A/N: Ah, the joys of writing. This has so many plot holes in it so far it looks like swiss cheese. Which I hate. So to get rid of the swiss cheese and make it cheddar again I shall have to work harder! GO CHEDDAR CHEESE! Also, if you have any questions about the timeline ask me, and I will lay it out for you, and if you want a particular character I shall put them in! Yosh!
Chapter 5: Too Much Pressure
It had been an easy day, as Kakashi had predicted, and they had all gotten home relatively early. Shikamaru, as always, stayed behind to work with Ino as his chaperone. When Tenten got to school the next day, she noticed that everyone seemed to be in a good mood when she walked into the cafeteria. The students had to wait there until ten minutes before the first bell, and then they were allowed to go to their lockers. "Neji-kun, what's up with everyone?" she asked the man, sitting on his table and watching the others chat affably.
"Don't ask me. My guess would be because last night went so well," he replied, turning a page in the book his was reading through. She nodded and glanced at the clock, noticing that there was still twenty minutes until the warning bell rang. The brunette watched his white eyes flicker back and forth between lines, and after a minute of this he noticed. "Tenten, is there something you wanted?"
"Ah, no," she replied, scratching the back of her head.
"Hey Tenten!" The weapons mistress glanced back to see her third period classmate Kiba run over to her, glad for the excuse of getting out of the awkward situation. He wore his winter coat, which was gray and had a furry brown hood. "I was wondering if you could help me with this Trigonometry crap. I don't get a bit of it." She nodded and slid off the desk, waving goodbye to an observing Neji.
She told him with a wink, "See ya, Neji-kun, and be good while I'm gone." He had to restrain himself from the natural reaction of rolling his eyes, and returned to his book. It was going to be one of those days. Meanwhile, Naruto begged Sakura to help him finish his homework before Kurenai's first period class, Shikamaru slept on his backpack with Ino stroking his hair, and Sasuke tried to avoid his fan group, with little success.
There was a quiet hush over the crowd as two people entered the room. One had red hair and the other had maroon, and they glanced around until they had spotted the resident vampire hunters. "Hey, Sakura-chan," Naruto asked, pointing at Masao and Gaara as they walked over. "Why're they here?"
"Didn't you hear Naruto?" Sakura told him, shaking her head in incredulous. "They transferred to our school so they didn't seem suspicious." Hinata joined them soon after, looking rather ruffled but refused to talk about it. The Wind Country ANBU sat down next to Ino, glancing around at the other students with impassive expressions.
Masao questioned, glancing at the blonde, "So, this is what a public school is like, hm?" Ino nodded and shook the brunet awake, seeing that they had to go to their lockers now.
"Five minutes more, please Mommy," he mumbled burying his face back into the cloth of his bag. Chuckling she pulled the bag up, causing him to clunk his forehead on the lunch table and get startled awake. "Mendo kusai…" he groaned, rubbing at the sore spot on his head. "Warn me next time, Ino you annoying woman!" Gaara followed Sakura and Masao followed Neji, noting that their lockers were in the same general area as the two.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura entered into Kurenai's classroom a few minutes later, and she went around and collected everyone's homework. "You know, Naruto," Sakura scolded in a whisper, as their teacher began to lecture them on Newton's theories, "Homework is meant to be down at home, which is why it's labeled as such."
"Well, if I get stuck on something, I don't have anyone there to help me!" he replied, crossing his arms angrily. "Why do you think I wait until I get to school to ask you!" She blinked and frowned as Naruto turned to face forward. That's… right… Naruto's all alone…Now don't you feel bad? She sighed and pressed her hands into her lap, watching but not really listening to the lecture. Something had been bothering her for quite awhile and not just Naruto's strange situation either.
It was Sasuke. He had been acting so strange lately, completely obsessed with something. Pouring all of his time and energy into something. She didn't know what it was, but she new it had to do with an individual named Uchiha Itachi. Though it wasn't anywhere near her business, she decided to question the aloof man about his mania.
After school before he had the chance to get into his car, Sakura caught up with him and gave him a weak smile. He cocked an onyx eyebrow at her as she bit her lip uncertainly, and then sighed. "If you have something to say, spit it out." She opened her mouth and then closed it, her previous determination wavering at the thought of invading his privacy. "Okay, get in, I'll drive you home and we can talk on the way." Blinking she obeyed, sliding into the passenger seat of his convertible, the hood was up obviously, due to inclement weather, and buckled her seatbelt. She normally walked home from the school, liking the exercise, so this was a bit out of the ordinary. He pulled out of the student parking lot and onto the street, turning in the direction to her house. "So what did you want?" he asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Well," she started, her hands in her lap and following the seams of her backpack with her emerald eyes to avoid looking at him. "You've been obsessing over something lately, and I've noticed it affecting your schoolwork, and yourself altogether. I mean, you never talk to anyone anymore, not that you did much of that in the first place…" She snapped out of her sarcastic mode and back into serious mode. "And, frankly, it's scaring me… Is something wrong, Sasuke?"
He pulled his car over in front of her house and cut the engine, causing the lights to go out and them to sit in shadows for a moment. "I…" he began hesitantly, glancing at her through the dark veil of bangs that hung in his face. "I have vowed to kill someone, Sakura…" She blinked, her heart racing in her chest, and tilted her head to show her confusion. "He… made me cry…" Sasuke clenched his fist on his knee until the knuckles turned white, but he didn't seem to notice.
"You cried?" she asked softly, unbuckling the seatbelt and scooting closer to him on the bench seat. He still didn't seem to be focusing on what he was doing, and his eyes were as hard as granite. "What happened Sasuke?"
He felt her small hand on his and glanced at her, seeing the honest concern in her eyes and in the warmth of her skin on his hand. "Have you ever lost someone very close to you Sakura? Like a parent or a brother or sister?" She shook her head no, and rubbed soothing circles on the back of his hand with her thumb. "Then you could never imagine… how I feel right now. You've heard of the blood-spattered past of the Uchiha family haven't you?"
"Yes," she recollected thoughtfully, "the entire District was murdered in a single night, except you and your older brother who were somehow spared. The culprit was never found, though." She recalled that fact from Kakashi-san, who told her to be wary around Sasuke because of his terrible past. He growled bitterly and shook his head in revulsion, running his other hand through his hair.
"'The culprit was never found…'! That's bullshit, Sakura, because I know exactly who the fucker is that killed my entire family!" She had never seen him this angry before and honestly it was frightening her. A dark shadow hovered behind the good light in his eyes, something she had never noticed before, and something that she felt could easily corrupt the honest heart inside of the Uchiha boy. She could feel tears well in her eyes at the sight of him, and her hand started to shake on his. Did he notice how terrified he was making her? "It was my bastard brother, Itachi, who killed them!"
"No!" she whispered, her whole body shaking. Sasuke was out for revenge, revenge on his own brother! That was what he had devoted his life to, killing Uchiha Itachi for the crimes he had committed to him, the youngest Uchiha. The tears fell down her face and onto his hand, and that seemed to bring him back to Earth from wherever his mind had wandered to. Down some dark alley, leading to the evil side of Sasuke. No, she thought, I can't let him go down that road, I have to stop him from doing it!
"Sakura, why are you crying?" he questioned, looking concerned and startled. He pulled his hand out from under hers and gripped her shoulders, trying to make her stop. It was disconcerting.
She told him in a whisper, "No, Sasuke-kun! Please, don't go down that path! It scares me, please!" He embraced her tightly, trying to stop her shaking, her crying. He didn't like it because it didn't suit her at all. She was a strong woman, with her own concerns and shouldn't be wasting her tears and worries on him. "Don't act like that; it doesn't… it just isn't you. Please…" She was begging him, not to take out his revenge, something he had sworn to do.
"I can't promise you that Sakura," he said quietly, letting go of her and pressing the release on the car doors to unlock them. "I will kill him. That's just the way it is. No one can change that, not you, nor Naruto, or anyone else." She took the hint and stepped out of the car into the freezing rain, watching his face from outside. She hadn't even noticed the rain had started due to the intense situation within the car, and she hugged herself as she began to shut the door. "Thank you Sakura, for letting me get that off my chest. I really… needed to talk to someone."
She blinked and said, "Sasuke-kun?" He had a small smile on his face and she returned it. "You're welcome Sasuke-kun. Just remember, if you ever need to talk, I'm here, all right?" He nodded and she slammed the car door closed, waving goodbye as he started up the engine and drove off to the direction of his house. She didn't seem to notice the freezing rain on her back as a warm feeling filled up in her heart, and a silly smile on her lips. She also didn't seem to notice that she was out there for about another ten minutes before she realized she was cold. Turning around she strode up the steps to her house and opened the door, stepping in and glancing around.
No one was home yet, her parents were still at work, and her little brother still at school. A loud bark alerted her attention and her dog ran past her out the door, and she sweatdropped realizing that she was going to have to go get him.
…:oOo:…
The next morning in class, Sakura didn't seem to be faring very well. Naruto noticed first, due to her lethargic behavior and lack of attention to anything going around them. She seemed to have bags under her eyes, and as Sasuke walked in she fell asleep at her desk. He gave her a strange look but didn't say anything as he sat down, hooking his bag on the back of his chair and waiting for class to start.
Then, things really started to get strange, because even when the bell rang she still didn't stir, and when Kurenai started to lecture she didn't budge an inch. He prodded her in the side but she still didn't move. On a whim, he moved her bangs aside and placed a hand on her forehead, and realized she was burning hot. He raised his hand to alert their teacher. "Kurenai-sensei, something's wrong with Sakura!"
She walked over to the pink haired Seeker, and felt her forehead. Looking startled she told them, "I'll call the nurse." Walking over to the telephone she picked up the receiver and dialed the four digit number for her. "Shizune-san, we have a sick girl in our class, can she come down?" After a few moments of listening she hung up and pointed to Sasuke and Naruto. "Will you two please help get her there? Shizune-san has her hands full at the moment with a few other students and can't send anyone."
Nodding, Sasuke scooped up the girl in his arms and Naruto grabbed the door for him. As they exited the blond asked, "What could she have gotten, I wonder?" He shrugged and they remained silent as they trudged through the halls towards Shizune's office. Knocking on the door he called, "Hey, Shizune-san! We've got a sick girl in our hands, dattebayo!" Then he shot Sasuke a look and amended, "Well, in his hands at least…"
The black haired woman threw open the door and let them in, leading them to an empty cot so she could examine her. After a methodical inspection she nurse asked them, "Was she out in the rain for an extended period of time?" They both furrowed their brows and the blond perked up.
"Well she walks home, so maybe—"
"No," Sasuke cut him off. "I gave her a ride home yesterday. So the only amount of rain was from my car to her doorway after I dropped her off…" A low voice sounded startling them.
It was one of their classmates, Shino, stood there with Kiba in the doorway, watching the sick girl with a thoughtful expression. "I saw her yesterday, because I live next door… After you dropped her off she stood in the rain for about ten minutes. But when she went back inside, her dog got out and she spent the better part of two hours trying to catch it." Sasuke blinked, digesting this new information and Shizune sighed.
"Well, I'm sorry to say that I'll have to call an ambulance. She's got pneumonia." The onyx-eyed man gave her a shocked expression and slumped in the seat next to the bed. Pneumonia… She's got… pneumonia… "Thank you Shino and you can lay Kiba down here. Everyone seems to be getting sick recently… Oh, you two can go back to class."
Naruto headed for the door but Sasuke questioned, "Can I stay? I want to go with her to the hospital. I'm…" he wracked his brain for a plausible excuse before blurting, "her boyfriend." The blond's jaw dropped but the nurse didn't seem to notice, watching Sasuke skeptically. "Please? I'm really worried about her." She sensed the truth in his voice and smiled, reaching for her cell phone.
"You'll have to get permission from your parents…" Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he looked at the ground, causing her to remember and frown. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry… Here, I'll just notify your teacher. Kurenai-san, ne?" He nodded yes and soon the arrangements were made, and he was hopping in the back of the ambulance with Sakura.
…:oOo:…
During lunch, Naruto explained to situation to the rest of the Fire Country Seekers and Gaara and Masao. Suddenly his cell phone vibrated, and he saw he had a message from Sasuke: 'dnt wait 4 me if thr is a mssn. Jst go wthout me bcuz im styn wth Sakura.' He sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair, trying to calm his nerves. Great. How were they expected to do any type of mission with two of their best members gone? He watched the table with a strange expression, choosing to shoot glances at Gaara from moment to moment.
The redhead had divulged important information to him earlier, some which had been very shocking to hear. Something he hadn't expected to become aware of. Hinata glanced up at him, noticing her crush's gloomy disposition and tapped his shoulder bravely. "Naruto-kun, is e-everything all r-right?" she questioned softly, out of notice of anyone else at the table that were chatting about Sakura's well being.
"Yeah, I'm just surprised that's all," he replied quietly, seeming out-of-sorts for some reason. Whatever information had surprised him had unsettled him as well, and the blue haired Hyuuga noticed that more than anyone seemed to. He noted her worried expression and sighed, glancing around. "Can you keep a secret?" She nodded and tilted her head, watching him in confusion. "There's something… inside of me, Hinata-chan. A Vampire Lord named Kyuubi was trapped inside of me when I was born." Her eyes opened wide, the legend of junchūrikis her father told her becoming evident to her now. "And I knew that, but what I didn't know is that…" He glanced to the sea green eyed boy and finished, positioning his voice so low she could hardly hear him, "Gaara has a Vampire Lord named Shukaku inside of him!"
Hinata's white eyes spread opened even wider, the tales of the Nine Vampires Lords flickering across her mind. While in training she had been required to read a book on them, and obviously for good reason. "D-demo, Naruto-kun, w-what does th-that mean?"
"I'm not sure, but I know that I get a lot of strength from that bastard Kyuubi, and Gaara can control that vampiric sand thanks to Shukaku," he shook his head and wrung his hands. Hinata patted his shoulder consolingly. At least it was Friday.
…:oOo:…
Masao woke up slightly early the next day, watching the ceiling for a moment before getting up. Her maroon hair was tousled around her face scruffily and she glanced in the mirror to see that she had a dent in her skin from sleeping on her arm all night. Stretching, she shuffled lazily over to the closet that had she used in this room, and pulled on a red skirt and a purple and black shirt. Turning to her calendar, she saw that it was Saturday, and for some reason it had a little heart and 9:00 a.m. doodled on it. Knitting her brow, she tried to remember what was so significant about that day, and she grinned. "My date with Gaara-sama!" she sighed, spinning around. She dived back into her closet and changed into a lovely silver kimono, one he had complimented her on one time.
Glancing at the clock on her wall she saw that it was 8:17, giving her plenty of time to walk down to the coffee shop and wait for him. She left the ANBU building and strode on the sidewalk, a shawl about her shoulders to keep herself warm. It didn't take long for the stoic faced Seeker to get to where she was going, and when she got there she sat at one of the inside tables, right b the door, so he could see where she was and just sit down. "May I get you anything, onee-san?"
She shook her head no and replied, "No thank you, I'm waiting for my date to get here." He nodded and moved on to the next table, leaving Masao to wait for Gaara by herself.
Gaara walked down the road heading for the shop Masao had pointed out to him after school one day. When it was in sight, he smiled slightly, causing a couple of girls who were watching him to almost faint. But as fate would have it, his cell phone rang and he pulled it out. "Hello?"
"Gaara-sama? Can I speak with you please?"
Sighing, the redhead told the voice, "Yashamaru-jii, I'm right in the middle of something important, can it wait?" He heard background voices conversing with his uncle, and he furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Sorry, I don't think so. Kazekage-sama says it's very imperative." The Seeker narrowed his eyes, not wanting to speak one minute to his father. He heard fumbling on the line and another voice spoke up.
"Gaara, Dad wants to talk with you," Kankurou told him urgently, and he heard his sister yell something at him, trying to get Gaara to hear. "Shut up, Temari, I'm talking to him! Is whatever you're doing really that important? Can it wait?"
Blowing a piece of crimson hair out of his face, he glanced at Masao sitting in the coffee shop in the silver kimono he liked. She had a smile on her lips and he hated to be the reason why she went back to frowning all the time. "Yes, it can wait, Kankurou," he answered dejectedly, turning on heel and heading back to the ANBU HQ building. He put his brother on speakerphone while he sent Masao a text message, apologizing.
Inside her room her cell phone vibrated, under the bed and plugged into the charger.
The clocks struck nine fifteen and Masao left the coffee shop, knowing that he wasn't going to come. Even though he said he would like to, but didn't. Her heart fell into her sandals as she walked back to her quarters, staring at the sidewalk. She didn't expect Gaara to be the type to stand someone up, but it seemed that he did. With no explanation either. It wasn't a Gaara thing to do, and she bit her lip. Maybe something came up, something he had to do, and he couldn't make it. She checked her beg and noted she didn't have her cell phone, and nodded. "He probably texted me or called me, and I don't have my cell phone… That's it."
She felt a lot better now, and she entered the building with a small smile on her face. Gaara was in the lobby arguing with someone on his cell phone. She blinked and walked over to him as she snapped the phone shut angrily. "What's going on Gaara-sama?" she questioned, watching him in confusion.
"The Kazekage is being unreasonable," he growled, a rarely shown sign of aggravation. "He wants us to abort the mission!" All thoughts of their ruined breakfast date vanished from her mind and she stared at him in incredulous.
"Are you serious? What the hell for!" She shook her head and ran a hand through her maroon hair in frustration. The Kazekage had been unreasonable before, but nothing like this. Why on earth would he order a termination for this mission? It didn't make any sense. Konoha ANBU and Suna ANBU were long allied organizations, and when one needed aid the other always gave it. "What reason did he give, Gaara-sama?"
"None, none at all. That's what's so strange. The Kazekage always has a reason for what he does, whether or not it's a good one always depends but… this time, nothing."
Masao yelled, resentment for her partner's father sieving obviously into her voice, "That doesn't make any sense! We can't just abandon Kakashi-san and everyone else for no reason! What are we going to do Gaara-sama?" He furrowed his brow and watched the floor, his arms crossed over his chest in thought. What were they going to do? If they didn't return to Suna Gaara's father would probably remove them from the ANBU squad, but that didn't really bother him at the moment. What really unsettled him was the fact that they had been called back before the mission was even finished. Kazekage-sama would never pull troops unless something big was happening at home, but it didn't seem like that was the issue at all from what Temari told him. What then?
"Gaara, Masao?" They both looked around to see Shikamaru walking towards them, holding papers in his hands and looking at the sheets in confusion. "I received an e-mail from the Kazekage that you guys are to be sent home immediately. What's going on?"
"We're trying to figure that one out ourselves," she replied, straightening out her kimono so that it hung right. That seemed to mystify the brunet even more and she explained, "He pulled us out with no explanation and no warning. That's not like him at all, so we're trying to figure out why he might've done that." Ino followed him out with another couple sheets of paper and stopped next to the genius.
"This is another one from Suna," the blonde told her partner, leafing through them to make sure she was right. She held them out to him and he took them from her hand.
He read through it, and told them, "This is from a girl named Temari. Do you know her?"
"That's my older sister," Gaara replied simply.
"She's warning you not to come home." They glanced at each other then back again. "Apparently, something's wrong with your father, and she has reason to believe that's not the real Kazekage."
"So that means we stay here then," Masao decided, glancing to her partner who nodded. "Until we can figure out exactly what the situation with the Kazekage entails we have little other choice." Shikamaru nodded as well and gave the e-mails back to Ino. Taking out his cell phone he dialed a number and held it up to his ear.
"Kakashi-san, we have a bit of a troublesome problem," he said halfheartedly into the mouth piece. Ino gave him a look of annoyance. He said 'mendo kusai' way to much for her taste, and it was a bit of an irritation.
A loud yawn sounded on the other end, and the brunet sweatdropped. "What is it Shikamaru?" As the silver haired man listened to him, the Nara's story seemed to get stranger and stranger the farther it progressed. His eyes narrowed the man told him, "All right, they have to stay, but I'm going to talk to Hokage-sama and get her opinion. Shikamaru, you and Ino call the rest of the Seekers and have them come down to headquarters. We'll discuss what to do then." He hung up after that, trying to decide on the best course of action. Nothing seemed to fit anymore! The Kazekage not being himself was a bad sign indeed, because of his high authority in Suna and influence in other nations. His computer beeped, signaling the presence of an e-mail, and throwing back his covers and walked over to his computer.
It was from an address that had led him to other covens before: When he clicked it, he saw that it was another tip of a vampire coven living in an abandoned factory near an old Christian church. Ironic to be sure, but it was a good lead. The sender hypothesized about ten or fifteen in the coven, and Kakashi printed the e-mail after typing his thanks back to them. They had a job tonight.