Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Bloody Flower

Chapter One: Darkness Full of Wonder

The Hidden Mist Village gave Ino Yamanaka the creeps. The sound of water hitting the shore oddly made her hair stand on end. The sun had set, leaving only the dim light emitting from a few scattered streetlights. The fog that settled around the shore at night gave the area an eerie appearence, like a beast was waiting for some poor fool to walk by and-

"Ino!"

The voice made her jump. She whipped around and half expected to come face to face with something dangerous, perhaps the beast she thought was hiding. Instead, there was only Shikamaru: a harmless creature.

"J-Jeez, Shikamaru!" She stammered. "Don't do that!"

The Nara bore his an expression of mixed laziness and seriousness. Normally, it would have been laziness alone, but he had to take charge and become active since they were on an important mission. Next to him stood Chouji, looking as doubtful of himself as always. Izumo and Kotetsu were also nearby. Aside from their small squad, no one else was there; the streets were absolutely bare.

"I wouldn't have scared you if you had been paying attention." He replied, turning back to the others.

They had just arrived at their destination and they had to plan where they would stay for the duration of their visit and how they would complete their mission.

She scoffed at his typical response. It wasn't her fault that she was nervous of her surroundings. How was she expected to pay such close attention when she felt that there were evil beings surrounding them? Instead of creating a useless argument, however, she kept silent. She walked to where the rest of her group was, feeling safer with men at both of her sides.

"Where are we going to stay?" Kotetsu asked. "We sure as hell can't chance camping out."

Chouji nodded in agreement.

"We should stay at a hotel, maybe one that has a good cook."

Ino sighed, rolling her eyes. It didn't matter how old her chubby teammate became, he still couldn't take his mind off food.

"Camping doesn't seem like such a bad option. There's probably a clearing near the village that we can occupy." Shikamaru said.

"Even if we all take shifts as a watchdog, I don't like the idea of sleeping around this place at night." Izumo replied, shaking his head in disagreement. "It's a bad idea."

Shikamaru looked annoyed with his teammates.

"Have you forgotten our purpose here? We're going to be sleeping during the day and hunting at night."

That was what Ino had wanted to forget. It hadn't seemed like such a big deal... until she saw how mysterious and chilling the village was at dusk.

"You make it sound like we're hunting an animal..." Ino muttered, shivering from the cool air hitting her skin.

The sky roared in the distance, symbolizing that a storm was approaching.

Shikamaru reached into his back pocket a pulled out a few papers. The Hokage had given them to him before their departure. He looked over the first page with a furrowed brow, as if he didn't understand what he was reading.

"It might be a few unknown animals." He said, his eyes scanning the paper. "Or it might be something else. The people of this village have reported some strange things."

He held the paper out for the rest of his teammates to read. The header read, "IMPORTANT: DANGEROUS MISSION". Each of them read the body paragraphs in bemused horror:

Recent reports to the Mizukage have ranged from kidnappings to murders. Ninja of the Hidden Mist have been picked off slowly by the predator(s), to which many have turned down the case by agreement of the Mizukage. The Mizukage is hopeful that Hidden Leaf ninja may have better luck.

Many villagers have reported catching sight of several silhouetted men (they supposed they were male based on their height and their build) lurking the streets after dark. The most common time they have been seen in after midnight on most days. No killings occur during sunlight.

Men have been found either ripped to shreds to in a hypnotic state. Those in a hypnotic state have died after a maximum of two days. Women have been reported 'missing' or have been found wide-eyed and lifeless. Those who were killed were found to have no connection to any criminal organizations.

Other small villages have reported similar happenings in the past, some of these villages having no known survivors to this day.

The group looked up at Shikamaru when they finished reading, unsure of how to take the information. It seemed as though the village had its eerie demons and secrets, just as Ino had thought.

"It... It s-sounds l-like they're describing v-v-vampires or... or something." Chouji managed to muster.

Ino wanted to tell him not to be stupid. She wanted to tell him that he was childish to think such a thing, that there was nothing like a vampire that existed. The problem was that she, too, saw the aspects of a vampire in the text. Once again, she said nothing.

"Don't be an idiot, there's no such thing!" Izumo said scornfully, "It's probably just a group of criminals with unique jutsus."

The man looked at Shikamaru for agreement, but the crafty boy was looking down at the second page. His eyes showed fear and wonder. Ino could see that, for once, he didn't know what to believe. Without saying a word, he whipped the last sheet toward his companions. Ino felt her mouth run dry as she read:

Victims have been abducted from inside their houses. There have been no traces of DNA, footprints, or fingerprints. Many villagers have begun to call these people 'vampires' for their stealth and attacks. Bite and claw marks have been found on some deceased victims.

One survivor told investigators that the attackers had had fangs and blood red eyes before he died. Investigators were unsure whether the victim was truthful or insane.

Ino stopped reading and found her adrenaline begin to flow.

"So you mean we're dealing with actual vampires!?" She cried, forgetting to keep calm.

Izumo scoffed and shook his head, but she could tell he was beginning to get nervous. This certainly wasn't an everyday mission.

"I agree with Izumo." Kotetsu said. "It's probably a jutsu. They could even lock their victims in a Genjutsu to make them believe they're seeing vampires."

"B-But what could they gain from th-th-that?" Chouji asked, his stuttering never ceasing.

Everyone looked to the genius of the group of the answer; if anyone could decipher a situation, it was Shikamaru. Unfortunately, even he looked stuck on this one.

"They could want to be incognito in order to strike fear into their prey. Maybe they have some twisted dreams of taking over the world and making people worship them through fear." Izumo suggested.

Eyes stayed on Shikamaru, everyone expecting him to put his two cents into the puzzle. Ino thought that Izumo and Kotetsu had good points, but she also knew that many things were possible. It had been an immortal that killed Asuma. If immortals existed, did that mean other mystical beings did too? Who were they to rule out vampires?

Out of the corner of her eye she watched the shore. Immortals, vampires, beasts - anything could be lurking there.

"We're here to find out the truth and stop the murders and abductions." Shikamaru finally said.

His voice was calm, but his face told a different story. He looked at each of his teammates, deciding who would do what and who would go where. Everything had to be just right and only the smartest or strongest could be off by themselves. He thought groups of two would work well.

"Kotetsu and Chouji," he said, "you guys are in charge of keeping a close eye on the east of the village."

The two partners looked at each other in acknowledgement. Under usual circumstances, Izumo and Kotetsu were paired together, but Shikamaru couldn't afford any casualties. He would put a stronger member with an average member in hopes of keeping his companions safer.

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed through the sky. The storm was getting closer.

"Ino and Izumo," he looked at them, "keep watch on the south side of the village."

Ino was alright with Izumo, as skeptical of vampires as he was. They had fought side by side once in the past and had made an exceptional team. He was friendly and strong; two things that made her feel like she was out of harm's way.

The only thing that bothered her about the arrangement was...

"What about you, Shikamaru?" she asked, "You can't go alone."

Shikamaru merely shook his head. He had expected either Ino or Chouji to make a big deal out of things. He assured them that he would be fine and quickly changed the topic before they could say anything more.

"We're starting the investigation tonight. Judging by the placement of the moon, it should be around eleven o'clock."

"Are you going to inform the Mizukage of our presence?" Kotetsu questioned.

Shikamaru nodded. There was no need for everyone to come with him; that would be wasting precious time.

"Don't split up. Call for backup when needed."

Ino nodded, though she wasn't sure if calling for backup would save her. If there 'vampires' had evaded the local ninja flawlessly, that meant they were quick. They would finish her off before she even had the chance to pick up her transmitter.

She shivered, partly from the damp air and partly from fear.

Thunder cried and lightning struck. Cold pellets of rain began to fall. The storm was here.

In the shadows, one figure stood tall over three others. They stayed close to the alleyway, sure no one would notice them. They were, after all, princes of the night.

They watched as the team of five split into different directions, their red eyes glowing in the darkness. The rain didn't bother them. Nothing in the night bothered them. In the light of the moon they were invincible.

One of the men cackled, an unpleasant sound.

"They had a girl with them!" He said, clearly delighted.

"She looked delicious, just my type... hmn." The man smirked.

"Her face was beautiful, like that of a China doll." a third voice hummed.

The one in front of the rest turned to face them, face emotionless and dead eyes amused.

"I will claim her." He said, to which the other men did not reply.

They knew better than to argue with a bloodthirsty, lustful Uchiha... not that they were pushovers themselves.

Authoresses' Note

I'm trying something different with this story. I probably shouldn't be screwing around... I should be finishing my others fics... but I wanted to see if I got positive feedback on this first.

Thank you for reading, lovely fellow authors!

Please review, so I will know whether to continue or not :)