War between him and the day

Need someone to blame

In the end, little he can do alone

Amaranth by Nightwish

Sasuke felt like shit. His entire body was one giant ache. So he laid there, unmoving, letting his senses tell him where he was. The last thing he remembered was the vampire leaning over him and asking him something. He was surprised at himself. He had taken a crossbow bolt for a creature he had spent the greater part of his life trying to eradicate. It begged closer inspection, but not at the moment. He noted the fact that he was on a bed of some kind and someone was wiping away the blood he could feel dried on his left side. He opened his eyes briefly and winced as the light was painful. He heard hushed voices off to the side, and decided that concentrating on them would be better than lying there and feeling the pain.

"Do you have any idea what you have done, Uzumaki?" he heard a voice he vaguely remembered from the club ask. It sounded angry.

"I had to. He was dying, Subaku," he recognized Naruto's voice, angry as it was, and the fact that they had to be talking about him. He wondered what the blonde vampire had done to him to make his friend react like that.

"That's no excuse. You damned well know that he's going to wish he were dead once he figures out what you did. He's a bloody slayer!" Sasuke was frowning now and opened his eyes, ignoring the pain from the light. He turned his head and found himself looking at a pretty blonde woman, who had a human version of the same eyes the redhead had, looking at him. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a series of small buns, curls escaping slightly from the confines, and she wore the baggy pants and shirt of a desert native. Her eyes widened before she let out a shriek, causing the two who had been arguing to rush next to her.

"His eyes!" she wailed, jumping up and moving away. The two vampires exchanged a look before turning to look at him. Gaara's eyes just widened slightly before he looked even angrier. Naruto laughed nervously. Sasuke raised an eyebrow wondering what the fuss was about. Temari came back after fishing a mirror from her pocket. She handed it to him. He took it and looked at his reflection. His eyes were a deep crimson, a single black tomoe resting in each just outside of the pupil. He threw the mirror as memory of the same eyes looking back at him rolled over him. He turned to the blonde, who had the good grace to look ashamed, and stood, grabbing the leather shirt he wore.

"You idiot! What the hell did you do?" his voice was low and angry. He had done everything he could think of to prevent this from happening, but he had to be sure that the other had done what he thought.

"I gave you the first mark," he said not looking him in the face. Sasuke threw him against the wall, too absorbed in his own anguish to wonder at his new strength. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Naruto was on his feet as soon as he hit the wall. He was angry now.

"You were dying! What did you want me to do?! Let you die?!" he asked coming closer. Sasuke opened his eyes, the crimson unnerving even for the vampire.

"Yes," he answered, taking the steam from the other's argument. "Death would have been kinder than waking this up." Sasuke sat on the end of the bed. They were looking at him like he was crazy. He knew that what he was saying probably sounded crazy, but it was true. He knew that thanks to the mark, he was going to be dealing with them for a while. He knew that that meant he would have to explain what his eyes were. "I come from a family of necromancers. The eyes are the sign of us coming into power, a sign of maturity within our arts. I have been suppressing them since I was eight. Now you've come along and forced them out by binding your power to mine." The last was a growl. It was more than what he had told anyone else. It would have to do.

Naruto was in shock. Necromancers were the true lords of the dead. The truly powerful ones could command master vampires and raise armies of the dead. He felt sick at the thought of what he had done. Vampires had tried to bind necromancers to them during the great wars and had found out all that it did was give a greater immunity and control to the necromancer. It gave them the ability to control the vampire that had tried to bind them. He had just sold his soul to the man sitting on his bed. Temari was pale and her eyes kept jumping between the three. Gaara looked positively livid and had lost a little control over the glamour that allowed vampires to appear human. His face was contorted and very animal like as he glared at the Uchiha on the bed.

"I say we kill him," Gaara began moving toward the other. Sasuke brought his head up from where he had been looking at the ugly orange-brown of the carpet. His eyes met the others and rather than him being sucked into the vampire's gaze, the vampire was being drawn into his own. Gaara could feel the tug and he fought, feeling himself beginning to sink. Temari saw what was happening and rushed to her brother's side, calling for the other sibling who was in the lobby paying for another night. She touched him and his power crackled around the room, sand blowing softly around them both. Gaara began to pull himself out of the other's gaze forcibly.

Naruto panicked, feeling the creeping power that was Gaara brush against roughly him. This was not good. Not good at all. All the power humming through the room could attract the attention they did not want. He had to end the staring contest before one killed the other. Sasuke may be fairly close to being his human servant, but Gaara had been his constant companion for hundreds of years. He had no intention of loosing either. He stepped between the two, breaking the connection. He summoned a fraction of his power, the scent of a forest fresh from rain carried on the breeze his power created. Gaara looked at him in shock. Calling his power made him angry; angry and slightly insane. It had to do with when he was turned by his Master. His Master had been a Lord of insanity. For a period mortals had even thought of him as a god, and Naruto one of his forms.

"Are you trying to kill me, Gaara?" Naruto's voice had gotten deeper as his power flowed through him. Gaara shook his head franticly. He knew that he was no match for even a tenth of Naruto's power. Sasuke watched in fascinated horror as the scene played out in front of him. He could feel the power rippling off Naruto. Unlike Gaara's that grated against his skin, it caressed him almost lovingly, like a happy cat would rub against it's owner. "No? You know that the mark is new. You know that killing him now will kill me as well. Or are you just insulting me?" His blue eyes had gone a deep purple and Gaara hit the floor, Temari cowering beside him. He knelt there, head bowed. Sasuke was finding it hard to breathe, the power was so thick in the air.

"Forgive me," his voice was soft, power forcibly dissipated. Naruto said nothing to his plea and moved forward, a snarl on his face. It was a grave insult to have another vampire look at your human servant with killing intent. It was worse to actually make a move on that intent. By vampiric law, Naruto could take the life of one of Gaara's human servants. He knew he had to obey the laws. The laws kept vampires from becoming ruthless monsters. It helped them to retain their humanity. He reached past Gaara and grabbed Temari around the neck, lifting her from the floor like a rag doll. He ignored her hands clawing at his fingers. Sasuke felt the intent to kill flow off him and stood. It was one thing to kill in self defense, another to kill because of some ancient law on his behalf. He did not need the other's protection. He was far from harmless. He used his left hand to grab Naruto's wrist, and gain his attention, ignoring the shiver that ran through his body at the contact. They locked eyes. It was like the two of them were sinking into each other; each one rolling the other. For a moment they were not two but one. Sasuke could see the other's fear of loosing someone he had risked so much to prevent from dying, the rage that Gaara would react like this, the bewilderment at what was going on. It flittered by like the barest of touches. Naruto could feel the other's sorrow and rage at having his powers forced upon him, the righteousness that had forced him to act, the careful control he kept his emotions under. The control that was moving like a coil towards him. It snaked around his arm, heading for him. Then, suddenly, one of them blinked and the spell was broken. Naruto dropped Temari on the floor like she had burnt him, and Sasuke moved away.

"What the fuck was that?" Sasuke snarled holding his head. He felt an oncoming headache. It was likely a product of the blood loss and the fact that he was running on adrenaline.

"How the hell should I know? I'm not the bloody necromancer," Naruto said, the power he had summoned disappearing on the same wind that had raised it. The two glared at each other and would have gone on had it not been for the sound of muted rock music coming from Sasuke's pants. Sasuke reached into his pocket and pulled out the thin piece of black plastic that pasted as his phone. He glared at the number. It was his house. He had completely forgotten that they had left Sakura at the club. He could only imagine what she was thinking. He had been shot by the Lord of the City's human servant and whisked off by a couple of vampires, one of which had made the fact that he was interested in him clear. Most likely, she had run back to mansion, told Nara, and they were hoping that the vampires would pick up to get a lock on their location, before they just GPS'd the phone's location.

"Are you going to answer that?" the voice was new and made him look up. A man with Gaara's hair squatted next to Temari on the ground, examining her throat like this was normal. He wore a baggy dark brown shirt and jeans. He by far looked the most normal of the bunch. Naruto and Gaara were watching him. He sighed. Should he give away their location? He knew that then the others would show up, regardless of whether he was ok or not. For all they knew, his mind could be rolled so badly he could be thinking he was the next Jesus Christ. But he also knew that if they killed Naruto he might die as well. He wasn't sure how many of marks were needed before he reached that stage. "Well?" Sasuke's eyes flickered to Naruto. He was torn.

"Pick it up. We might as well meet the family. Just tell them I'll be dropping you off in a few. It's getting close to dawn," Naruto said frowning. He did not want them to know where he and Gaara were staying. There was a chance that they could just decide that the best course of action would be for them to kill the two of them. Sasuke flipped open the phone and held it away from his ear as Sakura's voice screeched from the other end.

"SASUKE-KUN! Where are you?! Are you ok?! Do you need to us to come rescue you?!" her voice was loud enough that the human servants could hear it. Naruto started snickering. She sounded like his girlfriend or something. Wait. Was she his girlfriend? Was he reading him all wrong, and he was really straight?

"I'm fine," he growled out. The pounding in his head was being made worse by her voice. He wondered why he had even put up with her in the first place. She was so ungodly annoying.

"Are you sure? There was blood all over where you were. The cops almost called the trackers after you," Sasuke shuddered at the thought. The trackers were magic sniffers; people who had the power to 'sniff' out magic. They could because they had been bred to eat it. They could track all magic or even just one specific person. He had seen them in action before. He had come across a mage who had been using his powers to bring underage girls to his bed. The trackers had found him; sucked him dry. He looked like a mummy by the time they were done. And the screams, he would never forget the screams. And that was on a mortal. He could only image what would happen to a creature made purely of magic.

"That is unnecessary. I'll be home in a few minutes. So tell Nara to delete the location. I'll explain when I get there," Sasuke said closing the phone. Naruto raised an eyebrow. He was not going to let them know where they were?

"What is she? Your girlfriend?" Naruto made a joke of the comment. Sasuke shuddered at the thought.

"Hell no. And don't joke about things like that. Are we leaving or not?" He asked standing. He hoped that Sakura had managed to get his baby back to his place ok. God, he loved that car. It was a black Lexus LA-F. It was the only luxury he allowed himself. He felt that if he was going to run around killing the undead for the living, the least he could do was have a kickass car. It wasn't like his profession had a high retiring rate. Naruto nodded and stood. Gaara watched him.

"No apologies. We both broke the rules tonight. We can work on things after we rest," Naruto said with a sigh. Gaara just inclined his head to show he understood. Naruto held his hand out to Sasuke. He looked at it for a minute before taking it. The second their skin made contact, they both had to fight the urge to meet eyes. The skin burned were it touched. Naruto pulled him in so they were almost embracing. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him and Naruto sighed. "Look, I not very good at this. Gaara normally does it. I need closer contact than he does." Before Sasuke could protest he felt a warm wind blow past him, getting stronger. "Get a picture of the place in your head, bastard," Naruto said softly. Sasuke pictured the house. Suddenly, he felt like invisible hands reach into his skin and pull. It wasn't painful, just an odd feeling. Just as fast as it began, it ended. He was standing in the soft grass covered in dew on his front lawn. Naruto let him go and he teetered for a moment. He had been running on adrenaline, and it was starting to wear off.

"SASUKE," Sakura yelled from her place on the stoop and came running towards him. Fuck no. He could not fend her off in this state, and the last thing he wanted was any kind of physical contact with her. He opened his mouth to say something only to loose sight of her because he was staring at Naruto's leather clad back. He blinked.

"Don't touch him," Naruto's voice was careful, devoid of emotion in only the way that the really old vampires could do. Sasuke wondered how old the other was. He realized he knew next to nothing about him. All he knew was that he had saved him from a death he would liked to have preferred. He heard, rather than saw, Sakura come to a stop a few feet away.

"Why not? What did you do to him? You're lucky we didn't kill you on sight," she snarled at him. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"I'd like to see you try to touch me," he said still carefully neutral. Sasuke stepped to the side to see her raising the petite handgun she carried everywhere with her. The bullets were silver. Not enough to kill any vampire, but enough to make them hurt between the gaining of the injury and their next waking.

"Sakura," his voice was cold. "Harm him, and I will kill you." He wasn't sure were the need to protect the other came from. He wanted to chalk it up to the fact that he was now on his way to becoming a vampire's servant, and the mark was controlling his emotions, but couldn't. He's felt this way before he got the mark. He had stepped in front of a crossbow bolt for the other, taken a fatal shot. He had done it knowing nothing other than the fact he was a vampire. What the hell was wrong with him? Sakura looked from the vampire to him and back again.

"Sasuke, are you sure you're ok?" she asked eyeing the area where he had been hit. He nodded and she lowered the gun, but didn't put it away. He walked forward, Naruto keeping pace till he reached the door. Sakura went in and watched them from the hallway. Sasuke turned and looked at the vampire on his doorstep. He bit his lip. He knew that vampires were not allowed into your home without your permission, and he was reluctant to give it even if the other was his 'master'. Naruto just sighed.

"Look, there may be some side effects to the mark other than the obvious," Sasuke nodded his understanding. Naruto, it seemed, was not happy with the situation either. "I'll come back tomorrow at sundown. We need to talk." Naruto turned on his heel and disappeared in a blast of warm wind that caressed Sasuke's face. He walked inside, and watched Sakura's eyes widen.

"Sasuke-kun, what happened to your eyes?" Ah, fuck.

Review responses: Look I'm responding to reviewers!

CloudyEros: I'm glad you felt the need to review. Even if it was only an exclamation. Just tell me, was it good or bad?

Shinigami - Momo : Here's your update and I'm glad you like it. Let me know if this was up to par.

narutovixen: I miss both Angel and Buffy too. tears I hope I'm doing an ok job of bringing the two together. I know they seem really excepting here, but it's mostly the product of the adrenaline. Next chapter will be more of, holy crap I'm attached to a bloody vampire! lol.

angel61991: Look! I updated.

Kai: Yep. They just left her there. Or rather Gaara did. He did not see the point in bringing her along. That and teleporting requires physical touch. How was he supposed to grab onto her?

cfox: I'm glad you like it. I'm a big Anita Blake fan, and I find the world fascinating. Of course the shading has gotten a little darker with the reveal about just what Sasuke is. Of course that's not really true either, as we'll soon see. And tell me, am I still up to par? And can you figure out who else's work I'm blending in here?

Ichihime: I've only touched on Sasuke's reaction here. There will be more next chapter. Especially since we'll be getting to know their pasts a little bit. Oh, and FYI, I haven't forgotten SF, the next chapter was half written when this hit. Stupid Halloween plot bunnies...grrr...

On a side note, I suggest everyone listen to Amaranth by Nightwish. I'll be using a lot of their music to open this. And let me know if you have any questions or if you want a picture of Sasuke's car.

Maurelle