The vampire pinned the girl down on the bed, opened his mouth and immediately went for her throat.

A red rose.

A beautiful red rose.

A beautiful, sweet-smelling red rose.

It attracts.

"…NO!" Sakura screamed, and pushed him away.

...I HAVE TO GET HIM AWAY FROM MY THROAT AT ALL COSTS!

She tried, without success, to get off the bed. Run... Escape! HURRY! The shrill voice in her mind screamed with a sense of urgency, alerting the girl, pressuring her.

Meanwhile, Gaara got up slowly from the floor, licking his lips.

An unsuspecting hand reaches out to hold it.

It repels.

The victim gasps in shock.

Blood dripped down slowly from his fingers.

Thorns.

Within seconds, Sakura was once again held and trapped by the extremely swift vampire. A strong hand grabbed the girl's frail and fragile one, and a grinning mouth revealed its fangs, which sank down into the prey's hand without hesitation.

-

Sasuke was pissed off. He was pissed off about how Sakura's face kept reappearing in his mind, he was irritated with Temari, he was angry that the opponent in the fight eariler chose to leave him in the middle of it instead of finishing him off.

And plus, he was in a weak state during that time, too. That made the humiliation worse.

Itachi.

Itachi chose to kill everyone in the clan and not me?

Why did he let me live?

WHY?

Sasuke clenched his stake so hard that his whole hand shook. As an added bonus, the vampire he'd encountered was Temari's brother.

How delightful.

Shikamaru sensed killer instinct coming from the raven-haired boy, and automatically backed away. Temari was too distracted thinking about her younger brother to notice.

"…" The boy with the pineapple- style ponytail gulped.

… I must be the only one thinking normally around here…

A red rose.

A beautiful red rose.

A beautiful, sweet-smelling red rose.

A beautiful, sweet-smelling, deceiving red rose...

-

Sakura had her eyes closed tightly, waiting for the pain that would start smearing through her wrist.

It didn't happen.

W-what?

She opened her eyes a little. Gaara was still clutching her hand, but he'd stopped in midair, his eyes wide.

What's he… looking at? Sakura strained to look in the corner of her eye to see what was catching his attention, although she should really be seizing that chance to escape.

"Sis…ter…" Gaara spluttered in disbelief.

T-The bear?

Flashback:

"WATCH OUT!"

Gaara pushed Temari to the ground as the vampire lunged…

CRUNCH-

"GASP!"

Gaara suddenly released Sakura's wrist, the green in his eyes now alight with something--an emotion that she could not recongize. In fact, it was practically alien to the girl.

Just who is he?

Sakura blinked, her lip still burning. The bleeding had stopped, though.

"Um." She turned quicklyand picked the bear up, her hand shaky.

What am I doing?

"Is this… yours?" Sakura asked warily, her mouth dry.

She made sure to keep a distance from her attacker as she talked.

The vampire stared, probably shocked by her question and actions. There was a pause.

"…"

A pale hand reached out slowly to take the bear…

"GAARA!"

W...WHO--

Sakura gulped as a blonde girl burst in through her half-opened window.

BANG.

Both Gaara and her ducked quickly as glass shattered and fell to the floor with an ear-splitting crash.

Temari stood beside the window, her enormous fan open.

-

"…It's going to be time soon… Huh…"

The masked man looked up at the moon with one lazy eye, and another hand scratching his head absentmindedly.

"Guess I'd better give the kid a visit…"

He took up a silver stake from the table, and threw it at a figure at the door, which let out a loud scream and dissolved into white ashes instantly.

"Sometimes I really hate this job… Aaah."

The man yawned and stretched.

"Gotta be getting to sleep…"

-

"What the--?"

Gaara's initial shock worsened, but he somehow got over it, snatched the bear from Sakura, brushed through Temari and leapt out from the window.

The boy seemed to be moving in slow motion as he made his escape. Then he jolted as a fierce grip grabbed him hard from the back, and took over.

"!"

I can't… move?

The red-haired boy stood rooted on the rooftop, his expression showing signs of resistance, but not his body.

"Ah… Vampires hate being restrained, huh?"

Shikamaru put his hands by his sides, and Gaara did the same, his face filled with anger and disgust.

"I see." The vampire growled. "You're from one of those families …"

Sasuke came running from the back of the house, glanced at Sakura, and got onto the rooftop within seconds.

"Shikamaru, back off." He said, throwing the stake at the paralyzed vampire.

"WIND!"

An abnormally strong gust of wind blew, and deflected the stake into another direction.

The sharp end stabbed harmlessly into a tree truck instead, and the wind stopped.

Sasuke stared at the scene in aghast, glared, and took out yet another stake from his pockets.

"…Let me handle this." The blonde girl said, without another look at the pale lad-- take that two pale lads. Her right palm pushed the fan tip lightly, and the huge fan snapped shut.

"…"

Ink-black eyes bore into Temari's face, studying her, and seemed to understand after a moment. Sasuke placed the stake back into his pocket.

"Fine." He responded in the same low tone Temari had used. "But you have to remember thathe's a vampire. And that is a fact that cannot be changed."

After saying that, Sasuke leapt off from the rooftop and landed on the ground safely, on all fours like a cat's.

"And by the way, that's someone's house. Why don't you go somewhere?"

Temari smiled weakly, apparently grateful for his actions, and turned her attention back to Gaara.

"Fine. Shikamaru, I'll take over for now."

What looked like lazy, bored eyes looked at up at her. "Give it your best shot." Shikamaru said, smirking, and released the spell.

Temari, in one quick motion, held up her fan and trusted it forward.

There was yet another gust of wind, and the siblings were gone.

-

Shikamaru got off from the rooftop and yawned.

"I'll go check up on them. See you."

Then he was gone.

Crunch.

"E-Eh…Sasuke?" A timid voice said nervously.

"What is it?" Sasuke turned around, annoyed. It was Sakura who'd called him, and the pink-haired girl was looking shy. Shy! That made the boy even more annoyed.

"Hm… How do I put this…?" She muttered, staring at the ground to avoid eye contact.

"We'll pay you for the window, since Temari shattered it."

"T-The vampire…"

"He didn't bite you or anything. Besides, it wasn't the same vampire as before."

"U-Uh…T-Thanks for… Thanks for… coming."

"I didn't want to. And besides, Temari was the one who saved you."

"Well, thanks for telling them to take their fight somewhere else, then…"

That did it. Sasuke frowned and turned, preparing to leave.

Sakura halted, and gasped as he started to move.

I-I have to apologize…

He's leaving, you idiot! Talk to him! NOW!

NOW!

She opened her mouth.

-

Author: And that's how things go… (Coughs and starts reading from paper) I'm really glad that you people reviewed, and seriously, SERIOUSLY happy that you'd want to find out what happens next. This means that I'm doing… um… a good job? (I hope?)

When people review my stories, I take it as a way to improve and also as a confidence booster when the feedback is good. (Kneels down and bows)

So… THANKYOU SO MUCH!
(Takes out shield and blocks some of the arrows that suddenly start shooting)

I'll try and stop the cliff hangers! But I make up the story as it goes! I don't even have an overall plot at all… (Sweatdrops)

… And thus the cliff hangers. Sometimes, having cliff hangers make it a good way to start the next chapter, too…

I'll try my best! Again, THANK YOU!

(Runs away with fresh arrows sticking out of her shield)