DISCLAIMER: I own NONE of the original characters of the Manga/Anime series Naruto – they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I only hold ownership of this plot and characters unfamiliar to the original Naruto series.
Summary: Long ago, humans had to be cautious of their own being, but now, not only would they have to beware of their own, but the other forms lurking in the dark and even walking amongst us. Fighting against these supernatural beings are the members of the Dark Coven. What will happen when Sakura Haruno, one who greatly despises the supernatural, encounters Sasuke Uchiha, one of the Blood Demons? Pairings: Sasuke/Sakura with an equal amount of Neji/Tenten. Other pairings are included. Enjoy!
WARNING: Vampire Fiction! Please discontinue reading if mild violence, sexual content and aggressive language seem inappropriate to you or is not to your liking!
NOTE: 'Inner Sakura'
'Thoughts' Flashbacks
Narrator's POV
~ The Dark Coven ~
Chapter Three: First Mission
"Okay, we are currently at the entrance of the school," Kakashi said, guiding Sakura up the steps to the main entrance. Sakura moved her feet onto each step carefully. Kakashi always gave her a tour around new places that would become a part of her daily life. He even did so when they arrived at their new house yesterday, after the meeting with Tsunade. It was the only way she would be able to move around without any assistance.
"We're entering the building," Kakashi announced to her. She felt the eyes of other students on her. She felt Kakashi guide her towards the left.
"This is the Principal's Office," Kakashi informed before asking, "What have you collected so far?"
"About five minutes from the entrance of the school and at normal walking pace, the Principal's Office is situated to the left," Sakura stated.
"Good," Kakashi said and then knocked on the door twice.
"Come in," announced a man from inside the office.
"Good Morning, Jiraya," Kakashi greeted and closed the door behind Sakura. And then he spoke.
"Sakura, this is Principal Jiraya…" She smiled.
Jiraya observed Sakura closely. He had already been informed that Sakura was blind, after which he organized a program that would teach teachers to understand Braille and anything related to it.
"Is there a problem, Principal Jiraya?" Kakashi asked, noticing the way Jiraya was looking at Sakura.
"Oh no…it's just that, she seems to look a lot like Tsunade…"
This comment certainly surprise Kakashi as much as it surprised Sakura, but they both ignored it as it seemed unimportant.
"Anyways," Jiraya continued and handed Sakura a sheet of paper, "That is your Time Table. Each day consists of five study periods and two breaks – one of which is lunch. The schedule is printed in Braille so you'll be able to understand it."
"Thank you," Sakura said and ran her fingers over the bumpy sheet.
"What's first on the schedule?" Kakashi asked her.
"Biology," she answered.
"Hm…being your teacher for that subject, I'll escort you to class," Kakashi said to her. She could 'hear' the smile in his tone. She chuckled – she knew Kakashi was going to escort her to class whether or not he was her teacher for the first period…
From the outside, on the corridor, Sakura and Kakashi could hear the laughter and buzzing of conversation going on in the classroom. Noise – something that irritated Sakura very much. Kakashi guided her to an empty seat. She could feel the presence of a student next to her. Whoever it was, they remained silent, thankfully. Sakura was not quite ready for any questions at the moment.
Kakashi cleared his throat, which got the class' attention. All was silent.
That was, until…
"Who are you?" shouted a boisterous male student.
"Now, now, don't be impatient…I was getting to that. I'm Mr. Hatake; I'll be your new Biology Teacher for this academic year. And while we're at introductions, I'd like to introduce you all to your new classmate – Sakura Haruno. Sakura, please raise your hand so that everyone can see who you are," Kakashi said.
'Is he kidding me?' she thought inwardly. She hesitated a little longer before finally lifting her right hand into the air.
She heard some of the girls gasp and others began to whisper and mumble.
"Whoa! THAT CHICK HAS PINK HAIR!" said the voice of the boisterous male from before. Sakura chuckled slightly. Even if he was noisy, he amused her…a little.
"Okay, quiet down um…?" Kakashi began.
"The name's Naruto Uzumaki, BELIEVE IT!"
"Yes, yes…now I remember…" Kakashi said in a soft tone, silently recalling Naruto's name from a list of Dark Coven members. And from his scent, Kakashi was able to deduce that Naruto was a werewolf.
"Okay…enough with the introductions. Let's begin today's Biology Class," Kakashi announced and smirked when the class groaned, "Today we'll begin a new topic." He turned to the whiteboard and wrote 'EXCRETION' in block letters.
"Today, we'll be discussing Excretion," Kakashi continued…
"Is that the natural color of your hair, human?" asked the person sitting next to Sakura. It was a girl.
"Yes…" Sakura answered, noting that the girl called her 'human'.
"Oh…you should dye it or something, 'cause honestly it makes you look like a slut or some chick desperately in need of attention," the female insulted.
"Excuse me? What is your problem, vampire?" Sakura bit back, keeping her tone down while at it.
"H-How did you know?" the female vampire stuttered.
Sakura did not respond. Instead, she made a mental note to ask Kakashi to move her from her current seat. Why was a vampire in the school anyway? Did Tsunade know about this? Sakura heard the vampire student hiss.
"What is it, Karin?" Kakashi asked.
"May I be excused?" the female vampire asked.
"Sure," Kakashi permitted.
Sakura heard her 'classmate's' chair drag backwards; followed by footsteps. The female vampire called Karin had exited the classroom…
The other periods, even the break, went by pretty fast. So far, the day was boring, mostly because Kakashi was not around to talk with her. She did not want anyone to figure out that she blind. Presently, it was Lunch Period. Sakura sat alone at the table furthest from all the noise and the crowded areas of the school cafeteria. She picked at her food since she did not have an appetite.
"Hey…you're the girl from the elevator at the hospital!" Sakura heard a girl say. She recognized the voice and tried to recall who it belonged to…
"Hi…Ino – was it?" Sakura asked.
"You remembered! Okay…let's cut the act – I know you're the new member of the Dark Coven; it would be nice if you could join the rest of us for lunch. The other DC members wanna get to know you," Ino explained. So it seemed that Ino Yamanaka – the girl from the elevator was a slayer as well.
At the table Sakura was introduced to the other members of DC; two of which she had already met – Temari Suna and Naruto Uzumaki. She also became acquainted with Shikamaru Nara; Gaara Suna – the youngest brother of Temari; Kankuro Suna – another sibling of Temari's; Hinata who spoke timidly, stuttering in all of her statements; Shino and Kiba.
Sakura had already taken a liking to them. They were all amusing and warm-hearted. She had never felt like this in years. In fact, she had forgotten what it was like to have a friend. Then, Sakura was startled a bit by the sudden uproar in the cafeteria. It sounded more like annoying squeals – cries of anxiety rather than cries for help.
"What was that all about?" Sakura asked her new friends.
"It's nothing to really concern yourself with, but I'll tell you anyways," Ino answered, "Almost all of the girls in this school go crazy over Sasuke Uchiha. Oh…and I forgot to mention that he is also a slayer…"
"I know. I met him yesterday," Sakura told them.
"He talked to you?" Temari asked.
"Yes, but he said very little. He seems to be a person of little or no words," Sakura responded.
"Yeah…that bastard thinks he's all high and mighty because he's a Pureblood!" Naruto said, almost sounding annoyed. But his words shocked Sakura to no end.
"Pureblood? He's a…Vampire?" Sakura asked, confused.
"Yeah…didn't Tsunade tell you?" Kiba spoke up.
Sakura felt like crushing something. Tsunade failed to mention that Sakura would be working with the enemy.
'Working with the enemy,' Sakura scoffed inwardly, 'How ironic…'
When Kiba did not receive an answer from Sakura, instantly he knew the level of hate she had for Vampires. Her facial expression even supported his theory.
"Tell me," Naruto spoke, "Why do you hate vampires so much?"
Sakura's gaze became a harsh glare, fixated on the floor; though, she was not aware of it. There was an odd silence amongst all of them as they waited for her to answer. Then, she did…
"Because they killed my parents, mercilessly for their selfish need of blood and slaughtered my first best friend as entertainment…"
No one breathed a word.
And then, as if on cue, Kakashi appeared, and Sakura's new company of friends relaxed.
"Sakura, Tsunade wants to speak with you in the Principal's Office," Kakashi informed her.
"Good," Sakura replied, coldly, "Because there's something I wish to discuss with her…"
When Sakura arrived at Jiraya's office Tsunade was patiently sitting on one of the chairs near the wall. She stood to greet Sakura respectfully even if she could not visibly see that. She could tell by Sakura's facial expression, something was bothering her deeply. Greatly curious about Sakura's thoughts, Tsunade allowed her to speak first.
"Before I begin, there is something you wish to tell me, Sakura," Tsunade said with confidence.
Immediately, Sakura lost all the bravery she had conjured up to confront Tsunade about her queries. As she recalled, Tsunade did not ask her to speak her mind. It was almost as if she ordered it. A simple statement such as that was able to portray Tsunade's authority. It was then Sakura realized that such a character was to be respected, fearless as she was…
Sakura inhaled, and began.
"Just now I learned that one of Dark Coven's members is a Pureblood Vampire. Why didn't you tell me?" Sakura asked without hinting any sign of rage.
"Now that's where you're wrong, Sakura," Tsunade began, "If I told you that, I'd be lying…because there are four Pureblood Vampires in my organization. I do not work with vampires of noble class or A-Rank Vampires, only the Purebloods. The vampires on our team are trustworthy. I'm aware that I did not inform you about this, but this is so because I have an aim. Not all vampires are enemies. You have to be able to trust some of them, the same way you trust the werewolves. You must bring yourself to realize that there are vampires out there that see things the way we do."
"What was your aim?" Sakura asked, not afraid to show her anger anymore.
"To help you to understand what I just explained," Tsunade replied.
"And I do believe you've already met two of the vampires…" Tsunade spoke again.
"Two? You must be mistaken –" Sakura began, but was immediately corrected by Tsunade.
"Yesterday you met Sasuke Uchiha…but today, as I was making my way to Jiraya's office, I couldn't help but notice they way you were interacting so well with some of the DC members…one of them being a Pureblood Hyuuga – Hinata Hyuuga…"
There was a pregnant pause.
Not even Kakashi interrupted. For the first time, he did not support Sakura; and he did so knowing that it was for her own good. Hating the other race completely would not allow her to accomplish her goals.
"I take it that was all you had to say," Tsunade continued, "I shall explain your first mission to you now. Today you'll be assigned to investigate an abandoned area in Central Seattle – an area large enough for a community of low ranked vampires. You will be provided with weapons to match your skills and capabilities. When you are dismissed from school this evening, you are to meet with Sasuke Uchiha in the cafeteria. Being one of your teammates for this mission, he'll give you details on your way to Central Seattle. Your other team members are Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara and Neji Hyuuga. That is all. You may leave."
Kakashi led Sakura to the exit, but he did not leave the office. He knew that Sakura was capable of finding her way back to the cafeteria on her own. As she turned her body to enter another corridor, she felt herself bump into another person. She heard books hit the floor.
"I'm sorry…I was walking too fast…" she apologized immediately.
"It's okay," a girl replied. Sakura knelt to the floor and gathered two of the fallen books and then handed them to the girl.
"Thanks. My name is Tenten. I'm new here," the girl said.
"I'm Sakura and I'm new here as well," Sakura responded.
"Awesome. Well, it was nice meeting you; hope to see you around…"
"Yeah…" Sakura said and then turned on her heels and continued on her way to the café.
As she walked, Sakura frowned. She had not sensed any human presence as she turned onto that corridor. Why? Where did that girl suddenly appear from? And why did it seem that the girl was testing Sakura's abilities?
Sakura heard laughter and mumbling now. She had arrived at the café…
Later that evening, Sakura waited for the Pureblood Vampire in the cafeteria as she was told. After thinking about what Tsunade said, she decided that she was strong enough to allow herself to trust the vampire members of DC.
Still, she did not understand why a low class vampire was attending this school.
'Karin…' Sakura recalled, 'What kind of vampire was she?'
The café entrance door opened. Sakura presumed that it was Sasuke who entered.
"Let's go," he announced.
She walked in the direction of his voice and followed him out of the café and into the school's parking lot.
In the car, there was silence – as expected from Sasuke Uchiha.
Sasuke recalled everything that Tsunade had informed about Sakura, inwardly – about her tragic childhood; her capabilities – which he had little confidence of – and even her disorder. With the latter in mind, he began to explain the mission.
"Inuzuka, Nara and Hyuuga are waiting for us at a base near the discovered vampire society. It has been confirmed that they're all A- Ranked vampires and due to their presence, the number of human civilization has declined. From satellite captions, Tsunade was able to assign each team member to wipe out certain districts of the area. You on the other hand will be working with me since it's your first mission."
He threw something onto her lap.
"What is this?" she asked.
"It's a headphone that allows you to communicate with the other members of the team. The speaker goes into your right ear," Sasuke answered.
"Is there anything about the mission that you don't understand?" he asked.
"No."
"There's one more thing…" Sasuke continued, "Please don't screw up this mission…"
As soon as Sakura opened her mouth, the car came to a sudden halt. She held her tongue, thinking that she would let him slip just this one time.
As she stepped out of the car, she was greeted but a cold atmosphere. By the sound of the crickets and other creatures of the night, she was able to decipher that it was night time; she could almost feel the darkness.
"You guys ready?" Sakura heard a man ask. He sounded as if he dreaded having to do the mission and lazy at the same time.
"Don't be so impatient," another voice said, a bit further away from the first person's. This voice was smooth with enough deepness to figure that it belonged to a man as well.
"Hey Sakura, you ready for your first mission?" asked a familiar one.
"You shouldn't worry about me, Kiba, but yes, I am ready," Sakura assured. Now that everyone had spoken she new their exact location. To her, during an annihilation or assassination, verbal interaction was important. It helped her to locate her victim and in some cases, find out what sort of weapons they carried. Of course she had to communicate without giving off the impression that she was blind. For those who took her on silently, she simply focused on their foot movements or any other audible sign that would enable her to locate them.
Sakura was given a new change of clothing which she put on inside the sub headquarters. The outfit consisted of pants which allowed her to move freely and spandex tank top. At her waist was a belt, carrying three pouches of cartridges containing silver bullets. Her hands were covered with black gloves. Strapped onto her back was her wakazashi blade – a sword that resembled the Japanese Katana sword; and to her side was her 1970 HK VP70Z pistol which was given to her by Kakashi as a gift long ago.
Everyone was waiting for her outside by the car.
On taking in Sakura's appearance, Kiba whistled.
"Alright…let's go…" Sasuke commanded.
And no one hesitated to follow…
Sakura could feel the dampness of the soil beneath her feet. And on her skin, were the effects of a slight drizzle. It had been raining before they arrived. Everyone fanned out, off into the directions of the areas they were assigned to.
"Let's move," Sasuke said to Sakura, before running off. Following his footsteps, she did the same. Because he simply ran off without any word about obstacles ahead so she assumed that the area was clear.
They kept running for almost ten minutes before coming to a stop.
Sakura felt the presence of someone other than Sasuke, approaching them ahead.
Sasuke glanced at Sakura to see if she had distinguished that someone was now standing in front of them. Since the mission had started Sasuke held his breath to avoid Sakura's enticing scent. He was pretty sure that the A- Ranked vampire in front of them was almost drunk with her smell. What was so special about her scent? Her blood was different; rich; it was like a street drug that was so addictive, you would go insane if you could not have it.
The other vampire inhaled deeply and his eyes gleamed with excitement and lust…bloodlust.
"You've made a mistake by coming here, love," the vampire said to Sakura.
Her eye brows knitted together to form a frown.
"And you've made a mistake, breathing a single word to me," Sakura replied venomously before charging at the being before her. Simultaneously, she unsheathed her sixty centimeter wakazashi blade and clutched it tightly in her right hand, at the ready.
Then, she felt a change in the wind, like a sudden, swift movement. She stopped running. There was a heat behind her, nearing fast. Turning on her heals, in quick motion; Sakura slashed the head off the vampire's body which was previously sneaking up behind her.
'They're always so predictable', she thought to herself as she cleaned the blood off of her silver blade with a kerchief.
Beheading vampires or shooting them directly through the head with a bullet was the only way to destroy an A- Ranked Vampire's soul. The Noble Vampires and the Purebloods were much harder to kill; and she never before had she silenced either kind.
There was now a chorus of hissing. It confused her sense of hearing a bit, but from that she knew that she and Sasuke were now surrounded by other A-Ranked Vampires.
"They must have smelt their kin's death," Sasuke said to her. He was now standing beside her. Sasuke did not change his mind about doubting Sakura's capabilities from just one of her take-downs. She had won only a single battle; not to mention that she only fought one victim. He was not impressed, clearly.
The earth began to shake under their feet making it appear that thousands of vampires were charging, when in actuality, there were only about eighty. But still, the battle was unfair. There was no way two hunters could take care of eighty vampires without backup. Or at least, that was what Sakura thought…
The abruptness of the sound was what made a thousand chirping birds sound so horrific. It took a minute for Sakura to process that what she heard beside her was not the sound of birds, but electric current. Sakura felt Sasuke sprint forward. The current no longer sounded like birds, but like the cry of an eagle. Then violent screams filled the night's sky.
She had forgotten for a moment that Sasuke was a Pureblood Vampire. She, who had resented the Vampire Race so deeply, was now becoming comfortable with a Pureblood's presence; considering him as her real partner; as human. Yes, she had agreed to work with them, but she had never sworn to create a bond so close that they would be considered to be of her race. Sakura was too enraged with herself to recognize the presence other A-Ranked Vampires behind her.
"You wanna get yourself killed or something?" A woman's voice shouted at her, breaking her out of her train of thought. It took a moment for Sakura to focus on the enemies behind her. Before Sakura could even make forward, the newcomer said, "Take a few minutes to gather your thoughts and to get back into 'battle mode' while I handle this."
The woman was right. Sakura needed to pull herself together or she would get killed. Something about the woman's voice seemed familiar, though. She knew she had heard it somewhere before. Then she heard the sound of metal, clashing; bodies falling to the floor accompanied by screams of agony. This woman – was she a hunter? Sakura did not remember anyone else on the team who possessed that voice. Was she a back-up person? Did she even work for Dark Coven?
Sakura discarded those thoughts for a moment and beheaded a few vampires.
In the distance, Sasuke observed Sakura as he slaughtered, noticing the strange woman. By the looks of things, it appeared that she and Sakura were working together. A lower class vampire lunged at him.
Sasuke pulled his right arm back and announced, "Chidori Nagashi!" And suddenly all the vampire and all the other ones close by fell to the floor, their bodies devoured by the electric current surrounding Sasuke's body. The only being that could kill any vampire without having to behead them or shoot them in the head was a Pureblood Vampire. Every vampire in his area had been killed. He turned in Sakura's direction to see that she and the woman had annihilated their share of bloodsuckers as well.
In a flash, Sasuke was now beside Sakura once again.
"Our district is clear," he announced into the speaker to inform the rest of the team.
"Sakura," he began, now facing her, "care to explain who this is?"
"I don't know," she replied almost immediately.
"Hn…"
"Oh of course you do," the woman spoke.
Sakura gave a confused look and replayed the person's voice once again in her mind.
"That girl on the corridor at school…the newcomer – Tenten," Sakura recalled.
"That's correct," Tenten responded and Sakura could sense a smirk on the woman's lips.
The sound of a sword being unsheathed was heard and within a matter of seconds a blade was placed by Tenten's throat. Sasuke spoke.
"What is your purpose here, vampire?"
Okay…I'm so sorry this is late. I'll be on Easter break soon, so you'll get about two other updates in about two weeks. I just want to thank everyone who reviewed and subscribed to this story. I've decided that I shall continue to work on Dark Coven as a new installment.
For those of you who don't know, my first story is Quantum of Memory. It's 25+ Chapters long and it's ongoing, so please check it out (it's also a Naruto SasuSaku fanfic).
AND I'm also accepting FanArt for my stories, so if you're interested, please contact me via a Personal Message, and we'll discuss further.
Thanks for reading! AND PLEASE EXCUSE THE ERRORS…lolz.