Sakura Trees Four
It wasn't quite morning yet – Sakura could tell that much from the small view the only window in the room provided – but she was wide awake. That was most unusual. Normally she would sleep as late as she could – her mother rarely managed to wake Sakura up until the girl was ready. Before the Chuunin exam business, she had had to force herself to get up in the mornings to meet the rest of Team Seven on the bridge and wait for Kakashi. Once those meetings stopped being a concern, she'd begun to let herself sleep later and later until she was waking up at noon almost every day. To not only be awake, but unable to go back to sleep at four AM. . . . She would've thought that she'd sleep even more than usual, considering the mission she'd just gone on – not less.
Sakura shrugged mentally, chalking the abnormal behavior up to being a demon. "A demon. . . . I'm a demon." She tried the words out loud, liking the sound of them. After a bit of sleep, it was easier to think about such things. She scowled a bit in the direction of Kakashi's room. It was also easier to see that Kakashi had just been trying to make her feel better. Well, before she left to get Sasuke, she'd just have to put him in his place – show her teacher that she wasn't some whiny little brat that couldn't handle a little change now and then.
She resolutely ignored that up until a few months ago, she had been a whiny little brat and that becoming a demon was hardly just a little bit of change.
Swinging her legs out of bed, Sakura glanced around at the room she'd been too preoccupied to take in the night before. It was nice enough, she supposed, but decidedly creepy. There'd definitely been blood spilled in it, though not recently. She shuddered. Why was she thinking about blood being . . . ? Sakura blinked and thought back to Sonoda Aki's house. She'd smelt blood there too. Not only that, but once back from her mission, she'd been quite nearly driven insane by the smell of it coming from the people all around her. Now that she thought about it, the only time she hadn't smelt blood since arriving in the village was when she was around Kakashi. Why was that?
Sakura put her mind to work. How much did she know about her sensei's relationship to Aki? They obviously knew each other at least well enough for her to tell him her life story, telling that they'd probably been at least good friends. Sakura shook her head. That's all they would've been. She hadn't seen anything to prove otherwise – no pictures of each other hanging on walls or sitting on desks, no dreamy smile when the other was mentioned, and no apparent care that Kakashi had sent an assassin after the ex-demon.
In either case, Sakura could be reasonably sure that Aki had lived in the room she was sitting in now for an extended amount of time. During that time, it would only make sense that Kakashi would learn or create new jutsus to help Aki resist killing him. Sakura grinned, glad to have figured out a plausible theory, and hopped the rest of the way out of bed. Thinking about blood had reminded her stomach why she had woken up in the first place: she smelt said substance close by. She licked her lips unconsciously and padded out into the kitchen for the snack Kakashi had promised would be waiting.
As Sakura got closer to her destination, she tried to discern some more information from the smell to take her mind off of what it was that she was going to drink. What her nose told her was confusing. Though most of it smelled exactly like the blood she'd had the night before, another smell mingled amongst the smell of pig's blood. This other scent was far sweeter and made her mouth water. It reminded her vaguely of the way Ino had smelled, but better. Purer.
"Sakura – did you just wake up?"
The kunoichi whirled around, startled. She'd thought that she'd been alone, but there Kakashi was, leaning against a section of wall she'd just past. She smiled hesitantly, mind not bothering to focus too much on the man. There was a good possibility that real blood – human blood – was just around the corner. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei. I guess I was hungry." Very hungry, her mind amended. She thought briefly about just continuing on without waiting for her sensei to reply, but the part of her that was still Sakura put its foot down at that. Wanting blood to the point of obsession – fine. Being rude to get to it? Not fine. Still, she wished he'd hurry and say whatever it was he wanted.
"Sakura," Kakashi started, eyeing her suspiciously. So far she seemed to be keeping the lust for blood in check, but he didn't trust that to last long. "Remember that for a while at least, the smell of human blood will smother all other smells. The less there is filtering that out, the less likely it is you'll be able to control yourself." Seeing that she wasn't listening, he sighed. "In other words, you're most susceptible to attack where there's blood."
Sakura heard the conclusion in his voice and, after noting that what he'd said was important and she would do well to remember it, took off toward the kitchen. She didn't notice that Kakashi was following with something he'd had hidden behind his back. She just knew that she had to get to the blood before it disappeared. Distantly, she wondered how said liquid would disappear, but that thought was ignored.
The blood was far more important, and within seconds she was gulping it down, careful not to spill a single drop. Blood was life and life was blood. Nothing else was important. She needed to get more. Nothing else was
CLINK. CLINK.
Something was restraining her from getting more blood! She growled, chakra spinning about her, searching out a source closer to her. It found one and
Sakura froze, only just realizing that she was about an inch from plunging her teeth, her fangs, into Kakashi's neck. She pulled away – tried to get as far from the man as she could – and fell, being jerked off her feet by handcuffs she had only hazy memories of being put on her. "K – Kakashi- sensei?"
Kakashi smiled and Sakura realized for the first time that he no longer had a mask on. She felt her cheeks heat up as she remembered the position she'd been in not a few seconds ago. There was something decidedly perverted about the whole setup, she decided, and she wasn't sure it was a coincidence. She scowled, not wanting to know why Kakashi had been able to get the handcuffs so quickly. It wasn't the sort of thing one wanted to know about their teacher, even if said objects could easily be explained with far more innocent reasons.
"Kakashi," she asked, voice far more confident and slightly annoyed this time, "what happened? You knew it, whatever it was, was going to, didn't you?"
Kakashi nodded and Sakura felt the blush return as she noticed that he really was quite good-looking. "Better than Sasuke even," Inner Sakura traitorously whispered in awe. Unfortunately, Sakura had to agree. Though he was far from perfect – he had a large scar running along his jawline – and probably a pervert, Sakura found herself wondering if she looked all right and if he was mad that she'd just attempted to kill him. Inner Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes. Kakashi was definitely a pervert, but probably didn't like little twelve year old girls. This thought made Sakura remember what the real problem was: not that she'd almost killed a man that happened to be amazingly attractive but that she'd nearly killed a man at all.
Kakashi's smile broadened as he read the emotions flitting across his student's face. Like he'd hoped, she wasn't going into shock or any such thing, instead going straight (or almost straight) to the analytical state of mind she was known for. "Some people, like Aki, call it the blood-lust. It's a stupid name, but it's accurate. Your mind and common sense were over- ridden by the urge to get more blood. Yes, I knew it would happen the first time you had human blood, and it will probably happen again. That's why I'll be accompanying you on your way to retrieve Sasuke. You need someone with you to supervise you, and I'm probably best suited for the job. Let's go – you won't need any supplies."
Sakura blinked as they darted out of the house and out of the village. She'd never even had time to argue.
AN: This has been typed up for about a month. BUT! My beta refused to go online without a gun to her head (which I provided) so... it took me a while to convince the poleeze men that I didn't not intend to kill anyone.
It wasn't quite morning yet – Sakura could tell that much from the small view the only window in the room provided – but she was wide awake. That was most unusual. Normally she would sleep as late as she could – her mother rarely managed to wake Sakura up until the girl was ready. Before the Chuunin exam business, she had had to force herself to get up in the mornings to meet the rest of Team Seven on the bridge and wait for Kakashi. Once those meetings stopped being a concern, she'd begun to let herself sleep later and later until she was waking up at noon almost every day. To not only be awake, but unable to go back to sleep at four AM. . . . She would've thought that she'd sleep even more than usual, considering the mission she'd just gone on – not less.
Sakura shrugged mentally, chalking the abnormal behavior up to being a demon. "A demon. . . . I'm a demon." She tried the words out loud, liking the sound of them. After a bit of sleep, it was easier to think about such things. She scowled a bit in the direction of Kakashi's room. It was also easier to see that Kakashi had just been trying to make her feel better. Well, before she left to get Sasuke, she'd just have to put him in his place – show her teacher that she wasn't some whiny little brat that couldn't handle a little change now and then.
She resolutely ignored that up until a few months ago, she had been a whiny little brat and that becoming a demon was hardly just a little bit of change.
Swinging her legs out of bed, Sakura glanced around at the room she'd been too preoccupied to take in the night before. It was nice enough, she supposed, but decidedly creepy. There'd definitely been blood spilled in it, though not recently. She shuddered. Why was she thinking about blood being . . . ? Sakura blinked and thought back to Sonoda Aki's house. She'd smelt blood there too. Not only that, but once back from her mission, she'd been quite nearly driven insane by the smell of it coming from the people all around her. Now that she thought about it, the only time she hadn't smelt blood since arriving in the village was when she was around Kakashi. Why was that?
Sakura put her mind to work. How much did she know about her sensei's relationship to Aki? They obviously knew each other at least well enough for her to tell him her life story, telling that they'd probably been at least good friends. Sakura shook her head. That's all they would've been. She hadn't seen anything to prove otherwise – no pictures of each other hanging on walls or sitting on desks, no dreamy smile when the other was mentioned, and no apparent care that Kakashi had sent an assassin after the ex-demon.
In either case, Sakura could be reasonably sure that Aki had lived in the room she was sitting in now for an extended amount of time. During that time, it would only make sense that Kakashi would learn or create new jutsus to help Aki resist killing him. Sakura grinned, glad to have figured out a plausible theory, and hopped the rest of the way out of bed. Thinking about blood had reminded her stomach why she had woken up in the first place: she smelt said substance close by. She licked her lips unconsciously and padded out into the kitchen for the snack Kakashi had promised would be waiting.
As Sakura got closer to her destination, she tried to discern some more information from the smell to take her mind off of what it was that she was going to drink. What her nose told her was confusing. Though most of it smelled exactly like the blood she'd had the night before, another smell mingled amongst the smell of pig's blood. This other scent was far sweeter and made her mouth water. It reminded her vaguely of the way Ino had smelled, but better. Purer.
"Sakura – did you just wake up?"
The kunoichi whirled around, startled. She'd thought that she'd been alone, but there Kakashi was, leaning against a section of wall she'd just past. She smiled hesitantly, mind not bothering to focus too much on the man. There was a good possibility that real blood – human blood – was just around the corner. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei. I guess I was hungry." Very hungry, her mind amended. She thought briefly about just continuing on without waiting for her sensei to reply, but the part of her that was still Sakura put its foot down at that. Wanting blood to the point of obsession – fine. Being rude to get to it? Not fine. Still, she wished he'd hurry and say whatever it was he wanted.
"Sakura," Kakashi started, eyeing her suspiciously. So far she seemed to be keeping the lust for blood in check, but he didn't trust that to last long. "Remember that for a while at least, the smell of human blood will smother all other smells. The less there is filtering that out, the less likely it is you'll be able to control yourself." Seeing that she wasn't listening, he sighed. "In other words, you're most susceptible to attack where there's blood."
Sakura heard the conclusion in his voice and, after noting that what he'd said was important and she would do well to remember it, took off toward the kitchen. She didn't notice that Kakashi was following with something he'd had hidden behind his back. She just knew that she had to get to the blood before it disappeared. Distantly, she wondered how said liquid would disappear, but that thought was ignored.
The blood was far more important, and within seconds she was gulping it down, careful not to spill a single drop. Blood was life and life was blood. Nothing else was important. She needed to get more. Nothing else was
CLINK. CLINK.
Something was restraining her from getting more blood! She growled, chakra spinning about her, searching out a source closer to her. It found one and
Sakura froze, only just realizing that she was about an inch from plunging her teeth, her fangs, into Kakashi's neck. She pulled away – tried to get as far from the man as she could – and fell, being jerked off her feet by handcuffs she had only hazy memories of being put on her. "K – Kakashi- sensei?"
Kakashi smiled and Sakura realized for the first time that he no longer had a mask on. She felt her cheeks heat up as she remembered the position she'd been in not a few seconds ago. There was something decidedly perverted about the whole setup, she decided, and she wasn't sure it was a coincidence. She scowled, not wanting to know why Kakashi had been able to get the handcuffs so quickly. It wasn't the sort of thing one wanted to know about their teacher, even if said objects could easily be explained with far more innocent reasons.
"Kakashi," she asked, voice far more confident and slightly annoyed this time, "what happened? You knew it, whatever it was, was going to, didn't you?"
Kakashi nodded and Sakura felt the blush return as she noticed that he really was quite good-looking. "Better than Sasuke even," Inner Sakura traitorously whispered in awe. Unfortunately, Sakura had to agree. Though he was far from perfect – he had a large scar running along his jawline – and probably a pervert, Sakura found herself wondering if she looked all right and if he was mad that she'd just attempted to kill him. Inner Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes. Kakashi was definitely a pervert, but probably didn't like little twelve year old girls. This thought made Sakura remember what the real problem was: not that she'd almost killed a man that happened to be amazingly attractive but that she'd nearly killed a man at all.
Kakashi's smile broadened as he read the emotions flitting across his student's face. Like he'd hoped, she wasn't going into shock or any such thing, instead going straight (or almost straight) to the analytical state of mind she was known for. "Some people, like Aki, call it the blood-lust. It's a stupid name, but it's accurate. Your mind and common sense were over- ridden by the urge to get more blood. Yes, I knew it would happen the first time you had human blood, and it will probably happen again. That's why I'll be accompanying you on your way to retrieve Sasuke. You need someone with you to supervise you, and I'm probably best suited for the job. Let's go – you won't need any supplies."
Sakura blinked as they darted out of the house and out of the village. She'd never even had time to argue.
AN: This has been typed up for about a month. BUT! My beta refused to go online without a gun to her head (which I provided) so... it took me a while to convince the poleeze men that I didn't not intend to kill anyone.