I know. I should be shot for not updating this story, though I doubt many of you don't care anymore due to lack of updates, but for those who do; hi, I am moodiful819 and I have a problem updating. It's not that I don't like Sasusaku (I still love it, miraculously), but I have my other stories which give me more response and therefore earn more attention. There, I said it. You want more chapters, you've just found out the magic key. Maybe it's the positive reinforcement or something else I learned in biology, but I honestly update stories that have given me more reviews. They give me something to go on. What people like and don't like about my story and just the knowledge that people actually enjoy reading my work.

Okay, that has been festering for a while now. That aside, I really would like some more reviews for this story. Anyway, here it goes.

Chapter 5: Message

"Sakura? Sakura? FOREHEAD GIRL!!! Don't make me come up there!"

And so, Haruno Sakura's blissful night of sleep and pleasant dreams was once again dashed by the vocal stylings of one Yamanaka Ino. Please give a round of applause as Sakura buries her head under a pillow and attempts to shut her out.

"FOREHEAD! If you don't get out here, I swear; I will pull out every dark secret you've ever had since we were five. Don't think I'll do it? Haruno Sakura has a deep, dark fear of—"

The door opened, revealing a very tired and disheveled looking Sakura. Ino blinked in surprise. "Oh, you're here!"

"I said I was coming! You just couldn't hear because of your screeching, pig," Sakura sneered. Ino, picking up on the insult, narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Oh; screeching, am I? If I'm screeching, then what do you do? Crow?" Sakura merely glared back, waves upon waves of murderous aura flowing and crackling between the two girls when a voice called out.

"Guys, don't fight. Remember why we came here, Ino-chan," Hinata pleaded, effectively diffusing the situation as the two calmed down. For some reason, they could never bring themselves to fight long in front of Hinata. It was something that mystified and amazed the two and they would give anything to know her secret.

Sakura sighed and raked a hand through her hair. "So what are you guys doing here?"

"Well, you were gone for a while now. Tsunade's worried," Tenten explained strolling onto the scene from her car, understandable since she was the one who drove the two here.

"Really? Have I been gone that long?"

"Hello forehead. Two weeks?" Ino asked, making a point to knock on her friend's head.

Sakura nodded. That would give grounds for Tsunade to be worried. Besides the woman being one of her professors at college, Tsunade was also the unofficial caretaker of Sakura after she took a liking to her during one of her classes. Though she was treated just like everyone else, it was hard to miss the glowing smile Tsunade had when taking to the pink-haired girl.

"Oi, mortal. Where do you keep the toothpaste? You're out."

"In the closet by the bathroom. Second shelf from the bottom," Sakura replied casually glancing over her shoulder to address the dark-haired man. Said man merely grunted a 'thanks' and quietly went back upstairs.

"Whoa…"

"Oh my," Hinata said blushing.

"FOREHEAD! You never told me you were shacking up with a hottie like that. Where have you been hiding him? Was that why you were gone for so long?" Ino asked slyly, causing a blush to span across Sakura's face. Tenten and Hinata merely waited on the doorstep for answers.

"Ino!" Sakura screeched. "Nothing happened between us."

"Are you sure?" she purred.

"Yes! He just—I just—He just—"

"You what?" Tenten asked.

Sakura looked both ways before waving her hand. "I'll tell you guys inside."

"No can do," Tenten grinned, "you're in danger of being kicked out if you miss one more day of school. And judging by the current time, plus travel time, you have five minutes to get ready."

"Kicked out?!" Sakura screeched. Slamming the door, the sound of pounding footsteps filtered through the wooden barrier before a shout of 'Move Sasuke, I'm late!' sounded, followed by a clatter and another set of stomps and a fierce yell of "Shit!"

"So tell me about Sasuke," Ino said as their car whizzed by the residential houses of the neighborhood. They were on the way to their college, Konoha University, with Tenten at the helm as she maneuvered through the busy streets. Hinata just sat in the front seat hoping she didn't throw up her breakfast.

"I…I dunno. You wouldn't believe me even if I tried," Sakura said exasperatedly as she tried to soothe her migraine.

"Try me," Ino responded easily as a dazed look crossed her face as she imagined Sasuke. That body, that attitude, those eyes…he was like sex-incarnate. Besides existing, what could be so unbelievable?

"Sasuke's a demon from Hell who tried to kill me and I'm an angel and I almost killed him, so now he's recovering at my house," she said except much, much faster, but miraculously, Ino caught it all. Probably because she talked at that speed when she was excited or found out there was a sale at the mall, which was probably the same thing.

"What did she say?" Tenten asked glancing into the rearview mirror.

"Sasuke's a demon. She's an angel. They both tried to kill each other and he's recovering at her house."

"Sounds like a bad RPG."

"I know, right?"

"See! This is what I meant when I said you wouldn't believe me!"

"I believe you, Sakura," Hinata voiced.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd believe her, Hinata. Your family is into the occult stuff."

"Ino, it isn't occult stuff! They're priests and they take care of the shrines. They bless people. Besides, her family is one of the most respected clans in Japan!" Tenten corrected with thinly veiled annoyance. Hinata was her best friend and not even Ino could get away saying that kind of stuff.

"Yeah, but they do those weird exorcisms too. Anyway, I don't believe in that stuff, but what about you, Hinata? You were confined to your family's compound until you begged your father to let you go to school like normal people."

"Well, my father's really protective of me. I mean, I am the heiress of our clan and there's a lot of intensive training involved with that position, but I'm glad my dad let me go to middle school outside the compound. Otherwise, I never would've met any of you," she admitted sheepishly.

"Aww…Hinata, you're so adorable!" cried Ino and Sakura as they reached into the front passenger seat to hug the pale-eyed girl when the car swerved violently to the left.

"Ino! Sakura! Sit down! I can't see!"

The car rolled to a stop. They were in the student parking lot of Konoha University, a large public college famous for their alumni and their advancing studies in the field of science and technology. To come here was an honor and many of the students found jobs in the first two months after graduation. Unfortunately, it wouldn't do you any good if you weren't there for the actual classes.

"Guys! Hurry up! Tsunade's class is already ending!"

"Well, sorry Tenten, but whose fault was it for getting lost?"

"Well Ino, if you weren't so busy waving that rat's nest you call 'hair' around, I wouldn't have had to miss our exit and find another way to get to school."

Ino turned her nose up and scoffed. "Well, you could've just turned around."

"On the FREEWAY?!" Tenten screeched, the sound echoing through the halls.

"Well, did you have to take so long getting off?"

"Ino-chan, the next exit was miles away."

"Besides pig, even if the exit wasn't so far away, there was a car accident up the road—which you caused by the way."

"I can't help it if people love me," Ino defended haughtily. Yes, she knew she was good-looking, but really, did she have to flaunt it everywhere she went?

"Of all the places to flirt, why a busy freeway?" Tenten moaned as she ran. Today was not her day and to make it worse, Tsunade was not going to be happy with them. She had only seen the woman mad once in her entire life and it was something she did not want to see again.

'I had nightmares for weeks after that! Oh well, it can't get any worse. I mean, Sakura's gone crazy. My blind date last night went horribly. And we're two hours late to school. After all that, it can't possibly be worse, right?'

And that's when she opened the door to find Tsunade at the board staring at her with eighty other students. Only then did she realize that class was still in session and that her day was about to get a whole lot worse.

"Tenten, what are you—bring!—Oh, looks like class is over. Everyone, don't forget to read chapter 12 tonight and you four, come here. We need to have a chat," said the well-endowed woman beckoning them forward with her finger. The four entered hesitantly, heads bowed down so they wouldn't have to face her glare, and man, could she glare!

"Why were you late?" the blonde woman asked, arms folded under her ample chest as she looked down at them with amber eyes through her glasses.

"Traffic. Guys. Ino," Tenten answered with an exasperated sigh.

Tsunade nodded in understanding. Ino was a distraction in class, so it was no surprise that she would be a distraction on the road. Sending Ino a warning look that caused the girl to tense, she let her gaze stray to her pink-haired student.

"Sakura, welcome back," Tsunade greeted with a pleasant smile, "An illness?"

Sakura shook her head. "Personal issues. Sorry for the trouble. I'll make sure to catch up," she apologized with a bow of her head.

"Don't worry. We all have those days. As for the school work, you can get your notes from Shikamaru. Shikamaru!" she called into the upper levels of the lecture hall. A boy turned his head, his blonde companion looking down as well to see Tsunade beckoning the boy down. He rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath. The blonde at his side gave her goodbye and exited the building to miss his mumble of 'troublesome,' as he descended the steps.

Nara Shikamaru was not much to look at. He had dark eyes and black hair that was constantly up in a ponytail. Oh, he was handsome and smart—that was for sure—but all anyone could focus on was his immense laziness. He fell asleep in class, sighed every other moment, muttered 'troublesome' in every conversation, and would probably have back problems from his ever-present slouch.

"Here you go," Shikamaru said with a grunt as he handed Sakura a folder. Opening it, she found detailed notes on the lecture and a few notes of his own, all written in his trademark neat handwriting. Tsunade, peering over Sakura's shoulder, hummed her satisfaction.

"Looks like someone has been paying attention."

Shikamaru merely grunted and headed back up the stairs to the exit.

"So how was it?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Not now, Temari."

Chimes echoed through the household, heralding the arrival of noon as Sasuke sat on a couch in the living room. A clock ticked aimlessly on the wall and apart from the clock and the sound of his breathing, the house was quiet.

'Well, isn't this dull?' he asked himself as he absorbed the silence. Normally, he'd enjoy such peace, but there was only so much he could take before even he began to fidget.

Putting down the book he was reading, he stretched. A resounding 'pop' echoed through the room and Sasuke sighed contentedly as his stress point was released before heading down the hallway to the kitchen.

The kitchen was nothing excessively special. It was like many of this time period: stove, fridge, sink, trashcan, kitchen countertops, etc. The only special thing was that this place actually had an oven; that and it was very yellow for a Japanese kitchen.

Moving to the fridge, he opened it to find something to soothe his nerves, retrieving a tomato. He didn't know why he liked them. He hated vegetables as a child, but tomatoes were the one exception to that rule (maybe because he later learned that they were actually fruit). The tart taste, the velvety texture—he loved it all, but he loved the rich red they had when ripe.

Sinking his teeth into the red fruit, he meandered to the sink to gaze out the kitchen window. It seemed the elderly woman next door with the cats was staring again. Probably waiting for some indecent behavior to pop up so she could gossip to her friends. He had never talked to her since that damned woman said it was a bad idea to talk to her or anyone else for that matter, but he knew her type; old-fashioned and so set in their ways that anything straying from it was a sin, and a boy living with an unmarried woman? Scandalous!

A pleased smirk crossed his lips, knowing full-well the woman next door was watching him like a hawk before it turned into a scowl. That old bat really thought that stupid bitch Sakura was worth his time? She was an angel and their kinds had been feuding for centuries. And who did she think she was? She had hidden the book again—which was the reason for his current foul mood—and she had the audacity to tell him what to do. He had centuries on her and like he would actually stoop to associating with those idiotic mortals? Honestly, what did she take him for—a child? He wasn't going to flippantly change his mind on his opinion. Mortals were fools, vermin that scurried the face of the earth stealing and destroying while trying to assuage their guilty consciences with pathetic lies of honor and sacrifice. They were a waste and nothing would change his mind about that.

A chill settled over the kitchen. Through the window, he could see the fading swish of the curtain fabric as a cloud drifted in front of the sun, cloaking the room in muted light. The air around him prickled as if it were alive. A presence. Who was it?

Thunk.

"Hey! Watch it, teme!" said a blonde boy. He looked about Sasuke's age with gold-colored hair and cerulean eyes, his fangs peeking out from under his boyish grin. Sasuke merely grunted and dislodged the knife from the kitchen wall.

"Hn."

"Kakashi sent me to check up on you. He wanted to know if you found it yet," he said following Sasuke into the next room, an orange fox tail swishing after him. Sasuke sighed.

"Tell him I need a bit more time."

"What? You can't find it?! Are you getting rusty, teme? It's a book. Come—"

"Shut up, Naruto!" he shouted at the boy before turning away, "I'll get it. Just tell Kakashi to wait a bit longer."

His tone was hushed, body tensed as if waging some sort of inner war that even he wasn't probably aware of. Naruto had never seen Sasuke like this. Indecision wasn't something the boy did and he thought of asking what happened, but it was obvious he wanted to be left alone.

Quickly forming a hand seal, Naruto disappeared. A wisp of smoke remained in the stillness of the room and as the clock continued its monotonous song, Sasuke replaced the knife and heavily sighed.