Warning: Drug use and badly written high people =]

Chapter 4 – Life as we Know it

Sakura was having a blast, her life seemed to be getting better and better, and that's mostly because it was easy to see this life being better than the life of a hobo. Before she knew it an entire month had flew past, in one month Sakura Haruno had never felt better about her life than right now, not since her parents died anyway. She and the band had been working pretty hard too; they'd been working on a few songs and had completed only one, much to Sakura's aggravation.

Right at that very moment however, they were doing nothing. All four of them, even Naruto who had been running around since everyone had gotten together was laying flat out on the sofa. It was one of those afternoons', the sort of one's that seem to never end because you have nothing to do. Everyone, even Sakura had seemed to run out of imagination for the song's they're meant to be working on. As Naruto stared off into space Sakura sat next to him munching on a packet of Malteaser's and watched as Tenten doodled at the desk and Kiba strummed his guitar. They'd been like this since two o'clock and they still had one hour until they were aloud to leave. It was definitely one of those Boring Fridays.

"AH! I can't take it anymore! Is there something we could be doing!" Kiba yelled. He swung his guitar around onto the stand and looked over at the two vegetables on the sofa. Naruto looked at him from his slumped position and shrugged his shoulders, pissing Kiba off further. He made a move to smack the blond but the ever so firm voice of Tenten broke him off mid swing. It was weird Sakura thought, Tenten was like some sort of unofficial boss amongst them, even Naruto didn't cross her, and that was saying something seeing as he was supposedly their Manager.

"Oh common Tenten! What if that Uchiha comes down again! He'd go mad if he found us flat out on are back!" Kiba complained. Sakura had also learned over the past month that Kiba had a very short temper and he had some sort of weird thing for the Uchiha brothers…

" You know you're going to have to get over that phobia of the Uchiha brothers eventually, they are your boss after all." Tenten said offhandedly while she shaded in the Chinese Dragon she'd been drawing, Sakura nodded along, throwing her now empty packet in the bin.

"I'm not scared of the Uchiha's! They're just weird yeah? Nobody should be that emotionless." Kiba shuddered and caused Naruto to chuckle.

"What you laughing at?" Kiba shot at Naruto who only chuckled harder.

"You. The Uchiha's aren't really that bad you know. I'm sure Sakura will agree, she does live with them you know." He stated in an amused manner, causing Sakura to chuckle with him.

"I guess so, you should see Sasuke's mum, and she's the kindest person I've ever met, honestly. Plus you'd be surprised, Sasuke's really a smug ass and his brother likes to pry into peoples business." Sakura moaned out the last part, calling back upon her memories for that one. Kiba scoffed and stalked off, picking up the guitar and plugging it into the amp that's in the recording room. Silence passed between everyone again until it was Naruto who couldn't take it, and desperately tried to remember something that he could do to get everyone talking again… Then it hit him like ice hits a sleeping man.

"Oh!" Naruto sat bolt-upright causing Sakura to jump in fright (she's not much of a Vampire when it comes to being scared) and frowned at him in confusion and irritation.

"What? You better not challenge Kiba to another Ramen eating contest, he nearly choked to death last time." Tenten warned, giving him an evil and firm look, knowing full well at how childish they could be at times.

"No no, nothing like that. Sasuke was asking about it the other day but I completely forgot about it until just now." Naruto explained to Tenten, not wanting to get on the bad side of her.

"What is it then." Kiba asked from the doorway of the recording room, still desperately wanting something else to do.

"We still need to give us a name. We can't be official until we have a name to be called by." Naruto stated matter-of-factly. Everyone looked at Naruto in disbelief; they couldn't believe how they'd forgotten about the name. How was that even possible anyway? That was like the first thing you do! Sakura thought.

"Okay, so what's it goanna be?" Sakura asked. She motioned for everyone to come over with her hands. Naruto sat back down on his side of the sofa and Tenten took the one seat left so Kiba sat on the edge of the coffee table. Everyone looked around each other, waiting for them to say something amazingly brilliant that they would be known as. It didn't happen.

"How about… Death Date?" Naruto asked. He became unsure of himself as he kept talking and by the end of the sentence he sounded like he was back in puberty. Everyone shrunk away from the name like it was poison; they were definitely not that kind of band. So Naruto took that as a no.

"How does 'Throwing stones' sound?" Tenten suggested.

"Sounds too much like 'The Rolling Stones'." Kiba said while shaking his head. Sakura let out a sigh. This was hopeless…

"How about two point two eyes?" Kiba suggested. Everyone thought about it, the name was better than the others, but something didn't really sit well with it. It didn't sound quite right.

"I like the eye part. We should use that part." Sakura admitted. Naruto nodded and 'hmmed' while Tenten and Kiba just nodded.

"Hey I know." Tenten blurted out. Her chocolate brown eyes practically lit up with her idea. Kiba looked puzzled as he looked at Tenten, wondering what she could be thinking up now.

"What?" Kiba pushed, wanting to know what she's thinking.

"Okay well what if we use one of are eye colours? I mean it could either be like Chocolate eyes for me cause I've got brown; Kiba's got grey so that would be…silver eye? Or we could have… What would green be for Sakura? Grass eye?" She asked. Sakura cringed, she didn't have grass coloured eyes! Well… she didn't think so at least. Naruto saw the look on her face and nudged her arm with his, all the while chuckling under his breath.

"Don't worry Sakura, your eyes are more like green emeralds." He said, causing her cheeks to blush at the complement. It was then that both Tenten and Kiba froze; they both slowly turned their heads to look at each other with inspiration.

"Naruto, what did you just say?" Kiba asked, still looking at Tenten's astonished face. Naruto looked back around at Kiba and Tenten, wondering what the hell was going on, Sakura was also doing the same, seeing as the two weren't paying attention.

"Don't worry Sakura?" Naruto asked in a worried tone, he thought that maybe he'd done something wrong. It wouldn't have been the first time anyways.

"No, after that." Tenten said frowning. Naruto just looked confused now as he tried to remember if he said something that was out of context.

"Your eyes are more like green emeralds?" He stated in a squeaky voice. Tenten's face lit up again and a dimple appeared on her left cheek as she grinned.

"Emerald eye!" Tenten shouted. Kiba nodded and grinned showing his rather large canines that made Sakura slightly curious as to how he got them…

Naruto's face lit up with the rest of them at hearing the name, it was perfect, and the name was unique and easy to remember. It was everything and all that was needed in a band name. Naruto once again thanked the Ramen god for landing this particular band in his care, their imagination knew no bounds and that was what made the money in this business. Because without imagination there was no songs and there fore no band.

"I should go finish filling out the paper work then." Naruto said a little disappointed, he hated paper work with a hot, juicy passion that will most likely never die. Sakura also stood up, feeling the need to stretch her legs and maybe go annoy a certain Uchiha a few floors up. Also they only had twenty minutes left until they could leave anyway, so with that, Sakura said her good byes and headed up a few floors.

…!...

Sasuke was so pleased to get out of the office that night; there were only so many knock-knock jokes one could take… And one particular street rat was beginning to become annoying, not that she wasn't before but he starting to think that maybe his sanity was beginning to suffer because of it.

Sasuke didn't know why, but that pink haired girl had plagued his mind recently, she'd caused a lot of problems for him and his bother, poor Itachi was starting to act like Sherlock Homes. Something Sasuke never really wanted to see. One of Sasuke's main thoughts however was about that certain subject. Sasuke really didn't think the girl was a drug addict, she showed no signs of withdrawal through the day when she's in the office, except for tiredness but that's not surprising seeing as she's going to bed at four in the morning and getting up at seven every morning…

To be honest he's surprised she hadn't collapsed yet.

As Sasuke walked into the lift at his building he stood straight and pressed the top button, his brief case was heavy with file reports and statistic's that Sasuke really didn't want to look at right now, all he wanted was to let out his frustration. And for that he needed Karin, she had some sort of ability that let him forget everything and let go of everything by a simple touch.

As the door's clicked open Sasuke walked into his spacious flat and dumped his brief case on a near by chair before doing the same with his suit jacket. As he walked through the flat he loosened his tie and undid the first three buttons of his shirt, already tired of the thing.

He found Karin in their shared bedroom, and what was better, she was in a towel, her long flowing red hair was wet and clinging to her back as she walked around looking for her hair dryer. When she caught sight of Sasuke and the look in his eye she knew exactly what he was in the mood for. A sly smirk crossed her lips, as she looked him over once again. He was standing at the doorway, tie loosened, shirt undone and looking irresistible at this very moment, and she'd be a fool if she didn't take it.

As she walked over in nothing but her towel, she was sure to walk the way a model would walk down a cat walk, using her expert knowledge to the best of her ability's. The hungry look in Sasuke's eyes only deepened once he saw the expression on her face. Her hand came up and pulled on his loosened tie and pulled him over to the bed. Sasuke happily aloud her to pull him over as he came crashing down on top of her, not even hesitating to start attacking her neck.

Karin groaned from underneath him, loving the way he was so ruff with her. He ripped the offending towel from Karin's now naked body and gazed down at the slightly browned skin, he couldn't wait to get it under his mouth.

Karin panted and grabbed fist fools of his hair, he kept attacking her neck with ferocity that was completely knew to her. He Bit and sucked on her now sore skin like no tomorrow and she couldn't help but wonder what the hell was up with him, not that she minded. She liked it.

Karin pulled Sasuke's head up from her neck and examined his face, now that she thought about it; he did look a little distracted, his eyes looked like they were somewhere else entirely. That wouldn't do at all. Karin wanted his full attention. She turned her head to the side and bit her lip, looking as innocent as a flower and began to slowly work up a blush with a few embarrassing images in her head.

"…Sasuke?" She asked as innocently as possible, in a way she knew would grab his attention, and by god did it. Just not in the way she was expecting, or Sasuke for that matter.

Once he heard that innocent voice Sasuke looked at his red headed fiancé and saw the light blush on her cheeks and how it looked like she was hiding her head slightly, and the way she bit her lip like she was nervous. He'd seen it all before, she did it when he wasn't paying enough attention to her. As he looked at her under him, he noticed how her skin turned from a light tan to a creamy white and how her hair lightened until it was a pinkish colour and finally how her eyes seemed to go from wild red to emerald green.

Sasuke froze in complete panic, that look Karin had just pulled had just reminded him of Haruno! Haruno of all the people to imagine with that look and it had to be her! The thought disturbed him slightly, he didn't even like the girl that much, and it seemed to him that the only reason she's still around is to annoy the living crap out of him. First she invades his work, then she invades his thoughts and now this, he really didn't like her. Although if she were in this situation he would bet on his life that Karin's expression and the way she said his name would be exactly how Sakura would act.

With that thought in mind Sasuke was off Karin in an instant, he was at the other end of the huge room; completely shirtless with the most shocked face Karin had ever seen in her entire life from any member of the Uchiha clan!

Sasuke felt dirty, Haruno was so innocent yet here he was thinking of her in such a degrading situation? And imagining her in place of his Fiancé no less? Something was really wrong with him. Sasuke's hand came up to his mouth as he turned and all but ran out of the room, heading for the bathroom across the hall.

Sasuke filled the sink with freezing cold water and began to splash his face frantically, trying to rid the images of Haruno under him. Karin came through in one of her silk dressing gowns and a worried expression on her face.

Karin had no idea what she'd done wrong, one minute their getting it on and the next Sasuke's running off to the bathroom like he was about to throw up.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" Karin was actually believe or not concerned, Sasuke never runs out on anything, especially sex. He was still splashing his face with water so Karin decided to investigate later, but one thing was for sure, she wasn't getting any tonight.

She sat on the sofa outside their bedroom and waited for Sasuke to hurry up in the bathroom. She wondered once again what was wrong with him, had something happened at work? Was it that Rodent again? She'd over heard him complaining about her again to Naruto over the phone. Something she wasn't all too happy about, she'd been way to close to him for her comfort. Karin hated other women near her Sasuke, call her jealous, but when you had a rich and incredibly handsome fiancé who had women flocking like sheep where ever he went then you tended to get slightly over protective.

With that thought in mind Karin let out an irritated huff and flicked her long damp hair over her shoulder and tightened the strap around her silk dressing gown. She heard Sasuke stumble out of the bathroom and she couldn't help but wonder once again what the hell had actually happened to him, if it were her then she'd be incredibly embarrassed and offended.

He rounded the corner looking slightly paler than usual and spotted Karin sitting on the sofa with a stern look on her face. The first word that came to Sasuke's mind was shit. He hated it when she got all worked up like this, then again he didn't blame her, he never acted like this. Sasuke looked at her with a steady cool gaze, which was met with Karin's steady heated gaze. Like fire and ice they both stared each other off, waiting for one to turn to water or was put out.

Sasuke hated where this was going, he didn't want to have to tell her that he'd just imagined Haruno in her place, she'd blow her top! Then she'd go and kill Haruno herself. Come to think of it he and Itachi were meant to be following her tonight…

He pushed that thought out of his mind completely. He'd catch up with him later; right now he had bigger fish to fry. Karin broke their gaze in turn to stand up and cross her arms across her chest. She wanted answers, now.

"Care to explain your little lapse in sexual activity, Sasuke?" She asked. Being sure to make herself sound big. Karin knew there was something wrong with him that he wasn't telling her. Sasuke simply shrugged and grunted before walking past, trying to avoid the conversation as much as possible.

"I was just feeling a little sick. Nothing more." He lied. Making his way to the dresser he pulled out one of his rarely used T-shirts that Naruto was constantly buying him for his Birthday.

He pulled on the bright red T-shirt that had a picture of ramen on the back and pulled on one of his dark hoodies, something he used when he wanted to blend in and changed into a pair of jeans.

Karin watched from the doorway in confusion, she had no idea what he was up to now, plus he had on that stupid top Naruto had bought him last year. That man was full of mysteries, some of which Karin couldn't even figure out.

"Where are you going? It's twelve at night for gods sake." Karin spoke in a softer tone than before, but it still held the strength in it. Sasuke turned around to face her before walking up to her and kissed her. Karin wrapped her arms around his back and deepened it, making sure that Sasuke knew she was the only one for him.

Sasuke pulled away when he felt his control slip, he couldn't just leave Itachi to follow Haruno by himself. Karin pulled back with a groan of irritation and walked over to the bed before slipping in, trusting that Sasuke would be back soon, then she'd get her answers.

…!...

Sakura whipped the blood away with one of the towels she'd decided to bring for once. She was in trouble. As the man she'd just drank from staggered away Sakura couldn't help but smell the booze and drugs that was oozing out of the man in waves.

She could taste it in her mouth and groaned in dread. Vampires tended to react to alcohol a hell of a lot faster than humans would, and drugs were just as bad, if not worse, and that guy had been filled with the stuff, it surprised Sakura that he was still standing and wasn't dead on the street. Of course that didn't help her in the least, the last thing she should have been worrying about was him.

As she began her long trek home Sakura began to feel very light headed and began to stagger like she was drunk, which she was really. People looked at her as they walked past like she was mad. Sakura couldn't help but laugh out loud and call them on their staring, saying that they should take a picture. Luckily though she was still in the ruff area of Konoha so people were probably used to it, unlike the part where she was headed.

About forty minutes later Sakura was completely under the influence of the alcohol and drugs that had entered her system. As she staggered up to the big gate she got ready to climb it like she always did, only this time she failed to even stay balanced long enough to actually get to the second bar on it. With a loud curse Sakura fell backwards and landed on her butt, she rolled over onto her side moaned as loud as she could that the gate was playing unfair. Unknown to her that the CCTV camera on the wall was taking in her childish acts.

…!...

Sakuke and Itachi watched with amused expressions inside the security office of the Uchiha Mansion at the obviously high woman's antics outside the gate. It was about three in the morning now and Itachi had been waiting on Sasuke to arrive, saying that she'd left earlier than normal.

Both brothers had been watching the pink haired woman's failed attempts to climb the fence for at least ten minutes now and were interested to find that she'd now given up and was rolling around on the floor like a kid.

Sasuke watched her with a calm expression, he was glad that the image of Sakura from earlier had moved onto the back burner of his mind. Itachi looked over at his brother with a raised eyebrow, wondering if now would be a good time to go and help her. The last thing they needed was her waking up the entire house with her childish acts.

With a nod from Sasuke he and Itachi walked out of the room and moved in the direction leading to the front door. As they exited the main door into the chilly night air the sound of loud giggling could be heard from the bottom of the drive way and Sasuke couldn't help but cringe at the sound. As they closed in on the dark body lying on the ground Sasuke couldn't help but feel a little annoyed with the woman.

Sasuke had actually believed that she wasn't into drugs; he even doubted what his brother said and what Haruno seemed to lead on to last month when she'd tried to make a run for it. He'd thought she was made of different stuff, better stuff. She had pride; he knew that, she'd shown him that pride countless times in one of their many arguments. Yet she'd managed to fool him, she really was just another Kitten without a pedigree, like his Father had once said. She was just another lowlife that had managed to climb her way up the food chain. But underneath that pride and stubbornness that she possessed she was just another homeless drug addict.

Sasuke pushed the button to open the gate with a little more force than necessary and earned a raised eyebrow from his brother. He just simply scowled and looked down at the high woman on the floor, she'd turned and was now facing them from the floor.

"Oh whoa. It's – It's you peoples. Man I'm in deep shit." She slurred. Both brothers let out an irritated huff before walking forward and grabbing an arm each and pulling her up.

Sakura was confused as hell now, one minute she was looking up at the two Uchiha brothers' and now she was standing up? Was she blanking out or something?

"Where did Uchiha Twat's go? And I don't remember standing up, did I blank out again?" She slurred, not really expecting an answer but still, she felt the need to voice her thought's, plus she'd said her secret nickname for them so she was probably dead now anyway so why bother?

Itachi looked over at his frowning brother with an amused expression. He'd never even known that Sakura could even be this oblivious, any other time she'd be the first to notice something, even before it was noticeable. The thought was definitely an interesting one.

"Did she just call us 'Uchiha Twat's'?" Sasuke growled. Itachi saw the glare that he was giving the out-of-it woman in their arms.

"I believe she did little brother." Itachi stated in a bored tone. They walked up the steps into the Mansion and had to practically drag the girl up the stairs. Once they got to the top Sakura began to struggle in their arms and broke free before leaning over the rail and throwing up. Both men cringed, not exactly liking the sight of sick. But then Sasuke noticed something, in the light coming from the open door he noticed it wasn't sick she was throwing up, it was blood. The thick red liquid trailed down the side of her lip as she staggered back, causing both brothers to panic, thinking something was seriously wrong with her.

"Holy shit Haruno! Quick, we need to get her to the hospital! Did you see the amount of blood she just threw up!" Sasuke blurted in emotion he rarely showed.

Sakura still had half a mind to know that wasn't good. She didn't like hospitals. They would turn her into a test subject if they found out she wasn't entirely human.

"No hospital, it was just my dinner." She blurted out in a drooled slur, she could feel the blood still on her tongue and swallowed before wiping her mouth clean, hiding all evidence. She hadn't even taken into consideration at what she'd said.

"Sakura, don't be a fool. Come on, your not a bloody vampire. Let's get you to the car." Itachi said in a low concerned tone. He eyed up her state and looked over at Sasuke's equally concerned look.

"No car's, Hospital's are bad places." She mumbled out, the last part was more to herself than anyone else. Sasuke crouched down in front of her, looking at her dead in the eye, judging for himself if he should really bother taking her to the hospital. Sakura looked at him with tired lids, she was completely in a daze, and it was a surprise that she was able to answer at all.

"It was my bad. Didn't know the man had drugs. Was too out of it to tell, m'sorry." She mumbled. Sakura was talking to no one now, she was just mumbling to herself.

Sasuke huffed out in defeat, he'd just get her to bed, maybe question her when she was more lucid. With that thought in mind Sasuke threw her arm over his shoulder and dragged her up, Itachi did the same with the other arm and began to drag her inside.

Itachi looked down at the flopped head and thought that maybe she had passed out. He was proven wrong however when a string of mumbled words left her mouth. Itachi couldn't even make them out anymore, but he'd maybe try and ask who her dealer was. He suspected that in this state she might just tell him.

Sasuke kicked her bedroom door open and walked through, sitting her on the bed and holding her head up with both his hands, looking to see if she was still relatively conscious. Her eyes were open but were unresponsive as they rolled about in her half open lids. Sasuke didn't like seeing her like this, it actually scared him a bit. Not that he'd admit it out loud. Her skin was sickly pale and her lips were chapped, her unresponsive look however scared him the most. It was like they weren't even there.

"Haruno." Sasuke whispered. Sakura's eyes locked onto Sasuke's face but it wasn't like they usually were, Sakura had a sort of stubborn and strong look in her eyes that never seemed to leave them, but right now they were just empty and Sasuke didn't like it at all.

"What did you do?" He asked in a soft whisper, something that he wasn't used to but felt that it was necessary, she probably wouldn't remember tomorrow anyway. Her blank eyes still stared at him as she answered in a slurred voice; he had to listen very closely to actually understand what she was saying.

"Needed to…like every other night… why." There were a few words that Sasuke couldn't get but decided to not go any further. He needed to get home anyway; Karin was probably still waiting for him. Sasuke pulled her jacket off and put her under the covers after removing her shoes and walking back. Itachi looked at Sasuke before looking at the now unconscious woman in the bed, her pink uneven strands were scattered over the pillow and her deep even breathes brought little comfort to the oldest Uchiha brother.

As Sasuke walked over with her jacket a bloodied towel fell onto the floor and caught Itachi's attention. The thought of her throwing up earlier was brought to mind as he walked over and picked it up, looking over at an equally confused Sasuke.

The blood was thick in the towel and made them both wonder once again what it really was that she got up to at night. Even though she turned up high more or less confirmed their suspicions it still striked them as odd that she was puking blood, was that what the towel was for? Itachi wondered. Sakura was full of mysteries, even more so than Sasuke, and both brothers were going to get to the bottom of it.

"Sasuke, we need to find out what the hell is happening with her. We can't just let her run around in this state all the time when she's under a contract to the company." Itachi looked over at Sasuke who had a thoughtful expression on his face. Sasuke couldn't agree more, they had to find out what was happening with her. They couldn't wait any longer. He simply nodded in agreement before speaking.

"We should go tomorrow, we can't wait any longer. God knows what will happen if we do." Sasuke spoke in a low tone that even Itachi was struggling to hear.

"I agree. She'll probably feel like hell tomorrow anyway, so she'll not be as responsive when she does go out." Itachi agreed with him. The two brothers both left the room in silence and walked side by side until they got to their cars outside. Both men said their good byes to each other and arranged to meet tomorrow at seven in the Mansion and left.

As Sasuke drove home that night he couldn't help but feel a growing fear for what the next night would bring him. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to know what Haruno was doing, he had a feeling that he wouldn't like it in the least…

…!...

Hey people, thank you for reading yet again! Please review! Every time i get a review i want to cry with happiness! And also I don't know about you but when i was checking over my work i actually found myself gaging at the Karin and Sasuke bit! Was I the only one? Should I even be gaging since i'm the one that wrote the damn thing? Anyways... =] thanks again! Ignore my mini rant there!