Ino adjusted her ponytail and at the same time searching for her pink-haired friend.
Aha!
Grinning, she slowly crept up to Sakura, who was slouching on the desk.
"SAKURA! GOOD MORNING!" The blonde girl yelled cheerfully, thumping Sakura on the back.
No response.
"Huh?" Ino blinked. She snapped her fingers, startling the girl. "Sakura? Are you alive?"
The figure that looked up had the most terrible face ponytail blonde had ever seen in her life. In fact, Ino's reaction to that was to scream at the top of her lungs.
"What happened to you?" She gasped, placing both hands on Sakura's shoulders and shaking her hard. Unfocused jade eyes looked back at Ino, giving a "Who-are-you?" expression. Then Sakura shook her head and went, "Oh, Ino."
"Oh, Ino."
Light green-blue eyes widened at that sentence, and Sakura's friend covered her mouth in shock.
"That's all you can say? Oh, Ino?"
"What?" The pink-haired wonder asked, irritated. "Why are you yelling at me so early in the morning anyway?"
SILENCE
"I give up." Ino sighed, and knocked on the desk. "What's going on with you? You're not like your usual self today."
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Sakura snapped, crossing her arms haughtily. "I'm as normal as ever!"
"Yeah, right." Ino said sarcastically. "Especially your face."
"…Sakura?"
"Huh?"
Another blonde, grinning face loomed into Sakura's point of view. "Good morning!"
"Uh… Good…"
Then the girl remembered last night's events, and curled her hands into a fist.
"Good morning to you too," She said, maintaining a pleasantly smiling face, and gave Naruto a swift one on the stomach.
"S-Sakura…?" Ino asked shakily, diverting her gaze to the boy who was currently yelling a continuous "OW!" on the floor.
"Hah?" Sakura said innocently, blinking as she cracked her knuckles.
Then a whole row of girls appeared from behind Sakura. The process took about five seconds, and they asked the question that Ino was about to ask at the time.
"Why did you do that to Naruto?"
"Eek!" The pink-haired schoolgirl yelped as she turned and saw several menacing faces that resembled Medusa.
-
Sasuke looked at the floor as he walked, ignoring the series of "Good Morning!" that followed him through the corridors.
His heart was thumping, and his mind was swirling with something heavy. He knew what that was. It was a sign of worry. Sasuke had never been familiar with emotions. Sure, he was okay with what people called "hate", but other than that…
"Worry" was another one. But the feeling now was different. It wasn't about vampires or anything of that sort. It was worlds apart form that.
There was screaming and yelling coming from the classroom. The student shook his head promptly, and pushed the sliding door open with one pale hand.
Creak.
His presence in the room had a stunning effect on the noise level.
Fangirls stopped chasing their victim, their mouths dropping open. Eyes went wide. A lolly dropped from some drooling guy's mouth. Even birds outside the window stopped chirping.
"…"
Sasuke covered his ears just as a roaring and shrilly "SASUKE-KUN!" burst out.
On the other hand, Sakura was free. The girls chasing her had someone else to occupy their minds with.
Naruto looked at Sasuke, then Sakura, his mouth curling in a grin.
-
Recess
"Say, Sakura, have you picked your dress yet?" Ino asked through a mouthful of bread.
"Dress?" Sakura looked alarmed. "What dress?"
"The dress for the grand fair! It's the biggest event in the school! The teacher told us about it! Have you forgotten?"
"That stupid event where everyone has to dress up in ancient costumes?"
"It's not stupid!"
"Whatever you say… I don't want to go…"
"I thought you're excited about it."
"Correction. You are excited about it. Not me."
Ino popped the last piece of bread into her mouth. "You're going."
Sakura bit on her straw. "Ino, I just don't want to go."
BANG!
"You are going." Ino's eyes could have emitted sparks.
Sakura gulped. "Fine, fine. I'll go." She held up both of her hands in surrender.
"Good." Ino sat down, patting her own hands free of any bread crust.
"But I won't have a partner anyway. And I'll just sit there looking like an idiot." Sakura muttered, sucking on her straw.
"Who said that you won't have a partner? Naruto and Sasuke are fighting because of you, isn't it?" Ino said unhappily.
Sasuke.
Sakura banged both of her hands on the table surface, and the round metal furniture the girls were sitting at shook a second time.
"What's the matter with you?" Ino asked, raising her eyebrows, hurriedly grabbing her milk before it spilled. "And wait… Why did you punch Naruto just now?"
Sakura turned red immediately. "Nothing. Just a little payback."
"...Payback for what?"
"Naruto!" Ino turned, noticing her fellow blonde behind her.
"For what happened yesterday!" Sakura snarled, answering Naruto's question.
The vampire-by-night-student-by-day boy leaned closer. Not a very good idea. Ino moved back a few centimeters.
"Look, that was my first too." Naruto protested. "And anyway, you should be thanking me for bandaging your knee."
Dark green eyes blinked, turning their direction towards a bandaged knee.
"Oh…Yeah…Right." Sakura started, feeling just a tad embarrassed.
"Right," Naruto said smugly.
"Uh. Thanks." The girl said, cracking her knuckles for a second time. "But I don't like your tone."
A fist shot out and made contact with the blonde's face at a few hundred meters per minute.
"OW!"
-
Sasuke closed his eyes, lying back on his chair.
He was alone in the classroom. It was rather dark without the lights on. And it was a time to think.
Temari had staked her brother.
Her brother used to be human.
Another image of Itachi slipped into his mind, causing the Uchiha to grind his teeth in frustration.
Vampire abilities—such as a strong sense of smell were already emerging within him. He could even identify Sakura's blood, which he had seen before. (And smelt because he'd seen it.) What would happen next? Will he end up just like Gaara?
Will he die like that?
No.
I will kill Itachi. No one gets to me before Itachi does.
If that is that case, then…
A finger reached out and stroked the desk before him, almost lovingly. Then a fist reached out and crushed it into two.
Amazing strength. Another vampire trait. It was coming to him, too.
Filthy!
Sick!
DISGUSTING!
Sasuke could hear and feel his heart beating like crazy. Not good. He didn't know what it was, or how it was, but it wasn't a good sign. The red, hurting fist slowly relaxed.
The hunter felt his breathing rate slow down. Then he was a normal, human being again.
"…"
He looked down at the remains of the desk, and back to his reddish, bruised hand.
Stop bothering me
Stop occupying my thoughts
If you want to kill me just get it over with
I am your prey, aren't I?
So why won't you strike?
Why must you stare at me with those red, taunting eyes of yours?
Why must you make me fear the nights so much?
Every single second that passes…
…Could be my last.
Stop it, please just stop it
I'd rather die than to live the days by
Frightened, wondering, worrying
If not just vanish from my life completely
-
Author: (Coughs) Thanks so much for your feedback for the previous chapter. I'll be writing chapters and some of the contents were already featured in other chapters, and thus please refer back if you don't understand (Looks around nervously) I really do hope you guys enjoy my story… And the reviews have been a constant encouragement! I'm really grateful for that. (Really!)