Life or Something Like it
Chapter Three: Two Annoyances and a leech.
Sasuke couldn't believe he let himself be dragged out of his daily angst in his room. No one ruins his angsty brooding – wait did he just say that? Another sneer crossed his attractive face; really that child should stop watching that damn show. But no, Kakashi had to indulge her annoying need to buy the whole fucking series on DVD.
Damn TV and their need to put every old show under the sun on DVD.
Damn that pink hair annoyance for being obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Of all things to be obsessed with, it had to be that damn mockery of a show! Not to mention how untrue all that trash was and she just gobbled it up like a big juicy T-bone.
Dark eyes glared at the lively dance floor where his 'annoyances' laughed and mingled with strangers. The two biggest headaches in his un-life stood only 10 feet away from him and seemed to be having the time of their un-life. Life was just some sick joke and he was the punch line every time.
The latest annoyance bounced over to him, her odd shaded red – well it was more pink hair bounced with her small chest. "Hey there Mr. Grumpy pants!"
Oh no she didn't, secretly Sasuke plotted to destroy those DVDs as soon as he got home.
"Come on to the dance floor!" She slurred slightly.
The idiot got drunk.
Sasuke just gave her a dark warning look before he inched closer to the shadows of the booth.
One thing this avenger did not do, was bloody fucking dance.
As she threw her hands up in the air and let out an annoyed sigh. Dark eyes blinked as a smell floated under his nose. Sasuke noticed an odd scent from her. It was mixed in with other things but still that scent troubled him.
It always had since the first day they met.
"Naruto! Sasuke won't come and join the fun!"
"Well if you take his left arm and I take his right!" The loud blond shouted over the music.
"No way! That's a death wish!"
Why did they talk like he wasn't here? Another sting of jealousy hit him in the gut, and again he inched more into the darkness. Only he ran out and was now as far as he could get, damn.
"Fine! I will talk to the bastard!" Naruto obstinately approached their booth in the dance club.
"Good because we can't leave until he gets a bit of fun pumped into him, we agreed." Sakura patted Naruto on the shoulder, fully aware of Sasuke's fumes.
"Ya, ya whatever Sakura-chan just stay away from those horny bastards because I will kick their asses in a heart beat." Despite the violent threat, his eyes showed tenderness towards Sakura as she left for the dance floor once more.
"Alright Mr. Brooder what's got your briefs in a knot. We came here to have some fun." Naruto glanced at his friend, while there were times he wanted to rip out his guts they were still friends.
Kind of.
"You have been watching that idiotic excuses of a TV program with her haven't you?" Sasuke hissed at him as if he did something … well taboo.
"So? I found them really amusing! God I would so do Buff in a heart beat."
"You…. make me sick."
"That's not a new fact, so what's up? your more… well irritable then normal." Naruto titled his head to the side at the question.
Again onyx eyes stared at the figure in white and black, the colors that couldn't be more opposite. Two years since she joined the house, and for some reason he couldn't stand to like her but couldn't stand to fully hate her.
It was the most annoying thing next to Naruto in his life.
"Hey… Knock it off with that creepy look of yours." Naruto who automatically caught Sasuke's eye sight that lead straight to Sakura.
"Jealous?"
"Damn straight only I can give her dark lusty looks."
"… You are mentally ill."
"What's new?"
Sasuke took a sip of his wine and stared out into space. "… so why again do you like her?"
" She is full of life that's why. It was the reason why I fell hard for her in the first place and still am." Naruto could only grin at the memories.
To fall in love, Sasuke pondered this answer over and over. It was the same one he got every time he asked the blond.
What he and Naruto shared all those years ago was nothing but pure utter lust and the need to sexually release in it. In that love was never a factor, friendship, fondness maybe but love? No, Sasuke cut himself off from such emotions long ago and only a few remained in tact thanks to Naruto.
They got bored and broke it off, or at lest he did.
After all he had a bigger fish to fry then just how he and Naruto could spice up their sex life.
" But how did it happen?" The avenger pressed. He wanted to know just how his only friend just magically fell in love.
"Well…" Naruto shifted uncomfortably and made sure Sakura was not in hearing distance. "It was kind of funny how it all happened. Kakashi got me a mission out of state, this demon showed up in a small town. So my task was to find out whom and if it poses a threat to the town and so I started the night I got there. He was there already for a week and was stalking, well more like pestering this girl for another date. The girl was Sakura." Another fond smile found its way to Naruto's lips.
"She has a knack for dating demons then." It was a bitter tone.
"Shut up and let me tell the story you jerk. Anyways I was trailing him, who was trailing her, and she was with her best friend. God this girl Ino, the bossiest girl to ever torment man kind. She had the looks, bronze, and even some brains, not so much though when dealing with the forces of evil. A few times she turned to the demon and screamed at him to back off or she will throw his ass in front of a moving train. Didn't do much to shake him off though." He shifted some and looked at his empty glass.
" well Sakura tagged along with her friend for protect the next few days, the demon was actually pretty scared of Ino and the fact she kept to public places helped a lot too. On the 3rd night of trailing him, was when I bumped into the girls -three times in one night. Ino nearly put me in a pro wrester move on the third. That was until Sakura latched onto my arm. I guess she noticed that I wasn't an Average Joe and could take the stalker if need be." There was some amusement in his eyes, Sasuke noted as he told the story. So that was how it all started but there was a lot more. There had to be.
Like why had he changed her?
Naruto noticed the look and continued.
"So I became her pretend boyfriend for the next few days, the demon backed off knowing who I was. In the end I got rid of him like the orders said, however I asked Sakura if we could keep on dating. She of course had no clue what I really was and it was a tad refreshing. Even then she loved that vampire show and often dragged me to horror films. It was kind of funny how she liked it and didn't even know it was real.
"Ino almost went crazy when she found out Sakura wanted to keep dating me. I knew she knew something was up and she knew it."
"You know that last line made no sense dobe."
"Shut up! You wanted to know."
"I am starting to wish I hadn't asked."
"Fine!" Naruto slammed his palm down on the table. "I am going to the restroom."
"… you know…"
" I know, I don't need to take a dump! I am going to wash my face!"
Sasuke just shut up and rolled his eyes, what he was going to say was wash out his mouth with some water. His breath could make the worse smelling demon nose run for the hills.
As he started to relax the other annoyance slithered her way back to the table this time with company. Now he wouldn't say he was watching her too carefully just enough to see who talked to her. A tall man dressed in a gray coat and sunglasses, another man with odd face paint on and a head taller then Sakura, and a small girl with odd colored eyes.
The group of four walked over and Sakura was unmistakably used face paint boy as a cane. In the name of, Sasuke thought bitterly, could she even hold a drop of alcohol when she was human?
"See guys!" Sakura waved a hand at Sasuke, "I told you he was just like him! Expect the forehead part."
Sasuke felt a small bit of anger boil in his stomach.
The girl blinked a few times and sheepishly turned to Sakura, "That isn't very nice to say…Sakura-chan…"
"It's so true though! He even got the hold let me sulk in the darkness and angst down! I think they molded Angel after him I swear!" The face paint boy tried to hold his chuckle.
When Sakura glazed back at Sasuke, her already cold blood dropped a few degrees. " Ha..Hah…hahah… well Sasuke these are my best friends from High School. They are all going to the same collage here and well it was just by chance we met up."
Sakura patted the one with the sun glasses on the shoulder some, "This mysterious guy is Shino, got a real knack for research, the guy who is my human crutch is Kiba, and the mousy girl over there is Hinata. Everyone meet Sasuke my roommate's boyfriend. The one I been telling you all about."
Sasuke just about gagged on his drink.
"y-y-you mean the one that you were dating? The one Ino really hated?" Hinata looked over at Sasuke nervously.
"Yup he is the one! I know what you guys are thinking! I couldn't believe it myself! I have no faith in the opposite sex anymore…" She let out a mild cry and clung to Kiba with fake tears. "Kiba why do I always date the looser guys! Why! I came from a male free influenced world but still! I some how pick the worse ones!"
In this moment he really, deeply, and truly wanted to kill this whole club.
"Sa-ku-ra-chan!" Naruto picked this instant to enter and snag the pink hair girl from Kiba.
"Who are these people?" The blond ask while latched on to her.
"Oh.. Guys this is Naruto." Sakura pointed her thumb at her sire.
"The gay roommate right?" It was Kiba who went to confirm it. There was a smug smirk on his lip and an major ego flare.
"Ya."
"WHAT!"
The group of four suddenly broke into a fit of laughter, well Shino looked amused –however it was hard to even tell that and Hinata only giggled.
"Sakura I need to go touch up some…come with me to the bath room?" This time Sakura was effectively stolen by Hinata and dragged away.
The four male measured each other up, " So… you're the guys she is living with now?" It was Kiba that broke the ice first.
"Ya? So you're her friends from high school…" Naruto replied.
Kiba and Shino exchanged glances, before they asked again. "May we sit down with you?"
Naruto broke out into a grin and nodded. The blond acted as a buffer between them and Sasuke just in case.
"So.. What was Sakura like in high school? Still as polite then as she is now?" The blond asked. It was hard to get information out of Sakura whenever it came to the past.
Again, the two exchanged glances, "Are you kidding me?" Kiba folded his hands behind his neck and leaned back. "She got into at lest one fight every day. Trouble you should say stalked her for a pastime. She and Hina-chan though have been together since pre-school. From what they told us, a jerk picked on Hinata and Sakura used his face as a floor mop. Since then Sakura has been self proclaim big sis and protector of the weak picked on kids." Kiba could only smile at the thought.
"Me and Shino here were kind of loners and so she bounced over introduced her self and well dragged us for the ride. Ino joined around the last year of high school and took over for Sakura as her self pro claim big sis and protector." Kiba finished and grinned a little at Shino, both relived the memories in their mind.
"So your saying the little twit could fight?"
"Ya" Eyes narrowed slightly at Sasuke, he was the self proclaimed big brother of the group. The only guy that got pass his inspection was Naruto. The reason was Kiba wasn't there to do his inspection.
Shino pushed up his sun glasses again and glanced at the two, "So how has Sakura been in your company?"
"Annoy-" A sharp pitch from Naruto stopped the statement.
"Great and just so you know I am defiantly not gay. I like the female body too much to be! Just thought I would clear that up." Naruto grinned some and watched the two share a look. Sasuke wondered just how they could communicate with those sunglasses.
"So.. Tell us about you and Sakura then… Naruto right? All we know is from Ino told us about you… mind you it's not very pretty." Kiba Leaned forward a wolfish smile on his lips.
"Well… actually your just in time was telling my friend, you got that F-r-i-e-n-d – who is a boy but I am not romantically involved with - about how we met and started to date! Well let's see where was I?" The sire tapped his chin slightly with his index finger.
"You were talking about how Ino knew you were a flake and an idiot."
"Oh thanks…HEY! Anyways Like you guys know Ino hated my guts and tried to get Sakura to break up with me. However, I didn't give her any real reason too." Naruto stated and stroked his chin some in thought.
"Other then you're an Idiot."
"Shove it Sasuke."
"… are you sure you two aren't…. together?"
"Me and Sakura?"
"No you and him."
The table got quite until Naruto coughed some, " Anyways… we dated often for about a year then I asked her to move in with us and there you go." It was far from the true story but it would have to do.
Kiba and Shino again looked at each other, then back at the two. God that too was really started to irritate Sasuke, what are they doing? Mind reading? "We know."
That caught Sasuke's attention, eyes narrowed he watched the two.
"Know what?"
The dog boy just rolled his eyes some, "Ino told us, that well… you're not really… totally human."
Another silence filled the surrounding area. "Look we knew about Sakura's cancer long before you did. We found it a little odd that she suddenly was well and moving away. So we all ganged up on Ino and she told us."
Sasuke now spoke up, "Is that why you are all here in this town?"
"We wanted to make sure our friend was still our friend. If not well you would be sorry that you ever laid eyes on Sakura." Kiba spoke softly however murderous look remained stead fast in his eyes.
"Aren't you at lest a tiny bit…well shocked?" Naruto spoke up.
Shino again pushed up his sunglasses, "We know what goes around, and always did. A few of us were even jumped by some vampires before. So it comes to no shock."
"But Sakura… well didn't figure it out until I told her." Was she faking it? Naruto thought to himself.
" Along with her awful luck with guys and staying out of trouble, Sakura also got this habit of looking for the good and pretending not to see the bad. Which gets her in trouble in the first place." Kiba downed the rest of his drink.
"so now that we all know who is who, tell us the full non sugar coated story." This time it was Kiba, Shino, and Sasuke who looked to Naruto for the full story.
"Alright, alright, So we been dating for over a year now or about a year, when I get a phone call from Ino. She told me she was right outside of my apartment. I go and open up the door and she just forces her way in screaming at me. Grabs me by the caller of my shirt and starts to shake." He paused for a moment and looked downwards into his empty drink.
"I can still remember that look on her face when the tears came rolling down, and I thought someone like her would never cry. I rubbed her back and made some hot water for tea. Before you ask Sakura came over a few times so I always kept some with me and no she never saw the blood." The three faces on him nodded and he went on.
"She told me Sakura was in the hospital being her stubborn self. Now warning bells were going off, I asked her why and she told me Sakura got some serious cancer. That's when Ino told me, that she had me all figured out. That if I didn't try anything to save her friend well she was going to throw my ass out into the sun light and watch me turn to dust."
Suddenly Kiba let out a soft chuck, "That sure is Ino alright sorry about that."
"No problem, well I told her I could do what I could. If Sakura didn't want it I wouldn't force her. Ino agreed and I went to the hospital the next night and gave her the choice to make for herself. She said for me to come back in two nights and I did. I found that that she spent her last two days doing and eating the things she loved and accepted my offer. And that's how it happened, I took her home and helped her body heal itself and there you go."
Blue eyes glanced around to see if they would take that sugar coated version of the story, which they did.
"Hey look here comes the girls." A wolfish smile came up to Kiba's lips.
"Hey guys! sorry Hinata spilled all her make-up all over the floor then told me I should add a little color to myself as well."
"That's okay, come on Sakura sitting is so out dated." The face painted boy stood up and took the girls by the hands, "Let's go rip up that dance floor!"
"Alright! You in Shino?"
The sun glasses man stood and nodded in agreement. "Good night." even though you couldn't see his eyes, you could just tell he directed it towards the other two vampires.
" 'Night"
"See you two later! If you suddenly get the feeling you can't keep your hands off each other and get a room I understand!" Sakura shouted back at them while the other group dragged her off.
Sasuke really felt the urge to puke now.
Dark eyes met dull blue, "… Kakashi opened his big mouth."
"I still stand by my first thought." Sasuke now stated once alone.
"Which was? My Sakura is annoying?"
"No you dobe, that something is wrong with her."
"Like what?"
"Her smell! God you… don't tell me you didn't notice it?"
"Are you saying she has BO?"
Sasuke flexed his hand a few times to calm his temper. "No. She well… first off doesn't smell dead, and second it's the way she moves."
" … are you starting to…like Sakura?" Naruto's eyes were wide with shock.
"NO! For crying out loud think… there is something odd about it I can't place it…"
"Ya think I changed someone who was gifted?"
The two turned to look at each other, "Ya I changed a holy healer! Oh that would be the funniest thing."
"… you do know that is the worse thing you could possibly do in your un dead life."
"Oh come on, she was just a normal girl then and still is now. So get off your high horse."
" knowing you… you most likely did."
" maybe… naw that is like one in a million?"
Again they shared a look, and a rare laugh. "Naw! come on lets go join them Sasuke- bastard."
"I told you I don't dance."
"Then learn. we have all the time in the world."