I don't own Naruto.
Minako ran through the streets until she reached a small park. "Shikamaru! I know you're here!" She yelled while stopping in front of a tree.
"What is it? I thought you wanted me to leave." A voice coming from behind her said.
"You knew that he was going to take her tonight, didn't you?"
"What are you talking about?"
She turned around to face him. "Tell me!"
"I did. Are you happy now?"
"Is that why you came to see me? You knew that Tsunade was going to send them out even if I'm not there-"
"Why are you being so dramatic Minako? She's better off with the Hyuuga anyway."
"That's what you think! What about Tenten?"
"If Sakura got used to it, so will Tenten."
The raven blinked in surprise. "You... saw Sakura?"
"Yes. She misses everyone a lot, but she's fine."
Minako slowly sat down with her back to the tree. "She wouldn't miss anyone if I hadn't left her there... And now I lost Tenten too..."
Shikamaru sat next to her. "You didn't lose anyone Mina. Besides, there is nothing you could have done for either one of them. If you stepped in between the lords and their mates, you would've died."
"At least I wouldn't feel this miserable..."
"Yeah, the tricky part about being dead is not being able to feel anything." Shikamaru said while looking at the sky through the branches.
"That reminds me... I've found the records that you told me about. Turns out you were telling the truth."
"So you trust some ancient document more than you trust me?"
"You can't really blame me for it... I mean, you lied that you were dead for the past month, so what would stop you from lying about other things?"
"I never said that I was dead, so it doesn't count as lying. You can't blame me for your presumptions."
Minako smiled. "Just like the old days, ha?"
"Why wouldn't it be? Noting has really changed..."
"Yeah... Except now you have a pair of fangs, inhuman abilities and immortality." Minako said while counting with her fingers. "I on the other hand, have lost a total of three teammates and gained a few admirers from the main command of the night watch."
"What do you mean?" Shikamaru turned his gaze from the sky to Minako.
"Ever since the mission that I kinda lost Sakura in, they are not leaving me alone. Whenever I went on missions, they would wait for me to come back and give them a full report, and sometimes they didn't even let me go, but kept me for "questioning" instead."
"What did they usually ask you?"
"Always the same questions... Did I know that Uchiha chose Sakura to be his mate? Did anyone from my team know? Recently they started asking a lot about you too."
"I'm not surprised... Some of the agents from our night watch have seen me with other vampires." Shikamaru told her while looking back at the stars.
"That explains it... They found out that you're one of them now..." Minako said while lifting her gaze towards the sky.
"Mina?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you find an answer to your question yet?"
"What question?"
"Where do you stand?"
"Well... It's complicated."
"Really? How exactly?"
"Everything that I've found out does make a difference, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm still human."
"And if you were a vampire?"
"I wouldn't go cloud gazing, that's for sure..." Minako smiled when she heard her friend's chuckle. "It's funny how, no matter what we do, we never really have a choice."
"That's what war is Mina... You're either on one side or the other, there's no such thing as being neutral."
"I know... It's just, I've never really noticed it before... My friends and I were all together on the same side, so I didn't care about anything else... And now-"
"Someone's coming." Shikamaru said before he disappeared.
Minako stood up and scowled after noticing the unwanted company. What are they doing here? Three agents were coming her way.
"Minako Ibuka, come with us."
"Why?"
"We have some questions that we'd like to ask you."
"Then ask."
"Not here, back at the headquarters."
"I'd prefer it if you'd ask them here instead."
Just when two of them started walking towards her so that they could drag her away, they were stopped by their leaders scream. When they turned around, they saw the third guy's chest was pierced by someone's arm. The vampire that killed him pulled his hand out and let the body fall. The other two agents backed away immediately.
"You'll pay for that vampire!" One of them said while pulling out his gun.
"Think again, human." Another vampire said before his kick sent the agent into a tree.
The other agent backed away, but was surrounded by three more vampires. Minako just stood at her spot close to the tree. Running away in my position is impossible, and my chances of actually surviving the fight are pretty small, even if I were to presume that there are only five of them...She thought while trying to keep herself calm. Of course, the situation she was in made that impossible.
And then the last agent got killed. Naturally, they turned to her next. One thing is for sure, I'm not going down without a fight! With that thought, she reached for her guns. Then she remembered that she used all of her bullets while she was fighting to get to the headquarters that night. Just great... So, after losing the plan A, she went for the plan be B, which consisted of fighting them off and hopefully finding a way to escape and maybe even call for backup.
"What is a pretty girl like you doing outside in an hour as late as this?" One of them asked while they were slowly closing in on her.
"Waiting for sunrise... Wanna join me?" Minako said while taking a step back.
"What? No screaming, begging for mercy? Didn't your parents teach you how to behave in front of vampires?" The same one, obviously the leader, said. Then he started laughing and the others mimicked his action.
"No, they didn't live long enough."
"Is that so?" The leader said before appearing in front of her. He grabbed her throat and pushed her against the tree. "Would you like to see them again?" He asked before moving her head to the side.
Minako's eyes widened as he opened his mouth and went for her neck. She tried to push him away, but he was simply too strong.
"Bite her, and it will be the last thing you'll ever do." The vampire froze in his spot, his fangs almost touching Minako's skin. He took a step back and turned away from her, letting her fall to the ground since her legs gave up.
"My lord, please forgive me, I had no idea that you wanted this woman's blood for yourself..." The vampire said while bowing.
Minako was sitting behind him with her legs on the side. She was holding her throat with one hand while keeping herself from falling over with the other.
Gaara passed the other vampires while glaring at their leader. He came to Minako and pulled her up. Since she was still unable to stand, he wrapped his left arm around her waist while she held on to his shoulder. "Your statement is only partially correct. I don't want just her blood, I want everything she has to offer." He said while looking down at Minako. "The only reason why I'm going to let you live is because you've killed those three agents, but don't think that I'm going to forget about this."
"Of course, my lord. Thank you..." The vampire said while bowing.
"Leave." As soon as those words left Gaara's mouth, they were all gone. He wrapped his other arm around her and held her close. Minako rested her head on his chest.
"Why did you make me forget?"
"Because you weren't supposed to find out anyway."
"I was a kid! I wouldn't have known what that meant even if I remembered!"
"Not right away, for sure. But you would have realized eventually."
Minako pushed herself away from him and sat on the ground with her back to him. "You could have taken me with you... It would make things so much easier!"
Gaara folded his arms on his chest and sighed. "And how exactly?"
She stood up and turned towards him. "Since we don't have a choice why didn't you simply take us away while we were babies? At least then you wouldn't have to worry about possible resistance, and we wouldn't have any friends or a life to leave behind."
"That's a good idea, from your point of view. But lets just imagine what would've happened if I did take you away from your parents when you were little. I would watch you play, make friends, grow and I would teach you new things, like every parent does. Tell me, how would you feel if someone who you considered a father suddenly decided to make you his lover?"
Minako's eyes widened slightly. "I didn't think about that part..."
He took a step closer and hugged her. "We aren't taking you away like this because we like to watch you cry for your friends or family. There simply isn't a better way. The previous generations of vampire lords used this way to get their mates and the next generations will do the same. You are not the only one without a choice."
Minako wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "I don't think I ever really forgot those..." She said before closing the gap between them and kissing him on the lips. The moment later, he was gone.
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