In the quiet forest, everything comes to life when one is running from nature.

The vines move to entrap those forcing their footprints onto the ground and the branches sharpen their edge, awaiting the foreigners to prick their flesh and spill their blood onto the leaves, feeding the soul of the forest.

Haruno Sakura, however, is no foreigner to these trees. Her eyes are the green of their own land. Normally, they welcome her. Allow her to sit in their branches and swing from the same vines that now seem to be her enemy.

These parts of the forest, but of course, are not her usual places of play. This was no man's land, the tribes hardly ever allowed their children to run off by the sacred waterfalls. But no man's lands were the only places away from people, from tribes and their restrictions, their boundaries. These parts were the furthest she had ever dared to go. She had told the old hag Tsunade that'd she'd went to bring back the moongrass from the outskirts of the village. If the elder had paid attention, she would have realised the moon was in no phase to be collecting the herbs, but instead she had been doused in her potions yet again.

"Another youth potion maybe?" Sakura had thought at the time. It was undoubtable what caused Tsunade to age so well, but the tribe's people knew better than to point that out. Or ask for it themselves.

Young Sakura's chest was starting to burn from her lack of breath and she truly did regret her decisions to avoid telling anyone her whereabouts of the day.

Her young legs were strong, but not trained enough to be outrunning a bear. It was a younger one too, she had noticed when its eyes had focused on her.

She had been distracted by the sight of the waterfall, one of the many, the sound engulfing her in. She had wanted to take a dip in its icy waters.

Sacred, the women had called it. "It gifts you, Sakura." Her mother had said. "I couldn't bear a child until Tsunade took me to drink from its heart. It was a gift and it was you."

I want a gift too, Sakura had thought. I want to be as pretty as Ino.

But as soon as she had taken a step to follow the path to the waterfall, another sound had boomed from the side. A loud sound of a branch breaking. And that is how, Sakura of the Haruno Tribe, found herself running away from the overwhelming danger following close behind.

The fear in her had pumped at the adrenaline, she had never ran this fast before.

I can't.. I won't make it.. I won't..

Then suddenly, her eyes that were only seeing blurs of colours, focused onto another pair. Time seemed to stop for a moment into a static frame. Her body seemed to be caught in a slow motion, her legs bent forward, running, her head turned to the right where..

There was a boy.. on the edge of becoming a man, she noticed.

It was just a second.

Maybe a split of a second.

But she saw him as clearly as if she were standing next to him, examining his face for hours end.

His bare shoulders and chest, gleaming with what must have been sweat. His hair, dark like the midnight blue, long and pulled back. And his eyes.. so stern and frightening.. but so intimately soft. There was something so dark in his eyes and a pull..

A pull Sakura could not identify.

He showed no indication of surprise, or maybe it had not registered to him yet. This time loop that Sakura seemed to be stuck in.

But as long as it felt, once the moment ended, it ended too quickly, and Sakura found herself stumbling through the tree trucks until she finally fell down. The pain was dull for the moment but she knew it would intensify later. Something was definitely bound to be broken on her left arm from the way she had tried to catch herself.

Her breathing was too heavy, she was too focused on regaining her strength to see the boy approach her steadily.

He made no move to help her but when she turned to look at him, he had on a weary look of suspicion.

Sakura tried to point out the bear, to warn him, but when she looked back, nothing was there.

"n-no.. there was.. *heavy breathing*.. a bear"

The boy followed her gaze and squatted by her side. He remained calm, and didn't say anything but handed her what seemed to be an elephant tusk.

No... A water container. As much as she wanted to avoid trusting him too easily, her throat was burning along with her lungs.

The taste of the water was so crisp and sweet, she almost finished the filled tusk.

She was about to smile and thank the beautiful boy in front of her, except she somehow found a knife against her throat.

She looked up at the boy, the sunlight hitting the drops on his face and tried not to swoon like the young girl that she was.

It's not sweat, she realized, its water. He was wet all over, even the hide of his bottoms were darkened with water.

He looks at her still with suspicion, "Who are you?"

"Im.. Im Sakura.." She wasn't quite sure if it would be proper to tell him of her tribe. Not until he made himself clear.

"Haruno Tribe." And she's shocked to find that he already knows this.

"How do you know me? Who are you?" She's a little frightened by his intense gaze.

He doesn't answer, however he does pull his knife back. "A girl like you wouldn't be about no man's land without others. Where are your tribespeople?" And he asks, his voice still trying to figure her out.

"No one else is with me. I'm alone." And she finally realises that she doesn't know her way home. The panicked look in her eyes must be evident but the boy does not comment on it.

"Alone?" Then he looks at her small figure. "You don't even look as if you've flowered yet. Who would let you go on about yourself?"

And she blushes at how bluntly he's observed her womanhood. It was true though. It was almost her thirteenth nameday and she still had not bled, her flat chest and child-like figure a clear indication of it. Unlike Ino, who was on her way to her blossoming breasts and curves.

"As if you're already a man." And she knows she's right because he has no fish bone piercing his right ear, or at least that was the usual tribe's culture as she knew it. And although he looked no more than 2 namedays older than her, he had very masculine lines to him.

He scowls and walks away. It's when he doesn't turn back that Sakura realises he's about to leave her there.

"Wait, no! Look, I'm sorry but I need to get home. I don't know the way."

He turns back long enough to frown at her and say, "trace back. Not my problem."

"What? You can't just leave me here. I'll die, that bear could be back.." she tries to get up but the pain from her scraped knees finally settle in. When the boy doesn't look back, Sakura does the only thing she could think of and starts to cry.

She doesn't plan it to work but she's scared enough to hope that maybe he'll take pity on her, but before he takes notice of her crying form, they hear a loud growl from the distance.

He looks at her, both their eyes in a sign of panic.

The moment is quite with loud fear until he finally speaks.

"Run" he says, just loud enough for her to hear. "This way."

Again, she finds herself trying to escape. She can hear it, the branches breaking faster than before behind her. At some point, the boy takes a firm grasp of her hand and pulls her along.

"You're too slow!" he yells at her. He stops and is about to pick up her small form when they hear the creature breathe heavily from the shadows.

They both freeze, frightened of what was next to come. When the creature makes its appearance, Sakura's more startled than ever because the creature is not a bear, it's a very large wolf. Hungry and growling, it had a beastly aura to it. Sakura looked into its eyes that seemed to be focused on the boy next to her, gripping her hand and slowly pulling her behind him.

"It's not.. an animal" Sakura whispers. And as soon as she does, the creature growls loudly one last time, and instead of leaping onto them, it leaps back into the shadows and disappears.

The two stand together, trying to steady the beating of their young frightened hearts. Sakura realises how fast the day had turned into night, it had seemed like only a while ago that she had left the village. Yet the sun was already setting by the peaks of the mountains in the distance. She looked at the boy whose eyes had closed still, his brows furrowed together.

"Thank you." She whispered. Not quite confident enough to talk any louder. "May I ask for your name?"

When he looks at her, he looks a little dazed. "what do you mean.. that's not an animal?" Yet again, he avoids her question.

"oh." In fact, Sakura wasn't really sure what she had meant by it either. "It was just.. a thought. I'm not really sure why I said it."

"The Haruno Clan.. your tribesmen.. you're known to be magi."

That was indeed true. Tsunade, from the old Senju Clan, was the oldest magi that ever lived. A witch of sorts. Ino's whole family, who were only a distant relative of the Haruno's, had the strange ability to possess others.

"Not all of us. Only some. Most are just creatures of the forest. Though I suppose we all have the blood of it. That might not be true either. Many have married into the tribe."

"And you?" He hadn't taken his eyes off of her. She almost forget how to speak.

"Me? Um.. I'm not sure yet.. I'm not.." She remembered his words from earlier and blushed. "..old enough yet."

He looked away smugly. "Probably don't have anything, you seem useless." He's about to walk away when she bursts with her words.

"Hey! I'm the Chief's daughter! Don't speak to me like that!"

When he look at her again, he's no longer teasing and he seemed a bit shocked. "You? You're the Chief's..? You.. you shouldn't be out so late. Not here."

"oh? Now that you who I am you suddenly care?" Sakura folds her arms like a childish snob.

"I don't care" he looks at her coolly. "but if you don't want to die, you should learn to take care of yourself."

"Can you.. can you at least take me back?"

He stares her down and she doesn't think he's going to answer until he says, "hn."

He pulls her by the hand he hadn't let go off, a little harder than necessary and states, "it's on the other side of the waterfall. If you become a burden, I'll feast you to the vultures."

She's not quite sure how confidently she trusts him anymore.

.

.

"Why are we stopping here?" she huffs. He had been dragging her for a long time, long enough for her to be feeling the real intensity of her wounds.

They had stopped by the waterfall that she had originally planned to get to and although she had started to get worried of the dark, she welcomed the break.

"I left my things here earlier." He went into the water towards the falls and disappeared behind it.

"Wow.. There's a cave behind there?" she asked, although she didn't expect him to hear her.

Maybe ill just dip in the waters till he's done.

So Sakura took off the soft shoes from her feet that had already been torn apart from the day's adventure and soaked herself into the icy waters, all the way to her shoulders. She was disappointed since she couldn't quite see the surrounding of trees and birds as she'd imagined.

She dipped her head in all the way and was swallowed by the peaceful calmness of the waters.

Sacred, the Women had said. "Some say the waters were blessed by the water goddess. She'll look over you and give you immunity and prosperity." Tsuande had said. But then she had scowled. "It's nothing but a curse Sakura. All magic is nothing but a curse."

So.. warm. She closed in on herself, like a fetus. Then she heard a sound, like a song. A soft melody she might have once heard.. so sweet.

Then a big hand pulled on her thin hide dress and pulled her out. "Time to go." He told her, his voice husky as ever. As soon as he looks at her, he looks away and leaves from the waters.

But Sakura takes her time to come out. He's got a shirt on, she notices. And a few weapons on him now. His mid length hair tied at the back. Then she realises that she can she him, that there is light emitting from somewhere.

But from where..?

"It's the water." He says. "Or maybe the plants in there. They shine under the moon." Is he reading my mind? She wonders.

She comes out of the waters and sees that he's right. The water emits a soft glow, a light blue so beautiful that she's almost glad for the events of the day that lead her to view this.

She realises how cold the night air had gotten. It, bitterly scratching at her skin. And how tired she was. And hungry. It must be the middle of the night.

"The moon is high. I'd like to get back before dawn breaks. Gather your things." He begins to lead the path. He hands her a small pouch which ended up containing tons of sweet berries.

"Back?" Sakura yells at herself inwardly for being selfish enough to not think about the boy, he must have a home too.

She plops another berry into her mouth. "I'm so sorry, your parents must be worried."

He seemed to go a little rigid.

"you.. do have parents?" She doesn't have to see his face to realize he's annoyed by her at this point. But he answers anyway.

"Yes. I do. But they won't be looking for me. Things are a little.. busy tonight."

"oh? How come?"

Again, he takes his time to answer.

"My brother.. it's his wedding."

"You.. you missed you're own brother's wedding? I'm so sorry" she grabs his arm from behind. "I truly am, you must be so angry at me."

He, however, just scoffs and walks on. "I don't care much for weddings."

"…don't care about it at all" he mutters under his breath.

Sakura realises at that moment that he still had not revealed much about himself. "W-wait a minute. You still haven't told me who you are. What is your name? At least tell me that."

"Sasuke."

Oh. Sasuke. That's..

"A warrior name. You're not from the southern tribes, are you?"

"hn."

Ok. Fine. no I guess.

"So, How did you know I was Haruno?"

He stopped to look at her. She could still view his face from the moon light. "You're marking" he pointed to the rings on her forearms, the vines on her shoulders now smudged, and the symbol of the priestess on side of her right arm at the top. The clear indication of a Haruno birth. "I was right. You're an idiot."

She was embarrassed how stupidly she had behaved in front of him. Her wits completely leaving her today. For the rest of the journey, she kept quiet. He didn't seem to mind.

.

.

.

.

By the time they had reached the outskirt boundary of her village, the sky was starting to break light and she could almost see the orange tint from ahead. The dawn always broke from the river side of the village, the other side.

While Sasuke was calm and stoic as ever, the journey had Sakura panting away. She moved forward to keep going but stopped when she realised he wasn't following.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

His eyes were straight on her. "Keep straight, there's a growing cherry tree."

"I know, my mother planted it after my birth."

He nods mindlessly. "I have to leave from here." He turns and she's about to call out when someone else calls her name instead.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto runs out of the trees in his regular hide clothing and orange features on his headpiece. "We've been looking for you everywhere, where've you-"

By the time Naruto reaches them, Sasuke is gone.

"Moonshine herbs? ARE YOU CRAZY!? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Tsunade sat by as Sakura performed her pile of chores around the magi's hut. "You are lucky I am not your parent. I would have punished you a lot worse than this."

"I just wanted to see the waterfall." Sakura mumbled.

"Why must you act like you're being oppressed in this village? You get the same treatment as many other young children, a young woman and you still push my boundaries. Why must you do that?"

"I won't do it again." Sakura mumbled yet again. Her voice lost after all the embarrassment of getting yelled at in front of the tribe.

"oh, I know you won't. Not unless you want to get mauled by a bear again."

Sakura looked at her quizzically. "I never told you about a bear."

"You're speaking to a witch Sakura. You didn't need to."

When Tsunade left, Sakura understood that the incident might have had a lot to do with the old hag then she let on but regardless, she was too afraid, too innocent, to want to go through leaving the village by herself again. At least, not that far.

As soon as Tsunade left, Ino walked in with her smug little face.

"Oh, hello, young one, I hear you had quite an adventure yesterday." Ino laid on the furry material by the corner of the hut, taking care not to spill any of the liquids around the place.

"oh please, you didn't hear anything." I haven't told anyone you pig.

"Well, you should tell me. You can't be gone all day, all night and not have any interesting stories."

As much as Sakura wanted to trust Ino with the story, if the tribesmen found out, they would have had her head. Being mauled by a bear would be preferable to having the company of another boy all night long. Her story only consisted of the bear and getting lost all night. If the tribesmen had not bought it, they hadn't voiced it.

Young Naruto never mentioned seeing anyone else with her either, and even if he had, she knew he wouldn't tell.

After all, her betrothed was always on her side.

.

.

.

.

As Sakura went to bed that night, she felt a searing pain in her lower abdomen and woke up to the sight of red in her bedding in the morning.

"A flowered woman now, Sakura" he mother had said. "No more foolishness."

No, mother, none. Sakura thought. But for years to come, she could not get those eyes out of her memory. His face as vivid as the first time she saw him.

For a whole year, she went to bed with his name on her lips, hoping to never forget it. The young blonde sharing her bed never taking notice. Not that Ino was ever really a light sleeper.

Sakura is young, the daughter of the Chief of the Haruno Tribe and she hopes that one day she may lay her eyes on what now felt like a long dream.

But after years pass, hope too passes.