Chapter 4

Naruto was satisfied. It took a lot, but he finally didn't feel like he was suffocating anymore. So, now he could worry about what he needed to worry about.

With a sigh, he headed to the Hyuuga residence.

'What are you gonna do, kid?' Kurama asked.

"I actually wanted to ask you," he responded as he jumped from roof to roof "I get that I can't mess with her memories, but what about commands? I ordered her not to move and it worked."

'Commands work to a certain extent,' he responded 'Very simple and short commands will work but nothing like 'say this if someone asks you this' or 'do this when this happens'.'

"What about just 'keep my secret'?"

'I'm assuming you would have to tell her exactly what that secret was and she would have to be at least partially willing to comply, you would have to convince her... but that's way too complicated! It's best if we dispose of her.'

Well, that was the most obvious option…

Hinata was still on the floor trying to figure out what was true and what was not, when she heard a noise. She looked up and there was Naruto-kun again. His hair wasn't bristly anymore, and his teeth seemed to be back to normal… but his eyes were still red and glowing. Was it true, then? Naruto-kun really was a…

"Hinata…" he called, interrupting her thoughts. Naruto had had a little discussion with Kyuubi about Hinata, but they finally decided that it would not be wise to "dispose" of her, which was clearly the fastest, easiest and most obvious option. It would be hard to create an alibi, it would be even harder for the people to believe it, and then the whole plan with Gaara would have been for nothing. 'That's all this is,' Naruto kept telling himself 'it would be an inconvenience, that's all.' Naruto had forsaken all feelings, wasn't that the price? And what was that ridiculousness of thinking a human didn't deserve to die? He had to forget all about that.

After their discussion, Kyuubi gave him some instructions. He sighed. 'On with it, then,' he thought. He walked silently toward Hinata and knelt down so that they would be the same eye-level.

"Hinata, do you know what I am?" he asked. Naruto-kun was too close to her face, making her blush and really want to look away. But she couldn't look away from those rubies, they were hypnotizing.

"Naruto-kun… you… you're a…" she stuttered. She got tangled in her own words; she couldn't concentrate and couldn't think.

"I am not a vampire," he said "I am a Jinchuuriki. I have a demon sealed inside my body that requires blood, and I made a deal with him. If I gave him blood, I received power in exchange." Hinata just stared at him, trying to swallow the information, trying to make it connect with reality somehow. "At first, it was just a really good drink I wanted more of… but now I need it, Hinata. If I don't have it, I feel like I am drowning, suffocating. I feel like I'm being crushed by a boulder and my throat is on fire. I need it, Hinata."

Hinata gulped softly, he was getting even closer to her. All she could see were those eyes. Those eyes that, although were now a different color, still reflected all the loneliness and pain only she seemed to notice. More than that, they seemed to be pleading. They were pleading for understanding.

"Do you know why I'm telling you all this, Hinata?" he whispered. "It's because…" He leaned in closer until their foreheads touched and lifted his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, leaving his large palm under her jaw while caressing her cheek with his thumb, "I know you can keep a secret." Hinata's breath quickened as he leaned in even further, his intentions clear. She could feel his hot breath on her lips as he softly murmured, "You can keep my secret, can't you? Hinata?"

He gently touched his lips to hers while his hand moved from her cheek to her jaw, his fingertips tracing the bone, and then to her nape where it stayed, keeping a firm grip on her, holding her closer.

It was supposed to be a soft peck but… what was this Naruto was feeling? This tingling in his abdomen and… no! Naruto did not feel anymore. That was the price, that was the price... and yet, he couldn't stop himself from deepening the kiss. He had never wanted more of anything other than blood… but he wanted more of this…

'NO!' he thought, rejecting those unwelcome thoughts and feelings.

He gently pulled away from her, their foreheads still touching. Hinata was as red as a tomato. 'My first kiss… my first kiss… and it was with Naruto-kun! With Naruto-kun!' she thought. Then, she stopped herself, remembering what he was.

"Naruto-kun… I… I don't know…" she whispered, pulling away.

"Hinata…"

"D-Did you really… k-kill those people?" she stuttered quietly, expecting the worst.

"No," he said. "I didn't kill them."

Hinata felt relief wash through her. That was worrying her so badly she thought she'd explode. He didn't kill those people… yokatta, yokatta.

"Please, Hinata. Please keep my secret," he whispered. "Everyone already hates me enough… if they knew I was an actual demon…" his voice trailed off and he looked down with sad, red eyes.

And with that she was convinced. "Naruto-kun, you're not a demon! Don't think that way! You're the sweetest guy I've ever met! You are strong and never give up and are always cheerful! You're not a demon at all!"

His eyes went wide and he blinked a couple of times. No one had ever said anything like that to him… no, that was the complete opposite of what everyone had told him before. Then, he smiled and Hinata could tell it actually reached his eyes this time. "Thank you, Hinata."

"D-Don't worry, okay? I'll keep your secret," she stuttered.

"Really?!" his face lit up, just like that. "Thanks, Hinata. Thanks a bunch."

His smiled turned weird at the end of that phrase, more like a triumphant smirk, but then it went back to joyful really quickly so Hinata decided it was her imagination. She smiled reassuringly.

"Oh, and, I'm sorry," he said "for drinking from you without your permission… I shouldn't have done that. I promise it'll never happen again, Hinata. The last thing I want to do is hurt you… so, please, will you forgive me?"

Hinata was surprised. She didn't expect this at all. "O-Of course… Naruto-kun. I-It's okay…" she said. The way he described it… being crushed by a boulder and his throat on fire, suffocating, not being able to breathe… that sounded horrible. And he was under surveillance for so long, not being able to lessen his pain…

He smiled and it made her heart melt. "Thank you, Hinata," he said.

What was this? This feeling of compression in his chest? Like… guilt? 'Stop being ridiculous,' he told himself. 'When will you understand that you can't feel anything anymore?!'

But he knew he was feeling guilty… for manipulating Hinata like that. Kurama had told him what to do, from the beginning. The kiss, the lying, the pleading… it was his plan. Naruto couldn't understand why he was feeling guilt. He had tricked a billion tourist girls before with a kiss. He had lied to ten times as many people. They were just humans, just lowly humans that deserved that and worse. Humans were horrible creatures. Why should he think Hinata was any different?

'You're not a demon! Don't think that way! You're the sweetest guy I've ever met! You are strong and never give up and are always cheerful! You're not a demon at all!' her words echoed in his mind and he started to smile…

'NO!' he scolded himself as he shook his head. He needed to push all those "feelings" away.

So, he did. No more guilt or other unwelcome and unnecessary "feelings." All he could feel now was satisfaction. Hinata had agreed to keep his secret, he had told her all of it, details of it, and his eyes were red when he gave the command. That meant she couldn't break the deal anymore. She couldn't talk about it with anyone.

He smirked, pleased with his work now. That was a very realistic performance, very convincing.

And so far, the command seemed to be working. It had been a couple of days since that night, and Hinata hadn't mentioned it at all. Just as he was monitored, he started to monitor her, too, making sure she didn't tell anyone at all. It wasn't hard, there weren't as many people roaming around the house now, his plan had worked.

Most of the people were after Gaara, confused by his trail. It gave Naruto great satisfaction to know everything was going according to plan. Just a few more days and they would forget all about him.

Things were going so great, he decided to go out. There was no one in the house, not even Hinata since she was gone shopping for groceries or something. Of course, they wouldn't leave him completely alone. He was still a suspect.

And just as he expected, there was the ANBU spy hiding in the roof the house he left behind as he walked down the main street. Knowing that someone was going to follow him, he didn't make a great escape from the house; he left out of the main entrance. And now he had a plan to carry out.

With a smirk, he leapt quicker than any eye could follow and landed soundlessly behind the now confused ANBU spy.

Before he could turn, Naruto grabbed him by the shirt and smashed him against a wall. Seeing him squirm around as he choked made Naruto smile. He turned his eyes red.

"Is anyone else following?" he asked. When his eyes were red and he asked a question, they had to answer with the truth.

Having no option, the ANBU spy shook his head.

"Good," said Naruto with a smile. "Have you told anyone I left the house?"

The ANBU spy nodded and Naruto made a tsk noise. "That's not good," he said. "I'm going to let go now, you are not going to move a muscle or talk unless instructed to, you are not going to scream and you are going to tell me exactly what you reported. Understand?"

The ANBU spy nodded and Naruto let go of his shirt. The ANBU spy took a few deep breaths and said, "I-I reported... 'Naruto Uzumaki has left the Hyuuga Residence through the main entrance and is walking toward town. I will now follow.'"

"Are you carrying a microphone?" Naruto asked. The ANBU spy shook his head. "How did you make that report?"

"I sent a summoned messenger," he responded.

"That's not too troublesome, then," Naruto said with a confident smile."You are to ignore anything you see, pretend everything is in perfect state and when you make your report, you will say I merely went for ramen at Ichiraku's and went back to the house before anyone returned. There was no unusual or suspicious activity. Is that understood?"

The ANBU spy nodded. "Good," he said with a satisfactory smile. "You may carry on, then."

He took a few steps back and jumped to the nearest building faster than the eye could follow, making it look as though he had vanished. Very pleased with how things were going, he started hunting for prey. Maybe he'd even get Gaara something.

He looked around as he jumped from building to building when he heard a scream only audible to his super-human ears. That voice… it couldn't be… Hinata?

Hi! I'm so sorry it took me so long to write this . I have 3 important projects at the same time, one in English, one in Science, and one in History T_T Anyway, I hope you enjoyed :) Thank you for reading, following and favoriting and thank you for all your reviews, I really appreciate them! :D