You gotta swim
Swim in the dark
There's no shame in drifting
Feel the tide shifting and wait for the spark
Yeah, you've gotta swim
Don't let yourself sink
Just find the horizon
I promise you it's not as far as you think

- Swim, Jack's Mannequin

Nothing was promised except for the usual rain that often visits during the full swing of spring. It fell steadily, showing no signs of letting up upon the bumbling city of Tokyo. Despite the heavy downpour, it hadn't scared off anyone from being outside. Not in the slightest. After all, they had things to do, places to be, and people to see. A few weighty droplets of water wouldn't shirk them away from their responsibilities and needs. After all, it hadn't stopped the young woman, playing with life and death at the ledge of the roof of this insanely tall building. She had no thought to run for cover, to shield herself to remain dry. She stood within the midst of the oncoming storm without a care.

Sakura, a young woman (young being quite an overstatement), had enjoyed the cool freshness of the breeze mixed with the chill of the rain. Her hair, the color of pale pink of cherry blossoms, had stuck to her neck, shoulders, and the sides of her face due to being drenched. Her eyes, the shade of a leaf on a warm summer's day, had continued to remain open and observant without a whit of rain droplets entering her eyes. And her skin, pale with the dream-like touch of fair, seemed to enjoy the faintest bit of cold that dared to seep into her pores and attempt to numb her very bones. There she remained, head tilted back, somehow still impressed by the rain and the way that it falls. She welcomed it all with open arms with no thoughts whatsoever of wanting the dark clouds to vanish.

She was the sentimental sort, always having a yen of wanting to recapture fleeting feelings of humanity despite having lost it centuries ago. Vampires often tried their best to grasp on those faint yet familiar feelings while resigned to the cold fact that they were no longer what they once were. The rain happened to be Sakura's way of remembering the girl who once had a beating heart. Sometimes she wasn't sure why she wanted to remember her humanity when it was nothing happily worth remembering.

"Sakura." Slowly, the pink-haired girl lowered her head and slightly turned to the voice that called out her name. Her eyes swiveled in search for them and found a figure swathed in black from head to toe. The shadow made from the hood of their cloak obscured a good portion of their face from view. "Did you do it?"

"Mm," she hummed with a firm nod. "He's dead." Though her voice was leveled, sickeningly calm, the cloaked figured knew better.

They didn't think this mission was suitable for her when they first learned of who it was given to. It wasn't suitable for none of them within this coven, but sometimes there was no other choice left but to kill. They had to kill those that threatened the very core of what they worked so hard to keep, and so this person couldn't find it within themselves to offer her any words to try and soothe her pain. "It's alright," she said, already aware of what they were thinking. "If you're wondering if I'm upset, that is."

"Oh?" was all they could utter, wondering if they somehow made it obvious that they had cared.

The corners of Sakura's lips curved upward, her eyes falling close in efforts to brighten that smile of hers. Admist the rain, no matter how brightly her smiles could always manage to be, they knew from the very depths of their being that it was fake. "It had to be done, right?" she said, trying to make light of it.

"Yea…" Their response didn't necessarily come out as reassuring. Neither did the hesitant steps they took towards her convey what they wanted to. "You could've just asked me to do it."

"No." There was a strange firmness to her voice. "Our liege asked this of me. What would I look like declining?"

"You really think he would be upset if you did?" they questioned. "I say he kind of spoils you, just a little." There it was, a sound they rarely heard from her these these days. It was only a chuckle, but genuine mirth resounded within it and brought happier times to mind.

"Lord Hashirama hardly spoils me, Sai." Clasping her hands behind her, Sakura watched as he slowly lowered his hood to reveal his pale face. Most people likened the sight of his skin to a fresh sheet of untouched snow while his eyes, that were such a brilliant inky black, seemed deviously bottomless like an abyss. His hair was of a similar color as his eyes, profoundly dark and straight with a strong refusal to curl. "Though I am surprised he didn't give this mission to you."

He shrugged, eyes briefly closing as he thought. "You haven't been outside for weeks. I guess he wanted to give you something to do."

"Oh…" she said with a strange realization. "Is that so?" The absence of emotion in her voice made him open his eyes again, wanting to observe if she was going to mask what she felt or let him get a glimpse of what it was that she was actually thinking or feeling. "It has been a while, huh…"

"I blame it on being in the Light Coven, we hardly have fun. The Wild looks more… interesting." Although he was teasing, Sakura couldn't stop herself from frowning.

The Wild were nothing but savages. Just the thought of them put an awful taste in her mouth. It wouldn't serve her well to dwell in thought about them, even in a joking sense. Besides, she had joined the Light Coven many years ago and she hasn't regretted that decision since. "Well, join The Wild then. That way we can fight every time we see each other." He scoffed at her words which easily made her smile. "We should go back. Lord Hashirama probably wants to know the news immediately."

Keeping to silence despite the approval within his eyes, Sai dashed towards the ledge she had been standing on and jumped without a moment to waste. Free-falling next to him was his covenmate and good friend as well as the one who saved his life.

You've done enough suffering, haven't you, Sakura?

(-)

If you ask most teenagers what sounds do they hear on a daily basis, they would most likely say the constant chatters of their peers within the halls of their school. It always feels like there are a hundred conversations going on at once, begrudgingly reminding them where and who they were. If it was ever quiet, surely anyone would deem it safe to assume that the end of the world was nigh. Most days, it was usually his voice booming throughout the school above everyone else's, but he couldn't help but feel oddly melancholic today. His eyes just stared blankly ahead while arms were behind his head, his hands kept a good grasp of the handle of his briefcase-shaped bookbag. It was as light as a feather, which should be expected for someone like him. Naruto was never the most studious student and so he never did go the extra mile of ever attempting to be.

The first lesson of the day would be Japanese language. In all honesty, Naruto hated Japanese more than he hated math, which was saying a lot. Once he got passed the basics of math and into the hard levels of physics and trigonometry, Naruto completely lost all interest. But the reason he hated Japanese so much more was because he never did care for being made to understand scripts, what the word itself looked like or translated to, and especially being made to read before the class. Language class was just overbearing for no good reason in his opinion. He frequently skipped it but since it was raining today of all days, the door to the school's roof was without a doubt locked. With the weather not on his side, Naruto would have to sit through the entire lesson while a good half of his class would their waste time drooling over Ms. Yūhi.

He wasn't blind, even he thought his language teacher was by all means sexy. She had long dark hair, long creamy legs, and knew what angle that made her smile seductive. Although it was never intentional, she had the boys weak in the knees. Unlike most of his peers though, Naruto wasn't stupidly naïve to actually dream of the student-teacher relationship that they all fantasized about. And it was obvious that her and Mr. Sarutobi, the math teacher, had a thing but none of that stopped those stupid idiots from keeping hope alive. Though most things didn't stop the persistence of a teenage boy anyhow…

"Hey, Uzumaki!" Naruto stopped mid-stride and turned his head to face the girl that called out his name.

"Ten-Ten, what's up?" The brunette with the buns (or meatballs that Naruto liked to call them) on her head had pushed herself from off the wall and ambled her way towards him.

Her brown eyes were gleaming with absolute mischief, but Naruto happened to be too distracted to really take notice. "So, tell me somethin'..." Suddenly interested in what she had to say, he arched a brow and listened. "Didja see Ino and Sasuke together? There's a rumor goin' around that they're dating, and Lee and I got a bet."

Naruto's eyes looked up at the ceiling in thought, trying to recall if Sasuke ever mentioned anything about Yamanaka. She was pretty as well as popular among most of their classmates, though she wasn't what Naruto considered his type and neither did he think her to be much of Sasuke's. When the two of them hung out at the arcade the other day, not once did Sasuke say her name. "Uh, sorry, Ten-Ten. I don't really know."

After a suck of her teeth, the girl rested her hands on her hips. "I need to find out before the end of the day or else I'll lose 3,000 yen!" she explained, obviously bent on not losing whatsoever.

The blond couldn't help but chuckle at Ten-Ten's so-called dilemma. "Look, if I find anything out then I'll tell ya," he promised, secretly wanting Lee to lose since it was about time he got one-up'd. "Sasuke isn't really all that interested in anyone as far as I know." He then shrugged, knowing more than everyone that Sasuke liked to keep the majority of his life private. After all, that only heightened the mystery surrounding the Uchiha. "But who knows."

Ten-Ten soon smiled before grabbing onto Naruto's arm. "Thanks, Naruto. If you help me out with this then hey, I'll split it with ya."

"Heh, I don't usually turn down money but I think Lee would be preeeetty pissed if he knew I was in on this," Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head. "So let's keep it between us, ne?"

Realizing his point, Ten-Ten gave him a firm nod. "No prob, thanks again though! Oh, and uh, Nara was lookin' for ya."

"Shikamaru?" Naruto instantly furrowed his brows in confusion, wondering why Shikamaru wanted to suddenly see him. "What could he want?" he mumbled before watching Ten-Ten hurry her way to the next student to get information from. Despite the two knowing each other since elementary school, Shikamaru was always. He was the Class Representative after all, much to everyone's surprise, and he always made to take care of just about everything.

Soon enough, a slender arm wrapped around Naruto's shoulders. Startled by the sudden contact, Naruto's body immediately drained itself of tension as soon as he heard that no-good giggle fill his ears. He knew exactly who it was before they even said one word. "Na~ru~to!" she said in a sing-songy manner, but Naruto couldn't help but to roll his eyes.

"What do you want, Mitsuha?" asked the Uzumaki, half-groaning and half-curious. Her bright eyes, a hue of sea-green, were staring straight into his oceanic blue with false innocence.

"What do I want? Why do I always have to want somethin', Naruto? You and I are friends, why I can't I just want to hang out with my friend? My buddy, ole pal~" Her hold on him tightened, practically choking him. "Why ya gotta be like that, Nar?"

"What I tell ya about callin' me that?" The deadpanned expression he soon wore only made her giggle once again since she knew very well that he was downright annoyed.

Mitsuha, to his luck, had let go and laced her fingers together once she bounced her way to stand in front of him. He should've seen this coming a mile away despite already having guessed that she wanted something. On cue, her eyes suddenly became big and round. "Okay, so, I do need something," she finally admitted. "Something small and not all that important in particular either. Something you, my friend, could easily give to me."

For a second time, Naruto sighed before folding his arms across his chest. "What is it?" he asked. He would at least hear her out first before giving her a straight answer.

"Well, ya see... I need you to give me a picture of Sasuke-kun," Mitsuha began, slowly trying to reel him in, "but not just any picture… I need him shirtless," Mitsuha quickly said the last bit before she instantly resorted to begging. "Pretty pleaaaaaaseeeeee!"

"W-What?!" Everyone turned to look at them due to the fact that he outright shouted. Mitsuha, however, couldn't be bothered by the sudden attention he drew to the two of them. Her eyes never wavered, steadily looking at him while he frantically looked around. For the love of God, he hoped nobody heard what she asked him for.

As quick as lightning, Naruto grabbed Mitsuha by the shoulders, spun her around, and hurriedly sped them down the hall towards a secluded corner for the two of them to talk in private. Once no eyes and ears were on them, Naruto could get to the bottom of this weird request. "Why the hell do you need a picture of teme shirtless? I thought you weren't in his fanclub?"

"I'm not," Mitsuha stressed, completely exasperated when he was the one who should be. "But do you know how many girls are?" Folding her arms, she averted her gazed and puffed up her cheeks again. "Do you know how much money I could make just from that one picture? I wouldn't have to worry about shit."

And once again, a deadpanned expression swept over the Uzumaki's face. "Mitsuha, I know you like money but this is outright crazy, ttebayo!"

"What if I split the money with you?" she offered, her eyebrows raising in a suggestive manner. "Think of all the ramen you could buy with what we'll make? Phew, we'll have to just roll ya into school, y'know!"

For a sliver of a second, Naruto actually thought about it. All the ramen he could buy? He would be living in paradise for days, weeks, and maybe even months! But sadly, he quickly came to his senses. That moral code of his just wouldn't let him go through with it. Frustrated, mostly with himself, he conjured up all the reason of why this wouldn't work out as Mitsuha hoped. "Do you know how weird I would look just taking a picture of Sasuke while he was changing?" It didn't even matter how weird he would look. He would outright feel weird for simply doing it. "And it's not like he would be perfectly fine if I asked either, and I won't ask him!" The scenario that played out in his mind gave him the creeps. "But really, what is with everyone and Sasuke today? First Ten-Ten and now you."

With a roll of her eyes, Mitsuha began to fiddle with a lock of her hair by playing with the ends of it. "You and I both know how popular Sasuke-kun is," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in this world. It was, unfortunately. "I dunno how you think any of this is out of the norm." Nobody knew more than Naruto how Sasuke just generated attention everywhere he went. It always made Naruto a little—okay, so a little isn't even close to how it really made him feel—jealous. He was popular in his own right, but most girls nearly fainted being around his brooding best friend.

"Eh, I guess you're right." He ruffled the hair at the back of his head and kept one eye open. "Still not changin' my mind, though."

"Oohhhhh fineeee!" With her hands balled up into tight fists, Mitsuha stomped her right foot to the floor. The force of it nearly made him jump, surprising him all over again by how childish she could actually be. Even so, it always made him laugh. Mitsuha, whether she knew it or not, was very much like a little sister to him; troublesome and adorable but a little sister all the same. "I'll find another way. My Sasuke blog has over 40,000 followers and they need some skin dammit!" she whisper-shoutes. "I guess I'll have to wait until Sasuke-kun wants to go swimming or somethin'."

"Heh." With a large grin, Naruto thought up what he believed to be an even better proposal. "What about a blog about me, Mitsuha? I'll be willing to give you all the pictures you need."

For a solid minute, Mitsuha simply stared at him. Her expression was blank and it put him on the edge since he didn't know what it was that she was thinking. "I'm gonna go with a solid no," she then answered.

"W-Why not?!" Offended, Naruto's grin had reversed. "What are you tryna say?! That I'm not good enough?!"

Before she could give him what he absolutely knew to be a snarky retort, the bell had suddenly rang.

"Shit!" Mitsuha shouted, looking completely mortified. "I have Guy-sense right now! I hate P.E., but shit! I can't be late again." It happened so quick that Naruto hardly prepared himself for the light punch to the shoulder. "Later, Naruto! Let's eat lunch together with Sasuke-kun!" And just like that, Mitsuha immediately sprinted down the hall without once looking back.

"Tch, I bet I could make more money and get more followers than teme!" Still heated about the flat-out rejection, Naruto wrinkled his nose before sheathing one of his hands into his pockets. "And I still have to go to this stupid class…" Chalk full of reluctance, the Uzumaki began making his way towards homeroom, the dreaded 2-B. Due to Mitsuha taking up most of his time, he decided that he would go look for Shikamaru later. After all, it wasn't said that whatever he needed to see him for was important.

By the time he reached his classroom, the seats were nearly filled yet thankfully, he wasn't the last to arrive. He sauntered his way to his usual seat, the very last desk in the last row that was right next to the window. Seeing as he wanted nothing to do with this class, he intended to either fall asleep or doodle. He couldn't find it in himself to have the slightest bit of worry about grades. Letting out the yawn he hadn't realized he had been holding, he soon noticed Sasuke took the seat right next to him. Something about him seemed off today, though it was hard to discern why and how when Sasuke was never the liveliest person in the world. He just looked more annoyed than usual, of that Naruto knew for certain.

"Yo," Naruto tried to capture his attention, "what happened?"

Slowly, a pair of onyx eyes had glanced at his direction. "Nothing, dobe," answered Sasuke, immediately making Naruto frown.

Either now wasn't the right time or Sasuke just didn't want to talk about it. Either way, Naruto was going to get to the bottom of this whether the Uchiha liked it or not. "Listen, teme, just 'cause you have an attitude today doesn't mean you have to take it out on me."

Seeing as Sasuke wasn't not even in the mood to engage in a silly fight, Naruto propped up his arm on the desk and leaned his cheek against his fist. As soon as Ms. Yūhi quieted the class and opened up her textbook, Naruto sought for something else to steal his attention. The rain seemed good enough, and left him to ponder if it was ever going to stop. For the past three days, the downpour had been nonstop.

"I would like for us to read this poem," said Ms. Yūhi. "It's one of my favorites and I think many of you will enjoy it as well." Before Naruto knew it, his eyes were starting to close and his head began to nod. Sleep was calling him and he didn't intend to fight it. "So the flower has wilted during the long spring rains, just as my beauty has faded during my forlorn years in this world." Lifting her eyes from the book, she then looked up at her students. "Isn't it beautiful, class?"

"That poem can't be about you, Ms. Yūhi!" One student had spoke up, "You're still beautiful~"

The dark-haired woman's face immediately turned twenty shades pink, her eyes half closed as she gave a shy smile. "Thank you, Sugawara-san." Her eyes then began to scan around the room before resting upon Naruto, who was halfway deep into sleep. With a tired sigh, she then rose a brow. "Uzumaki-san?" Naruto immediately woke up, eyes flying open as the class turned to look at him. "Would you like to summarize this poem for us?"

His eyes immediately looked right at Sasuke, who kept his attention trained on the textbook. As if the Uchiha would help him. With a sigh, he stood up and opened his book before giving the teacher his infamous cheeky grin. "Uh… What page was it?"

All the students began to snicker as Kurenai sighed once again. "245," she answered.

Flipping through the pages, Naruto searched and found the poem as well as the text written beneath it. "Ano…" Squinting his eyes, he inched forward into the book. "The poem is about spring when cherry blossoms bloom and then fall." Unsure of what more could be said, he looked at Ms. Yūhi. "So?"

"But it's more to it than that, don't you think?" she then said, giving him a rather encouraging nod to urge him to at the very least try.

His eyes roamed over the poem once more before he used one hand to keep the book open as he rubbed his tired eye. "Uh, well… I mean, she says the flower is slowly dying, like… the color, which most think is the reason a flower is pretty, is fading away. She uses that word… Iro (色)." Perplexed, Naruto tried to remember where he had seen that word before. Then it suddenly hit him, he remembered hearing and seeing that very same kanji whenever those stupid beauty ads would come up whenever he was made to wait in-between his favorite shows and games. "Iro, in this way, means color or complexion, right? So the color of the flower is like a beautiful face and like most people's faces, it loses beauty with age."

"Wow," Kurenai said, her smile genuine. "I'm impressed, Uzumaki-san. Could you continue? I'm quite curious of the rest of your observation."

Unbothered by the whispers and unison gasps of surprise by the rest of the class, Naruto squinted his eyes and began scratching the back of his head. "This one line, I think it's s'posed to mean 'my generation', but it's a bit confusing, ttebayo. Is it about rain or growing old? 'Cause it could mean that her generation is growing old. And because they're growing old, that makes her realize that she's growing old too and that's why she ain't as pretty as she used to be, like those flowers she's looking at. Don't flowers start to die or somethin' when it rains too much?"

"Correct, but you talk about what she sees. What is it that you think that she feels?" Kurenai then questioned.

For a moment, Naruto's face began to soften and he suddenly felt empathy towards the poet. "I think she feels sad, I guess. I don't think her looks were all that important to her, really. I just think she's sad about how her life turned out while feeling nostalgic by the rain," answered Naruto.

"You may sit down, Naruto. You've impressed me." Kurenai's smile was radiating, instantly making Naruto blush and slowly lower himself back down to his seat.

"Wow, Naruto." His eyes glowered at Sasuke, knowing that whatever it was that was going to be said would tick him off. "Who knew you could actually be smart."

"Shutup, teme!" Naruto warned in a hushed voice. It wasn't like Naruto wasn't smart. He could be… when he wanted to, that is.

Sasuke merely smirked, letting out a snort before jotting down a few notes in his notebook. Meanwhile, Naruto turned his attention back towards the window, gazing out at Tokyo's streets that were still busy with traffic.

(-)

Her time in the rain had some of its downsides. While she may have felt good, she certainly didn't look the part. Her clothes were sticking to her skin, almost to the point that they looked as if they were painted on her skin. And she certainly didn't smell as nice considering rainwater wasn't as sweetly fragrant as most wished it were. Strange how she felt so happy earlier just to become frustrated, and mostly at herself. Sakura constantly prided on at least looking presentable, not at all caring about the wet footprints she would be leaving and making in her wake. Half of her covenmates already labeled her a slob, so she knew they didn't have any expectations for her to change any time soon. After all, Sakura was never once forced to clean, not when she was alive and neither while undead.

Sai unlocked and pushed open the extravagant door of their not so humble abode. Their home, surrounded by a high gate, was in every sense traditional yet costly. Paintings and statues worth more than people could imagine were beautifully placed while the ivory and pristine partitions brought a certain brightness to the place. Even the wooden floors, smooth and spotless, were old and expensive. Despite their lord, Hashirama, being quite the overbearing traditionalist, he collected paintings and other pieces of art from around the world to decorate their home. Sakura could remember plenty of times of him laughing heartily as he added another centuries old piece to his collection while she berated him that soon the place would be so cluttered that no one would be able to walk. "There's always room for art, Sakura-chan!" He would always say, leaving her shaking her head and walking away from him all the while feeling as if she had just argued with a brick wall.

None of that changed the fact that every time Sakura walked in, she always felt as if she was in a meditative trance. This place made her feel calm and steady but more importantly, it made her feel safe. This was the only place where she felt surrounded by friends and people she could trust wholeheartedly. You just can't get that feeling from anywhere, and she knew that firsthand. So as long as the Light coven would have her, Sakura never imagined she could ever willingly leave this place. Cluttered or not.

"I should probably change," muttered Sakura as she pinched the hem of her soaked blouse.

"Ah, so can use your head." Sai's smirk was just as irksome as his taunt.

"Shutup," she replied with a roll of her eyes as she began to take off her soggy shoes at the lower level floor of the doorway. Sakura was relieved to have those shoes off her feet yet it saddened her that they were most likely ruined, never to be worn again. Without wasting another minute, she fled up the stairs while Sai let loose a heavy sigh before making his way towards the living room.

Relaxed on a chaise was a young looking man, holding and reading a rather thick and lengthy novel. His hair was a mousy red, short and unkempt, and his eyes were a clash of grey and brown. He seemed relaxed as he sat, legs crossed and his thick-rimmed glasses hardly slipping down his slender and pointed nose.

"Sasori," greeted Sai.

"Sai," Sasori greeted back, slowly turning a page of his book. "How did the mission go?" Silence oddly lingered on for a good while after his question. Sai simply stared sideways and down at the floor. "Sai?"

"Sakura handled it well," he finally answered. "Physically, I mean."

That made Sasori's eyes strayed from his book to glance up at him. "I knew this mission wouldn't sit well with her," he murmured.

"Precisely," agreed Sai, "but that's what Hashirama wanted. What could we have done about it?" It relieved him to know that someone had felt the same as he did. Usually, Sasori always opposed him on most things and so it was nothing short of a miracle that they found something worth agreeing with.

"How is she handling it?" Sasori asked.

"Well," Sai answered swiftly, "at least that's how it seems. You and I both know how Sakura is."

Silence befell them again. This time, however, it stayed. There was no use discussing the matter a second more since the only thing that the both of them could do now was keep an eye on her. Sai had soon left him, likely to sit before a canvas and paint. Meanwhile, Sasori placed his book down to pick up the hot, red drink inside a expensive teacup from the teaplate on the coffee table. It was only the three of them home now, which led Sasori to wonder where Hashirama had gone after giving out such a mission.

All the concentration he felt about reading had shifted towards the hall and at the stairway. Concern had flooded him about Sakura that it completely overwhelmed any shade of desire he had left to finish this book. With a sigh, he took several sips of his drink before placing the empty cup down and make his way upstairs with a lazy stride. It wouldn't surprise anyone that Sasori had cared so much considering that both he and Sakura had joined the Light coven around the same time. Although older than her by a few decades, he could never forget the first time had saw her.

She was still human, young and vibrant, the smell of death was on her when she was just seventeen. She suffered so much in her human life that it almost made him feel as if he had a heart that could be wrenched again. He grew protective of her, but it was quite a rough start when he wanted to befriend her. When he saw her again, freshly turned, she avoided him often and hid behind Hashirama, using the man as a shield. At the time, Hashirama was the only person Sakura trusted, which Sasori understood considering he was the one who saved her from a true death. After a year, Sakura then outstretched her hand and took his, letting him meet the friendly girl with a pretty smile. Even now he had hoped to see that smile again, knowing very well that her mission probably numbed her emotions. Sasori would have a talk with Hashirama despite being fully aware that Sakura accepted this mission with a clear conscious.

Standing before her door, he raised a fist to knock but hesitated. Perhaps it was better to give her space or else she'd nag that he was coddling her. Thinning his lips, he began to fully realize how much Sakura loathed for anyone to see her vulnerable. She was proud and stubborn, and it was always a hassle to get her to talk about her emotion without getting hostile.

"Sasori,"

Her voice stopped his train of thought. It came as a surprise to know she already keyed into his presence already. Did he stand there for too long or did she use her power? He might have to prepare to hear an earful. "Sakura, I…"

"You can open the door, you know." The mirth in her voice had calmed him as well as gave him some hope that the situation might not turn out as ugly as he expected.

He slid open the shoji door just to see Sakura fully dressed in fresh and dry clothes. Her fingers repeatedly kept combing through her pink hair as a white towel remained draped around her small shoulders. "If you want to be alone…" he began to suggest.

"Nah." She shook her head and soon smile. "I'm actually glad you came."

Astonished, Sasori's eyes widened a fraction. "You sure?" he asked, wanting to be sure that she was certain that this was what she really wanted.

"Yeah," said Sakura. "I'm sure."

Stepping inside of her room, he eased the door shut behind him before taking a seat at the white, wooden vanity. He sat backwards in the chair, resting his arms at the top of it as she sat at the edge of her bed. "How're you feeling?"

Sighing softly, her gaze lowered to the floor. "I feel like hell to be honest."

"I imagined you would. You cared about that old man." Sasori's voice filled the room. "I'm proud of you, if that matters."

Unable to keep her sad expression, she smiled again. "It does," she quickly said, "but I just want to know why…? Why he was helping Madara?"

"Madara is a manipulative bastard," he reasoned. "He knows how to find a human's weakness."

She couldn't help but to think that he was right about that. Out of the few times she had met Madara, she saw firsthand how he could coax just about anyone to do his bidding. "Hisami was a good man. I hated to kill him. His wife saved me." She shook her head, still unable to fully accept that Hisami would do what he did. "And I promised her that I would protect him. He was like family to me, Sasori…"

"You did protect him, Sakura. You stopped him from helping Madara and the Wild. While he isn't around to say it, I'm sure he's grateful. You weren't ruthless either. You gave him a quick and painless way out," he explained. "You have to stop beating yourself up."

Pools of red had welled up in her eyes before bursting forth and spilling down her face. She wasn't human for droplets of salt, so her tears were droplets of red instead. Her chin trembled, reminiscent to the way of how a small child cries. He climbed out of the chair and knelt before her, using his thumb to wipe away a tear with a swift stroke. "Sakura…"

"I know," she sobbed. "I know… but it still hurts. I always…" Balling up her fists, Sakura tried to swallowed her cries to keep them locked in her throat. "I always lose people I care about! I can never save them or keep them… Why can I just keep one person? Just one…"

Biting down on her lip, Sakura fought to regain her composure. She mashed her wrists against her eyes to wipe her tears and sought steady breaths to calm herself. "I'm terrible at this," Sasori teased.

She couldn't resist the laugh that bubbled from within. She smiled even though her tears kept streaming down like waterfalls. "Thank you for trying."

"Don't make me have to deal with this again," Sasori playfully warned. "I should just send Fū, she's a girl. She knows what to do more than I do." He nodded, assured by that idea.

"Still," Sakura chuckled. "Thanks."

Sasori raked his fingers through his hair and looked out the window. "I wonder when Hashirama is gonna get his ass here."

"Where did he go anyway? Was it something important?" asked Sakura, following his gaze towards the window to see the stormy city.

"Probably trackin' down, Fū. She's hardly reliable sometimes." With his arms akimbo, he could imagine their leader, one of the very first few vampires, scrambling around the shopping district searching for a vampire who rather shop than do her duties.

Sakura wrapped her arms around her stomach, throwing her head back as she erupted in a fit of laughter. "You mean like that time Fū was assigned to patrol Akibahara and she was too busy shopping. Hashirama made us go with him to go look for her." The scene of Fū's shock of being caught and Hashirama's wrath was as clear as day in her mind. "And then he started shopping, too!"

Sasori wasn't entertained by the memory like Sakura. In fact, he was still miffed that he was taken away from a good book as long as he had just to deal with that. "I'm still pissed at them about that."

"Oh yeah, your face!" Letting one hand from around, she pointed at him while laughing. "You were so pissed and lectured them on the way home."

"You're damn right I did!" Even though he was glad that Sakura found something to laugh about, he didn't quite like the fact that it was now at his expense.

Within an instant, the both of them felt a familiar strong presence. Sakura immediately clambered onto her feet. "Hashirama is back."

"And he brought Fū, too. If she's back this early then she was probably foolin' around again." Sasori rubbed his temples, unable to subdue his frustration.

Sakura chuckled as they both exited out of her bedroom and made their way downstairs to the lounge. Hashirama's hearty laugh bounced off the walls of the living room.

Upon Sakura and Sasori entrance, the tall man turned to face them. His skin was a pale shade of tan and his almond-shaped eyes were dark. He kept his hair waist-length and tidy with a center-parted fringe. Upon sight, Hashirama appeared like a strong and formidable man but when he spoke? Well… "Ah," he said with a smile. "Sakura, Sasori."

"Hashirama-sama," Sakura kept to propriety with a smile as she always did. Sasori, however, wore a hard stare. "The mission you gave me… Its done."

Hashirama's happy expression quickly disappeared, though he gave her a firm nod of approval. He outstretched his arm to rest a hand on her shoulder to give a tight squeeze. As his eyes bore into hers, Sakura felt immensely grateful that Hashirama worried so much. But the greatest thing of it all was that he didn't baby her. While she saw him like a father-figure, he knew understood that she could very much handle herself.

"You did the right thing, Sakura," said Hashirama before he turned to Sasori. "Did you—"

"Yeah, I looked into it," Sasori interrupted him before he could fully ask. "Turns out Ripper has been helping Orochimaru with some pills." Crossing his arms, Sasori narrowed his eyes. "It's likely they're trying to copy our bloodlust suppressants."

Sai had soon entered the room, a short mint-green haired girl walking alongside him. Her orange eyes darted to Sakura, who she sent a wink to. That was all Sakura needed to know that Fū was still as mischievous as ever.

"Why would Madara want blood suppressants?" questioned Sai.

"I don't understand that either. I thought they were persistent with draining human as much as they wanted?" Sakura said, still unsure why Sasori came to that conclusion.

With a hum, Hashirama rubbed his chin in thought. "Whatever it is their up to, we need to find out." Folding his arms, he then looked to Sakura. "Knowing that both Hisami and Orochimaru are involved is troublesome enough."