This has been rewritten after a long hiatus. I hope I have managed to make it better. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Pairings: GaaHina, NaruSaku (minor)
-X-
Hyuuga Hinata was made of quiet wishes.
Hidden by a veil of navy blue hair, she had always remained in the shadows. The alleys surrounded her and she would live through them. Unseen, she fed from the darkness, her lips muttering for her what she hoped to find in the light.
Him.
She lived through the steps of a man who never turned his head towards her. Children often resumed their game through her neatly folded body against the walls. Her presence could only fit in the narrow corners of their lives. Invisible.
She was his weak shadow.
She could disappear through him but it was all pretence.
She had never searched long for him, for the warmth in his smile. His laughter would hang on the wrinkles of her kimonos whenever she went. It would redden her cheeks, rhythm her heart in a symphony of hope. She vowed that he will look. Today. Tomorrow. Someday.
Then, her shadows would then step upon his. Her hope would faintly falter. His heels would beat the ground, strong and confident, and she would watch him live, pass by her. 'P-please, look at me, Naruto-kun!'
She was his fading shadow.
While she looked, she became a demon's prey. She never noticed the twisting one tail surrounding her shadow. Not until it was too late. Later, she would wish that she had.
-X-
Wish for Blood
by Clementive
-X-
"Soon," he muttered.
The demon closed his eyes, his clawed fingers feeling the thin barrier between the world of the living and the one of the dead. Shukaku smirked, his guts twisted in excitement. Through the weakening barrier, he could see the buzzing village, villagers yelling at one another for the preparations for the festival. Flashes of his own hometown contrasted with the greenery of Konoha. He growled. His human memory was made of sand and blood, incompatible with the green of Konoha.
Soon, he will be free from the memories that could still somehow ground him on a land he despised.
Soon, he will be free from the underworld.
The air around the One-tailed beast shifted, his aura pulsating. It drew hisses out of lower-ranked demons, crushed by the power tightly wrapped around him.
The taste of blood filled his mouth as his tail whipped the air. Shukaku almost spotted the girl at once and he licked his lips. Only a pact of blood could free him from the underworld. Her enticing soul twisted around her ivory complexion, her trembling hands. 'She will say yes'. As long as she lived, he would be walking in their world. It both fascinated and repulsed him, the notions of village, human bonds. Love. More blood.
Humans were ants, yet each kill was a mere wound to their history. They kneeled, prayed and carried on. They had such a small lifespan.
"Pitiful", Shukaku growled low in his throat.
His prey was different. She kept watching the object of her affection even if it shattered her piece by piece. Her wounds were not healing, they were left open for the scavengers. He smirked; that was exactly what he was, a scavenger of the soul. Hers was exquisitely delicate, innocent. However, it was made of twisting shadows and it reeked of blood. It was pitiful how little she noticed about the aura surrounding the man she loved.
"It is never promising when one of us show too much interest in a human, Gaara."
His old self always made him stiffen. Gaara of the Sand Waterfall. Gaara the killer. Gaara the kinslayer.
Brusquely, he wrapped his tail around a lower-demon crushing him. Crimson always made him forget. Gaara lied underground, he had died long ago. Thirst came with the beast inside of him. Impassively, he glanced down at the pool of blood lying at his feet. He had aged and he had risen to his current strength. Those hissing larvas still didn't have a tail, a rank in the underworld.
Whining, other low-ranked demons hurriedly cleared the path before the nine-tailed fox. Flames curled at his feet as the demon stopped next to his subordinate. For a short while, they both stared with hungry eyes at the living world beyond the barrier.
"You can stop calling me that now, I am not human anymore. I have earned both my tail and my rank," Shukaku replied calmly through his pointy teeth.
The demon-fox inclined his head and his red eyes searched his face. An unpleasant glint burned in his eyes.
"Soon, in fact, we will grant you with another tail. I am just making sure that you won't make us reconsider."
Sharply, the fox turned away. 'He still has too much humanity in him.' Some demons died screaming as dark flames hungrily licked their bodies. He turned his head over his shoulder smirking.
"Power is not too far away, remember that now." Red fumes framed his smirk before he disappeared altogether.
"I will make her say yes."
Shukaku gritted his teeth. Silence only answered his vow. He turned back with narrowed eyes towards the small village.
The festival of the dead was two mortal days away.
-X-
It was the first day of the Festival of the Dead in Konoha.
The sun of August was pale above their heads. Dark grey clouds wavered in the sky, balanced by the wind. The temple of the village faintly appeared through the mist tightly wrapped around the mountains. The moist in the air made its way difficultly in her lungs. Sweat ran down her spine. Meekly, her eyes searched the crowd for a blond haired man. Hinata Hyuuga could feel her ancestors' spirits perched on her shoulders disapproving.
Naruto Uzumaki was below her rank, they would snicker if she could say his name aloud. Her father would rather disown her than have her wed a man who wasn't noble in title and manner.
She shivered. Her heartbeat echoed the deep sound of the percussions behind her. With slow controlled steps, her father recited prayers. By their sides, servants quietly carried the lantern that would help the spirits find their way to the other side.
The world of the dead would be open for three days during the ceremonial rituals of the O-Bon. Hinata held her little sister's hand tighter as the procession pressed them forward. She bit her lip turning her head to her other side. 'Naruto-kun…' Her quickened inhales drew a sharp look from the elders at her side.
"Hinata-hime should be looking in front of her," an elder hissed in her ear, her fan pressed against her lower back in an attempt to make straighten her back.
The wind freed one stray of hair from her dark blue bun and she watched it danced away from her. If only she could be free, detached from her body. Her pale skin faintly flushed at the thought and she bit her lower lip. She turned her pearl eyes towards her younger sister. She saw assurance, a grave solemn face. She saw a Hyuuga.
Her lips quivered, they murmured his name.
A thin flame casted the first shadows on the lake. The dark waters reflected the lantern lit by Hiaishi Hyuuga. Her father turned sharply to her and she let go of her sister's hand. Hinata tried to control the tremors of her body as she took the lantern a servant was offering her. It was her turn as the heiress but her father's eyes were already resting on her little sister.
The lantern floated away and a thousand of lights soon rejoined it. They disappeared in the mist as they kneeled praying. She looked at the members of the lesser branches, at her sister so composed in her role, at her father's back ornate with the Hyuuga heraldry.
She was the palest reflection of a Hyuuga.
-X-
Hinata saw him holding a woman's hand when they turned the corner of the garden of the temple.
She gasped for air, her inside carving in as they were used to. Her legs were too stiff for her to stand. Despite the quiet pain slicing through her, she heard herself muttering that she would like to pray alone for her mother's soul for a few moments. She heard herself dismissing her servants.
Then, it wasn't quiet enough because inside she was screaming. It wasn't loud enough because she was lonely and broken. She caught another glimpse of his blond hair again. Blond and pink locks.
Her hand clenched on the red wooden pillar of the temple. She felt lost in the crowd as she stood above. Hinata held a fist to her chest as the weight of her traditional robes brought her to her knees.
She was his shadow of pain.
The mist sheltered it, his bright smile harvested it. She stood frozen, her thoughts divided between her clan and a gold-haired man who painted a shadow in her every gesture. The wind blew the music towards her. Below, dancers were performing the ritual dance of the dead. The sound of the flute rose and fell at each movement. Villagers circled the public ground where the dance was held. Spirits whispered around her and flames fluttered in the temple.
The wind blew and yellowish eyes opened behind of her.
Darkness leisurely enveloped her body. Jagged pain overwhelmed her.
Hyuuga did not cry.
"Say the words, little one, and I will give you what your soul most desires." The demon whispered in her ear.
-X-
Whispering quick apologies along her way, her hands pushed through the crowd. Sakura Haruno could hear the drums. The village shone faintly with the lanterns still floating on the lake. Shadows and lights met on the wooden bridge above it. 'Where is he?' She tossed her pink hair over her shoulder, impatience boiling inside of her. She hated waiting. She fumed. Her erratic movements loosened her traditional robes' grip on her body.
"Sakura-chan!" A loud voice screamed behind her.
She paused and she looked over her shoulder. Around him, many started at his loud voice. As her pink lips twisted in displeasure, Sakura turned towards the man running towards her. Imperiously, she put her hands on her hips, her emerald eyes fixed on his traditional robes he had put on with haste. She knew without asking that he wore them for her. When he reached her, she hardened her stare. His messy golden hair framed his determined face.
Her pulse quickened.
His face held so many memories they both shared. She remembered their games when they were younger, the park, the grass and the graze of the sun on her porcelain skin. She remembered his first day laughing with the other soldiers, his first victory, the death of his first friend. He kept marching forward no matter what. Sakura turned her head away so he could not read her troubled expression.
"I hate waiting, Naruto-kun."
Panting, Naruto Uzumaki grinned at her and her features softened. His behaviour always both unnerve her and soothe her. She could not remember a day where he had not been part of her life.
"You look beautiful, Sakura-chan." He blushed faintly offering her his hand.
Sakura smiled, her eyes sparkling with delight. She took his hand and they disappeared in the crowd heading towards the dance.
From friends they have become lovers.
Demons maliciously laughed in the darkness. As he glared at them growling, his eyes turned red for the briefest moments. He could feel Shukaku's presence at the temple and he growled again. This time, Sakura heard him.
"No tricks tonight," she frowned.
"No tricks," he smiled innocently, careful as not to burn her with his touch.
-X-
With slow steps, a tall red-haired man advanced towards her. His human form bent painfully with his new rank. Inwardly, he cringed at each of his sore steps. He normally did not care about showing his demonic form. However, it would have further frightened her and she would have slipped through his grasp. Shukaku simply could not allow that with new powers at stake.
As he approached Hinata, he took in her gaping thin lips, her frightened watering eyes. He licked his lips; her soul pulsated painfully before him.
She wanted to move but her limbs refused to obey her. His pale jade eyes had trapped her. She trembled like the autumn leaves at the approach of winter.
"Say the words, princess," he repeated standing next to her.
He embraced the city below them in the shades of the temple. Swiftly, spirits rummaged the land for their loved ones. Excitement tickled his human skin; the sight of those broken souls was simply delightful.
The Hyuuga princess could feel his dark aura contorted in uneven shapes around his body. She had heard stories of demons appearing during the days of the dead. Servants used to hush children to sleep with threats of demons claiming their soul if they did not behave.
Fear numbed her body. It tightly wrapped its coat around her shaking silhouette.
"We are in a holy temple…" she muttered stupidly.
Expressionless eyes stared down at her. They usually screamed at this point. Some reached for a weapon. How futile. He signed.
"So?"
For a brief instant, he let his true form leak out of his human disguise. Hinata pressed her hands to her mouth quivering uncontrollably.
"Humans have just narrow views about what demons can or cannot do. You should think of us as… genies."
She saw a monster.
He sat on his heels bringing their faces to the same level. She let out a smile cry at their proximity. Dark circles surrounded his jade orbs but his features were regular. His red hair hid part of a tattoo on his forehead. At his feet, sand glinted. Only the unsteady burning air around him showed his evil nature.
"Shall I grant your wish, princess?"
He took a stray of her dark hair toying with it as he watched her squirmed away. Her fear weighed heavily in her stomach. He inhaled it and its metallic scent filled his nostrils. It awoke his gory hunger.
Horror pickled her skin with cold sweat and accelerated her pulse. She tried to cry out but her voice remained low. His jade orbs shone with amusement. 'How very futile.'
A snap of his fingers and the mist thickened around them. Soon, she could not make out the temple one step behind her.
"Go away!" Hinata muttered weakly and he smirked still twisting her dark hair between two of his fingers.
His words haunted her. They relied on the shadows of her soul, her pathetic love. His offer hung heavily in her mind. Prisoner of the whiteness of the mist, she thought of Naruto. She felt her fear weakened and her pain worsened. Traces of her inward battle appeared on her features.
He wondered what if her expression would change if she knew about the real Naruto and his tails hidden in his shadow.
"What do you want?" Her voice sounded hollow to her ears. Her heart twitched at his promise. 'Whatever the cost.' Her judgement was clouded, her love said yes. Her head spun, it screamed no and his orbs silenced its shrieks.
"I want your soul," he replied simply letting go her hair.
He wondered if she knew how intoxicating her soul felt to him. She was so naïve, so human. Innocence was so rare in a world of sliced throats. She lived in a world that bred demons, didn't she know that?.
"W-what?"
"Do you really care what happens to your soul once you are dead if you can live with him?"
He agitated his hand and a blond headed man appeared before them. His cerulean eyes shone with raw happiness. Her resolve dissolved.
"Naruto-kun!"
She reached for him but the illusion faded in the mist. With curiosity, he watched her blush spread to her neck. Humans really were amusing creatures. He did not remember blushing, he did not remember loving. Perhaps had he never been human after all.
"I just want him to love me…" It was barely a whisper.
Shadows crept in his angular face. His eyes turned yellowish; she had said the words.
The wind spun around them. Brusquely, her hair fell out of her bun and it dove into her robes. A green lighting ripped their shelter of mist. A scroll appeared in his hand. The sound of thunder grew louder until it covered her scream.
"Give me your soul."
Darknening eyes opened around her. Hinata bit her below lip. There was no turning back. He smirked offering her his bloodied palm. Hesitating, she barely exposed her palm before he slashed it. Her throbbed hand shook in his clawed grip.
"Promise it to me." His voice was a roar in her head.
"Yes, when I die you will have my soul, demon. Just m-make him love me!"
Her eyes widened as green lighting covered her arm. Their joined hands wrote their pact on the scroll with crimson ink. Their mixed blood sealed the pact of pearl. Painfully, it rippled through her shadow.
The tempest ceased.
The mist cleared, she fell.
Above her unconscious form, he held on to the scroll, his freedom, his thirst. His face was expressionless as he watched her chest rise and fall unevenly in her gaping pale robes. Her bloodied palm paled until only a faint scar remained.
He closed his eyes, tasting the wind on his skin, the ground beneath his feet.
'Finally free.'
-X-
I hope you have enjoyed it! ^_^