Centuries
Celestia193's Author's Note: Alright, so we got a request to show Kakashi's turning, and we've inserted that as a flashback later in this chapter, so go and look forward to that. As usual, with the historical stuff regarding Japan, that's my domain, so I hope that any history buffs out there will appreciate that.
Chapter 8
Early in the morning, after dragging a very hungover couple back to the private plane, Jugo pays a visit to Sasuke's apartment overlooking most of the city, where he knew that Itachi would be. Sasuke had left the club with the snow demon, but not before telling Jugo where to find Itachi.
Which is why he walked quietly through the surprisingly modern apartment, designed for both practicality and comfort with the sliding and transforming furniture, hidden cubbies, and stylish layout meant for impressing important guests. And for those precise reasons, Sasuke didn't stay here often. The old vampire preferred the comfort of his childhood home. Jugo was fairly certain that it was the only place Sasuke ever felt at peace. And even then, those moments were few and far between.
He turns the corner from the kitchen to the living room, and then another corner to knock on a plain white door. "Itachi? Are you awake?" There was every chance that the young vampire might not be. After all, most vampires preferred to sleep all day, and Jugo wouldn't blame him for that.
"I'm awake." There was no point in denying it. "Good morning, Jugo." Or delaying the inevitable. He was most likely going to have to face Sasuke soon.
Jugo lowers his hand, stepping away from the door. The vampire…didn't sound very happy. "Would you like to eat before we go?" Maybe he just needed some time before going back? Things had seemed a little tense between the two vampires last night.
"That's kind of you, but I'm not hungry." Even hours later, the thought of what happened last night still made Itachi feel as though he wanted to vomit.
The half-giant sighs, turning to return to the living room. "…Then we can leave when you're ready, but Sasuke will wait for you to arrive, so there's no need to hurry. He's sleeping in the plane right now."
"Alright." He stretches, trying to act casually as he opens his door and follows Jugo into the living room. "I'm ready then." The longer he put it off, the worst it would be.
Jugo nods, but takes a moment to scrutinize Itachi. "Have you slept at all?" Itachi sure didn't look like he had. Had something gone wrong last night between those two?
There was no point in lying about something so obvious. "Not at all, but it's hardly the first time that I've pulled an all-nighter." He smiles at the half giant reassuringly.
Oh boy… "Does it have anything to do with Sasuke following you out of the club last night?" Jugo hadn't thought much of it at first, since Sasuke was capable of handling just about anything. Now…he wasn't so sure.
"I like you Jugo." Itachi shakes his head and sighs, already feeling guilty. "I'd rather not involve you in something that was clearly my mistake. It's not one that will get anyone killed though." He might as well clarify that part before the orange haired man grew too alarmed.
"If that's what you'd prefer…" It still didn't sit well with the ginger giant to just leave the fledgling to wallow in his own problems. "But if you want to talk about it…I am here to listen. And so is Sasuke. He won't press if you'd really rather not talk, but he does care."
"I know that you are." He smiles at Jugo, trying to hide how he felt about the other part. "It does mean a lot, but I'm simply blowing things out of proportion. It will pass." Sasuke cared about his physical safety. His mental safety…well that was clearly debatable.
"Alright, if you're sure…" Jugo wasn't, but he'd drop it for now. After all, it would be wrong to press the issue if Itachi didn't ant to talk about it. "Come on, the others are waiting." And he was fairly sure that Suigetsu and Karin would be trying to wake Sasuke up and drive him crazy by the time the two of them made it to the plane.
Itachi nods and follows Jugo. Somehow, eh was going to have to act as if nothing was wrong when he saw Sasuke. It was going to be extremely difficult, but Itachi figured he might as well try for an Oscar.
It was nearly eleven when Sasuke heard Jugo and Itachi's footsteps approaching the plane. Good. It meant that nothing had happened to Itachi during the night. Well, except maybe sleep deprivation. Sasuke's eyes narrow a little as the two board the plane, revealing slight bags under Itachi's eyes. "You're here."
"Of course." Itachi nods at him. He didn't miss the narrowing of Sasuke's eyes. Perhaps, the other man knew why he had been upset after all. "Jugo was kind enough to give me a ride."
Sasuke tilts his head towards a large, reclining seat. "Sit. You look like you need to sleep." He had likely been dwelling over whatever he hadn't wanted to say before.
"Some sleep would probably be advisable." Itachi nods as he sits down.
Watching for a moment as Jugo makes himself scarce, and drags the two kissing idiots back with him, Sasuke sighs quietly. "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable last night. I put you in a situation that you didn't want to be in."
He shakes his head as he looks out the window. "The fault was completely mine." Itachi hadn't actually thought Sasuke wanted him that way, so he wasn't sure why he had bothered to get jealous. He wasn't the type to pine. While he rarely got rejected, when he did...he got over it quickly.
"We all make mistakes." And Sasuke knew that he had made more than his fair share in his early days as a vampire. "But making others uncomfortable is an unfortunate habit of mine." He should have simply let Itachi be. "It's not your fault."
"Be that as it may, my emotional response was out of proportion and that's not something that happens to me often." He might as well admit it. "I'm not the jealous type."
…Oh. That certainly explained a lot. "I can't give you what you want." If he was interpreting that remark correctly, then Sasuke knew what Itachi wanted, what he hoped for…and he just wasn't capable of giving that to Itachi. "So, there's no reason to be jealous over someone like me."
Itachi rolls his eyes at that response. "I'm not that naive Sasuke, you've made it perfectly clear what you think of me. I never expected you to love me in that manner." It was just...irritating. "It was more the fact that mere moments after you were teasing me, you were off with that damn pretty boy demon and two fairies wanted to fuck you, that set me off."
"And despite what you think, you're capable of romantic love, if you want it." He had seen the hurt the man still carried about his family centuries later. "I don't expect it to be with me, but you'll find someone that can hold your attention someday. You'll find a bloodmate." And that was that. Itachi had said his piece.
Sasuke's heart sinks at those words. "Maybe." But honestly, he'd given up a very long time ago. An easy way to find it out was to drink their blood, and Sasuke didn't drink from people anymore. "You're young, but you should keep that optimism. It will help you when you find a mate for yourself." One that deserved someone as passionate as Itachi. "Anyway, if I ever make you feel uncomfortable, say so, and I'll stop." If he didn't figure it out beforehand, anyway.
"That look on your face makes me uncomfortable." He glances at him. "We aren't lovers and that's fine, but we are family and that look makes me worry that you're going to...kamikaze yourself one day." He'd given up on finding a bloodmate. He just said maybe to pacify Itachi. At least that was the case in his mind, when he saw the other vampire's face.
…Well, Sasuke could make no promises one way or the other. Just this. "The day I find a bloodmate…will be the day I enjoy drinking blood again." It could happen. It was unlikely, but if one happened, the other would as well.
Why did Itachi get the impression that Sasuke had just told him he'd find a bloodmate when Hell froze over? "Well...that's something." He sighs. Sasuke was certainly a stubborn one.
It felt like an eternity. But in reality, the plane ride was actually short. Itachi knew that to be the truth. Still, he couldn't help but feel relieved when they finally arrived back at Sasuke's home, and Itachi was safely secluded in his own room where he could collect his thoughts and call his Sire. Which was exactly what he did.
"Itachi? It's good to hear from you." Kakashi's bemused, yet cheerful voice echoes through the phone. "How are you enjoying Japan? It's a rather nice place, isn't it?"
"It's beautiful." He pauses, not sure how to say this. "And Sasuke's property is glorious. Like something out of a dream, really." Though that wasn't what he called to discuss. "I'm not sure...if it is a good idea for me to stay here, but I don't want to leave him after everything either." Sasuke was a vampire that seemed to have one foot in the afterlife.
Oh boy…that was a conversation that Kakashi really hadn't been looking forward to having. "He's gotten worse, then…" He knew that it would happen eventually, but he's hoped that it wouldn't be so soon. "What happened?"
Itachi sighs guiltily. "It was my fault." He shouldn't have gotten jealous. "Sasuke isn't angry with me, but he feels guilty. My emotions didn't want to follow a logical course." It was probably best to clarify. "No one was hurt." Physically, at least.
Not good. "Itachi, Sasuke has a habit of internalizing his feelings of guilt, eventually locking them away to let them fester, like most of his other emotions." Kakashi knew well that his Sire wasn't in a good place, and hadn't been for a long time. "I thought that family might help to open him up a little. Especially since you can be as emotional as Sasuke, sometimes."
"Yes, I realize that." Though it didn't help him in the slightest when it came to helping Sasuke. "He was just doing what any vampire his age is likely to do without a bloodmate." He shouldn't have gotten jealous.
Slowly spiraling off towards oblivion. But…that gave Kakashi an idea. Maybe it was a long shot, and maybe it wouldn't work. But…there was no harm in trying, right? "Then maybe that's exactly what he needs."
Itachi shakes his head. "I highly doubt that casual sex is what is going to solve his issues." If that had been the solution, Sasuke would likely already be fine. "He...was dancing with me at the nightclub. Showed me where a couple of fairies were for me to feed on and then walked off with a snow demon." And probably slept with him. Not that it was really any of Itachi's business.
"Not casual sex." Kakashi sighs, exasperation finally coloring his voice. "He is over four hundred years old, and very few vampires make it to that age without finding their bloodmate, or at least a mate at all. He needs…love." Maybe it was his inner romantic talking, but that didn't make it a lie. Even a vampire as old and apathetic as Sasuke needed some light, some hope in his life. In fact, he needed it more than most others.
"I believe he's given up on that concept." The man half starved himself as it was. "Besides, I don't think he bites anyone at this point. So how would he ever know?"
"Yes, he has." Kakashi would concede that point. "But just because Sasuke has nearly given up the fight…doesn't mean that the rest of the world does." And for once, Kakashi actually pitied Indra. It must have been very difficult to raise a teenage vampire, especially one like Sasuke. "He may be twice my age, but he's still an adolescent in some ways. He's naturally emotional, he just locks that part of himself away. He doesn't allow himself to FEEL the things that he should. And maybe he needs a little sense smacked into him."
Well that was easier said than done. "And how do you propose one goes about smacking sense into a four hundred something year old, vampire ninja?!" Because Itachi couldn't imagine that would be easy.
"Hm…" That was a good question. "Get him worked up, and show no fear. After all, he's at less than half his full strength." It was a pitfall of a vampire who starved themselves, their strength waned considerably until they got sufficient blood back into their system.
"Half his full strength is more than enough to end almost anyone." He wasn't even a century old. That meant that Sasuke at a minimum had the strength of a two hundred year old vampire and likely even more thanks to his skills in physical combat.
"True. Anyone that isn't you." Kakashi knew for a fact that Sasuke wouldn't kill Itachi. It would violate every moral code that Sasuke had ever set for himself. "He would never harm his own flesh and blood, no matter how thin the ties might be. Take advantage of THAT, and you take advantage of HIM."
That was a bit disturbing. "And what exactly am I supposed to do? Force him to drink the blood of everyone he comes across until he stumbles upon his bloodmate?" The idea was ludicrous on its face.
"No, of course not." But Kakashi did have one place Itachi could start. "If you could get a taste of his blood, there's a chance that you could sniff out the one that best complements him. I remember the taste of his blood well, and no one that I've fed from has proven to have blood to match or complement his." Though he had to admit that Itachi's was eerily reminiscent of Sasuke's, while a complete contrast at the same time. Maybe a familial thing, but… Kakashi wasn't so sure.
"I have no idea how such a thing would be possible?" He was supposed to be able to tell by Sasuke's blood's taste? And compare it to others?
"Trust your instincts, Itachi. They're there for a reason." That was one of the first lessons that Kakashi had taught his childe. Within reason, of course, since the instinct to rip humans apart while feeding on them was not the best one to indulge.
If Kakashi was there, he would smack him. "I don't need inspirational speeches." Naturally, he intended to tell his Sire as much. "I need a way to fix this because at best, he's going to wither away at this rate." Wait was that at best or worst? Would it be better to have Sasuke go quickly or slowly, if he couldn't cling to his survival instincts anymore? "I'd smack you for that answer if you were standing next to me by the way."
"I know, but go smack him instead. He needs it more than I do." After all, Kakashi wasn't the one actually in danger of sending himself to an early grave.
Dressed entirely in black and royal blue, Sasuke twirls his sword through the air, moving fluidly through his forms out in the garden. Stepping from one stance to another is an art, one that Sasuke hadn't put to use in a very long time. But even if there were no conflicts that required a ninja to fight, that was no reason to allow himself to grow dull, rusted, unusable.
No, he was far too proud to allow such a thing to happen.
Reaching into the sheath opposite his chokuto, Sasuke draws out a tanto, holding it in his right hand as his left takes the lead, swirling him into a veritable whirlwind of death. Well, death of the bamboo stalks, anyway. They made for good target practice, and grew quickly enough that the targets could be replenished by the next day.
Though he no longer needed to breathe, he would sometimes force himself to, keeping some of his old training present, even now. The breath was important. It increased focus and vital essence. Neither was necessary for a vampire, but it did help to elevate his skills further.
He brings the tanto down, slicing cleanly through a stalk of bamboo, his chokuto whirling through the air to cut a stalk opposite the first. Not too slow, not to fast, simply perfect timing that made it look and feel effortless. And as he bends them back in towards his body, surrounding himself with the two blades, his ears twitch at the sound of nearly silent footsteps. Not that anyone but Indra could be as silent as he was. "Out exploring the gardens?"
"Not exactly." Itachi cautiously strides over to Sasuke. "I feel bad about how we left things." After all, the man was a ninja. Sneaking up on him could end very, very badly. "I don't want there to be distance between us."
"Distance?" Sasuke eyes the young vampire carefully, pulling his swords back, before flattening them along his arms and sliding them back into their respective sheaths. Itachi was a fledgling, so maybe he wanted more attention than Sasuke had been giving him? Was he used to getting more attention from Kakashi? "I'm sorry if you feel that I've neglected you."
"You haven't neglected me." Itachi shakes his head. "Though it's obvious you feel guilty and awkward around me and...the feeling has been mutual." He didn't like that fact. "I was being childish. You were only acting as any other vampire would have in your situation."
"Which situation?" Sasuke was usually in a couple of them at a time, at least. Though Sasuke simply called them states of being, rather than situations.
He was actually going to make him say it. "With the snow demon." Itachi glances at him. "Almost any vampire who was attracted to men would have taken what he was offering."
Ah, so that was it. "It didn't mean anything, I've told you that." All it had been was a way to relieve some stress, and Sasuke had taken the opportunity. "I'll likely never see him again."
"I know that." Which was what made his own reaction so irritating. "That's why my jealousy was unfounded and you never made me any promises anyway." Well other than about physical safety. "Maybe it's our blood ties. Maybe...I just misinterpreted over-protectiveness for something else."
Sasuke sighs, turning away from Itachi. "…Something else?" Well, it wasn't much of a secret what that meant. "What were you hoping for from me?" Probably some romantic notion that Kakashi had put into his childe's head.
"I was hoping for a familial connection and maybe that desire combined with a physical attraction resulted in the jealousy." Itachi sighs as he looks at Sasuke with something akin to guilt. "And that wasn't fair to you. You didn't do anything wrong."
Wonderful, he was making his descendant not only jealous, but guilty about feeling jealous. "Neither did you…emotions are not always easy to control." But this was getting them nowhere, and Itachi had mentioned that he wanted a connection. Maybe…getting a little closer wouldn't hurt. "Do you know how to use a sword?"
"The basics." Kakashi had showed him. "There isn't much call for sword use these days, but I can swing one without cutting my own arm off." So that was something.
"That's a start, I suppose." Sasuke unbuckles the sheath from his belt, having traded in the traditional cloth obi for leather long ago. "Try this." He hands the sheathed tanto to Itachi, confident that, if nothing else, Itachi would heal quickly if he accidentally injured himself. "That is a tanto, a type of short-sword."
He takes the sword. "Thank you." Itachi looks over the blade curiously. It was nothing like the ones Kakashi had showed him.
Noting the look on Itachi's face, Sasuke smiles slightly. "You're likely more used to seeing a katana and wakizashi. It's what the samurai carried in Kakashi's era." And though Sasuke had several ninjato lying around, he did prefer his longer, straight-edged chokuto, paired with the much shorter tanto. "But a ninja's weapons are less showy, they're meant to be concealed."
He didn't seem to have an issue showing off his other weapon, though, but Itachi digressed. "Alright then." He waves it around experimentally.
Sasuke grimaces at the sight of Itachi waving it around like some sort of drunk samurai. It was…horrifying, really. "Well, there's no doubt as to who your teacher was." Sasuke draws his chokuto, catching the edge of the tanto and circling it with the chokuto, flicking the two blades in circles to loosen Itachi's grip, before flicking his wrist up, and then down, sending the sword thumping to the ground. "Focus less on the movements of the shoulder and elbow, and more on those of the wrist."
"The wrist." He echoes Sasuke to show that he was listening. "How about this?" He tries it Sasuke's way, wondering if his form was really as bad as Sasuke's wet cat face seemed to indicate or if it Sasuke was just a perfectionist.
"Better." Sasuke nods, approving of the change in form. "You learn quickly." Even if this was just a very basic form that most ninjas had learned at the age of eight, it was good to see that Itachi could pick up corrections so quickly.
"Samurai have always had a habit of going for grand, drawn out gestures and flashy sword fights. Ninja, or shinobi, go for the single quick strike that will end the battle in an instant. Precision is everything." Well, unless one was drawn into a battle where there was no chance of ending things so quickly. But Sasuke would save that lesson for another day. "Every cut and thrust is sharp, swift, and strikes deeply into your opponent."
That was probably Sasuke's approach to sex as well, Itachi muses. "Good to know." Hopefully, he wasn't actually blushing because of his thoughts. That would just be humiliating. "Strike first, make declarations later."
"And only to your master." Sasuke sinks down into a longer stance, holding his sword up against his arm in a reverse grip. "The only thing that a ninja should declare is the success of a mission." He slashes forward, cutting in a swift, clean arc through three stalks of bamboo. The sword was spelled, of course, otherwise taking the punishing practice of a vampire would have been impossible.
"Do you miss it?" Being a ninja or was it just a habit to Sasuke at this point? "Your birth era, I mean." It was probably better to ask in a vague fashion.
"…Yes." Though the reasons for that were quite vast. Did he miss having his family? Did he miss serving under the shoguns, having a purpose in his life? Did he miss the feeling of having no guilt weighing on him? Did he miss…having people who loved him? …but it was all moot point, anyway. Sasuke had been dealt a bad hand, and now he had to live with that. "But I try not to dwell on it."
"Alright." He smiles at him trying to ease the tension. "Well if nothing else, you definitely learned how to handle a sword well. So that's something."
"I had to." Sasuke was born into a ninja clan during a time of great conflict. "I fought in my first war when I was thirteen, recruited from the ranks of the clan for my skill. It was an honor to be chosen to serve under a great general." So, he grew up quickly, like every other child born into their way of life.
Things were different back then. Itachi knew that. "Well I'm glad you excelled or I would be in a nursing home or dead by this point." It was still disturbing to hear of child soldiers, though. "Kakashi was the one who turned me and you turned him..."
"Yes, I suppose so." That, or Itachi might never have been born in the first place, since the clan had been essentially exterminated. "I found him on a battlefield, the only one still alive." And Sasuke had been taken in by Kakashi's spirit.
"That seems...to be something of a pattern in our vampire family." Itachi didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that. "What happened?"
"Well…" Sasuke lowers his sword, his eyes sliding shut.
Blood. Death. It was rampant in this area. Perfect for a vampire to drink their fill. And the shogun's most trusted assassin walked the land, having drunk the blood of each victim he put down. His red eyes glowed as he surveyed the battlefield, seeing nothing but corpses laid out before him. It was the samurai clans, contesting for power. And today, it was those of the Aizu Domain who were protecting their land from invaders.
Thump.
Sasuke's eyes trailed across the battlefield, his ears having picked up a single sound.
Thump.
A heartbeat. That was unmistakably a heartbeat.
Kakashi knew that he was dying. The wound had been a fatal one. Unfortunately, he didn't even have the strength to end his own misery and die the honorable way. No. He was resigned to a slow death.
A samurai, one of Aizu, by the looks of it. A domain loyal to the shogun. Not young, not old, not by human standards at least. It intrigued Sasuke, and reflected a similar occurrence over two hundred years ago. The man with the silver hair was dying slowly, just as he himself had been. So, he approached the fading man. "…Samurai, what is your name?"
"K-Kakashi." Strange, was he being claimed by some sort of spirit? Was the spirit carting him off into the afterlife? "Hatake." That must be what was going on. Every word, he spoke felt as though it was going to make his chest burst and spill out the rest of what little remained of his lifeblood.
Sasuke knelt, eyes glowing behind his mask. "I am one who serves the Shogun, Kakashi Hatake. And if you would bind yourself to me, I have the means to save you." He pulls the edge of his blade across his arm, spilling his own blood and offering it to the human. "You would be immortal, and undying. But you could continue to fight for your cause. Whatever that may be."
He wanted to ask why the being was offering this and what he would want in return, but he was too weak to do so. "If I take, I live?" It seemed that he had a choice to become whatever this man was or to die.
"Yes. You will be stronger, faster, more powerful than ever before." Sasuke reached up for his mask, pulling it from his face. "If that is what you want, then drink." He held the blood less than an inch from Kakashi's mouth, giving him the choice of whether or not to take it.
Kakashi drank. That sounded far superior to the slow death that would have awaited him otherwise.
Long moments had passed between the samurai and the immortal ninja, but when Sasuke had deemed that Kakashi had drunk sufficiently, he drew his arm away, before lifting Kakashi's head into his lap. "Be calm, it will be over in an instant. And when you wake, you will be a vampire."
At that point, Kakashi had been too weak too protest. He had used all his strength to speak and drink. He could only calmly wait for whatever fate was about to befall him and wonder if any of this was real.
Sasuke's fingers had been gentle, but firm, taking Kakashi's head in his hands, before flicking his wrists and snapping the human's neck. It was over, and the human would rise again as a vampire.
"Well I'm glad you saved him." Itachi smiles. "It seems our family is fond of taking in strays."
"Yes, it seems so." It was not a story that Sasuke told often, or at all, really, but Itachi deserved to know. But that begged a new question. "Are you a stray as well?"
"Not exactly." He shakes his head and smiles. "I'm not sure if you really want to hear the details of my own turning, but the gist is similar. I was dying and Kakashi saved me."
Sasuke's eyes narrow at the revelation. "Who did it?"
It didn't really matter. She was dead. "I believe her name was Kitasha." He pauses and adds. "I didn't catch the name of her friends before Kakashi decapitated them though."
"Kitasha?" Sasuke's gaze sharpens, focusing solely on Itachi. "You're sure?"
"Yes, he killed her though." So it really didn't matter to Itachi all that much. "Well that's what he told me when I asked later on anyway."
"Good." Sasuke's grip on his sword tightens. "But keep on your guard anyway, there's no telling when the next attack will come."
Itachi nods as he comes at Sasuke. "You're absolutely right." There was no telling when the next attack would come. Like now.
Sasuke catches the strike in an instant, turning it aside with a flick of his sword. "You're fast, good." Very few vampires were as fast as Itachi was, even if they were twice his age. But he still had a long way to go before he was faster than Sasuke.
"Apparently, not good enough, though." He probably should have expected that. That Sasuke would block him.
"You'll learn." Sasuke makes a single thrust, the edge of his sword just grazing Itachi's cheekbone. "But dedication and discipline are two of the more important teachers."
"Alright." He smiles at Sasuke, not flinching at the feeling of the blade against his cheek.
Sasuke can't help but smile back. "I'll protect you…and I'll teach you." And maybe he could protect Itachi from suffering the same fate as his family.
He embraces him, mindful of the swords. "I'd like that." And well, Kakashi had said that he should taste his blood. So he was going to go for an ear nip.
"Good." Sasuke's smile softens as he lowers his sword and wraps his free arm around Itachi. "I have a lot to teach yo-U!" He blinks, feeling a slight pinch to his ear. Then, he smells the scent of his own blood. "Itachi?" Was the fledgling hungry?
He'd never had blood like this before. It was only a drop or two, but he knew that it was even better than Kakashi's. Maybe, it was because of his age though. "Sorry. Instinct." He'd ask Kakashi about it later.
Sasuke draws away, looking Itachi up and down worriedly, and then noting the look in the young vampire's crimson eyes. "You're thirsty." There was a clear desire for blood in Itachi's eyes. HIS blood.
"I didn't drink at the club last night. I should probably just go get something." He smiles at Sasuke reassuringly. "Don't worry."
"Alright." Sasuke steps back, sheathing his blade. "There's bloodwine in the cellar, ask Chouji to recommend something. And if you want to learn how to wield a sword properly, come back out here at sunset."
"Alright. I'll see you at sunset." With that, he walks off to get some bloodwine.