Author: Thank you all for reading!
There was a slow cracking sound as the faded, rusty lock lifted up, causing a few cervices to appear on the dusty surface.
Dull eyes watched the black nothingness as a gust of wind blew.
"…I'll be in control again…"
Sasuke glanced feverishly, helplessly as the vampire Sasuke passed by, with a wide smile on his bloodstained face.
"Weakling…"
The cage then locked itself up, and onyx eyes opened.
He was falling.
He was covered with blood again.
Why is this always happening?
He felt something flow from both of his eyes.
Tears…
I…I hadn't cried in the long time…
SPLASH.
Bubbles.
Water.
Muffled breathing.
Sasuke sank, stunned. Then something flowed past him.
Blood…!
He turned, shocked, and saw Sakura.
She was still bleeding from the puncture marks on her neck, and she was unconscious.
Instinct took over. Sasuke snapped out of his dazed state, grabbed the girl, and swam up to the water surface.
There was the sound of another splash as the both of them emerged out from the water surface.
Sakura coughed, choked, and started gasping for air. Strangely enough, Sasuke didn't seem to be panting or gasping for oxygen at all.
He glanced at the bleeding wounds from Sakura's neck, and felt a sick sense of disgust as he grimaced at the same time.
There was blood in his mouth.
Swimming quickly, the boy waded to shore, out from the rather deeply- dug pond, where the other hunters were waiting for him.
"Save her." Sasuke said hoarsely.
Kakashi walked towards his student, and picked Sakura up.
"No…"
A shaking hand grabbed the damp fabric of the boy's shirt.
"Sas…suke…" Sakura choked, water dripping from her face.
Sasuke gazed at her face for a while, and gritted his teeth furiously as he pulled her hand away.
I don't understand
Why there are so many idiots in this world
No human being with the right amount of sense would choose to trust in people so much
Even though they've been hurt
Their sense of trust has never wavered
Not even once
Don't they fear for their own lives?
Can emotion really overcome everything?
Sasuke turned to leave.
"We won't kill you." Temari crossed her arms. "If that's what you're worried about. We're just going to keep you in check."
"My apologies." Shino added quietly, patting his coat a little as he did so. "But I believe you've just taken the cure for...vampirism."
Sasuke felt something hard pound in his chest when Shino's sentence reached his ears.
-
Naruto woke up to seeing a bloodied Sakura in Kakashi's arms.
He blinked, saw the marks and knew immediately.
"Hold it, boy." Kakashi shoved the blonde back onto the sofa. "Sit there and be quiet. No time for bickering."
"Sakura is"—
"Isn't it obvious?" Kakashi retorted plainly to Naruto's mid-ramble, his gloved hands tying Sakura's wound up with a bandage. "Temari…" He called warily.
"I know, I know." Temari took the blood-replenishing potion and fed it to Sakura, who gagged and choked in the process.
"Do we need to perform the ritual?" Kiba asked dully. It was surprising as to how he hadn't spoke or complained in the past twenty minutes.
"It'll be no use." Kakashi explained, with a glance at his brooding student at a corner, and with another hand pushing Naruto away. "Calm down." He said.
"Why the hell should I?!" Naruto yelled, fighting against Kakashi's grip. "He bit her! He's a hunter, yet he bit her!"
"You bit her twice, you know."
"I'm a vampire, of course that's"—
"You are no longer one, and you don't have the authority to shout around like that. Sit down." Shino said.
Naruto stared at those ink-black sunglasses, swallowed, and stopped fighting. Kakashi's arm relaxed.
"…As I was saying…" Temari continued, driving herself straight into mini lecture mode.
Kakashi ruffled his grey hair absentmindedly—a habit of his. "Sakura's blood appears to have some sort of anti-vampirism properties."
"But I drank her blood twice… And it only worked the second time." Naruto said softly, steely blue eyes glaring at Sasuke.
"Maybe it has something to do with the amount." Temari suggested.
"There's no way to calculate that." Neji reasoned, a furtive look on his face.
Usual vampire dramatics, Kiba thought, annoyed. Akamaru was still trembling.
"So what are you going to do? Let Sasuke drink Sakura's blood twice?" Naruto snapped angrily.
There was a loud bang. Sasuke's fist had made contact on the table.
"I don't want her to get involved in this!" Both Sasuke and Naruto shouted.
Kakashi looked at the two boys, his mouth curling into a little smile behind his navy blue mask. Temari crossed her arms. She noticed it too.
"It could convert you back into a human, Sasuke." She said.
"Then again, Naruto's a special case. He is not a real vampire, so as to say. He had the First implanted into him, which made him one. He was not bitten or born one." Kakashi said, turning to Sasuke.
The ex-hunter did not make eye contact with everyone. He felt out of place. He wasn't a human anymore. He didn't belong here.
Itachi.
Sasuke blinked.
Being a vampire could increase your chances of defeating Itachi. Think about it. You have new powers and can achieve things that no human can.
You just have to feed on blood. It's a small price to pay, isn't it?
...That's you talking... !
In Sasuke's mind's eye, the again familiar grin surfaced, and strong, intimidating hands gripped the metal bars of the rusty cage.
Of course. I can lend you my power.
The temptation was there. Sasuke's hate for Itachi and vampires were fighting against one another.
"She'll be kept under observation. At least for now. She had lots taken from her." Temari said.
She felt sorry for the girl. No one would want to be sandwiched between two boys, with the added element of vampirism added in. Any normal girl would be traumatized. This girl is really something… To have endured all this crap this far without breaking down.
-
It was early morning. Sakura opened her eyes to see herself on the same bed once again. She groaned.
Sasuke…bit me.
She'd been confident that he would not bite her. But she was wrong.
She pulled her blanket over herself. It was scary. The thought scared her.
Sasuke's…other form…
The image morphed into Naruto, his teeth sinking into her neck…
Vampires are creatures… who feed on blood to survive.
"…" Sakura covered her face in her hands.
There was a knock on the door.
"Sakura?" A tenor voice whispered.
Sakura went to the door, but didn't open it. "Yes?"
"I… I'm Naruto." The blonde boy on the other side of the door closed his eyes, feeling as nervous as Sakura when she talked to Sasuke from the outside of the room the day before.
"I don't understand… vampires." Sakura sat down on the floor.
I don't know what to do. Am I making a mistake?
Am I making a mistake by trusting?
Naruto sat down too, his hands on his knees.
"Are you angry at me for sucking your blood?" He asked.
"Anyone would be angry at that. At least ask me for permission, right?" Sakura said, and instantly regretted it.
The blonde boy at the other side of the room almost laughed at her response. Permission?
"Yeah… sorry. I was… crapping." Sakura said, and her mood lifted a little.
"Sakura… Are you okay?" Naruto asked.
"Maybe."
Sakura raised her head up, observing the ceiling.
"Why did you feed me your blood?"
Naruto's heart seemed to tighten at that. After clenching both of his fists hard to calm himself, he spoke.
"I'm sorry."
Sakura, to her surprise, did not find herself being angry at Naruto's selfishness.
"I understand. You couldn't help it. But why would me turning into a vampire be of any benefit to you?"
"…"
The events from yesterday seemed to replay itself around Sakura as the door opened, and Naruto grabbed her in a terribly tight embrace.
"That's because I'm… obsessed with you."
Sakura was standing still as she listened to the boy.
"Obsessed… too much…I…"
There was yet another flashback from yesterday, replaying itself like an old film, right in front of Sakura's eyes.
The confusion… The hurt… Hesitation…
"I like you."