A/N: Okay, okay, I'm sorry you guys! I know I said that you would like the next chapter but I take that back, or I don't know you might like this one too. –shrugs- But before, the reason why I said that you will like the next chapter is the ItaSasu bit I was planning to put it. But as I was writing this chapter and like the two before it, it became too long and it sounded mostly like I was forcing two ideas into one thing. That would have been confusing. So I split them. Since I could keep my word of putting in the ItaSasu bit in this chapter, I'll tell you what to expect the next chapter.

A kiss.

I do NOT OWN ANY of the Naruto characters or the story itself. I wish I did, but that belongs to the cruel, yet amazing hands of Kishimoto. The story is getting more intense but I am really getting irritated with how he's treating Sasuke and the Uchiha clan. I swear I'm gonna kill something pretty soon… Anyway, thank you for those who have reviewed and please keep them coming. I love them all and they all inspire me to write as fast and much as I can.

Now then, I know that you guys are patiently waiting for something happen already, if you know what I mean and I promise you all that it's all coming very soon! Just be patient a little longer.

Thank you and enjoy!

Ch. 16: An Old Face Full of Hate

Outside in garden, Itachi uses the hand shovel to first soften the dirt, then make a hole, and finally add in the Luna Flower before patting the dirt around it to fill the hole. With that last flower in, he turns to the watering can and pours the water on the flowers for them to grow into many more beautiful flowers for the garden.

'Well, this job is better than yesterday,' is all Itachi can really say, or think.

What happened at least two and a half hours ago…

"Itachi, there is someone you need to meet before I inform you of your next job," Sasuke says as he leads his brother to another part of the garden that's different from where the last place the vampire prince dropped him off at with the hellhounds.

But all Itachi does to answer his younger brother is nod in understanding.

Since he woke up, Itachi's been nothing but silent. Sasuke waited outside his room like he said he would as Itachi washed off every bit of dirt and dried sweat that he slept with from yesterday, put on some fresh new clothes, and drank the blood that Suigetsu and Karin gave him as sorry gifts. Itachi never really thought of it till then but he noticed that the bloods have their own unique flavors. Suigetsu's blood tasted clean and simple, almost like water. Which is a little strange but it was refreshing. As for Karin's blood, she tastes a lot like cherries but with a small hint of sweet spiciness to give it a nice punch. No wonder vampires like her blood so much. As soon as he was done, he greeted Sasuke outside, who appeared to be unusually tensed and cautious, and the teenager leads him to his next day job. Itachi could only hope that this new job is not anything worst than exhausting hellhound puppies or exhausting them again. One more day with those puppies and Itachi's desire to die will not just be empty words. They'll be a reality.

However during the way there, neither of the siblings spoken a word to each other. Both appear to be in deep thought. Sasuke definitely looked like he was deep in thought as not a single emotion has pass through Itachi's face since that one shock face he had on when he first woke up. If anyone else was with them, the words 'tensed, awkward silence' would probably be said to describe it.

When Sasuke only got that nod as his answer, he didn't say anything more to force his brother into answering him. He let it go and continued walking forward to get where they need to be. The tensed awkward silence came upon them again.

It didn't take them long till Itachi notices another human up ahead. This human is tall! No getting around that and Itachi's point is proved even more as they walk closer to him. He's also kind of big too but not fat kind big. More like masculine kind big. The muscles are very defined on his arms as he was picking some apples off the apple tree. Must be for the humans Itachi figured. His skin is a little tan, proving the fact more that he's human, and he has crazy orange spiky hair. The most interesting fact about him besides that this man is a giant is that there are some birds on his shoulders and some on the tree looking at him. In a way, the image appears very peaceful.

"Juugo!" Sasuke calls, disturbing the peaceful scene.

The man, or Juugo, stops picking apples and looks over his shoulder to see his new company. Some of the birds fly away from them but some stayed. Now that he's facing them, Itachi can see that Juugo has fiery red eyes, about a shade darker than Karin's hair. His features are interesting. This man looks older than Sasuke, and maybe a year or two younger than how Itachi looks, but he still has the soft purity of that of a child on his face. But when he smiles, his smile resembles that of a kind and gentle father.

"Sasuke-sama, good morning," he greets formally.

Now that Itachi is really close to this Juugo person, the human has a certain…scent on him. Almost like he smells like a vampire but he still has some trances of that of a human. He most certainly does not look like a vampire but he smells like one. His scent is completely different from that of if he's been bitten by one recently. Plus, he doesn't have any bite marks on his neck.

Sasuke asks him, "Juugo, how many times do I have to tell you to drop the 'sama'? There is no need for the formality."

"You are a vampire prince and I am only a worker of the castle. Suigetsu and Karin may not call you 'sama' but that doesn't mean that I can't." All Sasuke does is let out a sigh to his answer. Nothing he can say can change this giant's mind.

Then Juugo's notices Itachi and takes a moment to examine him before saying, "I take it this is your brother, Sasuke-sama?"

Almost groaning since Juugo refuses to drop the 'sama', Sasuke answers, "Yes. Today, he'll be taking over your job." Besides the job bit, Itachi notices that for once Sasuke didn't deny that he's his brother.

Juugo looks a bit surprised to hear that. "From what I've heard yesterday, you gave Itachi-sama a hard time the other day. All I really have to do after I take these apples inside are pulling the weeds and planting some Luna flowers on the east side."

"Perfect. You may have the rest of the day off. It's around that time, isn't it?"

That time? What does he mean by that?

Listening to this small conversation, still not a single emotion passes through Itachi's face as if he's too busy observing what's in front of him. Being reminded of 'that time', Juugo appears like now he's getting what Sasuke's saying. Before he could say more, the younger vampire prince turns around to look back at Itachi and order, "Today, you are to take over Juugo's job that includes pulling any of the weeds you missed yesterday and planting in some Luna Flowers. You know where the gardening tools are and when you're done, put the tools away and wait at the shack. Karin will inform me when you're done and I'll come back to pick you up. Tell me you understand."

Obeying, Itachi answers, "I understand." Then he asks, "Are you leaving me on my own again?"

"I may be assigned to babysit you but I have other duties I must attend to. Besides, you're a grown man. You can take care of yourself."

And then with that, Sasuke left with Juugo following behind him. For the past one hundred and fifty minutes, since the garden is so big, Itachi's been doing nothing but doing what he's been told and now he's reaching the end of his planting duties. Yep, this job is a lot better than yesterday's jobs. Wonder what woke Sasuke up on the right side of the bed?

'And after this, put the tools away and wait.' Itachi looks up at the sky and he can see that he still has a lot of time before the day is over. 'Wonder what Sasuke has planned for the rest of the day, if he doesn't decide to make me wait by the shack all day. Just no more dogs and I'll be fine.'

As soon as he was done and placed the watering can besides him, a shadow appears behind him and blocks the sun's light from the newly turned vampire. From just the shape of the shadow, Itachi could tell that it wasn't Sasuke, Suigetsu, Juugo, Karin, Naruto, or any of his parents. But the shape is familiar. He looks up to see who it is and still not a trace of emotions appears on his face.

"I was wondering when you were going to appear."

"He dreamed about that?" Naruto asks, his voice sounding a bit concerned and sympathetic. Sasuke just nods. Then he points to Naruto's notes with his pen.

"Finish that," he orders. Both Naruto and him are sitting on at the table inside the library, studying with the blonde taking notes and raven hair reading and making sure the dope gets his work done. And as usual, the Kyuubi's Jinchuriko was able to get his protector to talk about why he looks so upset.

Naruto doesn't obey and he says, "Not until you finish explaining yourself, teme! I promise that I'll go back to studying without any complaints or interruptions!" He even puts on the big beady eyes and pouty lips as a way to bribe him into telling him.

But Sasuke brutally answers, "Yeah right." He knows his dope all too well and Naruto collapses on the table in defeat.

"Who dreamed about what?"

Both vampires look up at the Library entrance and they see Suigetsu peeking his head in through the doors. Sasuke just asks, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be cleaning the bathroom?"

"I was on my way there when I heard this interesting conversation."

Just what Sasuke needs right now. An audience.

Suigetsu walks over to sit next to Naruto and he leans over with a big grin on his face as he asks, "So tell me, Sasuke. Did you get a wet dream about your brother? If you did, I wouldn't mind listening to the juicy details." He got a book slammed into his face for that comment.

"It is none of your concern."

When the book fell of his face, Suigetsu now has a red book mark and that grin that unfortunately wasn't knocked off from the force of the book. "Looks like I hit the mark perfectly."

"Nope," this time Naruto answers before taking more notes on his studies. "The one who had the dream was Itachi and it wasn't a wet dream." Sasuke rolls his eyes when Naruto just blabbered his mouth like that to the whole world. He goes back to reading.

With the grin now gone and the curiosity taking its place, Suigetsu asks, "Then what kind of dream was it?"

While keeping his eyes in his book and turning the page to read the next one, Sasuke tells his white hair human friend, "It's really none of your business, Suigetsu. Stop butting in on other people's business."

The child looking human does not look convince by the raven hair vampire prince's behavior. He says, "Look, Sasuke. Everyone in this castle, even those who haven't even been here long, knows that the bond you had with your brother was something to admire. Something they're all shocked about that it broke twenty years ago. When the news arrived that he was coming back here and become your vampire servant, we were all shocked and while some of us were happy that the two royal brothers were reunited, all of us were scared to death on how it would turn out because we all know that if Itachi-sama puts you in a bad mood, we all have to suffer for it. However, these past two days everyone has noticed that something changed in you. We're all hoping that it's good, but rather if it's a good thing or not, we're all hoping that you two can patch up that broken bond and move on. And don't you dare try to deny it either. We all know so there's no use hiding it. You think your mask is so perfect but it's starting to slip on you, Sasuke."

Hearing that, Naruto becomes more cautious for this human's life than Sasuke's mental state. Is this guy trying to get himself killed before he becomes a vampire? But looking back at his pale skin friend, Naruto doesn't see Sasuke glaring at Suigetsu. He sees a gentle side of his friend as he lowers down the book and closes it. The vampire prince doesn't look up at any of them as his eyes are glued to the book cover and he gently caresses it once. His face may be a blank but his features have soften exceedingly. He asks, "Am I that obvious?"

"Not really. Just had a hunch."

Not even a second pass and Sasuke is reaching over and he has the collar of Suigetsu's shirt gripped in his fist while glaring daggers at the human's laughing face. Now Naruto is shaking a little from his protector's rage. Why did the idiot have to go ahead and say something like that?

Suigetsu continues to laugh even when he says, "Wow, Sasuke! You looked like a total girl for a minute there. Only goes to show that you really do have a soft spot for your beloved older brother, huh?"

With three veins pulsing on his head, Sasuke grips the collar more and he looks like an insane serial killer. "Keep it up and you're going to die before your time." Still the human laughs, testing the vampire prince's patience even more.

Then all of a sudden, the door bursts open and Karin comes in screaming, "Sasuke! We have a problem!" All three guys look up at her and as soon as Karin sees Suigetsu, she's first surprise and then her expression turns sour. "Oh, you're here."

Suigetsu narrows his eyes at her and asks, "Is that all you can say to me? Really?"

Before they could go off on their little 'off couple', pointless bickering, Naruto quickly asks, "Karin, what's the problem?"

Hearing the Kyuubi's vessel question, Karin stops the glaring contest and her expression instantly goes to panic worry. "Sasuke, it's Itachi-sama! Kakashi's with him!"

The second he heard that, Sasuke lets go of Suigetsu and he's out the library. If anyone had blinked, they would have missed him. Karin did and she felt a small breeze when Sasuke passed her. When Naruto heard that news, his face became filled with a lot more panic and fear than what Karin had on her face. One surprising note is Sasuke went in such a rush, he didn't even tell Naruto to stay; like he would listen anyway.

Suigetsu lifts himself up from the chair and says, "Now this I gotta see." Then he runs pass Karin and Naruto follows right behind him.

"Wait for me!"

Now that leaves Karin alone at the Library door.

"Ah, hold on!"

Bam

Itachi's back hit the stone wall in full force, creating a small crater and a few cracks. He collapses on the ground on his knees and takes a moment to try and overcome the pain in his back and ribs. Those cracked bones slowly begin to heal and in doing so causes Itachi's throat to burn.

"So this is how low you've fallen, Itachi?"

The in pain vampire looks up at his attacker and before him is now an adult version of the very first vampire he bite and turned. Hatake Kakashi stands before him in all his flaming glory. Unlike the teenage boy that Itachi knew long ago, that boy has grown into a rather handsome man. He still has that mask on his face that covers his nose, mouth, and chin but now he has a headband that's covering his left eye. He never had that one before. His silver hair is spiky and practically standing straight up. He has the vampire's pale skin but, even back then, it was always a shade darker than Itachi's. Unlike Juugo who was big buff, Kakashi looks more lean but the muscles are there on his body and from that last hit, they're not just for show. His one eye that he's showing right now is glowing red with anger and hatred and Itachi can see a lot of it radiating out of that eye.

"You've become that of a pitiful weakling. Why won't you fight back?" Kakashi asks enraged.

Itachi takes a moment to answer that. It wasn't because of the slow healing of his bones or the burning sensation in his throat. His face is still a blank and his eyes are still empty, but he's sweating and he's panting from the pain. He answers as if he were breathing, "I was ordered not to harm a single vampire in this castle. As someone who was once servant to his master, you should understand that a master's law is absolute."

That set Kakashi off. In a split second, Kakashi's foot collides with Itachi's right cheek and he goes flying before stumbling on the ground with a now broken jaw. His arms are shaky and as his body tries to heal himself, causing the burning to continue. He replaces his jaw into the proper position and he lets out a shaky groan of pain in the process of it. He only had a moment to feel only the pain of his jaw and throat before he feels Kakashi's hand roughly grab his hair and lifts him up so that he could be face to face with him as he kneels before him. Just by looking into that one eye, he can tell that the spiky silver hair vampire is on the verge of completely losing his control.

"All the more easier for me to kill you, then," he says, not sounding at all pleased to hear Itachi's earlier words. He shakes the grip of hair he has in his hand and says, "Don't compare me to you! We are nothing alike." He raises his other hand and lightning surrounds it till it forms a sharp point like a sword. Itachi looks at the lightning blade before looking back at the face of his once vampire servant. There isn't a hint of fear or any kind of emotion on his face, which only angers Kakashi all the more. This vampire is going to die and he won't even cower for his life. It's all very annoying. "You will atone for your crimes, scum!"

Funny way to die, huh? Killed by your first bite and even though you don't know all of the details why, you have a feeling you do. You just lie there in pain as that lightning blade pulls back for more momentum before it comes thrusting into your flesh for the kill and the last thing you said to this person was a lie.

"Time to die!"

But the kill never came.

Cry

A sound that resembles that of a thousand crying birds is all that is heard before Kakashi is blown away from a different lightning attack and drops Itachi in the process. The dark brunette vampire cringes for a moment from the fall and lack of energy but then feels a presence hovering over him. He looks up and he sees Sasuke crouched down into a threatening position over him as if he were protecting him like an angry lion protecting its cub. That fact became proven even more when one of Sasuke's hands is on Itachi's shoulder and the other is grasping his sword that's pointed directly at Kakashi. Itachi couldn't see his little brother's face but he can hear him growling very dangerously at the boy's childhood combat instructor. He can probably imagine Sasuke's onyx black eyes are now glowing red as well while his fangs must be extended at full length as he's baring them in the sunlight. This time, shock appears on the older vampire's face at his little brother's protective nature.

Kakashi pushes himself up and he looks a bit surprise to see Sasuke like that in front of him as well. The vampire prince first hisses, baring his teeth even more before growling, "Don't you dare lay a hand on him, Kakashi!" While the other lightning user makes a 'tch' sound and glares at his student, Itachi is staring at his baby brother in gaping surprise. To add more to the surprise, Sasuke's sword is starting to be surrounded by sparks of lightning.

Kakashi stands up and he asks, "Why are you protecting him, Sasuke? You know what he did! He deserves to die! I don't know what the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki was thinking but keeping him alive endangers us all!"

"He is none of your concern," Sasuke yells back. "His life is belongs to me! He is my responsibility and I don't fuckin care if he killed an entire nation of vampires! What happened to you is something to be pitied. But I am tired of listening to it!"

What happened…to him?

During all of his years of being a vampire hunter, and even when he was still living in the castle, Itachi has not once harm or insulted Kakashi in anyway. He actually thought of Kakashi as a sort of companion, a friend. Someone who was always so cheery and laid back. Itachi used to find the guy in a library by the adult section at times. He questioned about it once but it never bothered him since it was Kakashi's own decision on what to read, not Itachi's.

"Let me relieve you of that by allowing me to kill that man you're protecting. What he's done can never be forgiven!"

Hearing that, Itachi could faintly hear Sasuke wincing when he heard that. He didn't know whether it was only him growling or what Kakashi just said struck a nerve. A slight bit of confusion now appears on Itachi's face. What in the world is going on here?

"What he's done cannot be forgiven…"

Hearing that voice catches all three vampires' attention and it takes them all by surprise. Kakashi looks over his shoulder from the corner of his eye and another vampire appears revealing himself as if he's been hiding behind the spiky silver hair vampire the entire time. Now this vampire is beautiful. The same ivory skin of that of a vampire but with a hint of color. He looks beautifully lean with good form and hard muscles but compared to Kakashi, he's more slender than the spiky silver hair vampire. He also has white hair that's in an unusual hair style. His hair part is all jiggidy jagy and it looks as if it's divided into four parts. On his left side the front part of his hair is loose while the back part is tied. It's almost the same on the right but the front part is tied and the back is loose. He has jade green eyes that are just piercing right through Kakashi like a sharp steel sword. His expression is completely calm and relaxed and almost expressionless. What catches Itachi's attention is that he has two red dots on his forehead lined with his nose. He knows someone else who has the two dots on their forehead. Someone from the past…What's also strange about this beautiful vampire is that his hand looks like that of a gun and he's pointing his index finger at Kakashi's head. The silver spiky vampire dares not move.

"…but what he's doing right now is atoning for it by being the very thing he hates."

Seeing him causes Sasuke to relax a little bit, especially with the position he's in with Kakashi but Sasuke doesn't remove himself from Itachi just yet. Kakashi on the other hand becomes the first to speak this mystery vampire's name. "Kimimaro?"

Now why does that name sound familiar?

The vampire known as Kimimaro says in a calm and yet dangerous voice, "We all feel sympathy for your loss but there have been many others like you who have gone through the same tragedy as you. There is no reason for you to take your own reckless revenge on Itachi-sama when you know the consequences of your own actions. Surely you have not forgotten the law of killing a servant of a vampire master. The consequences would be determined by the mercy of the master of the servant you killed and judging by Sasuke's protective behavior, I say you would be facing with something much worst than death."

Instead of cowering in fear or at least showing some bit of fright on his expressions, Kakashi's one eye still glows red and now he's glaring at the vampire threatening him from behind. "You think I fear death? I would happily accept death so long as that man dies with me." Hearing his words made Sasuke growl at the man even more and makes Itachi all the more confused.

What exactly did he do to make Kakashi hate him so?

"But wouldn't that make Obito sad? Didn't you promise him to stay alive even after he's gone?"

Now that struck a nerve on Kakashi. So much that his one red eye turns back to its original dark grey eye in a matter of seconds. But who's Obito, Itachi wondered. From the way it sounds, this Kimimaro character describes him to be dead and from Kakashi's expression, someone really precious to him. When the name was mentioned, the long hair vampire could not ignore how Sasuke's hold on his shoulder tightens as if the name also struck a nerve on the teenager. Itachi still can't see his face too clearly so he can't be too sure.

Kimimaro asks him again, "You wouldn't want to make him sad now would you? Or break your promise?" But then Kakashi still says nothing. He looks down at the ground defeated and his fists grip together into tight balls. Then he sharply looks at Itachi and Itachi alone. He glares one more time with every bit of hatred in his very being before slapping Kimimaro's hand from his head and begins to walk away. All eyes are glue to him as he continues to walk without once looking back or saying a single word. As he leaves, Sasuke begins to relax just a little while the white hair vampire lets out a sigh and lets his stress appear on his face. "So trouble-some."

"Kimimaro!"

Hearing the new company, the vampires, or two of them, looks up and both Itachi and Kimimaro sees Juugo running to them with quite a crowd following him. He has Suigetsu, Karin, and Naruto with him as well.

"Juugo." Seeing him causes the once expressionless vampire to relax completely and smiles warmly at the human's handsome face. "It's alright. Everything is under control."

Seeing as how Juugo only rushed up to Kimimaro while the others pass him, there was no doubt that those two beings have a certain bond together that even causes Itachi to widen his eyes at them. He also notices as the human stares at the beautiful vampire that the human now has bite marks on his neck and the strange scent that Itachi smelled before is also on Kimimaro. But the look in their eyes…there's so much love there.

"Yo, Sasuke!" Suigetsu calls, stopping a few ways from the two siblings. Now that Kakashi is completely gone and the worst is over, Sasuke lifts himself up from over Itachi. "Did we miss it?"

Bam

Or not.

All too suddenly, Sasuke grabs Itachi's collar and slams him into the crater in the wall that the long hair vampire unfortunately created when Kakashi hit him. Now with Sasuke's help, not only did the crater gained more cracks but now Itachi's in more pain than he originally started. He even coughs out a little bit of blood from the impact. Now Sasuke's red eyes are burning into his older brother while he's got the rest of the crowd surrounding them to gasp at the sudden harsh treatment being displayed in front of them. All Suigetsu could say was, "Ouch."

Itachi looks back at his little brother and does Sasuke look pissed. His fangs are retracted but his eyes are still red but now with full on anger, no hatred. "Are you out of your god damn mind?" the teen screams, gripping the older vampire's collar all the more. "Why the hell didn't you fuckin fight back? Do you WANT to do die that badly, huh? Because all you really have to do is ask and I'll gladly kill you myself!"

"What would you do if I said 'yes', little brother?" When Sasuke heard that, his eyes are no longer glaring. Red but now they're wide with shock. Just like everyone else observing the scene being played before them. Itachi's face has gone back to becoming nothing more than a blank and his voice empty as he says, " 'Yes, I want to die,' and 'I would be more than happy if you kill me right now.' Is that what you want to hear?"

Silence fell upon them. No one dared to say anything, Itachi was waiting for Sasuke's response, and the young teenager vampire is too shock to say anything immediately. Naruto this time looks at his friend in worry as Sasuke's eyes started to fade from red to onyx before he glares again. He pulls Itachi way from the wall before slamming him against it again. A small crack grows a little longer from the impact.

"Now you listen to me, you miserable fuck!" he says, his voice practically drowned in the venom of his words. "You are not going to die! You are not going to committee suicide and you are not going to just sit there and be beaten into a bloody pulp! If anyone threatens your life again, even if it's me, stop them! If anyone tries to kill Naruto, stop them! You got that? Tell me you understand!" He does the same thing with slamming Itachi into the wall and the cracks grew really long now.

Even though the pain stops him from answering temporarily, the look on Itachi's face did not change in the slightest. He answers, "I understand."

Still angry and now furious with Itachi's lack of facial expressions, Sasuke was going to slam his brother against the wall again to knock some sense into him, but he was stopped. A hand grabs Sasuke's wrist and another grabs Itachi's collar. Both hands pry the younger vampire off the older vampire but it happened so fast and with so much strength that it surprised both Uchiha brothers. The hands that pulled them apart belong to Naruto. In one split second, he was besides Karin who was behind Suigetsu and the next he's besides the two siblings. Sasuke appears a little dumbstruck when he was pulled off his brother and Itachi was just about to hit the wall since he has no strength to really hold himself up, but Naruto catches him before he could even touch it.

"Wahoo there! Let's not abuse the sun protection barrier anymore than we already have, okay?" the blonde jinchuriki asks, his voice cheery and his smile very friendly. Itachi only stares at him first with a blank expression before he raises a slender brow at what he just said.

"Sun protection barrier?"

It became Naruto's turn to be confused with what the older looking vampire just said. Now that the drama is over, everyone can breathe easier. Eve Suigetsu walks over to Sasuke and asks, "Hey, Sasuke! You didn't tell your brother anything, did ya?"

Coming back to reality, the moon beautiful vampire tells the human straight out, "Do you honestly believe that I would tell him anything after only being a vampire for twenty-four hours? He was a vampire hunter before he was captured, Suigetsu."

"But you still should have told him something, teme!" Naruto yells, as if growing a fit of his own. He pushes Itachi up a little more so he can support himself before turning to him with a smile and saying, "Here! I'll tell ya!"

"Naruto…!" Sasuke growls like he's warning the blonde not to continue.

But Naruto makes an angry/pouty face at the raven hair before saying, "Look, Sasuke! He may have been a hunter before he became a vampire, again, but if he's going to be staying here, he needs to know about the new updates around here. We only told him one of them yesterday and that was the feeding method. We haven't told him about the barrier, the blood food, or the new mating rules."

The last part got Itachi's attention. His eyes slightly widen and he asks, "Mating rules?"

Naruto turns back to him and he says, "Oh don't worry. The law that we mate once still stands but if a vampire falls in love with a human then the vampire could 'claim' the human until that human is ready to become a vampire. Look at Kimimaro and Juugo! They're an example."

So he does. He looks up at the two new faces of the day and he sees both of them looking at him with warm kind smiles. Out of both of them, Kimimaro has the friendliest smile, almost like that of a female. The couple walks towards the staring, clueless vampire and Kimimaro sits down before him. He greets, "Good afternoon, Itachi-sama. I heard you had it out with my family about twenty years ago. I'm sorry for the trouble they caused you."

So that's it.

"I thought you looked familiar. You're from the vampire hunting family, the Kaguya clan."

The white hair vampire nods. "As you may have heard, my name is Kaguya Kimimaro. I'm the Kaguya's clan heir and supposedly their greatest weapon."

Well this is surprising. From how Itachi heard it from the Akatsuki gossip, he heard that the Kaguya clan was eliminated by a powerful and unexpected enemy. He heard that the entire clan was wiped out in a single night. Not that it really mattered to the Akatsuki group. When the Kaguya clan heard that Itachi was in group, they've been like hooked with the desire to destroy them ever since; even though the once human vampire hunter could really care less since he felt no real threat from them. It was Hidan and Deidara that were all up and arms about them getting themselves killed. Still if one of them survived, what's he doing here?

"What is an heir of the vampire hunting clan doing in this castle, and as a vampire no less?"

But before he could get his answer, a small noise interrupts them again.

Growl

All eyes turn to the sound and it was coming from Naruto's stomach. He first looks at it in surprise while Sasuke has a sweat drop appear on his head. The blonde then becomes red with embarrassment and rubs the back of his head. "Ah hehe, sorry about that!" He turns to his protector and with the same pouty, beady eye face he had on before, he acts like a puppy and says, "Sasuke, I'm hungry. Can we go eat?" What is Sasuke, his mother?

The vampire prince crosses his arms in front of his chest and reminds, "You just had lunch an hour ago." In other words, 'no, you'll ruin your dinner.'

Still Naruto whines like a little child, "But I'm hungry! Just a small snack, please?"

Then Suigetsu cuts in saying, "A snack doesn't sound that bad and Itachi is done with his gardening duties, right?" The white hair human turns to Itachi and the long hair vampire just nods at his question. He smiles at the answer. "It would be better to tell him everything once we're inside. I believe that this little talk is going to be one long discussion." He's trying to cause trouble again and he's ditching his bathroom cleaning duties.

"No w-"

"Yeah!" Naruto cheers like a child in a carnival. "Ne, Sasuke? Can I have ramen?"

Now getting annoyed, he yells, "You already had three bowls of ramen!"

"But that was chicken ramen. I want beef ramen with extra barbeque pork!"

From the corner of Itachi's eye, as he was watching the blonde cause more stress for his little brother, he sees a hand asking for his. It belongs to Kimimaro who's still smiling warmly at him and says, "Come now, Itachi-sama. After that little beat up, I suspect that you must be hungry. You're throat must be burning." He's right about that. As confused as he is right now with what they're talking about, Itachi nods and accepts Kimimaro's help on standing up. He still feels weak but he'll be alright. The Kaguya heir offered to help him walk but Itachi kindly reclines. It seems that everyone but Sasuke wants to take a small break and have something to eat as they talk as if everything is a small picnic. The vampire prince just feels very ignored and disobeyed.

"You're all against me."

Okay, how was that? Just to be clear, I like Kakashi but I need someone else who's not too thrilled that Itachi is welcomed back home as if he just came back from a small business trip and did nothing wrong. Now the rest of the new Uchiha updates will be revealed next chapter and that little ItaSasu bit I said earlier. I promise! Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. I don't care how long the chapter will be, I will add that scene! Till next time!