After finding out that Moya was actually my cousin, Neji, I found myself walking back to the Shodai Kazekage thinking about nothing but him. I still could not believe that I didn't recognize him as soon as I saw him. The boy that I knew seven years ago looked exactly like Neji does now, just older. Even some of their mannerisms are the same, like when he got mad at me for telling him that he was my cousin. Neji always clenches his jaw, crosses his arms, and gives you a hard look in the eyes. I didn't show it then, but my heart hurt even more when I saw him do that. When we were kids that always annoyed me, but now it takes my breath away because I actually got to see him do it again.

I wanted to turn back to talk to him. I wanted to see him again. I wanted to look at his face, hug him hard, and breathe in his familiar scent. I wanted to tell him that I loved him and I never forgot about him. I wanted him to tell me that he remembers everything and that he'd come back to Konohagakure with me, to our home… But according to him, Konohagakure was not his home. I was not his cousin. He was not Neji Hyuga. He did not know me and I did not know him. The Minami family was his family. Sunagakure was where he belonged. Killing vampires was his job even though his "family" did it brutally and mercilessly and he did not believe in doing it their way. I was nothing to him. I was just an inconvenience.

The warm tears spilled down my cheeks and they had no intention of stopping. I wanted my cousin. I wanted him to remember me. And now that I know that he's alive, I don't think that I will be able to return to Konohagakure without him coming with me. I know that he told that he wasn't coming with me because this place is his home, but I can't leave him here. This is not his home. This would not be his home and he would not be with them had he not lost his memory.

Right now he's probably telling everyone how crazy I was for telling him about his true identity. Not that it really mattered. No one there really wanted me there, especially Nanase. I bet that she's happy that I won't be around anymore to "take her cousin away."

I was walking slowly, so I wasn't too far from the Minami household when I heard a familiar, beautiful voice calling out to me. It said, "Come to the park, Hinata." The voice was so enticing that I had to follow it.

In less than three minutes I arrived at a playground. No one was here besides a man sitting on a swing. I decided to sit on the swing beside the man and realized that it was Sasuke. He looked upset. Depressed even. Back at the Minami house when Megumi brought him in, Sasuke was very nonchalant about the slayers surrounding him. He didn't even care that they were going to kill him. At the time, a part of me thought that it was an act to hide his fear, but now I think that he really didn't care if he died.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I've been thinking. I've been thinking a lot actually," he said in a low voice. "Our break up was for the best and I've come to accept that."

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"… Remember when you invited your friends over to the church for the first time and you said that I only see you as Kana? Well, that was true. I only saw Kana. I never truly saw you." Sasuke looked me in the eyes. "I'm sorry. Our relationship was a lie. Kana was the love of my life and I never got over her. You were a substitute."

"You led me on for four months?" I asked. Now not only was I upset about the Neji-not-remembering-me-thing, now I was also angry that Sasuke led me around with false words and feelings. I even lost my virginity to him because I loved him and I thought that he loved me, too. I regret ever doing it with him. I wished that I could take it back.

"Please don't be angry," Sasuke said to me, sensing my feelings. "I know that everything I did was wrong and you have every right to hate me, but I had my reasons."

"What reasons? You used me. All to fill in for Kana." I sighed and massaged between my wrinkled brows. "If she was so great, why don't you talk about her?"

"I've been meaning to. It's still hard for me," he said.

I could feel his gaze on me but I refused to look at him. "It's been 300 years, Sasuke. How could you have not gotten over her?" My voice was getting louder with each word.

"When you turn into a vampire everything is heightened. Your sense of smell, your sight, your hearing, your nerves, your taste. Emotions heighten, too as well as prolong. When you become angry it's actually rage. Happiness is substituted for elation. Sadness is traded for melancholy. I've been grieving for Kana for three centuries and I think I'm just now getting over it."

I released a long sigh and then I stared at him. "Tell me about her. Tell me about Kana, the girl that everyone loves so much. What was so special about her? How did you fall in love? Why did your brother kill her?"

Now it was Sasuke's turn to sigh. "Do you want me to tell you the whole story?"

I nodded. "I think that I deserve to know."

"Alright, but pay attention because I'm only going to tell it once."

"Go on," I said as I leaned forward when Sasuke delved into his history.

"Sasuke," my brother, Itachi, called. "I am going out for a while. The Hokage assigned a hunting mission for me outside of the village. I will not be back for a few nights."

"Another one?" I asked. "This slayer stuff is becoming an annoyance. I hardly ever get to see you, brother."

My brother rested a hand gently on my head and ruffled my hair. "I promise when I get back I will spend time with you."

I pouted when he removed his hand. "I am still unsatisfied."

He smiled at me kindly. "You can always let me teach you how to become a slayer. It runs through our blood. I know that father would be disappointed if I did not at least teach you one thing."

Itachi walked over to the dining room table and packed a stake into his worn out trench coat along with a few daggers slathered in werewolf poison. The trench coat belonged to our father who was killed by a pack of vampires two years prior. Our mother had been with him at the time and was killed with him. Since then, Itachi had no choice but to take care of me. Itachi had wanted to teach me how to become a slayer, but I rejected the offer every time. I was never interested in officially becoming one.

"No thanks, brother," I said. "I prefer to be as human as possible. The last thing I need is to be called a freak by the villagers. If they found out what we were I do not want to dream about what they would do."

Itachi closed his coat and made his way to the door. I got up from the chair in the living room to walk him to the gate that led out of the village. We did not say much to each other. We walked in silence. As we walked, I could not help but to notice that the village woman were staring at my brother. Based on my brother's looks, athletic abilities, and gentlemanly personality, he somehow earned the "Ideal Husband" title. Every woman wanted him. His long, black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail; my brother was not bulky like most slayers were. Instead he had more of a lean build. His dark eyes, that were darker than mine, saw through everything. So not only was he the "ideal husband", he was also the "ideal slayer." Every woman wanted to have Itachi, and every slayer wanted to be like Itachi. I could not help myself but to be a bit envious.

We reached the gate and my older brother noticed my scowl immediately. He knew what I was scowling for, too, so he poked me on the forehead and smiled warmly. "I may receive stares of adoration and acknowledgement, but I do not give them the same stares in return. Worry not, Sasuke. I am not going anywhere. I will not leave you for them."

I felt my face getting warm and anger boiling up inside me. My brother was the only one who could do this to me. "I am just irritated that everyone has to look at you every time you leave the house. How did you get me being afraid of you leaving me out of the annoyance I feel for them looking at you?"

He smiled at me and rested the hand he used to poke me with on my head. "You do not see it now, but if I were to leave or die, you would be very lonely."

I smacked his hand away. "Why would I care about that? I would be just fine on my own."

"I do not believe that for a second. All of that pride that you carry will be your downfall one day." He turned to leave the village. "I will bring back a present for you when I return. See you soon, Sasuke."

I watched my brother leave Konohagakure. When he was out of sight and out of earshot, I mumbled, "See you soon."

Normally, women do not catch my eye unless there is something unusual about them. But when I left the gate to return home I came to an abrupt stop when I saw a woman. This was a woman that I have never seen before. Long, beautiful hair that shimmered in the sunlight flowed around her and framed her face. She owned skin so fair that she made even the fairest woman in the village look dirty. She had eyes so full of kindness and knowledge. She also appeared to be around the same age as me. Sixteen.

Whenever I do see a beautiful woman I do not approach them. This one was different somehow. I found myself being drawn to her. Kind of like she was calling to me. Whenever I looked into her pale eyes it was like I was being sucked in. She was pulling me into a trap, but I had no urge whatsoever to try to escape her hypnotic hold. I wanted to go to her.

I approached the mysterious woman who possessed a supernatural beauty, kissed the soft hand that she extended to me, and continued to stare into her eyes. Then, with a voice even more bewitching than her eyes, the woman spoke to me. "I am Kana Oshiro. I am pleased to meet you." She then cocked her head to the side and stared at me curiously. "What is your name?"

Kana asked for my name kindly, but it felt more like a command. I would not have responded in a normal situation, but this was not a normal situation. I could not ignore a beautiful voice like hers even if I wanted to.

"Sasuke Uchiha, my lady," I responded with a voice so lifeless that a chill ran up my spine.

"My apologies," Kana said, removing her hand from my hold. "I forgot to turn off my compulsion."

It was like a switch went off in my mind when Kana shut off her compulsion. She was still beautiful, the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen, but I was no longer drawn to her. Not only that, the bewitching quality that her eyes owned disappeared completely.

"Compulsion?" I repeated. "You are a vampire?"

She did not hesitate to respond. "Yes."

"Then you are a monster. I do not want anything to do with you." I turned to leave, but her words stopped me.

"We are not all monsters," she said. "Some of us were forced to become like this. I was once a priestess of a shrine in Tanzaku Town before I was forced to turn. My intentions are not ill. Believe me."

I do not trust vampires. I never did. But something about Kana made me believe her. She was not using compulsion, so I truly did trust her. Was it her face? Her charm? Neither of those deemed so. Maybe she really was a good person.

"You look sixteen," I said. "But how old are you truly?"

"I am 500 years old. I am old, I know. But the one who turned me is even older than I. That monster is 650 and is still roaming the earth, killing those he sees fit. He is searching for me, so I am on the run. I came here in hopes of escaping him for good, and to return to a life without fear."

I technically was not a slayer since I never learned how to be, but my brother did teach me how to study people to see if they were lying. Kana was not lying. I was confused. Itachi told me that vampires did not have affectionate emotions, but Kana was proving that to be false. Was my brother wrong? Or is Kana somehow deceiving my observation? She seems to be very knowledgeable, and she must be since she is 500 years old, so she has to be astute enough to be able to deceive me.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"A week's worth. And I must say that there is not much to do here."

"I know, but it might get interesting soon for you. Slayers fester everywhere in this village."

Kana cocked her head to the side and stared at me with curiosity again. "Why do you say "slayers" with such disgust and discontent? You too are a slayer, are you not?"

My eyes widened. "H-How do you know that? I am not even trained."

The woman frowned. "Unfortunately I know many things. It comes with being alive for so long."

"W-Well, do not stay out here for too long. You are sure to be spotted."

I felt myself blushing whenever her kind eyes met mine. I could not get over her beauty. It was so unreal. But what was even more unreal was that she appeared to be looking me over with adoring eyes. Many women found me to be attractive, but they were all average or too old. Kana was certainly out of my league and I felt as though I was not worthy enough to be noticed by her.

"Your face," Kana said, pulling me out of my thoughts. She placed a warm hand on my cheek and stared adoringly into my eyes. My breath caught when she stood so close to me that our bodies were nearly touching. "You are very handsome, Sasuke."

"I… I forgot that vampires can read minds."

"Worry not. I do not do it often." She removed her hand from my face and I instantly missed the warmth from it. "I do not look at faces. Personalities are what attract me." Kana turned to leave, but then turned back to look at me to say, "I like your personality, Sasuke." Then she left.

My heart was beating fast and I felt how burning hot my face was. Did she just flirt with me? A woman as beautiful as Kana has taken a liking to me? It seemed impossible, but after how she looked at me and spoke to me, it just might be true. I did not know how to deal with this. With a slayer for a brother and having slayer blood within me, it was taboo to make friends with a vampire, let alone fall in love with one. But these butterflies in my stomach proved otherwise. I was taking a liking to Kana the vampire, and I had no clue how to make these new feelings stop. If Itachi, or any other slayer in Konohagakure, found out about this then they would have Kana's head and mine. In the slayer world, a slayer falling in love with a vampire was the second greatest crime that we could commit. The penalty for it was death for both the slayer and the vampire.

I took a deep breath and looked up towards the sky. I needed a drink. A drink strong enough to take me from reality for a while and for me to not think about these troublesome feelings at the pit of my stomach and in my heart. I needed to get the image of Kana out of my mind before I do something that I will regret later like kissing her or sleeping with her. Being drunk would make a normal person do those things, but, as long as it is me, being sober is a danger to Kana. As long as I was sober, these taboo thoughts will constantly swarm through my mind.

I made my way to the closest slayer tavern to get a drink. I was hoping to drink alone, but my friend was there drinking and motioned me to joined him. Groaning, I sat beside him at the bar and ordered my usual, Scotch whiskey. It is hard for slayers to get drunk, so the bartenders serve drinks to minors. And with the job that all of us have to do, all of the things that we have to see, alcohol is a necessity.

My friend rested his head on my shoulder and sighed. His white hair covered his face and he stared at me with his purple eyes. He continued to hold his grape flavored vodka as he leaned more of his body into me. It did not take me long to find out that this dumbass was drunk.

"Get off of me, Suigetsu," I said with a frown.

He gave me a goofy smile and leaned in too close to my face for comfort. "I have not seen you for so long, Sasuke, that I forgot what you looked like," he laughed and then, after taking a sip of his vodka, Suigetsu leaned his entire body on mine and nuzzled my face with his own. People around us began to stare and whisper. That irritated me and I pushed Suigetsu off. Unfortunately, my friend was an affectionate drunk. Talking seemed to never be enough for him. He had the urge to touch whoever he was familiar with whenever he was intoxicated. I did not mind the touching because he did not carry ill intentions behind it, but out in public was a different case. People always stared and whispered, assuming that both of us were homosexual, which was taboo in both the human world and the slayer world.

"Not here," I hissed at him in a hushed whisper. "Do not touch me in public."

"But, Sasuke, I love you so much, and I have not seen you for so long. It takes a miracle for the Hokage to tell the Mizukage to send me here for a hunting mission. He always requests my older brother, Mangetsu."

"That is only because Lord Hashirama Senju does not trust you," I told him as I took a sip from the whiskey that the bartender handed me. "I would not, either. All you do is swing your sword around without having an actual target while your brother does all of the work. Hell, I would not even call you for emergencies if we were low on men."

"Why are you being so mean? I am an excellent slayer."

As a response, I grunted as I sipped more of my whiskey.

"What is going on with you?" Suigetsu asked. As he said each word, he was inching closer and closer to me. "I know you are mean, but not this mean. Care to share your feelings?"

I sighed. If I was going to get Kana out of my mind, talking about her proved better than getting drunk. Not only that, Suigetsu was the only person I could talk to about Kana. If I talked to Itachi then he would find out right away that Kana was a vampire. Slayers naturally have good intuition, but my brother's intuition is so keen that it scares me sometimes. I would not even have to say her name or describe her for him to know that she is a vampire.

"I met this woman," I told Suigetsu. "A beautiful woman that I had never seen before. I think she took a liking to me and she flirted with me. Ever since we parted I cannot stop thinking about her."

"How sweet. You got yourself a girlfriend," my friend sang against my arm. "But what are you doing here? You should be with her."

"Because if I do not get drunk I will continue to have dirty thoughts about her."

"So?" Suigetsu snorted. He sat up and rested his head on the counter. "In this day and age we do not live very long. Sleep with her. Have fun." His next words obviously were not meant for me to hear, but, him being drunk, I heard every word as if he wanted me to hear them. "Losing your virginity might make you a nicer person. Too bad it will increase your pride, though." Suigetsu took another sip of his drink, spilling most of it on the counter and on himself.

I laughed at him and said, "Go back to the inn, Suigetsu. Your brother will be angry if he has to come here to fetch you for the mission."

"You are right. I should leave. Bye, Sasuke."

My friend got up from the counter and staggered a little before he caught his balance. The balance that he obtained was short-lived, though. Suigetsu walked crookedly out of the tavern and stumbled on the staircase that led up to the exit. When my friend got outside I heard him puking his guts up. It was a little evil of me, but I smiled against my glass of whiskey when I heard him vomit.

I finally had peace, but by the time that I started feeling intoxicated the sun was setting. It took about ten more bottles of whiskey and five cups of vodka to finally get to where I wanted to be. I left the tavern at nightfall with the intention of going home to sleep, but I got distracted.

Unfortunately, even though I was not trained, slayers naturally have hearing that is said to rival a vampire; sight that allows us to see in the dark better than a cat, and reflexes that defies the law of physics. So when I heard a scream, I jumped from the sound and made my way over to the source of it. When I got to the scene I halted and my mouth dropped.

In the dark, a man was being eaten by a vampire with dozens of other bloody bodies surrounding them. The man made a few strangled sounds before his body went limp. Even though the man expired, the vampire continued to feed on its victim. It only stopped when it heard me step on a branch. Its head looked up to see who was there and both of our eyes widened at the same time.

It was Kana.

Her body froze and she dropped the body. I dared to approach her even though it was very likely that she would run away. I was very lucky that she did not when I finally reached her. Blood was all over her face, hair, clothes, and hands. Her eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight as she looked up at me, and the scarlet colored blood made all of the features on her face stand out. I know that it is sick to think like this, but the blood made her look so much more beautiful, if possible.

I could not control my body. My hands automatically framed her face as I tilted her head up so that we were peering into each other's eyes. She was a prize. A mystical wonder. In my eyes, there was nothing that Kana could do to make me hate her. I did not know this girl, but everything about her made me fall deeper in love with her. She just killed all of these people but that did not matter to me. I was not even thinking of the crime that she committed when I leaned down and brushed my lips against hers.

She kissed me in turn. It started off with just the gentle brushing of our lips so I did not expect Kana to lick at my lips so that she could gain entry. I allowed access to Kana's tongue and the blood that it carried. It was a mistake to kiss her, I know, but I could not resist. And the taste of the blood exploding in my mouth had me kissing Kana with sudden aggression. The delicious taste of blood was nothing like I had tasted before and I could not get enough of it. Before I knew it, I had the source of my dark lust pinned against the brick wall of the house we were closest to.

Our lips hungrily smashed together as the kiss deepened and picked up pace, our tongues caressed each other and explored the innards of our partner's mouth, and the blood had me greedily swallowing it as I pushed Kana completely against the wall to taste it, all of it.

It was then that Kana fisted my hair and pulled me back. We were both breathing hard with flushed faces. I was out of breath but I did not care. I still wanted her. I wanted to get right back to what we were doing and take her completely-

"Wait," Kana commanded.

The hand that she used to fist my hair slowly trailed down her body in the most seductive way I thought possible. She touched her face, which was free of blood, to her breasts, and then back up to the side of her neck. With a devilish smirk that I thought was captivating, she asked with a voice like silk, "Do you want more?"

I had no clue what she was talking about, but I nodded anyway.

It was then that Kana cut the side of her neck and a red, thin line of scarlet blood trailed down her body, staining her dress in her own blood. "Drink," she told me as she extended her hand to me.

The greatest crime that a slayer can commit is drinking blood from a vampire. Unlike the crime of forming a relationship with a vampire, the penalty for drinking blood is not death. The slayers believed that death was too kind, so they flogged you in front of the other slayers and then, if you survived, they made you sit on rocks naked for hours. My guess for drinking vampire blood being a crime is that the slayers want to separate us from them as much as possible. Vampire blood is already coursing through our veins, so that is why I enjoyed human blood. We call vampires monsters, but we are just as bad, if not worse, because we can do all of the sinful things that they can do.

Knowing how harsh the repercussion of the crime committed if a slayer drinks vampire blood is, I did not think twice before my mouth was on Kana's bleeding neck. She gently rested a hand in my hair as she released a soft moan into the night air. I moaned against her skin as I sucked in the warm, succulent scarlet liquid from her body. This tasted better than human blood. This tasted so good that it was almost orgasmic.

Once that thought crossed my mind, my body was pressed against hers entirely. I rubbed my pelvis against hers and purposely used my knee to lift her dress so that I could caress her legs. In return, Kana moved her pelvis in tune with me. The hand that was not in my hair unbuttoned my vest and unbuttoned the long-sleeved shirt underneath it. The hand ghosted over my body as she moaned louder into the night.

I detached my mouth from her neck to whisper in her ear. I was surprised at how husky my voice sounded when I told her, "I want you so bad, Kana."

The woman licked the blood smeared on my lips. "And I want you, Sasuke."

Kana scratched my bare chest, and watched the blood flow from the flesh wound momentarily before she licked it. Then she went to my neck and bit into me. She released endorphins into my body, making me moan and groan instantaneously. My hands held onto her hips and I could not stop moaning. I continued to call out her name as I grinded my body against hers. I loved the feeling of this. The wonderful sensation that this brought me was mind-blowing, but I did not quite want this. What I wanted was to be in Kana. I wanted to become one with her. I wanted to love her through the night as our bodies came together to share warmth and unite for the first time. And the urge above my knees was not helping me settle this dark desire overtaking me from within. Kana had to know this. She can read minds. The dirty desires coursing through my teenage mind should be enough to defile her and make her feel dirty. She should want to get away from me to save herself. But I was wrong.

Kana granted me that devilish smirk that she gave me not too long ago. With the smirk still plastered on her beautiful face, she said, "Quite creative, are we, Sasuke?"

My mystical wonder claimed my lips again, but since the endorphins were still coursing through my body, the nerves in my lips were heightened. I moaned softly as our lips brushed together.

"Kana," I said with a voice so desperate that I did not recognize it as my own. "Please. Stop teasing me. You read my mind. You know how much I want you."

"And I want you, too," she told me. "But you are not ready. What you feel is lust. I want you to feel more than just that, my love." She placed a hand on my chest to feel my rapidly beating heart. "This is not the rhythm that I want to hear and feel. You just want to settle the urge that arose inside of you. What I want, no, what I need is for you to fall in love with me. That is all I need from you, Sasuke."

"Kana?"

Kana removed my hold on her hips and pushed me away so that she could leave. "Come find me when you fall in love with me."

I wanted to chase after her, but she used compulsion on me, forcing me to go home. I returned home that night and could not stop thinking about her. The way her body felt, the smirk that she gave me, the way her blood tasted, how much she made me want her…

Days passed and I could not get her out of my mind. I did not see her around the village and I could not find her. I even returned to the spot where we kissed and found no trace of her. It made sense that she would not return to this area, though. She produced so many bodies and the slayers were trying to figure out who created them. To my dismay, Suigetsu and Mangetsu were on duty and they were the type to not rest until they found the culprit.

"Have you found anything yet?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Not yet," Mangetsu answered. "We should be receiving backup soon. Whatever heartless bastard did this deserves to die."

Anger boiled up inside of me, but I tried hard to not express it. "Who are these people?"

"It is a little strange," Suigetsu answered. "All of these men are criminals. Some of the worst kind. The police have been trying to catch them, to lock them away, but they were very slippery."

I felt my heart hit my chest and butterflies swarmed in my stomach. Kana killed criminals because she did not want to harm innocents.

"Here comes our backup now," Mangetsu said, pointing towards the direction of the gate.

My eyes widened and my heart dropped down to my stomach. My body went rigid and I felt light-headed. They brought in the best to get this gruesome crime solved. Unfortunately the best was my brother.

Itachi came up to me immediately with worry written all over his face. "I am so glad that you were unharmed, Sasuke."

"Brother…"

"Itachi," Mangetsu called as he handed Itachi a folder full of documents. "This is what we have so far."

My brother opened up the folder to read the contents. Mangetsu stood beside him to point out the most important clues and details so that he was caught up to speed. This was a relief to the slayers on the case, but it was a disaster for me. If Itachi was on the case, then this will definitely be solved and Kana will be executed. I could not let this happen, but I could not tamper with the documents without my brother knowing now that he is reading them. The only other option I have is to warn Kana.

I turned to find her when my brother called me. "Sasuke, I got you a gift. I will give it to you tonight over dinner."

I gave Itachi a small smile and a nod before I went off to find Kana.

My intention was to go on the outskirts of the village since Kana appeared to not be within the village, but I was stopped by the man who knew me better than anyone in the world. My brother.

"Brother, I do not have time for you," I said. "I am in a hurry."

"I know," he responded and then took a few steps towards me. "A friend of mine was the in the area of the crime a few nights ago. He saw you with a vampire and told me about it as soon as he saw me approaching the gate. Would you like to explain, Sasuke?"

"No, I would not. I have nothing to tell you."

"Sasuke," he said in that familiar warning tone that was often used by parents.

"There is nothing to tell you, brother."

"I know you are lying. Stay away from that vampire. No good will come from being around one. They are heartless creatures that pretend to have emotions in order to get what they want. You should know this." My brother turned around to go back to the scene but before he did so he called from over his shoulder to me, "I expect to see you at home for dinner. If I do not, I will come and find you."

When my brother was out of sight, I made my way to the outskirts of the village.

All I saw were trees and shrubs outside of the village. But it did not take too long before I found a small, secluded hut. Something told me to approach the hut, so I did. I knocked on the door a few times, but there was no answer. I looked through the windows, but I could not see anything. I went back around to the front door to see if it was unlocked and, luckily, it was.

I went inside the hut, but no one was there. I thought that the hut was vacant, but I saw the dress that Kana had worn a few days ago crammed in a corner on the floor. Unfortunately there were no signs to tell if Kana had been here recently. There were no extra clothing hanging anywhere, no meals, and no sign of her sleeping here. I decided to stay here to wait for her just in case she came back, but it took longer for her to return than I thought.

Somewhere along the time when I sat down on the floor to wait for her, I had fallen asleep. When I awoke it was nightfall. I believed that she would not be coming back, so I left. I did not have a watch so I had no idea what time it was. But my brother and I have dinner when the sun is setting. A knot formed in my stomach when I remembered that he told me that he would come looking for me if I did not come home for dinner.

As soon as I left the woods, I saw Itachi storming through the village. He did not notice me until I moved. When his eyes caught sight of me they turned from worry to anger. He furiously approached me and slapped me across the face.

"Where were you?" he questioned.

I placed my hand on my stinging cheek and glared at my brother. "It is none of your concern, brother."

I made my way to brush past him, but he caught my wrist with blinding speed and pulled me towards him. He gripped me so hard that I let out a yelp. Itachi's expression softened and he released me immediately. When my brother is angry he forgets his own strength. I should know better than anyone to not make him angry, but I still continued to because I knew that he would never truly try to hurt me.

I held my wrist, rubbed my throbbing skin, and cursed under my breath. A bruise will surely appear soon.

"Sorry, Sasuke," he said sincerely. But then he rid himself of any pity he felt for injuring me and said, "It is my concern. I am the one taking care of you. Tell me where you were."

"You do not need to know! Leave me alone!"

I turned to go home, but Itachi stopped me by grabbing my wrist again. "You were with that vampire were you not? The one who killed all of those men," my brother said.

His tone made my heart jump and my pulse race. I felt my eyes widen as I asked, "Brother, what are you going to do?"

"Have… Have you fallen in love with that vampire, Sasuke?" Itachi's voice was low and fearful. When I did not respond, Itachi said slowly, "You know what that means, correct? I… I have to kill you…"

I ripped my wrist from my brother's hand and ran for the woods. I heard Itachi calling my name, but I did not look back. I went where my feet took me and I ended up in front of the hut again. I was breathing hard and quickly decided to enter the hut.

I let my body slump to the floor and I threw my head back against the wall as I breathed heavily. I let my eyes close as I thought of what I was going to do. My brother loved me, but a crime is a crime and I just committed one knowing fully well of the consequences that it brought. Itachi was going to find me and kill me himself to purify the soul that Kana had tainted. There was nowhere for me to run. Itachi always finds his target. And since I am the one that he is hunting, he will surely find me soon.

"Sasuke," a familiar voice sounded through the dark room like silk. The hairs on my arms stood up as my eyes shot open and found another pair of eyes that glowed in the moonlight. "I thought that I heard you come in."

"Kana," I said, standing up to meet her.

"You came by earlier." Kana did not say it as a question but I nodded anyway. "Do you need something?"

"I… I came to warn you. The slayers are searching for you. My brother is on the case and he is sure to find you. You must flee."

"I know, but I do not want to."

"What? Why not?"

"Because…" Kana approached me and rested a hand on my swollen cheek. In my periphery I saw her hand glow white. The stinging pain from the injury that my older brother inflicted upon me was replaced by a calming, warm sensation and the pain disappeared completely. "You are a slayer, my natural enemy. I should hate you, however, you are different. You are not like the others, but it is not because you were not trained. I have taken a liking to you, Sasuke Uchiha, and I know that you have taken a liking to me, too… I… I believe that I have fallen in love with you."

One of my hands fisted a handful of dark, long hair and the other held onto to her lower back. Our hungry lips smashed together as we entered a deep, long kiss. When we parted we were breathing heavily.

"You are in my dreams," I told her. "You are all I think about both while I am awake and while I am asleep. You are all I want to think about. I love you so much that if another day went by without me seeing you, I believe that I would have gone insane. You are my soul, my heart. You are more than what I could have asked for. You are my soul mate and I will never let you go."

Kana's glowing eyes locked with mine. "Will you stay with me forever, Sasuke?"

I did not hesitate to answer, "Yes."

Kana slowly brought her mouth up to my ear. She whispered, "Then I will take you, so that you can join me in the world that is forbidden to your kind."

My lover's teeth sunk down in my neck. I released a moan into the small space of the hut surrounding us. I wrapped my arms around Kana's waist tightly and pulled her petite body against mine. Kana put her weight on me and pushed me down to the floor. She straddled me without removing her teeth from my flesh. She grinded her body against me and I participated in the act. It excited me to hear her moan against my skin as I ghosted over the parts of her body that needed me the most.

I grinded my body in tune with Kana's rhythm as I fisted her hair. I screamed and gasped into the empty hut filled with our voices and groped her body. When I touched sensitive places on her body, I felt her gasp against me as she fed. She gripped hard onto my shoulders as she tried to settle the overwhelming, dark lust rising within her, but I could not get enough of hearing her frustrated cries and feeling how badly her body trembled above me, so I continued to touch her in those places until she released more endorphins into my system, making me scream again.

I let out one last, loud sound of satisfaction into the air before I told Kana to detach her teeth from me. Blood was smeared all over her lips as she looked at me questioningly and breathed hard on my skin.

"It is my turn to make you feel good," I told her.

The devilish smirk that I loved so much played upon her alluring face. With the hand that she had been gripping my shoulder with, she opened the skin on her chest with her nails. She licked the blood off of her fingers and watched my face twist with longing as I watched the blood trail down her porcelain flesh. Kana let out a brief laugh that made the butterflies in my stomach flutter restlessly and fisted a handful of my hair. "Make me feel good, Sasuke."

I pushed Kana down to the floor and got on top of her as I sucked in the warm, scarlet blood with avarice, and I felt Kana tremble from underneath me. Beautiful gasps and heavy breaths escaped from her as she held onto me tighter. She called out my name in a voice so irresistible that I found myself ripping off her dress. Kana released a little laugh and returned the favor by tearing off my shirt with her sharp nails. I winced when one of her nails cut open my skin. The pain did not bother me, though. I was too distracted by how orgasmic Kana tasted and that she dared to lick her fingers slathered in my blood as I drank from her. That was when she called out into the night with a voice even more irresistible than when she called out my name.

I could not take it anymore. I moved my body so hard against her that we both moaned and shivered. I pulled my new lover into an embrace, removing my mouth from her delicious flesh wound. My mouth pressed hard on hers and we indulged in a passionate, bloody kiss. Kana wrapped her legs around me. She whimpered under me as my hand travelled up one of her bare thighs and tugged at her underwear. With a trembling hand, Kana placed her hand on mine and gasped out, "Not yet" from under my lips.

I removed my hand from my lover's underwear and laced my fingers with hers. Our eyes locked for a moment before I kissed down her body until I got to her undergarments. As I was doing so, Kana arched her back, let out soft moans, and whispered "I love you" to me. I returned the sincere words as I dragged my nails up her bare torso and returned my lips to hers.

As we were kissing, Kana cut my lip open with her fangs. She seized the blood dripping from the wound and moaned. This time she sounded desperate. Very desperate and it was not for blood. She wanted me and she wanted me now. Despite her saying "Not yet", I think she wanted to test me to see if I still felt more lust for her than love. She was wrong. I loved her more than anything in the world, and I wanted, no, needed her to know that.

As Kana drank from me, I took one of her hands and placed it on my bare chest. She stopped drinking and her glowing, pale eyes widened. "This rhythm…" she breathed. "It has been so long since I have felt this rhythm…"

"Will you let me take you now?" I asked. "If you let me love you, Kana, I will become your warrior. I promise to protect you, and I will even throw my life away to make that happen. I love you. I really mean that."

She smiled, touched my face, and blinked back tears. "I love you, too. And I will hold you up on your promise, my love."

Kana removed my pants as our lips smashed together again. I removed her bra once our breath became heavier, and taking off her underwear soon followed. I loved Kana more than I could actually say, more than I could describe. She was my world, my everything, and more. She was special, one of a kind, and I would not find another woman like her. She completed me and I completed her. Kana was the only person who could create butterflies within me and make them stir so restlessly that it made me nervous to look at her. It felt like a dream to even be here, touching the woman I loved as she sunk her teeth into my neck and made forbidden love to me in night.

The rising sun blinded me and I had to raise my hand to cover my eyes. As I did so, I could not help but feel different. My eyes were sensitive to the light and they throbbed when I tried to look at the sun. The rhythm of my heart slowed slightly and I was… able to hear it beat within me. In fact, I was able to hear many sounds like birds chirping in the distance. This only disturbed me because I was able to hear the birds' larynx vibrating and stretching as they chirped and sang. I was able to hear water running from the river a few miles away and leaves rustling in the wind. My sense of smell intensified, too. I smelled the water from the river, the wood in the hut, and smelled Kana's sweet, floral scent.

I moved my hand that was resting on the wooden floor and gasped when I felt every single detail in the floorboard. The cracks, the natural roughness, and carves in the wood from what I believed to be created by a dagger. The new sensation startled me so I took my hand away from it only to find something soft and smooth behind me. I let my fingers gently touch this new surface. I breathed in as I travelled farther up until I felt something beat hard against my fingertips. The sudden force startled me, and then I felt the soft surface vibrate and then it began to rumble. The sound from the vibration that soon followed hurt my ears and I covered them only to find out that that did not work.

The soft figure moved slightly behind me and removed my hands from my ears. My sensitive eyes found the source of the cacophonous vibration. Kana was laughing and whispered to me, "It is alright, Sasuke. The harsh sound is all in your head. You can turn it down." With her hands glowing white, she cupped my ears and the cacophonous sounds died.

"Kana," I breathed. Through my new eyes she looked even more beautiful.

"Come," she commanded, extending her arms to me. I lay in her naked lap as she wrapped her arms around me. "You are a vampire now."

I did not respond. Instead, I raised my hand to look at it. I could see all of the details my hand possessed clearly and could not subdue my amazement. Everything about this was amazing and I felt powerful.

When Kana ran her fingers through my hair I jumped. Every nerve on me was hypersensitive and I did not know how to turn it down.

I used my elbow as a support to hold my body up as I fisted a hand in Kana's hair to pull her down so that I could kiss her. My taste had also intensified. I tasted her clean skin and when she stuck her tongue in my mouth, I tasted how sweet it was and felt every taste bud. When we parted, Kana recited a poem for me.

"I never knew there would be a better tomorrow
But you have come into my life and taken away all of my sorrow
My days of sadness are a thing of the past
Because I have found true love at last
My days of emptiness are gone for good
Because you fill a void in my heart that you should
You have opened up a window
You have shown me the light
And my love for you will continue to burn bright"

"That was beautiful," I told her as I kissed her again.

She smiled against my lips. "It is all true."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I noticed that her voice sounded a little raspy. "What is wrong, Kana?"

"Oh," she rubbed her throat. "I am just a little thirsty. Worry not, my love."

"I can get you some water. Would you like that?"

She nodded. "There is a well out back."

I kissed my lover one last time before putting on my pants and leaving the hut. I went out back and gathered water for Kana. While I waited for the bucket to bring the water up to the mouth of the well, I thought about the new life that we will be spending together. We had eternity to do whatever we wanted and we were going to start today.

I walked back inside the hut with the bucket in my hands only to drop it at the doorway. My body went rigid at the scene that I walked into. Not even five feet away from me was Kana's body. Her body lay on the floor with a gash on her neck, a stab wound on her thigh, and a stake in her chest. The beautiful, pale eyes that once carried such kindness now were staring lifelessly at me.

My eyes found the culprit hovering above her body with dark eyes full of hate and disgust. The man slowly turned over his shoulder to look at me. Both of our eyes widened in shock at what we saw.

My brother was shocked to see what creature I had become, while I was baffled that my brother, Itachi Uchiha, killed my most important person in the world. Now my life was no longer worth meaning, and the excruciating pain pulsing through my chest made it even harder for me to stand up straight to face the cruel reality: My brother killed my lover. The light of my life. The apple of my eye.

My brother did not look at me with disgust and hate as he did Kana. He appeared to be in pain. Like his little brother had died and he was now looking at a shadow of what he once was.

Well, he was correct.

With blinding and my mind clouded by rage, I rushed up to my brother and shoved an arm through his chest. I grabbed a hold of his heart beating in his chest and ripped it out. With the pain in his eyes dimming, he fell to the floor beside my lover. Once his body hit the floor, a locket made out of pure silver fell out of his trench coat's pocket. It was issued out to me… It was the gift that he told me about.

My body was shaking violently as I suddenly no longer had the strength to hold my brother's heart. My legs felt like jelly as I slowly approached Kana's corpse. I held her in my arms and gasped at how cold her body felt. I pulled her into my chest as I felt tears fall from my face. How could I have let this happen? I promised that I would protect her. I promised that I would love her. I promised that I would never leave her. How? How could this have happened in such a short amount of time? I should have been here. I should have been here to protect her. I told her that I would become her warrior. How could I do that if Kana was dead?

"I… I need you," I whispered to Kana's lifeless body. I began to rock her body and held her closer to me as if I was trying to keep her warm. And somewhere in my sick mind I thought that my desperation and sorrow would bring her back to life. "Please, Kana… Please… You cannot leave me. I need you. We… We were going to start a life together. We were going to explore the world. How can we do that if you are…?" I covered my mouth with my hand to stop my oncoming sobs. A part of me knew that Kana was not coming back, but the other part of me still could not believe that this was happening. How could love be born and then die as fast as it came? How could love be ripped from my arms in such a brutal manner? And how can the person who took my lover from me be the only family that I had, the man that I trusted with my life, the man that I lived with for sixteen years? The man that promised me that he would protect me? The man that acted as my parent since ours were gone? How? How?

Slowly, I released Kana and gently rested her body on the floor. I closed her eyes, kissed her on the forehead, and whispered, "I love you." After that, my body entered autopilot. I picked up my brother's rigid body, picked up the locket with my bloody hands, putting it in my pocket, and took him outside to rest his body by a large oak tree. I picked up Kana's body and lay her next to Itachi. I created graves for them and when I finished, I broke down and cried.

I lost two people that I loved in one morning, my brother and my lover. Both of them created a change in me, but Kana made the greatest change. All of the pride that I once had diminished when I was with her. My bitter and rude personality died and I was turned into a man with good intentions. In less than a week she changed me. She was special, a mystic wonder that was unsolvable. And I was never going to see her again…

Sasuke sat beside me on the swing set in silence. His body had gone stiff and he appeared to be lost in thought as he fidgeted with the locket that his brother gave him. I leaned a little closer to him to try to see his face only to catch him holding back tears. I was angry that Sasuke had used me to fill in the void that Kana had created when Itachi had murdered her, but now I understood. Had I been in Sasuke's situation, I would've done something similar. Kana was his everything. It was hard to live without her, especially since he was a newborn vampire when she died. Not only did he need her to teach him how to tame his abilities, he also needed her because she was his world. Back at the Minami house, when Sasuke was so nonchalant about dying, it worried me and I didn't have an answer to his behavior. But now I think that I do. It's gotten too hard for Sasuke to live. He doesn't care anymore.

"I…" Sasuke cleared his throat and choked back the tears. "I forgave my brother for killing Kana a few years later. But once I forgave him I regretted ever killing him. He only wanted to protect me. I didn't see that then. But… I will never forgive the slayers for killing innocents like Kana. She… She was such a good person. Even now I still feel like I didn't deserve her." Sasuke let out a humorless laugh. "I hate a part of who I am. Slayer blood is coursing through my veins, so I am just as bad as them, if not worse." Sasuke stood up from the swing to look at me. "I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time."

"I-It's fine," I told him. "I am really sorry about your brother and… and Kana."

He lowered his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. I am, too…" Sasuke bit his bottom lip before saying, "I have a confession to make, Hinata."

"What is it?"

"What you felt for me wasn't love. You never fell in love with me. I used compulsion on you so that you'd take to me faster. I distracted you from Naruto, severing all of the adoration you held for him. I'm sorry for that, too. I know that you must be angry with me for using you and deceiving you by creating a falsified love, and I understand if you hate me forever for doing that to you. But-"

"It's fine. It really is. I forgive you for everything. I think that I'd do the same thing you did if I were in your shoes."

"Thank you," Sasuke breathed. "Even after I committed such selfish acts, you still seem to find it in your heart to forgive me."

"Yeah. You suffered enough." I paused. "Are we friends, Sasuke?"

He thought for a moment. "Yes, we are."

I smiled, showing my teeth. "Good."

We smiled at each other and walked back to the Shodai Kazekage. I'm glad that Sasuke and I repaired our relationship, again, but now I have to deal with Neji. How am I going to get him to talk to me? He doesn't remember me and I'm pretty sure that he thinks I'm insane for calling him my cousin. I'm out of ideas. And with Nanase ready to bite me if I get near her "cousin," I'm going to have to come up with a pretty good plan. What am I going to do?