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Aftershock of Gift

Hello! This is important!!!!! The parts in the story that are underlined in the story, not the recap, are when they are talking with sign language. Oh, and Chocolat-Chan, my Beta's, notes are in bold italics and my notes are in just plain bold!

Recap: 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 trials in case they went missing. The signs were left so that only Konoha shinobi 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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"Itachi. Are we going to attack them or not?"

"We'll wait until they are tired from the encounter with the Rock-nins."

"Humph. Fine."

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The team found the base with ease, and was now taking a short break in the shade of some large boulders. "Snakes," Grunted Sasuke.

"What was that Teme?" asked Naruto while giving the Uchiha a sideways glance.

"Dobe. Watch out for snakes," Sasuke grunted again.

Kakashi calmly snapped a hand over Naruto's mouth to keep him from yelling out as a huge snake slithered by. Naruto shivered and wrenched Kakashi's hand off before asking, "Those were your snakes right Teme?"

Sasuke glanced up at the nervous Naruto before replying, "They're not summons."

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With their short break finished, and their plans laid-out, Team 7 was now dispatched around the base, ready to enter. "Naruto, stay near the entrance and keep anyone from escaping. Sasuke and Sai, go into the base and kill as many as possible. Sakura, free the prisoners and exterminate as many enemies as you can. I'll go and assassinate the leader, Sai, you're my backup for that," murmured Kakashi into his mic.

"Hai." With that the team jumped into action, first killing the guards then the many shinobi that came running. Sakura immediately headed in, and using her speed, captured a few with thin unbreakable wire.

Time to test my limits. She thought as her eyes became violet.

Facing her 10 captives, she ordered, "You will head toward the prisoners and kill anyone but the Konoha shinobi." With that, she freed them. They seemed bewildered when their body seemed to move on their own. As they headed off toward the prisoners, with Sakura a few meters behind, they came across another missing-nin who then became engaged in a battle with his own comrade.

"Why the F--- are you trying to kill me?!!!"

"I don't know! I can't stop!"

The kunoichi slowed down to watch this interesting turn of event. Her group headed off before her, down some stairs and finally into a large cell, but Sakura knew where they were so she didn't follow.

Come on Sakura. This is boring.

With Inner Sakura urging her on, Sakura turned to head off toward where the prisoners were kept. What she met was something that would terrify her for life. All the prisoners who were civilian women and children had been gathered into the middle of the cell. Surrounding them were her ordered shinobi with kunai in their hands.

I didn't tell them to not kill the prisoners!

"NO!!!!!" She screamed in panic as the blades left the hands to massacre the prisoners. Blood splattered over the ground as the bodies fell to the ground dead. Sakura swiftly killed all of the missing-nins in panic but knew that it was too late.

The world seemed to spin as voices and terrorized screams bellowed in her head. The fear everyone had felt due to her 'gift' was affecting her as well. Falling to her knees in terror, Sakura cried for the first time in years. "No…please. Please! STOP!!!!!! STOP!!!! SHUT-UP!!!!!!!!!!!" She shrieked as the phantoms of her victims screeched in her head. Covered in blood, hair fisted in her hands, eyes screwed shut to not see the corpses, Sakura sat there trembling, and screaming in terror.

It seemed that she had found the aftershock of her gift the hard way. The stronger the gift was the more powerful and painful the aftershock was. Her aftershock was probably one of the cruelest in the history of vampires. When someone was killed due to the influence of her gift, she would hear and mentally feel the terror her 'victims' went through before, and as they died.

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"Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered softly to the silent kunoichi. "Sakura-chan do you want something to eat?"

When he got silence as an answer, Naruto slumped his shoulders and sadly walked away.

"She's not talking?" asked Sasuke.

"Yeah…" whispered Naruto gloomily. The four men stared anxiously at the pink haired girl, as she sat silently, staring at the flames of the fire.

"What do you think happened?" Sai asked.

"I have no idea. She was just sitting there crying and screaming with blood all over her, surrounded by the dead bodies of prisoners and missing-nins," Naruto murmured softly. Fisting his hands, the blonde glared at the ground as the memories flashed through his mind.

After fulfilling their parts, they had gotten worried when Sakura hadn't shown up with the prisoners. Naruto had headed in to find her. What he found would haunt him for the rest of his life. In a pool of blood surrounded by corpses, Sakura screamed and cried while she clutched her pink hair. Naruto had hurriedly picked her up and ran out of that tomb while desperately asking Sakura what happened. 12 hours had passed since then, but Sakura had still not said a single word, or eaten. Heck! She hadn't acknowledged their existence yet.

"Sakura usually wouldn't be so upset by something like this. She is an ANBU so it can't be the dead women and children." mumbled Kakashi.

At the moment, the phantoms had left, but their voices still lingered in the back of her mind causing her to tremble slightly in fear and pain. Eyes glazed over, a dismal atmosphere shadowed her whole figure. Her face had the expression of one who was lost. The same expression all four boys had experienced at least once in their life.

I'm… sealing off my voice. Except for emergencies…

Agreed…

Steeling herself, Sakura slowly stopped her trembling and stood up. Kakashi had long ago wiped away all the blood on her with a gentle hand as Sasuke, Sai and Naruto watched worriedly nearby.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried out as she stood up. She turned to gaze at the blonde, but try as she might she couldn't force out a smile. Her eyes were steely, rather empty and cold. Her gaze was more frozen then ever. Sakura silently accepted the bowl of ramen that Sasuke was holding out for her, and she ate carefully, mechanically.

I miss Suki. She thought as the image of the sweet royal flashed through her mind. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Kakashi decided to ask a question. "Sakura, what happened?" She turned to gaze at the silver/gray haired man as she signaled with her hands, nothing.

All shinobi had to learn sign language in their academy days due to how useful it could be in a mission, but for Sakura to be talking in sign language caused Team 7 to stare in shock.

Eyes wide, her first sensei quickly asked, "Sakura?!! Did something happen to your voice?"

Gazing expressionlessly at her teammates, she replied, No. I've sealed my voice off. I won't talk unless it's an emergency from now on. Giving a polite nod of her head, she headed off towards her bedroll.

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The wind blew around broken and cut due to the large boulders that rose in random intervals. "Rock, rock, boulder, rock, pebble, rock, rock, ROCK, ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Shut up dobe!" Sasuke hissed.

Before Naruto could retaliate, Sai suddenly murmured, "Someone's coming." As soon as this was said, Sakura froze in her tracks, an unrecognizable expression on her face. Danger!! She signaled.

Like a shadow, seven silent people glided into view, two of them female and the rest male. They were beautiful in a wild way, with long hair and wolf like eyes. Unlike Kiba, the group of seven gave off a power that was both ancient and supernatural. Sakura hissed at them, her back arching slightly sort of like a cat, a warning glow in her eyes. In response, they in turn bared their teeth, revealing their sharp fangs that seemed deadly enough to cut through diamond.

For the first since she was changed, she felt terror shoot up and down her back due to an enemy opponent. Breathing hard, the female royal signaled, stay back. You can't fight them.

"No way! We're not leaving you to fight this alone!" Naruto cried out, his blue eyes flashing with anger.

"Bloodsucker." hissed one of the enemies. Sakura just sent them an icy glare. The leader of the pack growled as he took a step in Sakura's direction. "Why won't you talk leech? Are we to lowly for your kind to speak to?" he asked. His low deep, growling voice was saturated with sarcasm. The male members of team 7 saw a spark of life in their teammate's eyes at the word leech. Usually, the kunoichi wouldn't take offense from such a weak insult, but the look in her eyes screamed murder.

A powerful aura surrounded the pink-haired royal as her eyes turned violet. "Leave," she ordered, a snarl in her voice. The seven figures growled and shook their heads, easily brushing off her gift, to Sakura's intense surprise. (A/N: Sakura's gift worked on anyone when she was in the 'Teenage Stage' but now, it doesn't work against the vampire's greatest enemy.) "Sakura?" whispered Kakashi.

She ignored him, her gaze never leaving the figures. "You know what I am. I know what you are. I'll warn you again, leave, before you start a war between our kinds."

"One less of your kind isn't enough to start a war, don't be so full of yourself!" a young female spat while she crouched in a threatening pose. If possible, their manner became even more hostile as they slowly changed. Their eyes became like glowing amber as their nails became claws and their fangs grew more pronounced. The female wildly shot at Sakura without any warning. She moved with the speed to match a vampire. What are they you ask? They, as some of you may have guessed by now, are werewolves, the other ancient species that evolved over time, usually hidden from the knowledge of people. They and the vampires have had, since the beginning of time, a deep hatred for each other that grew stronger and stronger as the years went by.

Before Sakura could respond, Sasuke had already jumped in to meet the female werewolf's attack. The werewolf dodged his figure; her eye's never leaving Sakura, considering her the main threat, the main priority. "Sasuke! She's not humane!! Stay back!" The vampire practically screeched in fear as the werewolf's claws came close to connecting against his skin.

The female werewolf fell back to circling team 7 guardedly, her eyes glowing in the way a hunter's will. "Neither are you!" the female werewolf spat, raising her upper lip in a snarl. The team turned to look at Sakura in confusion, but the young vampire promptly ignored their questioning gaze, instead choosing to stare at their eyes with a fixed stare. As her eye's glowing violet again, Sakura's alluring voice rang out in the rocky vicinity.

"Sasuke, Naruto, Sai, Kakashi. Stay back and don't join the fight unless your life is in danger!" Sakura's order was careful, deliberate, and thought-out, not wanting to be the cause for their injury.

They did as ordered, backing away a few meters away from the figures that were prepared for battle. The power and authority surrounding Sakura was so strong, that it was almost visible. Glaring once again at the pack, she stated, "I, Haruno Sakura, one of the six royal of my people, command that they leave before a full out war between our kinds starts. The council and another royal, the revered Suki of Emotions, are my close comrades. Leave before permanent damage is caused!"

The one that Sakura would guess to be the Alpha of this pack spoke, "Haruno Sakura, also known by many as Hime of Command. A royal vampire newly turned. Yes, I've heard of you." He disregarded the soft gasps of surprise that was heard from the male members of team 7. "For millions of years, your kind has been in power. You never let us hunt the humans as much as we need, always saying pathetic things like how humans can't discover our existence! Killing you will be a fitting wakeup call for a war THAT WE WILL WIN!!!!!" Ending his short speech with a howl that all 7 took part in, Sakura covered her ears and hissed in pain at the 'racket' they caused.

The Alpha male rushed at the pink-haired kunoichi in her moment of weakness and swiped at her with his claws. Fur started to cover his whole body, and a tail appeared as his cloths shrunk into his body unseen. Finally, standing in front of the vampire was a fully changed werewolf, a magnificent, but terrifying creature that looked like a giant, eerily beautifully wolf. He was a dark brown, almost black, color with glowing amber eyes that all changed werewolves have.

Naruto, Kakashi, Sasuke and Sai could only watch in horror as Sakura engaged herself in a wild dance, were a single wrong step could result in death. Her pink hair flew around as she smoothly dodged the attacks with lithe, graceful steps. Jumping back, Sakura flung a miniature army of kunai at her equally lithe, and graceful opponent, who carelessly batted away the weapons with ease. The battle lasted for another few minutes, but with them both moving at a speed so fast, that for them, it seemed like they had been battling for more then a few hours.

Finally, the two broke apart, Sakura with a large cut down her arm and on her side, and the werewolf with a cut down his leg and a fractured arm. Sakura was lacking blood in her wounds, but the werewolf was dripping the crimson life liquid. The seven werewolves gazed at the pink-haired beauty before abruptly all attacking at once.

As Sakura fell to the ground in a jumble of limbs, Naruto cried, "SAKURA-CHAN!!!!!!!!"

Kakashi's face was frozen in terror as he watched his first and only female student disappear in the mass of attacking bodies. Sasuke, Sai and Naruto were both letting out a frightening amount of chakra, but Naruto was the one who worried Kakashi the most. The Kyuubi's chakra was leaking and the first tail was starting to show.

With a roar, Naruto broke away from the order that Sakura had placed and shot off toward the battle. Already, two tails had formed and the third was showing. "GET AWAY FROM HER!!!!!!" He bellowed as a burst of sinister chakra exploded from him.

This is bad! Kakashi thought as the fourth tail started to form. He could only watch from a distance as Naruto lost himself as the fourth tail appeared. A single roar of his voice formed a huge crater, and Kakashi, Sasuke and Sai were practically blown away from the force. Seeing Naruto, the werewolves had long fled, disappearing as fast as they had appeared, leaving the broken body of Sakura laying there like a discarded rag doll.

Sasuke, on the directions of Kakashi had summoned two huge snakes to retrain Naruto long enough for them to place a seal on the blonde's forehead. The menacing red chakra faded and left the seriously injured body of Naruto. Adding to their troubles, the surrounding boulders started to crumble from the pressure of the Kyuubi's chakra, and created, to Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sai's great horror, a dangerous obstacle.

"We have to leave! Or we'll be crushed!" yelled Kakashi, who had Naruto on his back.

"We can't leave Sakura!" growled Sasuke, his Sharingan flashing red, the anger present in his crimson eyes.

A look of intense pain crossed across Kakashi's face as he murmured, "We have to."

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Itachi had watched the whole exchange between the, now known vampire, and the 'monsters'. He now knew that the 'monster' was a different species then the pink-haired kunoichi, and she even seemed to have a deep hatred for the 'monster'.

The monster that Itachi had captured had not spoken once so he had supposed that they were creatures that couldn't speak, but when he had heard the 'monster's here talk he had been slightly surprised. Itachi was glad that Kisame hadn't seen what had happened. With his huge chakra signal, he would have given them away at once. Kisame, to his chagrin, had been ordered by Itachi to take care of the rock hunter nins that had unexpectedly arrived, long before the battle had started.

Itachi observed in the shadows with his crimson eyes as the male Konoha shinobi fled the raining boulders and crumbling stones, leaving behind, against their will, their pink-haired teammate. "A vampire," he murmured softly to himself. Though his face was emotionless, his mind was exploding with the possible merits, and disadvantages of certain actions, that all had to do with the vampire. Finally making up his mind, Itachi stepped out of the shadow towards the fallen kunoichi.

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Sakura felt broken. The pain was excruciating, and she knew, even though vampires say that they can only die through suicide, she knew that the truth was there was actually one other way to die; through the wounds inflicted on her by werewolves. She knew the only way for her to survive was to drink fresh blood, but not any type of blood, human blood; the type of blood that she had promised, sworn, to herself to never try.

As Sakura lay there like a rag doll, praying, hoping for anyone to come, and help her, she felt her conscious slowly seeping.

Am I dieing? Can vampires, who can't even sleep, fall unconscious?

Inner was silent. She was all alone now. No, someone was coming.

Who?

Sakura saw through darkened visions a man with crimson eyes.

Sasuke? She wondered before falling into black.

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To clear up a few things... First, the 'monster' that Itachi talks about is a werewolf. Two, the reason team 7 had to leave Sakura was because of the raining boulders. And because Naruto was injured and Sakura was pretty much safe from where she was, they had to leave the area quickly before they got crushed. Of course, they were planning on returning at once.
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I thank Chocolat-chan, my awesome Beta (oh yeah, you bet I'm writing this, aren't you? BWAHA!)! Yeah, Chocolat-chan wrote this (wow, odd to write myself in 3rd person). I felt like being evil. xD

Chocolat-chan wrote the above note because she's an evil bitch.

And this is Layla... I don't know what to say...Oh well!!! Oh!Now I remember! Thank you everyone who voted. I'm planning on doing all three, but in the order of the votes. I've pretty much decided on which story to start next, but you're free to still vote if you want! At the moment, I'm planning to write Cocoon, then Fallen from Star and finally Saving. Of course after Changed is finished!

Oh, and finally: I finally got permission to reply to reviews the regular way, which is a good thing because answering all the reviews in the chapter is killing my fingers! So from now on, I will answer reviews the ordinary way!

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Reviews!!!! For the people who I've already replied to...I'll reply again!!!

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