He wanted to take it all in—

Her face, her gestures, her way of speech, her tear-stained face—

Everything—

And shove it into what little space his heart has left—

"..I don't know."

Sasuke backed up against the door. Everything was a mess…A total mess…

"You want revenge, don't you? Then come with us."

Come with us…

-

Kabuto threw a suit at Sasuke. "Go and tell her what you have to."

"What do you mean?"

"Sasuke, stop being so irresponsible." The grey-haired teenager tossed a kunai at a nearby tree casually.

Sasuke picked up the suit, doubt creeping into his face.

"You want me to walk into a deathtrap?"

Kabuto smirked. "It's much more fun that way."

The vampire ground his teeth his frustration.

Why… Why do I want to see her so much?

Sasuke shook his head, shaking off the possibility of any other feelings besides remorse.

I want to apologize. That's all. Apologize for biting her.

That was what I intended to do.

But…

Sasuke looked at his nicely- laced up boots.

He knew if his ex-accomplices were to show up and attack him at this place, he wouldn't be in his best fighting condition with… theoutfithe was wearing.

In fact, it would probably slow him down by twenty percent. Twenty percent was a huge percentage considering how fast Kiba and his mutt could go.

"… Sasuke."

Sakura's voice broke Sasuke's thoughts immediately. The vampire blinked and looked at the girl in front of him, a little taken aback.

"F…Forget about me." He repeated his sentence, backing away, and felt instant embarrassment at how weak it sounded. Where did his cool and calm composure go? Where was the image he wanted to portray? It was all coming apart.

He bit his bottom lip. What was he doing?

Why can't I think of anything to say?

Then Sasuke stopped, his mental state jolting as a uniquely high-pitched sound filled his ears. He heard the whistle. Time to go.

"…"

"You're going away again!" Sakura yelled suddenly, noticing his frantic expression. She stomped forward and grabbed the vampire's hand angrily before he disappeared through the ledge. "You're going to give me a proper explanation!"

For a moment, onyx eyes looked back at her. Then they converted back into red.

"Explanation for what?" Sasuke asked hoarsely.

"Don't act dumb!"

"I'm not."

"I want to know why you did that to me!"

"…It isn't that big a deal."

"Yes, it is!" Sakura screamed, crying again.

Sasuke stared, waiting for her to continue her sentence. Sakura took a deep breath and blasted at him.

"YES IT IS, BECAUSE I LIKE YOU, YOU IDIOT!"

-

Kabuto hung himself loosely from the rooftop, looking at his orange-coloured cards, and with sliver whistle dangling from his neck.

"Sakura, hmm…She's loud."

"And you're one annoying kid."

Kabuto turned around, grinning slightly.

"Why, my grey-haired counterpart. Good evening to you."

Kakashi twirled a stake in his fingers dangerously. "Good evening."

Then, without warning, two stakes flew to the spot where Kabuto was.

Kabuto landed safely on the other side of the roof, his grin vanishing.

"That was very rude of you."

"Battle tactics." Kakashi said, reaching into his pockets.

"That won't be a very nice idea. The whole roof is going to blow off, and then everyone will notice our presence."

"Oh, but this is a new technology. Besides, if you hadn't noticed…"

Kakashi's sentence trailed off as a huge gust of wind blew and caught Kabuto off guard, cutting the back of his clothes and splattering the ground with blood.

Kabuto muttered something vulgar, which pretty much contradicts his pleasant appearance—and sped to the side of the roof.

However, Shino rose up silently to the side, foiling his escape route.

"You play foul, Kakashi." Kabuto said, regaining his politeness.

"But of course." The vampire hunter grinned, spinning another stake in his fingers.

-

Naruto stood up, wiping the tears from his face.

"Done crying?" A low voice muttered impatiently.

The boy turned around and sighed when he saw the vampire standing behind him.

"…I didn't notice you."

Neji walked slowly forward and whacked his friend hard on the shoulder.

Naruto flinched and yelled in annoyance. "What the heck do you think you're doing?!"

Neji grinned, his face leaning close to Naruto's, wanting to catch the weakness which, unfortunately, showed up prominently on the blonde's face.

He didn't even bother to put up a tough front. Neji raised an eyebrow, disappointed.

"You finally yelled. You've been depressed all day, you know."

"Are you crazy or something?" Naruto punched Neji's arm, his face looking uncomfortable. "I'm not depressed."

"Isn't your school holding some festival or something?" Neji called as Naruto walked past him.

"I'm not going."

"Don't you want to see that girl?"

The ex-vampire stopped.

"What?"

"She's going to be taken away by some other guy, you know."
Naruto paused for a while, feeling his mind working. It seemed to have swollen up and refused to stop working altogether ever since he heard the news of Iruka's death.

For some reason, even the slightest mention of Sakura—not even directly—unclogged his brain.

He breathed, strengthening his resolve.

Then he came up with his response a few seconds later.

"… Taken away? Like hell that's going to happen."

He continued walking, leaving a stunned Neji standing alone in the park.

-

Author: I hate my new school life. (pauses) And I apologize for… not… updating… (gulps) I've been really busy. I've been having sadists for teachers. (GAH!)

I would like to thank everyone who has been supporting my fic all this while, and hope you do so for my other fics! (Yeah… right… Lack of updates… -gets whacked-)

...Sorry.