Chapter 20 – Control

When Sakura first realized how big Emerald Eye was going to be, she swore that she'd misread the listings on the TV screen. Currently, she was sitting in front of Sasuke's TV with nothing but her underwear and one on Sasuke's shirts as well as one of his towels over her head. She looked at the TV in disbelief for a moment before Sasuke walked in, noticing the shell-shocked look she was giving the TV.

"What's wrong?" He asked in a concerned voice as he sat down next to her, pulling off the towel and revealing her damp, slightly frizzy hair. He rolled his eyes at her, thinking that if she was going to ignore him then she could just go home. She came over after she'd fed saying that the rain was too heavy to walk home in. Of course it wasn't like he minded having her around.

"I can't believe one of the song's reached the chart's on only one week…" She muttered, drawing Sasuke's attention to the TV to see for himself. And sure enough, there it was, in fourth place too, pretty impressive for a fist album.

There was a swell of pride in Sakura's chest as she heard the woman in the background talk about her song. She couldn't believe that she'd make it into the charts so quickly, she didn't even think it would make it into the charts, but there it was, fourth from the top, sixth from the bottom…

"You do realize that your social life is as good as over now, right?" Sasuke commented off handedly. A flicker of curiosity crossed Sakura's green eyes as she peered over at him, asking silently to repeat what he'd just said.

"The media are going to be all over this. You're a celebrity now, more or less." He quickly added. Sakura huffed and leaned back into the sofa, not liking the idea of having no social life.

"Does that mean I'm going to have to start wearing a wig?" She questioned with a pout. It might not look like it but she was actually quite fond of her hair colour, after all, it was the only thing that she'd inherited from her father that had something to do with appearance and not instincts.

"Probably." Sasuke answered simply. Chuckling a little at her pout as he ruffled her damp, frizzy pink locks, he probably loved her hair colour about as much as she did. Sakura curled into his side and wrapped an arm around his waist, humming quietly in satisfaction and he continued to play with her hair.

It was weird really, before he'd met Sakura he never would have imagined sitting there watching top of the charts at eleven at night with the person he loved no less, attached to his side. What freaked him out more though was that he couldn't even remember the last time he'd had sex…

Seriously, how long had it been, a month, month and a half? The last time he'd gone this long without sex he'd still been a virgin. He peered down at Sakura out of the corner of his eye, watching as she stared contentedly at the TV screen. He wondered idly if she ever thought about making their relationship more physical, he wasn't too sure through, before they'd gotten together he'd been wondering if she even possessed hormones at all. She was still a teenager after all and teenagers had… urges…? Or at least he thought so, it had been about five years since he'd left those goddamn years behind him after all.

But still, he certainly wanted to take the next step, they weren't embarrassed thirteen year olds who could only hold hand's and have the odd peck on the lips and cheek. Plus, he was a man, a man who hadn't done anything in so long! He continued to watch her for another minute before giving his head a light shake and kissing the side of her head.

Sakura jumped a little at the sudden contact before looking around to face him. When she did she had to stop herself from jumping again. He was so close, as in within an inch of her face, an entire fecking inch! Her breath caught in the back of her throat as she looked into that intense gaze of his. Sasuke pressed his lips to hers again, simply keeping his lips on hers with a light pressure behind the contact.

Sakura felt her heart beat faster when she felt his arms wrap around her waist, pulling her closer as he continued to kiss her. She felt her cheeks burn red even though it wasn't the first time they'd kissed like this. They'd kissed plenty of times, most of which included tongue too, but every time she never failed to blush. But tonight was different, she knew that, she could feel the blush practically burn with heat and wondered if it was because it was so late at night or if it was because she hardly had anything on.

She wasn't given any time to ponder over her blush however as Sasuke (somehow) managed to open her jaw and slip his tongue in. A moan escaped her lips as she began to kiss back eagerly. She breathed in the vanilla sent of his skin through her nose and pressed herself closer to his body, loving the way that his arms would also tighten around her body.

Sasuke had enough of the slow pace they were kissing at and eventually sped up, a small surprised gasp escaped Sakura's lips but he ignored it, choosing to concentrate only on kissing her. They'd never kissed with this much… passion? Ferocity?... Sakura couldn't really pin a name to what it was, but she only knew that she liked it, a lot. She felt her fangs slowly grow out as she kissed back with as much force as Sasuke, finding that she was enjoying her self a little too much.

Sasuke couldn't hold back the moan that ripped its way up his throat, the feeling of her fangs against his tongue only serving to make him grip her tighter. He loved it when she had her fangs out, it made him feel special in a way, he knew that she wouldn't have shown anyone else those fangs unless she was about to bite them…

Sakura suddenly broke away from the kiss, causing Sasuke's eyes to snap open in shock. He watched as she loosened his arms from her sides and threw her leg over his lap, effectively straddling him. She then proceeded to take a fist full of his hair as the other one wrapped around his neck. Sasuke peered up at Sakura, he noticed how her eyes had suddenly clouded with lust as she stared into his eyes and how her mouth was open slightly as she gave the lightest hint of catching her breath as her two white fangs peered out of the top. Her frizzy hair gave her the perfect 'after hair' and only fueled Sasuke's need for her.

He grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her down so their lips met again, both acting instantly like they'd never even separated. Sasuke grabbed the underside of her thighs and stood up, holding her up as she continued to kiss him. She wrapped her legs around his waist as Sasuke stumbled across the condo to where he knew his room was.

Sakura wasn't even thinking at this point, she was simply acting on instinct. She had a feeling that she might regret this later but she quite honestly didn't care, right now she was living in the moment.

At that moment they both collapsed on something soft and extremely comfortable but Sakura paid no mind to what it might be and just concentrated on the man on top of her. Sakura's hands somehow found there way to the hem of the old T-shirt Sasuke was wearing before pulling it over his head. She ran her fingers down his toned chest and stomach, feeling the ripples of muscle under his pale skin. She was only half aware that Sasuke was undoing the buttons to her shirt, reveling a rather boring white bra that covered her reasonably small chest.

Sasuke began to kiss her neck and along her collarbone all the while his hands rubbed up and down her bare sides gently. Sakura buried her face in his indigo locks as she moaned out, a burning sensation beginning to take over her chest area surrounding her heart.

At first she thought the burning was just the feel of her heart beating faster but as they both continued to kiss each other stupid the sensation grew and grew. It was like white-hot need that sent her entire body shuddering. It was only then that she realized what it might actually be…

His lips crashing down on hers, silencing any words that she might have wanted to say interrupted "Sas-" She tried to murmur out. Sakura felt her fangs ache as his wet tongue glided past her lips, brushing them as it moved. She couldn't concentrate on anything else but the need that danced behind her closed eyelids.

She was loosing it, she realized.

It was only then that she noticed the tale-tale signs of hunger that made her squirm and pull at Sasuke to get him closer. He was currently attacking her neck and with her face buried in his hair she was at the perfect angle to strike. It was almost too tempting, and she wanted to so badly, the need to simply sink her teeth into that warm moist neck of his was so over powering that she couldn't help the low growl that escaped her lips as she lowered her head down, ready to take a bite…

"Ah… Sakura…" Sasuke groaned as her fangs glided over the skin of his neck, the small pressure felt wonderful over his skin.

At the sound of his voice Sakura's eyes snapped open, she paused just before she sunk her fangs into his neck where the pulse was the strongest and panicked. The arms that had once been pulling him against her moved around to his stomach where she pushed against his body as hard as she could, sending Sasuke flying off the bed, his feet where the only things she could see as they dangled over the foot of the bed. If this was any other situation she might have found the sight rather funny.

All of this had happened within seconds as she shot up and panted hard, trying to get that goddamn need to go away. The shirt she had been wearing slipped off her shoulders so she was in nothing but her underwear and she idly wondered when the shirt had been undone. The sound of Sasuke's pained groans pulled her from her momentary panic however as he pulled himself up and stood up, a confused look coming over his eyes as he looked at Sakura.

"What was that for?" He asked, slightly out of breath, he took a step towards her, wondering what the matter was when she looked up and shouted in a desperate voice.

"Don't come near me!" Sasuke frowned and took a step back, worry taking over his features. He couldn't think of a thing that might have been wrong with her, she seemed fine only a moment ago.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked. Sakura shook her head violently before looking down again, her fangs disappearing as she did so. Sasuke looked down at her, wondering what the hell could be the matter, she looked so horrified and scared, it wasn't normal, she wasn't the woman he knew and loved, she looked so broken.

"Sakura… Please tell me what's going on?" He begged, taking a step closer even though Sakura told him not to, he wanted to comfort her, to wrap his arms around her body and tell her everything was okay.

"I almost bit you, I was so close. If you hadn't said my name when you did I probably would have…" Sakura couldn't bring herself to finish off the rest of the sentence, not wanting to face the reality of the situation.

"I'm a monster… A complete and utter monster…" She muttered to herself, still looking down. That was about as much as Sasuke could take, before he even thought about it he flung his arms around Sakura and pulled her close, burring his head in her hair, not wanting to hear her say another word.

"It's okay. People make mistakes you don't need to beat yourself up about it, I'm fine so everything else is fine." He spoke in an almost whisper, it was so unlike Sasuke, she thought, resting her chin on his shoulder, liking the contact even though her mouth was so close to his throat.

"It's not just a mistake, Sasuke. I'd completely forgotten how little self control I actually have, you have no idea how close you were to…" She couldn't finish her sentence again, still not wanting to say it out loud. Sasuke understood what she meant however and just hugged her tighter, not letting her get away from him.

He couldn't exactly say that he understood everything that had just happened, after all, how could he? He wasn't an expert in Vampire physiology and certainly didn't know anything about the kind of self-control required. Yes he'd been bitten, so he more or less understood why she didn't want to do it because, yes, it hurt like hell, whether it had been forced or not…

But he knew enough to know that she wasn't ready for this sort of thing, unfortunately.

"I'll wait until your ready, but seriously, hurry up will you?" He attempted to joke, even though he was half serious. Sakura let out a small breathy laugh and pushed Sasuke away from her to make eye contact with him. Her hunger had more or less died down now so she felt comfortable enough to not stand on guard every moment incase she lunged at his throat screaming bloody murder.

"Prepare to wait then, it takes ages to gain enough control for that sort of thing. I'm afraid you're going to have to deal with that certain aspect by yourself." She quirked an eyebrow, hoping that he got the hidden meaning, which he did. Sasuke made a face, not liking that idea in the slightest but put up with it for now.

"Tell me something, why do you need control for something like that?" He asked, curiosity playing in his dark eyes. Sakura squirmed a little, pulling the shirt back over her shoulders and buttoning it back up, trying to busy herself.

"Sex is used as a weapon, it's the easiest way to catch someone off guard." She answered simply, still doing up the buttons of the shirt. She then looked over at Sasuke and resisted the urge to gawk, since when did he loose his trousers? She thought with surprise. She remembered taking his T-shirt off but not anything else, she could feel her cheeks burning at the very thought.

Sasuke noticed the look she was giving him and chuckled, she was acting like some fourteen year old, it was pretty funny actually now that he thought about it. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, not liking the fact that he was laughing at her but left it alone when he got up and walked to the other side of the bed. With a confused frown she couldn't help but wonder what he was doing until he actually climbed in, an expectant look in his eyes when he glanced over at her.

"Oh, right. I'll go find a spare bed." Sakura muttered before getting up and turning around. She knew that he might not want to risk it so she wasn't upset or anything, after all she was so close to ripping a hole in his neck. So with a sigh she began to walk away when she heard the bed creak behind her and Sasuke's hand firmly gripped around her own, pulling her back, none too gently either, onto the bed.

She landed with an inelegant 'oof' before peering up through the pink hair that had fallen in front of her eyes when she fell onto her back. She saw Sasuke above giving her an annoyed frown before huffing and pulling her under the covers with him.

Sakura knew she should have objected, she really didn't trust herself at the moment but she simply couldn't. The heat that Sasuke provided as he pulled her up against his side was wonderful, she felt like she could just sink into the bed and never emerge again. The thought was rather pleasant, but she had work tomorrow so that wouldn't exactly do.

"Sakura, you're an idiot…" Sasuke murmured into her hair, Sakura was about to protest but was stopped from doing to when a pair of lazy lips silenced her. It was a simple touch of the lips but it was enough to make her melt and was thankful that she was lying down.

They both stayed like that for the rest of the night, both drifting off at round about the same time and never once throughout the night did they separate from each other's arms.

…!...

"Do you know where I can find this woman?" The light blue haired man asked, his creamy eyes glinting with innocents as he regarded the sound producer in front of him. He knew for a fact that he liked the mongrel, even without telepathy he would have known, the blush said it all really when he showed him the picture he was currently holding up.

"Y-yeah, but why? I've not seen you around before?" He asked curiously. The man had to hold back an irritated growl, he hated dealing with humans, they were just so annoyingly talkative.

"I'm an old friend." He answered simply. He could get away with it too, he looked no more than twenty five at most, even though his real age was closer to the seventy's mark.

"Oh, really? Okay then, she might be taking a break right now so I'd go to the cafeteria on the tenth floor, do you need help finding it?" He asked innocently, the man simply rolled his eyes in annoyance before looking at him dead in the eye.

"No. I'll be fine." When the boy in front of him smiled in returned he gave his own small smirk as a response before looking into his eyes.

Remember nothing. He uttered inside the boy's mind watching smugly as his eyes suddenly widened in fear of would he just heard and then how he suddenly fell to the floor, his eyes slipping shut as he fell unconscious. He'd come back around in a minute so the man didn't waste time in locating the cafeteria.

…!...

Sakura sat at one of the tables next to the huge wall windows and peered down at the bustling city below. She was sipping on her coffee and was supposed to be writing more lyric's, but she had nothing, not that it really mattered anyway, the album they'd just finished would last them a while so right now she couldn't be bothered.

Sakura looked up at the sky and noticed that the clouds from yesterday still hadn't left the sky yet. She really hoped that it wouldn't rain again, last night had been a pain, seriously, she hated hunting in the rain. Although she wouldn't mind spending another night at Sasuke's, last night had be great, apart from the whole part about nearly… well, you know…

Sakura quickly pushed that thought out of her head and concentrated once again on the sheet of paper in front of her. She sat there for about ten minutes, simply staring at it, nothing was coming to her, she had completely run out of muse! It was a horrible feeling really, she'd always been great at coming up with lyric's, back when she still roaming the streets she used to just sit there and bang out a random tune whilst singing god knows what! It was really annoying and the coffee wasn't helping either, wasn't the caffeine meant to stimulate or some crap like that?

She huffed and looked out the window again, picking up the paper cup to use to heat her already warmish hands. She could hear the sound of a police car in the background of the usual city noises and idly wondered if anyone out there would be willing to help her out, there might be, she supposed, but it was finding them that was the problem. Plus she already had Tenten to help her out but right now she was too busy with something else. Then there was Kiba, she'd never really seen him writing lyric's, the only thing he'd done that wasn't something to do with the bass was some messy cartoon of them three, which ironically enough became there album artwork… she guessed she could ask him, but when she left he was working on some bass line so she didn't want to bother him.

"Ah crud.." She sighed, running a hand through her pink hair as she did so.

"Crud, indeed, miss Haruno." A smug voice said from behind her. Sakura's head whipped around to see who the voice belonged too and froze. The smell of that indescribable musk hit her nose and she couldn't stop her eyes from widening in fear. There he stood, a smug smile on those cruel lips of his, light blue hair and pale white eyes showing off his true identity. His looks were about average, he had a slightly curved nose and features that clearly weren't oriental, his accent was enough for her to know that he was American.

"Now don't be like that, I'm not going to hurt you, see?" He said mockingly, holding his hands out in front of him to show that he was unarmed, not that he needed weapons exactly…

Sakura could only watch in her frozen state as he casually took a seat in front of her and placed his arms on the tabletop. Sakura couldn't say a word, even when he raised an expectant eyebrow in her direction, normally this would have been the point where she told him where to shove it, but not this time, because he was a vampire! Not a hybrid like she was, he was a full vampire, his scent told her so, even though his eyes were proof enough.

"Have you gone into shock? Why I think you have!" He laughed smugly, his Japanese wasn't all that great, she, somehow, managed to note through all of her shock. He'd pronounced most of the words wrong and it was hard to understand what he was talking about, but it didn't matter, she'd lived longer in America than Japan anyway and understood English very well.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, it felt weird specking in English again, in fact, it was almost a relief. But right now she felt none of that. The only reason she was talking in English was because she doubted he could keep up with her.

"What do you think? Miss Haruno?" He asked, reverting back to English as well. He was surprised that she had chosen to go with English, but didn't dwell on it for long, he had to get down to business.

"To kill me?" She asked carefully. The man simply laughed at her obvious conclusion.

"Trust me, if we could, we would have done it a while ago." He stated in complete seriousness. Sakura only gulped, wondering how exactly they found out about her, she'd been so careful.

"Then why can't you?" She asked. The man simply sighed, he didn't like explaining himself, especially if it was to this mongrel, why would she need to know anyway? She was still going to be dead at the end of it, only difference is that it'll take longer.

"Because you have went and made yourself known, which, for the record, is how we found you in the first place." He found himself explaining anyway but didn't regret it, the look of horror on her face was worth it. Did she honestly think that she would still be able to hide if she went around broadcasting herself singing? She clearly hadn't even thought about that. Stupid idiot, and he thought he was going to be meeting someone who knew what they were doing, since she'd managed to stay under the radar for so long and at such a young age too.

"The old one's wish to meet you, miss Haruno." He mocked, that smug grin never once leaving his face. He reminded her of a snake, Sakura realized, whenever he gave that thin, smug smile his eyes would narrow, making his curved nose look long and thin and his jaw was already long and thin to begin with, he truly was a snake.

"Well you can tell them to bugger off. I ain't going anywhere near them." She hissed. The man only continued to give her that snake like grin that sent cold unpleasant shivers up her spine.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. You must pay for your father's crime." He stated like it should be obvious, which it should have been, in his opinion, he knew that she was perfectly aware of the law.

"Pay for what? My father did nothing wrong! All my father had ever done was love and care for my mother and I, how could you say that was a crime!" She yelled, inwardly thankful that the large room was currently empty. The man was surprised at her sudden outburst but only quirked an eyebrow in response, wondering if she was finished yet.

"I didn't write the law, the old one's did, so go complain to them." He answered in a bored tone, suddenly finding no interest in the subject what so ever. He just wanted to get this over with.

Sakura wanted to punch him… so much. The way he acted like he was so much better than she could ever be was getting on her nerves and she was close to snapping. She knew that she could match him in strength, maybe not in speed, but it was good enough, if the moment ever called for it she knew that she'd be able to hold her own for a while, not forever, but long enough to escape.

But she knew that attacking him now however would not be the way to go, mostly because it would cause chaos. If they were to fight here then it would attract attention, there were a lot of things in there that were throwable.

"Don't give me that look, I'm only the messenger." He said, leaning back in his chair. Sakura kept scowling at him, not caring that he was simply following orders.

"Were you sent directly from them?" She asked, trying to get the most information as possible from the man. He simply laughed, knowing exactly what she was trying to do but he answered anyway, it wouldn't do her any good whether she knew or not.

"Yes. I work directly under them actually. You've caused quite a stir mind you. This is the first time a mongrel's freely come out of hiding." He stated, still looking rather bored. Sakura's eyes turned from a scowl into a glare when he called her a 'mongrel', 'rat' she could deal with, because she couldn't deny that she hadn't ever been homeless, because she had, plus it was the sloth so there for less hurtful. But for him to call her a 'mongrel' was taking the cake, it wasn't her fault that she was this way, she hadn't chosen this fate like she had when she went onto the streets.

"Watch your mouth." She spat. The man only blinked a few times, slight surprise covering his features as he realized what she just said before laughing at her.

"You have a cheek saying that to someone like me. Not only am I a full-blooded Vampire, but I'm forty years older than you, so watch it. I can so easily take everything you've ever loved away from you in the blink of an eye." He threatened, leaning forward and for the first time giving her a warning glare. Sakura only glared back, not backing down now.

"Then go ahead, do it." She dared. A cruel smirk lifted the corners of his face as he looked at her, she was interesting, he couldn't deny that one. And by the looks of things, even thicker than he'd first thought.

"Fine I will, I promise you that, even without blood, I promise you." Sakura felt slightly uneasy at that promise but paid it no mind, she couldn't back down now.

"You won't get very far, I promise you that." She promised back. The man only chuckled darkly before answering her obvious misjudgment.

"Of curse not, there's not much to take, but that man, what was his name… Sasuke Uchiha, I think?" Sakura's eyes widened, never before had her eyes been so big, she could feel gut wrenching fear twist and turn and rip through her body, her heart felt like it was on fire as it picked up pace and she could feel her pulse in her throat and in her chest where it felt like it was about to burst out of her.

They couldn't touch him, he wouldn't touch him. She all but screamed in her head. Her finger's felt numb as she placed them on the table, trying her best to act like he hadn't affected her even though she was sure he'd already caught a glimpse.

"What makes you think I care for him? I'm simply using him, I needed a place to stay and his place seemed to fit the bill nicely." She lied, it was hard to stop her voice from trembling but she'd managed somehow. The man in front of her merely raised an eyebrow to show that he really didn't believe her.

"Don't underestimate me, Miss Haruno. I can easily make him disappear if I wanted to. And lets not forget that other Uchiha you seem to be close with. I'll be keeping my eye on all three of you." Sakura couldn't stop the sharp intake of breath that entered her lungs at the mention of Itachi. She couldn't let them get involved, it was her fault that they knew about vampires in the first place, she hadn't been careful enough, she should have refused Sasuke's offer that day when he approached her in front of that shopping centre, she should have walked away and lived in secret, simply playing music for a simple few yen.

"They have done nothing wrong." She simply stated watching him stand up. He'd had enough of chatting and to be honest he had other stuff he'd rather do. Like picking up a couple of whore's and draining them half dry, it was only half an hour until the sun set anyway.

"I don't care what they might have done, I only care about what you and your father have done, they are human's after all, they can be so easily disposed of." He taunted before walking away, leaving Sakura in her fear induced state.

"Oh, and by the way, Miss Haruno, my names Henry, just incase you were wondering." He commented lightly before confidently walking away, happy with what he'd achieved.

...!...

GAAAH! Mr. Vamps finally arrived!I've been planning this bit for ages so i hope i got it right! SO REVEIW! REVIEW AND MAKE ME HAAAAPPY! for the record i'm a little drugged up on coffee since i've been studing for a maths exam tomorrow... which i'm going to fail... bt oh well =] thanks for reading!