VIII
Royal Gift
A/N: For those who forgot…I'll usually reply to your reviews at the end of the chapters! Sorry for the late update…I sprained my ankle so I'm having a hard time sneaking quietly away to type…and I had a writer's block.
YAY!!! 90 Reviews! Almost a hundred!!! Thank you for reviewing all my reviewers!!!
Disclaimer: (This refers to all of my chapters from before and to all my future chapters as well.) I DON'T OWN NARUTO!!!
Story Recap: Haruno Sakura, an 18-year-old ANBU/medic left on a yearlong mission. Due to some complications…Sakura was changed into a vampire, and a royal at that. After returning to Konoha after a year of absence she is slightly surprised to note that her teammates returned with Uchiha Sasuke. While all of Konoha is shocked and confused at Sakura's seemingly sudden personality change, her teammates are the most perplexed of them all. Beautiful, cold, detached, and powerful, Sakura decides to become an examiner for the Chunnin Exam. Faced with problems like Uchiha Itachi, who after their battle seems to gain a troubling interest in Sakura, the exam goes on. Now Sakura leaves for The Castle, what ever that may be, while Sasuke, Naruto and Sai face the harsh task of battling each other in a three-way battle for the final fight of the Chunnin Exam.
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The next day at 9:50am, Tsunade could be found sitting in the stands with hundreds of others, all waiting for the battle to begin. It was already decided that Sasuke, Naruto, Sai and the sand shinobi Toya would all become Chunnins, but this battle, this battle would truly show everyone the true strength of the three leaf shinobi's. Unlike last time, all three were on time, all of them silent and tense. Sai had on his 'mask' but it was forced and most everyone could tell that he was actually quite nervous about the whole, battle his teammates, thing.
In the VIP seats, Gaara lifted his head and gazed up at the sky with his calm, emotionless gaze as he sensed a presence nearing him. A large hawk suddenly swooped down from the flawless blue sky, a scroll in its possession, and smoothly landed in front of the woman called Hokage. Tsunade frowned as she read the scroll. "Sakura…not again." She mumbled, her eyes sad.
The red haired young man, Gaara, looked up slightly at the word, 'Sakura', his eyes faintly curious as he asked, "Sakura?"
Sighing Tsunade answered hesitantly "Ah…She had to leave again for something… urgent."
Like it or not, Gaara had to admit that his awareness of the pink haired kunoichi was much too high. He couldn't help but think of her, to ponder what she had said.
Flashback: "Kazakage-sama, it's a pleasure to see you again." Sakura politely murmured right before the third part of the Chunnin Exams.
"It's Gaara." The slightly disgruntled red haired male had grunted.
A small smile bloomed on her lips as she replied, "Hai…Garra."
Then out of nowhere, Sakura suddenly murmured, "You know…we're a lot alike now, you and I." Before he could reply to the cryptic statement, Sakura had left to stand by Tsunade's side as the blonde Hokage entered the stands with a couple of ANBU flanking her sides. They disappeared in a sudden rush of air, taking stations around the stadium, leaving only Tsunade, Sakura and Gaara in the V.I.P stands.
Flashback Ends:
After that encounter, Gaara grudgingly admitted that he was somewhat attracted to the pink-haired kunoichi…but isn't she with the Uchiha? He thought. A flash of sudden anger rippled throughout his body causing him to mentally start slightly in surprise. What in the world…jealousy? Possessiveness perhaps? No, it has to be lust…lust?Mentally shaking his head of all his 'nonsense' thinking, Gaara went back to watching the three shinobis stare at each other.
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Sakura frowned in the direction of Konoha for the fifth time. "Sakura-chan. Konoha is staying right there. It's not going anywhere, promise." Suki sighed.
"I know…but…"
"Don't worry, be happy!" Suki cheerfully chirped.
Sakura laughed at Suki's antics as she murmured, "You're right, Konoha is a big boy. It can take care of itself."
"Wait, I thought Konoha was a girl…" Suki mumbled in surprise.
"Suki…Konoha is a city, cities aren't girls or boys."
"Oh…"
There was a brief moment of silence before Kamui opened his mouth slightly to speak.
"We're here." He announced. Sakura looked up to gaze at the tall ash-haired knight. (A/N: This means that Kamui is a Knight class vampire)
Her face emotionless, Sakura murmured, "I see", as she gazed at the impressively enormous castle. The castle was surprisingly light, from the color to the atmosphere.
Suki happily skipped down the main pathway to the large steel gates, as Kamui and Sakura followed behind him.
"WE'RE HERE!!!!!" Suki suddenly bellowed out, startling Sakura into drawing a kunai.
When she realized that it was just Suki being stupid, Sakura put away her kunai, not without a glare at Suki first though. She quickly forgot her annoyance when the gate slowly started to open. Giving Kamui and Suki a slightly nervous glance, she smoothly walked in the castle with her two friends behind her.
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1 months later
"I still can't believe I tied with Teme 1 and Teme 45!" Naruto grumbled angrily into his ramen.
"That's my line dobe."
"What's that Teme?!"
"Naruto, Sasuke, stop fighting." Kakashi ordered without even looking up from his book.
Grudgingly, they stopped, but the glares went on. The battle between three of the male members from team 7 had been a frightening experience for the audience. The three showed impossible powers that practically blew up the arena that they were standing on, causing rather severe damage on all three. In the end, all three of them decided to forfeit at the same time after they nearly killed the audience with their dangerous, and reckless attacks.
Even though they had been the ones that decided to forfeit, Naruto and Sasuke still grumbled about it. Sai on the other hand was just his usual insulting self.
"Hey Kakashi-sensei. When is Sakura returning from her mission?"
Kakashi turned his attention from his book to Naruto. "Soon." Was all he said. Just then, the artist of the group suddenly walked into the ramen stand where they were eating. "Dickless, Frosty, Pervert." He greeted.
Dickless, also known as Naruto looked up to glare angrily at Sai. "Shut up Bastard!"
Frosty, a.k.a Sasuke, glared.
"Heh…." Pervert/Kakashi giggled, as he blushed red from whatever he was reading.
"Tsunade-sama is looking for us." Sai calmly said.
"Yes!!! A mission!!!!" With a whoosh of air, Naruto disappeared, taking his ramen with him of course. "Tell Naruto to bring back the bowl." The 'old man' grumbled.
"Ah…"
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"Die."
The order was short, crisp and quite straightforward. The 'man', who the order was directed to, started to move his own hand to his kunai pouch. His eyes never left the large beautiful violet ones as he prepared himself for death. Breathing heavily, he grabbed a kunai and slowly, but surely moved it towards his neck. The steel blade rested dangerously at his throat, as his hand trembled. Sweat pored down his face at the effort to not kill himself, but his will was weak, and their connected gaze too strong. The man made the mistake of blinking. As his eyelid dropped down for a fraction of a second, his hand moved. With a sudden slash, he was dead.
"Fool…" Sakura murmured. Rubbing her head tiredly, she gave the dead 'man' a contemptuous glance. Raising her hood up again to hid her angelic face, Sakura smoothly traveled on. The dead corpse disintegrated into dust within seconds of her departure…
As she lightly jumped from branch to branch, Sakura thought of the past month she had spent away from Konoha. She was actually rather sad to leave The Castle, not that she didn't love Konoha or anything. While singing a soft, haunting lullaby, Sakura journeyed onwards toward her destination, home. She had heard from Tsunade that all of her teammate's had passed the exam, and during the time she was gone, they had also been promoted to Jounin level. It was then that she also learned that the Hokage needed her.
Flashback: 1 month ago…
"Wow." That was the only thing Sakura could say as she stepped into a colossal room.
The room/house had a large arching ceiling that was painted like the night sky. If Sakura didn't know that it was 2:27pm, she would have thought that it was night, and for some reason, the ceiling had been torn off.
"Welcome Kamui-san, Suki-sama, and Hime-sama."
Sakura's head whipped around to the direction the voice had projected from. In the shadow of the room, she could make out a row of throne like chairs. Occupying them were what she would guess to be the council. The council, they were a group of the most fair, wise and oldest vampires. Though all of them were easily over 500 years old, the man who looked the oldest seemed to be only 30. He was the one who had spoken.
Sakura could see that there were exactly 3 of them. The one on the left was a handsome young man, about 20 years old, with messy honey blond hair and large dark eyes. Next to him sat a girl about 18 years old. She had shoulder length, wavy black hair with soft green eyes. Finally, the last one on the right side of the girl was a handsome black-haired man with pale blue eyes, who looked about 30 years old.
"Hello." Sakura replied smoothly.
"We are the council, I am Tenshi, next to me is Yuka and the blonde is Arashi." The black-haired man named Tenshi introduced.
"Why do you call me Hime-sama?" Sakura asked with faint confusion. "Are you not royals yourself?"
"Oh my. No, of course not Hime-sama, we are but humble nobles in your presence." Yuka murmured politely.
The man, Arashi, grinned as he said, "Yes. Hime-sama, and Suki-sama are one of the 6 royals in the whole world."
"Only 6!" Sakura exclaimed in faint surprise. She had never known how truly rare royals were until now.
"Hai, Hime-sama." Yuka murmured softly, a gentle aura flowing from her.
The surprised pink-haired royal ran her long smooth fingers through her hair as she said, "Please, call me Sakura."
Arashi grinned widely as he happily replied, "Of course Sakura-sama."
Sakura smiled, but then frowned slightly as she asked, "But I've been wondering. How do I register?"
Yuka gave a tinkling laugh as she answered, "It's quite easy. You have already registered as soon as you stepped into this room."
When Sakura gave Yuka a confused look, she explained, "You see, sometimes, even non-royals have a 'gift', or power. It just happens that I have the gift of memory. I will never forget anything unless I wish otherwise. That is why to register you only have to meet myself."
"I see." Sakura murmured. "Do any of you have a gift as well? I know Suki has one considering that he is a royal."
"Well…I have the gift of speech. I can talk with anything that's alive, from plants, to animals, to bugs. And Tenshi has the gift of…just knowing…I can't explain it, but he just seems to know everything significant that happens, even if it is thousands of miles away." Arashi mumbled while rubbing the back of his head tiredly.
Nodding her head in understanding, Sakura turned towards her two companions, "Suki, Kamui?" Suki grinned gleefully as he replied, "I can make anyone HAPPY!!!!" There was silence in the room before Kamui broke it. "What Suki-sama means to say is that he can manipulate emotions. He can make anyone fall in love with anyone else, or make friends become enemies with ease as well."
"Though I would never do that unless I had a really, really, really, really, good reason for it." The blonde royal cried while waving his hands around in the air to emphasize his meaning.
"Kamui, do you have a gift?" Sakura asked curiously.
There was silence before he finally answered. "I can become, 'invisible'…"
"Oh, I see." Sakura said as she nodded her head in understanding. There was a pregnant pause before what he said processed fully into her head. "YOU CAN WHAT?!!!!" Suki flinched and hid behind Kamui while rubbing his ears weakly.
"Forgive me, I should have explained clearly. I can't become truly invisible, but I can become almost totally unnoticeable."
Sakura sighed as she said, "Oh, sorry. I get it. That's how you can always sneak up on me isn't it?"
"Yes."
Sakura answered with silence. "…"
Unnerved by the stillness, Arashi quickly projected his own voice into the silent room."Um…anyways...A seer is just a vampire who has the power of sight, sort of. Well, actually, it's more like they are able to see your hidden abilities and such."
"Are they rare?" Sakura asked curiously.
Tenshi shook his head as he explained, "No, actually any vampire can become a seer. It's not a gift, but a skill you learn over time. There are plenty of seers in the vampire community."
Just then the door opened. Everyone's head snapped around with inhuman speed to land their gaze on the door. As the door opened fully, a figure of a small child could be seen.
"You were looking for me?" The unidentified child asked.
"Ah, Gin, you're here. Come in, come in!" Tenshi said while smiling warmly at the new figure. "Sakrua-sama, this is Gin, the best seer the world has to offer." Gin was a small child like figure with silver hair and dark blue eyes.
"Hello…"
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After an half hour of staring at Sakura, Gin suddenly proclaimed, "Hime-sama, your gift is amazing!" Eyes wide, Gin stared in awe at Sakura.
"Gin, what's my gift?"
After a short pause, he answered, "You have the gift of power." When Sakura and the rest of the vampires gave him confused glances, Gin started to quickly explain. "Hime-sama, you have the power of ruling people. In other words, your orders are law and binding. Only someone with an exceptionally strong willpower could disobey your direct command. That, or they would have to break away from your gaze, which is incredibly difficult because of how drawing, and hypnotizing your eyes are."
Frowning slightly, Sakura asked, "But my eyes are just eyes. I don't see anything 'drawing and hypnotizing' about them."
"You see, when you use your 'power', you'll find that if you look at your reflection, your eyes would have turned violet."
"So that's why Itachi did as I told him to during the fight in the Forest of Death." Sakura breathed. "But what happens if the 'victim' blinks."
Gin smiled, "Their struggles would have been in vain. As soon as they blink, your order/power will enter in through the small window of weakness at once."
Suki, who was feeling a bit left out, suddenly said, "So in other words, Sakura-chan has the ability to 'force' anyone into following her orders?"
"That is correct, Suki-sama." Gin agreed, while nodding his head once to clarify clearly that the blonde council member was correct.
Groaning weakly, Sakura moaned, while rubbing her forehead, "Ugh…I have a migraine…"
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End of Flashback
(A/N: Just so you know Sakura is about nineteen years, and three months old.)
For some reason, Sakura's stomach felt slightly uneasy. It could have been because of that foul Beast, the one she just killed. Or maybe it was something else. As the gates of Konoha came into view, the pink-haired royal slowed down her speed to a light run. With a start of surprise, Sakura saw that four people were waiting for her.
I can understand why Tsunade is here, but what they doing out?
Well dummy, they are your teammates.
The four figures at the gate were none other then Tsunade, Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and Sai. All of them, but Tsunade, Sakura noted, had on the standard green Jounin vest and uniform. Even Naruto was wearing it instead of his usual bright, obnoxious, bright orange cloths.
"SAKURA-CHAN!!!!!!!!!! Your back!!!!"
"Naruto, shut up. And to everyone's surprise, especially Naruto's, he did stop talking."
"Ops…I need to work on controlling my powers more." murmured Sakura to herself. "You can talk now Naruto."
Said blonde immediately opened his mouth, and prepared to shout some sort of stupid nonsense, that had a 99.6849201 percent chance of having ramen in it, but Tsunade calmly whacked him on the back of his head before he could say anything.
"Dobe."
"Dickless."
"Brat."
"Baka."
I love home…
I have one hell of a twisted second mind…
…I'm mad, so you know…
I figured as much.
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A/N: I'm so sorry that there isn't any Itachi in this chapter, but please give me a chance; I need to first get the plot rolling before the real thing begins. I did try to put Itachi in, but the chapter ended up being too long so I had to cut it out. I'm putting it in the next chapter though. Oh, and I decided to skip the Naruto/Sasuke/Sai battle, but if you want it, I can put it in the next chapter as a flashback or something if you want. Also, for all of you NejiSaku fans, I'm going to be adding a bit of one-sided NejiSaku, and a bit of ItaSaku in the next chapter so please be patient. Thank you!
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aznkitty180: Thank you! I'm glad you like it! Sorry for the late update.
FakeCompassion: I'm flattered that you think I'm a good writer. Thank you so much for everything!!!
Night'sBullet: Thank you for the review! They helped a lot. I can't remember if I answered already or not...but yeah, I left some characteristics out because I thought it would be better if Sakura wasn't a gleaming diamond in the sun...it would be hard to be a shinobi then.
xXFallenSakuraXx: Lol...Sorry about the cliffy. Thank you so much for reviewing and I'm so sorry that I didn't update for awhile. I'll try to get the next chapter up faster.
unbeatablehinata: I'm really glad you like it. I'm SOOO sorry!!! I tried to put Itachi in, but the chapter ended up taking way to much time to write so I decided to save it for the next chapter.
Mistress Persephone: Lol. Thank you for the support, I'm glad you like it!...I think I need to take lessons from Toya as well...
winged wondergirl: Wow! I'm glad you like it!! I got some ideas from your suggestion so Double Thanks!
Kinomi-chan: Thank You!!!...please don't feed me to Zetsu...I'm really untasty and skinny...like bone...Once again Thank you so much for the review!
TeenageCrisis: AHHHH!!!!! I'M SO SORRY! I know I should have put Itachi in this chapter but the chapter ended up being way too long so I had to cut it out. I'm going to put it in the next chapter! I promise!
Pink Blossom Princess: Thank You! I'm glad you like it! Your reviews definitely raise up my self esteem.
SHIT TO YOU: ...I'll take that as an insult...
SasuxSaku-Inner Sakura Haruno: THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR CATCHING THAT! I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG BUT I'M STUPID LIKE THAT SOMETIMES!!!! And Thank you very, very much for reviewing!!!!
ArjunaAnia: Thank you! I'm sorry, I'll update the next one faster!
Chocolat-Chan: Thank you!!! Your reviews are so fun to read! I'll try to take your advice, but I have to admit that I'm really bad with the fluff and the romance writing, but I'll try!
radar: Thank you!! I'm glad that you liked it.
nini: I'm glad you like it!!!! I'm so sorry that the update took so long...Well anyways, once again thank you for the review!
xXKonan-chanXx: Thanks for the review! AHH!! I'm so sorry about Itachi! I had to cut his scene out because the chapter was way too long, I'm going to put it in the next chapter though! I promise!!!
Artemis411: Thank You!! I'm sorry for the late update, I'll try to be faster next time!
narutocraze1233: The werewolves are coming in a either the next chapter or in the chapter after that! I'm really glad you liked it! I got the ideas for the nicknames after my male cousins yelled the strangest insults at the t.v while watching football.
cherryblossom94: Lol! I'm glad you liked the chapter! Sorry for the late update!...If your like Inner, I think I want to take you to meet my evil cousins...lol.
pinky101: Wow! Thanks for the compliment! It really raised up my self esteem, so for that, Thank You!
Starlight-Wild Koneko: I'm glad you like the chapter. I'll try to add a bit of Gaara and Sakura pairing in this fic, though it'll probably be onesided. Oh, and Thank you for the review!!!
Lady V-chan: I'm soooo sorry. Itachi will be in the next chapter promise. I was going to put him in this chapter but the chapter ended up being way too long without an end in sight. I'm really glad you liked the Sai and Toya scene! I got inspired by my 2 male cousins yelling at the t.v. Football was on if your wondering what they were watching. Thank you for your review!
Anime Girl: Thank you!! I'm glad you like it. I'm sorry that the update was so slow! I'll try to make the next update faster.
ThornRoses: After your review, I went and read Sleeping Blood. I really liked it! Thank you for telling me about it! I'm so glad that you like Changed so far! Oh, and Merry Late Christmas and Merry, Late New Years!
Cherry-Hime-chan: Thank you! I'm glad you like it!
My.Dark.Tears.: I'm really glad so many people liked Sai vs. Toya battle! I got the idea after seeing two of my male cousins yell at the t.v while it was showing a football game. Thank you for reviewing, and I'm sorry for the late update!
kit: I'm glad you like it! )
MiniSaki265: Thank you! At first I was worried that the vampire idea was too old, but I'm glad some people actually like it! Your review really made me happy!
13th hour: Wah!!! Thank you so much! I'm really glad you like it! I agree with you. There are too many stories where Sasuke or Itachi is the vampire, while Sakura is the poor damsel in distress. I'll try to put in a bit of NejiSaku and GarraSaku...but I have to say this...I'm not a very good romance writer, so I'm slightly nervous about the whole thing, but I'll try my best!
kyo12591: I'm glad you like it! I enjoyed your reviews. They were quite interesting!
kage kitsune taiyoukai: I'm so sorry for the late update. After I read your review, I realized that I really had to get my lazy butt up and moving. I'll try to update faster! Oh, and Thank you for the review!!!
