Title: Cruor Est Veritas (Blood is Truth) - Title subject to change
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Sasuke/Sakura, many others
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,209
Summary: Sakura's life is turned upside down when she gets a call from a mysterious stranger warning that her life is in danger. Fortunately, she has friends to help her - a morally ambiguous vampire, a runaway princess, a human doctor who knows more than she seems to, and a lycanthrope with enough power to destroy the world.
Notes: This took awhile, so sorry. I had to rewrite some of the scenes, to keep them in character. It's still not what I hoped it would be. Hopefully the rest of the story will run smoothly from now on!

I stalked away from the restaurant, fuming. And I had every right in the world to be! That freaking jerk of a… whatever the hell he was! Vampire? Insane psychopath? Really sexy weirdo?

That didn’t keep him from being a jerk!

I sighed, in exasperation and annoyance and something like defeat. This really was all too much. I was too… normal for this! Vampires? Yes, so I was studying Dracula, but that didn’t mean that I believed in the things.

This Sasuke guy must be completely deranged. And I wondered what exactly I had gotten myself dragged into. He was probably a criminal, probably wanted by the police, in something outrageous like five countries. Probably a serial killer too, or something of the sort.

That was more realistic than vampires.

And to hear that I was supposed to be his… what had he said? ‘Companion and mate.’ That really didn’t set me at ease, not one bit. I mean, yeah, he was extraordinarily good-looking and all, but he was kind of a cold, callous jerk. And while I was looking for a boyfriend, I wasn’t looking for commitment of that type!

This was just… a little bit overboard. And I wondered for a second time just what the hell I had gotten myself into.

I didn’t have much more time to wonder, however, as Mr.-Deranged-Jerk-Sasuke-Uchiha called after me. “Sakura, wait!” he exclaimed.

I should leave now. I should leave and be done with all of this insanity. I was stupid for even agreeing to meet someone who I had only ever met over the phone, someone who had only vaguely explained that my life was in danger.

I didn’t leave. Instead, I turned around and looked Sasuke straight in the eyes.

He sighed.

“That didn’t go well,” he said wryly.

Umm, understatement of the century, much? I couldn’t help but let out a sharp laugh.

“Yeah, it’s not every day I get a marriage proposal from some guy who thinks he’s a vampire,” I shot back sarcastically.

“You don’t believe me.”

It wasn’t a question.

I gave him a patronizing look, and answered as sarcastically as ever. “Oh, of course I believe you - it’s not like vampires are mythical creatures or anything like that. It’s not like you belong in a storybook, and not in my life!”

He frowned a little bit, clearly disconcerted. I gave him a confused look, but he didn’t deign to answer. Instead he turned to me, fixing me with those red eyes, and said, “You humans can be so nearsighted sometimes.”

I was taken aback, and my expression said as much.

“What’s so funny?” I demanded, irritably.

“I didn’t think this would be so difficult,” he said simply.

I blinked at him. I hadn’t been expecting that, and I fought to come up with an answer. “Oh,” I managed, before deciding that I should probably say a bit more. “Well, you could have come up with a less believable story, I suppose.”

“Oh, so you believe me now?”

“No, but I think I’ll take my chances.”

He nodded, staring into the distance. It was quite dark by now, and probably much past ten o’clock. I bit my lip a little bit.

“So you really think I’m in danger?”

He raised his eyebrow.

“OK, stupid question. Am I safe with you?”

He paused. “Safer than you would be anywhere else.”

I sighed. That wasn’t exactly comforting – but for some reason I believed him. For all of his sardonic air, he seemed sincere. “Alright,” I said quietly.

“I’ll take you home now,” he told me.

I raised my eyebrow and looked around the parking lot. “Going to turn into a bat and carry me there?”

He gave me a condescending look. “I do have a car.”

I flushed, feeling a little bit silly. “Oh,” I said.

He reached into his cloak and pulled out a set of car keys – unlocking a shiny black coupe at the very far end of the parking lot. The likelihood of his story being believable increased – after all, I didn’t think they sold luxury vehicles to convicted criminals. He walked to the driver’s seat, without even giving a glance to the passenger side door. Apparently, chivalry really is dead.

I got into the car. If he really was some psycho, this was probably a very stupid mistake.

Sasuke started up the car and glided out of the parking lot with an ease and precision I was soon envious of. I didn’t have to be an auto buff to know that this thing drove like a dream. Sasuke brushed his hood back, revealing hair tousled in the back, flattened in the front.

“So why did you wear, uhh… that?” I asked, looking critically at the black cloak he was wearing. It looked positively medieval.

“I thought it would heighten the effect,” he said blandly.

I rolled my eyes.

He glared at me and pressed down on the gas. It seemed like it took absolutely no time until we got to my street – once we got there, he cut the lights and coasted to a stop at the street side. I frowned at the house – none of the lights were on, but my mother was a rather light sleeper.

As though reading my thoughts, Sasuke made a suggestion. “Go in through your window,” he said.

I gave him a dubious look. My window was on the second story.

He rolled his strangely red eyes. “Tch, come on,” he said, opening his car door. I followed him, ready to protest, but in an instant his arm was held tightly around my shoulders. How did he walk around the car that fast?!

And then he swept my legs up into his arms, and we were in the air. He landed once on the roof by my window, before smoothly opening it from the outside. And then he set me down on my floor. I fell back onto my bed, breathless.

Sasuke didn’t seem to care.

Bastard.

He gave me a long, searching, intent look with those red eyes “It would be best if you told nobody about this,” he told me, his voice low and grave. He was silhouetted in the window, and the impressive display had me stunned silent.

It took me a few seconds to get my mind under enough working control to answer. “I can’t even tell Ino?” I asked, figuring that since he knew my bloody phone number he probably knew who Ino was as well!

Sasuke shook his head sharply. “Especially Ino.”

I nodded, a little bit blankly, and lay back on my bed. He gave me a soft smile, from his perch on the windowsill.

“Sleep, Sakura,” he commanded softly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I smiled a little bit, when he said that. It would be nice, to see him again. Annoying that he would order me around, but I didn’t need the command. What with nerves and nights of not sleeping and the whirlwind journey back to the house, and everything that I had just learned, I was flat out exhausted.

I didn’t even hear him leave by way of the window.

By then I was completely passed out.

The next day at school, I was completely unfocused. Staring off into space in class, not listening to what the teachers were saying to me, drawing on my paper. My History teacher saw the doodles on my paper and no notes, and pointed it out.

I flushed beet red when I realized that not only was the entire class staring at me, but because I had been doodling a pair of eyes with three black dots inside of them, circling around a center.

His eyes.

I hastily scratched out the drawing and attempted to pay attention to the lecture that the teacher was giving. But even that proved impossible as after the first ten minutes, I started to think about strange vampire organizations after my blood. Needless to say, I was more than a little distracted.

I’d had enough time to work myself into a fury. Despite my conviction to get answers, Sasuke had only given me cautions and more questions. I had no idea what this Akatsuki organization actually was, or why they were after me, besides my ‘belonging’ to the bastard.

Which was a bullshit reason, anyways. Why the hell was I his? I didn’t belong to anybody, not to mention a psychopathic vampire freak!

Even if he was inhumanly beautiful, with hypnotizing red eyes. Even if I couldn’t help but feel safe in his presence. Because now that I had rational thinking on my side, I was pissed as hell and actually rather terrified. Not only of this Akatsuki-organization, or whatever the hell it was, but of Sasuke himself.

So I ‘belonged’ to him? So what?

I wasn’t owned by anybody!

Eventually, I convinced myself that the reason I was lying to Ino was that, if I told the truth, I would sound like a complete loony. Or like I had met a complete loony, something that even I wasn’t sure about myself yet.

She asked me several times if I was alright – she seemed especially concerned for some reason. I brushed off her questions, feeling more uneasy every time. I didn’t like lying to my friends.

Over lunch I got the notes for my classes from Ino, or - for the classes that she wasn’t in - I got them from Shikamaru. The only classes notes that I didn’t get (because Shikamaru had been too lazy to take them, the jerk) were for calculus.

Meaning that I had to track down the notes before next period, or risk another lesson where I had no idea what was going on. And I wasn’t about to let this vampire-thing ruin my GPA - it was simply not worth it.

I spent much on lunch period hunting down somebody who had taken the calculus notes, but everyone from my class seemed to have disappeared or didn’t have the notes with them, or some other stupid excuse. By the end I was frustrated, and I hadn’t eaten anything yet.

Let me tell you something:

Frantic anxiety on an empty stomach is not fun.

I was about to devolve into a serious panic attack when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whirled around, ready to deck whoever wanted to talk to me - now was not the time - to find a page of math notes staring me in the face.

I blinked in shock at the paper, before I realized that somebody was holding it. My eyes drifted upwards to a face that I recognized. I blinked dumbly, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Here you are, Sakura! I heard that you were looking for yesterday’s notes, so I made a copy of them for you!” he exclaimed, in a cheerful voice.

It was Rock Lee. A year older than me and a senior now, who - I realized just now - was in my calculus class. He was athletic and well-liked, although he was a little lacking in the looks department, and took chivalry to a whole new meaning.

I had simply never applied that to me.

Eventually, I broke out of my dumb stupor and my facial expression gradually shifted to a grin of sincerest gratitude. I grabbed the notes like a frantic woman, and threw my arms around Lee, who - I noticed a little too late - was blushing.

“Thank you so much, Lee! You’re amazing!” I gushed, holding onto the math notes like they were the holy grail.

Lee gave me a wide smile. “You truly think so?” he asked.

I nodded enthusiastically. “This was exactly what I needed!” I exclaimed at him.

Lee smiled even wider. “I am very happy that I could help you. Sakura, tell me… I know that I don’t know you too well, but would you like to… go on a date sometime?” he was blushing even redder now, and he looked nervous.

For a moment I went into another dumb stupor.

A… date?

Once my brain finally started working, I started thinking about it. I hardly knew Lee, though he was pretty chivalrous, and it would be rude to refuse him after he had done something so nice. He might not be much in the looks department, but it was personality that mattered, right?

I didn’t see who would object, anyways. It wasn’t like I was dating someone, or anything!

For a second, haunting red eyes flashed in my vision. Pale skin, and coal-black hair, an expression mirthful but quick to anger, and a sensual, soft and utterly captivating. I had a feeling that Sasuke wouldn’t like this if he knew.

And that’s what clinched it.

I smiled my prettiest smile at Lee. “Sure, why not?” I said, with a shrug.

While Lee jumped for joy and handed me his phone so I could enter my number, I smirked in something like triumph.

Maybe I was just asking for it. Maybe I was crazy. Maybe I was pissed off and defiant. All I knew what that it felt good.

I belonged to nobody.

Maybe it was time that bastard figured it out.