Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
XxX Chapter 3 XxX
Something was out of place. Naruto could almost feel it in the air. It was like something intangible that was calling him. It was drawing him closer.
'What am I even doing here' naruto mentally asked himself.
It was strange he felt the need to come here. He'd even made an absurd excuse to leave the hotel. Really you'd have to be foolish to believe his excuse, that even he, thought was preposterous.
-Flashback-
Naruto had felt the need for sleep. He left the balcony and lay on the couch. He could have taken residence on the bed but had decided against it. He liked the feel of this soft leather-ish couch.
'Hmm maybe I should get one of these' naruto absent-mindedly thought.
Slumber overtook him easily. His companions also went to rest shortly afterwards.
He woke up to the thin rays of light that had come through the slightly open curtains of the balcony. Naruto was rather peeved by this. Begrudgingly he took off the blanket that was placed over his body. He needed no such thing, as his body was always cold to the touch, like marble.
Stretching his arms, he could hear the small kinks of his joints.
"Naruto I see that your finally awake" Arashi said with a smile.
Looking around naruto noticed the others were up as well. They were all looking at a map.
"What are you guys doing so early in the morning?" naruto questioned as he eyed the map.
Madara was the one to answer. "While I went for a stroll around the city I found a small group not to far from here. They smelled of ash and blood".
Vampire hunters, he was sure. That was obvious enough.
"How many?" naruto asked.
"There are about ten of them" Madara replied.
That wasn't good; in fact it was strange and unsettling. Typically vampire hunters either hunted alone or with a partner. Though, he had recently heard of a group consisting of five. To think…that they were hunting in bigger groups was an uneasy prospect.
"Are you going to kill them off?" Naruto questioned truly curious as to Madara's answer.
Madara shook his head "The likelihood of them posing a threat is slim to none. It is four against ten and sure we're outnumbered but we're stronger, faster and smarter"
"You shouldn't underestimate your opponents a slip like that can cost you greatly" naruto warned.
"I'm not underestimating them but I'm not going to overestimate them either'" Madara said in his defense.
"But if we wait too long to strike, they will come while we're caught unawares" Kyuubi remarked sharply.
"Yes that's true, but we won't be in danger, we can stop them. That and we won't be here so long that they'll get suspicious" Arashi put in.
Kyuubi shook his head with a sigh.
Before naruto could say anymore, he felt a scent hit him. It was that same floral scent, but it was accompanied by an even stronger one.
"Interesting" naruto murmured.
He stood up and was about to leave when Kyuubi stopped him.
"Naruto where are you going" he asked.
Normally Kyuubi wouldn't question his actions but they were in the middle of an important discussion and all of a sudden he wants to leave, it was logical that he'd question him now.
Naruto was stumped; he opened his mouth without thinking and looked at Kyuubi blankly.
"To find my mate"
With that Naruto left. Not even bothering to look back at the stunned expressions of the occupants he had left behind.
-End Flashback-
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--
-
Really, him going to find a mate, it was an absurd idea. Anyone who knew him would know that was a big fat lie. He found it meaningless to love someone. Yes, he cared for those close to him but that was a different affection.
Love was just something so much more deeper. Something he could not comprehend. He had never felt that kind of love towards anyone, and was 100 sure he would never try and find out.
So now here he was stalking the same person he had fed upon. She however was accompanied by another man. Who had long silky brown hair, milky white eyes that could make you think he was blind, but Naruto could tell he wasn't.
This man definitely had the stronger scent. This man was no mere human, Naruto noted.
"A shape shifter" Naruto whispered lowly.
Interesting he hadn't encountered a shape shifter in a while, a century maybe, though he wasn't sure. Time meant nothing to him. As he watched the unsuspecting pair Naruto took note that these two didn't give off the feel of an intimate couple, more like close friends.
He centered his focus on the woman.
'Might as well look inside her mind' Naruto thought as he closed his eyes feeling everything else slip away.
--
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-
It was so easy to hear her thoughts, more so because he had tasted her blood. Though he didn't necessarily need to taste a vampire or humans blood to read their minds. No drinking their blood just made it much more easier.
He could choose exactly who he whose mind he could read and drown out the rest.
Naruto had this ability as far back as he could remember, maybe it had been a hereditary trait….well that's what he'd like to think it was.
And still he hadn't found anyone else with his ability, not yet.
It truly was a gift, with it he was able to categorize those he had met in his travels throughout the years. He could tell if a person was evil….well evil to his standards.
Naruto took advantage of many situations by reading other peoples minds, and he felt no guilt in doing so.
Naruto absorbed all the opinions and thoughts that were in her mind, quickly learning everything about her life and her desires.
He opened his eyes slowly and then stood on uneasy legs.
The downside to his gift was that it left him completely vulnerable while concentrating and it left him feeling rather tired soon afterwards.
He wasn't invincible.
--
--
-
He casually bumped into the librarian and the shape shifter.
"Oh, how rude of me" Naruto said apologetically.
"No it was an accident" was all the shape shifter said.
Naruto feigned shock "Hizashi, is that you!"
Hizashi's eyes widened "Naruto?"
"In the flesh".
Hizashi gave him a half hug "Kin meet my long lost friend, Naruto".
Kin smiled shaking his hand in greeting "Ah it's nice to meet you Naruto".
Naruto gave his own smile "The pleasure is all mine".
Warning bells were ringing in his head. His instincts told him that she, a mere human, was dangerous. How could that be true, he had looked at her mind seen everything that she had seen and do. He didn't see anything remotely evil or sketchy.
Could someone be able to lie to their own mind and hide things that they had done, things that would remain undetected, even with his mind reading abilities? Preposterous! But then again….it was a possibility.
He glanced at Hizashi. Did he know?
"Naruto you should join me and Kin to a cup of coffee and we'll be able to catch up" Hizashi suggested.
Naruto blinked "That would be nice"
It didn't take long to reach the café, as it was three stores down from where they had crossed paths.
Naruto sat opposite of Hizashi and Kin.
"So how have you been?" Naruto asked pleasantly.
"Ah, well life's been treating me well. Not anything amazing, but good enough" Hizashi replied.
"So, when did you and kin meet?" Naruto asked casually.
"About 9 months ago" Kin supplied.
Naruto glanced at her, being very discreet.
Their cups of coffee were placed in front of them, Naruto taking a long drink of the dark scalding hot liquid.
Naruto stood up.
"It's been great seeing you Hizashi, and you too kin but I have to go" Naruto said this as he pushed his chair in.
"I'll see you around then" Hizashi said giving Naruto another half hug. Naruto slipped in a note into his coat as Hizashi did this.
Naruto gave them a short wave.
Hizashi I hope you know what your doing? Naruto thought darkly.
And since when did shape shifters associate with humans, didn't they hate humans?
--
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-
He felt uneasy, no better yet he felt worried. He couldn't shake off this feeling. Maybe it was because he hadn't told Hizashi anything about his thoughts. He just hoped Hizashi would be able to contact him. The paper he had slipped into Hizashi's coat had the coordinates of his permanent settlement.
Though he felt no reassurance. There was something eerily familiar about Kin, and he didn't know if it was good or bad.
What was going on with him? Was he loosing his touch, already?
Naruto shook his head, willing away these doubtful thoughts. He didn't need to deal with this right now.
He flitted over rooftops, not once changing his pace. Though he did stop when he was near the hotel.
It wasn't late, it was an hour past noon. It was still rather early.
He slipped in through the balcony, the wind signaling his presence.
Kyuubi was the first to notice him. He stared into Kyuubi's curious eyes and couldn't help but tilt his head to the side in wonder.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Naruto asked feeling rather disturbed.
"Did you find it?" Kyuubi asked.
It? What was this it Kyuubi spoke of?
He felt Madara's and Arashi's inquiring eyes on him.
Oh. Oh… they were talking about his search for a mate!
Naruto really wanted to laugh, he truly did but refrained from doing so, if anything he'd probably scare them all if he suddenly laughed out of nowhere.
So instead he schooled his composure and with a straight face said "I didn't find any that suited my taste"
Three pairs of scrutinizing gazes didn't leave him as he sat on the couch. They didn't believe him, well they at least thought he wasn't telling them the whole truth.
Naruto heaved a sigh "So did you find anything more about those hunters"
"Nothing really, we did however find out where their camp site" Arashi said with a yawn.
"Anything else?" Naruto asked Madara
"Nothing, they haven't suspected that were here but it'd be best that we keep a low profile" Madara advised.
Naruto nodded.
"Yes, let's try to be discreet"
--
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The next day Naruto told them that he had actually met with a shape shifter.
"Remember the shape shifter I ran into fifteen years ago?" Naruto asked.
After a few seconds it all clicked.
"It's Hizashi, right!" Arashi exclaimed.
"Yes, that's right. I gave him the location of the castle" Naruto replied.
"That's dangerous, if our whereabouts are slipped into our enemies then we'll be in danger' Kyuubi admonished.
"Yes, that is a possibility but, have a little faith in Hizashi. I'm sure he'll rip and burn the paper after he knows where the castle is at" Naruto defended easily.
"Why does Hizashi even have to know where the castle is at?' Madara questioned.
"I need to discuss something very important with him, and it would be much safer if we discussed it in a place where no one would eavesdrop on us"
"We should go to that art gallery that people have been talking about" Arashi blurted out.
Did he truly wish to go to an art gallery where he'd have to ultimately deal with flirtatious women and uptight men.
Absolutely not.
"Come on guys, I'm sure you'll all enjoy it" Arashi coaxed on.
Dammit.
With a resigned sigh he relented "Fine".
Arashi instantly brightened.
"Then let's go!"
This art gallery was for the rich.
And they all easily slipped in with a show of money and having Naruto flirting with the hostess at the entrance of the show room.
They all went their separate ways after that.
Kyuubi found a beautiful sculpture to admire while Arashi went to converse with people about their opinions on certain paintings. Madara just went to look at the more religious themed paintings.
Naruto meanwhile, wandered off until one painting at the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was beautiful.
But what drew him to it was that it was a painting of the night before when Arashi, Madara and Kyuubi were with him on the balcony. Whoever painted this captured the warmth of that moment and the relaxing atmosphere.
"It's beautiful isn't it" came a whispered voice behind him
Naruto turned around and was faced with deep black obsidian eyes.
Tbc…