Night Walker

Disclaimer: DO NOT OWN NARUTO. My only OC now is Yoru.

Chapter 10

Next morning 7:00 AM

…Sasuke's POV…

When I woke up, Sakura was already awake and she was writing in a little pink book. I assumed this was her diary and so I did not watch her. I carefully eased away from Yoru's sleeping figure and went to stand in the doorway. Looking outside, I could see that the rain from the night before had turned into a light drizzle. I walked over to the wooden table where Sakura sat and took a seat. "So how'd you guys find out that we were leaving?" I asked making Sakura look up from her diary.

A smile appeared on her face and she answered, "When we were at the funeral she told Hinata and I that she was going to ask you to train her and we knew you could never say no to her."

I frowned, "Why not?" Sakura replied by making puppy dog eyes at me and poking out her bottom lip. "Oh."

From behind me, I could hear Yoru stirring in her sleep as she awoke slowly and to my left I heard Naruto and Hinata waking also. Yoru walked up behind me and gave me a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before sitting down in the chair next to me. Sakura closed the pink book and slid it down into her pocket before walking into another room of the house and disappearing for a few minutes. Naruto and Hinata came and sat down across from Yoru and I.

"So who's training with who?" Naruto asked looking at me. I thought about it for a second before I decided. "We can do teams. Girls VS. Boys. After all, in a real combat situation, that's probably how it would go. You and I are always the front line of defense for the team, Naruto."

Naruto shook his head wisely. "So what exactly are we going to do?" Yoru asked looking at me expectantly. "I was thinking instead of simply a duel we play a little game of Hide and Seek," I answered.

"Hide and Seek?" Yoru asked. "Yeah, that way you'll have to use all of your senses to their fullest in order to find the opponents," I replied.

"Then what?" Naruto interrupted. "What do you do after you find an opponent?"

"Tag them. Once you're tagged you're out. We'll do this until only one person is left standing," I explained.

"Too easy," Yoru said with a smirk as she crossed her arms. "Okay, we'll see about that," I replied showing her my own confident smirk.

"Alright you two get a room," Sakura said as she reentered the room with a platter of pancakes and five plates. "This day is going to be fun," she said once she'd sat down.

After we all finished eating, we split into our teams and spread out as far as possible. Then we started the game. Naruto and I changed into our stronger forms first before we started to search for the girls.

…Yoru's POV…

"Okay, I say we stick together for the most part until we find them. Once we find them we should split up to confuse them. Both Naruto and Sasuke have a great sense of smell right?" I said as we began concocting our plan. Sakura and Hinata both shook their heads. I pulled out the bottle of perfume I'd gotten for my birthday. "We'll all put some of this on so they don't know which of us is which. That's sure to confuse them."

Sakura and Hinata grinned mischievously and the plan was established. We all sprayed equal amounts of the perfume on ourselves and then we headed out in search of the boys.

After about thirty minutes, we found them, or rather I found them. They were walking through a dense spot of trees, Naruto in front. I signaled to Hinata, who was crouched close by me and she nodded her head. She stood up to cast a light spell when all of a sudden a ball of red chakra came flying across the clearing and hit her in the stomach. I saw Naruto standing at the edge of the trees and his gaze was on me. I narrowed my eyes at him before jumping backwards and into the tree, maybe five feet behind where I'd been crouched behind a bush.

I landed inside the tree's canopy and I peered between the lush green leaves and saw that Naruto was falling right into my trap. He walked straight across the clearing and stood only ten feet away from the tree I was in. I broke off one of the smaller twigs of the tree silently and as he neared I aimed up perfectly and flung the twig through the trees and it hit him directly on the nose. Defeated, he changed back to human form and walked over to Hinata who was sitting against a tree.

I sniffed the air and found that Sakura and Sasuke were now close together. I followed their scents, jumping into trees until I found them. Sasuke was dodging the kunai that Sakura was throwing at him. None of them hit him although they did come close. He was just too fast for Sakura. Finally he lunged at her and pinned her down to the ground. Then he raised his head and looked at me. It only took me two seconds to notice the sly smirk he had on his face and get out of there.

I had to plan something, an ambush or surprise attack, but first I had to get away from him. I wasn't fast enough on foot. As I jumped I let the images of Itachi flood my mind and I started to change. It was hard to do but I kept moving. Then I jumped and instead of coming back down I soared over the trees. My eyes darted around for something that would point me in the direction of the camp but all I could see below me were rocks and trees, nothing that I recognized. But then as I looked ahead of me I saw something that I did recognize, the mesa where'd Sasuke and I had been last night. I flew to the top of it and landed. I looked around and found the hole that led to the cave and from there I retraced my steps from the night before until I finally made my way back to the camp.

I knew that Sasuke would need a few more minutes to get here so I changed back to human form. I walked a little ways away from camp and stood there waiting. I could faintly hear the cracking of branches and the muffled noises that were made beneath Sasuke's padded feet as he got closer. I could also smell him and I knew it was definitely him coming. But suddenly he stopped and I realized that he'd smelled me. Now his feet were silent and his steps and breathing careful.

There was another sound though that was much closer and it was the sound of two people walking. Suddenly from behind some tall bushes and a couple of trees a man with maroon-colored hair stepped out into the opening. I turned to look at him. "Who are you?" I asked drawing the dagger from my left boot.

"Lady Yoru, my how you've grown," he said. "How do you know my name?" I asked my ears still listening as Sasuke ran toward me from behind. I waited until just the right instant and then threw the dagger backwards and it stabbed into Sasuke's leg. He immediately collapsed to the ground. I turned around and gasped before kneeling down beside him as he started to change back.

"A-are you okay Sasuke?" I asked in a worried voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. Hey you won," he replied with a small smile before he winced at the pain. Once he'd turned completely back into his human form, I could see that his wound was bleeding badly. At the sight of his blood running from his arm where the dagger still pierced his flesh, my breathing got harder and I couldn't stop staring at it.

"Yoru! Are you okay?" he asked sharply making me snap out of my daze. "Yes. Um, Sasuke who is that by the way?" I asked as I regained my composure. He looked at the man with the maroon hair and said slowly, "That would be Niiro."

"Don't know who that is but that's good enough for me," I said, still confused. "He was one of your father's best fighters and his right hand man," Sasuke further explained and I nodded my head in response. "That would explain how he knows my name." I stood up and helped Sasuke up as Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto arrived at the camp. Sakura saw Sasuke's arm and she came over and helped him with it while Niiro came closer.

Then I heard someone else in the bushes behind him and I grabbed my remaining dagger and threw it at the source of the noise. But as the dagger neared its target a hand reached out and grabbed it. Out of the bushes a guy about Sasuke's age with red hair and strangely colored green eyes stepped forward. "Nice to meet you, too," he replied his face blank of all expression. He threw the dagger back to Yoru and it stuck in the ground at her feet.

"Hi Gaara!" Naruto yelled as he waved his hand vigorously. "Hello, Naruto." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the red haired boy, while Sakura finished bandaging his arm. "What are you guys here for?" he asked.

Niiro replied, "We heard what happened and we realize how important it is for Yoru to receive the proper training necessary to protect herself. With both her parents and adopted father dead, it is my responsibility to train her. When Itachi attacks again, she will be strong enough to defeat him."

"Alone?" Sasuke questioned. "Possibly, but first her emotions must become stable again. Otherwise, they'll only get in the way," Niiro finished.

"What are you talking about?" Yoru asked, glancing at Sasuke in confusion. "Are you trying to tell me that I must dispel all of my emotions?"

"During battle, yes. Your emotions outside of battle will be okay as long as you don't let them affect your fight," Niiro replied his gaze following mine until it rested on Sasuke. As if he understood my feelings for the Uchiha, he nodded his head ever so slightly that I was just barely able to notice. I glanced at him as he got closer to me.

"So you're here to train me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at the skinny man in front of me. As I looked closer I noticed that his arms were well-muscled for his small size and he appeared much stronger now that he was closer to me. "If so let me tell you, I can take care of myself, thank you very much. I don't need some long lost vampire coming to me and calling me a wimp."

"Yoru, Niiro is only here to help. He could probably do a better job of it than me anyways," Sasuke said resting his bandaged hand on my shoulder.

"But I don't even know him, and I'm certainly not willing to trust someone who sneaks up on me!" I snapped pulling away from Sasuke, leaving him to stare blankly at me. I could not read the expression on his face and I wondered if he was just hiding his emotions again. Probably, I told myself. My temper was flared now to its red-hot boiling point and I began to feel strangely disconnected from my friends. Something was happening to me, I never snapped at Sasuke or anyone for that matter. The part that scared me the most was that whatever was wrong with me was something out of my control.

Gaara had his head tilted slightly to one side as he looked at me with expressionless eyes. I felt everyone's gazes on me and it was all I could do to stop myself from flinching at the six pairs of eyes fixed on me with hard stares. Sasuke looked at me with confusion before glancing down at his bandaged hand. When he looked up his eyes gave away less of the confusion that he still felt as though he wasn't as lost as to the origin's of my strange behavior.

…Sasuke's POV…

Yoru was indeed acting strange around us as though she was feeling left out of whatever secrets we knew about her. What surprised me the most was her odd behavior only moments ago, when she'd shot back a temper-filled retort about Niiro. She never snapped or went off on anyone, especially not me. This was yet another of the undiscovered sides of the vampire heiress. Then I glanced down at my hand, wrapped in clean white bandages and remembered her reaction to seeing my blood.

Of course! How could I be so stupid? She's like this because she hasn't had any blood since her fight with Itachi and the first time she wounded my hand, I explained to myself my eyes wide with both fear and alarm. When I noticed everyone turn their gaze to me I forced myself to relax. I motioned for Niiro to come closer and I whispered into his ear, "I think she's acting weird because she hasn't had any blood lately."

Once he heard what I'd said, he nodded wisely and then looked back at Yoru, who was watching us and trying to listen to what we were saying. Looking back at me, he said in a low voice that only I could hear, "You could give her some of your blood. She'll take blood from you and it appears that yours satisfies her for a while."

"Hey, what are you guys whispering about?" Yoru asked, her voice sharp like a dagger. Gaara flinched at the sharpness of the small girl's voice. Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata were staring at her with quizzical looks. Finally, I stood up straight to face Yoru, wondering what to do next. I was afraid of going near her for the threat of her snapping again but it seemed that she was feeling extremely insecure right now with everybody staring at her in confusion so I was forced to go to her.

I walked over to her and looked her in the eyes. Now I was wondering how to explain to her that she needed to drink someone's blood before she passed out, but before I could say anything her eyes twirled around sleepily and her legs gave away and she feel into a slumber. Well at least I don't have to explain the whole thing, I thought as I caught her before she hit the ground.

I carried her back to the abandoned cabin where we were staying currently and everyone else followed me as I took her inside and laid her on the old battered couch where she'd slept the night before. Sakura walked over to her but I stopped her by blocking her path with my arm. She had a confused look on her face so I explained, "Sakura, she passed out because she's been avoiding her cravings for blood. If you try to help her she may bite you and turn you into a vampire and I don't think either of you wants that."

Sakura gulped but shot her unconscious friend a worried glance. "What are you going to do to help her?" she asked me.

"Give her blood," I answered simply pulling out a knife. I looked behind me and Hinata was staring at the knife warily and I remembered that seeing blood made her faint so I said, "Naruto, you take Hinata outside please." Naruto nodded and escorted Hinata outside while I took off the bandages on my right hand.

I knelt down beside my unconscious girlfriend and gritted my teeth while I made a shallow cut in my wrist. As the blood began to swell up from the wound, I tilted Yoru's head back and opened her mouth just enough to let the blood drip into her mouth. At first it only dripped from my wrist but after a few seconds there was a stream of blood running from my wrist.

Once I was satisfied that she'd had enough, I motioned to Sakura to come closer and she did so. I held out my hand and she started to heal it and before long the cut was sealed and the blood disappeared. Then she took my bandages and rewrapped my hand. I nodded my thanks to her and then turned to look at Yoru again. She was still asleep but at least we'd gotten some fresh blood into her system. I stood up and then went to sit on the couch beside her.

Sakura sat down in one of the wooden chairs and watched Yoru very carefully. Niiro stood looking at the heiress with a genuine look of worry on his face. Gaara simply stood with an emotionless face and arms crossed as he watched Yoru to see when she would wake up. Naruto and Hinata came back into the room after Naruto checked to see that there was no more blood being spilled that might make Hinata faint.

After about ten minutes of waiting, Yoru's eyes fluttered open like a butterfly flapping its wings and her baby blue orbs looked up at me with an unreadable expression. Then she swiped her tongue around the inside of her mouth and looked at my hand which was now bandaged all the way to my wrist. "Sasuke…" she started before looking around to see everyone looking at her again. She sat up and looked at everyone with a confused look on her face.

"Why do you people keep staring at me?" she asked in her normal tone of voice and Niiro nodded his head toward me while Sakura smiled widely at her friend's returned disposition.

"We're happy that you're awake again. You had me worried for a second when you passed out Yoru," Sakura explained before Yoru could get frustrated with the silence treatment again. I saw her roll her eyes and laugh under her breath and I smirked. It was good to have the normal Yoru back. Suddenly she turned her gaze around to look at me and I saw a strange expression filled with something like love or desire and I wondered what she was trying to say.

"My lady, if you will allow me, I wish to help train you and make you stronger," Niiro said making Yoru turn around to look at him. She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of defeat before replying, "I can tell you're not taking no for an answer so yes. But on one condition, don't treat me like a weakling."

End: Well I'm just going to end it here for now because I really need to put up another chapter because my mom has dominated the computer causing me to neglect my stories.