Chapter 21: Beast

Two days had gone by since Shikamaru had woken up. During which time, he never drank a single drop of blood. He didn't realize it at the time, but in going on a blood-free diet Shikamaru had just dug his own grave. His body couldn't handle it. He was so hungry and human food didn't satisfy him. He knew Choji very well and understood that he was still feeling guilty for a deplorable act he felt he had committed. He was probably still convinced that Shikamaru's condition was all his fault, so Shikamaru was doing his best not to upset him any further.

When Choji had returned the previous day with a fruit basket and asked to have some, Shikamaru took a banana and nibbled on it. It tasted like sand, but he didn't want to upset his friend and forced himself to swallow. He knew that if he refused, Choji would feel guilty that he could no longer enjoy all the foods he used to like. Aside from that, it also meant that Shikamaru would have to accept the fact that he was different and no longer like his friends.

His life had changed and he didn't want that. He could no longer that naps in the sun or watch the clouds drift in the sky. He couldn't hang out with the others during the daytime like he used to or eat the food he used to love. He'd miss it all so much. That being said, he tried to avoid reality as much as he could.

Unfortunately, it was taking a toll on his new body, especially due to his lack of blood. Now entering the third day of his transformation, he was starting to experience withdrawal symptoms. He had turned an even paler color and now had blue rings under his eyes. His throat hurt, begging for a drink and he was suffering from frequent dizzy spells. On top of that, he could feel himself getting weaker and weaker by the hour. When Choji came in to visit him, Shikamaru did all he could to put up a brave front. It wasn't easy. Every time he spoke his voice was raspy and would crack. He really needed a drink.

Maybe this hunger strike was a bad idea from the start. But he just couldn't bring himself to eat his friend. He had seen old vampire movies and whenever they fed, they'd leave behind empty husks that used to be human. He couldn't stand the thought of it being Choji. There was no way he'd ever bite him.

Although, Choji's neck was looking pretty tasty right about now. Looking at that plump neck just visible beneath the white scarf was all too inviting. He looked scrumptious. Shikamaru's mouth started to water as he stared hungrily at Choji's neck.

NO! Fight back!! Shikamaru tore his eyes away, fighting the powerful urge to bite.

Choji approached. "Are you ok? You don't look so good." He put his hand on Shikamaru's and tried to peer at his face. "Are you in any pain? Should I get a nurse?"

He could smell his blood. Choji was too close. Why was he tempting him?! He couldn't. He wouldn't!

"I'm fine!" Shikamaru pushed him away. "I'm ok. I don't need any help."

"Are you sure?"

He forced himself to nod. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure. I'm ok. Thanks." He glanced back at Choji and the first thing his eyes fell on was his succulent neck. He turned away. It was all too tempting. "I… I think you should go."

"What?"

"J- just go. I need some rest. I feel tired, that's all." He gave a weak smile. "Please, leave me be, ok, Choji?"

After about a minute, Choji finally left. And not a moment too soon. Shikamaru had to grip the sides of the hospital bed to keep himself from leaping on him. Just how much more could he take?

~*~*~

Sasuke flew majestically over Naruto's head as they waited for Crystal to show up. Naruto kicked his legs over the side of the wall he was sitting on, watching Sasuke fly above his head.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"How's your training coming?"

"Ok, I guess. Why?"

"Just wondering." Naruto scanned the streets for movement then asked, "Have you learned how to transform into a bat yet?"

Sasuke hung in the air upside-down and looked at the blond. "Well…" His gaze drifted to the left.

"You did, didn't you? Show me!"

Sasuke flipped right-side-up and floated down to eye level with Naruto. "She still says that I need more practice. I… I haven't really gotten it yet."

"Show me anyway."

"But- but it's really messed up!" Sasuke protested.

"Please? Come on, you big chicken!"

Sasuke groaned. "If I mess up, don't laugh."

"Ok!" Naruto waited anxiously, bouncing in anticipation.

Sasuke landed next to him on the brick wall and took a deep breath. He shut his eyes in concentration and brought his hands together. There was a loud crack and a puff of smoke engulfed him. When the smoke cleared, Naruto saw it. Sasuke had pointed ears on the top of his head, a dark brown snout with a tiny bat nose, itty-bitty fangs sticking out of his mouth and claws on his furry hands. To make it even worse, Sasuke had small bat wings flapping on either side of his head where his ears should have been.

Naruto bit his lip and his eyes started to water. He stifled his snickers, but it was no use. He started to belly-laugh, and then it turned into a full-out howl. He threw back his head, laughing hysterically. He looked so ridiculous.

With another crack, Sasuke hand reverted back and grabbed Naruto's jacket. "You idiot! You promised you wouldn't laugh!"

"I- I- hahahahah! I n- never p- promised… hahaha..! anything! AH-hahahahahahah!"

Naruto clutched his ribs as Sasuke shook him, promising to throttle him if he didn't stop laughing. They continued this until Crystal showed up, fluttering down beside them. Sasuke jumped for joy. Immediately releasing the giggling blond and reached out to hug her. He stopped just short of her body and looked into her face.

"What… What's wrong?" he asked sympathetically.

Naruto stopped laughing and looked at the worried expression on her face. She looked so sad and concerned. "What is it? Did someone hurt you?"

"Where are they?! I'll-"

Crystal grabbed his arm and shook her head. "No. I'm not hurt. But Shikamaru will be."

"Huh?"

"He's not feeding. He hasn't at all yet. This will be the fourth night! He has to or…"

"He's gonna starve!" Naruto cried. "What the Hell is that idiot thinking?! Some genius!"

"It's worse than that, Naruto," Sasuke said grimly. "If he doesn't get blood in him soon…"

"He'll go into a beastly frenzy," Crystal finished.

"What do we do?!" Naruto panicked.

"We'll have to convince him to drink blood as soon as we can, before it's too late. It's possible that the next person he sees, he's going to attack with no remorse!"

~*~*~

The bed's occupant tossed and turned, unable to rest. The clock on the wall above the door clicked 9:26. The sun had gone down and so had his hopes of getting any rest. He felt terrible. Shikamaru was suffering. He was so hungry, he couldn't stand it! It hurt! It hurt like Hell! Everything was hazy; his thoughts and his vision. All he could think about was his unquenchable thirst. Oh, how he longed for blood. He needed it. He needed it!

There was a knock at the door and a blond girl entered the white room.

"How'ya feelin'?" asked a cheerful Ino. She stepped inside and closed the door. "Sorry I didn't visit sooner. Business was crazy today! Oh, boy, I tell ya."

Shikamaru wheezed.

"Oh, and these are for you." She presented him with a bouquet of flowers. Shikamaru didn't take them, so she set them down on the end table. "Choji told me that you still weren't feeling well. The nurses said that you could leave once you got better. And by better, I mean get more color in your cheeks and a bit more energy. Lazy as you are…"

Shikamaru watched her as she made her way across the room, fiddling with whatever her hands came in contact with. He couldn't take his eyes off of her neck. That tasty looking neck…

He licked his lips. His fangs were starting to grow. She looked so tasty.

He tried desperately to wipe the thought from his mind, but it was no use. The more he resisted, the more his head spun. He was starting to overheat. It was getting harder to breathe.

Out of the corner of her eye, something flickered from the bed Shikamaru was occupying. She turned. Sitting still and silent on the bed was Shikamaru. He kept his eyes on her, all the while his chest was heaving. She moved closer.

"Sh…Shikamaru?"

His lip rose slowly, a growl coming from his throat. Long sharp teeth were very apparent as Shikamaru's eyes began to glow a very bright red and growled again.

Ino took a step backwards. That wasn't right. "Are you ok? Answer me!"

He raised his head defiantly and a look of hunger passed across his face. He crouched low on the bed, getting into attack position.

Ino backed up, raising her arms in front of her chest in an attempt to show her teammate that she was frightened, hoping that he'd stop.

Instead, it goaded Shikamaru into leaping forward in favor of trying to bite Ino rather than listen to reason. Ino threw herself out of the way just as he jumped off the bed and into the air, fangs aimed directly at her.

Shikamaru snarled as he twisted around, hunching over and raised his head. Ino backed up. He was like a monster.

"Come on, Shikamaru! It's me!" Ino cried. "Snap out of it!" Ino threw herself out of the way, just as he dove at her again. As he rounded about, Ino kicked him in the face and sent him reeling down to the floor. "I'm sorry!" she panted. "Please, I don't want to hurt you!"

The feeling wasn't mutual. Shikamaru scrambled to his feet and snarled, mouth agape. Keeping low to the ground, he began to circle his prey. Ino had to feel her way out of this one. If she took her eyes off him for a second, he'd strike. Good thing she was a ninja.

Too bad he was one too, and a vampire to boot. He jumped up in an attempt to bite her again. She reached up and slapped him in the face, ordering him to back down. He didn't. As she reached for a knife to defend herself, Shikamaru knocked the blade out of her hand and tore the pouch from her belt.

Now weaponless, Ino was at a loss for what to do next, and Shikamaru seemed to know this. With a snarl, he looked down at his hands and almost smirked as long claws began to grow. He went for her legs and she jumped. Sharp claws scraped the floor where Ino had been a moment before, and was once again trying to hold her so he could have a meal.

He leapt again and Ino kneed him in the gut. He grimaced, but relentless as he tried to grab her head. She pulled back and punched him with all her might. He stumbled backwards, coughing. The vampire let out a gasp and dropped to the floor on all fours, holding his stomach in pain.

He knelt there panting for several moments, leading Ino to believe that he was calming down. She cautiously approached. He eyed her warily.

"Shikamaru..?"

Much to her misfortune, he jumped to his feet and grabbed her. She let out a shriek, twisted about and drove her knee up into his stomach. Ignoring the sharp pain in his gut, Shikamaru pushed against her body, slamming her into the wall. From there, he knocked her to the floor and knelt over her body. She pushed against his shoulders, grunting and crying out in protest.

She could feel his hot breath on her face and looked up. His mouth was wide open and his fangs were pointed straight at her, dripping with saliva. His eyes were wide staring into her face and he moved in closer, digging his nails into her body as he held her still.

"No!" she screamed, still fighting. "No! Stop it! Please, help me someone! Anyone, please! Shikamaru, stop!!"

Screaming only made him hungrier and pressed her into the floor, sitting on her legs as she kicked. His whole body was shaking. He was only inches away now. She had what he needed. She was full of it. Blood…

"Shikamaru!"

Hissing, he about-faced and looked at the person in the doorway. It was Crystal. He lowered his body over Ino's and hissed, daring her to make a move closer.

"Shikamaru, please…"

"She's mine!" his voice croaked. It echoed off the room with the sound the chilled the blood. A monster's voice. "I'm so hungry!"

"I know you are."

"Then leave me be! I can't help it! I need it! I NEED IT!"

He moved closer, ready to strike. In the blink of an eye, Crystal slammed a leg right into Shikamaru's side and sent him flying across the room and into the wall. A nasty crunch resounded from his body making contact, but she didn't even wince. He dropped to the floor and rolled over, coughing slightly and groaning in pain, holding his gut. Crystal walked forward, wedging herself between him and his intended prey. Shikamaru crouched low to the floor, hissing at her, tensed up, body coiled and ready.

"I know. But before you kill her for a meal…" she held out a blood packet. "Eat this." She tossed a blood packet at his feet.

His eyes widened and eyed it hungrily. Wasting no time, Shikamaru seized it in both hands, ripped it open with his fangs and sucked on it greedily.

Crystal stood there, waiting for him to finish. Seeing him suck the first one dry and still squeezing for more, she tossed another one to him. He grabbed that one too, a little less desperately and punctured it with his pointed fangs. Slurping on it greedily, Shikamaru let out satisfied moans of pleasure and closed his eyes, savoring the flavor. He looked like a squirrel eating a nut, the way he was sucking on it in both hands, lowered between his raised knees. But he also looked like a baby drinking a bottle, looking so content.

At the moment, Ino didn't see any of this. She was still in shock. She had crawled into a corner and huddled up, watching from a distance. She looked up when Sasuke came in. He snuck up behind Crystal and watched as Shikamaru had his first taste of blood.

Much calmer now, Shikamaru allowed the others to approach him without being threatened. Like a little boy sucking on a lollipop, Shikamaru sucked on the blood packet and gazed absentmindedly out the window.

"Is he ok now?" Sasuke asked softly.

Crystal reached out and stroked Shikamaru's face. He purred slightly and leaned into her touch. "He's fine. He's calming down."

Crossing his legs, Sasuke settled down next to Crystal, still watching Shikamaru as he drank the last remains of blood. So that was the beast… It was scary. And Shikamaru wasn't even a full vampire yet! What would he have been like if he had been a full-fledged bloodsucker?

"Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru blinked back at him, a ripple of bewilderment in his eyes. Staring back at Sasuke, a short burst of understanding came to his eyes, recognizing his own name. He blinked and the last remains of red drained from his eyes, and were replaced with shock. His eyes widened and he looked frantically around the room. He dropped the empty blood packet and scrambled into a corner, chest heaving. He lowered himself to the floor, whimpering softly in the shadows. He looked like a frightened animal, crouched in the corner like that.

Crystal crawled closer to him. "Shikamaru?"

"Don't come near me!" He snapped. "I don't know what I'm going to do next!"

"You're fine now," she assured. "Everything's ok."

"No. No!" He shook his head violently from side to side. "No, I'm not ok! I couldn't control myself. I attacked Ino! I couldn't help it! I didn't know what I was doing. I… I just..!"

She let him stew in the corner for another minute before speaking again. "You're a vampire now. Surely someone has told you that."

He nodded.

"You can't deny your nature. You have to drink blood."

"No, I can't! I don't want to! There must be another way. I'm not drinking blood and I'm not going to attack my friends."

"If you don't want to lose control of yourself, you will have to drink blood!" Crystal snapped in an annoyed tone, her voice making everyone jump.

She was usually so calm and sweet. That sudden change of tone was frightening. And yet, Sasuke found it strangely invigorating.

Her voice having finally gotten Shikamaru's attention, she went on. "You need blood to live. If you don't drink it, you die or come after someone like Ino again. You can't do without. You only get out of control if you don't have it. Understand?"

He nodded slowly.

"We'll train you to be a vampire, which includes self-control. But if you ever do anything as stupid as starving yourself like that again, I'll do a lot worse than putting you through a wall! You got me?!"

Her threatening tone left no room for argument. Shikamaru nodded as fast as his neck would allow.

Hearing her voice rise like that was quite a turn-on for Sasuke. He tilted his head to the side and swooned, "God, I love you."

Crystal paid him no heed and stuck out her hand to Shikamaru, who shrank back in his corner. "Come on," she coaxed. "Come on out of there. Come here."

Shikamaru inched away from the vampire. Was he frightened or unsure?

Finally, his eyes became a little less wary and a little more curious and he moved slowly towards Crystal's outstretched hand. He slowly made his way across the floor, watching her cautiously. He really did look like an animal. Now mere inches away, Shikamaru stopped and leaned down a little obviously catching the other's scent.

Sasuke observed him as he sniffed her hand like a curious animal. Still on guard, Shikamaru sat back watching Crystal. Then he became curious enough to come back to her hand again and sniffed it.

"I don't bite," she informed him and winked. "Well, not you anyway."

He glanced up at her. Now certain that she wasn't a threat, he took his eyes off of hers and inched closer.

I wasn't like this, was I? Sasuke wondered as he saw how cautious Shikamaru was being.

Shikamaru's nose twitched and he sat down knee-to-knee with her. Leaning forward, he began sniffing her arm, chest and shoulders. Sasuke's eye twitched. That nose was getting a little too close to her body for comfort. Placing his hands on her thighs, he leaned up to sniff her neck and face. Sasuke clenched his fists and curled his lips, revealing his fangs angrily. Crystal noticed this and wagged her finger at him and Sasuke restrained himself from walloping him good.

At last, Shikamaru nestled down in her lap and smiled. He brought his lips to her ear and whispered, "You smell really good."

"Oh, really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You smell… nice."

Sasuke drummed his fingers on the floor, fighting the urge to throw Shikamaru out the four-story window.

Shikamaru rested his head on her chest, listening to her heartbeat.

Sasuke shook his fist at his back and looked frantically around for something to distract him from his rage. He grabbed hold of a metal handrail attached to the wall and clenched and unclenched it in one hand.

Shikamaru seemed to have let his mind wonder off as he sat there in her lap listening to the rhythmic thumping of her heart. "Am I… am I supposed to feel like this?"

"Like what?" She patted his head.

Sasuke squeezed harder.

"I dunno…" he shrugged. "I feel calm… but something else, too."

"What is it?"

He blinked slowly, thinking. "Well… I like the way you smell. You smell kind of nice… I like it."

Clench. Clench.

"And… I do feel calmer. And you… I don't know."

"What?"

Clench. Clench.

Shikamaru fingered her leg. "You're so soft… and nice."

SNAP!

The two looked up. Sasuke had ripped the metal rod out of the wall and was holding it in his hand, glaring at Shikamaru, eyes burning red.

Crystal turned Shikamaru around in her arms and gave him a gentle smile. "That's normal. You'll be fine. Just let it happen."

Shikamaru blinked. "Let what happen?"

"Your transformation. Let it take its course." She allowed him to rest his head on her chest again and gave him a small hug. "Everyone's transformation is different. Everything's going to be fine. Just relax."

He grinned and shifted himself into a more comfortable position in her lap.

Sasuke took the rod in both hands and pretzeled it into a metal knot, grinding his teeth together and watching them irritably.

Ino finally recovered from her shock and inched her way to the door. She watched her teammate being caressed in the vampire's arms and understood. He didn't mean it. It was all an accident. He was fine now and these vampires were there to help. Her beloved Sasuke and Crystal were going to help him. That's when she became aware that there was nothing she or Choji or anyone else could do. They couldn't do anything. They may have been teammates, but they couldn't give him the kind of help he needed. They could. Those two vampires were the only one who could help him.

Putting her hand on the knob, she slunk into the hall and closed the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Don't you just love Sasuke's jealous moments?

Please review! ^-^