Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the contents in it.
It was another boring night in the library. I was just doing the usual, searching for books on medical healing methods and herbs, hoping to find something new that I haven't read before.
My hand lightly brushed against each book's spiral, feeling each book's unique designs on it. Some were just smooth surfaces, while others were old with rough and fading ink, but every thing was the same, no new books. I passed the first row of shelf and walked to the next one, looking at the barcode table that was on it.
Something lying on the floor caught my attention and I picked it up. It was just an ancient looking book, pages already gone yellow and fragile. "Who would leave a book with such poor condition lying on the floor?" I muttered, gently smoothing the pages. I turned to the cover and in golden old English kind of text, the words wrote: 'Demons and Other Creatures of the Night'. "Hey, isn't this suppose to be in the fiction story book section, not the non-fiction one?!" But when I glanced down at the back of the book, there was no barcode.
"Is this even a library book?" I walked toward the check-out counter and handed it to the librarian, Mai. She eyed me sharply, glowering at the book I was holding. "Is that a book you're going to return?! I can't believe it's in such poor condition! Didn't you read the terms and condition about borrowing books?! You'll have to buy a new copy or pay for it!" People glanced my way, looking at the book I was holding. My face turned red with embarrassment as I tried explaining it to the old grouch.
"No, I found this book in the non-fiction section, and it doesn't have a barcode, so I was wondering if—" I stopped short when I knew it was no use trying to say it to her, so I decided to try next time when a KINDER librarian is on shift. With a few hand seals, I disappeared in a puff of smoke, teleporting back to my house.
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Sakura plopped onto her bed, scooting all her paperwork, notes and books to the side and opened the book. In faded ink, it wrote: 'To my dearest friends who were willing to demonstrate what the meaning of life was.' I frowned at the dedication note and looked at the author's name. Kana
I opened to the next page to find rows of cursive writing, diagrams and pictures. "This person seemed to put a lot of effort into this research she was doing," I said, flipping through the crumpled pages. Suddenly the phone rang, and I screeched out in surprise, ripping the page I was holding out, falling off the bed.
I cursed out loud, and walked over to the phone, putting it to my ear.
"Hello?" I speak into the mouth piece, irritated. This has got to be something good, or I'm going to kill whoever called.
"Hi Sakura, it's me! You're one and only best friend since 6!" I rolled my eyes, and grumbled something unintelligent.
"Isn't this the best time to call you?! I had perfect timing didn't I?" Ino yelled into the earphone excitedly. I pulled my ear away from the phone an inch and grimaced.
"Calm down, I can hear you almost half a mile away. What do you want?"
"There's a sleep-over party at Hinata's house in 1 minute! It's going to be girls' only! See you!" She clicked the phone off before I could answer.
"Bad habit, always telling me when I hardly have time…" I muttered, and walked back to the open book.
"Damn, how am I supposed to have this page glued or taped back into the book?" I said slipping to the page back to its spot and closed the book. I'll fix it after I come back; I thought and started randomly throwing clothes and other things into my backpack, ready to set off to the Hyuuga Estates.
"Mom, I won't be back till tomorrow!" I called into the kitchen. She waved to me and smiled, before disappearing back to the book she was reading.
When I opened the door, the cold night air blew at my face, and I shivered, closing the door to the warmth. Pulling my jacket tighter around me, I headed off into the deserted streets of Konoha.
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When I finally got there, there were lights on the only room in the main building's second floor. I knocked at the huge wooden doors of the entrance to the mansion, hoping Hinata would open it.
Hopes did not stay long.
Neji was the one to open the door. "Don't tell me you're going to HELP them to turn our whole estate upside down." He glared coldly at me, jerking his thumb at some people, screaming their head off, in front of the room's door. The wild music did only die down a little, and Ino's head popped out between the cracks she opened. "Sakura!!" She charged out of the room and leapt onto me.
"You took so long; I thought you'd never come!" She sobbed, pulling me toward the room. I barely caught a glimpse of Neji, muttering a string of curses, before closing the main door and walked the opposite way down the hall.
"Look! You missed all the fun! We had finished taking our baths each and changed into our pajamas and started the party! Hurry, and go get clean and change! We'll be waiting!" Ino yelled excitedly. Ten-ten was wearing a Chinese-style sleep wear, Hinata was in the Hyuuga's traditional yukata, which was a beige and wheat kind of color, and Ino was in a red tight shirt and shorts. I gave a weary smile before heading into the room's bathroom.
I turned off the hot water and slide the glass frame open, letting steam run loose around the room. I wrapped myself in a towel, quickly drying all over, to make sure not to get the floor wet. The floor was marble; such a smooth material for the floor was easy to slip on. Quickly, I dressed into a massive white shirt and black shorts, hidden under my top and tied my hair messily into 2 long pigtails. I grabbed my clothes and was going to head out when I heard a groaning sound, coming from outside the window. I pulled the curtains aside to find a dark figure, collapsed on to the ground, and making a pool of blood. Frantically, I opened the window and jumped out, landing softly onto the first floor's garden.
"Are you okay?" I asked, and let my chakra flow into my hands. Bright green glowed dimly, as I pressed my hands onto a severe wound on the left shoulder of the person. I flinched at the touch, surprised at the coldness. There was a sudden stir of movement and the body disappeared in front of me. I looked up find the person standing limply, with a bloody hand on the half healed shoulder. I realized it was a man, with long midnight color hair and bangs covering parts of his eye. He was in western clothing, a black suit and a long cape, billowing softly in the wind. I gasped when he blinked and returned to consciousness, showing dark blood red eyes, filled with hate.
I stood up and backed away, fearing I wasn't supposed to do that. His lips pulled back into a half snarl and grimace, showing white sharp teeth. "You shouldn't have done that," He hissed, in a surprising husky voice. "I rather die again than be damned by those slayers again. You will suffer for this!" Without warning, he charged at me, swiping his claws at me. I pulled my arms just in time to protect me, but I underestimated him. He had such amazing strength, even at a devastating state, making me skitter across the trimmed grass, and landing into the wall of the mansion.
I pushed myself up from the floor, body aching all over. I felt warm blood trickle down my forehead, but I ignored it and faced my opponent, not taking my eyes off him. I quickly formed hand seals, and hissed, "Doku, Gasu!" Poisonous purple gas came out of my mouth in one quick motion, but he jumped aside with ease. Taking this chance, I threw senbon needles at him, which was hidden inside my secret pouch, only getting a few on his wound again. He howled in pain and fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder.
I gave a weary smile, but didn't let my guard down just for a single hit finally. I got more out, aiming them this time at his heart. Just as I was going to throw, I stopped. I didn't know who this person was and I'm going kill him just after he tried attacking me. It didn't make any sense trying to just murder a complete stranger to me. I wouldn't even know if he was just another ninja from another country, or just a wounded traveler.
A sharp pain awoke me from my thoughts, and I realized he bit down into the flesh of my throat. I gasped, trying to pull away, but I felt blood draining from me. I was throbbing all over, feeling dizzy and weak. My eyes were starting to roll back, but with will power, I slowly pulled a poison tipped needle and aimed for his throat. He sees it coming and grasped my wrist, tightening until I heard a snap. I wanted to shriek in both pain and for help, but my mouth was dry and unwilling to open.
I was hopeless, just going to die out in the garden of the Hyuuga mansion. I still had dreams and goals that were not done, never going to. I wondered if Ino and the others would find out that I had just suddenly died outside with all my blood drained away. They would of course no nothing about this stranger that attacked me like a beast, sucking my life and soul away. I gave my final words to everyone I know: mother, Tsunade-sama, Shizune, All my friends and I couldn't bring my self to say Naruto's name, fearing the worst. I didn't want to leave the now almost gone Team 7, with only a student and sensei left.
As the last of my blood seem to drain away, I pulled my lips into a weak smile, wondering how cruel death would take me. There was suddenly the sound of the howling wind in my ears, and a sword slicing through the air, into the heart of my assailant's heart. My eyes couldn't hold any longer. Struggling for the last time to see who killed him, I only caught a glimpse of 4 hooded figures, closing up on me before my world goes dark.
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Boring? Confusing? Exciting? Please R&R! I take both comments and criticism!
-Tsuyu-sei