Royal Blood 35

35. Hatred.


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"Why would you come to us if you wanted to stop Orochimaru?" Sakura asked after the thick silence.

"Because he is a Sannin Vampire. I knew I could not do this on my own, so I tracked down the ones I knew I could go to," Suki replied immediately. Sakura nodded lightly.

"But if you wanted help, why not go to Lady Tsunade?" she asked.

"Um . . . who?"

The people who were and were no longer watching all suddenly stopped (again) and stared in shock and disbelief at the woman and sharing looks with one another. The mumblings started up again, until Sakura spoke, causing them all to stop and listen.

"You . . . don't know who Lady Tsunade is?" Sakura interrogated suspiciously. She watched as the deep confusion that was evident in Suki's eyes grow to another level.

"No. Is she someone important?" she asked slowly.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Itachi forcefully quieted Tiashi once more. Once he had a firm hold on his girlfriend, he began to drag her back into the damaged house. Once they were out of sight, Sakura turned back to Suki. She stared at the woman before her. So she wanted to take down Orochimaru? She knew that this man was a Sannin Vampire, and that he was dangerous. And yet . . . she doesn't even know about Lady Tsunade? That wasn't normal. Everyone knew about her—she is one of the Sannin Vampires. If Suki knows that Orochimaru is one, wouldn't she know that Tsunade is one, also? And then how is it that when even the council doesn't know where Sakura and her friends are—this woman does?

Something didn't set right with Sakura about this woman.

"Come inside and we'll fill you in."


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After Sakura had given Suki and everyone else a glass of deer's blood, she explained to the newcomer everything that was explained to Sasuke and any other newborn vampire. The woman seemed to understand everything quickly. (Sakura tried her best not to think too much on how Sasuke was also a quick learner, as well.) Then it was Sakura's turn to as a few questions.

"So why are you after Orochimaru?" she asked. The others listened closely for the answer while Tiashi kept a close eye on movements and facial expressions. It was a few seconds before Suki answered.

"He syred me, then used me as a sex toy," she answered her, voice shaking slightly. If there had been any chatter going on in the room, it would have stopped immedeately. Everyone stared at Suki, some with horror, some with sympathy and sadness.

And one with secret suspicion.

Tiashi spoke up.

"Hey, I really don't mean to pull up any bad memories for you, but for research's sake—do you think you could maybe describe the experience of him syring you?" she asked politely and calmly. The woman took a shuddering breath, her eyes closing.

"I'll never forget it. It seems like vampire memories are so much more detailed tan the human ones," she said quietly. "He had pinned me down . . . on a bed. I tried to get away, to shake him off, but he was so strong . . . When he bit me . . ." She swallowed before continuing, her hands clenching. Her face had become extremly pale. "When he bit me, it felt like I was being choked over and over—" she suddenly stopped, deep pain in her eyes. Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner.

"It's alright, Suki. We understand if it's too much right now. I think some hunting will do you some good." A man then appeared at the doorway. "Carlos will take you." Suki glanced at the olive-skinned man and then nodded numbly. Carlos led her out the door and into the forest surrounding the area.

After a few minutes of silence, Tiashi leaned back in the chair that she was sitting in, rocking it back and forth on its back two legs. "Oh, she's almost that good."

"What do you mean?" her boyfriend questioned.

"Had I not been an expert at this for over twenty years of experience, I never would have known that she was lying. She almost fooled me there. Did you catch that one moment, Sakura? And her description?" Tiashi asked, narrowing her eyes just slightly.

Everyone turned to Sakura as she nodded. The rest of the vampires in the house came into the room. They had all been secretly listening in and now they all had the gut feeling that something was up. "I'll let Tiashi explain the moment," Sakura said.

"First let me inform you all that I have been well trained into reading people since before I was turned over twenty years ago. I know when someone is lying or telling the truth—"

"You mean like that one show, "Lie to Me"?" Naruto exclaimed. Tiashi's eye twitched.

"Yes. Like that 'one show'. Dumbass. Anyway, I know what I saw. It's true that Suki has never heard of Lady Tsunade before, for those of you who were wondering about that. But I have to question her motives. To start off, I do believe that her experience when being syred wasn't pleasant . . . no one's is. So I can tell you that her choice to become a vampire wasn't hers at all. Obviously. When I asked about her hatred for Orochimaru, she said that he had syred her—"

"Yes," a man said. "We were all sitting here when she described it. Get to the point, woman."

After a few more eye twitches and being interrupted again and the rude demand, Tiashi continued. "Right after she said he syred her, her lips stroked each other—when she swallowed.

"And why is that significant?" another person asked curiously.

"Because it is a sure sign that she was not confident in her words," Tiashi explained. "There are many ways to show that you don't believe in your own words, but all were covered except for that one. And she was so close to covering that one, as well. I was lucky that I caught it."

"So Orochimaru didn't syre her?"

"No, he didn't," Sakura answered. All eye turned towards the pink-haired female in question. "Almost everything that came out of her mouth was a lie."