City of Night

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Sakura gazed at her reflection through her dresser's mirror, not recognising the girl behind the rippling glass. A serious and solemn Sakura gazed back at her, paler porcelain skin and faintly glowing emerald eyes, taller, leaner, different. Her eyes were solemn, but Sakura saw happiness there too, as she ran her thumb along the sharp point of her canines and felt the skin split and tasted the metallic tang of blood in her mouth. They weren't fangs, but they were too sharp and too long to be considered human and Sakura couldn't seem to look away from them. Who is this Sakura?

"You're beautiful, Sakura," Hinata said softly, sincerely, watching Sakura from the corner of the large bed with Tenten beside her. Her silver eyes shone through the darkness of the unlit room and Sakura forced herself to smile and, seeming to read Sakura's thoughts, Tenten smirked. "She's you, Sakura. You're still you, you know."

Sakura sighed and gazed at her hand as she flexed her fingers with an unconvinced expression. "I'm not even sure if that's true anymore. What if," she looked up at them with large and worried eyes. "What if I can't find myself again?"

"There's no need. You aren't lost."

The three girls quickly turned their heads to the window behind Sakura, where Sasuke was sitting with one leg propped up and the other hanging over the ledge, watching Sakura with dark and thoughtful eyes.

"Been there long, Sasuke?" Tenten asked dryly with a raised eyebrow and Hinata giggled. The way he was looking at her made Sakura remember how they had kissed earlier on the training grounds, and her hand subconsciously moved up to touch her tingling lips. She blushed when she saw Tenten wink at her and Hinata smile knowingly.

Sasuke moved agilely as he slid through the window and stood beside Sakura so that she could see both their reflections through the mirror. Two impossibly beautiful figures.

"Your eyes and mine are not the same," he murmured and Sakura could see it. His were like Gaara's, too solemn, too grave, too wise, too closed and too serious for a seventeen year old. She looked behind them, at the two vampires watching them from her bed and saw that their eyes were the same as Sasuke's, only softer and slightly more open. Sakura gazed at her own eyes and immediately recognized the difference. Despite sharing the same seriousness and solemnity of the vampires, Sakura's eyes were open, trusting, perhaps even naïve, and they lacked the wisdom that could only come from being immortal.

"The eyes of a human, Sakura," he said quietly, gently tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear affectionately. "Your humanity may have been altered, but it hasn't been lost."

"You're Sakura," Tenten finished with a toothy grin, making Sakura grin back as warmth and relief spread through her as though a heavy weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. The brunette stood and dragged Sakura away from the mirror, to her ornate wardrobe. She raised her eyebrow at Sasuke. "Why are you still here?" He blinked.
"What?"
Sakura watched in confused silence as Tenten placed her hands over her hips and pointed with her thumb over her shoulder at Sakura behind her. "She needs to change for the Council tonight," the brunette snapped before smirking and raising her eyebrow suggestively, making Sasuke frown. "Unless you want to help her change, Sasuke." Sakura blushed furiously, unable to make any sound, and saw Sasuke go rigid before muttering, "Hn," and disappearing back through the window. Sakura was certain she had seen a blush on his cheeks too.

"I don't see the point in me going to this Council thing," Sakura complained, standing in only her underwear as Tenten nodded at her slim figure with approval and pulled a beautiful, pale cream ball gown from the wardrobe and tossed it to her. "I'm not even a vampire."