Samhain
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 13
It was the strangest sensation. Sasuke was both watching a movie and living it. He knew that this person was someone else, but yet he was him too.
"This is what we are now, Izuna." Another vampire looked at him as if that should be obvious. "You need to drink or you will stop moving. You'll be alive and yet, frozen until you drink." The other vampire had hair that was long and wild. It reminded him of a porcupine's quills or a lion's mane.
He sighed and shook his head. "No, brother." So Mr. Porcupine was Sasuke's brother. "It's just I can't do it. I can't feed on the blood of innocents."
Madara smirked at him. The name somehow bubbled up from his subconscious. This was his elder brother Madara and not even death had kept them apart. Not even becoming a monster had fully separated them.
"Well we have to drink blood to survive." The smirk was so cruel. "No one said that it had to be the blood of innocents. In this world Izuna, the only innocents are newborn babes. You should know that as well as I."
He wanted to dispute that, but it would have been pointless. This was the Feudal Era of Japan. Almost no one's hands were entirely clean that were still breathing.
War had simply been a fact of life. Just as breathing had been. Endless strife. Endless blood and now, he would feed on that blood.
"We'll feed only on the guilty." The horrors that some soldiers would inflict on the civilian population were ghastly. "There will be no shortage of that during these pointless wars." He knew that much for a fact.
"Very well." Madara shook his head as if he had been thoroughly exasperated by a difficult child. "You always were too tenderhearted for this world. Perhaps, being a vampire will open your eyes. Izuna."
That's when Sasuke woke up with a gasp and starts screaming. The pain was intense. Everything was so intense.
The light from the lamp might as well have been the sun staring him in the face. The sound of the ticking clock made him want to howl in agony. The scents. There was blood in the air and the sweet smell that he associated only with Hinata.
"It's alright." Hinata places a blindfold on him. "Just give your eyes a chance to adjust. Your senses are a lot stronger now." That was true.
She was whispering and Sasuke knew that on some level. That didn't change the fact that Hinata was borderline yelling at him. Despite the fact that he knew that she was speaking in the smallest whisper possible.
"T-This is what it is like for you?" How was the woman not in constant agony? "All the time?"
The beautiful woman cradles him in her lap and smiles down at him. "No. Not all the time. Just at first." Thank goodness. "It's alright, My Love. I'm here."
She was room temperature and yet, Hinata felt warm to him. "I'm colder than before." His own temperature must have matched hers. This would take some getting used to and as he places his hand over his chest, Sasuke determines one very important thing. His heart was no longer beating.
"Yes, of course." Hinata presses a gentle kiss to his forehead. "You're a vampire now. You'll get used to it."
Yes, he was. Sasuke wasn't human anymore. He was a bloodsucking monster and yet, Hinata was looking at him as though he was some kind of angel.
An angel who was thirsty. "I need blood." So fucking thirsty that tearing out the throat of the woman he loved was looking appealing. Wait, maybe he could just drink from other locations.
She had bitten his femoral artery. That certainly had possibilities. What about her breasts? Would the bluenette allow that? He'd have to ask.
"It's alright." The Victorian Vampiress bites into her arm and holds it to his mouth. "Drink as much as you like. If you take too much, I'll stop you."
Sasuke wasn't so sure about that. He was in agony, but the new vampire also knew he was a lot stronger this way. Then again, Hinata was a Vampire Queen. Surely, she had gotten that title for a reason.
"Thank you." He whispers before biting into her arm.
Blood. He was drinking blood. That should disgust him. "You taste so fucking good." Unbelievably good.
She was sweet no matter how he tasted her. Her kiss. Her blood. Between her thighs. Everywhere.
"I'm glad you think so." She smiles at him. "Vampire blood is far more nutritious than human blood, but it's obviously much harder to acquire." That made sense.
In the back of his mind, that made sense. The small portion of his brain that was operating on something other than instinct. Right now though, Sasuke just wanted blood. Well blood and maybe one other thing.
"I guess I'm lucky in that way." Sasuke smirks as he pins her underneath him. "I'm also lucky in many other ways." He nips her ear and was about to get rid of Hinata's beautiful, but highly annoying clothes when someone storms into their room.
To say the least, Sasuke was not happy. "Get the Hell out!" His fangs were flashing and his eyes felt different.
He was literally seeing red. The Uchiha vaguely recognized this one as being Hinata's cousin. Which was the only reason why Sasuke wasn't currently trying to rip the other man's throat out.
"Sasuke, it's alright." Hinata kisses him reassuringly. "Believe me there will be plenty of time later for you to have time to bask in our good fortune. Just as we did three days ago."
Three days? He'd really been unconscious that long? Was that normal?
"I have to call Itachi." His brother would be worried sick about him.
Neji sighs and throws a phone at Sasuke. The older vampire must have anticipated that he would ask that question. At the moment, the baby vamp was just glad to have a phone in his hands though.
Hinata nods at him encouragingly and then turns her attention towards Neji. "What happened?" Obviously, something had happened or else he wouldn't be there. That much was clear, but Sasuke was too busy dialing Itachi's number to care much.
He knew that his elder brother would likely never agree with his choice to become a vampire. Itachi couldn't really stop him, but it was nice that the other vampire had tolerated his decision. Their relationship was salvageable, if Sasuke could explain to Itachi why he hadn't called him for three days anyway.
"It's Orochimaru." Wait. What. "It seems that he has broken out of prison early." That was so not good.
Freedom. He was free once again. It had been rather annoying sitting in that damn prison when Orochimaru knew full well what Hinata was likely plotting. She was planning to turn Sasuke into a vampire.
"Thank you for your help, Kabuto." He smiles at his friend.
The two of them were now inside a hotel room. One which Orochimaru had paid for in cash after faking his own death. It wouldn't take long for that little gem to spread across the national news. Hell, maybe even the international news.
The ghost smiles back. "Of course. You know that I am always ever so pleased to serve you in whatever way, I can." He cleans the glasses that the vampire was almost certain the spirit didn't actually need. "What are we to do with ourselves now though?"
They'd wait for the news to spread and then find Sasuke. "I hope he's not already a vampire." That would make it marginally more difficult to hurt Hinata because a baby vamp was far less defenseless than a human.
Naturally, Sasuke was still nothing compared to him. Even if he had been turned, that meant little. It just might be marginally harder to kill him if worse came to worst.
"Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto blinks at him. "That wasn't what I asked."
Oh right. It was just rather hard to focus when the former Biology Professor had so much plotting to do. If he was lucky, Sasuke would be easy to turn against Hinata. If he wasn't, well he'd just have to kill the boy.
It would be such a waste really. It wasn't the Ivy League Student's fault that he so closely resembled his ancestor, but that was what had drawn Hinata to him. The fact that Sasuke so resembled the man that Orochimaru still despised with all his being.
"You're right." He smiles at the specter. "We need to find Sasuke and reason with him." That or kill him. Really, he'd make do with either.
Kabuto chuckles at that. "If he becomes a ghost, Sasuke can be my wingman." That was the most absurd thing that Orochimaru had ever heard, but whatever helped the silver haired spirit to sleep at night was fine with him.
"Yes, very well." They had work to do, Orochimaru smirks to himself at that thought.
"This isn't good." Gaara sighs as he glances at the tv.
His siblings nod in agreement. It was about time for the red head to give Itachi or Shisui a call. Hopefully, Sasuke was already a vampire.
Not that that alone would keep him safe from Orochimaru, but he'd be safer as a vampire than a human. Whatever Itachi thought about being a vampire personally or however much the elder vampire might prefer his brother to stay human, facts were facts.
"He actually pretended to get run over by a car?" Kankuro shakes his head at the tv. "He always was overdramatic."
That was true. That didn't change anything about their current situation, but honestly Orochimaru was such a drama king. It was annoying.
Temari sighs as she crosses her arms. "What are we going to do about this?" That was a good point. "We can't just not warn Itachi's brother about this. He hasn't done anything, but we all know that Dr. Sannin won't give a damn about that."
Gaara mentally winces as he pictures Sasuke literally being torn to pieces by the ancient vampire. This wouldn't end well.
"I'm calling Itachi and we'll go from there." He nods only to find that Naruto had already called him.
Great. The blonde was likely still pouting that Sasuke was supposedly going overseas to study. Not that the red head held that against the human. That was a normal reaction, but they had some serious life or death situations to handle.
Naruto's messages weren't particularly reassuring though. "Gaara, Sasuke is heading off to Oxford and Hinata didn't show up to any of her classes today. Do you know what is going on?" There was an edge of panic to his voice. "The killer apparently got out of jail and got himself run over, but I don't think that he was the only one."
The sapphire eyed university student was really too clever for his own good sometimes. Maybe, Gaara would have to erase his memories of Sasuke or something. He wouldn't want to do it, but it might be the only way to make things easier on the other man.
"Gaara, this isn't your fault." Temari sighs as she places her hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to feel guilty. We'll do what we can to protect your friends."
He almost wished that they could go back in time. To a time when his biggest annoyance had been wearing that damn panda suit. Unfortunately, they couldn't. They would just have to make the best of things.
"Yeah." Kankuro nods at his brother. He forces himself to smile at Gaara reassuringly. "We'll figure something out. We always do." That was true. That was also why they were leprechauns. No one could outsmart a leprechaun.
Ice. Ice was flowing through her veins when Hinata heard those words. It couldn't be true. It was too soon. Then again, this was Orochimaru. When hadn't that man made life unnecessarily difficult for her.
"We should get you out of the country as soon as possible Sasuke." That would be the smartest decision. "I can send you to some allies of mine. Knowing Orochimaru, he'll likely lay low for awhile and try to plan his next move."
Neji shakes his head at that. "He's too obsessed with you for that." The lavender eyes of her cousin watch Sasuke warily. "Orochimaru will try to turn him against you or to kill him. I'm not sure which is more likely."
Neji was right. That's exactly what that creep would do. It had been nearly two hundred years since Hinata had rejected him for Izuna and Orochimaru had never gotten over it.
She had never regretted her decision though. Even though Hinata had lost her first love, one moment with Izuna or Sasuke was worth an eternity of moments with that snake.
"I shall have to teach Sasuke how to fight then and we'll call for some security." It wasn't something that Hinata was looking forward to doing, but it was necessary. "Mei is not to be amongst them though." Not after what the succubus had pulled.
To a certain degree, Hinata understood. Mei was a succubus. She was just doing what her kind did. Trying to seduce Sasuke was infuriating, but forgivable. Trying to kill him was not.
"Very well." Neji nods at her. "I shall go and get another phone." He turns his attention to Sasuke. "Call your brother. I do not really want a Shadow Vampire here, but Itachi will do what is necessary to protect you as will Shisui."
Sasuke nods and quickly sends out a text to his brother. "I'm on it and what do you mean by you're going to teach me how to fight?" The text was fired off quickly.
So quickly in fact, that Hinata almost didn't have time to see it before Sasuke closes the phone. Almost. He was a clever thing.
Itachi, come hang out with me tonight at my new home. ~ Sasuke.
Vague. Vague was good. This was especially the case when one was dealing with someone like Orochimaru.
I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll also bring Shisui. ~ Itachi.
It was almost funny in a way. The other vampire replied so quickly. The man really was protective of his baby brother. It was sweet. Not that Itachi could have stopped Hinata from doing whatever she liked, but she was proud of her grandchilde.
"They'll be here soon." She smiles at Sasuke.
Her lover nods quickly. "I know that they will." He smirks at her. "So what were you saying about training?"
A short while later, Itachi walks into a disturbing sight. Sasuke was mostly shirtless and laying on the ground. Hinata was on top of him and his shirt had mostly been shredded. Though he wasn't the only one.
"He learns quickly." Shisui chuckles.
Very quickly, apparently. His foolish little brother really had no hope of beating someone like Hinata. For that matter, neither did he or Shisui. Not even together. Still, Sasuke was never one to give up. One had to admire that trait in a person.
Hinata smiles at him as she keeps Sasuke pinned. "You're fast." That had always been true, Itachi muses. "Use that to your advantage. You'll never be stronger than a vampire this much older than you or almost never, but there are times when you can be faster or improvise. Use your terrain to your advantage."
It was disturbing and almost cute in a sick way. The Vampire Queen was teaching his adorable little brother how to be a killer. Something that he needed to know how to be with Orochimaru lurking around out there.
"Got it." Sasuke kicks her in the ribcage as she sends her flying. "I think I can manage that."
Hinata immediately takes out senbon and hurls them at Sasuke. The tiny needles pinning him to the wall. "They're usually not fatal unless you strike the right spot or have a lot of them, but be aware that your enemy may have weapons on their person that you didn't see at first." That was a valuable lesson.
One that he had learned far too early. Hinata had been quite thorough in her instructions for both him and Shisui. They would never see eye to eye on the Light and Shadow, but Itachi did believe in some demented way Hinata probably cared for them.
"Why did she turn you?" Itachi remembered the day, he found the courage to ask Shisui that question so clearly. "She could have turned anyone. Hinata normally has her minions do such things for her."
Shisui sighed as he looked up at the clock. There was something that flickered through his cousin's eyes. An emotion that Itachi couldn't identify.
"She knew that I was an Uchiha." He laughed almost wistfully. "Knew that I was somehow from her former lover's human line. Sentimentality. Though she was also impressed when I saved some high school kid from getting beaten up by their classmates."
Ah. Hinata valued mercy? That was something that Itachi hadn't expected. While she had never been cruel to him or Shisui, he knew that something wasn't quite right in the Vampire Queen's mind. She wanted to go into the Light.
That would end only in disaster for all parties involved. Why she couldn't see that was beyond him. The only explained that he had ever been able to come up with was the fact she was mourning the loss of her lover. Izuna. Their ancestor.
"I'll keep that in mind." Sasuke struggles underneath her.
Itachi smiles at that. "Keep trying." He had a warrior's spirit. It would have to be enough to keep him safe until help could arrive.
Of course, the elder Uchiha sibling wouldn't mind seeing Sasuke stab Orochimaru in the eye or something. His brother had always been rather creative. Much like his determination, it was one of his best qualities.
His fangs were flashing fast and furiously. They had come in nicely, Itachi observes. "Looks like he has a powerful bite." Shisui echoes his thoughts.
"Yes, he's going to need it." Itachi sighs and nods in agreement.
It was only a matter of time. Orochimaru would come for Sasuke. Would he try persuasion or force? It was difficult to say.
"I am truly sorry for getting him involved, Sasuke." He should have known better. "It was a foolish move on my part." Both he and Shisui should have.
Slam! Sasuke manages to slam Hinata underneath him, but she refused to stay down. "Not your fault. It's not your fault that he's demented and obsessed with my girlfriend." Hinata flips them with ease. "If it hadn't been him, it would have been someone else." Sadly, that was true. That was what it meant to date the Vampire Queen.