Thicker Than Water

Authors' Note: Thanks for the reviews. We hope that you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 2

Later that evening, Kakashi knocks on Itachi's door. The poor human was going to have quite the interesting dinner to say the least. Dining with Indra, Nagato, and Kisame was never a boring affair.

The large oak door opens, revealing a lavishly decorated chamber filled with red silks and black velvet, matching well with the young human who answers the door, dark eyes watching warily. "Kakashi?"

"Good evening, our Lord has requested that you dine with him and his companions for this evening." They both knew that it wasn't actually a request, but Kakashi thought it was polite to pretend otherwise.

Dark eyes widen slightly, but Itachi nods nonetheless. "Give me a few moments to make myself presentable."

He nods in understanding. It was important to look one's best for a request such as this. So Kakashi didn't mind waiting.

Itachi retreated into his room for a few minutes, reemerging shortly, dressed in black silk tunic with a high collar that wrapped snugly around his throat, matching pants, a dark, hard leather jerkin laced up with magic, and black leather boots. He'd braided his hair back from the top of his head, tying it into a long tail at the base of his neck. His entire appearance spoke of refinement, but there were subtle clues here and there that he was not one of the court feeders to be whored out to whom ever thought he looked tasty. He was not to be bitten. He was not to be touched.

"I must say that you do clean up nicely." Kakashi winks at him.

Dark eyes roll at the playful flirtation. "I do value my neck, you know." Even if Itachi was here as a hostage to protect his clan, he wasn't looking to end his life more quickly than necessary. "So unless you plan to ravish me in the corridor and claim that as my excuse for being late to dinner, I suggest we be off."

"You're a bit young for my tastes and I tend to prefer the fairer sex." Kakashi chuckles as he leads Itachi off. "Though I'm glad to see you've gotten over your shock of the idea two men or two women can be together." It had been comical to see the young man's initial reaction when he realized just how diverse sexuality could truly be.

And that lesson had been a very long time ago, five years by Itachi's reckoning. "Yes, I learned as much the night I ran to your chambers and clumsily tried to seduce you into taking my innocence." It was a time when he had been young and foolish and reckless, and was growing fearful of just what some of the court vampires were thinking as their eyes roamed over him. Some believed that an innocent's blood tasted sweeter, while others believed the taste was enhanced during arousal. Itachi had been looking to curb their interest in him, only to be gently turned down that night.

He smiles at him. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I did consider it." Kakashi opens the door for him as he gazes at Itachi with affection. "Those eyelashes are quite appealing, but it's just not the same. Were you a woman though, I would have gladly indulged you."

Itachi shrugs. "I discovered in the morning that the rumor was enough to grant me some protection after spending the night in your chambers." Spending the night as in sleeping in the vampire's bed while Kakashi watched over him and read one of his many books. It wasn't quite the night that the rumours made it out to be, but Itachi did notice that he got less probing glances after that.

Kakashi mutters something about a fast learner. The boy would be alright. He was clever. Though the silver haired vampire couldn't lie, even he would have been a bit nervous about dining with that guest list.

Face to face with said dinner, however, Itachi steps into the room, immediately recognizing a place set out for him at Indra's side, directly opposite the large blue man accompanying the other member of the vampire nobility. He approaches the table and bows respectfully to both the two vampires as well as the demon in attendance. "My Lords, Sir."

Indra smiles at Itachi. "There's no need to be so formal, especially with Kisame present." Such formalities wouldn't last long with him at their table. "This is Lord Nagato and his bodyguard, Kisame. Kisame is a water demon." He knew that Itachi wouldn't ask outright himself. So he'd save the boy the wondering. "More specifically, a shark demon."

Itachi bows once more before taking his place at the table, and Nagato notes that not once did the boy lift his eyes to meet theirs. An ethereal beauty, to be sure, but there was something vaguely sad about this human. He was so silent as he sat down to his plate, that it was almost as though they had been joined by a ghost.

"I'd ask if you got hurt, but I watched the fight." Kisame grins at him before taking a bite of his meal and swallowing quickly. "You didn't get a mark on you. So what is it? Shark got your tongue?"

"...No." Itachi takes a bite of his own food, a spoonful of winter squash soup trickling down his throat.

Indra shakes his head. "You don't need to be afraid of his teeth." He smirks. "You're not foolish enough to attack Nagato, so he's no threat to you."

Itachi glances up slightly, noting the shark-like teeth ringing Kisame's mouth. They were intimidating, certainly, but Itachi had spent almost half his life surrounded by vampires. He merely blinks, before returning his attention to his food. "I'm not afraid of his teeth."

"Ah ha!" Kisame grins at him as though positively delighted about something. "So you can speak more than one word at a time."

A silver spoon returns to the table as Itachi finally looks up, a hint of irritation in his gaze. "I can, however I generally choose not to."

Nagato raises an eyebrow, lightly amused by the change in the human's demeanour. So it truly was prudence and not shyness holding his tongue. He simply wanted to avoid having his throat ripped out. "Kisame, play nicely with this human."

"I am playing nicely." Kisame scoffs as he bites into his steak again with more gusto before swallowing. "It's just the dolphin is getting testy with me for some reason. Shame really." He would have liked to have some fun with that one. He seemed so broken somehow and yet, now he looked irritated enough that Kisame was half certain Itachi might actually be foolish enough to attack him, if he continued to taunt him just right.

"Dolphin?" Itachi raises an eyebrow, unsure as to whether that was meant to be an insult, compliment, or some sort of inside joke. It pricked at his pride nonetheless, though he tamps it down along with his irritation and remains calm, composed.

"I'm a shark demon." Kisame shrugs. "You remind me more of a dolphin though."

Itachi blinks, then his face goes completely blank. "I see."

"Yes, dolphins are fast, smart, beautiful, everyone loves them, and they're insane enough to have a go at sharks and killer whales." He chuckles. "They don't think twice about charging at an animal twice their size."

For the first time since the arrival of Indra's guests, Itachi smirks. "And here I expected flawed and nonsensical reasoning. However, insanity is simply genius that others fail to understand." He picks up his silver fork and spears a number of chunks of roasted potato, bringing them to his lips.

Ah that was better. He had some life in him now. Kisame probably shouldn't, but he couldn't resist. "They're also the nymphomaniacs of the animal world." He chuckles.

Immediately, a chocked cough erupts in the middle of the dining room, and a pair of glowing red eyes glare across the table as Itachi forces down the half piece of potato. "...And what point exactly are you trying to make?"

Nagato sits back in amusement, observing Indra's ward and his own bodyguard. Truly, it was much easier to allow Kisame to do the conversing. And it seemed that the young human had decided that neither of them were going to try and kill him, because he was truly becoming far less reserved.

"Oh I was just listing the various attributes of dolphins and why you remind me of them." He smiles as he takes a hearty gulp of his wine.

Nagato chuckles softly and shakes his head. "Forgive Kisame. He has quite a tongue on him and often speaks before he thinks."

The shark demon huffs a bit at the unfair description. He always thought before he spoke, it was just that he usually didn't give a damn what people thought about him speaking his mind. Sharks were at the top of the food chain. The opinions of guppies were of no real consequence to him. "Pft. My not thinking arse has saved Lord Nagato's backside more than once."

While Itachi doesn't seem entirely placated, his eyes lose their red glow, returning to the calm, fathomless darkness they were before. So Nagato takes that as his cue to continue. "Now, Indra tells me that you are a gifted human, and that you suffered quite the interesting introduction to his court when you were a child."

Itachi nods solemnly. That was one way to put it. "It was certainly...unforgettable." And though he did not remember the day fondly himself, at the very least, he proved himself not to be the pushover he pretended to be. Not when it came to holding his own against vampires.

Kisame shakes his head and smiles at Itachi. "Well, it looks as though you survived the encounter in one piece, but who was dumb enough to attack our cute little dolphin?"

It had happened ten years ago, but Itachi remembered it like it was yesterday. "A dumb vampire by the name of Hidan, with a foul mouth and a worse sense of humor."


A small child with his eyes locked on the floor follows the silver-haired vampire from his room, having barely slept more than a few hours since arriving. He had been told to rest, but sleep often refused to come. He had simply lain in bed, hoping in vain that he would feel more rested by the next day, catching tiny bursts of sleep here and there when his body was too exhausted to remain alert.

Itachi had been offered luxurious clothes to wear, made of silks, satins, and velvet. But rather than accept the gifts, he simply washed his own clothes in his private bathing room, dried them in the window, and then replaced the simple black clothes on his body. The less reasons others had to be incensed with him, the longer he would live.

Finally, in a soft, tiny voice, Itachi dares to speak. "...What does it mean for His Lordship to have me present for dinner?"

"It means he favors you." Kakashi smiles at Itachi, seeing no real reason to lie to the boy about something obvious. "If you're wise, you'll use that to your advantage."

It was good advice, and so long as Itachi could survive dinner with a vampire, maybe he would have a chance to put that advice into practice. "...Thank you."

"You're welcome." He pauses. "The only drawback is the power climbers may not be pleased to see a human favored so, but Lord Indra wouldn't allow them to harm you. Just try not to be alone with them." His advice delivered, he escorts Itachi to dinner.

When the doors to the dining hall open and Itachi steps inside behind Kakashi, his eyes widen. Two dozen people sat at the tables spread out along the walls of the room. And Itachi could see more than a few fangs. He looked around for a place to sit, finding no small table set aside for him and away from the vampires, only an empty place to Indra's left. He swallows nervously, understanding now just what Kakashi meant. Indra was showing him favour by keeping him close.

Part of him was frozen in fear of what this might mean. Another part wanted to grab onto Kakashi and beg to be taken home. But...that was no longer his decision to make, and he stays silent as he approaches the head table with Kakashi.

"Come and sit." Indra smiles at him. "There is human food to eat in addition to blood." The boy wasn't wearing the clothing he had given him, but he'd overlook that. Bringing attention to that fact would only make him stick out in a way Indra didn't wish for him to.

"Yes, Sire. Thank you." Itachi nods and moves with silent footsteps around the table to sit beside the ancient vampire. Blood, there was blood being served at the table. Likely human blood. Was that why he was here? Did they want to get a taste of the human child?

"It was kind of you to bring a feeder directly to us." Hidan smirks at Indra. "My Lord."

Indra shakes his head and sighs as though he was a parent dealing with a naughty child. "This is Itachi and you are not to drink from him without both of our permission." He raises an eyebrow. "I've decided to keep him as my ward for the moment and when he is old enough in my estimation I will turn him, assuming he continues to prove himself worthy."

Itachi's blood runs cold as the whispers begin flying about the room. Perhaps Indra had no intention of whoring him out to these vampires, but there was definitely interest in him. So he swallows down his nerves and picks at the foot on his plate, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. "I will do my best, Sire."

"I'm certain you will." Indra nods, though a vampire with pink eyes and silvery gray hair growls in annoyance. "Is there something you should like to say, Hidan?"

"Damn right, there is." He gestures towards Itachi. "He's a human. Hell, he's not even a man and yet he's sitting by your side as if he's somehow earned that fucking privilege? Have you finally lost your fucking mind?"

The little hairs on the back of Itachi's neck stand up. Everything inside him was screaming danger in the face of this enraged vampire. Magic tingled like tiny sparks in his veins, like schools of tiny fish just beneath the surface of a calm sea.

"Hidan, you will bite your tongue." Indra's eyes flash in a warning. "Or I shall remove it for you."

The other vampire was too far gone though as lunges at Itachi. "I'll prove that there is no point in showing affection to a fly. He'll die before supper is over." His speed was incredible as he begins his attack.

The vampire's hands were an inch from Itachi's neck when he exploded into a tangle of pitch black feathers and flapping wings. The murder of crows squawk and caw angrily as Hidan's hands pull out a few stray feathers instead of closing around a pale neck.

"Now, you see why I chose him." Indra smirks, deciding to observe for a moment more.

Next to Kakashi's place further down the hall, before the eyes of all the observers, the flying crows swirl about and congregate, melding back together as a shadow emerges from the floor. As it solidifies and becomes human once more, a pair of glowing crimson eyes glare at Hidan with all of the fury of a raging fire. "Yes, I am human. But that excuse does you no credit if that's your reason for picking a fight completely unprovoked."

"Sneaky brat." Hidan snarls as he charges at him once more. "I'll show you your place!" Fast and strong as all vampires were, but Hidan was in a category all his own. Otherwise he wouldn't have been a member of Indra's court in the first place.

Itachi jumps back, sneaking Kakashi's sword away from him as he funnels magic to the two ends of his body. His feet hit the wall just above the doors, sticking there as he roars like a dragon, spewing a giant plume of fire from his mouth, filling up the entire middle of the dining hall.

"Just think, he's only thirteen summers old." Indra laughs and claps. "Imagine what he'll be capable of in a few years."

Hidan was considerably less pleased though as he barely evades the flames. He swears like a sailor as he glares at Itachi.

Itachi springs off the wall and plunges into the flames as Hidan comes flying at him from a new angle, creating a new path through them and closing it behind him as he races across the room. He needed to find a safe spot, somewhere he could fight from where the vampire couldn't reach him. As long as he could do that

That plan was scuppered the moment a chain tangled around his ankles and he slammed against the ground with something twice his weight on top of him. His forehead smacks against the stone floor, drawing blood, and as he moves to push himself up, a hand roughly grabs the back of his hair, pushing his face into the dusty, bloody floor.

Hidan smirks as he takes out his scythe. He'd end this stupid brat before he got any bright ideas about being an equal to vampires.

Itachi's eyes flash with an angry light, even as the blade of the scythe slides under his throat. But if he was going out, he sure as hell wasn't going out without a fight. He spins Kakashi's blade around in his hand and slashes back up towards Hidan's heart. Maybe he couldn't kill the vampire, but he could make his death hurt the man a while.

Hidan wisely jerks off Itachi when he sees where the man was aiming and that's when Indra moves. Faster than the eye could see, the ancient vampire sends him flying into the wall with a loud thud. "Do not ever question my judgement again."

Glancing back over his shoulder, Itachi barely sees the back of Hidan as the vampire disappears out the door, leaving a small trail of blood in his wake. The sword in his hand clatters to the floor as he breathes hard, his vision fuzzy and his head throbbing as it oozed blood.

"It won't turn you at the moment, but if you drink my blood you will feel better." Indra sinks his fangs into his arm and offers it to Itachi.

Hazily, Itachi registers that drinking blood is disgusting and something no human in their right mind did. Nevertheless, he raises his head and drinks a few drops, the bleeding beginning to subside, even if the pain didn't. The last thing he remembered was the cool strength of Indra's arms as his world was enveloped in darkness.


When Itachi finally stirred back to consciousness, he saw a familiar head of silver hair sitting by his bedside. "...Kakashi?"

"You're alright." He nods. "Lord Indra gave you some of his blood and yes, you're still human." The silver haired vampire laughs softly. "Hidan will have quite the bruise for a few days even with our accelerated healing, though I doubt he'll be foolish enough to bother you again. You put on quite the show."

Itachi nods slightly, regretting it instantly as a lance of pain shot through his head. "...I feel as though I've cracked by skull."

"Oh well Hidan had quite the go at you, but no permanent damage was done." Kakashi nods at him reassuringly.

"...Good." Though Itachi still had a role of questions and no answers. He also had a splitting headache and would kill for one of his mother's pain relief poultices. "So what happens now?"

It was a good question. "You do you're best to keep his favor and take it day by day." He shrugs. "I wish I could tell you something more profound than that, but it worked well enough for me. It may do the same for you."

He would have nodded his assent, but Itachi's head continued its protests. "...I apologize for stealing your sword."

"That's alright." He smirks. "At least you put it to good use."

That he had.


Itachi smiles self-deprecatingly. "Leave it to my thirteen year-old self to take on a vampire and hope to win." He had been so reckless and so foolish. "Perhaps I could have ended it more quickly had I hidden behind Lord Indra, but I opted to let my pride and vanity get the better of me, and put too much stock in my magical skills at the time. I would have met my end that night, if not for Hidan's cowardice. It was one of two lessons I taught myself that night about letting my pride get the better of me."

Indra shakes his head. "There's nothing wrong with pride." It seemed that Itachi was insistent on taking the opposite lesson that the vampire had hoped from that night. "Your pride saved you. Without it, he would have killed you because you would have tried to dodge or appeal to his merciful side. Pride is fine, if used as a tool." He snorts. "As is the case with Hidan, he just used his pride foolishly. That's all."

With a soft huff and roll of his eyes, Itachi shoots a scathing glare at his master. "In the long run, yes, pride can be a useful tool. But at the time, it was dangerous to let it push me into a fight that I was ill-equipped and untrained for." His pointed glare intensifies, hints of red flashing in black depths. "What I am capable of now is certainly a different story to my skills a decade ago, as you no doubt saw while you were spying on me in the courtyard." Now, he could fight toe to toe with many a vampire with both swords and magic. He was NOT the same child who first arrived ten years ago and feared the shadows in every corner.

"Itachi, it is not spying if you're doing something out in the open where anyone could see it." He didn't really know how to respond to this sudden burst of anger. "Spying implies more effort than that generally. In any case, I suppose what's passed is passed."

Was he angry with his younger self's recklessness? It was possibility. There was also the chance that Kisame's playful banter could have ruffled Itachi's feathers, but Indra didn't think of his ward as that easily vexed. So he decides on the former until proven otherwise as he pours himself another glass of blood.

"If it's not spying, then you could simply come down and watch with Kakashi..." Itachi shakes his head as he goes for his own glass, filled with wine, rather than blood.

After hearing that story, though, Nagato found himself rather intrigued. "I take it that your partial defeat by Hidan was the first lesson. And the second?"

Itachi shoots the red-headed vampire a side glance and replaces his cup. "Self-imposed until I could be sure that my...vanity wouldn't get in the way of a victory." He brushes his long ponytail over his shoulder, twirling the end around his fingers. "I lifted the restriction five years ago when I was finally satisfied with my complete control over my immediate surroundings in a battle, pride or not." And now, neither were an issue. "Save for particularly powerful opponents, I have no more trepidation concerning the outcome of a battle." He glances at Kisame. "Though I don't count simple training battles like the one you witnessed earlier."

"I've never seen someone got through three or four personalities in one dinner before." Kisame smirks before quickly devouring his steak. "Though I'd be interested to see what you're fully capable of. Someone who transforms from a meek mouse, into a dolphin, whatever else was between, and this latest incarnation must have some impressive tricks up their sleeve."

Itachi twitches. "The 'mouse' as you put it is a defensive mechanism, I still don't understand why you insist on the dolphin analogy, though I must admit that you are the provocation for this latest one." Itachi was normally far more well-spoken, though admittedly still quiet. But this demon seemed to enjoy pulling on his hair, metaphorically anyway, and it was irritating, to put it mildly.

Indra's lips twitch. He debates for a moment. Was it worth it to join in the fun or not? ...Yes, yes it was. "I believe he already explained his reasoning and it's all sound. Save for perhaps the last one. I've never known you to express much of an interest in anyone in that fashion. Though I am of course, aware of the occasional rumor." He looks at Itachi sympathetically before glancing at Nagato. "One can't live at court without having a few rumors flying around about them no matter how impeccable one's behavior is." Honestly, it was depressingly so. The boy was twenty-three summers and unless Indra had sincerely missed something, he was still a complete innocent. That did confuse him since Kakashi was so fond of the boy...one would think at least some of his deviancy would have rubbed off on him.

It wasn't that Indra wished for Itachi to become a lecher, but still. "Unless you have found someone who holds your attention and I am as of yet unaware of it?" He smiles at Itachi. "It's alright to indulge yourself. I won't be upset if you find someone precious to you or even someone that just...occupies your time in a pleasant fashion."

Itachi's expression flattens in an instant and he stands, stepping away from the table and his empty plate. "I assume that I've entertained you enough for one evening?"

Kisame shakes his head as he stands and smile at Itachi. "I might have gone a little overboard." he chuckles. "I blame those pretty eyes of yours, but let me make it up to you. I'll let you play with my big sword." He smirks. "Biggest sword in the castle, I assure you." The shark demon knew exactly what Itachi was thinking now and that the other man would probably try to smack him soon, so he clarifies by pulling out his actual sword. "This is the Samehada and it's magical."

The battlemage stares blankly at the giant...thing that was apparently some sort of sword. "I see that you've something you feel the need to compensate for." Honestly, what sort of warrior required a sword THAT large? His eyes swirl red, gleaming wickedly. "And you should know...I can set you aflame with these 'pretty eyes' of mine."

"You're a vicious little dolphin, but if you want to see the other sword to be proven wrong, all you need to do is ask." He chuckles.

Red eyes narrow, and from a bright flash of fire, a murder of crows erupts, flying for the window. The glass panes open in a powerful gust of wind and the cawing birds race outside, disappearing into the dark night sky.

Nagato takes another sip from his glass of wine. "It seems that went rather well." No one had gotten incinerated, at the very least.

Kisame blinks as he watches Itachi fly off. "Does he always change personalities that swiftly?" Honestly...