A/N: Gah! I'm still in the land of the living, folks – though with a nice 'lil sinusitis and medication. (winces) At least the flue's finally subsiding. And, what's best, I'm back with a new chappy. (grins)

BUT, before letting you get to the actual business… DANG – goodness, you guys really want this to continue, huh? (gawks with astonishment) All those reviews… Thank you, from the bottom of my heart! (huggles) You've really cheered me up, ya know? (grins radiantly) Responses to anonymous reviews can be found from underneath the chappy, un.

Oukey, because I don't have the heart to keep stalling any longer… Let's roll! (claps hands together with excitement) I REALLY hope you'll have a great ride.

Oh, and btw! To avoid confusion, there's a list of species and gender of every character at the end of the chapter. So, if you're wondering, just take a peak, un. (grins)


/ Naruto had always been curios by his nature – far too much so for his own good. One day when he was very young it almost cost him his life.

Despite all other commands, laws and rules, he was wandering around the city when his eyes suddenly spotted something that caught his interest. Two boys at around his age, playing with what'd he'd been introduced as football.

One of the boys lifted his gaze and blinked at him. " Huh?"

He grinned, completely oblivious to the fact that he should've been careful. " That looks like fun. Can I play, too?" He'd never been truly accepted around his pack – everyone muttered about 'half breed' and 'nuisance' behind his back. Maybe these humans would be a different story.

The other boy looked at him with childlike curiosity. " You're not human, are you?"

He nodded his confirmation, feeling proud instead of wary. " I'm a werewolf. My name is Naruto."

The first boy had already opened his mouth and taken a step closer, when a man's roar stopped him. " Do not approach that thing! You don't even know what it could do to you!"

He swallowed thickly, watching how two large men – the boys' fathers, no doubt – approached with expressions that chilled him.

" Get the hell away from here!" the second man yelled, casting a stone.

He was forced to start running when even more stones flew. The men didn't stop attacking and cursing until he was out of sight, stumbling into a stinking alleyway with heartbreaking whimpers.

It was the first time he realized just how deep the hatred of people went. And it was the first time he cried because of what he was. /


/ For all her life Sasuke had considered Shizune her mother – after all, the woman was the only parent she could remember, regardless to the difference of their species.

That night, when she'd still been young and childish, her eyes were already drooping while she rested in Shizune's lap, cuddled safely to the woman's chest. " One more story", she murmured a demand while the raven put away a book.

Shizune gave a small laughter. " Sasuke, you're stalling." The woman stroked her hair. " It's already way past your bedtime, and even Itachi's already in his bed."
She bit her lip and looked pleadingly into the woman's eyes. " Please?"

The woman sighed and shook her head with a smile. " What am I going to do with you?" The raven then mused. " Now, let me see… Ah!" She snuggled even closer as the story started. " Let me tell you a tale about the great bringer of peace…" /


CHAPTER 3: The Beginning Of A Storm


Sasuke gasped while her eyes flew open, feeling dizzy and disordered. It took several moments before she realized what'd just happened.

A dream, she told herself. Just a stupid dream.

" Sasuke." Gaara's voice sounded surprisingly worried, and the same could be red from his face. " Are you alright? I've been trying to wake you for a full minute."

She blinked once, then nodded sharply, her senses returning. " I am. Just… had a strange dream, that's all." She didn't feel like adding that she hadn't felt 'alright' for two days, since she'd saved Naruto. She didn't even want to start guessing the cause. She then refocused on her friend, and found a frown creeping on when discovering that the male was leaving. " Where the heck are you going?"

The redhead's eyes flashed when meeting hers. " I can't just let those bastards get Kimimaro and our baby, Sasuke. There's something I need to do."

She felt the need to snarl, to do anything to keep the other from leaving, but knew that there was no way to turn such a stubborn head. She sighed heavily. " Don't do anything stupid, got that?"

Gaara nodded stiffly. " I won't. Just rest – it looks like you need it." With those words he left.

As soon as the redhead was gone she dared to give in to her urges and lean more heavily against a pillow. She sighed deeply, rubbing her face with one hand and feeling a headache kicking in.

She needed fresh air, desperately.

" Feeling sick again?" Suigetsu's voice managed to surprise her – she had no idea when he'd showed up. He was looking at her with a barely visible frown. " Maybe you should tell Orochimaru about that. You look like a mess."

She growled from the back of her throat, rolling her eyes. She then got up, coming to a decision that she'd have to move before she'd find herself unable to. " Could you cover me tonight? I'm going for a walk."

The male shrugged. " It's not like I'd have anything better to do."

Giving a small nod as her soul sign of thank you, she left the building through a window.

Usually the first minutes outside were enough to clear her head. That night, however, something was different.

She frowned, stopping nearby the edge of a rooftop, and listened to herself.

Yes, she'd felt like this once before, when…

Her eyes widened a fraction as realization dawned. Just then her head started to spin, and she swayed a step forth.

Oh… shit…

She tried to move, do something to stop what was inevitably happening, but she was powerless when her body decided to fail her.

Her eyes slipped closed, and right before all lights went out she felt herself falling, falling…


Naruto also had some rather bizarre dreams before his blue eyes flew open to meet the floor of the room Kiba and he shared. He blinked twice.

What…?!

" Geez!" That sounded awfully lot like Kiba's voice. " I was just washing up and heard a thud." By then he'd managed to struggle into a sitting position, and discovered that his friend seemed as amused as worried. " 'You okay?"

He nodded and scratched the back of his head, feeling utterly embarrassed. " Yeah, I guess."

Kiba looked at him for three seconds before speaking out. " Go and find her, will you?"

He blinked at his friend. Had the brunette lost his mind or something? " What?" he finally managed, with even more blinks.

Kiba groaned. " Go. Because I'll end up harming you if I have to look at that sick, rammy look for another day." The other grinned a bit. " I'll cover up for you, don't worry."

He felt like smiling. " You're a great friend sometimes, Doggy."

Kiba rolled his eyes. " I know that already. Just leave, before I change my mind. And be careful."

Flashing a grin – that of relief, he realized with wonder – he disappeared through the room's window and started to run.

He didn't have the slightest clue what led him, but eventually he braked in a tiny, extremely shady alleyway that brought him a lot of bad memories. It took him a moment to understand exactly what he was looking at, and when he did a gasp erupted. " Holy hell…!"

Lay on the street before him, so unmoving that it scared him for some reason, was none other than the vampire who'd saved him only days ago. It didn't take a genius to understand that she wasn't doing too well.

For the longest time he was sure his feet would lead him away, that he'd be able to turn his back on the desolate sight and let nature take care of its course – after all, regardless to one insensible action, this vampire was his enemy. But in the end he approached, patted her cheek rather clumsily with his hand. " H – Hey, wake up." There was no reaction. He tried again with more force. " Open your eyes, will you?" Still nothing, and very slowly he started to realize just how cold the female was. Too cold. A hiss escaped while he looked upwards subconsciously – figuring that was where the raven had come from – and realized that even for a vampire the fall could've been dangerous. " Fuck…" Fortunately this individual had a lot of luck – hopefully would have in future as well.

In a flash it became apparent that he'd went well past the point of running away and coming up with excuses.

All his reason screaming against it, he gathered the female gently into his arms, surprised by how natural and easy it felt. Had he not known better, he would've thought she snuggled closer.

There was only one place he could imagine taking this injured vampire into, and he wasn't about to waste another second.

He disappeared faster than a breath, the vampire held securely to his chest.


The night was unusually dark while Gaara knocked on an almost crumbled door, so harshly that he was surprised it didn't crumble. Sounds of irritation were his first response. " Hold your horses, damn it!" In seconds Temari opened, her slightly long grown blonde hair messy and the one eye she had left filling with incredulity. " Now look what the cat brought it…"

He growled. " Are you letting me in or not?"

She scoffed. " Now aren't we cheery today?" She, however, moved, her expression turning somewhat grumpy. " Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to like this?"

While she closed the door his careful ears detected the sound of someone escaping through a window. He cast a dry look her way. " Another nighttime visitor?"

She folded her arms. " I'm a big girl now, Gaara. You're my brother, not my guardian, so back off." She then seated herself quite comfortably to a couch that whined as though it'd been taking its last breath. " So… What's up?"

" Kimimaro was taken", he spat out as though it'd been the deadliest poison, shuddering at how those words tasted when rolling by his tongue. " I need your… resources."

Temari's eyebrow bounced high up, and surprise she didn't bother hiding filled her eye. " Are you freaking serious? Gaara…!"

" Just get it. Please." The last words tasted almost as horrible as the sentence not long ago, felt wrong.

Seeing his carefully restraint despair, Temari apparently understood that she had no other choice. Sighing barely audibly she got up, then walked into a tiny, carefully hidden room even he wasn't allowed to enter. When she came back she had a bottle of brownish liquid with her, along with an alarming expression. " As your sister I'm giving you this one last warning. Once you take this, the repercussions are irreversible. There's no antidote for this. Are you really, fully sure she's worth going this far?"

He didn't even have to think. " Yes." He'd snatched the bottle from his sister before she could blink. " If that's where the situation goes, she's worth this and hell a lot more." With that he turned around and started to march away.

On his way out he could faintly hear Temari's words. " I really hope you know what you're doing, because I don't want to lose another brother. Be careful, you dumbass."

He wasn't sure if he was closer to wincing or grinning when closing the door soundlessly as his response.


Naruto had no idea how long he ran – with the terrifyingly cold raven held rather tightly against him – when his knees finally gave way and buckled, sending him to a filthy street mere steps from his destination.

He gasped and winced, then took a frantic look at the female in his arms. Had she grown paler during the past minutes, or was it just his imagination? He wished he would've known. What alarmed him the most were her lips, which seemed slightly bluish already. She'd also started to shiver at some point.

He didn't have a second to waste, for several reasons. During the desperate run he'd just taken he'd felt eyes on him with every step he took. He wondered if there'd be an attack to top this horrible day, to enthrone this potentially disastrous decision he still couldn't understand.

She saved you, remember?, he then reminded himself, and felt a uncomfortable stab of guilt. This is the least you could do.

Just then a door was opened somewhere behind him, and steps started to approach. His body reacted in a matter of seconds.

His nerves were torn to shreds. He had no control over the metamorphose.

His teeth and nails flashed in moonlight while appearing.

-

Sakura frowned when stepping out of her hut-sized house, not seeing anything out of normal at first. Then, with her eyes getting accustomed to the darkness, she finally noticed.

A gasp fled her. " Oh my…!"

Right before her – growling loudly – was what she immediately recognized as a werewolf. A rather gorgeous one at that; despite the situation she found herself admiring the beast's almost black fur that had some traces of gold in the moonlight, as well as the eyes that shone silver and blue fire.

She didn't know what gave her such courage, but she found herself kneeling, figuring that it'd be best not to distress the wolf any further. " It's… alright. Calm down."

Very slowly the beast started to turn into a human, as though finally recognizing her, and she blinked thrice when understanding. " N – Naruto…?" Gosh, it'd been so long from when she'd last seen him – apparently long enough to make her forget the one time she'd seen him in that wolf form before.

Her thoughts became directed back to present by the troubled look in Naruto's blue eyes. " Please…" The voice was rather rough with the change still partially in progress. " Help her."

It wasn't until then she noticed what was behind the blonde's back, what he'd been trying to protect. It was an unconscious, alarmingly pale girl with black hair – a vampire, she realized immediately. She cussed under her breath when seeing the obvious signs despite the dim lightning.

Silver…

" Can you carry her?" she inquired without thinking too much.

Naruto nodded, appearing confused. " Yeah, of course."

She motioned him to follow. " Then bring her in, and hurry. It's best we don't waste time."

-

To Naruto it seemed to take forever before Sakura was finally done with examining the vampire. Once she withdrew from the raven he just couldn't hold himself back. " Well?"

" It looks like she was shot by a silver bullet – it scratched her arm, and a tiny piece smashed to pieces inside her, spreading to her bloodstream." The pinkette sighed a little. " But the good news is, that we can help her."

Something that felt like hope swelled inside him. " So…" He swallowed with difficulty, not knowing what to think and feel. Something squirmed uncomfortably in his stomach. " Is she… going to be okay? You can fix the damage, right?"

Sakura smiled faintly. " Sure. The situation isn't as bad as it looks, but she'll be pretty weak for a while." She then got up and started to leave, as though giving them some privacy. " I'm going to get some equipment, and give a word to my mentor. Call out for me if anything happens, alright?"

He nodded, this all still going way over his head. " 'K."

As soon as the pinkette had left, all his attention was on the vampire who's name he still didn't know. He couldn't keep his eyes from wandering.

At that moment, when lay there so helplessly, she didn't look anything like he'd always expected a vampire to look like. She was very still and pale, almost enough so to make her look fragile. She seemed… so human without those fangs and red eyes. It made him want to touch her, just a little bit to try it.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair, and kept his eyes on the vampire.

If he wanted to get any answers, it looked like he'd have to wait.

And there was nothing he hated more than waiting.


Rather early in the next morning – with sun barely having started its way up – Neji was somewhat surprised to find that instead of his daughter, his steps led him to a special made laboratory where the captured female vampire was being held. The door opened easily enough for him – after all, he was in a high position and had an access to pretty much everywhere. What was much harder, however, was entering.

Because no matter how many times he'd done this, he found himself becoming taken aback at the sight of the defeated, halfway hunched vampire, who seemed to be fighting for consciousness and losing. Despite himself he felt somewhat repulsed when seeing the wounds and clearly visible needle marks on the vampire. Apparently Danzo had decided to be particularly merciless now that he had a real, living vampire in his hands, and a gravid one at that.

Just then the vampire seemed to sense him, for her head rose and green eyes collided with his, filled with fire and question.

What the hell do you want now?, the gaze asked, spat out.

Neji mused that he shouldn't have been affected, but he couldn't chase away the boiling in his veins.

" Morning", he greeted in a stiff, formal tone that was devoid of all emotion.

The vampire didn't speak or look at him, instead green eyes narrowed.

It wasn't until then he realized that someone had forgotten to move curtains to cover the room's rather huge window – intentionally or not, can only be guessed. It was a matter of minutes before the light would be too much for the vampire. Unable to stop himself he walked up to the window and made sure no sunlight made its way inside. He felt a small shudder inside – that of disgust or perhaps confusion.

They needed her, he explained to himself – that's why he was doing this. He couldn't let her die too soon.

" Thank you." He was almost startled by that stunningly soft voice – it was the first time the vampire spoke.

His eyes narrowed, and he refused to turn them towards the being although it was harder than he'd expected. " Hn." He was about to walk right out, but for some reason his feet stopped him several steps from the doorway, made him turn towards the vampire once more. It was around then he discovered she was shivering. " Are you cold?"

The white haired took her time before responding. " A little", she confessed in the end, not looking towards him. It was natural that she was as troubled by this confession as he.

He nodded slowly, then – his feet taking the lead once more – walked up to a small storage room nearby where he knew blankets to be.

The vampire's eyes were filled with surprise when he covered her with a worn blanket – harshly, but still.

This is only to make sure she stays healthy enough, he told himself, and made sure his eyes sent the same message.

It was harder than he'd expected to turn around without looking back, but he did so anyhow – because that was what he needed to do, he reasoned.

He could feel a pair of confused eyes on him as he went.


Naruto couldn't go to see the vampire the next day due to his duties, and for some reason that bothered him far more than it should've. Even Kiba commented that he was acting even more brashly than usually.

That night he finally made it to Sakura's safe house – only to discover that the raven was already sitting up, her eyes open and sharp.

He blinked several times before managing an embarrassingly unintelligent comment. " You're… awake."

The vampire's eyes flashed towards him for a second. The eyes then turned away once more while she moved a little and glanced around, most likely trying to discover what'd happened and where she was. " How very sharp of you."

He folded his arms and emitted a huff. " Hey! Watch how you talk to a guy who just saved your life and dragged you here to Sakura-chan."

Now that seemed to surprise the raven. She looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. " Why would you do that? We're enemies."

He shrugged. " You saved my ass back then, remember? And got hurt because of it. I felt like I should pay back."

Her eyes softened – barely traceably, but his sharp gaze spotted it anyhow. She took a roll of bandage forgotten to the nearby table, starting to change the one around her arm that was badly stained. " Dobe." Apparently that was the best 'thank you' she could muster.

He flashed his teeth. " Ass."

Surprisingly comfortable, thoughtful silence lingered while they both fought to come to grips with the absurd situation.

In the end he just had to speak. " Why did you help me?" It was something that'd been burning his tongue ever since those strange events. He went on although the vampire didn't even look at him. " You… You could've just let me die – I bet it would've been better for you. So why?"

She was silent for quite a while, as though musing, focusing on re-bandaging her arm. " Do you want an honest answer?" She went on after a beat, her work fully done. " I have absolutely no idea." With that she got up although her legs seemed slightly weakened, and started to head towards the room's only, no longer covered window. She opened it rather skillfully. " That… Sakura… Tell her thanks, will you?"

" You still haven't told me your name", he reminded all of a sudden, his eyes firmly on the vampire. " After all this, don't you think it's time for a proper introduction?"

She emitted a sound of exasperation, then spoke through her teeth. " Sasuke." She mused for a second. " Sasuke Uchiha." He wondered why the family name sounded so familiar. And with that the vampire was gone.

He blinked while staring at the open window, wondering why he shivered the way he did just then, what caused his heart to beat so fast.

He didn't get out of his stupor until Sakura's voice made him jump. " Naruto?" There was a frown upon the pinkette's face that disappeared after a moment. " So she left. Good thing I left those bandages for her."

He frowned, feeling worried although he couldn't explain why. " Is she going to be okay?"

Sakura gave him a look he couldn't recognize, starting to clean up after Sasuke. " Yeah, it looks like the silver is completely out of her system." The girl then remembered something. " So, did you find out her name?"

He couldn't keep himself from grinning. " I did, actually. She's Sasuke Uchiha."

The way Sakura's face blanched gave him a loud warning. " Did you… say Uchiha?"

" Yeah. Why?"

Sakura composed herself for a long moment. When she finally smiled a bit, it didn't come out effortlessly. " I just… haven't heard that name in a long time, that's all."

His tongue burned with questions, but fate worked against him. For just then a younger girl with orange hair barged into the room, eyes wide.

Sakura frowned. " What's wrong, Moegi?"

" The… The other patient… is waking up."

Sakura was moving in an instant. She cast a hurried look towards him while going. " We'll go on from here later. You should leave, before you get into a trouble." And so she was gone.

He stood there for the longest time, realizing that he'd been left with tons more questions than he'd had when arriving.


Everything was so very fuzzy. He couldn't even open his eyes.

" Hey, can you hear me?"

A frown appeared.

So loud… Too loud…

" You're safe now, okay? Just open your eyes."

Safe…?

No, no… Couldn't be…

He struggled, fought so very hard, but couldn't get more than a breath out. " … uke…"

" Relax – we'll take a good care of you. Just stay awake for me, okay?"

He tried, that much could be said to his defense. But in the end his eyelids were too heavy, and darkness won.

-

Sakura sighed heavily while the mysterious boy fell unconscious once more.

So there'd still be no answers.

Swallowing down disappointment she couldn't really explain, she rechecked his bandages, then tucked him in and left him to rest.

As soon as she got out of the room there was a knock on the house's front door. She walked up to open with a scowl, expecting trouble.

Her frown and relaxing shoulders sent mixed signals when she found Sai. " What's going on?"

The boy's expression didn't change, but something that chilled her flashed by his eyes. " Sakura, Danzo's on to something."

Her eyes narrowed, although a logical part inside her tried to message that she had no reason to doubt the boy's loyalty. " If you have soldiers along, you're not taking a step forth, understood? This building is neutral ground."

Something that might've been called disappointment could be seen in Sai's eyes, although only just a moment. " I'd never betray you – you know that."
She nodded, then moved and let him in.

Five minutes later they were sitting in a kitchen, with mugs of tea that smelled absolutely horrible. Although they'd done this what felt like million times they sat in silence for several minutes, as though not knowing how to be around each other anymore.

" Danzo asked me a lot of questions today", Sai began eventually, not meeting her gaze. " Among other things he wanted to know why my fiancée visits the wasteland so often – he's been following my movements with a tracker." He took a sip, breathed deeply into the drink. " He wanted me to tell you not to interfere."

She squeezed her own mug so tightly that it burned her fingers. " I don't think that's his decision to make", she hissed.

This aroused the frailest and tiniest of smiles from Sai, although it disappeared in a flash. " I told him you'd react to the message that way." (1)

There was another silence, until she finally managed to gather her voice. " So… Do you agree with him?" Her voice was a little tight, but otherwise relatively normal.

Sai sighed rather heavily, leaning back in his chair. " Does it matter?"

Not knowing how else to react, she got up and started to gather the dishes she'd just set the table with. " Doesn't your midnight briefing start soon?"

" Sakura." Sai's dark eyes seemed so different from usual that it confused her. " I know you don't approve what I do, but you need to trust me in this one. You need to let me do my duty."

A somewhat sardonic, tiny smile rose to her face. She sighed heavily with understanding. " Duty always first, right?" That's how it'd been with them from the beginning, and that's how it always seemed to be.

Sai seemed to give a deep sigh as well. " We just need to hang on a little bit longer. This war isn't going to last forever."

It's been going on for the past forty years!, she wanted to scream. What the hell makes you think it'd just stop anytime soon?! Instead, however, she offered a tiny, obedient nod, feeling sick to her stomach for both of them. " I know." She brushed his hand swiftly while taking his tea mug, shivering at how cold his skin was. " You'll drop by again later, right?"

The boy nodded, getting up. " Of course." He paused and stopped for a moment – as though contemplating – but then kept going anyhow, not glancing over his shoulder. " I'll see you later."

She nodded once more at his distancing back.

A couple of seconds after he'd disappeared she glanced towards the window nearby. Her green eyes darkened a little bit while she watched Sai disappear with a fellow soldier she knew as Shikamaru.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, swallowing against rising nausea.

Gosh, how she hated this…

She opened her eyes again, waking up into alertness, when there was a loud moan from the room in which the mysterious boy rested. In a moment she managed to move.

At least she had duties to take care of. Maybe that'd be enough to keep her sane for now.


Naruto's legs trembled a little for some reason when he sneaked in through the window of Kiba and his room.

The brunette gave him a questioning look. " Well?"

He wasn't sure which expression appeared to his face. " She… was fine. And I finally got her name." He made a grumpy sound, rubbing his face. " But right now she's giving me a huge headache." He then forced his mind to other matters. " No one noticed I was away, right?"

" Nope." The boy shuddered. " You owe me a serious favor for making me suck up on Koharuy, though."

He winced. " 'Sorry."

Kiba seemed thoughtful while watching him perform his usual daily activities, and waited for a moment before speaking out. " Naruto… Are you sure you want to do this?"

He laughed dryly, his head spinning a little. " No." He flopped to his bed and sighed heavily, staring at the ceiling. " I'm… not sure about anything anymore."

Or well, if he dared to be honest with himself, there was one thing.

He needed to see Sasuke again, once more, to find out exactly what she was about. Because otherwise there'd be nothing left of his sanity.


When entering the vampires' base that day, Sasuke was relieved to find that although she still felt dizzy and weak, she was able to appear at least relatively normal. Once again she found almost all vampires gathered for a meeting.

Gaara frowned when seeing her, although she also spotted some relief in the boy's eyes. " Where the hell were you?" the boy all but hissed. " Orochimaru's on a war path." She understood his fret. It wasn't rare that she disappeared, but for this long period of time…

She groaned a little. " I… ran into some unexpected problems", was all she gave at the moment.

Gaara's mouth opened, but just then Orochimaru appeared. The man's eyes immediately found her. " Sasuke." The purring voice was that of a snake which lay in wait, eyes on its prey. " Is there something we should know about your absence?"

Her eyes flashed. " No." Her tone was such that it became clear she wouldn't give anything else.

Orochimaru nodded, the man's expression telling her that there'd be more questions later. " Very well, then." Apparently losing interest in her for a moment, the man looked away, towards the crowd. " Now… I'm sure you'd all like to know why we're here. The reason is simple – our goal is far closer than ever before." That immediately aroused murmurs. " The preparations are almost complete. With some minor sacrifices from our own, we'll be able to defeat – wipe out – both of our enemies." The man's eyes gleamed. " In a matter of weeks those weaklings will be nothing more than a distant memory. We'll demolish our enemies with the same merciless brutality they've shown us for decades. Our time has finally arrived."

While most of the others roared with excitement she and Gaara exchanged solemn looks, knowing with far too much certainty.

There was a hell incoming.


About an hour later Neji didn't know what to feel while standing beside Danzo outside the humans' base building, waiting while icy wind slashed his skin. Just one look towards the older man revealed that he was far from pleased.

" He's late – again", the man grumbled.

He looked away once more, finding it safest to not say a word.

Just then his eyes spotted movement in what seemed like never ending darkness. Only a breath later a boy at his age with brown hair and dark eyes stepped into view, seeming irritated. It took quite a bit of him to keep emotions in the background.

A vampire…!

Danzo spoke as soon as the vampire was within earshot. " Zaku, you better have something very valuable after making me wait this long."

The brunette nodded, then fished out a fat envelope, handing it over to the man as though a piece of trash. " There. An ally's suggestion: start preparing yourself fast, because they're ready and they mean business." The vampire folded his arms. " So, where's my reward?"

Neji barely realized what was happening before Danzo had already taken a weapon – that filled with fresh made silver bullets – and fired. He shivered a little while watching the vampire fall down dead, and tried to convince himself the reaction was caused by cold.

Danzo wrinkled his nose, turned around and left. " Take care of the filth. I have work to do, especially with that new type of silver almost fully developed."

He stood frozen for several seconds, then shook his head and growled a little, furious with himself, and started to move towards the corpse.

He'd have to get a better hold of his emotions soon. Because there seemed to be a storm of some sort coming, and the most unsteady leaves were destined to fall away first.


TBC, or…?


1) Yes, this means exactly what you think. Sakura is the said fiancée. Apparently engagement isn't what it used to be in this futuristic world…


A/N: And the heat is on between our lovely duo. (grins) Unfortunately, however, it looks like things are about to get messy… (shudders)

Heh, I've got another piece of a project to wrap together and it's getting late, so I've gotta go. PLEASE do leave review before you follow! Awww, I know you want to… (gives irresistible eyes)

'Til next time! 'Hope I'll c ya all then. (grins)

Be good!


manami-himechan: Awesome, and original? YAY! (jumps up and down)

Mega sized thank yous for the review! 'Hope I'll be seeing you around.


The species and genders of characters (male/female):

Werewolves: Naruto (m), Kiba (m), Koharu Utatane (f)

Vampires: Sasuke (f), Gaara (m), Kimimaro (f), Orochimaru (m), Kabuto (m), Suigetsu (m), (Zaku (m))

Humans: Neji (m), Sakura (f), Sai (m), Shikamaru (m), Shino (m), Danzo (m)

Unconfirmed: "the stranger" (m), Temari (f), Hidan (m), Kakuzu (m)