Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or Dark Curse: a Carpathian novel.

Dark Curse

Chapter One:

"Sakura, let's get out of here," Kago Ki said. "It's getting dark and there's nothing here." He shouldered his caving gear, not surprised that they hadn't found an entrance to an ice cave. If no one had discovered the cave in the Shanobi Mountains by this time, he doubted if the place even existed.

Sakura Haurno ignored him, continuing to scan the mountainside for the smallest crack that might reveal the presence of a cave. She wasn't wrong—not this time. She had felt a chakra surge the moment she set foot on the upper slopes of the mountain. She took a deep breath and pressed a hand over her pounding heart. This was it. This was the place she had spent her life searching for. She would recognize that flow of chakra anywhere. She knew every weave, every jutsu, her body absorbing the gathering chakra so that veins sizzled and nerve endings burned with the electrical current building inside of her.

"I've got to go with Kago on this one," Izumo Kotsu agreed. "This place gives me the creeps. We've been on a lot of mountains, but this one doesn't like us." He gave a nervous laugh. "Besides, it's getting dicey up here."

"No one says 'dicey' anymore," Sakura murmured, running her hand along the face of the rock looking for threads of chakra. The two men were not only her climbing partners but her closest friends. Although, at the moment she wished she'd left them behind, because she new she was right. The cave was here she just had to find the entrance.

"Whatever," Izumo snapped. "It's getting dark and there's nothing here but mist. And this fog is creeping me out, so let's go."

Sakura spared the two men an impatient glance and then surveyed the countryside. Ice and snow glittered, coating the surrounding mountains with what appeared to be sparkling gems. Far below, despite the gathering dusk, she could see castles, farms and churches. Sheep dotted the meadows and in the distance she could see the river churning. Overhead, birds cried, filling the sky then diving toward her only to break off abruptly and circle again. The wind shifted continuously, biting at her face and every bit of exposed skin, and causing her thickly bound hair to whip in the breeze. Occasionally, a rock would fall down the slope and bounce off the ledge as it fell to the hillside below.

Gorges and ravines cut through the snow-capped mountains, plants clung to the sides of the rocks and shivered naked along the plateaus. She could see the entrances to several caves and felt a strong pull as if they were trying to tempt her to leave her current search. But, she needed to be here—in this spot—this place. She had studied the geography carefully and knew, deep within the earth, a massive network of ice caves had formed.

The higher she climbed, the thicker the white mist surrounding her became. With each step, the ground subtlety shifted and the birds overhead shrieked louder. Ordinary things, yes, but the subtle sense of unease, the whispering voice begging her to leave before it was too late, told her this was a place with chakra protection. And although the wind continued to blow in a shrieking wail, the mist remained a thick veil shrouding the upper slopes.

"Come on, Sakura," Kago tried again. "It took us forever to get the permits; we can't keep wasting our time on the wrong area."

It had taken considerable effort to get the permits for her study, but she had managed the usual was—using her gifts to persuade those who disagreed with her. Due to global warming concerns, the ice caves needed immediate study. Unique microorganisms called extremophiles thrived in the harsh environment of the caves, and far away from sunlight or traditional nutrients. Scientists hoped those microbes could aid in the fight against cancer or even produce an antibiotic capable of wiping out the newest emerging superbugs.

Her research project was fully funded and, although she was considerably young at the age of twenty-four, she was acknowledged as the leading expert in the field of ice-cave study and preservation. She'd logged more hours exploring, mapping and studying ice caves around the world than most researchers twice her age. She'd also discovered more superbugs than any other caver.

"Didn't it strike you as odd that no one wanted us in this particular region? They were fine giving us permits to look virtually anywhere else," she pointed out.

Part of the reason she'd persisted when no caves had been mapped in this particular area was because the department head had acted so strange—strange and rather vague when they had gone over the map. The natural geographical deduction after studying the area was that a vast network of ice caves lay beneath the mountain, yet the entire region seemed to have been overlooked.

Kago and Izumo had exhibited the exact same behavior, as if they didn't notice the structure of the mountain, even though both men were superb at finding ice caves from the geographical surface. Persuasion had been difficult, but all of that work was for this moment—this cave—this find.

"It's here," she said with absolute confidence.

Her heart continued to pound, not at the excitement of the find, but because walking had become such a chore, her body not wanting to continue. She suppressed the urge to run and pressed on through the safeguards, following the trail of power—judging how close she was to the entrance by how strong her need to run was.

Voices rose in the wind, swirling in the mist, telling her to go back, to leave while she still could. The warnings became much stronger and more insistent as she made her way along the slope searching for anything at all that might signal the opening to the caves. All the while she kept all senses alert to the possibility that monsters might lurk beneath the surface. But she had to enter—to find the place of her nightmarish childhood, to find the two dragons that she dreamed of nightly.

"Sakura!" this time Kago's voice was sharp with protest. "We have to get out of here. Now!"

Sakura barley spared him a second glance; instead she stood for a long moment studying the outcropping that jutted out from the smoother rock. Thick snow covered most of it, but there was and oddity to the formation that kept drawing her gaze back. She approached the rock cautiously. Several smaller rocks lay at the foot of the larger boulders, and strangely enough, not a single snowflake stuck to them. She didn't touch the smaller rocks; instead she studied them from every angle, carefully observing the way they were arranged.

"Something's out of place." She murmured. "It's the rocks. See, they should be arranged differently." So she leaned down and pushed the small pile of rocks into a different pattern.

Instantly the wind wailed, the sound rising to a shriek as it rushed toward her, blowing debris into the air so that it shot at her like small missiles. The ground shifted beneath them, as the mountain creaked in protest. Bats took to the air, pouring out of some unseen hole, a short distance from them, filling the sky until it was nearly black. The crack along the outcropping grew wider, while the mountain shuddered, shook, and groaned as if alive.

"I told you we shouldn't be here." Kago nearly sobbed.

Sakura took a deep breath and held her palm out toward the narrow slit in the mountainside, the only entrance—it seemed—to this particular cave. Chakra blasted out at her, and all around her, she could feel the safeguards, thick and ominous, protecting the opening.

"You're right, Kago," She agreed. "We shouldn't." Slowly she backed away from the outcropping and gestured toward the trail. "Let's go. And hurry." For the first time she was really aware of the time, the way the gathering darkness spread like a stain across the sky.

She would return tomorrow morning—without her two companions. She had no idea what was left in the elaborate ice caverns below, but she wasn't about to expose two of her closest friends to any potential danger. The safeguards that were in place would confuse them, so they wouldn't remember the location of the cave, but she knew how to reverse the jutsu so that the guards didn't affect her.

Ice caves themselves were dangerous. The continual pressure from overlying ice caps often sent great frozen chunks of ice blasting out of the walls, capable of killing anything they struck. But this particular cave harbored dangers far outweighing natural ones and she didn't want her friends anywhere near it.

The ground shifted again, throwing them all off balance. Izumo grabbed Sakura to keep her from falling, as Kago gripped the outcropping, fingers digging into the widening crack. Beneath their feet, something slithered under the ground, raising the surface several inches as it raced toward the rocks.

"What the hell is that?!" Izumo shouted, backpedaling. He thrust Sakura behind him in an effort to protect her as the dirt and snow spouted into a geyser inches from his feet.

Kago screamed his voice high-pitched and frightened as he fell backward, the unseen creature racing toward him beneath the earth.

"Get the hell up! Move!" Sakura yelled trying to get around Izumo's muscular frame to cast a holding jutsu. As he swung around, Izumo's backpack knocked her off her feet and sent her rolling down the steep slope. Her birthmark—a strangely shaped dragon on the left side of her stomach—suddenly flared to life, burning her skin and glowing red-hot.

Two dark green tentacles burst from the snow-covered ground—slick with blood so dark it was almost black—emerging on both sides of Kago's left ankle. The sound of bubbling mud rose along with the noxious, putrid stench of rotten eggs and sulfur. The smell was so overpowering the three of them gagged. The bulbous like tops of the tentacles reared back, revealing coiled snake heads that struck with brutal speed. Two curved, venomous fangs clamped down on Kago's ankle sinking nearly to the bone. Kago screamed and flailed in terror as his blood dripped onto the pristine snow.

The small gap in the ground began to widen into a large hole. The tentacles began to retreat toward the hole, slithering across the surface, dragging Kago with it. His screams of fear and pain grew louder, shrill with panic.

Izumo flung himself forward, gripped Kago under his arms and pulled with all his might. "Hurry, Sakura!"

Sakura scrambled to the top of the slope. The mist swirled and thickened around her, making it difficult to see. She raised her arms as she ran, gathering as much chakra as she could, unconcerned that her companions might see, knowing she was Kago's only chance for survival. Not once since leaving the ice caves had she used the wealth of knowledge her aunts had instilled in her, not until that moment. Chakra flooded through her. Her mind opened, expanded, reached deep into the well of knowledge and found the exact works she needed.

"It's too strong." Izumo dug in his heels and held on to Kago with every ounce of strength he possessed. "Stop wasting time and help me, damn it. Come on, Kago, fight!"

Kago ceased his screaming and began to fight in earnest, kicking with his free leg in an attempt to dislodge the two snake heads.

The vine threw more tentacles out, the greenish black stems writhing hideously, looking for a target. The teeth in Kago's ankle sank deeper, sawing flesh and bone in an effort to keep its prey.

Sakura flung herself forward, lifting her face to the sky as she muttered the words she found locked deep within her mind.

Lighting zigzagged across the sky, lighting the edge of the clouds. The air around them charged raising the hairs on their bodies. Sakura felt the electricity snapping and sizzling in her fingertips and focused on the thinner spaces between the long, thick bodies and the bulbous heads of the snake vines.

White-hot light streaked across the short distance and pierced the necks of the creatures. The smell of rotting flesh burst from the severed vines, as they dropped limply to the ground—leaving the teeth, with the heads attached, buried deep in Kago's ankle. The rest of the tentacles reared back in shock, than burrowed beneath the dirt and snow.

Kago grasped one of the heads about to pull it out. "No!" Sakura protested. "Leave it. We have to get out of here right now."

"It burns like acid," Kago complained. His face was pale, nearly as white as the snow, with beads of sweat dotting his forehead.

Sakura shook her head "We have to get off this mountain, now. We can't risk removing it, at least not until I can take a look at it."

She took his arm, slung it over her shoulder and signaled for Izumo to grab his other one. They steadied Kago between them and hurried off the slope and onto the path to their right.

"Just what the hell was that thing?!" Izumo hissed, his eyes meeting hers over Kago's head. "I've never seen a snake like that before."

"It had two heads, didn't it?" Kago asked, anxiety making him hyperventilate. "I didn't get a good look before it struck. Do you think it's poisonous?"

"It isn't attacking your central nervous system Kago," Sakura said, "at least not yet. I know a few things about medicine, so I can take a look when we reach the car. Then we'll get you back down to the village and find a doctor."

The mountain rumbled ominously, shaking beneath their feet. Sakura glanced up through the swirling white mist, where creaks began to appear in the snow.

Izumo swore, strengthened his grip and stared sprinting down the thin, winding trail. "It's going to come down on us."

Kago gritted his teeth against the pain radiating from his ankle. "I can't believe this is happening." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I feel sick."

Sakura kept her eyes on the mountain behind them as they raced along the slippery trail, dragging Kago every step of the way. "Faster. Keep moving." She urged.

The ground shifted as fans of snow slid toward the slope below them. The sight was dazzling, hypnotic even. Izumo shook his head several times, than looked at Sakura, puzzled. He slowed and looked around at the undulating snow. "Sakura? I can't remember what happened. Where are we?"

"We're about to be crushed by an avalanche. Kago's hurt and we have to run like hell. Now Move It!!!" She yelled with every ounce of command she could muster while on the run. Fortunately, both men obeyed, concentrating on getting down the steep slope as quickly as possible, and not asking anymore questions.

The safeguards protecting the cave were not only lethal, but they confused and disoriented any travelers who stumbled across them. The warning system was usually enough to make people so uneasy they left the area, but once triggered, the guards fought to erase memories or even kill to protect the cave.

It was definitely the place she had been looking for. Now all she had to do was survive in order to come back and discover the long-buried secrets of her past.

Izumo stumbled, and Kago screamed as one of the snake heads slammed into a particularly dense pile of snow and ice, shoving the teeth even farther into his flesh.

Sakura felt the mountain tremble. At first there was silence and then a distant rumbling. The sound increased in strength and volume until it became a deafening roar. The snow slid, slowly at first, than it picked up speed, churning and roiling, rushing toward them. Sakura forced down her panic and reached into the well of knowledge once again. Her aunts had never appeared human to her, but their voices had, and the immense wealth of information they had collected over the centuries had been stored in Sakura's memories.

She was Dragonseeker, a great shinobi heritage. She was human, with courage and strength. She was mage, able to gather chakra and use it for good. All of her ancestors were powerful beings. The blood of three mingled in her veins, yet she belonged in none of their worlds. Instead she walked her chosen path—alone, but always guided by the wisdom of the aunts.

Sakura felt the strength pour into her, felt the crackle of electricity as the sky lit up with lightning. Once more she looked over her shoulder, and sent a command to the wilds of nature to counteract the safeguards.

The snow suddenly stopped moving, sprayed in the air, frozen in place, curled over their heads like a giant wave.

"Run!" Sakura shouted. "We have to get the hell off this mountain."

Night was falling and the avalanche was not the worst thing they might encounter. The wind had stilled, but the voices remained, shrieking warnings she dared not ignore. They gripped Kago and half ran, half slid down the slope.

Kago left behind streaks of blood as they skidded over the icy surface. They were sweating profusely by the time they made it to the bottom. Locating their car was an easy task. In this particular part of Konoha, most locals used carts pulled by horses. Cars weren't a common sight at all and theirs, as small as it was, looked far too modern in a place centuries old.

Izumo dragged Kago through the meadow to where the car was parked beneath a barren tree. Sakura turned back toward the mountain, blew out a breath, than clapped her hands together tree times. There was an odd, expectant pause. Then the wave rolled, as snow dropped. The mountain slid, raising a cloud of white spray into the air.

"Sakura," Kago gasped. "You have to get these teeth out. My leg burns like hell and I swear something's crawling inside of my leg."

He was sprawled on the small backseat, his skin nearly gray, Sweat soaked his clothes and his breathing came in ragged gasps.

Sakura knelt in the dirt and examined the hideous heads. She knew what they were—Orochimaru's hybrids, bred to do his bidding. She'd seen the beginnings of them in her nightmares. The snakes injected a poisonous brew, including tiny microscopic parasites, into their victim's body. The organisms would eventually take over his body and then his brain, until he was a mere puppet to be used by Orochimaru.

"I'm sorry, Kago," she said softly. "The teeth are barbed and have to be removed carefully."

"Then you've seen this before?" Kago gripped her wrist and held her close to him. He was rocking back and forth in pain. "I don't know why, but the fact that you know what they are makes me feel a lot better."

It sure the hell didn't make her feel any better. She'd been a mere child when they dragged her into the laboratory. The sights and smells had been so horrendous she had tried to forget them. The stench of blood, the screams, the grotesque tiny worms in a putrid ball, wiggling in a feeding frenzy, consuming blood and human flesh.

Sakura took a deep breath and let it out. They didn't have much time. She needed to get Kago to a master healer who could handle such things, but she could at least slow the deterioration.

Izumo looked around him, then back up at the mountain, now quiet and still. White mists swirled, but the voices were gone. Overhead the clouds grew heavier and darker, but the mountain looked pristine—untouched—certainly not as if anyone had climbed it and been attacked.

"Sakura?" he sounded as puzzled as he looked. "I can't remember where we were or how these snakes attacked Kago. Don't snakes need warm weather? What the hell is wrong with me?"

"It doesn't matter right now. What matters is getting these teeth out of Kago's leg and getting him to the inn where someone who knows what they're doing can help him."

Someone with natural healing abilities. If they were in the vicinity where she had been held as a child, then it stood to reason someone would know how to treat a mage wound.

She closed her eyes to block out the sight of Kago's gray face and Izumo's anxious one. Deep inside she found her calm center. She could almost hear the whisper of her aunts' voices, directing her as the information flooded her mind.

"There might be someone much better at taking these out," Sakura said. "We can get you to the inn fast and the couple who own it might be able to find someone for us who has dealt with this before."

Kago shook his head. "I can't stand it, Sakura. If you don't take them out now, I'm going to rip them out. I can't fucking stand it anymore."

She nodded her understanding and reached beneath her jacket for the knife on her tool belt. "Let's get it done then. Izumo, get in the backseat on the other side and hold Kago's shoulders." More than anything, she didn't want Izumo where the tainted blood might get on him. The tiny microorganisms were dangerous to everyone.

Izumo obeyed her without question, as Sakura studied the first snake head. The hybrid was part plant, part living animal, and all frightening. It was meant to take over a person, no matter the species, and bring them under Orochimaru's control. It hadn't just been shinobi and humans he had tortured, but his own people as well. No one, not even his own family, was safe. Sakura and the aunts were living proof of that.

She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, slamming the door on memories that were too painful, too frightening to remember when she needed to concentrate. She had rarely used her healing abilities on anyone else in the last few years. In her childhood, she'd made that mistake on several occasions. While traveling with the gypsies, she'd knit broken bones, healed a wound from a blade, removed harmful bacteria from children's lungs. At first the people would be grateful, but inevitably they would come to fear her.

Never show that you are different. You must blend in wherever you are. Learn the language and the customs. Dress the way they dress. Speak as they speak. Cloak who and what you are and never trust anyone.

She liked Izumo and Kago—very much. They had worked together for several years, but she had been very careful never show them that she was different in anyway.

"Sakura." Kago's pleading voice forced her thoughts back to the task at hand. She steadied herself and gave him a reassuring nod. They were used to following her lead so it was only natural that they would look to her now. She took another breath and let it out, pushing down the revulsion welling up inside her.

The words to the healing chant rose out of that same bank of knowledge as she repeated them under her breath. She slid the razor-sharp knife beneath Kago's skin and found the barb.

The ancient shanobi language she'd learned as a child came easily to her. she might be rusty, having never used it other than to murmur it to herself before she fell asleep, the words having always been soothing to her.

As she whispered the healing works, she blocked Kago's pain. The fang curved into the skin, growing wider, digging deeper, and at the end near the point was a small barb that curved in the opposite direction. She had to slit the skin carefully to allow the points on either side to become loose enough to slide without further damaging Kago's leg.

At first she used her human sight, blocking all other ability to see until she had the barb out. Only then did she allow herself to look with the eyes of a mage. Tiny white worms writhed and burrowed, swarming into the cells to reproduce as quickly as possible. Her stomach lurched. It took tremendous effort to shed her awareness of her own thoughts and physical self and become the blaze of healing white chakra pouring into Kago's wound to burn the organisms as quickly as she found them.

The wormlike creatures tried to hide from the light as they quickly reproduced. She tried to be thorough, but Kago squirmed and moaned, distracting her. Then he reached down to his other ankle, trying to yank the snake head free.

Abruptly she found herself back in her own body, for a moment she was disoriented and panic-stricken. "Kago Stop! Leave it. I'll take care of it."

She was too late. He screamed as he yanked at the foul snake's head, tearing it loose from his ankle. The barb ripped through his skin and muscle. Blood sprayed the backseat and shot across the car to splatter Izumo's chest.

"Don't touch the blood with you hands!" Sakura yelled. "Use a cloth, and get you jacket off now."

She clamped both of her hands over the wound, pressing hard, ignoring the burning pain as the blood coated her skin. She fought past her own fear and panic to reach for the calm, cool center deep inside her. Calling on the healing chakra, burning white-hot and pure, to counteract the acid of the snake blood. The way her birthmark was burning there had to be vampire blood mixed in the foul brew, as well.

Izumo ripped his jacket open and threw it away as the material smoldered.

Kago grew quiet as Sakura sent the healing chakra streaking through his body to the gaping wound in his leg. The bleeding slowed to a trickle and the tiny wormlike creatures retreated form the spreading heat Sakura generated. She cauterized the wound, destroying as many of the parasites as she could before bathing her hands and arms in the same burning pure white chakra.

"Did you get any blood on you, Izumo?" he shook his head. "I don't think so. It felt like it, but I wiped my hands and face and there aren't any smears."

"Once we get Kago to a healer, take a shower as soon as you can. And burn your clothes. Don't just wash them, burn them. Burn everything."

She backed out of the seat, helping Kago to swing his legs out of the way of the door so she could close it, and then rushing around to the driver's side. Kago's coloring was terrible, but not as bad as his breathing. Part of his distress could be shock, the shallow, too-fast breathing of panic, but she feared she hadn't stopped the parasites from assaulting his body. He needed a master healer immediately.

She drove as fast as she could over the narrow, pitted mountain road, sliding through some of the sharper turns and bumping over the muddy holes. Dirty water sprayed into the air as the car fishtailed through mud and snow. All around them, the peaceful countryside seemed a sharp contrast to their terror and desperation.

Haystacks and cows surrounded them. Small thatch roofed houses and horse-drawn carts with huge tires gave the impression of stepping back in time to a much simpler slower-paced and happier era. The castles and abundance of churches gave the area a medieval look, as if knight on horses might come charging over the hills at any moment.

Sakura had traveled all over the world searching for her past. She remembered little of her journey from the ice cave and once the gypsies had found her, she had traveled all over the continent. Passed from family to family, she had never been told where they'd found her. Coming to the Shanobi Mountains had been like coming home. And when she had entered Konoha, she felt at home. This place was still wild, the forests untamed and the land alive beneath her feet.

The car slid around another corner and they were out of the heavier forest and into the peat bogs. The trail narrowed even more, winding on solid ground while the smell of the bog permeated the air around them. Trees swayed and drooped under the heavy weight of snow. Lights in the distance herald farms and for a moment she thought to stop at one of the nearest ones for aid, but Kago had been bitten by a mage-bred snake carrying vampire blood. Healing a mage wound was difficult enough, but a hybrid with vampire blood—that required skills far exceeding her own, or any human doctor for that matter.

Their one hope lay with the innkeepers. The couple had been born and raised in the area and had lived their entire lives here. Sakura couldn't imagine that they wouldn't have some knowledge of the danger lying beneath the mountain. Over time, it became difficult to tamper with the same memories. Besides there had been something about the inn—something that had drawn Sakura to it. A suggestion of power, as if perhaps there was subtle influence at work, encouraging tourists and visitors to stay at the homey, friendly inn.

Sakura had allowed herself to be susceptible to the flow of power because it was the first time since the dragon had shoved her onto the upper ledge of the ice cavern that she had encountered the light, delicate touch of flowing chakra. She had forgotten what it was like to bathe herself in the crackling flow of electric chakra, to feel it surrounding her, flowing through every cell until her body hummed with it. The inn and the entire village gave off the same amazing feeling, although it was so subtle she had nearly missed it.

"Sakura," Izumo called form the backseat. "My skin is starting to burn."

"We're almost there. Go in and take a shower first thing." She didn't want to think of how bad Kago was suffering. He was very quiet, other than making a soft moaning sound. "Izumo, when we get to the inn, we will need to talk to the owners and ask who the village healer is."

"The owner's name was Sakiumi and she seemed very nice."

"Hopefully she's very discreet as well. She certainly seems to know everyone."

"Wouldn't it be better to ask for the nearest doctor?" Izumo asked.

Sakura tired to sound casual as she replied. "Sometimes the local healers know more about plants and animals in the area. Although we've never encountered this particular species before, it's a good bet the villagers have, the local healer probably know exactly what to do to extract the poi--" She brook off and hastily changed her description. "Venom."

Sakura pulled the car up the twisting road to the inn on the edge of town. The large, two-story inn faced the forest with its long porch and inviting balconies. She parked as close to the stairs as she could and raced around to help Izumo get Kago out.

Shadows lengthened and grew as the clouds overhead thickened with the threat of snow. The wind howled and the trees swayed and rustled in protest. Sakura glanced around her with sharp, wary eyes as she opened the door to the back seat and reach for Kago.

"I'll come back for the snake heads to show the innkeeper. Don't touch them." She cautioned.

Kago was nearly deadweight as he hung between them. Izumo had to practically carry him as they stumbled through the snow. The walkway was clear, but they took a shortcut, tramping across the front slope to get to the porch faster.

A tall, light-haired man opened the door for them and reached to help. Even under the dire circumstances, Sakura found him handsome, compelling even.

"Don't get any blood on you," she warned. "It's highly venomous." The light-haired man's gaze swept up to her face and froze, locking on to her. For one moment there was shocked recognition in his eyes and then it was gone as he got his shoulder under Kago to relieve her of the weight.

Sakura whirled around, back toward the car. "Get him inside and ask the innkeeper to find a healer. I'll get the snake heads."

She rushed back down the steps, crossing the distance to the car at a run. As she yanked open the door, her birthmark began to burn hot against her skin. There was only one thing that brought forth the dragon's warning: Vampire. And he had to be close. She hastily donned her cloak to cover her weapons. She closed the door and carefully looked around her, one hand sliding beneath her thick red cloak to find the knife on her belt.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but the last two weeks have been hell. Gaara will be appearing in the next chapter so don't worry. And brownie points for anyone who can figure out who the light-haired man is.