Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Village

"Sakura, you must run! Find your sisters and don't look back!" I watched in horror as my mother ran back into our flaming home to retrieve my father. Not only ours, but other houses were up in flames as well. They had come; they had come for my family, my friends, and ME. The hunters…..

I turned around and ran, tears staining my cheeks. I reached the forest within seconds.

"Ino! Hinata!! Tenten!!" I yelled. "Let's go!!" I watched as my sisters emerged from the underbrush, already in their fur. I crouched down and jumped into in the light of a full moon. I let the change take over and I hit the ground on all fours. I looked over at Ino. Her golden fur glistened in the moonlight as well as the flames of our old home.

She nodded at me, signaling she was ready to go. I then turned my gaze to my youngest sibling, Hinata. Her snow white eyes were laced with sorrow and tears streaked through her navy blue fur as she nodded slowly. I turned to my last sister, Tenten. Her chocolate-brown fur was bristled all down her back. She nodded stiffly once. I knew Tenten wanted to go back and rip the hunters throats out with her teeth, but if she did that would prove that we're exactly what they think we are: Monsters. I faced forward and we raced into the woods, leaving our old life behind.

My name is Haruno Sakura. I am a Loup-Garoux. My mother was leader of the Covenant. She led the pack, which unfortunately, was more than half the people that are now dead back in our little isolated village. (It's more like a town, but we call it a village.) For centuries, a female has lead the pack. Now that my mother is gone, it's my turn.

"Saku-Chan?"

I turned to my youngest as we continued to run.

"Yes, Hina-Chan?" I asked/whined.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

I thought for a moment. When I came to a decision, I spoke loud enough so the other two could hear me as well.

"We'll go to the city, Konoha in particular. We'll have to purchase a house and enroll in high school. We'll have to blend, girls." I heard many whines from Ino and Tenten. "I know, it'll suck. We won't be able to change as much and instead of hunting we'll have to get packaged meat from the store." I spat it out like it was poison. The girls nodded in understanding. I saw some city lights in the distance; how long had we been running?

When we reached the city limits we changed back. The sun was beginning to come up and more cars were in the street's now. As we walked, searching for a realtor business, I noticed the stares we were getting. I glanced at my pack: We looked like normal teenage girls, and we weren't the least bit dirty from running.

"Girls, let's find an ATM." I told them. They nodded, knowing what was going to happen.

Ino noticed one two minutes later, across the street. Without thinking, Hinata went to run across the busy road. I gasped; she had run right in front of a Z6-17 motorcycle!

"HINA-CHAN!!" I rushed forward, my eyes glinted an icy blue for a split second. I snatched my sister and barely pulled her out of the way as the bike grazed her skirt by a millimeter. The rider stopped once he was clear of us. I glared at him and he glared right back. I let my eyes change over to blue to show him what I was. The rider looked taken aback for a second, then his eyes shifted to the same color as mine. I gasped and he turned around and took off again. I caught a glimpse of red hair before he disappeared around the corner.

I looked down at Hinata: she had silent tears running down her cheeks. Hinata was only 16 compared to the rest of us; I had just turned 17 three days ago, and Ino and Tenten were both 16 and a half. The only thing was Hinata looked like a 12 yr old.

"I'm s-sorry, S-Saku- C-Chan…." She whimpered. I sighed as I pulled her over to the ATM. "Its ok, Hinata-Chan. You're safe. That's all that matters." I whispered to her. The others ran over to check on our youngest pack member. Once they were sure she was ok, I turned to Ino and gestured toward the machine.

"Do your thing, sis." I told her. She nodded and walked up to it. See, we each have a special 'power'. Ino can make a machine do just about anything short of living; Tenten can make weapons appear out of seemingly nowhere; Hinata can read minds and see things when her eyes are in state called Byakugan; And I…. I can shatter a building with just a flick of a finger.

I watched as Ino made it look like she was pressing buttons, when in reality she was just passing her hand over it. I smirked as hundred dollar bills started coming out.

"How much?" I asked as Ino finished collecting the bills.

"Enough for a nice 4 bedroom house, a car, 4 motorcycles, clothes, furniture, a pool, and groceries. Well, maybe a 5 bedroom and 2 cars, plus everything else, actually." Ino said slyly.

"Ino-Chan…. Exactly how MUCH did you get?" I asked. I eyed her suspiciously; Ino always had a tendency to go overboard….

" 4 million…." She answered.

….See? Told ya. I rubbed my temples. I could already feel a headache coming on.

'Kami-sama, help us….' I thought.

"Ok, let's find a house." I told them. I held out my hand to Ino. "Give it." She pouted but handed the money over none the less. I stuck it in my knapsack that was on my back.

We hopped on a bus to one of the more neighborly areas of the city. As we walked down the street, I noticed more stares.

'I bet it's because of my hair….' I glanced at my coral colored locks. I had to be one of the only people with natural pink hair that went past my ass. I'd gotten my hair from my mom, and my emerald eyes from my dad.

I was snapped out of memory lane when Tenten shook my shoulder. I looked back at her. "Look." She said. She pointed across the street and when I looked I saw a 'For Sale' sign. I walked over to it with the girls trailing behind me. The sign said it was a 6 bedroom, with a basement and an attic, and had an in ground pool. It was only about 22,000 dollars. I looked at my sisters and nodded. Ino handed me her cell and I called the number on the sign.

We had the house within 4 hours; the realtor hadn't counted on us having the money with us. She handed us the keys and left with an uncertain, but warm smile. I turned to my sisters.

"Now, today is Friday. We have today and the weekend to prepare for school. Right now, we're gonna go buy some provisions" They nodded in understanding. I continued. "after that, we'll split into 2 groups. I'll go with Hinata. Ino, Tenten. You'll take care of security and clothes. Hinata and I will take care of furniture and appliances. M'kay?" I finished. They nodded again.

Thankfully, there was a small supermarket down the street. Ino said she'd go to the mall for our clothes because she said that a little store like that wouldn't have our style. Tenten and Ino stuck around to help Hinata and I carry the groceries home. When we walked in, I heard the hum of the refrigerator.

"Wow, they got the electricity on pretty fast." Tenten said.

"I call master bedroom!" I yelled randomly. The others whined.

"Damn you, Sakura-nee-Chan!" Ino said. I laughed.

"Too bad. I'm oldest." I said triumphantly.

"Fine. Come on, Ino. Let's get going. It's almost 2:30." Tenten informed, as she drug Ino toward the door. I sighed and put my bag on again. I grabbed the keys and turned towards Hinata.

"Let's go Hina-Chan! We're gonna crack that shy exterior of yours with…. SHOPPING!" I cried dramatically. Hinata started giggling as we headed for the door.

I locked the door behind us and turned to see a blonde with 4 spiky pony tails in her hair. She smiled at me and stuck her hand out.

"Hi, I'm Temari." She said. I shook her hand.

"Haruno Sakura. This is my little sister, Haruno Hinata." I said.

"So you're the new neighbors? My 2 brothers and I live next door." Temari told me. She pointed at a tan house next door.

"Yeah my other 2 sisters are out shopping right now. Hina-Chan and I are going looking for furniture." I said.

"Aren't your parents supposed to do that?" She asked. I visibly winced and Temari saw. She caught on quick.

"Oh… Sorry. Me and my brothers don't have any parents either." Temari sympathized. I shook my head.

"It's ok. It's just hard being the oldest." I replied.

"Yeah being the oldest sucks sometimes. How old are you anyway?" Temari asked.

"I just turned 17 three days ago." I said. "I've gotta go, but I'll see ya later, ok? Ja ne!"

"Ok! Have fun! Ja ne!!" Temari waved as we walked off. I returned it with a smile, then I turned around and Hinata and I continued toward the bus stop.

"Sakura-onee-chan? Why did we leave so fast?" Hinata asked.

"She's a loup –garoux. I sensed one of her pack approaching." I answered. She made an 'Oh' movement with her mouth. Then the bus came. As I got on, I glanced back at Temari's house in time to see red hair walk through the front door, then the bus pulled away and I could no longer see them.