Ok so sorry about the long wait on an update but here you guys go! Next chapter! Also I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the usual length for my chapters but it reached 15 pages in my word doc so that's a good amount! Also the next chapter will contain lots of fight scenes so it'll be much longer to make up for it. So enjoy people and as always feedback is loved!
Now I'm off to go write some more for Shinobi Academy and Behind Blue Eyes. UPDATES TO FOLLOW...RELATIVELY SOON...ISH...
Kyuu sighed boredly as she sat around with her team waiting for the second exam to finish. Slowly teams were filing in one by one and she was still on the lookout for Naruto's team to arrive.
"Relax, it's Naruto, you know they'll find their scroll and make it on time." Haku stated when he saw that Kyuu glanced once again at the doors when more teams arrived.
"It shouldn't take this long." She complained in response.
She wasn't just worried about Naruto though, truthfully she was going stir crazy inside the tower and had a sick feeling in her stomach like something terrible was about to happen or already did. Try as she might, she couldn't shake that uneasy feeling.
"Kyuu? Did you hear me?" Haku asked, cutting into her thoughts.
"Hmm?" Kyuu responded, pulling herself out of her musing and turning her attention to him.
"I said; Shikamaru's team just arrived." He repeated and pointed to the three.
Kyuu glanced over at them; they looked a little banged up but no worse for wear. However their eyes, or at least Shikamaru's eyes, showed signs of trouble. Kyuu looked at him thoughtfully and stood up from her spot. "I'll be right back." She called to Tsuki and Haku before walking in Shikamaru's direction.
"Hey guys." She greeted once she reached them.
"Hey." Shikamaru responded and Choji waved to her while in the midst of devouring his chips. Ino just tilted her head in acknowledgement, the two of them never got along much.
"How'd you guys do out there?" She asked politely, turning her attention to just Shikamaru.
"Not too bad, we got our scroll early on." Shikamaru responded.
"Would have been one of the first few here if we hadn't run into so much trouble." Choji chipped in.
"What kind of trouble? My team was the first here, followed by Gaara's team and Hinata's. None of us had much trouble." Kyuu asked curiously.
"Yeah that Gaara weirdo, he was one of the trouble parts. Go figure his team was the first we came across with a scroll we needed. Though after watching him kill a few other teams we decided it was best to find a different team to steal it from so that took up a lot of time." Ino added in while dusting off her outfit.
Kyuu was relieved that they or more than likely Shikamaru had enough sense not to try to engage Gaara's team. She was about to ask another question about it before Choji chipped into the conversation again.
"Yeah, but that wasn't that big of a hold up, it was that stuff that went down with Sasuke's team that caused us such a big delay." He commented while finishing his bag of chips.
"What happened with Sasuke's team?" Kyuu asked in concern.
"Billboard brow thought she could take on an entire enemy team on her own and we had to save her." Ino answered.
"Sakura? Where were Naruto and Sasuke during that?"
"They were there, they were unconscious though. I don't know what happened before we showed up honestly. Just Naruto and Sasuke were out cold from something and a team tried to attack them so Sakura tried to protect the two and that Rock Lee kid showed up and tried to help Sakura too, but eventually we stepped in to help as well. There's something really strange and not right about those Sound Ninja." Shikamaru explained with a shrug.
"Did Naruto and Sasuke wake back up before you guys left?"
"Yeah, Sasuke woke up first and…honestly kind of lost his shit. He went all crazy mode on them with this purple chakra and black markings all over him and Sakura had to stop him from killing the guy that almost bashed her face in." Choji answered while he looked for more food to eat.
"What?" Kyuu looked at the three of them confused. What they were saying wasn't making sense what on earth happened to Sasuke? She also felt mild concern for Sakura upon hearing her face was almost bashed in.
"They're all fine now Kyuu, you can ask them the details when they get here." Shikamaru stated when he saw Kyuu's concern. He didn't really feel like he should be sharing what went down since things weren't settling right for him concerning the whole matter, but Choji already let the cat out of the bag and Kyuu was their former teammate she had a right to be worried.
Kyuu tried to get a little more information out of them before the three parted ways with her and went to go rest. Now she was really worried. That uneasy feeling she was getting seemed to have gotten worse with this news. She just hoped Naruto would be back soon and she'd get to the bottom of it soon.
Instead of heading back over to her teammates Kyuu began to wander around the tower in an attempt to ease her mind. As she passed down a hallway a door opened beside her and Temari stepped out. She froze when she saw her. Kyuu inwardly flinched a bit when she saw the flicker of fear in Temari's eyes. She hadn't yet been able to talk to her about what happened.
"H-hey Kyuu." She greeted with a nervous smile.
"You can relax, I'm not going to hurt you, you know." Kyuu sighed and Temari looked at her for a moment, realizing the hurt in Kyuu's eyes, she softened a bit.
"Sorry... It's just… so a vampire huh?" She responded.
"Shush, don't just go blabbing that!" Kyuu snapped and looked around to see if anyone was nearby. The two were alone so she relaxed. "And technically only half." She added with a shrug.
"Half?"
"I'm technically only half vampire I'm a dhampir, a child sired by a vampire rather than turned. My mother was a human though." She explained.
"Oh.. How does that work?"
"What do you mean? Sex; same way baby making works for everyone else." Kyuu responded confused by her question.
"Well I mean, why would a human girl have sex with a vampire? Was she errr forced? Put under a trance and seduced? I mean even in like those romance novels, the vampire usually seduces the girl to either eat her or turn her." She asked confused and Kyuu glared, insulted.
"Actually my parents were happily married and conceived me without trickery or force." She snapped.
"Oh. Really? She was ok with your dad being a vampire and all?"
"Yes. The same way Gaara is perfectly ok with knowing what I am and the same way Naruto is happily still my best friend knowing what I am. Some people can just accept others for who they are rather than what they are." She answered, crossing her arms in annoyance.
"Well... Gaara's a special case, you know." Temari commented. "Look, I'm just trying to understand ok? It's not every day you find out someone you know is actually a monster who drinks blood. It's a lot to take in."
Kyuu stared at her in disbelief and turned to walk away. "I'm not a monster…" She muttered, hurt by her words. Though, knowing how Temari treated her own brother, she wasn't all that surprised.
Temari watched her try to leave and sighed. "Wait Kyuu, stop. I'm sorry." She spoke quickly. She reached her hand out to grab Kyuu and keep her from going, but stopped before she touched her. Hesitation and fear clearly visible on her face.
Kyuu sighed and turned to face her again. "What?" She demanded, wondering why Temari was trying so hard when she was clearly so afraid.
"Look... can we just talk? I mean… ok I'm not going to lie, I'm a little scared of you now." She started and seeing Kyuu get annoyed she continued on fast. "But that doesn't mean I don't want anything to do with you anymore. I just, need to know how to take this all in and understand you better is all. I'm trying to look past the whole bloodthirsty creature of the night thing and see you as you, like before I knew." She explained.
"Why is it with me, you're willing to listen to me talk and still try to be my friend, but you won't try for the same thing with your brother?"
Temari frowned in sorrow for a moment. "Gaara… Gaara's different. I tried when he was younger, he wouldn't let me in. He's a lost cause now. You, you still try to let people in and make friends. You're different in that way." She answered.
"You should never consider family a lost cause and abandon them." She commented a bit sternly.
"Yeah well, when they don't consider you family in the first place it's hard not to." She retorted."Besides, he hasn't killed either of us yet, and we still put up with him, its proof right there that we're a family." She added with a shrug.
Kyuu wanted to say more on Gaara's behalf, but decided against it, it wasn't her place to get involved in their family matters. Besides she doubted Temari would put up with her lecturing anyway since she was barely able to stand being in the same room as her now.
"Speaking of family, you said your parents were happily married? Why were?" Temari asked, breaking into Kyuu's thoughts.
"They're both dead." Kyuu answered simply, and leaned against the wall, sliding down it until she was sitting on the ground; it seemed they were going to be talking for awhile.
"Oh." Temari responded, unsure of what to say as she leaned against the wall opposite of Kyuu.
"My mother, she died giving birth to me, my father he was slain when I was still a young child."
"Slain? Like by a vampire hunter? Like what we saw before?"
"Yeah, though I never knew who this hunter was. I was so young then, he either thought I was an innocent child about to be the evil vampire's dinner, or he couldn't bring himself to kill a child, even a vampire child, and let me live. It wasn't much of an act of mercy though, as he left me in that forest to fend for myself at four years old." Kyuu answered. "That moment of weakness was a mistake though, I've killed countless hunters, hoping that one day I'd be able to slay the man that killed my father and avenge him." She added.
"Countless? Why so many?" Temari asked confused and a bit concerned by the amount of people Kyuu had killed.
"There are a lot more vampires in this world then you'd care to realize, so obviously there are a lot more hunters out there than you'd think. I allowed myself to be made a target to lead them to their deaths. At least, for a while I did, and then I just killed the occasional one that showed up after me."
"I see…." Temari started, at a loss for words and still trying to process all this. "So, it's just you then? No other family?"
"Other than my brother yeah."
"Brother?"
"Mhm; the boy on my team. His name is Haku. Though he's not really my brother, we just were raised together. For a time."
"Oh, he's pretty cute." Temari commented and wondered if he was a vampire as well or not.
"Ha, he's seventeen by the way, in case you were wondering and up until I helped give him a makeover, looked like a total chick. " Kyuu laughed a bit, shaking her head, though she doubted Temari would still find him appealing if she knew he was a vampire as well, but telling her that would mean she'd have to tell her that it was she that turned him, she didn't think Temari was ready for that news.
"Ah, so he's my age then." Temari laughed and paused for a moment. "So how old are you really then?" She asked curiously.
"Really, I'm fourteen. I'm half human so I'm not immortal." Kyuu answered.
"Oh, I guessed you were Gaara's age too at first, but with finding out the vampire bit, wasn't sure if you aged. Is that why you can be out in the sun too? Because you're half?"
"Yeah, there are also certain breeds of vampire that can walk in the sun too, day-walkers, there are also some who are full vampire and still live a human lifespan as well."
"Wait, different breeds?" Temari asked alarmed.
"Yeah… maybe I'll tell you about that another time yea? Might be a bit much for you to take in all at once." Kyuu laughed feebly.
"I suppose yeah." Temari agreed and thought for a moment. "So, what vampire stuff can you do? Any unique abilities?"
"Honestly, some aren't too different from various ninjutsu. Like I can transform my body into an animal form. Or supposedly I can, tried it once and it was very uncomfortable so I never did again, but that's not so different than just a transformation jutsu. I can also do this thing that's called 'misting' it's kind of like a teleportation jutsu but I don't really poof away in a cloud of smoke, I turn into a mist to teleport." She started explaining. "And you saw some of what I can do with my mind; it's all a bit more complex than genjutsu though. I can mold and produce chakra faster than most so I can pick up techniques very quickly and get my energy back fast. Other than those things, only real differences are the inhuman strength, speed, agility, and supposedly far superior intelligence, though I'm not so sure about that last one honestly." Kyuu chuckled.
"Haha maybe not." Temari laughed in agreement. "Is that all?"
"Pretty much, that, and the ability to be extremely hard to kill, as well as an extremely fast regeneration rate."
"How hard is it to kill a vampire?"
"There's really only a few ways." Kyuu answered, not feeling too keen on exactly explaining what those ways were at the moment." Other than those ways we're nearly invincible and can regenerate from just about anything. Supposedly we can even regenerate if we're cut in half, though never experienced that for myself so couldn't tell you if that was true." Kyuu explained.
Temari was silent for a moment while she thought of what question to ask next. This was still a lot to absorb for her. You'd think having a demon possessed brother would leave her more open to these alarmingly new supernatural facts, but she was noting her grasp on reality had shifted a bit. "So… the whole blood drinking thing…how do you…feed?" She began hesitantly.
"I don't just attack random people you know." Kyuu answered as if it was obvious.
"How do you get it then?"
"Certain people in the village know about what I really am, some sensei, the Hokage obviously, and some others, the connections he helped me establish allows me to get blood from a blood bank."
"Oh. So you've never fed on an actual human before?"
"Uhh… well I've never fed on a human I haven't intended to kill." Kyuu answered truthfully. "Enemy ninja and hunters; never an innocent person." Kyuu clarified.
"Well, that's not so bad then." Temari commented. "So you just kinda kill and drink blood because it's necessary? Not because you enjoy doing it." She asked a bit hopefully.
"Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. Truth be told, I'm a ninja, just like you, I'm bound to end up killing people who oppose me. I might as well enjoy what I do right? No sense in working a job you hate." She responded with a bit of a grim chuckle. "I kill when I need to, and yes I get enjoyment out of the fight and the rush of defeating my opponent. If I need to feed and I'm in a fight, I might as well kill two birds with one stone. It's really that simple. As I said, I don't kill or feed on innocent people." She finished.
"I guess that makes sense." Temari responded. She wasn't like Gaara, she didn't get enjoyment out of killing everything that moved; she just does what's necessary for her survival and doesn't hate herself for it. She could understand that.
A silence started to fall over the two and after a moment Kyuu stood up. "Any more questions or should we call it a day on this topic?" She asked lightly.
"I think I've got all I can handle for today." Temari agreed and pushed herself off the wall.
"Alrighty, just don't go around telling everyone alright?"
"I won't tell anyone… Well, am I allowed to tell Kankuro at least? He's still kinda freaked out and scared a bit by the whole vampire thing, might ease him up a bit." She asked, knowing her brother took the shock a bit worse than herself.
"You can tell Kankuro what I've told you. Just no one else." Kyuu agreed.
"So have you had such long in depth conversations about what you are with Gaara?" Temari asked curiously, she had trouble imaging Gaara asking a lot of questions about someone else.
"Not really no; he just took the 'I'm a vampire' thing for what it is and didn't question it. I've talked him more about who I am rather than what I am."
"I gotta admit; I'm surprised you managed to get under Gaara's skin like this. He usually views the world and everyone in it with such disdain and hate."
Trust me; he still looks at me with disdain too on most days." Kyuu laughed. "Sometimes though, sometimes it seems more like curiosity in his eyes rather than hate when I'm with him." She added thoughtfully.
"That's what I mean. He seems…. different around you. …unsure maybe? Like he's not sure what to make of you or of something inside his head. And then there's the stuff like in the forest where he's hesitant to hurt you and turned to you for comfort like that. It's weird to witness, downright freaky actually."
"Well, I'm just being myself and treating him with kindness." Kyuu answered with a shrug.
"Well, kindness isn't something he's gotten from anyone since he was little. It seems to… unsettle him. Yet, in a good way, if that makes any sense. You're probably the closest thing he's ever had to a friend."
"Well I do think of him as my friend."
"I mean, I think you might be the first person HE considers a friend." Temari clarified. "As crazy as it sounds I think he likes you." Temari laughed and started to turn to walk down the hall. "If it's possible for someone like him to actually like someone, it'd be fitting for that someone to be someone like you." She added with another laugh before she was gone around the corner.
"Well… I'm not sure if that was an insult or a complement. Or who was being insulted or complemented for that matter…" Kyuu muttered to herself.
Kyuu shook her head and turned to walk down the hallway in the opposite direction Temari had headed in. She stared at the ground while she walked, deep in thought about the conversation she just had with Temari and turned the corner without paying much attention to where she was going. She got about two steps before she smacked into a wall.
Kyuu looked up in shock, not thinking she was THAT oblivious to walk into a wall, but understood once she saw it wasn't a wall but rather sand. The sand went down and revealed a glaring Gaara behind it.
"I swear I don't purposely try to crash into you." Kyuu laughed lightly and a faint blush tinted her cheeks. "How long have you been here?" She added curiously.
Gaara glanced at her for a moment before responding. "Why'd you bother explaining yourself to her?" He asked.
'Welp, guess that answers that question, he was listening to all that.' Kyuu thought before responding. "She asked, so I answered." She replied with a shrug.
"But she judged you when she found out what you were." Gaara pointed out as Kyuu started walking down the hall again and she was surprised to find him following her.
"True, but she also was willing to hear me out. Having someone look at me with curiosity and a bit of fear is better than having someone look at me in disgust and horror."
Gaara remained silent and Kyuu looked at him curiously while they walked. He had that confused look in his eyes. She suspected that others around them probably couldn't tell it was there, just saw all the hate and negativity in him, but like Temari, she saw it. He looked confused and conflicted.
"So, since you were eavesdropping, question for you. Was Temari right?" Kyuu asked curiously.
"What?"
"Do you finally consider me as your friend?" She clarified.
"I don't need friends. I don't want a bond with anyone." He answered shortly yet Kyuu noticed he didn't meet her eyes when he said that.
"Hmmm… we'll see." Kyuu responded thoughtfully.
They passed a window and Kyuu looked at it curiously. "Hey, since you heard me telling her about my super awesome vampire skills, wanna see a trick?" Kyuu asked, stopping in her tracks by the window.
"What kind of trick?" Gaara asked reluctantly.
Kyuu grinned and in a swift motion moved towards him and grasped a fist full of his shirt. Gaara only had a second to process this before the world suddenly blurred around him and his stomach seemed to leap into his throat. He was vaguely aware of Kyuu jumping out of the window (while dragging him), sprinting up the walls of the tower (again while dragging him, and at this point giving him a nauseating upside down view of the ground) and dumping him onto the roof of the tower, but this all seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.
"Tada!" Kyuu declared as she released Gaara on the roof and he actually stumbled over as he tried to regain his footing.
Gaara glared at Kyuu from his sitting spot on the roof. "All ninja with half a brain can mold chakra and run up a wall." He grumbled.
"Yes, but can they do it that fast? Or be strong enough to carry your full weight with one arm?" Kyuu grinned and started plucking glass out of her arms. "Or heal like this?" She asked as she stuck her arm in his face and pulled out a large piece of glass, only for the wound to heal right before his eyes.
"…I suppose not." Gaara grumbled and stared fixedly at the various little spots of blood on her now. "And don't do that again." He added sharply, resisting the urge to place his hand over his now queasy stomach as well as trying to ignore the sudden bloodlust that rose up at the sight of her blood.
"What jump through a window? I suppose I could have opened it first." Kyuu laughed, but stopped as she got a good look at his face. "Ohhh…. You mean don't drag you while moving that fast! Ha you're as pale as I am! Didn't mean to give you motion sickness Gaara." She laughed and sat down beside him as he glared at her.
Kyuu lied down on her back and stared out into the sky above them and Gaara watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was chatting about something Gaara couldn't be bothered to pay attention to; he was more interested in watching her rather than listening to her. Her eyes had that glow they always had when she was near him. Through his various...stalking... attempts she noticed she had a glow in her eyes around others like Naruto, but when she was with him, she had a different type of glow and he couldn't figure out why it was just there for him and no one else. Or why he felt like he was becoming so...obsessed... with her. It disturbed him greatly.
Kyuu slowly stopped talking and the two sat quietly on the roof. They watched the sun set and night start to fall. Then when Kyuu felt a little tired and like Haku was going to be on the prowl hunting for her soon she figured she'd head back to her team. She gave Gaara a quick wave and smile goodbye and quickly hurried away back to her team.
Gaara watched Kyuu disappear down the wall of the building (and presumably back in through the now busted window). He wasn't going to ever understand that woman, she dragged him through a window and up onto a roof just to prove she could do it? Without a care about the glass. Her interest in him confused him almost as much as his interest in her, why did she insist on hanging around him and talking with him all the time. The constant kindness for no reason bothered him. What bothered him even more was his subconscious desire to seek her out when he was away from her. Wanting to be around her and deliberately inflicting all this confusion and frustration on himself, he didn't understand that. Nor understand why he couldn't stop himself or give into his urge to kill her.
Kyuu only received a minor scolding from Haku about the blood on her dress (and the broken window) and for being away from them all day, which she was relieved for. She was disappointed though when she found that Naruto's team still hadn't arrived yet. Tomorrow morning was the deadline. She wondered if it was possible for them not to make it in time and fail the exam. She knew Naruto well enough to know he wouldn't let that happen, but he was cutting it close. She went to sleep that night worried for all three of former teammates and had a difficult and restless sleep filled with confusing dreams of darkness and sinister intent though neither were directed towards her. She awoke with that worried sickening feeling in her stomach worse than the day before.
"Not sleep well?" Tsuki asked as Kyuu joined her team after freshening up in the bathroom.
"No… has Naruto's team arrived yet?" She asked concerned.
"No, and it's about time we all head into the main hall now." Haku answered.
Kyuu stared at her feet as she followed them. They didn't make it? Was that what the sickening feeling she was getting coming from? No, it couldn't be from that, that would make her sad for them but not worried like this. Kyuu brooded on this while they stood with the various other teams and waited.
The doors opening behind them snapped Kyuu out of her musing and she sighed in relief. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke stepped into the hall through the doors and she relaxed slightly. Though just slightly, she was concerned about the state that they were in. Naruto looked tired and warn out but overall healthy, Sakura had visibly healing injuries on her face (she recalled Shikamaru's team saying she had her face bashed in), and also short hair now, that made her rather curious and she figured she'd ask about the sudden forest makeover later. Her eyes rested on Sasuke however and her brow furrowed in concern. He didn't seem to physically injured (no more worse for wear then the other two) but he seemed off, like something was definitely wrong about him. Kyuu also noted that he was holding a spot on his shoulder near his neck as if it was in pain.
Sasuke glanced at Kyuu as he and his team took their places beside hers, he was surprised to see her already staring at him with a concerned look in her eye. "What?" he demanded.
Kyuu hesitated before answering. "What's the matter with your neck? Vampire bite?" She joked but stared at him with a look in her eye that said she wasn't joking.
"It's nothing." He snapped at her and turned away.
Before Kyuu could ask more the Hokage and several Jounin appeared and started talking to everyone. Kyuu listened to what he had to say and watched as he asked if anyone felt unfit to continue. Kyuu was surprised to see Sakura staring worriedly and Sasuke and start to raise her hand, at least until Sasuke caught it and held it down while snapping at her. Kyuu tried to act like she wasn't obviously eavesdropping on their conversation but hung on every word. Something definitely went down with them in that forest, that sickening feeling she was getting earlier she could tell now was directly linked to Sasuke, is condition, and whatever he was covering on his neck with his hand. When Sasuke stopped talking and shot Kyuu a look (clearly telling her to butt out) she quickly looked away at the other teams to see if anyone else was going to opt out. She watched a boy with white hair and glasses opt out and speak a few words to Naruto before leaving and glanced around at the remaining teams. There were a few she hadn't really paid much attention to before, a team of sound nin had made it through though they looked beat to hell just as Naruto's team, and three other teams that she overlooked earlier. They appeared to be sound ninja as well but all wore garb that covered them to the point she couldn't really make out any distinguishing features.
As the teams were told to head up to the viewing area so the matches could begin Kyuu sent Gaara a quick smile (which he returned with a glare) and followed her teams. She pitied anyone who got pitted up against him, and though she'd love the challenge, really hoped it wasn't her. She also realized she'd finally see what Temari and Kankuro were capable of themselves. She was pretty curious about their combat skills after getting to know them. Kyuu stopped wondering how the matches would pair up and who she'd end up fighting when the first fight was called.
Kyuu stared at the name on the computer screen and then turned to look at Sasuke in concern. He was up first in that condition? Her sickening feeling worsened as he made his way to the ring.
So once again feedback is always loved! For those of you who might have read the old version of this story you'll note I changed a lot in this chapter! Took out all that total crack stuff that was cringe worthy and replaced it with this. So far I've been making minor changes throughout and just fixing how it was written with more detail, now though I've changed it up a bit as you can tell. Considering I started this story when I was 14 (actually in a couple more days it'll be 7 years exactly since I first wrote this...wow..) and am now 21, one could say my skills have definitely improved since then and this rewritten version is an attempt to show that. So yeah.. sorry for blabbing a bit there! Updates to follow as quickly as I can find the time to write them and feedback is loved loved loved!