In the morning, Sakura awoke and found herself in the kitchen that all of the full vampires shared. She started to brew a new cup of coffee, her eyes still showing the lull of sleep. They had no real need to consume human drink or food, but most did, despite the fact that they didn't need it. It was for comfort, really, because most of them missed their human days that they can never return to.
She sat at the table and rested her head in her hands, yawning. The dawn light peeked through the windows, casting a soft light on everything. She'd always thought it funny, how the dawn made the City of Death appear so damn hopeful.
A few moments later, Ino walked in and paused when she noticed Sakura. "Saki?" she asked softly, coming to stand by her friend. "Are you…are you alright?" she asked, resting a hand on Sakura's slim shoulder.
Sakura let her hands fall and her eyes rose to take in her friend. "Yeah…why?" she asked.
"Your…your hair" Ino said, eyes wide as she gestured at her own blond locks.
Sakura stood and walked across the hall to the bathroom, looking in the mirror. She saw nothing different, and then froze. If you turned a certain angle, the hair was darker, almost black…it was a shimmery, mirage-like thing. "What the hell?" she said, incredulously.
"Saki, have you ever heard of the Black Root?" Ino asked, a bit hesitantly.
Sakura's emerald eyes darted up to meet her best friend's startled cerulean. "No" she said flatly.
Ino sighed, as if she'd expected her to say no, but had been hoping she'd say yes. "It's a myth that when vampires reach a certain - I don't know. Maturity? – that they change in a physical way, which is often blackness in their hair, starting at the roots. It's only visible to vampires, and…well, it means that you're…Saki, it means you're not just a normal vampire. You're royalty, like…well, like an Alpha werewolf-royalty, vampire-style" Ino said, eyebrows furrowing. "Did you ever wonder why Kisuke, Yoruichi, Pein, and Konan all have black streaks? That's cuz of the Black Roots. It means you're really, really strong" Ino said, shaking her head. "Just…just…you don't want people to find out, alright? Just say you dyed your hair" Ino said, her eyes worried.
Ino was a healing vampire, and very good at her job. She liked knowing the legends about the vampires, both human and real, and found many hilarious. She thought the fact that humans believed that garlic kept them away, that they couldn't see vampires in mirrors, and sunlight killed them was downright hilarious.
Sakura gave her an uncertain smile. "Okay?" she said, unsure. She grabbed a hair tie from inside the cabinet and tied her hair back, her bangs falling in her face. She smiled a tiny, only partially-fake smile at her friend, unsure of just about everything her friend had just told her. "There's coffee in the pot. I've…got to go" she said, dashing for the door and letting herself out to take a breather.
Ino often played jokes on Sakura, but she had the gut-feeling that this wasn't one. The black wasn't just a fashion statement. Damn. She could only hope the other vampires didn't know of the obscure legends that Ino enjoyed.
"Ew ew ew ew ew ew" Sakura chanted, wincing as her shoes made a disgusting slurping sound when they were lifted from the muck, wet from the heavy downpour that they had fallen victim to at the most inopportune time.
Hidan shrugged, not caring that his shoes were covered in garbage as he trudged through what could only be described as trash. You couldn't even tell what it was. "It's not so bad" he said, trying to be optimistic.
He was only treated to a glare for his pains.
"Bullshit, you fucker. You decided to come this way just to torture me" Sakura said, in quite a querulous way.
Hidan just grinned. "Maybe" he said, just a hint of deviousness thrown in for good measure.
Sakura flipped him the bird and continued on, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed to slits as she watched the ground, trying to step in areas not so gross.
Hidan was behind her, and very much glad that she wasn't looking at him, and therefore couldn't see his stare as she walked on. He wasn't checking her out, nope. He was…making sure she didn't kill herself, of course. Garbage is very dangerous stuff.
'SQUILCH!'
Sakura gagged, and covered her nose and mouth with her hand, trying to block the smell of the heap of garbage and whatever disgusting shit she'd just stepped in. "Holy shit holy shit" she said, fighting down her gag reflex. She really didn't want to barf and make this worse.
"Why are we here, Hidan?" she whined, miserable and wet and covered in whatever the fuck this was.
"To spy on Aizen" Hidan replied easily, avoiding what looked like a stack of baby diapers and instead deciding that it would be easier to climb over the pile of broken bikes. Really, this was a sea of trash. He could see why Sakura loathed it, but he'd been in worse, back when he was human and in the military…he shivered as he remembered theshit they'd made him do.
"Why are we walking through garbage, though?" Sakura asked in a petulant tone.
"There's a vent we can access at the end of this alley where we can eavesdrop and hear everything" Hidan recited Pein's lengthy "briefing", paraphrasing a lot. "It's disgusting, but it's the closest we can get without being seen" he said, taking the lead and wading further into the mountain of disposed waste.
Instead of a response, a 'SPLAT!' reached his ears, so he turned to spy Sakura face-first in the muck, pink-and-black hair splayed out. She dragged herself up, gagging and clearly fighting off blowing chunks. "Oh, they won't see us" she said slowly, clearly seething in anger, "they'll smell us" she growled, ready to rip someone, anyone, to tiny little shreds.