Bloody Tears

A taste close to nectar, sweet, light, but with a slight thickness to it was the first thing that pushed into me. I swallowed the burning liquid and more filled my mouth. I was being lifted so I could swallow easier. A few more swallows and I brought my hands up to cup the thing against my lips, feeding quickly. My senses were coming back to me. First smell. I could smell that the person I was feeding from was familiar, male, safe. Then hearing. I could hear his heart pounding, pushing the blood through his veins as I drank. Feeling, I could feel his wrist against my mouth. Sight. Blackness. Still. Then I opened my eyes. At first, all I saw was a girl. A brunette, two buns, brown eyes. I knew her, but I couldn’t place her.

I moved my eyes up the arm to find silverish-white eyes. His eyes were half-closed and he looked dizzy. I moved away from his wrist, licking his wound to heal it, then licked my lips clean. “Ne-Neji,” I said, voice hoarse. “What-what happened?”

“We found you passed out,” the girl, Tenten, said. Her eyes were wide, a little horror and fear in them. “W-we were looking for Lee. He’d gone ahead to find Sakura. We found you while we were looking for him.”

I looked up at Neji. He still looked dizzy. “Are you okay?”

He nodded. “I will be.” He stood, just a little shaky, and held his hand down to me.

I took it, let him pull me to my feet, helping him when he stumbled a little. “I took too much blood. I apologize.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“But-”

He shook his head. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. You were nearly dead when we found you.”

And I was still weak. Neji’s blood had filled me enough to keep me alive, but I needed something more powerful. “Thanks, Neji.” I looked around, sniffing. “Lee was looking for Sakura, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then if he found her, she went this way.” I took off running toward the scent. They ran after me and I kept my speed low enough that I wouldn’t lose them. In a few minutes, I burst into a clearing where two unconscious boys, a nearly unconscious Lee and a very beaten Sakura were. There were three other people around them, people I didn’t know. One of them was pounding on Lee and Lee was making a magnificent stand against him.

“Hey!” Neji yelled. “We didn’t say you could beat up our teammate!” He looked back at Tenten when he’d gotten everyone’s attention. “Go get Lee.” His eyes turned to me. “Get to Sakura. Guard her.”

I nodded, ran to her. “Sakura, are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yea, but they still won’t wake up.”

I turned to look at Naruto, feeling for his energy, but he was fine. When I turned to look at Sasuke, I instantly felt that his powers had grown, even more than what my blood should’ve done to him. I could feel that his powers were fighting something, that he was fighting something, but he was being consumed in that new, thicker power. I had more pressing things to attend, so I turned away. I swayed slightly, eyes blurring from dizziness, but I closed my eyes, shook my head and stayed on my feet.

Lee caught my eyes, standing on shaky legs and getting back into fighting position. “Lee!” I called. He looked over to me. “Sit this one out, okay? I’m a little rusty. I need the practice!” I shot a grin at him.

His eyes widened. “But my lady Sakura!”

“She’ll be fine, but why don’t you guard her for me, just in case?” I pointed toward Sakura. “Just stand next to her and don’t let anyone touch her. Can you handle that?”

He nodded, ran over to stand beside her. “A-are you sure you want to fight?”

“Yes. I need this.” I turned toward him, walked over and hugged him. “Thanks for protecting my team when I could not.”

He hesitantly hugged back. “Y-you’re welcome.”

“It was very brave of you. Guy-Sensei would be proud of you.” I smiled.

He beamed. “That’s right! That’s what our Sensei likes best! Protecting the one you love!”

“Yes and you did well. I’ll make sure to tell Guy-Sensei that you fought bravely and ferociously. I’m sure he’ll be very proud of you.”

“Thank you.”

“Now I’ve got to defend my own team, though. So would you be so kind as to protect Sakura and keep your team out of danger?” A thought. “Wait, lay down first.”

“Why?”

“Just trust me for a minute, okay, Lee?”

He nodded and settled back on his back.

I knelt beside him, placed my hands on his chest and concentrated my energy into him, pushing my energy to heal him. Healing with energy was harder for me than healing with blood, but I could do it.

His cuts disappeared, skin returning to its unblemished perfection and his energy rose back to normal. His eyes widened. “Y-you just healed me!”

“You’re welcome.” I stood back up, swaying just slightly. “Now, promise me that you won’t let anything get to Sakura.”

“I promise!” He stood next to Sakura, who stared at me with wide eyes. “Nothing will harm my lady Sakura!”

Sakura noticed my unbalanced legs. “Are you okay? Can you fight?”

I pulled out a kunai for each hand. “Let’s find out,” I growled, launching at the nearest guy. A giant wind threw me back. I hit a tree, landed and leapt to my feet again, launching once more. I dodged the next attack, pushed myself to use my speed and I managed to shove my left kunai into his chest.

He grunted, hitting me with his knee, throwing me back enough that he hit me with that first attack again.

I stayed flat on the ground and the attack didn’t affect me. I jumped to my feet and, as he threw a kick, I ducked under his kick and foot-swept him, using his own momentum to throw him to his feet. Something whizzed by my face and a sharp pain lanced through me. I reached up to touch a new, bleeding cut. Ignoring that, I threw one of my kunai at the girl, hitting her in the back, and threw the other at the guy I’d foot-swept onto the ground. I leapt away, glaring, pulling out two more kunai. Once again, something was thrown at me. I hadn’t been able to dodge this time and it hit my shoulder, hard, sinking in. I gasped, reaching up to yank it out of my arm. Another shuriken flew by me and only by twisting my shoulders did it miss, just barely. It left a cut on my shoulder.

Then something changed, something happened. Pain lanced through me once again--this time from my eyes. I gasped, covering my eyes with my hands. It hurt worse than any of the shuriken. When I pulled my hands back from my eyes, I saw blood on each hand. I looked up, meaning to attack whoever had hit my eyes, and everyone was staring at me then.

Neji’s eyes were wide, shocked. He seemed frozen. I hadn’t noticed until then that there were three more people on the battlefield. Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were all staring at me, just as Neji, Sakura, Tenten and Lee were.

I looked toward my opponent, glaring. The pain made me squint. “You! What did you do?” The pain increased and I covered my eyes again, gasping, stumbling to my knees. When I looked up, I could see Neji moving toward me, but it wasn’t normal movement. It was like I was seeing his Chakra imprint moving toward me and his physical body moving. It gave the eerie impression that I was seeing two Nejis, one of which was two moves ahead of the other. I closed my eyes again. The images were disorienting. I looked up a few minutes later, looking toward the girl. She was the closest. She was staring at me, moving sideways. Like Neji, I could see two of her. I pulled out a kunai, aimed for the image of her that was ahead by two moves and it hit, perfectly, when she tried to dodge.

I closed my eyes again and Neji touched my shoulder. “Star, what’s happening with your eyes?”

I closed my eyes tighter. “Make it stop!” I gasped. “Make it stop.”

“I-I don’t know what to do.” His voice was uncertain. “I don’t know what’s happening to you.”

Something moved in the air. I could feel it. I almost looked up, but I was afraid to. “Neji, what is happening now? Who’s moving?”

He was silent for a minute. “Sasuke. . . .”

I almost looked up, but I still was afraid. “Neji, it hurts.”

He touched my shoulder again. “I know, I’m sorry.”

Sasuke’s voice was darker when he spoke. “What did they do to you?” I didn’t look up to see what he did, but I heard a few screams, some gasps and the agonizingly loud crack! as some part of someone snapped.

“Please,” someone gasped. “Please, we’ll leave. Don’t kill us. We won’t bother you.”

“Go, then.” I could hear him moving toward me. “Neji.” One word, just one, and Neji moved away from me. I heard him kneel beside me. “Star, what’s wrong?” His voice was still darker.

“It hurts.”

His hands curled around my wrists.

“No, don’t, please.”

“Star, I have to see what it is in order to help you.” He pulled my hands down. I felt him touch the blood on my cheeks. “What-open your eyes, Star.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Star.” One word, just one.

I looked up, opening my eyes as much as I dared.

Once more, it was like two images. I knew what he was going to do before he did it. His eyes widened, mouth opening slightly. “What happened?” he asked, looking up at Neji.

“She just gasped like something hurt. She put her hands to her eyes and a few minutes later, pulled them away. We all saw her bleeding, all saw her eyes.”

He looked back down at me, touching the blood on my cheek gently. It wasn’t as much blood as it felt like. Just a thin, small river. “Star. . . .” He wiped the blood away gently. “Relax.”

I shook my head. “I can’t! It hurts.”

“It’s going to hurt because you’re fighting it. If you want it to go away, relax.”

I tried, I really did, but I couldn’t.

“What relaxes you?”

I shrugged. “I don’t relax.” I closed my eyes again.

He reached his arms around me, pulling me into his warmth, running a hand up and down my back. “Just relax. Once you relax, it should help it fade.”

Every time his hand went up or down the exact center of my spine, it made me relax into him. He noticed that and changed the rhythm so that he was running one finger down and up my spin. In moments, I was limp, drifting, pretty much asleep. I had little energy left and what he was doing seemed to relax me. When I woke up, I was on the ground, on my back, with Sasuke cleaning the blood off my face, arms and shoulders. I blinked at him. “My eyes ache.”

“They will, for a little while,” he said, not even slowing.

“What happened? How did you know relaxing would make it go away?”

“You were running low on energy. I knew if you relaxed, you’d pass out.” His eyes met mine and there were layers of worry and confusion in them. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “I feel better. Still exhausted and in a little pain.”

There was a kunai in his hand when I said that. He cut across his wrist in one, smooth motion, lifting me with his other arm. “Drink,” he commanded, putting his wrist to my lips.

“Sasuke-” My words were cut off when he moved his wrist the inch required for it to be against my mouth. I drank, just once, and I felt better, stronger. I pulled away, licked the wound until it healed, then licked my lips clean. “Thanks.”

He studied me, checking everywhere that had had a wound. “Good, you’re healed.” His eyes met mine again. “I’m worried, Star.”

“About?”

“You.”

“Why?”

“The little bit of blood that you consumed earlier after you’d bitten me had not only powered you up and healed you, but it seemed to have given you my Bloodline Trait.” He carefully seemed to avoid the specific word.

My eyes widened. “W-what?”

“My Sharingan.”

I shook my head. “No, I-”

He said nothing, only raised one brow.

“How?” I whispered. “How do you know?”

“As though I wouldn’t recognize it.”

“You seem awfully calm about this,” I said warily.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

I widened my eyes. “Sasuke, you hate people that carry the Sharingan that don’t have Uchiha blood.”

He shrugged. “You drank my blood. You have Uchiha blood running through your veins now and that’s how you gained it.”

I shook my head. “It’s not possible. I can’t gain Bloodline Traits.”

“Have you ever tried?”

“I’ve never drank from anyone who had one.”

“It’s obvious that you can gain a Bloodline Trait from someone that holds one.”

I shook my head again. “I can’t-I don’t-”

He pulled me to him quickly, one hand at the back of my head, and his mouth was against mine. It seemed to be more a way to silence me than anything else. He pulled away a moment later. “You hold my Sharingan. Get used to it. You’ll have to train with it, become stronger, be able to stop and start it on your own.”

I shook my head again. “Why?”

His eyes widened slightly. “Why what?”

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you?” I looked away. “When you realized you were bleeding, you decided to try to find out if I could gain it, didn’t you?”

He took a deep breath. “Yes.”

“Why?”

At first, he didn’t answer. I didn’t think he would, but he did. “Because . . . I wanted to see if you could.”

“But, again, you hate-”

“You now hold Uchiha blood. You’re different. You didn’t gain it by a transplant or anything else. You gained it by receiving Uchiha blood into your system. That means you have Uchiha blood in you.” His eyes closed. “Besides, I couldn’t hate you for something I did.”

“This doesn’t make sense.”

“Why not?”

“You purposely give me your Sharingan for what? An experiment? Curiosity? To prove-”

“I gave it to you as a gift,” he said, eyes snapping open. “I gave it to you as a way of saying that I think you’re powerful enough to handle it. I gave it to you so I could express that you being an Uchiha wouldn’t be bad.”

I stared at him. “Wa-what does that mean?”

He shrugged and, I could barely believe my eyes, but there was a very light blush on his cheeks. “It means, that I-”

A voice called out, “Hey, why did you run off?!” Sakura, with Naruto behind her. “What the hell, why did you leave us behind?!” She came into view, eyes widening when she saw how close I was to her obsession.

I moved away. “I-thank you, for helping me.”

He nodded, eyes closing. “You’re welcome.”

I smiled slightly, standing, feeling slightly grateful at Sakura for her interruption and slightly annoyed. “Let’s get moving. We’ll need to get to the tower soon.”

Sasuke stood, touching the mark on his shoulder. “Yea.”

Naruto said, “But didn’t we lose our Heaven Scroll?”

I growled. “We’ll find one.”

“What if there are none left?” Naruto asked, eyes wide.

“We will find one.”

@

I watched the moon move slowly across the dark sky, thinking. We needed to get a Heaven Scroll. How were we going to do that if there were none left? I didn’t hear him coming up to me, didn’t feel him, didn’t see him until he was sitting beside me. I was turning, pulling out a kunai instantly.

He grabbed my wrist, twisting just enough to force me to drop the kunai, and I saw his black eyes.

“Sasuke,” I sighed. “It’s you. What the hell, next time warn me.”

He said nothing, looking up at the moon like I was. At first. After a few blissful minutes of silence, he said, “Aren’t you going to ask?”

“Ask what?”

“You were very curious about it earlier. Now you’re not?”

I turned to study him. “Okay. What did you mean by what you said?”

“Ask me something else, first. Ask me what you want to ask most.”

I thought about that for a minute. “What do you want?”

“I want to avenge my Clan and kill someone. After-”

“No!” I said, turning to look at him. “I mean, with me?”

“Listen and I’ll tell you.” He was silent for a minute. “I want to avenge my Clan and kill someone. After that, I want to restore my Clan.” Silence for a few minutes. He looked thoughtful. “As for now, I want you part of that.”

I jerked to my feet. “W-what?”

He came to his feet slowly, eyes cautious. “I want you part of that.”

I shook my head vehemently. “No . . . Sasuke, no.”

His eyes turned cold. “What?”

“No.” I shook my head again. “Why are you doing this? This isn’t funny, Uchiha!”

“My last name again . . . why are you mad?”

“Because it’s just-it’s not funny!”

“You think I’m joking.” His eyes flamed in anger. “You think I’m lying.”

“I think you’re lying, yes. Or that you’re Sakura or Naruto pretending to be you.”

“Why would I lie? What would I gain?”

“Amusement.” I shrugged. “I don’t know what goes on in your head.”

“I would not lie about this. That would be dishonoring me and my Clan.”

I shook my head. “This isn’t funny.” My heart was beginning to pound. . . . Why?

“Star, I am not lying.” He stepped toward me.

I stumbled back, nearly falling. “No!” I turned, ran.

“Dammit, Star!” I heard him take off after me.

I pushed myself, using the energy I’d gained from his and Neji’s blood to keep myself moving. I pushed my speed beyond and above anything it had ever been before, pushing my legs until they ached. I reached up to feel my cheek. It was cold. Wet. I was crying. When the hell had that happened? I jumped over a fallen tree easily. I didn’t want to look back, but a second after I landed, I heard a dull thud that said he landed behind me. “No,” I gasped. “Please.”

He caught me, arms coming around my waist and lifting me off my feet easily, holding me steady as I fought against him. “Star, stop it!” he hissed. “Dammit, stop!” He dropped to his knees, forcing me down with him.

I sagged against him, breathing hard, eyes and cheeks wet from tears. I shook my head. “No.”

He turned me to face him and I put my hands over my eyes. His fingers curled around my wrists and he pulled my hands away from my face.

I turned away, trying to bring my knees up to hide behind them.

He pulled me into him. “Star, why the hell are you fighting against me like this?”

I pushed against him, as hard as I could, struggling against him. “Please, I can’t.” My breath came out of me in a rush and I collapsed against him, slowly moving my hands up to his shoulders. “Why are you doing this?” I hated how broken my voice sounded.

His arms tightened around me. “Because I want to.”

“That’s not a reason.”

He sighed. I felt his chest move up and down with it. “I’m doing it because . . . I think you would be perfect for me. I think I could make you happy. You can make me happy.”

I shook my head. “I-I’m not . . . I can’t. . . .”

“What makes you think you can’t?”

“I’m not . . . w-why me?”

“I just told you.” He pulled back, pushed my hair behind my ear. “Because I think you’re perfect for me.” His eyes met mine and they were soft. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I’m wrong for you. Tell me I don’t make you excited or happy or safe.”

I blushed.

“Or,” he said slowly, “you can tell me exactly how you see me.”

I shook my head. “I-I wouldn’t know what to say. . . .”

“I could tell you how I see you.” He searched through my eyes. “I see a strong girl who has been through a lot in her life. A girl who shuts everyone off, but accepts everyone, no matter what anyone else thinks of them.” With his knuckles under my chin, he pushed my chin up, touched his mouth to mine. “You’re not someone I would have to protect. You can save yourself if I’m not around.”

“Something you should remember,” I mumbled against his mouth.

He smiled, I felt it. “Maybe.” He angled his mouth over mine, taking my lower lip into his mouth, biting down--and drawing blood with sharp teeth.

I gasped, hands tightening on his shoulders.

He pulled back, smiling, licking my blood off his lips. “You’re powerful, strong, smart and independent. You wouldn’t try to limit my freedom or change my choices. You just accept me.”

“But-”

He shook his head. “Just listen.”

I nodded, eyes wide.

“When I see you, I feel different, lighter, because you don’t expect me to be anything or anyone. You just expect me to be me. You’re smart, Star. You’re very smart. You’re beautiful and kind, even though you don’t show it.” He was thoughtful again. “No matter what someone has done in their past, or what they plan to do in the future, you accept them. You don’t expect anything out of anyone except for them to be themselves.”

I shook my head. “I’m not-”

“Yes, you are.”

I stared up at him, then looked away. “I-don’t do this.”

“I already did,” he said softly, shifting slightly to put a hand in his pocket. He pulled out a necklace. It was on a string long enough to put it over my head and let it hang down over my chest. The main part of it was a crystal sphere with a little red dot in the middle of it and a blackness around the red orb. The chain was silver, thick. Looking at the little dark red orb, I realized it was his blood. The blackness around the blood was his power. He took my hand, put it over the crystal sphere, pressing the necklace between our hands. It grew warm, a bright, silver glow coming from inside our hands. When he let me pull away, there was a silver glow in the orb. For a few minutes, nothing happened, then the black and the silver merged, swirling together so that both the black and the silver were visible. He took it and carefully slid it onto me.

I lifted it in my palm. “What is it?”

He touched my hand gently. “It’s a Promise Necklace. If someone,” he took the sphere from me gently, “touches it while making a promise, they’re honor-bound to keep it.”

I looked up at him, eyes wide. “Why?”

“Don’t ask why. Just listen.” He brushed his lips across the sphere. “I promise that no matter what happens, I‘ll come back for you. I‘ll never forget you and you‘ll always be mine. And I will be yours.”

I blushed, trying to pull it away from him. “Don’t make a promise like that,” I said softly.

“Why not?”

“Because you never know what’ll happen. . . .”

A small, small smile. “I know what’ll happen.”

I shook my head. “Nobody knows what the future holds.”

The smile faded, but his eyes retained a gentleness. “I know I’ll never forget you, nor will I forget the promise I made to you.

“After all, I am a man of my words. . . .”