Black Despondency
Here's another AU fic for all of you. I haven't been updating The Pretty Substitute for quite a while. SORRY!!! I just had to write this.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Prologue
Blood. The crimson and warm fluid flowed down the man's neck slowly, like his life draining out by each second. That was what Sakura remembered most about that man. That innocent man did not deserve such a thing.
Sakura remembered her mother wiping away the man's blood from his neck while trying to stop his wound from bleeding. She could see the two punctured wounds on his bloodied neck, holes to his carotid artery, filling up with blood every time her mother wiped the blood away.
She stood behind a slightly opened wooden door as she peeped at her mother begin the healing process. She noticed her mother focusing a warm green light onto the man's neck, calling to him, telling him to stay awake.
He did not listen to her. Sakura watched his eyes turn glassy and closed slowly. She watched her mother cry for another loss of life. Sakura gripped the wooden door with her hands as her emerald eyes widened with horror at the amount of blood on her mother's hands when she turned back to face her.
Later that year, Sakura's mother told her about vampires. Demons under human's disguise which drank and relished in human's blood, her mother said. The man died because a vampire drew too much of his blood and the wound was too deep. They would not harm her mother and her, because they were nymphs. They were nymphs with healing powers. They were not humans.
Sakura thought vampires were ruthless.
Sakura's mother was a Naiad, a kind of water nymph. Both of them lived outside the hustle and bustle of Konoha, a shinobi kingdom. Sakura's mother did not want Sakura to see the outside world, for she always warned Sakura about the dangers and the hypocrisy of the real world outside. They lived beside a stream in a forest, healing everyone who came to seek them- spirits, demons, humans and half-animals alike.
Sakura had no father. Yuna never told her anything about him. She did not even mention him. Sakura tried asking once, but she was met with such a cold glare from her usually warm mother that she gave up asking.
She spent her time in the forest learning how to heal and growing herbs.
Ten years later…
Celebration. Sakura could hear the merry sounds of trumpets, drums and flutes while she was picking herbs from the tiny patch of land her mother used for growing crops. She was excited. It was not often one could hear such sounds in the forest. It was always quiet and boring in the forest. Looking towards the source of the sounds, Sakura could see flashes of brilliant reds, purples and blues passing by. Trees in the forest blocked her vision. Annoyed because she was missing out on such a rare show, Sakura walked towards the sounds hastily. Sakura could hear human whisperings as she approached.
A lavish procession greeted Sakura's eyes. Soldiers in red, blue and purple uniforms marched on the forest ground as they played all sorts of musical instruments. Sakura glanced around to see many of the village peasants bowing down to a particularly palatial horse carriage. Not wanting to look out of place, Sakura quickly smoothed her slightly soiled muslin dress and kneeled down.
Soon, everyone got up with the softening of the music and went back to Konoha. Sakura got up and looked at the town. It looked the same, with all the concrete buildings and a large castle right in the center of it.
Sighing softly when she realized her life was back to being boring once again, Sakura trudged back to the small plot of land.
Sakura had grown up to become a pretty eighteen-year-old young woman. Her green eyes sparkled and her pink hair shone whenever the sunshine landed on her. Yuna was proud of her daughter and would always show her off to the patients. They would smile benignly while Sakura blushed at her mother's antics.
Looking at her almost full bamboo woven basket, Sakura carried it inside the house. Her mother was preparing a dinner.
"Mother, I am taking a bath in the stream," Sakura said as she set the basket onto a wooden round table.
"Ok!" Yuna chirped cheerfully. Sakura smiled faintly at her mother's optimism.
Sakura walked out of the house made of timber and sat down beside the stream. She untied the long pink hair that was held by a twine and took off the clothes, folding them neatly and putting them beside the stream. Slowly, she went into the cool pristine water, enjoying the cleanliness it brought to her body as it flowed past her.
Sakura was a Naiad like her mother. Both of them loved the fresh water.
"You shouldn't do this, Sasuke-sama!" Lee yelled when the second heir of the village (in other words, a prince) tried to jump out of the carriage to run away.
The young man took no heed to his personal servant's words. "Get lost, Lee," Sasuke said in a cold voice that stilled Lee.
"No," Lee said stubbornly as he blocked the carriage doors, staring straight into Sasuke's onyx eyes.
Sasuke sighed and sat down. He hated sitting down in a carriage, going back home like a lady. He wanted to ride a horse. Gritting his teeth, he realized that there was only one person who would arrange a carriage for him.
Uchiha Itachi, his 'beloved' brother. Itachi always wanted to humiliate him for some weird reason he did not know. Actually, they disliked each other.
Unable to sit down like a lapdog like what his brother wanted him to be, Sasuke stood up again and hit Lee in his head when he was caught off guard. Sasuke smirked triumphantly as he thought about Itachi's foiled attempt to humiliate him. He glanced sourly at his personal servant. Lee was loyal to him, and he felt guilty for hitting him like this.
It did not bug him for long as Sasuke jumped out of the carriage at top speed and avoided being seen by soldiers. He smirked. "Being a shinobi has its quirks," he thought to himself as he sped into the forest, in front of the procession to reach the village first.
He was already traveling quite a long distance before he realized he did not bring any water or fluid with him. Cursing himself and his parched throat, Sasuke landed on the first stream he spotted while leaping on the huge tree branches.
A movement from somewhere in the stream made Sasuke paused in his tracks when he wanted to venture out of the dark forest to the stream. Someone was around. Not grass, trees, animals, or demons…
Someone like a human… Sasuke licked his full lips as he thought about. Blood was way better than water at any time of the day.
He hid behind a thick lush bush to spy his surroundings. Firstly, he spotted a wooden house at the side of the stream and the movement was from a young woman who was about the same age as him in the water, splashing water to amuse herself.
Sasuke smirked at the folded clothes at the side of the stream.
"Prey spotted," he thought to himself and slowly got out from the bushes, careful not to make any noise as he approached the young woman quietly, like a predator stalking a prey.
Sasuke bared his sharp fangs, glinting under the dark canopy of the forest, eager to sink them into the pink-haired, beautiful stranger in front of him. She should be honored he would be drinking her oh-so-tasty blood.
As if the pink-haired girl had the sixth sense, she turned around abruptly just when Sasuke was right behind her, ready to grab her by her shoulders and bite her neck. Sasuke stared into her emerald orbs as she stared at his fangs and his greedy eyes that were taking in all of her naked body.
A tensed silence hung in the air as Sakura took in the fact that there was a vampire right in front of her. He was ready to bite her. The maniacal gleam in his eyes scared her.
Blood. The crimson and warm fluid flowed down the man's neck slowly, like his life draining out by each second.
She could see the two punctured wounds on his bloodied neck, holes to his carotid artery, filling up with blood every time her mother wiped the blood away.
Letting out a small shrill scream, Sakura dived into the stream and swam away from the vampire as quickly as she could. He was persistent. Diving into the water with Sakura, the raven-haired vampire caught her ankle. Sakura twisted her ankle but she could not escape from his vice-like grip. He smirked underwater and mouthed, "Gotcha."
Sasuke smiled inwardly as the woman in front of him started to struggle to break free. He could feel her fear as she writhed and twisted to get away from him. He loved seeing his preys' fears before he take their blood. It was what one would call 'vampiral' instincts. He liked those struggling ones, posing as challenges for his otherwise boring feeding activity. He particularly liked the challenge in front of him.
He liked the way her body moved. The soft curves twisted, as she wanted to break free. Soon she would need air and break the surface… Soon she would be tired and give up… Soon…
Suddenly, he felt himself grabbing onto nothing except water. That woman had disappeared in the water. There was no trace of her anywhere. The sudden stillness in the water did not hold telltale signs of a furious struggle underwater seconds ago.
Realization dawned upon Sasuke. That woman was no human. She was a water nymph. She turned herself into water to escape him. Clenching his fists as he swam to the surface and cursed his own bad judgment. He wasted his time on someone who could not provide him with any blood.
Leaping onto the nearest branch, Sasuke sped off into the darkness of the forest, leaving an invisible and scared Sakura hiding in the water.
A/N: I hope this sounds good to all of you readers. Please leave a review. :)