Chapter 4 – The truth

Naruto's morning classes went well, and he expected to spend a nice lunch break alone in the back of the cafeteria while working on some sketches. But no such luck, Sai found him and came to sit with him.

He took out his ear plugs and glared at Sai. The latter smiled as he looked at his sketch book.

"You still need to work on your shadings…"

Naruto closed the book.

"Touchy," Sai chuckled.

"You're really gonna do this."

"Do what?" Sai asked innocently.

"Pretend like nothing happened."

Sai shrugged, "We were drunk and wasted and we had a good time. What's the big deal?"

Naruto gathered his stuff and swung his bag on his shoulder. "I'm out of here. And please, don't follow me."

Of course, Sai followed him. Naruto sighed, and when they were out of the cafeteria he turned to face him.

"Look, I know you've had a crush on me since forever. And I didn't want to be mean, but… It's never gonna work. I don't like you that way. So if you don't want to be just friends, then it's goodbye."

Sai looked hurt, and Naruto regretted his harsh words, but he had no choice. He had to get his message across. But then Sai smiled again. What the hell?

"I'll make you change your mind."

Before Naruto could reply Sai walked away. Well God damn it…

Later, in his theatre class, Naruto was shocked to see an all too familiar guy with chestnut hair, hazel eyes, and a bitchy attitude; his ex-boyfriend, Jeremy. But, he hadn't been there last week…

"Oh hey Naruto, I changed classes for this one. I felt like giving acting a try this semester."

Naruto repressed the urge to face palm. Why did he feel like Jey had changed classes so they could be together in this one? Well, it was one crazy love struck idiot after the other… Really, thank God Hinata had moved on and was now happy with Gaara instead of obsessing restlessly over him. Otherwise Naruto would have to sit in a corner and cry while hugging himself. And that would be embarrassing.

Thankfully they learned some theory and did some individual readings and exercises, so there was no interaction between students. As soon as the class was over Naruto stormed off; he was not so subtly running away from his control freak ex.

For the rest of the afternoon he went to a coffee shop near the university campus. He sat in the back and hid behind his laptop computer. He didn't feel like working on homework so instead he logged on facebook and proceeded to "like" his friends' status updates. Shikamaru was proclaiming his love for Temari, Gaara was proclaiming his hatred for his too strict father – who conveniently didn't have a facebook – and Hinata was saying that med school was too hard and that she already had a shit load of homework.

Then he decided this activity was lame so he pushed the laptop away and opened his sketch book. His drawings were good, and Sai was a jerk for telling him otherwise. Not everyone could be a freakin' genius like him when it came to drawing or painting.

Without really giving much thought into it he started drawing Sasuke by memory. He drew him as he had first seen him – well, from what he remembered, anyway. Waiting on the porch in his nice clothes with dark hair slightly blown by the wind, his little smile and the rose in his hand. He completely forgot about the now cold coffee on the table. He didn't stop drawing until he was satisfied.

When he finally looked up from his sketch book he realized it was dark outside. He gathered his stuff, got up and stretched, and then walked away from the restaurant. He decided to walk back home. It wasn't that far and besides, he needed to clear his head. To think about how to get rid of Sai and Jey… and also about what he would do about Sasuke. The guy was kind of weird, but Naruto couldn't help being attracted to him.

He wasn't in the best mood so when a stranger apparently came out of nowhere and ran into him very harshly on the sidewalk, making him drop his things – including his laptop case – Naruto cursed.

"I'm so sorry!" the man said.

"It's fine," he muttered.

He was about to bent over to pick up his stuff when the man grabbed his arm and led him to a dark alley nearby in between two buildings.

"What the hell!"

Naruto tried to break free but that asshole was stronger than him! It didn't make sense, he was shorter and he didn't look that muscular. Maybe Naruto really needed to start working out more.

Suddenly the man opened his mouth and revealed… fangs. Naruto stepped back. What the hell? Were those fake or real? Because if they were real then… it was really creepy. And there he had thought vampires only existed in bad movies.

He didn't have time to either escape or make a snippy remark because the man bit him. Just like that he latched himself to his neck and started sucking his blood. Naruto struggled but the stronger creature held him into place. He couldn't die like this! He had to fight back, to find a way to at least put up a fight…

As his anger and frustration built up they were surrounded by an increasing heat. But strangely Naruto wasn't hurt by it… it was… strangely comforting.

The man – vampire though pulled away and his eyes widened in fear. Suddenly flames appeared, burning the creature. He screamed in pain and fell to the pavement, his body disappearing in accelerated combustion. Naruto could only watch, horrified. His breathing was hard and his body weakened. Had he done this?

He looked down at himself, only to see that his clothes were partly burned. But the heat and flames hadn't hurt his body in the slightest. It was simply too strange… In any case, he had to get away from here; the sight and smell were too horrible.

Naruto returned to the street and luckily his things were still on the sidewalk, intact. He picked them up and started running towards home, ignoring the strange glances people were sending him. Only when he was safely inside did he fall on his knees, exhausted.

Kakashi appeared in the kitchen doorframe. When he took in his appearance he ran to his side.

"Naruto, are you all right?"

"Yeah I think so…"

"Your neck… your clothes… what the hell happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

Naruto slipped off his shoes and took off his burned t-shirt. He followed Kakashi to the bathroom, where his adoptive father used the first aid kit to treat his wound. After cleaning the bite he applied a bandage on it, and encouraged Naruto to go change into some clean clothes.

The blond nodded and went in his bedroom. He felt drained of all energy. He followed Kakashi's advice and put on some comfy sweats. He simply lay down on his bed for a moment, still a bit in shock. After a few minutes Kakashi came knocking at his door.

"May I come in?"

"Yeah…"

Kakashi opened the door and slowly came to sit on the bed beside him. He had a letter in his hands. Naruto looked at it, and then back up at Kakashi.

"Why aren't you freaked out?"

"The truth is, Naruto, you don't have to explain. I already know what happened."

"You know… but… how?"

"I think this will be a better explanation than whatever I could tell you," Kakashi said, and he handed him the letter.

Dear Naruto,

If you read this, it means that you have been bitten by a vampire, and that your powers have been unleashed. It also means that I have died and that I cannot explain to you myself. Please don't blame Kakashi for not telling you the truth, he was forced by me. I wanted you to live a normal life, if possible.

But now that your powers are unleashed everything will change. If vampires know of your existence they will come after you. You must be prepared. You must find the strength to fight, and defend yourself and the human race. I know this is a lot to take in, but us Uzumaki have always been able to do so thanks to our strong will.

Our powers include element wielding, particularly fire and wind. Also, like all witches and magicians, we are capable of telepathy and telekinesis. Some of us are shape shifters. Other than that it is different for each individual, you will have to find out the rest by yourself.

Be strong, and know that I love you.

Your mother, Kushina

He re-read it twice. His blue eyes were wide and filled with tears threatening to fall. He had been in the dark for so long.

On the meantime Kakashi had gone to get some old pictures. When he returned he showed them to Naruto.

The blond held the pictures of his mother in his hands almost ceremoniously. She had deep red hair and a beautiful face. Actually she looked a lot like him.

"Mysterious death…" he whispered after a long moment of silence.

Kakashi let out a quiet sigh, "She was killed by vampires. They wanted to destroy the rest of her family as well, but even through the worst torture she didn't tell them where you were."

"How do you know all this?" Naruto asked, and a tear rolled down his cheek.

His adoptive father made a little sad smile, "She was my best friend. She told me everything. She had anticipated the attack and she had prepared everything so that I could adopt you. I think she already knew she wouldn't survive. In the end, just before dying, she used the last of her powers to reach out to me with her thoughts. She told me she had succeeded in hiding the information from them, and that we would be safe. And she thanked me… And that was it."

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, and more tears rolled down his face. Sure it was a lot to take in – vampires, magical powers, everything… But all he wanted to think about was his mother.

"How was she?"

"Just like you," Kakashi smiled fondly, "always talking, and smiling, and crazy."

Naruto sighed shakily, "Earlier you said, the rest of her family… Did you know my father as well?"

"Yeah… I'm not supposed to tell you anything, but I'm tired of lying to you. I think she would forgive me. Your father's name was Minato. You look so much like him. And you have a twin sister, Miku. They left together to be safe. I know what you're gonna ask, but I don't know where they went. Kushina herself didn't know. It was safer that way."

Now this was a lot to take in! His father was probably still alive, somewhere… And he had a sister! He wanted to meet them, so bad… He knew he couldn't blame Kakashi, and he wouldn't… But he would find a way… He would find them.

"They left… But, wait, where did all of this happen?"

"In Japan," Kakashi said, "In Osaka. I was an English teacher there, just like your mother. When the vampires found her I moved here with you as soon as I could. Like I said, I don't know where Minato went with your sister."

"Maybe they're still in Japan?" Naruto asked, hopeful.

"Maybe," Kakashi admitted, "I know how fond Minato was of that country. Also, Kushina had a brother, Nagato. But I'm sorry; I don't know where he is. I don't even know if he's still alive."

"Are there other family members or…?"

"No, that's it," Kakashi said. "That's all I know, anyway."

"Well thanks for being honest. Better late than never I guess," he added bitterly.

"I'm sorry, Naruto."

"It's okay… all this isn't your fault I guess. You were dragged into it."

"I never regretted my decision to adopt you," he said sincerely.

Naruto wiped his eyes in annoyance and then he nodded slowly. He didn't know what else to say.

"I guess I'll leave you alone then. I'll be downstairs if you need to talk."

Naruto gave another nod and watched as Kakashi left his bedroom and closed the door. He picked up his cell on the floor and checked it; he had two text messages. One was from Sai, saying "You want to go out again next weekend?" and the other was from Jey, "It was nice seeing you again today."

He threw it on his bedside table and fell back on his pillows. His neck hurt, his whole body hurt, but he was barely aware of this physical pain because he was overwhelmed by a much more intense, deeper pain. So the last thing he could possibly care about was these two idiots…

He wondered if his father was thinking about him sometimes. Naruto understood it was for safety but at the same time… was it really safer to be apart? Wouldn't they be stronger if they'd all stick together? Maybe not when they were kids, but now, now Naruto was an adult so maybe he could find his father and sister and protect them. Now he really wanted to go to Japan. Maybe he could hire someone to help him find them – he knew their names at least. And if that didn't work, he could always try using his newfound powers to find them…

Only problem was, a trip to Japan was really fucking expensive. Just taking the plane cost a lot of money. Kakashi's salary was enough to support them both, but he couldn't afford such a trip. Now Naruto regretted never taking a part-time job.

Suddenly his train of thoughts drifted to something else entirely. He wondered if Sasuke was a vampire. It would make sense. It would explain why he was so weird, and… so pale. It would also explain why he somehow seemed much older than he looked.

Something Sasuke had said over the phone came back to mind. "I'm more of a night person." Oh God… humoristic vampire now, how great. Then he frowned as he remembered all those times Sasuke had looked at him in the eye and asked him to kiss him. And Naruto had done it. He sat up straight in his bed and picked up his cell phone.

What an asshole! He had used his vampire powers to force him to kiss him! Was he gonna use his powers to force him to have sex with him too? What a jerk! Naruto would call him, and give him a piece of his mind.

Thoughts kept racing in his head as he dialed the number. Sasuke was from Japan. Maybe he knew something about his family. Maybe this was why he had approached him in the first place. So many questions… and he needed answers. He would make Sasuke answer. Except he didn't pick up the phone. Pretty damn big flaw in his master plan.

He threw his cell away again and crawled under the sheets. He felt so exhausted. He needed to rest. Aw damn… now he had to get up to turn off the light. He felt so lazy… And then, just like that, the light turned off by itself. Well, this power was incredibly convenient… Naruto was so tired that no more thought entered his mind before he drifted into sleep.

Hey guys! So cause it was really short you get two chapters today^^

And... for Naruto's sister, I didn't want to use Naruko. I mean, who'd name their kids Naruto and Naruko? That's just my opinion lol