Chapter 33: Bloodlust

The sand storm that Gaara created was merely a distraction as Gaara used some other sand to transport Izuka and himself away from Seiriyu and the Lightning Twins. The current of sand did not stop moving till it reached the door of one of the old guest rooms on the 45th floor of the tower. The sand released their hold on the Kazekage and Lady Sage before returning itself back into Gaara's gourd.

"We'll hide out in here." said Gaara as he turned the doorknob, quickly finding out that the door was unlocked.

The two entered the room and closed the door behind them and after doing a quick observation of their surroundings, soon found out that the room looked exactly the same as their old guest room.

"Well isn't this a case of déjà vu?" asked Gaara as he began to walk further into the room, taking his gourd off and setting it aside in the process.

"Apparently, the interior designers didn't want to waste time designing for every single room in this huge building." commented Izuka as she walked over to the white sofa in the living room and sat down, placing her fan on the sofa's side.

Gaara walked over and sat down next to the injured girl.

"How are you feeling?" asked Gaara in a worried tone as he continued to watch Izuka perform a self-inflicted healing session.

"Better; I almost have this wound completely healed and I didn't need to use that much chakra to do it." said Izuka as she wiped some blood from her chin.

"That's good to know." said Gaara as he glanced over at the door. He turned back to Izuka, who had her free hand placed over her neck and was looking absentmindedly at the table.

"Something wrong?" asked Gaara as he placed a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"Ryuna wants me to feed." said Izuka as she did not avert her gaze from the coffee table.

The line stopped Gaara dead in his tracks.

"What?" asked Gaara, who couldn't utter another word.

"Ryuna wants me to feed on 's that time of month for me." said Izuka as she stared at the door.

"Of all the times you need to feed, why now?" asked Gaara in a slightly agitated tone.

"I haven't fed yet this month and injuries rush my hunger." answered Izuka in an annoyed tone of her own as she looked at her wound.

"Well, there aren't any wild animals around and I doubt Ryu would let you feed from her." muttered Gaara to himself.

"Don't bring Ryu into this." said Izuka coldly as she looked out the window.

"Sorry." mumbled Gaara as he observed Izuka, whose breathing started to become ragged.

"How bad is it?" asked Gaara after a few tense seconds passed.

"It's practically the one drawback of being the 10-tailed jinchuriki Gaara." said Izuka in a tired voice as she finished healing her wound, leaving a small pink scar in its place.

"I figured there would be more." commented Gaara as he took Izuka's hand in his. "Tell me."

"Being a jinchuriki is never easy, especially if you're the 10 tailed jinchuriki. It's true that there was only one other person who was the 10-tailed jinchuriki before me, but just like me, that person had to pay a price." said Izuka as she looked at hers and Gaara's conjoined hands.

"Bloodlust." answered Gaara when Izuka stopped talking.

"Yeah, that's it, bloodlust. Ryuna is a creature who is half bat and half Chinese dragon, and like all bats and bat like creatures, we must feed on blood to survive. Ryuna is able to nourish her blood craving through me." continued Izuka as she looked at the wall.

"By making you feed on blood every month." suggested Gaara as he fixed a loose strand of Izuka's hair behind her ear.

"Exactly; Ryuna isn't just half bat. She's half vampire bat. Once you become the 10 tailed jinchuriki, you become more vampire-like yourself." explained Izuka as she looked at Gaara's neutral expression while holding her rosary in her free hand.

Gaara nodded his head in understanding and silently gestured for her to continue.

"This rosary connected to my amulet keeps the vampire side of me sealed away. I've went into that form a few times and you've seen what I can do when I'm in that form." said Izuka with a sheepish grin, which Gaara soon returned.

The last time that Gaara saw Izuka go vampire was during the last war when the seal that sealed the other tailed beasts within her was performed on her. The few times she went vampire before that are some of the few memories that he just couldn't forget.

"Izuka, what would happen if you didn't feed regularly?" asked a reluctant Gaara, who was slightly nervous to hear the answer.

"I've wondered that myself. I asked Ryuna during one of my mental conversation with her and she told me that if I didn't feed on time, then my body and mind would become weaker and weaker until I fall into a vegetative state." said Izuka glumly as she rubbed her neck while looking at the floor.

Gaara's eyes widened at the news and unintentionally started to squeeze Izuka's hand in surprise.

"Gaara, you're hurting my hand." replied Izuka in a deadpan as she looked at her now reddening hand.

"Sorry." mumbled Gaara as he let go of Izuka's hand and started to weave his fingers together. "I never knew things could be that bad for you. Have you told anybody else about this?"

"Nope; you're the first. Not even my brother Naruto knows about this." said Izuka as she rubbed her sore hand.

"I see." said Gaara as he looked out the window once again. "You still hungry?"

"The conversation has been a nice distraction, but to tell you to truth, I'm sorry to say that I'm actually starving." said Izuka with a slight chuckle.

"Have you ever tried feeding on human blood?" asked Gaara all of a sudden, which stopped Izuka in her tracks.

"No!" yelled Izuka almost immediately as she jumped out of her seat on the sofa and walked over to the window.

"Izuka?" questioned Gaara in surprise as he got up from his seat and followed after her.

"I know what you are going to say next Gaara. I'm not going to feed from you." said Izuka in absolute defiance as she continued to face the window.

"I'm only trying to help you." said Gaara in a sullen tone as he tried to place a comforting hand on Izuka's shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

"I've tried to do the human blood thing once and never worked out for me. I don't want to put myself through that again!" Izuka almost yelled as she looked straight out the window. The yelling only made Izuka cough hoarsely.

"Izuka?" asked Gaara in concern as he closed the distance between him and the girl and placed his hand on Izuka's shoulder, this time not being rebuffed.

"Just a side effect of me not feeding." said Izuka as she looked him the eyes.

"Izuka, animal blood isn't enough for you is it?" asked Gaara inquisitively. "You need human blood as well."

Izuka looked away from Gaara's concerned eyes, but Gaara placed a hand on her chin and brought her face back to face his.

"Tell me the truth, please?" asked Gaara in a concerned tone as he wrapped his arms around the girl.

"Fine, I can't lie to you Gaara. You have a right to know." said Izuka in a defeated tone. "To tell you the truth, I can live by both animal blood and human blood, but human blood will be the majority in my diet once I turn 18." said Izuka as she rested her head on Gaara's shoulder.

"Meaning?" asked Gaara, still slightly confused.

"Meaning while I can still drink animal blood throughout my life, human blood will need to be incorporated into my diet once it's my 18th birthday." explained Izuka as she looked at the ground.

"I see." said Gaara as he guided her back to the couch. "Maybe you should start now in order to get used to it."

"I should, but I just can't do it. It just makes me feel like a monster." said Izuka as she placed her hands on her lap as she sat.

"You are not a monster Izzy. You're a beautiful, intelligent, down-to-earth girl who is always there for others, including me." said Gaara with sincerity laced throughout his voice.

"Thank you Gaara." said Izuka with a blush evident across her face. "That means a lot to me."

"You're welcome. I just don't want to see you suffer through this blood craving you have." commented Gaara as he crossed his arms.

"Like you said before, there are no wild animals around here and Ryu definitely wouldn't let me feed from her." commented Izuka as she looked around the room.

"There is that other idea. If you are willing to." said Gaara shyly as he looked at the girl.

"I'm still not sure about taking your blood from you Gaara. I can severely weaken you and with Seiriyu and his Lighting Twins looking around for us, we need to be at our best to stop them." said Izuka as she looked at him nervously.

"I came here to face Seiriyu while not at a 100%, I think I can still manage." said Gaara with a smirk.

He grabbed Izuka's hand and pulled her over so that she was right next to him on the couch.

"Just this once?" whispered Gaara as he unzipped his coat to reveal his pale neck.

Izuka gave him a sheepish smirk and a nod of her head before answering. "Just this once." she whispered back to him.

Izuka leaned her head closer to Gaara's neck. Gaara felt a shiver go down his spine as Izuka's lips made contact with his cool neck. He held in a moan that threatened to escape his lips as he felt Izuka's teeth touch his neck. Izuka's fangs pierced his skin and punctured a vein in his neck, thus starting the blood sucking process.

"Just think calm thoughts. The less you think about the pain, the less it will hurt." said Izuka as she placed her hand on the other side of Gaara's neck to give her a firm hold on his neck.

Gaara didn't respond, but did as he was told. Soon enough, he barely felt a thing but just a tiny sting on his neck.

After a minute had passed by in the suite, Izuka let go of her hold on Gaara and removed her fangs from the side. She kissed the puncture marks on his neck before returning to her original position on the couch. Gaara sat back up and placed a hand on his neck to feel no traces of the puncture marks that used to be on his neck.

"They disappeared? How?" he asked in disbelief.

"I'll keep that a secret for now. How are you feeling?' asked Izuka as she observed Gaara with a critical eye.

"A little nauseous, but I'll survive." said Gaara with a sigh. "You?"

"Actually, I've felt better than I have in years, thanks to you." said Izuka with a shy smile.

"That's good." said Gaara with a sigh. He soon grimaced and clutched his side.

"Are you okay?" asked Izuka in alarm as she placed a hand on Gaara's free hand.

"Like I said, I'm not 100%. My ribs may be bandaged up but they still hurt." said Gaara as he continued to grimace in pain.

"You must have been running high on adrenaline. Lie down and let me take a look at your injuries." commanded Izuka.

"Yes ma'am." said Gaara. He unzipped his vest and jacket and lay down on the couch so Izuka could examine him.

Izuka knelt before the couch and pooled some green healing chakra to her right hand. She moved her hand over Gaara's chest and abdomen to scan his injuries.

"Most of your wounds are healing pretty quickly, but there are at least two ribs that have some pretty large cracks in them." said Izuka as she began to heal him.

"You can tell all that by making your hand glow and hover over my chest? You really are gifted." joked Gaara. He soon winced in pain.

"Why thank you. Now stop chuckling or else you'll really crack a rib. We don't have much time." said Izuka as she gave Gaara a soft smile.

Gaara returned her smile with a smirk.

"As you wish Lady Sage. As you wish."

End of chapter 33

A/N: I have a soft spot for vampires and bat like beasts. Please review. Seiriyu will be back starting next chapter. Along with the Lightning Twins.

Birthdays

March 9: Tenten (Naruto)