He took one look at the girl and was truly insulted.

THIS is it? He thought angrily as he examined Pinkielocks, the candystriper, lying on the floor. This random teenage girl is the reason why..?. His power, his self-control, his pride? Sucked away because this girl has some kind of pull on him?

There's no way. No way in hell.

The vampire walked around her and figured his mark was somewhere or someone else. His senses could still feel it. The fire in his throat wasn't allowing him to just walk away. He needed this. This specific taste he's been craving for, but could never find. This hidden delicacy that's been evading him for years. Every nerve in his body was ablaze, calling out to him to follow the right direction. All he needed was a sign…

"Hey!"

And he got one.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going!"

He had never felt a stronger urge to kill.

[3] The Fear

The urge.

It wasn't from anger. It wasn't from annoyance. It was from her.

This stupid girl.

The fire was spreading wildly. It was now crawling under his skin, pushing every muscle fiber in his body to act. The whole room shot up a billion degrees the moment she spoke. He wanted to pierce through her skin and rip out her throat so she would never speak another word ever again. The second her blood was boiling, the second he felt this unbearable agitation. Before he even had a chance to act, a billion ways to suck her dry ran through his mind. He can do the classic bite-on-the-wrist. The ripping of appendages. He could let heads roll.

God, it didn't matter. He just wanted to yank on her cherry pink hair, tilt her head back and take a long, luscious bite on her creamy, porcelain skin...her nice slender neck…

God, this bitch was fucking with him.

"I was watching where I was going. It's not my fault a pink-haired freak enjoys jumping out of bushes to fuck with people."

Damn her.

He needed another plan. A plan to get rid of her, to finally be free of this burden. He couldn't take it anymore. Sure, he could just slaughter her right here, in a hospital…full of people. No, no, that would be unreasonable. He would get caught. He would cause a panic. He really couldn't take it anymore. But then, her bubbly, emerald orbs were staring right into his.

Perfect.

Manipulation. The blackness from his eyes melted away to reveal a crimson illusion, the Sharingan. He began to put her under as she kept her eyes locked on him. Commands were sprouting in his mind, sending signals to her through his ocular powers.

Walk out of here, and never look back.…

Lure her out of here. Easy enough. It worked on over half the hospital staff. She'll just feel a sudden urge to walk outside, into a dark alley, all alone…And judging by the glaze in her eyes, she was already falling for his looks and everything she can get her eyes on. Then this should work out, right? …Right?

Then why the hell wasn't she moving?

His glare just intensified, but nothing changed. Who was this girl? Did she know he was a vampire? What is she? At that moment, he had another whiff of her.

A saccharine aroma: fear.

She's…scared of me?

.

In the natural world, the prey learned to run, to hide, to escape from a predator. In the unnatural world of the supernatural, the prey never gets the chance to run. Once a human, male or female, gets trapped in the eyes of a vampire, all hope is lost. If you're lucky enough to be blind, you'll just get pulled in by a vampire's alluring smell or sensual voice. If you're a potato who lost all senses, consider yourself dinner anyway. You'll be frozen in place, mesmerized, no matter what you do.

Death is certain.

But not every kill is the same way. There are the easy ones that look you straight in the eye, fall deep under manipulation and let you feed on them until they drop. Then there are the exceptions.

It's the rare exceptions that make the hunt more amusing. It's the thrill of the chase. The exotic moment when human-generated fear decides to creep under the skin and control the fragile mind.

Fear is a vampire's delicacy.

But fear tells you to run. Not to stand and stare. Not to marvel at the beauty or to enjoy the smell. The fear overpowers the appeal of a vampire. It defeats the manipulation.

So he, Sasuke Uchiha, stood there.

Defeated.

By dawn the next morning, Sasuke had gone through five blood bags courtesy of the Konoha Medical Center. The drained plastics were carelessly thrown into a disheveled pile onto his side table. Even with fuel in his system, he was still tired enough to crash on his very welcoming bed. Instead, he was just sitting on it, arms across his chest and his legs spread out in front of him, glaring at the wall.

He was too pissed to fall asleep.

He had to let his pink-haired target go and he still didn't understand why. It was eating at him, almost as much as the killer need to just find her again, hope she's alone, and sink his fangs into her. He knew her fear saved her from compulsion. Her human instincts were able to convince her that he was not good news. Basic vampire 101.

But how was she even able to feel scared?

She had no idea he was a vampire. The second she looked into his eyes, she should've been drawn to him, making the compelling so much easier. And yet, she was still able to resist it. She was still able to feel fear. It would make sense if she didn't have a look at him, didn't hear his voice, or anything, but she did.

Damn it, he cursed as he rubbed his temples. The whole thing was giving him a headache. The more he thought about it, the more confused he got. Was it her? Was it him? Damn it…

What made things worse was that he did not even know how things got this far. How did he even acquire her as a target in the first place? He has never met this girl in his entire dead-life.

Suddenly, Sasuke remembered stories his mother told him about hunting. He recalled that she would talk about elder generations who took advantage of the natural vampire impulse to hunt. The predator would pick any human for any reason as their mark. Instantly, the lifer's scent becomes oddly distinctive and easily detectable even when the target was standing in a crowd. The vampire then becomes obsessed with pursuing their prey until the living bloodbag provided its last drop of blood. He could relate to every symptom in every possible way. It was understandable for the old folks to busy their lives with following just one human for a few meals because back then, hunting was necessary.

In the past, mortals were generating an obsession over the occult: witches, demons, curses, spells…and vampires. Bloodfeeders would have found trouble hiding in olden society if humans would drop dead constantly, with fang marks all over. It was bad enough that mass killings like witch trials and demon exorcisms were popular at the time. So, vampires learned and adapted to feed on a person more than once before just slashing their heads off. Think of it as being eco-friendly in a twisted sort of way.

But to hell with being eco-friendly.

Modern society shunned the supernatural and started believing in the sciences instead of the spirits. They would assume murder instead of voodoo, assault instead of hexes. It was safer to just kill freely these days. Why waste time trying to find the same person over and over again when there are about 7 billion other entrees to try? The more the merrier.

So, this left the brooding, spiky-haired bloodsucker to wonder how this could've happened. The last time he ever attempted to hunt was decades ago, and his target would have most certainly died by now. So when did this ditzy, cherry-haired, jade-eyed freak manage to get into his head?

.

Sometime between dawn and seven in the morning, Sasuke fell asleep whether he planned to or not. One hand was sprawled over his face and his other lay over his unmoving chest. In a second, both hands curled into fists when boisterous, incessant knocks on his bedroom door woke him. He unlocked and pulled open the door to see Naruto, up and ready to tackle another day at school. The blonde had on a wide ear-to-ear grin on his bright and excited face, which meant he was ready to ask for a favor.

"Hey, best buddy… how was your good night's sleep?" Naruto liked to ease the tension with some friendly gestures such as asking how the weather was or how well his best pal in the whole wide world slept.

"…" Sasuke chose not to respond and kept his tired, lifeless eyes on his "best buddy". He wasn't entirely sure if he was falling asleep standing up, but he could feel himself drifting in and out of a dream sequence that included Naruto's head on a spear, on fire, or a combination of the two.

"Man…you're just so cool. I wish I was just like you…", the schoolboy sighed dreamily. After easing tension, Naruto would make it to faze two: try to throw in a compliment or two to get on Sasuke's good side which was almost nonexistent. "Did you know that-"

"What do you want, Naruto?" asked the Uchiha, who was already bored with this ass-kissing routine. His freeloader friend does it almost every week.

"Phew, thank god you caught on! I was running out of good stuff to say about you…"

Not the best thing to say to someone when you want to ask for an act of kindness. Sasuke cleared his throat.

"Uh, right! Anyway, can I borrow some money for-"

SLAM.

Hello. Naruto's face, meet Sasuke's bedroom door.

"Aw c'mon, man! Cut me some slack!" came a disembodied yell and pounding on the door.

"Hmm… let's see. I let you live in my house…I let you use my electricity and water which YOU didn't even have in your hellhole you called an apartment…" Sasuke lifted up a finger as he counted all the times the leech needed a favor. He concluded that he didn't have enough fingers.

"I need shoes for school! Have a heart!"

The Uchiha could hear the melodramatic sobs from the other side of the door and it only made him turn the lock in response.

"Not my problem. You're the one who decided to go to school in the first place," an idea that still boggled his mind. He wondered why Naruto would even bother. The homework, the classwork, and not to mention, it's like surrounding yourself with potential dinners. Why torture yourself like that?

Considering his current, unpredictable state, Sasuke was a ticking time bomb if he surrounded himself with that many people. Crowded hallways, classrooms, locker rooms… In a way, Naruto was more suitable for the schooling experience, but it was still a mystery how a creature as old as Naruto could still fail 11th grade trigonometry.

"Bah! Fine then! See if I care! Bastard!" he yelled as he banged obnoxiously against the door as a last ditch effort and stomped as loudly as he could until he reached the estate's entrance. Sasuke could still hear grumbled curse words in the distance.

Sasuke just sighed roughly and bent down to reach a miniature freezer that carried more hospital blood baggies. He popped the cap off, lay on his bed, and stared at the wall. Then he realized why a dead last, know-nothing, knucklehead would ever want to go back to high school for the thousandth time in his undead life…

He was so damn bored.

He wasn't sure what possessed him to do it, but he jumped into his glossy, custom-made ride from Otogakure, his previous destination before he travelled into Konoha. Now, his destination was to Konoha High. He slid into the black leather seats of his Oto-Viper and adjusted the back mirror. If there was one thing he was glad was untrue, it's that stupid myth about vampires not being visible in mirrors. How would he manage to fix his hair in the morning?

The heavily tinted windows worked wonders on his sensitive eyes, but he sported a pair of tasteful shades for extra protection. The onyx polish of the car's exterior twinkled brighter than diamonds in the sun and the vehicle's body was designed with every aspect of aerodynamics in mind. He thrust in the key to power the mighty engine and the machine roared to life, flaunting its rumbling purr.

Sasuke pulled down the vertical car door, and pushed onto the pedal. He slowly backed out of the garage and drove down the cobblestone driveway to make a turn onto the relatively empty street. The whole block was deserted even when it wasn't a school day. The Uchiha Estate at the end of the cul-de-sac was rumored to be "abandoned and haunted for many years" which was half true, but obviously not anymore. Ever since it was "haunted," many real estate developers avoided the block and eager future homeowners were ready to find some other neighborhoods to reside in. After all the commotion, once-neighboring houses became vacant and withered over time. Besides the eyesore coming from scanty houses, the dead end was dead quiet and a decent place to hide out, especially when you're a vampire.

By the time he pulled up into the high school's parking lot, the last bell went off. The building's entrance looked like it was about to burst as teens were shoving and dodging out of crowds to make it to freedom. The air filled with chatter from students and honks from vehicles.

Then it went silent.

Konoha High cleared out fast; about 20 minutes later, all the buses and minivans disappeared. Even the Uchiha was impressed, but he still did not catch a glimpse of his blonde housemate, so he walked into the building.

The high-ceilinged entrance hall was spacious. Konoha insignia embellished flags, trophy cases, and school spirit posters that had crappy slogans like "Go Kono Go!" and "Rah! Rah! Konoha!" As Sasuke walked into the middle of the lobby, he noticed the large emblem was designed into the floor underneath his feet. He eyed it before he shifted his gaze to an adjacent hallway. Further down, he can see Naruto, running like his entire existence depended on it.

"Aghhh! No! I missed the bus, didn't I! Crap, crap, CRAP!" he yelled at no one in particular as he checked a timepiece clinging to his wrist. Sasuke could get a clear view at Naruto's arm. Since when did Naruto own a dazzling titanium watch?

"That's. My. Watch," growled the Uchiha, loud enough for the swindler's acute hearing. His sapphire blue eyes grew large as a dark-colored blur was speeding towards him. Naruto threw his binder in the air to make a speedy getaway. Papers flew all over and obstructed the blur's view but only for a millisecond.

"AHHH! WAITTT, DON'T KILL ME!"

"Too late now!"

The two vampires were speeding down halls and around the twists and turns of the school. They looked like dashing shadows, breaking the sound barrier. Naruto, lacking any kind of footwear and coordination, slid on the linoleum floors and fell flat on his face. Sasuke felt unexpectedly generous today and decided that that was enough punishment for the guy.

"Ow…I fink I bwoke my face…" Naruto whimpered as he sat up and rubbed his tender cheek.

"You'll be fine in 10 minutes."

.

As they were headed back to the entrance, Naruto was still on Sasuke's case about lending him some money for shoes. Sasuke responded with taking back his watch and ignoring everything Naruto was saying, but if there was one thing Naruto was really good at, it was being annoying. He was poking, kicking, following, mocking, and irritating Sasuke. He decided to just repeat one word over and over again until his stingy friend cracked.

"Bananas, Bananas, Bananas, Bana-"

"Hey." Sasuke stopped abruptly; Naruto, who was trailing behind too close for comfort, bumped into his back.

"Hey! So, you're willing to give me some money?"

"What happened to your shoes, anyway?" Not that he cared, he just asked because he knew it would keep the blonde busy for a minute or two.

"Uh…well, gym was reeeeeally boring because everyone else was already playing basketball or just sitting around, but I had to wait for the teacher to give me a gym locker…But I didn't wanna be a lazy bum, so I went to play some ball! But there weren't any left…"

"So you ingeniously decided to use your shoe…"

"Yup, and then of COURSE it gets stuck up there! Stupid gravity. So I use my second shoe, because I mean, c'mon, what's the use of one shoe if you can't have the other! Am I right?"

He had a point.

"I'm not surprised this happened, considering it's you."

"WHADDJU SAY!"

"You heard me."

The two vampires had an all-out brawl with their angry stares.

"Arghhh, I need to be nice to you! Can I PLEASE have some money, you wonderful, wonderful…person…" The corner of his cerulean eye twitched. The Uchiha just continued walking towards the entrance.

Translation: No.

"Aww, c'mon, just lemme borrow a pair!"

At that second, Sasuke felt a rush of intense heat him tear at his skin. The air smelled so sickly sweet, he could taste it. He was feeling the strong sensation again. It was burning up inside him, but he had to keep cool. He didn't want Naruto finding out about it; Uzumaki may be dense, but he wasn't blind. Trying to keep the façade going, Sasuke answered back: "Not a chance."

The blonde just kept sprouting some banter about his socks, while Sasuke just kept retorting with blunt comebacks to get the other fuming. He thought if he could just ignore the urge, just this once, it would just go away. But it wasn't working; it was only getting worse. In the corner of his eye, he could see pink. His little prey was coming down the hall. He still had questions for her so he didn't want to let this chance slip away.

Then, he could kill her.

The two vampires made their way out of the school. Naruto, oblivious to Sasuke' plan, kept walking towards the Oto-Viper sitting in the parking lot. Sasuke stayed behind and waited for his game to walk right into his trap. He could pick up the sound of her steps coming closer.

Closer.

"Miss me?" he asked as he kicked off the wall he was leaning on. The schoolgirl answered with some form of a gasp or a word mixed together. He used this one second of her surprise to size her up. She looked like she ran into hell and back, but then took a wrong turn and ended up in hell again. He wasn't sure whether he should feel bad for her or not. The feeling igniting in his throat was reminding him not to.

"Care to explain why you're following me?" he asked with a hint of sensuality to his voice. The ultimate plan created by the great Uchiha was to seduce her.

Yes. Seduce her.

Yes, the plan was sleazy, but it shouldn't be hard since she was already had that lovestruck look on her face again. But the last time he said something shouldn't be hard, the complete opposite happened: nothing worked. He knew he had to pull out every seduction skill he had. Normally, his natural vampire essence would catch his prey for him; he never had to actually try to seduce anyone. But the sooner he has her under his spell, the sooner he can try to manipulate her again.

"For your information, Demon spawn, I go to this school. And I'll have you know that-"

"You're excited to see me?" He took a step closer to her to close the gap between them. The flush on her face was so obvious, it only made him pull out a smirk. Her scent was unexpectedly intoxicating and he was sure she felt the same way about him. She wants to rip his shirt off. He wants to rip her head off.

Fair enough, right?

Her cherry lips were parted slightly, as if she was ready to say something. He wanted to her hear voice tremble before him. But the wrong voice broke the silence.

"Yo, SASUKE! Can ya move your ass? I really need to take a crap!" Naruto yelled from the parking lot. He was standing next to the car, urgently waving his hands in the air. Sasuke cursed in his head and made a mental note to shove Naruto's excrements back down his throat. He turned back to the pink-haired girl in front of him. She looked so innocent, but she was toying with him.

That bitch.

He quickly tried to put her under with his Sharingan, again, but nothing was happening.

Again.

And he was really losing his patience with her. What is wrong with this girl?

"I'm not done with you."

The next morning, KHS was completely void of students that usually crowded the building. The front of the school was free of cars, minivans, buses. It was a beautiful Saturday morning in early autumn.

After parking the Viper in the lot, Sasuke strolled through the front doors and into the main office. He took a look around the room. There were a few teachers chatting in the corner of the room about what their plans were for this weekend. In another corner of the room, a small line was forming behind the woman currently at the photocopier. A calm voice pulled him away from his observations.

"Hello, are you new here?" asked an elderly woman sitting at the desk. Her short nails were clicking against the keyboard as her attention was set on the computer screen. According to a polished nameplate, she was Koharu Utatane, one of the main guidance secretaries in the school. Her dark, squinted eyes looked up. Sasuke's shady hair moved with him as he nodded his head.

"Do you have papers for us?" Sasuke handed her a black, leather folder filled with his transcript from the last school he went to 30 years ago. He edited some parts of it, but made it look very legitimate. A wrinkled hand took the folder and examined its contents. She responded with a "wait here for a moment" and walked into another hallway in the back of the room. Meanwhile, he turned around and looked at the large bulletin board.

There was a small map of the school.

He memorized it.

The board also had flyers about some peer tutoring sessions being offered in the library and the schedules for late buses that were barely used. It made him wonder why the pink-girl didn't take a bus home…

"Okay, son," called the grey-haired woman who was shuffling back to her desk, "the principal, Mr. Sarutobi, reviewed your transcript and it's being approved as we speak. I'm just going to need you to have your parents sign these…" She hummed as she shuffled through the pile of papers on her desk. After finding what she was looking for, she pushed the multicolored sheets towards the boy. "Just bring them back on Monday, signatures and all, and then we'll give you your new schedule. Alright?"

"Thank you," he said as he eyed the papers in his hand. There were a lot of technical jargon about school rules and responsibilities of the guardians and the student. He was ready to pull out a pen and sign all the signatures himself because the only "guardian" he had left was nowhere to be found. He didn't want to be too obviously about forging signatures either, so he decided to do all the work at home.

He stepped into the parking lot and into his onyx car. He revved up the engine and accelerated down the road, away from the school.

Once Monday came around, KHS would get a little more dangerous.

The Fear.

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