Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Colour of Your Blood ❯ Chapter Six: Far From Normal ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Colour of Your Blood

A Sakura-Gaara Story

Chapter Six: Far From Normal

After a night of fruitless searching and a day of squatting in shadows, Gaara returned home, leaving a hysterical Temari with Shikamaru and Kakashi. The vampire pushed the heavy doors open and walked brusquely up the stairs. He reached the fourth floor and went to Sakura's room. He stopped in at the doorway as if he had hit a wall. The seals were gone. Not bothering to knock, he burst through the door.

“Sakura!” he yelled almost angrily. There was no one in the room, but the bed was unmade, and worst of all the glass doors were open, letting the cold night wind in the room. “Sakura!” he yelled again, this time a note of panic in his voice. He ran to the new wardrobe and flung the doors open, flinging clothes aside. Next he tried the bathroom, which also turned up fruitless. “Sakura!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

There was a small tug at the hem of Gaara's shirt, causing him to look down. It was the little servant, and it was trying to tug him out the door. Gaara followed at a breakneck speed, rushing down the stairs, the invisible servant only a hairsbreadth in front of him. Before he knew it, Gaara was standing before his own door. He shoved it open and stormed in.

A whimper came from the far end of the room. Gaara whipped his head around and saw Sakura, alone and cowering in the corner. His temper flared up at once, egged on by worry.

“What the hell do you think you are doing down here?” he demanded, half yelling at the girl, crossing the space between them. “I told you not to leave your room! And where are those seals?” Sakura said nothing, but looked up at the vampire with wide, scared eyes, like a whipped puppy. “Well?” he demanded.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but only a straggled, guttural sound came out. Her eyes were swimming in tears and her lower lip was trembling uncontrollably. Sakura launched herself forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Gaara's middle and began to sob and wail against is stomach. Thrown off balance, the two crashed to the ground. After a long moment Gaara recovered and sat himself up, pulling the pink haired girl into a sitting position as well.

“T-there was a man,” she managed to choke out, “A-and he said…h-horrible things a-about—” She broke off again and buried her face in the folds of Gaara's clothes again.

Gaara was stunned. He had gotten in. They had to move, and quickly. Without hesitation, Gaara stood up and slung the crying girl over his shoulder. He didn't have any time to attempt to be Mr. Nice Guy.

“Where are we going?” Sakura asked in a cracked voice.

“Somewhere safe,” the vampire replied, a note of finality in his voice.

Under normal circumstances, Sakura would probably have muttered “safer than this?” or some such remark. However, circumstances were far from normal. She was on Gaara's back, her eyes red and swollen. They were in a forest with giant trees, and Gaara seemed to soar through the air, occasionally pushing off against the rough bark of a trunk. It was getting near the time of night when everything seemed to grow tired of the dark and droop and sigh with fatigue. Sakura hated travelling in the dark.

Gaara started to slow down, until he finally came to a stop on a thick branch. He set Sakura down on her feet, ignoring the fact that she was wobbling. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and evened out his breathing. He didn't sense anyone nearby. He grabbed Sakura around the waist and began to descend, bouncing back and forth against two trees until he reached the forest floor.

“Where are we?” Sakura asked, but she was cut off when Gaara shushed her. The vampire walked over to a thicket, which looked no different that the other two in the vicinity. He began to shove the branches aside, making little swishing noises, until he found what he was looking for. What it was exactly, Sakura couldn't see, but within the second, Gaara had reached back, grabbed the girl's hand, and pushed her into the underbrush. She practically fell down a dark, twisting shaft with shallow stairs cut into the earth, and seals plastered all over the walls.

The pink haired girl found herself at the bottom of the steps. Shikamaru was leaning against a closed door, looking the worse for wear. Before the girl could say anything, Gaara came up behind her, nodded at Shikamaru and gave Sakura a nudge. The dark haired vampire turned and fiddled with the door for a moment before opening it and walking through. Sakura followed him, with Gaara on her heels.

Sakura couldn't help but notice that seals were stuck to the walls and ceiling, and even the floor, every few inches. “Seals?” she asked Gaara quietly, “Isn't that kind of pointless. I mean, that guy still got into my room—” Gaara gave her a silencing look.

Shikamaru had heard the entire thing. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face Sakura. “Itachi was in your room?” he questioned. Sakura nodded dumbly. “What did he say to you? Did he tell you anything? Why—”

“That's enough,” Gaara cut the other vampire off.

“She might know something; he might have let something slip.”

“She doesn't know anything,” Gaara said in a low voice, “I questioned her on the way here. It was only a taunt.” Sakura gave him a questioning look. He hadn't asked her a single thing about her “visit;” he hadn't talked at all.

“She should report everything to all the others,” Shikamaru pressed on.

“Keep moving,” Gaara commanded, as if nothing was happening.

“No,” Shikamaru replied, “Your human might know something. Mai, Kiba, and Aiko are all missing. I want answers!”

“Sakura doesn't have any for you,” Gaara replied evenly, “She has been through enough; she is going to rest. Keep moving.”

Shikamaru wanted to say more, but turned on his heel and walked on. Sakura gave Gaara a “thank you” look; she really didn't want to relive what's his name, Itachi's visit. It was picking slowly at the inside of her head, just behind the eyes.

The trio finally reached a giant cavern. It looked as though it could have been in some one's castle, except there were no windows, no windows, no furniture except for a table, a few chairs, and some beds pushed against one wall.

Sakura was relieved to see all of the remaining humans gathered together in the gaping room. Upon seeing her, TenTen jumped out of the chair she was seated in and threw herself at Sakura, wrapping the girl up in a tight hug.

“Thank God, you're okay,” she practically sobbed, “I was so worried. We're dropping like flies.”

“Sakura, go get some sleep,” Gaara commanded, nudging the girl towards the beds off to the side, “Don't talk to anyone, just rest.”

The girl nodded and did as she was told.

Sakura woke up confused. She felt like she had been sleeping on a rock in some foreign land. She groaned and sat up, massaging her neck. Within a second, TenTen was beside Sakura's bed.

“Are you alright?” the older woman asked, acting like a mother, “I overheard Neji and Kankuro talking earlier, and they said something about—”

“I'm fine, thanks,” Sakura replied quickly, pushing her blankets aside and swinging her feet over the side. “These beds suck,” she muttered.

“Well they have been sitting around for a few centuries,” TenTen said reasonably, “This safe house has been around for a long time. It doesn't get much use.”

“I'm starving,” Sakura remarked, trying to force herself to pretend she was comfortable despite the atmosphere. The room was huge and echoed back every little sound that was made. Candles were in wrought iron brackets on the walls, giving the room a flickering light. Most unnerving of all was the way everyone was acting. All of the humans were huddled and hunched around the table, whispering in low tones to each other. There were two doors out of the room, one at each end, with a silent vampire standing guard.

Suddenly, a dull thudding was heard. “What is that?” Sakura asked, confused.

“Some one is outside,” TenTen muttered.

All of the humans had fallen silent and were looking up at the ceiling. Kankuro and Hinata, the two vampires on watch, traded a glance before heading off down the tunnel that lead outside. Without hesitation, Sakura followed them, TenTen trying to hold her friend back.

Sakura ran down the corridor, her heart in her throat. She knew that nothing good awaited at the door.

By the time she reached the opening, Kankuro and Hinata had ripped down the protective seals and flung the door open. Gaara was standing there, a battered Kiba hanging off his shoulder.

“What are you doing down here?” Gaara demanded of Sakura, “Go back with the others.”

At that moment, more footsteps were heard coming down the hall. The rest of the vampires arrived.

“Oh, my God,” Temari yelped and ran up to her human.

“Temari?” Kiba asked half dazed, his eyes almost closed, “I-I c-can't find…Akamaru.”

“Shhh,” Temari cooed, trying to wipe away a stream of blood flowing down the boy's cheek, “Don't worry, we'll find him later.”

“Here,” Gaara said giving Kiba's limp body over to Neji and Kankuro, “Take him to Temari's room. She can look after him.”

As Kiba was carted off, Gaara grabbed Sakura's arm harshly. “What do you think you are doing down here?” he hissed, “Do you know how easily you could end up like him?” Gaara asked, nodding his head in Kiba's direction.

“I—” Sakura stopped. “Did you hear that?” she asked suddenly. Without waiting for a reply, she darted off up the stairs.

“Sakura,” Gaara called out, extremely angry, “Get back here!” He let out an exasperated sigh and went after the stupid girl.

He nearly ran into her at the top of the stairs, where she had stopped dead. Gaara looked over her shaking shoulder and immediately turned her around to face him.

At the threshold, right where the bushed stopped, was a small carcass. The throat was slit, the fur was burnt off. It was a dog.