A/N: Hi guys! I am so sorry I didn't update in like FOREVER! But I have some serious problems right now… Anyhow, I think this is one of my longest chapters. I don't know if there'll be more like this one but I'm sure that the next one won't. I am so sorry it took so long and I hope you can forgive me. I hope that this scene is to your liking.

I do NOT OWN any Naruto characters or the story itself. Unfortunately, they belong to the uttermost cruel artists and story writer, Kishimoto. If he keeps torturing me with Sasuke going insane and Itachi now in the hands of Kabuto, I am going to hang myself before I even see the end… I can't take this…

Anyway! Thank you for those that reviewed and please keep them up! I love every single one of them and they help inspire me to write more! Thank you and enjoy!


Ch. 12: Feeding Methods

"I…want…to…DIE!"

Even though Itachi didn't really scream it out, if anyone was listening the message would be clear.

'I don't care anymore. Nothing is worth this humiliation! But before I die, where is that sneaky little brat I once called brother! Curse him! Where the fuck did he go?'

Itachi got the job done. After hours of pure hell, all twenty puppies are back inside their fence home and are sleeping under the hot sun, panting in their sleep. By Sasuke's orders, he played with the cursed hellhounds till they collapsed with exhaustion and apparently, so did he. He's lying on his stomach on the grass right now under the hot sun, practically baking under the sun and he doesn't give a rat's ass. He did everything he thought he could do and actually had to do with handling these hellhound pups, except killing them. He tried this 'one at a time' trick, but they all came at him at once and all left the fence. Sasuke disappeared after that, but Itachi found him sitting under the shade in a tree high up. He always did like high places but now he looks like a hawk watching them. Itachi had to chase the puppies to make sure they don't go off somewhere they're not supposed to and they chased him with fire breathe following right behind him. He tried playing with them but it only lead to them trying to bite him to death. Then he thought about a walk but he couldn't find twenty leashes and their walk turned more into a run when they decide to chase him all over the garden. All the while Sasuke watched without a hint of emotion on his face, but his shoulder kept twitching every time something bad happened that hurt his older brother's pride. Then somewhere between the times of Itachi trying to give the pups hellhounds a snack and now, Sasuke disappeared and left Itachi. He left him to handle twenty puppies. Such a lovely, caring younger brother. He abandoned his older brother. So now that the task is done, Itachi is without energy and he's backing in the hot sun…with a burning throat.

'The trial assured me that I was not going to be killed. Well it looks like Sasuke drained me dry and I was sent to hell! Oh who the bloody hell cares…thirsty…'

But hiding in the shadows, watching the newly turned vampire slowly losing his sanity and his control, a shadow appears and he has a wicked smile on his face; along with sharp white teeth gleaming in the darkness. Then a tongue comes out and licks the lips surrounding those sharp teeth.

"Perfect…"


"Ahahahaha! You should have seen it! It was hilarious!" Sasuke is on the ground, laughing his butt off while slamming the ground with his fist while the other is holding his stomach from bursting out laughing. All Naruto is doing as this miraculous or terrifying event enfolds in front of him is sitting on the ground cross-legged not far from where Sasuke is and he's sitting there, watching and listening to the vampire prince's story telling of Itachi's, possibly, greatest humiliation. "Then when he was finally able to pet one without it biting him, it sneezed out fire and he was baked like a flaming marshmallow! I had to keep reminding him not to kill them and it took everything I had to not break down laughing right there! Hahaha!"

If anyone else besides Naruto was here watching Sasuke laugh like how he is right now, they would have thought that he finally cracked. That or some vampire hunter killed him and replaced him with this Sasuke fraud. He never laughs like this, or at least not in front people. But Sasuke is too strong for anyone to just simply kill and replace without a struggle. Naruto is just an exception for him to lower his guard a bit.

"So you came here to tell me these stories of how the hellhounds are treating your brother?" Naruto asks, trying to get this straight.

Sasuke tries to stop laughing momentarily to say, "Yes, but I also came here because I couldn't control myself any longer. My shoulder kept twitching and I was losing my self control. I don't know how you handle them but they're driving Itachi up the fricken' wall!" Then he starts laughing again. Until he suddenly stops. "Oh shit…stomach cramps…" Now who's withering in pain on the floor?

But Naruto only smiles at his once laughing now in pain friend. "I'm happy you're happy." Sasuke stops shaking from the pain of his cramps for a moment before looking up at the blond jinchuriki with slight confused on his face.

"Uh? Happy?" He sits up and faces his friend while also sitting cross-legged. "What are you talking about, you dope?"

"Oh come on, teme! You were laughing like a lunatic a moment ago and you're telling me that you're not happy? Since when do you ever laugh? You're always so emotionless, macho, and an ass most of the time. Only with me do you lighten up and you never laughed like that."

"I think your brain has finally turned into the ramen you like so much. I'm still the same guy I was yesterday."

"Only today your brother came home."

There became a pause after that. Sasuke stares blankly at the blond vampire in front of him for a moment before narrowing his eyes and looking down at the ground. Naruto didn't say anything. When Sasuke didn't have a comeback after he said that, his eyes widen in a small bit of realization and worry. Then the vampire prince lets out a sigh.

"It doesn't matter anyway. The only reason he's here isn't because he wanted to come home. He came here to kill you, remember?"

Sadly, Naruto nods. But he wasn't sad because someone wants him dead. A lot of hunters want him dead. It was for a different reason.

"But even still." The smile on his face brightens up a little more, causing Sasuke to stare at his friend in surprise. "He still came home and you won't show it, but you're happy he's back, right? He kept his promise."

As soon as Sasuke hears the last part, his expression turns bitter and he huffs as he looks away. "He did no such thing. You're acting like a teenage school girl watching a soap opera. Open your eyes to reality and start acting like the Kyuubi's jinchuriki. Your behavior at this point is disgraceful." He got a look for that.

Naruto looks at his raven-haired, pale skin friend with a sour look on his face as he thinks. 'At least I'm not the one who's acting like the teenage girl that believes every male in existence is a total idiot. He can be so obstinate at times.' But then a small, itsy bitsy fact comes across the blonde's mind. It came with Sasuke's words about reality.

"Oh, now that I think about it. Isn't it about time for Suigetsu's gardening duties?"

Three, two, one…

Sasuke instantly gets up and starts running off into a panic. "Naruto, stay here!" he orders, or screams while running as fast as he can back to the garden to where his brother should be.

But Naruto thinks, 'Yeah, sure. Like I'm going to miss this.' He gets up and starts running after his friend but as quiet and sly as he can be. Usually something like that is impossible for him to do but with Sasuke in a panic and his mind set on getting to his brother clouds the prince's senses and he leaves a trail of dust behind him as he runs.


A man, possibly around the same age as Sasuke looks right now, or maybe a year or a few extra months older and goes by the name Suigetsu, approaches the worn out dark brown hair vampire who's just waiting for death to set him free from this cursed life he's been afflicted upon. Suigetsu has slightly tan skin from the sun's UV rays and his mid shoulder length hair appears to be pure white. It glistens in the sun like crystal clear pond. His body looks a bit on the muscular side compared to the vampire princes but he's not too big or buff. He's a bit slender but has bigger muscles on his body. He has an adorable look on his face and a victorious smirk on his face, revealing his razor sharp teeth; teeth that resembles that of Kisame. Finally, his velvet purple eyes appear to be smiling themselves with each step he takes towards Itachi. He's already confirmed that the vampire before him is so tired out that he no longer has any energy to move. Not to forget to mention that he is a new vampire so he's more thirsty than the normal vampire diet. His throat must be burning by now. Suigetsu has been watching for a while. Possibly since right before Sasuke left because he needed to start laughing or he was going to explode. Now that the body guard is gone, it's just Suigetsu kneeling before the thirsty, exhausted vampire.

"Are you thirsty, Itachi-sama?" he asks, his voice high like a child's and full of mischief. Itachi doesn't answer. Almost as if he's already passed out or he's already dead but Suigetsu knows better than that. He moves a little closer to the weakened vampire and he takes out a knife. Then he pricks his finger and the smell hit Itachi's nose so fast, a fallen piano from the twentieth story would not have been fast enough. Then he had no control over his body. Itachi looks up to the side to where the smell of blood is coming from and Suigetsu decides to provoke him by rubbing the blood on Itachi's pale lips. He gladly licks it and moans from the sensation and taste of that blood. His eyes are glowing red and he stares at the finger with plead and want. He tries to reach for it with his tongue but Suigetsu pulls his finger away and Itachi looks up to see the man lick his finger clean. "Do you want this blood, Itachi-sama?" He lowers the hand back down and this time he presents his bare, perfectly smooth skin wrist before the vampire. "You're gonna have to bite for it." Like Itachi is going to complain at this point. The desperate vampire, who can no longer contain the monster within, grasps the warm blood wrist and Suigetsu's velvet eyes light up as a hopeful smile twitches at his lips. Right when Itachi was going to bite down on the wrist and devour the warm, satisfying, thick liquid, he hears…

"ITACHI! DROP THAT HAND, NOW!"

As ordered, Itachi drops the arm but flinches and tenses in surprise of the voice, his eyes returning back to normal. Suigetsu loses his smile and looks up to the side to where the voice came from but next thing he knows, Sasuke zooms right pass him and the young vampire punches Itachi square on to knock some sense into him. Itachi goes flying for a good moment before tumbling down on the ground. Suigetsu could only watch with blinking surprise eyes. Instead of turning to him, Sasuke's head must only be set on his brother because he completely ignores Suigetsu and goes up to Itachi to grab his collar and shake him.

"Are you out of your mind?" Sasuke asks, sounding completely stressed out. "Get a hold of yourself, you moron! What the HELL were you thinking?"

"Well it was your fault. You left him alone," Suigetsu mumbles. He got a death glare for that and the tan man flinches from the stare.

"Suigetsu."

Hearing his name, Suigetsu looks up and he sees Naruto suddenly right next to him. The sudden appearance would have caused him to jump since the Kyuubi's host is so close. But he figured that if Sasuke's here, Naruto has to be nearby. When the vampire prince sees him, he was taken back, then more stressed, and then angry.

"You shouldn't have done that," Naruto scolds. "Itachi is a new vampire and hasn't been released from his servitude bonds with Sasuke. If he had bitten you and turned you into a vampire, not only would he be in trouble but you would be too."

"Actually while Itachi-sama is at the mercy of his master, I would be killed," Suigetsu corrects, letting out a defeated sigh.

"If you know the consequences, why did you do it?"

"When am I gonna find a better sucker to turn me into a vampire than the worn out, starving one in front of me? I'm pretty sure Sasuke's not going to put him through hell after he releases him so better get bitten now while I have the chance. Besides, I know Sasuke won't let anything bad happen to his friends."

"Keep it up and I wouldn't even mind sending the hellhound puppies on you. The both of you."

Hearing him finally speak, both Suigetsu and Naruto turn to Sasuke and they see a very, very dark aura around him, plus three huge veins pulsing. Oh boy. Hell is going to break loose real soon.

Three…two…one…

"What the FUCK is wrong with you two?" Sasuke screams, not caring if the whole castle can hear him. Both Naruto and Suigetsu stumble back as Sasuke, now having released Itachi earlier, stands before them and cause the one Kyuubi's Jinchuriki and one human to feel rather small compared to the raging vampire before them. "Suigetsu, how many times do I have to remind you that as a human worker of this castle, you have to EARN your right to be a vampire by putting in so many years of work and you have to prove your LOYALTY to the royal family? The only reason why you're still human and way past your acceptance years is because you try every attempt to become a vampire before your time is up! Haven't you learned ANYTHING? Why do you think your years keep piling up? And YOU, usuratonkachi!" His attention turns to Naruto and the young blond yelps before trying to hide behind Suigetsu for protection, who's already sweating like a cold, plastic water bottle out in the sun. "What the hell are you doing out here? I specifically ordered you to stay inside the castle and away from this weakling on the floor! He's trying to KILL YOU! Get those five words through that thick skull of yours and listen to my orders! I don't care if you are the Kyuubi's jinchuriki right now! How am I supposed to baby sit two things at once while trying to protect one from the other when one of them is a total DUMBASS!"

Grasp

When Sasuke cracks, it takes him a while to calm down fully or it takes a lot to calm him down instantly. But all it took this time was Itachi getting up and hugging him from behind, his arms wrap around the chest and shoulders and his forehead pressed against the nape of the neck. Suigetsu and Naruto blink in surprise as the angry fire that had once engulfed Sasuke is now completely gone. Like Itachi's simple move poured the ice water on it and the vampire prince is calm. Then the prince becomes startled, especially when the hold tightens.

"Wh…What are you doing, you idiot?" he asks, his cheeks red with embarrassment. He tries shove his older brother off of him, turning around to face him in the process, as he says, "Come back to reality and see what you're doing, dumbass!" But Itachi's mind is too hazy with thirst and lust to listen to him now. He grabs Sasuke's wrist and pulls him close again. Now Sasuke is really blushing with Itachi's head leaning against his shoulder and feeling his breath tickle his skin like soft feathers. "I-Itachi! I demand that you release-" He couldn't finish the order. All too fast, he feels a hand grasp his naturally spiky raven black hair and pull his head down to expose more of his neck. Then he feels Itachi's lips press against his skin. He didn't mean to but at the contact of his lips, Sasuke gasps and then he feels a tongue pressing against his skin. This time he bits back a moan when he feel that tongue lick his skin and feel the veins under his flesh pulsing with blood. It's driving him insane.

The two brothers became completely oblivious to what's around them. They didn't even hear Naruto talking as he was trying to move Suigetsu into a different direction. "Nice day today isn't it? The plants are glowing especially beautiful today."

"Whatever you say," Suigetsu responds, trying to watch the little show Naruto is trying to distract him from. It's not every day you see Sasuke get heated up passionately or embarrassed like how Itachi is doing to him now. This is a sight to behold. Then…

"Suigetsu!"

The white hair human turns his head forward and besides him, Naruto tenses up at the red flash coming up. Next thing Suigetsu knew, a fist collided with his cheek and he went flying back. Naruto stands there, tensed and a little shaken as Suigetsu who was standing right besides him is replaced with a rather angry woman. This woman that now stands before him is a looker. Nice curves, not too big of a chest, a tight butt, flat stomach, lovely legs, and a strength to be scared of; right next to someone else Naruto knows. This woman has a lighter complexion compared to Suigetsu. Actually it appears to be a shade or two darker than a vampire's skin tone color. She has fiery red hair that's in a rather unusual style. Half of it is neat and one length while the other half appears layered and a little messy. Right now, her hair appears messier than usual. Probably trying to run as fast as she can to get here. Complimenting that red hair, she has crimson red eyes behind those black-lined glasses and they appear just as angry as Sasuke was minutes ago. The fire burning in those red eyes of hers and it made Naruto take several steps back before he gets caught in the middle of Kirin's fury.

When Suigetsu pushes himself up and uses his hand to wipe the cheek that just got pummeled, he asks, "What the hell was that for, Kirin?"

Kirin has a big vein pulsing on her head and she yells, "You idiot! Why do you always try to find the easier way out of humanity? There's a reason why you're still a human!"

"I wasn't doing anything of the sort," Suigetsu lies. "I just so happened to be here because I have to water these god-forsaken plants!"

"You think I'm a fool, Suigetsu? You've been trying to get every starving vampire to bite you for the past five years! Get it through your thick skull that you need to pay your dept before you can become one! Maybe if you just remember that small fact, you would be a vampire by now!"

"Well that's no fun, love. Just paying my dept quietly is too boring. Can't I spice up my life before I give it up?"

This time Kirin flinches. She's already angry but what Suigetsu just said affected her like an arrow unexpectedly shot out of the sky and hit her square on. "Then you're not serious," she accuses. Suigetsu raises a brow when he heard that. Now she's clenching her fists and gritting her teeth as she says, "This is the hundred time you've tried to get a vampire to bite you because thinks are boring. I thought you were trying to become a vampire so that you could claim me personally since I obviously can't become one!"

This time, her words hit him square on. "I am serious! Why do you think I'm trying to become a vampire? Because it's pissing me off on how every vampire can just walk on by and with a snap of their fingers, their fangs are in your flesh! I'm sick and tired of it!"

"Jealously isn't going to get you anywhere and neither is trying to use the easy way out! The easy way isn't always the best way. I thought that after every failed attempt you would learn that by now! I cannot believe that you would scoop so low as to use Itachi-sama this time! Don't you care at all of what would happen to him or Sasuke?"

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. You know something, since day one you've been obsessed over him!"

"That's not true!"

"Oh yes it is! Since the beginning you've been fantasizing about him and wondering what it would be like to get into his pants!"

"In case you've forgotten, he's the reason why none of the other vampires have claimed me yet! He's protecting me from them for you! It's my way of showing gratitude."

"Well it's pathetic and irritating! Love is taken seriously here and I thought you were serious about me!"

"Is this your way of breaking up because the act of how 'oh, I'm the poor victim here' is what's pathetic!"

"You want to break up, that's just fine with me, bitch!"

"We're through then, you ass!"

"Perfect!"

'And in a few days from now, I'm gonna find these two in some kind of closet making-out because they couldn't stand to be apart from the other,' Naruto predicts, already knowing that this couple is now on 'off'. 'On and off relationships. I will never understand them.'

Meanwhile, Itachi's mouth continues to play with Sasuke's skin and the boy is blushing red from the feeling it's initiation in the pit of his stomach and much lower. It made him let out a hiss and he almost lost full control when he feels Itachi's fangs ticking his skin. He became weak in the knees and he only had the support of his older brother to hold him. When he felt Itachi taking one more lick of his skin, the stroke taking longer than the others, Sasuke couldn't stop the mew that was just begging to be released.

"My little…koneko-chan."

Then finally, Sasuke feels those fangs pierce his skin once again and a burst of pleasure spread throughout his body before he could blink. He didn't tense from the pain of those fangs. He was already loosened from Itachi's talented mouth playing with his skin. His arms that were once between them from when he tried to push away limp to the side and that gave full access for Itachi to pull him even closer. Every line of their bodies became pressed together. Sasuke's breath hitched when he felt those fangs penetrate deeper into his flesh to suck more of his blood. This was bound to happen. New vampires need lots of blood, but not too much or it'll be the same as training a vampire to be an uncontrollable bloodthirsty monster. Another reason why they need lots of blood is because if they use their new vampire abilities, it'll be the same as running out of gas. Sasuke made him do some work under the hot boiling sun so it was no wonder that he was going to try and bite someone. The only good thing now is that Itachi is feeding off of his vampire master instead of a human.

The really bad thing is Sasuke is starting to lose control.

His hands that were limping besides him finally gain some life as they rise up, shaking but desperate and they grasp the fabric on Itachi's back and shoulder to pull himself closer. If Itachi had any conscious at all, he would notice Sasuke's now panting breath heating his shoulder. His fangs lengthen and the very tips of it press against Itachi's skin, ready to chomp down and have that delicious thick blood explode in his mouth again. But like before, he stops himself and it took him a few seconds for him to gain back some control.

"Itachi," he calls, firmly but his voice still deep from the pleasure. "This is an order. Get…OFF!" In one strong push, he shoves Itachi right off of him. A risky move considering that the vampire still had his fangs in his neck. But thankfully, he gets away with two puncture wounds. Itachi hit the ground like an exhausted loser that just ran the mile. He was still in a daze as he lays there on his back on the ground but slowly and surely, he's starting to come back to reality. Sasuke pants from the excitement as he stares at his brother. Damn, that was really close.

His wounds heal in minutes, but they took longer than they did before.

"Sasuke." The raven head looks up to his side just in time to see the face of his blond friend before Naruto leans to his neck. "You're bleeding." He was just about to lick the blood when Sasuke stops him and pushes him away.

"Don't even try it," he tells him. "It's bad enough we bent the rules this morning because of you anxiety. Thankfully Itachi's return distracted everyone from that. I don't want to take another risk of you getting in trouble." Naruto went goo-goo eyes when he heard that.

He hugs his protector and cheers, "Ah, you do care!" Sasuke pushes him off again.

"Get off, you dope. Suigetsu." He looks at the white hair human only to see him facing his back against the pissed off red-head who's doing the same to him. He didn't have to ask, nor did he want to. "Pass me a rubbing alcohol wipe and a towel, would ya?" Hearing his command, Suigetsu stops glowering and does as he's ordered. Jealous of him or not, he's still the boss and like a 'good little' worker he is, he needs to obey.

Around that time, Itachi finally came back to his senses. First he cringes from the sunlight in his eyes before sitting up from the ground and rubbing his head from the throbbing headache he's feeling right now. 'What in the world just happened?' he wonders, trying to remember. 'First that human approaches me and then blank.' Then he gasps. 'I didn't bite him, did I?' Quickly, he looks around to see if he can find some body quivering in pain from the vampire's bite. He knows the rule too about not turning anyone into a vampire if you're a servant. But he doesn't see a body. Instead, he sees Sasuke ripping open a small packet and then taking out a drenched wipe that smells like alcohol. He wipes it on his neck and alcohol mixed with blood fills the air. He also sees Suigetsu, Karin, and Naruto but his attention is on his little brother. 'Did I…bite him?' Feeling someone staring at him, Sasuke looks at Itachi and reveals the blood being smeared on his skin. 'I did.'

Seeing Itachi's surprise expression made Sasuke raise a brow. Why does he look all so surprise? He doesn't remember what he did, did he? His eyes narrow and his lips became a solid line at that thought. "Be grateful," he says.

Uh?

Itachi didn't expect to hear that as Sasuke continues to wipe away the blood on his skin. "That's twice you bit me and a good thing too since you almost bit Suigetsu."

Suigetsu? Is that the name of the one who approached him? All he remembers seeing is tan skin. When he looks up to see which one of the other two males that are here, he couldn't tell which one it must be. There are two males with tan skin here and they both have an inhuman aura around them; one looks pissed off as all hell and the other looks curious as he stares at him.

Then all of a sudden, Naruto appears before Itachi, kneeling in front of him. Sasuke tensed and freaked a little at the sight of Naruto suddenly in front of Itachi and the older looking vampire leans back to put some distance between him and the curious male. Doesn't this guy know personal space?

Sasuke grabs Naruto's shoulder and pulls him back. "What are you doing, you dope?"

"Oh calm down for once, teme," Naruto dryly says. He slaps Sasuke's hand off of his shoulder and says, "He can't kill me so long as you don't let him."

'Kill him?' Itachi wonders, hearing this. 'Is he the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki?'

Naruto looks back at Itachi and gets even closer than before. Itachi still leans back but it appears that the farther he leans away, the closer Naruto leans. Sasuke let out a sigh from how true the blonde's words are and rubs the temples on the side of his face. He orders, "Itachi, you are not to attack this vampire before you. Nor are you to kill him. Tell me you understand."

Itachi could only look at him for a moment before looking at those curious, staring blue orbs right in front of him. He answers, sounding really uncomfortable, "I..understand." Even if he wasn't ordered to not lay a hand on this boy before him, he wouldn't want this kid anywhere near him at this point.

Naruto continues to stare at him and invade more of Itachi's personal space. At first, Sasuke would have found this funny that Itachi is getting uncomfortable but even he is starting to find this closure disturbing as he starts towel drying his skin. Why the heck is this dope getting so damn close for? If there is something on Itachi's face, he could at least told him. But then the blonde vampire suddenly grins and says, "I've decided. I like you and I dislike you."

Huh? His statement creates two confused looks from the two Uchiha brothers.

"Naruto-sama, I swear you make the most outrageous saying sometimes."

Both brothers and the blond look back at Suigetsu and Karin. At least they don't look fuming angry but they still look pretty upset and they're standing pretty far apart. Sasuke tosses him the towel once he was done and the rubbing alcohol wipe. "I don't need to tell you not to do it again. It'll just be a waste of my words."

The white-hair grins. "In a way you did, Sasuke." The raven hair narrows his eyes at him for saying that. Then Suigetsu turns to Itachi and his expression turns to child cuteness and playfulness. "Sorry about trying to get you to bite me, Itachi-sama. I just wanted to be a vampire already since I've been working here for so long."

Itachi blinks once from Suigetsu's words. "You mean you want to be a vampire? Why?"

"Well I had my reasons," he answers, eying Karin. "But at the moment, I don't think it's worth it." Karin returns the stare with a death defying glare and a very dark aura. Now Itachi is confused on rather the red-head before him is a human or a vampire. She defiantly doesn't have their pale skin but that aura is not human.

Sasuke lets out another sigh. What a troublesome day. "Itachi, these humans before you are Suigetsu and Karin. Both of them are one of the many human workers in this castle that work for their permission to become vampires."

Suigetsu chuckles while waving. "Well I am, but Karin over here can't become one." Now this interests Itachi. How can a human not become a vampire? But before he could ask, Suigetsu decides to make a proper introduction. "Sorry about my attempt to getting you to bite me earlier. Even though I know you would get in trouble for it, I didn't care. I was only thinking of myself."

'This guy…' Itachi thinks, looking at this guy with a twitching eyebrow. '…he annoys me. Saying stuff like that without a hint of remorse on his face and judging by his innocent smile, he has the cruelty of a child.'

"Ne, as an apology, would you still like a drink of my blood?"

Hearing this, Itachi blinks in surprise and confusion. Did he just hear him right?

But Sasuke answers, "That won't be necessary. He's already had enough blood. He doesn't need any more. Besides, he won't be able to control himself if you simply offer it to him."

"Then would you like a drink, Sasuke? He did bit you instead of me."

"I'm fine. I don't need any blood."

Hearing those words, Naruto has on a face of pity and concern as Karin is still angry and Suigetsu and Itachi are confused. But Itachi is the really confused one. Seeing his expression from the corner of his eye, Naruto turns to him and says, "Confused, Itachi?" The attention is turned to the confused vampire as he looks at the grinning blonde one in front of him. "Don't worry. I understand. A lot of things changed since you've been gone. That includes our feeding methods. But I guess it can be considered that your departure from the throne sort of inspired for the change."

"Naruto," Sasuke calls, his voice sounding like he's warning the Jinchuriki to not say more than he has too.

But Suigetsu says, "Oh let him tell the guy, Sasuke. If Itachi is going to be staying here for good, he needs to know about the new changes sooner or later. Way I heard it, your family made these changes in hope that he would one day come home." Itachi's eyes widen for a moment as Sasuke uses every fiber of his being to not break Suigetsu's neck right now. Why is he saying such unnecessary things now?

Naruto grasps Itachi's attention again by saying, "Anyway, Itachi, about every human worker in the castle is also a blood donor. We discovered that we don't need human sacrifices and suck them dry like how we used to. A more civil method is having them cut themselves with a blade and then we suck a small portion from the wound. However, there have been some exceptions." Before Itachi could ask, Naruto points to Karin and says, "She's the only one in the whole castle who can't be turned into a vampire!" Itachi never heard of this. He looks back at Karin and now that the attention is turned to her, she lost her demonic aura. She looks at Itachi, for the first time really since he's been here, and it's a checking the other out moment. Itachi looks her over in wonder and surprise as Karin looks him over as if searching for something. "So if anyone wants to feed from her, they don't have to go through the trouble of cutting her. They would just bite her."

Then it became Karin's turn to get up and personal with Itachi. Naruto looks at her in confusion as to why she's here as Sasuke and Suigetsu tense up when they see this. Itachi backed away when she suddenly appears and now he's a bit uncomfortable with the smirk on her face and the gleam in her eyes. "You won't get in trouble if you bite me, Itachi-kun. Just let me know and my blood is yours for the taking."

Then he feels that angry aura again. He doesn't have to look very far to see not one but two evil auras like that. Sasuke's irritated enough as it is so probably suddenly being all friendly with the man who attacked their castle only hours ago is probably pushing him way past the limit of furious. Suigetsu though, Itachi can sense a very strong vibe of jealousy and anger coming from him. Wasn't he just glaring at this girl a few minutes ago?

To distract himself from those auras, Itachi asks Karin, "How is it that the vampire venom has no effect on you? I have never heard of any human getting bitten and not being turned into a vampire." Karin giggles, much to the other two's dislike. Now Itachi can't ignore those auras and Naruto is already hiding behind Itachi for safety.

Karin appears insensible to it as she answers, "I'm a weird one apparently. I never knew my family so I don't know where I came from or what my family inheritage is but I apparently have a very unusual blood type that resists vampire venom. The Uchiha family found me covered in rogue vampire bites but I was still a human. The family is really nice since they give me a place to stay, food to eat, and I work here as head of the security. I have a gift for being a very sensitive aura detector. My ability is even more sensitive than that of a normal vampire." Itachi did hear her and he would have been more fascinated with this human if it weren't for the 'stop talking and get fifty feet away from each other' message he's getting strongly from his little brother and the vampire-wanna-be. So all he could do is nod to show that he did hear her. Since she notices that his attention is on something else, Karin looks up over her shoulder to see the two auras and instead she turns back to Itachi and assures him, "Oh don't worry about them, Itachi-sama. Suigetsu and I are over so he's just upset that I'm already talking to another male and Sasuke just doesn't approve of my ways of moving on from a relationship."

Even if he wanted to get some more information from this girl, he can't. Itachi has other things on his mind that include the two demons from hell in front of him. "I see," is all he can say.

Finally, Sasuke decides to talk. "Karin, stop flirting with him." Then he grabs Itachi's arm and hoists him up as if he were a doll and Naruto is still clinging to Itachi's shoulders hiding behind him. Itachi couldn't avoid Sasuke's possessive eyes as he claims, "He's mine."

For some strange reason, Itachi feels…weird. It has been a while since he's felt anything and now, he's experiencing all of these emotions that Sasuke unleashed as if he were the key to some kind of secret treasure chest and when he said those words, it made Itachi want to agree with him. But that's too weird, correct? How can that be right? "Since when have I become yours, little brother?" he asks, trying to sound like his own individual person instead of an object.

But Sasuke answers, "Since I bite you and became your master! Now listen to master and take over Suigetsu's gardening job!" What? Hearing that got everyone's attention as if he just told everyone that they had chores to do like a mother and four kids. "It's your punishment for trying to bite him."

'He cannot be serious…' Itachi thinks, his eyebrow twitching again in irritation.

"Ah, Sasuke?" Suigetsu calls, getting the young prince's attention. He tries to say, "You don't have to be that hard on him. Having him take care of the Hellhound puppies was hell enough and-"

"Oh don't worry, I have a job for you too," he interrupts. Eh? "Don't take this as a day off, Suigetsu. Not only are you going to get another year added, but you're also going to clean and polish the castle's bathroom as your punishment."

Now the human looks terrified as if his worst fear was just mentioned and he has to deal with it. "You don't mean the…"

"…The really big one that's about the size of three bedrooms? Yep. That's the one." Suigetsu turns to stone right there and Karin just raises up a brow, as if wondering what she ever saw in him or insulting him in her mind.

Seeing that Itachi is now either dreading the idea of having to work again when he's already worked to the bone or he's ready to kill someone for how absolutely ridiculous this is becoming, Naruto gets off Itachi's back and stands before him to pat his shoulder. "Don't worry, Itachi-teme! All Suigetsu has to do today is water the garden and mow the grass. It's an easy job compared to the hellhounds, in your case."

"'In your case?'" Itachi repeats, making sure he heard him right.

And Sasuke asks, "And what's with 'Itachi-teme'?"

Naruto answers, first to Itachi, "Hehe. I'm the one who usually plays with the hellhounds. They're a lot of fun actually but even I must admit that they're a handful. From what I heard, they're quite a handful for you since you don't like dogs." Itachi would have just lost it right there. This place…these PEOPLE…it's all too much. They are a LOT worst than the Akatsuki. How can ANYBODY handle those dogs and live to tell the tale?

Then Naruto turns to Sasuke and answers, "Since he's your brother and I already call you 'teme', I think it just seems fit that he should be called that. Besides," he leans closer to Sasuke till his lips are by the young Uchiha's ear and he whispers, "after what he did, I think I have the right to call him that." Itachi looks at the two of them confused. He didn't hear them but he is curious about what Naruto just said. Especially when he sees Sasuke narrow his eyes after he heard that.

Then Sasuke pushes Naruto away and asks, "What are you talking about, usuratoncachi?" He turns to the others and calls, "Oi, Suigetsu. Tell Itachi the details of your job and then get to work on that bathroom."

But the white hair man asks, "Can't it be something else? That bathroom will take days to clean."

"Then you better get started, huh? Karin, you're excused and it's time for you to get back inside, Naruto." He starts walking away and Naruto whines.

"Ah. Can't I at least play with one puppy?" he asks, catching up to him.

"They're all tired out and you're still grounded."

Karin steps in front of Suigetsu and then sticks her tongue at him while also pulling down one eye lid. A vein pulses on his head and she skips away to catch up with the other two. Itachi has his face in his hand as he thinks, 'If I ever had the worst day of my life, I think this day just out beat it.'

The newbie vampire hears Suigetsu let out a sigh to control himself before saying, "Come on, Itachi-sama. I'll show you the ropes of this job before I have to go to my other one."


Ne, so how was it? Good? Bad? Let me know. Till next time! Next Chapter: Goodnight and War