I still dunno where this came from, but… I deeply like it. And DUDE, this chapter is long!
Disclaimer: Not a snowball's chance in hell.
Dedication: To Dana. Hun, come home soon!!! WE MISS YOU!!!! *tears* Also to my brother, for the hermit reference.
---
I glared furiously at Kakashi.
He smiled back at me benignly.
I really wanted to murder him. Or kick him. Or something. Because honestly, I'm done with this school thing. I went for one day (okay, it was one period, but still!), and I've decided that it seriously is not worth the headache.
But he doesn't seem to want to pull me out, and go back to home-schooling me.
"Why not?!" I growled out at him. It's kind of hard to talk when you're as furious as I was. Not a good thing children, not a good thing…
"Because, Sakura, I did this for two reasons. First of all, it gets you out of the house-"
I cut him off (I do that to people a lot, don't I?) "Yeah, because you want to get laid!"
He went pink, and I knew I was right, but he continued talking anyway. "Because you never leave the house Sakura, except for when you're off killing something, you're almost a hermit like that, and also because you need to learn how to deal with kids your own age."
That sentence shut me right up.
"Look, Sakura," he said, his voice gentle, "You grew up too fast. You never had a chance to be a kid, and I think you need to have a chance to at least meet other kids your age. It's important, to learn how to deal with other people. I know, I know!" He held up his hands in defense. "I know you know how to deal with adults Sakura, but not with other teenagers, or kids in general. I'm hoping that this public-school-thing will give you that chance."
I grumbled, but I didn't resist anymore. Hoe could I, when all Kakashi wanted was really to keep me happy? And I could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth. He was really worried that I was going to be a hermit, only ever leaving the house to kill leeches. Damn.
I grumbled again, and went into the kitchen to find Anko. I needed her help to sort out my one-period day.
"Anko, help!" It was all I said, but I knew that she would figure it out for me. She always had, and she probably always would. I adored my mom.
"Alright hun, tell me what's up." Her voice was soft, considering she was concentrating on two different things at once, cooking an un-burned dinner (or at least saving what was left of the mess Kakashi had made, the idiot…). And trying to figure out what was wrong with my head.
"Well, there's this thing about school. Have you ever heard of the Uchiha family?"
She turned sharply towards me, a tenseness in her eyes that I didn't understand. "I take it you've met the Uchiha boy, then? Sasuke, right?"
I groaned, and nodded. "Yeah, and he's a jerk."
"Don't blame him too much sweetie, he's got a hard past."
I stiffened. How could she defend him? I needed someone to hate him with me right now! "Don't we all have hard pasts?! Anko, you got left on the streets to fend for yourself when you were five. Kakashi's mother got changed, and then his father couldn't deal with it, especially when he had to kill her, and then the man killed himself in front of Kakashi! My entire family was killed by leeches, but Uchiha's got 'a hard past'?!"
She turned the heat on the stove down by a couple degrees, and then turned and looked me in the eyes. I really didn't like that look. It meant that she was going to give me a talking-to that I probably would never forget.
"Yes, Sakura, Sasuke," she said his name with some emphasis, and I winced, "has had a hard past. Think about it Sakura, you're family was killed by vampires. But at least, you got your revenge. And even now, you continue to extract your revenge, for when they tear other families apart, right?"
She paused, and I nodded. It was true, what she said.
"But Sasuke's family… they weren't murdered by vampires. Sakura, his entire family, every aunt, uncle, every grandparent, even his mother and father, they were killed by one of his own family members. And then that family member killed himself, too."
My breath caught in my throat. Okay, so maybe that was a bit harsh…
"Who?" I whispered. I wanted to know. I had to know. Of course, I could probably find the information on my own, but… I wanted Anko to tell me. I'm lazy, as I've already said, and I'd prefer to be told such information, rather then have to find it on my own.
"It was his uncle, hunny. The man killed every last member of the family, except Sasuke and his older brother, Itachi. The older brother… I think he's still in a comatose state at the hospital, and it's been years, now. There's little hope of him ever waking up. So you have to understand that just getting up in the morning is very hard for Sasuke, hmm?"
I nodded, a little bit sick to my stomach. Why would anyone do that to their family? Yeah, sure, there were times when I wanted to kill Kakashi, but I never actually would. He was far too precious to me for that. Anko answered my un-asked question.
"He was crazy, sweetie. Tsunade thinks that it was an undiagnosed form of schizophrenia, and that since he never got medicine for it, he was in a state of psychosis when it all happened. No one was at fault, but I'm pretty sure that Sasuke feels like it was his fault."
"Why?" I asked, not understanding.
She shrugged. "Survivor's guilt, I suppose. Sasuke was eight Sakura, so I think his memories of the time were a little more profound then yours. And also, they affected him very differently. He didn't have a Kakashi or a me to take care of him. He just had himself, and an almost-dead older brother. Sasuke raised himself, in so many ways."
She paused, took a breath, and continued. "And then, of course, Tsunade started training him. He was like you, Sakura, because of the way he gulped down knowledge. And now, he's a squadron leader, I take it?"
I nodded again. I understood where she was going with this - she wanted me to play nice. Damn. But then, after I had heard this particular story, I don't think I'd be able to be rude to him. It would just be too heartless. I'd simply ignore him. Yeah, that would be best.
"Anko, thanks. What are you making, anyways?"
She grimaced. "I'm trying to save the tomato sauce that Kakashi tried, and failed miserably, to make. I'm so thoroughly disgusted with the man's cooking - I have no idea how he ever managed to live on his own. This is stuff is bad enough to be considered legally inedible, I bet you anything."
I nodded, knowing how badly Kakashi was at cooking. Something else I had inherited from him. Because, seriously, we both suck so bad at cooking. I shook my head to myself, and dashed up the stairs to my bedroom.
As usual, I did a perimeter check, to make sure nothing was disturbed, and that no one had been in here. I'm kind of nit-picky about how my room is, and I really hate it when people intrude. Both Kakashi and Anko know this, so they don't some up here too much, not unless there's a real reason for it.
I pulled out the pencil lead from inside the door crack, and opened my door. As usual, I was assaulted by the white walls of the room white-white-white-empty-white and I sat down on my bed. We haven't been here long yet, so I haven't had time to paint it yet.
I grimaced at the thought of dinner, and closed my eyes. I'd rather sleep then eat dinner.
But, ah. I did have to clean my guns, because I never left my guns un-cleaned. It was unhygienic. So I pulled out the wax and the oil and all the other stuff I needed to keep my babies in good shape.
Dip the rag into the oil, clean out the barrel of extra powder and leftover shit from un-shot shots. Fill the holder with powder, and re-fill the barrel. There. One down, three to go.
After I had finished cleaning my little children, I gave each of my knives a quick wipe, to make sure no leech venom was left over.
And then I pulled out my rifle.
I stared longingly at it. I loved it; I still do. But then, it was my favorite gun, because it was the first one I'd ever owned, the first one I'd ever killed a leech with. So it was my favorite.
And it had been so long since I'd been down to a shooting range… I could ditch dinner, go down there, and shoot some stress into the little human-shaped card-board things. That might give some relief.
I decided that I would, and after I told Anko that I was going out (she reminded me, as usual, to grab some money; I did) and that I was going to miss dinner, and that I would be back later. I didn't wait for her reply, and I was out of the house, my rifle stowed in my bag. Like I was going to let anyone see a sixteen-year-old with a gun. Please. That is what fake IDs are for.
It took me ten minutes to get to the shooting range.
I sighed, annoyed, when I got there. Like everything else in this place, it was tiny. I wanted to pull my beloved rifle out of my bag, and shoot myself.
I flashed my ID at the gate-guy (but like he was going to stop me, I know I look older then sixteen), and went in.
First booth, second booth, third… I ended up going all the way to the end, carefully checking each level of difficulty. "Too easy…" I muttered to myself. This was the last booth, the highest level.
I had to shoot the guy in the head, while he was moving around.
Are you kidding me?! That's too simple!
Whatever.
And so, I pulled out my rifle, and put it together. It didn't take me long, but I added the silencer as an extra precaution. I didn't want people thinking I knew what I was doing, jeez.
Ten and a half seconds later, I was emptying cartridge after cartridge of bullets into the little cardboard man's head. I could feel the stress draining away as I repeated the action.
A half-hour later, I felt so much better, it wasn't even funny. I didn't realize that I had gathered a small army of followers behind me.
I was just a little freaked out, to be honest. I'm not really used to people watching me when I was shooting things.
And not only that, but most of them were guys.
"Damn, this chick can shoot!"
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone, let alone a girl, do that before!"
Even the gate-guy. "Can I have your number?"
But then Hinata pushed through them, and sent them a glare. "Excuse me, but I would highly appreciate it if you would leave my bestie alone. So she can shoot a freakin' gun, better then all of you. What's so special about that?"
She grabbed my wrist, and pulled me out of there. I silently thanked her, and as soon as we were far enough away from the gaggle of boys, she hissed in my ear. "What do you think you're doing?! We have special training areas for this kind of thing; you're not supposed to be in here, anyways!"
I hissed back, because that was rude! "Hinata, calm down, I had a fake ID on me, and I didn't give my real name. And I'm not part of your little group! I shoot where I want to shoot. I could have gone to the mall, and freaked out every living being within a five-kilometer radius. But no, I went to a shooting range," my voice heavily laced with sarcasm. "Isn't that where one is supposed to go when they want to empty a bullet cartridge into something that moves?!"
"No! I'll show you where you're supposed to empty bullets into moving things. Tsunade wants to see you, anyways."
I perked up. How did she know Tsunade? "She wants to see me? How do you know my grand mum, anyways?"
Hinata shook her head, her voice still low. "She's the leader of everything we do; you know that. And since when is she your grand mother?"
"Since always. Damn, Hinata, slow down! Nothing's going to happen!"
"So the things behind us are nothing?!"
I almost wanted to whip me head around, but I knew what she meant. There were leeches following us.
"How many?" My voice was a dead whisper, I was sure.
"Three." Her voice, too, was nothing more then a whisper of stirred leaves. "How many shots do you have left in that gun of yours?"
"Two," I hissed, angry. Urgh. That meant I would have to get up-close-and-personal with at least one of the leeches, two if my aim was off, and that was gross. I had no desire to get bitten right now. I wanted to spend the rest of my life human, thanks, I would appreciate it.
Hinata gulped, and I chuckled darkly. "Don't worry Hinata, I'm not totally unprepared for things like this. I may be not as good in close-up-and-personal situations, but I make do. What about you, do you fight at all?"
She shook her head. "No, Father always said it was unladylike. Neji's the one trained in combat. I'm not helpless, but I'm not very good in areas like this."
"Damn," I murmured. "Whatever you do, stay behind me. Have you ever seen the death of a leech?"
She shook her head no, again.
"Well then, I suggest you prepare yourself mentally. I kind of let go when I'm fighting these things, and Kakashi said I look… less then human when it happens. So don't worry, just stay behind me."
Hinata nodded, and we sped up. I needed to get out of the public eye - didn't want people to see me kill someone else, and then have that person turn into dust, right before them. Damn, this could be difficult…
There, I saw our savior. A small alleyway, darkened because of the two buildings on either side of it. Good, that would make my life a hell of a lot easier. I tugged on Hinata's arm, and said in a normal voice "Hinata, this way's faster, and I'm cold. I want to get home!"
She looked confused, but she went along with me when I gave her the follow-me-if-you-want-to-live-and-don't-make-a-fuss-about-it look. "Alright Saku, I'm cold, too."
Leeches hate the sun. How could I have not noticed that?! The clouds were out today, not a ray of sun anywhere. It sucked balls. Normally, on a day like this, I would have stayed in bed.
I pulled Hinata into the alley, keeper her a little bit ahead of me. The three leeches followed us in, thinking we didn't hear them. Stupid. Never underestimate an opponent.
Once we were a good ten yards in, I whipped around and drew my gun, throwing Hinata a few meters behind me in the process. I didn't want her to have to join this fight; I could take care of myself, and anyone else around. It was how I was raised, and that's not going to change now.
The leeches looked surprised, and I sneered at them.
"Hello there, bloodsuckers."
They hissed softly at me, and the fact that I was holding a rifle.
"Now, I was wondering. Why were you following me and my friend here, huh? Not for a meal, surely. Don't you know it's bad to prey on little girls? Didn't your mother teach you anything?"
"Pink hair…" the first one said, deep red eyes lingering on my hair, my eyes, my chest, and everything from the waist down. I wanted to gouge his vile eyes out, just for looking at me.
"Hatake's girl, no doubt." The second one, the one in the middle, his voice was soft, silky, and, I hate to say it, he was hot. Dark magenta hair, the same wine-red eyes as the first, long and lithe. Thankfully, it wasn't my type of hot. He wasn't wearing skinny jeans.
"Isn't there a bounty on her?" The third one, too, was just a little overly pretty. Blonde hair, long and loose, burgundy eyes.
I smiled viciously at them. "Yes, in the leech community, there is. I think I've killed enough of you to warrant it. So, how about we up the ante? Because my kill list is about to get an extra three black marks on it."
I cocked my rifle, held it up to my eye, and shot the first one in the head. He made that disgusting gargling sound they all make before they die, and then he crumpled to the ground, only to turn into dust. Good. One down, two to go.
It was immediate, the reaction. One of them howled, the blonde one, and the other charged. I didn't have time for this. I pulled out the knife from my left wrist guard, and dashed out of the way. I slammed said knife into the blonde one's neck, and he made the gargling sound.
But I had forgotten one thing.
Hinata.
The second one stood there, using her body as a shield, the bastard. I snarled, and just as I did, he let his tongue snake up her neck. Oh, god no, this was not going to happen, I was not going to let it happen…
"Let her go." I fought to keep my voice in that icy, even tone Kakashi used when fighting leeches, and I kept my gun trained on his head.
"And if I don't?" He seemed smug about something.
"Then I'll riddle your head with bullet holes, understand? One is all it takes."
"She smells good, you know. Almost as good as you do, little princess."
Why did those words strike a chord within me? Where had I heard that nickname before? Little princess, little princess mummy-i-don't-understand-why-do-they-call-me-that-i-don't-get-it-help…
"Let. Her. Go. Now." I didn't even have to fight to keep my voice icy anymore. It was a hundred degrees below zero on its own, anyways.
"How about I make a proposition then, little princess?"
I snarled, but answered "It better be fucking good, or bad things will happen."
"I'll let this one go, and you let me live."
"You'll only stab me in the back as soon as I turn around."
"No, I won't."
"You're a liar."
"That may be true, but you'll never know, right?"
I don't think he expected what I did next. I shot him in the leg. He dropped Hinata with an angered hiss, and made to attack me. I didn't have to worry, because I just grabbed her, and dragged her out of there. I called over my shoulder to the piece of trash.
"I let you live, didn't I?"
And I kept running. I didn't stop until we got back to the house, and Hinata was shaking in my grip. Poor girl, I had to get her to Anko straight away, or she might come out of this really traumatized…
"ANKO!!!" I screamed as soon as I got in the door.
She came rushing over, took one look at Hinata and I, and called Kakashi to help her. He took me, and she took Hinata, and I was pretty sure he drugged me, because I had no energy in me left to fight him. It was really weird.
And I fell asleep, for a bit.
I didn't wake up until the next morning. I ran down the stairs, and found, to my surprise, that Hinata was still there. She smiled weakly at me, and I winced.
"I think I owe you one." The girl's voice was soft, and I looked at her like she'd gone nuts.
"Are you crazy? I shouldn't have put you in that situation. I lost my head; I'm used to fighting alone. I think I owe you an apology, at the very least."
She shook her head. "No, Sakura, you don't owe me anything. You made me realize how easy it is to become prey." She stopped, a fierce look in her eyes. "I want you to train me. Maybe not to be as good as you are, but enough that I can hold my own. I don't want to be a burden."
I blinked, taken aback. She wanted me to… train her? I'd never trained anyone before. It wasn't that I couldn't, it was more like I didn't know how, and I explained this to her.
"It doesn't matter Sakura. Even if you just improve my aim, even a little. I'll be better off, I swear."
I couldn't refute that; if everyone had good aim and a good gun, and then there would be no leeches left in the world. So I suppose I decided right then and there that I would train her, to make her stronger in some areas. It could be anything, but she wasn't going to be helpless, not after I was finished with her.
"Alright then, Hinata, we start tomorrow."
She smirked. "If you're training, me, then you're going to have to stick around and go to school. I can't miss class, and you shouldn't either."
I turned to Kakashi, sitting quietly in a corner, enraged. "You put her up to this, didn't you, you evil bastard!"
He just smiled benignly, and I really wanted to kick him.
---
I watched Hinata slam twin arm-length knives into the wooden dummy we were training with some satisfaction. Hinata was strong, and I was, unsurprisingly, quite proud of her. She learned quickly, made little fuss of any bumps, bruises or cute she got (she bandaged them, and went back at it, determination flaring in her eyes), and she never complained, not even once, about how much work it was.
She obviously wanted to learn, and I was surprised at her father, in an odd kind of way. Who cared that it was unladylike? Hinata had raw talent, and I had a feeling that, put to the right use, that raw talent would make her an excellent and efficient hunter, not to mention her determination would probably make her one of the best of the best, in whichever field of hunter she could choose.
But seriously, this was getting ridiculous. She had been killing dummy after dummy, for more then three hours now. She needed to take a break, or she was going to pass out. It had happened to me before and I'm not going to lie, it's not pleasant. Over-training yourself is the worst thing a person can do.
"Hinata! Take a break, or I'm going to feel neglected!" I called to her.
She stopped, mid-slam, and whipped her head around to look at her, her breath heavy as she replied "H-how long have I been going at this?"
I tilted my head, pursed my lips and answered her honestly. "Three hours, twenty-six minutes, and forty-eight seconds. You gotta stop before you pass out."
She nodded, still trying to catch her breath. I shook my head, and congratulated myself on being correct, once again. She was running solely on adrenaline now, and that was bad. I didn't want her keeling over on me or anything serious like that.
So I don't want to get sued, is that such a problem? Nor do I want a human death on my hands. It causes too many problems.
She came and sat down beside, and I wordlessly offered her a cup of Anko's herbal energy-replenishing iced-tea.
She downed it before I had a chance to warn her. The stuff is seriously nasty. And, as such, I got to enjoy the look of utter revulsion that crossed her face. It was epic, and that is all I have to say.
I smirked at her. "And that is what you get for drinking something without checking it first. Honestly Hinata, know you nothing? It could have been poisoned!"
She glared at me, furiously blinking the pained tears out of her eyes. Yes, it is that nasty. And not only that, sugar makes it useless. Or, that's what Anko says, at least. I have a sneaking suspicion that she might be lying, because she can drink it without wincing, and not even Tsunade can do that.
Also, I think she enjoys my and Kakashi's (and now Hinata's) pain. Actually, I think she just enjoys pain in general. Evil bitch.
A few minutes later (after the taste in Hinata's mouth would have receded), she looked at me again, her expression contemplative, this time.
I didn't like that look. It spelled trouble, to me.
"Sakura, can I show you headquarters? I'm pretty sure you'd like it; it's not like anything you'll have ever seen before."
I looked at her skeptically. "It's probably tiny, just like the rest of this place," I muttered.
She half-smiled. "There's a reason Konoha is so small. HQ extends all the way underneath the entire city, in almost all direction."
I stared at her, shocked. My mouth was hanging open, I think. I mean, it's not everyday you find a place like that. Oh please, don't tell your not shocked and a little weirded out, too. It's really not normal!
Hinata shrugged, and sustained her earlier sentiment. "I know, it's a little much. But may I bring you there? The entrance is an old, abandoned building downtown, right near where those vampires nearly got us yesterday, actually." She paused for a second, and her eyes widened a little ,as if she'd just come to a realization of some sort.
Apparently, she had. "That's what they're looking for."
My breath caught in my throat for the second time in two days (why is this happening to me?!), at the look on her face. That couldn't be any good…
She continued. "They're looking for the HQ entrance. But… why?" She looked to me for an answer, and I gave her the most obvious one I could think of.
"Maybe, just maybe because they want to kill us all while we're asleep?" I'm pretty sure she missed the sarcasm of the statement, because she nodded absently. "We have to get this to Tsunade right now. We need to vampire-proof HQ right away."
I gave her an incredulous look. "You mean to tell me that it's not leech-proof now?!"
She shook her head. "Oh, it is, but we should still check all the openings and that. It's not safe to leave something like that out in the open." She stood up, and dragged me along with her, ready to go right away.
"Uh… Hinata?" I asked, amused. "Shouldn't you put some clothes on, before we go?"
She looked down at herself, turned bright, crimson red, and dashed off to find a shirt.
---
Hinata dragged me along, her hand tugging impatiently at my arm. I was perfectly content to go slowly, because this particular trip out into the cold was completely against my will.
But, this time I wasn't playing the martyr. I had two hand guns, both full of bullets, and silver throwing knives with, for lack of a better word, magic embedded in the blades. I was never making such a stupid mistake in my life, ever again. I continued to berate myself silently for a little longer, because it never should have happened.
I continued to brood to myself, still paying attention to where Hinata was leading us. It would not do to forget this route.
Hinata stopped at a shack that should legally have been torn down a long time ago, and knocked out a pattern on what could have been a door (I think…?). Three hard knocks, a pause of two seconds, and open-palm slap, another pause, then another two slaps. I had already committed the location of this place to memory, so I thought I might as well memorize this, too. What the hell, right?
A slot in the thing-that-could-have-been-a-door-at-one-point-in-history (seriously, it looked like it had been beaten on for hours and hours) opened, and a deep voice issued from within. It asked Hinata who she was and what she wanted. She answered honestly, something clicked as it was unlocked, and the entrance-cover (I will not call it a door, no I will not) swung inwards.
We both climbed through it, her before me, and then my world went black as it swung shut behind me.
I was paralyzed until, a second later, a light flickered to life, bathing the room in an eerie half-glow.
I looked up, and I saw Tsunade, looking exactly as she had for as long as I could remember, blonde hair in long pigtails, amber eyes dangerous and flashing and so tired, and boobs bigger then the entire world.
She stared at me for a second, and I stared back at her, and everything was silent.
And then she threw her arms around me, and I felt like crying. How could I have forgotten how important Tsunade was to me? I hugged her back for a bit (which really meant I let her cling to me while I patted her awkwardly on the back…), and then I gently pried her vice-grip off my body a few minutes late. I'm not normally a hugging-type of person. It's not my style.
And then I looked her straight in the eyes, and I said "Tsunade, what's going on?"
She smiled sadly at me, took a deep breath, and said, in that icy tone Kakashi so favors, "We have a problem, Sakura, and I need you to help me fix it."
I blinked up at her, shocked. Tsunade never needed my help; she said she didn't like putting such a young kid in such dangerous positions, not that that stopped Kakashi before, but usually, she'd ask my foster-father, or Anko, or Genma, or Shizune, or any of the other adults. But not me. Never me.
Wild hope raged in my chest, and she smiled her signature half-smile at me. "A day and a half ago, you exorcized two vampires, not far from here," I rolled my eyes when she said 'exorcized'. Killing a leech is killing a leech, no matter how you look at it. She ignored my eye-roll, and continued. "A third survived, using Hinata Hyuuga as a hostage." Hinata gulped softly behind me, but Tsunade smiled kindly at her.
I, however, could see the twitch in her left eye. I took it for granted that she was just as annoyed at Hinata's father as I was, for not training Hinata. Was the man insane?! The girl has talent, you numbskull!!!
Tsunade gave me a crow's shrug, knowing where my thoughts were. "That third vampire has been identified as an S-class, the one known as 'RedCard'. He's known for his liking of young, innocent, pure girls." She stopped to let that sink in, and I bared my teeth at nothing in particular. Because, honestly, I hate guys like that.
"Many of the deaths attributed to rape, are, in fact, his doing."
She paused again, and I knew where she was going with this. She wanted me to find the bastard, and kill him. I nodded. There was nothing to it. Just another assassination. That's all they ever were.
"Who are we using for bait? Ino?" I asked, remembering what Hinata had said about Ino's blood being irresistible.
A familiar, cocky, hated, jerky baritone issued from the shadows behind Tsunade. "Hello, little princess."
I ground my teeth, at both the sound of his voice, and the nickname he had oh-so-kindly bestowed upon me. How dare he call me that, how dare he?! Didn't he know what those words were to me?! 'Don't hate him, don't hate him, don't hate him, he's just bitter, don't hate him…' I chanted to myself, trying to keep my temper in check.
Sasuke Uchiha smirked at me, and murmured "You, princess. We're using you."