Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.
Supposedly they're dangerous. It's what Sakura's been taught since before she could really understand. Looking at one now, behind the bars that gleam with soft UV light serving as the only barrier between them, dangerous is not on the list that comes to mind. His ebony hair is an unkempt mop on his head, falling into his equally dark eyes that watch her like a caged rat. His alabaster skin is taunt around the bones of his face, gleaming like a skull in the darkness.
"Sasuke Uchiha," she tests the name on her tongue, "that's what they say your name is."
He doesn't move a muscle, just the flutter of eyelashes indicate he heard her at all.
"I've never seen a Vamp before," she clarifies although he doesn't ask, "I wanted to see what all the fuss is about. I have to say you're a bit disappointing."
"Let me out. We'll see how much I disappoint you then." His words are all sharp edges, gruff as if they are being ripped from his throat.
She smiles brightly at him, kneeling down closer to the bars. The light burns her eyes slightly, not as much as they would burn him if he were to come out of the shadow. "Arrogant. Even now. I like that."
He bares his teeth at her and she feels her own canines begin to protrude from her gums in instinctive response. They face off for a beat, perfectly still. Two predators eyeing one another. She smells sour fear on him, beneath sharp adrenaline. For a moment she feels a bud of sympathy like a rock in her chest, looking at the decrepit form before her, but she smothers the feeling before it blooms. Still, Sakura doesn't like to think of herself as cruel, and she backs up to give him the comfort of space again.
"I'm sorry for the conditions you've been kept in. I think you understand though, we have to be careful." Her tone is kept carefully hollow. She begins to leave, curiosity sated.
"Wait…Wolf," he calls out.
She looks over her shoulder at him, hand gripping the door handle, surprised.
"What is your name?"
She pauses at this, tempted to leave his question unanswered. After all he is their prisoner and ultimately a Lycan killer. Not a play thing. But he intrigues her, and her name alone offers no harm.
"Sakura," her voice rings out into the dark, and she closes the door behind her with a snap.
She visits again a week later. As she enters the room she hears the shift of his body against the stone floor. His eyes flash at her in the dark, two perfect circles of light.
"Why are you here?" his voice sounds weaker than before and she wonders when he was last fed.
"I don't know," she answers honestly. "I thought you could use company."
He doesn't answer her, staying almost unnaturally still. She watches him for a while, tracing his features and trying to see the monster underneath. He really doesn't look different from anyone she's seen before, maybe more pale. He moves again and she catches a whiff of his scent, skin prickling involuntarily and nose wrinkling. How could she have missed it before?
"Are you just going to stare?" he croaks, eyebrow cocked.
Sakura looks away, fighting the heat creeping up her neck. "You smell weird," she hisses back.
This takes him by surprise apparently, as she swears she hears an amused huff escape his mouth.
"You don't smell quite like a rose either, dog."
They return to their stare down, silence heavily blanketing the air between them.
"Why are you here?" he asks again.
"You're the enemy, I just wanted to understand what I'm supposed to be fighting." The answer surprises even her a little. The Clan taught her to hate vampires. That they were evil and must be annihilated. For hundreds of years there's been never-ending war, history so tangled and muddy she wonders if anyone even knows how it began. Sakura is relatively young for her kind, still in training, and only knows the safety and propaganda of her home. Nothing of the real world outside. When she heard rumors of a new, young prisoner, she couldn't help herself.
"How old are you?" Sakura asks, leaning back against the wall behind her.
"…Fifty."
She smiles softly at him, "I'm a year older than you."
"And you've never seen a vampire?"
"The Clan is…protective of their young."
A bell rings from the hallway outside, and Sakura is immediately on her feet. It's time to go back. She spares Sasuke another glance and bites her lip. Unsure of how to depart.
"Have you ever thought," Sasuke moves closer to the bars, "that vampires are the ones that need to be protected from you?"
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! It's a bit short, but I'll continue later.