Title: His Atonement, Her Existence
Summary: His every breath sends him deeper into the pits of hell while her every heartbeat chains her in the arms of emptiness. When they meet, his every breath will become her very existence and her every heartbeat will be his salvation.
Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, although, I wished it was mine. But on the brighter side, I can write fanfics to my liking and pair up Gaara and Sakura unlike the manga/anime!!!! LoL!!!!
Chapter 1: Blood
"How's the food?"
"Fine."
"Not too spicy?"
A moment of hesitation, as if the younger of the two female sitting across from each other in a small kitchen was contemplating on answering truthfully or lying so as not to hurt the other's feelings .
"No." Sakura lied, ignoring the spicy flavor of the curry sauce biting the insides of her mouth.
Tsunade sighed at the girl who sat at the opposite end of the table from her. The eighteen year old girl clad only in a light bathrobe was clutching hard on her eating utensils on either side of her plate, obviously forcing herself to chew on the offensive mouthful of curry rice in her mouth. She threw a sympathetic look at the girl's bowed head and then at the visible bruises on her neck and her chests and the rest that disappeared beneath the thin bathrobe she was wearing. Anger overtook her sympathy at the sight of the bluish stains on her porcelain skin as she poured herself a glassful of sake before forcing it down her throat in one gulp and bringing the empty glass down on the table with a loud thump. Who knows how many more bruises were hidden beneath that thin bathrobe she was wearing.
"I've never really cooked anything before so you don't have to eat it if the taste doesn't suit you." The blonde woman announced as she poured herself another glassful of sake.
The pink haired girl looked up and stared blankly at the blonde woman gulping down another glassful of sake. For a brief moment, she wondered how this woman was at any point related to her mother. The woman before her was boisterous and rude while her mother had been the epitome of kindness and gentleness when she was still alive. To say that they were actually cousins was like saying that the devil has a pair of white magnificent wings.
Tsunade finished her drink and looked directly ahead of her. Sakura, on the other hand, immediately lowered her eyes, and avoided the eye contact. She played with the food on her plate and Tsunade heaved out another deep sigh.
"Sakura," she began, carefully choosing the tone of her voice so she wouldn't sound too comforting or too distant. "Don't think about it too much. You'll be able to get over this incident. Just don't force yourself."
Sakura gasped silently, her eyes widening with fear the moment she was reminded of what happened last night. The visions of what happened twenty-two hours ago came back. The smell of sweat and alcohol overcame her senses. She struggled to breathe; the air around her suddenly became thick. Frantically, she shook her head from side to side and closed her eyes tightly to block the uncontrollable visions flooding her mind. But the trauma didn't stop there. Muffled grunts and groans of pleasure echoed in her ears and she hysterically brought her hands to cover her ears from those disgusting sounds.
Tsunade panicked when she saw her hyperventilating on her seat. Disregarding the glass of sake in her hand, she stood abruptly and rushed to her side to soothe her. She reached out o touch Sakura on the shoulders, calling out her name to snap her out of it. "Sakura!"
But Tsunade's touch only made her worst. Suddenly, it wasn't just the smell, the visions and the sounds that haunted her. As Tsunade's hand made contact with her shoulders, there was suddenly no bathrobe to shield her naked body from the rough hands grazing every skin it made contact with. Suddenly, it wasn't Tsunade who was touching her. He was touching her.
Sakura cringed from her touch. "Don't…" she whispered, almost begging.
"Sakura, it's me. It's Tsunade." Tsunade tried to reason out as she continued soothing her back.
Suddenly, everything was too much and Sakura knew that she'll go crazy if she remain for another second. Without another rational thought, she stood up abruptly, pushing her chair with the back of her legs with so much force that it collapsed on the wooden floor with a loud thump.
"Stop it!" she shouted before turning around and running towards her room on the second floor, completely ignoring Tsunade's cries muffled by her hand on her ears.
Sakura ran blindly towards her sanctuary, her footsteps echoing around the tiny hallway leading to her room. As soon as she reached the doorknob, she yanked open the doors before banging it close behind her. She didn't bother to open the lights, letting the moonlight seeping through the thin curtains of her window guide her as she made her way towards her side table. Yanking the drawers open, she searched frantically for something that would take everything away.
Tsunade could hear her from outside her room rustling through the contents of her drawer. She banged loudly on the door between them. "Sakura! Open the door! Sakura!" she shouted, her cries muffled by the thick door preventing her to reach Sakura.
In her room covered by nothing but the darkness and the moonlight, Sakura found what she was searching for. There, lying in the deepest corner of her drawer, a small piece of metallic object shone brightly against the moonlight. It looked terrifying at first but as she stared longer, her need to forget overcame her fear.
Without giving it another thought, she took the metallic object in her dainty fingers. Its sharp edge coaxed her and the cold feel of metal against the skin of her fingers comforted her. Briefly, she wondered if it would feel as comforting on other parts of her skin.
"Sakura! Open this, damn it!" Tsunade's voice broke her line of thoughts for a split second.
But in the middle of her raging emotions, it wasn't Tsunade's worried voice that she heard. It was his voice, demanding her to open the only barrier to her safety. Her fear and panic escalated and there was no other comfort aside from the metallic blade between her fingers.
Slowly, her breathing labored, she placed the cold sharp edge of the blade on her heated skin. She shut her eyes tightly and pressed the blade on her skin, drawing out a little blood. Taking in a deep breath to steady her hand, she pulled the blade across her skin, feeling its sharp edge cut deep through her epidermis and veins.
She cringed from the sudden pain that cut through the nerves of her wrist. The metallic smell of blood filled her nose. Suddenly, there was no vision of violence, no smell of lust and no heated touch. There was only pain and the feel of her blood slowly flowing through the open wound on her wrist. With every drop of blood leaving her body, she was slowly finding the release she needed.
Would it make me forget too? She sadly wondered.
"Sakura!" Tsunade's muffled voice was the last thing she heard before she felt herself collapse against the soft mattress of her bed.
A shiny red 2010 Mercedes-Benz sports car suddenly screeched to a stop in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. Inside, a blond eighteen year old boy braced his hands on the dashboard to keep himself from hitting the windshield due to the sudden change of momentum. He looked at his red haired companion and saw the fixed glare in his eyes and the tight grip of his hands on the steering wheel.
"Is something wrong?" Naruto inquired as he glanced briefly from side to side to check for any possible sign of danger.
Gaara gripped at the steering wheel tighter but his eyes remained focused at the empty road before him. The metallic stench was clouding his senses, waking the sleeping lust for human blood he managed to burry years ago. As his hunger forced to overtake his reason, he gripped at the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles turning white, as he held onto his decreasing amount of sanity.
"Gaara?" Naruto's voice managed to go through the craving thoughts bouncing in his head. "What the hell is wrong?"
"I smell blood." Gaara said through gritted teeth.
At the said declaration, Naruto relaxed on his seat and rolled his eyes. He thought there was an unknown danger lurking somewhere near.
"Of course, you smell blood." Naruto said sarcastically, throwing him arms around to state the obvious. "After living for hundreds of years, don't you find it a little stupid to only realize now that you can smell blood? It's the only thing that could trigger our senses in a fraction of a second."
For a while, Gaara fought the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't need to be reminded of who they are, of what they are. The undead, blood-drinkers, the cold ones, the devil's pawn and sometimes, the devil himself. The list could go on and on but they would all mean one word. Vampire. For almost five hundred years, he walked the face of the earth, facing death, surviving death and being death himself. He knew and saw how people feared them in the early ages and how they came to see them into mere mythical creatures that never existed.
An angry hiss escaped Gaara's gritted teeth, baring his set of sharp, pointed fangs against the moonlight. "Can't you smell it?"
Naruto looked at him as if he was crazy. "Even if I will myself to not smell it, it would be useless. The stench is everywhere, Gaara. It's what we crave. It's what keeps us alive."
"But this one's too strong. It's dominating the rest." Gaara explained, looking around for some sign where the strong metallic stench was coming. Unfortunately, there was nothing but the darkness and the little glow emanating from the row of houses around them.
Naruto frowned at him. "Everything smells the same for me." He said, sniffing at the air around them.
This time, it was Gaara's turn to frown at his blond companion. Surely he was just playing with him. How could he not smell it? The stench was too strong. So strong that it almost took all his strength not to go and hunt for the owner of the addicting smell and satisfy his craving need. Never had human blood smelt so addicting and so mouth watering as this one.
"That's impossible." Gaara hissed as he fought to control his hunger for human blood, particularly, this blood.
"Gaara," Naruto placed a comforting hand on Gaara's arm. "Fight it. We don't feed on human blood anymore. We may be vampires but we're not monsters."
Gaara took in a deep breath. The metallic stench of blood filled his nose. He clenched his jaws and fought the growing hunger taking over his senses. It wasn't easy to control their lust for blood. During their first years, it was all they crave for, it was the only thing that could keep them alive. But before they became vampires, they were human first and this little bit of humanity they have left became their atonement for the people they've killed and for being what they were. Their lust for human blood was slowly satisfied with animal blood instead. It wasn't easy but after years of practice and discipline, it became bearable.
"I know." Gaara said, shaking his head to clear his mind and help fight off the craving of his body. "It's just that…" His voice trailed off, not really sure what to say.
"Let's just go, okay? Kakashi's waiting for us." Naruto decided to divert his attention back to their current task at hand.
Gaara relaxed, willing himself to get used to the strong stench filling his senses. He took in a deep breath, ignoring the craving he felt for human blood. Meeting with Kakashi was more important than thinking of satisfying or fighting his need.
Without another thought, he shifted gears deftly and looked at the rear view mirror to make sure they haven't caused any suspicious traffic. Finding just a lone ambulance fast approaching their stationary car, he stared back at the stretch of road before them. It would be too suspicious if the ambulance caught up with them. Without wasting another second, he stepped hard on the gas pedal, tires screeching as he maneuvered the car across the silent neighborhood, taking them closer to their goal and further from the pink haired girl lying unconscious in the ambulance trailing behind them.
Author's Notes: Here it is!!!!! Chapter 1!!!! hope it goes to your liking!!!!! This is my first time writing a naruto fanfic and a vampire fic too!!!! honestly, been reading too much of the twilight series so... yeah... bear with me!!!! Please read and review!!!! Constructive criticisms are also welcome!!!!