..:花:..

Chapter Eleven

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Airplanes to Russia

..:花:..

Sasuke was shocked. He stared in complete disbelief at the twins, raking their bodies for any, any trace of being a vampire.

He found nothing. Nothing at all.

The only evidence he found were the fangs.

Nothing was abnormal but the pearl-white fangs.

Ino reached out, and tentatively ran a slim finger down Sakura's exposed arm. She was actually somewhat warm, to say, but with a lingering sheet of hidden ice underneath the warm exterior.

Sakura looked at her. Her vibrant eyes were empty and dull. "We're warm because when we drink the blood of another, we don't digest the blood. Instead, we have the person's blood flowing through our veins. Our hearts aren't exactly working, to say, but we don't have our own blood anymore."

"We use human blood as our own." Gaara said lowly. He didn't look at anyone, rather looking out the window. "Otherwise we'd be dead, having no blood flowing to our heads."

"Do you want anything to drink?" Sakura said suddenly. "We have everything. We have a little food, since Kari eats."

"No thanks." Sasuke shook his head, eyes wide. Ino shook her head too.

"We're not safe here." Sakura muttered.

"Why are they after Kari?" Sasuke asked somewhat curiously.

"Because the child is beautiful. You see, Madame, as you heard, wants the child." Gaara hissed. The mere mention of the vile woman roused him to no limit of anger at all. "Kari is as pure as they come. She's untainted, she's not a vampire."

"She wants Kari as the mate to her disgusting son, Hidan. That boy is as violent as a war. He dreams of killing, kills regularly and worships some psycho sacrifice-loving god. Not to mention he has a dirty mouth." Sakura sniffed.

"So our family swore to protect the child." Gaara finished.

"Who are her parents?" Ino asked.

"She has no parents of any recognition. A waif on the streets of France. An orphan." Sakura answered.

"Gaara-niisan!" The little bronze-haired child ran into the room, and hopped comfortably into Gaara's lap.

"Kari." He stroked her hair gently.

"Are we going back to France, Gaara-nii? I want to go home." She wrinkled her nose.

"Why did Sasori send you here in the first place, Kari?" He looked at her, and innocent red eyes stared back at him.

Ino was engrossed in watching Gaara interact so sweetly to the child.

Sasuke interrupted. "I want to see Satoshi." He demanded.

"Sure. Follow me, Sasuke." Sakura carelessly hopped over the chaise she was sitting on, and started walking through the threshold of the door leading to the foyer. Sasuke got up, and followed her.

Kari started talking animatedly. "I was at school, we were learning about spiders, which was really yucky, and then Sasori-nii comes in really loudly, throwing the door open so hard that it almost hit him. He said sorry to Madame Truant, and picked me up, and walked out the door."

She stopped, and frowned before resuming talking again. "He didn't let me say goodbye to Isabelle and Thalia! But I didn't get mad at him, cause you told me to never get mad at Sasori-nii. So, later I kicked Kankuro-baka because he teased me. Anyways, he took me home and then he and Kankuro-nii put me in their Lamborghini and drive away."

"I got tired, so I fell asleep. Then, when I wake up, Kankuro-nii is carrying me, and we are at the airport. He puts me down, and gives me my passports and stuff. Sasori-nii goes to the desk thingy, and he talks for a bit, and they walk me to the sitting places. Kankuro-nii smiles at me and Sasori-nii kisses my forehead, and told me to wait for the stewardess after the trip who will take me away to here."

"Then I hug him, and then he gives me Jacqueline and Sasori-nii and Kankuro-nii leave. I get on the plane, and land here. The stewardess who is always on the plane when I'm on it takes me away to her car, and drives me here. And then I sat on the steps till you and Sakura-nee came."

She blinked her almond-shaped eyes. "That's it, Gaara-nii." She licked her lips. "I'm hungry now."

She hopped off of Gaara, and skipped towards the kitchen.

The red-haired boy sat, lost in thought until Ino had settled beside him and touched his arm.

He looked down on her, startled.

"Um, sorry." Ino dropped her gaze down to her hands in her lap. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Aren't you afraid at all?" He bit back.

"No." She smiled at him sweetly. It hurt him to see that. "Not really at all."

He sighed deeply. "Kari, careful. You're going to fall. Get off the wobbly stool." He called out.

"I hope you're sure of that, Yamanaka Ino." He said quietly. "You're going to have to be staying with us for a long time."

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Sakura was at the top of the stairs before Sasuke even took a step. She leaned lazily on the carved oak railing as Sasuke slowly trudged up all seventy-two steps.

When he finally managed to reach the top, he was gasping just a little.

"Finally you're up here. Anyways, I have to stop at my room before Satoshi's and I need to get you and Ino bedrooms." Sakura muttered. She started down the hallway on the right.

Sasuke followed her silently, watching her long pink hair sway along with the movement of her hips.

She tossed an ebony wood door open, stepped in and began to search, digging into her drawers. Sasuke just stood silently in the doorway watching Sakura search.

"Ah, found it." She brandished a cell phone. She dialed a number, and waited.

"Hello, Fugaku. I am so sorry to call you at this hour. Is it all right if I take Sasuke and Satoshi away?"

Sasuke leaped over to her. "Give me the phone." He hissed lowly. "I want to talk to my father!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, I have to. They'll be safe, I promise. Because Madame has stricken again, because Kari is here. By the way, I recommend on calling some contractors tomorrow. There's probably blood everywhere, three bodies, and a shattered window."

She glared at Sasuke, as he just tried to swipe the phone from her. She poked his forehead. "I'm so sorry, Fugaku, for this inconvenience. Best of luck to us if we're going to destroy her this time. Goodbye!"

She snapped the phone closed just when he lunged at her. She grinned, and let him shove her onto her huge bed. She reversed the positions, and she was lying lightly on top of him now, pinning him effectively to her bed.

"Nice try, Sasuke." She drawled. Her lips were only millimeters away from hot skin, sending tiny shocks down to his pale neck. "It's going to take a little more skill to catch me."

She released him, and tossed the phone in the general direction of her black vanity. She archly yawned, settling down next to the ebony-haired boy's body.

She leapt off of the silky pale red sheets, jostling and bouncing the Uchiha out of her bed and onto the rosewood floor.

The pink-haired girl landed gently next to the door. "I'll leave you there, if you want. I'm going to see Satoshi. He's in the blue door room. Take care not to smell my sheets." And she walked out.

Sasuke, being the ignorant fool he is, buried his face into her sheets and slowly breathed in.

There was an interesting mix of fragrance that burned his aristocrat nose ever so pleasantly.

The scent of day lilies, the bitter note of absinth, and the sweetly sickening perfume smell of Cajun Sunrise roses invaded his senses.

He didn't miss, however, that lingering, tangy aroma of woman that permeated the sheets.

..:花:..

Sakura opened the door gently. "Satoshi-chan?"

"Nanny!" A blob in the pale blue sheets rose up to reveal the little Uchiha, his hair all messy, blinking sleepily.

Sakura sat on the edge of his bed. "Feeling better, sweetie?"

"Much better, Nanny." He coughed, but it wasn't as violent as this morning. "My throat still feels sticky and heavy, though. My head doesn't hurt anymore."

"Good." She gently stroked his head. "Sasuke will probably be coming in soon."

"Okay." Satoshi nodded.

Sasuke chose that moment to stumble into the room, looking a little dazed and drunk, that went unnoticed by his nephew.

"Sasuke-niisan! You found my room!" The little boy cried happily.

"Oh, hey, Satoshi." Sasuke sat next to Satoshi on top of his pillow. "Feeling better?"

"Yes." He smiled happily.

The abused door threw open again, revealing Gaara, Ino and Kari, the latter being carried by Gaara.

"I need to speak to you, sister. Kari, you stay here with Ino, alright?" He spoke in a detached tone, his eyes never leaving Sakura's face.

He and Sakura left the room silently, and glided into Gaara's bedroom.

They didn't notice a certain Uchiha excuse himself from the room.

The female tossed herself onto the comfortable black and brown checkered sheets. "Ah, it's been a while since I got to lie on your bed, brother." Sakura trilled.

"One of my beds." He corrected. He lay down his head on her stomach. "I never let you on my beds."

"You never tell me where you get them. It's not fair. What's the problem, Gaara?" She weaved her quick fingers into his hair, a digit tracing his tattoo.

"Fugaku called me three minutes after you called him. His eldest son is dead, along with his wife. They died in a fatal plane crash just outside of Russia. No survivors."

He felt her fingers freeze. "What?"

"Mikoto and Fugaku are grieving. And I think it's somehow connected to us, sister. There's no pilot, and the search is missing a stewardess. Nobody was able to even get off the plane until the paramedics removed their bodies. No one survived, to human knowledge."

"But you're guessing a pair of vampires did this." Sakura began to re-weave her fingers again through the short red hair.

"No pilot, no stewardess. I think it's a warning." Gaara frowned, and turned his head to look at his sister.

"That's a horrible warning." Sakura mused. "So, do we tell them?"

"No, Sasuke is just outside the door, listening in. Sasuke, come in." Gaara turned his head a fraction as the door creaked open, revealing a very white Sasuke.

He fell to his knees. "My brother is dead." He whispered emotionlessly. "My older brother and his wife are dead."

He looked up at the twins, dry-eyed but with a terrible expression on his face. "He's dead, how the hell do I tell Satoshi this?"

The twins sat up, despite the comfortably sexual lover position they were just in.

"You don't, until he asks." Gaara whispered hoarsely. "Alright?"

The Uchiha only raised his head. He got up, and left the room.

Gaara stood up first, pulled Sakura up, and followed him out back into Satoshi's room.

Satoshi was oblivious to Sasuke when he came back in, as he was busily trying hard to sneak peeks at Kari, who was braiding one of her dolls' hair.

Behind him, as he was facing the window, was Sasuke resting heavily on Ino in a semi-comforting embrace.

Baby blue eyes widened and blinked in shock as the female mind behind the eyes processed the information. Ino released Sasuke, who went to lean on the bed, eyes closed.

"Are you completely sure Itachi's dead?" She asked Sakura. The pink-haired girl nodded.

Ino glanced back at the dark-haired boy. "He's really torn by this, and he's already thinking about revenge on the…vampires that sent his brother to his death."

"We might as well grant his wish, shouldn't we, brother? Because we are looking for a little destroying the bad side, a little revenge ourselves, aren't we?" Sakura playfully questioned her brother somewhat loudly.

Dead onyx eyes turned to fixate upon the green-eyed girl in slight hope.

Gaara sighed, and flicked open his cell phone and dialed a number. "Deidara. Are you still in Russia?"

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Look! There's even a little SasuSaku for you people who've been asking for it. I promise, more to come.

And GaaIno haters, if you hate it, I don't care. I'm not fucking changing it for you. It's the way I'm having this story. Don't complain to me. Don't like it, don't read it.

Review?

Love,

pureazure