Paint it Golden

Summary: What if you would stumble upon a starving vampire on your way home one night? Would you let yourself be hypnotized by his intense golden gaze and his unearthly beauty? "What is this? I can't seem to look away. Though in the back of my head, my conscience keeps pestering me to look away and run for safety."

"Saki-chan!" a chirpy voice yelled towards the figure sitting on the hospital bed, her blonde hair swaying from her running speed.

"Shhh...!" a nurse chastised the loud blonde. "If you don't lower your voice, I might be forced to throw you out of this hospital."

"Okay, okay." Ino sighed, sitting on the foot of the bed facing her bestfriend and waited for the nurse to turn around and leave. "Sheesh, she must be PMSing."

Sakura looked over at her bestfriend and couldn't help but laugh at her exasperated expression, her long petal hair framing her face. She and Ino had been bestfriends since as long as they could remember. Ino was the one who defended her from their classmates who bullied her because of her abnormally large forehead and her unusual hair color. Sakura remembered the day they first met...

Flashback:

Sakura huddled closer to the corner of the room as the mean kids closed in on her. They had mischievous grins pasted on their faces.

"Look at her," the leader of the bullies said, pointing a finger at her. "Her forehead is so wide that insects could use it as a landing zone."

The others laughed then one stepped forward, a girl with purple black hair, Ami. "And her hair is pink!," she declared matter-of-factly. "She could be a curse sent here by the monsters!"

The bullies gasped in horror at what Ami said. There was a story in their village that someone born with unusual traits would bring havoc to their land and would attract danger to whoever ventured close to her. They started picking up pebbles and threw them at her. The pebbles made way to rocks.

"Itai...it hurts...Okaa-san, help," the six-year old whimpered as fresh blood flowed from a gash on her head where a reasonably large rock had made contact. She closed her eyes tightly and wished that she would fall unconsious soon so she won't feel any more pain.

Suddenly the rocks seemed to stop hitting her. "Who are you? Get out of our way!" the leader shouted.

"And let you have your way with this poor girl? I don't think so.", a feminine voice intruded Sakura's hearing.

A bully spoke up, his voice shaking with fear and recognition. "Th-that's...that's Yamanaka Ino!"

'Yamanaka?' Sakura thought she heard that name somewhere. She looked up to see long blonde hair flowing with the wind and a body of a young girl her age shielding her from the mean kids.

"The heiress of the famous and dangerous clan of vampire hunters."

Ino smirked, "I'm glad you know me.", she turned around to help the bloody Sakura up before flashing an eye to the group of children. "If you touch this girl again, I'll make sure you'll lose some important limbs, got that?"

End of Flashback

Sakura giggled at the memory. Pretty harsh words to escape a young girl's mouth, right? But, yeah, Ino said that. After that, they became bestfriends and no one could even separate the two. Now, fourteen years later, still nothing had changed between them. Well, except that men now horded in front of both of their homes, and they have jobs now! Sakura was a top graduate of her batch in their medical school at the young age of eighteen and trained under the world-renowned physician, Tsunade, and she even went to work overseas in America and England for two years. She now practiced alongside the Godaime Tsunade and had shifts at the Tokyo Medical Center.

Ino, on the other hand, was a professional model and also a fashion designer. Being a vampire hunter was just like a sideline for her. She often travelled with her boyfriend Shikamaru and Sakura during her fashion shows and runway exhibits. After highschool, she was hired to model for her favorite fashion magazine, Spark. She met Shikamaru, who is a professional photographer and part-time forensic investigator, there and they fell in love I guess...

"Hey, forehead-girl." Ino's voice snapped her out of her musings. "You're daydreaming again."

"Am not," she said defensively.

"Yes, you were," then Ino looked at her strangely. "or you're just turning crazy."

Sakura gaped. "Baka!"

"Anyway, how are you feeling Saki?" Ino asked, moving to pat her head.

"Fine," she stated simply. "Tsunade-shishou said she'll give her all to find a cure."

A few years ago, Sakura was diagnosed by Tsunade herself with a rare heart disease after fainting in the middle of doing her hospital rounds. Her teacher told her she would need regular blood transfusion weekly to replace old blood that's fast becoming toxic for her body. But last night her vision blurred suddenly and her chest ached and she was able to call Ino just in time before she became unconscious.

"You gave me quite a fright there. Good thing you were able to call in time." Ino said softly.

"I'm sorry I had you worried over me, Ino-chan."

"You know you have to stay strong, Saki." Ino told her sternly, as if scolding a child. "You're the only one Tsunade has got left. You're like the daughter she never had and it would cause her great sorrow if you give up on this sickness."

"Hey, who said I was giving up?" Sakura challenged with a smile.

Lincbreak!!

"Sakura, don't forget to take your medications okay?" Tsunade reminded her almost-daughter as she released her from the hospital.

"Yes, shishou." Sakura replied. She bowed then left the hospital.

Tsunade sighed as she watched her student walk away into the night from the window of her office. She knew she should've told her the truth the moment she diagnosed her. She really should have told her that she only had a small amount of time left if it continued like this. But, no, Tsunade told her that she would find a cure...

Because she herself didn't want to believe that truth.

...

The moon shone above the sky in all its half-moon glory. Sakura walked faster, she had to reach home as soon as possible. The last few nights, police reported that many girls her age disappeared at this part of the city only to be found the next day...dead. So far five women were killed and the police had definitely no idea who the suspect was or were.

Suddenly she felt her chest squeeze painfully and she stopped in her tracks abruptly. She took rapid shallow breaths and waited until her heart calmed down. When she was ready to start walking again, she noticed that several men had ganged up on her. Hiding her fear, she pressed on forward, walking as fast as she can without really thinking about the way her legs shook violently.

"Hey, what have we got here.." a big-muscled man with a bandana called out.

Sakura continued walking, ignoring the five heavy-muscled men as best as she could. Then she felt a calloused hand close in around her wrist forcing her to turn around.

"Hello there, missy." The burly man breathed in her ear. "Mind if we have some fun tonight?"

Sakura would have screamed but the man clamped his large hand over her mouth, muffling any noise she tried to make. So, the young doctor resorted to using physical force. She struggled against the man's hold and she could see in her peripheral vision that his comrades were walking towards them with lustful expressions on their faces. The man who was holding her suddenly cursed and threw her to the ground violently when she scratched his face.

"You'll pay for that!" he raised his big fist to strike her.

Sakura closed her eyes and waited for the blow to come but there was none. She heard gurgling noises coming from above and she raised her head to see the man who was previously holding her raised up in the air and someone in dark robes was holding the man by the neck. The gangster's allies were all on the ground, all seemingly unconscious.

"M-monster," the man gasped before he lost consciousness.

The cloaked man dropped the gangster and started to walk away without even a word. Sakura noticed that the man's hands, which are the only part of him that was exposed outside the robe, were shaking...and very pale. In an instant, Sakura worried that this mysterious man might have been injured in the process of saving her.

"W-wait!" Sakura called out and the man turned around, his face concealed under the hood. "I just want to thank you for saving me."

"Hn," he brought his hand towards his face.

Sakura stared at the long pale fingers and noticed that they were shaking really terribly. "Uhm...Mister, are you alright?"

"Tch."

She twitched at the man's unresponsiveness. He could be her saviour but this is just plain irritating! She stomped towards her assailant to make sure they were alright. She was still a doctor, ne? She had vowed to protect lives, even though they tried to hurt her. She checked the big burly man first. He had slight bruising on his neck in the shape of Mr. Monosyllabic's fingers. He would probably wake up soon. When she went to the others, however, she felt her blood go cold. On their necks were bite marks in the shape of fangs. Vampire fangs... But there weren't any beings present at the place aside from the five gangsters, Sakura and... Her line of thought trailed off and she was suddenly aware of the mysterious man's eyes observing her from where he stood.

Slowly, she turned around and faced the man. "What are you?"

"You already know what I am." Mr. Monosyllabic answered. It was the first time Sakura heard his voice and the cold baritone sent shivers down her spine. "but I didn't kill them, don't worry."

"Nnnggnn...." the sound came from the gangster with the bandana

"Seems like he's stirring." The man stated. "We must go now."

"H-Hey!" Sakura shrieked as she was grabbed by the man and everything was a blur to her, Before she knew it, she was on solid ground again. The wind was tickling her face.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"It's funny how you don't recognize the view from your own rooftop, Sakura."

Sakura flamed. She could practically hear the smirk on his voice! "How did you know where I live!? And you know my name too! Were you stalking me?" She meant it to be a wild guess, far from the truth. But when the man suddenly turned away from her, she just had to gape. "So you were stalking me!" she accused.

"I was merely...observing you." He said simply.

"Oh?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Yes. Aren't you afraid of me?"

"Why would I be? It's not like you're thinking of eating me or something." She plopped herself on the roof.

"Hmm...you don't know what I'm thinking of doing right now." He hovered over her small figure as he was still standing.

Sakura gaped then huffed. There was that 'smirk-in-the-voice' thing again. Then her gaze went to his visible hands again. They were shaking more violently now. Much stronger than before. Then realization hit her like a truck. "You're thirsty."

The hands clenched into tight fists. "That fact alone should make you run away in fear now."

"But, really, I'm not afraid." She stood up and stepped closer to him. She saw him flinch when she extended her arms toward him but, nevertheless, he didn't jerk away from her.

Her fingers brushed the rough material of the hood of his cloak. She didn't know why but she just wanted to see his face and she had this overflowing desire to help him. She gently tugged the material down and soon she was staring at the deepest onyx eyes she had ever seen in her entire life. She felt she had gazed to similar pools before.

"Who are you?" Sakura blurted her mental question.

"Uchiha Sasuke." He whispered softly but he knew she wasn't exactly asking for his name.

"Why do I feel like I know you?" she didn't know why but tears were threatening to fall from her emerald eyes.

Arms snaked around her waist to pull her closer and soft silky ebony locks tickled her face as Sasuke buried his face in her neck and she shivered when his warm breath touched her neck. "You clearly have no idea what you're doing to me, Sakura." He whispered in a strangled voice.

"Bite me, Sasuke-kun." Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer and tilted her head to one side to give him more access. "Drink my blood and ease your suffering."

"No!" he pulled away suddenly as if burned.

Sakura lowered her gaze at the rejection that she felt. There were really so many emotions that she was feeling right now. Heck, she barely knew this man...err vampire...and yet she would be willing to go as far as letting him bite her just to quench his thirst. It was just confusing.

When he saw the hurt in Sakura's eyes, he mentally berated himself for his rash actions. "I won't forgive myself if I hurt you." His voice was a lot softer now as he cradled her face between his cool hands.

"Please, Sasuke-kun, if it makes you feel a lot better." She pleaded. Wait, why was she pleading for him to bite her? She didn't know. "Think of it as my thanks for saving me earlier."

She pulled him close again and Sasuke just couldn't help it. She was so intoxicating. He buried his face in her neck again. He felt like his body was burning right now and he knew that he just had to sink his teeth on her neck and the needles in his throat would disappear completely.

"Go on, Sasuke-kun. Don't worry, if it hurts too much I will make you stop." She tried to reassure him but she knew that she was nothing against his strengtn. And if he decided he would kill her, she could do nothing against him.

Sasuke would've snorted if not for his throat burning painfully for blood. Her blood. He felt his fangs extend as he opened his mouth. Once again, he wrapped his arms around Sakura's waist and held her tightly, protectively...possessively...then he placed a chaste kiss on her neck before sinking his fangs swiftly and expertly breaking the delicate flesh of her neck.