A/N: Alright ladies and gentlemen, good news and bad news. Good news first. I'm on the mend. Bad news, my inspiration is flagging as of late.

Now, I've worked my ass off updating this month, updating a bunch of fics, and the last few, Avatar of Change, Imperfection, even Counting Stars, have gotten almost no reviews. That rankles me a bit. Am I not trying hard enough? Do I need to devote more time to this site? I'm on it almost twenty four seven except when I'm working, so I don't see how that can change. I work really hard on every story and chapter that I publish, and, while I may not have time to update them all, I like to think they each have my heart and soul invested in them.

So...what's wrong? I dunno. I just thought I'd lay it out there for ya'll.

But eh, back to this fic!

Anywho, I just started watching Dance in the Vampire Bund. It amused me to say the least, to the point where I wanted to take a crack at it. That, and because of the hash that the anime made out of it. I liked the manga way better. But as far as the anime was concerned, I really had a desire to make it better, more interesting, ya know? So...

...here ya go!

"If you ever break your promise to me, I may devour you...

~(a certain line, from a certain girl.)

Blood

They say eternity is a beautiful thing.

Eternal life, eternal love, eternal happiness.

Wouldn't it be wonderful? To live forever? To never age, not even a day? Always existing, always being a constant state of transcendence, never having to fear the reaper's scythe? Sound nice? And if you were say, I don't know, faster than the fastest athlete, stronger than the mightiest man, that would be a plus, right? It would be nice to have these abilities, these gifts, so long as you live forever. Immortality. That'd be nice, eh? A blessing, right?

Wrong.

Imagine, for all these gifts, you could never walk in the sun. Not without a certain substance, at any rate, and it doesn't last long.

Never know the loving embrace of another, not truly, without turning them to the same curse. That, in exchange all these new, fantastic powers, your new being, you had to feed every night-every day!-to sustain yourself. Like an addiction, an infestation, growing stronger and stronger and stronger over time, until the need is all you know. And if you don't give in you wither away, slowly turning to dust over time. You watch as your humanity slowly erodes away, worn down by years, decades, CENTURIES of violence and war. Still think its a blessing?

I think its a curse.

I never asked to become what I am today. That choice was forced upon me by my sire. Cliche, right? But its the truth. I never wanted eternity; indeed, I was content to eek out a mediocre existence with a mediocre job, running my family's mediocre ramen shop. Nope, I never wanted eternity. But eternity wanted me. It created me. Life, and her maniacal sister-in-crime Fate, conspired to launch me into events beyond my ken.

My mate-my pride my love, my light, my everything-finds it inordinately funny whenever I tell our children the tale. After all back then, I was the least suited to become what I am today.

So what did I do when I was handed the gift-curse!-of eternity, you ask? I did what anyone would do. I freaked out. Wouldn't you? Try waking up in an alley with almost no memory of who you are. It really sucks, dattebayo! But I'm getting ahead of myself. To understand me, my race, my kind, my people, you'll need to go back. Before they called me the antithesis of Dracula. Before they called me Alucard. Yeah, you gotta go back...

...back to the beginning.

"Oi, is he dead?"

"Hey," A girl's voice hissed into the night, "Don't do that, Sasuke! Its disrespectful!"

"No way." the boy sang back, grinning. "Betcha its not even real. That prop shop's not even a block from here. Probably threw it out."

A student's worn shoe nudged at the corpse, poking it in the cheek. No response. "See, look?" he grinned as the head lolled loosely on a tattered neck, spiky gold hair twitching stiffly. "Totally fake. Its not even bleeding. If it was a body it'd bleed, right, Ino? And look at his face. Whiskers! Nobody has whiskers. Gotta be a mannequin, or something. That, or maybe a dog chewed on him..."

His classmate made a face, fussing with her skirt.

"Ugh...anyone ever tell you you're a sadist?"

"Maybe."

The body, if it could even be called that anymore, looked was though it had just gone through a meat grinder. It had been a boy once, roughly eighteen, though the dirt and grit on his face suggested the poor sod had seen better days. Blue jeans lay in tattered scraps around his knees, loose and fraying. His black jacket looked as though a great, clawed beast had shredded it and he orange beneath, and something chewed on his arms. They were still attached somehow, but, a glimmer of bone could be seen beneath. That, and...

Dark eyes narrowed. "Look at his neck."

Ino grimaced and shrank back, her blond hair swaying from the motion. "Yuck, no way! You do it!"

The boy leaned forward, frowning.

"Yeah, it looks almost like something bit-

Red eyes snapped open with a snarl.

His body lurched upright; roaring, writhing and twisting in life. New life. Wounds slithered shut. Bone and muscle mended. Pearly whites flashed in the night. Blood filled his mouth, a shout tearing itself from him in a mangled snarl of fangs seeking their next food supply. Poor boy. He never stood a chance. By the time he realized what was happening, it was already too late. Strong arms locked onto his shoulders, grabbing, hauling him down to the sidewalk in a blur of angry, heated motion, cracking the pavement.

"OI?!"

Yelping, Sasuke struggled, thrashing wildly in the older boy's grasp...until he was bitten.

"Wha?! Get offa me, freak! What're you-gah!"

Fangs fastened around his neck like a leech, stabbing deep as their master gorged himself. The dark-haired boy went limp almost immediately, all resistance-and blood-draining out of him in an instant. Before Ino's very eyes her classmate seemed to shrivel, his face contorted in agony, reduced to little more than a dry, veined husk in the blond's arms. One final, shuddering gasp, and he was gone.

"So...thirsty...

Discarding the shriveled husk of his victim, he turned his eyes on her.

"S-Stay away!" Ino shrieked and jerked backwards when he grabbed at her. Riiiiiip! Something came loose. She was dimly aware of his hand accidentally tearing her blouse open at the chest, shredding her bra as those fumbling fingers fell past. Still, he didn't stop, reaching again. He didn't even pause to glance at her breasts, her modesty barely concealed by the scraps of her shirt. Those eerie red eyes never left hers, a fierce, primal hunger swimming in their depths.

Ino screamed and turned to trun. Terror filled her to the brim, overflowing. She had to run, had to flee, had to get out of here, get away from him-

"NO!"

Despite her narrow escape the girl fared little better than Sasuke; she somehow made it all of three steps before the creature slammed into her from behind, cannoning into her back and sending her sprawling. "No! Get away!" she tried to crawl backwards, scrambling like a drunken crab. That was her first mistake. Those eyes found hers again, and she froze, stiff as a statue.

Stay.

The mental command rooted her, overriding her brain as he descended upon her.

Then those teeth found her neck, clamping down and suckling, nuzzling like an infant at the teat.

She tried to scream, but all that emerged was a soft and soundless gasp as he fed from her. It didn't hurt, not in the way she'd expected. It actually felt...nice. Very nice. Oh. OH! Her entire body went rigid, wave upon wave of coruscating pleasure flooding her. Her body just...gave up. It was impossible to resist, to fight the flood of primal ecstasy coursing through her veins, filling her from within. Was this what Sasuke had felt before he died? She doubted it. His last second of life had looked terrible, horrible, agonizing.

This was not agony. This was...

...bliss.

Ino Yamanaka never noticed that he'd already stopped feeding, that she was still alive, such was the flux in her mind. Dimly she was aware of a gasp, the look of shock-confusion?-on his face as the predator, this stalker of the night, came back to himself at last. Red eyes dimmed, scarlet seas returning to their true blue. A gasp forced itself past her lips as he tossed her down, swearing.

Panic seized him, his sanity, clarity, coming back in fits and starts.

"I..what...what did I just...

Wide eyes stared down at his bloody hands, suddenly consumed with the desire to lick them clean. His gaze snapped back to the prone form of the female, and he felt his throat burn, demanding that he finish his meal. Feed. He must feed. She was still alive and he wanted her and and he was so weary and so weak and he needed the blood, needed it so very, very bad...

Vampire.

The world leapt out at him, condemning him. Damning him. Why? Why was he like this? Where was he? What was he? Who?

His mind was blank when he tried to find answers. Empty. Like the darkness. There were no answers here.

Nothing at all. No. Wait. Not quite...

Naruto.

It came to him with a start, a candle lighting the blackness of his mind. He grasped it, savored it, the memory of his identity. Warm. His hands cupped the knowledge and held tight to it, refusing to relinquish this sole fact; this tiny piece of information that meant the difference between existence, and a life of anonymity. His name.

Name.

He stood there for a long moment, staring blankly up at the moon, considering. He glanced back at the female, her eyes closed in half-lidded bliss. Guilt and disgust warred within him, pressuring him.

Though muted now, the thirst still compelled him; a raw, bitter urge beating at the back of his brain. Slowly, painstakingly, he stood. His body jerked around, moving woodenly, like a puppet severed from its master's strings. He placed one foot forward, then the other, not yet trusting himself to run. Get out of here. He needed to get out of here-

His body disagreed, demanding that he finish his meal. If he let her alone she would become...become...

...become what? He didn't know, but his every instinct told him to finish what he'd started. Her blood sang out to him like a siren call, begging to be taken.

Now.

With every fiber of his being, Naruto resisted. No...I'm...I'm better than this. No! I won't do it! He felt like a monster trapped in human form; a beast wearing human skin. His fingers dug bloody furrows into the alley wall, tearing out great chunks of brick and masonry with a keening shriek. Leave. Now. Eyes branching with strain he spun around, facing away from the tempting prospect of a fresh meal.

After another aimless moment, he chose a new direction and started walking into the night.

He never looked back on the vampire he'd just inadvertantly created.

(Two hundred years later later...)

"Oi."

Mina Tepes glanced up, still scrubbing at her face with the back of a hand, determined not to show tears. Tears of frustration and sorrow, misery and loneliness. Fools! Fools, the lot of them! No one understood her; no one wanted to even make the attempt. No one at all. Those thoughts were dashed however, by the lone voice. That single word drew her up out of her sorrows.

A shadow fell over her in the field of flowers, momentarily blotting out the sun.

When she dared to raise her gaze she found herself staring at a young face. wide, red eyes regarding her with curiosity. Eyes like hers. Older than hers perhaps-at least in physical form-yet rimmed with empathy. Understanding. He looked at her for a long moment, this boy in orange and black, contemplating, as though he weren't entirely sure of what he wanted to say. Finally, he spoke.

"Why're ya crying?"

She told him, sniffling . "Because I'm sad."

"Why are you sad? You got a stomach ache or sumthin?"

"O-Of course not!" she sputtered, a touch of her old haughtiness returning. "I should be allowed to cry if I wish."

"Well, that won't do." He sat down beside her, red eyes dancing in the light offered by the fading night, staring at the moon. "Pretty face like that; you ought to smile more often. You've got all of eternity, ya know." Ah. So he knew she was a vampire the. Mina bit back bitter smile. She found little pleasure in the company of her own kind these days. And yet...

"Who are you?"

"Me?" his head cocked, considering. "Naruto, I guess. I ain't been able to remember much beyond that."

...odd. Where are you from."

"Dunno. I've always been around. If you're asking who my sire is...eh, I heard he was a big shot or something. Not much else besides that. Never met him."

Mina considered those words for a long moment. "Why are you here, then?"

"Why are any of us here?"

"You're not funny."

"Oh, my bleeding heart."

A beat of silence passed between them.

She elbowed him. "Hello?"

Naruto, at least, she assumed that was his real name, gave her a speculative look, long and hard. "That's the million dollar question, in'nit?" His gaze swung back to the moon once more, pondering its beautiful visage. "Guess you could say I got tired of wandering around. Been looking for a place to just...belong, I guess. Heard about this whole Bund thing of yours and decided to give it a look.

"If you will promise to grant my wish, then I promise to you I will stop being sad." her eyes flashed. "But I should warn you; if you ever break the promise you've made to me...then I may devour you."

She watched him stand, slowly. Was he going to leave? But no, those red eyes met hers once more.

"And what is this promise?"

"..."

She told him.

"That's...ah...a bit easier than I thought it'd be. A companion?"

Her mouth snapped shut before she could correct him. She didn't have the will to do it. Not yet.

"If you don't think you can do it-

He spun and knelt before her, hand over his chest. Fangs flashed in a smile. "I'm not afraid of death."

Mina Tepes, the queen of all vampires, looked at him for a long moment and tried to see beneath that smiling face. In the end, she couldn't. "You should be."

"But I'm not." he replied with a shake of the head. "If you want that...I think I can do it. Been looking to settle down for awhile. Sure, I guess I can stick around. Don't see anyone else stepping up to the plate. Hmm, Might need to do something about this, though..." Blood red eyes closed for a moment, a thin mist of scarlet wrapping itself around him. Before her very eyes he seemed to shrink; when the eerie fog cleared, he looked no more than her own age, that roguish grin still flashing maddeningly out at her.

"Better."

That actually got a laugh out of her, stiff though it was.

"You're weird."

"Says the girl sitting in a field." Naruto chortled. Before she could counter, however he did something most strange.

He took her hand and kissed it. "I'm yours." he said, smiling.

"Forever."

A/N: Aaaaand there you have it! My first foray into this genre! Just an interesting little take on what could have been, what might have been, and what will be. Hope ya liked it! Pairing is firmly up in the air, and left to your decision. I'm almost tempted to go the traditional NarutoxMina route, but, I wouldn't be opposed to slapping him with a modern day version of someone from his era, like Anko, or Tayuya, Haku, Mei Ren, or something in that regard. Maybe even So...VOTE! The choice is in your hands!

So...in the Immortal words of Atlas...

...Review...Would You Kindly? And of course, enjoy the preview! Fair warning! Naruto lives up to the title of Alucard in this story...within good reason!

(Preview)

Clack.

The gun clicked empty in Haruka's grasp, then dropped from nerveless fingers, clattering loudly to the ground at his feet. When he looked up the boy was gone, but the shriek of angry bats remained, buffeting him, harassing him, nibbling, tearing at his ears with dauntless ferocity. They were everywhere, tearing ripping, gnawing-

"Get off!" He shrieked, swatting at them, "Get off of me!" He scrambled backwards, thick fingers fumbling numbly at his belt for a knife, desperately groping for the weapon-

"Oh, no no no," a dark voice rumbled at his back, "Don't you dare run away. You don't get to cop a feel and walk away."

Instead he found himself backhanded, launched across the street by a hard right hook. The blow sent him sprawling, the would-be-rapist landed ass-backwards on the concrete.

Tayuya forced herself up into a sitting position, her head still spinning. "The fuck...?" Before her very eyes the blond coallesced from the storm of bats, a wide, shit-eating grin wreathing his whiskered cheeks. Arms spread on either side, as though he were a pentinent sinner, begging for salvation, he started forward. Those red, slitted eyes held her in thrall, gleaming like the color of blood as they locked on his fellow vampire.

"Are you done? Have you soiled yourself, yet? Prayed to your god, yet?"

"M-Monster!"

Her saviour laughed then; it was a deep, throaty sound that utterly unnerved the strong-willed redhead.

"Perhaps. But you...you're not even that. Now...

His hand thrust forward in the next instant, taut fingers forming a knife, impaling the unfortunate lesser vampire on his limb. Sheathed to the elbow Haruka gasped once, choking, sputtering on his own blood. He choked again, louder this time, as the trench coat wearing blond hoisted him high, his feet dangling fruitlessly off the ground. He couldn't even find the strength to transform.

Naeuto laughed again. "What's wrong? Restore your limbs! Summon up your strength! The night is still young! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Wide, piggish eyes went wider still with fear.

"W-W-What the hell are you, oi?!"

Fangs flashed in the night.

"I, little dog, am your judge, jury, and executioner. Now...

...GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD!"

R&R! =D