Sad Story: Innocent Blood
by Mao Asakura
Chapter 4- Vampires of the Land
Mao walked down steps, the marble cool against her bare feet. She was now wondering if she was the only human here. When she reached the bottom she heard noises. Voices.
Suddenly, a blonde male came out of the dining room. He was almost her height, and had spiky hair and whiskers on his cheeks. 'Whiskers?' He spotted Mao.
"Hey, you must be Gaara's new mate?" he walked over to her, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Gaara's loyal friend." Naruto bowed.
Mao bowed back. "My name is Mao. Pleased to meet you." Naruto took her hand.
"The pleasure is all mine." He kissed her hand and Mao blushed a light shade of pink.
"Naruto, who said you could flirt with my mate?" Mao heard a familiar voice. Gaara stood at the far end of the room. Naruto stood up straight and looked at the red head.
"I was only giving her a warm welcome." He smiled. Gaara smiled back. Mao was shocked. It was the first true smile she had ever seen grace his handsome face.
"A little to warm for my liking." Gaara walked over to Mao and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Naruto, go on and head back to the dining room."
"Ok, sure.." Naruto turned and left.
Gaara's face became serious again. "Be careful around him, and all the others. I don't want you to get hurt." He sounded sincere. Mao looked up at him. His face seemed sad.
"Ok, I will."
"Come on, you must be hungry." Gaara guided Mao into the dining room. nobody paid any mind to them as the entered. Mao looked around. There was allot of people. Gaara sat her down in one of the large mahogany chairs, the sat in the one next to her. There was a plate full of wondrous food in front of her. Mao's stomach growled.
"Go ahead and eat, Mao." Gaara began to eat his food and Mao did the same. It was delicious. The savory flavor invaded her mouth, satisfying her hunger. When she was done, Mao took the time to look at all the people. She spotted Kaia and Yosaku. Kaia was talking to a blonde girl and Yosaku was talking with Naruto. All the vampires had sharp pointed teeth that looked as if they would rip flesh easily. This thought frightened Mao. She guessed all the ones with out pointy teeth were the vampires companions, mates.
Gaara looked at Mao. "As I told you. Each vampire has a human. When their current human dies, they move on to a new one." He pointed to a blue haired female vampire. Mao noticed, she was alone."She was the one who was attacked by the Order of the Red Dawn. Sarabeth Hyuga. Her human was killed..."
"Order of the Red Dawn?" Mao looked at Gaara.
"Our enemy. Her new human should arrive from your village tonight-"
"Wait, all the humans are from MY village?" Mao cut Gaara off.
"Yes."
"Then why don't I recognize them?"
"Some of them have been with us for over a hundred years. Besides you, Kaia's the most current."
Mao's eyes widened. "How many people are here?"
"About 17..." Gaara stretched his arms then stood. "I'm tired. I'll be heading off to bed now. Come on, Mao."
Mao nodded and followed Gaara out of the room. "Gaara..."
"Yes?"
"Why do vampires need a human mate? Why not another vampire?"
Gaara stopped. "It's because...a vampire needs a human mate so he or she can feed off of them.."
"Feed of them?"
"As in drink their blood."
Mao stood still, looking at the floor. "That means..."
"Yes, I'll have to feed off you eventually, even if I don't want to."
Mao couldn't tell if he meant he didn't want to hurt her, or if he didn't want to soil his lips with her dirty blood. "Mao..Listen. I'm sorry about want I said." Gaara walked towards her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "And what Kaia said.."
Mao looked at Gaara. Sadness took over him again. "About how you..." He nodded.
"I didn't mean to. It wasn't my fault." Gaara looked into Mao's eyes. "I promise, I will never hurt you. I'll protect you with my life." Mao looked at the red head intently. Suddenly, Gaara turned and walked to his room. "Good night."
"Good night..." Mao stood there for a minute, watching Gaara go into his room. She stayed still till he closed to door.
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It was dawn. Gaara hadn't slept at all that night. He thought about Mao. He had promised he'd protect her, but how could he do so when he already cut her so deeply? And how could he stop himself from feeding from her? She seemed so scared.
'She probably thinks I'm a monster.' Gaara looked around his room. There were papers strewn all over the floor. Drawings of her pinned on the walls. Incomplete masterpieces. He needed to let go, he knew it. She was gone. There was no way to get her back. He picked up one of the drawings. Gaara could almost feel her soft skin caressing his calloused hand. 'Let her go, Gaara.' he told himself. He held the drawing over the flame of his candle and let it burn. 'Let go.'
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Mao awoke with a start. Someone was shaking her. She looked up.
"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty! Daylight's burnin'!" Kaia's voice filled the room. She rolled Mao off the bed and onto the floor.
"Ow!"
"Just like old times, neh?"
"A lot less painful, that's for sure."
Kaia sat on the bed smiling at the pink haired girl on the floor, tangled in the blankets.
"Who was that girl you were talking to last night?" Mao asked, trying to free herself from the cocoon.
"Oh? Kira? That's Naruto's mate. She's hyper."
"How old?"
"50 years, I think."
Mao gawked for a second. "5-50? 50 years old? She didn't look it!"
"Of course not, Mao!"
"So, she's Naruto's mate?"
"Yuppers. There are 9 humans here-"
"9? Did Sarabeth get her mate?"
"Oh, so Gaara told you!" Kaia smiled. "His name is Lee. He's a little weird, though."
"Who else is there??"
"Well...Ok...I'll start with the vampires."
Mao nodded. "Ok."
"There is Gaara, and his two siblings, Temari and Kankuro."
"Siblings?"
"Yes. Then there is Sarabeth and her brother, Neji Hyuga, and her cousin, Hinata Hyuga. Those are the only relations. Then there is Sasuke and Anna, who are from afar. And you know Naruto and Yosaku."
"Uh-huh." Mao, finally freed, sat on the bed next to Kaia.
"The for the humans. You are Gaara's mate, I am Yosaku's, Kira is Naruto's, and Lee is Sarabeth's. Neji's mate is a girl named TenTen who was a captive from another Village and was 'sacrificed'. Hinata's is a boy named Kiba Inuzuka, one of Dr. Inuzuka's sons."
"The old bat? That's pretty recent."
"10 years ago. And Sasuke's is a girl named Ino Yamanaka-"
"You mean Ni's granddaughter?"
"Yes, she is the florist's granddaughter. And Kankuro's is a girl named Sakura Haruno, who was sickly and was given, no doubt the elders knew the vampire's would give her a new chance at life. Temari's is a genius named Shikamaru Nara, he was used as a military weapon for the Village at one point because of his stratigical thinking."
"Really? Wow."
"Anna's is a man named Kabuto. I don't know much about him, but I don't trust him."
"Why not?" Mao looked at Kaia intently.
"I just don't."_________________________________________________________
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