I am sleep deprived, ladies and gentlemen. Written to Breaking Benjamin and Mayday Parade, and also to the Lost Prophets.

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

Dedication: To Dana, because she always stays.

"I like deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go by."

---

I was still sitting on the swing an hour and a half later, when the others showed up. I'd told them that I would need that long.

Of course, it had been a lie.

But I needed time to think.

And there was suddenly a lot to think about. Silver was an ass, but he could make me think, that's for sure. He knew about the dangerous little five-year-old that resides in my head, and he'd spoken to appease her, not me.

I'd already locked that insane little toddler back in her cage, even though she was pouting at me, but I didn't close it all the way.

I know this is going to sound crazy, but I needed advice, and she was pretty good for that. She was nuts, yeah, but at least she listened. Crazy little five-year-old. This is worse then talking to myself. Well, technically, it is talking to myself… but, whatever. I am officially insane.

I blinked, and the world around me flickered, and my five-year-old self was sitting next to me, her arms and legs bound. I grinned at her, and she pouted at me dangerous-dangerous-dangerous-silly-little-girl-it's-no-wonder-people-can't-stand-you.

'So, now that you're back where you belong… what did Silver mean?'

'Sasu-chan mentioned something…Or was it that Kaeleo? The nobles wanted Silver and some female leech to have children… right?'

'Yeah, her name was Kendra, I think.'

'Then it's probably about that. They need strength.'

I smiled to myself. 'How much do you love me?'

She smiled back. 'If we're killing anything, I'm there.'

'Then we're in agreement.'

'I suppose so.'

And the world flickered again, and she was gone, asleep in the back of my mind. It wasn't a split personality, because she was me, but, at the same time, sometimes she had just a smidge too much control.

Or maybe it was just because I was totally insane. Yeah, that had to be it.

And then there was the whole thing about some strong danger. It could be us, but at the same time, how could it be that? We keep them in check, but they kill enough of us to warrant the hatred we give them.

So somehow I doubt that it's us.

And then the snake thing… Why was he warning me about snakes? Silver had a weird mind. And since when was I was pink-haired ruler? The pink-haired part was obvious. My hair is pink (and despite my protests against its colour, I like the fact that I'm the only chick with pink-coloured hair in the school). I was just a teenage girl. Albeit, a teenage girl with very good aim, but still a teenager.

And then he said to say 'hello' to Kaeleo. Well, that was self-explanatory.

The little girl in the back of my head giggled, and pushed against the lock. 'Princess, let me out. We've got company.'

I snapped my head up, and watched warily as the others came up. They looked calm and ready. It was so different from how I felt right now…

Hinata and Tenten threw themselves at me when they saw me. I guess they had been worried I was going to die, or something equally as stupid. I don't die.

"Ladies, if you'd please get off me, we have to report to Tsunade. I've got stuff to tell you." I held up at hand at Tenten's questioning gaze. "Not here."

I smirked at Sasuke, because this was payback. He rolled his eyes in an annoyed sort of way, and I laughed. He could suck it for all I cared what he thought.

Naruto looked around, unhappy, and whined out "So we're not fighting anything?! Then what was the point in even coming?"

Hinata smiled softly at him, and Tenten and I looked at each other, and almost squealed. They were just too cute!!!

"Naruto, I think there'll be plenty of fighting. Be happy we're not wasting time fighting something that has no objection to us."

I snorted. "Silver has plenty of objections to us. He just hates me enough to give me hints and spoilers. He makes me want to kick him. Blah."

Hinata gave me an odd look. "Sakura, did you just say spoilers?"

"Why, yes my dear, I did!"

She gave me another odd look, this time probably at the tone of my voice. It was a little high, and really… happy. Okay, what is wrong with me today?

I shook myself off, and blinked at Sasuke.

His hands were stuffed in his pockets, and he looked… lost. What? Why lost? Or, no, maybe not lost. I wasn't really sure what it was, but it wasn't loss. It was more contemplative then lost.

And he was giving me another one of his undecipherable looks. Damn it, why does he do that? It's annoying! So as we were leaving the park, I carefully attached myself to his side, if only to have the chance to prod him.

So I did.

I poked him in the arm, and gave him an enquiring look. And if he shook his head at me, I was likely going to scream. I do not appreciate being left out of important information. And while I'm doing it to the others, they don't seem to mind as much, because they're too busy being wrapped up in each other.

I mean, Naruto's holding Hinata so close, it's more like he's carrying her then anything else, and Tenten's arms are wrapped around Neji's waist, and his arm is draped over her shoulder.

I feel a little bit left out, and I looked up at Sasuke.

He was looking back at me, and he reached out and linked our pinkies. It still wasn't anything special, but it made me warm, just looking at him, and knowing that he was there, no matter what.

I thought back to the episode in my kitchen, and I wanted to blush fiercely. I hadn't even told Hinata, but that rush of possession swamped me again, and he was mine. I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks, he belongs to me, and me alone.

An electrical current was running through my body, originating from the point where his fingers made contact with my skin. It's intensity made me shiver. And then I remembered part of my conversation with Silver.

I dropped my voice, but kept it forcefully casual. "Oh, and Kaeleo? Silver says hello."

Sasuke's lips curved upwards into a dangerous, and very uncharacteristic, smile. His pinky tightened around mine, and I knew Sasuke did not like the fact that I was talking to the leech imprisoned in his body.

"Well, I suppose the next time we see him, I'll have to a formal re-introduction, princess, won't I?. But then, I may have-"

Sasuke cut him off, and obviously shoved the other entity back into his mind. "Get… out… of… my head!" He snarled out, each word forced and angry.

He took a few calming breaths, our pinkies still locked together. I tilted my head to the side. I knew Sasuke called me princess, but why did Kaeleo call me princess? I thought that was Sasuke's name for me. Weird.

"Sakura, please don't talk to him." Sasuke's voice was husky, and I felt another rush of possession flood over me. 'Mine' said my crazy side, but I shut her up.

Now, wasn't this ironic? Both Sasuke and I had voices in our head. Sigh. "Why not?"

"Because he knows that I… care about you, and he can, he'll kill you, just to make me snap."

I smiled up at him. "You're dumb. I can perfectly well take care of myself."

He shook his head, but he didn't say anything. He knew it, too. I could take perfect care of myself. I'm not some weak, annoying little girl who can't do anything for herself. Blah. I despise chicks like that.

They're just so… pointless.

Tenten's voice came out of the gloom that night had cast, and startled all of us. We were on guard, but do you blame us? It's more dangerous out at night then any human can even begin to comprehend. "So what now?"

It was silent, so I decided right there that we'd go back to my house, dump all our shit off, and then go see Tsunade. I relayed this plan to the others.

They quickly agreed, and we on our way back home.

---

Tsunade was standing in front of us, fuming. We were still in the yucky room with the gross yellow light, and Tsunade was not happy. We still hadn't managed to 'exorcize' Silver, and I suppose this thoroughly annoyed her. Sigh. She started pacing, and I watched in amusement.

Part of me (remember that evil, bitchy that took control in the kitchen? Yeah, her,) was unsure. I hate Silver more then anything else, but, in a twisted way, it's like having a very frank gay best friend. Not interested in me in any sexual way at all, but, at the same time, too wise too pass up.

Okay, something is really wrong with me, if I'm thinking of Silver in any other way then utter scorn. Blah. He's good for showing up when I want to talk to him, but he's so annoying. Rawr.

Tsunade turned and looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke, is he still trying to escape?"

Sasuke inclined his head, and I knew she was talking about Kaeleo. But I thought they were in a sort of co-existence… so what was this about escaping? Escaping, to me, meant usually trying to out, not trying to stay in.

I'd have to get an explanation later, because Tsunade was still glaring at the ground, a silent snarl twisting her lips. And she also probably wanted me to tell her what happened with Silver.

Of course, there were things I'd have to leave out, like the methods that I used to get Silver to tell me what I wanted to know. Tsunade hates leeches, but she thinks that they don't deserve undue pain. And, according to her standards, my mental games were 'undue pain'.

I think she's nuts. There is no such thing as undue pain when it comes to Silver, because, let's face it, if he got the chance, he'd gut me alive, and leave me to bleed. Wonderful-smelling-blood or not, Silver would let me bleed out.

He would let me bleed out, because I've been told having your blood sucked out of your veins is the most amazing thing you'll ever feel. I shuddered as this thought crossed my mind.

I like my blood where it belongs, which is in my veins, thanks very much.

"Sakura, what was it exactly that Silver said?"

I rolled my eyes, and repeated the same lines I'd told her only minutes before. "He asked if I wanted to know why he was so far away from Argent's grave, I said yes, then he told me the noble lines were congregating here because of some weird danger, and then he told me to be wary of snakes, and then he disappeared. You know the dude likes pissing you off Tsunade, so calm down."

She continued to pace. "Snakes, why snakes? There's something there, I know it…" She muttered to herself, and I rolled my eyes again.

I happen to like snakes; I think they're cool animals. They're very self-sufficient, and very dangerous when handled improperly. They like being left alone to bake in the sun, and they actually get that luxury, because there aren't any blood-crazed monsters after them. Rawr.

"And not only snakes, but the nobles lines and congregating… Kaeleo, what does that mean?"

"It means they are planning a time and place to converge. It has only happened twice in the last five centuries. This is something to behold, indeed."

I was still weirded out, hearing someone else's words coming out of Sasuke's mouth, using Sasuke's voice. It just sounded like it should be coming out of some old movie, with the way Kaeleo spoke! "So now what?"

Tsunade glowered. "We can't kill the noble lines off."

I blinked. "Excuse me? Isn't that what we're supposed to do, when there's a threat to the human population? Eradicate it?"

Tsunade nodded, her expression a cross between extreme annoyance, fury, and unhappy acceptance. "The noble lines are… complicated. They both help and hinder us. They have some measure of control over other vampires, and yet they rarely exercise it."

I glared at the ground, distaste in my mouth. "They prefer to let us take care of it, right?"

Tsunade nodded, a hard look in her eyes. She obviously didn't like the nobles much at all. I personally didn't even like the sound of them. They were just… bad, in my mind. I shuddered.

"So what do we do now?"

Tsunade half-shrugged, and said, very softly, "I've got a packet of information on the noble vampires that you ought to watch out for. And, let's face it, all we can do now is watch and wait."

She and I sighed in unison, and I grabbed what I supposed was the packet of information off the desk. And then, for good measure, and really to wake Sasuke up (really, seriously!) I kicked him.

He hissed in pain as Kaeleo receded into the back of his mind, and Sasuke re-gained control. I smiled hugely at him. "Sorry about that; it probably smarts a bit." I said sweetly, ignoring the glare in his eyes and the grimace on his lips.

His hand brushed against mine, and I instinctively stiffened. I still wasn't used to this… thing… that had developed between us, and because of that, I was rarely in the mood to be touched. He didn't link our pinkies, and neither did I, but I knew he was there.

And that was what mattered.

---

Hinata and the others were waiting outside for us, and she tilted her head at me. "Sakura, what-"

I cut her off. She was probably getting used to it by now, too. "Let's just get back to my house, yeah?"

So the six of us went, Naruto still basically carrying Hinata, and Tenten still curled into Neji. But I didn't want to touch Sasuke right now. I didn't want to be touched. I needed to think, and when I was touching Sasuke, I couldn't think.

It was annoying, actually.

We got home faster then I expected. There was nothing to say, so I pushed the door open, deactivated Anko's traps again-and-again-and-again-over-and-over-and-over, and I let the others in first, careful to close the door afterwards, to make sure nothing that I didn't want getting in got in.

I went to the kitchen, figuring that was where everyone would up. I was right, unsurprisingly enough. I didn't acknowledge the others, but went straight to the pantry, and pulled out the big jar full of gummy bears.

I love gummy bears, because they don't fight back when you bite their heads off. With this thought, I went and sat down at the for-four-people table that was currently crammed.

I sat on the table. Chairs? Not for me, thanks.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at me. "Sakura, why are you sitting on the table?"

"Because I can? Oh, anyone want gummy bears?"

I tossed the jar on the table, and all three boys dived at it. What is it with boys and never being able to give up free food? "Hey, don't eat 'em all; they're mine!" I growled at them, but they ignored me. Hinata and Tenten shook their heads, and dragged me out of the kitchen before I had the chance to kill them all.

"C'mon, let's get cleaned up. Sakura, I'm pretty sure you'll want to get changed, but Tenten and I have to go grab clothes from home."

I waved Hinata off. "Don't worry about it. You can just wear mine. They might be a little big on you Hinata, but I'm pretty sure you won't mind that too much, and we already know Tenten fits my clothes."

I grinned. "Besides, if they get ruined, it's just an excuse to go out an buy some more, right?"

I'm not normally into shopping, but I really do like clothes. And shoes. I'd kill for shoes. So the three of us went upstairs, and I pulled out my clothes, and tossed them to each of the other girls.

Tenten was still wearing the shirt I'd given her from before, but I guess she wanted to switch, because she quickly changed out it, and into the one I'd tossed at her now, the stripy blue-and-green-and-turquoise-and-every-other-cool-colour-under-the-sun, and the artfully-ripped-and-torn jeans, plus a belt that was covered in bar codes.

Hinata snorted when she saw the belt. "Nice Tenten. Your ass is for sale!"

Tenten shot her a glare, and pulled the clothes on.

For Hinata, I found a creamy cashmere v-neck sweater that Tsunade had bought me a year and a half ago that I hated, but I had a feeling Hinata might like it, and a ruffly skirt that almost perfectly matched her hair. Why was that skirt sitting in my closet, actually? Not my style, thanks very much.

Hinata blinked at the clothes, and changed into them. I wanted to hate her for a second, because she was so pretty, but it's impossible to hate Hinata. She's too sweet. She blinked at me, and I shrugged.

I was wearing black jeans, a crimson tube top over a black long-sleeved shirt, and a black-and-white checkered tie. I was also wearing a pair of fingerless leather gloves. So I felt like being weird. So sure me. The crazy little part of me giggle. This-is-me-me-me-talking-when-you're-not-paying-attention-silly-silly-silly…

We left my room, and slipped into the kitchen.

All my gummy bears were gone. Every. Last. One. Someone was going. To. Die.

"Boys, didn't I say not to eat my all my gummy bears?!" I gritted out, my teeth clenched.

Sasuke smirked, and came over, and stood very, very close to me. Oh, dear god, I could smell whatever it was he used for cologne, and it still had that drugging effect on me.

No, damn it Sakura, keep your mind on killing these three for eating all the amazing gummy bears!

He continued smirking at me, and said "My bad. Here's a tissue." And then he held up a tissue.

I twitched, and kicked him hard in the shin. "You ate my gummy bears, asshole!" I shrieked at him. Okay, so I liked him, but he was annoying! And he ate my gummy bears!!! You do not eat my gummy bears if you want to live. Even Kakashi knows not to eat my gummy bears.

And these idiots had finished them all! How dare they?! I said they could have some! Not all!!!

"I love you?"

I growled. "Not good enough. You're buying me a whole new pack up gunny bears, and you better not have any! You, too, Naruto! And you as well, Neji!"

They both nodded, wide-eyed, but that might not have been me. Both Neji and Naruto were very busy staring at Tenten and Hinata respectively. I rolled my eyes. Boys are not only dumb and weird, they're unsurprising as hell.

I knew from the second I had tossed my clothes at my two friends that the boys would be staring. I'm not stupid, thanks. Actually, I ten to pride myself on the fact that I do have brains, thanks.

I looked up at Sasuke, still slightly peeved off (because he ate my gummy bears. No one should ever eat my gummy bears except me), but slightly amused, too. "They're kinda predictable, huh?"

He snorted, and nodded in agreement.

So he and I stood there, and watched our four friends. Apparently, Neji was exactly like Sasuke. He was emotionless for a good portion of the time, and almost a robot in his language use. But Tenten didn't seem to mind that, smiling at him as she was.

And I'm not even going to comment on Hinata and Naruto, because they're so cute it's actually almost sickening.

Ten minutes later, we all came back to ourselves, and our introspective silence was broken. I sighed, and reached for the file that contained the vampire nobles information. It was still sitting on the table, where I had left it earlier.

I flipped it open, and sat down at the for-four-people table. Hinata sat, too, as did Tenten. So, apparently chivalry isn't totally dead. Damn. Too bad. Chivalry only works for girls who're too weak to take care of themselves.

I smirked to myself, because, by all accounts, neither Tenten nor Hinata was too weak to take care of themselves.

The first profile came up. Silver's.

I shuffled it to the back. I knew Silver well enough that I didn't have to look at a written profile on him to know everything about him.

I carefully looked over the next one. The picture was of a pretty girl with green eyes, and red hair in big, thick ringlets. She was smiling softly, and I was, suddenly and invariably, reminded of my mother. Of course, my mother didn't have purple eyes, and her hair was a brighter shade of red then this but…

"Kendra. Says here she wears contacts to keep her eyes green… so this is the girl Silver was engaged to." I murmured softly, and Hinata looked curiously at the profile.

"She looks like she's about sixteen."

I nodded. "Yup, says she was changed right about the time she was sixteen, too. Although, considering, that might have been well over a hundred years ago. Tsunade says no one is sure of her exact age."

I shook my head to myself. This girl was dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Especially with the soft smile, and the ringlets, and the pale skin, all of it spoke 'trust me'. But her eyes were cold, and cunning, and likely to rip a person in half.

I knew without knowing that she probably wouldn't make my life very easy. I didn't know how I knew, but I just did. Kendra was going to make my life a misery, if she could.

And I knew she would.