Rising Sun

Title: Rising Sun
Author: BeccaAmon
Genre: AU
Pairings: Eventual NarutoxSasukexNaruto, and others.
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.
AN: I’m still unsure as to what direction this story would take. We’ll just see, I guess. Un-beta’d so forgive the errors. ^^;

Rising Sun – Chapter 1: The Hunter

~*~

The vampires today aren't as powerful as they were. The blood had thinned, limiting them to only a few capabilities. Then, the ancients were able to create a child possessing immense power, who killed with cold precision. Now, the children of darkness feel and remember. There was no escaping humanity.

~*~

Autumn’s fallen leaves cracked under his feet, loud in the silent night. The wind bit into his cheek sharply and Naruto pulled his scarf tighter around his neck. His eyes were at a constant swivel around his surroundings and his ears picked up any sound that didn’t belong. He pursed his lips, body relaxed, but on guard. He had left the bustling part of downtown a while ago and stepped into the quieter residential buildings. Lights from open windows poured out into the outdoors, but were quickly swallowed by darkness. Streetlights had been smashed and only a few remained, leaving pockets of lit concrete in a sea of shadows.

He looked up to the sky. The moon was covered with clouds. It was going to rain tomorrow.

He had been monitoring the clubs and saw them; three guys with a girl. The girl had looked uncertain as they led her away from the writhing mass. He had heard her soft pleas and saw the quiver in her eyes when their gazes met, before she was dragged away and he had lost sight of them. He had tracked them up until this point. He tried not to feel nervous for the girl. He hoped he wasn’t too late. He remembered her pale skin, dark, short hair framing her face, and the ridiculous sense of innocence that wrapped around her like a cloak.

He abruptly stopped when a very familiar sound reached his ears. It was unmistakably the sound of a body falling to the ground. He drew his weapon from his jacket, trotting to the alley he suspected it had come from. Sticking close to the shadows, he surveyed the scene before him. One of the three guys was on the floor curled in on himself, while another stood back. The third covered the girl’s body up against the wall. Naruto saw her hand on the guy’s shoulder as if to push away. He didn’t wait a moment longer.

“You know what pisses me off? When guys have to gang up on a girl just to get some action. Maybe if you asked politely once in awhile she may just say yes.” Naruto growled, his voice echoing in the narrow alley. He moved away from the shadows and stepped into a pool of light. The one standing turned hastily—Naruto braced himself for an attack —but paused, brows furrowing when he saw the pallor of the guy’s face and the wide-eyed expression that screamed of muted fright.

Naruto’s brain changed gears quickly. He had seen a scene like this plenty of times before. He looked to the third guy on the floor; the body was no longer moving. His gaze darted to the guy slumped over the girl and cursed silently when the large body began to slide off her, only to fall lifelessly on the wet alley ground to join the other.

Naruto tightened his hold on the weapon and bit his bottom lip to ease away the frustration threatening to cloud his focus. Releasing a quick breath that stirred his bangs, he took a closer look at her like he should have earlier. She stared back at him with a steady gaze, no longer quivering or unsure. She seemed to glow in the darkness, euphoria in her expression. Clad in a white, frill-laden dress, she looked out of place. But the mess of red smearing and dripping off her softly smiling lips assured him she was no stranger to the night.

A quiet, almost non-existent nudge alerted him. Naruto’s muscles tensed as he listened to the footsteps approaching from behind. Three, he counted. Their movements were mere whispers, barely audible. But he knew they weren’t human. There was just a way the small hairs of a person’s neck stood when blood suckers had their sight on it.

“Hinata, finish up will ya? We’re late.”

The voice was gruff and loud, like a barking dog in the middle of the night. Naruto heard the snap of teeth and saw the remaining human tremble and fall on his ass. The kid started to whimper hysterically, backing away by pushing with his legs, only to trap himself furthermore against the alley wall and the girl, Hinata. He looked as if he wanted to scream but it was probably lodged in his throat. Naruto had known that kind of fright once.

He didn’t know how strong the girl was, but he wasn’t about to take any chances. Turning to his side so he could keep an eye on both parties, he judged the new arrivals. They looked like a typical trio of teenage punks out for the night. All denim and leather collars, cocky grins and spiky hair. The one in the middle with the wild hair and a red triangular mark on each cheek flashed him with a fang full of grin, sniffing the air.

“You smell like blood, man.” He sniffed in Naruto’s direction once more. “You smell like death.” His eyes shone dangerously in the alley light, grin growing wider, giving way to a snarl. “You smell to me, like a hunter.”

A tiny gasp came from the girl. “A hunter,” She sighed in fascination, as a child would.

Soles scraped against gravel. “Hey, princess. Get a move on! We have a long way to go. You shouldn’t have stopped for snacks in the first place. Now we have this guy to deal with.” The loud one called out. He had yet to hear anything from the other two.

From what the poor lighting in the alley allowed him to see, Naruto tried to gauge how strong the others were. He felt rather than heard the second one whisper to the one in the middle, while the third detached himself from the group and walked forward.

Shifting his stance, Naruto looked to Hinata as she passed by him, small steps and a dainty smile on her bloody lips. Her heels clapped against the concrete floor—she tripped a little—and he almost reached out to help her. Blinking in surprise, he gripped his weapon and moved forward, only to find Hinata already standing in between the loud one and the second guy.

Naruto wondered why he hadn’t moved to stop her, how he had just let her pass by. Belatedly, he recalled when their eyes had met, how their gazes had lingered and then feeling a sort of calm blanket over him. He cursed internally. It had been a mild sedating spell.

“Mizuki…” The only talkative one of the bunch drawled out, scratching his cheek, some of the red smearing. Naruto felt a muscle in his jaw twitch; it was blood. The triangles on his cheeks were painted with blood. “…take care of him will ya? And make it quick. Meet up with us later.”

Naruto spun his weapon in his hand, finger sliding into the metallic ring holding the butt of his stake. “Nobody’s going anywhere.” he warned.

“I’m sure you’d like that.” Mizuki taunted, cracking his knuckles.

Faster than he had expected, the vampire dashed past him and had the remaining survivor by the neck, up against the wall. Cursing at his slow reaction, he debated between his choices; he chose the most obvious. He turned his back on the three fleeing bloodsuckers and ran quickly to help the kid who was screaming his lungs out. Gripping the vampire by the shoulders, he pulled him away from the kid. Momentum had him driving a fist to the guy’s face and a kick aimed to his opponent’s side. His fist was dodged, but his kick struck.

Clutching at his side, Mizuki sneered his way, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

“That was some kick, hunter. You broke something.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry much about that, it won’t bother you soon enough.” Naruto spat.

Naruto swiped his weapon at Mizuki, feet moving to a dance he knew too well. His eyes watched his opponent’s movements, anticipated the attacks, leaned away from oncoming fists and threw a volley of his own. He ignored the throb from the kick his abdomen had received, just breathed through clenched teeth and plowed Mizuki against the wall. He managed a few deep blows before getting kneed in the stomach and elbowed in the face. The vampire’s strength was showing through as he was struck hard enough to fly and smack into a dumpster.

Shaking his head to stop the ringing in his ears, Naruto stood and pushed away from the bin--noticing the dent he had made. He was a little surprised that the vampire didn’t go after him as soon as he was down, but found out the reason soon enough. In the midst of fighting, he had lost his weapon. It was now imbedded into the kid’s chest, right below the collar bone. Probably into a lung.

Mizuki pushed the stake deeper, blood bubbling out of the kid’s mouth. Definitely a lung. The bloodsucker let the kid go, licking blood off his fingers.

Naruto watched dispassionately--because he couldn’t afford to be distracted at the moment—as the kid writhed at the vampire’s feet to join the bodies of his lifeless friends. Gritting his teeth, he glared at Mizuki. He had no time to play games with a vampire. At the moment, another kid somewhere is probably being played with by another bloodsucking bastard.

He was done with games. Naruto pulled out his glock and shot Mizuki through the chest. The vampire’s eyes widened, probably not expecting a bullet. In a flash, Naruto was in front of him—tapped the gun’s barrel on his forehead—and fired. Grey matter splattered on the grimy wall, the stench of blood joining miscellaneous smells of the alley way. The gunshot echoed loudly as his arm shook with the recoil. Mizuki’s body slumped downward and Naruto wiped blood off his boots on the vampire’s pants.

A few lights from the building had turned on. Naruto holstered his gun, eyed his stake impaled into the kid and left the alley. He knew someone will call the cops and an ambulance. The kid might survive, but he doubted it. He would have already drowned in his own blood. The cops will bag Mizuki. Come sunrise, he would be nothing but ash.

The rest of the night was uneventful, vampire-free. He tracked the other three as far as he could, but lost them around the railroad. When sunrise lit the horizon, he found a park and sat on a lone swing. Squeezing the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and mourned the kids he had failed to save.

Naruto slammed the door behind him, reaching for switches, and squinting as his apartment was flooded with artificial light. He removed his coat, tossing it at a barstool. He reached down, unbuckling and unlacing his boots, toeing it off to plop heavily onto the hardwood floor. He sucked his teeth at the dirt that came loose from the thick soles, but ignored it for the time being and padded to his kitchen. Twisting the faucet knobs, he waited for the water to get warm enough. Grabbing the soap, he thoroughly scrubbed his hand, blinking away the images of blood draining into the sink. He didn’t get blood on his hands tonight, but there had been a lot of blood, a lot of lives. He’d gotten used to the stench of death. In his line of work, he had to. But it didn’t get any easier.

Drying his hands on a nearby towel, he unclasped his holster and gun, setting it aside on the counter. Reaching into more pockets, he relieved himself of the rest of the weapons he carried. He adjusted his wrist sheaths with the spring loaded daggers and removed them as well. Opening the fridge and retrieving a bottle of beer, he leaned against the counter to study the bruises and scratches he had acquired. He winced, picturing the network of vessels bursting, and blood seeping under the skin to create the purple patterns. He was glad as hell that he didn’t receive any major injuries. Waiting to heal was frustrating. It slowed him down, and being slow meant he couldn’t protect people faster. As for the minor aches and pains, those would be gone by tomorrow.

Twisting the beer cap open, he took a long swallow, shivering as the bitter liquid cooled him off. Wiping his lips, he walked to the living room and crashed on the couch. He stretched over its length, his muscles unwinding. He rested his beer on the floor and closed his eyes, allowing himself to melt against the couch, to rest.

As his body was lulled into relaxation, images began to flicker through his mind: news clips, newspaper headlines, crosses on doors, garlic on windows, locks and bolts, stakes and guns. They had no idea when it had begun; when vampires started to emerge into the conscious mind of society. When had they stepped out of the shadows of mere speculation to become hunches to look over shoulders and walk faster at night? It was like an unspoken awareness, shared between whispers behind cupped hands. People had seen too much to not be able to believe; experienced enough to know it hadn’t just been a really bad dream.

Shaken out of his daze, Naruto reached blindly for his beer. He found the cool neck of the bottle, and was grounded by the condensation wetting his fingertips. He opened his eyes and blinked back the stinging sensation that usually followed after a particular memory skipped past his mind. For him, the awareness of their existence had been that night. When, in one fell swoop, he had lost a part of his life that he could never take back nor replace. He had grown used to the weight of a loaded gun and sharpened stake quickly. Got used to the stickiness of blood and smoothness of ash. He had done exceedingly well for a bumbling kid who just got his first kiss.

Sighing the memories away, Naruto sat up to take a long pull of beer. His ears piqued at the sound of jingling keys outside the door and the rattle of locks. The door swung open, and shook from the force. Ever full of grace, Sakura strode in, dropping her bow and bag of arrows on the counter. She unzipped her knee-length boots without a word and stepped out of them. Then she closed the door like an afterthought, and glared at him as she ran blood-drenched fingers through cotton-candy hair.

“Where the fuck did you go?” she hissed. “Didn’t we agree not to hunt separately? I killed three shitty feeders on my own and almost lost an ear!”

She unzipped her body hugging jacket and hung it on a hook. Divesting herself of her gun and throwing knives, she pulled her bloody and sweat-stained shirt off. Naruto noted the cuts and bruised as she walked to the fridge to grab a beer. She drank with obvious thirst, eyes falling shut briefly in appreciation. Breaking the contact with the bottle’s lip, she glared at him expectantly.

“They wouldn’t happen to be a pale girl with two guys would they?” he asked unaffected by her scathing gaze.

Adjusting the straps of her lacey bra, she furrowed in thought before answering. Sufficiently distracted, she answered with a calmer voice. “No, it was three bitches lacking some fashion sense, but could kick major ass.”

Naruto tsked. He had hoped a little that at least one of them had gotten the escaped trio.

“I need a shower,” she sighed as she moved from her place in the dimly lit kitchen.

She slammed her empty beer bottle on the counter and quickly disappeared into the hallway. A minute or two later, the pipes groaned as the shower was turned on.

Massaging away the numbness from his legs, Naruto got up and swung the drapes open. Morning light washed over the faces of buildings and roofs of shops. He shaded his eyes and blinked away the stinging sensation the light had caused. To soothe away the worry that had started to creep on him, he reached for the phone and dialed a familiar number. The window pane was cool against his face as he leaned against it. He waited for someone to pick up on the other end.

“Yeah…” An exhausted voice answered.

“It’s morning, where are you guys?” he asked, cradling the phone between his ear and shoulder. He unlocked the window and let the morning breeze carry away the stench of blood Sakura’s clothing had brought in. He watched the pigeons on the window sill take flight, catching the sun’s rays on their wings.

“We’re almost there. Choji’s a little spent. He took a hit on the chest. I think a rib’s broken or at least fractured.” The voice paused, Naruto heard the bus announce the next stop. “Where’s Sakura?”

Naruto listened for the fall of water. “In the shower. She’s alright. She had several cuts. I’ll treat it as soon as she gets out.”

He may have heard a sigh of relief, but Naruto couldn’t be sure. “Alright, we’ll be there soon.”

“Okay.” he replied, feeling the tension leave his body.

A second later, Shikamaru hung up.

As he waited for Sakura to finish showering, Naruto tidied up the room. He stowed away the weapons and cleaned the guns to pass the time. Sakura’s gun wasn’t loaded. She had used all her bullets. Her jacket was bloody and had a few new rips.

He looked up from scrubbing the sink when Sakura re-entered, clad only in shorts and a robe. Naruto retrieved their med-kit from a kitchen cupboard and indicated for her to sit on the couch. Her back to him, she let the robe fall from her shoulders, blood had already stained the white fabric. He worked quickly; cleaning and brushing antiseptic over the cuts and bandaging the ones still oozing blood. She worked on her legs and arms, wherever she could reach. Once he was finished, she left to dress. He heard the door to her room shut with finality. She didn’t come back out. And then music flowed through the walls, loud and angry, at the same time, sad and strangely moving.

Shikamaru and Choji had come back when he was in the shower. He came out to see both patched up and Shikamaru cooking breakfast. Choji lounged on the couch, his chest bandaged and fingers pressing on the remote to surf channels.

“Ten bodies found last night. The cops say it’s the work of rival gangs in the area.” Choji filled him in. His fingers ceased clicking to stay at a cooking channel.

Ten. Naruto didn’t like the number. It was too precise, too common. It was too often associated with countdowns, polls and tallies.

“How are your injuries?” Naruto wanted to know.

Choji stopped mid-shrug and winced. “It’s fine, just some bruising.”

“Can you handle going out tonight?”

“He should be able to.” Shikamaru answered as he placed the plates of bacon, eggs and toasts on the table. “But maybe he should rest for a bit.”

Naruto took out the coffee mugs. Habitually taking out a fifth mug, recognizing his mistake, he placed it back into the cupboard. Shaking off the feelings the mistake had brought, he busied himself with fixing the cups of coffee the way his roommates preferred theirs.

“Has Sakura eaten?” Shikamaru asked as he came up behind Naruto to help carry the mugs.

“No, just a beer.”

Shikamaru sighed with displeasure. He placed the mugs on the table and then disappeared into the hallway.

Naruto heard him knock on Sakura’s door, knock again and told her to join them for breakfast. He came back a moment later, frowning as he sat himself down.

“She’s not answering. She should eat.”

“She will when she feels like it.” Naruto pointed out, buttering his toast.

They ate in silence, the television’s hollow sounds and Sakura’s muffled music in the background. Naruto watched Sakura’s coffee cool and flicked his eyes to the bandage around Shikamaru’s head. He worried a little at Choji’s uneven breathing and the dark rings around Shikamaru’s eyes.

“Maybe you should call in today, Shikamaru. The shop can manage without you for a day.” Naruto suggested behind his coffee mug.

His friend sighed into his own mug, but said nothing. Choji burped loudly and patted his stomach. He got up after a bit of rest, and took his plate and mug to the sink. He rinsed them out dutifully before placing them into the dish washer.

“I’m going to bed.” Shikamaru announced as he stood. He put away his dishes and tossed the leftovers into the garbage bin.

Naruto acknowledged the comment while he pushed around the bits of food left on his plate. His appetite was lacking and exhaustion was pulling at his eyelids. A dull headache has formed and his left leg was asleep. Pushing away from the table, he delivered his dishes to the sink. Muttering a weary goodnight to Chouji, he too made his way to his room.

He striped off his clothes and quickly donned a fresh pair of joggers. Having no energy to do anything else, he plopped down onto his bed, melting into the mattress. His eyes fell on the empty bed along side his, on the neat and crisp sheets. He fought a yawn and pulled his blanket over him. His vision became blurry. For a fleeting second he imagined there had been someone lying on the empty bed, dark eyes gazing into his. A tired blink later and he knew he had imagined it. He surrendered to his exhaustion and was asleep in seconds. A name was at the tip of his tongue, a voice spoke from a distant memory, and his gun lay by his bedside table.

He heard the soft patter of rain against the windowpanes.

TBC