A/N: Well, I'm a bit disappointed at the review count this time around, but hey. Guess what guys! This is where the events start to happen! In this chapter, the turning point for the story occurs! So wait no longer! Everything is now in place! Get ready for the ride! :D

This chapter is dedicated to: DarkAnonymous324, WaterKunoichi13, AnimeCrazed121, kenzinator, Chii Saino Kuratsu.

Enjoy you guys!

Moonlight

Chapter 4: Pushing the Limits

After two and a half months worth of work, our house, though still ugly and beat up, was finally in liveable shape. For the first time in a long time, we all went on a hunt simultaneously. We split up again, doing our own personal hunting for whatever we could catch. I thought about Sasuke a couple of times, but figured he would be all right.

I sighed and sat against a rock, staring out at the dark water of a lake. It was so peaceful and serene, even though my mind was completely on feeding. I had only managed to catch a deer tonight, and my thirst was still very much alive.

A chill suddenly went down my spine and I rolled away from the rock just as I heard a swish. I saw some movement by the rock just as a pair of silver eyes met mine. My body froze as I watched the owner of those eyes step from the shadows and into the moonlight.

It was a boy. His hair was long and dark, flowing out behind him like a curtain. He wore a black sweater that was unzipped, revealing a black t-shirt with the word 'Skillet' on it and black pants with chains running down his legs. I don't even know how I didn't hear those. In his hand was a piece of sharpened wood about a foot long.

What he was suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks.

He was a slayer.

A vampire slayer.

"Finally."

I jumped. The boys' voice sounded a little old for the way he looked. The gruff tenor didn't match the boyish features of the slayer's face.

"After two months, I finally found one of you." The boy growled.

"W-What are you talking about?" I whispered.

A smirk crossed the boys' features, once again, not matching very well.

"I know what you are." He stated. "And I'm here to stop you before you hurt a single person in this city."

His body suddenly disappeared. I gasped and rolled to the side just as he thrust the stake towards my chest. He kept coming at me, and I just kept dodging. I had no idea how this slayer was so fast. I heard from Itachi that slayers were human, and relatively easy to get away from.

But this slayer…Somehow he was just as fast as I was. And by fast, I mean inhumanly fast.

We backed away from each other. The boy still held his stake up. He seemed to be a little dishevelled with the fact that it was so difficult for him to kill me.

"Come on, vampire." The boy stated. "Fight back and make this interesting for me."

"Vampire?" I cried, trying to hide my anxiety to little avail. "I'm not a vampire!"

"Oh really?" The slayer raised an eyebrow. Then he raised his stake and pressed it to his finger, cutting a long gash down his fingertip.

Instantly the smell of his blood washed over me. I gasped and backed away as fast as I could, pressing my hand over my mouth and nose. I had smelled human blood before, but this blood…It smelled so good.

The slayer held his finger out towards me, seeming to enjoy my torment. "Not a vampire?" He hissed, taking a step forward. I scrambled backwards, trying to get as far away from him as I could, but fighting my raw vampire instincts was the hardest thing I had ever done. Especially since the blood was on the outside and not inside where it belonged. My fangs pressed against my gums, begging for release.

I suddenly hit something hard. I knew it was a tree. The slayer continued to step towards me, his bloody finger still held out.

"P-Please…" I whispered. "I don't want to hur-" I shuddered, his finger smearing the blood down my cheek, flicking over my lips just slightly. If that blood touched my tongue, I was done. I knew it. Unfortunately, that was exactly what happened. It was just a small amount that trickled between my lips, but that was all that was needed. The only thing I could think from then on was that I wanted more, and this boy had what I wanted.

I fell to the ground, gasping and whimpering, trying to suppress the urge to suck the boy dry.

"Just as I thought."

I looked up at him to see him standing there, towering over me. He had a conniving smirk on his face. I watched as he tilted his head to the side, showing me his neck.

"Go on. I dare you." He said with a smirk.

I stared at the smooth, pale skin of his neck. My instincts screamed at me to bite him, but the sane part of me kept screaming no…no…

"What are you waiting for, vampire?" The slayer whispered. "I know you want to."

I had to. I had to, I had to, I had to. That's all I could think. I felt as if I would die if I didn't. The only thing standing between me, and probably the most satisfying meal I'd ever have is my desire to not hurt anybody.

I had been about to do it too.

But just then, the slayer gasped and dropped his stake, taking several steps back before falling to his knees, clutching his forearm. He looked like he was in pain.

The slayer opened one eye, looked at me, turned and ran. I barely saw him move.

I stared after him in shock. I didn't know what had just happened, but whatever it was it had saved me in two different ways. The first was that I wasn't going to die by the hands of a slayer tonight. The second was that I wasn't going to give into my vampire instincts and drink a humans blood.

Then I began to shake, realizing just how close I had come to both of those things.


"AH!" The slayer fell to the ground again, gasping in pain. He pulled the sweater off and threw it to the ground. He stared at his forearm where the series of crisscrossing lines had appeared again.

The blue mark had begun to turn red. It burned painfully as the red began to spread very slowly outwards from two points. This was it. He was in the final stages. Very soon, he wouldn't even be human.

The slayers' gasps faded out along with the pain. He looked down at his arm to see that the red had only travelled a few millimetres. As the pain continued to fade, the red retreated again, leaving the mark the same, dark blue colour. Finally, the mark faded away.

He got lucky this time.


"ITACHI!" I tore into the house, holding the stake in my hand.

"Tenten, what's wrong?" Itachi emerged from the living room. His eyes widened in horror. "What's on your face?"

"My fa- No, it's the slayers blood. Get it off! Get it off!" I cried, wanting desperately to wipe it off with my hands, but too afraid to do so. All I could do was scramble around in terror and wait until Itachi came back with a wet dishcloth. He quickly wiped the blood off my cheek.

I started hyperventilating.

"Tenten, calm down, and tell me what happened." Itachi said softly.

"It was a slayer, Itachi!" I cried. "He came out of nowhere and tried to kill me. Then he cut his finger with his stake- No! His blood is still on it!" I threw the stake across the room, prompting Itachi to stare after it in horror before going to get it.

"Tenten, relax."

"K-Keep it away from me, Itachi!" I cried. "His blood smelled so good, I wanted to bite him so bad!" I trembled violently. "He smeared it down my cheek and across my mouth. I tasted it, Itachi! And I wanted more!" I sobbed.

"Okay, okay," Itachi rubbed my back comfortingly. "It's okay now. Did he hurt you?"

I shook my head.

"Did you hurt him?"

I shook my head again.

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

"But that's the thing." I whispered. "I almost did hurt him. In fact, I would've if…" I frowned. "I don't know what happened. He just gasped and backed away from me, clutching his forearm. He looked like he was in pain."

Itachi seemed to ponder this for a moment.

"T-There was something else too, Itachi." I whispered. "You've told me about slayers before. They're…human, right?"

Itachi nodded. "Yes. They're completely human."

"But this slayer was moving just as fast as I was. He was so fast…"

Itachi frowned for a moment before helping me off the ground.

"It doesn't matter." He stated. "Just go to bed, all right? Everything will be okay."

I nodded and retreated for the stairs. That slayer frightened me, yet I still couldn't get my mind off him. I could still taste his blood. It was so sweet…

I flinched. I still wanted his blood.


I saw the slayer right in front of me. He raised his stake and leapt towards me. I dodged out of the way, over and over again.

Finally, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it. He yelped and dropped the stake. I grabbed a fistful of his dark hair and sunk my fangs into his neck. I heard him cry out in pain, and I begged myself to stop, but he tasted too sweet…

I screamed and leapt from my sleep. I put a hand over my mouth, trying to will my fangs to go back into my gums. I gasped. I couldn't do it. I couldn't stop the way I was feeling. I threw my covers aside and leapt out of bed, heading towards the window. I threw it open and leapt out into the night. I had to kill. I had to get blood.

I ran into the forest, searching for something, anything. As always, the first thing I found was a herd of deer. I shoved away my urge for the slayers blood and leapt on the nearest one. I tried not to think about how different the deer's blood was from the slayers. The deer's' blood was almost bitter, but I tried to ignore that.

When I was finished with the first one, I pursued the fleeing herd and jumped on the next one. As I sucked that one dry, one thought suddenly rushed through my mind.

Was this what Sasuke felt? If this was the way he felt, I understood why he had so much trouble stopping himself. I understood the blood thirst. Sasuke went through hell.

I dropped the deer and collapsed against a tree, sobbing with shame. I felt terrible. I had lost it for the first time. I had killed two innocent creatures in my thirst. I wished the slayer had killed me. I felt sick.

"Tenten?"

I looked up to see Itachi walking towards me. But he wasn't the one I wanted to speak to.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"Where's Sasuke?" I whispered. "I want to talk to Sasuke."

I'm happy to say that Itachi didn't question it. His eyes seemed to darken in understanding, and he turned and sped off into the trees. I put my head on my arms and closed my eyes. The whole time I was waiting, I did everything in my power not to think about the slayer, or the dream I had.

I heard the soft sound of something landing on the ground in front of me, but I didn't look up.

"Tenten."

I looked up slowly. It was Sasuke. He watched me, his face unreadable as always. I couldn't tell whether he was irritated at being woken up, or he understood what I was going through, or was sad because I was feeling this way.

"Come on." He stated, turning slightly. He took a few slow steps away and looked back at me.

I stood up shakily and walked towards him. He waited for me, and continued to walk when I arrived at his side.

We slowly walked through the forest. I stared down at my feet while he simply took each step at a time with a calm demeanour.

"Itachi told me what happened." Sasuke's baritone voice cut through the air.

I glanced up at him. "What did he tell you?" I asked.

"He told me that you had a run in with a slayer." Sasuke stated. "And that you tasted his blood."

I looked at my feet again.

"What exactly happened, Tenten?"

I bit my lip. "He…I can't really explain it…He cut his finger on his stake like he wanted me to attack him or something. He smeared the blood on my face and some of it got in my mouth." I whispered. "Then he taunted me, daring me to bite him."

"Did you?"

"No…" I whispered. "I almost did."

"He's a slayer, and you didn't kill him?"

"I didn't want to." I murmured. "The only reason I didn't actually bite him was because something… happened to him. He ran away as if he was in pain. I can't explain it."

Sasuke nodded.

"Sasuke, it's all I can think about…" I gasped, stopping and putting my face in my hands. I whimpered as a few tears spilled from my eyes. "I even dreamed about it. I can't stop thinking about the taste of his blood!"

Sasuke put his hand on my back in an attempt to be comforting. I heard him sigh just before he pulled me into a hug. I was stunned by this gesture. It was so un-Sasuke, but I appreciated it all the same.

"How do you do it, Sasuke?" I cried. "How do you do it without cracking?"

"Tenten, I don't."

My eyes widened.

"I…Please don't tell Itachi."

I looked up at him. "Sasuke…No…you didn't…"

Sasuke shook his head. "I didn't kill anyone. I just…found someone."

"What do you mean?"

Sasuke let go of me and put his hand on a tree. He leaned against it, keeping his head low.

"Please don't tell Itachi." He said again.

"Sasuke, you didn't bite anyone, did you?"

"Tenten, promise!"

I flinched. Sasuke's eyes burned bright red as he glared at me.

"Fine." I whispered. "I won't tell." I had a horrible feeling upon making that promise.

Sasuke turned around and leaned against the tree.

"Her name is Sakura…"

A/N: I'm actually really happy with this chapter. Seriously. It might be my favourite one. And what role does Sakura play in this story? Sorry you're stuck waiting until the next update. But you DO get a preview!

CHAPTER 5: SASUKE'S DILEMMA – PREVIEW

He slowly walked forward and suddenly caught her scent. He stopped and closed his eyes. His body shivered. She smelled like nothing he'd ever known before. It was like flowers, but it was sweet at the same time. When he opened his eyes, he had a feeling that they had shifted to blood red. In the moonlight, he could just make out the shape of a cliff just a few feet from the girls trembling form.

The girl suddenly gave a tortured scream, making Sasuke flinch back in surprise. He watched as she stood up and took a few steps forward. One thing went through his head at that moment, and that was what is she doing? There's a cliff there! She didn't seem to care though. She even broke into a run.

Sasuke's legs moved of their own accord as he ran towards the girl. All he could see was her broken body at the bottom of the cliff, that light, sweet, flowery scent forever replaced with the smell of blood.

Just as she dropped off the cliff, Sasuke grabbed her arm, and didn't let go.