perking up when he caught the faint crushing of leaves.

"Humans," the vampire said. "Hunters."

The glass of the bedroom window shattered and Naruto's arm slid around the vampire's waist, pulling them out of the trajectory of some sort of missile. In the dark, it was too hard to tell. A tranquilizer bounced off the wood and fell to the floor. Naruto grabbed his prisoner and pulled him to the ground while more shots ricocheted off the wood.

"Goddamn it," Naruto griped, shuffling on all fours toward the living room. A crash sounded from the front, wood splintering and falling. Heavy boots stomped along the ground, rushing toward them. Naruto stayed low to the ground, grabbing a shadowy ankle as an unknown figure rushed by. The body tumbled forward, crashing to the ground. The vampire jumped atop him and the two figures wrestled for control.

Naruto was about to leap in when he had to dodge another shot from outside the window. He rose to his feet, tearing off his shirt to shift when he felt a burning sensation against his back. Naruto dropped to his knees, the familiar burn of silver etching it's outline into his skin. He growled low in his throat, body itching to shift if only to get away from that pain. A silver chain slid around his neck, pulling his head back.

"Stay where you are monster," a female voice warned. Something about it was familiar, but the chain biting into his skin distracted him. "How many of you are there?" she yelled into his ear. Unable to answer Naruto shook his head. He felt his nails shifting into claws. She jerked on the chain as a warning and Naruto closed his eyes, trying to shut it out. He focused on the energy around him, releasing the ball he had tucked away just minutes before. Despite the chain around his neck his body dropped and he turned before her.

He felt her grip on the chain loosen as his body melted before her. The change was quick, too quick and Naruto knew he would feel drained later. He tried not to think about that as he turned into a creature with fangs and claws.

The girl shrieked and the chain dropped. Naruto used her surprise against her, using the brief pause in her attack to leap and knocking her shoulders against the floor. To her credit, she kept a brave face on. To her credit she wasted no time in reaching for another weapon.

Her bright green eyes flashed with anger as she raised the silver dagger high above her head. Seeing her expression in the moonlight, Naruto felt his stomach drop. With one large push that made his body scream; that made all his instinct revolt, he forced himself back into a reverse transformation. Uncertain, her hand paused. She scooted away from him, scuttling toward the fire. Even as he changed, he could see her face in the limited light. He had caught the flecks of pink in her hair.

She looked at him like he was something repulsive, like he was a monster to hunt down in the dark. Even as he felt his paws return to fingers she shook her head and raised the dagger again. But when she brought it down, there was no strength in it. Naruto leaned over her, hoping she would see him, hoping she would recognize him despite the dark.

"Sakura," he pleaded, his hand holding her wrist- careful not to let his skin touch the metal of the blade. It would burn then and prove that he wasn't something harmless; something human like she had always believed. "Sakura, it's me."