Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Colour of Your Blood ❯ Chapter Three: The Gathering ( Chapter 3 )

The Colour of Your Blood

 

A Sakura-Gaara Story

 

Chapter Three: The Gathering

 

Sakura drew the heavy curtains closed padded over to her bed. She collapsed on the mattress, which screamed in protest. She really didn't like the nocturnal lifestyle; she was more of a sunshine and daisies girl. Sakura rolled around and around in her bed until she was wrapped tightly in her blankets and couldn't move. Inwardly, she wished that TenTen had stayed with her for a kind of sleep over, but she had gone to sleep with Neji.

 

Inevitably, her thoughts turned to Gaara. He didn't seem to like her, but she couldn't really blame him for that. She was a replacement for Kaiyo. Sakura wondered what it would be like to be with some one for over three hundred years. She tried to picture herself with Gaara, kissing him, talking with him, spending the night in his bed. Except, as far as Sakura knew, Gaara slept hanging from the dining room chandelier. Sakura giggled into her pillow at the picture of the red haired vampire upside down sleeping like a baby.

 

Sakura fell asleep snickering.

 

 

“Sakura,” TenTen hissed, shaking the sleeping girl, “Sakura, wake up!” Sakura made a move to smack the brown haired for disturbing her slumber, but her hands were still pinned to her sides by the blankets. She was forced to open her eyes.

 

“Whuh?” she grumbled incoherently.

 

“Get up and get dressed,” TenTen said, rolling the girl around on her bed, trying to unravel the cocoon. Sakura let her head fall back against the pillow and began to snore again. TenTen humph-ed in frustration and went into the bathroom. She came back with a bucket of cold water and emptied it on her head.

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!” Sakura screamed blue murder. She tried to stand up to attack her friend, but instead rolled off of the bed, still tangled in the mass of bedding.

 

“Get dressed, they are starting to arrive!” TenTen cried, “Do you want to look like day old dog meat for your first introduction?”

 

“To who?” Sakura asked grumpily.

 

“To all of the other vampires, of course! Now where are all of your clothes?”

 

“I'm wearing them,” Sakura stated simply. TenTen's jaw hit the floor.

 

“WHAT? Do you mean to tell me that you only have one outfit, and that you have been wearing it for the past two days?” When Sakura nodded TenTen almost fainted. “Okay, get up. You are going to shower, and I am going to hand wash your disgusting clothes, even if it kills me!”

 

“Why are you panicking?” Sakura mumbled through a yawn.

 

“BECAUSE EVERYBODY IS HERE!”

 

 

Once Sakura and her garments had been cleaned up and TenTen returned to (almost) normal, the two girls made their way down the stairs. By the time they reached the ground floor, TenTen was nervously smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in her top and fidgeting with her hair. Sakura soon saw why. Standing in the large entrance hall stood twelve magnificently dressed people, some vampires and some human. It looked like they had all broken out their best clothes for the occasion, and Sakura found herself trying to smooth out her still-damp hair.

 

TenTen was whispering a running commentary of the vampires and their counterparts in Sakura's ear. “There are Temari and Kankuro over there on the far side, they are Gaara's older siblings; Kiba, the one with the dog, and Amarante are with them. And the guy with the silver hair and the mask that's talking to Neji is Kakashi. He's kind of weird, but an amazing fighter, and Aiko with the red hair over there is with him. That girl with the white eyes is Hinata, Neji's cousin. She and Naruto (the loud blond one) live close to me and Neji. And that's Shikamaru leaning against the wall; he's really lazy. Poor Mai, the social butterfly over there, he never takes her anywhere. I don't see Sasuke anywhere; you'll like his companion, Suki, she's a lot like you. I wonder what's holding them up; they live close by.”

 

TenTen pulled Sakura by the hand through the crowd, introducing her as they went. The vampires would give them a nod of acknowledgement, but the humans would stop them and chat for a few minutes. Sakura's mind felt boggled and she only remembered half of the names, at best. By the time the two girls had made their way across to Gaara's brother and sister (whose humans had gone off on their own to socialize) they could make out their conversation.

 

“I swear,” Temari whispered to her brother, “That boy” (she jabbed her finger at Kiba) “will be the end of me. I have half of a mind to leave him outside for the day and let Itachi have him too.” Kankuro gave Temari a warning nudge in the ribs and jerked his head towards Gaara, who was standing alone not too far away.

 

TenTen was about to tap Kankuro on the shoulder to introduce her friend when Gaara swept across the floor, gestured for TenTen to go to Neji, and pulled Sakura away by the wrist. Once they were far enough away he hissed in Sakura's ear: “Don't talk to them.” Sakura could merely nod. Gaara was fine from a distance, but up close he sent a chill down Sakura's spine.

 

The vampire dropped the girl's wrist and resumed staring out at the crowd. Sakura was unsure whether she should stay with Gaara or go mingle with the other humans. She was saved from making the decision when the front doors swung open and a tall vampire with blue-black hair and chips of onyx for eyes stepped into the castle. He cut an elegant picture with the desert breeze ruffling his dark clothes and the moonlight streaming in behind him. Sakura's jaw hit the floor; she had never seen anyone with such perfect features and natural grace. His majestic gaze swept across the room and fell on Gaara and Sakura. The girl felt her stomach plummet to the floor and her heart was beating in her throat. The vampire started to walk over to them, his stride sure and his eyes full of purpose. When he reached Gaara, he stopped and nodded his head once.

 

“You're late, Sasuke,” Gaara said with venom in his voice.

 

“I got caught up,” Sasuke muttered, “Shall we begin?”

 

Sasuke strolled away while Gaara's eyes shot daggers at him. “Don't talk to him, either,” he ordered Sakura.

 

 

The humans had been ushered into the dining room where the table sat groaning under the weight of an array of dishes. The doors were closed and the vampires were no where to be seen. The humans sat themselves around the table and Naruto began to stuff his face.

 

Sakura was sitting between TenTen and Naruto. Everyone kept their eyes down and their mouths shut (except for an oblivious blond-haired boy who was shoveling food down his throat). Sakura nudged TenTen in the arm and gave her a questioning look.

 

“Suki isn't here,” TenTen whispered in a trembling voice.

 

“Maybe she's sick,” Sakura whispered back.

 

“Maybe she's dead,” Kiba countered loudly.

 

The red head (Sakura thought her name was Aiko) dropped her fork with a loud clatter. Mai turned as white as a sheet and Amarante cried: “Kiba, don't say things like that!”

 

“Well it's true,” he said in a matter-of-fact way, “I heard Temari and Kakashi talking the other day, and they said that some one had been killing a lot of humans lately. That's why everyone is here.”

 

“I nebher her dah,” Naruto nearly yelled through a mouthful of food.

 

“It's true,” Kiba continued, “haven't you wondered why so many of us are new? We're getting picked off.”

 

“But why?” Aiko asked, looking like a frightened puppy.

 

“That's enough,” TenTen declared, “Kiba, you don't know what you are talking about, so just stop.”

 

The boy gave TenTen a contemptuous glare but turned to his plate.

 

 

Half an hour later, TenTen had turned to engage Amarante in a conversation. Sakura turned her attention to her food and mindlessly filled her stomach. After a while, Naruto gave her a nudge and leaned closer to her.

 

“So what's yours like?” he whispered, “As crazy as in the book?”

 

“Please, Naruto,” Mai cut in, “don't pretend you know what you're talking about.”

 

“Hey, I read the book,” Naruto said defensively.

 

“You mean Hinata had to read the book to you,” Mai laughed.

 

“Same thing,” Naruto stuck out his tongue childishly and turned back to Sakura, “Did you read the part where he killed one of his humans?”

 

Sakura choked on a mouthful of rice. “He what?”

 

“Oh, yeah,” Naruto went on, “It was the one before Kaiyo. She was having an affair with some guy and Gaara lost it and sucked her dry.”

 

Sakura's eyes were nearly popping out of her head. “Seriously?” she asked, unsure if it was some kind of twisted joke.

 

“It was a long time ago,” Mai tried to comfort.

 

“He's still a psycho,” Naruto declared loudly.

 

“He killed her?”

 

“I'm sure you have nothing to worry about,” Mai said confidently.

 

 

“I told you not to talk to him,” Gaara drawled in his monotonous voice.

 

He was standing at the edge of the roof again, and Sakura had come to find him.

 

“I only said hi to him,” Sakura muttered as she blushed a deep red. She felt foolish standing behind Gaara, foolish and scared. She didn't know why she went to find him. Sakura looked around her at all of the potted plants. They had a kind of shriveled but brave beauty about them, almost as if they knew that they would soon die.

 

“What do you want?” Gaara asked coldly.

 

“Nothing really,” Sakura mumbled stupidly, “I just wanted to—I don't know.”

 

Gaara blew his breath out through his teeth. “What did you hear?”

 

“Is somebody really killing off the humans?” Sakura asked, crossing her fingers and praying that Kiba was wrong.

 

“Yes,” Gaara answered without hesitation.

 

“Was Suki killed?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Who is doing it?” Sakura was beginning to show the fear in her voice.

 

“We don't know yet. We only have suspicions.”

 

“Did you really kill a girl?”

 

This caught Gaara off guard. “I've killed a few,” he admitted, “Which one do you mean.” Sakura's silence was all he needed. “It was a long time ago,” he explained emotionlessly, “Almost three hundred years now. I'm not the same person anymore.” Gaara looked back at the pink haired girl. She looked scared and hollow, like a hunted animal. Gaara sat down on the edge of the roof and gestured for Sakura to join him. Feeling like she had no escape route now, the girl had no choice but to oblige. She felt awkward and out of place beside a sociopath killer. “Talk,” he commanded.

 

“About what?”

 

“Anything you want. Just talk.”

 

Sakura glanced up at him; his eyes seemed softer. Sakura let a small smile drift up to her lips and began to babble.