a/n Special thanks to Hypogal , smiles, DreamingCynic , and uchiha.s; your reviews really did make me smile, and I probably wouldn't have updated without you guys:) This chapter is for you!

Published to "Lion's Roar" by First Aid Kit (if you haven't heard their new album, you don't know what you are missing)

Chapter 4: Vampires of New York

"Come see the vampires of New York
Come lose your mind in Central Park
But don't leave your soul behind
Come take in 8th street after dark."

~Vampires of New York, Marcy Playground

~8~8~8~

You wake to the sound of a shrill female voice but you can't make out the words. Is it Ino? Perhaps she is fighting with Sakura-chan again. You open your eyes with difficulty, but everything is dark and blurry; you try to activate your Byakugan, but the action makes your eyes sockets burn, and you cry out in pain.

"Eh, Sasuuuuuke-kuuuuuuun," the unidentified female voice coos, "looks like Little Miss Muffet is awake."

"Little Miss Muffet?" a strident male voice shoots back; some idle part of your brain notes that it is Suigetsu, your assailant. "Where the fuck did you get that name, Karin?"

"Because a wittle spider sat down beside her and scared poor Wittle Miss Muffet away. And you, ugly ass, are the spider."

"Oi—"

"Excuse me, I mean freakish sharky spider—"

"OI!"

"Silence," a deep baritone voice rumbles. You shiver, but not from the damp chill rising from the floor. "If she's awake, bring the prisoner to me."

You blink rapidly as rough hands force you up. Your vision is still swimming, but you can make out the outline of a woman with red hair and matching red eyes; her long, talon-like fingernails dig into your shoulders. "Come on bitch, get up on your feet."

"Karin," barks that thin, reedy voice belonging to Suigetsu, "remember we're not supposed to hurt the prisoner—"

"I know, dumb-ass. Shut up," Karin calls over her shoulder. Then she spears you with a glare, and you shiver. "Come on hussy, get on your fucking feet."

You strain your muscles to comply, but they are cold and cramped from lying on the floor for so long. Worst of all, your chakra feels completely drained; just the effort of standing up makes you shake uncontrollably. "Tch, Sasukeee-kun, what do you want with a weakling like her?"

"Shut up and bring her forward, Karin."

You start at that—did she say Sasuke-kun? As in Uchiha Sasuke? You have no time to contemplate this new development—you are thrust out of the darkness and into a room flickering with dim lightbulbs. Your eyes clear in the uneven light and your breath catches in your throat—you are sure you are going to asphyxiate, because a pair red Sharingan eyes transfix you with terror.

Sasuke smirks and closes his eyes, as if in contemplation, and the spell is broken; your eyes flicker to his face. His skin has the pallor of death, and his black hair makes his flesh look even paler than it already is. Your eyes dart to his twisted mouth; two long fangs jut out, the wicked points gleaming crimson.

Your hands jerk to your neck—but thank Kami, thank Kami, there are no puncture marks on either side. You are safe—for now. Whose blood, then, drips from his fangs?

"Sakura," Sasuke murmurs, the syllables flowing like silk in his red stained mouth. "Please do a medical check on our prisoner; she looks to be out of sorts."

Our prisoner? What does Sasuke mean by that? Your question is answered in a moment when Sakura steps into the light, her short hair somehow grown wild; it looks like a startled pink porcupine sits upon her head. Your eyes search Sakura's cold, glimmering green ones. Her skin is as pale as moonlight, and her lips—

Sakura smiles at your searching glance, displaying two long, bloodied fangs. "Come on, Hime," Sakura practically hums, using that unsavory nickname that she knows you hate. "Let's take a look at your head. And don't bother using chakra—you have restraints on."

Your eyes fall on your wrists, each one encased in seamless silver handcuffs; the bands are engraved with complicated geometric patterns, with bats who stare menacingly with red eyes. Your head jerks back up and you blurt out, "Whose blood—is on your mouth?" Because please gods, please, don't let it be Naruto-kun, please gods—

"So she speaks," Sakura quips. "Don't worry; I gave myself freely to Sasuke-sama." Her viridian eyes glaze over with a dreamy look, but she quickly comes back to herself. "We were unable to obtain any other members of the Forest."

You want to sag with relief, because Naruto-kun is alive, he hasn't been turned into a vampire—

"Bitch, are you going to heal the prisoner, or are you just going to stand there all day?" Karin barks. Sakura, her expression as cool and hard as stone, takes you by the arm and shoves you into chair. But far from pacified, Karin mutters, "Maybe Sakura is not as good as you said, Sasukeeee-kun. Maybe she's all talk and no bite." Karin snaps her teeth, then looks at Sasuke expectantly.

But their leader is silent, and instead Sakura replies in a sultry voice, "Not that good? That's not what leader-sama said last night."

Sasuke smirks and Karin pouts. Sakura's tongue darts out of her mouth and licks her bloody fangs, one by one; your face turns green. It's all clear now: while you were out cold, Sakura and Sasuke were having kinky vampire sex. Your gorge rises and your mouth goes sour. "You gave yourself freely?" you sputter without thinking. You can't believe it, can't believe that Sakura would turn over to the darkness so easily.

Sakura blinks down at you, her hands alight with chakra; it is not her normal, green chakra but something darker, more sinister. "I will always follow Sasuke-sama," she replies, her voice airy. Then Sakura's healing chakra floods your system, and you are too shocked, too cold, to say anything else. Her chakra makes your teeth chatter, makes your legs quake, and when she is done with you, you slump in your chair like a cadaver. Dimly, you can hear the vampires talking over your head.

"Eh, Sakura-chaaaaaan, it looks like you killed her."

"No Karin," Sakura replies evenly, "she's fine. I mended her fractured skull. It wasn't a severe injury—no thanks to Suigetsu."

There is fighting after that, Suigetsu and Karin barking at each other like yappy dogs until Sasuke booms for silence. A pair of hands pick you up and carry you back to your holding cell. Instead of the damp floor, you are placed on a hard, wooden plank; it is uncomfortable but dry. "Thank you, Sakura-chan," you mumble sleepily.

She laughs at that, a cruel snapping sound. "You won't thank me for very long." Then she closes the barred door behind her, and you are left alone with your thoughts and your throbbing headache.

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