Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters or its ideas. I also do not own the song.
Chapter 1: Intro
"Damn." Kakashi's curse was enough to startle me awake; he barely ever curses. Lying down in the backseat, I feel the vehicle jerk to a stop. It was making mechanical huffing noises, along with the fiddling of the keys in the front. I squirm myself up, wiping my eyes, surprised to find them damp. Had I been crying?
I checked out Kakashi's face in the rear view mirror. The bottom half was always covered by a black mask; even so, I could tell he was grimacing, and the vertical scar on his left eye only added to the effect. I could also see myself; my spring green eyes were red rimmed. So, I had been crying. Hopefully Kakashi didn't notice.
The man finally lets out a defeated sigh, letting the now useless keys drop. "Looks like were walking." He looks back at me; his shadow black eyes tired. I try not to groan, but did anyways. We already did so much walking before, I should be used to it by now, and yet I couldn't ignore the soreness of my legs from last time. Grumpily, I get out.
The door opened with a rough squeak and closed with another. The car had stopped on a road that curved into a bridge. Below us, streets winded everywhere, going in different directions; completely empty of people. Its always been this way I imagine. I can also imagine that millions and millions of cars must have driven on theses roads at some point, creating traffic.
Cars that actually worked, unlike the one we had used. I glare at the rusting bottom, scratched up blue paint job and dusty windows. Cars really were hard to come by for us Survivors; chances are you were going to find a crappy one either way, but I felt angry anyways. So, I kicked a tire. "Stupid car." I grumbled.
From the corner of my eye, I see Kakashi looking at me in amusement, before scanning our current surroundings. He's grim again. I scan with him, realizing the same thing he probably already did. We are out in the open, plain in sight. Being out in the open was never a good thing, especially in empty space.
"We need to keep going." He looked at me for a split second, than saying. "Straighten out your hoodie." Like the obedient pupil I was, I did exactly what I was told. My hoodie was burgundy in color and solely meant to hide my appearance. Having blossom pink hair will attract unwanted attention, so I always had the hood up, on which obscured my face from side view and shadowed it from the front view. Thanks to Kakashi, my hair could not be seen at all; he had cut my hair with a knife, thus making it messy and short.
Combined with my long, ripped at the knees shorts, and scuffed up sneakers- no socks by the way- I am able to pass off as a teenage male adolescent of average height; that was Kakashi's intention. "Lets go." Kakashi was already walking ahead, forcing me to run after him. Aside from my breathing, the silence was thick and deafening, and it was making me nervous. Out of nervous habit, I grasp Kakashi's hand and looked up at my mentor. He towered over me; I was sixteen after all, and he was thirty, I think.
His hair was the color of moonlight silver-despite not being old- and it was spiky. He always appeared calm, aloof and collected. Despite his aloofness, I like to think that he thought of me as daughter and not just a burden to bear, but it was hard to tell with Kakashi; he was a mystery after all. "Sakura." Kakashi called back my attention, making me realize I had just been staring at him for the past my five minutes. "W-What?" I flush and look away.
"We need to run through the rules again." He said. Something about the way he sounded made me tighten the grip I have on his hand. Kakashi's rules or lessons are very important in survival, him being my mentor and guardian in all; not to mention they made perfect sense. "Rule number one?" He starts off. "Talk very quickly and very little." This one came to me instantly; I've learned it the hard way.
You never know when somebody is working with the enemy. Survivors can turn on each other at any moment. "Rule number two?" "Never waste time." Time is way too precious, especially when force to make a quick get away. And, if something is out of reach, don't even try to go for it; you'll probably get yourself killed. "Rule number three?" Kakashi holds up three fingers.
"Stay calm." Panic is one of those damnable emotions that can ruin ones thinking process; the adrenaline that comes along with it, make judgments turn stupid. Sadly, some people really can't help themselves and sadly again, I am one of those people; to put it simply, I'm still learning this one. "Rule number four?" The last rule. "Always trust your mentor." Oh, I trust Kakashi alright; I'd be a complete mess if it weren't for him, maybe even dead and gone.
"Good, now what's the double-strike-tactic?" This question always seems to make my heart skip a beat. With my free hand, I grip the knife hidden in the pocket of my hoodie; my grip tighter on the handle, than Kakashi's hand. This tactic is known around and often used for our enemies, the Vampires; used mainly to take down the really ancient ones I guess. "Peirce the heart, then sever the head." Piercing the heart-with anything really-, will put a Bloodsucker in a automatic hibernation phase-which does not last forever-, but still giving you enough time to chop off the head, killing it instantly; fire will also work. Vampires are immortal, thus making them formidable, but not indestructible.
I never killed a Vampire before; in fact, I always questioned whether I'll be able to. By technicality, Vampires are living creatures; just ageless, blood-sucking creatures, who tend to have animalistic qualities-such as heightened senses, combined with super speed and strength- and do not need oxygen or human food to live. Then I remind myself, Vampires are the reason I'm orphaned, the reason we're on the run, and are the reason why the human race was in ruin. To them, we humans are nothing but cattle, blood bags, pets and playthings. I hate Vampires, so much that it leaves a burning trailing traveling from my heart to my mind.
I can kill a Vampire, I'm certain of it, thanks to the hate and my mentor. "Peirce the heart, then sever the head." I say with a better conviction than the first. "Good." Kakashi praises me by patting my back.