Chapter 3: Chosen

It was a beautiful day in the Leaf Village, sunny and warm. A perfect day for training. Now that Sasuke had thoroughly recovered he was itching to make up for lost time by training all day long.

Team 7, however, had a very short training session that morning with Kakashi. It was interrupted when Tenten came running down the street carrying a bouquet of flowers. Sakura flagged her down and asked what she was doing.

Tenten looked at the ground, distraught. "It's Neji…" she mumbled into the flowers. "They found him last night unconscious by the side of the road. He's at the hospital being treated right now. The doctors said that he suffered massive blood loss."

"That's horrible!" Sakura gasped. "Was he attacked? Do they know who did it?"

The older girl shook her head. "That's the problem. None of the medical ninja would find a single wound on him. They don't know what caused the blood loss."

Team 7 looked at each other, and followed Tenten to the hospital.

Neji was lying in the middle of a white hospital bed, still unconscious. Though he appeared dead, according to Naruto, his chest slowly moved up and down with each soft breath he took. Lee and Tenten were at his side looking deeply concerned.

"Has he woken up yet?" Tenten asked Lee.

"No. He has never regained consciousness. All of the doctors are concerned. They fear he may be in a semi-coma."

Tenten studied Neji's sleeping form absentmindedly. "I can't believe he'd go down like this. He's always so strong. What could've happened?"

"…Mmm… Hmmm…"

The group looked up. Neji was stirring.

Tenten jumped to her feet and grabbed hold of his hand. "Neji? Neji, it's me, Tenten. Lee, Naruto, everyone's here. Please wake up."

Inhaling deeply, Neji gave a soft moan and opened his eyes. He looked around slowly, blinking to clear his blurry vision. "Ugh… T-Tenten...?"

She nodded. "Yes, yes, it's me. And Lee, too."

He was clearly out of it. He moaned again and rubbed his head with his free hand. "I feel awful. My head is killing me… Where am I?"

"The hospital."

"Hospital? What am I doing here?" He tried to sit up, but couldn't and flopped back down on the bed. "Ugh… I'm so weak…"

"Easy. You lost a lot of blood. You were found outside with massive blood loss. Were you attacked?"

Neji looked at Lee inquisitively. "Last night? Attacked?" He paused for a moment in thought. "I… I don't…really… remember."

"You don't?"

"No, nothing. I can't remember a thing. All I remember is leaving Lee alone to train by himself. I was with him all day training and was tired and hungry. I didn't eat dinner, so I went home."

"You didn't eat? And you were training all day? You must've collapsed from exhaustion. That might've had something to do with it. And after that?"

"…Nothing. I don't remember anything after that. But I don't remember being lightheaded or anything… Do you think I really just passed out from overdoing things?"

"That and not eating. But still, where'd the blood loss come from? It couldn't've resulted from that, could it?"

Kakashi nodded to his group and spoke. "We just returned from a village where this was happening, too. Roughly five villagers came down with it, including Sasuke; but he wasn't hit as hard as this. I had assumed that it was a ninja using some sort of jutsu… I think we should investigate. How does that sound?"

Team Gai looked at each other then nodded. "Yes. If it really was a ninja then I want justice! They'll pay for what they did to Neji… and Sasuke, too," Tenten quickly added. "What should we do?"

"Stay here and take care of Neji. He's still very weak. I'm sure he'll need your help. Lee, will you be joining us?"

Lee pulled himself into a salute. "Yes, sir!"

~*~*~*

It took all day, but the ninja discovered nothing. Feeling defeated, most of them returned home to call it a night. According to Tenten, Neji was being kept at the hospital overnight for observation. After searching the village for clues, even she returned home. Sasuke, however, did not. Despite the lack of clues, he was determined to find the culprit responsible. He wanted vengeance.

After searching hopelessly for hours, Sasuke returned home. This was very frustrating.

He opened the door to his room and flopped down on the bed. Defeat was very depressing. Just knowing that he was suffering from it was exasperating.

"I was beginning to wonder when you'd be showing up."

That voice was so familiar. Sasuke spun around. There sitting in the dark corner of his room was a young girl. Why didn't he sense her there? Judging from her position and the open book on her lap, it looked as if she had been there for quite some time.

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded, jumping to his feet.

Her angelic pale face didn't look remotely surprised by his question, though she pouted upon hearing it. "Oh? Well, I can't say this doesn't surprise me." She stood up from the armchair and strolled towards him. "Perhaps this will jog your memory."

Conjuring up an imaginary partner, she began to waltz across his bedroom floor to an unheard tune. Sasuke watched in awe at the beautiful display before him. Her footwork was flawless and her movements precise. Her dance was enchanting to say the least.

The dance stirred up the waves in the ocean of his memory. Yes, that's right. At the ball. She was there… They danced together. His memory was fuzzy and the images unclear, but he understood. He remembered.

"You…"

Her smile widened and she started humming the melody of the song they danced to.

"At the ball…"

Her humming grew louder.

"We danced together at the ball, didn't we?"

Her humming was interrupted by her own giggles. "Yes, yes! So you do remember!" She spun into his chest and grabbed his hands. "We danced just like this, remember? You and me."

He felt as if he were being thrown back into the memory of a dream from a long time ago. All these steps were so familiar. He knew them.

Realizing what he was doing, Sasuke pushed her away. She had been leading him in another dance. A dance he wanted no part of.

"Who are you? What's your name?"

Her childish giggling filled the room. "Oh, come now, Sasuke! You know me!" Her giggles diminished as she became aware of his quizzical stare. "Crystal."

As she sang her name Sasuke gradually started to remember. "Crystal…" He repeated slowly to himself. Suddenly it hit him. "You! Crystal!"

She jumped for joy at his sudden recollection.

"You attacked me! I remember! It was YOU!" He grabbed his kunai knives and launched himself at the enemy. She easily evaded and knocked the blade from his hand. "Wonderful!"

Sasuke retaliated with a punch aimed at her face, but it never made its target. Crystal grabbed his fist and bent it backwards. He yelped in pain.

"Easy, Sasuke!" She cooed. "I'm not going to kill you or nothing. I just want a little taste."

"Taste?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm hungry and I need to test something. You and Neji seem very strong, but I only need one mate. You're running up against him, you see. I have to figure out which one of you is best suitable based on your blood. Now hold still, this'll just take a second."

Despite her words, Sasuke began to fight back.

"I said hold still."

He refused. He had to get away. "There's no way I'm letting you eat me!" He squirmed and wriggled as best he could to prevent her from getting a clear shot at his neck. The harder he fought, the stronger her hold on him became.

Frustrated with her stubborn prey, Crystal gave an irritated sigh. Grabbing his jaw, she forcibly turned his head towards hers and hissed, "I said, hold still!"

Locking eyes instantly, Sasuke's entire body froze. He couldn't even speak. Pleased by this, Crystal inched over to his neck. "Good boy. Now this will only take a second. Don't worry, I won't take much. I took too much from that Neji boy last night by mistake. He was weak to start with…"

A sharp pain shot through his neck as she sank her fangs deep into his flesh. "Gaugh..!" He let out a gargled yelp as he felt his blood being drained from his body. It wasn't that painful, but it was a very uncomfortable sensation. As quickly as it happened, it was over. She parted from his neck, swallowing the leftover blood in her mouth.

"Mmm-UMM! That's good! It's so yummy, Sasuke! Much, much better than Neji's! You're strong and cute, too. Alright, I've decided! You'll be my mate!"

No way! No way in HELL! His body couldn't move. As hard as he tried he just couldn't make his body obey. He was frozen, unable to speak or fight back. He was helpless.

Mustering up all his strength, Sasuke managed to budge a little. It took nearly all his energy, but he only able to take a single step backward. It wasn't enough. He had to get more distance between him and the enemy.

She was getting closer.

"…no…" His voice was soft and gargled, but he spoke. "…St…ay… away…" He was starting to resist. He was fighting back.

Without warning, Crystal leapt through the air and tackled Sasuke to the bed. She pinned him to the bed by his shoulders, pressing him into the mattress. She was too strong.

He stared at the white fangs as they got closer. Unable to do much else, Sasuke shut his eyes in anticipation of the pain. A sharp pain shot through his neck, but it quickly subsided.

It wasn't so bad. He had expected the pain to be much worse. It actually felt kind of nice. Rather than a horrible sucking sensation, he felt a strange warmth being injected into his body through his neck. The warm feeling spread though his entire body, filling him with a strange sense of peace.

It wasn't so bad. Not bad at all. In fact, it made him feel kind of happy. It was strangely relaxing. His whole body went numb and warm while his brain switched off. It was like a dream.

Sasuke's eyes began to droop as he suddenly felt very drowsy. Everything went dark.

Crystal parted from his neck and set him down on the pillows, covering him up with the royal blue covers. She smiled as she tucked him in.

"Sasuke Uchiha…" She hissed his name as she bent over his sleeping form. "The transformation will be slow, but no less effective. You'll be a full-fledged vampire in no time at all. There's no going back now."

A soft moan escaped the young ninja at that moment and his face twisted in discomfort. The venom was taking effect.

She brushed some stray locks of hair off of his face and whispered, "You'll be needing my help of course. I'll train you… when you seek me out."

That said, Crystal bent down closer to her prize and gave him a small kiss on his pale forehead.

"You're all mine now, Sasuke."