The sweat from her brow rolled down the side of her face. She hauled the bag into can and turned around, going back the way she came. She didn't mind chores. She didn't mind making meals and washing the dishes. She didn't mind cleaning up around the house or tending to the garden. She didn't mind the everyday hardships. She did mind her brother not taking out the trash. That was his chore, his only chore. It wasn't that hard and he only had to do it twice a week. She chewed her lip, a habit she had had since she was a one year old. A bounce was in her step, her energy wasn't gone yet. She knew by the end of the night she would be like the living dead, though.

Inside her house, she looked around. It was almost as if no one was lived there. In other words, her house was tidy and that's just the way she liked it, neat and clean. The wooden floors were shined and polished. The brown, leather loveseat and couch sat perfectly still. The coffee and end tables were dusted. She walked past it into the foyer and turned right. Finally, she made it to the kitchen and set the boiling pot on low. Her attention was focused on the basil in the spice cabinet when something darted past the kitchen door way, making her abruptly turn her head. Her brother was on a mission, so it couldn't be him. She walked into the hallway, nervously.

"Dad?" Well, that's the only other person it could be, her mother was too short. Even though she didn't get an answer, she knew someone was there. It wasn't her imagination.

She walked to the foyer but there was no one around. A chill ran up her spine as she turned around. Nothing. Hearing a cold whisper, she looked at the front door. The door she had just come through. There. It was big. It was black. It was smoky and it was floating closer to her. She gasped and began to move back. What is that? It was like nothing she had ever seen. Like the creature in her nightmares from so long ago. She tried to scream but it was caught in her throat. She blinked vigorously as tears began to swell up. A glowing green ancient symbol flashed before her, making her blink harder. The being lunged for her but missed. She ran up the stairs to her parents, tears started to fall. If she got to them everything would be okay. She just knew it.

"Daddy," she whispered. She grabbed the handle and pushed her way in but she pushed too hard; she fell but she managed to kick the door shut and crawl next to her parents futon. The girl hugged her knees and rocked.

"Daddy?"

She, suddenly, felt hot liquid dripped in her hair. Whatever it was, it was thick. That's when she noticed the smell. The smell of something rotting. She looked up to a bloody arm and her eyes widened. She popped up. They were dead. Her mother's hair was matted and blood-stained. Her tongue was missing from her naked body and her legs were missing. She had hand marks running up and down the sides of her stomach. The girl covered her mouth as she looked over her father. His eyes were gone; his intestines spilled onto the futon and his limbs were shattered. Flies swarmed over his stomach. The young female could feel the contents of her lunch rising in her throat, threatening to spill onto the floor.

This time it didn't get caught, she let out a blood-curdling scream. Then she heard the handle, "No." She shook her head when the window caught her attention. It couldn't end like this. What was going on? She looked back at the handle before making her decision. It was too late for her parents, but not for her. She would survive. Smoke seeped under the door as she climbed out the window. The girl pulled herself up onto the roof, using more strength than she thought it would take. She swung her right leg on the rooftop and used her left to kick off the side of the house which sent her rolling on the roof. She pushed herself up and began to move around the side of the roof when it appeared. Looking out, she could see the whole neighborhood.

"Sakura, get down from there! I'm going to tell your father!" Mrs. Beyon, the nosy neighbor from next door. Go ahead, he's dead, she thought. She moved around to the front of the house and her eyes widened. Each one of her neighbors, dead. It was as if she was in their houses. An image of one would come and then fade with another person right behind it. Each one of them died a horrible death and she was the one to see it all. She turned to look down at Mrs. Beyon. The old woman had a picket going right through her mouth. She became overwhelmed and lost her footing; she fell and screamed as she went down.

Miles away, in the village market, everything froze. A young man around eighteen with red-brown hair and blue eyes stood still. He heard her scream and his heart stood completely still.

"Sakura," he whispered. He looked at his squad leader. "It's my sister, I have to go."

"You're not going anywhere, Haruno. Not until we report to the hokage." It was protocol to report when you return from a mission. Sabuto was not about to be stopped. His sister needed him. The boy didn't listen, he pushed people his way.

"Stop him!" His squad leader couldn't believe what he was seeing. He never had a problem with Haruno. Not ever.

Asuma and Iruka, two ANBU, got in his way. If Ibiki was telling them to stop him, then something wasn't right. Ibiki was one of the best squad leaders. Iruka had recognized this one, though. It was Haruno Sabuto. They had never had a problem with him before. Sabuto felt a chill go down his spine and froze. Oh no. It appeared to him. The thing that haunted him. It was what he and his mother had been running from. It had found him. He felt as if he were going to hyperventilate, he was breathing so fast. He could feel his throat closing up and his neck muscles tightening. The young man's eyes glowed red. He saw it. The black figure was coming closer. It lifted him off the ground. It filled his lungs. He began to choke. His face turned red and it shook. Sakura, run, he thought. It was all he could think about. His head started to swell and it burst within a matter of seconds. Brains and blood flew everywhere. The headless body dropped to its knee and fell forward. The crowd has stopped its flow in pure shock and horror. Iruka looked at the body with wide eyes. He looked at Asuma, what the hell just happened?!

Two young men and a young woman pushed through the crowd. One had dark brown hair and brown eyes with tanned skin. The other had blond hair and brown eyes. The young woman had black hair with blue eyes. Upon seeing the body, she screamed.

"No! No, not Sabuto! No!" She flung herself out of despair and agony at the headless man. "What happened?!" She cried.

"Do you know him?" Asuma asked the to teenaged males. It was obvious the girl knew him. The tanned one nodded.

"I am Kai, his cousin. This is Hippu, his friend. Nala is - was - his fiancé." He looked at the body and gulped. "What happened?"

Iruka looked away, "We don't know."

"Bullshit!" Hippu yelled. Asuma glared.

"He said we don't know." His tone was dangerously low, "If we knew something or we did something we wouldn't need to hide it from you."

Kai stared into the distance, his hair waved into his face. He ignored the cries of Nala and the growls of Hippu.

"If anything happens to me, take care of Sakura, Okay?" He could see Sabuto's gentle smile. He always did have that cheery glow.

"If anything does happen no one will be able to explain it. That's for sure."

Kai felt it. The sudden and desperate urge to get to Sakura. He jumped over the body and sprinted towards the house of the Harunos.

Underground, miles away from the house, the young Haruno girl ran. She was in the sewer and it was following her. The smell assaulted her nose and made her stomach turn but it was better than being dead. She was moving swiftly through the dirty water but she still tried to remember a land mark here and there. There was nothing worse than getting trapped in a maze until you ran into your doom. So far, so good. She felt a push of smoky, cool wind. It was close. She gasped as she felt a hand grasp her ankle, making her trip on her hands and knees; now she was covered in who knew what. The girl felt a foot on her back pushing her deeper into the water. She gasped for air when it grabbed her hair, forcing her head backwards. It was dark but she could see the outline of the kunai coming down for her neck. She pulled her head forward, tearing out some of her hair while the kunai cut the rest. This was her chance. She swam as quickly as she could. She would not die today.

He was completely satisfied with the way things turned out. He tossed up the bag, only to catch it. Hearing the sound of his yen, made him smirk. Looking in his Bingo Book, he checked off his reward's name. Poor fellow. Not that it was his problem. He had stuck to dark alley ways because this was a ninja village and he wouldn't want to be recognized. He was passing a certain alley when he heard the noise of moving iron. The sewer hole. He quickly hid behind a wall and watched. A smaller than average child climbed out. She crawled on hands and knees to a corner. That's odd. He didn't remember sewer children in Konaha. After watching her for a few seconds, he decided to leave when she gasped. She was staring at something in front of her but there was nothing there.

"No," He had heard her say. "Stop, please!"

On the other side of the building, he could see a brown haired man. He turned his attention back to the girl when she screamed. Something was pulling her leg, but there was nothing there. Yet he could see the imprint of a hand on her leg. Her hand went out in front of her and a bright light blinded him of a few seconds. Silence. When he opened his eyes, there was blood, guts and pieces of a beast that wasn't there before. Impossible. The girl, she did this? A brown blur came around the corner opposite of him. It was a man younger than the first.

"Sakura," He fell to his knees, "Sakura are you okay?"

She didn't say anything but he didn't seem to let that worry him so much. He picked her up and held her in one arm; with his free hand he threw half of the black beast's head in a bag. Forcing chakra in his feet, he climbed the wall and began to run across the rooftops.

Wind swirled around her. She saw the civilians down below and as she neared the hospital she got a sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Back in the alley, the man stared at the bloody parts of the monster that was just here. That was invisible. That was after the girl. He grabbed the claw and tail of the beast and put it in his Bingo bag. He picked a tooth off the ground and examined it, shiny black.

"Leader-sama will find this..." he put the tooth in his pocket, "interesting."