Hello, and welcome to my first full length Naruto fic. Good luck, and try to survive. Read at your own risk, for there are things lurking. Happy Halloween.

...

She hated this life, had it not been a sin she would have committed suicide long ago. Being as it was, she was still dangerously close, in a place like this, a life like this; one couldn't help the violent thoughts. Oddly enough they were onto herself and not those who caused her suffering; the village people were scared, misfortune rained death and famine on the small, reclusive land.

They called her a Daemon; maybe she was, she couldn't quite tell anymore. Her body was never without a wound, never healthy. They saw to that. She was always starving, stealing what she could, and secretly hopeing to become just another victim of this famine. Maybe when she died they would see, if the famine did not cease with her death, she could not be responsible.

Or maybe it would stop, the people would once more thrive, the children play, the people prosper. She would be happy either way; she wished them well with every breath she took. Her pink locks clung to her face, pasted there by dirt and grime. Ah, those locks, those vile tresses, were the reason she was treated as she was.

When she was born, her mother attempted to end her for her hair, her hair. She attempted to kill, murder, her own child for her HAIR COLOR. The midwife had stopped her, convinced her the child was dead, and took the babe as her own. They found out only seven years after, slaughtering her in the name of a false lord they used against their people. Xion, I think it was.

She was spared, because to kill her was to be cursed, in their eyes, but no one would care for her either. She lived alone, a beaten soul, they tried to starve her, tried everything except outright murder. She was sixteen years, she was smart despite circumstances, stealing books, and reading everything she could find. She learned the ways of the body, the placement of stars; she learned tales of mighty dragons, of magical creatures.

She learned not all were evil; she was given hope about what they told her she was. Recently she learned she was human; she asked herself what with the way she living made her human? She started to follow a God from a book; it told her she could still be redeemed from what she was. She clung to it; it was her lifeline, her connection to a better life.

…...

Sakura was named by her guardian, the woman she vaguely remembered. It was a strong name, so she was told.

'Be as strong as the rooted Cherry Blossom tree, beautiful as the fragile pink blossoms. Be as constant at your namesake and tell no falsehoods."

She had said. So Sakura did not, she prayed openly to a God that was not the village's, she openly said her opinion when asked. Even in the face of the pain that followed it.

…...

I was headed into town today, I creeped through shadows, dodged around buildings, and scaled walls and rocks. I do not wish to be beaten today, so I must be quiet. Dashing around a corner blindly, I collided with something large, and…

….Warm?

Shit! She was caught; she would be beaten for sure! Hunkering her body in a fetal position, she waited for pain. It did not come. Opening one bright green eye she looked up cautiously, and found a pair a crimson eyes. Red? The man leaned down an offered his hand, she flinched. This is when the pain would come!

"Are you hurt?"

Why was he asking? Ah! He must be worried about killing her and gaining a curse, but as she looked him over she realised she didn't know his face. The high cheekbones, the red, long lashed eyes, and the sharp tear troughs unknown to her. A foreigner? There hadn't been one since the year of her birth, another thing to add to lists of reasons she should be hated.

"I will not harm you. Why are you afraid?"

His eyes showed concern, concern that would be gone the moment he discovered what she was.

"I-I have to go."

She ran, as fast as she could. She heard a faint noise as she took off.

"W-Wait!"

She heard steps behind her, running footsteps.

"Just fucking wait!"

She pushed her body faster but the man behind her was most likely a Shinobi, having not lost her yet, he couldn't be anything else. There were few Shinobi in her village, but they showed even less mercy then civilians. Whimpering she pushed faster still, she didn't want the pain! Two arms caught her at the waist stopping her movement and making her freeze up.

"What is wrong? Why did you run?"

He pressed against the wounds on her back; she moaned in pain.

"What, what is it? Are you hurt?"

He let go, she presumed it was to check for an injury. She took off, he didn't follow. Somehow though, she still felt his gaze.

For some reason she felt almost sad he would soon hate her.

...

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