"Love vanquishes time. To lovers, a moment can be eternity, eternity can be the tick of a clock."
-Mary Parrish-
Life, as I have come to know it, is filled with lies, torment, betrayal, deception, and sorrow, yet with in it's dark depths I have tasted the happiness and light of love and friendship.
I lost it though, my light, causing me to blindly search for it as the times flew by, all in one massive blur.
Life after life I looked; not even death itself stood in my way.
Death, I once feared it like most mortals do, but looking back, I now find the idea rather humorous. Back then it was a real threat, something I had come to expect, since life could not last forever.
Now though, after that 'night', death has come to mean nothing. It is only the end of the body's cycle, though the mind lives on, waiting to be reborn again and again.
That is the fate of those cursed with blood such as mine, blood that should never have entered my veins.
It was the cause of so much. It was the end of my life as I had known it, it was the beginning of so much more, but most importantly, it was the start of a bond that would transcend time itself.
But for you all to understand all of this I should start at the beginning, one that night when my life was thrown out of control.
The night that I was Bitten.
The moon cast lonely shadows onto the cream-colored walls of the modestly sized bedroom. Their twisting frames played with each other as the tree outside gave them life in the strong breeze that blew outside.
It promised an autumn rain that was sure to come in the coming hours, yet there was a great storm brewing within the room itself.
From within the torrent of shadows one moved freely, its life not dictated by the tree nor the wind.
It was a living and breathing creature, who befriended the darkness and lingered in the solitude that only night offered. And here it stood in this bedroom, its reasons for being here not the least bit innocent.
Its eyes, a deep crimson, took in the only other living thing in the room. A boy, no older than 17, slept on a soft feather bed under a navy blue comforter.
His golden locks blew in the draft created by the ceiling fan. A handsomely tanned face with scar like marks on his soft cheeks could be seen cuddled into the pillow. His expression was calm and content, completely unaware of the danger he was in.
The invader smirked at the sight in front of him and finally removed himself from the shadows and into the light of the moon.
He was a man with raven black hair and cold dark eyes.
This man had an air of superiority to him that would cause any other man to cower in his presence, he was a man that commanded feared and respected.
The boy on the bed twisted in his sheets as he shifted to a more comfortable position, exposing his tanned neck to the dark man.
A cruel smirk spread across that pale face. He was now beside the bed, looking at the blond with interest. Giving a low tremble of a chuckle, he leaned forward.
At the sound of the harsh laugh, the boy opened a drowsy eye and looked into two crimson orbs that mirrored bloodlust at its peak.
In the dream-like state his brain still slept in he did not feel an ounce of panic. Even as he felt his neck being pierced and the steady flow of blood, he still stayed calm until his body became numb and he fell back into a dreamless sleep.
||XxXx||
"Naruto! It's already 8 o'clock! If you don't get up now, you're going to be late." Silence followed the outburst. "Naruto Uzumaki, get up NOW!"
The said blond turned in his bed, grumbling. It should be a federal offense to make the future tax-payers of this country get up so freakin' early to attend the hell some called school.
"I'm up, mom!" Naruto yelled back, massaging his head. It felt as if he had been hit by an eighteen wheeler. His whole body ached in all the wrong places and his head throbbed.
"Shit, what did I do last night."
"Naruto, mouth." His mother said in a warning tone from the door. "Hurry up and get dressed and I will drive you to school."
His mother was a pretty lady with a slender frame and long fiery red hair. She worked in real-estate and was often away from home.
Naruto didn't mind much, she had always been there when he needed her to, and when it was time to go to church.
He loved his mom, but sometimes he wished she was a little less religious. Her life was ruled by the Bible, so in turn Naruto was expected to follow its teachings.
Now Naruto believed in God and was a faithful church-goer, but he could not say he agreed with all of the teachings.
His mother denounced homosexuality and anything that dealt with witchcraft, the occult,or demons. To say the least, Halloween was a forbidden holiday, and God forbid he read Harry Potter or see such movies as the Exorcist.
All in all, though, he loved his mom, and ever since his dad's death some years ago, she was all Naruto had.
Naruto smiled at his mother and nodded. "Sure, I'll be down in a bit."
He watched her leave the room before he got up and headed to his bathroom across the hall. He would just do his hair and brush his teeth; there was no time for a shower.
The mirror in front of him displayed his image. He looked rather pale, which didn't concern him much considering how he felt, although another oddity did.
Moving closer to the mirror, he exposed his swollen neck. It was slightly red and welted around what seemed like two puncture marks.
"What the..." The wounds baffled him; they were rather big for a insect and he really did not want to think how big the spider had to be to leave bites like these.
Deciding it was better not to think about it at the moment, he hurriedly brushed his teeth and fixed what he could of his unruly hair.
When he was done and finally dressed, he rushed downstairs to see his mother setting a plate down on the table.
"Hurry up dear, you don't have much time."
Naruto did not need to be told twice. He was starving, and the egg sandwich was looking awfully appealing.
Sitting down he lifted the food to his mouth and dug in. It tasted wonderful, yet it did nothing to quell the hunger that hung there.
Even after he had consumed the whole thing along with a glass of orange juice and a Pop-tart, he was still hungry.
It made no sense to him; maybe he was really getting sick.
"Naruto, how much are you going to eat? Come on, I'm leaving."
Naruto looked grudgingly at the food as if it was at fault before grabbing his bag and following his mother out the door.
||XxXx||
Lunch was not much better, by this time food just seemed to lose all taste. It was weird, really.
He was no longer hungry for food, but the hunger was still there and stronger than ever.
"Gah, I can't take this anymore." Naruto whined in defeat.
"What's buggin' you out?" A brunette asked.
"Kiba, I'm going to die." The boy known as Kiba gave his friend a confused smile before putting his hamburger down.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked.
"I have been hungry all day."
"So, eat something." He passed the blond a fry.
"That just it, I have been eating. Except nothing helps, it just seems like the more I eat the hungrier I get."
"Well that is a problem."
Naruto just shook his head and went to get up. "I'm going to go get a coke."
Kiba studied his friend for a moment. He looked rather pale and he was sure that the way he was swaying when he stood was not a good thing.
"You sure you are going to be ok?"
"Of course, I just need to get a . . ." His sentence trailed off as the room started to spin and then everything went black.
Kiba jumped up to catch the falling blond. "Shit!" That was all he could think of, except for the need to get his friend to the hospital.
One would think taking him to the nurse would be the best thing, but Kiba knew better. The school had been low on money for the past few years and had decided to have a parent volunteer to take care of the sick students.
Too bad they were all a bunch of air heads. So, making up his mind, Kiba hoisted his friend into his arms and headed out to the student parking and to where his car was parked.
No one said much as they left, not caring in the slightest what was wrong with the blond, but that seemed to be a good thing since it allowed him to get out of the school without a hitch.
Strapping Naruto into the passenger seat, Kiba shut the door and got in on his side, starting up the car as he did so.
It took him no time to take off in the direction of the hospital. It was only a few blocks away so he would be there soon. Kiba only hoped that everything would turn out ok.
||XxXx||
Mrs. Uzumaki stared at the white washed walls of the emergency room. She had gotten a call from Naruto's friend and had rushed over here as soon as possible.
She now sat next to Kiba, who refused to leave until he found out everything was ok. So far the doctors knew nothing. All they could make of the situation was that Naruto had slipped into a comatose state for an unknown reason.
In the end, they decided to take some blood samples and wait to see if anything could be explained by that.
Kiba sighed as he looked over at the worried woman. "You think everything will be ok?"
She turned to the messy haired boy and gave a weak smile. "I'm sure, God is with him."
He only nodded, unsure if that would be enough. After all, God had more than just Naruto to look after.
"Mrs. Uzumaki." Both jumped from their seats as a doctor came towards them.
"How is he?"
"Is he going to die?"
"Oh, please not that!"
They ran their mouths in worry and anxiety, but were quickly silenced by the doctor.
"Naruto will be fine. The blood test showed a rare mutation in his blood. We don't know much about it but we can assure you that he is in no danger."
Mrs. Uzumaki let relief wash over her and Kiba soon followed suit.
"All we can do at this point is refer you to a specialist that deals with this condition. We called him and he will be expecting you immediately. Also you can either choose to transport him there yourself or we can go by ambulance."
She took in all that the doctor said. "Is he awake?"
"No, not yet."
She nodded. "I will take him."
The doctor smiled and led her off to the room where Naruto was staying.
"Kiba dear, can you come with us and help me carry him." Mrs. Uzumaki asked over her shoulder.
"Sure thing Ms. U."
||XxXx||
It wasn't much time after that that they found themselves sitting in a rather colorful room.
Naruto was lying on the examination table with the other two sitting in the chairs provided.
Upon the walls hung interesting pictures on different blood types and other, odd blood related information.
'What an odd place.' Kiba thought as he looked at what looked to be a model of the human mouth, except the canine teeth looked worriedly large.
"Ah, sorry to keep you all waiting." In walked a man with dark brown hair pulled up in a high ponytail and a large scar across his nose.
"I am Dr. Umino. It's a pleasure to meet you all." He gave them all a bright smile and held out a hand.
"I'm Kushina Uzumaki." She shook the doctor's hand.
"And I am Kiba Inuzuka." Kiba said with a smile.
"And I am going to guess that this is Naruto." Dr. Umino pointed to the blond on the bed. He received nods in reply.
"Well then I guess we should get him awake. He needs to hear what I have to say just as much as you all do. This is all happening to him after all." The man had an odd way of comforting and making the room so much more relaxed.
Kiba couldn't help but smile at him as he turned to a cabinet in the corner. Opening it up he could see what seemed to be a small refrigerator.
Dr. Umino opened it up and fished out a bag filled with a red liquid and a long clear plastic tube.
Kiba raised an eyebrow at this. 'What is he going to do with that?'
No sooner than that thought had entered his mind did the doctor move to stand next to Naruto. He worked silently, opening Naruto's mouth and gently forcing the tube down the boys throat.
'He's going to make him ingest that?' Kiba was confused, to say the least.
When Dr. Umino was done, he turned a small switch at the base of the bag where the tube connected and let the red liquid flow into Naruto's mouth.
"Ummm... Dr. Umino."
"Iruka is fine."
Kaoru blinked but continued. "Iruka, what is that?"
Kiba looked back at the doctor awaiting his answer.
"Blood, AB type." Was all they got in reply.
Kaoru looked taken aback ,but said nothing as she saw Naruto begin to stir as the last drops of blood fell into his mouth.
Iruka wasted no time in removing the tube and helping the blond boy into a sitting position.
"There, how are you feeling?"
Naruto looked at Dr. Umino completely confused.
"Naruto!" Said blond turned to see his mother and Kiba.
"Mom, Kiba?" He looked back and forth between the strange man and his mother.
"What's going on?"
"Dude, you freakin' passed out in the cafeteria. I had to drag your ass all the way to the hospital." Kaoru gave Kiba a disapproving look at the word ass, but said nothing.
"So am I ok? I mean..."
"You are perfectly normal, well, as normal as possible for someone with your condition." All eyes in the room turned to look at Iruka.
"They said it was a blood mutation." Mrs. Uzumaki stated.
"Yes it is, but it is also much more than that. Please take a seat. I think it would be better if you heard this while sitting." She looked worriedly over at Naruto.
"Ok, where to start... Ah yes." Iruka took a seat on the rolling doctors chair and faced his audience.
"The mutation as you have called it, is a condition that is passed from one person to another. Kinda like the cold, but nothing like it."
Kiba looked over at Naruto for a moment. "So does that mean I can get it?"
Iruka laughed. "Not by touch, it can be only transmitted through a bite."
"A bite?"
"Yes, but there is more to than that. If Naruto bit you now, it would not change anything. You would not contract it."
Kiba nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer, although he would be sure to steer clear of Naruto's mouth just to be safe.
"Now, as I was saying, it is more than a blood mutation since it affects your whole body and lifestyle. To put it quite simply and bluntly..." He turned to Naruto. "Your body is no longer that of a human's. You no longer need food to live, hence you passing out. Naruto, you were bitten by what you know as a vampire."
The room was silent, whether it was from shock or disbelief, Iruka did not know. Then suddenly laughter resounded off the walls.
"Wow, doc, that was good, but seriously, what's wrong? I am not dying, am I?" Naruto whipped away the tears that had fallen during his outburst.
"I'm sorry but I am not kidding. It's a rare case now a days, since it was forbidden to change humans some centuries ago. Do you know who bit you?"
Naruto gawked at him, but thought back to last night.
"Nothing really..." Then it hit him, something that had seemed like a mere dream. "... red... something red and then pain... from my neck." His eyes widened in horror as he remembered the marks on his neck. 'It can't be.'
"Hmm... I will have to turn this in. Who ever did this too you must face the consequences of his..."
"ENOUGH!" Everyone in the room jumped and turned towards Kaoru. "How dare you call my son one of Satan's demons." She hissed.
"Ma'am, please, calm down. I assure you, this is no joke." Iruka tried to calm the woman.
"No, I will not calm down, my son is no blood sucking beast!"
"Please Mrs. Uzumaki, look." Iruka pointed towards Naruto. "Naruto, open your mouth."
He did as he was told and heard a gasp coming from Kiba's direction. There, where his dull canines should be, were two fangs.
"Good Lord, please no." Naruto heard his mother say.
"Ms. U calm down." Kiba tried comforting the woman as she broke down. "It's still Naruto, it's okay."
She would have none of it. Looking up she met Naruto's clear blue eyes.
"Mom..."
"Shut up!" She screamed. "Quiet, you demon."
"Mom, it's me, Naruto." He was growing panicked; Couldn't his mother see that it was still him? He was not a monster or a vampire. It just could not be, they didn't even exist.
"No, no, you're not. No son of mine is the servant of the devil." She shrieked.
"But I am your son!"
"You're no son of mine—as far as I am concerned, my son is now dead." Naruto froze at her harsh words. He could not believe that the woman before him was his mother. Then again, he was not that surprised; After all, she had developed a deep hatred of anything she did not understand or went against the bible.
Naruto felt the tears streak down his face as he watched his mother flee from the room with Dr. Umino not far behind.
"Please Mrs. Uzumaki, calm down." Iruka yelled as he left Kiba and Naruto alone.
"Naruto..." Kiba walked over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He was shocked, to say the least, about this sudden news, but he was not going to walk away from Naruto. He was his friend and he was not going to leave him alone.
He really could not believe what Naruto's mother had done—In fact, he hated her for it.
Naruto took Kiba's comfort and clung to him with all his might. He could not accept what had just happened. It was just too much to handle.
Iruka soon came back into the room looking grave.
"Naruto... I'm sorry, nothing I said helped. Your mother's gone." Naruto said nothing at this. He merely released Kiba and sat up to look at the doctor.
"She won't be coming back, will she."
Iruka sighed; He really did hate it when this happened. "I don't think so, but maybe you will meet again, and things might be different."
Naruto shook his head. "No matter how much time passes, she will never see me as her son again."
"Naruto, I am not talking about in this life." At this Naruto stared at Iruka.
"What do you mean?"
"How can I explain this... umm... Vampires—or Leben, as we call ourselves—are immortal, more or less. True, our bodies die, and like all creatures, we are reborn into new ones, yet unlike most living things, we are reborn with the memories of all our previous lives. Although, they do not begin to surface until around puberty." He explained.
"So like, I won't ever really die?"
"Nope." Naruto wasn't sure if he really liked the sound of that. "So if you are patient enough, you might be able to meet your mother again. She might not remember you, but still."
That made Naruto feel slightly better, but still his heart felt as if it had broken in some way.
"So, Doctor..."
"Iruka." He corrected Naruto, smiling kindly down at him.
"Iruka, what will happen to me?" Both Kiba and Naruto looked up expectantly at the man.
"Well, I told your mother I would care for you. She didn't say much, just said she would have your stuff sent to me."
The room went quiet for a moment as Naruto thought about it. "Where do you live, I mean, will I still be able to attend the same school and..."
"No, I don't think that will be too good. As of right now I think it would be best if you were with others like yourself. You need to learn exactly what it means to be a Leben. There is a school, a private and influential school, that all the young of our kind attend."
"So you mean I have to leave my home, my life, and my friends?" He looked to Kiba, who had a worried frown on his face, but smiled when he noticed Naruto looking.
"Hey don't worry man, I understand and I'll be sure to visit every chance I get." He gave the blond a reassuring thumbs up and smiled.
"Well then, it's settled. Naruto, welcome into our world." Iruka flashed him a smile, showing the fangs that had been hidden up until then.
At that moment I realized that my eternal clock had begun to start. My time was finally beginning to move forward.
I could never look back, only forward to the future.
To Be Continued . . .
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