Author's Crap: Yes! Ladies and Gentlemen, she is back. After a half-year break, inspiration has struck (more like boredom). So... here's dedication to everyone who reviewed and everyone who alerted but didn't review.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Limp Bizkit.
Life Endangered
Naruto held the phone as far away from his ear as possible. Ten thousand curses on the vampire who groped Sakura 'cause now she was bitching to him. Like it was his fault the leech mistaken her for a guy.
"-and then the coward teleports away. I wanna rip his dead heart out, cook it into stew and force feed it to him! That BASTARD-"
Naruto's abused ear and heavy eyelids were telling him that an hour of Sakura's complaining was fifty-nine minutes too long. He kept trying to get a word in about the late time, and how they had school tomorrow, but she was like a freaking steam engine. She just kept going and going- honestly, she must have broken some kind of record for the most threats used in one phone call.
Naruto tried again. "Ah, Sakura-chan maybe you could save this for tomorrow?" The silence on the other end of the phone was like the moment of quiet right before the nuclear bomb hits the ground. He jabbed the disconnect button before Mt. Haruno blew its top and tried not to think of the next day.
Sakura fumed in bed.
He hung up on her. He fucking hung up on her right in the middle of her perfectly delivered vampire-castration/murder/torture/all of the above-speech.
She slammed the phone back onto its receiver and slid under the covers. Her hand throbbed from being released from its hour-long phone-gripping position. Her arm stung where the vampire punched her. Her shoulder had a laceration where he ripped a piece of her shirt off. And lastly her b-… lets not go there.
She stared out her window into the night and silently swore that if she ever saw the offending leech again, she was going to punch him so hard his mother would feel it.
Sasuke sneezed. Rubbing his nose, he returned to brooding.
For the first time in his life, someone other then his master had physically hurt him. Usually, slayers didn't even come close to touching him- especially not female slayers. Sure, the gender-confusion thing threw him a little off but he still shouldn't't have let his guard down.
He looked at the slit on his arm that still had not healed and swore that he would hunt the slayer down and fix his mistake- namely, letting her live. What he didn't know was that she was making the same vow to him that very second.
Sakura threw her book bag on her couch and plopped down. Rummaging for her remote, she turned on the T.V.
It had been two eventless school days since the graveyard incidence and she had yet to break her vow- it's just that she hadn't't found him yet. Said vampire was ruling her mind's every waking moment and the people in her life were beginning to notice. In school, her teachers scolded her for her inattentiveness. Her parents complained that she was calling them less.
Her friends though, especially Naruto and Lee, knew what was wrong and commented that revenge was taking over her life. They even got their Squad Captain to force her to take a vacation for the next few nights.
"You can't let a personal grudge against one vampire affect your work," Sakura mimicked Captain Kakashi with a ridiculously high voice. So what if she was slaying bit more brutality? It's not like she was taking her grudge against that one perverted vampire who deserved a fate worse then death out on others. Besides, the undead all go the same place when they die anyway… but if they are undead when they live doesn't that mean they're half dead already? So when they die they'd be unlive?
...She was too bored.
Today was her second night off and she still had nothing to do. Because of her usual slayer activities, she had few extracurriculars. Hinata, her roommate and healer, was working part-time at a local vet clinic, so there was no one to talk to either.
Sakura decided to get some fresh air; there was nothing good on T.V anyway. She grabbed a jacket and her keys and walked outside into the hallway shared by the three other occupants of her floor. After climbing down four flights of stairs, she leaned into a relaxed position and walked.
"Hey Sakura nee-san!" a boy yelled from behind. She turned around to see a familiar face running towards her and waited until the boy ran up to her. "Where ya going?" the boy asked. He looked around her, "and where's Naruto nii-san? You're supposed to always be with him- isn't he your boyfriend?" Konohamaru's eyes turned wide at the thought of the forbidden topic.
Sakura cringed slightly, but in good humor. It was true that Naruto and her were seen more with each other than without. "Hey, Konohamaru. I don't know where Naruto is, and I'm taking a walk," she replied. "Do you want to come along?"
"Nah, I have to run some errands for Okaa-san. See you later!"
"Oh, later then," Sakura continued walking when she realized she missed a question. "For the record," she shouted at Konohamaru's diminishing back, "He is not my boyfriend."
Ah, the cliché denial line that is used in most dramas (and fanfictions) to date.
That kid was always looking up to Naruto- he was one of the few who showed her slayer partner respect. Sakura continued her way out of the neighborhood, entering the outskirts of town. She kept walking until she realized she was at her favorite place in town- the railroad tracks. Other people her age might enjoy loosening up at Starbucks or local clubs but she preferred the smell of air pollution and metal to coffee beans and sweat. She sat down on a nearby rock and closed her eyes with contentment.
She loved to get away from the bustle of her busy town and felt at peace with bright tiger lilies on one side and long winding tracks on the other. She laid back on her rock and let her mind drift away.
Sasuke tightened the bandage on his arm over the burning cut that was hurting more and more by day. Whatever kind of water that arrow was purified in; it was one hell of an annoyance. His stomach sent out a wave of nausea reminding him he needed to feed.
He paid these minor pains no attention; they would be taken care of after he killed the slayer. He grabbed the piece of cloth he had ripped from the slayer's shirt while sparring and smirked wickedly. Today was the day that he corrected his mistake.
He teleported from his flat to a richly decorated greeting hall.
He paid the plush carpet, authentic paintings, and breathtaking view of Paris no attention though. In his opinion, such materialism in a vampire was embarrassing. Anyone with an extended life and supernatural abilities could make money, but few showed it off like Kiba.
"Enjoying my little brother's personally designed hall? I think it reflects his personality a lot, actually." A woman with red markings on her face materialized behind Sasuke.
"Hana," Sasuke greeted while fingering the cloth. "Is Kiba in his room? I need a favor."
"He's upstairs playing with his dog. What do you need from him?"
Sasuke disappeared before she could ask.
Sasuke materialized in front of Kiba's door and knocked. "Dog-breath, open the door. I need some help."
It was common courtesy not to materialize in another vampire's private territory, but since Kiba shared the mansion with his sister (who opened the front hall to all guests) only Kiba's room was technically "private".
The door opened to a rather feral face. The sounds of bad guitar rifting and a wild voice belching out 'move in and move out, hands up now hands down' were amplified. "Yeah, you definitely need help, but I'm no shrink. You might wanna go pro." Kiba smiled at his brilliant comeback.
"I need you to track the owner of this," Sasuke said bluntly, holding out the cloth.
"What, no please and thank you? You were raised with better manners."
Sasuke scowled slightly. "Just do it. You owe me a favor anyway from that dog-pound accident."
Kiba's snide expression turned defensive as he stepped into the hall. "Hey, it wasn't my fault that they all escaped! I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time-"
"-and somehow you ended up in court with a dire need of a lawyer. Anyway, just track it." Sasuke shoved the scrap of fabric at Kiba.
Kiba reeled slightly from the force of Sasuke's push. "Jeez, aggressive much?" he muttered and handed the black scrap to Akamaru. The dog sniffed it and barked.
Kiba nodded at Sasuke and all three disappeared from the room. The sounds of nu-metal fell into the background and Kiba's decorated hall melted into the darkness.
Sasuke followed Kiba's aura and landed on a set of railroad tracks. He adjusted his weight on the tracks, and masked his aura. The sky here was much darker than in Paris due to time zones and the two vampires' senses were increased ten-fold in the dark. Sasuke picked up on the slayer's aura immediately.
"Thanks, you can go now." Sasuke dictated, wanting to dismiss Kiba as soon as possible. There was going to be a murder tonight and Sasuke didn't intend on sharing any of the blood. The slayer's life belonged to him- he held blood claim.
Kiba at him with curious eyes that widened slightly at Sasuke's wicked smirk. He wasn't going to be told twice though. With a "Whatever dude", Akamaru and Kiba vanished.
Sasuke walked down the railroad, one foot in front of another and hands in pockets, towards the slayer's spiritual energy. With his sharp eyesight, he spotted her sprawled on a rock one o'clock north. She was asleep, but he preferred not to take chances.
After glancing around and making sure there were no night strollers around, he transformed into a small wolf pup. Attention-grabbing, he knew, but practical. His arm throbbed, and he ignored it. He stalked towards her almost gloating with taste of revenge.
He would correct his little mistake. He would destroy the thing that hurt him. He would destroy his weaknesses.
Sasuke closed in on the girl on the rock on all fours until he was only a few meters away from her rock. He could hear a distant rumbling in the background behind him and feel a acerbic pain on his arm but he paid them no attention. He could only think of the satisfaction he would have when her sweet slayer blood filled his hungry belly. He bent his front paws to pounce and extended his claws when a blinding burst of pain racked through his body from the gash on his arm. It pounded through his empty veins fueled by his hunger and paralyzed his legs, forcing him on his stomach.
The rumbling was getting louder now, and Sasuke realized that it was a train coming straight for him. He tried to roll off the tracks, but he couldn't shift his weight due to the paralysis. Another excruciating wave of pain and he was near unconscious. Bracing himself and tensing his body, Sasuke utilized his vampiric line of defense. He hardened his muscles and braced for impact.
The impact came with the suddenness of a blade sinking into flesh. Sasuke was unconscious before the rebound that sent his body flying off the tracks.
AN: Ooh, the suspense (insert music)! Will Sasuke live? Will Sakura wake up? When will their relationship finally start? Will I finally break my Bubble Tea addiction? Find out in the next chapter! … Uh, not the Bubble Tea thing. Reviews and constructive feedback and plot bunnies welcome.