Centuries

Celestia193's Author's Note: Alright, so in this chapter, we get to see a little more of Sasuke's darkness, and it's going to get a lot darker before we have our happy ending. And there WILL be a happy ending. But…first everything has to go to hell first.

Chapter 18

Sasuke sighs, his gaze darkening as he concludes with his explanation of the situation, mostly, catching Kakashi up on what he had and hadn't found thus far. "I'm sorry that you got dragged into all of this Kakashi. You and Itachi…" He should have dealt with Orochimaru a long time ago, no matter how that might have ended. If he had…then Itachi wouldn't be in danger now.

"It would have happened eventually." Kakashi shakes his head. "Orochimaru was obsessed with you and he knew I was your childe. This was always a possibility."

"I know, but I've had four hundred years to do…something about him." Even if, had he attempted as a fledgling, he would certainly have died. Still, that would have at least solved some of the problem, no matter how morbid those thoughts could turn. "He's after Itachi in order to get to me, which in turn, will get to Indra. He's jealous of Indra…his power, and the way he doted on me."

Orochimaru, for all of his bluster, really wanted to have the power Sasuke inherited from Indra. He'd wanted to be sired by someone powerful, and Sasuke had. So, what do you do when you can't touch the object of your hatred, your envy, your admiration? You go after their precious one, and make them both suffer.

Kakashi sighs as he embraces Sasuke. "The fault lays with him and his jealousy, not with you and not with Indra." He smiles at him. "He'll be nothing more than an unpleasant memory soon enough. It's only because Indra didn't consider him worth killing, that he's still alive."

"Yeah, but now, it's not going to be Indra who kills him." No, Sasuke was going to rip that snake to pieces. And he was going to ENJOY it.

"I should very much like to see you tear him apart." Kakashi smirks at that thought.

"Well, I still have your armor tucked away in the armory behind the back panel of the dojo." Sasuke was sentimental like that, he didn't want to throw out such a large part of his childe's identity, even as his childe was moving on into the modern era.

He wasn't entirely sure it was very practical in this era. "Well, no harm in seeing if it still fits." He smiles at Sasuke. "Shall we?"

Sasuke smiles at the thought of going into battle with his childe again. "Yes, we shall." Besides, he had armor and weapons of his own that needed some last minute adjustments. After all, if he was going to tear Orochimaru apart, he was going to be traditional about it.

Kakashi goes with Sasuke to retrieve his armor. "It's been a long time since I had any reason to wear this." He chuckles as he looks it over.

The ninja nods, glancing at the sewn, overlapping plates of red and blue armor. It had been a long time since he'd see Kakashi wear it. And for good reason. After the Boshin War, they'd had little reason to put on their battle regalia.

His own, however, consisted mainly of cloth, with thin, blackened plates of armor covering only the most vital places. It was a style unique to the clan, but practical, as the plates overlapped to provide flexibility, but were concealed by a second layer of tight clothing, leaving no excess bulk, save for the slightly looser third layer of black cloth. Easy to put on, easy to take off, and easy to move in. It was clothing of convenience, not fashion. It was not meant to make a statement, but to allow a statement to be made by actions.

"I can see you're rather pleased to be in your old armor." He chuckles and smiles at him. "It suits you. Though it'll look even better covered in Orochimaru's blood."

"It won't show much on the black. But…" Sasuke reaches for the snowy white porcelain mask, fashioned into the shape of a hawk's beak, with feather-like stylizations along the edges. "It will show on this." The red and purple markings adorning it shone against the pure white of the mask, depicting a hawk screeching, swooping down on its prey.

He nods at that. "Well try not to let your character overtake you for too long." Kakashi smiles at him. "I do believe your Mate prefers the more mellow you."

"…I know." Sasuke knew that Itachi hadn't seen this side of him, not yet. And it was not one that he enjoyed showing to people. Kakashi…well, this was how they had met. The both of them, proud warriors. But Itachi… "He's still so innocent. And I plan to keep it that way for as long as I can. There's no need for him to get blood on his hands."

"I feel exactly the same way." The silver haired vampire sighs. Though he had a feeling they wouldn't be able to protect him for long. "Though I think fate has other plans for him. Just try not to plunge too deeply into that darkness. You have someone waiting for you on the other side now, besides me and Indra." He pauses and adds. "Oh and of course, Suigetsu, Karin, Jugo, and Aoda."

"…" Yes, he had to remember to pull himself out of that darkness when all of this was over. It was going to be hard, but…with Itachi waiting for him, Sasuke was sure he could manage that much. "I will do whatever I must for Itachi's sake. Even if that means plunging back into that darkness, and then dragging myself back out of it."

Kakashi places his hand on the other man's shoulder. "Good. I'm glad." The other vampire smiles at him. "He loves you, you know?"

Sasuke's eyes darken as he stares at the mask in his hands. "I know. And it's for him that I'm doing this." Orochimaru had forced his hand, and now, all of this was going to end. "There's…still one more thing I need to do."

"And what is that?" His Childe looks at him anxiously.

"Feed." If Sasuke was going to fight Orochimaru, then he needed to feed. He needed to gorge on blood as he once had oh so long ago. "While Indra tracks down Orochimaru's current base of operations…I'm going hunting." After all, even if the snake's location proved elusive to him, did not mean that it would do so for Indra.

Now, that was an excellent idea. "True enough." He nods at Sasuke. "You can always feed from me and your bloodmate of course, but other sources of blood might prove helpful as well."

"No. I won't be able to get what I need from you or Itachi." Or any of his friends. What Sasuke needed now…was to hunt as he used to. To gorge himself on the blood of his enemies. But, as the shogunate no longer existed…well, Sasuke would just have to improvise.

"Alright." Kakashi looks at him with wary eyes. "Be careful though. You know that is flirting with disaster." He knew what Sasuke used to be like and he knew you couldn't get away with such things as easily these days.

"I know. But I also know what I'm doing, and I've been at it longer than you've been alive." Even if one didn't count Sasuke's century and a half hiatus. "I know how to pick my victims, they won't be missed." It was, after all, something that he'd done carefully for two and a half centuries. And compulsion made it oh so easy to figure out who the real, truly irredeemable scumbags were. And serial killers…well, those were his favorites to put down, even if their blood tasted terrible.

"Very well." Kakashi sighs. "I'll be sure to keep Itachi distracted while you prepare for battle." It was the least he could do really.

Sasuke nods, tying the mask loosely around his neck, and allowing it to hang there as he adds concealed belts to his getup, providing places to attach his chokuto, a pouch for kunai and shuriken, and a few other nasty little tricks, and a holster on his back for a tanto. He was not going to go in unprepared. "I'll be going to Kyoto then, I should be back by the time the sun rises." Sooner, if prey proved plentiful.

Kakashi had a bad feeling about this, but nevertheless, he nods in agreement. "Alright. I'll see you soon then."

After initial introductions, the rest of the evening has gone by fairly normally. Normally enough that Anko knew that she should be worried. Still, when it became obvious the older vampires wanted some privacy, Anko was only too happy to use that excuse. "Perhaps, you'd be kind enough to give me a proper tour?" She smiles. "It seems my date is a bit busy."

"As is mine." Though Itachi wasn't particularly pleased about being left out of a conversation that was clearly about Orochimaru. And any conversation about Orochimaru was ultimately a conversation about him as well. After all, he was likely Orochimaru's prime target. The best way to hurt Sasuke, and by extension, Indra, who would be forced to watch Sasuke collapse if anything happened to him.

Itachi was Sasuke's Achilles' Heel, and he knew it. "But I suppose that a tour wouldn't hurt." After all, Sasuke could hardly complain if Itachi was just showing Kakashi's date around the house. "Is there anything you would like to see first? The dojo, the library, or the gardens, perhaps?"

"I'd love to see the gardens." She smiles at him. That would be the easiest place to grab him. "If you wouldn't mind." She felt guilty about this. Itachi was probably younger than her though. So she had the advantage at least when it came to brute strength.

"Of course not. I rather like the gardens myself." Hm…now that was an idea. Sasuke had encouraged him to be creative, so as long as they could find a place where no one would walk in on them… He quickly shakes the thought away for now, and gestures towards the front doors. "You likely saw on your way inside, but the gardens surround the estate, so we'll just make a full circle and come back inside afterward."

"That sounds perfect." She smiles as she walks alongside him. "The grounds are so vast. It's amazing that none of you get lost." She had a witch waiting in the wings. The witch would make two clones. One of her and one of Itachi. That should distract them for at least a little while.

"Yes, well, I certainly got turned around here at first, the entire estate is…well, enormous, to put it mildly. And this is only the main house." Itachi hadn't actually seen every corner of the estate yet, only what he'd seen while chasing Sasuke around during their games of hide and seek. "It once held the entirety of the Uchiha Clan." A fact that, unfortunately, was no longer the case.

Well, there was nothing to be done about that, so Itachi motions to a path along the river, cutting through the bright, vibrantly colored garden. "Shall we?"

She nods at that. "Yes, we shall." Why did Orochimaru make her do this? He'd had her do a lot of terrible things over the years, but this by far might just be the worst.

Itachi nods, walking by her side as he leads her through a first set of arches, and into the main gardens on the northern half of the estate, where it morphed from traditional stone garden, into the more typical hedgerows of rose bushes and long beds of orchids, irises, lilies, and tulips. For a vampire whose specialty was killing, Sasuke certainly did keep a lot of flowers around the estate. "I apologize for my Mate's behavior, he is very…open about certain things, and likes to proclaim his possession of people rather firmly."

"You don't have to apologize about that." Anko smiles at him. "If anything, I'm the one that should be apologizing to you." She didn't really know what Orochimaru intended to do with Itachi, but the vampiress did know that it involved separating him from Sasuke and that was bad enough.

"For being there as my lover embarrassed me?" Itachi rolls his eyes. "Hardly. And if this is about Kakashi, my Sire is fully capable of choosing who he spends time with without asking for my opinions." He was too busy with Sasuke to give them, anyway.

"For everything." She sighs at him. "Had I a choice, I wouldn't do this." Anko looks at him apologetically. "I truly am sorry." With that being said, she moves to strike him with lightning speed.

Fortunately, Itachi had always been rather fast. Not as fast as Sasuke, but still pretty fast. And though he hadn't really taken to his lessons as well as he probably should have, the martial arts that Kakashi had him learn could still prove useful, like now, as he grabs her arm, stopping the blow before it lands. "Anko!?"

Damn. Sasuke must have trained him. "I can't promise you anything, other than he doesn't want you dead." This would be easier, if Itachi didn't fight her. "You can fight me if you wish, but it's a fight you're bound to lose." She frees her hand from him and aims a swift kick towards him.

He didn't want Itachi dead? "Orochimaru." It had to be. Did he send his spy to get close to his Sire in order to grab him? He bends backwards to dodge the kick, letting it just clip his shoulder and glance off. "He's your Sire."

"Regrettably, that's accurate." She smiles wistfully at him. "It seems you're rather strong for your age, but that won't win the battle for you." Anko had more experience and she had the strength on her side. Her mistake had been underestimating him and she wouldn't make that mistake again, the vampiress thinks to herself as she hurtles towards him.

Yeah, he was REALLY starting to regret not taking his lessons more seriously. He grunts slightly as she slams into his chest, but he uses the impact to drag her to the ground with him, rolling her over, even as the dull ache of cracked bones pound in his chest, almost like the heart that no longer beat.

Anko sighs as she looks up at him. "This will be much easier on you, if you don't fight me." Her eyes narrow. "Not even they will be able to hear us from out here or if they do, I will win before they can find us." She snarls at him.

Itachi hesitates a moment. If he raised his voice and called out for Sasuke, he was sure that his mate would hear him. And, had this been before he knew that he and Sasuke were bloodmates, maybe he would have given up in order to protect his Sire and Grand-Sire from being hurt. But Sasuke…Sasuke would be crushed if anything happened to him. Or worse…go on the sort of homicidal rampage that he'd always alluded to.

And that was no option. So, Itachi raises his hand, apologizing in his head to his Sire, whilst preparing to reach in and rip this woman's heart out. He'd never killed before, but…he had to. He couldn't just let Anko run about, doing Orochimaru's bidding, threatening the life and sanity of his mate. "I'm sorry." He plunges his hand downward, aiming for the bottom of her ribcage.

She blocks his hand. "It's alright. I understand." Though he was delusional, if he thought Anko would allow it. "I hope you feel the same way later." With that being said, she uses her other hand to snap his neck. It wouldn't kill him, but it would knock him out for at least a few hours.

Like a light switch had been flipped, Itachi's eyes darken as he falls on top of her, unmoving. Just like the corpse he was supposed to be. No twitch of the fingers, no indication at all that he was alive or undead. Just…'dead'.

She quickly scoops him up in her arms and takes off. Anko knew the witch's clones would cover for her. At least for a while. "Time to get you back to Orochimaru." The vampiress looks down at Itachi with a guilty expression as she carries him off.

Gardens. Kakashi could certainly understand the appeal of going out to walk the gardens, especially for someone as thoughtful as his child. And Anko…well, she was a woman, that was fairly self-explanatory, in his opinion. Save for those with allergies, there were few women who did not appreciate well-kept flowers.

The problem? Sasuke's well-kept gardens were massive, circling the entire mansion. That made the number of places those two could be holed up rather large. And if they were walking in the same direction…well, that sort of game of cat and mouse could go on forever.

Still, Kakashi didn't mind walking around the flowerbeds. He particularly liked the gladiolus flowers, the sword lilies. And though his Sire would never admit it, Kakashi knew that they were Sasuke's favorite. "Itachi!?" Now, where did his wayward childe get off to? "Anko!?"

The clones were already in place. 'Anko' hears Kakashi and gestures for the second Itachi to follow her. "Kakashi?" The witch had done her job. They looked identical to the originals, sound the same, and even smelled the same.

"Ah there you two are. I was wondering where you'd gotten off to." He smiles pleasantly as he ambles over to them. After all, his job now was to distract Itachi for as long as possible while Sasuke was out hunting. "How are you liking the gardens so far?"

"They're beautiful." Anko smiles at him. "Itachi was just telling me about your contributions to the garden." The clone was set up to act like Anko and to speak in generalities. The same was true of Itachi's.

"Yes, Kakashi does love his flowers." Itachi smirks. "Anyway, where is Sasuke?" He smiles at his Sire.

"And you expect her to believe that you don't?" Kakashi chuckles at the thought. "You're more than a little fond of roses, yourself." Beautiful flowers, but dangerous if plucked the wrong way, and prone to pricking the forceful or unwary hand. Much like Itachi's choice in mate.

"I don't mind if you like flowers." Anko laughs as she kisses his cheek. "After all, it just means that you're a man who can handle a sword and you'll probably smell better than most." Her eyes sparkle with mischief at her dirty joke.

Itachi rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Yes, I like roses. Though I could do without hearing about my Sire's swordsmanship." The clone plays his part to perfection.

Kakashi smiles amusedly at his childe. "No, you would much rather hear about MY Sire's swordsmanship." And if he could tease the time into passing, then he would do exactly that. "After all, he is much like a rose himself, isn't he?"

"Kakashi!" Itachi blushes deeply at that. "You're impossible." The clone could even simulate embarrassment.

"I know." And Kakashi took great pride in being able to embarrass both his childe and his sire. Though the latter was typically much more difficult. And his sire was precisely who he had to keep his childe away from. And he had one good idea as to how to do that. "As for Sasuke, he is currently meditating, but if you would like to join him in stillness and silence and boredom until Indra arrives, I suppose you could try sneaking into the dojo." His childe hated meditation, thus, a perfect mechanism for warding him away from looking for his mate.

Did that vampire do nothing else besides sex and mediation? "I think it would be best, if I didn't disturb him." Itachi smiles at Kakashi. The clone had been implanted with some basic memories from Anko's observations.

"Probably." Good, then this wasn't going to be difficult. Distracting Itachi otherwise would be a challenge. "Have you shown Anko the library yet?"

"Not yet." Anko smiles at him slyly and traces her hand over his shoulder. "Didn't realize you were such an academic."

Kakashi smirks. "Well, even my sire has a collection of more…interesting literature." He'd gotten through almost all of the sex manual stuffed away in there, but there were still a couple that Sasuke had yet to translate for him.

The clone vampiress smirks. "That does sound rather interesting." Itachi, of course, pretends to be embarrassed. "Lead the way?"

"Of course." Kakashi chuckles as he directs their small group back towards the front doors. "So, do you like what you've seen of the house so far?" HE certainly liked what he'd seen so far. Minus, of course, that look on his Sire's face earlier. But focusing on Anko for the time being was a much more pleasant endeavor.

"I like it very much." Anko walks beside him, making sure to sway her hips invitingly as she does. "And I can't wait to explore even more." Itachi walks with them, though he was obviously pretending not to notice the flirtation going on.

"Yes, exploring sounds rather nice." Unfortunately, it would have to wait, as Kakashi was supposed to be playing babysitter for his childe right about now. And the library was the best place to do that, as he leads them through the halls and into the grand old clan library. "Now be careful not to touch anything that has the seal of a fan on it. Sasuke won't be pleased."

"That's alright." Anko laughs softly. "I doubt he was possessive enough to place a seal on you. So that works out just fine." Itachi sputters upon hearing that and his face goes ruby red.

"No, he was not." Though Sasuke probably came close a couple of times, just out of paranoia." Kakashi chuckles, shaking his head at his bashful childe. "I apologize for Itachi, though. He's still on the young side, and I fear that I may not have cracked enough dirty jokes around him to make him immune to such things." Then again, there was no time like the present.

"I apologize for my perverted Sire." Itachi sighs dramatically as he places his hand over his heart. "I assure you that he only acts this way because he's besotted with you."

"Thank you." The vampiress smiles slyly. "Well that's all very good to know and I"m sure he'll get used to it soon enough, especially with a bloodmate like Sasuke."

"Yes,I'm sure that he will." Kakashi smiles in much the same manner, smirking at his childe. After all, Itachi was hardly mated to a blushing virgin. Or an innocent teenager.

Blood streaks the corners of Sasuke's mouth, hidden for now by the white porcelain mask. Twice over, he'd found suitable prey, and twice, he'd drunk until the blood ceased flowing. A third. He needed a third tonight. Perhaps it was fitting, then, that he'd found himself criminals. A murderer with no remorse, and a greedy drug dealer with no conscience nor family.

After all, with no particular targets, it was best to take those whose disappearance would benefit society. Those whom he could compel to tell him their crimes, so that he may have as clear a conscience as possible in…removing them.

And, in exploring the streets, he comes across yet another terror prowling the streets. Judging by the predatory look on his face…well, Sasuke knew what kinds of humans those were.

The vampire drops silently into the street behind the unsuspecting human, prowling the streets, searching for a victim. But tonight, he wouldn't be getting another innocent victim. No, Sasuke would make sure that he didn't. "It is humans like you that make me sick."

"Humans like me?" The man raises an eyebrow at the guy in the mask. "You must be having a bad trip or something. You're just as human as I am." He laughs at him. "Mask or not. You should get your overdosing ass to the E.R. or something."

Hmph, arrogant humans. Sasuke removes his mask, exposing glowing red eyes. "Tell me…human, how many have you hurt?" Enforcing his will on another, it was a trick that all vampires could use, but some were simply…more naturally adept at compulsion than others.

He didn't know what was going on. The man's eyes were glowing red and he found he couldn't resist answering the question. "T-Twelve." What the Hell was going on? There was something really weird going on with this guy.

Twelve, of course, it couldn't simply be five or six. The human just had to go for the double digits. "And you were looking for another victim tonight?" Sasuke already had plans for the man, but still, the questions were important.

"Yes." Again, he couldn't stop himself from speaking. He didn't know why. "What is your problem, you freak? What are you doing to me?"

"Compelling you." One last question, and Sasuke would be finished with him. "Were you ever going to turn yourself in for your crimes?"

Compelling him. "What the fuck kind of trick is this? Of course, not." That would be stupid. Why would he do that?

"I didn't think so." Truly, these were the types of humans he hated the most. Everything he had done was under orders, or to remove people like this from the populous. And even then, he did not consider himself innocent in the slightest. No, not with the amount of blood on his hands. But he did not take pleasure in hurting the innocent. Not like this man. "I suggest that you pray to whatever god rules your afterlife, because you will be meeting them shortly." His fangs lengthen, eyes burning a terrible bloody scarlet.

The man screams in terror and takes off running. He wasn't going to stick around and let this freak kill him.

Sasuke has hold of him in an instant, a hand over his mouth. Did the man truly believe that he could outrun a vampire? How foolish… He twists the thrashing man's arm, nearly popping it from the socket as he easily subdues him. There was no need to handle with care. He would be dead soon enough. And so, Sasuke plunges his fangs into the thick, corded neck, and drinks.

"LET GO OF ME, YOU FREAK!" The man struggles and thrashes with all his might. "Let go of me!" He was in a fight for his life and he knew it, but it was one that he was also losing. Badly.

Sasuke clamps his hand down harder, muffling the human's cries. His blood tasted terrible, just like the others. Like meat left with the salt too long, or a fruit that hadn't yet ripened. Salty and sour, and nothing at all like the sweet taste of his precious mate.

The man's struggles eventually lessened until they ceased all together. He was no match for the vampire who was currently holding him down.

As the man stills, the flow of blood slows to a crawl, and Sasuke gulps down the last few mouthfuls that the man's heart pumps to him before giving out. Humans…so evil at times, and yet, so fragile. Capable of wreaking great pain and destruction, and yet, so easily broken.

Sasuke hefts the man's body over his shoulder, ripping out the place where his fang marks could be seen. He would dispose of the body with water, then leave it for the authorities to connect to those reports of missing and murdered people. There were no fingerprints, no hair strands, and any saliva left behind would be lost with the chunk he'd torn out, or washed away by the water, or even digested, along with the meat by the fish. Fire would arouse suspicion. But…the body of a criminal, that looked like it got attacked by an animal. Well, that could be easily bought outside of the city.

He DID know how to dispose of a body, after all.