Chapter Ten:

The How


Then...

Sasuke crouched low to the ground, his midsection skimming the cold dirt beneath him. He gripped a fallen branch for support as he leaned forward; his dark eyes focused unblinkingly towards his prey.

It was early evening; pink trickled across the sky, offering just a hint of sun to those who needed it to guide them. There were no more burning rays to beat down upon his fragile skin. The sky, which had earlier threatened snow, now remained clear. It was a fantastic evening for a hunt.

His target today was another annoying mortal that few would miss. A young couple foolishly lived on the outskirts of his current "hunting ground," a smallish town that was quickly becoming too large for his own personal liking. He would need to move on soon, he silently conceded. This would be his last kill in this despicable wasteland.

He had fallen into the trap the week before, even though he knew damn well that they had caught onto him. He had heard them speaking of him in their homes. "A wild boar is attacking the townsfolk," they had said. But he knew better.

Peace Hunters. There was no other explanation for that trap: metal shaped like teeth, dipped in smelted silver by a very careful craftsman, and layered on to build a thick wall of resistance... Enough silver to maim, but not kill. It was not a regular huntsman's doing. An organization as secret as those of the night themselves, they had been hunting Sasuke for some time. But until the previous night, he had refused to be apprehended. He had become a master of his art. He slid between traps seamlessly, evaded blades and arrows alike; he had found great pleasure in murdering those who had hoped to do the same to him. If they didn't possess a Sun Sword, then they were like putty in his hands.

The previous week was a mistake, a fluke. He was careless; he was unfocused, painfully unaware, all things caused by a lack of nourishment and a gnawing hunger that couldn't be sated with the blood of an animal. He wouldn't let that mistake happen again.

The sight before him disgusted him. The misses was kissing her husband goodbye, her eyes tear-stained and her voice croaking like a bull frog in a mosquito filled pond. Sasuke stifled a scoff. Her babbling was absolutely pathetic; he felt a strong urge to silence her sobs, to end that annoying wailing she couldn't seem to control.

Hardened by years of solitude, Sasuke didn't remember intense emotions like the ones they were displaying aside from anger and irritation. He thrived on his animalistic needs – to feed, to find shelter, to stay safe. Anything beyond that became too complex, too much of a waste of time... Too annoying. He had decided long ago he would wander the earth until he could find what he was looking for. Only then could he truly live again.

This kill was another means to an end. He just had to reach her before she entered her home, and then she would never bother this world with her blubbering again.

As she threw her hands dramatically in the air and ran back into her tiny abode, he cursed to himself in frustration. She was supposed to see her husband off. That was what they did; their women waved frantically and screamed goodbyes at the top of their lungs. This was how this scene usually played out unless they were of the snobbish upper-class, and this woman clearly was not. It was much easier to kill a mortal and toss the body back into their home than it was to hunt one down and hope that you weren't caught.

The master of the home rubbed his bleary eyes and turned toward his horse.

These damn mortals could never make his life easy, could they? Sasuke couldn't afford to stay in this area much longer. He could only guess how long it would be before she left her home again.

And yet... suddenly, the idea of chasing this man and his horse, bringing them both down to the ground, sucking the life out of them slowly... Yes, this was the better plan. An evil smirk played at his mouth as he imagined what he was about to undertake, his dry lips longing to be moisturized with his victims' life force.

This was him. He was a beast, a monster. The people feared him; the moment they saw him coming, they only had seconds to register what was happening. The look of terror on their faces before he demolished them remained after their demise. Oh, how he relished those short spurts of excitement in his otherwise droll life. He lived for them; the longing for the next moment of death filled his body with pure adrenaline as he readied himself for the kill.

He sunk backwards into a tree as he stood, his movements like a light, nearly unnoticeable breeze. The man didn't turn his attention towards Sasuke as he mounted his mare, his heels digging into the animal's skin.

Sasuke readied himself; his arms pushed to his side, resting against the trunk of the tree, ready to vault off in an attempt to gather speed much quicker. He bared his fangs in anticipation. The pain in his leg from his entrapment, and the pain in his arm from the subsequent fight with the werebeast, were but a dull ache now; he had fed on a doe earlier the next morning to speed his healing process, though the animal did little to ease the dryness of his mouth and the scratching pain in his throat. No animal could ease his hunger. It had to be human, it had to be innocent, it had to fight back.

As the lone man gave out a loud "Yip yip!" and yanked the reigns of his horse, Sasuke dug the balls of his feet into the ground. He was going to give the poor bastard a few extra moments to get ahead. He needed a challenge; mortals always gave up so easily, and a horse presented an obstacle he had not encountered recently.

A loud neigh broke through the air, and Sasuke grit his teeth, razor sharp blades ready to pierce flesh when given the chance.

The horse took off, skipping a trot and immediately sprinting into the clearing that eventually led to the other side of the woods.

It took a large amount of control to not kill them then and there. He forced himself to count to five, knowing that the thrill of waiting would make the effort worthwhile. Each second seemed to drag on and on. Finally, the moment he mentally reached "five" in his head, Sasuke released his tension and thrust himself forward, his feet moving at incredible speed. He was but a blur to the untrained eye, a lightning bolt comprising of flesh and bone.

He sped through the dying grass, between trees, plowing through bushes and leaping over dirt. He eventually made it to the clearing, quickly approaching his target. The once dull ache in his throat became much more apparent as he burnt energy, and he decided to cut his chase short. He had given them both too many more seconds of life as it was.

As his bare, calloused feet carried him within reach of the horse, he prepared to grab the animal. He planned to fling it viciously through the air, injuring it beyond all hope and bringing the man down to his broken knees. He would be paralyzed as he begged Sasuke for mercy.

A twisted smile formed on his face at the thought of such an atrocity. An unnerving excitement filled him as he reached for the mare, the thrill of the chase coming to an end; the end to this child's game of cat and mouse.

His hands outstretched, itching to grab her and finish this.

However, he never caught her.

Instead, he was viciously flung sideways by an astonishing amount of force. A fist grabbed his neck and one of his arms, flinging him backwards as if he weighed nothing. Sasuke's face contorted in pain and his eyes squeezed tight as he braced his body for impact.

He landed into a tree so incredibly hard, it collapsed under his weight, severing at the middle and landing loudly behind him.

Sasuke leaned against what was now a stump, struggling to catch his bearings. He was only stunned for a moment before his face shot upwards to see what had cut his hunt short.

A sliver of shock filled him, his eyes wide and unblinking as he looked over his assailant. A quick sniff of the air brought about a new sense of realization, and he crouched into a defensive position. His fangs were barred as he snarled at his attacker, ready to fight to the death for his territory.

Another vampire had come to claim his hunting ground. This one was particularly jarring, as he was dressed in the latest fashion, like a prim and proper mortal. But Sasuke wasn't fooled; his enemy had mistakenly assumed he was young enough to not recognize one of his own kind when he smelled him; it was a mistake that he was prepared to kill for.

Sasuke jumped when a loud, whiny, young voice filled the air around them. The new vampire rolled his eyes, gripped the bridge of his nose, and shook his head. "So much for subtlety..."

"HEY KAKEESHI, THE MAN GOT AWAY! HE'S GONE NOW! I CHASED HIM! I MADE SURE!"

Sasuke bit back a small gasp. The young blonde who had removed the trap he was caught in was running towards them, one of his hands waving emphatically.

"Hey! Hey! It's me! Remember me? I saved you before! Remember me?"

He nearly skipped towards the vampires; his lips formed the most ridiculous, idiotic smile Sasuke had ever had the displeasure of seeing. He stopped short, his mouth forming an "oh;" he appeared thoroughly impressed. "Wow, you caught him so fast, Kakeeshi!"

The silver-haired vampire had turned around to chastise his ward, shaking his head. "Stop screaming," he stated. "You will attract a most unwanted amount of attention."

Sensing his enemy's distraction, Sasuke leaped towards the elder vampire, his teeth barred as he prepared to fight until one of them fell. He was in the mood for death, and if he couldn't rip the life from that pathetic mortal and his animal, he would kill the vampire standing before him instead.

With incredible speed, the elder vampire spun around. Catching the younger vampire mid-air, he slid two cold, calloused hands around Sasuke's neck, forming into a vice-like grip that caused Sasuke to gurgle out in pain. His own fangs betrayed him as they pierced the flesh of his mouth; as he retracted them instinctively, his blood jetted onto the face of his attacker, who didn't seem to notice. The silver-haired assailant slammed Sasuke against another tree. Sasuke gripped futilely at the large hands around his neck, his bare feet dangling off the ground and futilely attempting to doing their best to injure the man holding him up.

Watching the event unfolding before him, the blonde boy let out a horrified, childish squeal. "AHHH! DON'T KILL HIM KAKEESHI! DON'T! HE'S ODD, LIKE US!"

As Sasuke fumbled at the hands that held him, his vocal chords made pathetic, sad attempts at noise-making. The masked man tilted his head to the side, regarding Sasuke with a single, unblinking eye. "You will be still. I do not wish to hurt you. I simply want to speak with you."

Without warning, Sasuke was released from the death-grip, and his weakened form fell onto the forest floor. He leaned over, his hands pushing against the earth as he hacked violently, trying to clear the bulge in his throat. As strong and quick as he was, he wasn't invulnerable to injuries and pain; he was nearly certain his throat would need a lengthy amount of time to heal from the violence that was just brought upon it, especially considering how terribly thirsty he was.

The blue-eyed tween ran towards Sasuke, an obvious look of distress planted on his face. "Oh! Poor odd vampeer!"

The silver-haired man motioned for the child to stay back, and the boy pouted, crossed his arms, and paced backwards. He sat on the ground, cross-legged, and continued to watch the pair.

The stranger turned his attention to the apparent teenager on the ground, "You've been careless, Sasuke. They have found your trail. I was told you were nearly found a few nights back."

Sasuke's glance shot upward. He stifled a howl, the use of his neck causing a new rush of pain to consume him, and his head fell to face the ground again.

A waterfall of frustration poured over him, and his fingers dug into the ground at the disgusting amount of weakness he was showing. His lips struggled to form words, as his throat fought valiantly against the idea, knowing better than to further injure itself. He ignored his body's signs."How...Ugnh!"

His eyes squeezed tight yet again as his pain consumed him and stopped him from speaking. Using his voice felt foreign; he had not spoken for months, not until he met the strange blonde boy in the woods. The forgotten feeling did nothing to aid the pain in his throat.

Several moments passed before the last standing immortal spoke."I suppose..." the silver-haired man began to speak, but paused abruptly. Sasuke could hear him circling him; twigs crackled and broke beneath his weight as he appraised the injured vampire below him. Sasuke was certain he was looking over him, judging him, marking him as a pathetic waste of space that deserved to die. To his surprise, he did not speak unkindly towards him. "Yes. It's obvious I was too harsh. Forgive me; it has been some time since I have tested my own strength in such a way. Though now you know I am not here to play with you. If I wanted you dead, you would be."

Sasuke wanted to raise his eyes to the man, but he listened to the pain seeping through him like poison and kept his head bowed.
"You wish to know how I am privy to who you are."

Sasuke opened his eyes slowly. He found a clean pair of leather shoes facing him. Even in the growing darkness, he could tell they were spotless and in the best of shape. He was so unlike the vampires he had crossed in his recent past.

"I am one of the Uchiha clan's turned."

It took a noticeable amount of force to not look upwards. He cursed his weakness silently, damning it to hell.

"Perhaps you do not remember me, and that surprises me not."

When Sasuke did not respond, he continued.

"You, the youngest son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha... I thought you had died that night. Imagine my surprise when I heard during my travels of a dark-haired youth, an aging vampire, recklessly killing mortals and leaving a lengthy, easily followed trail behind him."

Sasuke coughed. "They..." He winced, forcing one more word to reveal itself. "Lies." He licked his lips; the wounds he had given himself were slowly healing; and yet his neck continued to cause him anguish.

The elder man chuckled. "Oh yes, I'm sure. I am especially convinced after witnessing that interesting attempt at playing with your food."

Sasuke ripped his neck upwards, ignoring the shock of agony reverberating through him. "Do not mock me!"

"Hm." The man looked thoughtfully down the barrel of his aristocratic nose, his eyebrows raising themselves in surprise as he gripped his chin. "You are without the Sharingan."

Shame washed over Sasuke, but he shoved it down to the pits of his soul, like the other mortal feelings he rarely harbored.

"You are young, but Itachi was also young when had gained his bloodline power-"

"Do not speak his name so casually in my presence!" he bit out, his throat hoarse. It was forced, rough, and scratchy; caused by a mixture of disuse and his new injury. But no one spoke of his brother, especially this pompous ass.

The silver haired man sighed. "Forgive me, Sasuke. I do not wish to distress you. I only wish for you to come with us. You may feel like you are a god, but truthfully, you are still growing. It would be a shame for the Uchiha bloodline to disappear because of your death-"

"I would meet the sun before I followed the likes of you!"

Suddenly, the elder vampire bent to kneel before Sasuke. His hand softly landed on the teenager's raven hair, who jerked his head away instinctively at the sudden weight.

"Sasuke." The elder sighed, his hand now resting on Sasuke's shoulder. "In turn for immortality, I promised Obito Uchiha many things... Including a promise that I would protect his family with my life."

He leveled his face with Sasuke, both of them staring straight on at the other. It was only a moment before Déjà vu pummeled Sasuke. A memory flooded his mind like liquid breaking through a barrier, seeping into any other thoughts he had. He looked past the scene before him as he was washed in a sudden flashback that played out in his mind in mere moments.

Obito and his father arguing. Anger. Hate. Bitter words. Tears. A comforting hand on his shoulder, and a cloaked face that held him while he was scared.

"Kakashi," Sasuke said quickly, biting back pain. "You are Kakashi. I... remember."

"Ah." Kakashi chuckled, his smile hidden, but evident in his eyes. "Sasuke, you have given me quite the chase these last few months. I do hope you will come with me – erm, us." After Kakashi turned to stare dejectedly at the young brat, Naruto eagerly waved to the pair once more, all too excited to be included in any sort of adventure.

A thousand thoughts filled his mind as he began to calculate the most logical action to take.

There was a reason vampires generally stayed in nomadic groups. There was safety in numbers. He had never been able to stay in one place for very long; he was consistently burning in the heat of summer and suffering from frostbite in the winter. Hunting, while mostly enjoyable, could be tedious; he always ran the risk of being found out. Sleeping under a blanket of dirt or living in abandoned dwellings had sufficed him for a time; but some manner of permanency in his life was highly desirable.

However, Sasuke was a loner. Surrounded by a heavy, dark cloud of solitude for so long had murdered his social skills. He found no comfort in the presences of groups, even of his own kind. He had been on his mission for years, and it had all but consumed him. He had no desire to let anything distract him, even someone who knew his family so long ago.

"I live and hunt alone," Sasuke deadpanned.

Kakashi did his best to mask the disappointment in his eye.

Before he embarked on the six month long quest to find the troubled young Sasuke, he had acknowledged that he may not come willingly. His stubbornness was expected; he was, after all, an Uchiha.

Kakashi still had one last trick up his sleeve that did not involve mind control; he had one fail-safe left, one that he had hoped to not use or mention, because it was nearly a lie. Almost, though not quite.

Ignoring the shame for lying to someone who was nearly kin to get his way, he decided it was his last option. He needed Sasuke on his side.

"I have also been tracking Itachi."

Dark eyes shot upward to meet his. They reflected the moonlight and stars. They were like the night sky: vast, unknown, and impossible to comprehend.

"I have a very good idea of where he is; but we will need to plan. We will need resources. We will need alibis... Things you lack when you stand alone, Sasuke. But together, we can bring him back."

Sasuke's eyes were incredibly wide and unblinking.

Kakashi swallowed, knowing his plan had worked. He had been hunting Itachi, but after months of reconnaissance, he had concluded that there was nothing to hunt. Itachi was gone, and Sasuke, the little, weak vampire, who couldn't even activate his own trait... There was nothing either of them could do to save him.

Itachi was dead, and he was filling Sasuke's empty soul with a false hope.

But it was necessary. Lie, or Sasuke, and his rare trait, died.

Kakashi watched his dark eyes as they calculated the weight of his words. Sasuke was no longer looking at him; he was staring at the ground, weighing the possibilities with the scales in his head.

It did not take long for him to realize the pros outweighed the cons.

After a minute of silence, he nodded his head. "I will."

As Naruto assisted Kakashi in bringing the boy off the floor, Kakashi silently thanked whatever god or gods there were; he had been all too prepared to use his hidden ability to drag him back to his base if he refused to comply.


Now...

"AHHHHHH!"

He was knocked from his comfortable sleep state once again.

Sasuke bolted upright and jumped off the couch, ignoring the fact that he was shirtless. Tripping over Sakura's crib and then over a pile of her toys, he cursed and silently wondered why Rin couldn't bother to pick up after the baby. "She's just going to make a mess again, Sasuke," she had told him so many times. "So why even bother?"

He grabbed Rin's bedroom door handle and slammed the door open. It was ripped right from its hinges, and he tossed it behind him carelessly."Rin! What is-?!"

Rin was clapping delightedly as Sakura turned around to look at the new source of noise.

"LOOK SASUKE!" Rin bounced on the floor, her hands wiggling with joy. "She is sitting up on her own! Quick! Get the camera!"

Sasuke stared at her incredulously. "Rin. I'm sick of having this conversation-"

"Yes yes," she interrupted. "'No screaming unless it's an emergency.' But this IS an emergency! She is SITTING on her own! And, oh my gosh! She is looking at you!"

The chubby little baby wobbled while she stared at the man in the doorway. Rin had dressed her in a pink shirt with a cupcake on it and a pair of light blue jean shorts. Pink socks covered her tiny toes, and her naturally curly pink hair was topped with a little red ribbon. To Rin, she was the epitome of adorableness. Sasuke wondered why they spent money on frivolous outfits when the child was completely clueless as to what she was wearing anyways.

Rin waved both her hands at Sasuke. "Go get the camera!... And put a shirt on! You're so white, you could blind someone! And stop breaking my door! I don't even know how it's still in once piece..."

Sasuke was tempted to throw the door on Rin, but didn't want to disturb what was apparently Sakura's greatest achievement to date, just behind her doing a "baby push-up" and her first giggle.

As Sasuke grabbed the camera off Rin's kitchen counter, he absentmindedly glanced at the calendar on his way out.

A thought crept into his mind that made him pause: was Sakura really five months old already?

"Hn." He massaged his left shoulder while his other hand held the camera. He had been so busy working on his village that he hadn't even noticed how much time had passed. As he walked to Rin's room once more, he concluded that time could pass him by as quickly as it wanted.

The sooner Sakura grew up, the better, in his opinion.

He grabbed the shirt that he had taken off and left on the arm of the couch before his nap; it had been an unusually hot and muggy August. He would have been content to walk around nude, it was so hot. But Rin was a prude and whined when he even mentioned that sort of thing.

"SASUKE! Hurry up! Or she is going to lay back down!"

If you keep screaming, she'll definitely lay down. Probably try to crawl away in terror...

Sasuke appeared in her room again, scowling. Rin was ridiculous. Every event was important; every movement, every noise, everything. She didn't discriminate. She wanted to document it all. Coming from a time when cameras and technology of that sort didn't exist, he wasn't interested in capturing Sakura's life; his memory would hang on to the important parts just fine. Rin made it her personal job to write notes in a baby book for Sakura. "She'll appreciate it when she grows up, trust me," she told Sasuke several months before, a knowing glint in her eye.

Sasuke nearly threw the camera at Rin's head; as tempting as it was, he dropped it in her lap instead. She grabbed the camera and quickly uncovered the lens, bringing it to her eye to peer through. "Thank you, Sasuke! Now, put your shirt on so I can take pictures of you two."

He was still scowling as he slipped the white cotton tee over his head. Why did he have to be in the picture? This was all about Sakura, anyway.

He remembered how, many months back, Rin had been shocked to find that she could actually photograph him.

"Why wouldn't you be able to otherwise?" he asked, a wiggling, hungry Sakura in his arms.

"Because! You're a vampire! Everyone knows they can't be photographed!"

"That is ridiculous, bull-shit nonsense crafted by mortals to scare other mortals."

"DON'T TALK LIKE THAT IN FRONT OF THE BABY!"

He rolled his eyes at the memory while Rin barked orders at him.

"Sit behind her. No, closer. Closer! Okay, good. Now, have your hands near her, but don't touch her. Pretend you are going to touch her, so that when people see the picture, it doesn't look like you were going to let her fall."

He grit his teeth, but complied. Arguing with the woman was useless. It would just cause more trouble than what it was worth.

"For God's sake Sasuke, stop scowling. It's so unattractive. You look miserable, like you hate her."

The scowl remained.

"UGH! Fine. Have it your way." Rin continued snapping photos as Sakura stared at her. The "snap, snap, snap" of the shutter had entranced her. It was obvious the little girl found the camera very intriguing. Sasuke imagined she desperately wanted to chew on it, like she did everything else.

"Okay," Rin said, her hands adjusting the camera quickly. "Now, get down beside her so I can actually capture your face clearly."

He rolled his eyes and huffed, but he complied. He leaned down, his arms crossed and his stomach slid against the ground as he faced Sakura.

Her bright, jade eyes blinked, and she squealed. A smile formed on her pink lips as she flapped her chubby arms about. She haphazardly reached for him, tiny palms slapping against either side of his face, her weight depending on him for balance.

Rin squealed in turn. "OH MY GOODNESS, THAT IS ADORABLE! Stay their, Sasuke!" The shutter clicked rapidly. "Don't move or I'll kill you!"

Sasuke ignored Rin, his attention focused on his treasure.

Sakura, the little brat... She always knew how to make him smile. It was annoying, how cute she was. He couldn't stay irritated when she acted like this.

He knew he was smiling, and he knew Rin was taking pictures, but at that moment, he didn't care.

Sakura laughed, slapping her hands against his cheeks again and again, terribly in love with this new game; sure, it was at the expense of his dignity, but if Sakura was happy, he was fine with it.

Anything for her.


Author's note:

YAY no more flashbacks for a while! :D Hopefully, these two new chapters clear a lot of things up... Clear as mud, yes? *sigh*

Those time skips I mentioned a while back are here. I'll do my best to keep the confusion to a minimum. As them come along, please let me know if I need to further clarify anything.

Next chapter is already in the works (yes, really - 2,000 words down, lots more to go). I look forward to your thoughts on this. Thank you for bearing with me while I explained each character's past; this all becomes incredibly important down the road!