Prologue
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The Night World isn't a place. It's all around us. It's a secret society of vampires, werewolves, witches and other creatures of darkness that live among us. They're beautiful and deadly and irresistible to humans. Your high school teacher could be one, and so could your boyfriend.
The Night World laws say it's okay to hunt humans. It's okay to toy with their hearts, it's even okay to kill them. There are only two things you can't do with them.
1) Never let them know that the Nightworld exists.
2) Never fall in love with them.
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One thing that made people liked living in Konohagure was the safety it promised, although the warm climate was definitely a big deal, too. Konohagure, according to the elders there, had the best police squad in the entire Japan, and they were extreme enough to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the town. There had never been any record that polices in Konohagure done that, though, simply because the town was too safe.
That is, until they came.
Naruto Uzumaki and Iruka Umino… that was the only thing the people could get from them, strangers. On the first day when they made their sensational entrance, they pulled off making the maidens became the second Peeping Tom, for Naruto was irresistibly charming. The citizens in Konoha were generally good-looking, the result of living a healthy life, but if they were to be compared with him, stranger…
It’s almost like comparing the evil sisters with Cinderella.
Strange thing is, they didn’t even bother reporting themselves to the Hokage (or Governor, as West people say) and instead, just made their way to the Lotteriehl Castle, the insanely huge house which was located far away from the town, but still in Konohagure state.
The remote location, as well as the wild plants that grew around it, made the area and the castle a shunned place to Konohagure. So, nobody really protested when Naruto Uzumaki claimed that his Grandfather owned the house, especially when he had the proof: the key to the house.
That was eighteen years ago.
And that was when the aghast-horror began to terrorize Konohagure.
Right a week after the memorable homecoming, a war ignited between the big towns in Japan. The so-called Great Towns started to fell apart, one by one; all were conquered by the flaming war between them. Iwagakure came first, and then both Kumagakure and Kirigakure came the second. It took no longer than three month for Sunagakure to fell, too. And the downfall of Konohagure was a certainty.
Why did there was a war at the first place? Nobody never knew. How come they could enliven the condition of their towns? Nobody knew that neither. One thing they was certain, the town they used to love had gone, replaced by these pieces of ruins. Poverty started to attack, as usurers surfaced beyond the now-peasants. That was when a new method established; a cruel, inhumane method: slavery and prostitution.
Almost every week, there was an auctioning of some young girls and boys. In this time, beauty was considered a curse, for pretty boys and girls were sold as prostitutes to serve the richer men and women. The muscular ones would go as blacksmith apprentices or anything that requires strength. They were considered the luckiest one.
But the bony teenagers, they were all ended up as slaves. Unpaid and unloved. Yet had to work extra hard to secure their lives. Many would-be slaves committed suicide before they were ‘discovered’, they did that in fear of being tortured to death by their masters, as it’s a common thing that people did that time. Seemed that the once good people had transformed into monsters, and all because of this bloody war.
Naruto Uzumaki was notorious for ordering at least two slaves every two week. He’d sent Iruka Umino, his friend and/or butler (although from his garb and behavior, one that was observant enough could guess that he’s the later), to buy female slaves in high price. Noticing the possible benefit they could gain from this, every auctioneer now was eager to please this guy, they always gave the ones who were prettier and fatter to Naruto.
After thirteen years of this continuous routine and hidden curiosity, the ANBU started to feel suspicious. All the women the auctioneers had given had never been seen out again. It’s almost as if they were disappeared. But nevertheless, they couldn’t accuse the man, for they didn’t have the proofs and the guy was loyal to the town. Up until now, the auctioneers had given 241 young women to the Lotteriehl castle, and none had ever been seen again.
And then these stupid rumors started to begin…
Some people claimed that he was a psychopath, and found satisfaction at murdering young women. Feminists believed that Uzumaki was a rapist, and felt the need to arrest him (although, of course, they couldn’t do that because again, there was no proof). But there was also one last rumor, the one people ridiculed the most… the one that said that Naruto Uzumaki was a vampire… and needed these maidens’ blood to secure his life.
This tale started when a brave young woman sacrificed herself to be a slave of Uzumaki, so that she could unmask the mysteries that he had been hiding for years.
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This is a tale about what happens when the rules get broken.
Citation: Night World: Secret Vampire, L. J. Smith, 1997.
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Chapter notes: This fic is loosely based on the legend of Elizabeth Bathory. She’s a real woman who had lived in a Hungarian castle and had killed hundreds of young women in 1500 till 1600. Why did she do that? Because she wanted to bathe with their blood, as she believed that blood of maidens could make her stay youthful. Google her (if you don’t know about her) and you’ll find shocking –as well as fascinating- facts.
And, oh yeah, this fic is also a crossworld with L.J Smith’s Night World Series. You don’t have to know about that because the only thing I use from the series was its Night World’s theme, meaning you won’t find any of her characters in this fic.