Girls blush, sometimes, because they are alive, half wishing they were dead to save the shame. The sudden blush devours them, neck and brow; They have drawn too near the fire of life, like gnats, and flare up bodily, wings and all. What then? Who's sorry for a gnat or girl?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
They went on the bus as Sasuke was too shaky to walk home and Hinata, who had gotten a lift in with her father on the way to her sister's ice skating lesson. They both lived in the same district, several streets away.
He refused to talk to her on the bus, preferring to stuff his ears with his headphones and play obnoxiously loud rock music, which Hinata didn't know the name of, but she was certain her cousin, Neji, would know.
They got off at the same station, and she found herself apologising to the driver for Sasuke's refusal to say thank you before being yanked off by Sasuke's hand snaking around hers, And then dropping it.
She found herself following him like a puppy up to his apartment simply because she couldn't really leave him because if he fell he could fall badly and his human life could be extinguished. He lived in an apartment block, which was rather upmarket, but she lived in a slightly more expensive street, in a high market town house, so she found herself wondering what it must be like living in a place full of people.
It wasn't that bad, judging from the condition of the elevator, and the fact there was a doorman in a red costume who nodded to the two, recognising Sasuke's appearance even though he was so haggard and grey.
The walls were wallpapered with tasteful designs and there were well kept potted plants in lonesome corners and the floor was made out of well made carpet. As Sasuke's door slammed in her face, she noticed that the door was made out of a fantastic piece of oak, and the brass number, six, was very finely crafted.
She turned to leave for the lift, feeling fairly disconcerted that Sakura would list this man as one of her friends. The door creaked behind her, revealing one bloodshot eye.
"Why aren't you dead?" He asked
"Uh, P-pardon?"
"Shouldn't you burn up in sunlight?"
"Well…"She turned to check nobody else was in the corridor. "I'm very sensitive to sunlight, I w-wear UV protection pretty much all the time, I only spend so many hours outside, eight maximum, and that's with reapplying protection otherwise I blister, and g-go red. When we were in Austria, we always night-skied, the days were allwa-y-ys so bright, though when it was really snowing, we went out then,"
"Hn,"
"I-is that all Uchiha-San?"
"How did you become a v-"
"Well hello…" A grey haired man burst from the lifts, his one visible eye glinting between the skin-tight tight mask and his wild hair. "Sasuke and a girl…I never thought I'd see the day,"
Hinata began to blush furiously, making Kakashi jump immediately to the first conclusion, his eyes sparking as he darted between the two teens.
"Do come in, I must meet this lovely lady,"
"N-no I-It's n-not-"
"I'm not…" But Kakashi pushed her in the apartment oblivious to Sasuke's and Hinata's protests. Whipping her head around, she could see the apartment was spacious, if not regal. Kakashi led her into the lounge.
"So who are you, and what is your intention towards Sasuke?"
"O-o-oh, I'm…well, Hi-Hinata-a-"
"You're being stupid," muttered Sasuke darkly, who then sauntered off, probably in the direct direction of the toilet because of his unsettled stomach.
"Well that leaves us alone, Hinata-Chan," Smiled Kakashi,
"Oh, I-it's not h-how you think Uchiha-Sama, I-" She was interrupted by his laughter,
"I'm just his guardian actually, and biology teacher through some twisted sense of logic, And I think you don't know Sasuke at all,"
"Eto, I wouldn't sir, I just b-brought him home b-because he was I-ill, I'm one o-of Sakura's friends from LL, and I ended up t-taking him home, Sir," He smiled again, his lips visible through the mask. But Hinata could already tell he was judging her to be a spoilt little girl Sasuke had picked up because she was rich.
She could also tell that the relationship between the two was too strained, maybe when she went they would have an argument? Or maybe a lecture? And there was the fact that Kakashi wasn't worried by Sasuke's illness.
Now there was a tense silence. "Ano, I'm sorry sir for did-turbing you, but really, I mu-ust go, I believe I must get home before soon," She got up and bowed, her hair tracing patterns on the grey carpet. "Please," She flashed a glance of her ivory eyes at Kakashi, "I hope Uchiha-San recovers from his ailment, Good afternoon Sir," She turned to leave, and Kakashi followed, watching her from the doorway as she walked to the lifts.
"Neji, what if your family doesn't like me?I mean…" Ten-Ten waved mascara over her eyelashes, making her eyelashes widen her already large eyes. Beside her sat a long haired man, who watched the woman with a feeling akin to wonder as she fussed in front of the mirror, whilst he sat on the bed.
"Neji, please, do something to reassure me, please," She fussed with her shoulder length hair, curling the silky locks with a pair of heated tongs.
"My family, well, I only have a small one left," he sighed, "My Uncle Hisashi and my two cousins, Hinata and Hanabi," He paused to make sure he had captured her attention.
"Hinata-Chan will love you, I'm already sure that she'll take you in totally. Hanabi-Chan will follow pretty much what her older sister says because secretly she's in awe of Hinata," He then sighed again, with malice, "Uncle is the…hard egg to crack, and you'll have to really impress him, I know he'll be disagreeable…So the girls won't even dare to say anything"
She bent over, and placed her warm hand on his cool shoulder. "Look, I love you, I, I really do, And… I don't need your family's validation to do that, but I know you do, tell me how to get into your family's good books, and I'll find a way. I know I'm not rich, but wealth doesn't matter…Neji, are you listening?"
Neji closed his eyes, and exhaled, his heart beating wildly underneath his cool exterior. "There's something about my family you need to know…and if you want to…" He paused, pinching his nose between his forefinger and thumb.
Her hands were on his knees now. "How?"
He could smell her so clearly, soft rose perfume that she used all the time tickling his nose. How he wanted to lick and bite into that soft curve of that neck.
He controlled himself and fell back onto the bed. "Think of it as a monstrous family secret,"
"Argh, Neji, nothing could be more monstrous than you sometimes!"
He smirked in response. "You have no idea,"
"You're the extended family of the mafia?"
"No,"
"…Have you ever killed someone?
"Once or twice," answered Neji, rather truthfully, because if you did bite someone out of need, or if you took to much blood, or if the person you bit had an underlying health problem, accidents happened, and truthfully, Neji had never killed purposely, and as far as he knew, none of his family had either.
She hit him with a pillow and collapsed beside him, "Sometimes you're impossible".
They then laid there together, simply enjoying one another's silence and presence, and Neji inhaled Ten-Ten's delicate scent of roses like a form of much desired drug.
"How much do you love me?" The words broke from his lips, and floated in the air, shattering the simple silence they had one moment ago, enjoyed so much, and twisted it into something much more complicated and intricate.
She twisted he head around, and Neji could feel her owl like gaze on his as she studied his profile.
"Hrm…" He imagined he must feel like Hinata when startled, when her cheeks became so red, because He was sure his ears would burn a hole in the bed. He was unable to meet that raking owl like gaze, his eyes almost trembling in their sockets.
"How much…What have you done Neji? Should I be mad?" She asked in a teasing manner.
He sat fully upright, pulling his muscles into his stomach as he did. "Fine, Why do you love me?"
"You're being serious," He nodded, and she suddenly had an epiphany. It became obvious to her that Ten-Ten that Neji was going to ask her to marry him, she blushed, "Hrm, I love you… because you're different, because you're not afraid of opportunity or for taking it. I love you because well… you're my grizzly bear and I'm your snow bunny. And I love your cold hands when I'm feverish, and I love the way your hair falls and how it glints in the sun, and how you love night-skiing, and your passion for knowledge and the way you looked after me when Daddy died…I want to be with you because of that, because of everything… I would want to be with you…"
"Would you be with me forever?"
"Where did this romantic crap come from?" Laughed Ten-Ten.
"…I'm serious, I could offer you that… that's why we're talking now," His heart wrenched in his chest.
"Do you want to get married Neji?"
He nearly laughed. Marriage was nothing compared to the commitment expected between the relationship between two vampires. Vampires could be together, quite literally, forever… if he could bring himself to touch that beautiful body with the sole intent of marking her with the dreaded vampire's love bite.
"Do you?"
"…Yes, yes I would," she cried throwing her arms around his neck. Gingerly her prised off her fingers, but gently returned the kiss she had given so eagerly.
"I-I think there's something you ought to know, about me, and my family,"
She gave him her sole attention, her eyes so much like an owls looking at him with love, care, devotion, everything he could ever want and need.
"Would you still love me…"
She still looked at him with devotion, her wild eyes melting for him.
"I'm a vampire."
She screamed with laughter, and rolled in hysterics on the floor. When she recovered, she tried to wipe the tears of laughter away from her eyes, but couldn't stop herself from snorting when she saw his serious face. "Good one Neji, you nearly had me there!"
He bowed his head and she clambered onto the bed, sensing something was wrong. She placed her small hand over his large paw. "…Neji,"
"I-I was being honest…" He mumbled, his tongue almost tripping over himself.
"Oh," A light bulb flickered in Ten-Ten's head, "You're from one of those like, sub-classes that like act out the whole vampire thing in their spare time, like in New York?"
"Not exactly,"
"Fine… you're a vampire. Show us your fangs," She smiled at her joke.
Just once more he inhaled the air to taste her scent, just in case she left after this moment of no return. Slowly, he pushed her desired scent to his mouth, and slowly, his gums ached and his fangs slowly melted over his canines, his teeth becoming more polished and whitened. He smiled awkwardly, his fangs disrupting any natural smile.
In her face…there was curiosity, and that was good. For a start It wasn't horror, and she wasn't screaming for help, or attempting to stake him. But that didn't necessarily mean that she wasn't going to leave him. Then came the decisive moment.
She reached upward and stroked the teeth. "Well, they're sharp, that's cool, but why don't you sparkle like the other vampires?" She smiled, her lips perking at the ends at her little joke.
He smiled awkwardly, his canines startlingly white. "You still love me now?"
Then she looked deep into his eyes, her owl-gaze centred deep into his own grey eyes, and for one special moment, was mature for the two of them. "What do I have to do love you forever?"
A faint outline of a grin sparked on Neji's lips.
The rat paced, impatient for the other to arrive. He already half knew that he would be late, but he wasn't expecting this kind of stand up. He clasped his hands together, afraid that his weakness, his hatred of the biting sensation of the icy wind on his hands would be seen by an observer, or even, worse, him.
His fangs began to tremble in his mouth.
He was a rat, he knew he was, but he knew something was up with this. If the information he thought he had was good enough, then this guy shouldn't be late.
"So you're the rat,"
And there he was, the man he thought he had information on, the double agent within the force. A was levelled at his head, the metal glinting in the light.
"You're the one who killed the girl in the park, two weeks ago,"
"N-no," stuttered the rat, his face startlingly white and pale, and weak in the moonlight, certainly not the vampire that had killed the girl.
"Pity, It would have made my work so much easier," The figure with the gun sighed. "I'm sorry I have to kill you…I'm a pacifist really," Then he shot him down, bullets ripping through his body and making holes. "I had to cover up my mistakes" Sighed the double agent, who had hidden his identity so wisely, it would have been a pity to break his silence.
Slowly he reloaded his 22. Calibre with the silver bullets, and the Vampire who hunted Vampires behind a façade of blood and lies disappeared into the mist.
Uchiha Itachi was his name.
*NOTE FROM CLUE*
I think I just had a NejiTen Gooey moment :P It felt really good, and I hope to do some more sweet scenes later. I've also introduced Itachi, who of course Is going to have something to do here :P
PS. THANK YOU FOR REVIEWS, YOU'RE ALL VERY SWEET!