Chapter 2 – It's Impossible!

Her expression was almost a perfect replica of his own, right down to the blank eyes. The deadpan would have been amusing had their situation not been so serious and try as he might, Itachi could not ignore the growing anger that had suddenly entered her eyes or the down-turning of her lips as they twitched, just like one of her eyebrows was currently doing. Had he not been who he was, what he was, Itachi may have even released his hold on her and backed away.

"What do I know about vampires?" Sakura repeated slowly, like she was talking to an invalid. "Are you trying to piss me off? Because it's working." She closed her eyes, a pained look flitting over her features and in response, Itachi's hands twitched. "Itachi-san, please… you have no idea how close I am to freaking out right now and you telling me these things, asking me about vampires, is not helping. In fact, it's leading me to believe that you may be insane."

Slowly, Sakura raised her hands again and took a hold of his, removing them from her body as she turned to face him and stepped backwards, putting more space between them. Only, when she looked into his eyes again, she froze in her place.

Before, she had thought that it was simply her mind playing tricks on her or the trauma finally catching up to her. Now that she could see him clearly, however, Sakura could see that it was no trick. Itachi's eyes were now red. No… her eyebrows knitted together as she saw three black tomoe in each eye, swirling around in what seemed like slow motion. What was the point in eyes such as those? Did they hold some kind of purpose?

And then, she gasped as she felt the world around her slipping away into a different time, a different place.

"I was dying," a smooth voice spoke to her, sounding like it could possibly be in her head or all around her. "I had a rare illness that the doctors were unable to diagnose or cure. All they could tell was that there would be no chance of survival."

The scene before her was heartbreaking. There was a young boy sitting at a desk with his parents beside him. Opposite them, sat a young doctor, a man who was watching the small family with sympathetic eyes. Beside the young boy who seemed to be in shock, the mother burst into tears, seeming unable to control herself as she shook with her sobs, as she covered her mouth with one hand and clutched her chest with the other. The father was silent, though the pain in his eyes was unmistakable as he looked down at his son.

Sakura wanted nothing more than to run to them all, to hug the child and whisper promises she had no right to make because no child deserved to die so young – they didn't deserve to die at all. However, she was merely a spectator and before she could even open her mouth, the vision around her was shifting, though just as it was about to change completely, Sakura saw a single tear slip down the boy's cheek.

Now, the surrounding area was much more depressing, if that was even possible. The room was dark except for a fire and a single candle that was beside a bed and due to the fire, the room was toasty warm. It seemed that this place didn't have electricity and no other natural light was in the room as the curtains had been shut, but just as Sakura wondered why, the voice returned.

"As the years went by, my health deteriorated and because of my illness, my immune system wasn't what it should have been. Just a common cold could have killed me by the time I turned fifteen."

Sakura's heart went out to the sweaty and trembling Itachi on the bed. He looked no older than fifteen as he stared up at the ceiling, breathing hard before sitting up with surprising speed for an ill boy, coughing almost violently into his hand. Within an instant, the door to his room opened, making Itachi's eyes squeeze shut at the light that suddenly filled the room and Sakura couldn't help but gasp at the sight of his eyes. They were bloodshot and unfocused, making it obvious that he was slowly losing his sight.

"Nii-san," a young boy cried, shutting the doors quickly and rushing into the room, looking desperate as he dunked two pieces of cloth into a bucket of water and squeezed them, getting rid of any excess water.

Sakura wanted to tell him that Itachi needed water, that he needed to calm down, but no words would pass her lips. It seemed her words weren't needed as the boy waited until Itachi had controlled his coughing, helping him sit back against the wall and grabbing a mug that was on the table beside the bed. The look the young boy was giving his brother almost tore her heart to pieces. He looked utterly broken as he helped Itachi drink some water before placing down the mug and cleaning his sweaty face with one cloth, wiping the blood off Itachi's hand with the other. Coughing up blood… Sakura frowned, trying to think of what his illness could be.

"You shouldn't be here… Sasuke," Itachi rasped, looking exhausted as he leaned his head back against the wall.

"I don't care," Sasuke exclaimed at the same time as he moved forward and curled up against Itachi's side.

The warmth in the older brother's eyes as he looked down at Sasuke had tears forming in Sakura's eyes. It was so obvious that Itachi loved his younger brother and she could tell just by that one look that he wasn't looking out for himself and the possibility of picking something up from the boy. He was looking out for Sasuke. Since the doctors couldn't tell what Itachi's illness was, they wouldn't be able to tell whether or not it was contagious, either. Not until it was too late, anyway.

"My brother, Sasuke, went against our parents' orders and always came to visit me, despite the fact I could be contagious. Sometimes, he brought our cousin with him and they would both sit with me so I wouldn't be lonely, telling me of the things they had seen and trying to help me picture them." There was a moment of silence before Itachi spoke again, murmuring, "My parents researched and tried to find a way to cure me or at least help stop the pain, but nothing they did worked and by the time I turned twenty-one, my illness took a turn for the worse."

At his words, Sakura felt herself being pulled into another memory, this one making her stomach twist painfully. Itachi was once again in a bed, was once again coughing and shaking, though even more violently than the last time. He was older, looking a little more like the man she was with on the outside world right now, but at the same time, so very different. It was obvious that these were going to be his last moments and if not, then his death was going to be soon, possibly a day away at most and in response, Sakura choked back her sobs, not understanding why she was feeling such pain for a man she didn't even know.

There were two other men by his side, both looking torn between grief, pain and sadness as they tried to soothe Itachi, as they tried to help calm his racing heart (a heart that was much too fast and loud to Sakura's sensitive ears) and as they tried to help even out his breathing. Sakura recognised the youngest boy as Itachi's brother, Sasuke, but she didn't recognise the other. He had short, dark and unruly hair and just like Sasuke and Itachi, his eyes were impossibly black, too. Perhaps he was another brother, or the cousin Itachi had mentioned?

"Itachi," Sasuke whispered, his voice sounding broken and helpless as he watched Itachi clutch desperately at his chest, doubling over and barely holding back his scream of pain. He looked up at the other man, his eyes filling with tears. "Shisui, what should we do?"

Shisui, as Sasuke had called him, seemed just as helpless as him as his eyes locked on Itachi. He was slowly rubbing Itachi's back in soothing circles, trying to do whatever he possibly could to help him. "There's nothing we can do, Sasuke," Shisui replied reluctantly, sadly. "All we can do is hope Itachi can hold on until your parents return."

Just as the words left his mouth, the doors to Itachi's bedroom slammed open, banging off the walls and neither man had any time to react before a woman was suddenly grabbing Itachi, pinning him to the bed as she forced him out of his doubled over position. Sakura felt her breath leave her as she watched Itachi and Sasuke's parents restrain Shisui and Sasuke, stopping them from aiding the ill man who was helpless to stop the woman hovering over him, a strange light emitting from her hands.

"There is no cure," the woman's voice was hard as the green light faded, but Sakura could hear the sadness behind it, the empathy. "I'm sorry, but your son will not make it through the night. His lungs and heart are too weak and will give out within the next hour or so."

"Please help him," Mikoto cried desperately, letting go of Sasuke as she ran forward, grabbing the blonde's hand. "Please, help my son."

She shook her head, looking down at Itachi with unreadable eyes. "There is nothing I can do for him as a doctor."

Fugaku's eyes widened, hearing the double meaning behind her words and released a thrashing Shisui, who joined Sasuke in rushing over to Itachi. He quickly made his way over to the woman and his wife, ignoring his younger son and nephew. "But there is something you can do, is there not?"

Slowly, unsurely, the woman nodded, though she looked torn as she continued to stare at Itachi's haggard features. "There is, but I will not do anything unless I have your son's voiced approval."

Sasuke's head snapped up a second before he was helping Itachi sit up, slapping him lightly across the cheek. "Nii-san! Nii-san, she can help you. Wake up! Please. Please, Itachi. Please!"

Once again, the desperate tone of Sasuke's voice made Sakura's heart feel as though it was breaking, making her bite her lip harshly as she blinked back her tears.

"By that time, I was almost completely blind." Itachi's voice seemed much quieter in her mind and Sakura could feel his presence behind her, like he was trying to comfort her. "The 'doctor' had been around for a while and even she could not diagnose my illness or cure me."

"S-Sasuke…" Itachi inhaled deeply, making the blonde woman flinch as she heard the same sound as Sakura, as she heard how much liquid was filling his lungs. It was then that Sakura realised that this woman was no ordinary doctor.

The younger brother's lower lip was trembling as he crawled onto the bed, looking like a lost child as he grabbed Itachi's hand, without words telling his big brother that he was here. "Itachi. Nii-san, please, let her help you."

Even though the words weren't spoken, they could all hear them:

I can't lose you. You're my big brother. I need you. I love you. Please don't leave me.

It seemed it was those unspoken words that made Itachi's mind up as he looked in the woman's direction, softly nodding his head. When nothing happened, however, Itachi remembered that she wanted him to voice his approval. "Help me…"

And in an instant, Sasuke was shoved off the bed and the woman's teeth were sinking into Itachi's neck.

Once again, the memory drifted into another and then another, each showing her how Itachi grew accustomed to his new life, how the woman had changed not only himself, but his family, too. It was to stop him from accidentally feeding on them and killing them more than anything else, but still, Itachi had always been silently grateful that he hadn't been forced to continue his life, his existence, without his clan.

"These are all of my memories, Sakura-san," his voice murmured inside of her mind, showing her memories of the many, many, many years that had passed. "As you can see, I am not lying to you. My words are the absolute truth."

And it was just like that, that Sakura was back in the present, gasping for air as she felt her knees grow weak, but something strong seemed to be keeping her standing. Sakura didn't need to look over her shoulder to know it was Itachi. For some reason, it was like part of her knew it was him. She wouldn't say romantically, but Sakura had no idea how else to name the feelings inside of her. Everything was such a mess inside of her head at that moment in time.

"So…" When she got her breath back, she stood up straighter, turning around to face Itachi. If he was surprised by how close Sakura was and how she didn't make a single move to put more space between them, he didn't show it. "Are you saying that I'm like you now? That I'm a… a vampire?"

Itachi nodded once before repeating his earlier question. She only vaguely noticed that his eyes were no longer red as they faded back to their original colour. She found she preferred these eyes much better. They seemed kinder, gentler, somehow. "What do you know about vampires?"

"You drink people's blood… sleep in coffins… and you can't go out into the sunlight…"

He almost smiled at her predictable answer, at the unsure tone in her voice. It was obvious Sakura was just going on what she had heard, on the horror stories she had been told and the movies she had seen.

Once again, he took her hand after releasing his hold on her, guiding her out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom, moving towards the living area where he sat her down on the sofa. Silently, Itachi sat down beside her, highly aware of the fact Sakura was staring at him, watching his every move as though she was expecting him to pounce on her.

"First of all," Itachi couldn't help but smirk softly, catching Sakura's eyes, "we can go out into the sunlight and we do not sleep in coffins. We're not the vampires in the stories you have read, Sakura-san. Those vampires are make believe."

"All vampires are supposed to be make believe."

If it hadn't been for his sensitive hearing, Itachi would never have heard her muttered words. It honestly surprised him that Sakura was taking the news so well. He had been expecting her to get a little emotional and had silently been preparing himself for the possibility of her hating him for doing this to her, for changing her into something people had nightmares about.

"That…" Sakura swallowed hard, looking up at him hesitantly. "That thing that you did… with your eyes…"

Knowing exactly what she wanted to know, Itachi shook his head. "You will not be able to use the Sharingan. Only an Uchiha can use it. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but once we were changed, we received these… gifts, I suppose you could call them."

"Will I receive a gift?"

"It's hard to tell," he told her softly, the smoothness of his voice seeming like music to her. "Everybody is different. Shisui was the first to activate the Sharingan and it took my mother a lot longer than the rest of us to activate hers. The gifts come to us when we need them most or are least expecting them. As I said: everybody is different. You could be awakening your gift tomorrow, for all we know. It happens suddenly, so just because you don't have one now, it does not mean you won't ever have one."

Sakura nodded, looking down at her hands that were clasped on her lap. Honestly, she didn't know what to feel. "So now what?"

This time, Itachi sighed as he sat up straighter. "Now, you must choose whether you wish to stay as a member of our clan or go your own way."

Go her own way? Going her own way would mean that she would be alone in a new, even scarier world that she knew nothing about. Sakura looked down at her hands, the hands she had used to heal people, to save lives. Now, she would be taking them just so she could keep herself alive. How could she do that?

"I don't want to hurt people," Sakura whispered, biting down on her bottom lip.

It felt like she was about to cry, but her tears wouldn't fall. Her eyes were filled with tears, she could tell because they had blurred her vision, but they wouldn't fall. For that, Sakura couldn't help but feel grateful because while this new life was scary, she didn't want to seem emotionally weak, like she couldn't handle it. At the end of the day, Itachi had done what he did to save her, hadn't he? If she had never asked him to help her then she would be dead right now. There would be nothing. Her life would simply be over.

"You don't have to hurt innocent people." Itachi's voice was quiet, though not as quiet as hers. It seemed like his voice was naturally soft and gentle. Well, as natural as a vampire could be. "If you choose to stay with my clan, I will help you control your thirst. It won't be easy but it is not impossible."

"What do you mean 'innocent' people?" She frowned, finally looking up into his eyes for the first time in a while.

He didn't answer for a while, leading Sakura to believe that he wouldn't answer at all, but then, just as she was about to give up with expecting an answer, he spoke. "My clan and I only feed on criminals. Murderers, muggers, rapists, thugs…" Again, there was yet another moment of silence as Itachi watched Sakura look down at her hands once again. "There is something else you should know about." At her detached nod, if one could even call it that, Itachi continued, "Because I was the one who changed you, we are connected. There is a bond between us now, just like there is a bond between my clan and the woman who saved my life."

With obvious uncertainty, Sakura looked up at him. "So that's what this feeling is? The feeling of a… a pull?" He nodded, making her bite her lip once again. "I thought it was just something to do with being a… you know…"

At her grimace, Itachi sighed. Perhaps she wasn't handling it as well as he had thought. Hell, she couldn't even say 'vampire' without pulling a face. "At first, the bond will be difficult to ignore, especially for you since you are new to this life. My first bond with the woman who changed me was easier to handle, to ignore, because she left shortly after explaining everything to me and my family. We left our home town behind, knowing that the others would see a difference in us, that they would know something was wrong and we were not human."

Sakura's mind was spinning. The way Itachi was explaining everything to her made her think of the history books she had once read back in school. It made her think of when witches and vampires were hunted centuries ago. Just how old was Itachi? Over two hundred, possibly even three hundred years old? It didn't seem possible, yet as she looked into his eyes, Sakura could see something within them. What she could see, she didn't know, but amongst all of that emptiness, there was a look of exhaustion, like a man who had seen many things in his time. It reminded her of the veterans who would come to the hospital for check-ups, of those who had lost a lot.

The pull was back, she noticed dully, looking down at her hands once more. It seemed to connect them through their emotions, through what they were feeling. As far as Sakura could tell there was nothing sexual about it, thankfully. She wasn't sure if she was ready for anything such as that, especially not after everything that had happened recently. No, it was like… it felt like… Sakura wasn't even sure. It was hard to explain. Almost like affection, but much stronger.

Pushing aside those feelings for now, Sakura focused on another feeling that was burning in her gut – anger. She had always been a short-tempered person who used her fists to settle things but this felt nothing like her usual anger. This anger felt like it was scorching her from the inside, making her feel almost nauseous and leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Sakura bit her lip, taking a deep breath through her nose and closing her eyes, trying her best to shove the swelling anger out of her system, but no matter how hard she tried, it would not leave.

"It is to be expected."

Her head snapped up, eyes opening before they narrowed suspiciously. She hadn't said anything to him, had she? "What?"

"Your anger," Itachi replied as he sat back on the sofa, his right hand holding his left wrist in a way that made her inwardly frown. Was he in pain or did he just prefer to sit that way? It seemed to be the latter as his legs stretched out and his ankles crossed and at that moment, he looked at peace, effectively making Sakura relax, too. "After everything that has happened to you, it can only be expected that you feel a need for revenge."

Revenge… So that was what the feeling was? Now that Sakura truly thought about it… She frowned. Now, what? She was just going to go out there and kill the guys who had abused her?

"Revenge is a tempting thought." She smirked before it slipped away, leaving her to look unsure and even a little bit scared. "But I just can't see myself hurting anyone, even the men who hurt me." Her frown returned and she looked back down at her hands as they clenched into fists. "I'm not saying that if I happen to see them that I'll be able to stop myself from… I don't know, attacking them, I guess. But I don't think I could just go out there searching for them. I mean, where would I even begin?"

"There's always a trail left behind."

The new voice, along with a sudden flash of colour in her mind, startled her to say the least and in response, Sakura was on her feet in an instant, whirling around to look at the man who had just entered the room. She recognised him immediately, but there was something different about him. He wasn't the same boy from Itachi's memories. Sasuke looked colder, almost exactly like their father.

Itachi sighed, closing his eyes and seeming almost tired. The sight made Sakura inwardly frown as she felt his emotions through their bond. He was… hurting? Not physically, of course, but it seemed to hurt him emotionally to see his little brother so cold and distant, to see Sasuke looking as though he hated the world and everyone in it. "It is not polite to eavesdrop, Sasuke."

"I came to see the new addition," Sasuke replied in a flat voice, looking at Sakura with such a scrutinising gaze that it made her shuffle from one foot to another.

Damn… Even Fugaku hadn't managed to make her this unsettled. Just what the hell was Sasuke's problem?

"Sakura-san is not an 'addition'," Itachi replied, his eyes opening once again as he looked in Sasuke's direction, though since his brother was behind him, he couldn't see Sasuke. "She is a member of our clan now."

Sasuke's eyes slid over to the back of Itachi's head, narrowing as they did so and in response, Sakura's own eyes narrowed. Why the hell was he looking at Itachi in such a way? What happened to the little boy who had cried for his brother? Who had disobeyed his parents just to make sure he was okay? This boy, this man, seemed bitter.

Instead of replying to his brother, Sasuke looked back over to Sakura, his blank expression returning. "It will be easy for you to find the men who attacked you," he continued, acting like Itachi hadn't said a word. "You can–"

"No," she snapped, her eyes widening. "I don't want revenge."

He simply raised an eyebrow. "And if those men attack other innocent girls, girls who are much younger than yourself?"

"Enough, Sasuke," Itachi told his brother as he stood up and turned to face him. "Sakura-san has only been awake for two hours–"

"What's your point?"

Itachi simply sighed, shaking his head with what Sakura presumed as disappointment. "You of all people should understand how fragile the mind is after such a change." In response, Sasuke's upper lip curled and his fists clenched, quite honestly startling Sakura, especially when his eyes began to bleed red. However, Itachi didn't look moved in the slightest and merely stood his ground, watching Sasuke with blank, dark eyes. "If Sakura-san focuses too much on revenge, her memories of her human life will eventually fade away."

"What?"

At her yell, Itachi once again sighed and looked over his shoulder at her. "I would have told you, but we were interrupted."

Sakura's frown deepened as she looked between the two brothers. "I-I'm going to lose my memories?"

"Only if you allow your need for revenge to consume you."

Her eyes slowly slid to Sasuke. "…Is that what happened to you?" His eyes locked onto hers, the black tomoe in his rage-filled, red eyes spinning wildly. "I-I mean you… You're not the same as you were in the memories."

"Sasuke," Itachi snapped, finally losing his patience and temper, "if you cannot control yourself, then leave. I will not allow you to harm Sakura-san."

"Why? Because she's your mate?" Sasuke scoffed, his eyes darting over to Itachi's and narrowing. "Please. We all know that she won't last a month if she can't even bring herself to hunt."

"Leave," Itachi repeated as his eyes slowly began to bleed red. It seemed so much scarier when it was him who activated the Sharingan and Sakura felt a cold shiver run up her spine before she could even control herself.

Muttering under his breath about foolish, pathetic weaklings, Sasuke stalked out of the room so quickly that, had Sakura still been human, she would not have seen a thing. He simply would have been there one moment, then gone the next. As for his comments… She bit her lip. She would be lying if she said that his words didn't hurt her, because they did. However, considering that she was new to this sort of life, and after everything she had been through, Sakura wasn't allowing his harsh words to hit her too hard.

Itachi sighed, watching his brother leave and once he was gone, his Sharingan slowly faded away back into his usual onyx coloured eyes. He had felt Sakura's fear at seeing them, though Itachi wondered if it had more to do with the expression that had been on his face.

"There are alternatives," he murmured to her suddenly, taking Sakura's mind off focusing on Sasuke's words. "Instead of sating your thirst with human blood, you could settle for animal blood instead. It is rare for a vampire to do so, but not unheard of."

She bit her lip and honestly couldn't deny that right at that moment in time, she could do with something to sink her teeth into. The thought had her shuddering delicately. It wasn't that Sakura was in a violent mood, it was just that… Well, she was thirsty, though this definitely did not feel like your every day thirst that was so easy to quench. This thirst felt more like a burning in her throat, like she had gone weeks (even though it was impossible for a human) without water while wandering blindly around a desert under an unforgiving sun. It was painful to say the least.

"I…" Sakura frowned, her eyes lowering to the ground. "I want to try and… hunt. If you'd show me how, of course."

Itachi nodded once. "Very well."

A/N - I hope you are all having a Happy New Year!

So, how are all of you liking it so far? :-)

Edited on: 30/08/2016