The Broken Seal of Eternity

Sorry for the long wait, but it'll be worth it! A big thank you to Vampchic for beta reading this chapter as well.

Vampchic- thank you for your help with beta reading. Mmm... chocloate...

Green eyes- didn't mean to be so hard on you last time. I'm glad to hear that you enjoy my style. Here, you should at least have a partial answer to the identity of the other mysterious outsider.

For your enjoyment:

Chapter 3- Eterna

It was after dark when Sakura finally awakened. She
wasn't quite sure what had awakened her, but she felt
that something wasn't right. She mumbled weakly, sat
up and looked around. She was in a hospital bed, and
it was quite dark. The only illumination came from a
lamp in the next room.

She dropped her legs over the side of the bed, but
something told her that maybe it wasn't a good idea to
leave her bed. "It's nothing... just my imagination."
She told herself. But she didn't believe herself for a
moment. Where was everyone? There wasn't even a
medical nin around.

Sakura decided that she had little to gain from just
staying there. She didn't feel particularly tired,
although she had a bruise on the back of her head. The
memories came back slowly. The strange boy, the fight,
then she remembered getting hit on the back of the
head. That was it. The others must have taken her back
here. She hoped that her injury hadn't compromised the
mission. She would never hear the end of it, and
worse, she would lose face to Sasuke, the one boy she
could least afford to do that with.

Sakura hesitantly walked into the next room. She
called out nervously, "Hello? Is anyone there?
Hello...?" Nobody answered. It was so quiet... her
senses were on high alert. Something definitely wasn't
right.

A medical nin was asleep on his desk, resting his
head in his arms, atop a medical book. He hadn't even
turned off his lamp, and he was snoring heavily.
Sakura tried to awaken him with some gentle nudges,
but wasn't able to. She had never seen anyone sleep so
deeply. She clapped her hands together as loudly as
she could, but that didn't even make him stir.

Sakura gave up on trying to awaken the nin. Instead,
she decided to go and find the others. But when she
approached the door, she felt another pang of dread.
It was like there was something out there, lurking,
waiting for her to step outside. Sakura shook her
head. No, she was jut being silly. She must still be
nervous about the stranger. But surely the others
would have been able to put a stop to him. Despite the
amount of crap she gave Naruto, she had faith in him,
and in Sasuke. And Kakashi had been with them.

Sakura stepped outside, into the cool night air. She
breathed in the fresh air and sighed. That was when
the vampire struck! She heard his voice in her mind.
"Sakura... Sakura... come to me, child..."

He was waiting, in some nearby trees. Calling to her,
and his voice mesmerized her! She had no choice but to
obey. But then, another part of her took over. "Come
on you fucker! I'll kick your ass!" Sakura raged in an
angry voice that was very unlike her usual calm
demeanor.

The vampire seemed surprised by this turn of events.
"How interesting... I've never seen a girl with two
minds before." He dropped from where he had been
hanging upside down from a nearby tree, dodging
several kunai that Sakura hurled his way. He caught
the very last one, and used it pick his nails.

He closed in, smirking. "You will make spirited prey.
A pity you are so weak."

Sakura did her best to wipe the smile off of his face
with a nasty blow to the face, but when the fist
connected, she found only shadow. There was sudden
noise behind her. She froze. Oh no!

The vampire said smugly, "It was a mere illusion... a
deception that your pitiful mortal mind could never
overcome." A dark figure was suddenly looming over
her, bringing its limbs down around to grab her before
she even could use a jutsu to escape.

But a moment later, she wasn't there. Sakura looked
around, suddenly disoriented. How had she gotten in
the middle of the trees? And why was she in some-one's
arms? At the same time, the vampire's mind control
eased off, and inner Sakura receded. She instantly
realized just who it was that had saved her. She
screamed!

The boy didn't react to the amazing volume of her
voice, but he started leaping away from the hospital,
along the tree branches. Every so often, they would
suddenly... find themselves elsewhere, further along
the route the boy had apparently chosen. Although
Sakura found it to be very disconcerting, he didn't
seem to be bothered by it. It was almost as if he had
grown so accustomed to teleporting like that that it
had become second nature to him!

The vampire immediately began to pursue them, and it
was only while she was being carried away that she was
able to get a good look at the creature. He was a
horrifying thing to behold, half man and half bat, it
seemed. His body was basically in a humanoid
configuration, but his back was hunched over, and his
body was covered with a mangy fur. He had large
bat-like ears, and a mouth full of fangs. He had huge,
ragged leathery wings that sprouted from his back, and
his hands and feet ended in vicious black claws. But
perhaps the worst thing about him were his slitted
yellow eyes. They were so... vile, that Sakura could
not stand to look into them. Every so often, Sakura
would hear an earsplitting squeal echo around them.

"He's using echo location. Probably out of habit. He
must be able to sense your life force, so we won't
lose him easily." The boy commented. His voice lacked
any kind of inflection. It was so... empty.

Sakura struggled to escape his grip, but the boy was
inhumanly strong. Much stronger than she would have
guessed from his size. She screamed in frustration,
"Put me down!"

The boy paused. "You want me to drop you?"

Sakura looked down, it was a long fall! "Just... just
let me go!"

"If I do, the vampire will catch up with you in
seconds, and you will die. Do you crave death?" The
boy said. He wasn't taunting her. His soft voice still
lacked inflection, save for a little curiosity toward
the end.

Sakura decided that getting killed wasn't on her
to-do list. But why was he helping her? "I thought you
were my enemy? Why should you care if that monster
eats me alive?"

"I was wrong. I feared that the vampire had already
infiltrated the community and was controlling anyone
he hadn't turned. It's... how they work. My recent
findings indicate that less time has elapsed than I
initially thought. Also, it seems he was weakened by
his journey, so he has probably only just begun the
feed off of the populace. You are not my enemy,
therefore, you are potentially an ally." The boy
answered.

The vampire lunged at them, but they vanished yet
again, appearing on a branch overhead. Sakura clung
more closely to the boy. She still wasn't sure about
him, but at this point she was more inclined to trust
him. He didn't seem nearly as evil or as threatening
as the vampire at the moment.

As he streaked past them, the boy leapt in the
opposite direction, putting a sizeable distance
between them and the vampire. The vampire hissed. "You
cannot escape me! Surrender to the inevitable death!"

Sakura reached for a Kunai, but the boy warned her,
"That won't work. You need some kind of magic. Holy
power works the best." Still, she decided that she had
to try. When the vampire leapt at them again, She
threw the kunai at him, giving it a nice charge of
chakra. Even though her aim was awkward from within
the strange boy's arm, she hit dead on, directly in
one of his horrible yellow eyes. Yet the blow didn't
even seem to phase the creature. The most it caused
was a slight hesitation as the vampire pulled the
kunai from his eye and tossed it aside. The wound
closed instantly, healing as if it had never been.

The boy leapt again, trouncing upon the vampire's
head as he passed over. This caused the vampire to
plummet to the ground with a curse. But when the boy
landed upon the branches, red eyes flashed around
them. A host of shadowy figures dove from all around
them, knocking them off of the branch. The boy seemed
momentarily confused, why hadn't he warped away?
Sakura landed roughly, but was otherwise unhurt. The
boy somehow righted himself in mid-air, landing
softly. Even as he landed he drew a long sword that
had been strapped across his back. Light instantly
flared in the surrounding area, causing Sakura to
shield her eyes. The sword blazed with white flames.

The shadowy figures landed around them en masse.
Sakura recognized many of them, people she had seen in
Konoha. But they seemed different now. They were
coldly silent, and she caught glimpses of pale skin
and flashes from their red eyes. They snickered in the
mob around them, they weren't afraid. They closed in
like a pack of wolves. Sakura screamed again.

"Get down!" Sakura dropped in the nick of time,
because the boy lashed out with his sword. At first,
all she saw was a blur in the air overhead. But then
the people around her all fell in half, erupting into
white flames that quickly passed, leaving only ashes
in its wake.

Sakura demanded angrily, "Why? Why did you kill
them?! We could have...!"

The boy said matter of factly, "Nothing. There was
nothing we could have done for them." Somehow, he knew
that it wasn't enough for her. "They were already
turned by the vampire. Whoever they were, they weren't
human anymore. Even if... I doubt he would have done
that. And certainly not for so many... no, they were
nothing more than empty shells of their former
selves." He explained.

He might have elaborated, but a crunching of leaves
from nearby got their attention. A clapping sounded
among the tree trunks. "Well done. Well done. I must
compliment you on a most impressive display of power,
Eterna."

The boy stiffened for a moment, and turned to face
the vampire. He held his sword at ready, but it was a
strange stance that Sakura hadn't seen before. It
looked so casual, she had to wonder if he was even on
guard.

The vampire seemed disappointed by the lack of
reaction. "So that is the fabled sword, Luminoss, is
it?"

The boy remained in his stance, but this time he
responded. "It will be the last thing you ever see."

The vampire said with a haughty smirk, "At least you
answered. I give you credit for that. I won't insult
you by toying with your mind. If half of the things
I've heard about you are true, I don't stand a chance
of piercing your mental defenses anyway. So I'll make
this simple. Here we shall fight, and here you shall
die. and then I will turn you, and that pink-haired
girl as well. You will be the greatest of my kind, no
doubt. And you will be all mine to control!"

"I have vanquished creatures you couldn't even
conceive of. What makes you think you will fare any
better?"

"I have studied your methods of fighting, and gone
over every record ever made of your battles. I think I
have a good grasp of how you fight, and just how to
stop you dead in your tracks." The vampire answered
smugly. He held out one arm and suddenly the boy went
flying backward, his armor crumbling away! Luminoss
flew from his hand, landing softly in the earth where
he had been standing. He slammed into a large tree
with an audible thud, the same invisible force that
had slammed him there remained, holding him there.
Sakura could hear the tree straining from the
pressure, it would probably break soon! The boy's
cloak flared around him, hiding all but his face. The
force of the blow would have killed most people,
herself included. Yet the boy's face betrayed no
reaction. There was no trace of pain on it, no panic,
not even the slightest wrinkle of worry. Just...
nothingness...

The vampire walked forward slowly, menacingly. "Now
do you see? I can even prevent you from warping, just
as I did when I allowed my minions to catch you. And
now, I think I will kill you slowly, draining every
last drop of your life..." He licked his lips
hungrily, voracious fangs extending.

The boy closed his eyes. "You were a fool to have
awakened me."

"You say this even as you are unable to move?" He
scoffed. As the vampire passed in front of Lumioss,
the sword rose up into the air behind him. It rotated
on its hilt, until it was pointed directly at the
vampire's heart. But if he noticed now...

Sakura flung herself forward at the vampire, with a
savage yell. She lunged out with a flurry of fists,
but all her efforts solicited was a shard slap that
sent her flying back. Sakura rose to fight him again,
but her efforts were wasted. Luminoss plunged forward,
running the vampire through, piercing his heart.

The vampire let out a terrible screech, clutching its
chest. But it was already starting to slowly turn to
ash. The boy said, "Do you think I haven't had to deal
with telekinetics' before? That still didn't change
the fact that you are weak. Your fangs would not have
pierced my skin."

As the last of the vampire disintegrated, the boy
dropped from the tree. He landed on his stomach.
Sakura rushed over. "Are you alright?"

The boy surged to a sitting position, his cloak still
flaring about him. "I'm unharmed."

Sakura stopped as she neared him. "Oh. Thank you so
much for saving me. I'm Sakura. What's your name." She
felt her cheeks heating up. Sakura hadn't ever thought
she could feel like that for anyone other than Sasuke.
She cursed her inconstant heart.

"Eterna." The boy answered.

Sakura blinked. So it was his name. "That is...
rather effeminate sounding, isn't it?" She expected a
negative reaction almost immediately, but surprisingly
Eterna shrugged. He opened his mouth to say something,
but before he could he was interrupted by a loud
explosion!

Naruto and Sasuke both stormed into the clearing.
"Get back, Sakura! We'll handle this guy!" Naruto
shouted.

Sasuke muttered to Naruto, "Just like you handled him
last time?"

"Shut up...!" Naruto muttered back.

Eterna sighed. "If I must..."

But Sakura yelled, "Stop!" She ran between Naruto and
Eterna, and spread out her arms. "Don't you dare
attack him!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What?! But... but we came
to save you! We heard you screaming!" Naruto said.

"It wasn't him, it was the vampire! He saved me! He
killed it!" Sakura explained.

"What vampire?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe she's got brain damage from that blow to the
head." Sasuke said.

Sakura got ready to rage furiously, but Eterna
diffused the situation. He pointed to the vampire's
corpse where several charred bones remained in place
around Luminoss, "Over there. That's my sword through
his bones. He was planning to turn your friend."

Naruto asked, "Why should we believe you? How do I
know you aren't mind-controlling Sakura, or something?
Maybe you're the vampire!"

Eterna shrugged, "Whatever. Believe whatever you
want. I didn't come here to fight you, but if you
dream of death I can give it to you." Naruto seemed
taken aback by his indifferent attitude.

Naruto pointed at him and said, "Oh yeah! We'll just
see about...!" He paused when he realized that Eterna
had vanished. "Hey, don't run away when I'm bragging
to you!"

"I'm here." Eterna said from over at the vampire's
corpse. He pulled his sword free of its bones, clearly
not human bones, and sheathed it. Then he turned
around... and they were in for a surprising
revelation. He was...

Naruto pointed, "You're... a girl?!"

Sakura echoed his sentiments, "He's... a girl?!"

Yet the evidence was clear. Now that she had a good
look at her, without the bulky armor in the way,
Eterna clearly wasn't a boy. Now the feminine voice,
the build, the face, it all made sense. Now all she
wore was the blue form-fitting suit, and boys did not
have a chest like that! Sakura felt ill, she had
almost fallen for another girl! Then she fainted.


***


Ebony barely managed to stagger into a house, she
didn't care who's it was by then, and collapsed in
heap in front of the door. Her entire body hurt! She
was covered with wounds from her scrap with the Anbu,
and she'd barely managed to escape them. She'd even
had to kill several of them that she just could not
shake, she didn't even have time to drink from their
sweet... No! She squirmed in revulsion at what she had
become. She had to fight it!

Her struggles caught someone's attention, though. She
heard footsteps coming closer. A boy she remembered as
Shikamaru walked in, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
But when he saw her, they opened wide in surprise. She
must have looked a mess, she knew, with her clothing
torn and multiple wounds. "What the hell happened?!"

He approached slowly, gauging her wounds, seeing if
it was safe to move her. She said weakly, "No... you
have to... you have to... get away..." Run, you idiot!
She thought, run, before I...

"Don't worry. I don't know what is going on, but I'll
keep you safe." Shikamaru said, his concern was clear
in his voice. She almost wished that all was as it
seemed.

Ebony struggled to crawl away, but she was so weak
now that she could barely move at all. She managed to
stammer, "m-monster..." but couldn't make herself
clear. Then a sudden surge of pain hit her, causing
her to clutch at her chest and scream aloud. The pain
passed in a few moments, but with it came the
knowledge of what she had felt. Her master's death!
But because she had been specially gifted, she was
able to endure.

Shikamaru leaned over her, "So much blood..." then
tried to reassure her, "Don't worry, I'll take you to
the hospital where you can..." He leaned over to pick
her up, and suddenly his neck was right there! Ebony
just couldn't help herself.