Blood (Sasu x Naru x Ita, others)

24: 最終 的 な 時間/ Siago no machi de Jikan / In the final hour
(Warning! Slight OOCness may occur XD)

Sasuke didn´t see the attack before Takafuma attacked him. The white haired vampire had moved forward with such high speed and hit the Uchiha which such an angry force that his hand broke through the Uchiha´s collar bone and disabled the raven´s left arm instantly.

“Sasuke!” Naruto cried out and ran towards his lover who had been pushed away from him only to be stopped by a powerful bolt of lightning which Takafuma called a ´Vajra. `

The blonde fell to his knees and was unable to move while the electricity roamed through his body and made his muscles stiffen which made it impossible for him to do anything at all. He let out a frustrated cry because he could do nothing but watch how the white haired vampire approached his beloved Teme with an aura that promised pain, and lots of it.

~ # ~

Tsunade let out a loud sigh while pacing her office for the tenth time. She had just deployed team two as a back-up for team five and team Kakashi and she had a bad feeling about the whole situation. ´I wonder if the cure works and if they managed to find Sakura. Vampires, demons and missing nin… can it get any worse than this? `

“Lady Tsunade,” an ANBU appeared in front of her and kneeled. “The bird from team five has returned with news.”

“Let me see,” she grabbed the note from the ANBU and read it. “… I see that the virgin blood worked…Oh they found Sakura…so she is dead… how tragic,” Tsunade felt sad that her former pupil had died in such a horrible manner.

~ # ~

Itachi was still kissing Neji when Shikamaru, Lee and Ten-Ten returned. They had to restrain Sai who was really upset which surprised everyone since Sai usually never showed his emotions to anyone due to his ROOT training.

“We got another message from the Hokage,” Shikamaru sighed when the tension between Itachi and Sai was thick enough to be cut with a knife. “She is sending another team to assist us. We are to let a messenger stay here while the others pursue team Kakashi and Naruto and Sasuke.”

“I will stay behind,” Neji suggested. “I am… a little bit…exhausted…” he tugged at his gi so that no one would be able to notice the growing problem which was caused by the make-out session with Itachi earlier.

“I am not capable to travel during the day so I´ll stay as well,” Itachi said while smirking at Sai who looked very displeased by his comment.

“I will stay too, just in case that this… vampire get´s hungry and feels like taking a bite out of my teammate,” Sai said firmly. “Shikamaru, you are a Jounin just like me. Lead Lee and Ten-Ten to Kakashi and Iruka. Mark your path for us so that we can find you easier.”

Shikamaru glared suspiciously at Sai before muttering something about how troublesome this mission was turning out. “Alright I will leave a chakra trail for Akamaru since it will be Kiba, Hinata and Konohamaru who will be our back-up.”

“We will meet up with you as soon as possible,” the ink-nin told the shadow bender. Shikamaru nodded and he and his teammates left within five minutes to catch up with Kakashi and Iruka as fast as possible… though the two older nin were more than eight hours ahead of them.

Itachi growled in annoyance since he had been looking forward to taste more of that delicious blood that had brought him back to life. But with Sai here that wouldn´t be easy… or maybe it was. Itachi´s expression changed from a scowl to a smirk when he led Neji into a cave because Neji seemed to be cold.

He couldn´t help but to think of Naruto and Sasuke when he wrapped an arm around the slightly smaller nin. ´Please let them be safe… they are both stronger than me since they became vampires before me. Their blood is purer and stronger… I just hope that it will be strong enough. `

~ # ~

Sasuke cried out in pain when Takafuma bit down on his jugular, sucking his blood while adding pressure to the gaping wound in the Uchiha´s shoulder after decorating Sasuke´s legs with a few senbon needles after the raven had tried to kick Takafuma.

Naruto witnessed it all since he was still paralyzed by the powerful lightning jutsu that had hit him earlier. The weaker Sasuke´s screams became the angrier became the blonde and soon a familiar voice spoke to him from the core of his soul. #Use the powers that you gained from merging with me kit, # Kyuubi told him.

´But how? I don´t know what to do. Sasuke will die if I don´t do anything, ` Naruto growled and he felt like tearing Takafuma to shreds.

#Give into the anger kit. Let it fill you till it´ll burst. Let it control you and you will be able to show this fucker that there is more to you than meets the eye. #

´B-But if I give in to the anger… I will lose control over myself Kyuu… What if I end up killing Sasuke or our newly arrived friends as well? I would never forgive myself if I…`

#Don´t worry kit. I´m still here even though I´m only a tiny part of you now… The Uchiha brat also has the Sharingan which he can use to control you… but you have to make your move before he loses too much blood and his consciousness. If he does that… Well let´s just hope that I will be strong enough to stop you. #

Naruto drew in a deep breath and made up his mind. He knew that Sasuke was bound to die if he hesitated too long… and there was no way that Naruto could take on Takafuma on his own unless something drastic would happen soon. ´We are on our own… we have to make it… or die trying.´

He allowed his anger to fill him till he felt that his body was going to break at the intense pressure. ´Sasuke… no matter what will happen now… I love you, ` and with that thought he closed his eyes and allowed the anger to engulf him.

~ # ~

Itachi made a fire to keep them warm while Sai was discussing something with Neji who seemed very annoyed with the fact that the ink nin was here instead of having joined the others.

“Why did you stay behind Sai? I can take care of myself. You don´t honestly think that Itachi would kill me, do you?” the Hyuuga hissed.

“How can you be sure that he won´t suck you dry or molest you in some sick and perverted way?”

“Why do you care Sai? I am an adult. If I want to stay with Itachi then I am allowed to do so. What is the matter with you? You act like you´re my mother or something.”

“Not your mother Neji,” Itachi chuckled in amusement. “He has a crush on you, didn´t you notice?”

“… What?!” Neji stared from Itachi to Sai whose cheeks changed color from white to rosy at the Uchiha´s blunt statement. “Is that true?”

“Yeah,” Sai answered hesitantly while looking away. “I have liked you for quite a while… but no matter what I do, you don´t seem to respond well to me even though I tried everything that was suggested in this book.”

Neji took the book that Sai had fished out of his pouch. “How humans approach the one they love?” the Hyuuga read the title out loud. “What kind of science is this?”

“… It´s based on the statistic behavior of males reactions towards the one they have a crush on,” Sai told him. Itachi´s amused laughter could be heard in the background but both Sai and Neji chose to ignore the Uchiha.

“But Sai… this information is based on young teenage boys who have no idea how to deal with feelings like attraction and love. Why would you even consider this material-”

“I have no experience with feelings… or not much anyway. Naruto has taught me about the bonds of friendship… but I don´t know anything about love other than my heartbeat speeds up and I feel strange in a good way whenever I am near you.”

Neji stared at the pale skinned man in front of him and didn´t quite know what to say or do. Both of them were too riled up that they didn´t notice the Uchiha had moved to stand next to them.

“Maybe I could teach you both a thing or two about sex, love and affection,” the Uchiha purred seductively. He slipped a hand beneath the shirt of each of the two humans in front of him and caressed their heated skin. “Do you want me to teach you about real pleasure?”

“Y-Yes,” Neji gasped when the cold fingers brushed over a perk nipple. Sai seemed to like the attention as well as he was moaning at the vampires touch.

Sai had had sex before but the sound of Neji´s moans, and the feeling of Itachi´s hand which had moved south to palm his growing erection through his pants, was more intense that he would have ever thought it would be. He cupped Neji´s cheeks and crushed his lips onto the Hyuuga´s parted lips and it didn´t take long before he felt Itachi´s cold lips on his neck.

“Can I taste you?” the Uchiha asked huskily, his voice thickly laced with hunger and need.

“Yessss” Sai moaned when that hand on his groin began to rub faster and harder against his painfully hard length. The pain of being bitten wasn´t as bad as he expected it to be, it actually felt good to add a little bit of pain to the pleasure, and the feeling of Itachi´s flexible tongue licking at his sensitive neck, along with the feeling of Neji´s hands and his chest and his tongue rubbing against his was enough to push him over the edge.

Neji heard Sai cry out his name just seconds before he felt Itachi´s lips on his skin. He barely noticed that Sai had dropped to him knees when his legs had failed to keep him on his feet after he had experienced the mind numbing orgasm.

“May I bite you as well? Your taste is… exquisite,” the Uchiha purred. Neji could barely think straight when Itachi dragged him against his hard chest and began to grind his hips against him.

“Ah ahh y-yes. B-Bite me Itachi, you can do anything as long as…ah… you make me cum.”

“Mmmm deal but for now we will take it slow,” Itachi sank his teeth into Neji´s neck. He grabbed onto the slightly smaller nin´s ass and grinded needily against him while tasting the spicy blood he already felt addictive too.

Neji´s blood tasted even better than Naruto´s did and it suddenly hit him why Sasuke was so possessive about Naruto. ´This must be what Naruto tastes like to my brother… I have to make Neji mine… but not just yet. `

Itachi soon felt how the Hyuuga stiffened in his embrace as he couldn´t hold back any longer. The sound of Neji´s passionate cries was like music in the Uchiha´s ears and he decided that this wasn´t the last time that he would make the Hyuuga scream his name in ecstasy. Itachi grinded his hips harder against Neji before he joined the trembling Hyuuga in his orgasmic high.

“Damn that was just what I needed,” Itachi panted when he and Neji joined Sai on the floor.

~ # ~

Takafuma stopped torturing Sasuke as soon as he felt a dangerous chakra approach him. He released the whimpering Uchiha and jumped out of range when a clawed hand made out of rushed towards him. The red chakra changed direction and followed the ancient vampire and only missing the wounded Uchiha by an inch.

His eyes fell on the blonde who was wrapped in a cloak of flaring chakra. Six tails waved from the blonde´s crouching body and a fierce growl scattered the air. Takafuma had seen many demons during his long life but he had never seen anything like this.

“What the hell is this?” the vampire growled through gritted teeth and he barely managed to avoid being slashed by the sharp talons when they attacked once more. He noticed that it was the blonde´s chakra tails that was reaching out for him, seeming with the intention to tear him apart limb by limb.

Six clawed hands made out of chakra reached out for him and one caught the white haired vampire´s leg before he could dodge them all. The red chakra burned through his pants and ate away the skin beneath it.

Takafuma roared in pain when the blonde´s chakra seemed to feed on his blood which made the blonde howl in satisfaction while another one of the chakra limbs grabbed his arm.

“Let go, you monster!” the older vampire screamed when he was slowly sucked dry by the whisker marked teen. In a desperate attempt to free himself Takafuma summoned up the majority of his chakra for a powerful jutsu. “Shi n da seikatsu yūgai na chikara (死 んだ 生活 の 有害な 力/ Destructive force of the living dead)!”

Naruto´s body moved on its own to avoid being hit dead on by the dangerous attack but it still collided with half of the blonde´s body and dealt a lot of damage. The red cloak was instantly dispelled and Naruto collapsed onto the ground, his skin falling off in layers because Takafuma had used a forbidden jutsu that would destroy all undead by making them fall apart piece by piece.

The cloak had luckily protected Naruto from total annihilation but he was still badly wounded.

“You can´t defeat me,” Takafuma panted heavily with a voice that didn´t sound very convincing. He had lost a lot of blood and his wounds wouldn´t heal. ´His chakra has poisoned me… I have to get out of here and heal somewhere deeply below the earth. I have to kill them some other day. `

“There is no way that we´re going to let you get away alive,” Sasuke hissed after he read Takafuma´s thoughts. “Shi sha no Koe!”

~ # ~

Team two arrived at the valley just before dawn. They had used Akamaru and borrowed two nin dogs from Kiba´s sister Hana to get here in less than two hours. The dogs had been feed with some newly developed soldier pills that enhanced the dogs speed immensely.

“Yo,” Kiba called out when he and his teammate didn´t see any signs of anyone around.

“That was fast,” Neji greeted them after he, Sai and Itachi exited the cave they had been resting in.

“So the spell worked,” Hinata stated with a relieved smile when she saw the smirking Uchiha. She instantly noticed that Sai and Neji looked very happy or so it seemed since they were both smiling widely.

“What happened to you two?” Konohamaru asked while raising an eyebrow at the two nin´s expressions.

“That can wait till later,” Sai told them. “We have to get to Naruto-kun and Sasuke as fast as possible.”

“I understand,” Kiba told them.” Jump up on one of the dogs and let´s go.”

“I refuse to ride on a fleabag like those three,” the Uchiha stated. “I prefer to run.”

“Are you sure that you can keep up with us?” Neji asked.

“Oh you bet. I could get there before those fleabags even if I had to carry you on my back.”

“Really?” the Hyuuga asked with growing curiosity.

“Yup, crawl onto my back and I´ll show you.” Itachi said with a daring look. He knew that the Hyuuga had a lot of pride and hated to embarrass himself by being carried on some ones back. Neji seemed to hesitate because he really felt that it was below his pride to get a piggy bag ride.

He suddenly remembered how Gai-sensei had carried Kakashi-sensei… or rather raced back to Konoha with the poor man dangling from his back after they had saved the Kazekage a few years ago, and the Hyuuga wasn´t too fond of that memory.

“Well if you don´t want to Neji, then I will,” Sai said and stepped closer to the Uchiha.

“Sure,” Itachi nodded with a smirk on his lips. He allowed Sai to crawl onto his back and got a firm grip on the younger nin´s legs. “Hold on tight,” and with that Itachi was gone. A delightful cheer from Sai was heard and the four remaining nin could do nothing but to stare at the direction in with Itachi and Sai had disappeared to.

“… Was that really Uchiha Itachi who offered to give Sai a piggy bag ride?” Konohamaru gasped in disbelief.

“I guess people change when they are bitten by a vampire,” Kiba sighed after he mounted Akamaru. Hinata crawled up behind the Inuzuka while Konohamaru and Neji got a dog each to ride on.

~ # ~

Kakashi and Iruka were watching Naruto´s fight with Takafuma from a safe distance. They had found them as soon as Naruto had been wrapped up in the chakra cloak. Kakashi had decided that they should keep their distance for now since neither of them had a chance to control Naruto in his current state.

“Come on, let´s try to help Sasuke instead,” Kakashi told his lover after Naruto had managed to get Takafuma away from the wounded Uchiha.

“Can we heal him? I mean… he´s a vampire and I doubt that our soldier pills will be able to help him.” Iruka asked with growing concern.

“No, soldier pills won´t help him… but our blood might,” the copy-nin sighed while they ran towards Sasuke.

“… b-but ´Kashi…”

“What else can we do that to offer them some of our blood? I´m not suggesting that they can suck us dry… but I´m not going to let them die if some of my blood can save them.”

Sasuke was dying when they reached him. The raven was repeating Naruto´s name over and over as if he could make the blonde come to him if he kept calling for him.

“Sasuke… Oi Sasuke,” Kakashi slapped the raven and somehow managed to get the attention of the Uchiha.

“K-Kakashi-sensei?”

“Yes I´m here, Iruka too. Help is on its way,” the silver haired nin told his former student. “I want you to take some of my blood, gain some strength and then you need to help us to calm Naruto down.”

“Naruto!” Sasuke tried to sit up, only to fail and whimper in agony from the many painful wounds that Takafuma had inflicted on his body.

“Naruto is fighting the white haired boy. He needs your help,” Kakashi told him.

The raven looked up at his former sensei and nodded. “Are you sure that you will allow me to feed on your blood? It will drain your strength and you won´t be able to defend yourself very well… and I´m… I´m not sure that Naruto and I will make it.”

“Don´t worry. I will protect Kakashi. He has saved my life many times… now it´s my turn to do something in return,” Iruka said while smiling softly at his beloved scarecrow.

Sasuke nodded and took the silver haired man´s wrist and lifted it to his mouth.

“You don´t need to bite my neck?” Kakashi asked in surprise.

“No not necessarily. I can feed on blood from any major vein in the human body. I might end up hurting you because I´m running dangerously low on blood… and I´m sure that you would prefer a broken wrist instead of a broken neck.”

“… Y-Yeah,” the older nin gasped when his former student bit down on his wrist and began to feed on his blood.

Sasuke released Kakashi as soon as he felt Naruto´s pain after Takafuma´s ´Shi n da seikatsu yūgai na chikara` hit the blonde. Sasuke staggered to his feet and activated his enhanced Sharingan and used the ´Voices of the dead` genjutsu on the white haired boy.

Takafuma was caught in the Uchiha´s genjutsu before he could brace himself and that gave Sasuke the opportunity to run to Naruto´s side.

~ # ~

Iruka held the panting Kakashi in his arms and couldn´t help but to frown lightly when he noticed that his lover was aroused even though he had just been bitten by Sasuke.

“S-Sorry… can´t help it,” the older nin chuckled at his dolphin. “M-Must be a natural side effect of the bite.”

“… Yeah right, you old pervert,” Iruka said while he shook his head.

“Sensei!” Shikamaru called out while he, Ten-ten and Lee ran towards them. “Are you hurt?”

“It´s no big deal,” Kakashi told them before he explained that he had agreed to become the Uchiha´s blood donor.

“Troublesome,” Shikamaru sighed. “Well anyway, we managed to revive the other Uchiha. He and the others should be on their way here by now. Is there something we can do?”

“Only if you are willing to let Naruto and Sasuke feed on your blood or if you know how to kill a vampire who has been caught in an unknown genjutsu,” Iruka told them after Kakashi had passed out from exhaustion.

~ # ~

“Naruto? Hey Dobe talk to me,” Sasuke demanded while he tried to gain contact with his wounded lover. Most of Naruto´s skin was gone and the muscle tissue was showing. The bleeding had stopped since the blonde´s healing ability had already kicked in… but Naruto was healing too slowly and Sasuke was worried that the blood loss and chakra depletion was too severe to be repaired in time to save him.

“Nngh T-Teme?” Naruto moaned in agony while slowly opening his eyes.

“I´m here… N-Naruto I want you to feed on me. Take as much as you need to recover,” Sasuke offered though he knew that even if he had just fed on Kakashi´s blood he was still too weak to be able to survive if Naruto were to feed on him… but he couldn´t let his beloved Dobe die… he would rather give up his life than to go on living without him.

“N-No… you are weakened too… help me to stand,” the blonde hissed in pain while he struggled to get up.

“What are you doing, lie back down and rest,” the Uchiha pleaded and noticed that Naruto´s wounds re-opened when he struggled to get up.

“B-Baka… I need blood to heal,” Naruto told him. “K-Kyuubi tells me that I´ll heal faster i-if I feed on another vampire.”

“I know and I told you to feed on me, so bite me.”Sasuke begged him.

“Tempting Teme… but Kyuu wasn´t talking a-about you…”

“… Takafuma?” Sasuke asked when he realized that the other vampire was still alive though he would be trapped in the Uchiha´s genjutsu for at least another hour - hopefully. Sasuke slid his arms around Naruto´s torso and helped him up before leading him straight to the white haired vampire who was whimpering in pain because he was tortured from the ghosts of the past.

“Help me Teme,” Naruto whimpered in pain. His lover did as he was asked and balanced the blonde against his side to give Naruto access to Takafuma´s neck.

“Let us help you,” Lee and Shikamaru offered. They took Naruto from Sasuke who was trembling pretty badly. The Uchiha fell to his knees because he was weaker than he had realized. He was running low on blood since his body used all of Kakashi´s donated blood to heal his wounds.

“Sasuke-kun… here,” Ten-Ten offered her wrist to Sasuke with a shy smile. “It´s not much but you may drink some of my blood to gain strength.”

He looked up at her in awe at her unselfish offer. He had never before looked upon her as someone who was worthy his time… but right now he felt that he might have done her wrong by thinking that she was useless. Her kindness overwhelmed him and he smiled back at her. “Thank you… I´m grateful for your offer.”

“… Um well you did help save us back at Konoha when we were in prison and you are important to Naruto. You are strong, skilled and brave like Neji… and I want to help.”

He nodded at her before sinking his fangs into her skin.

~ # ~

Itachi and Sai arrived at the Mountain of Doom just in time to witness Naruto being pushed roughly off Takafuma. The white haired vampire had somehow managed to break the genjutsu, and was once more free and very, very pissed.

He grabbed Lee´s arm (who was still helping Naruto to stand up) and squeezed it so hard that the bone snapped. Lee cried out in pain and only got away because Naruto punched Takafuma in the face before Shikamaru captured the white haired vampire with the ´Kage mane nu jutsu. `

Sai rushed to his teammate’s side to make sure that Lee was alright. “It´s a clean break, Lee-san. It is easy to heal so keep your arm still and Tsunade will put it back tog-” he never got the chance to finish his sentence when the ancient vampire broke free of the ´Kage mane` and pushed his hand through Sai´s back, running him through.

Sai´s mouth was filled with blood which soon began to run from his lips and down his chin. He stared down at the hand that was sticking out of his chest with wide eyes. “B-But… I´m not… ready to… to die yet,” he coughed to get rid of the blood that was about to suffocate him.

Itachi grabbed both Lee and Sai and got them out of the danger zone when he felt the chakra of his younger sibling flare angrily.

“Ayatsuito no Jutsu!” Sharp wires wrapped themselves around Takafuma´s body and cut into his skin. Sasuke was back on his feet and though he was too weak to use any of his more powerful jutsu he was still skilled enough to be able to use his wires to restrain his opponent.

“Double impact wolf fang!” Kiba and Akamaru (after the dog had use a Henge to turn into Kiba) came out of the darkness and rushed rapidly around the restrained Takafuma before they leaped forward from opposite sides. They slashed the white haired vampire with their sharp claws and made the blood flow freely from deep cuts all over his body.

Hinata ran to Sai´s aid and began to heal him though the hole in his chest looked to be beyond her medical skills. Konohamaru was assisting her in any way possible though there wasn´t much he could do.

“Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!” Neji used the seal of tenketsu on Takafuma and sealed off what was left of his chakra by closing all of the 64 chakra channels.

“Itachi, you´re alive!” Naruto called out with a weak voice when the Uchiha picked him up and carried him over to Sai. His newly grown skin was still very thin but at least he was healing faster with Takafuma´s strong blood in his veins.

Sasuke, who was looking better after having fed on Ten-Ten, embracing his blonde tightly after Shikamaru helped him over to the others. Both were exhausted and were in need of a safe place to spend the approaching day.

Sasuke looked very happy to see Itachi again and it made the older nin feel that they had missed having him around. “Aniki… how?”

“I will explain everything later… I need your help to save Sai... he´s dying,” Itachi told them. “Please save him.”

“… We will have to turn him or he´ll die,” Sasuke stated after examining the gaping hole in the ink-nin´s chest. “I don´t know if I´m strong enough to do it right now. You should turn him yourself Itachi.”

“Will I be able to do it?” Itachi asked hesitantly. “Isn´t it… difficult”

“It´s not that hard… but you have to ask Sai if he wants this kind of life… We are here with you, to help you if he accepts. I suggest we carry him inside because the sun is about to rise,” Naruto told the Uchiha after Sasuke helped him to sit up.

“What about that?” Shikamaru asked the three vampires while the other´s carried a loudly snoring Kakashi to a safe position before they moved Sai into one off the caves of the Mountain of Doom.

Kiba, Akamaru and Konohamaru were making sure that the white haired vampire couldn´t escape from the wires. Thankfully the ancient Vampire was so weakened that he didn´t have much strength left to do anything anymore.

“Let the sun finish him off,” Sasuke said before making sure that only Sai was allowed into the cave that he, Naruto and Itachi was going to sleep in during the upcoming day after telling the others that it would be too dangerous for the others to stay near them. “Don´t go anywhere near him before nightfall. We will destroy him then.”

~ # ~

Hinata and Konohamaru pressed their hands against their ears while the others tried to ignore Takafuma´s pleading voice when the rays of the sun approached him at dawn. The white haired vampire shifted between pleading for his life, promising anyone who freed him a small fortune and to cursing their souls to the depths of hell.

Iruka hugged Kakashi tightly when the sun finally hit the screaming vampire and turned him into a statue of stone that reminded them of fine white marble.

The living spent the day together, trying to sort out what had happened during the night. They were all in a sort of shock and it wasn´t before noon that Kakashi and Shikamaru decided that they had to send a note to Tsunade and inform her about what had happened here.

There wasn´t much to do after that. Everyone cleaned themselves up to get rid of the blood that tainted their hands, faces and their clothes.

Hinata and Konohamaru looked after Lee and took care of his broken arm while Ten-Ten and Kakashi were tired because of the blood loss and slept a lot. Kiba and Akamaru went hunting for food while Iruka made a fire and looked after the others while Shikamaru stared at the sky and the passing clouds.

Neji seemed unable to move from the boulder he was sitting on. He had stared at the entrance to the cave where the three vampires and Sai were resting since the break of dawn.

He was so deep in thoughts that he blocked everything else out. All he felt was the urge to go into that cave, and be with Sai and Itachi even if it would cost him his life. It wasn´t fair that the men he felt attracted too were out of his reach.

´Itachi is a vampire… and Sai will become one if he survives his wounds. I can´t be with them as long as I´m a human. They need blood to survive and they won´t age… they won´t be comfortable with me around them. I guess I´m on the losing end this time… Maybe it´s for the best that I stay alone as always. ` Neji thought and sighed because he had never had much luck in love anyway.

“Why is he so sad?” Iruka asked the others during lunch.

“Sai confessed his love to him… and now Sai will never return to Konoha no matter if he´ll become a vampire or not. He will be dead one way or the other,” Shikamaru told the brunette.

“That´s sad,” Iruka sighed. “If only there was something we could do to cheer him up.”

“That´s not our job… we have to wait and see what will happen at nightfall.”

~ # ~

The day passed slowly and in the end the sun finally had to bow to the moon. The night was chill and the Konoha nin waited impatiently for their vampiric friends to awaken.

Naruto and Sasuke were the first ones to appear. They looked tired and hungry but due to their stubbornness and mental strength they were able to meet their friends without attacking and sucking them dry.

“Sai is one of us now,” Sasuke told them. “He can´t see you right now because he needs to feed before he can be around humans without trying to bite them.”

“We will have to leave now too,” the blonde added. “We will destroy Takafuma and then we have to go hunting before the need to feed will become too strong… Thank you for all your help, we would have been done for without you.”

“When will we see you again?” Iruka asked. His heart ached at the thought of never seeing the blonde again. “… and where are you go from here?”

“… Iruka-sensei… We are a threat to you and your ways… It would be too much of a risk for us to show up at Konoha ever again,” Naruto whispered softly. He too felt sad and goodbyes were never easy, and to say goodbye forever was even worse.

“We will head back to Ame-gakure,” Sasuke told them. “The climate suits our… condition and we will be safe there.”

“So you won´t fully disappear on us?” Kakashi asked hopefully.

“No, but gives us a warning before you show up or I can´t guarantee that we won´t attack you, thinking that you are prey,” the Uchiha told them with a trademark smirk tugging at his pale lips.

“Will you create more vampires?” Hinata asked.

“… I don´t know but I doubt it,” Sasuke said. “We are aware of what we are and the danger we oppose to humanity. We don´t want to create a second Takafuma.”

“Oh I see,” the Hyuuga heiress mumbled softly while looking at her cousin who stared at the ground in defeat.

“We should go… bye… take care of each other,” Naruto said while Sasuke smashed the petrified Takafuma into little pieces. Naruto refused to hug them because their blood was calling out to him and the temptation would be too much if he got too close to them.

The Konoha nin watched while Naruto and Sasuke took off. They never got to see Sai or Itachi who had found another exit since the temptation of fresh blood would have been too much for Sai to handle right now.

Neji was silent all the way back home and he stayed silent during their meeting with Tsunade and the council.

“So everything is back to normal again and we will have some new powerful allies at Ame-gakure who likes to be left alone,” Hiashi stated with a relieved sigh. The villagers, the shinobi and the council had been scared and confused about the news about the existence of vampires and the killing of Koharu, Homura and Danzou, but everyone hoped that things would start to calm down soon.

And things really did calm down and though the death of Sakura, the fact that Sai was gone and Naruto´s missing presence created a void, things still returned to normal.

Neji returned to his home and soon went back to do missions as always but he never stopped longing for the feeling of Itachi and Sai´s kisses and touches. Even a month after he had rescued Itachi with a virgin´s kiss he still felt like sneaking out of Konoha and go to Ame-gakure to ask Itachi to turn him into a vampire as well.

´Why do I lack the strength to leave? It is so easy just to scribble down a few words that will explain that I feel like I´m trapped in a cage here in Konoha . I have already packed my bags and made up my mind… and yet I remain here, unable to leave… but why?` Neji thought while he stared at the sheet of paper in front of him like he had done every night since his return to Konoha.

´Am I afraid? `

“Maybe you´re scared of dying.” A dark voice asked next to him. Neji jumped in surprise before turning around to face his visitor.

“No, I´m not scared of death Itachi,” the Hyuuga said after swallowing the knot that had formed in his throat all of a sudden.

“Then what? What are you afraid of Neji? Do you fear to lose your friends and family? Or is it the fact that you have to drink blood to survive? ”

“No… I think I´m scared that you would reject me,” Neji said in sudden realization while reaching out to touch Itachi´s cold skin.

“I would never reject you. You saved me just like Naruto and Sasuke saved me before that,” the Uchiha purred. “Come with me and let me show you the pleasures of the night. The others are looking forward to welcome you into our family.”

~ # ~

Lee and Ten-Ten found a short note on Neji´s kitchen desk when they went to his apartment to pick him up the next morning when he didn´t show up for their training.

The note was scribbled in a hurry and made both nin smiled though they felt sad since they knew that Neji had found his happiness, and that they would probably never see him again.

`To whoever finds this note,
I´m sorry but it is time to spread my wings and fly away and become truly free. I will not live my life in a cage any longer… goodbye.

Hyuuga Neji`

To be concluded