The courtship of Naruto Uzumaki
XXXV. We have met the enemy and—
"Take care of him," Shikamaru told Choji pushing the driver towards him.
Choji eyed the slumped driver cautiously. He didn't seem much of a threat anymore—in fact, he'd never seemed much of a threat even when he tried to use his whip on Shikamaru. What did Shikamaru actually mean by take care of him? There didn't seem to be much to take care of. He guessed his job was to make sure the guy remained a non-threat.
He heard the noises of fighting in the background—punches, grunts, threatening talk—the usual. They probably didn't need his help yet or at all which suited him. He'd undoubtedly suffered the most from the hours of running they'd had to endure to catch up to these guys. He needed his bulk to handle his special ninjutsu abilities if they proved necessary, but that did hamper him in certain physical activities—like running for hours and hours and hours nonstop. However, he'd probably be able to last longest if they hit a situation where lack of food for an extended period of time was a necessity. He had enough calories stored to see him through a week at least—technically. But no way would he ever want to go that long without a bite to eat. That would be the ultimate torture.
He turned his attention back to his—he wasn't certain what to call him—prisoner or charge maybe, but opponent didn't seem to fit since the guy didn't look like there was any fight in him. However since that was still an option, he had to check it out,
"Are you going to fight me?" he asked conversationally.
The man shook his head, and uttered a single low syllable, "No." That seemed pretty definite unless, of course, he was lying.
"That's good to know, but I'm still gonna afta make sure of that."
"How?"
"Good question."
Choji looked around. The sky hadn't begun to lighten yet so there wasn't much to see. The whip he still held in his hand appeared to be the best response to that good question. He held it up. "Put your hands behind your back," he suggested rather than ordered. He had the power to make it so, but it didn't seem necessary to throw his weight around with this guy.
The man slowly did as he was told. Despite his question, he didn't appear to be very interested in his fate. That could be a good thing—or he had might have something up his sleeve that Choji couldn't see or anticipate in the dark. For now, he decided to believe that this man was more a victim than a true confederate of the vampire since he wasn't putting up much of a fight. If he was wrong, he'd find out soon enough.
Choji took the tail of the whip, and used it to securely tie the man's hands together. When he was finished he tested his handiwork to be certain the man couldn't easily loosen his bonds. They held, of course. He'd always been good at knots so he was fairly certain in the security of anything he tied. "That should hold you until we're finished with your friends," he told him confidently.
The man shook his head. "You won't be able to stop them. No one can."
Choji looked at him in surprise and some disgust. What a defeatist attitude! Konoha ninja were made of sterner stuff. They didn't say die until—well—never. But how was some strange vampire to know that until he faced Konoha's finest. "Is that so? You might be surprised. Has he ever fought ninja before?"
"Yes," he said simply.
Despite that bald, positive response, Choji still felt confident in making his point. "Yeah, well, he's never fought Konoha ninja before. We're the best."
"Have you ever fought vampires before?" the man asked in turn.
Choji scratched his head. "Ah—well—no, but we've fought some pretty nasty ninja in our day. You wouldn't believe some of the ninjutsu abilities out there. I could tell you some tales that would curl your hair. There are worse things than vampires."
The man shook his head vehemently. This was the most animated he'd been since Choji had taken away his whip. "There's nothing worse. You have no idea. There's nothing to compare. Vampires have a stamina and strength that humans could never approximate. Ninja are only human. They get tired. They exhaust their chakra. Their bones break. Their muscles tear. They lose blood. Not vampires. They never need sleep or rest. They don't breathe. Chakra doesn't feed their power. Their bones are as hard as metal. They no longer have a beating heart or blood in their veins. Nothing can stop them—nothing human."
"What about sunlight?"
He gave a sharp laugh. "Fairytales! Nothing but fairytales! Don't count on them to save you. You'll never see a vampire with a tan, but you won't see one with a sunburn either. The light of day won't spare you."
"We'll see about that. Something must kill them or they'd overrun the place." Choji felt a little shaken that one of the stories about vampires he relied on could be a lie. What else did he know from the old tales that was actually untrue or true for that matter? If sunlight didn't kill them—what could? How would they vanquish this particular foe? Was Hinata making any headway? And what was Shikamaru fighting? He'd soon find out.
He hopped down from the driver's seat, and unhitched the horse. Just because the driver was tied up didn't mean he couldn't somehow get the horse to take off with him and the caravan. Until they determined his culpability, the guy wasn't going anywhere. Choji took the further precaution of hobbling the horse by tying his bridle to a tree branch. That should keep the driver from getting too far away even if he got down safely from the caravan without freed hands. He could still walk away, but where would he go for help?
Now Choji needed to check on his team mates.
He made his way around the caravan discovering Shikamaru and his opponent first.
Surprise, surprise. Shikamaru fought a woman. That would have been funny, if the woman didn't have long, sharp fangs, and sharp, blood-red nails. The red was too uniform to have been stained from Shikamaru's blood, but his longtime friend no longer looked in pristine condition. Part of his clothing was shredded, and the dark stains in the gaps had to be blood. The woman looked untouched except for dark patches on her kimono that looked more like dirt than blood. This fight didn't look good for Shikamaru. Of course, he could still be in the early stages of some long, involved, strategy. With Shikamaru that was always a real possibility. For now he'd give him the benefit of the doubt.
He turned around to see how Hinata was faring.
She wasn't shredded or bleeding like Shikamaru, but even as he watched she was thrown into a tree trunk. That had to hurt. He'd expected to see her fighting nothing but air to his eyes, but the guy was visible now—and it wasn't encouraging. He was big with serious looking fangs. Even when Hinata managed a well-placed hit, it hardly seemed to faze him whereas she was being tossed around like so much flotsam. He laughed and taunted her as if he was amused by her attempts to harm him. This fight didn't look as if it was ending any time soon either. He wondered if she'd already been through the gamut of her impressive ninjutsu skills or was she strategically holding something back. Watching her get slammed again, he certainly hoped so, but he felt it was time he got involved. He couldn't just stand around watching his team mates take a beating.
He needed to do something to swing things in their favor. But what?
He looked back and forth studying their opponents. They were strong, tough, and deadly in close combat. However, he couldn't help thinking again—if vampires were virtually undefeatable wouldn't they have had to battle the breed before now? Wouldn't vampires being taking over villages everywhere? They had to have limits to their abilities. There must be some way to defeat them. He just had to think of it.
Maybe all the stories about vampires weren't just stories. Even if that sunlight burning up a vampire thing had been wrong, maybe some of the other threats to vampires were true. All he could do was give something apocryphal a try. It couldn't hurt anyone but the vampires—he hoped.
He looked around on the ground, and gathered a few sturdy branches. He took out a kunai blade, and began shaving the end of one branch into a point. According to the stories a stake through the heart would kill a vampire—or at least keep him down as long as the stake remained in his heart. The sharp branch he prepared would be an ideal weapon against a vampire if the stories told true. And even if they weren't true, a branch through the heart had to hurt—even a vampire. That of itself would make the deed worthwhile.
Once he had several branches prepared, he decided to take out Hinata's opponent first. Maybe it was chivalry that led to his choice, but he found her beating harder to take than Shikamaru's. She looked so much smaller than her opponent. He knew she was a strong, talented kunoichi, but she looked fragile compared to that big vampire. If the stake thing didn't work, he'd take over the fight while she recuperated a little now that the guy was visible. He thought Shikamaru would agree with his choice, but of course, he couldn't stop him to ask. He was on his own in this one.
He used his special abilities to enlarge himself—not incredibly big—he didn't want to break his nicely prepared branches with his own brute strength. He enlarged himself just enough to maybe intimidate the guy with his much bigger size.
He kept himself behind and out of sight of the guy fighting Hinata to keep surprise as another weapon, and waited for the right moment to strike. He didn't want the guy to step aside just as he was ready to hit. As he waited, he suddenly had a panicky moment as he realized he wasn't exactly sure where the heart was located. Anatomy had never been his strong suit.
He felt the right side of his chest then the left then the right then the left again, and calmed down when he finally felt his heart beat. Left side, beating strongly. Good. Okay, he was ready.
He took one of his sharpened sticks in his fist, moved up closely behind the guy, jumped on his back, knocking him down, aimed, and with the huge force behind his huge shape, he shoved the stake into the guy's back.
It went in easier then he thought it would. The guy wasn't wearing any kind of protective gear—just a regular shirt and pants. He felt the stake hit then scrape past a rib, but with his force behind the stake it didn't get stuck, and it didn't break too soon.
It pierced completely through the guy. He didn't even seem aware of what was really happening. He started an attempt to buck Choji off his back, when he suddenly grabbed his chest, began to cry out, then simply went limp.
Choji straddled his back keeping the guy penned down, and expecting failure—his attack was based on fairy tales after all—but the guy lay dead—that is—deader than he had been. It had worked! It had actually worked!
He looked up at Hinata with a triumphant grin on his face. He'd actually started to relax a little relishing his moment of victory when he heard a scream from behind him. Before he could turn, something slammed into his own back, two points grinding into his flesh, and he felt sharp, claws stabbing into his neck pulling his head back.
That she vampire was attacking him with a maddened frenzy. He started to stand to try and throw her off when he heard Shikamaru yell, "Stay still, Choji!" He obeyed his team leader, but he could feel every slice of her nails cutting him like ten small knives, and he began to feel dizzy as the blood spurted from his neck redirected from his head. Before he could completely pass out, he felt her fall abruptly off him. He rolled off the he vampire, shrank down to his usual size, and clutched his neck.
Shikamaru had taken one of the remaining stakes Choji had sharpened, and rammed it into the she vampire's back just behind her heart. She lay as still and white as her vampire partner, and just as dead as she should be. He was relieved that something he'd thought of had actually worked. Hurrah, for all those scary tales his dad had told him for bedtime stories despite his mom's objections.
Hinata ran over to him, squatted down beside him, gently moved his hands aside, and placed her own hands over his neck wounds. He could feel the warmth of chakra healing over his wounds. "Where did you learn that, Hinata? You haven't studied medical techniques—have you?"
"I studied a little. I can heal basic wounds. Lady Tsunade thought medical training combined with my Byakugan would be useful in the field. I have been thinking of switching to the medical side if Lady Tsunade decides I show enough promise. How does it feel now?"
"Much better. Thanks." It still hurt like hell, but he no longer felt the urge to pass out with the blood was flowing back to his brain again.
"Your neck's not completely healed, but it shouldn't bleed anymore."
"It feels a helluva lot better." She must have numbed the area a little while she healed because it was starting to feel less brutalized. "Hey, maybe you should try your healing techniques on Shikamaru. He' got a lot of wounds, too," Choji felt a little guilty. He'd only acquired his wounds in the last few minutes. Shikamaru must have been suffering for some time.
Shikamaru shrugged away her ministrations. "Save your chakra, Hinata. I'm okay. None of these scratches are very deep. I only let her get close enough to stay interested in me. Good job with the stakes, Choji. I thought we'd just have to hang on until the sunrise."
"That other guy told me sunlight didn't affect them like the stories said, so I had to think of something else. Besides you've got at least another hour until sunrise. Could you really have kept up the pace without them getting close enough to bite?"
"That was the plan. Say, where is that other guy? Wasn't he a vampire, too?"
They looked around. The caravan stood unmoving. The horse was still tied to the branch grazing on the grass beneath. But the driver wasn't tied up on the front bench where Choji had left him.
"I tied him up. He didn't even try to fight. He said he wasn't a vampire." Choji felt angry that his small trust in the guy's innocence had been misplaced.
"He couldn't have gone far," Shikamaru said. "We can track him down later. Let's get these two into the caravan."
"Unh? Aren't we just going to bury them or burn them or something—that's what the stories say to do to really kill a vampire?" Choji asked looking at the two fallen vampires with distaste. He didn't really want to travel with them all the way back to Konoha.
"Yeah, I think I remember that. Cut off their head, bury them apart or burn them and scatter the ashes. But the Hokage should see them first. She might want to study them before we dispose of the bodies. Who knows—there may be other vampires out there? We need to find out about that invisibility ability, too."
"It's a kekkai genkai," a voice nearby said. Suddenly the driver appeared standing between them.
Shikamaru was the only one to not noticeably start. "So, you have that kekkai genkai, too?" He studied the man. He looked familiar unlike the vampires. The two at his feet no longer bore any resemblance to humans. Their faces were contorted in pain and ugliness. He looked back at the man with his hands still tied behind his back looking pale, and wan, and old with his white hair and careworn face. "I've seen you before. Are you related to these vampires?"
"To one of them. I'm Leiko Iseki, manager of the Iseki Acting Troupe. You may know the vampires as my brother, the Amazing Iwao, and the woman as Lady Chiyoko Maeda."
"The Amazing Iseki? That's your brother?" Choji demanded giving the male corpse another look. Not that he'd ever seen the guy's face. He'd worn a mask in his act. He'd been dressed all in black. He'd looked cool, and so had his act. Too bad.
"Unfortunately, yes."
Hinata was the only one of the group who had seen him without his mask during the interview she and Naruto had had with them. She'd known him as soon as he'd shed the straw hat—even with the fangs and arrogant stretch of his lips into the semblance of a smile. It had saddened her that such a talented individual was the evil one that they sought. But she hadn't let that prevent her from using every weapon in her arsenal to stop him.
"You really aren't a vampire, are you?" Choji asked suspiciously.
"No. I was spared that curse. I'm actually Iwao's younger brother even though I look twenty years older," he said bitterly.
"Did you help him with the killings?"
He hesitated, and then continued in a strained voice. "I didn't actively help him, but I knew what he could and would do. I know that makes me as guilty as he was. I tried to mitigate the damage he could do. I made him promise not to hurt a child or a woman. I made him promise to keep his killings to a minimum. I made him promise," he laughed bitterly. "He only did as I asked so I'd continue to help him. If he didn't require someone to take care of his needs and that of his sire, he would have killed me, too. He threatened to often enough. And he fed on me regularly to keep me weak and under his thumb."
"His sire?" Shikamaru questioned a term he didn't recognize.
"The one he called his wife. She was the vampire who turned him. She called herself his sire. He tried siring himself, but Chiyoko would get jealous and kill his new vampires. So there were only the two of them with the troupe."
"When was he turned?"
"Nineteen years ago. We were both ninja in the Land of Lightning. We were still genin at 17 and 15. Our only true skill was our kekkai genkai. His inhuman strength came from his curse. But he couldn't continue as a ninja once he was turned. He stopped using any ninja skills he'd acquired. He forced me to join the two of them on the road so they could avoid detection that was certain to occur if they stayed too long in any one place. We pooled our money, and started the acting troupe. He was a natural. She had an amazing singing voice. I became the manager to control the rest of the troupe's access to these two main stars. He would roam the towns and villages where we performed to feed. She would feed on him. As long as he was careful, he could sustain them both without killing. The older he became the more control he had over his curse, and his need to kill."
"Why did he kill one of your own troupe?"
"He did that to throw off suspicion. He said the runaways we took in would never be missed. He called them throw aways—disposable people. We always took on a few for his use if necessary." As he told his story, his initial bitterness and self-disgust withered into a dull, deadened expression as if he were divorcing himself from his horrible past, inescapable present, and doomed future.
"How many deaths is he responsible for?
His shoulders slumped. "Hundreds. Everywhere. I lost track a long time ago. Or maybe I just stopped paying attention so I wouldn't have to know. It was too horrible to contemplate."
"Did you lie to me about sunlight affecting vampires?" Choji demanded. He wasn't as accepting that this guy was just another victim as he had been before he entered the fray. Now that he heard the story, he couldn't imagine just going along with these killings for twenty years. The guy had been a ninja, damn it! Did he just forget all his ninja principles? Did he forget that he was supposed to help the innocent not prey on them?
"Yes and no. Sunlight doesn't kill them, but they don't like it. The light is too bright for their eyes, and it weakens them. But I've seen him overcome the effects when necessary. You could not have waited for sunlight. He and she would have worn you down, bitten and killed you before the sun came up. Their saliva paralyzes their victims. The effect is almost immediate once the skin is punctured. No one has ever been able to withstand their attack for long."
"So why did he run away if he's so damned strong?" Choji demanded.
"A force of skilled ninja could have subdued him. There's power and strength in numbers. He'd had many successful years at keeping a low profile. His mistake was in thinking his invisibility was the perfect protection. He didn't anticipate anyone possessing the ability to see him. You could see him," he suddenly turned to Hinata. "Is that a kekkai genkai, too?"
"Yes. Very little can hide from my Byakugan," Hinata told him. "Your kekkai genkai is not proof against it."
He nodded. "My brother's arrogance was his downfall. I am happy this horrible existence is finally at an end."
With most of his curiosity satisfied, Shikamaru motioned for Choji to help him put the bodies into the back of the caravan. It would be sunrise soon. They'd be better able to find their way back to Konoha once the sun was up.
"Iseki and I will ride in the back. Choji, you drive. Hinata, you sit up front with him. If I start to go stir crazy I'll rap on the wall behind you. One of you can switch with me."
"There's a shuttered window behind the driver's bench that gives you access to the inside of the caravan," Iseki volunteered.
"Good. Why don't we keep it open so we have immediate access to one another?" Shikamaru suggested. Leiko Iseki had been cooperative so far plus he was still tied up, but that didn't mean the man had been completely honest about his part in the vampire attacks or his abilities. He hadn't fancied being shut up in the back of the caravan with two vampires who could conceivably be reanimated by removing their stakes, and a man who might deem his future more promising even under vampire control then under arrest in Konoha.
"Let's go, team. I'm tired and hungry. Even with a ride we're several hours from home."
"Yeah, hungry. I second that," Choji agreed. He was starving. Next time he'd pack more snacks even for guard duty. He'd only needed one kunai blade. He could leave the others behind to make more room—and the shirukens. He hadn't needed those either. A bag of chips would have been a lot more valuable. "Yeah, let's go," he urged and hurriedly hitched the horse back to the wagon.
In no time they were on their way.
They were on the road almost two hours when they were met by a rescue team from Konoha.
Kiba with Akamaru took point with Sakura in the middle then Naruto bringing up the rear.
"Hinata!" Naruto called running towards the caravan. He was incredibly relieved to see her sitting quietly beside Choji. He'd done nothing but worry once the effects of that vampire's poison in his blood stream had worn off. He should be rescuing her not the other way around.
Choji brought the horse to a halt in time for Hinata to jump from the bench to meet Naruto halfway.
"Naruto! You're alright!" She hugged him tightly, but winced as she felt every bruise inflicted on her by the vampire Iwao. He'd thrown her often enough to have done some major damage, but she'd used chakra whenever possible to cushion the impact. Thankfully, she'd managed to survive the fight without any cuts, lacerations or broken bones. But she wouldn't be surprised if her entire body were purple before the day was through.
"Of course, I'm alright. Nothing can keep me down for long. Why are you making that face? What happened? Are you hurt?" he asked in concern. He'd seen that expression on her face before. He didn't like it. It made him feel anxious. He held her gently away from him.
"Just a little bruised. That's all. Shikamaru and Choji were hurt worse than me," she assured him, and felt warm all over by his concern.
"Does anyone here require medical attention?" Sakura asked. That was why she insisted on coming along. Since their enemy had been able to incapacitate Naruto who was virtually indestructible with the fast acting healing properties of the nine-tailed fox, she'd deemed her presence essential. The others hadn't that advantage, and would undoubtedly require her expert medical services.
"Nope. Hinata took care of me," Choji told her cheerfully. He'd been teamed with Hinata often enough now to feel some team mate pride in her abilities.
"I'd heard Lady Tsuande had begun to train you, Hinata. Good work," Sakura said coolly. She'd never looked upon Hinata as a rival in the past, but found several reasons to do so now. First there was her unexpected relationship with Sakura's long time team mate, Naruto who'd worshipped Sakura unrequitedly for years, and now she was training successfully in Sakura's own field of medical arts—well, Sakura was feeling just the tiniest bit threatened. She didn't have a kekkai genkai to enhance her abilities. She'd had to work hard for her position. She didn't have the advantage of being a member of a Konoha elite family. Her family didn't have a ninja legacy. She'd earned everything she had. It shouldn't surprise anyone that she felt a twinge of jealousy. It had just never occurred to her that timid, little, Hinata Hyuuga would inspire it.
"What happened? Was he a vampire? How'd he do it?" Naruto demanded. He put his arm gently around Hinata and led her back to the caravan.
"We'll give you the whole report at the same time we do the Hokage," Shikamaru said. He'd jumped out of the caravan when he'd heard the commotion bringing Iseki with him. He didn't trust him alone with his previous confederates. He directed Iseki to stand near the front of the caravan while he talked to the others. "We've got two virtually dead vampires in the back of this rig, and one human prisoner."
Naruto looked curiously at Iseki, but didn't immediately recognize him. "You mean they really were vampires?"
"Based on the bloodless wound inflicted by a stake in the heart, I'd say they fit the description."
"Is it true they could turn invisible? Is that how they snuck up on Akamaru?" Kiba demanded. That would certainly explain how Akamaru was caught off guard. Only something completely unusual could have done that.
"That's right. One of them had a kekkai genkai for invisibility. That's what made him so hard to detect."
"Who were they?" Sakura asked.
"Did you see the performance of the Iseki Theater Troupe?" Once everyone nodded, Shikamaru continued. "The Amazing Iwao, was the vampire with the kekkai genkai. He's the one responsible for all the attacks. His wife, Lady Chiyoko Maeda was also a vampire, but she allowed him to do all the work to feed them. Then she'd feed off him."
"Ewww! Gross!" Naruto said in disgust. "Too bad. I thought their acts were really good. What about the brother, Leiko? Is that him?" Naruto jabbed his thumb in Iseki's direction. Now that he knew who the guy was, he did look familiar.
"Yeah. At worse, he's an accomplice—at best he was as much a victim as anyone. That's up to the Hokage to decide. Come on. Let's head back. You can hear the whole story from Iseki once we're back in Konoha. I'm tired and sore. I just want to go home."
"You look terrible, Shikamaru. Are you sure you can't use some medical treatment?" Sakura asked looking over his shredded, bloody outfit. "I'm sure Hinata's limited training couldn't deal with everything."
He shrugged, and winced. "Maybe I could use a little. You want to ride back inside the caravan with me? You can have a look at the vampires on the way back to the village."
"I'd like to see them. They offer interesting research possibilities," she agreed, and followed him into the back of the caravan.
"Since everything's under control here, I'll go on ahead to let the Fifth know what's going on," Kiba said, then he and Akamaru took off.
"You riding with me?" Choji asked Hinata as he gathered up the reins in preparation to start the horse walking again.
She hesitated, looking at Naruto.
"You ride with Choji. I'll walk beside you," he insisted. "You can tell me all about your capture of the vampires. I hope you kicked their asses."
She smiled. "I certainly tried to." She climbed up beside Choji.
He jiggled the reins to alert the horse who moved forward again at his own easy pace.
"She was awesome, Naruto. She fought the he vampire since she was the only one who could see him at first. Shikamaru got the she vampire. He always fights the girls. He hates that." He grinned. Now he could laugh about it.
"Choji was the one who saved the day," Hinata insisted. "Shikamaru and I were just keeping them busy. They were incredibly strong. We couldn't use close combat because of the paralyzing effects of their saliva. If Choji hadn't thought of stabbing them in the heart with wooden stakes, I don't know what we would have done."
"That old story about wooden stakes actually worked?" Naruto asked incredulously.
"Like a charm. I guess there's some truth in those old tales after all."
Naruto grimaced. "That's not a very pleasant thought. Do you remember all the monsters in those old stories? What if they're all real?"
Choji gave a fake shudder. "You've got a point there. Let's hope they're only 10% accurate. I sure wouldn't want to tangle with werewolves or trolls next."
"Me either."
Hinata agreed with that, too. She'd just met her worst nightmare, and she'd survived, but that didn't mean she wanted to meet anymore nightmares. Not in this lifetime.