*** - This is a sign for my readers that the chapter has been edited with new content.

Kuro Neko

"Sakura,"

The young girl awoke to her grandmother's voice and the sweet scent of coffee. She sat up from her bed and smiled at the woman who woke her, "Good morning, grandmother." She took the small cup that was being held in front of her and took a small sip. Usually it would be Sakura who would wake her grandmother. But she hadn't been feeling at her best for a few days now.

"Feeling any better, darling?"

Sakura nodded as she stood and walked towards her small maroon dresser. She took out her undergarments and placed them on her bed, "I feel very light still, but I can make it through the day." She placed her uniform on the bed as well and faced her grandmother, "I'll be out in a few minutes and I'll make breakfast then." Her grandmother nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Sakura to get ready. As Sakura bathed herself, she began to feel rather odd. Her chest felt warm, and it was something that had been happening for the past two days. At first, she had thought it was heart burn or maybe even a barf coming up. But now, she wasn't exactly sure.

She dried herself and began to get dressed. She started with her knee high white stockings and she tied them lightly around her leg with a black ribbon, to keep them in place. Next, she slid on her maroon skirt that reached just above her knees, it was a very slick material with absolutely no wrinkles on it. Sakura then, moved on to iron her white dress shirt. She did this, every morning to ensure that she looked well dressed and clean. Although, she had to get up quite early to do so. Buttoning the last button on the shirt, she picked the collar up and began to tie a black ribbon around her neck and formed a bow. It was a small touch that she liked to add to the uniform that had absolutely no feminine touch. Finally, she put on her black blazer. The absolutely last thing she did, was pick her long pink flowing hair up into a ponytail with two small strands framing the sides of her face. She looked into the mirror and smiled. She was ready.

"Grandmother!" Sakura called out as she rushed to the kitchen and set two small plates on the table. She opened the cabinet and took out two cups and the coffee beans. She set the cups down next to the plates and rushed to put water on the stove. Quickly making her way to the cabinet next to the refrigerator, she took out four slices of bread and place two into the toaster. Once again, she made her way to the stove and placed a small pot in which she began to pour oatmeal in. She began to slice strawberries into small pieces and placed them into the oatmeal as well before pouring milk into it.

"Are you rushing everything again, Sakura?" The elder chuckled as she began to make her way towards the table.

"Grandmother, please take your time to get there." Sakura smiled and began spreading strawberry jam onto the toast and placed it on one of the plates before pouring hot water into the cups and mixing in the coffee. She quickly placed the two other slices of bread into the toaster and stirred the oatmeal. Placing a small bowl next to the finished meal (The plate that already had the toast on it), she helped her grandmother sit on the chair.

"You always make my breakfast first." Her grandmother smiled and took a bite out of the toast. Sakura nodded before turning off the stove and rushing to her grandmother's side to pour oatmeal into the small bowl she had placed earlier. Quickly, she took the two slices of toast in the toaster and spread jam on those as well. She looked at the time and her eyes widened.

"I'll be late!" Sakura exclaimed and shoved one piece of toast quickly down her throat. Big mistake, she began to choke. She rushed towards her coffee and drank it all in two gulps. She ran to the restroom and came out to find her grandmother holding her school bag, "Thank you grandmother!" Sakura smiled and shoved her toothpaste and toothbrush into her bag, "I'll brush my teeth at school." She explained and took the piece of toast in her mouth. It was left hanging as Sakura ran to put on her black shoes and out the door.

I know what I'll be writing in my journal entry today. Sakura Haruno, late for school. For the first time EVER! She thought as she ran through the streets trying to get by people as fast as she could, while also making sure she finished her breakfast. She saw a small alley and a lightbulb in her head lid up. That's right, I could just take the shortcut! The alley would take her to the rose garden that was placed just down the street from the school. Without thinking twice, Sakura ran into the narrow pathway. She quickly sprinted past the rose bushes and began to look for a way out. She couldn't necessarily just walk through them, they had thorns all over them and this was something Sakura was not willing to go through. She then saw a small opening in between the red roses and white. She ran towards it and decided that jumping over the gap, would be much safer. The gap was big enough for her to merely walk through, but if she jumped, she wouldn't be stuck with thorns.

"Shannaro!" Sakura yelled as she took a giant leap, straight onto the street and landed perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. Her left foot landed just fine, but her right foot got stuck on the sidewalk crack and she tumbled forward, "A-Ah!" Sakura shut her eyes, waiting for the impact. She had expected it to hurt much more than it did, but it was surprisingly soft. She gripped the sidewalk but noticed something very important. It felt, muscle-ly? And it felt like it had fabric? She snapped her eyes open and found herself staring into dark ebony. She had fallen on top of another teen. Sakura was enticed in his eyes and didn't move for a whole minute.

"You're… Heavy." He breathed and she blushed.

"I'm sorry!" She quickly got off of him and picked her things up before reaching to grab his bag as well, "Here," She held his bag out and he took it. She was about to apologize again, but a loud bell interrupted her. Her eyes widened, "I'M LATE!" She quickly took off into the direction of the school, leaving the young boy on the floor.

Sakura breathed very heavily in her seat. She had barely made it before Tanako-sensei, closed the door. She was very lucky to have extreme athletic skills when she needed to. Suddenly, two hands were slammed onto her desk.

"Sakura!"

The pink haired girl looked up to find hazelnut eyes glaring down at her. Whose eyes did they belong to? None other than her best friend Misori. Misori was a very elegant young lady with a lovely crème complexion that was brought out by her hip length long black hair and of course, hazelnut eyes.

"Yes?" Sakura answered and her friend rolled her eyes. Misori had a habit of being very unladylike at times. Mostly around her best friend of course. You see, her personality differed quite greatly from her appearance. Misori acted much like a guy, she didn't watch her language nor her manners. But if Sakura reprimanded her, she cleaned up her act in front of others.

"I've been calling you for the past three minutes, what's up with you lately? It's rude to ignore people." Misori pouted and then pointed at Sakura's notebook, "What's Kuro Neko?"

Sakura looked down at what was written on her notebook and was flabbergasted. When had she written that? She quickly turned the page and grinned sheepishly, "I've just really been wanting a pet, but grandmother doesn't allow it." Why was she writing 'Black Cat' on her notebook? Why was she so unfocused today? Since she had woken today, Sakura felt uneasy and sick. And now, she was lying to Misori. What exactly was going on with her?

"Well, you ready to go to that place after scho-" Misori's sentence was cut off

"Everyone take your seats. We have a transfer student today. Please do treat him with respect." The man in his thirty's sighed as he rubbed his black hair in distress.

"Ne, do you think he's cute?" Misori leaned back on her chair to whisper. She was seated right in front of Sakura and so she often leaned back and whispered at her during lecture.

"Who cares?" Sakura answered and looked back down at her notebook and began to sketch. She had no interest in boys, although she got quite a few love confessions every other day. She just wanted to finish school and not worry about keeping a relationship.

"Uchiha Sasuke, pleasure to make your acquaintance." That smooth husky voice reached the girl's ears and something inside of her burned.

I will find you. Wherever you are, I promise you I will find you and bring you back to me.

"Please take that empty seat in the back and let's begin the lecture."

Sakura's eyes widened at the sentence that reached her ears. What was that? Who was that? She was snapped back to reality at the sound of a chair being pulled back and she realized the new kid had been placed next to her. She instinctively looked to the sound, and her eyes widened. He noticed her and nodded in acknowledgement. She blushed slightly and went back to sketching. It was the guy she bumped into that morning. He was the new kid!

"Wowzers, he sure is a hot piece of a-" Misori was then flicked on the forehead by her companion.

"It is rude to speak of people in such a manner Misori, you know I don't like that." Sakura said and grabbed a pumpkin filled bread from the lunch line. Sakura was a fan of sweets, she enjoyed anything that had the slightest of sugar in it. It was something she ate when she was nervous though, and so Misori began to silently wonder exactly what was wrong with her friend.

"You're so uptight, I don't understand why I'm still your friend. I guess I'll feel bad if I'm not because I know you have no other friends!" Misori mocked and laughed. Sakura didn't answer, mostly because she didn't know how to do so. Misori had a habit of throwing this subject into their conversations without warning. She didn't do so every day, but she did so, nonetheless.

Sakura sat in her seat and began to take bites out of her bread. Misori was shoving her turkey sandwich down her throat while eyeing the new kid and the girls around him.

"Let's hang out after school? We can become friends and hang out now that you're-" The girl holding his shoulder was forced to step back when Sasuke suddenly stood.

"I have no interest in being friends with any of you." He suddenly walked out and the girls were left in shock.

"Woah, he has a temper too." Misori was definitely impressed unlike the pinkette who was simply flabbergasted at his behavior. She mostly wondered if she annoyed him like that when she bumped into him. Would he go off on her as well?

Before leaving class, the teacher reminded everyone that there were kidnappers on the loose and they should not travel alone. Of course nobody paid much attention to the announcement and left right away.

"We should really go through your basement to try and find pictures from your childhood. Like we used to when we were younger." Misori said and Sakura shook her head.

"That isn't a good idea Misori."

Sakura doesn't remember her childhood. All she truly remembers is waking up one day to find that she was a middle schooler and needed to buy a new uniform. Ages 6-13 were a mystery to her. Grandma tells her that she fell down the stairs when she was 13 and hit her head very hard so the doctors assume it was temporary amnesia and that she would remember all of it one day. But here she was, 17 and still no clue of what used to be.

"We're here!" Misori exclaimed and rushed towards the sea dropping her belongings far from the waves. Sakura smiled and did the same. Misori was very high spirited and she was not, most would think that they would not get along but they both believed opposites attract and that is why their friendship has lasted so long. They both came here often, to watch the waves in all their glory.

They were free to do as they please while they were not. They had made it a promise to live like the waves of the ocean and be free, but being so young that was still hard to do.

"Sakura come on get-!" Misori's eyes widened and were looking terrified at a figure behind her friend.

As Sakura turned around, she realized that her life was about to end. There in front of her, stood a giant man. About four inches taller than she was and was very buff. He grabbed the small girl by the neck and she desperately tried to push him off.

"Found you."

Is this how she would die? Would she really cease to exist today? Air was needed desperately in her system, two more minutes of this grip and she'd black out.

The sky looks wonderful today. Very calm and collected, very peach colored and vibrant. She wouldn't mind this being the last thing she saw with her emerald eyes. Yea, she didn't mind. She slowly started to close her eyes when she was suddenly dropped to the floor.

"AAGH!"

"Don't mess with my woman." That voice again.

"You dare try to burn me!" The man who attacked Sakura yelled and suddenly was engulfed in flames

"I didn't try, I did."