Sasuke stared out the heavily tinted window, observing the activity on the other side with mild boredom. Throngs of uniformed students passed by his limousine, conspicuously looking at the vehicle before turning to their group of friends to gossip before heading through the front gate towards the school. He took a sip from his wine glass, the content too thick to be wine by the way it sloshed around in its container. Humans were annoying, little more than vicious wolves allowed to roam as they pleased, so that they may rip each other to shreds by their greed. A blond hair teen walked past his town car, paying it no attention as he went by, a bubble of space around him and the other students. Well, maybe not all of them.
"Are you certain you wish to do this, young master?" his driver asked. "Your reputation alone will be enough to cause a stir."
On the top floor in the east wing of the school, Sasuke could make out the sharp hazel eyes of a busty, brunette principal staring at him through a partially opened window. "This is my best lead, and I have already made the necessary arrangements and compromises with them."
"If you keep talking like that, young master, they'll never think you're just 18 years old." His driver turned in his seat to give him a dopey grin. "You're a teenager, remember."
"Hn, I'm well aware." Tilting his glass back, he finished the rest of his beverage, placing the empty glass down.
His driver looked worried, nervous even. "About the boy…" he trailed off.
"He will be dealt with. I just let him go on a whim." He smirked a little. "Maybe he'll lead us to whom we are looking for." He opened the door himself, ignoring the indignant sputtering of his driver about not letting him do his job.
"I will be here by noon, young master," he called out after him.
Sasuke closed the door without bothering to respond. Eyes were on him as he walked the path to the entrance. Not unexpected. He was prepared for this much. It was the eyes that weren't directly following his every move that he had to be wary of. Shouldering his bag, he followed the students inside.
Naruto hit his head against his shoe locker. The morning started out fine. Tsunade came over to make pancakes for his birthday which he managed to devour in record time. His school uniform was wrinkled, and he forgot his blazer. He didn't think it was a big deal. He always borrowed the school sweater vest from Kiba on days like this, except his friend didn't show up at his doorstep that morning as he usually did.
He waited as long as he could, even getting scolded by Tsunade about being late for school, but he stayed until he could not wait another second. Somehow, he still managed to get to school on time, taking his bike rather than walking. Despite the late October air, it felt hot. Sweltering even. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top, but it didn't help. By the end of the trip, he felt extremely tired and surprisingly hungry.
With lethargic movements, he opened his locker, pulling out his indoor ones, and changed shoes. He just put on his last shoe when his side was poked, making him jump in surprise.
"Happy birthday, Cherry-kun."
The fake smile Sai gave him was enough to irritate Naruto let alone the nickname. He hated it when he just appeared out of nowhere like that.
"Morning to you too, asshole," he murmured, not putting up a fight. He yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth before he did so. Sai was watching him with such concentration it was beginning to him uncomfortable. "Where's Hyuuga?"
Sai stared at him for a moment longer before answering. "I would guess at the station. We were caught trespassing last night."
"And you're out because…"
Sai gave him another fake smile that was borderline creepy. "Let's just say, it is simple to escape the custody of the Japanese police force with the right bargaining methods."
The way it was said made it difficult not to find a sexual meaning in it, so he decided not to ask. If anything, it was probably just his family's influence again, just like most of the students here, not that many of them got into frequent enough trouble to use their family name.
Sai continued to stare, and finally, Naruto couldn't take it anymore, rounding on the teen. "Is there any reason why you're staring at me?"
Sai didn't even blink. "No," he said slowly after some time. "I just thought you looked a bit pale. You'd usually be yelling at me by now."
"Must be the lighting," Naruto said, waving him off. "I'm just tired."
"Right." Sai was looking at him strangely, even for him. "Have you gone to see Inuzuka-kun yet? He looked to be in pretty bad shape last night. I thought something might have happened to you too."
This woke Naruto up, making him stand a bit straighter when he asked, "What do you mean last night? What happened?"
Sai froze with a subtle "I shouldn't have said that" expression that he tried to hide. Naruto was about to press him for more details when the bell rang. "I have to get to class." Before Naruto could say another world, Sai had left.
It didn't really matter. They were in the same class, so he would corner him eventually, but he was worried about Kiba. The dream he had last night came back to him. He swore he went to the mansion last night. It had definitely been very vivid in his memory and felt real, but he didn't remember going home, so he assumed it was just another one of those dreams. But in the dream, Kiba had escaped. On the off chance that it was real, what could have happened between Kiba's escape and now?
He shook his head. The entire dream was ridiculous to begin with. Besides, he was still alive, wasn't he? In the dream, he had died.
He walked into class, still deep in thought, but took time to notice who was there and who wasn't. As usual, there was disorganization that usually came with homeroom with the majority of his class not at their assigned desks. As always, their science and homeroom teacher Hatake-sensei was nowhere to be seen. The only thing consistent about Hatake-sensei was that he was late to homeroom period every morning, so everyone was huddled with their friends in small circles looking at magazines, playing games, or listening to music.
Sakura was chatting away with Hyuuga, Hinata, the younger cousin of Hyuuga, Neji. She had long black hair pulled back into a ponytail with her bangs partially covering her face. Like Neji, she had the same strange colored eyes, but she was quieter and more reserved than her cousin with a soft and pleasant personality. The girl looked up at his entrance and smiled shyly at him before resuming her quiet conversation with Sakura. While normally he would have at least greeted his girlfriend, he wasn't quite in the mood, especially since she was squealing over some guy in a magazine with two other girls.
His eyes wandered over the class until he found his target. Gaara was lying his head down on his desk. As usual, there was a bubble around him that screamed, "Do not disturb." A warning majority of the class took to heart as proven by the surrounding empty desks. Naturally, that meant he had to disturb his friend. Hanging his bag on the hook attached to his desk, he moved the piece of furniture closer until it was touching Gaara's.
"Another sleepless night?" he asked.
Gaara, turned his head enough so a green eye could peek out from the comfort of his arms. The permanent bags under the redhead's eyes were darker than normal, clearly telling Naruto that he hadn't been able to sleep a wink the night before. "Care to explain why you look dead, Uzumaki?"
"I'm exhausted." Naruto laid his head down on his desk too. "I overslept, Baa-chan wouldn't wait to give me a ride, something happened to Kiba, and I have no idea what, and the girl I'm dating is obsessing over some guy in a magazine," he whined.
"You also got a 32 on your science quiz."
Naruto groaned. "How do you even know that?"
"I had to grade papers with…for Hatake." Gaara sat up and rested his chin in his hand, watching the blond sulk with his apathetic face.
Naruto sighed, turning his head to the side. "How'd you get detention?"
Gaara sat quietly for several minutes. Naruto figured he wasn't going to answer, letting his thoughts wander when Gaara spoke up. "I stabbed someone's hand with my chopstick during lunch."
Naruto tried not to laugh, but the smile kept widening on his face. "And you did this why?"
"They wouldn't stop talking to me," he said. It was said with such little inflection, it could almost make one believe that it was a legitimate reason to harm another student.
Shaking his head in a combination of amusement, fascination, and exasperation, Naruto lifted his head. "How'd you convince them not to suspend you this time?"
Gaara's eyes darted off to the side. "I told them it was an accident."
This time Naruto did sigh disapprovingly. "You threatened them again didn't you."
"More or less…." Gaara's tone stated that the conversation was over, and he was finished speaking which was okay with Naruto. Gaara was the one person he could be with and not feel obligated to say something. His eyes pulled closed as he basked in the classroom's idle chitchat.
"Teacher," Nara, who was also the class representative called out as Hatake-sensei walked in. Everyone hurried to put their desks back to their proper place and stand for the teacher's entrance. "Bow," he called out.
Naruto ignored the morning greeting, already dozing off into his morning nap. Gaara also ignored the greeting as it was usual for him to do. A few students sent them a glare which Gaara returned much more effectively, unnerving the other students into looking ahead.
"Good morning, class. I have an announcement today. A new student will be joining us." He went on about where transfer student was from and his accomplishments or something. Naruto had zoned out after the first word. What happened to Kiba, he wondered. Maybe he could skip after lunch. He could give Tsunade a pack of her favorite beer as an apology, surely, she couldn't stay mad at him for checking up on his friend, right?
"Please become good friends with Uchiha, Sasuke."
Naruto's head shot up at the name. In front of the room stood a tall teen. His skin was clear and smooth without a single blemish, his body thin but with lean muscle that made him look graceful but still masculine, his hair was a fine black, neatly trimmed, and his eyes a captivating, obsidian black. It was the eyes that Naruto recognized. The chill he got when looking into them as if he was staring into the eyes of a predator.
Uchiha smiled at the class, but it didn't reach the depths of his eyes. "It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Uchiha, Sasuke. My hobbies are reading and listening to classical music. I will be your classmate from now on, so please take good care of me," he bowed.
Naruto stood up, knocking his chair to the floor, scuffling back in terror into the desk behind him, a long stream of curses streaming from his mouth in his shock. The action drew the attention of the entire class, even Gaara, but they didn't matter. He couldn't get his eyes off that face smiling at him in the front of the room.
"Uzumaki-kun, is there a reason why you found it necessary to curse out our new student." Naruto's eyes glanced at Hatake-sensei then back at Uchiha. The teen's mouth worked wordlessly, gaping like a goldfish, unable to find any other words.
"I'm sure it's just because he's never seen a celebrity before, Sensei. I have a lot of fans like him." Uchiha, Sasuke walked towards him. Everyone around them seemed to grow further and further away as the distance between Uchiha and Naruto shortened. Each step seemed to echo in Naruto's mind as if it wanted Naruto to know, to feel, that each passing moment his chances to escape were dwindling into nothing.
Uchiha stopped beside his desk and bowed deeply. "I'll be in your care from today onwards, Uzumaki-kun. I hope we get along."
"Um... yeah," was the only thing he could offer. Uchiha righted himself, still smiling politely.
"Well since you're over there, you can take the empty seat behind Uzumaki. Our class representative, Nara-kun will show you around."
"Yes, Sensei," Uchiha said, continuing past Naruto to take the seat behind him while Naruto picked his chair off the floor, his hands shaking.
"Move your desk back to its proper place while you are at it, Uzumaki-kun," Hatake-sensei tacked on, already turning to write on the blackboard.
He chuckled at himself shakily, trying to laugh off his nerves. Really. Vampires didn't exist. He hadn't even really gotten a good look at the attacker in the dream. It had been too dark. He was just projecting his fears onto Uchiha since he just so happened to transfer. Besides, the way he spoke was different in the dream. Then it was cocky and condescending, not to mention way out of date. This one was polite and modern. So what if getting a transfer at this time of year never happened before. There was a first time for everything.
He sat back down, and the teacher started class. Today's lesson was on mental disorders. Normally, Naruto would sleep or daydream through the early morning lessons, but today he was steadily taking notes, chewing on the end of his pencil as he did so.
Something touched the back of his neck, a feather-soft touch similar to a soft breath of air. Fear racked up his spine and the side of his neck began to burn. The same spot where he dreamed of being bitten. Fear locked his joints, making him unable to turn around. No, he was unable to move at all, unable to bring himself to even breathe. Surely someone saw what was going on, right?
Then the voice whispered into his ear, "Meet me on the roof after class." There was no mistaking that condescending tone. It was him. It was definitely him.
No. He refused to be controlled by fear. Not again. Gathering his courage, he spun around in his seat only to see Uchiha taking notes without a hair out of place. Uchiha looked up at him and smiled. "Is something wrong, Uzumaki-kun?" he asked politely.
Naruto faced forward once again. His hand went to his neck, ensuring the skin was really smooth. It had to be a dream. It had to be...
But he was afraid. For the first time in his life, he never wanted the class to end.
But class did come to an end. The moment Hatake-sensei left and independent study began, Naruto ran out of the classroom and down the corridor. If he went there, and Uchiha didn't show up, then it was just his imagination. It was just the voices again. He prayed it was just the voices.
He pushed the roof door open, searching wildly for Uchiha. Not seeing him, Naruto exhaled heavily, not even considering the fact that Uchiha could still be coming since he had left the classroom first. It was just the voice again, messing with his head. He walked to the railing surrounding the edge of the roof and leaned against it, overlooking the school grounds. It was just inside his head. Last night didn't really happen.
"You sure took a long time getting here."
Naruto whirled around, looking around frantically for where the voice had from. On top of the roof entrance, Uchiha, Sasuke sat. The polite face that he had worn in class had been replaced with a condescending one. There was something strange about him, like a power surrounding him that gave him an unearthly look as the sun shone behind him. Instead of giving him a halo, it gave him a dark silhouette and gave him a more menacing appearance.
"Who the hell are you," Naruto whispered.
"Idiot." Uchiha stood up, shoving his hands into his pockets and casually jumping down. "For the last time, I am Uchiha, Sasuke. I am a vampire."
Naruto shook his head with a disbelieving laugh. "Really. You expect me to believe something as stupid as that?" His grip tightened on the railing, reminding himself there was nowhere to go but down. "You really need to find yourself some help. Gaara can recommend a great psychologist."
"Then tell me, moron, how would you explain it?" He asked lifting an eyebrow. "You can explain last night, can't you?"
"Uh, genetic mutations?" he guessed, leaning back when the so-called vampire approached him.
Uchiha gave a snort of disbelief, leaning forward and grabbing the railing on either side of Naruto, trapping him in place. "Is that really what you want to go with?"
He was too close for comfort. Naruto moved to knee him in the crotch, but Uchiha released the railing and moved back, just out of reach. "Have you ever heard of personal space?!" he yelled. Uchiha didn't even look phased. He kept that look on his face as if he was the gods' gift to the world. An expression Naruto was more than familiar with at this school and annoyed him to no end.
But seriously how did one handle delusional psychopaths? If that dream was true, and that was a big if, there could be lots of explanations for it, right? It was dark. Modern technology could make the strangest things seem real. It was just some prank. A prank that landed Kiba in the hospital. It, however, didn't explain this paralyzing fear of whenever Uchiha looked at him. Or why, if he was actually bitten, wasn't dead.
"How did I get back home last night?" he asked quietly, staring at the ground.
There was a plop, and his wallet skid into view. "You shouldn't carry a wallet when committing a crime, idiot. It's amazing you're not in prison yet."
Naruto bent down to pick it up, keeping his eyes on Uchiha. "Doesn't really matter when everyone in town knows who I am anyway."
"If you had managed to commit breaking and entering successfully without being seen but dropped your wallet, you'd have a new entry to your rather pathetic list of petty crimes."
"You looked at my file!"
Uchiha gave him the "of course" look, which made Naruto groan, momentarily forgetting his fear and giving him a much needed moment to recollect his thoughts. "Okay. Fine. Let me humor you. Pretend for a second that I believe you. What happens now?"
"You will turn. Obviously." The arrogant tone was granting on Naruto's nerves. Wiping a hand over his face, he tried to reign in his thinning patience. This entire conversation was stupid. This was complete and utter nonsense. "You don't believe me," Uchiha stated matter of fact.
"How can I? I mean. Just," he waved frantically at Uchiha's direction, "look at you. You're standing out in the sun. Isn't that like the number one vampire myth? Minus comics and romance novels."
The vampire turned his back to him, heading towards the door. "The sun is damaging to the body. Right now, the UV rays are destroying your skin and radiating your cells. That constant damage has to be repaired. For a vampire, that equates to hunger. The longer they stay exposed, the more frequently they feed. Meaning they need to hunt more frequently. That exposes them to the risk of being exposed. It takes decades of practice to learn to control and ignore that hunger, but eventually," he locked the door just as someone jiggled the handle, "it has to be sated."
Naruto wasn't even going to ask where he got the key. It was obvious the lunatic had planned out this little meeting. "So I guess that rules out coffins. How about stakes?"
"It's one of two ways to kill a vampire." Uchiha leaned against the door. "Destroy the heart beyond repair or a full decapitation. Both of which are not easy to do."
"You know what, you're full of shit," Naruto said, finally regaining his courage to approach Uchiha, refusing to be afraid any longer. "If what you said was true, I'd be changing, but nothing's happened. I'm still the same."
"It takes 26 days for the complete transformation. Normally, you'd still be incapacitated from blood loss. Even I'm surprised about your quick recovery."
"I'm a quick healer," he said dryly. "Now move before I make you."
Uchiha smirked. "Try it."
He grabbed the front of Uchiha's blazer, raising his fist to hit that annoying smirk off his face, throwing his weight behind the punch. Then suddenly, he was grasping and punching air and there was a shove from behind, making him fall forward after his swing's follow-through. Unprepared, he fell face first into the door, hard.
Warm blood trickled down Naruto's forehead from a small gash. His hand shot up to wipe it away, cursing his luck and everything happening to him. He turned just slightly to check where the other teen had disappeared only to be shoved against the door with a hand against his chest that he couldn't dislodge.
"Denial isn't becoming," Uchiha said. He didn't look like he was exerting any power in keeping Naruto pinned. Slowly, he leaned in close, eyes glued on the trail of blood.
Naruto held doubts about Uchiha being a vampire. Who wouldn't? The story was something out of a fairytale or a horror movie depending on who you asked. He wasn't even a spiritual person. He didn't go to the shrines, Buddhist or Shinto, to pray or even attend the festivals at those places. He just could not bring himself to believe that spirits and/or gods occupied the small roadside shrines throughout the island.
Yet here, as he was trapped against the door unable to budge, Uchiha's gaze held more restraint than the hand against his chest. They were black like any other average Japanese person, yet they seemed inhuman. Instinctively, Naruto knew he was food and that the hunter had caught its prey and restraining itself from attacking, fixated on the blood that was trailing down his forehead.
Are you going to let fear control you, brat? Are you that weak?
The weakness in his legs disappeared, finding the strength to grab the wrist pinning him down and dug his nails into Uchiha's skin, drawing blood. "Let go," his voice deepened into a growl.
Uchiha blinked, then shifted his gaze to Naruto's hand and the blood now trailing down his arm. There was a slight crease of confusion in his face before it smoothed into stoicism. With ease, he ripped his arm away from Naruto's grip, and he turned his back to him, taking a few steps away towards the roof railing.
"Any more questions?" Uchiha asked as if he had lost interest in the conversation.
Nonetheless, Naruto appreciated the sudden lack of direct attention. For a moment, he had believed what Uchiha said. But he still couldn't explain the overwhelming strength or the speed that Naruto's eyes could not follow. It was beyond human movement. Was there any other possible explanation other than what Uchiha offered?
"You said 26 days, right?" Naruto said, quietly. "What will happen during that time?"
The wind picked up, making the self-proclaimed vampire's blazer and tie flutter. The air was warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, yet it seemed foreboding, adding to the weight to Uchiha's words when he spoke. "Your body will slowly begin to change. Your heart rate will slow until it is nearly non-existent. Human food will lose its taste to you, and it will become difficult to keep down. Eventually, the change will take its toll on your body, and you will have a seizure followed by several days of unbearable pain as the last transformations take place. By the time you regain consciousness, you will become one of us."
Each passing sentence weighed heavier and heavier on Naruto's mind. "So you're saying in about four weeks…I'll be a monster."
Uchiha turned around to face him. There wasn't an ounce of sympathy on his face as he replied, "If that's what you want to call yourself."
Naruto chuckled lowly, shaking his head as he smiled. "Perfect," he said under his breath. "Just perfect. I guess the outside will match the inside now."
"What do you mean by that?"
With a wave of his hand, Naruto dismissed Uchiha's question. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Naruto removed his tie casually, shoving it into his pocket. Shoulder's slightly slouched and hands in his pockets, the teen turned, heading towards the door.
"Where do you think you're going, moron?"
"You put Kiba in the hospital, didn't you?" He said not turning around. "I'm going to go see him."
"I didn't say you could leave."
The cold voice of Uchiha's had less of an effect on him now that his back was towards him. It was nearly laughable at how elitist he sounded. It may have been funny if this school wasn't filled with people like him. If Uchiha's eyes didn't unnerve him as they did, he'd have equated Uchiha to any other student at this school, albeit a psychotic one. "I didn't ask."
Naruto had just reached out for the door, remembering that Uchiha had locked it, when the vampire said, "Then I guess I will have to come with you, so we can finish our conversation."
Naruto's already thin patience boiled over at that point, whipping around to find Uchiha only a step away. The close distance didn't deter him, instead fueling his anger as he snarled, "Don't you dare go near him."
Most people would have back down. When Naruto lost his temper, people backed off and cowered. It was how it always was. Uchiha didn't look remotely scared. In fact, he had a look of mild interest, not even looking away from his eyes. "Do you think you could stop me?"
No. Naruto knew he couldn't. His fists clenched at his sides, concentrating on breathing in and out slowly and reigning in his fury. "If you harm him, you'll regret it."
Uchiha leaned past him, unlocking the door without looking away. "I'd like to see you try." He opened the door. "After you."
Deciding physical altercations would not be in his best interest at this moment, Naruto decided to leave, ignoring the fact that Uchiha was in fact following. He meant what he said. If Uchiha hurt Kiba, he'd find a way to kill him, one way or another.
A cute thought, Kit, but he's way out of your league, came a dark chuckle. I could take care of him if you like. Give me five minutes.
Naruto continued down the stairs, muttering an excuse me to a student who scurried away at the sight of him.
Fine. I can wait. Twenty-six days to be exact.