Blood (Sasu x Naru x Ita, others)

22: 希望/ Kibō /Hope

(A/N: Don´t stop reading because of what you read in this chapter or the following might upset you – I promise that everything will turn out great before the end – I swear on my honor as I writer – and if I break my promise – the great god of yaoi, Rikku-san, Jabba and everyone else may break my fingers so I won´t ever type again – so stick with my story ok XD – Love you all)

_____________________________________________________________________

´I´m sorry… but that is one promise I can´t keep… take good care of each other… goodbye. ` Itachi thought with a sad smile while he watched Sasuke carry Naruto away. ´Protect each other always… I will miss you both and wait for you on the other side. ` Itachi turned towards Madara who was glaring hungrily at him.

“You will only delay their death by trying to slow me down, whore. I am stronger than you are, child. I will enjoy taking your life… and then I will hunt them down like the stray dogs they are,” Madara told the younger nin. “I will torture your brother in front of the cute fox and force Sasuke-kun to watch while I rape the blonde before I suck your brother dry. The blonde will become my new pet… oh how I will enjoy breaking his spirit,” Madara chuckled evilly.

“You will do no such thing because you will die here and now. I created a new kind of jutsu before I came here. You didn´t think that I would face you without making sure that I could kill you… I might not make it out of this alive… but I´ll make damn sure that I will take you with me to hell,” Itachi hissed. He was already forming the seals for his masterpiece jutsu. “Katon: Nikkō no Akuma no Jutsu!” (Devil´s ray of sunlight technique #made up by me for this very occasion#)

A light as powerful as the rays of the burning sun was created in Itachi´s palms.

“Fool! This will destroy us both!” Madara cried angrily while he tried to flee, though it was already too late.

“I know but it is a price I´m willing to pay to ensure their happiness. Sasuke is happy with Naruto… truly happy… and Naruto loves him so strongly. I have to protect them even at the cost of my own existence.” Itachi was smirking at the panicking Madara.

´Finally I get my revenge on you for all the shit you put me through… now we will die together.` His hands were already petrified, and the cold feeling of numbness as the petrifaction spread to the rest of his body scared him. He wanted to scream… hell he even wanted to cry because he knew that he would never look into those marvelous deep blue eyes again.

Itachi felt better after he looked upon Madara though. The older nin had turned into a statue of stone already and would no longer be a dangerous enemy to Naruto and Sasuke. ´Naruto… Sasuke… I love you… forever…`

~ # ~

Kakashi and his team stumbled across the remains of yet another body, or what was left of it after they followed the nearly nonexistent trail of the Uchiha brothers and Naruto.

“W-What is that?” Iruka asked while he stared at the nearly fully disintegrated remains of flesh, bones and purple fabric and what appeared to have been a hitai-ate from Konoha-gakure near a deserted village. There were traces of a huge snake and that someone had been here recently since there were traces of fresh dirt in two of the houses.

“… You don´t want to know,” Pakkun told the brunette while his fellow nin-ken snooped around in the abandoned city to find any useful leads.

“Tell us… is this the remains of Haruno Sakura?” Kakashi asked softly. He feared the answer though he already suspected the horrible truth.

“It is.” The little grey pug told them. Iruka froze up and looked as if he was going to faith because he face paled rapidly. Kakashi walked over to him and placed a soothing hand on his shoulder.

Iruka flinched at the touch. He stared wide-eyed at Kakashi, tears running down her face. “S-She is gone… she´s really dead,” he whimpered.

“I know ´Ruka… we knew that it was… possible that she was dead already,” the mask wearing nin said while embracing the trembling Iruka. “Shh I´m here with you…”

“… She was my student… I know she was…mean to us in the end…but she wasn´t well and she didn´t… didn´t deserve this kind of death,” Iruka sobbed against his lover´s shoulder.

“Kakashi… we found a tunnel which connect two of the houses… and we were able to pick up on the scent of the brat,” Bull barked. The other nin-ken were already waiting for the order to follow the scent of Naruto and Sasuke.

“Go, I will stay behind and wait for the team five,” Shikamaru said. “I can take care of myself… now go and I´ll catch up when the others show up.”

“… Alright. Be careful, we can´t be sure if the snake who ate… who did this to Haruno-san isn´t still hiding somewhere beneath the ground,” Neji told his lazy friend after Kakashi and Iruka had already ran ahead.

~ # ~

“I-Itachi… when is he going to meet us here?” Naruto whimpered while Sasuke dragged him into a nearby cave to rest up while their bodies healed.

“Naruto… I…” Sasuke said softly because he already knew what Itachi was planning to do.

“Don´t say it!” the blonde hissed. “He´s not leaving us…he promised… and he wouldn´t sacrifice himself that easily.”

“Dobe… tell you what, let´s heal up and then go back and see how he´s doing. We have to rest for now since the sun will be up in less than two hours.”

“Still enough time… to go back and help him… we can´t leave him behind like this,” Naruto argued while staggering back on his feet. He was still in a lot of pain but there was no way that he was letting Itachi get hurt just to save his own ass.

“Naruto…wait I´ll go with you. Together we are stronger,” Sasuke said and sighed. He feared what they would find and he knew that it would break his Dobe´s heart if Itachi was gone… and so would his. Still he agreed to come along even though he didn´t want to – that way they could comfort each other if his suspicion was true.

~ # ~

Naruto fell to his knees, crying when they found Itachi and Madara on the battlefield.

“…Oh no… aniki what did you do,” Sasuke whispered to the petrified form of his older sibling. He reached out and touched Itachi´s face only to withdraw his hand instantly when his fingertips connected with his brother´s cheek. The skin which used to be cold but soft was if possible even colder and very rough to the touch, and Sasuke felt something break inside of him.

´He´s dead…He´s gone… m-my aniki… sacrificed himself for us…god no,` he felt something cold and wet run down his cheeks and wiped it away with the palm of his hand. He looked at his palm and saw the tears of a vampire. ´I am crying… and my tears are made of blood? `

A terrible thought struck the last Uchiha. ´What would I have done if I had killed aniki back then at the cave… would I have felt a similar or even worse pain than I do now?`

“S-Sasuke…” The raven felt a trembling hand on his shoulder at his lover´s gentle call. He hadn´t even noticed that Naruto had moved. “L-Let´s go… w-we can´t help him and the sun is raising.”

“But where should we go? We have no clue where Madara´s master could be,” Sasuke asked softly while he stared at his brother´s gray face. Itachi´s looked calm and content with that sad smile on his face. ´Was he giving his life up willingly because he knew that we would be able to get away to live for another night? Damn Itachi… when this is all over… and if we´re still alive I´ll stop at nothing to find a cure for your condition…you might have been a pain… but I still love you.`

“Kyuubi says she might have an idea where to search… she thinks that the ancient vampire might hide in one of the unexplored caves at the ´Mountain of Doom` at the country of the Rock. A lot of people have disappeared around that area throughout the years,” Naruto said while looking in the opposite direction of Itachi´s rock hard body.

“Sounds reasonable, let´s have a look,” Sasuke whispered. He felt heartbroken and didn´t know how to react. He wanted to hit someone but there was no one here except Naruto and he would never hurt Naruto on purpose ever again – he had already hurt the blonde enough for at least a human´s lifetime, and he would be damned if he would let anything happen to his Dobe ever again.

So he decided to let his anger on something or rather someone else – the petrified form of Madara. He ignored the blonde´s pleas to leave the stone figure along, and he kicked and hit Madara´s statue into a pile of rubble. After he had calmed down he turned to Itachi´s statue, caressing the freezing cold stone face.

“Itachi… Aniki we will return to you with a cure if such a thing exists… we will bring you back to us even if it means that I will have to share my Dobe with you. I don´t… No, we don´t want to live without you by our side.”

Naruto didn´t know what to say so he stayed silent and followed at Sasuke left, but not before he placed a quick kiss on those cold stone lips. “We will meet again Itachi… datte bayo.”

~ # ~

Two days later:

“There is nothing here,” Neji sighed when they were very close to an area that he and Kakashi remembered all too well.

It was just around here that Neji had been forced to face a copy of himself in a battle for life or death… The place where he had seen a miracle come true when Naruto and Chiyo-sama had brought Gaara back to the land of the living after the Akatsuki had killed him. ´Human lives are so fragile and weak… I wish there was something I could do to become stronger. `

“Over here!” Iruka called. Both Kakashi and Neji were at the cliffs that led to the valley within seconds.

“What is this?” Kakashi asked. “Is this some kind of sick joke?”

“I don´t think so,” the Hyuuga mumbled. “Look at his features… They are to perfect to be sculptured.”

“… Are you implying that this is the real Itachi?” Iruka asked while staring straight into Itachi´s face. “But how did he end up like this then? I don´t know any jutsu that would-”

“He´s a vampire,” Neji said calmly. “Maybe this is what happens when a vampire is exposed to the sunlight or something?”

“But I thought they were supposed to turn to dust,” Iruka muttered while continued to look at the petrified man.

“Well all that we know about vampires are based on rumors and superstition,” Kakashi said while examining the pile of rubble next to Itachi. “We don´t know what is real and what is fiction… I didn´t even believe in vampires till recently.”

“But if he´s only petrified… then there might be a way to free him,” the Hyuuga suggested. “I think we should report this turn of events to Tsunade-sama… she might know what to do.”

“Neji is right… what if this was Naruto?” Iruka told Kakashi who was frowning. “It would break my heart to lose Naruto-kun like this… please ´Kashi… there must be something we can do.”

“… Alright,” The copy-nin mumbled before he ordered Bull to take a piece (the head) of Madara to Tsunade and ask her if there was any way to reverse the petrifaction.

“Pakkun, you will stay here and wait for Shikamaru and the others. We will continue on and hopefully find Naruto and Sasuke before they do something stupid.”

~ # ~

“Let´s rest a little bit,” Naruto suggested. He was unhealthy pale even for a vampire and it made Sasuke feel guilty for pushing the blonde to move as fast as they had for the past two nights. He had noticed that the loss of Itachi pained Naruto more than the blonde wanted to admit.

“Are you alright koi?” The Uchiha asked after they stopped at a small clearing in the forest.

“Sasuke… I-”

“I know that you miss him but we can´t help him before we kill the one who created Madara, we have to make sure that he doesn´t create more vampires.”

“I know…” Naruto said softly before dropped down on a log and sighed.

“Did you love him that much Dobe?” Sasuke´s voice was filled with pain, almost as if he feared that Naruto loved Itachi more than him.

“I t´s not that Teme. I do… did love him but never as much as I love you… it´s just that…I turned him Sasuke. I should have protected him… I should have been strong enough to save him.”

“But you did save him Dobe. You saved him when you made him one of us… You saved him by loving him, and you saved him when you shielded him with your body. He could have run… but he decided to stay and fight so that we could go on. He had enough confidence in us to believe that we are strong enough to find the sucker who is at fault here.”

“Yeah I guess you´re right Teme,” Naruto sighed and reached out to his lover.

“Am I not always?” chuckled the Uchiha while stepping closer to his blonde. He tilted Naruto´s head up and pressed his lips against the blonde nin´s.

“Showoff,” Naruto muttered against his lover´s lips.

“Always Dobe,” he pushed the blonde of the log and straddled his hips. “We are close to our destination…and I guess I have something I should tell you before we reach our final adversary…”

“…Because we might not be able to make it this time, right? You want to confess your sins to me, Teme?”

“… It´s a risky battle,” Sasuke agreed. “We know nothing of this mysterious vampire… All we know is that he´s very old and that Madara feared him enough to call him master.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Naruto asked. He ran his tanned hands up and down the Uchiha´s pants clad thighs, feeling the hard muscles beneath his palms.

“Right now I want you. If we are so unfortunate to die then I want to die without any regrets… Dobe I have something important to tell you. You might become very angry at me… but please hear me out…” He had decided that he had to tell Naruto what he had done to Sakura… Well some of it since he feared that the ancient vampire might be able to read their minds, and that it would be very unfortunate if Naruto decided to kick Sasuke´s ass for killing the damn girl in the middle of their fight with their enemy.

“You killed Sakura-chan, didn´t you?” Naruto said while crossing his arms in front of him with a cute pout firmly planted on his lips. He allowed Sasuke to stay on top of him but gave him a displeased growl.

“… No not really… but I might have hurt her a little bit before I asked Mada to um… well eat her,” the Uchiha said innocently while sucking seductively at the tip of his index finger to divert Naruto´s trail of thoughts.

“… Mada? Orochimaru’s huge purple snake? Damn it Sasuke!” Naruto hissed in anger. “I know that you hated her but that wasn´t fair.”

“She wanted to take you away from me,” Sasuke growled back. He caught the blonde´s fist before it could connect with his chin and pinned both of Naruto´s arms above his head. “I couldn´t let her go unpunished.”

“You fucking bastard!” The whisker marked nin cried out while squirming and struggling beneath Sasuke. “How could you!”

“Naruto, calm down,” the raven hissed and was having trouble restraining the strong blonde. ´Why is he getting so upset about this? I knew that he would be upset but to react like this, to become so angry… no he´s not just angry, it´s something else… What is wrong? `

Naruto was able to free one of his hands from Sasuke´s grip and punched his lover in the face instantly.

“Damn Naruto that hurt!” Sasuke hissed while rubbing his brushed chin before restraining the blonde again. He wanted to hit the blonde till he saw his lover´s sad expression. Tears were running down the scarred cheeks, and Sasuke decided to let go of Naruto´s hands and let the blonde hit him if that was what Naruto needed to get this out of his system.

“I´m scared,” Naruto sobbed before he reached out towards the Uchiha, wrapping his arms around Sasuke´s neck and dragged him down onto his chest. “…So scared.”

“… Naruto?” Sasuke asked in confusion while hugging the blonde back lovingly. “Why are you scared?”

“Sasuke…I don´t want to lose you as well… and I don´t want to turn into a pillar of stone either… so cold and… alone,” the blonde whispered against Sasuke´s neck.

“You will never be alone ever again Naruto… I will never leave you… never.”

“But what if-”

“I would follow you into the darkness… I would follow you to hell if I had too. I promise that I will never leave your side… no matter what.”

~ # ~

Tsunade stared at Kakashi´s dog after Bull had explained the situation to her. “Are you telling me that the older Uchiha turned to stone? For real?”

“Yes, both Itachi and this unknown guy turned to stone Hokage-sama, and Kakashi and his team hopes that you could try to find a possible cure,” Bull told her.

“Why would I want to bring Itachi back from the dead? If he´s petrified then he won´t cause any trouble,” the blonde Kage said while pouring herself a drink.

“Iruka wanted you to imagine Naruto-kun like this. He´s a vampire too after all… What would your answer be if the brat ended up like this?”

“…” Tsunade had suddenly forgotten all about her drink. She stood and brought the petrified head with her when she went straight to her lab to search for a possible cure.

“Oi what do you want me to do?” the nin-ken barked.

“Stay right there,” Tsunade ordered. “You will lead team two to Kakashi since team five has already left to meet up with Shikamaru at the abandoned city.”

~ # ~

Shikamaru Nara was taking a nap in the shadow of a tree when team five found him.

“Why does he always lay down when I see him? Does he want me to jump him?” a teasing voice asked in amusement.

“You are way too annoying for your own good Sai,” Shikamaru stated with a yawn. He opened his eyes and stared right upon a smiling Lee, a seemingly annoyed Ten-Ten and Sai who had a smug grin on his pale face.

“He is right, you know,” Ten-Ten hissed. “You spend more time on your back than on your feet.”

“So… I like my life as it is,” Shikamaru stated. He got up and brushed his pants off before he decided to lead team five to team Kakashi´s position.

~ # ~

Naruto felt something was off when he and Sasuke walked into the first cave of the ´Mountain of Doom` at the country of the Rock.

“Sasuke… something is fishy about this place.” Naruto whispered while they searched the cave for chakra signatures, signs of paranormal activities or anything else that would give them a hint of any unnatural creatures lurking in the darkness.

“I know Dobe… I think we should stick close to each other at all times,” Sasuke growled because he too could feel something but he couldn´t determine what it was or where it was hiding. “There is nothing in this cave… come, let´s search the next one.”

They searched five caves before Naruto was so creped out that they had to take a break and get some fresh air. “Someone is watching us Teme, I can feel his presence… why doesn´t he just show himself?”

´Be careful what you wish for child, ` a deep voice chuckled inside their heads.

“Who are you?” Naruto asked the creepy voice.

´My name is Takafuma and I am the first of our kind and I will be the last…`

TBC