Samhain

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. If you're interested, feel free to check out my profile for more information about updates. My schedule is becoming busier, but I have no plans to abandon any of my stories at the moment. .

Chapter Notation: It is my intention to make the lines between good and evil more blurry in this story than I usually write. With that in mind, happy reading.

Chapter 7

This was completely insane. Almost every two or three days, another person would go missing or be declared dead. The vast majority of which were University Students and understandably, it was making everyone nervous.

"We've really gotta do something." Kiba was pacing in the Frat House. "We're dropping like flies." Sadly, Sasuke couldn't really disagree with that.

Kiba was right to be worried. Hell, it had been two weeks since Sasuke had started tutoring Hinata in Chemistry and he still refused to let her go anywhere without someone near her. Preferably, him.

Naruto nods as he shows all the website articles and newspaper articles, he had printed out on the table. "So I printed all this stuff off. Thought it might be helpful." That was surprisingly insightful, Sasuke observes.

Shikamaru sighs as he looks over some of the information. If anyone could figure this out, it'd probably be him. Sasuke was pretty damn confident in his own intellectual prowess, but the lazy genius made Sasuke feel almost dim in comparison.

Sasuke might catch onto things quickly, but he had to put effort into doing so. Shikamaru seemed to like absorb knowledge in his sleep or something because the Uchiha had rarely seen the other man actually open a book that he wasn't sleeping on top of. It was weird.

"Well at first glance, I'm not really seeing any pattern that links most of the victims." Shikamaru frowns at that thought as his eyes scan the pages diligently. "Other than the vast majority of them are students, but there are also plenty who have no real connection to the University either." That was true.

Whoever was behind this wasn't targeting just University Students. Though that did seem to be their preferred prey, Sasuke nods in agreement as he wraps his arm around Hinata protectively.

"W-What are we going to do?" The bluenette looks half ready to cry and Sasuke couldn't entirely blame her.

This was more than enough to freak almost anyone out. He never used to scare easily, but the though that some psycho serial killer was lurking around and waiting to pick them off, well that had changed things.

He kisses her cheek and smiles. "Don't worry." This was like the plot to some bad horror movie or something. "We'll figure this out and I'm sure the police are working on the case too. They'll catch him."

They had to be. The entire country was now talking about this case and Sasuke was quite certain it was either being talked about internationally as well or about to be. This freak might just very well end up being the most prolific killer in history, if he wasn't stopped.

"Well we can't really rule out that it might be a girl." Choji shoves some chips in his mouth.

He was stress eating. Nevermind. Choji just had a really, really healthy appetite Sasuke decides. Though stress eating might be playing a roll in his chowing down on chips as well, but Choji was right.

There was a chance that there might be a woman behind all this. It just didn't feel likely. Sasuke had seen as many crime shows as the next University Student. Statistically, the odds were they were looking for a man, but it would be foolish to completely rule out a woman.

"I don't know, if I believe that." Kiba shakes his head. "I mean if it's a woman, she's taking out some pretty strong dudes."

Sakura twitches at that. "What are you trying to say?" Though she wasn't the only woman in the room who was strangely offended by the idiot suggesting that women were less likely to be serial killers.

The fight for equality was taking on a rather morbid turn, Sasuke muses. It would have been funny, if this was a movie and not real life. That thought makes him pull Hinata closer to him.

"Yelling at Kiba isn't going to solve anything." Shino was likely rolling his eyes behind his glasses, but it was hard to tell for certain. "We still have a killer on the loose and let's just all assume that the gender is very much negotiable for the sake of practicality."

Shino didn't talk much. So when he did, people tended to listen to him. For good reason. He only talked about important shit.

"That's true." Gaara sighs as he glances at the clock. "We should all get going though. While it's still light out." The red head had a point there. "The killer does seem to prefer to target people at night."

Yeah. Just like a bad horror movie. As much as Sasuke hated to say it though, they had to be doing something right. They had been getting away with this for a long time.

It was up to them to stop them. The raven haired University Student really wanted to believe that the cops could handle it, but he didn't. He just couldn't believe that anymore. This had been going on for far too long.

"Gaara's right." Hardly surprising, but Kankuro was backing up his brother.

Now, that was a diverse family tree. Hard to believe that Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara all shared the same parents. The three of them couldn't be anymore different and yet, they still functioned as a perfect unit somehow. (Perfect enough that Temari had convinced her baby brother to wear a panda costume, anyway).

"Yeah!" Lee pumps his fist into the air excitedly. "We'll figure this out. Don't worry. The Power of Youth won't be defeated that easily."

To which Hinata nods her head encouragingly. "Yes, I'm sure that we will." His girlfriend was nice. Nice enough to humor Lee's eccentricities.

Seriously, Sasuke was going to have to convince Lee to ditch the spandex at some point. Hell, maybe the other man would even shave his ridiculously bushy eyebrows at some point. Once those two things were accomplished, maybe they could find him a hyper girlfriend.

"You're right." Sasuke smiles at Hinata. "Let's get you back to the dorm." With that being said, he does the gentlemanly thing.

Sasuke Uchiha escorts her back to her dorm. After all, what kind of boyfriend would he be…if he couldn't protect Hinata from some psychotic killer with a Halloween fetish?


The next day, Hinata was less than pleased. She was being followed. By a Fairy.

No. She wasn't kidding. A fairy and despite what mortals might believe now, not all fairies were harmless. Tsunade certainly did defy the stereotype.

"You know, I could probably get a restraining order against you." She glances back at the woman following her. "That would be the proper thing to do, but I've always been a rather improper woman at heart." She gestures for the blonde to follow her into the nearby campus library.

There was almost no one here at this hour, but there were enough people that Hinata doubted even Tsunade would risk a battle. In other words, it was perfect for both privacy and safety.

"You could, but I could also turn you in." Her cinnamon colored eyes narrow at the vampiress. "So which do you think the police will consider a bigger crime? My following you or what you've been doing."

Shadow Supernaturals were truly adorable when they pretended to be threatening. They didn't scare Hinata though. The most charitable view that she could give of them was that all Shadow Supernaturals were far more cautious than Light Supernaturals. They were far more bark than bite.

"Tsunade, one would think that at your age, you wouldn't make idle threats." They both knew that it was a pointless warning.

The fairy either didn't have the proof or she knew what Hinata knew. No prison was going to hold her, if she wanted to leave. So there was no point. The only way Tsunade could stop her would be to kill her and the bluenette highly doubted that was a battle that the other woman wanted to have in a library.

Her eyes narrow at Hinata. "You know that what you're doing will only lead to disaster." Perhaps, but she certainly didn't think so. "There is a reason why the Supernatural Community has stayed hidden so long."

"Fear." Hinata shakes her head. "That's why. For too long, we've allowed ourselves to be paralyzed by fear of what the humans would do, if they truly discovered us."

Well she was done being afraid. She was done watching their people live in fear of being discovered. Hinata was done watching the humans destroy the very Earth they lived on. That was why she had gone into the Light.

Yes, her methods were sometimes unpleasant. Hinata could easily see why some might label her as evil, but they were necessary. Sooner or later, humans were going to find out about their kind. It was only a matter of time. So why not do it on their terms?

"There is a reason for that fear." Tsunade was now hissing at her. "You know it and I know it. I know that you lost Izuna and I can sympathize with losing the man you love, but he was a Shadow Vampire."

Yes, he had been. Perhaps, if the Supernatural Community had been 'out,' they could have prevented the war or ended it before that horrible day.

Hinata logically knew that there was no way to know that for sure, of course. That didn't stop her from feeling it deep in her very bones though. Izuna might very well still be alive, if only their kind had been a little braver.

"When we come of age, we're all given a choice." Hinata smiles at her coldly. "Do we wish to live a day as a lion or a lifetime as a lamb. You've chosen to be a lamb and I have chosen to be a lion."

She would rather die fighting for a new world than live in this wretched one. That wasn't to say that she wanted to go Kamikaze though. Just that Hinata was prepared to if necessary, but she would ensure that it wasn't necessary.

Tsunade grits her teeth. She was angry, but Hinata cared not. "That may very well be accurate, but what you're doing to that boy is wrong." How dare she bring Sasuke into this?! "He's not Izuna."

Hinata was well aware of that. Sasuke looked like her former lover, but he wasn't him. He'd never be Izuna, but the connection was there. That's all that truly mattered.

Hinata had tasted love once. She knew what it looked like. The bluenette knew what it felt like. She knew it very well and this was love. He may or may not know it yet, but they did belong to each other.

Perhaps, she was going mildly or moderately insane. Did insane people know they were insane? She didn't know, but her feelings for him were very much real and Tsunade was in no position to judge her.

Goodness only knows what skeletons the fairy had in her own closet. "I'm aware of that." Her lavender orbs glare at Tsunade. "I believe that we've both said what we intended to say. So unless you want to battle me in the nonfiction section to the death, I suggest you leave me be for now."

Tsunade sighs at this as she takes one final look at Hinata, before she departs. For now, the vampiress had won this round. She wasn't naïve though. The fairy would be back sooner or later and Hinata would be ready for her.


"He won't talk." Shisui sighs at Itachi, back in their luxury apartment.

The other Uchiha nods in agreement. Kakashi might want to talk, but he was justifiably terrified. That and what little they had been able to get out of him a couple weeks ago, told Itachi one important thing. The silver haired werewolf knew very little of Hinata's plans that they didn't already know.

So that left them at a standstill. The raven haired vampire had no idea why the Vampire Queen hadn't turned Sasuke yet. She'd had ample opportunity thus far. She just hadn't taken it for some reason.

Itachi bites his lower lip at that. "True. One can hardly blame the man though." He had every reason to keep quiet and Kakashi had told them as much as he could possibly get away with.

"Of course, I don't blame him." Shisui shakes his head at the thought as if such a suggestion was ludicrous. Which it probably was. "He's a Detective who has just been turned into a werewolf on the orders of a Vampire Queen. He's obviously going through a lot."

That all accurate. Honestly, Itachi felt sorry for Kakashi. Unfortunately, he had already been turned. So there was very little that they could do about his situation. The same was not true for his brother though.

Itachi sighs at that thought as he pours himself some blood. "Yes, but what are we going to do about Sasuke and Orochimaru?" They shouldn't have involved the elder vampire.

He held a grudge against Hinata and now, he was fixated on Sasuke. It had been a desperate move. One that hadn't paid off.

"I imagine that Orochimaru is not long for this world as is." Shisui scoffs at the reminder that Dr. Sannin still existed. "He's pissed off the Vampire Queen. That is a rather fast way to get yourself killed."

That made sense. Itachi had often wondered why Hinata hadn't killed Orochimaru or had him killed before. Probably because she was hoping to use his feelings for her to her advantage at some point. Then again, it could be purely a sentimental choice on her part. After all, he was one of the few living links the woman had to her past. Maybe, that was why.

Itachi sighs at that as he takes out his cell. "Good point. I'll try to get in touch with Sasuke." The sooner he could get Sasuke away from Hinata, the better.

He wished that Sasuke would leave Yale. That he would transfer to Harvard or something, but his foolish little brother wouldn't do that. The only way he could convince the other man to do so would be to tell him the truth and that would be a futile endeavor.

"He'd never believe me." Itachi shakes his head.

Sasuke wasn't prone to believing in the supernatural world anymore than the average person was. The only way to prove it to him would be to show him his fangs and sadly, that's exactly what he was going to have to do. There was just no other way around it. Playtime was over.


A few hours later, Orochimaru was rather infuriated. He was watching Hinata and Sasuke from the window of the bluenette's room and he had never wanted to rip out someone's throat more than Sasuke's at the moment.

"I'm being irrational." It wasn't the human's fault.

How could he possibly know that his cute, little girlfriend was actually a Vampire Queen? How could Sasuke possibly understand how incredibly frustrating this all was for him?

Orochimaru had wanted her long before this student had even been born. What did Hinata even see in him that he couldn't offer her? Well other than the fact he looked exactly like Izuna.

"Surely, she's not that easily manipulated." Was the mere face of her dead lover enough to warm her heart?

That wasn't fair. Orochimaru could have changed his face to match Izuna's. A witch's glamour would have done that easily enough. Why hadn't he thought of that first?

To make matters even worse, the vampire could hear every word that the two were saying. "I'm so glad that you decided to ditch Dr. Sannin's class too." Sasuke was talking about him!

His class was an excellent class. Thank you very much. People came from all over the world just to have the privilege of being his student and this brat had just dropped out of his class like it was nothing.

That was utterly insulting. It was just another slap in the face as the man continues to enjoy Hinata's touch. So far nothing too scandalous had happened. Hinata must slowly be seducing him because Orochimaru knew for a fact that she had far more than kisses and sensual caresses in her arsenal.

"A fact that bastard was all too happy to remind me of." Orochimaru's face pulls back in a snarl at the thought.

More than once, he had bumped into them at a social function of some kind. It always ended the same. Izuna as affectionate as he could be with Hinata without it crossing whatever lines of decency might exist for that function.

Orochimaru shakes his head at the thought. "He simply can't handle her." That wasn't Sasuke's fault of course.

He was a mere boy. The Uchiha was a human and Hinata had been a vampiress for almost two centuries. She'd grow bored with him soon enough, Dr. Sannin was sure of it.

He might look the part, but he would never be the kind of vampire Hinata wanted. The woman was only setting herself up for disappointment and one way or another, Orochimaru was going to enjoy watching this tragedy unfold. She deserved it for rejecting him.

"I am too." Hinata smiles at Sasuke as she kisses him while looking directly at the window.

So she knew. She knew that Orochimaru was watching her and felt content to flaunt her happiness at him. She knew very well that he couldn't get inside that dorm without an invitation.

"If I were you, I would be less worried about mourning your breakup and more worried about being skinned alive." A voice suddenly jolts him from his thoughts.

That's when Orochimaru turns around and comes face to face with a leprechaun. Dear Lord, did he hate leprechauns. Why did they always have to but into everyone's business?


Gaara had been watching Orochimaru from the sidelines for awhile now. As soon as Hinata saw Sasuke, he knew it was only a matter of time before the vampire began stalking them both.

While he was a Mist, the red head certainly wasn't about to let this creep stalk his friend. Sasuke may very well be human, but the man was still someone that Gaara cared about and well, so did his siblings to varying degrees.

"This is a fight that you aren't going to win." He glares at the other supernatural. "It's three against one and that's assuming that Hinata doesn't come out and decide to finish you herself."

Orochimaru was a powerful vampire. Gaara normally wouldn't challenge him, but he had his sister and brother with them. While they weren't as powerful as he was, they were more than formidable in their own right and gave him the numbers. This fight was one that he had the advantage in and the vampire knew it.

He had to know it. The man wouldn't teach at an Ivy League University, if he wasn't capable of performing at least some very basic math. Three was more than one and four against one was even worse odds for him.

"If you're not eager to die, I would drop this." Temari takes out her fan. "I'm sure you're aware that woman has an actual army and she thinks nothing of sicking werewolves on people." Accurate.

Hinata hadn't batted an eyelash to send a newly turned werewolf after Orochimaru and that was probably being subtle. Saints only knew what that woman was capable of when her back was against the wall.

She was at a minimum capable of defeating Madara Uchiha. That was why Gaara wasn't a Shadow really. He didn't want to involve himself in this war, but he would survive the outcome of it.

Orochimaru smirks at his sister. "That's kind of you to worry about my welfare." No, it wasn't. That was Temari being rational. "Though I assure you that I'm far stronger than I look."

Now, it was Kankuro's turn to posture. "Whatever. Get out of here unless you really want to be staked." He summons some of his puppets. "It only takes one good shot to end you, Orochimaru. Do you feel like pressing your luck?"

That was one thing that the red head had always admired about his brother. Kankuro was a very honest individual and had such a refreshingly blunt style of communication. More people would do well to emulate it.

"Not particularly." The vampire's eyes glance back at the window and Gaara knew why.

Hinata was now pulling the curtains. She didn't want Sasuke to see him and that meant that the bluenette might actually go outside. He now had a decision to make. To fight or to flee.

The leprechaun smirks at him. "Then you should leave." Now and preferably, never come back.

Sadly, Gaara knew that it wouldn't be that easy. Orochimaru was obsessed with Hinata. The man truly must have some sort of death wish, he decides.

"I believe discretion is the better part of valor in this case." With that being said, Orochimaru runs off.

Kankuro frowns as the other man continues running for his life. "Should we follow him?" That was a good question.

There was a chance they could take out Orochimaru. It would certainly save them many headaches later, but it was also a gamble. The vampire was likely heading towards a place with many potential witnesses and humans. People could get hurt.

"No." Gaara shakes his head. "We've done our job. We should go."

Temari nods in agreement. Though the youngest leprechaun could tell that she was still prepared to throw herself into battle, if the need arouse. That was one of the things that he liked best about her really. She didn't shy away from a challenge.

"I imagine we'll see him again soon." The blonde sighs and Gaara nods.

She was right about that. "Yes, we will and when that happens, we'll be ready." That was promise and Gaara never broke his promises. After all, no one could claim that leprechauns weren't honest.

They were many things, but dishonest wasn't one of them. Clever and sneaky, yes. Dishonest, never.