Chapter 4:

"Let me out," Sai growled, struggling against his restraints. "Take these chains off me!"

"Fat chance," Naruto told him. He and Sai were in a small train car by themselves.

Unlike the other trains, this one did not seat passengers but supplies. Sakura and Naruto had to climb aboard while it was still moving down the track. The open car carried bales of hay which were stacked on opposite sides of the car. A few had been shaken loose and were used as seats for Naruto and Sakura while Sai stayed on the ground.

Since it was still evening and the train car was open, Sakura and Naruto took turns keeping guard over the train and watching Sai who had come to after Sakura's punch and wasn't happy about being restrained.

"Take these chains off me," he demanded angrily.

It wasn't only Sakura's strength that kept the chains around Sai's torso. It was the fact that Sai, though turned, hadn't had a drink of blood yet. Without the first taste inaugurating him into full vampirism, Sai lacked the strength to break the chains on his own.

"We're almost back home," Naruto told him without turning around. He was keeping his eye on the open door showing a forest zooming by the speeding train.

Sai clamed slightly to change his repeated demands to a question. "Why do you want to cure me so bad?"

"Why do you think?" answered Naruto. "You're a vampire. We have to change you back to you."

"I like being a vampire."

"You only think that. You're not yourself. I want my friend back."

Sai frowned. "If you were really my friend, you'd want me to be happy. Instead, you're trying to change me into what you want."

"This isn't you," reasoned Naruto. "Being bitten brainwashed you or something. The Sai I know wouldn't talk like this."

Sai dropped his gaze again, thinking. Smiling, he lifted his head and said, "You're right, Naruto. I should go back to the Leaf. We'll go together. I've come to my senses. You can take the chains off me now."

Naruto didn't believe removing them would be a good idea, even if Sai had regained some clarity. He turned around to show Sai his raised eyebrow only to find Sai staring at him with a calm smile and eyes that seemed to dance like moonlight on water.

"Naruto," Sai spoke rhythmically. "Naruto. You can take the chains off me, Naruto. I don't need them anymore."

Persuaded by those eyes and voice, Naruto began to move closer to Sai. Maybe Sai really didn't need them anymore.

"Naruto. I don't need these chains anymore. You can take them off me now. Take these chains off me, Naruto."

Utterly swayed, Naruto started to undo the chains around Sai's chest and arms without even knowing what he was doing. Something convinced him that he should be doing this. That Sai really didn't need them anymore. He should take them off.

"Yes. Take chains off Sai," Naruto said in perfect monotone as his hands slowly undid the tight knot and let the chains fall to the ground.

Smile spreading wickedly, Sai jumped to his feet and knocked Naruto to the ground on his way towards the open door. Without fear, Sai threw himself off the train and rushed back to his master.

"What the hell happened?" Sakura demanded, seeing the chains on the ground and Naruto picking himself up.

"Sai tricked me," Naruto told her. "Some weird vampire persuasion. We have to go after him."

Sakura looked out the door and shook her head. "We're too close to the Leaf to turn back now. Once we're home, we can tell Kakashi-sensei and he can help us form a group to bring him back home. We can't do it on our own. We need help."

Naruto didn't feel right about not going after Sai but Sakura didn't say they were abandoning him. Just getting reinforcements to help them bring him back. If Sai was that desperate to return to the vampire and leave them behind, it probably would take an army to get him under control.

Naruto and Sakura ran straight to the Hokage building the second they arrived at the village. Thankfully, Kakashi was in his office with Shikamaru and was only busy doing paperwork, so it was easy to get his attention. Convincing him would be another story.

"Say again?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sai's a vampire," Naruto repeated. "There was a crate and a castle and so many train rides…"

"I get that part," Kakashi said, holding up his hand to stop Naruto mid-rant. "I want to know about Sai's condition. You said he's a vampire?"

"That's ridiculous," said Shikamaru. "Vampires don't exist outside of fiction."

"I wouldn't have thought any different," said Sakura, "but given everything we've seen, there's no other explanation."

"What if it's a jutsu that only gives the person the tendencies of a vampire or mimics it just enough to make you think that he's the genuine article?" Shikamaru asked, still skeptical.

"He had fangs and went for my neck!" Naruto snapped, pointing to the spot Sai had tried to sink his teeth into. "What more do you want?"

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said to the Hokage, still seeing him as her teacher before the leader of the village. "Please, you have to believe us. After everything we told you… We have to do something to help him."

"The vampire's brainwashed him or something," Naruto added. "Sai chose to be with the vampire rather than come home with us. I tried to convince him but his mind's made up. He jumped off a moving train just to be with him. There has to be something we can do to get through to him and change him back. I thought killing the vampire would be enough but Sakura said not to do it."

"Because what if we're wrong?" she said more to Kakashi than to Naruto. "We're dealing with a real vampire here. What if it doesn't work the same way it does in movies? We have to be sure before we do something that could be permanent. What if we need the vampire alive to cure him? If we kill the vampire, we have no hope of changing Sai back. The vampire's more valuable alive than dead."

"If it really is a real vampire," Shikamaru added.

"It is!" Naruto said, annoyed at Shikamaru's doubt.

"I believe you," said Kakashi, sitting forward in his seat. "The fact that these two came back without Sai proves how dire the situation is. I'm not just saying this as their teacher but as someone who knows them well, especially Naruto. He would never abandon a friend. That tells me that Sai chose to desert them. Which I know Sai would also not do of his own choice. Returning here to get reinforcements was the best option. If Sai won't come willingly, it's the only option."

Shikamaru dropped his gaze, knowing this was the only logical conclusion. For either of them to return without a teammate meant they had no other choice.

However, Shikamaru knew it was a poor decision for another reason and had to speak up about it. "You shouldn't have let him go."

"I know," said Naruto. "I should have gone after him, but I told you that Sakura stopped me. She had the right idea but I was being a bad friend by not going after him."

"It's worse than that," Shikamaru said before Naruto could continue. "If Sai really is under this guy's control, but still retains his memories, then he could lead the vampire here to the village."

Naruto and Sakura both turned pale. "Oh."

"Sakura should have gone back to the village while you went after Sai and prevented him from going back to the guy and telling him all about us."

"What if Sai ended up biting Naruto?" asked Kakashi. "Then we would have two vampires on our hands. In either case, we're here now, so what do we do?"

"Alright," said Shikamaru, scratching his head. "Let's say for the sake of argument that it is a vampire we're dealing with. What does the lore tell us about them? We have no way of knowing what's true and what isn't, so we'll need a jumping off point. Cover the basics. Vampires can't go out into the sun, so we're ok during the day. Vampires can't stand garlic, can't come into a house unless you invite them in. They can fly and turn into bats…"

"It all sounds like fantasy stuff. How will we know which is true?" asked Sakura. "Should we just assume all that's accurate until we know for sure after collecting more data?"

"But if collecting data involves trial and error, doesn't that mean putting people at risk?" asked Naruto. "Is it worth that? I could just have my clones…"

"Might not be enough," said Shikamaru. "We don't know how much information your clones would be able to collect before we can verify any of it. We do try it for some things but they might pop before we can collect anything worthwhile."

"In any case, we have to assume the vampire's coming here with Sai." Kakashi stood up. "You said that the village near the vampire castle was abandoned. That means the vampire's going to look for food and a well-populated area seems like the most likely place they'd go. There's also a high probability that Sai will lure the vampire here to secure his master some food."

"So, we should warn everybody, right?" said Naruto. "They'll believe it if the Hokage's the one saying it."

"Even coming from me, they might not take us seriously. We also don't want to start a panic."

"Sai knows us," pointed out Shikamaru. "He'll know what we'll do. Evacuating everyone and placing them in the emergency bunkers is exactly what he'll think we'll do to secure everyone, but that would just put everyone in a small, dark area with only two ways in and no exposure to sunlight. We might as well have a 'help yourself' sign on the door."

"It won't matter how fast we move on this either," said Kakashi. "Sai knows you two would probably inform me about the situation and I would either ignore it or do as Shikamaru said and make the problem worse."

"Then what can we do?" asked Sakura. "It's daylight now but the sun will set and when it does, the vampires will be able to move freely. We have a day to stack the odds in our favor and fortify the village. All without making us sound or look crazy. We'd have to come up with something to tell the other villagers and shinobi. If we're telling them anything."

After a moment, Kakashi had an idea. "A mandatory curfew."

"A curfew?"

"Yes," he explained. "We'll tell the villagers we're testing out a new security measure and instituting it tonight around sunset. The civilians will return to their homes without causing a panic."

"That could work," said Shikamaru. "The academy ran drills all the time. That's how we knew where to go in the event of a mass evacuation of the village or other emergencies. It's unlikely the people would be suspicious."

"That'll get the people off the street but what about stopping Sai?" asked Naruto. "And what about the people who will ignore the curfew? I can tell you from experience that some people won't take it seriously and do their own thing."

"At the very least, it will cut down the possible victims until we can get the situation under control. But we'll have shinobi around to enforce it. They'll also be informed of the Sai situation. With less people on the street, they're less likely to get caught in the crossfire," explained Kakashi.

"Two birds with one stone," agreed Shikamaru. "Less victims and less people to get in the way."

"But how do we get the shinobi to help us stop Sai without them thinking he's gone rogue?" asked Sakura. "They won't believe us if we tell them the truth. I mean, I didn't believe the vampire thing until I saw it with my own eyes."

"Then we won't tell them it's a vampire," said Shikamaru. "We can just tell them that Sai was put under powerful genjutsu and thinks we're enemies. The man he's with is the caster."

"What's stopping them from attacking the vampire to free him?" asked Naruto, seeing a flaw in the plan. "Or the shinobi trying genjutsu removal techniques?"

"We'll tell them at the jutsu can only be lifted by the caster so we'll need him alive."

"That seems like a decent plan for now," said Kakashi, moving in front of his desk. "I'll get the word out so the curfew can take place. I'll also inform the shinobi I wish to assist with the project so we can get that organized."

"I want to be on the team," insisted Naruto, stepping forward. "I couldn't stop Sai from leaving the train but I'll stop him here at the village."

"I agree, but only as a reserve."

Naruto's face fell. "What? Reserve? But… But that means I won't be involved as…"

"You have to listen to me," Kakashi said firmly. "There is an important reason why I want you and Sakura both on reserve. It's in case something happens. If the team I assign to this mission fails, you'll have to pick up the slack. We can't risk you getting bitten and turned as well. We need to gather more data on this before we make any rash decisions."

Naruto gave Kakashi a disbelieving look. "You're using these guys as test subject? Sacrificing them to the vampire to see what he can do?"

"Don't put it like that," said Kakashi. "If I had my way, no one would be in danger. But there's risk in every mission. Sadly, we don't know what this vampire is capable of. I don't want to test it but there's no way to capture him or Sai without doing exactly that. Otherwise, we'd stay hunkered in our homes and hope for the best."

"But…"

"Let me put it to you this way, Naruto. What would you rushing out there to battle the vampire be any different from someone else doing it? Would you not be testing what it can do? Would you not be a test subject yourself doing that?"

"He's right," said Shikamaru. "Sometimes people have to take a risk in order for others to see where they failed in order to do better. At least, if the vampire were to defeat them, we'd stand a better chance of saving them after learning what it can do from their battle."

"But if I can overpower Sai and chain him up again…"

"That worked so well the first time," Sakura pointed out. "You were unprepared then and look what happened. Let someone else do it and we can study their moves to see what we can do should they fail."

"You can battle them once we have a better understanding of what we're dealing with," Kakashi insisted. "For all you know, they might succeed their first time."

There was nothing Naruto could say to sway them and everything they said convinced him that this was the best way to handle the situation. If a different team could trap Sai and the vampire, it was best to leave it to them rather than handle it himself and risk making things worse.

Sighing heavily, Naruto submitted and allowed Kakashi to organize a plan.