A/N: Hi! I'm sorry I couldn't get this to you guys earlier D: ' But you're getting it right the fuck now yo. Right the fuck now xD. Teehee 3 I hope you all like it and I did well for you guys. Yes, it's the moment you all have been waiting for and I do hope that you enjoy it.

Songs: Elephant woman by Blonde Redhead, Losing you by Otto's Daughter

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto -.-'

Chapter Nine

Remembrance

"What do you think about this one?"

I looked up from a shelf of snow globes to see Hinata holding a handmade vase with a bunch of violets painted on its surface. I smiled warmly at her, nodding a few times before she grinned and put it under her arm, going around the shop some more. Today, I had decided to go shopping or what Hinata called 'Antiquing'. She was always one to love collecting old things that no one really bothered to keep and restore them. We had found this perfect little store in the city and we just didn't want to skip the opportunity. Ino had been bored and decided to just scan town on her own and meet us at a restaurant when we were done.

I walked around the store, my hands laced behind my back as my eyes traveled from shelf to shelf. They had just about everything in this store; Books, Vases, Sculptures made of wood or marble, chairs, drawers, paintings, knick knacks, glass objects, and mirrors just to name a few. I smiled slightly as I looked through everything, feeling slightly at home in this store. It just gave off such a welcoming and safe aura that warmed my body from this cloudy and gloomy weather.

I shifted my gaze out the window, frowning at the thick gray clouds that blocked out the sun. It made everything look slightly darker and I didn't like it that much. Or at all. Sighing, I turned my gaze back to the shelf I was looking at, running my fingers over the smooth little statues or angels, elephants, cats, and small little glass frogs.

"What about this for the study?"

I turned my eyes to look at Hinata, who was holding what looked like a Japanese style wind chime. The long metal was bent into a crescent moon shape, with rusty looking hollow metal cylinders, hanging from beaded thread. The Japanese word for 'Serenity' was carved to one side of it. I smiled lightly at her.

"Yea, it would give it a bit of an ethnic touch," I said, smiling widely as she grinned and placed it in the cart with the other things that were inside it. I smiled at her and turned back to what I was looking at before. I picked up a small glass rose sculpture, marveling in its simplicity. The glass stained red for the petals, and stained green for the thorns and stems.

"I take it, you like that don't you?"

I turned my head to the side to see an elderly woman with long white hair and an ethnic looking dress on. The dress had intricate designs on it, colored in gold, dark blues, and brown, almost like a gypsy dress. She spoke with a heavy accent, sounding almost Spanish or Romanian from what I could understand. The way she rolled the 'R's was just a give away. Her eyes were gentle, a kind smile resting on her old features as she walked towards me. I smiled at her and nodded my head, turning my head back to the small glass statue.

"Yes I do. It's really beautiful." I turned it around in my hands, giggling before turning around completely. "How much is it?"

The woman opened her mouth to speak but stopped in her tracks, her eyes drifting down the necklace around my neck. She gasped, placing a hand over her heart as she gaped at my necklace, her eyes glittering with shock, amazement, and fear.

"Where…did you get that?" she asked after a while, shock evident in her shaky voice as she made her way closer to me.

Oh, this," I said, placing my hand over the silver cross. I looked up at her again with a gentle smile. "I found it under my bed not too long ago. I don't know, it's really pretty so I decided to keep it."

"You haven't the idea as to who gave this to you?" she asked again, standing closer to me then before. Her wrinkled hand shakily made its way to my neck, grabbing the cross gently as she turned it around in her hands in wonder.

"I'm positive ma'am," I said as I looked down at her hands, the glinting red stone nestled in the center of the cross seemed to gleam with an odd glow that always baffled me. "I don't think my parents would get me something with this peculiar stone on it."

"Peculiar?" she said with a gasp as she shook her head at my comment. "This, my child, is not like any other stone ever forged by human hands."

"Really?" I asked in confusion. I looked down at the necklace, the stone almost blaring in an odd glow that tingled against my fair skin. It confused me how this simple stone could be more than what I thought it was. Just who or what had given this to me. And for what reason would they give me something this strange?

"Yes," she nodded once as she motioned me to take off the necklace. At first, I didn't want to part with it for fear that she might steal it, but the look in her eyes said other wise. I reached behind me, unhooking the little clip in the back and pulled it away from my neck. I laid the cross gently in her shaky hands, watching her eyes light up in remembrance of something from long ago. She held it up to the light before turning her gray eyes back to me. "The Stone of Azerith. This stone was forged by gypsies in 1862, my great great great grandmother, Josephina, being one of them."

"Wow," I said, tilting my head up to look at the cross. Never had I thought that there was something that precious hanging around my neck. Sure I thought that it was unique but now I was just finding out just how unique it really was. But there was something that didn't feel right. Something that didn't sound right even though I didn't know how it was suppose to sound. I turned my eyes down to her, biting my lip before I spoke. "Uh, Ma'am?"

"Yes?"

"Why…Why did the gypsies created this stone? I mean if it's so important, what was it suppose to do?"

Her lips turned into a hard line as she brought her hand down. She grabbed my hand, turning it palm up as she placed the necklace in them, closing my fingers around the cross tightly. She looked at me fearfully, holding my hands tight in a praying gesture as she opened her mouth to speak.

"They made this stone," she said in a whisper, closing her eyes as before opening them. "Was made to protect the townsfolk from them."

"Them?"

"The creatures of the night," she said breathlessly, piercing her gaze into mine as she her hands shook, shaking mine as well. "A creature that is neither living nor dead, one that can turn into mist and animals. Craved by women, feared by men. They are rejected from the sunlight, rejected by god, living in the shadows. Demons of hell itself."

"What…" I bit my lip, urging her to continue, my stomach flipping and my throat closing up as it started to burn. Her lip quivered before she opened her mouth to utter a word that curved my spine and jerked at my heart.

"Vampire…"

"Grandmother!"

I looked up to see an olive skin colored young girl, probably around the same age as myself, stalking over to us. Her hazel eyes showing concern as she walked up to us and gently pushed her grandmother's hands from mine. She wore a gold necklace with the name 'Analise' carved into the charm. I assumed that was her name and judging by the accent, she too came from the same place as her grandmother had.

"Grandmother, you know better than to scare our customers with your folklore," she said in a scolding tone, turning her eyes to me. "I greatly apologize for my grandmother's behavior. She hasn't seen a necklace like that in years. I assure you, it's mean for good luck."

"O-Okay," I said, nodding as I looked down at my necklace. My own hand was shaking by now from my discovery and I couldn't shake the feeling that this necklace didn't bring luck. Something in my heart told me that her story was true but a part of me refused to believe it. Vampires? They only existed in fairytale, myths, legends, movies, and books. There was no way they could exist in real life. No way possible.

Suddenly I felt two arms grip my own arms, my eyes meeting the old women's fear filled ones as she shook me gently.

"You must not take it off. Where it at all times, as if your very life depended on it," she said as her granddaughter tried to pull her away. I was too frozen to jerk away or speak at the moment. "You /must/ not leave yourself unprotected."

"Grandmamma, stop this. You need to let her go now," she strained, prying her arms off of me as she rubbed her grandmothers back. The old women's eyes grew soft, her eyes going to the ground as she raised both of her arms to her chest. She nodded and began to walk back slowly. "I again apologize for her."

I simply nodded my response, shakily placing the necklace back on as I heard Hinata come over to me.

"What was all that about?" she asked, looking at the women for a moment before turning back to me.

"I don't know," I said, rubbing the soft silver of my necklace before laughing and looking at her. I shook my head, trying to gather my thoughts. "Old women must be off her meds."

"Oh," she said before she held up her bag of trinkets. She grinned at me and I smiled, picking up the rose statue that I had wanted earlier. I looked back to see the old women stare at me from the counter. She nodded and smiled at me and I smiled back, holding the rose to my chest. Hinata giggled and looped my other hand. "Well, everything's paid for, we should really be heading out."

"Yea," I said with a smile as we both started walking to the door but as we made our way out, a sudden tune came on in the store. A tune I hadn't heard in a long time. A tune that made me freeze in my tracks, my eyes widening as a gasp escaped my lips.

"Sakura?" Hinata asked, but I didn't hear her. My mind was warping around the tune that was playing my body automatically swaying to the haunting melody, a shiver rolling up my body as the woman's eerie voice began to sing.

I started to pant as my head suddenly started to pound mercilessly. My brain pulsing painfully against the walls of my skull. My eyes squinted for a moment as I felt somewhat of a jolt pass through me.

"I'm Sakura," I said in a shaky voice as I looked up at him. He didn't say anything or turn his head up to look at me.

"Just stay away from me," he said in a quick voice. He words rang through my ears and I felt as if the inside of my soul had shattered into tiny shards of nothing.

"Ah," I groaned as my hand cupped my forehead, my body swaying into the wall as I heard Hinata gasp but I couldn't hear her voice. All I could hear was the song and my memories blurring into one sound.

"Hi."

My hands started to shake and I couldn't get a single thought to run through my head clearly. I felt as if someone knocked the wind right out of me. My window was wide-open, drapes flying outside. He was sitting on my windowsill, his left leg propped up with his left arm draping over it. He was looking right at me, not looking down but looking at me dead in the face. He had to have the most beautiful face I ever saw. I swallowed thickly as I took in his face. He had such an angelic face, his mouth was twisted slightly and I had to look closely to see that he was biting his lip again. For the first time in weeks, I finally saw his eyes. They were incased in black rims, like he didn't get enough sleep but the weirdest part about his eyes were…

"God!" I yelled, as I slid to the floor, the glass rose rolling to the side of me but it didn't break. My hands shook as I held both sides of my head. I felt Hinata's arms wrap around me as I heard a mixture of murmurs, languages, and over all concern all around me. I bit my lip hard, shaking my head as I willed my thoughts to stand still. To stop, to slow down as my heart started to pound restlessly. "Stop…"

"What are you doing?"

My eyes snapped open, only to want to close automatically. My breathing started to get heavy as I started blankly at him like deer caught in the headlights. He sat Indian style on the floor about five inches from my face. His head was tilted and he was giving me a weird look, his red eyes almost sparkling with curiosity. My face turned bright red and I automatically rolled on my stomach, looking down at him.

My eyes snapped open, hot tears streaming down my eyes as I looked forward, shaking as I met the old women's own shocked eyes. She grabbed her small necklace, closing her eyes to pray as I clutched my own necklace, panting hard.

"Fuck!" I breathed, feeling my hand dig into the sharp broken glass on my nightstand. I had slid my palm over the glass, curling my fist into it as we were about to kiss, causing the glass to scrap and dig into my skin. I hissed, pulling my hand to look at the thick stream of blood, dripping from it.

"O-Oh no…"

I looked up. He wasn't on my bed. Instead, he was by the window shaking, his hand over his mouth and nose. He squinted his eyes shut, turning his body around so I couldn't see him. I narrowed my eyes, seeing him slightly shake as I stood up.

I turned around, my back facing him as I shivered. My breathing got quick, rushed like I was running away from a stranger, a very attractive stranger. I fiddled with my hands, pressing my lips together until they formed a perfect thin line. "You're skin is so pale… almost paler then mine. You're eyes change and you never really open your mouth to speak, like you're trying to hide something."

I closed my eyes as the memories crashed into me like bricks, like tides that washed over me violently, pulling me deeper and deeper into the raging waters with each breath I took. I wasn't even aware of it when my nose started bleeding. I only noticed when I felt drips fall from my nose and when I looked down, all I could see was red. Like his eyes.

"I don't expect you to believe anything," He said, turning to look out the window. He turned back to me, pulling a white tissue out of his pocket. It was folded in a white square, tape as if containing something in it. "Here."

"What," I said, grabbing the paper carefully. It was slightly heavy, meaning there was something in it. I turned it in my hands as if it were made a glass until I found a small opening, wedging my fingers in it as I worked to get it open. "What is it?"

"Something that will keep you safe for a while," He said with a half smile, turning on his heels. "I should go."

My head had snapped up, my heart racing. I couldn't let him go, not this time. I dropped the gift, grasping his arm tightly as I yanked him back slightly.

"Let go of me," He said in a small voice, sounding strained, a shook my head looking up at him defiantly.

"No," I said quickly. My eyes were so watery if I blinked, the tears would fall. I wasn't gonna let that happen. "Not until you explain what's going on."

"Let go."

"Why are you changing?" I said shakily, pulling on his arm as he tried moving to the window. "Why are you secretive? Why? I know there's something wrong with you. I've known since I saw you. I just need you to know the truth that's all."

"I said, let go off me Sakura," He said, his voice darker, forced. It scared me but I brushed it off, I wasn't going to give up. Not tonight.

"No."

"I said, LET GO!" He said, turning around to face me. My heart dropped to my stomach, my eyes widening to the point where the tears streamed down my face without effort. My throat went dry, my mouth hanging open as I looked at him. His eyes were hard, fierce and…red. The darkest crimson that matched his hair perfectly. He had such an evil yet powering look on his face, like he ready to kill but that wasn't what rendered me helpless, it was his teeth. His teeth were bared, his incisors poking out of his mouth, over his bottom lip. He tilted his head, not saying a single word as he yanked his arm away from my grasp, a low growl escaping his lips.

"No," I said, covering my mouth as I shook my head. I could hear the scream that escaped my lips years ago, the images that world into my mind at seeing him like that. Knowing what he was. Knowing what I foolishly believe when I was mere child. The tears came pouring as Hinata tried to snap me out of it. But she couldn't no one could ever snap me out of this reality of this world. This world that was…

I turned my head a fraction to see a silver object shining in the moonlight from the paper he gave me. I forced my gaze to stay straight as I focused on it, realizing what it was. A sliver cross. Hot tears streamed down my eyes as my lids started closing, my head pounding so hard I couldn't focus on anything but the word that I had been denying since finding out his secret.

"Vampires…" I whispered as I stared up at Hinata, my eyes blinking as she looked at me with confusion.

"What?" she said, looking around us before her eyes went to me again. "What are you talking about?"

"I gotta get out of here," I muttered as I grabbed my rose and scrambled to my feet. My knees were shaky as I wiped at the blood all over my face. "I need air. I NEED AIR!"

"Sakura!" I ignored her cry as I pushed the door open. The cool air biting at my tear and blood stained face as I tried collecting my thoughts.

My name is…

I looked around the sidewalk at the walking people and passing cars, trying to grasp a hold of the world. My head had been spilling with the memories I had blocked. Of the boy that forgot, the friendship he destroyed, the secret that I had foolishly stumbled upon.

My name is…

I ran my hands through my pink tresses as I let myself breathe for a moment before something struck me. My face turning on its own accord towards the left direction of the sidewalk. My breath caught when in that instant, a man had walked in, stopping at a crosswalk. He seemed to stand at roughly 5'11'', with pale skin that almost matched my own. His red hair was tousled by the wind that whipped around him, his chiseled face furrowing in concentration as he waited for the light to change.

My name is…

"Gaara," I whispered breathlessly as the rose slipped through my suddenly limp arms, tumbling in almost slow motion to the ground before it shattered into millions of shards on the concrete. I saw him blink for a moment before his head turned in my direction only to freeze when they landed on me.

I let out a laugh as I took him in. He was older, much older. Maybe a year older than me but it didn't hinder anything from his flawless features. The 13 year old boy I knew 6 years ago turned into a 19 year old man before my eyes. His ever soft jade colored eyes incased in the same black rims as before. I felt myself hypnotized again, engulfed in his spell as we both just stared blankly at the other, frozen in time for a moment. After a while, he had broke our eye contact, walking away behind the building he had came from, away from my eyes.

"No," I said as I found the strength to move, pushing my feet forward as I pushed people out of the way. My feet gaining more and more energy that I found myself running at full speed to the end of the block. "Gaara! Gaara wait!"

I turned corner sharply, seeing it completely empty. I groaned as I looked around me, seeing no one but myself and an alleyway that I refused to go into. Where could he had gone? It wasn't like he could just vanish like that. Well it was obvious that he could. He was a vampire. That's when it finally hit me. After all these years of denial that forced me to forget about him, I could finally see everything for what it truly was. Gaara was a vampire. Vampires existed in this world. There were people that slept during these hours and awoke when the moon hung in the sky. There were people whose eyes changed color whenever they wanted to for disguise. There were people who ran fast, who had unreliable strength and sharpness. There were people who drank blood.

My head started to hurt again, my mind spinning so fast that it made my eyes feel heavy, my body feeling as light like paper. This was too much, far too much for me to take in. So much to reenter my life that it was making me go insane. But I had to see him, to talk to him, to restart the friendship that we lost when he went away.

"Sakura!"

I turned my eyes to the right to see Hinata running towards me, her purple hair flowing wildly as she closed in my eyes rolling as my knees went weak and collapsed under me. My eyes closing as I let myself drift into unconsciousness.

~O~

"Sakura, Oh my god! Sakura are you alright?"

I watched from my spot on the wall as the purple haired women fell to her knees around Sakura, more people crowding around as the scene unfolded before my eyes. The thing I feared the most had come to pass. She remembered me, she remembered everything including what I really am. I had single handedly put my family, friends and race in danger. I inwardly growled low in my throat as someone picked Sakura up, the purple haired girl direction waving for a taxi to stop.

"Damn," I snarled as my fingers curled into the brick, breaking and molding it like it was soft clay rather than hard brick. When she was lifted up, a glint had caught my eyes. I leaned my face forward, seeing my necklace nestled between her collarbones, the burning in my corneas taking over. I hissed as I forced my eyes away from the cross, jumping down from the wall as I watched the taxi stop and the man holding Sakura get into the taxi with her and the other girl. I stayed in the shadows, waiting for the car to move and once it did. I jumped off the wall, out of the alleyways, and started walking up the sidewalk again.

I kept my eyes downcast as I moved swiftly through the sidewalk, avoiding people as I moved towards the crosswalk. It had turned to 'Walk' and I needed to cross it before it changed, otherwise I'd be stuck over here, resisting the urge to just surge over to the other side, exposing myself completely. From the corner of my eye, I saw a blonde girl turn into the corner, slamming her shoulder into mine, causing me to stop briefly.

"Oh god, I'm sorry!" she yelled, looking at me before her eyes grew wide and a blush painted her face. "I-I didn't see you there."

"No, it's alright," I said with a half smile as I sighed deeply. Dumb clueless twit. "No damage done, I'm fine."

"Oh, okay," she said with a smile as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and bat her eyelashes at me. Fucking great. "I'm Ino by the way, Ino Yamanaka. And you are?"

"Gaara," I mumbled before half turning away from her. "I'm sorry miss but please excuse me."

I didn't wait for her response before I started crossing. The sign changed to don't walk and a car had started moving. I stopped it with a hand, shocking the driver out of his obnoxious conversation on his cell phone as he looked at me then his speedometer. I hope he doesn't notice the small imprint of my hand on his crap ass Mitsubishi or I'm screwed.

XXX

I made it to the restaurant as the 'imaginary' sun started to set, my headache getting worse by the second as I opened the door, being welcome by heavy scent of garlic that made my stomach churn. I didn't have a 'weakness' for garlic as the myths say vampires were suppose to have. It just smelled really fucking nasty. I made my way to the reception stand where a women with chocolate brown curls and warm smile was greeting customers. She took one look at me and I could almost feel her need to jump across the stand and rape me. It was bluntly obvious.

"Ciao Signora," I said in fluent Italian as I tapped on the mahogany piece, her shaky breath washing over me as she scrambled to get things organized.

"C-Ciao Signore," she said with a smile as she looked through her papers briefly and sneakily fixed her hair. "C-Cosa posso fare per te?"

"Si prega di me diretto al tavolo di Naruto Uzumaki e Sai?" I asked, leaning against the stand, giving her a crooked smile. "Se non ti dispiace."

"Si," she said breathlessly. Was I good or what? Sometimes, being a vampire had it's moments, others…well most of the time it was just annoying as hell. She grabbed a few papers and came from behind the stand in front of me. Giving me a seductive look that almost seemed comical. If I wasn't on a diet, I would totally take this advantage right now and break her in half but I'm a gentleman so I guess I can control myself. For the moment anyway. "Proprio lì."

I nodded as she led me through the restaurant, going up the stairs to the more private booths until I saw the spiky blonde hair of my best friend and Sai's brooding face on the other side of him. He waved me over and I smiled. The women had pointed to the table and I nodded to her.

"Grazie," I said sitting down at the table with my friends as she smiled and bowed.

"Di niente," she said, giggling as she looked at all three of us before turning back to me. "Posso ottenere qualcosa?"

"Non adesso," I said with a smirk as I looked her up and down just to mess with her. She blushed scarlet, my eyes closing for a moment to smell her blood. B-, one of my favorites. I opened my eyes again, leaning back on my seat as she scrambled away. Naruto and Sai giving me this weird look. "What?"

"You my friend," Naruto said, pointing at me before he pointed his finger on the table. "Are the biggest man whore I've ever seen."

"Ha Ha Ha. So funny," I said sarcastically, flipping him off across the table. He put my hand down and laughed. I just shook my head. "Real fucking funny asshole."

"Knock it off," Sai said, rubbing his temples gingerly as he looked at the table. Judging by the way he was acting either his hunger or Naruto constant male bitching got the best of him. "My god."

"Psh, shut the fuck up Sai," Naruto said, leaning against his palm in a bored fashion. I just leaned back in my seat, balancing it on two legs as I tapped on my knee.

"Yea anyway. I'm starting to think that you're crossing the boundaries if you know what I'm talking about," I said out loud. Naruto snickered quietly and I tired keeping it in. "Since when have you gotten any ass this week?"

"That's, none of your fucking business," he snarled back, causing me and Naruto to back up fakely. "I don't see you screwing anything this past few weeks or so."

"It's because I don't want to," I said, shrugging off the notion like it was nothing. I wasn't the type to sleep and I normally never really did unless I was thirsty. "Besides, with this diet we're on. There's no point in it."

"Well there's always sweet old Kikyo," Naruto murmured, causing me to glare. I didn't really want to think about her right now. "I bet she would give you a point."

"I really don't wanna think about that right now," I said with a sigh. I didn't want to think about her at all. She was only a few sexual encounters nothing more than that. Although she was breathtakingly beautiful, I wasn't going to get myself mixed up with vampire like her. She could suck a man dry of everything he had, blood and all with just a mere glance or a swish of her hips. I had been there and I didn't want to go back.

I pushed her out of my mind, searching my mind for anything that would distract me and surprisingly, they drifted to Sakura. I chuckled as I recalled our final meet earlier this day. How she looked after all this years of only dreaming of her face and now seeing it I was blown away. She had grown into a striking young women, her hair shorter than it use to be but it framed her delicate face so well. Her burning emerald eyes seemingly piercing in their color and gaze. If looks could kill, I'd be dead by now with one look into the green amulets of light. Her skin seemed smooth, porcelain like she could break under the tiniest of pressure with that touch of innocence. I shook my head at my thoughts. She was beautiful, like the porcelain doll that was once dull and dust piled, now polished and radiant for the world to see. No one could ever compare to her. Ever.

"Gaara?"

I blinked back out, looking up to see Sai and Naruto both openly staring at me.

"Dude, you okay?" Naruto asked, tapping on the table as I sighed to myself and nodded.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just thinking to myself."

"About what?" Sai asked and I smiled at both of my friends. I straightened myself up, pulling the chair back to all four legs as I folded my hands on the table.

"Porcelain dolls," I answered truthfully, confusion piling on their faces. I only chuckled at they're reactions, my eyes clouding over into a bright and starved scarlet. My incisors sliding out as I looked around the room. A few of our kind were lingering around here; sitting in tables, waiting the tables, answering the phones, and standing around us. I tuned in to downstairs where the receptionist was openly flirting with a vampire that walked in without her knowing it. I pitied her dearly. If she only knew what he had planned for her. I turned back to my friends, their eyes matching my own as I smirked at them both. "And how easy it is to break them."

A/N: There you have it. What's gonna happen now? o: Tune it later to find out ^^' There's a lot of typos in it that I will get to when I'm done here but I just wanted to get this posted already so I can reread it and correct it and blah all the stuff. I have 8 days of my vaca so I'm all yours. Expect chapter 10 soon Ciao Bella :3

Italian Translation:

Hello Ma'am- Ciao signora

Hello Sir- Ciao signore

What can I do for you?- Cosa posso fare per te?

Please direct me to the table of Naruto Uzumaki and Sai? - Si prega di me diretto al tavolo di Naruto Uzumaki e Sai

If you don't mind- Se non ti dispiace

Yes- Si

Right over there- Proprio lì

Thank you- Grazie

You're welcome- Di niente

Can I get you anything?- Posso ottenere qualcosa?

Not right now- Non adesso