Chapter 1: One Cold Night
"Think this is going to be another all-nighter?"
"Looks like it." A collective sigh sounded as six people crept on the roofs of their large village, their footfalls barely discernable on the wooden boards that made the covering of the houses. The half moon illuminated the scene, bathing the group in soft silver light.
An annoyed voice threatened, "It better not. I have a test tomorrow!"
"Did you study this time Tenten?" her partner asked, crouching behind a heat vent out of the way of the moonlight. His long, dark brown hair extended to his waist, pulled into a loose ponytail with the tie at the end. The bun-wearing girl turned to face him, an eyebrow cocked beneath her bangs.
Before she could answer, however, a loud, obnoxious voice called, "I want the next one! Dattebayo!"
"Screw you," an irritated accent answered, the owner flipping to the next building without a sound. His onyx hair sat on his head in spikes, with long bangs hanging on either side of his face.
"I don't wanna screw you Sasuke-teme," he told him, scowling angrily. A soft giggle sounded as a blue haired girl followed behind her blond partner, keeping well out of sight. "Keep close Hinata-chan." He waved back at her and she blushed slightly, not expect his concern.
"Three to your left Neji," a voice crackled over their speakers, accompanied soon by the clicking of a keyboard as his fingers passed quickly over it. "Hinata, Naruto, two more behind you."
She replied quietly, "Thanks Shikamaru."
"Sweet," Naruto said gleefully, pulling a gun from the holster on his right leg. He stood perfectly still, letting the shadow of a pole cover him. One of them flashed by him, and, grinning, he took the shot. The bullet had been dipped in Holy Water, and as soon as it entered the creature's skin he crumpled into fine, white ash. Doing a quick backflip, Hinata, still upside down in the air, fired her gun, letting the steel cartridge run through the other vampire's torso, and he met the same end as his friend. She landed gracefully upright and slid the weapon back into the holster on her upper thigh. "Nice shot Hinata-chan!"
She blushed and smiled slightly. "Thank you Naruto-kun."
Meanwhile, on the next building over Neji smirked as the vampire tried to over power him, their hands locked together in a realistic Mercy match. Suddenly the parasite turned to dust, and Tenten stood behind him a grin on her face and a set of scalpels dipped in the Holy Water twirling in her fingers. Neji nodded his thanks to her and shrugged in her welcoming. "Sasuke, they're coming your way. Brace yourself!"
"I got it," he replied coolly, turning to face the vampires with an impassive look on his face. They stopped, obviously startled by his abrupt halt. They looked very humanlike, save for their unnaturally pale skin. But, beneath the inhumanly beautiful features, they were blood thirsty killers, equipped with aberrant strength and agility, and of course, their venomous fangs. Sasuke wasn't worried; he's handled them a thousand times with no problems. He suddenly disappeared and they glanced around to find him. "Up here."
He fell from the sky onto one of them, stabbing his solid silver sword into the female's torso with ease. Uncharacteristically, the Uchiha dropped his guard, thinking he had disposed of them all, as the other vampire snuck behind him silently. Too late, he remembered, and turned to defend himself against the monster. A gunshot sounded and he abruptly turned to powder, leaving Sasuke with a bewildered expression on his face. "You're welcome," a voice told him, spinning a gun around in their hand. From the contours of her body he knew it was a woman, and from the color of her hair he knew exactly who it was. And boy was he pissed.
"Kick-ass Sakura-chan!" Naruto called to her, running up to the cherry headed woman excitedly. Hinata trailed after him looking a tiny bit upset, and the team congregated around the sharpshooter.
Shikamaru's voice told them, "Okay guys, great work. Time to come home."
Tenten groaned, "Joy. Just in time to stay up the other half of the night to study for that damn Chemistry quiz."
"I'll study with you Tenten," Sakura said stretching. "I have Iruka-sensei's quiz tomorrow too…" The rest of the group followed behind the two females, Sasuke glaring at the back of Sakura's head resentfully.
Outside the locker rooms, Sakura sat on a chair to await her teammate's exit from the room. As she sat there, she contemplated her actions during the mission and tried to figure out anyway she could have improved. If she had been faster, Sasuke wouldn't have been in danger in the first place, so first thing after school tomorrow she needed to work on speed training. A presence made itself known behind her and she grabbed his hand, fully prepared to flip him to the ground. "Hey, let me go."
Sakura jumped up, recognizing the voice, and saw Sasuke watching her with slight annoyance. "Oh, sorry Sasuke, I thought it might've been an intruder."
"You know, I don't like arrogant upstarts." She looked slightly taken aback, confused about whet he meant, and tilted her head to show her puzzlement. "I don't need saving, and I don't need your help. Just back off and let me take care of who I'm assigned to."
"Excuse me!" she hissed, annoyed. "Oh, I'm so sorry for saving your ass Sasuke! Maybe next time I'll let the guy kill you okay? Of all the people to talk of arrogance, Sasuke, you haven't a leg to stand on!" Tenten exited, pulling the last side of her hair back into her trademark buns and glanced between the two. Electricity seemed to form from the intensity of their glares, and she patted Sakura's shoulder to get her attention.
She questioned, "Are we going to study?" She nodded and, shooting the dark haired teen one last dirty look she followed the elder girl out the door. The Uchiha glared at the door long after she had left, clenching his fists angrily. She was calling him arrogant? Of all the nerve! It took him a moment before he realized Shikamaru was standing in front of him, an eyebrow cocked and his arms crossed over his chest.
"Earth to Sasuke, what is wrong?" he asked, tapping the boy's forehead.
The onyx haired of the two shook his head and ran a hand through said feature. "That girl is a pain in the neck, Shikamaru. Of all the people to pick as my partner…" He sighed and watched the genius with an annoyed expression. "Truth be told, I'd rather have Naruto as my partner than her."
He rolled his eyes. "Sasuke, she was the best suited for your partner. She's a brilliant marksman, though not as well as Tenten…" He sighed and gave him a dirty look when he realized Sasuke wasn't even paying attention to him anymore. "You won't believe how troublesome it was for Kakashi-san to get her Uchiha, be thankful." He turned on heel and headed back towards his office, passing by Neji, Ino, Hinata, and Naruto.
"Don't work too late Shikamaru," Ino ordered, crossing her arms. He made no reply, just turned the corner and headed for the tech department. She sighed and watched after him. "He's practically an insomniac, I swear. He needs to get more sleep…"
Neji glanced at his cousin and asked, "Hinata, do you want a ride home?"
She nodded, "Yes please." Naruto yawned and rubbed at his eyes. What a day that had been. Anymore like that and he'd have to skip a few. He laughed inwardly at the thought and shook his head. Yeah right. As if he'd miss a single night going vampire hunting with his friends.
He turned to Neji, Hinata, and Ino and told them, "See you guys in school, 'kay?"
"Night Naruto," Ino told him, waving. "I'm staying after to give Shika some company. He almost passed out from dehydration last time." She shook her head and turned back the way she came.
Hinata smiled, "Goodnight."
"Night," Neji mumbled to him after a nudge from his cousin.
"See ya Sasuke-teme," he called to the still angry teen, grinning at him.
"Hn," came his famous reply. The blond rolled his eyes. The guy was so egotistical that even his two letter answers were well-known. He hopped out the door energetically, eager to get home to his nice, comfortable bed. He slid into an old but still running yellow beetle car. He had won it in a Pokémon contest, and it adorned the likeness of Pikachu on it with the tail and ears sticking out of it.
Neji and Hinata, however, entered into a glossy, brand new, midnight blue Chrysler 300, gift to the Hyuuga from his uncle. The younger girl had a vanilla colored one, but it was being repaired because some red-haired idiot back ended her on the highway. Sleek leather interior, shiny paint job, the car just oozed 'Neji'. "Neji-nisan…" she asked her cousin, glancing at him with her pearl colored eyes. "Have I… improved at all?"
He blinked and looked at her for a moment before turning his gaze back to the road. "I think you have Hinata. That acrobatic feat you performed tonight was remarkable. Why do you ask?" She blushed and remained silent but he didn't press for more. Probably to please her father, he thought, sighing slightly. Hyuuga Hizashi seemed to be more interested in his nephew's development than his own daughter's. Which made him feel slightly uncomfortable around Hinata.
Finally home, Naruto burst open the front door of his apartment and collapsed into his bed, not even bothering to tug on his pajamas. He simply pulled his brown nightcap with the little face on over his head and fell asleep.