My body hurt. It was sore all over and no matter how hard I tried to not focus on the pain it seemed to hurt more. I knew that the first time would hurt but I didn't expect it to hurt this much… Then again, Sasuke's a vampire. A vampire who hadn't had sex for a long time. And he proved how much he needed it during our first time together by leaving marks all over my body. Bruises, kiss marks, and some bites were all over my skin. Each and every one throbbed when the sheets rubbed against them and when the air touched them.

I woke up that morning (more like afternoon) with Sasuke pressed against my back. He held me close to his body with one of his hands on my waist, the other hand wrapped around my body, and his face buried into my neck. His breath was steady as it lightly grazed my throbbing skin.

I looked back to face my sleeping lover. I smiled at his content face. His features appeared to be even more beautiful while he was vulnerable. The sunlight pouring through the window only enhanced his supernatural beauty and I found myself being drawn to him. When I gently leaned in to kiss him on the lips I felt his mouth curve into a smile beneath me and he kissed me back.

"Good morning," he greeted against my lips.

"Morning," I replied.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little sore," I breathed, "but I'll manage."

He kissed me once more before rising from the bed. I watched him pick up the clothes from the floor and set them on the bed. He kissed me one last time before suggesting that I take a shower because he was going to take one too. Of course I had no problem with that; it's just that I feared how bad the hot water hitting me would hurt.

Without objections, I got off the bed and went into the bathroom that was connected to the room. As I entered the bathroom, I heard my cell phone that rested on the end table in the bedroom vibrate while I was in the bathroom. I trusted Sasuke enough to answer my texts so I let him.

After a few moments I peered around the corner of the wall to see Sasuke. "Who was it?"

He turned my lock screen back on and sat it down on the end table. "No one important."

I didn't question him about the message. Starting conversations with anyone besides Sasuke didn't really catch my interest at the moment anyway. Since we were officially a couple I wanted to spend my day with him and only him. So I took a quick shower, washed my hair, and actually bothered to dry it. I put on one of the outfits that Deidara bought me yesterday and headed downstairs, however, Sasuke was nowhere to be found. Again.

I searched the church, besides the basement, and there was no sign. I even checked my cell phone and there were no messages… Whoever texted me Sasuke must've went to go meet. I just hope it wasn't Naruto. If it was Naruto I wonder what he sent me. Sasuke has a really short temper when it comes to people that he doesn't particularly like so it wouldn't surprise me if he went to "solve" the problem. Whatever problem-solving strategy he has in mind I just hope that it doesn't involve wiping him out from existence.

I made my way to open the front door when Deidara beat me to it. He was carrying a deck of cards in his hands.

"Hinata?" he said in surprise with his eyes wide. "You're still here?"

"Yeah. I was just about to head out to find Sasuke."

"He's not here?" he asked as he stepped inside. "That bastard was going to play with me today."

"He might be back soon." I closed the door to join Deidara inside.

He looked me up and down with a smile attached to his face.

"Wearing the clothes I bought you huh?" he said. "You fit them better than I imagined."

"Thanks. I appreciate the compliment, but not quite so much with those wandering eyes of yours."

He shrugged and let himself fall back on the couch. "Hey. I told you yesterday that you should be happy that I even bother to look at you. I don't pay attention to many girls."

Apparently I wasn't the only one wearing clothing from the mall. My blonde friend had on a black My Chemical Romance T-shirt with red surrounding the big, white letters, black, baggy pants with a chain attached to it, and he wore his usual converse sneakers. Taking a closer look I realized that his nails were painted black too. And, like yesterday, Deidara let his blonde hair hang freely. His long bangs hung over his left eye and the rest hung over his shoulders. The look suited him I admit, but there was something off about him.

I took a few steps forward but didn't get too close to Deidara. His skin seemed a little paler than yesterday. Also, it was barely noticeable, but Deidara carried dark circles under his eyes. The life in his eyes also seemed to be slightly dim. A positive radiance still lingered about him but the gloomy aura surrounding him certainly drew my attention away from how happy he appeared.

I sat in the seat opposite of him and noticed that he looked even sicker up close.

Just as I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, Sasuke came through the front door. He obviously wasn't pissed, but he did come off as smug. The cocky smile that he owned revealed it all. If I asked him where he was, it might destroy what we just repaired. Thankfully I didn't have to ask him. Deidara did instead.

"Where the hell were you?" he asked, standing up, and making his way over to Sasuke.

"I made a quick stop somewhere," he shrugged.

"Well I've been dying to play. Come on, vampire."

"Don't be so impatient."

Sasuke walked pass Deidara to give me a kiss. Deidara's eyes widened in surprise.

"I guess things worked out for you last night," Deidara said as he crossed his arms over his chest. I heard a hint of jealousy and anger in his voice. Sasuke didn't notice though.

"Y-Yeah. We were able to patch things up last night," I said.

He hid his true emotions well and "dismissed" it by mentioning the cards again. Sasuke hadn't suspected a thing but it was obvious to me. After Deidara and I finished spending time together at the mall, Deidara took me back to the church and kissed me. He said that he'd take me if Sasuke didn't want me. It wasn't necessarily a confession but I felt somewhat obligated to tell him that I fixed my relationship with Sasuke. Seeing how he reacted to the news, I felt guilty.

They sat in the parlor opposite of each other. Sasuke shuffled the deck and then dealt the cards. Deidara wouldn't look at me even once. To occupy himself while having nothing to do, even if for a short while, he'd usually make smart-ass comments about Sasuke or he'd make faces at me. Not this time. He sat there quietly and patiently as Sasuke passed out an even amount of cards from the shuffled deck. It made me uneasy to watch him. This wasn't him and not only was he no longer acting like Deidara, his appearance was also sickly. When I first saw his physical condition I thought it was age. Maybe not? Maybe it's something different?

Whatever was going on, besides the jealousy, I decided to exit the parlor to go to the kitchen that was right next door. I wanted something to drink.

Looking through the refrigerator I noticed that we were out of juice and soda. I had been meaning to pick up some more from the convenience store, but kept forgetting to with all that was going on. For the past few weeks, I had been drinking tea. So with no other options I chose to prepare tea.

Picking up my favorite coffee cup I ran cold water in it to the appropriate amount and stuck it in the microwave. As I waited for it to finish heating up I smelled something bad. Kind of like something rotting or decaying. Almost like a corpse that had been above ground for too long. I figured that something in the refrigerator was spoiling, but as I looked around in it I realized it wasn't the contents in the refrigerator. I then faced the tin trashcan. The trash was taken out and the can was scrubbed until it shined like new. With those ruled out I had no idea where the scent was coming from.

By the time I was done with my quick inspection the annoying beeping from the microwave went off. I pulled out the cup and then went into one of the cabinets to retrieve an herbal tea packet. As I poured the herbal powder into the steaming water I suddenly felt queasy from the scent. It just got stronger.

Wherever the smell was coming from it obviously originated from the kitchen. Something was rotting in here. I just didn't know what.

Turning around to check for the second time I came across the source just by facing behind me. It was a man. A dead man.

Rotting flesh hung off of his face, arms, and legs. Most of his face was peeled off, exposing his skull. The man had very little hair on his scalp and the places where there was no hair; there were lacerations that seemed to be infected at some point in his life. The massive amounts of skin missing from his left hand revealed his bone. His clothes, that appeared to be from a different era, were dirty, old, and torn. He appeared to have no eyelids so he was staring at me without blinking. It felt like he was boring holes into me as he extended his boney hand to touch me as he limped towards me.

Seconds later Sasuke and Deidara came storming into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked as he stepped into the small space. "We heard you scream."

Had I screamed? I hadn't even realized.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed when he spotted the rotting man. He stepped in front of me and looked at the man like he was trash. Deidara stayed by the door. He looked both appalled and astonished to see an actual zombie. I'd probably be in his position if it weren't for the shock overpowering all of my emotions.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke demanded. "What do you want?"

"I think you know what I want from you, Sasuke Uchiha." My eyes widened and I looked at Sasuke. He knew his name? The zombie continued to speak with his raspy voice. "Time's up. Where is the object I'm looking for?"

"I don't have what you need. Besides, it's been one-hundred years. Just forget-"

"Do not tell me to forget about it," it warned. It limped forward and I saw Sasuke's body tense. He was ready for a fight. "We made a bet and you lost. I was kind enough to give you one-hundred years to fulfill the task, but it seems that you weren't able to find it, were you?"

My lover gritted his teeth and then clenched his fists.

"You have a week," the zombie announced. "If you don't have what I want by then," he glanced at me which made me flinch. "I'll kill your girlfriend."

Sasuke's expression turned to anger. "I won't let you harm her." My reaction to Sasuke's anger was to move backwards. I was startled by Sasuke's eyes. They turned blood red as he clenched his fists tighter and stared down the walking corpse. This was something new. It was scary. Not only did his eye color change but his presence did as well. Before, his composure filled the room with calmness even though there was an enemy. Now, the entire room was consumed in an ocean of rage. Was this a vampire trait?

"I'm glad you understand. We'll keep in touch."

The zombie molded in with the floor. It took a while for the smell to dissipate, but the scent was the least of my concerns. I know that threats should never be trusted, but seeing how Sasuke reacted to the corpse's threat, it made me wonder what they were talking about. What object were they talking about? What bet? How did I get involved in this? So many questions raced through my head that I wanted to ask Sasuke, but as I made my way to interrogate him, the front door burst open and Naruto came dashing in. He didn't look like the happiest person in the world. In fact, his rage almost matched Sasuke's. Whatever he was angry about right now certainly wasn't the best time to take it out on his "rival."

Naruto stormed past Deidara and aimed for my lover. I tried to quickly get between Naruto and Sasuke but I was too slow. Naruto approached the vampire and punched him right in the jaw. Sasuke staggered backwards but caught his balance before he fell.

Before Sasuke had any time to recover and retaliate Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his shirt and jerked his body towards himself. He was holding onto the vampire's shirt so hard his knuckles were turning white. This all startled me because it all happened so fast and it was uncalled for. What was Naruto so mad about? I opened my mouth to scold Naruto but Naruto's next words made me freeze.

"You bastard!" Naruto shouted as he shook Sasuke in his powerful grip. "You slept with her, didn't you?! You slept with Hinata!"

"Oh!" Deidara got comfortable by the doorway. "This is getting interesting."

Sasuke appeared to be unfazed by the blonde boy's behavior, but I wondered what he was truly feeling. A moment ago he was at his rage's peak. Now he was relaxed as if nothing had happened as he stared into the face of the boy who was just as enraged as Sasuke was a few minutes ago.

"So what if I did?" my lover asked with a calm voice. "It's none of your business."

"You're not even human! Who could love a monster like you?!"

"As long as Hinata loves me I don't care. And she also doesn't seem to mind me not being human."

"Do you even love her? Do you really love her? Vampires have no hearts. How could someone like you love someone like Hinata?" Every time Naruto referred to Sasuke there was hatred lingering in his voice. He couldn't fathom Sasuke's feelings. To him, vampires weren't capable of any affectionate emotions. And when my blonde classmate said my name there was so much adoration in his tone that it slightly threw off his anger. Once my name escaped his mouth his rage returned.

"Shut up!" Sasuke snapped. "The reason why she loves me is none of your concern. Let me go. You're beginning to irritate me."

Naruto glared intensely at his "rival" for a couple of seconds and then shoved him away. His anger then turned on me. When he yelled I jolted and immediately felt cornered. Why was he mad at me?

"How?!" he asked with desperation. "How could you possibly love him?! Was… Was I not good enough? Is he better than I am?"

"No! That's not it at all."

"Then what is it?!" He came closer and Sasuke tensed again. His eyes carried some red in them. He was ready to attack if things went bad, but I doubted they would.

What was the reason for me choosing Sasuke over Naruto? Faces were out of the question. They were the last thing that I looked at, so what was it? Naruto and I had so much more in common; we understood each other because of how lonely we were. We both had no family to expect at home, we had to face the hardships of living on our own, and endure the hurt that tore at our hearts when we saw other children with their parents. Whereas Sasuke was a different case. Whenever we touched, may it be sex or a simple caress, electricity shot throughout my body. I also certainly felt more comfortable around him and knew Sasuke felt better with me around too. Not only that, I felt obligated to be with him. Almost as if we were meant to be together. On the nights that I was without him a part of me felt like something was missing. That never happened with Naruto.

With all of my differences sorted out, I had to figure out what made me choose Sasuke over the boy I loved for so long.

"Naruto…" I said. "I can't explain to you why I love Sasuke. There are no words to even begin to describe how much I love him… We can't live without each other."

He averted his eyes away from mine and clenched his fists. To me, it looked like he was going to cry, but he shook the unwanted tears off and turned back to Sasuke. "If you hurt Hinata," he warned, "I'll find you."

They glared at each other for several moments as the tension in the air thickened. No one moved. No one even appeared to breathing. Suddenly Naruto shifted his weight to exit. Once he was gone the tension still lingered, but it was soon terminated when Deidara laughed and said, "That was some show! Much better than television!"

My raven-haired vampire rolled his eyes. The red no longer resided in them as he walked past Deidara. I followed him and called after him. He wasn't in the talking mood so he ignored me. But I needed to know what the hell was going on with Naruto. How did he know that Sasuke and I slept together? I also wanted to know about the zombie thing. Since I am now involved in that too, I ought to know about that too. I am now at risk of losing my friendship with Naruto and I am also in potential danger. After fixing Sasuke's and my relationship I really didn't feel like repairing two more situations.

I reached out to grab a hold of Sasuke when I suddenly froze. I couldn't move and my vision fading soon followed. At first I saw nothing but darkness, but it soon turned into some kind of… illusion? This illusion took place in front of the church. It reminded me of the first time I entered the mysterious building. But the only difference was no one was around and it was nighttime. It still carried the eerie presence that it once possessed when I first approached it and I hesitated to go inside. My attempt at walking away was futile though. My feet moved on their own and went up the concrete stairs to the old wooden door. My hand reached out to turn the knob and I pushed it open, making sure to keep an eye on the rusty hinges.

Once inside, I immediately surveyed my surroundings. It looked the same as when I entered it for the first time. Thick layers of dust coated the surfaces of every object here, cobwebs dwindled in corners and dangled from the ceiling, the furnishings were all outdated and unable to be preserved. The windows were dirty and little light casted into the lobby and onto the dirty floor. I felt déjà vu just by entering it. I also felt a strong sinister presence. This illusion obviously wasn't meant for me to feel nostalgia.

I stepped farther into the abandoned church. I didn't even dare to call out to anyone this time. That was a mistake I wasn't going to make again. I couldn't risk meeting a fake Sasuke and lose blood even if it was an illusion. Whatever happens here could happen to me in the real world. I already knew that this was meant to harm me and I couldn't take any chances of stepping into some kind of trap. Since I suspected traps I should be able to avoid them by doing what I didn't do the day I met Sasuke.

Quietly, I proceeded to the outdated kitchen. No one was there. Next to the kitchen was the parlor and I cautiously scoped out this room. I was very unfamiliar with this space so I took care to inspect it thoroughly. Nothing unusual was taking place in here so I decided to go upstairs. The staircase creaked more than the floor. Even if I could walk up the steps with extreme caution, they still made noise. Sasuke was the only person I knew that could go up and down them without making a sound, and trying to imitate his movements didn't help in this situation. Giving up on trying not to make noise, I ascended the staircase like I normally did, but made sure to be more aware of my surroundings.

The first room I entered on the second floor was the study. This was another room that I barely went in. Nothing in here was familiar to me. The large bookshelves touched the seven foot ceiling and every space on its shelves was occupied with hundred year old dusty books. A desk sat opposite the bookshelves and it was the only thing in the church that didn't own dust. Sasuke must've used it frequently, but what was the point in using a desk and not any of the books? There was no paper around, so he couldn't have been writing letters. I didn't want to linger on the thought so I left the study and went into my bedroom.

The only object in here was the old bed that was as hard as a rock. Maybe even harder than a rock… Quickly realizing that I was getting distracted, I shoved the memory of the hard mattress aside and scanned the bedroom. Nothing. So I went into the bathroom that was connected to the room. There was nothing there either. I even inspected the hole in the wall that was once there before Sasuke and I patched it up. Nothing.

Wondering what my purpose was here, I descended the steps to go back into the lobby. I became frustrated. There was nothing here for me. Nothing unusual, nothing dangerous, and no clues. I checked everywhere… except the basement. Just thinking about the basement sent chills up my spine. Sasuke told me to not go in there, and I no longer had a desire to go explore it due to what I feared was down there. I believed that Sasuke fed down there. He might even keep live bodies down there for all I knew. I didn't want to go in the basement. And even though this might be an illusion, I felt as though I would be disobeying my lover if I entered it… Debating whether to go in or not, I quickly decided to check it out for the sake of escaping this place.

I approached the door and stared at it. I never stood this close to it before and it felt weird to be standing in front of it. I inspected the old door and took in every detail of it. The cracks, the paint chipping off, the rotting wood easily breaking off and falling to the floor around the rusty doorknob as I placed my fingers on it. Guilt gnawed at me as many thoughts raced through my mind. What was Sasuke hiding on the other side of this door? What was waiting for me beyond the musty stairs? What was I going to do when I got to the bottom? Was this my ticket out of this illusion? Whatever the answers to my questions were, my worry didn't stop me from twisting the knob and pushing the door open.

My eyes were closed tightly and I covered my nose as the strong scent of mildew attacked me. I brushed the awful smell aside as best I could and looked onward. It was dark. I couldn't see anything and couldn't make anything out from at the top of the staircase. I'm not usually a brave person and I found it strange that my fear didn't get the best of me yet. I had to go down there, and now that I opened the door, the eerie room seemed to be calling to me. There was no turning back now, so I took my first step to descend the wooden, creaky stairs. I forced my feet to descend more of the steps and with each step, my heart beat fast and hard. So hard that it felt like it was going to burst through my chest. I had to ignore it though. If I let my fear get the better of me I'd get nowhere. With more effort than you'll ever know, I pushed my oncoming fears aside and finished descending the staircase.

Darkness. That was all I saw. I blindly tried to find a wall in hopes of finding a light switch along it. Before long, my hands planted on a cold, stone wall. I glided my hands along its rough surface for what seemed like forever and I eventually came across a switch of some kind. Eagerly, I flicked it and took a deep breath. The lights came on, but they weren't as bright as I thought they'd be. I could see down the long hallway and noticed that the walls were aligned with prison cells. They filled the walls with them and they were in poor condition. Some time ago, it appeared that this basement once flooded and the damage was never repaired. The stone ground and the humid air were probably consumed with illness and the area was more than likely filled with black mold. Just being down here could kill me if there wasn't a threat lurking in the dark.

I took a deep breath again only this time the air I took in almost choked me. It was thick and probably filled with disease. As I walked down the long, dark hallway I tried my best to not look into the cells. The sounds, however, were more than I could handle. Moans, groans, and strained gasps for life echoed through the narrow hallway. I felt bad for the people here, but I couldn't do anything about their unhealthy states. Also, even if I were to free them, I'm pretty sure that they'd die not too long after their release. They all probably contracted diseases that were beyond treatment and I doubted that some were even strong enough to ascend the staircase. I had to keep going.

It hadn't been long after I passed the cells that I was engulfed by the darkness again. I tried to find a light switch along the wall and when I finally found one the switch didn't work. Now I was scared and I didn't try to hide it. It was so dark, but no matter how afraid I was, I kept walking down the hall.

As I got farther down the hall I couldn't help but notice that the moans, groans, and gasps had ended. The only noise that lingered was the sound of my shoes echoing with each step I took down the empty, narrow space and the sound of the water dripping from the stone ceiling and onto the damp floor. It kind of calmed me since I could now make out any peculiar noises, but it hardly stopped me from trembling. I kept thinking to myself: what was at the end of this hallway? It wasn't long before I got my answer.

After I reached a certain point the lights suddenly came on. It hurt my eyes because I was used to the darkness. These lights were brighter than the ones at the beginning of the basement, and as I took in more of the creepy surroundings the more I wanted to go back into the darkness where I couldn't see anything. Mold lined the walls and wrapped around the metallic bars of the cells. Inside the cells were skeletons chained to the stone walls behind them. Around the skeletons were dry blood and other components that I couldn't identify that must've been destroyed whenever the flood took place. Above me, the ceiling appeared to be caving in and it seemed like it'd fall at any given moment. Once I noticed the ceiling I decided to not go any further.

I stood underneath the bright light holding myself. My trembling had toned down at this point and I was more aware of my surroundings. Like Sasuke, I kept my guard up to take on any threats lurking in the dark. If I were to ever get into a fight, unfortunately there'd be no doubt that the enemy would win.

The area began to get cold. Goosebumps ran up my arms and the eerie feeling I got from the basement just got eerier. I was about two seconds from turning back around when something in my periphery caught my attention.

About five feet away from me stood a person. I couldn't identify if the person was a male or a female because it was a silhouette. But from where I stood, I could tell the person looked about five foot six, maybe about one-hundred and twenty-seven pounds or more, and possessed a not so friendly presence. The presence this person carried was the same one that I felt when I first entered the church. The same presence that made me want to turn back around and escape. No doubt the person noticed me though so unfortunately I wasn't going anywhere.

The figure didn't come after me though. The person stood there and just stared. It freaked me out a little bit. No doubt this person was the cause of me being here, so why just stand there when you could do anything you wanted to me in this illusion? My question was answered soon after that thought crossed my mind. The figure extended its hand to me as if he wanted me to take it. I backed up slightly when I assumed that, but I was proven wrong when the hand began to glow a dark orange color.

My body moved on its own and dashed down the long, dark hallway to escape whatever the silhouette was planning to do. My feet didn't get very far, unfortunately, because after a few paces down the hallway, the hot magic hit my back and I went tumbling to the ground. As I was tumbling, my vision began to fade just like when I first entered this illusion. However, as I temporarily lost my sight, the voice of the figure popped into my mind and spoke to me. It only said three words.

"You will die."

After that I awoke on the floor in Sasuke's arms. Deidara stood not too far from us, hovering over me. They both looked worried. What happened? Did I collapse? Hopefully if I did, I didn't hit my head on the floor. I had a major headache and it was throbbing so hard that it felt like my head was going to explode. So instead of asking what had actually happened, my hands immediately grasped my throbbing head and I grunted through gritted teeth.

"Hinata," Sasuke asked frantically, "are you okay?"

He didn't give me the chance to answer. He immediately brought his left hand to my forehead and it glowed white. My body was overcome with the same relaxing warmth from the first time Sasuke healed me. It didn't surprise me at all that my lover did this, but Deidara's eyes widened in shock at Sasuke's ability.

We could both tell that he wanted to ask what the hell Sasuke just did, but he chose not to and instead asked me, "What happened?"

"I don't know. I ended up in some kind of… illusion," I responded.

"What kind of illusion?" Sasuke asked.

I told them about what happened. I expected them to be shocked by the story, but they weren't. They seemed to be upset instead. Did they know something about what that all meant? I decided to ask them and they both seemed very uncomfortable in answering. But it was Sasuke who chose to tell me after a long awaited pause.

"It's a curse," Sasuke said. "A witch's curse."

"W-What's that?" I didn't like the sound of that at all.

Deidara decided to join in. "That orange light that hit you is a curse. If memory serves, you'll die within a week."

I shot up from Sasuke's hold. "What?"

"Don't worry, don't worry," Deidara shushed as he slug an arm over my shoulder. "I'll take care of it."

My eyebrow arched in disbelief. He shrugged it off however and led me to the center of the lobby. My heart raced as he walked circles around me. Sasuke stood not too far off but out of range for whatever Deidara was going to do. A few seconds after Deidara was inspecting me he planted himself a few feet in front of me and gave me a twisted smile. Still mad about this morning I suppose.

"Don't worry, princess," he said as a little satisfied smile played on his lips when I scowled at the new nickname. "I'll take care of you."

I took a quick glance at Sasuke. He was worried so that meant that he had no idea what Deidara was going to do. But he trusted him enough to try to "cure" me. Since my lover was a little unsure about the outcome of this procedure I was too.

My blonde friend noticed the uncertainty I carried and spoke to me in a calm, soothing voice. "I won't let anything happen to you. Promise."

My only response to that was a wry smile. I wish I could've said something else, but the only thing that came to mind was asking what he was planning to do to me. I didn't want ask because I feared that I'd become more uneasy if I knew. So I just stayed silent and took a deep breath.

Deidara chanted some kind of incantation in fluent Latin as I let him walk around me again. After circling around me a few times he took his place back in front of me and looked up at the ceiling as he spoke. It appeared to me that he was asking a question, but then he brought his blue-gray eyes back down on mine and smirked. I arched my eyebrow in question but then I realized why he smirked.

Each of his hands glowed light orange as he approached me. I wanted to back up immediately but decided not to. I had to trust whatever he was doing. And as I thought that, a hand ghosted over my torso and rested on my chest. The other stroked my hair and then rested on my forehead. Was that a part of the procedure? If was or not, Sasuke didn't like how he touched me. His eyes narrowed and his arms were tightly crossed over his chest as clenched and unclenched his jaw.

The hand that was on my forehead found my cheek and caressed it gently. That brought my attention back to Deidara and earned a deathly glare from Sasuke. He had his hand there for a while as he stared at me with affection. I couldn't look away from him. There was something that… drew me to him.

"Pay attention to me," he said.

Before I could come up with a comeback on that comment, Deidara returned his hand to my forehead and mumbled something in Latin. The light became brighter. I expected to feel something, like with the way I felt with Sasuke's healings, but I didn't feel anything from this. When the procedure was finished it took Deidara to release me in order for me to notice it ended.

"All better," he said with a snarky smirk. "You're cured for now, but it'll only take a week for the witch to notice that you're not dead. My suggestion to you," Deidara pointed to Sasuke and me as he took a step sideways, "is to find out who did this in the first place and kill them. I felt how strong the magic was when I removed the curse. This was done out of anger, and the witch isn't going to stop until the target," he pointed to me, "is dead."

Sasuke nodded and approached us. "Did the removal of the curse work?"

"Of course it did," he scoffed. "I'm brilliant! There's no way it couldn't work."

My lover sighed and laced his, surprisingly, warm hands with mine. "Where do I find this witch? Any ideas?"

"No idea. It's not like you could ask around town where people might have seen a witch. You'll have to do some investigating and reading my friend."

"Don't you have a friend or something that's good at tracking down people?" I asked Sasuke.

He closed his dark eyes and looked upward. After a few brief moments he brought his head back down and sighed. "Yeah," he said. "I know someone. But he lives pretty far and I haven't seen him in a while. I'm not sure that he'll help because of how long I neglected him."

"Well, if he's a good person, he'll understand, right?"

Sasuke was about to open his mouth to respond when Deidara cut him off. "No time. Just go and convince him."

"Fine," Sasuke said.

"I want to go with you," I said. My lover was obviously going to say no, but I cut him off before he got the chance to open his mouth. "I'm involved in this so I want to be a part of your visit to your friend. I hate the idea of you doing something to save me when I'd be sitting here doing nothing. I could be doing something, too. Let me come along."

He sighed deeply and his eyes found mine. "Okay," he strained to say.

"Now that that's settled," Deidara began, "I'll hold the fort here. Our zombie friend might come back while you're gone."

"Thanks," Sasuke said to Deidara. He then turned to me. "We'll leave tomorrow morning."

With nothing more to say that evening I packed a bag for the journey. The location of Sasuke's friend was on the outskirts of Konohagakure. We could get there within a day but only if we were well rested… Well, more like, only if I was well rested. Sasuke didn't need rest. His stamina and endurance was ten times better than mine. And he also didn't need to go to bed early that night to wake up early in the morning for our journey. I did however. It took me well over an hour that night to fall asleep because I was filled with both worry and excitement. When I finally fell asleep it felt like I'd only slept for a couple of hours when Sasuke came to wake me the next day.

After I prepared myself for the day, we left the church together. Our blonde vampire waved us good-bye from the porch. Jealousy consumed his face as he watched us go. He didn't want me alone with Sasuke, especially after he discovered that we slept together two nights ago. He acted fine in front of Sasuke, but I could tell that whenever Deidara and I got the chance to be alone together, he'd question me about it to no end. The same day that Sasuke and I had sex Deidara kissed me and confessed that he liked me. It was wrong that I didn't tell Deidara about anything that happened between my lover and I and I regret not telling him. I dread the day when the time comes to explain myself.

Sasuke and I didn't talk much throughout our way to Sasuke's friend's house. We were too determined to get there and to obtain the answers we were looking for. I also was a bit curious about how this person looked, whether he was friendly, and if he was a vampire. The only creatures that I've met were vampires, a zombie, and a witch. None of them were very pleasant creatures so I wondered if the person we were going to see was like the others. If he was it wouldn't surprise me. I expected it.

We didn't rest at all even though I was exhausted from both walking and the late spring heat. We had been walking for hours. Somewhere along the way my lover asked me if I wanted to take a break but I refused. It was a good thing that I didn't though. We left the church at the break of dawn and by the time we arrived at the house it was twilight. If I rested it'd probably be nighttime.

Sasuke approached the small house first and picked the lock to get us inside. I wondered why he picked the lock but didn't bother asking. The house sat by itself out here so even the slightest noise could alert whoever lived here. I couldn't risk startling the owner.

Stealthily, Sasuke walked through the door and led me to one of the rooms closest to the front door. We waited there silently in the traditional Japanese styled room on the tatami floor. Sasuke was calm and I was very confused. When Sasuke mentioned that this person was his friend, I wondered now if he was lying. Why would you pick the lock to your friend's house when you could just knock? I couldn't ask right now, but I really wanted to. I was nervous because we just committed the crime of breaking and entering.

Moments later my anxiety spiked as we heard footsteps shuffling across the floor. The steps rapidly became louder as the person got closer and closer to the room. When the person reached the room I nearly ran from fear of getting caught. But instead of this person freaking out or becoming enraged, the person rushed over to Sasuke, who stood up to meet his friend, and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Sasuke…" the person breathed.

Was this his friend? I thought Sasuke said the friend was a boy? Looking at this person's features and figure made me think otherwise.

This person had pale skin, but possessed the warmth that living people had so that ruled out him as being a vampire. His face was heart shaped and he had high cheek bones. He had big, beautiful brown eyes that brought about a sense of innocence to his aura. Probably the prettiest ones I've ever seen, too. They were so common but this person made them look so rare. He also had long, thick eyelashes and perfect, thin eyebrows. His long, silky black hair was thick and absolutely too stunning for words. He had the prettiest hair I'd ever seen.

Aside from his facial features, this person's body was small and dainty. He also looked so fragile and every movement he made was graceful and gentle. The fact that his body appeared to look like a girl's didn't really help with my impression of his fragility. This person owned a slim waist, well-defined curves, and he was as tall as I was or maybe even shorter. Also, when he threw his arms around my boyfriend's neck, I took notice to how small his hands were. Usually a person's hands give their gender away whether they're female or male regardless if they're androgynous or not, but not this person's. His hands were either the same size as mine or slightly smaller.

I knew for certain that Sasuke didn't like boys, but I couldn't help but to feel a strong surge of jealousy flow through me when his friend hugged him.

"What are you doing here?" the boy asked with a voice that belonged to a woman as he pulled away. He kept his hands around Sasuke's neck as he locked his adoring eyes with Sasuke's.

"Haku," Sasuke said in a tone that signified that he was about to ask for a favor. As he spoke, Sasuke's larger hands rested on the boy's waist. It wasn't an intimate touch, but it still bothered me. "We need you to do something for us."

Haku took a quick glimpse at me. Even though it was very brief I felt as though he was studying me thoroughly, as if he was reading me. And I felt like he had a better reading of me than when Sasuke studied me the first time we met. In that quick glimpse, Haku probably read my demeanor, my body language, and also got a good impression on what kind of person I am.

With adoration, Haku told Sasuke with utmost kindness, "Anything for you. What do you need?"

The young boy directed us over to the table sitting in the middle of the room. On it sat a round, crystal ball. Haku sat on one side of it and gestured us to sit on the other side.

Sasuke spoke as we sat down. "I need to know where I can find a talisman. They're very rare. I made a bet about one-hundred years ago and I'm well past the due date. Can you locate its whereabouts?"

"I'll try but I can't guarantee I'll succeed." He paused and then gave me his attention before he began. "It was rude of me to not introduce myself. I was just so excited to see Sasuke that I forgot my manners." He smiled so sweetly that I nearly felt guilty for feeling jealous. "I'm Haku Yuki. I'm a gypsy. You must be Hinata Hyuga, Sasuke's girlfriend. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I returned the smile. "It's nice to meet you too, Haku." Odd. Sasuke never mentioned my name.

After that, Haku went straight to business. When Haku closed his eyes and his hands hovered over the crystal ball, the lights in the room immediately went out. It startled me but my boyfriend remained calm, like always. Once the lights went out, a gust of wind came in and played with our hair and danced around us. It only did it for a few seconds before it surrounded us like a barrier. Moments later the ball glowed a bright, light blue color and Haku's eyes shot open. His once brown eyes were now glowing white.

Normally a situation like this would freak anyone out, but I found it pretty cool. I was even disappointed when the wind began to die down. Once the wind left Haku's eyes returned to normal and the ball stopped glowing. With a heavy sigh, Haku sat there for a few moments to collect himself. It was brief, but it took a lot out of him. He was either collecting himself from the all of the energy he put into performing the, I'm assuming, the locator spell, or he was still gathering the information he received.

Even though he was exhausted, he still smiled at us with just as much radiance as earlier and said cheerfully, "I got it."

"You did?" Sasuke asked. Judging by the tone of his voice, he wasn't surprised that Haku could do this so easily. It made me wonder just how powerful he was. "Where is it?"

"The one who possesses the talisman you're searching for is a boy named Naruto Uzumaki."

Sasuke and I shared the same shocked expression. Our mouths hung open slightly and our eyes widened in disbelief. With all that's happened, no way will Naruto lend us the talisman, especially since there'd be no way Naruto would get it back. He didn't hold onto grudges, but after what went on yesterday morning, even the forgiving Naruto Uzumaki wouldn't give us something that valuable.

So instead of asking if there was another talisman out there, which more than likely was a "no", Sasuke and I both asked in unison, "What?"