IX
Newborn no More
A/N: THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!!!!! FINALLY OVER 100! Oh, on a different note, I know a few of you were worried that Sakura was becoming too powerful, but that's because she's at the top of her strength/power. It's bound to go down sooner or later. Sorry, I lied. Itachi is in this chapter, but there's no ItaSaku yet. Please try to understand that I'm really, really bad at writing anything about romance so I'm really sort of nervous about this whole fic.
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Recap: 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."
"Oops…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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As Sakura and her past teammates stood in front of Tsunade, waiting for the slightly drunk Hokage to speak, they found themselves staring at each other awkwardly. Finally, to everyone's relief, Tsunade decided to explain why they were there.
"I'm sure all of you are wondering why your watching me get drunk in my office, but I have a very good reason! She hiccupped as her face turned more and more pink. One, I have a mission for all of you. A-ranked. It shouldn't be too hard. And two, Sakura, you know that your time is almost up."
Sakura nodded her head slightly to show she understood, while her teammates stared at her in confusion. Ignoring their questioning gaze, the only vampire in the room left with a faint flicker. "Well, I advise the rest of you to pack your things and meet at the gate in the morning by eight am. Kakashi, you better be on time."
"Wait Baa-san! You haven't told us what the mission is yet!" Naruto cried.
Glaring at the blonde, Tsunade answered irritably, "I'll tell you at the gate. Now go." With a poof, all of them vanished. Sighing, Tsunade sent a messenger hawk to Sakura with the time to meet for the mission.
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Like always, Sakura headed off towards Ino's place for flowers. To her faint relief, Ino wasn't there, and in her place was a guy who tried fruitlessly to flirt with her. Grabbing a bouquet of lilies, she quickly paid and left with a flash, leaving only the silver bells on the door to jingle lonely. After visiting her parent's grave, Sakura headed off towards her house to take a shower and stock on some things. She lifted her head up calmly as a messenger hawk swooped down with the note from Tsunade. After the hawk flew away, she started to head off back home again. When she arrived, Sakura found to her surprise that Neji was standing in front of her door.
"Neji-san?"
Neji turned around to gaze at Sakura. "Sakura-san."
"Is there something you need?"
She noticed that Neji was looking slightly flustered. Though he hid it well, she could tell that he was shocked by how much she changed. Turning his head to gaze blankly at the sky he finally answered. "I heard from the gate guards that you returned today. Are you busy?"
Gazing curiously at the slightly uncomfortable ANBU, she murmured, "I have a mission in the morning at 8, but until then, no." Sakura's piercing gaze looked carefully at Neji. He was acting so different from the usual man that the kunoichi vampire couldn't help but be suspicious of him.
"I…I was hoping we could spar. I've always wondered how I would do against a medic, and I couldn't ask Hokage-sama for a battle." Blinking in surprise, Sakura finally answered him. "Sure, I'll be glad to do a light spar with you, but first, do you think I could go in first to drop off some of my stuff and grab something to eat?" Yes, vampires have to eat food, though even without food, they wouldn't die, but Sakura didn't like the idea of becoming a walking skeleton.
"No, of course not. Please go ahead, take as much time as you need Sakura-san."
Giving Neji a calculating glance, she decided to invite him in. "Please, come in and have something to drink." When Neji opened his mouth to decline, Sakura swiftly interrupted him by saying, "I'd like the company, and I'm curious as to how everyone has been."
Sighing in defeat, he walked into her house after her. "Wow, it's so clean. I thought it would be really dusty after a month of not living here…" Sakura gasped.
"Ah, Ino-san came once in awhile to clean up and stock up your food supply."
Blinking in faint surprise, Sakura murmured, "I'll have to thank Ino-pig."
Dropping her bag on the couch, Sakura went into the kitchen and grabbed two apples and a few bananas and a carton of orange juice as well. Tossing Neji an apple and two bananas she poured two glasses of orange juice, and handed one to the surprised Hyuuga.
He watched as Sakura bit into the apple as she looked around her house to make sure that everything was where it should be. Looking at the food, Neji quickly drank the juice, and bit into the apple as he put the two bananas back onto the counter of fruit. He didn't like the idea of looking like a monkey. Sakura was already finished with her apple and bananas, now drinking her juice in quick gulps. As the last drop disappeared, she said, "Ok, I'm ready now. Let's go."
Staring in shock at how fast she ate, he followed her blindly out of her house and to training ground 12. As they arrived at the slightly secluded area, Sakura rounded up on him and asked, "Ok. Neji-san. I know that you wanted to see me for another reason other then to spar."
Turning away from her gaze, Neji stared once again at the sky. "Neji-san?"
With a sigh, he finally answered. "I have a problem with my eyes." There was silence as the pink-haired kunoichi asked, "Why are you telling me? You could have just asked Tsunade-sama or another medic." He turned slightly pink as he mumbled what sounded like, "I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."
Sighing weakly, Sakura murmured, "Let me have a look." Her hands glowing a light green, as she raised it level to his gaze. Neji didn't even flinch in the slightest as she leaned in closer to lightly rest her hands on either side of his head.
"Neji-san. Please close your eyes." Sakura softly breathed out, her voice slightly huskier then usual. The white-eyed ANBU closed his eyes as he pondered why her voice sounded so strange. Unknown to him, Sakura was pondering thoughts herself, but none of her thoughts had anything to do with her male patient. All of them were on herself and the strange pain she was experiencing in her head. Not a headache, not even a migraine, but a pain that could only be described as aching, but at the same time uncannily soothing.
Diagnosing Neji's eyes quickly, Sakura had to fight from laughing out in laughter. "Tell me Neji-san. What problems have you had with your eyes?"
Opening his eyes from his closed state, he frowned somewhat at the pink-haired beauty. "Well…I've been having trouble seeing clearly. Before, I've been able to see things extremely far away, visibly, without even needing to use the Byakugan, but lately, everything has been slightly blurred. Am…am I going blind?"
At this, Sakura couldn't help but erupt in peals of laughter. "Blind…(laugh)…blind…." Her laughter faded off to faint giggling as she calmed down. She smiled gently at the scowling Neji as she reassured him calmly. "No. No of course not. You just need glasses Neji-san."
There was silence as Neji asked, his voice disbelieving, "Glasses…but…but no one in my family has glasses! Nearsightedness is a recessive trait!" For the first time in Sakura's life, she was able to witness a disturbed, hysterical Hyuuga.
"Well…the only ways this could have happened is if your father was nearsighted, but he wore contacts, and your mother was a Carrier of the trait, the other way around, or if they were either both Carriers, or if both wore contacts. " The pink-haired medic explained soothingly. Groaning, Neji dropped his head in defeat.
For the rest of the time, Sakura carefully studied his eyes to find the prescription of his eyes. When Neji mumbled that he would like contacts, Sakura spent a few minutes explaining how to use and take care of contacts. Finally, she wrote down the prescription and the directions to the nearest optician to order glasses, to his mortification.
As this was going on, the kunoichi couldn't help but be distracted by the constant pain in her head. She was surprised out of her reverie when Neji suddenly mumbled; "I would still enjoy a spar with you."
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Naruto was feeling rather gloomy. And once again, his downcast mood was due to his pink-haired teammate. He just couldn't understand how she could have changed so much. Of course, the blonde didn't blame her at all if she was cold to Team 7, considering that they'd all left her, but the way she was acting around everyone else was worrying.
It was as if she couldn't help but not trust anyone. The Kyuubi container flinched at the thought. What if she was hurt on a mission while we weren't there to help her? That would definitely explain her wariness of the world. While still pondering the conditions of his only female teammate, Naruto started to unconsciously head toward the sound of what he supposed was a spar. His thoughts were broken when he realized that the spar was between Neji and Sakura.
The ground was covered with craters, broken trees, crushed stones and weapons. Sakura was standing quite calmly in front of Neji as the said man wiped the sweat from his brows.
Without warning, Neji suddenly flung a handful of kunai at his opponent. Sakura smirked as she smoothly sidestepped the thrown weapons, but faltered unexpectedly. Her eyes widened in faint shock as something unexplainable happened.
If asked, she would have described the feeling as refreshing. The pain in her head had snapped and freed itself from its bonds. As if someone had taken off a mountain of weight off her shoulders. In her abrupt freezing, Neji had drawn a few senbon needles and launched them at her, thinking that she would dodge.
Naruto was of the same mind as Neji. They're going to bounce off her skin like that time with Itachi-teme, or she's going to dodge it Both were wrong though. The senbon needles tore through her flesh in many different places causing her blood to spill. The two male's eyes widened in horror as Sakura fell backwards.
"SAKURA-SAN!!!"
"SAKURA-CHAN!!!"
In a flash, both of them were at her side. "I'll go get a medic," rasped Neji as he stood to rush for help. But before he could take a step, Sakura hoarsely gasped out, "No. I'm fine." Waving away Naruto's hand, that were trying to keep her from getting up, Sakura pulled out the needles, wincing. A green aura surrounded her body, closing all of her wounds, but something seemed to be still different about her.
"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Should I get Baa-chan?!!! Help? Do you need help? Does it hurt?!!! Sakura-chan!!!" Naruto wailed. His uninjured patient's eyebrows twitched in annoyance as she suddenly yelled, "Shut-up Naruto-baka!" while smacking him on the head.
"Ita-!...Wait!!!! Sakura-chan? ...YOU'RE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!! THE OLD SAKURA-CHAN IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yelling out in triumph, Naruto did his obnoxious 'happy, joy-joy' dance.
Ugh…Was I that bad?
Hell Yeah! You were a total B----!
…Oh…
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At last, Sakura was finally out of her 'Newborn Stage'. This stage for a vampire is extremely troublesome because you could say that it is like a vampire's, 'teenage point'. The 'teenage point' lasts for quite sometime, usually until a year has passed since you were changed; that, or a month after you discover your gift, if you have one in the first place that is.
As a Newborn, a vampire is likely to be extremely cold, wary, depressing, and rather rude. Some vampires describe that period as the 'dead stage'. Emotionless, and seemingly untouchable, a Newborn is sort of like a beautiful, flawless corpse. Of course, they have their good points too. For instance, Newborns have the 'absolute defense', which is the invisible 'barrier' that seems to make it impossible to hurt them physically in anyway. Though vampires have superior speed, reflexes and senses, a Newborn's are about twice more powerful. Lastly, Newborns that have gifts seem to be able to use their gift without any limits at all. This allows a vampire who discovers their gift to test and experiment with it for a month without any negative barriers and limits on themselves.
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In a cold damp cell, a strange 'monster' was being held, restrained by chains, ropes, drugs, and certain jutsus. The 'monster' looked like any human except for its' fangs and a few other noticeable features.
"What do you think it is Itachi?" Growled the blue-skinned man. Itachi didn't bother answering.
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"YOU'RE LATE!!!!!!!" To Kakashi's utter shock, it wasn't one, but two voices that screamed out the obvious. "Sakura?" He asked in faint wonder.
"…Um… Sorry guys…I know I've been acting…weird…for a while. Sorry." The female mumbled while she gave a sheepish grin.
"…Well that was sudden…" Grunted Sasuke.
"Oh, Ice B---- is back to Hag?"
Before Sakura could damage Sai physically for his rude comment, Tsunade appeared with Shizune at her side. "Sakura, it seems as if you're finally out of that stage." Sakura smiled gently, her whole feature seemed to shine with a rather inhumane beauty.
"Hai, sorry for being so…troublesome…" Grinning rather sheepishly, Sakura suddenly turned to glare rather malevolently at her team. "That doesn't mean I've forgiven you." Her voice was back to being cold as ice. As the male members of team 7 flinched, Tsunade couldn't help but smirk at the group of four who were known for being Konoha's best shinobis.
"Team 7! Your mission was a A-ranked-"
"Wait! What do you mean it was a A-ranked?!!" Naruto cried out.
Tsunade completely ignored Naruto as she kept talking. "But as of now, the mission has gone up an S-rank mission."
"Yes!!!! A S-rank-OUCH! SAKURA-CHAN! WHY'D YOU HIT ME?!!!" Cried Naruto as he sat on the ground nursing his head.
No one paid him any attention as Tsunade went on with her explanation. "Last night, the client sent us notice that the mission has gotten more difficult due to the sightings of the Akatsuki in that region." Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction as he heard the news and Naruto froze in surprise. "Naruto, I didn't want to send you on this mission, but I believe team 7 is strong enough to cope. There is also a limited chance that you'll even accouter the Akatsuki, for they have no relationship with your mission."
His blue eyes serious, Naruto murmured, "Ah. I got it Baa-chan."
Forth Hokage! Yelled Inner Sakura.
What?
He looks like the Fourth!
…
Sakura's mental conversation ended when the blonde Hokage began to speak once again. "This mission is an assassination that will secure Konoha's future against the rebelling missing-nins in the Rock Country. Your task is to find the main base of the pests, and kill them all, especially the leader. In other words, you are to terminate them."
"Wait. Are you the client, Hokage-sama?" Sasuke asked. There was silence as the female Sannin's piercing golden/brown eyes gazed at the group of her finest shinobis. "Yes." She answered at last. In her head, Tsunade was fuming. She had wanted to keep her being the client a secret so she had purposefully talked as if the client was a man living in Rock, but the Uchiha had ruined her plans.
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It had already been a few days of their mission, but they had yet to arrive in the designated area. "Are we there yet?" Naruto asked.
"A few more hours dobe." Sasuke grunted.
Sakura was in the back, acting as the one to leave hidden clues and trails in case they went missing. The signs were left so that only Konoha shinobis could ever find them. Unfortunately, the method didn't help keep Konoha missing-nins from following it as well.
What none of them knew was that Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame of the Akatsuki were following them.
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"Itachi. Are you certain that the pink brat knows what that 'monster' is?"
"No."
"You're not certain."
"I have my reasons to believe that the girl is of the same species, or at least related in some way to one."
"…I can't wait to kill." Grinning, the sadistic blue man swung his sword confidently; imagining that the air he was cutting was actually the 'pink-haired brat'.
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"Achoo!"
"Bless you Sakura-chan!"
Someone's talking about you again.
Well, I don't think I'll like the person, whoever it is.
Why?
The sneeze had an ominous feeling to it.
…and you say I have the problems.
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A/N: Just out of curiosity...How old do you think I am based on my writing style and such?
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Reviews!!!
Night'sBullet: Thank you for review!!! Sorry my friend, but I can't tell you what the 'beast' is yet! I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though this one is rather boring.
xXHyuugaSakuraXx: Thank you! I'm glad you like it!
ForgiveButNeverForget: Ah!!! Your making me blush. Thank you for the review. I Love Cookies!!!!
Zephyrette: I may put the battle as a oneshot so that people who want to can read it. If Itachi gets bitten by Sakura he will become -----. Sorry, can't answer that just yet. Lol.
LitoxShorty: Thank you for the ideas. I always wondered what a mary-sue was... Anyways, your review helped me get inspiration and fix Sakura's mary-sue problem as well. In the next few chapters, something is going to happen to Sakura that will probably make her less mary-sue. Thank you for reviewing!!!
Pink Blossom Princess: Wah! I'm so sorry. I'm really trying to put Itachi in more but I have really big plans for him in the later chapters, but he can't be in the earlier ones as much because the plot hasn't really gotten fully laid out yet. I'm really glad you reviewed, and Thank you for the encouragement!
AnimeFreakGirl777: Yes, it's a ItaSaku, but it's going to take awhile for that to happen because of my weird and twisted plot...lol. I'm glad yo like it and Thank you for reviewing!!!
ThornRoses: Thank you for the advice. It really helped inspire me with the plot and helped clear the writer's block! I'm going to try and fix the mary-sue. Something is going to happen to Sakura that will probably make her less Mary-sue. Not to mention, I worked on it a little in this chapter as well. Yes, it is a Itachi Sakura but because of my poor romance writing skills and my crazy plot, it's going to take awhile for Itachi to make a big entrance. I'm glad people like Kamui and Suki! A lot of times, people really hate OC characters...including myself...
EverMindTheRuleOfThree: Wah!!! Why are so many people making me blush today?! I'm really happy that you like my fic. Thank you for reviewing!!!Lol.
M-Mello: Wah!!!!!!!!!! You are the 100th reviewer!!!!!...I think... Anyways, Thank you for reviewing and making my goal happen! I'm really glad you like the story and I'll try to make it better and better!
Haruka: Lol. Yeah, I would do that too! I'm really happy that you like it so far! Thank you for reviewing!!!
Pinky101: Thank you Pinky!!!! I'm really glad you like it, and thank you for the encouragement!!!
scarletmirror: Wah!!! Thank you! Man, you are the 5th person to make me blush! I'm really glad you like it, and even though this chapter was a bit boring, please keep reading and sending your awesome reviews!!
unbeatablehinata: I'm really glad you liked chapter 8!!! I'm so sorry about Itachi, but I'm a really bad romance writer and my plot is so crazy and complicated that it's going to take awhile for Itachi to become a major in this fic, but please be patient! Lol. I love Sakura's power too. If I had that power...it would be really bad...sigh.
kyo12591: I'm so glad you like this! Thank you for reviewing again! Even though this chapter is a bit boring, please bare with me!
winged wondergirl: Wah!!!! You are the 6th person to make me blush. I'm so glad you like it! Yeah, I made the council nice because mean councils are a bit over used. Thank you once again for the reviews and have a happy...um...February, March, April, May, June, July...and yeah.
aznkitty180: Hm...maybe I'll do a oneshot of the battle...Anyways, I'm really glad you liked the chapter!!! Sorry about ItaSaku...I'm a terrible romance writer and with my crazy plot it's going to take awhile before Itachi gets into major action. Thanks for reviewing!!!!
My.Dark.Tears: Lol. Yes! I think it's really funny when my cousin gets a migraine from drinking too much. He falls a lot...lol. I'm thinking about whether I should do a oneshot on the three way battle so that people who wants to read it can...Anyways, Thank you for reviewing!!!
xXFallenSakuraXx: AHHH!!! You are the...7th person to make me blush!!! I'm so glad you like it!!! Thank you so much for the review and the Cliffy Queen award!!!!
Chocolat-Chan: I'm really glad you like Suki! A lot of people usually don't like OC characters. I'm glad people are taking Kamui and Suki so well. I know what you mean! I want Sakura's power too!!!! Thank you for reviewing!!!!
FakeCompassion: Lol! I'm glad you liked chapter 8!!! Thank you for reviewing!!!!
Shinju Tenshi: Wah!!!!! You are the 8th person to make me blush!!!! Thank you so much for the compliments!!! I would love to have Sakura's power!!! Thank you once again for the compliments and the review!!!
Hao'sAniul: Wah!!!!!!!!! You are the 9th person to make me blush! I'm really glad you liked the story so far! Thank you very much for the encouragements and I'm really surprised that I have few grammatical mistakes...English is my 2nd language... Thank you once again!!!! Oh, and sorry about Itachi...my crazy plot and my terrible romance writing skills are causing Itachi to be left out a bit. But I promise that he will come into action soon!
Keira-Natsume101: I'm so glad you like it!!! Thank you so much for the review!!!!
narutocraze1233: Lol. No, unfortunately Itachi isn't a werewolf, but it is a really good idea...hm...my brain is spinning with new ideas now! I hope this chapter explained why Sakura was acting pretty mean and I'm so glad you like Suki. A lot of people hate OC characters. Because of my poor romance writing skills and my crazy plot, it's going to take awhile for Itachi to come into a major role, but I'll work hard! Thank you for reviewing!!!
Lady V-chan: Lol. Yes, I'm glad we can relate! I'm so glad you like Suki, a lot of people usually don't like OC characters but I'm glad you like him! Lol! I'm amazed that you were able to get that I portrayed Kamui as a pervert! You are one amazing person!!! Thank you for reviewing!!!
NinjaDucky: Yes! There is more!!! I'm glad you like it!!! Thank you so much for reviewing!!!!
dull spork: Lol...Though I'm a bit confused about the bipolar thing, I do know about Itachi and blindless sasuke! I read the manga! I'm glad you like it! Thank you for reviewing!!!!
darkwings: Thank you!!! I'm glad you like it! I promise to write more!
