Chapter 12:

"After that, things pretty much went right back to normal in the village. Everyone returned to normal and the new head vampire returned to her home," Naruto wrapped up his story with a smile.

Himawari's mouth was open in awe. She really enjoyed that story. "That was so cool. That's how vampires really work? I guess you never know until you talk to the real thing, huh?"

"Yeah, right," said Boruto straightening up. "I bet that didn't really happen. Admit it. You just made it up."

"No, I didn't," said Naruto. "That really took place. On a foggy night, too. Just like the fog out there."

"But vampires? Really, Dad?" Boruto crossed his arms with a scoff. "At least make them believable."

Himawari turned around with a pout. She didn't want Boruto to ruin the story, even if a part of her thought her father might have embellished a little. "Boruto…" she said with a whine. "For all we know, that's how vampires really are. Even in the story they said they didn't know for sure because everything they did know was from movies and books."

"But how could they just decide to cure everyone? Just like that? Just by being the head vampire? How does that work?" Boruto asked, skeptically.

"How could curing everyone by killing the vampire work any different?" Naruto retorted. "Even that sounds farfetched."

"Still makes more sense than that."

"By the way…" Boruto added, putting emphasis on each word before continuing. "You expect me to believe two vampires managed to enter the village and make that many in such a short amount of time? Those shinobi would have kicked their butts."

"They were caught off-guard. Weren't you listening?" Naruto answered. "It also shows that you never underestimate the enemy."

"And the underground teams? They got defeated way too easily. Shinobi would have more sense than that, given the gravity of the situation they were clearly aware of."

"Hey, some of those shinobi were inexperienced," Naruto argued.

"And how do you know all that stuff anyway?" Boruto asked matter-of-factly. "Those scenes with Sai and the vampire, Choji being bitten, the underground stuff, the vampire battle. You weren't there so how could you know what happened?"

"Because they told me about it," said Naruto. "We do talk to each other when giving our reports, you know."

Boruto chuckled cynically. "Then it's hearsay at best."

"It's ok if it wasn't all like that," Himawari said to obtain peace, subtly hinting that she was skeptical herself. "Maybe Daddy changed it to make it less violent for my sake."

That thought did occur to Boruto but he still took issue with his father's tale. Throwing vampires into the mix just to entertain them felt like he was treating them like children.

"I'm not gullible enough to believe vampires were here in the village. Or that all that stuff took place. I'm calling B.S. on that."

Naruto sighed and slumped in his seat. "Well, I tried."

Just as he was getting comfortable again, there was a knock on the door. His two children looked up, not expecting visitors, though Boruto thought it could have been Shikamaru calling Naruto in for work. With a groan, Naruto got off the couch and walked to answer the door. His children followed him.

Boruto was ready to give Shikamaru a dirty look and say something about how his father shouldn't have to go into work for whatever reason he would come up with on the fly. He even stood at his father's side, ready for when the front door opened.

When it did, Shikamaru wasn't standing there. Instead, it was Sai and he wasn't alone.

"Hokage Uzumaki," said a female voice. "My, it has been some time, hasn't it?"

Boruto and Himawari wore the same expression when they saw the woman. She was relatively young, had short hair, pale blue eyes, red raindrop earrings and white teeth. When she spoke, those white teeth had unusually long canines, like fangs.

"People usually call me Lord Seventh instead of Hokage Uzumaki," Naruto corrected.

"Hey, I haven't been in the area for some time. And it's not like my castle gets tv channels. I make it a point not to keep up with the news anyway."

"Right, right… Nice to see you again, Umi."

Boruto felt a shiver go down his spine. Wasn't that the name of the…? Boruto took a few steps back until he was beside his sister.

Umi looked their way and Boruto flinched. "Oh-ho. These little rugrats yours? Aren't they yummy?"

Boruto and Himawari dashed up the steps as fast as they could. Once safely at the top of the staircase, they both peeked down over the top step to spy from a safe distance. The adults were still talking but they missed a good part of what was said when they dashed up the steps.

"Is that really…?" Himawari whispered before covering her own mouth to keep herself quiet.

Umi was taking something back from Naruto's hand. It appeared to be some kind of paper though they had no idea what was on it. She handed it off to Sai. "Put this back in my bag, won't you?"

"Yes, Mistress," Sai said obediently and did as he was told.

Boruto and Himawari both gasped and ducked down so only the tops of their heads were showing.

Naruto glanced their way and cracked a nervous smile. "Any chance we could continue this outside?"

"Of course." Umi took a few steps back until she was down the front steps. "Shikamaru said to find you here. Since it's been so long, I kind of want to see the place and what you've done with it. Oh. Mind if I take a look over there?"

"Knock yourself out," said Naruto.

Sai glanced into the house before Naruto shut the door behind himself. Once able to speak with him privately, Sai leaned over and asked, "Why are they giving me those funny looks?"

"Uh, who?" Naruto asked, though it was clear he knew.

"Your kids," Sai clarified. "Why are they looking at me like that?"

"Oh. That. Um, well…" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "You see, I kinda just told them a story about a mission a few years ago that might have involved you and, um, her."

Sai glanced at Umi who was admiring the garden. "Back before your wedding?"

"Yeah."

"So?"

"Well, I might have embellished a little."

Sai raised his brow. "About how Umi's an heiress and we had to help her take control of her family's estate from that other guy?"

"I might have changed a few details to make it more interesting."

"Such as?" Sai inquired.

Naruto looked to the side sheepishly. "I might have thrown in a vampire or two."

"Vampires?" Sai raised his brow again. "Why such a tired and overused fiction?"

"Kids still find them cool. And it's more interesting than a bunch of document crap."

Sai shrugged. "Well, I can't argue with that. Ino's really into the vampire stuff." Then he said, "But that still doesn't explain the looks."

"You did call her 'mistress'," Naruto pointed out.

"She asked me to," Sai explained. "Remember? Once she took control over the estate, she asked that I call her mistress now that she officially had the title. Said she might as well use it."

"Yeah…" Naruto was still averting his gaze. "They might think of it differently… Nah. It's not like they'll get the wrong idea, so…"

"What are you mumbling?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Sai didn't care how Naruto altered the details of a past mission but he was curious what kind of tale Naruto came up with to make his children look at him that way. Almost like seeing a local legend come to life; a mixture of awe and fear in their eyes. He wanted to know just what Naruto told them. He didn't want Boruto to be untrusting of him.

"It's nothing like that," Naruto assured. "I just told them that you got turned into a vampire and that Umi cured you."

"Oh." Sai didn't seem bothered by this. Just curious. "How?"

Naruto gave him the summary of what he had told the children.

Once again, Sai's eyebrow was raised. "Now how does that work?"

Naruto groaned. "I tried to be somewhat original. And something that wouldn't give Himawari nightmares."

Sai cracked a smile. "It is a nice version."

"Thanks," Naruto said, returning the smile.

"It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

"Thanks," Naruto said bitterly.

"And why me? You were on that mission, too. So was Sakura."

"Hey, I couldn't tell them the story if I was the one turned," Naruto explained.

"According to your tale, we retained our memories, so you could have recited what happened even if you had been turned," Sai pointed out. "Or did we just forget we were vampires after changing back? Though that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If we remembered everything anyway, then why…?"

"You were the one undercover for the mission, so it made sense to have you be the vampire. Parallels and everything," Naruto explained with his arms crossed.

"Well, alright, that does make sense." Sai thought a moment. "But… that mission didn't involve us coming to the Leaf. Where's the parallel of that?"

"It made a better story, you guys coming here and infecting everyone."

"… Two vampires against the whole Leaf? I would think someone could stop them. Vampire or not, I wouldn't be able to take on an army of Leaf shinobi."

"I did have a team go in to attack you but the head vampire defeated and turned them. One bite is all it takes," Naruto informed him with a nod.

"What about ranged attackers?"

"Vampires are fast. And sneaky. One infects another and so on."

"Wouldn't having a shinobi specializing in sealing be best?"

"They were on the team and turned."

"We have more than one in the village."

"The team went in to test their skills. If we threw everyone in at once and they all turned, it was all for nothing."

"But if the one that we sent in got infected and then turned others because they didn't know, then it was all for nothing anyway. Might as well throw in more than one to up your chances," Sai reasoned. "And what about putting up barriers? I understand not causing a panic, but wouldn't Kakashi have warned the people about the danger rather than just make up a curfew to veil what was happening?"

Naruto's cheeks started to turn red and he growled. "You know people wouldn't believe the vampire thing. And there's always people who are going to ignore the rules. Just look at my kid."

"Maybe, but the Leaf does have a lot of systems in place just in case…"

"Is everybody going to tear my story apart?" Naruto complained. "That story had it all and was totally believable. I got hypnotized, like, five times. And I was running around in a panic, covering my neck to keep from being bitten. I was totally in character!"

"Nice of you to acknowledge that."

"The point is, it was totally plausible, so no sense focusing on the tiny details."

"… But the entire village? That quickly? Even the scouts? After seeing the state of things, you'd think they would take it more seriously."

"I told Boruto they were inexperienced. A bunch of those shinobi were leftovers, having gone for the more formidable ones first to add to their army. And even the ones who had… Do you know how many times I screwed up on missions? Why nitpick the details? Can't it just be a good story to tell on a foggy day?"

Sai started chuckling.

"What now?"

"No, it's nothing. I actually found it entertaining."

"You making fun of me, Sai?"

"I'm really not." He cleared his throat. "I'm just curious about some of the details because I'm interested. And maybe I want to tell the story to my family."

It was Naruto's turn to raise his eyebrow. "Really?"

"And you know how Ino would tear things apart, regarding the detail. At the very least, it would be a good discussion to have when it comes to defending the village. I can see this as a fun training drill."

Of course Sai would turn this into a business idea instead of a fun way to pass the time, though Naruto was on board with it. Keeping the people safe was his priority. He was already getting ideas for how to go about it to make it fun. It could be a game of tag where once tagged, they had to go over to the other team's side and try to go after their former teammates who would have to find a way to rescue them. This seemed like a good way to sort out the village's weaknesses and be a lot of fun at the same time. Naruto was starting to get excited about the prospect.

Umi clearing her throat as she approached distracted Naruto from his thoughts and he and Sai both straightened up. "I better get going. Got some shopping to do before heading back. Thank you for all the help, Hokage."

"No problem," he answered.

"Aw, don't be formal with me. Come here." Umi reached up and gave Naruto a hug, standing on her toes and burying her nose in the crook of Naruto's neck. Her breath tickled Naruto's skin.

"The vampire's biting Daddy!"

"Keep your voice down! They'll hear you!"

Naruto and Sai both flinched at the children's voices coming from the second-floor window. Umi stepped back with her eyebrow raised, a confused pout on her face. "Hm? What's that about?" she inquired as if trying to understand a private joke.

"Uh…" Naruto began, sweat sliding down the side of his forehead and the corner of his mouth twitching into a nervous smile. "Kids. Heh heh. Where do they get their ideas?"

The end!

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