A/N. This is a AU fic.

Summary: She should've known that he was a predator that never let go of his prey.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Black Roses

Chapter 1

The pounding music and blinding lights of the clubhouse glanced off on the dark streets. Shivering, a pink-hired girl stepped out of the clubhouse, wrapping her hands around the bare arms. Only wearing a short, skin-tight black dress, the growing wind chilled the oblivious girl.

Walking in a brisk but nervous pace, the girl made her way through the dark, grimy streets in the dying heart of the city of Konoha. With only the faint moonlight to guide her way, Sakura hugged herself tighter and peered around the looming street to see only the endless lay of cemented walkway, filled with trash and forgotten papers, blowing around in the chilly wind.

The pink-haired girl sighed. She knew it wasn't a good idea to sneak out of the house late at night to attend a rowdy party filled with alcohol and violent gang members. The more she walked through the dark lonely street, the more Sakura worried. Her emerald eyes shined through the dark and nervously peered around, She checked her watch. 3:00. If she didn't get back soon, her parents would find out that she had been partying all night. Rubbing her hands up and down her pale arms, Sakura continued her way through the ominous maze of allies. The wind got stronger, howling and tearing at Sakura's hair and dress. Her pastel locks flew up wildly and brushed against her chalk white neck. She shivered and forced herself to walk through the angry wind to a nearby hidden ally. Sakura blinked her eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden pitch-black lighting.

Great, I'm even more lost than before.

Her black heels clicking, Sakura made her way to the end of the ally, where some light from the waning moon shined through.

Whip.

A loose piece of newspaper flew around Sakura's leg and wrapped them around her ankle. Sakura peeled off the scrap of paper and was about to carelessly drop it but the big headline caught her attention:

MURDERER ON THE LOOSE.

Konoha police forces puzzle over the mysterious murders that have been taking place. The unfortunate victims of the crime were all drained fresh of blood and their throats slashed with a knife. Most murders happened seemingly at night and the victims, mostly young women –

Sakura felt her eyes widen at the frightening article. Murders? Victims? Drained of blood? Sakura had never really listened to the news and usually never gave a thought about the outside world of dangers.

Most murders happened seemingly at night – Sakura shivered and her stomach got queasy. She fit all the requirements of these "victims" but she sure didn't want to die yet. – Were all drained fresh of blood – where had she heard that before? It all sounded fantastical, like something in a horror movie or thriller novel. Now that she thought of it weren't they creatures of the night that did this "blood draining"? They were –

Vampires.

Yes, vampires, that was it. Sakura slowly let go of the article, watching as it floated away and down the dark depths of the ally. Vampires weren't real, were they? They were just a part of fiction, parts of old superstitious believings, like witches and fairies. Not thoroughly convinced at her psychology of the situation, Sakura hesitantly straightened herself, and ran her finders through her tangled hair.

I have to get home.

The pink-haired girl was about to take a step when she saw a rose lying in the middle of the street. Wondering what a flower was doing in the middle of a dirty street like this, Sakura walked towards it. From far away, it looked like a dark crimson color but it was actually –

A black rose.

Sakura felt herself subconsciously try to ignore the odd-colored rose and just leave, but the black rose held a hypnotizing spell that pulled Sakura to it.

Odd, I never knew there were black roses.

When she got closer, Sakura saw that the flower looked extremely beautiful and held a dangerous perfection, unlike any flower she had ever seen. Yet it also glowed with a dark and ominous aura that seemed almost like death.

Death.

That work echoed in Sakura's head like an urgent warning. She shut her eyes and hugged herself tighter.

He had been hunting and feeding again. The joy of killing and the satisfaction of his prey's fear never tired him. He could still hear the muffled screams of the ladies he preyed on echoing in his head.

As much as he fed on the rich human blood, he never felt like he had enough. He craved for more, for more fear, for richer blood.

His crimson eyes flashed with melancholy and he licked his bloody fangs.

And then he shape shifted into a wolf and stalked off into the dark, finding another prey that would satisfy his thirst.

Mesmerized by the black rose, Sakura picked up the delicate flower. The black petals felt like rich velvet and from far away it looked like a deep crimson color. The thorns were very sharp, almost like fangs from a deadly viper. But there was only one word to describe the dark-hued rose.

Beautiful.

Yet as beautiful as it was, it still reminded Sakura of death.

Death.

Beautiful yet deadly. Definitely an odd combination of descriptions.

As she turned the rose around in the hand, one of the sharp thorns caught the skin on her finger, drawing blood. Sakura stared at the beads of crimson on her smooth pale skin in awe, as if never seeing blood before. Snapping out of her daze, Sakura brought the shallow cut to her lips and sucked the blood until it stopped bleeding. The metallic taste was foreign to Sakura, who never fought or gotten bloodied over anything in particular.

She knew she was clearly lost and she should be finding a way out instead of wasting time staring at a peculiar flower in the middle of the night.

Sakura was suddenly overcome with the feeling that someone was watching her. She suspiciously glanced around but saw no one and nothing except the leading shadows cast off by the shifting moonlight. She tried to calm her racing hear and ignore the newfound fear that was racing through her veins.

Murders….crimes…blood….

Sudden adrenaline that Sakura never knew she had brought her legs up and standing on the ground. With everything else out of the mind, her instincts came into play and told her body to run. Running faster than she ever did before, Sakura flew down the ally, away from the haunting eyes of a predator that she couldn't see.

His cold crimson eyes flashed with amusement as he watched the pink-haired woman run away. He smelled her fear and licked his lips, growing excited.

My new prey.

He walked to the abandoned rose and delicately picked it up. A drop of blood ran off one of the petals and fell on the concrete below.

You can run, but I'll catch you at the end.

And so the hunt began.

So how was this? I just wanted to try it out. Please don't flame.

Reviews are welcome but not expected.

-Natsu Yukili