Since everyone was too nice to tell me about my oops with MadaNaruMas, I wrote this, too.
A horse-drawn wagon rolls through the sleepy streets of a small, rural village. The driver coughs into his hand as the winter chill ruthlessly seeps through his well-worn clothes. Just as he wonders whether or not he is coming down with something, the wagon abruptly jolts to a stop and nearly knocks him out of his seat. The horses trumpet their confusion and distress as he leans over to the side to inspect what is stalling the wagon.
It's tough to tell with the thick sheet of snow on the ground, but one of the rear wheels appears to have caught in a particularly deep depression in the road. Luckily, the wheel seems to be intact, but he has neither the will nor the strength to descend from his perch to trudge through the snow and help push. After a quick survey of the surrounding houses, he surmises that anyone willing to help is still sleeping. Heaving a sigh, he urges the horses to try pulling the wagon out themselves. The horses snort their discontent, but they eventually manage it.
Unknown to the driver, the violent jostle unhooked one of the old latches holding the back of the wagon bed closed. Though he takes great care to avoid the deeper crevices and divots in the road, the ride is far from smooth as they near the outskirts of the village. Among the cargo that the driver is transporting, a large box draped in chains presses up against the hatch door. The strain on the other latch peaks as the wagon ascends a steep incline. It gives way just as the driver has a coughing fit. The sound of the large box scraping against the wagon bed and the dull thud of it falling to the ground are lost in the clamor of the man's hacking and the horses' groaning.
By the time they reach the top of the hill, the driver's coughing has ceased and the horses trot along the frozen road with renewed vigor. If the cart moves a bit faster, the driver doesn't notice. He remains none the wiser that he lost the most valuable "item" he was entrusted with until he arrives at his destination and receives a wrathful reception from a collector of all things supernatural.
Returning home from a night shift at the nearby factory, Naruto finds a large box at the bottom of the hill near her house. Due to how close it is to her shabby mailbox, she wonders if the package is for her. She approaches the box to look for any kind of label but finds only chains and strange symbols inscribed into the surface.
She stares at it for a long time before remembering her letter to Santa. Since she couldn't afford Christmas decorations or find the time to get a tree this year either, she asked him for someone to spend the holiday with. It would be silly to send someone in a box, but maybe Santa sent her a tree early to make up for it!
Based on the size of the package, it'll be a little smaller than some of the other villagers' Christmas trees, but it'll be better than nothing at all. The considerable weight of the box surprises Naruto, but she joyfully drags it up the hill and into her house all the same. She gingerly lays the box on the floor before tossing off her coat and retrieving the rusty saw she found outside a few years ago. A few teeth break off, but it successfully cuts the chains off the box.
Kneeling beside it, Naruto lifts the lid and freezes. Excitement shifts to shock at what she finds. Instead of the Evergreen tree of her dreams, a dead body rests in the box. It's in pretty good condition and a whiff reveals no rotten odor, but now she wonders whether this counts as grave robbing. It was an honest mistake—
Suddenly, the body's eyes snap open. Inky eyes swivel toward her and Naruto reflexively tries to slam the lid down, but she meets considerable resistance. The occupant of the box clamps their hand on the edge of the lid in between Naruto's and pries it open with little effort. Letting go so she doesn't fall on top of the stranger, she apologizes, "Sorry! I didn't mean to do that, ya know. Ya just kinda spooked me."
The stranger silently rises to his feet as he takes a confident step into her house. Despite a serious case of bedhead after however long he was napping in that box, his antique clothes and cloak make her think that he might be an eccentric nobleman. His eyes are the strangest of all, though. It must be a trick of the light, but they seemingly bleed red as he stares down at her. A long silence passes before his brow wrinkles in confusion.
Remembering that this is her first house guest, Naruto clambers to her feet and offers, "Do ya want anythin' to eat or drink? I have—"
A pale, cold hand grabs her arm and halts her advance to the fridge. Naruto turns to look at him as his other hand presses into her lower back and pulls her toward him. She sees some very sharp teeth before his face lowers to her neck. An acute pain makes her jerk and try to pull away, but his grip holds strong. The discomfort fades as he begins sucking on her neck. It feels almost...pleasant. Naruto rests her head on his shoulder as all the strength in her limbs drains away. Her eyes slide shut as a profound lethargy overtakes her.
The girl's heartbeat slows to a stop long before Madara draws out the last drop of her blood, but her blood is so delectable that he doesn't stop until he drinks her dry. Even then, he sucks with all of his strength in the vain hope that he missed a hidden pocket. Frustrating as it had been when she effortlessly resisted his attempt to hypnotize her, her delicious blood was well worth the annoyance. With a final suck, he releases her neck. Spotting some stray drops of blood, he tosses aside all decorum and licks a stripe over the entry wounds his fangs left for even a smidgeon more of that coveted sweetness he has been without for far too long. Unfortunately, a cursory lick of his lips yields no extra morsels.
Disappointed, he drops the limp husk to the floor. Dusting some imaginary dust off his cloak, he exits the shack without a backwards glance. Daybreak imminent, Madara transforms into a bat and flies toward the village center. He wants to know where he is before he settles down to roost until nightfall. However, the name of the village is as unfamiliar to him as the architecture of the buildings. Resolving to look into the problem further after some rest and out of the excruciating sunlight, Madara flies to a nearby dilapidated house. Crawling through a hole in the roof, he finds a decent perch in the rafters and hangs down. Stomach full, he easily drifts off to sleep despite this perplexing turn of events.
In the following days, Madara covers quite a bit of ground, but he is no closer to ascertaining his location or how to get back to his castle. The language the humans speak has changed somewhat, but it's still recognizable to him, so he can't have been taken too far from his territory.
Eventually, he discovers that he was sealed within that box for about a century from the date on a flyer. Normally, this wouldn't pose a problem, but within that short amount of time, all of his landmarks have disappeared. Left with no other option, Madara spends his nights scanning the ground for his home and feasting on any humans he comes across.
Sadly, none of them satisfy him the way that girl did. Compared to her rich, succulent blood, everything else pales in comparison. The specific flavor of her blood haunts him to the point that he sets aside the search and circles back to her village. She isn't available to feast upon anymore, but perhaps something in that village's bloodlines or diet will produce a similar taste.
To his amazement, he spots a familiar figure trudging up the path to the shack he woke up in as he approaches the village. Dawn is on the horizon, but his curiosity gets the better of him and he takes the chance to investigate. Dropping the transformation, he lands in the snow with a soft crunch.
Alerted by the noise, the girl turns toward him. Rather than scream or run, she dumbfounds him with a smile. Further adding to his shock, she beckons him inside her shack. Stunned, he follows her through the doorway as she removes her coat and apologizes, "Sorry for fallin' asleep on ya durin' your last visit. I must have been tired, cuz I woke up on the floor, ya know! I was almost late for work the next day, too."
She recovered from exsanguination within twenty-four hours? Unlikely. Madara thought he had been thorough when he feasted on her, but perhaps, his appetite had been lacking after just waking up. It makes him wonder whether his hunger at the time or his memory embellished the taste of her blood. Well, there's only one way to find out.
Shutting the door behind him, he quietly approaches her from behind as she searches her pathetic excuse for a kitchen for something to serve him. Tossing some stale bread out of the way, she continues to chatter until she interrupts herself with a gasp, "I forgot to ask what your name was! Mine's Naruto, by the way—"
Naruto jumps when she turns and sees how close her guest is. He grabs her by the arm and opens his mouth to reveal long, sharp canines. She feels a distinct sense of deja-vu as he leans down and something sharp pierces her neck. The stranger ends up supporting most of her weight as her energy depletes. Her vision grows fuzzy and her thoughts jumble up as an overwhelming feeling of bliss mutes every other sensation. She cannot help but release a long whine as his teeth pierce deeper.
The rush of blood into his mouth is even more exquisite than he remembers. Madara had been surprised that her neck completely healed over, but even more surprising is how dense her blood seems in comparison to his first taste. As much as he wants to drink more, his thirst is quenched astonishingly fast. Feeling full for the first time since he last saw her, he pulls away from her neck with a wet pop. He has to stop himself from smacking his lips in contentment like a child.
A shiver goes up Naruto's spine as the stranger laps up any stray rivulets of blood. Her hands fist in his fine clothes as her head clears slightly, but her limbs feel heavy as she steps away from him and stumbles toward her bed. Falling onto it, she curls into a ball as she tries to retain the heat that hasn't been taken. Sleep comes to her quickly.
With the sun rising and a keen interest in her healing factor, Madara gets comfortable in his temporary base of operations. A cursory glance confirms that her miserable furniture is not up to his standards. He directs a particularly disdainful glance at the crate he was sealed in converted into a crude bench. Transforming into a bat once more, he settles between the rafters of her shabby abode and observes the wounds on her neck close before he has even fallen asleep.
His internal clock wakes him up at dusk. Beneath his perch, Naruto rushes about her one-room shack. He sees her bite a considerable chunk out of the stale bread loaf, gulp down what is surely spoiled milk, and sprint out the door. Though she shuts the door behind her, he can hear her chanting as she runs away from the house, "Gonna be late! Gonna be late! Gonna be late!"
One thing is certain: her diet certainly isn't responsible for that savory blood of hers.
Despite the wretched state of the walls and the floor, the roof is surprisingly devoid of a convenient hole for him to climb through. Madara shifts into his humanoid form with a sigh. He wedges the window open enough for him to crawl through in bat form and shifts back. Once outside, he takes to the sky to resume his search.
Energized as he feels, the tedium of the search begins to grate on Madara. Crawling through the window opening, he wonders if it would be easier to just procure several maps of the area. His recent attempt to break into a library didn't work out well, but he supposes he could task Naruto with it. He could always use another servant. He won't know how many survived his capture until he returns home, but he could tolerate an additional sycophant if it means hearty blood to sustain him for decades to come.
Settling among the rafters, he waits for her to return to her dwelling. A substantial amount of time passes until Naruto drags her work boots through the door. Her destitution is always clear in her appearance, but she looks even more so with the dry blood splattered on her clothing and a tattered shirt sleeve billowing in the winter winds. Lamenting the waste, Madara drops the transformation and settles in a heavily shadowed area.
It takes Naruto a moment, but she eventually notices him. She jolts in surprise before exclaiming, "I fell asleep on ya again?! I don't even remember you comin' for a visit, ya know! Can I getcha anythi—"
"Your arm," he interrupts with a pointed glance at the lack of a limb.
Excited that he finally spoke to her, Naruto's empty sleeve flaps as she raises her stump in some sort of aborted gesture before regretfully switching to her other arm with a pained wince. Scratching the back of her head, she explains, "Mr. Shimura was pretty angry with me for showin' up late to work again, so when one of the machines jammed, he had me reach in to unclog it. I guess the machine was still on, so as soon as the blockage was out…
Her tone lightens as she continues, "On the bright side, it happened toward the end of my shift, so I got a full day's pay and a bonus for my injury! What luck on Christmas Eve, right?! Sorry, I kept ya waitin' but now I can buy some food and make a Christmas dinner for us—"
So, these newfangled metal monstrosities do more than grate on his ears. Madara only made the mistake of roosting in a factory once, and he is not eager to repeat the experience. Based on the lack of terror in her tone, disfigurement is apparently a regular occurrence in such places. Humans never cease to amaze. He interjects once more, "No need."
"Whatcha mean—" Naruto's sentence cuts off into a startled gasp as Madara crosses the short distance between them within the span of a blink. Her disappointment shifts to shock when he traps her in his embrace once more, but he doesn't give her time to struggle. His fangs sink into her neck and she shivers. Already dizzy from the blood loss due to her traumatic injury, she sinks deeper into a daze as she leans into him.
Madara is still sated from yesterday, but he takes some of her blood as payment. Once he has gulped down as much as he feels he is due, he pulls away and tears her bloody sleeve open as she drowsily rests her weight against him. She twitches a bit, but allows him to unravel the soaked bandages. He is unsurprised that she has already begun to heal. She might even be able to regenerate it.
Shifting Naruto into one arm, Madara sinks his fangs into the other. He sucks out a mouthful of his blood before angling Naruto's face toward him. Prying her jaws open, he slants his mouth over hers and passes his blood to her. Despite how pliant she was in his arms just moments ago, she struggles as she chokes. Ignoring her weak pushes against his chest, he forces her to swallow it all. His blood is too valuable to waste. She should be grateful to receive it.
The fogginess in Naruto's brain rapidly clears as the viscous liquid pours down her throat. A few drops hit her tongue and she feels her energy start to return. Whatever it is, the delectable flavor has her relaxing her throat. All too soon, it runs out and Naruto chases after the source of it. Using the only arm left to her, she grabs the back of the stranger's head to keep him from pulling away as she searches his mouth for any stray drops of zesty ambrosia.
A thorough inspection of his mouth only yields a bit more, but she notices something off after swiping her tongue over his teeth. The stranger has some pretty sharp teeth. Long, too. The discovery distracts her from a brief, dull pain in her gums. However, the tingling sensation in her stump finally prompts her to break their lip lock. Drawing back, Naruto is surprised that she isn't gasping for breath after how long their lips were locked. Even more surprising, a look down at the remains of her arm reveals the tingling sensation is her arm growing back.
More than anything, the shock of Naruto's sudden jump in strength is what allows her to overwhelm Madara. She pulled away before he thought to bite her tongue off for the disrespect, but he bats away the surprisingly firm grip she has on him. Entranced by the sight of her flesh and bone rapidly regenerating, she forgets his presence long enough for him to cross to the other side of the room. Hypothesis confirmed, he decides to lay down the law to the half-breed. "My name is Uchiha Madara, and from this point forward, you are my serv—"
Her stump restored to the elbow, Naruto waves it at him as exclaims,"What's goin' on with my arm?! What'd you make me drink—"
"Know your place, dhampir," hisses Madara. He appreciates interruptions about as much as a stake to the heart.
Naruto's brow wrinkles in confusion. "Damp ear?"
He corrects, "No, dhampir."
"Whassat?"
"The child of a vampire and a human," explains Madara with an irritated sigh. She may have lived her life as a human up until this moment, but evidence of her mixed heritage shines through in her resistance to hypnotization, her healing factor, a taste for blood, and the sudden strength upon receipt of it. Additionally, she lives on the outskirts of the village like an outcast. The humans have probably noticed that there's something off about her and are trying to subtly force her out.
"What's a vampire?"
Madara's eyes narrow as he wonders whether Naruto is just being recalcitrant. However, the blank look on her face suggests that she is, in fact, that much of a dullard. Shooing her away, he orders, "Enough talk. Go fetch a map of the area."
"What for?"
Patience running thin, Madara growls, "I am your lord, and you will obey me—"
Naruto's face contorts as she argues, "Since when?!"
Her general disobedience is unusual, but the fact that she doesn't feel compelled to obey suggests she is descended from pureblood vampires, as well. How vexing. Madara considers punishing her, but the memory of how easily she gained the upper hand just a few moments ago makes him rethink it. Instead, he bargains, "If you bring me a map, I'll let you have more of that drink—"
Immediately, Naruto spins on her heel and heads out the door. She calls out over the snow crunching beneath her boots, "One map, coming up!"
Within the hour, she bursts back through the door. Narrowly avoiding the sunlight pouring in through the doorway, he notices the book held in her fully healed arm and the conspicuous fangs in her smile. Oh, wonderful. They won't have much time until the townspeople begin hunting them down. Heaving a sigh, Madara holds his hand out for the book.
Kicking the door shut, Naruto holds the book hostage as she says, "Drink, first."
"Hand over the book," growls a displeased Madara. The next few centuries are going to drag on if she keeps this attitude up.
Her eyes bleed red and her pupils thin into slits as she stares him down. She probably isn't even aware that she's trying to use her (tainted) pureblood privilege to force an answer out of him. She demands, "What did I drink?"
The last thing they need is an altercation to draw even more attention to them, so he reluctantly tells her, "It was my blood—"
Suddenly, Naruto is crowding him into the wall of her shack. The wall creaks in protest under the two palms pressed into it on either side of him. She's an entire head shorter, but the eyes boring into his are unequivocally those of a predator. Madara reflexively attempts to knock her away, but she stops the blow mid-swing. Taking advantage of his astonishment, Naruto knocks him to the floor and climbs on top of him. Before he can counter-attack, she rips open his collar and sinks her fangs into his neck. Her drab skirt pools around them as she rests her weight on top of his abdomen.
Pure instinct takes over as she sucks out Madara's blood. Curling her hand around the back of his neck, she adjusts his neck into a better position to increase blood flow to her. She had been expecting a metallic taste, but the nectar flowing into Naruto's mouth is so scrumptious that it's a genuine shame how quickly she fills up. With one final gulp, she pulls away from his neck with a content sigh.
A shiver travels up Madara's spine as Naruto laps up stray rivulets of blood. As soon as the euphoric haze clears, strength returns to his limbs. Remembering that he's lying on the dirty floor, he roughly pushes her off and growls, "I'll remember this—"
Rolling into a sitting position, the phrasing reminds Naruto of her delivery. She picks it up from where she tossed it aside and hands it to him with a smile. "Oh yeah! Here's your book!"
Bemused by once more warm blue eyes, Madara merely snatches the book with a huff and grumbles as he flips through it. He encounters some dismaying news rather quickly. Apparently, his territory is two "counties" away. Arbitrary, mortal-made boundaries mean nothing to him, but they're all he has to go on at the moment.
He looks at his soon-to-be traveling companion. His knowledge of dhampirs is quite limited, so he asks, "Can you fly?"
"I can fly?!"
Madara heaves the first of what is sure to be many profound sighs, but Naruto is overjoyed by how many extra gifts she got in addition to her Christmas wish being granted.
I'll post an extra bit tomorrow, too.