Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters

(Yeah, I know. I said I'd be leaving… changed my mind again! Lol writing fanfic is too fun, so screw school! xD)

Whew… Okay, so I think a typo I made just made things really unclear, so to be fair, I'm going to be working on two long term fanfictions simultaneously (or at least try to). Those will be Eyes of Blood and Renewed Love. This, as you know, is Eyes of Blood. :] I came up with this idea while reading the Tell-Tale Heart and Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe—which, I love both those stories lol But it's not based off them, I just got the idea after reading. I'll try to be consistent with back and forth updates between Eyes of Blood and Renewed Love (I'm currently working on that one), but in the mean time, enjoy!

CHAPTER I

Sakura didn't wake up in the morning expecting what she got. The most life changing experiences always happen when you think that you are just in another day, in the same world, and nothing will change. Life's monotony will catch us off guard, and we'll be woven into the deceitful web that life is predictable. That is when life springs the word we fear most: change.

Life is dull… Sakura mused in her mind, tossing yet another crumpled paper into her waste basket. The aspiring artist had no inspiration. No beautiful element of nature stood out to her anymore. She had seen everything. She had travelled the streets of Konoha, she had visited Suna, and Kiri was an engraved memory in her mind. But none of that mattered. The life she was living had become dull, and her paintings were doing no better.

She tapped the end of her brush to her lips. Her mind was drawing a blank; darkness clouded the formally creative mind that she had. There were no more outgoing paintings by Haruno Sakura, there were just viewers bored with her monotonous style. Her paintings depended on her life, and her life depended on her paintings: both were not going well.

The sheltered life she had grown accustomed to in her small hut barely in the boarders of Konoha lost its thrill. She needed to travel—she needed to see something new and experience it for herself. Drawing in a sharp breath, Sakura made her decision. Without further hesitation, she packed her art supplies, a decent amount of money, and made her way for the road. Her life would change—whether or not she had to make it change.

This wasn't the first time Sakura had sworn her life would change and it didn't. Truthfully, these travels were just to ease her conscious and make her feel as if she was accomplishing something. If only something actually would happen… she wished, a frown curving her lips downward as a tear of depression tugged out of her eye. That wasn't the first tear she had shed over her failure.

The sky hung in the air, dark and dreary. It a bleak and cold night, foggy and covering any sign of a twinkling star. However, through the fog, the full of the moon could be seen. It was bloody red with a tinge of orange as it seemed to sway ominously above her. The girth of it seemed larger than normal, and the crimson coloring was beyond normal. Sakura swallowed hard, examining the sight before her. Such beauty in the darkness could never be expressed on paper, but if she was going to live, she had to try.

Once situated on a patch of grass, Sakura rested her papers onto her lap as she prepared her paints beside her. She begged a growing cloud not to cover the drearily captivating sight before her. She pleaded to every heavenly being that came to mind—though she believed in none. If those gods cared, they would have taken her out of her turmoil, wouldn't they have?

A rumble of thunder droned in her ears, and the patter of rain began to fall, first slow, gradually growing faster and heavier. Sakura face fell in horror. Rain. Rain meant she couldn't be outside, or else her paper and paints would be ruined. Nothing ever works out! She screamed in her mind, the rain crashing down effectively hiding her tears, but it wasn't as if anyone would see them. After all, she was alone. Alone and destined to stay as such. She was a painting hermit: it was her dream ever since she was younger, but now that she was in it she wished she could get out of it. It was destroying what little bit of life she had left.

Rushing to shove her papers and paints in a safe place, Sakura stuffed them in her shirt to keep them dry. Her pink tresses were soaked, hanging in her face in an uncomely manner. The fog had intensified, and she couldn't see her surroundings. She swung her mop out of her face, strings of hair still remaining in her view. How far from home had she wandered?

That didn't matter now. Right now, only one thing mattered: shelter. She needed shelter, no matter what the cost. Sakura held one hand around her torso to hold the paper and paints in place while her other hand dug in her pocket for her small bag of money: twenty copper coins rested in her hand. In Konoha, that was enough for a stay in a motel for one night, but where would she find a motel? Where would she eat?

Sakura attempted walking back in the direction she came, unknowingly walking off course. The thunder roared louder, a strong wind blowing against the pinkette's course. She struggled to not veer in her path, but there was no helping it. The wind blew her and she fell to the floor, her papers and paints falling out from her shirt. "No!" She wailed frantically, crawling in the muddy ground to recollect her things to keep them from getting soiled.

There was another rumble, but it wasn't from the thunder. Sakura's eyes widened in horror, her heart practically stopping as she looked behind her, emerald orbs glistening with apparent fear. All she saw were two horses and a large, coal black carriage heading right for her: she was on the street. Her life flashed before her eyes. Did she accomplish anything at all? She was still so young—so much time left. Were her friends right all along? Should she have done something other than art?

The carriage halted. How did they see her with all the fog? Sakura's heart pounded when she looked up to see the driver. His eyes were crazed—he looked half mad. Foaming drool trickled down from his mouth, which was harnessed like a horse's with his own set of reins leading back into the carriage. His red hair flew widely around his head—even with the rain patting it down. Those piercing, foggy blue eyes looked down at her slowly, eerily, dangerously. The man shrieked like a demon his eyes widening like two moons glazed over with clouds. He leaned towards her, his nostrils flaring as he strained to get closer to her.

He released the reigns, reaching his hands out towards her with nefarious intent. A shrill shriek ripped out of his insane throat once again as his face took on a quality of a rabid beast as the foam practically boiled out of his mouth. Sakura was frozen in fear as she trembled. This man was not human. Now that the carriage didn't run over her, she would die a slow death to this. I would really prefer the horses at this point! She finally could make a legitimate sentence in her frantic state.

The reins on the man's mouth were pulled on harshly, slamming his back onto the seat once again, tearing a crazed groan out his throat as he attempted to writhe free. Sakura's heart pounded within her chest, sweat dropping from her forehead. Just watching the… thing move in those slow, possessed sways was unsettling.

A silver haired male stepped out of the carriage. Spectacles adorned his face while he rather neat hair stood tied in the back as a ponytail. A nefarious smirk played at his lips, and slowly spread across his face. "Now, now, Gaara," his voice was seething in mockery, "calm down, it's just a girl." His coal orbs veered over and faced the pinkette. "I'm sorry if he frightened you, he's just having a bad day," his eyes squinted slightly as he portrayed a false character of cordiality.

"I—It's fine…" Sakura stammered, her breath practically gone from her. The groans of Gaara were still droning in her ears, an occasional demonic shriek breaking from between his lips. The silver haired man stepped towards her, but she only stepped back in turn. Someone who called that having a bad day couldn't possibly be so good himself. "W—who are you?" She swallowed, eyeing him carefully.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first?" He stepped forward again, cornering her onto a tree. Sakura's chest tightened, her heart racing uncontrollably. She could practically hear its uneven rhythm rapidly beating in her ears. His hand reached out and grabbed her brutishly by her arm, pulling her towards him. "But that doesn't matter, because we can always take it out of you," there was a singsong pattern in his voice that promised nothing good, and it sent chills down Sakura's spine.

"Let me go!" She ordered, punching the male's chest frantically. "Help!" She screamed, but there was no one around her. No one around them. They were in the middle of nowhere. The man forcefully turned her around, slamming her onto the tree. Sakura breathed out a hard gasp as her lungs were emptied of air. He tied a blindfold around her eyes tightly until her head was throbbing in pain and she felt as if her eyeballs were being shoved further into their sockets.

More ropes bound her by her wrists and her ankles, making her more of a dead weight of a woman than anything else. Sakura couldn't see where on earth he was now dragging her, but she guessed it was the carriage, for the droning of Gaara's voice became clearer. "We have a new specimen, my lord," her captor's voice sung out to someone else sitting in the carriage.

"Excellent job, Kabuto," the other man's voice sung out in a low hiss. He sounded like a snake, devious and cunning. And yet, his voice held a tinge of the driver Gaara's crazed behavior with a lesser amount of genius overflowing in the simple two word sentence that rolled off his tongue. Sakura felt a cold hand on her face, lifting it as if to examine her. She attempted to jerk away, but it was too powerful. She heard the two men snickering devilishly. What are they going to do to me? She swallowed hard.

If they had planned to rape her, Kabuto would have done that already. A sharp pain shocked her on her arm. She yelled, struggling in the grip of the hands she equated to Kabuto. "Don't worry, you'll be sleeping soon enough," his voice cackled at her resistance. Sakura whimpered, feeling her senses dull as a wave of sleep began to overcome her.

She breathed in a sharp breath, attempting with all her might to stay awake. She must stay awake. She… must… stay….

Awake…

A groan ripped out of her throat, her neck aching as she found there to be several cricks in it. She opened her eyes, which still ached a bit from the tight wrapping that was previously squeezing her head. But if the blindfold was gone… why could she not see anything? Her palms rested on the cold, rough floor as they became clammy in fear. It felt like stone. Where am I? She asked herself, her emerald orbs uselessly darting from place to place: all she could see was a blank sheet of black.

It was strange having the pressing feeling of being completely unknown in this room. How big was it? Or… how small was it? Was it a room at all, or was it a cave? She got up slowly, her legs wobbly from the lack of use. "You're awake…" a deep voice disturbed her silence, causing her to fall back onto the floor in fear and curl up against the wall. Her heart pounded. That voice—his voice was piercing, calm, and serene. It was too normal for this place.

"I—I thought I was alone…" she mumbled her musings, trying to hide the fear in her voice. She looked for a sign of life, but saw nothing. She couldn't even see eyes dancing in the darkness as she was sure he could, considering the bright emerald color. Sakura swallowed the lump growing in her throat from her nerves. A long wind of silence fell over the two. The pinkette shifted uncomfortably where she sat on the cold stone flooring.

"I'm not the only one here…" he whispered to her, as if he was being sure to not awake the other person with them. Sakura could hear a clear fear in the voice, and it made her heart pound. Who else was here with them? Chills ran up her arms and she rubbed them to mellow the sensation.

"Who else is…?" She gulped, not really wanting to hear. She heard the man take a deep breath before he answered in a low, hoarse whisper.

"A man who is dangerously obsessed with bloodshed… he has no sense about him—no wits… he's sleeping, but he's sure to awaken if blood is anywhere close. He loves the scent, the texture, the taste—it's dangerous," he warned lowly, his tone practically demanding her to never, never shed blood. His tone worried her. It made her forehead drip with droplets of sweat. Why—why did I have to end up in this place, Kami?! Sakura cursed herself for being unsatisfied with her life. She wished she could take back all of her complaints and be back in the comfort of her secluded hut.

Tears began to pour down from her eyes, and she whimpered into her palms, trying to fill the void that was lacking any comfort. She had to get out of here—she just had to. "Don't cry…" she heard the voice at the other side of the wall speak to her once again. Sakura shook her head in disbelief, the tears continuing to come down.

"How could I not cry?! I've just been captured, I have no idea where the heck I am, and now I have to live with someone who belongs in an insane asylum according to you!" She wailed, burying her face into her hands once again, crying more passionately. That was all she could do: cry. There were no words to express herself—only the reasons that she was expressing herself.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she jerked a bit. She looked up, feeling the body heat of another, but never seeing his eyes. Sakura swallowed hard, her body trembling. The hand on her shoulder squeezed comfortingly. "We're in an underground science lab where experiments are conducted…" Sakura's emerald orbs widened like saucers. Experiments?! She swallowed hard, her heart racing. She didn't want to ask—she didn't want to know, but the words came out:

"What… what do they experiment on?"

"Humans…"

A dead, eerie silence had hung over the stone cold room for what felt like hours. Sakura was still absorbing what the man said: "Humans…" Humans. They experiment on humans. As if her life couldn't get any worse, she had to be captured by a group of literal lunatics who wanted to use her body for experimentation. What else could go wrong? At least my 'roommate' is normal… she mused, still trying to get her eyes to adjust to the darkness so she could see the man. She opened her mouth to speak, but it almost seemed like he knew whenever she was going to talk: "What's your name?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"Haruno Sakura…" she breathed, nervously pushing a pink strand of hair behind her ear. She licked her lips to dampen them. If only she had been prepared for something like this… "What's yours…?" She asked him warily, rebuking herself mentally for giving out her name before requesting his. There was another dead silence, and Sakura swallowed hard. Was he not going to tell her? She heard him breathe out a harsh sigh that sounded something akin to relief.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke," he responded simply, a sort of subdued friendliness playing in his voice. Although he sounded harmless, Sakura wasn't at ease with him. He was here before her—who knew if he had already been experimented on? Then again, he wasn't shrieking and writhing as the carriage driver Gaara was. Maybe Sasuke wasn't so bad. She heard him shift as if he was getting comfortable where he sat.

"What's the other man's name…?" She asked in a wary, lowered tone, not wanting to awake the third member of their rooming party. Sakura could feel Sasuke's eyes on her, as if she were talking about a forbidden subject.

"When I say his name, he wakes up…" Sasuke explained, his tone full of solemnity. He continued after a sharp breath of air. "You should just call him 'Sleeper'."

"When will I meet him?" She asked.

"You don't want to meet him," Sasuke nearly cut her off. From what Sakura could tell, the Uchiha knew what he was talking about, but she couldn't help but be curious of the "Sleeper". The man, according to Sasuke, was obsessed with blood. The scent of blood would probably make his mouth foam in a similar way that Gaara's was. The taste would probably make his body writhe as it jolted through his system, granting him with an insane vigor. The texture: that would more than likely make him want to feel more and more, and he would rip you apart until there was no more blood left to drain. That was the Sleeper in Sakura's eyes, but what did he really act like?

"How long have you known him…?" She leaned forward a bit, resting her face in her palms. As her wrists bent, she felt a sharp pain spread throughout the flesh, which was raw from the previous wrappings Kabuto had put on her. Sakura winced, straightening her wrists to ease the pain. It seemed whenever she would ask him a question, Sasuke would take a bit of time to answer her—almost as if he wasn't sure himself, or his memory was lacking and he had to strain to remember.

"I've known him since after my first experiment," Sasuke said in a hoarse whisper, swallowing a lump in his throat immediately after. He continued: "When I came back, there was blood on my body because they cut me open, and he just came out from the shadows like a rapid beast and started to tears at my body—screaming like a demon…" his voice trailed off and his breathing was heavy as if he was in pain… or scared.

Sakura sweat dropped. The Sleeper sounded a lot like Gaara when he saw her for the first time. The image she had in her head was a man, mangy with fangs and dark hair, his eyes as blood red as what he desired most. Foam and drool would seethe out of his mouth as his eyes would dance with flames of obsessed ecstasy at the sight of his victim. He would hunch over, supporting his body with all four of his limbs, and as soon as you saw him he would be ominously looming over you, as if preparing to eat your very soul.

With that image dancing in her mind like a sea of future visions, Sakura's heart raced. She could tell—or at least guess why Sasuke didn't want this… this creature to awaken. This Sleeper was not human—he had gone beyond the levels of human. There was no doubt in her mind that Kabuto and his lord had experimented on the Sleeper, creating him into this mangy beast envisioned in her mind. "How did you survive?" She whispered, wanting to know in case of her own encounters with this man. Sasuke took a moment to answer, as if recalling the situation. A long pause fell over them; no sounds were heard from the Uchiha. Sakura fiddled with her fingers.

She didn't dare to break the silence—not again. But Sasuke was taking long to answer: much longer than he ever had been, and it was beginning to twist her nerves to a near loss of sanity. What did he do? Was he really not going to survive? Did he die? Did the Sleeper wake up and kill him? The more she dwelt on it, the more fearful she became. Sakura's heart raced in her chest hard so that she could hear the pounding in her ears. "H—Hello…?" She was desperate for another's voice: she had to break the silence before she literally went mad.

"I don't remember…" the man finally answered as if it had taken no time at all. Sakura breathed out a sigh of relief. After her self-scare, she was far too much at ease to be upset with his lack of consideration. Then again, it was probably hard for him to talk about the Sleeper. He had been attacked by him and he more than likely didn't want that happening again. But even so, if something like that were to happen, no one would forget what they would do to end that situation… she mused, untrusting of the Uchiha speaking with her. What had really happened? Did the Sleeper even exist, or was he trying to scare her?

Sakura couldn't jump to conclusions. It was safer to assume that the Sleeper existed and believe Sasuke rather than shoving his words aside—especially in a place like this. She would have to believe him—to trust him, as little as she desired to. For all she knew, he was just as crazy as the creature he spoke about, just in different ways. He seems normal enough though… she contradicted her thoughts. What was truth? And better yet, what would happen to her in this place?

She knew she couldn't avoid the experimentations—Kabuto was stronger than her; he had already subdued her and there wasn't truly any possibility she could get instantly stronger. Would she become a mangy beast like Gaara? Or like the Sleeper? Or, even possibly, like Sasuke? Sakura hugged her arms close to herself, pushing down the bumps of chills that were skittering across her skin.

Loud thumps were heard from outside the stone room from her side of the wall. It sounded like a trample—almost like horses, only more like a human mob. Her eyes veered towards what she perceived to be the door. "Sasuke, what is that noise?" She asked her cellmate.

"They're burning the failed experiments…" he stated solemnly. A drone of possessed groans and shrill shrieks pierced through the silent air in demonic tones. Sakura felt her entire body go rigid in fear, chills racing up her spine. She could hear the crackling of fire as body after body was tossed into the bonfire of humans—or creatures. A lump grew in her throat and she attempted to swallow it down.

A new fear arose in her mind as a realization came clear. She didn't only have to worry about Sasuke being insane, or the Sleeper suddenly waking up and wanting to drain her of her blood. She didn't only have to worry that she was living amongst these "things" that could barely be considered human any longer. She didn't only have to worry about being experimented on: she had to also worry about whether or not her body would accept the experimentation—or else…. She might end up like…

Them.

XxxX

There! First chapter completed. :] I hope you all liked it—this is definitely a bit different from the kind of stories I usually write. The M rating is, of course, for future lemons—it might also be for blood and gore and such… but I don't know if my descriptions will really fit into the M rated category for that, so we'll stick to lemons. Don't forget to R&R! Arigatogozaimasu for your support.

InaGaTa