o-o... Winter ish coooold~! AND I LOVE IT! ;D I don't know about you, but winter is one of my favorite seasons next to spring. Fall seems too short and summer is too hot for me D: I'm sorry, summer...but you too hawt for meh! Nyuhuhuhuhu~! I can't wait to stay inside and play video games like the nerd I am! Did I mention that I think Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians is a hottie? Why does the Tooth Fairy get to look at his teeth when I can't? D:"

I hope everyone is doing well as I lack updates D: I am still sorry for taking so long for updating, but please remember that others have a life outside of the world of (no matter how amazing it is~) Please accept it and haz fun! 8D

REPLIES TO REVIEWS (that needs answers)-

jojo07- Ne, you're too sweet! x3 Thank you so much and I hope you will enjoy the chapter and have a amazing day!

charmedprincess101- I have yet to choose what I am going to do with Mr. Shmexii-pants (Itachi). Uhm, I have a question...what does 'smh' mean? ;w;' I apologize but I am not too familiar with the text-language! I know I should've looked it up, but I have been busy D:

harusaki-tsukiko- I wasn't expecting for anyone to cry while reading the last chapter, honestly OwO I'm sorry that almost happened to you, but I hope you will be better with this chapter? I can't keep promises, but I think you will like the outcomes of this story!

Dark Devil2K7- I have explained in the last chapter that the Uchihas' don't have electricity in their homes, thus not taking the time to buy cellphones that need to charge on a outlet C: They're very old vampires and prefer to stay out of the technology ways, using stone-fires to cook food for their human guests and such.

Remember the things that make Kitty oh-so-fuzzbally! Reviews, Follows, Favorites or even just dissing me is acceptable for my situation of fuzzyness o-o... It is a serious case, I tell you all!

=xxx=

Wilting Roses

Chapter Twelve- Sharing a Secret

If touching the clouds were possible for Hinata, then it would have been absolutely impossible with the scream of terror as she clung to Naruto's back like a baby monkey to her momma; screaming high pitched cry when Naruto simply laughed in midair. Probably six stories above the treetops, Hinata felt like she was flying! Her arms wrapped so tightly around Naruto's neck, she probably thought she was choking him- But then she remembered that Naruto was somewhat indestructable.

So she screamed to her heart's content.

Naruto laughed at her vocal reaction. "You doing alright, Hinata-chaaan?" His knees straightened from his leap, causing the fall to be faster and dead-on to the ground; Hinata clung onto him for dear life as she begged to whatever God she could think about, burying her face into his strong neck as she hoped it would end quickly. "Open you eyes, Hinata-chan. You're missing a great sight!"

She shook her head fast, feeling the uncalled wind push her long hair behind her, leaves only licked her cheeks as she cried. "No, no, no! I'm too scared!"

The feeling of a hot cheek pressed against hers' made her breathing hitch. His voice was calm, like his exercise wasn't tiring him out at all and he was unmoving as she held her thighs protectively. She could barely feel his mouth against her red cheeks. "I wouldn't let you fall, would I? Just a little peek and I won't ask you again."

Slowly, Hinata cracked her eyes behind Naruto's blonde hair. She couldn't feel his body moving while being pressed against it, but she felt the wind blew against her, looking like she was going as fast as a race car. Her eyes opened more as she moved her head a little bit back, seeing the mist under them as Naruto bounced on each branch that wouldn't have been able to support a small animal, she watched green leaves zoom past her and looked up to the bright and shining sun above them both; the scenery of wilderness surrounded and the smell of water reeked the air perfectly.

"Wow..." she breathed, her breath visible in a smoke and brushed past them in a cloud, forgotten. Her hands gripped his shoulders somewhat calmly now as she leaned back better to see the area around her.

"Do you like it, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he stopped on a dead oak branch. The tree shaked only a little but held them both like they weighed nothing. "Didn't expect this in my backyard, ne?"

Hinata shook her head and looked around more. "I thought...i-it was just trees and...you know? N-Not all this stuff and- I-Is that a mountain?" she gasped and pointed at the faint shadow of a tall earthed structure hiding behind the missed. When Naruto nodded in confirmation, Hinata just gasped again and continued to look more. "This is...really cool, N-Naruto-kun."

"That's not the best part," Naruto grinned. "I want to take you someplace that I find really cool!" With that said, Naruto launched them up into the air and practically flew them over an opened field that was filled with numerous colors of flowers and plants.

Hinata took the time to relax in Naruto's hold and continued to look around the untouched scenery of nature. She loved nature and she always wished she lived in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, like her mother always wanted to do with her family back when she was alive. After a while, being in the air seemed like a second nature to Hinata's instincts as she daringly stuck out her arms and pretended that she was flying on her own; on a cloud that didn't judge the law of weight and crap, and carried her anywhere she wanted.

Naruto was her little cloud. A warm, cuddly and very handsome cloud.

Smiling shyly, Hinata leaned forward on Naruto's back and wrapped her arms around his neck. She sighed quietly by the warmth his strong body gave off and rest her head on his shoulder comfortably. "I can't w-wait to see it, N-Naruto-kun!"

His heart swelled in his chest in a sweet way to cause him pain; it always takes a lot (and not counting Sasuke's beatings, okay?) to get Naruto in pain for anything, which this is something Naruto can get used to pretty quickly. Naruto giggled to himself as he picked up the pace, wishing to hurry the time to arrive to his surprise.

=xxx=

Sasuke walked silently along the road of the country-side of Kyoto, watching as Sakura scurried ahead of him looking for a payphone at the little stripmalls. He found it somewhat annoying by the fact that nowadays, people have these things called cellphones. Thus, with the growing populary of this particular technology, the population of payphones at every corner has decreased greatly.

... Annoying.

Watching his wife jump around in her pink and red kimono to look over the tall grass like an average human, going to her tippy-toes and craning her neck to see a old gas station with old gas pumps. Perking her whole body, Sakura squealed and took off in a human speed around the wooden fence and began scanning around the dirty lot like a kid pretending to be an adventurer. Sasuke smirked a little when a farmer watched in confusion by the kimono-girl's excitement when she tackled the rusty, mud-caked payphone and started laughing in victory.

"I found it, Sasuke-kun! Look, I found it!" Sakura screamed in glee. "I finally found a payphone! Get here with the money, Cha!"

"Hai..." Sasuke graced his way over and pulled the girl off the payphone before allowing her to dig in his pant pockets; looking for the change that they picked up off the sidewalks and pick-pocketing while the other flirts with the victims. Yes, they were partners in crime for life.

When she found the right amount of yen from digging in the pants that she loves to take from him, she counted and gave them to Sasuke, silently commanding her dearly beloved to work the unknown machine that she wasn't familiar with. Complying to his sweetheart, Sasuke pushed the coins in and began dialing while Sakura looked around to the people watching them with curiosity.

Waiting as patiently as she could, Sakura played with the rim of Sasuke's long, black coat while she heard the operator answering the long distance; she giggled lightly when the other line picked up to their chosen place and heard Sasuke grunt into the reciever.

"Aa, Sa-su-keee!" a male voice responded to the Prince's lack of vocals. "And I bet that dear Sakura-chan is with you, too?"

"Hai!" Sakura shrieked by Sasuke, not bothering to speak into the phone. They can hear each other anyway. She giggled more until Sasuke tucked a hair behind her ear and spoke to her like a child: pressing his finger to his lips while the man's voice in the phone continued to coo and say wonderful things about Sakura's personality, just to get under Sasuke's skin.

"My friend, it has been a while, no?" Sasuke intrupted him with a serious tone.

"Aa, Sasuke, always wants to get to the point whenever I'm busy talking about how cute your wife is!"

"Would you like to come over for dinner?"

The gruffy laugh on the other line made Sasuke roll his eyes. Sakura cuddled her head against her husband's arm to ease off his displeased reaction to the response. "Why not? I miss you guys a bunch! I'll just have to ask the lovely wife of mine and we'll probably make it in a few days time. Why the sudden invite?"

"We think there are werewolves in Kyoto."

Silence took over the phone-talk while the rest of the human word continued to go on like nothing is wrong.

=xxx=

Naruto settled Hinata on the mossy grass and looked around. The forest was greener and thicker after a few minutes of running in his vampiric speed; being thankful that they didn't need to stroll in a lost daze like other humans normally did in the past, vampires could never get lost in a forest that was their own territory. The area was much more quiet, an odd silence that people who lived in the city wouldn't understand.

Peaceful quiet.

Naruto watched Hinata's head look around continously, as if trying to map out what this place is- where this vampire took her. She didn't seem scared as she was during the ride of her life. Honestly, Naruto thought she would have enjoyed herself being so high up in the air and flying at first, but the poor, idiotic fool scared the crap out of her for a bit until he calmed her down. He was happy now that Hinata was examining every little plant and ladybug that was flying by them, smiling like a little kid with a new toy, she was shy about touching something so new to her...but it was so nice for the gift.

"N-Naruto-kun, it's very pretty here," Hinata said in simple awe. Her hands came together as she looked at the numerous flowers. "This is lovely..!"

"Bah! That's not the best part, Hinata-chan!" Naruto roared a laughter as he fell onto his back. He eyed that Hinata jumped when she watched him fall before he started rolling on the soft material of the earth to the tall grass and cat-tail plants. He rolled to his stomach and crawled army-style behind the plants.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

In a snap, Naruto was up on his feet and pushing the long grass away like a curtain; holding a door open for Hinata like a real gentlemen. If he only had a damn tie. "Come this way, milady. Theres' something really cool over here!"

Peeking over her shoulders to get on her toes, Hinata saw a dark area. A giant hole against a rocky material of a makeshift cliff after years of moving. Her brows furrowed in caution, but she slowly made her way closer to him, to the darkness.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked in a whisper once she reached his side, his strong arm wrapping around her shoulder in comfort. She instantly eased her shoulders when his hand pat her tense muscles. She allowed him to guide her into the dark, looking around to see nothing but rocks. "A cave?"

"Just hold on a second, Hinata-chan. You'll like this." He kept the 'door' of grass open until she settled in a bit farther, not too far from him of course, but enough that she felt the chill of the cold rock breathing at her. After a minute, Naruto's hand dropped the gross to let the darkness take over Hinata's sensitive eyes.

Hinata stiffened again when she couldn't see the details of the rocks, or the shadow of Naruto standing behind her. She made a whimpering noise and instantly thought about dashing out of the cave-

A light started to glow into the deep side of the cave.

A moment took Hinata's breath away as the walls of the caves around her started to spark, then go along in a soft line as it trailed down and into the hold of the cave; designs of swirls and sharp edges against the tips of the minerals, like a imagination taking pictures from clouds, Hinata could make out pictures of human shapes and plants, animals, plants and constellations of stars. Her jaw dropped as her lavender eyes glowed against the softness of the light, which now drowned the darkness to a blue-like hue of light.

"Wh-w...what..." Hinata couldn't speak.

"It's called chakra," Naruto explained quietly, not breaking the mood of Hinata's wonder. "All living things have it inside them in their systems, as for plants and other living things. Some creatures have it powerful then others and they can use it to make stuff like this." He pointed to the rivering light that reminded Hinata of flowing water. "Vampires use it all the time and can do awesome stuff. Like Sasuke-teme uses this thing called a 'Chidori', when he can make lightning come from his hands!"

"And Sakura-chan with her healing?" Hinata guessed.

Naruto nodded. "I would assume so," Naruto smiled. When Hinata gave a silent question to touch it, Naruto only smiled bigger and graced his hands towards the rock. "Go ahead, Hinata-chan. You're not hurting anything..."

Her long, delicate fingers touched a picture of what looked like a little child holding an animal, a rabbit maybe, and was taken back when the blue-ish color glittered against the touch and began changing into a flash of rainbows. It spread all over and went on for a while when Hinata gasped in shock.

"Is that normal?" she asked quickly, thinking she did something wrong.

"Yeah, they react differently to touch," Naruto shrugged softly. "If you blow your breath on it, it will so a smoky-thingy, touching it is rainbows... I don't recommend peeing on it though, they'll react to that badly."

"'They'?"

"Chakra is like a living thing too, but it's a part of ourselves," Naruto whispered as he slowly sat down on the ground, Hinata following him. "Like Sasuke-teme's Chidori can cause harm to others... Piss of a chakra, it will react to you in defense."

"So it shocked you when you..." Hinata couldn't stop herself from going into a fit of giggles when Naruto grumbled small curses. "I'm sorry, N-Naruto kun!"

"Bah, I was ten when I did that!"

"So...who made these things?"

"The spirits of the Uchihas' who passed way made them." When Hinata made a confused expression, Naruto took his time to be calm and as smart as he could. "The people who were Uchihas made them after they passed away, like telling their most treasured thing into stone that will never wither away. There are no graves for the people who passed away for vampires, so dark places where people don't go are an ideal resting place for the spirit to spend on earth is somewhat better. And, not to mention, a kickass find."

"So these are graves..."

"Yeah..." Naruto looked at the picture of a family; Father, Mother, Son and a pet raccoon the child kept as a companion. He understood some of the stories that were written on the wall, both adult vampire and child vampire who died from the massacre or murder. It took some time, that was for sure, but from being raised by Sakura's very old folktale of storytelling, Naruto wasn't too dumb with figuring out little details.

"This is...amazing, Naruto-kun," Hinata breathed. "No one has ever- I mean, it's just that... Wow."

"No one but Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan and I know about this place," Naruto said softly. "But I wanted to share it with you..."

"Really..?" Hinata glanced at him shyly, seeing how calm and quiet he was speaking.

"Being my perfect match, I want you to know everything possible about my life," Naruto stared at his jeans, tattered and dirty from training alone in the forest. "Humans and vampires are not suppose to be together, with being...different and your kind doesn't respond well, I mean. But I know you're special, Hinata-chan. And, you know, I wanna let you know that you don't have to be scared..."

He trailed off instantly with his face growing a bit red by each minute he mentioned his thoughts about her. Hinata watched silently, like a good girl, and slowly smiling like a doll when Naruto began cussing under his breath at himself and growled like a animal. It seemed that now she was used to this behavior of the vampires, they're like cats and dogs when they growled or fight with each other; being like a graceful dancer when they move, like a pro.

But, as she noticed it, when it came to talking about their feelings...they naturally suck at it. And it was simply cute.

Scooting on her rear, she went closer to Naruto's side and carefully placed her head on his shoulder. She smiled a little bit bigger when she felt him move into a surprised tune of his body, but suddenly he calmed down and returned the gesture by resting his cheek ontop of her soft hair.

'Such soft hair...' Naruto thought in his head in total relaxation. His hand slowly sneaked up to touch the strand, hearing her sigh inn content, he took it as an 'okay'. His fingers continously ran through her long, dark hair as she paid nost of her attention onto the colorful walls that were dancing.

"Naruto-kun..."

"Hai?"

"This place...will be our secret." Hinata looked up, not removing her head from his shoulder, and smiled softly with a tint of pink into her cheeks. "Can this be our special secret?"

Naruto didn't hold back when he smiled. "Of course, Hinata-chan. This will be your safe haven."

=xxx=

Upon returning to the mansion, Naruto stated to Hinata that Sasuke and Sakura were back and lounging around in the mansion. She smiled bigger as she held his hand tightly as she could while he guided her into the shelter to find Sakura's glomp attack to prove affective to Hinata's poor heart. After a long moment of cuddling a geisha, Hinata had to whimper inaudibly about how she couldn't breathe and Naruto panicked, saying that Sakura was hurting Hinata.

With that, Sakura jabbed her fan into Naruto's ear.

"OWWWWWIEEEEE!" Naruto cried out.

Sakura smiled and let go of her death-grip on the human girl. "Love hurts, Naruto! I wouldn't harm Hinata-chan even if Sasuke told me to!"

Hinata stiffened. "S-Sasuke would't..."

"Nah, he likes you because you keep Naruto occupied instead of bothering him," Sakura chirped sweetly before pinching Naruto's cheeks hard and stretching them as far as she could. "Look at my little man! All grown up and coming home with a woman!"

"S-Sakura-chaaaan..." Naruto cried in pain as his cheeks stretched. "That huuurts, Dattebayo!"

"Mn," Sakura shrugged simple. She let go of Naruto's face and let him drop to the floor to rub his face to soothe the redness. With a turn of her pink head, the doll-like girl suddenly smiled "Hinata-chan, you must be hungry, ne? Why not help me make you something in the kitchen?"

Hinata slowly nodded and followed Sakura, not before patting Naruto's head to leave him to cry alone in his miserable pain. "Sakura-chan, how was your trip with Sasuke?"

Sakura perked childishly as she pulled out a pan with fresh vegetables in a knitted-bag with a twisty-tie ontop. "Oh! I guess Naruto told you about it? It was great! I found three dollars worth of change on the way there, so Sasuke had to carry them and such..." Sakura kept on babbling about her whole trip to find a payphone, leaving Hinata to wonder if the geisha had a habbit of rambling when she's excited. It didn't bother Hinata, so she simply took a carrot and started to shred the icky dirt off it's coat to clean it up, listening to Sakura's story calmly.

"Oh, and we saw this adorable puppy on the side of the road with a little boy playing with him. I asked Sasuke if we can bring them some cookies, but he said no; honestly, I have no idea whats his deal of going out to do business, and coming right back. You know, I think he's afraid of puppies."

"T-that's funny, Sakura-chan!" Hinata giggled sweetly.

Sakura nodded in victory and carried a dish of water over to the stoned oven that was installed, walking past Hinata and stopping in her tracks. The pink haired vampire leaned closer to Hinata's head and began sniffing her dark hair. "Say, Hinata-chan...have you been anywhere near rocks recently? You smell...like rock- Oh! Naruto took you out, didn't he?"

Snip!

"Itai!" Hinata shrieked and held her thumb, feeling the sticky blood already staining into her skin. She bit her lip hard to hold back her cries as she stamped her foot on the tiled flooring hard; the numbness settling into her cut was quick, but it still stung badly. Noticing how close Sakura was, the flashback of Hinata's realization seeped in and scared her once more. "O-Oh, Sakura-chan, I'm s-so sorry about this!" She hurried to the counter were the sink was and dipped her hand under the faucet to drown the possible smell of iron and blood to Sakura's nose. Tears started to form into her eyes, instantly thinking she made a big mistake. "I-I'm...I'm s-sor-sorry...I-I!"

"Let me see it, honey." Sakura was behind Hinata instantly, startling Hinata with a little jump when she felt her warm body by her side. The very pale hand of Hinata's vampire friend came into view, softly asking for her bleeding hand. The cut was deep, Hinata noticed, and she will probably need stitches...

"It's okay, honey," Sakura offered a smile, her face completely normal. Her eyes were still green and her teeth weren't sharp. "I'm not thirsty for pretty little girls," Sakura giggled when Hinata flushed, her hand placed on her own.

Hinata watched curiously as Sakura examined the cut on her thumb; dark-cherry liquid was respilling out of the cut from lack of rushing water, letting Sakura twitch sadly from her lack of care for watching what Hinata was doing. Slowly, and being careful with her touches, Sakura's pink tongue stuck out and allowed her dead organ lick from the bottom to the top of the cut, a sizzling sweetness erupted Hinata's systems.

"It's...cold," Hinata mumbled.

Slurping her tongue back into her mouth and swallowing the tonguefull of blood down her throat in a big gulp, Sakura simply smiled and showed Hinata her own thumb; seeing a clean digit with no evidence of cut or blood. Hinata gasped in shock and looked at her thumb dumbfoundedly.

"H-how did you-"

"I figured using the way that won't leave an uncomfortable feeling while I healed it with my hands," Sakura giggled. "Despite me having a dead body, healing isn't all that hard." Sakura shrugged simply and took the knife out of Hinata's hand and resumed her friend's work for her. "If you want, you can do something else where I can't distract you! I'm sorry about that."

Hinata blushes furiously and sat in the kitchen chair with the green foods, gently taking the lettuce head and pulling them apart to be washed. She didn't feel scared about Sakura's actions toward her anymore, on the contrary, she is actually kinda curious about the vampire species.

"Sakura-chan..?"

"Uh-huh?" Sakura looked away while chopping a cucumber ninety-miles an hour to see Hinata swallow.

"Can I ask a few question about...vampires?"

"Well, I wouldn't stop you from doing that. Fire away, dear!" Sakura giggled as she went back to cutting and slicing like a professional chef.

Hinata smiled.

=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE- OHHHH, SHORT CHAPTER ;w; I'M SORRY EVERYONE, BUT AT LEAST YOU GOT NARUHINA'S FIRST DATE! -and with that, I have no freakin' regrets- So! In next chapter, theres' gonna be a BIG surprise for Hinata when she gets home. What do you think it is, ne? C; Although I'm sure everyone can guess correctly (I'm a loser).

WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS SHOULD HINATA ASK? Like, what would you dear readers, like to know about Kitty's version of vampires? Anything really, since I don't have anything to answer questions...yet xD

I hope everyone will have a great New Years! Kitty is doing it German style and gonna party with her loved ones! So she hopes you will enjoy yourselves until 2013!