So I realize it's been some time :) but I had warned you my update times would be getting longer, that's how it's going to be from now on: I started working and studying, so my free time is noticeably reduced.

(Wow I'm really getting nervous, it seems like an eternity since I last published anything . )

Anyway here is the next chapter, hope you enjoy it, review and keep following :)

Days went by, and Sasuke's time was mostly taken up by strategizing. He spent hours every day going over the info they had gathered through the centuries on Orochimaru; unfortunately the man was very hard to find, he was extremely cunning and continuously moved his base, so that every time they got close to discovering his hideout he had already abandoned it, and all they found was burnt buildings. He didn't simply flee, he left nothing in his wake.

"Oh come on we just need to go and attack!" Naruto as usual couldn't stand waiting one more minute, now that they knew who their enemy was.

"Don't be ridiculous, Naruto" Sasuke was getting a headache from all the different comments and opinions that regularly flew across the room. It was true, they had gotten an important piece of information thanks to Sakura's memory, but it made the situation only slightly better, because with that piece of knowledge came other, much bigger problems "If this were any other enemy, we could have maybe attacked directly. But this is Orochimaru, the only thing attacking directly will get us is death. We have no information about his whereabouts, no information about the number of vampires who follow him, no information about possible alliances he might have made, we have no leverage at all. The only thing we know is that it's him and that he's based somewhere in Sound. Do I need to remind you just how vast it is? He could be anywhere and if we attacked blindly we'd not only fall into his traps – it is, after all, his territory. He knows it best – but we'd be most certainly be decimated. No, we need to think this over, and to do it we need more information." He turned to Kiba and Shino, but they both shook their heads "The bugs are out, on the hunt, but every lead turns into a dead end" "Same here for the dogs". Sasuke bit off an oath.

"Well, it seems I'm coming at the right time"

Everyone turned around wide eyed.

Sasuke felt the need to smirk. And smirk he did as he walked towards the newcomer, locking him in a hug

"Brother, it's been a while"

"Far too long, otouto"

He disentangled himself to look his brother in the face "What brings you here, Itachi?"

Itachi shook off his coat hanging it on a nearby chair, before turning towards his brother again "Why, isn't it obvious? My foolish little brother has gotten himself into a mess." He gave him a lazy look "Yet again."

Sasuke grunted, Itachi always managed to make him feel like a fledging "Oh and you came to help? You and your pacifist self?" Itachi chuckled at that comment "How foolish of you, otouto." He shook his head with a light smirk on his face "I am a pacifist, Sasuke. That doesn't mean I wouldn't give up my life fighting and move hell to protect my most precious people."

Naruto butt in "I called him. Figured some more wisdom wouldn't hurt."

Sasuke rolled his eyes "Of course you did. Dobe."

Itachi neared the big table where all the paper on their info was "You wouldn't have called me, had he not."

"Of course not." Sasuke immediately answered without hesitating "You refused your legacy because you abhorred violence and you've got a chid on the way. I'd have never called you. How's Hana by the way?"

"Fine thank you." He leant his weight on the table "Let's get to the point. Sasuke is right, a rushed attack would only bring death upon us" Naruto groaned loudly – Sasuke raised an eyebrow, did he really think Itachi, Itachi, would have supported his idea – "What we need to do is get to the smaller fishes, they'll lead us to the Snake."

"I don't get it. How did this become a fishing session?" Naruto was pointedly ignored by the rest of the group as Itachi continued "Here I have a list of known subordinates. Kimimaru – who has long since been suspected of being involved with Orochimaru – Jiroubo,Sakon and Ukon among the others. These are the most likely. The list was drafted recently so I trust in its validity." He passed some copies to Lee who passed them on "Feel free to investigate possible alliances he has made, although I doubt he has. He's too much of a loner and too power hungry to even conceive the idea of sharing it with someone else."

Everyone stood still for a moment browsing through the files, as though confused by the fact that they had a lead; Sasuke soon took control of the situation "You heard him!" and everyone immediately dispersed.

He was left alone with his brother "How did you get all these info?" Itachi raised an eyebrow "You really think all these years I've done nothing more than enjoy life? I've been working on this for years. Besides you know how I get all of my intel" then his serious and business-like demeanour changed and he smirked at him knowingly "Well? Aren't you planning on introducing me to your mate and my future sister-in-law?"

Sasuke scowled at him "Stop it, she is not my mate"

"Yet" Itachi added clicking his tongue at the 't', before also making his way towards the door "Alright, I'm going to rest for now. I've had a long day of travelling. But I want to meet her, better sooner than later" and with that he was gone, leaving a disgruntled Sasuke in his wake.

She had spent the whole morning in the library. She was vaguely aware of the fact that it was nearly midday, but research did this to her, she forgot about her primal needs, delving body and soul in her study. After all there wasn't much to do these days for her. Sasuke was always absent, Ino had momentarily left – under Shikamaru's tutelage of course – to fix some problems in the family business, after having called Tsunade to ask for a prolonged leave for Sakura, which the doctor was all too happy to concede. Even Hinata and Tenten were busy with all the vampire/fighting stuff.

And she was full of energies these days, 'must be the environment' she thought. So she had put it on herself to go explore the house. On the sixth day there, she had discovered the presence of servants, as a girl quickly run beside her with white sheets in her arms – well she should have guessed it, after all Sasuke wouldn't be the one keeping the house spotless – what surprised her was the fact that they all seemed human, no slightly pale complexion, no fluidness in their movements; but she could be mistaking, after all Naruto was pretty tanned and clumsy to be a vampire. She'd have to ask Sasuke.

But the library was what captured her heart the most from the house. It was huge, and it brought with it that calmness and peace she so needed. As a matter of fact it wasn't a coincidence she found herself there every day. After Hinata's explanations and Sasuke's stories she had gotten more curious about him, about his family and his race. Hinata had been unwilling to tell details of Sasuke's history and the slaughter, affirming Sasuke needed to tell her himself.

So there she was with an old tome, reading about Greek history. So far she had yet to find a book exactly about what she wanted to know, but she had gotten so enthralled with that one book she decided to take her time researching. "What..? Why is it talking about the minotaur? That's mythology" She mused out loud, a little habit she had when she delved into her studying.

"That's because the minotaur was actually a vampire. One too old and too lazy to hunt himself, who chose isolation. He compelled Minos and the whole city of Crete into believing he was some mythological creature and got home delivered 7 boys and 7 girls each year. He got it good for quite some time, until my grandfather heard of it and then the party was over "

Sakura inhaled deeply and turned around in her comfy seat to meet Sasuke's eyes.

Then she quietly turned around again "You know. I really hate it when you do that" even though she was getting used to his way of arriving.

In the blink of an eye he was behind her seat leaning over her shoulder to look at what she had in her hands "What are you reading?" She turned the book to present him with the cover, enjoying his closeness, after seeing so little of him until now.

"Hmm, 'Vampire's Influence Into History' . Is this simply out of boredom or are you snooping around?" he leant even more in, resting his chin on her shoulder; he was itching with the desire to kiss her, but he controlled himself. Up until now he had been the one to initiate the contact, to pursue; and while he agreed on not rushing things, he found himself entertaining the idea of her taking matters into her own hands, he wanted her to want him, as much as he wanted her. He was momentarily startled by his own thoughts. He had never been one much for physical contact, even with his most closest people, he had always kept some sort of physical distance. He liked to have his own space.

What was this girl doing to him? Suddenly making him crave her touch. Well, if he had to go down, he'd take her down with him. He'd make her crazy for him. He had already seen a spark of that attraction, he was sure she reciprocated. It was time she actually showed him.

She tensed self-consciously as he brought a hand on her cheek turning her head around in line with his, she closed her eyes, knowing what would come. Expecting it. Desiring it. His hand slightly stroked her hair.

And then he was gone. "Just a bit of a spider web." She opened her eyes startled, then she understood he had only meant to fix her hair and blushed embarrassed, realising she was the only one expecting something more. His eyes, dancing with amusement, told her he knew what she was just thinking.

With a jolt she stood up "I'll put this back, I wanted to read something about clans" she said, both evading the situation and answering she actually was snooping around, in his past. Completely forgetting he had probably already read everything in her mind.

She moved towards the library, with the excuse of putting the book back in its place, but with the intention to get away from him and his imposing presence. He however didn't agree with her action and swiftly followed her; where she couldn't hear his steps, she could feel his presence nearing her from behind, she tried to ignore him and focused on the task at hand, and immediately had to curse herself as she found the place where the book belonged: where was the ladder she had used to get it?

Before she was able to remember she had put it in the next aisle, the book was taken from her hand, she felt him now clearly as he stood right behind her and was momentarily enclosed by his smell before she saw his arm extend to retrieve a book right over her head and then he moved away again "I believe this is what you were looking for" she was forced to turn around and looked him in the face. He, on the other hand, completely focused on the book leafing through the pages, still standing near her preventing her from leaving and getting away from him.

"What was it that you were interested in, particularly? You know, asking me is a much quicker solution" he said raising his gaze from the book without moving his head from its bent position. Pierced by his gaze she fidgeted, trying to ignore how his breath came against her face in waves "Ehm. The… the rising of clans" swallowing she gave her voice more force "You said there were only few vampires at first, I was curious of how it developed to become this kind of society." She wasn't lying actually, she meant to ask this Hinata, to complete the discussion they had the other day, but the occasion didn't present itself "But you don't need to explain it to me" she added hastily " I enjoy reading" while she really had missed his presence, it was clear he wasn't in the mood, at the moment, to exchange affections, and given the situation, it'd be better not to have him around at all.

She hoped that, once he had gotten his answer, Sasuke would leave her alone to her readings; she didn't know if he realized this too, but the tension in the air was rising every minute, it was starting to even get hard to breathe.

"Nonsense. It's no problem at all" he stepped lightly closer and moved a hand behind her, to pose it on the small of her back, but instead of bringing her closer to him – thought that crossed both of their minds– he used it to lead her towards the centre of the big room "All clans originated between the time of romans and medieval times. Hinata has told you how every clan has a particular ability. I guess you'd call it evolution: the strongest traits flourished, while the weakest disappeared, and with natural birth those traits got even more common, until the point in which our community split up into other smaller ones, all associated by the same abilities. Middle age was maybe the highest and lowest moment of vampires." He brought her towards a table, but instead of making her sit on a chair, he threw the book on a nearby sofa and lifted her by the waist to sit on said table; she couldn't believe he was really ignorant of the atmosphere he had created "In that time vampire's growth was really exceptional: contrary to the past, vampires where more numerous than ever. However it was also harder, for them to be controlled."

He had positioned her so, that he would stand in-between her legs and rest his weight on his arms on the table, on either side of her. "When the time of the plague came, not all died for the disease: many humans died those years out of vampire's cruelty, until the Uchiha deemed it enough." Again he wasn't actually touching her, but this was a complete new experience, being at the same eye level, it made her feel squirmy, and the intense look he was sending her didn't help at all. She averted her eyes and cleared her throat "W-what do you mean?".

He was enjoying this immensely "With their army they silently but efficiently slaughtered their kind" he inclined his head in order to obtain again eye contact; she had better not moved, for now not only was she captured by his gaze again, but he was much closer, and again his breath caressed her face as he spoke "But. Why did they do it? Aren't vampires allowed to feed? How can you survive otherwise? Surely they didn't do it for the humans' sake " she tried to push backwards and sit as far as possible from him, but she was already at her limit without having to flex her legs, which would have put her in a really awkward position.

"Why not? It was also because of that. To feed it is not necessary to kill the human, nor does our feeding in any way harm his body, except for feeling a bit lightheaded and if one takes too much blood. They had become inebriated with the power they retained, too many were the victims, too many were becoming the hunters, and those who were aware of our existence." He smirked leaning in to follow her movements and tapping on her collarbone; she tried to keep her breathing even "And for how much stronger we are, we still are humans in part: not rarely vampires were captured and tortured, or defeated. That act had strong repercussion on our own community. In the span of a month half our population was killed." He absentmindedly started tracing imaginary lines on her shoulder and down her arm "And a community until then nearly completely united began to break apart, and with time more and more people saw the Uchiha's decision as too extreme and started joining rebel organisations. Mainly Orochimaru's."

He paused to gauge her reaction. Despite being in the middle of teasing her he also wanted her to acquire a higher level of knowledge about him, about his legacy. She was blushing, but her eyes showed him she had followed his every explanation nonetheless. His clever girl.

"No more questions?" he asked moving a lock of hair behind her ear. And the look he gave her was the last straw. Unable to contain herself anymore she blindly dived in and put her lips on his.

Without a moment of hesitation he reciprocated, enveloping her in his arms and pulling her towards the end of the table, moulding her against his body and leaving her sitting on the verge of the table. He transformed her chaste touch in a passionate lip lock, but he couldn't restrain himself anymore and soon enough he was smirking against her lips. She ended the kiss watching him curiously, but he didn't meet her eyes, instead opting for trailing kisses from her mouth up her ear and down her neck to bury his face in the hollow of her shoulder, breathing in her scent. But she didn't let herself be distracted, she buried her hand into his hair and nudged him off her shoulder to scrutinize his face.

Smirk still in place he pecked her lips again and said "Took you long enough"

It took her a moment to elaborate his words and give them a sense, and then she didn't know what she was feeling anymore. Anger, embarrassment, amusement, confusion. "You… you…" Sasuke observed amused as her thoughts became a total mess. All of a sudden she stood up managing to push him aside and took the book he had taken for her from the couch mumbling "I'll put this away" trying again her fleeing technique: she needed a breath to clear her thoughts. Of course he didn't see it the same way.

She had reached the aisle again when suddenly she was turned around, the book flew away from her hand and she found herself crushed between books and one hungry vampire. Actually that wasn't such a bad combination, the two things she enjoyed the most, she was having at once. She didn't have the time to further consider that thought though, seeing as all coherency left her mind as he again locked their lips lifting her against the wall made of books. She followed his actions by locking her legs around his middle, and bringing him closer to herself.

And it was heaven. And it was hell.

They couldn't get close enough, and in that moment they both felt the 'click', that click that was there every time they kissed, every time he looked at her, every time she smiled at him.

When Sasuke momentarily detached himself from her to fill his lungs she breathed across his lips "You're infuriating…" he smirked and kissed her again "… all this time…" he brought one hand behind her head to catch her mouth again "… you knew…" he interrupted her again "… and left me hanging none the less." He pressed his lips against hers, without moving, simply keeping her as close as physically possible.

"You're impossible" she whispered as he moved slightly away and stared at her smirking.

"But you like it"

She huffed "You're so full of yourself! Let me down, I'm going to bed. You're exhausting" and started walking away from her.

He swiftly got to her side and walked with her out of the library and towards their – the word left a strange feeling in his chest – room "I take that as a compliment"

"Well, you shouldn't" she answered haughtily, trying to accelerate her steps, not wanting him to see her blush as she thought, that 'yes, he exhausted her in a completely welcome and wonderful and exciting way'.

He kept her pace and jokingly nudged her shoulder "Now I really feel flattered. Remember I read your thoughts"

She reddened even more and swivelled around "You.." but she had to stop for her vision blackened momentarily and her head started to spin. When she came to herself again she was in his arms, Sasuke was watching her worried, as he supported her "Are you alright? What happened?"

She had to breath a few times before she was able to answer, and her voice came out much fainter than she'd have expected "I don't know, I guess I turned around too quickly. My head is spinning."

"You must have worked too much. You were unstoppable these days, never seen a human with the energy you have" she giggled lightly "Come on let's get you to bed" with that said, he lifted her in his arms and walked the last few metres that separated them from the room. When he looked down to let Sakura on her feet he noticed she had fallen asleep, and with a light lift of his lip, he gently put her onto the bed, covering her body with the blankets.

He admired her for a moment, before turning around and opening the door to see what the matter was.

"We have news"

He nodded and as quietly as possible, closed the door behind himself.

Aaaand CUT!

Ok this was it :)

When I get the energy to start again I'll have to re-read all of the chapters at least once, to make sure I'm not forgetting anything. Hope I won't take too much for the next one.

How was it? Are you still following me?

Review to let me know what you thought of this chapter and of how the story is going!

-debs