Edit: Ch. 7 was having a lot of problems, so I reuploaded it. Sorry if you experienced technical difficulties. Also, I apologize for not replying to your reviews. pparently, they don't exist anymore -cries-
Hey guys! Thanks for the many encouraging and constructive reviews :D Sigh...sadly for me, the world is ending in four days. Because I'm starting school, my updates will be less frequent, BUT! I will do my best to update every weekend. It'll be a bit challenging since I've sold my soul over to IB, but bear with me folks. I have every intention in seeing this fic to the end So thank you all for your invaluable support! I already have another story in the works, but I won't post it until my first two fics are completed. Oh, on another note, I finished reading New Moon, and though it depressedme, I could not put it down. So check it out if you have the time, it's definitely worth a read :D
Disclaimer: Unless I am thrown into some alternate universe where I am male, Japanese, and named Kishimoto, I don't own Naruto.
Chapter Seven: Your qualms
The forest grew thicker and thicker as they drove through. Pretty soon the brush was so thick that the road was just wide enough for the car to pass through. They had already reached the outskirts of Konoha, and there were no signs that he would be stopping any time soon.
Like the forest, Hinata's head was become more and more cluttered with thoughts and questions. Each passing second sparked a new question in her. She looked at Sasuke; who could he possibly know that would be of interest to her? The thoughts inside her head were making her nervous; wringing her hands, she tried to take her mind off of where exactly they were headed. "Sasuke?"
"Hn?"
"Are all vampires...you know...nice, looking?" There was a smug grin on his face as she said this. "N-No, I mean, um, Tenten. I've never seen anyone more beautiful than her. And Naruto-kun is very nice looking too. I can't really see Shino-kun's face, but I'm sure he is nice looking as well. And-"
"Me?" The color rose in her like a thermometer. Hinata turned away, taking a sudden interest in the scenery. Sasuke interpreted her answer with a smirk, but decided that further embarassment would cause her to spontaneously combust. "We have to be appealing to our prey, don't we? Turning into a vampire makes an average person gorgeous, and a beautiful person breath-taking." Hinata nodded; so that explained it. Sasuke was probably drop-dead gorgeous even when he was a human.
This was good; the questions were easing her mind. She racked her brain for more potential questions. One popped into her head, and came out before she could stop it. "Have you ever tasted a human?"
The leather steering wheel squeaked from the added pressure. His eyes darkened, and from what she could tell of his jawline, he was clenching his teeth. It was all too reminiscent of the first day of school. Hinata instantly regretted her question. From his suddenly cold demeanor and silence, she already knew his answer.
It was stupid, but she felt her heart fill with sadness. She knew that he was a vampire, so it shouldn't surprise her if he had a few slip ups in the past.
Perhaps the fact that he was a vampire had yet to kick in. Hinata didn't realize how serious this issue was until now. For the first time, she realized that death was seated conveniently at her left. One wrong move, and she'd be history. The fear tingled at her finger tips, but taking a glimpse at him, she couldn't bring herself to run away.
"I only ate criminals."
"H-Huh?"
His eyes were still staring straight ahead at the road. "I figured that if it was criminals, robbers, murderers, no one would miss them. If I killed that strange man lurking around the outside of a mansion, maybe I wouldn't be too much of a monster."
It sounded inhumane, but Hinata couldn't argue with that logic. In fact, she couldn't blame him. "So, what made you, um, stop?"
"A lot of things."
Her head bumped onto the dashboard as the car came to an abrupt halt. She stared at the large, victorian style house in front of her. It looked lavish and secluded. Looking around, the house was surrounded entirely by trees and...more trees. Hearing a tap on the window, Hinata gasped. Sasuke was standing outside of the car in front of her, wearing a slightly annoyed expression. Fumbling with the seatbelt, she untangled herself and quickly hopped out of the car. Jerking his head towards the house, Hinata took that as an invitation. She had to jog at a brisk pace in order to keep up with his quick, powerful strides.
After walking down a few corridors, Sasuke stopped in front of a large, mahogany door and turned to look at her with apprehensive eyes. She took it as his form of reassurance and, taking a deep breath, turned the handle. Poking her head inside, Hinata jumped a mile back and slammed the door shut. Hinata was taking deep breath, and was red enough to camoflauge with the door. Sasuke gave her a weird stare. He was expecting many different reactions from her, maybe some tears, or just plain shock, but this wasn't it.
Closing her eyes and fanning her face, Hinata's breathing was still uneasy. After the color had faded from her face, she snapped her eyes open and narrowed her eyes at Sasuke. He was taken a back by her sudden hostility. Taking slow, lethal steps towards him, she poked him in the chest, still glaring. "I-Is this your idea of a j-joke?" Her stutter came from her anger; she was positively fuming.
Sasuke's face was no his usual stoic indifference. His eyes were wide open in surprise, and his mouth was slightly hanging open. "Have you lost it?"
Hinata opened her mouth to say some unkind words when Naruto shyly emerged from the door. Sasuke had another shock. "Naruto, what the fuck are you doing in his room?" Taking a good look at the blond, he sweat-dropped. Oh crap. She hates me. She'll hate me for ever.
Wearing only a towel around his waist, it all made sense. Hinata was all the way across the hall, blushing furiously. Sasuke resisted the powerful urge to knock the daylights out of him. "Naruto..."
Scratching the back of his head and splashing droplets of water a very irritated Sasuke, Naruto laughed nervously. "Ah, well, you see Shino's still in the upstairs bathroom, and you know how long he takes in a bathroom AND I WAS REALLY STARTING TO SMELL." The last part came out in a sad wail. "Oh...was the...it was today?"
Twitch twitch. "Yes."
"Should I run?"
"Yes."
"You got it, Sassie."
The half-naked blond jumped up, ascending towards the ceiling until he land with a loud thud on the top of the stairs. The Uchiha was about to ran after him when the door creaked open again. Sasuke decided to back down, disappearing into the shadows.
This time, when Hinata turned around, time really did slow. Her pearl white eyes widened as she peered into indentical ones. Eyes that belonged only to one other person in the world.
It didn't make any sense at all, and for all she knew she could have gone insane. Did it matter? She found that her legs were moving of their own accord, and she didn't protest at all. She quickened their pace, focusing all of her speed into darting down the endless hallway. Tripping a few times, Hinata was on autopilot. She would mechanically pick herself up and continue the task at hand. The person down the hall waiting smiled at the reminiscent scene before him.
Faster than she had ever run, Hinata leaped at him, closing the distance between them. He caught her with open arms, swinging her around like a little girl. As they spun around in endless circles, the years seemed to melt away, taking them back to their childhood.
Lowering her to her feet, he took a look at a rug burn on one of her knees and smiled. "Same old Hinata."
She ran her fingers over his face, studying the contours of his face. His eyes had sharpened around the edges, and his face had lost most of its roundness. Studying her cousin, Hinata felt a streak of pride in her. As a human, he had been handsome enough, but now her cousin was absolutely stunning. He had changed a lot and yet...
His eyes held that same smile she had grown up with as a child. A smile no amount of transformation could distort. A big grin made a way onto her face. "Same old Neji."
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They were sitting in the livingroom, each hoding but not drinking a cup of tea.
"Sorry...I wasn't there for you."
She frowned into her teacup. "You s-should be Nii-san. I was w-worried about you."
"I know. It's just...I was scared."
"Of what?"
He waved a hand in front of his face. "Of what? Try what I've become. Look at these." He hissed, baring his long fangs. If he expected her to flinch, he wou;d be mistaken.
She smiled at him. "You know I read a medical report about that. Now dentists can have them surgically done."
"Hinata..."
Her smile only grew warmer. "It's been a while since I've heard you use your warning voice. I've missed it."
Neji's scowl sagged, shifting into a smile. "You havn't changed at all."
"Disappointed?"
"Nope."
His eyes darted to the left. Catching a glimpse of two timid brown eyes, his face softened in a different way than when he saw Hinata. She knew what that face meant, and felt content. So Neji-nii-san had finally found it...
"Tenten."
Shyly, she came out from the doorway, careful to keep a safe distance between her and Neji. "Hey, Hinata...look, I'm really so-"
"Sorry! I'm so sorry!"
She blinked her big, caramel eyes. "Sorry? Why are you saying sorry?"
Hinata poked her fingers together. "Because...I was so cold to you. You d-didn't even do anything w-wrong..."
Tenten shooshed her, choking Hinata in a tight hug. "Oh, Hinata, you sweet girl! Don't be sorry, you silly girl!" She was patting Hinata on the back, but her unconscious strength was killing the poor girl. "If that big dumby had told us about you, I would have been the first to tell you!" Tenten glared at him from over Hinata's head. Neji sweat-dropped.
"Tenten...Hinata..."
"What? Oh, right! Sorry." She released Hinata, who went tumbling onto the couch.
Before they long, the three of them were conversing, like they were old friends. From where Sasuke stood, he heard their laughter, and walked away. He didn't feel like prodding into their conversation.
"So how did you meet?"
Tenten pushed Neji off the couch, wanting to tell the story herself. "It was late one night, and I was out hunting bears. Nothing out of the unusual. But then I heard some human moans, so I rushed right over. Boy, you should have seen him. Neji was covered, no, doused in blood." She edged towards him with a sly grin. "And you smelled quite delicious, might I add." He rolled his eyes. "You know Neji, you should feel lucky that I didn't sink my teeth into you right then and there. You know what I did, I hauled his body back to Kakashi's place, the whole time fighting the urge to eat him." She sighed. "It was love at first sight."
Neji grumbled. Certainly being rescued by a girl, vampire or not, was a huge blow to his ego. "Was not."
She brushed the strands of hair obscurring his face affectionately. It was nothing private, but the gesture seemed so intimate that Hinata felt like looking away. "Well, it was for me at least." Tenten punched his arm. "You're still sore that I saved you, aren't I?"
"...I didn't ask you to save me..."
"Lies!"
Her eyes held so much sympathy and compassion that the blood staining her teeth did not frighten him at all. "I'm so sorry..I'm too late." She said the inevitable words. "You're dying..."
She had such flawless, radiant porcelain skin that it was a shame there was specks of blood all over it. Despite the feral look to her eyes, and the sharp, blood-stained fingernails:
She was beautiful.
Carefully propping him up against her lap, she spoke in a soft, patient voice. "Would you like to live?"
He didn't move an inch.
"Will you let me save you?"
The nodding of his head was so faint that were it not for her enhanced eyesight, she would've completely missed it. The woman nodded, bringing his neck closer and closer until it was within reach of her bared teeth.
Tenten clasped her hands together. "Romantic, isn't it?"
More like frightening, but Hinata didn't want to sound rude.
A sudden knock on the door interrupted them. A head of snowy white hair emerged from the doorway.
"Sorry to interrupt your stroll down memory lane, but..." his visible eye sharpened. "I've got matters to discuss with Miss Hyuga."