Author: Science kills my brain cells.

Ino and Sakura sat in a deserted, quiet corner in the corridor, with Sakura still trying to calm herself down.

Ino's sharp eyes darted about to spot lurking couples, rendered her search negative—at least for the moment—and glanced back wearily at her now hiccupping friend.

"I'm sorry." Sakura wiped her face furiously. "I… I lost control of myself."

"Don't worry about it…" The blonde girl smoothed out the folds on her black dress and stared at the sky. "Just do what you have to."

The other girl looked down. She was appreciative of her friend's concern, but Ino wasn't about to get another word from her regarding her current situation. It would, she decided mutely, throw Ino off the normal line of thinking. Acceptance was a difficult thing, and ridicule was something that she didn't particularly need right now. Besides, vampires belong in fictional books, and should stay that way.

Sakura clenched her fists, as if to signify her inner conflicting thoughts.

She was being selfish, and she knew it. Invisible guilt oozed from her every pore. Sakura couldn't bear deceive her best friend, but it was for her own good.

Then again, she was just being another coward. Sakura chided herself mentally.

No time for another round of self-bashing. She had other important things to think about.

The pink-haired girl adjusted her white gown and spoke.

"I just had some… family problems."

Ino stared at her friend. She had a knack for detecting instability. "Oh."

Sakura carried on. "I'm sorry."

"Stop saying sorry…" Ino turned her head back to the star-filled skies. She was no amateur at dealing with troublesome affairs, and given her years of experience, pressurizing Sakura wasn't going to help matters. "Look, just tell me when you want to."

She kept her tone relaxed for Sakura's benefit, and it apparently worked. Sakura's tense shoulders lost their edginess and sloped down gently.

"…Thanks, Ino."

-

Kakashi collapsed onto the cement floor with a thump, his brain automatically tuned to ignore the shooting pains from his shoulders. He covered his eyes with his gloved hand, uttering a word of frustration.

Temari settled down with her enormous fan, now closed, her face filled with worry. Gaara's face still haunted her to some extent, and she definitely did not want any of her brother's insanity reflected on Sasuke's face.

She covered her mouth hurriedly to prevent herself from gasping, and a tanned hand slapped her lazily on the shoulder.

Shikamaru's face held its usual bored look. Looks like you haven't recovered from that incident yet, Temari.

-

"Oh, so you're asking me for favors now?" Neji crossed his arms and smirked.

"Neji, it's only a suit!" Naruto said indignantly.

"You shouldn't be using that tone with me. I'm the one you're asking favors from, now."

Naruto stamped his feet, impatient. "But there's no time!"

The white-eyed vampire glanced at his roommate, amused. "Alright, I get it." He fished out a suit from the ancient cupboard and dusted it.

Naruto strode forward, taking the suit in his hands carefully. "Thanks."

"…"

Neji's white eyes glinted, his face turning serious.

"Hey, Naruto." He called as Naruto put on the suit hurriedly and prepared to leave for school.

"… I thought you were…"

"Huh?" Naruto turned back, puzzled.

That idiot was just crying over Iruka a while ago. Is this Sakura girl that important to him?

"You…" Neji started, but stopped himself again awkwardly, not knowing how to put forward his mental protest in words.

Naruto's sky-blue eyes narrowed, and he turned once more to look at Neji in the eye.

"Hey." Naruto's tone was cool. "I trust you, Neji." His eyes remained focused, staring into Neji's silver-white ones. "And, well, that is the reason why i haven't blamed you for not telling me what happened to Iruka."

"…!"

Neji blinked his silver eyes in shock. The impact of Naruto's unpredicted, bluntly-put sentence was instantaneous.

"Anyway, that was Iruka's… wish." Naruto added, hastily turning around.

"…"

A little smirk formed in Neji's lips. The idiot has grown up.

He opened his mouth and spoke.

"Ha, you trust me? What makes you think I'm actually going to apologize? I have no business in your affairs, and to be frank, I don't give a hoot about them."

Naruto, despite the rude response from his friend, grinned. He understood Neji's character.

"Whatever you say…"

He walked out from the door, turned back for the third time, and made a cheeky face.

"…LIAR." It was his turn to smirk, and gloat showed in his young face. It wasn't everyday that he could stun the self-proclaimed expert on psychology into silence. It was usually the other way around.
And with Neji's expression carved mentally into his memory system, Naruto closed the door, his legs picking up speed as he ran through the porch outside.

His footsteps echoed through the house, and it was only after thirty seconds before Neji could snap out of his shock and start his brain working.

"...What the..."

Unfortunately, the vampire had failed to realize that his blushing face was a dead giveaway.

-

Shino slid down the rooftop, his expression masked by his glasses.

"The two got away."

Kiba groaned. "What the hell… What are we supposed to do now?" He looked at Akamaru.

"Tracking is not possible. Both of them are vampires and we all know about their fast walk."

Shikamaru stretched, his eyes looking at a pissed off Temari. "Once they escape from our watch, they move too fast for us to catch up on. We'll just have to wait."

"If only this compound wasn't so big… I could create a barrier…"

"It isn't your fault." Kakashi patted Temari's shoulder, his face calm, but Temari could feel his gloved hand shaking. "Let's retreat for now."

"…"

-

Thump!

Sasuke placed a hand against a tree, his red eyes turning slowly into normal as sweat dripped from his face.

He was panting heavily. In contrast, Kabuto looked hardly tired at all.

"You should train more. Seems like your newly converted body cannot take the stress…"

Sasuke forced himself to take a deep breath, his hand curling into a fist.

Kabuto leaned against the trunk, taking his glasses off and wiping them. "That Kakashi is troublesome--"

Crunch.

The other vampire suddenly punched the tree, interrupting Kabuto's mid rant.

"Shut up."

Sasuke was pissed at Kabuto's attempt at trying to make lame conversation. His feelings were in a mess.

He'd ended up being even more confused than before.

That kiss was involuntary.

He groaned, uncomfortable.

Involuntary! Sasuke protested in his mind again.

I don't know why I did it. I don't know… It just somehow…

How could he? Why couldn't he?

"… I just can't put these feelings down…"

He punched the tree again, ignoring the roughness of the bark. It scratched against his fist, making it bleed.

"…"

Kabuto, apparently ignored Sasuke's outburst to call for silence, held up a helpful hand.

"Want me to heal you?"

Sasuke turned away, putting his injured hand to his mouth.

The cut was bleeding, after all.

-

Author: I hope i can start on the sequel soon...