Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Saint Seiya.
A/N: I apologize to all my readers for the long and horrible wait. Unfortunately, my computer has decided to go into early retirement and so until I get a new computer updates will be slow (even more than usual) for all of my stories. No, I haven't stopped writing or anything of the sort. In fact, I'm fill with a bunch of new ideas. Sadly, though, my computer doesn't give a shit.
"Do you believe in real evil?" - Evernight
"Him?"
"No."
"What about her?"
"No."
"Her?"
"No…"
"Him then?"
"NO! FOR THE LAST TIME, PARAMOUR, NO!" Naruto raised his hands up in the air in a sign of defeat. "I FEEL NOTHING FOR ANY OF THEM!"
"Okay, okay. Jeeze, I'm only trying to help," Paramour sulked, crossing her arms. "Well, if you're not overwhelmed with any sort of bloodlust, then none of these people has your preference. Which brings us back to square one." She sighed and glanced at her watch. "I have to go to work soon. Let's go home. There's nothing left for us to do here."
"What about you?" Naruto asked as they began to leave the club district. It had been Paramour's grand idea to pass by the clubs in case they spotted or passed by someone with Naruto's preference, with no such luck. They've done this for three nights already and be was beginning to worry.
The vampire already looked frail enough; now she appeared like glass, broken at a single careless touch.
Paramour, however, waved away his concerns. "I'll feed on the way. You're not ready to witness that yet," she told him with a smile. Though she felt some tingles in where hate existed in the smallest amounts among the party-goers, she did not need the blood desperately. She could wait.
They walked home under the dime lighting of the street lamps, silent as they each thought about their little predicament. Well, Naruto's predicament. Paramour still thought it was too dang funny.
"Lighten up, Naru. It's not like you're lusting after an ugly guy. From what you tell me, he could definitely pass for a girl." With a wicked smile, she added, "Why not bring him over? I could give him a makeover. With the right clothes and maybe some implants, I could make him into your dream girl. Much better than that Sakura chick you keep telling me about."
"Go to hell!" Naruto cursed wearily. All this searching was bearing was him down. Add on to that the detention he keeps getting, dodging alone time with Shun, trying to ram Shun against the wall and bite him, he was ready to collapse.
"Hey." Paramour sent him a sweet smile. "Don't worry so much. Just because I couldn't figure it out doesn't mean no one else can. Tell you what, we'll go to the party that's being held this weekend and ask the big guy himself."
"Ask the ero-sennin? Sorry but I think I'll pass. I hate it how he comes on to you."
"I think it's flattering," the vampire said. "It shows that there are some out there who lusts after this homely figure of mine."
Homely? She had to be kidding. Paramour, though on the short side, barely reaching Naruto's shoulder, was really pretty. With a full bosom, curves in the right places and legs built to drive a man wild. Her hair resembled charcoal in its smoky dark color and her large eyes shifted from red to a deep burgundy at times. Homely didn't even match.
Naruto wasn't really intimidated by such beauty because he did not see her as a woman. More, actually, as the scatter-brained mother he wished he had. She was his best friend, and loved her to a fault. The vampire, he hoped, shared the same feelings.
"There's no way in hell that you're homely, Paramour," he told her seriously.
She smiled at him. "Thank you," she said, "but you'll change your mind once you've seen how a real vampire looks like."
---
She had a point, Naruto realized, trying to look his hardest as if he were actually working on the assignment. Both Sasuke teme and Gaara were unnaturally beautiful, as were many in the school. Stand the vampires next to the humans and you could practically see them glow brighter than them. It was probably that allure that drew the ningen to them.
He stopped fake writing to look at the clock. Three-thirty. He had been in detention for nearly an hour. Great. He just hoped he had remembered to tell Paramour so she would worry.
She was certainly a much better parent than the old guy he had stayed with during his childhood.
Jiraiya was a powerful figure in both the human and vampire society. He was famous for his erotic novels and the information network he managed. Also, he had been one of the last students taught by the vampire king himself, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Along with having a lecherous personality, his was not the lifestyle to raise a young child, especially that of his own student, Minato.
Naruto, more or less, had been raised by the maids and the occasional bedmate who stayed longer than the rest. Jiraiya was a good man, but he was not fit to be a father, and so, when the boy turned nine, passed guardianship to the next of kin, who happened to be Paramour through some default in the family.
The blonde did see his godfather from time to time, but would rather not since he ogles every woman they came upon, which was mainly Paramour. He most definitely did like the old vampire to be checking out his mom.
He spent the rest of the hour half-asleep, thinking about nothing. The assignment had already been finished before he came to detention, so he didn't have to worry about Ibiki giving him beef over it.
Finally, the hour passed and Ibiki let Naruto's and the others go. "Don't forget you got a whole week left of this, Uzumaki," the stern teacher reminded the blonde.
As if he needed the reminder. "Yes sir," he said. "I'll be here." When Ibiki turned his back, Naruto childishly stuck his tongue out.
Outside the shadows had begun to take over, sending the school in a depression gloom. The sky was purple that faded into a dark blue, with a last burst of gold left as a memento by the sun.
Right about now, he thought, Paramour would be getting up. He hoped once again that he had remembered to tell her.
An alarm flared inside his body, as the streaks of gold finally disappeared in the sky. The night has fallen and everywhere, vampires would also be getting out of the coffin, ready to rule the world of night.
To hunt and feed.
A pulse went through him, as his fangs lengthened to fine, glistening points. What the hell is wrong with me? Naruto thought, almost giddy with hysteria. I'm vamping out and there's no one around-!
"Um, Naruto-san? I was wondering if we could talk."
Out of all the nights, the days, Shun chooses to act brashly like this. It was unbelievable. Sure Naruto might have been pushing things a little bit with all of the avoiding and running away, but had it been enough to guarantee a confrontation? He hadn't thought so and yet here the boy was, on a really bad night.
Naruto covered his mouth and kept his face turn away. They were alone in the courtyard, the janitor being somewhere else. However, he wasn't chancing it, would not expose himself if he could manage it. Luckily, the shadows were helping.
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice terribly muffled.
"I… I wanted to apologize," Shun said, looking uncomfortable. "I'm not sure what I did to horribly offend you, but I hope you can forgive my rudeness. I am sorry."
For a long moment, Naruto simply gawked. He had been the one horribly rude and Shun was apologizing? Gods, the kid was weird.
He waved it off with his free hand. "Don't apologize. It's got nothing to do with you. Now go." Hopefully, the guy would take a hint and leave. It was hard controlling this urge and even more painful to hold himself back, like if he had suffered a physical wound.
Sadly, the boy was dense. "Hey. Are you alright? Naruto-" He came close, so close.
Naruto jumped. He rammed Shun into the wall. The boy gave a grasp of pain and stared up at his attacker, about to demand what was his problem. Naruto didn't know what he saw in his face, but it must of have been terrifying, for Shun shut up, his dark eyes wide.
He felt terrifying, panting with his mouth open, revealing his fangs and how they gleamed. His eyes were probably glowing with a fierce blue fire and suddenly Naruto was so hungry that he couldn't think straight.
There, in front of him, was his preference, flowing, pulsing in a large vein at the boy's pale throat.
Food. Dinner. His instincts drove him and he gentled his grip on Shun, tilting the boy's neck to the side.
"Na-Naruto-san!" Shun gasped, struggling in his grasp.
Naruto blinked and let him go. A burning sensation filled his chest as he stared, horrified at what he had been about to do. What a monster he had become.
Moving back, he shook his head in disbelief. "Shun. I-I," he swallowed, feeling his fangs rip the inside of his mouth as he did. "I'm so sorry, Shun."
Leaving the gasping boy behind, Naruto ran into the night.
---
Something had happened, something big and bad enough to make her charge so depressed. When Naruto pleaded a headache, Paramour let him ditch school and spend the day in bed. She lost sleep and precious energy but ignored it.
"If we're going to this party Saturday night," she told him softly. "We have to go to Shaina's tonight. But I could go alone if you're not feeling well."
Naruto stirred. "Nah, I'll go with you," he said, lifting himself up. "I have a feeling I might have to carry you back home."
She stuck her tongue out. "I'll have you know that I'm much stronger than I look," she said.
Naruto believed her.