Disclaimer: I bought them on e-bay XD I don't think K. Masashi knows it was me he sold them to, though... he might come for them... :hides them all:

Twenty-Nine Years Previous.

"Stay away from us!" a twenty-three year old man hollered, making sure to keep his most precious person to him safe behind him. He wasn't going to lose her to these—these beasts.

"You're pretty brave for a human." a vampire said, eying the boy with interest. "You know what I am, yet you're willing to yell at me instead of trying to get away."

"I have no need to run away." Neji Hyuuga narrowed his eyes. "Stay away from my cousin!"

"Ah, so it's just her you want to protect." The vampire smirked.

Hinata Hyuuga was staring over Neji's shoulder, her eyes wide and fearful. She didn't want Neji to get hurt, but she was terrified of the man in front of her. He'd seemed nice enough at first, offering them a ride home when their car had broken down. Neji had been wary, but he'd accepted nevertheless. That had been two hours ago.

And now, ever since then, the person they'd identified as a vampire was pacing outside their house, not able to enter due to the lack of invitation, proving it wasn't an old vampire. It didn't make Neji feel any better, though. He was just thankful the vampire hadn't tried anything in the car.

"I like you." The vampire grinned. "The two of you have an aura that radiates killing intent. Perfect for being a vampire."

"No thank you." Neji growled.

"Aw, come on. I'll make it worth your while." The vampire grinned.

"Why are you so fucking persistent?" Neji growled.

The vampire sighed, scratching his head. "Because this isn't a random decision I've made." he informed. "The leader of my group decided he wanted you—"

"I don't swing that way." Neji growled immediately.

"Nor does he." The vampire grinned.

"Who are you?" Hinata whispered, still hidden behind her cousin.

"My name is Zetsu." He grinned. "And you are?"

"None of your concern!" Neji yelled. "Leave us be!"

Zetsu sighed, rubbing his temples. He reached into his jacket pocket, holding something in his hand that neither Hyuuga could see. "You don't understand the leader." Zetsu sighed. "He's one of those people. You know, the ones who say 'come back with it or don't come back at all'?"

Neji growled. He was annoyed his front door opened outward because the damn beast had ripped it off its hinges. Neji would leave the entrance, but he was scared to turn his back on Zetsu.

"Guess you're out of luck today." Neji hissed.

"Oh, I don't think so." Zetsu pulled his hand out of his pocket and before Neji even knew what happened, his ears were ringing and he was falling over.

"Neji!" Hinata shrieked, trying to cushion his fall after the man had been shot.

His eyes glazed over as he lay in Hinata's arms, staring at his blood covered hands. He still wasn't sure what had happened, it had all been so fast. All he knew was that he was in a lot of pain, and he was going to lose consciousness any second. His eyes slipped shut and he went limp.

"Neji? Neji!" Hinata was screaming in his face, tears streaming down her face.

Ever since her father had disowned her—cast her aside like garbage—the only person who'd taken her in and stood up for her was Neji. He'd always been there for her, and had always treated her with love and respect. He was the most important person in the world to her. He couldn't die!

"Neji!"

"Do you want to save him?" Hinata looked up, tears wetting her cheeks. She'd forgotten Zetsu was even there, but he was. The vampire was standing at the door, inspecting his gun as if there were something wrong with it.

"Well? Do you?"

"I-is there a way to save him?" Hinata whispered.

"Of course." Zetsu smirked as he replaced his gu. "Let me in, and I'll turn him into a vampire."

Hinata stared at Zetsu before looking back at Neji. She didn't think he'd want that. She didn't believe that Neji would want to be saved by turning into a vampire, but—she couldn't lose him.

From what she knew about vampires, they were evil the second they turned. Neji would kill her without hesitation, completely forgetting he'd never wanted to be a vampire in the first place.

But Hinata couldn't lose him. He was too important to her. She would rather die with him than live without him.

"I'll invite you in under one condition." she whispered, knowing not to trust the word of a vampire, but having no choice.

"And what's that?"

"You turn me, first." She looked Zetsu in the eyes, determination set on her face. (1)

Zetsu grinned. "Deal."

Nine Years Later.

Neji covered his ears angrily with his hands before screaming in rage and putting his fist through the wall.

"Well, I'm sure that helped." Hinata rolled her eyes.

She was sitting on the bed, leaning back on her elbows with her legs crossed. She wore her usual attire of black leather boots, fishnet stockings, a short, black leather skirt and a leather halter top. Neji was pacing the length of the large bedroom, clad in jeans and a button-down shirt. His natural beauty made it easier for him to lure prey than it did Hinata.

"That thing has been crying non-stop for the past hour!" he screamed angrily, storming towards the door. "I'm going to wring its scrawny little neck!"

His hand fell onto the doorknob and a knife embedded itself in the wood right beside his hand. He turned to Hinata, who didn't look like she'd moved at all, but Neji knew she had.

"Killing the little brat is going to piss off Leader, and personally, I like him better when he's nice."

"Can I at least kill the bitch that made it, then?" Neji growled. "I've been wanting to kill her since she started boning Leader. That one's such a fucking screamer in bed." Neji grinned. "Wonder how loud she'll be when we kill her."

"She's already dead." Hinata sighed. "You don't pay attention, cousin. Asuma brought her back earlier. She bled to death."

"Well, damn." Neji frowned, annoyed.

Both of their heads snapped up as they heard screaming and gunfire. They glanced at each other before both rushing through the door, Hinata grabbing her knife as she passed it. They ran down the abandoned corridor—most of the high-class members were out on missions or feeding—and turned the corner at the end. The baby's crying seemed to intensify and Arashi suddenly flew out of an adjoining room.

"Jiraiya!" the man hollered as he ran down the corridor.

"Leader!" Hinata and Neji caught up to him, the girl grabbing his arm. "You have to leave, it's not safe for you here!"

"My son!" he insisted, red bleeding into his blue eyes. "I need my son!"

"We'll get your son for you." Neji insisted. "But Hinata's right, you need to get somewhere safe."

Arashi cursed before ripping his arm free of Hinata's grasp. "Regroup at the old base. Bring my son, or don't bother showing up."

The Akatsuki leader turned and disappeared through a secret door as Neji and Hinata ran down the corridor and slammed into the baby's room. Neji had to duck immediately to avoid getting a bullet shot through his head. He and Hinata plastered themselves against the wall on either side of the door. Neji peeked in at the scene before pulling his head back out, avoiding another bullet.

"Silver." Hinata whispered. Although silver bullets wouldn't kill them, they were the hardest wounds for vampires to heal.

Neji growled as the shooting stopped. There was silence for a few seconds—even the baby had stopped crying.

"Let us pass." a voice ordered.

"Give us the child and we'll consider it." Neji said, not planning on considering it at all.

"We came for Naruto, we're not giving him up!" a new voice. Younger; angrier.

Neji peeked in and saw a gray-haired boy—no older than sixteen—standing with the baby held in one arm, and a gun trained on the door with the other. Neji could only assume that the white-haired man beside him—based on his age—was the Jiraiya Arashi was yelling about.

Neji stepped into the room, holding one hand out. "Give me the child."

"Take him from me." the sixteen year old hissed.

The vampire narrowed his eyes. "You don't want me to."

Jiraiya's hand suddenly lifted, the man drawing in the air before shouting a word Neji didn't understand. The Akatsuki member went flying backwards into the wall, crying out. Hinata ran into the room to help him, but the boy shot her in the shoulder, the Hyuuga shrieking.

The teenager holding the baby and Jiraiya ran past the two injured vampires, Neji gasping at the pain in his chest. Once it faded, he crawled to Hinata, who was writhing on the floor in agony. He reached her and held her down before digging his fingers into her wound, Hinata clutching his arm and screaming. Neji's fingers fond the bullet and he ripped it out, Hinata's gasping as the man threw the bullet away, the silver having burned the skin on his fingers. Her wound would heal as slowly as a human's.

Neji's head jerked up and his eyes widened at the scent he smelled. Burning. They're burning the house down!

"Shit! Hinata, get up! We have to go!" Neji pulled her to her feet and she clutched the bleeding wound, the two of them rushing towards an exit. They got outside, turning to the house which was now engulfed in flames.

"What are we going to do now?" Hinata whispered, a ghost of her past self. "We failed Leader."

"Yes, we did." he whispered back. "We need to find shelter. We can't go back to Leader, we'll just be killed."

"Agreed." Hinata groaned, clutching her wound. "Cousin, I need to feed."

"We'll find shelter, then I'll get you a meal." Neji replied.

Seventeen Years Later.

The years had been hard for the two former Akatsuki members; always having to hide whenever another member came around, lest they be recognized. They knew Arashi was still furious, and every night the man sent his best to capture the blond that was his son.

Neji and Hinata had attempted to capture him a few times, themselves, if only to bring him to Leader and get back on the man's good side. So far, though, the brat had evaded them. He was resourceful like that. Neji had to admit, the blond was good. He'd almost killed the Hyuuga male on more than one occasion, Neji barely managing to escape with his life. Hinata was usually the reason he made it out alive.

The two of them roamed the city as outcasts, both from human society and the vampire one. They'd found a run-down place to call home, ensuring it was safe for when the sun rose. It was a drastic change to their previous living quarters, but it was all they could afford.

Their lives had remained the same for seventeen years. They would go out. They would feed. They would hunt for the Uzumaki child. That was what their lives had become and they were all right with this.

It was only three weeks after the black-haired boy had joined the blond's team that their luck changed. For the better, or for the worse—nobody would ever really know.

They were both waiting in an alleyway for some poor, unfortunate soul to enter it so they could feed. There was always one idiotic person a night who chose the shortcut route home and ended up as dinner. They counted on it, otherwise, they wouldn't feed. They couldn't just walk out into the streets anymore, not with Akatsuki gunning for them.

That fateful night changed everything for the two ex-Akatsuki members. A woman was walking towards the alley. She was tall, blonde, and had a large chest. She seemed completely calm with her surroundings, not expecting an attack at all. She turned down the alley, and the two vampires pounced. They hadn't gotten within a foot of her before both went flying into opposite walls of the alley, feeling as though an invisible hand was crushing them against the walls.

"My, my, hasty, aren't we?" The woman narrowed her eyes at Neji before turning to do the same to Hinata.

Fuck it all, she's a damn caster! Neji struggled against the invisible hand. He'd only met one other after Jiraiya, and had been lucky to survive that encounter.

"Vampires. I fucking hate vampires." she growled, crossing her arms over her boisterous chest. "My brother was killed by vampires."

Great, we're so dust, Hinata thought with a sigh. Well, their lives were rotten anyway, may as well get it over with.

"Go ahead and kill us, then." Neji snapped. "Get it over with, you hag."

"Hag?" The woman cocked an eyebrow. "Why does everyone call me that? You've talked to the brat, haven't you?" She pointed an accusing finger at Neji, but the vampire just glared. She sighed, looking back and forth between the two of them. "No, I can't kill you. It's not in my nature. Besides, that would be too nice." She glared at them both again. "Maybe I can call Naruto and have him do it."

Neji and Hinata shot looks at one another. This woman knew the Uzumaki child? If they had been able to attack her, they probably would've had a chance to capture him. As it was, they were stuck. They would probably die, too, despite what the woman said.

"I've got it." She grinned. "I've only ever done this once before, but it was successful, and somewhat satisfying." She brought both hands together, forming a seal. The next words out of her mouth sounded strange and garbled to the two vampires, but the second she was finished, they didn't need to understand to know what she had done.

Neji could feel something nudging him in his mind. He could feel another presence entering his brain, and he panicked, because he knew what it was. It was his soul. The thing that separated his desire to kill from what was morally right. The bitch was giving it back to him!

The two vampires screamed and thrashed against the walls, trying to stop the process. It didn't matter what they did, the damage was already done. It would take thirty seconds for their souls to reenter their bodies, and less than two minutes for them to relive everything they'd done since becoming a vampire.

Neji's soul returned to him in full and he started seizing against the wall, his grey eyes rolling to the back of his head as he remembered everything he'd done. Everyone he'd killed. He felt tears in his eyes at each face that flickered in his mind. Each person begging to be let go. Begging not to be killed. He even recalled his own turning, even though he'd been unconscious. His soul brought it to him, and he screamed as he felt the fangs pierce his skin.

Hinata wasn't doing any better on her side of the alley. She was sobbing uncontrollably at all the people that flashed before her eyes. Most of them had blank looks on their faces since she always put them under before drinking from them. Neji preferred to hear the screams.

Once the two had their souls returned and everything was over, the woman released her spell, the two vampires falling to the ground. Neji crawled to Hinata, who was sobbing uncontrollably into her hands. He hugged her tightly, tears streaming down his own cheeks. They had done all those horrible things, and never felt any remorse. They were—monsters.

The woman had begun to walk away, even as Hinata repeated the words "kill me" through her sobs. Neji agreed with her, and looked up at the woman's retreating back.

"Wait." he called out, his voice choked up due to his crying. The woman stopped, and turned. "Please—kill us."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Kill you?" A look of guilt crossed her face as she noticed how distraught they both were—especially Hinata.

"Please. I-I can't live with myself." Neji's lower lip quivered.

The woman stared at them a long while before running one hand through her hair and walking back towards them. She crouched down beside them, staring at the two vampires. She felt really bad, it was obvious from the look on her face.

"No, I won't kill you. I—can help you redeem yourselves, though, if you want."

"How?" Hinata whispered between sobs.

"Well, I have a friend that could use some help."

"Absolutely not!" the man named Kakashi hollered at the woman called Tsunade. "Are you insane?! I know those two! I remember them from all those years ago, and I remember them from two nights ago!"

"I restored their souls!"

"I don't care!" Kakashi insisted. "I'm not letting them stay in this house! Not with Naruto here, no fucking way, Tsunade!"

"Look," Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples, "I know what they are, and I'm familiar with what they've done, but they have souls Kakashi. Giving a vampire a soul is like taming a lion to act in a circus."

"The lion still bites." Kakashi hissed, glancing at Hinata and Neji. The female was still sobbing, curled up in the corner of a large couch. The male just stared at Kakashi, silently hoping the other man would kill him.

"Look, I understand why you're reluctant, but—"

"We're home!" a joyful voice called through the house as the front door slammed.

"Calm down, moron."

"Shut up!" Naruto practically bounced into the living room. "Guess what! We killed eighteen v—" His eyes widened and he reached for the first available weapon as he saw Neji and Hinata. Tsunade jumped in front of them.

"Wait!"

"They're vampires!"

"Wait!" Tsunade screamed.

Naruto shrank back, his hand frozen above his holster. The only person who could scare him more than the leader of the vampires was Tsunade. The blond couldn't move after her outburst, but Kiba and Sasuke both had their guns drawn and their eyes narrowed, Akamaru's ears pinned back as he growled, standing beside his master.

"They have souls." she informed. "I gave them souls, so they won't hurt you."

"Please, do not fear us." Neji said as he stood. Tsunade was trying to save their lives and give them a home, despite what they'd done. The least he could do was back her up. "We will not harm you."

"But—you're vampires." Kiba exclaimed, gun trained on Neji.

"Don't worry, they've both got souls. They're no more dangerous than you or me." Tsunade insisted.

"This may be so, but you see, souls or not, vampires live off blood. Blood is something I happen to have, and right now, it's pumping through my veins much faster than usual."

Neji walked right up to Kiba, Tsunade trying to stop him. He stood right in front of him, leaning forward against the barrel of Kiba's gun. It was aimed right at his heart. Kiba stared at him, stunned.

"Go ahead and pull the trigger. I don't deserve to live after everything I've done."

Naruto appeared beside Kiba, his hand on the barrel of the gun and lowering it. He turned back to Neji before sighing, shaking his head.

"We'll keep them in the basement for now."

"What?!" Sasuke hissed, Kakashi opening his mouth to agree with the raven.

"Shut up." Naruto's voice was dangerously low, cutting off all forms of argument. His fists were clenched in anger as he stared at the floor. "Do any of you know what it's like to be a vampire? To have the Need consume you so completely that you forget who you are? Do you know what it's like to hurt someone and then come back and realize what you've done?" He looked up, his eyes locking with Kakashi's. "Cause I do."

Nobody said anything. Even Hinata had stopped sobbing to stare at Naruto wide-eyed. Everyone was stunned by his words, but all of them knew what he was. They knew what happened to him once a month. It was true. None of the humans there could possibly understand what it was like to lose control like that.

"They can stay in the basement in the rooms we have. There are no windows down there. You'll be kept locked in there during the night, and we'll let you wander around the basement during the day. Once we trust you enough, we'll let you out at night to fight."

"Thank you." Neji said, a small smile on his face. "It means a lot to us that you'd give us a chance after everything we've done."

"Yeah, well, there's something about you." Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he turned and walked towards the stairs. "It kind of reminds me of myself."

All watched him walk away before Kiba turned back to them, glancing at Tsunade. "So—they're harmless?"

"Yes, they're harmless." she assured him.

"Oh." He then grinned and patted his legs with his hands, a stupid smirk on his face. "Who's the good vampire? Who's the good vampire?" Neji's eyebrow twitched. "You are! You are, yes you are, you—"

"Kiba!"

"Sorry."

Neji closed his eyes, his eyebrow still twitching. He had a soul, this was true, but somehow, killing this idiot seemed like a good idea.

(1) And THIS is why Hinata's soul is stained and Kiba's isn't.