DISCLAIMER: I own NONE of the original characters of the Manga/Anime series Naruto – they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I only hold ownership of this plot and characters unfamiliar to the original Naruto series.
Summary: Long ago, humans had to be cautious of their own being, but now, not only would they have to beware of their own, but the other forms lurking in the dark and even walking amongst us. Fighting against these supernatural beings are the members of the Dark Coven. What will happen when Sakura Haruno, one who greatly despises the supernatural, encounters Sasuke Uchiha, one of the Blood Demons? Pairings: Sasuke/Sakura with an equal amount of Neji/Tenten. Other pairings are included. Enjoy!
WARNING: Vampire Fiction! Please discontinue reading if mild violence, sexual content and aggressive language seem inappropriate to you or is not to your liking!
NOTE: 'Azami'
'Thoughts' Flashbacks
Narrator's POV
~ The Dark Coven ~
Chapter Eight: Metamorphosis
If not for his ability to sense chakra, Sasuke would have immediately thought that Sakura's soul had completely left its vessel. But time was of the essence and he was no God. Vampires were a special race; not gods. He could not prevent her soul from departing…nor could he rewind time.
To say that he was the least bit panicked would mean that he was lying; though the emotion was not felt on a major scale.
Strangely, in all that had been happening one woman's voice surfaced his mind, when thoughts were, at this point, rather arduous to formulate.
"…the events will take place as they are meant to happen; all you need to do is trust your instincts and the prophecy will be fulfilled. And remember, in this case, you cannot change what is destined to be…"
The Oracle's words resounded in his mind; yet he found it hard to believe that Sakura's death was a part of the Prophecy.
He found it hard to think with the intoxicating smell of the dying woman's blood invading the atmosphere. Bit by bit it was driving him to a deadly insanity. It was strange, the power of this woman's blood. Never had he felt such a craving so difficult to contain.
With much effort, Sasuke forced himself to discard those sinful thoughts and focused on the matter at hand. He recalled Yumi's last words once more and analyzed them carefully, as fast as he could.
He convinced himself that this was meant to happen and walked closer to the almost lifeless body bathed in crimson. As he walked he tried his best to relax himself so that he could unleash his True Form as quickly as possible and removed his black shirt, tossing it aside.
He felt the wave of relief as the energy spread across his entire being and he could already see his skin beginning to darken. He felt his dark tresses begin to elongate, as it slid along his bare back. Then, protruding its way through the darkened skin of his back were two, long boney structures of the same complexion. There was no blood or pain as they broke through his flesh and when they had fully emerged, they extended to reveal two large bat-like wings made of thick layers of skin making it not as delicate as a regular bat's.
Without a second thought, he put all of his trust in his intuition and knelt beside the pale female human and closed his eyes, concentrating on the chakra of the woman's soul.
This particular process was tricky. It all depended on timing – a millisecond too early or too late could result in unforgivable death and the violation of life-governing laws that would immediately sentence one to an excruciating death.
He waited. A soul's chakra was what structured the soul. A human's soul was made of many thin strands of chakra that required acute focus in order to be detected by sight or by physical feel. Only when the last strand of chakra was about to depart from the vessel could the procedure begin. It was a process that would never allow the soul to escape; a process that would trap the soul under very restraining conditions.
His eyes opened at the feel of the last fragment of chakra rising and Sasuke hovered over Sakura's body, lowering his lips to her neck…
'This was destined to be…' was his last thought before he gave in to his temptation – that sinful bliss…
"You're late," she said, staring at her origami pieces – the products of the loneliness that found itself present within her whenever he left. He was always so busy; never there…never with her. Konan regarded this as her punishment for being incapable of protecting the one Nagato considered dearest to him; the one she had also loved so exceedingly…
"I had a mission," he responded stoically as he removed his coat and hung it on the rack.
"Was it difficult?" she asked, trying to hide the anguished emotions she felt.
"Not in the slightest," he said, "I must report to Lord Uchiha…"
All this time, as he spoke to her, she avoided his appearance; his gaze. And when the door slammed shut, she knew that he had left her again…alone.
"She's dead, Lord Uchiha. I saw to it myself," Pein informed the dark haired vampire.
Their gazes met. "Are you sure?" Madara questioned. He felt uncertain; feeling of victory was absent.
"Yes, my Lord," Pein answered truthfully.
"Then bring me her body," Madara ordered, sending his disciple on yet another mission…
The moment he bit down into the snow white flesh, he regretted it, for he knew that he would at some point, need to pull away. But for now, for as long as the procedure allowed he relished the rich taste of the blood he desired from the very first day he was able to sense it.
His mind was more inebriated than ever as the warm, salty liquid beguiled every one of his taste buds before smoothly running down his throat.
His world was hazy, but in the little sense he had left, Sasuke made the fateful hand seals and muttered the words that he knew he would regret immensely in the future. The words were spoken in Japanese tongue and as soon as the last word escaped Sasuke's lips, the burning sensation on his hard stomach began as though his skin was of very close proximity to flames of a raging fire.
But he was grateful for the pain – it distracted him from his prior temptations. And he accepted the pain as punishment; punishment for what he had done. And then he discarded the thought as he did not need anyone's forgiveness; not even hers.
Clenching his stomach tightly, he fought the urge to groan as he knelt beside a still and unconscious Sakura. He heard her moan and he knew right away, that she was feeling some of the seal's effects too. He knew that experiencing all of the seal's first effects would be impossible for her, especially since the metamorphosis had already begun, resulting in her temporary, but deep slumber.
Another wave of scorching pain flowed over the surface of his stomach and then it was all over. Breathing heavily, he looked at the area where the pain had previously resided to see the tattoo-like markings that ran along his stomach beginning from the part just below his chest, leading down to the part centimeters above his groins.
The symbol was that of a tribal dragon, its body swirled around a familiar emblem: a fan-like crest, the top portion colored in red while the bottom was white. Sasuke recognized the crest for he had spent most of his childhood around it. The fan distinctly reminded him of his family…the Uchiha Clan. And at the thought of his brethren, the guilt he felt for what he had done to Sakura was completely erased. It had to be done because he would avenge his clan, and until that happened, he would keep Sakura's soul attached to her body, even against her will.
Effortlessly his body's appearance began to revert to that of a regular human young man's and once his wings had completely taken its place securely beneath the flesh of his back, Sasuke grabbed his shirt and started to re-clothe his upper body.
The sound of footsteps bounced off the walls of the tunnels, becoming louder and soon Kakashi, Naruto and Neji's team were at the scene.
As expected, Kakashi was at Sakura's side, examine her cataleptic form. His eyes widened in horror at the immediate sight of her bloodstained attire and desperately tired to locate the red substance's source. It did not take long for him to find the fatal chest injury. Kakashi stared at it in confusion. Sakura was alive – her chakra had been flowing normally; and that was the bewildering thing. Kakashi touched Sakura's pierced flesh. An injury of such was, without a doubt, capable of causing death. So how was it that Sakura survived? Any human of her caliber would have surely not.
Kakashi replayed that thought in his mind once more, 'Any human…would die…'
He checked Sakura's chakra flow again, finding it to be between that of a human's and a vampire's…
The realization was horrifying, bringing with it immeasurable anger.
"What did you do to her?" Kakashi growled and sprang at Sasuke, grabbing the vampire's shirt with both of his hands.
Sasuke remained emotionless, despite Kakashi's rough gesture and responded in his usual monotonous tone.
"Exactly what you're thinking…"
Sasuke's eyes looked straight into Kakashi's, who had now revealed his Sharingan Eye.
"It was not like I had any other option, Kakashi," Sasuke pointed out coldly.
"Sasuke's right, Kakashi. If Sasuke hadn't made that move, Sakura would be dead as we speak and the Prophecy would remain unfulfilled," Neji spoke, making the werewolf see the logic in Sasuke's actions.
He released Sasuke from his threatening grasp and moved over to Sakura once more. She looked as though she was asleep, but he knew that within her, the metamorphosis was in progression – her change from human to vampire.
"I take it that you've bonded with her as well," he said to Sasuke, who instead of verbally responding looked away, his hand still atop the bond-seal that was covered by his clothes.
"We need to take her back to the base...the one we were supposed to stay at during this mission," Shikamaru opinionated, "If I recall correctly, there should be a chamber in that house that's designed for someone undergoing the metamorphosis…"
Azami walked along the pathless, never-ending world of vast, blinding white.
Ahead of her, she could see, stood a tall figure; and as she drew nearer the image before her became clearer, revealing a woman of a very familiar appearance. She possessed rose pink hair that looked brilliantly bright in the white, sky less background. The woman's back was facing her, but Azami did not need a face to recognize the person with the unusual yet beautiful feature.
"Sakura," Azami addressed, making her presence noticed in the process.
Said woman's head whisked around to face her. She wore the look Azami expected her to possess – confused and fearful. Still Sakura said nothing as though she had been too petrified to speak.
Suddenly all of that was forgotten when something strange began.
Out of the corner of her eye, Azami caught sight of a black spot pooling on the snow-white ground. It came across as a dark liquid of some sort at first, but after a more careful look at it, Azami realized that the substance consisted of tiny solid particles like shards of graphite.
Slowly the shards began to levitate, eventually forming a shadowy outline of a bald, human figure that enclosed a mass of white similar to the environment. Later it appeared to be in a sitting position on the ground, its outlined left arm propped upon its left knee. The being possessed no distinguishable features; its sex was undetermined, however Azami was able to recall this faceless and empty entity from a past encounter.
"Why hello," the creature spoke in its voices like a chorus of people, making it sound almost demonic. "We meet again, Azami…"
The voices of the thing in front of her made it impossible to distinguish whether it was male or female as it contained the tones of both sexes, like a choir of people speaking the same words simultaneously. No matter how jovial the creature seemed, its unhallowed chorus sent chills down her spine; made her pores rise – the fear was overwhelming…
And Sakura felt pathetically yet shamelessly powerless.
Glancing at the woman beside her – Azami, she recalled – Sakura noted how calm she was. In fact she seemed to have known the character. It gave Sakura the reassurance she needed – she was not alone. However it did nothing to chase away her fear.
"And I see you're not alone this time," the creature continued to speak to Azami.
With great effort, Sakura willed herself to talk.
"Who a-are y-you?" she asked the bodiless being in a shaky tone.
"Oh, she speaks!" it exclaimed almost jokingly and let out a low chuckle. "I'm called by many designations. I'm the Timeless Being; I'm the World; I'm the Universe; I am All; I am One and I am…God…"
Sakura stared wide-eyed at the figure at the last revelation. Was he really God? If so, was she dead?
"No, child, you are not dead," it answered Sakura's unvoiced question, "If you were, your soul would have already been at its decided location."
"And by the looks of things, we're not exactly in Limbo either," Azami spoke composedly, "If I remember correctly, right now we're at the brink of Limbo. I take it that our place has not yet been decided?"
The ethereal form laughed for a moment before answering.
"Child you are neither correct nor wrong. You are undecided. However, you are also here because it is not time for your place of afterlife residence to be decided. Each individual in the world of your kind is given a purpose. It is up to them to succeed and though failure to do so does not hinder or cease their departure from the world of the living, your circumstances are…different. Here I am before you, not to cast you into the realm of Limbo, but to prevent your entrance."
The response was interesting and raised Sakura's curiosity levels greatly. Why were she and Azami so special that they could escape something so unavoidable such as death?
The being of many names stood.
"What circumstances?" Sakura spoke, more confidently now.
"Don't be so impatient child," it rebuked, "The answers don't have feet. You'll find out when you awaken. And I believe it is time for you to leave."
The Timeless Being raised his left arm, seeming to be pointing at something between them.
Sakura and Azami both followed its fingerless hand to find a large, chiseled stone door. They turned so that their bodies were completely facing it.
"You must both step through the gates at the same time since your souls are contained in the same vessel. Failure to do so will cause one of your souls to be locked out of the body and said soul will disintegrate into the Realm of the Unknown Path…"
Sakura wanted to know more, but her eagerness to know about why her soul was not yet wanted in the world of the afterlife, got the better of her.
Both women looked at each other then nodded upon understanding what was explained and did an audible count from one to three, before stepping into the vast nothingness before them…
The smell of blood seemed to dominate the entire atmosphere, making her stomach aware of its emptiness and everything else forgotten. The scent along with the hunger did something to her, but she put that thought on hold when her attention drew to the cold restraints that bounded her wrists and ankles, preventing much movement in her lying position. The surface beneath her was not hard…but neither was it comfortable.
She opened her eyes and was terrified the minute she did. She could not understand her environment, let alone begin to describe it. Instantly, her eyes began to hurt as if they were being strained. She shut them tightly to force away the pain.
What was happening to her?
She could smell blood everywhere, the scent becoming stronger and stronger by the minute. It was maddening, her sudden cravings. For what, she had no clue…or at least, that was what she tried to convince herself to believe. However, the reality loomed somewhere in the dark of her mind.
The reality was the truth…
The truth was the circumstance which the Timeless Being spoke of…
And the truth was hard to accept.
Sakura wished she could simply shut away what she had now become. She wished she could rewind time. But not all wishes came true and unfortunately these wishes of hers were heading in that direction.
Now, being a human became her fantasy; and being a monster had become her reality. Oh, how the tables had turn.
She felt tears well up behind her closed lids and a lump formed at the back of her throat. She failed to keep her tears from escaping and when they did, they felt hot against her cheek. She despised herself more than ever. She had become the very being she hated; the very being that caused her parents' deaths – a vampire.
Sakura could not recall how it all happened, but she pledged to herself that the vampire responsible for her current state would be destroyed by her hand.
"Is anyone there?" she asked. Was she captured? Was her captor the one who changed her? Only Pureblooded Vampires and vampires closest to those were capable of performing to conversion of a human to vampire. Was it Madara?
"IS ANYONE HERE?" she screamed when no one answered. At this point she did not care if she had been in the enemy's lair. With the rage she harbored at the moment, she felt capable of killing anyone who crossed her path, anyone.
Still, out of all the anger welling up her insides, Sakura felt afraid to open her eyes again. She feared the foreign vision that would come into view as well as the awkward pain that accompanied it.
The aroma of blood filled her nostrils once again, more noticeable than before, doing many things to her mind. Her breathing grew heavy. She realized her mouth had become completely dry and she felt a thirst: a thirst like someone in need of water after a long journey across a desert without it. The only difference was that she thirsted for what she smelt.
"No," she muttered, refusing to accept the truth, "I'm not a monster! I'm NOT A MONSTER!"
Suddenly she heard the sound of doors opening…
"She's awake," Kakashi told the others as he entered the room and walked over to Sakura who was currently squirming frantically on the bed. After arriving at the base, Kakashi ordered the group to speak nothing of Sakura's bond with Sasuke. The less she knew the better. He was aware that all of this would be too much for Sakura to cope with and he also accepted the verity that Sakura would soon come to realize the new relationship that had been created between her and Sasuke – there was no hiding it. It was only a matter of time.
But for now, Kakashi decided that the more important issue was Sakura's well being. There were numerous cases where transformations went wrong. Unsuccessful transformations resulted in mentally imbalanced vampires who solely lived off of their thirst for human blood, with no sense of logic – D-Rank Vampires. To prevent this, Sakura would be required to drink the blood of her vampire creator – Sasuke Uchiha. And Kakashi understood that such a task would be miserably difficult, considering Sakura's stubbornness.
When he got close enough to her, Kakashi placed his hand on her shoulders gently. This was the first time he felt so helpless in many years. The best he could possibly do was to provide comfort for Sakura and still, it had not seemed to be of much help.
"Sakura, it's me…Kakashi," he said to her softly, "I need you to calm down."
The words he spoke seemed more like desperate pleas rather than words of comfort.
"I am calm," she said, her tone contained, but he knew she sounded that way only to succeed in convincing him. "I am calm…and I'll feel even better if you release me…"
"No," he said bluntly, losing his soothing tone.
He saw how her eye brows knitted together as she let out an angered growl. Her behavior was much like a psychologically imbalanced person. No, more like…an animal. He realized that her level of normalcy was slowly decreasing.
"Why not?" she snapped at him, struggling against the restraints as though she intended to attack him.
"We need to wait until Sasuke gets back so that you can feed," Kakashi explained. There was no use hiding it since it was evident that she realized her condition.
Her eyes flew open in fury and he did not miss the new shade of green in her irises. They were no longer emerald, but darker like midnight green. The fact that she began squinting also did not go unseen.
Sakura opened her mouth to speak.
"Is there something wrong with your eyes?" he asked her out of genuine concern before she could utter a word.
"They hurt," she said hesitantly before shutting her eyes once more.
This was the first time Kakashi heard her complain about her eyes. The fact that they were never a problem was the reason it caught all of his attention.
"What do you mean? When did this start?" he questioned before telling her to open them.
Sakura complied, however instead of fully opening them she began squinting like anyone would if a bright light had been flashed directly into them.
"It started just now…when I woke up," she answered.
Kakashi stared at the girl, a flutter of surprise whirling inside him. It did not take him much thought to figure out the cause for Sakura's predicament.
Sakura was no longer blind…
He did not know whether he should be delighted at the recognition or not, considering the circumstances from which it came. The metamorphosis from human to vampire allowed for the enhancement of all the regular human senses – olfactory sensations became stronger; tactual sensations became more susceptible and visual abilities became more developed. In Sakura's case, she attained her vision, but the extent of her visual skills was still questionable.
"It's alright. Nothing's wrong with you," he assured her…
By conversing with her, Kakashi was able to take Sakura's mind off the taunting smell. But she knew that soon enough, her mind would once more become immune to the technique; however she continued to commune with her guardian.
"What do you mean nothing's wrong with me?" she asked confusedly in between rapid breaths.
"You're experiencing pain simply because you have…gained vision, Sakura…"
What was this? A miracle or a nightmare?
It was an odd feeling, the ability to see. But not for a second did the newly acquired skill overwhelm her with excitement or happiness…or even gratefulness; especially not when she had been cursed in the process.
The nothingness in her stomach was continuously growing and her limited movements were now reduced to absolutely none, though not because of how tightly she had been bounded. The cause was due to her vastly intensifying, physical weakness.
As expected, Kakashi's method seemed to be slowly failing. Unwanted things were winning over her attention.
Her eyes did not hurt as much as before so she managed to open them a bit wider. Above her on the ceiling and on the walls around her, she noticed very dark splatters. They were not black, but the foreign color was similar and for some strange reason, she seemed attracted to it. She was drawn to its appearance – the stains were liquid and still fresh, seeing as how they ran down the walls; and the unfamiliar color created a strange sensation in her mouth. She felt stings in her gums where each of her canine teeth was located and soon said teeth were touching her bottom lip.
"What the fuck are those things on the walls?" she asked in a tone mixed with anger and fear.
"What are you talking about?" Kakashi asked in bewilderment as he looked to the ceiling and the walls, "There's nothing there except the olive colored paint, Sakura."
"I'm not crazy…" she muttered as she continued to look at the imaginary stains.
Sakura bit her bottom lip with all the strength she could muster in hopes that the pain would help her forget her craving. But her efforts proved to be futile as she did not possess the required strength to even make it bleed.
Her eyes darted about the room, staring at the stains again, now wearing a look of horror. Kakashi could not see them. Or was it that they truthfully did not exist?
She felt tired. She was ready to surrender; to submit herself to the madness.
Sasuke shut the door behind him as he entered the house and walked soundlessly down the hall, heading toward the basement stairs. At the entrance of the basement chamber, he was met with his other team members and found Kakashi in the room in which Sakura was being kept.
"It's about time," Kakashi said in greeting him, "She's already begun hallucinating. And she's dehydrated."
Sasuke looked over to the woman restrained to the small bed, her fangs already elongated – a mechanism triggered by immense thirst. She was still clothed in her bloodstained attire from her near-death experience previously and due to the bond, Sakura's blood had taken a stronger effect on him, raising his many needs. But the sexual tension was not untamable since he had indulged in the act earlier. Usually in an ordinary case, though he would feel absolutely no sexual desire once he had already satisfied himself. It was not surprising to him that things were different this time, still.
Their gazes met for a few seconds before Sakura broke away, but Sasuke did not fail to catch the fiery anger in Sakura's glare.
"So it was you who did this to me," she hissed bitterly, still avoiding his eyes.
Sasuke made no reply to the enraged, newborn vampire and instead turned to Kakashi, "Release her hands only…"
Before Sakura could make any rash movements after her hand cuffs were gone, Sasuke was at her side, his hands firm on her shoulders. Then he brought her upright so that her lips were close enough to his neck.
"If you expect me to bite you and drink your filthy blood, then I shall gladly assure you that I won't," she refused boldly, her breath warm against his neck.
Despite the outrageous feelings that instantly awakened within him, Sasuke contained himself. He did not argue with her for he had long predicted her behavior even before he arrived at the house. He carefully worked out Sakura's response to her situation during the time of his quick recovery from the seal's short after effects.
Turning his back to Sakura, Sasuke brought his wrist to his mouth and bit down, sinking his fangs deep into his own flesh in attempt to make it bleed enough. Then he pulled up the amount of blood required for his next action. He did not need too much; only enough to make Sakura become controlled entirely by her need to feed.
After that, without warning, Sasuke spun around and crushed his lips onto the stubborn female vampire's…
Entirely caught by surprise, Sakura had no time to react; Sasuke had already succeeded in prying her lips apart…and the liquid she longed for was already flowing down her throat.
When he was certain that Sakura would not choke, Sasuke allowed his tongue to dance with hers, one gliding over the other, tasting the remnants of the salty goodness; a goodness strong enough to build his libido to levels higher than he could possibly imagine. But once again he fought his urges even when a guttural moan sounded in Sakura's throat.
His tongue retreated into his mouth, only to let his lips linger on hers, softly biting and sucking at her lush, blood covered ones. He fought the impulse to moan, to prevent himself from enjoying and taking his actions to greater heights.
Sakura was the one to break his ministrations.
When there was no more of the substance left in Sasuke's mouth, she had instinctively lunged for a spot on his neck.
And at the climax of her intoxication, she sunk her lengthened teeth into the beautifully pale skin of the Pureblood…
A/N: I think Sakura's going to regret this in the morning :-(
AND I'm not so pleased with this chapter…what do you think? I would appreciate at least 10 reviews with your opinions…please?
Before I continue, let me take this opportunity to apologize for not updating this on the promised day, however when I decided the released date, I DID NOT cater for the emergencies at work…sighs…I worked all week :/
Anyway, I know many of you have questions about 'the bond' I mentioned in the story. I WILL reveal more about that in later chapters.
AND NOW…I want to say thanks to all of my readers and reviewers! Your Favs and reviews are very motivating and reassuring, so thank you all VERY, VERY muchXD
TO MichiiHaru-Chan:
Thank you for taking your time to review every chapter in The Dark Coven! I'm thrilled that you're enjoying this story and I promise to make things even better ^^ I'm in a bit of a rush so I can't answer any questions today. But at the end of the next chapter, I'll be sure to do that!
The next chapter should be out around 24th July, 2011
IzWinchesterDevil