Night Walker

Disclaimer: DO NOT OWN NARUTO. My only OC now, since the death of Kuro, is Yoru.

Chapter 9

Four days after Kuro's death

After Funeral

7:00 PM

…Sasuke's POV…

I was walking beside Yoru as we left the funeral and walked toward my black mustang (the 07 model, ones u see on the road mostly). The sun was already setting and Yoru walked away from me. I figured that maybe she was going to talk to Hinata or Sakura but when I looked she was gone. I started walking again figuring she'd follow me. I turned around and now she was with Sakura, Hinata, and Ino who was laughing at Sakura for some reason. (I, the author, don't know the reason so don't ask. She's just Ino)

I decided to go see what they were talking about but then Naruto stopped me. "Hey Sasuke. Is she getting better?"

"I think so but I can't be sure. The funeral gives her some closure but the only way she'll be happy is when he's dead," I answered.

"When who's dead? Itachi?" he asked.

"Shhh…and yes, Itachi." Naruto's loud voice had caused one man to look around at the mention of my brother's name but he simply shook his head and went back to his conversation.

A much softer and feminine voice said, "Are you ready to go Sasuke?" It was Yoru and I nodded my head as I took her arm and we walked to my car. Naruto snickered behind me but I shook my head and continued walking.

Once we got back to my house, Yoru walked over to me and said, "I'm sorry for acting the way I have. It's a shock to lose my dad but I shouldn't take it out on you. Forgive me?"

I smirked and replied, "Yes, I forgive you," as I leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. Now she had a real smile on her face and my insides cheered at me for doing such a good job. I took her hand and we walked back into my house. Once inside I closed the door behind us and Yoru let go of my hand.

She turned back around to face me with a fierce look on her face. "You're a fighter Sasuke and you can defend yourself and protect those you love. I wish to do the same. Can you help me?"

"Become stronger?" I asked. "Yes, you're strong and I wish to be also," she answered.

"No, I can't," I started and she looked down, "but I can train you to use the strength you have. Yoru, as a vampire, you are already strong, but your power has not been tampered with or enhanced. It's like a jar that you can't get to what's inside until you open the jar itself. You are like the sealed jar right now because the only threads of your power that you've witnessed are those coming from your anger at my brother."

"So how can you do that?" she asked her eyes wide with anticipation. "Simple, we must force you to use your power. In ordinary life, you may never have to use your power but of course your life isn't ordinary now, is it?" She shook her head; her eyes reflected that she was thinking of Itachi.

"So how are you going to force me to use my powers?" she asked. "Well simple, tonight we will leave town and go to train in the wilderness. There are plenty of monsters and carnivorous animals out there for you to fight," I answered. Her eyes brightened up although I didn't see why. She hugged me before she ran up the stairs in one of her best moods since her father's death.

I watched her go and a small smile came over my face. Knowing that she'll be prepared next time is helping her recovery. Soon she'll be a more formidable opponent. Watch out Itachi, next time you're outnumbered.

My stomach's never ending growling finally became apparent to me and I went to the kitchen to get some food. After a few minutes Yoru came down the stairs in a different set of clothes. I looked at her slightly surprised.

She was wearing a dark grey, almost black tee shirt with a V-neckline and a black fishnet shirt underneath, the sleeves were slightly longer than those of the shirt and the ends of them showed themselves to come about halfway from her shoulders to her elbows. She wore black pants with buckles on the sides of the legs and they were undone on the bottoms to show her high-heeled black boots with a slot on the side where a shiny silver dagger rested in each one. Her black gloves were fingerless and the knuckles were studded with small silver plates on each one. She had a content smirk on her face as she walked over to me.

"Ready when you are," she said sitting in the chair beside me. "I see that. You probably ought to eat before we go though," I replied, as I continued eating my bowl of Cup Noodles. "Okay."

After she'd gotten something to eat and I'd changed clothes, we got some things we would need and then headed out. Right before we got to the gates leaving the city, someone called my name. "Hey Sasuke! Where are you going—and with Yoru?" I turned around to see Naruto running up to meet me. He was followed by Hinata and Sakura, who were struggling to keep up.

"We're leaving for a little while, that's all," I answered as he stopped in front of me. "Dude, what about school?" Naruto asked. "It's okay. We'll only miss tomorrow and we'll come back in time for school Monday. We'll just leave on the weekends."

"Okay that sounds fine, but where exactly are you going—together?" he asked, squinting his eyes with mischief at us. Hinata bonked him on the back of the head for it and Sakura snickered.

"Well, Yoru wants training and so we're going to the wilderness," I answered. "Oo! Can we come?!" Sakura asked excitedly. "We haven't done anything like this as a team for a while now. It would be good to practice our skills."

I looked at Yoru with a questionable look on my face and she shrugged. "Good thing you said yes," Sakura said as all three of them simultaneously pulled of their capes to show them to be in their traveling clothes. My jaw dropped and Yoru snickered behind me. "How did you," I started when she interrupted me. "Well time to go then isn't it?" she asked smiling warmly.

"Hn," I replied as Yoru and I started walking back toward the gates, followed by Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura. Once we were outside of the view of the night guardsmen and in the cover of the trees, Naruto groaned, "I hate having to go so slow."

Hinata followed him with a, "Yes, it is very troublesome for me to walk on foot." Sakura said, "Lucky you, you get to be relieved from that whenever you want."

"Yes, it would be good to get that relief right now since nobody can see us, right Sasuke?" Naruto asked mischievously.

"Okay enough with the hints! You guys can transform if you want but Yoru's only done so once and she's not used to it so I'll stay on foot with her," I finally said irritably.

"No, that will slow us down. Sasuke, you transform, and Yoru can ride on your back and Sakura on mine. This way we don't lose speed and we'll make it to our camp before the sun comes up," Naruto said with a reformed knowledgeable tone to his voice.

"You can do that?" Yoru asked. I chuckled before replying, "Of course. You saw how big my transformation is and trust me its not all looks. Being a werewolf also comes with great strength."

"Cool," she said as she and Sakura watched Hinata, Naruto, and myself transform.

Hinata was the first to finish, glowing white ghostly wings sprouted from her back and her body was encircled by a white glow. Her clothing had changed color to become white as the full moon and the sleeves of her shirt were now flowing on the ends.

I finished second, turning into a giant black wolf with shaggy fur, my muscles rippling under my skin and my eyes swirling red with the Sharingan. While Naruto continued transforming, I flicked my head motioning for Yoru to get on my back. She leaped from where she was and landed with ease on her designated mark, directly behind my shoulder blades. I turned around to face Naruto who was finishing his transformation.

…Yoru's POV…

He'd turned into a red fox with long ears and glowing yellow eyes. Behind him, four gold-tipped tails swayed back and forth. He curled his lips to reveal long sharp teeth. He was even larger than Sasuke now, with a more lean and muscular build than Sasuke. This was difficult to imagine considering how muscular Sasuke's form was to begin with. Another thing I found strange were the tails. He had four of them which was kind of odd. I didn't know of any animals with four tails but he was definitely a fox.

"Why does he have four tails?" I asked Sasuke as Sakura got onto Naruto's back and we started off towards the wilderness.

"He's not just a fox, he's a fox demon and his power can be measured by the number of tails he has. At four tails, he's about half way on his way to reaching the highest level for a fox demon," Sasuke answered.

"So what is the highest?" I asked observing his tight muscles and wondering how much stronger he could possibly get. "Nine. Oh and you're probably wondering why he's only four tails. To get to the level of nine tails, Naruto must not only be strong in body but also in mind. A nine tailed fox demon is both strong and wise and since Naruto is only fifteen, the wise part hasn't come yet. Once he gets older and he matures more, he will be able to become a nine tail demon."

"Poor kid doesn't have a chance," I said sarcastically and Sasuke laughed in a wolfish voice. It was then that I realized he'd been talking to me with his thoughts. That's so weird, I thought.

"The way I'm talking to you right now?" he asked and I realized he could hear my thoughts. "Maybe," I said before I got an idea. Since he could hear my thoughts, I was going to mess with his head a little bit.

I'm so horny, I thought and my insides bust out laughing as he asked loudly in my mind, "WHAT?!"

Naruto and Hinata stopped and all of them turned around to look at Sasuke. I couldn't help but laugh as I realized how embarrassed he was now. He whipped his head around to face me with his eyes half closed as they started moving again and I leaned over and kissed him on his snout. The corner of his mouth turned up a little at that and he turned back around then ran to catch up with Naruto and Hinata.

…One hour later 10:00PM…

The landscape had changed now and we were in an area with few trees and plenty of vegetation. As he walked, a rabbit jumped out in front of Sasuke's nose. He followed it with his eyes until it hid into a hole but didn't make an effort to chase it. "Tempting isn't it?" Naruto asked and his question was clearly directed to Sasuke but I still heard him. "Nah already ate," he replied back.

"Wasn't what I was talking about," Naruto said motioning to the cabin far back behind where the rabbit disappeared. "Ha ha very funny. I'm sure you and Hinata have been there a couple times already haven't you?" Sasuke replied. I didn't really care what it was that they were talking about. I had my head rested in Sasuke's warm fur and my eyes were slowly closing due to the rhythmic motions as he ran through the wilderness. As my eyes closed, I fell into a peaceful and deep sleep.

I was slowly opening my eyes and as I did so I could see nothing but a dark sky. I sat up and looked around me. I was in the wilderness but I was alone. Where were the others? Then I felt a presence behind me and I turned around but there was nothing there. When I turned back around, I saw the horrible images of Itachi standing over my father's dead body. The images faded and swirled around in a black hole fashion until Itachi's caped figure appeared in front of me. He was grinning at me and I could tell that he'd been the one showing me those images again. My black leathery wings sprouted out of my back and I charged at him. When I hit him with one clawed hand he disappeared and then so did the rest of the scenery.

Now I awoke to see Sasuke leaning over me with a worried expression on his face. I sat up and looked around. We were no longer traveling but now everyone was relaxing in what appeared to be a cabin. Sasuke's hand was on my shoulder and he was asking, "Are you okay Yoru? You were making scared noises and I was worried about you."

"It was just a bad dream, that's all. I saw the images of my dad at Itachi's feet and then they swirled around and he appeared. I started to attack him but as I made contact he disappeared and so did everything else."

"Itachi haunted your dreams?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, ever since my father's death. He is always trying to make me lose my sanity in these dreams. I had one dream the night of my father's death where he tried to convince me that you were the reason he died, Sasuke," I explained looking at him with sorrowful eyes.

"That's Itachi for you! This is the same man who killed his entire family plus yours, Yoru," Naruto exclaimed from across the room where he, Sakura, and Hinata were playing poker. I could only hope it wasn't strip poker, well I could see Naruto liking that but there was no way he could put Sakura and Hinata up to it. "Yes, I win!" he exclaimed as his pair of Kings beat Sakura's pair of Queens.

Hinata chuckled as she showed her hand. Somehow she'd managed to kick his butt with two pairs of Aces. Naruto's jaw dropped and he said, "Aww man." Sakura giggled at Naruto's displeasure. I looked at Sasuke hopeful and he nodded his head. We both walked over to the old, wait let me rephrase that, ancient table where they were playing and I asked, "Can I join in?"

Naruto looked at me with a sour expression and replied, "Not if you're as good as Hinata."

"Then I guess I'm safe," I replied slyly giving him my best poker face, which could definitely win an award if it was a contest.

Naruto groaned, "Aww man I'm doomed." Sakura and Hinata laughed at this. I sat down next to Naruto and Sasuke took a seat next to me and scooted it over a little. "Sorry. It's not strip poker Sasuke,"Naruto said and Sasuke gave him a sour face while Hinata punched him in the gut. After that short incident, we played a couple games of poker in which Hinata and I eliminated everyone else and eventually she beat me by making me go all in with four Kings to her four Aces. By now I was thinking that she must have the cards rigged or something so she always got the Aces.

By the time we finished playing it was midnight and we were all pretty tired. I, of course, wasn't all that tired after my nap earlier and the fact that vampires are nocturnal made me more apt to roam in the dark. Once the others had laid down in their sleeping bags and I heard Naruto's snoring, and Hinata and Sakura's steady breathing that told me they were asleep. When I didn't hear Sasuke's breathing even out I decided he probably couldn't sleep either.

I quietly crept outside but when I stepped onto the porch of the cabin, the wood creaked and I heard Naruto's snoring stop. "Going somewhere?" Sasuke asked from the shadows to my right. He walked up behind me to avoid making noise that might make Naruto wake up. "Come on. Let's go find a secluded spot somewhere," he whispered in my ear, taking my hand and leading me away from the cabin and Naruto's loud snoring. After running through the wilderness landscape for about ten minutes, we arrived at one large mesa that stood about fifty feet into the air.

"How are we going to get up there?" I asked. Sasuke smirked and looked at me. "Me?" I asked. He nodded his head and I shook mine. "I-I can't. I can't transform just like that."

"Yes you can. Get angry like you were on that night," he said and Itachi's face immediately popped into my head. My mind took me back to my living room and Itachi's blood covered figure and her father's dead body at his feet. The images flashed in her head until they became a puddle of blood with Itachi's face in it and her father's blood dripping off of his face. Sasuke began to back away from me as my breathing became faster and heavier and before I knew it I'd sprouted my brown bat wings, claws, and tail. My eyes flashed open to reveal yellow eyes with cat-like pupils. I looked at Sasuke and he still had the same smirk on his face and my eyes darted to the top of the mesa. In a flash, I'd grabbed Sasuke with my clawed hands and flew to the top of the rock. Once there, I noticed that there was a hole towards the center of it.

"You'll have to change back to go down there," he said once I'd let him go. "Think of peaceful or pleasurable thoughts to cancel out the angry ones. Think of something you like," he explained. I let out an annoyed growl as I started to think of all the good thoughts I had. One thought was a warm feeling that I couldn't put my finger on but I knew I was with two people, a man and a woman, probably my parents. Then another thought came to my mind and I started to change back. It was the image of the first time I kissed Sasuke. In no time I was back to normal and kneeling down at Sasuke's feet. He reached out a hand which I took and then I stood up.

He walked over to the hole in the stone ground. There appeared to be a cave inside the mesa. Sasuke motioned for me to follow him as he jumped down the hole. He slid down the smooth rain-worn stone with ease and landed on the smooth cave floor. He stood up, walked over to the end of the stone slide, and waited for me to slide down as well. When I did, he managed to catch me before I fell on the stone floor. Once he'd set me down on the cold stone floors of the cave, I said, "This is gorgeous."

The floor of the cave itself was made out of a marble-like stone that shone brightly and reflected the moonlight that crept through the hole in the roof. In the chamber where we were standing there was a waterfall whose source appeared to be the roof of the cave. On both sides of it, there were huge pieces of blue crystals that stuck out of their clusters like swords. On the left of me there was a stone staircase carved directly out of the very stone we stood on. I could see that the lower chamber appeared to be damp in some spots and there were puddles of sparkly rain water all over the ground. On my right there was another staircase that went up and Sasuke took my hand and led me up that one.

"Where are we going?" I asked. Sasuke did not respond but kept pulling me along with him until we were out of the small corridor and in another chamber. This one was somewhat darker than the last one since the only light reaching it was coming from the brightly lit corridor behind it and a small hole in the ceiling towards the stairs. There were large platforms that were like larger steps in this room and the steps were all dry. "Wow."

Sasuke turned to face me. "Do you like it?" he asked. "Oh yes. It's beautiful!" I replied. "It's not the only thing that's beautiful," he said quietly. I looked at him and he looked back at me with the same loving expression as I had. Walking up to him, I took his hands in mine and asked, "Sasuke, do you love me?"

Without hesitation, he said in the same low voice as me, "Yes, I do."