Sunlight and Shadows
Written by: A p p l e – S h o p
© Puddle Productions

Sun light is a weapon, but belonging to no one. It destroys and creates; making things flourish. What is destroys, many do not know. The ones known as the Lamia, mutated creatures often subject to shadows and cloaks, are all but forgotten in the mortal world. The Venators, informed religious hunters, are the only mortals concerned about these mythical bloodsuckers. They hunt and kill what is foreign to humans (known as the Northmanni). However, what the Venators don't know is that the Lamia are different now. Very different.

-Prologue-

He was no ordinary boy in the eyes of woman. There was a thing about him that was special, almost menacing, but that's what most school girls are attracted to nowadays. Alas, that's not merely why they were after him. Couldn't they get it? They were putting themselves in severe danger!

Uncouth. That's what those school girls were; rude, and completely clueless. When wickedness is sensible, then something is off hand.

He was walking down the school corridors, hands hidden in pockets serenely. The plain button down shirt looked better on him than any other guy in the school, and those black colored slacks made he seem like he was modeling at a fashion convention. To put it simply, the school uniform was made for him. You could probably say the school officials were proud to have him wear the Terence High School insignia, bore on the right breast pocket of the white shirts.

Of course, he wasn't the only peculiar one in school. There were others; some even teachers. To hide from the Venator, they needed to act normal, didn't they? Naming a few, there was his best friend, two other girls, and a very perverted teacher. With so many of these Lamia here, what would happen if, perhaps, a Venator were to come to school?

-Act I-

"Shikamaru?" Sakura asked in astonishment. She stood inside the cafeteria kitchen, lunch tray packed with food and water, looking frantically around for said man. He just… Disappeared! Students wandered about all around her, making it that much more difficult to spot who she was looking her.

At last, the pink haired student spied him sauntering over to the kitchen exit, a single soda can veiled in his pants pocket. Sakura hurried after him, keeping her tray balanced.

"Shikamaru!" She exhaled in relief, following him to one of the round tables, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Does it look like I am?" He replied dully, leisurely tugging a wooden chair and plopping down. He elevated his feet to rest on the table, simultaneously reaching into his pocket for the soda. Sakura's tray made a light tap when she dropped it onto the table, and she made a move to smooth her school uniform. The black plaid skirt brushed the top of her pale knee caps, above the white mid-shin socks and dark shoes. Just like the males, she wore a white button down shirt, collared. Of course, as it is summer, the uniforms were short sleeved and breezy.

"I suppose not," Sakura mused, gingerly taking a seat. On her plate was a salad, a bottle of water, and most loveably: a cup of ice cream. She fingered her fork, jabbing it into the plain lettuce leaves, deciding it best to save the most delicious part of the meal for last. If she wanted, she could go back for more, except most girls at Terence High don't go for seconds. What's ice cream worth if you stick out of the crowd? "But what's bothering you, buddy?"

Sakura gave a hearty grin toward her lackadaisical pal, who looked away, seeming to glower at something. It wasn't usual for Shikamaru to act like that. There were some days that he outright ignored her, and others were he was back to normal. Sakura turned to glance at what the boy was staring at. It was the cafeteria entrance. Perhaps he was waiting for someone.

"You know, I'm sure Tenten will be here soon; if that's what's bothering you," Sakura comforted, "She's probably training, or working on a project."

Shikamaru simply shook his pineapple head lightly, averting his gaze once again. With a defeated sigh, Sakura jammed a forkful of salad into her mouth, chewing with fervor. The sky outside was turning from its unusual sunny, light sky to an infamous grey. Perchance going to the community pool was out of the question, today. Although, do to all the rainy weather, the place is rarely open. People usually decide to go to indoor pools, which more than not cost money.

A few high pitched squeals are heard as the cafeteria doors slam open. And in comes the Most Wanted, otherwise known as the Sexy Six. The rhyming comes from the fans, typically. First in is (again with the rhyming) Sexy Sasuke. If only Sakura knew what he thought of all them behind those deep onyx eyes and spiky black hair… Not that she was concerned. There was something quite off-hand about him. It frightened the girl to her core.

At his flank was, and Sakura sighed at this pet name, Naughty Naruto. 'How cliché.' She thought, watching the troublemaker walking in with a playful grin. His golden blonde hair made the boy seem so innocent and angelic, and with blue hue eyes to accolade that. But she knew better. His almost-twin in attitude followed at Sasuke's other side. His name was "Sharp" Suigetsu. Again, Sakura sighed at the name. Was it simply not enough to use real names? This boy bore plum eyes and light grey hair, with a viciously sharp smile; literally. Hence his nickname.

Walking alone behind those three was an extremely gorgeous blonde girl. With long thin legs and sharp, yet elegant features, most boys would die if she looked their way. For more than one reason, Sakura had thought. She couldn't put her finger on it, but this whole pack just freaked her out. This super model's nickname (among the males) was Yummy Yamanaka.

The last two were known as both the Hot Hyuugas. Their similarity in both quietness and appearance was amazingly on the dot. It was astonishing. Both bore the same straight dark hair and pale (freaky) orbs.

The Weirdoes, as she and Shikamaru liked to label them, took their seats— if anything more graceful— and just seemed to be gossiping among themselves. Whatever glare the haters shot their way was easily ceased with their own, more terrifying look. Although half the time the hater glares were overlooked. Shikamaru could probably be counted as one of those haters. A stubborn one, to say the least. He had an unnatural hate for the Weirdoes.

"Hey guys!" Yelled a brunette. Sakura looked over to her friend, kicking a chair out for the approaching tardy girl.

"You're late," Sakura scolded, "Again."

"Psh! You can't be late for lunch!" Tenten defended, delicately smoothing out wet trails of hair that led to a single high bun at each side of her head.

"You showered," Sakura mused, sipping her water.

"Only the quickest," grinned the brunette with a wink. She looked over to Shikamaru, seeing him glare at the Sexy Six; nothing bizarre. She waved heartedly to him, only for him to practically jump out of his seat and dawdle over to the cafeteria exit— the one by the trash can passed the Sexy Six table. He seemed on edge, almost as if trying to keep his cool. Sakura and Tenten turned to scrutinize him.

Shikamaru was never one to walk near, or even close to, that table. His behavior was strange, and most confusing. No one but his two friend, and even a few of the Sexy Six, noticed his slight pause at the trash can, where one member of the Sexy Six was throwing out an untouched apple. He knocked the exit doors open and disappeared.

The people at the Sexy Six table were tense, eyeing each other near fury. Naruto, with vaguely thinned eyes, glanced from the door to his friends slowly. His palm was still extended over the can where he had dropped the apple. As if receiving a silent consent, the golden haired boy nodded, turning swiftly away to leave. He was gone in a blink.

His comrades glanced suspiciously at one another, a few even scowling at the air. One stood harshly, before being forced down by his peers' eyes. Sakura and Tenten were cowering behind their seats, wondering how the group could send such silent messages without so much as moving.

"Sakura," Tenten whispered, gazing at said girl from the corner of her eye, "What just happened?"

"I don't know," Sakura mulled over, turning to her tray, "But I'm about to find out."

The pink haired girl lifted her tray in her hands, striding to the north cafeteria exit. Her eyes were locked on the trash can next to it, teeth bared as if in concentration. It wasn't the same exit the other two had taken, but passing the Sexy Six table wasn't a task she was willing to accomplish. Once at the place of her will, she spilled all rations, even the cardboard cup filled with ice cream, into the bin, hurriedly dropping the brown tray on the basket's hood.

Walking into the lit hallway had never felt so heavy; literally. They were empty at the moment, being that it was the beginning of lunch, and most students felt the need to eat in the very little allotted time. There was also the fact that more than not, authorities were monitoring students to make sure not one leaves the room. Sakura supposed she was just lucky to make it that far.

The north exit hallway was wide— as to accompany many boys and girls rushing to lunch— and moderate in length; about twenty five feet, where it then hit an intersection of three other hallways. The passage across was same in width, yet longer, and along the sides of the sides of the white walls were long grey, clean, lockers. The current hallway held nothing except for the one or two janitors' closets and the few posters and billboards. Sakura jogged forward turning east. Shikamaru and Naruto had headed that way, and she could possibly circle around to sneak up on them.

The weight she was feeling was becoming quite uncomfortable more east. It felt like lying down on the floor and having someone crush her head with their foot. The lockers around her were too smooth to grab onto, so she made a grab for a classroom doorknob. It was cold under her grip, but enough for her hold onto. She reached up for her nose, massaging her sinuses.

Sakura growled to herself at this delay and began moving forward. She turned right, heading straight in the direction of the east cafeteria exit. Only; Shikamaru and Naruto weren't anywhere in sight.

Thinking things through would have been the more appropriate action; however, Sakura simply began jogging through the east wing. If relying on instinct could be counted as aimlessly wandering about, then that was what Sakura was doing. It was almost as if she knew where Shikamaru was. Call it the 'best friend detector'. Or maybe it was something more.

Sakura found herself reaching a part of the school— the biology wing— that had been completely shut down of power due to the large storm the night before. The air was an unexpected cold, although most of the school was chilling. Something made the sneaky female begin to tip toe. She stiffened at one corner. She could hear voices. Chilling, fierce sounds.

The girl willed herself to slide to the very corner, pressing against a line of colder than normally lockers.

"You… Came… My father… Your… Feeding… I've… Secret… For far too long," was all Sakura heard. The person speaking dulled down a bit, and Sakura strained her hearing, edging her head to see around the angle. Before she could move and inch, there was an ear splitting slam of the lockers. Sakura jumped violently. Someone was growling, and none too hushed:

"Keep your mouth shut! If they find out they find out, but slip and it'll cost you!"

Second person hissed something inaudible. Sakura couldn't hear a thing… As she moved closer once again, something as cold as ice flew around her mouth.

To be continued…

A/N: Yes, I know this is really short, but it's the prologue, so expect a bit more for the chapters. Updates, sadly, won't come anytime soon (as I should really be finished my homework – three days left to finish two books – and I would still need to update my other stories). I'm sorry! But I just couldn't get this story out of my head, so I stopped reading to write it. I'm such a procrastinator! Well, school (for me) starts soon, and I need to prepare.

I have another story I'd like to publish, but I sadly still need to finish my work. Has anyone read Grendel? It seems really boring! Right now I'm reading As You Like It by Shakespeare, and I can't stand the Shakespearian language! I am one of those people that hates reading plays.

Well, My Match is still up for being updated, and hopefully once my work is finished I'll get on that. This story will probably have six chapters (maybe?). Hmm, I'm not sure, since the plot line is not so developed at the moment. But it won't be too long.

But, please, for now, be patient! Wish me luck with my work, and don't forget me in my mini hiatus!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

Ps: Did any of you get to watch the New Moon second trailer? It's awesome!