Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be hammering piggy banks, now would I?
Short Note: Oh, goodness. The long note is all the way at the bottom. Pleeaase read. x33 For now, I apologize for the late late late late update! Please enjoy...
"Naruto?! It's been forever! Where have you been?"
As Naruto slips inside the old high school beside Temari and Ino, he feels himself being slammed right back outside. He grunts, the wind knocked out of him. His blurred vision of the bustling crowds of teens is soon obscured by a bright mass of pink.
Naruto blinks, awkwardly patting an emotional Sakura on the back. She grabs the yellow spikes of his hair, tugging so hard he winces.
"We all thought you died!" Sakura practically shrieks. She sobs wetly--if that was a word--into his shoulder. He can almost feel Ino's disgusted eyes boring into them. Temari snorts. "Shikamaru even wanted to put up flyers!"
"Mhy fth fthell wfthould thee pfood upth pflthyerms?"
"What did you say?" Sakura wails, her fists curling into his shirt.
"Er--" Naruto reddens. A year ago, he might have been flushed out of pleasure, but now he's just embaressed. Despite himself, he really doesn't want
Sasuke's "childhood" friends thinking him a loser. Cautiously, he detaches himself from Sakura and straightens. "I said why would he put up flyers?" the blond repeats calmly.
Sakura gapes, her bottom jaw hanging like a door off a hinge. Her blue eyes stare at him questioningly as her embracing hands stay limp in the air.
"What?" the blond furrows his brows a little. "Hey, Sakura, whats wr--"
"Nothing," Sakura mumbles, straightening her hair. "You just seem different. Get groped or something? Where've you been?"
"Oh--Uh, long lost uncle's place down town," Naruto spits his well-rehearsed lie. "Yeah, he's teaching here now. His name's Iruka. He convinced me to stay with him; you know adults, they don't think we can handle ourselves."
"Yeah," gulps Sakura. Wiping her eyes, she puts on a wide smile. "I get what youre talking about. Who're those girls who were with you before?"
"What are you talking about? They're still he--," Naruto double-takes and groans. Ino and Temari are no where in sight. He squints his eyes and grumbles to himself. "Who needs them anyway? Sakura," he talks a little louder, "let's go!"
Without waiting for his friend, Naruto sprawls into the open door of the high school. Sighing, Sakura trudges along.
"So Kimimaro, any plans for the weekend?" a surly voice draws close to the boy addressed.
Kimimaro barely looks up from his stare out the second story window. He runs an absent finger through his silver hair, his expression blank. Pausing before his response, he rubs the side of his forefinger with his free thumb. "Family stuff," he replies.
"Eh, really? Your imaginary family?" Kiba muses. "How come we never see 'em?"
"What, you his boyfriend or something?" Suigetsu snorts.
Karin settles her arms around both Kiba and Kimimaro. "Hell yeah," she says mischievously.
"Ew," Kiba mumbles. At the same time, Kimimaro makes a disgusted expression. "Piss off, Karin."
"Hmph." Hands on her hips, Karin pouts her lips and stands from her desk to tower over the sitting boys. She stares them down but soon turns to her far right. "Hey, where's Kabuto?"
"Saw him with Uchiha's crowd, you know the new freaks," Suigetsu grumbles. "Why the hell're girls mooning over them anyway? Even freakin Kabuto went over to share the spoils."
"Those guys are all jerks," Karin growls, crossing her arms.
"She's just saying that 'cause one of them dumped her ass," Kiba smirks.
"Naw, man," grins Suigetsu. "You can't dump someone you never liked. More like flat out rejected."
"Shut up," Karin says dangerously. "Like I said, they're all jerks!"
"Whatever man," Kiba shrugs. "You know they'll come back to us like," he snaps, "this."
"When they find out they're jerks!"
"Pff, shut up, Karin." Suigetsu fiddles with his pen. "Save that PMSing shit for your cronie bitches."
"Language, Suigetsu."
"You too, Kiba. Shut your trap. God, Kimimaro here's the only one who's got it. Look at him, quiet as always. You just here to make us look better, eh, Ki?"
Kimimaro makes a wry gesture at this and shrugs subtly. "Isn't that what you all need?"
"Ouch, man." Suigetsu grins again. "Maybe Kiba and Karin. Kabuto even. But me? Hell no. It was me who brought Karin's bitches to us in grade seven! Hell, they were practically chasing after. Of course they wanted a piece of this. I mean, who wouldn't, you know? So anyway--"
Kimimaro sighs to himself; behind his lips, his tongue tenses over his razer teeth. He feels his bones twinging like talons, and he has to restrain a beast-like growl. His throat burns like a tornado in a desert, and he coughs, as if to spit out the dry sand.
He needs to feed.
Kimimaro was going to lose his mind if didn't get his hands on something with veins and a beating heart. He has to resist squirming even in his chair, and he slides his hand inside the desk, clenching it spasmically.
"Going to the bathroom," he says between his teeth before rushing to his feet. Behind him, he can hear the soft whoosh of air as Kiba and Suigetsu both shrug. He walks at an inconspicuous pace, impatient with his own feet. It's one thing that human lives re aso short, but another thing that they will waste it by always walking so slowly. At least Kimimaro, if all plans failed, would have eternity to traipse at a meaningless pace among the creatures he longed to consume.
Truly, Kimimaro wonders if it's better to starve himself or continue drinking animals' blood. The starving, he had decided, would prove to serve a better purpose for the long-term. He's just beginning to realize how unbearable it can prove to be. Another flare wells in his lungs, and Kimimaro inhales sharply.
Stupid.
The rushing oxygen only emphasizes the dry well of his throat. Irritated, Kimimaro licks his lips quickly, finally reaching the doorway.
He hears footsteps aside from the loud chatter in the classroom. They're lighter than normal, and Kimimaro's nose twitches at the coming scent. Sensing an aura, he know it's someone of his kind. Kimimaro grimaces inwardly, angry for not picking it up sooner.
Who is it? The scent isn't familiar, so it probably belongs to someone of Uchiha's coven. The silver-haired vamp grits his teeth and has resist to from throwing himself out the door. With his supernatural abilities, he can be in the familiar, safe clearing in moments. With his lethargic, human façade of a walk, he can reach the roof in at least ten minutes.
Shit. Kimimaro nearly staggers on his way out. His fellow student's don't seem to notice, all caught up in their own locker-side conversations.
His hunger wasn't going to make him lose his sanity. The burn in his throat would just make him claw it all out with his own talons. Then he'd do something, like actually try to kill himself--not possible--or take the blood of a human.
Damn it, all he wanted was to die!
By the hands of a sist--
"Hey!" a course voice barks. "Ino, isn't that--?"
Kimimaro turns his attention back to the approaching vampire. So this is another of their coven? He wonders if they will stop entering the school one-by-one. It's drawing attention.
"Shut up, Naruto," Kimimaro hears Ino hiss to the blond beside her. "Not in school."
Obviously agreeing, Kimimaro continues on his way to the roof.
"But Ino," Naruto whispers, turning as the silver figure stalks past him. "He--"
"You idiot!" Ino shoves Naruto full strength into their homeroom class. Stumbling over his own feet, the blond sprawls straight into the door frame.
He groans and rubs his forehead. "Ow, what the hel--"
"Don't stare at him! He's still our kind, he can sense it. Didn't someone tell you?"
"Yes," Naruto mumbles beneath his breath. His cheeks burn shamefacedly, and he changes the subject, growing even more serious. "What's going to happen to Sasuke? He's not dead, so--"
"I wouldn't think about it," Ino mutters. Her gaze scans the classroom unobstrusively as she settles into a desk chair. "The others have it covered, apparently."
"'The others'?" Naruto's face reddens. He, too, looks around, ensuring the two have no one else's attention. "Oy, you mean Itachi?"
"And some others," she shrugs. "Don't give me that look," she says, misunderstanding his expression, "they know what they're doing."
"I know," the blond blurts. He starts to take the chair beside Ino but, at a sharp glance from the female, decides otherwise. He collapses into the desk one chair away.
Since Naruto had been filled in on everything--well, he assumed it was everything--he'd been put in the care of the kinder vampire, Iruka. So he hadn't really lied to Sakura that morning. Naruto didn't mind much; the dark, ancient Uchiha mansion wasn't much a comfortable home. Obviously, the coven wasn't letting Naruto out of their sights. Naruto didn't mind this either. Evident to that morning's walk with Ino and Temari, the blond oddly sought approval from the 'species' that had "taken him in".
From a spectator's point of view, he was bewitched.
The two sit in uncomfortable silence for the next few minutes. Naruto's eyes flick from his hands and back to the girl beside him. Ino doesn't bother to look back but sits gracefully, her back as straight as board. Her hands fold in her lap while her eyes linger lightlessly on the floor.
"Hey, Sakura was right. There's the skinny bastard right there!"
Naruto smiles slightly when Sai approaches the two. Finally, an old face. "Who're you callin' skinny?" he grins from ear to ear.
Sai shrugs, impaling his thin fingers on Naruto's desk. "So where were you?" Behind him, Naruto sees Shikamaru walking towards them. He nods in the brunette's direction, and Shikamaru lifts a hand as response.
"Long lost uncle's place." Naruto reiterates his story, all the time aware of Shikamaru's wary eyes. Stopping short at the end, he squints before addressing the brunette. "Hey, man, what's up with you? You look like you just shit a brick."
Naruto hears Ino snort at this comment, and he brightens a little, glad to be acknowledged.
"Hey, who's the chick?" Sai, taking the seat between the two, nods in Ino's direction.
A small wrinkle forms between the blonde girl's brows. She turns her face away, not liking the look of the newcomer.
"Ouch," mumbles Sai. He asks Naruto again, "Who's the chick"
Forgetting his inquiry to Shikamaru--the brunette sighs in, relief?--Naruto straightens importantly. "This is Yamanaka Ino. She--"
"She can talk for herself," Ino says, her bright eyes sharp. She absently adjusts the strap of her purple tanktop and flicks her ponytail back. Her long lashes narrow intimidatingly. Naruto thinks he hears Shikamaru growl.
"I'm a friend of Sasuke's," she continues. Her voice isn't lethal.
"So what're you doing here?" Shikamaru grimaces.
"I--"
"Her school burned down."
"Naruto!"
"Sorry." The blond's head lowers. He was just trying to help with the whole "think fast" thing.
Duh, she didn't need him. She'd been doing this centuries longer...
"Yeah," Ino says, exasperated. "My school burned down, and Sasuke's letting me stay at his place--"
"Hey, anyone notice we haven't been to Sasuke's house yet?" Sai interjects. He blathers on, obviously oblivious to the effect his rude interruption has on
Ino. The blonde girl glares daggers at him before turning away. Sai cuts his words short. "Hey, what'd I do?"
"Don't strain your brain thinking," Ino mumbles without looking back.
Sai's relaxed features strain a little; his brows come together in annoyance. "I heard that, Yamanaka."
"Is hearing new for you?"
Sai grunts and faces Naruto. "What's her problem?"
"Let's just say she's not comfortable in new crowds," the male blond replies with a twitching shrug. This wasn't quite a lie either. Neji, one of the few others allowed to be enrolled, refused to attend the school. Temari, Ino's newfound friend, has a completely different schedule, and Sasuke is--
Well, Sasuke isn't here.
"You." The two boys turn at the sound of Ino's voice, but she addresses neither of them. "You're Shikamaru," Ino says, facing the brunette with troubled eyes.
"Yeah," Shikamaru responds blandly, without looking. However, his eyes let slip a little suspicion. "Why?"
"Nothing," shrugs Ino. She pushes a blonde strand of hair back and looks him in the eye. "You're dating Temari, right?"
Shikamaru frowns, finally facing her. He looks her over with a casual facade and replies bluntly, "Yes."
Naruto gasps out loud, while Sai gives the blond a raised brow. "You didn't know, Naruto? Where've you been for the past month?"
"I never really noticed she went here," Naruto admits lamely.
"So what do you care?" Shikamaru asks Ino gruffly.
"She's sort of like family, and you don't seem her type," she replies with unabashed emphasis on her words.
At this, Shikamaru breaks into a satirical grin. He watches Ino's expression of disgust transform to one of shock. "Oh, we all have more in common than you might think, Yamanaka."
Sai arches his brow again but ends up shrugging. "Stop freaking out the chick, Shikamaru. The maniac smile thing might be too much for her blonde, blonde head."
"Hey!"
Smirking, Sai crosses his arms. "What, don't tell me you're the only one allowed to diss, blondie."
"Not allowed to, but the only one potentially able."
"Potentially."
Ino rolls her eyes and taps irritably on her desk. "What time does this stinking class start, anyway? I swear I heard the bell ring."
"It's Kakashi's class," Naruto pokes her.
She squeaks at the contact and retreats backward.
"What a cute noise," Sai remarks. "Wish I could say the same for the person."
Reddening, Ino turns to the smirking with a less-than-friendly expression. "You know what I wish--"
"Alright, adolescents. Settle down. Goodness, must we go through this everyday...?"
Naruto looks up to see Kakashi treading inside the room, a goofy grin plastered on his normally blank face. He snorts. Must have something to do with Iruka.
Settling in his seat, Naruto yawns as their teacher starts his half-hearted lecture. Beside him, he can still here Ino and Sai's drabbling. The previous night was long and eventful; maybe the blond would take time for a short nap...
Two figures, facing one another.
A black one, a white one.
Sasuke squints in the multicolored background. His legs continue their robotic stride, as if they'd never crashed and buckled. He groans softly, trying his best to rub his moving calves. They still ache.
The figures look familiar, the black one in particular. Something about its aura; he can't recognize the second one's.
Aura.
So he's definitely out of Konoha, not that the fact is incredibly hard to discern given his surroundings. The figures are getting closer and closer, though it doesn't seem his short strides are responsible. They're floating closer.
Suddenly, Sasuke's legs stop short, and he falls noiselessly to his knees. Blinking, the Uchiha hisses sharply, still unable to control his movements. The invisible white hands graze his neck, forcing his gaze forward.
Sasuke feels his stomah lurch as irises struggle to focus on the phantom limps touching his throat. However, the hands instantly move away as his face, like his legs, becomes frozen in his forward position. The frost at his throat instantly recedes, and he can only gasp, his hands useless. Sasuke squints again, colors flashing erratically across his view. The only colorless splotch in the scene is the white figure before him, the only shadow the black.
The figures have stopped drifting, and they stand at a total of five meters before him; neither see Sasuke. They have no shadows.
"Yes, he'll be healed completely," the white figure murmurs, making a motion with their wrist, "out of our hands again."
Sasuke makes an absent attempt to tilt his face. Who?
The black one is stationary. "And the condition?"
Sasuke is sure he knows that voice, but he can't name it. It's almost so obvious it's a given, like a part of him, a half. If he'd heard his own voice like that, he probably wouldn't recognize it. He knew that voice so well; it was imprinted in his memories, marred by their bias. Who was it?
"He'll be staying with us for a week," the white's voice is satirical, derisive. "Seven days."
At the black's silence, the white figure regards the other smugly. Though they do not have faces, Sasuke can taste the emotions like scents in the wind.
"Is it too high a price? Will you let him die?"
"No," comes the black figure's response. "I merely expected more out of you."
"Oh?" the white figure throws back its head and laughs. "What strange relationships you have--" the voice blurs for a moment, "--ee. Shall we meet at this point at 12 o'clock tonight?"
"If you wish," comes the black's smoldering reply.
"Excellent. My subordinates will be pleased," the white figure murmurs.
The scene suddenly freezes, and Sasuke's brow arches. Slowly, almost unnoticeably, the frozen figures begin to...melt. Sasuke gasps as the finished scene turns to a gray, shadowy liquid and flushes into an opening fault in the color. Sasuke blinks and soon both the gray and the fault are gone.
His legs standing abruptly, Sasuke threatens to tumble forward. Again, he feels icy hands settle on his shoulders, and his stomach churns. Gritting his teeth, mind helpless, the young Uchiha begins to walk again.
Author's Note: Hahaha. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while (for those who care). Just coming home's been overwhelming, and the reason I was able to get Color My World out was 'cause it's been fresh in my mind. I have to admit, it was a little hard getting back into the Naruto-esque swing of things.
So I've mostly been moping around these days doing absolutely nothing. And it's been killing me, considering how the crappy ending to last chapter basically makes me wanna shoot myself. And I think I found an error in my old chapters. Sai's brother...is older? I wrote younger, but I'm not sure which one it is. I haven't actually read the manga in millions of years (ever since itapoo stopped coming out).
Pairings. Oh goodness, I actually was still teetering on whether or not I should make this actual SasuNaru from the beginning. People have been demanding some yaoi-esque action for a while, so I guess that clinches it. Maybe. Well, obviously there are other pairings. KakaIru, for one thing (so damn adorable). And then there're the Hets...
Oh, the pain. I miss narrating from Sasuke-chan. He's so chic, in an angsty kind of way. You all can probably tell, considering the way Naruto's starting to mature a little. Our little dobe's growing up!
Anywhoo...please review! I'd love to hear from you--especially on the pairings note.
