Bleh… I hate finals, and I hate broccoli, too. My mom wants me to wash the broccoli for her… I'm typing, so there. Though I probably should be studying for finals… Shame on me…

- - -

"Sakura, you go with the others while I talk to Neji," Itachi told Sakura once they had finished eating. "There are throwing targets outside. I'm sure Ino can take you there."

Ino, who'd overheard when her name had been said, hugged Sakura. "Of course, forehead girl! You'll love the moving targets – "

Itachi cut her off. "Sakura will not use the live targets," he stated flatly. Ino looked at him in surprise.

"But they can't die from a knife wound!" she argued. "The living targets are actually vampires who volunteer to work at the throwing grounds this time of year for the humans' benefits." This was added for Sakura's benefit.

"She will not use the live targets," Itachi repeated firmly. Sakura nodded obediently, knowing the reason why. Being half-immortal, she could actually kill the undead.

Ino gave up, dragging Sakura off. "Hey, Tenten! Do you want to come along with us to the target grounds?" the blonde vampiress called.

"Of course!" the brunette cried eagerly. Blue-haired Hinata stood as well, playing with her fingers.

"Ano… M-may I c-come with y-you?" she requested timidly. When Ino laughed and threw her free arm around Hinata's neck, her creamy lavender-tinted eyes lit up with pleasure.

The throwing grounds were huge. They were also a bit dark, but having grown up in the streets, Sakura's eyes adjusted quickly. The four of them were alone except for the moving targets.

Unsheathing her wrist knives, she flicked her wrist and let one handle fall into her palm. Studying the target in front of her, her hands moved too quickly for the eye to see.

A kunai embedded itself in the target's center, with senbon needles clustered closely around it. Tenten whistled in admiration.

"Pretty good," she grinned. "But kind of boring." She drew out a handful of kunai and sent them flying, which formed a happy face in the air before hitting the target dead-on.

As they retrieved their projectiles, Ino placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder. Instinct kicked in for a moment, and the pastel-haired girl flinched.

Ino heard the sharp intake of breath, as did Tenten and Hinata. "What happened?" the bun-haired girl asked anxiously. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Sakura replied through gritted teeth. "I just stabbed myself. Please don't sneak up on me like that."

Stowing the needles away safely, she stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked on it. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, seeming for the first time to taste different than when the moon was not out.

A strong, cold hand tugged the hand away from her mouth. Itachi's familiar scent filled her senses as he whispered, "I thought I told you not to feed on yourself, Sakura." His stern gaze landed on the tiny drop of blood on her finger.

Following his eyes, she snatched her finger away and put it in her mouth again. "I'm not feeding," she returned. "I'm just cleaning the wound." Going to pull the hand away from her face for emphasis, she found that she could not; and, with some panic, that she was growing faint.

Sighing, Itachi yanked her finger out of her mouth for her. "The moon affects you too," he snapped. "Even though you can resist when it's not full, you could drain yourself now. You've already lost a lot of blood, just from that tiny prick."

Sakura hung her head. "Sorry." She shuddered at the thought of how bad it would have been had she tried to feed from the wrist. She jumped, startled, when Itachi shoved a bottle of blood at her, cocking her head curiously.

He sighed. "Drink it. You need to have energy." Gratefully, she took the small bottle and drained it slowly.

"Uchiha." Neji walked over with Tenten by his side. Ino, Hinata, Naruto, and Shikamaru followed. "Why is she drinking blood?"
"None of your business," Itachi answered smoothly, taking the empty container and slipping it between the folds of his cloak.

Suddenly, as Neji opened his mouth to pry further, and Tenten opened her mouth to tell him to leave Sakura alone, Ami ran through the door with a kunai in her hand. The knife sailed towards Sakura, slitting the cloth of her choker. Catching the projectile as it flew past her, she pocketed it.

"You shouldn't have such a pretty blade if you can't hit an opponent properly," she lectured Ami, who was fuming. "You should have aimed for a spot on my body where you know I'm not protected."

"S-Sakura-san!" Hinata stammered. "Y-you're b-bleeding!" Glancing down, Sakura saw that it was true; Ami's knife had slipped a little when she caught it. She started to move her hand toward her mouth; Itachi's hand came down and left a stinging red welt across the side of her face. All of the others gasped.

"What did I say about feeding on yourself?" Itachi growled dangerously. Sakura stared into his eyes, then at the ground.

"Gomenasai, Itachi-san. I won't do it again," she mumbled. Taking a small strip of fabric from her pocket, she wrapped her finger in it and tied it.

"How can you hit her!" Ino demanded, shocked. Sakura glanced at her, smiling.

"It's all right, Ino," she said softly. "I deserved it." She looked up, surprised, when Itachi ran his fingers over her smarting cheek. Immediately, the pain subsided. "Arigato… But I wasn't feeding on myself."
Itachi glared. "You couldn't stop yourself. I call that feeding, Sakura," he said dryly.

"F-feeding on yourself?!" Ami shrieked. "That's disgusting! How can you eat yourself?!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I wasn't eating myself, baka," she muttered.

"Then what were you doing?!"
In response, she held up her finger, displaying the bandage for Ami to see. "Don't tell me you've never sucked on a cut before."

"But you couldn't stop because it's near the full moon…" Ino whispered. Sakura nodded, shoving her hands into her pocket. "Then…"

"You're a vampire?" Tenten finished in growing horror. Sakura scowled, showering the target beside her with senbon.

"Of course not," she snapped in irritation. "I'm only half-blooded at most."

Ino's eyes widened. "You're part vampire?"
"Apparently." The pink-haired girl yanked her needles out of the target viciously.

The blonde whistled. "So that's where your strength comes from," she nodded, calmly absorbing this new information.

Ami stumbled backwards toward the door, with every intention to get back into the castle and out of the throwing grounds, but bumped into Sasuke. She gave a faint, shrill scream before passing out.

Sasuke watched emotionlessly as his purple-haired mate for the year fell to the ground before him. Sighing, he nudged her with his foot and she leapt up in alarm.

"That could have cost you your life on the streets," Sakura chided carelessly, ignoring Ami's venomous glare. "You shouldn't be so timid."
"And maybe you should stop being so paranoid!" Ami spat back, eyes flashing. Sakura laughed softly.

"Paranoid? Being a little paranoid never hurt anyone. Besides, if I was really paranoid, I would never have come out here. Think of all the accidents that might happen…" Ami shuddered at the pink-haired girl's smile. "And if I was paranoid, I most certainly wouldn't have put my hand near my mouth. Am I paranoid?"

Ami only stared at her. Ino sighed.

"Well, this is getting boring. Let's go inside." The small party of immortals, mortals, and half-immortals slowly moved back into the castle. Sakura shot Ino a grateful glance for the distraction; the blonde grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Wh-where do w-we g-go n-now?" Hinata spoke up, looking at her cousin and her mate. They glanced at Itachi.

"How about the library? There is a large section on folklore," he suggested, crimson eyes flickering momentarily to Sakura.

She blinked. "That would be very helpful," she said calmly. Ino grabbed her arm and dragged her off to the library, humming joyfully.

Sasuke turned to Itachi, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Folklore?" Itachi only smirked; Ami started to say something, but a warning glance from Hinata and Tenten shut her up. She decided that it was safer not to say anything when the weaponsmistress had glinting knives in her hands.

- - -

"I'll help you find what you're looking for, Sakura!" Ino chirped as she skipped into the relatively bright room, pulling her green-eyed captive behind her. Said captive pried her arm out of Ino's deathgrip and rubbed the feeling back into it, wincing.

"Thanks, Ino."
Tenten stepped into the library with Hinata behind her, stowing her kunai safely out of sigh. "W-we'll h-help, t-too," Hinata stuttered. Sakura smiled her thanks.

Itachi's purple-nailed hand descended on her shoulder, causing her to yelp and whirl around. "The section you want is over there," he stated monotonously, pointing a painted finger.

"Thank you," Sakura mumbled, turning and muttering about sadistic idiots under her breath. She missed her captor's widening smirk of amusement as she followed the other girls to the place where Itachi had pointed. Immediately, she began looking at the ancient books and rifling carefully through them.

- - -

Half-immortal, half-vampire… She couldn't find much. Then it occurred to her to look under the term that Itachi had told her – dhampir. Sure enough, she found three different books all about dhampir.

Dhampir: The child of a vampire and a mortal. When humans in medieval times "detected" a vampire, they would hire a dhampir to get rid of the vampire believed to haunt the village – usually the supposed vampire's own son. After struggling with an invisible enemy for a while, the "dhampir" would declare the vampire banished and be paid. Very few real half-immortals exist.

"Frauds," Sakura muttered to herself. She looked over to where Tenten sat on the ground, flipping eagerly through a thick book. "What did you find?"

The bun-haired teen looked up, her face glowing. "I've never seen such beautiful weapons!" she beamed excitedly. Nodding, Sakura returned to her reading.

Royals: There have been no recorded offspring of a royal vampire and a human. However, half-mortals can become full-blooded if they are the chosen mate of a royal. The ceremony does not change.

She snorted. I didn't need to know that. It's not like I'm going to be chosen. Despite the internal argument within her head, she turned to the page marked ROYAL CEREMONY and scanned it.

Royal ceremony: When a royal has found a mate for life, he/she must go through a ceremony to become an immortal. Details are unknown.

Oh, that was helpful.

If a royal's mate is not chosen, they will be humanely disposed of using a quick-acting poison developed specifically for this purpose. The strongest (those who survive the poison) are offered positions as servants, but usually decline or do not last more than a week.

She shivered, closing her eyes. Hm… I think I'll ask to be allowed to do it physically myself, she thought, shuddering. "Poison…" (A/N: And I'm listening to Poison!!! I don't know who sings it, though…) She'd had enough of poison to last her a lifetime.

Suddenly, she became aware of someone reading over her shoulder. Her eyes flew open and she turned to stare Itachi in the face, raising an eyebrow. His warm breath tickled her neck and she found herself wondering vaguely how it could be warm if he was a vampire; but that thought drifted away as he spoke.

"Poison won't work on you," he said quietly. "You can't poison immortals or half-immortals."

"That's good," she muttered, fingering her wrist knives. "I don't trust poison. Knives are much easier to handle. I'd like to make sure I'm actually dead." She closed the book and put it back on the shelf, sighing. "So, Itachi-san. How long do we have?"
He frowned, reaching out to stroke the back of her hand with a slender fingertip. She shivered, trying hard not to pull away. "The day after tomorrow we shall see who is still alive," he murmured, "and who is dead."

"Or undead," she mumbled. The dramatic effect of the moment was ruined by a yawn. Itachi smirked and pulled her to her feet, heading toward the door.

"Tenten," Neji called. "Bedtime." When she pointedly ignored him, he scowled and picked her up bridal-style. Though she kicked and shouted, he didn't let go.

Sakura giggled as she watched Tenten and Neji struggle. "They're made for each other," she sighed happily when the white-eyed vampire finally silenced Tenten with a kiss. Then she dragged Itachi out of the room, laughingly telling Tenten they'd give her and Neji some privacy and slyly suggesting that they get a room.

"There's one who'll survive for sure"! she beamed when she and Itachi had reached his room. "I'm so happy for them!"
Itachi closed the door, settling on his large black bed. "You seem to have forgotten yourself," he pointed out.

"Not at all!" Sakura answered quickly. "I already told you that there's nothing I want from life, so I might as well be happy for the day I have left. Stop trying to depress me!"

Itachi chuckled and stood, pulling a black nightgown out of a closet. "Put this on to sleep," he ordered, tossing it to her. Without a word, she disappeared into the bathroom and obeyed.

When she came out, she folded her clothes and set them in his outstretched hands. He, in turn, placed them in a drawer of a cabinet; then he lay down on the bed and inspected her.

The silky nightgown was exactly her size, beginning at her collarbone and ending just above the floor. He raised an eyebrow at the choker still on her neck but said nothing. Long, wide sleeves covered her hands, leaving only the fingertips exposed.

"Very pretty, Sakura-chan," he smirked. She scowled and shook back her sleeve, to reveal the tip of her kunai.

"Thank you very much, Itachi-san," she muttered, staring at the ground. "Now stop staring."

He only gestured behind her, to a black table of ornately carved wood. "You don't need your knives here," he told her. "You can put them on in the morning."

Reluctantly, she slowly unstrapped seven different sheaths from her body and set them down on the table.

"Good girl. Come over here." He beckoned lazily and she glared at him before obeying. Tenten's complaints about being treated like a dog suddenly came to mind.

As soon as she'd reached Itachi's bedside, the ebony-haired immortal grabbed her waist and pulled her onto the mattress. Before she could react, he threw an arm over her and stuck his leg between hers, effectively pinning her down. With his free hand, he turned off the lights and then turned back to the struggling teen.

"Sleep."
Ignoring his command, she continued to fight until he pulled her closer to him. He let his hand hover over a blackout point and placed his face next to hers.

"If you don't calm down, I will have to knock you out," he murmured. She froze immediately and relaxed into him, tensing again when he tugged the cloth away from her shoulder and placed his lips on the exposed skin.

"Itachi-san… what are you doing?" Shivering, she tried to move away from him but his grip was too strong. Gently kissing her shoulder, he wrapped both of his arms around her waist and guided her head under his chin.

"Sleep," he repeated, and this time she obeyed.

Once her even breathing told him she was fully asleep, he allowed himself to fall into the dark oblivion called sleep.

- - -

Whoo hoo!!!!!!! I'm done!!!! Now I've got to go and eat dinner… And for those who asked:

Ino and Hinata are full-time mates, and Tenten, Sakura, and Ami aren't. Later, though… Who knows…?

Kuro-hime: You do. You're the authoress.

Me: Shut up.

Now, dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!