So here you guys go, chapter one of Hunted :D And I've decided that I'm probably going to keep these chapters pretty short, never more than about 3,000 words. But I hope to update pretty regularly and I'm hoping to get out somewhere between 15 to 20 chapters. We shall see. As always please review, like for real. More people put this story on their favorites than I had reviews... that's like cheating.

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I don't own Naruto... dammit :/

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Chapter One The Chase

My breath caught in my throat for the millionth time that day. I had just realized as I was running down the dirt road that if I were to remain going this way I was only making it easier on that pshyco and his family. I had to think in order to survive. I slowed down my pace slightly to scan my surroundings. What did it matter slowing down anyways? If I continued down this path, no matter my speed, he was going to catch up to me quickly.

I had to use my brain, and I had to assess the situation. Okay, so i didn't have any signal on my cell phone, I didn't have any signal on my cell phone, I didn't have any form of weaponry, and I was miles away from home. But I knew this land pretty well, seeing as I had lived here my whole life, and I was going to use that to my advantage. I knew that to my left, about one hundred yards away, there was the beginning of a forest that went on for about ten miles straight through. Unfortuanately though, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect inside. I looked quickly at my watch. Damn, it has already been five minutes. Looks like forest it is.

I broke into a full out run in the direction of the trees, hoping to put as much distance between me and the Uchihas as possible. Who would have thought such a respectable family would turn out to be a bunch of psychos? I mean, my dad worked for these people! Though I guess somehting about Sasuke had always seemed kinda off to me. But I had always figured that had something to do with how he had ended things with Ino.

Once I found myself in the forest, I realized a couple of things. It was quickly becoming dark, and if it got full on pitch black before before I got home, then I was sure to get lost. And also, it was slowly becoming fall, and lately the temperatures had been dropping pretty low at night. This would prove to b a problem, my thin grey cardigan was barely keeping me warm as it is. But it looks like I was just going to have to suck it up and keep running.

It was a few minutes later, by now I was in the heart of the forest, when I began to notice strange rustling noises, made by something far too big to just be a squirrel, and an overall feelling of despair. I was no longer on any position to ignore my gut instincts. I was being followed. It was now getting real, these people weren't joking. I was actually being hunted.

Did I feel fear? Hell yes, in fact I was panicking. Here I was, running through a forest, I could barely see because it was getting so dark. It was getting cold, and I was getting tired. And added to all of this was the fact that I was currently being stalked and hunted like prey. But I guess at this point I was prey.

Up ahead I could tell there was some sort of stream, maybe even a river, based on the sound of rushing water I heard. Maybe I can cross it and they'll be slowed down by so many of them having to cross as well. Then again I could just be helping them out more by doing that. I could fall in and be swept away by the current. Or worse get caught on something and basically just be sitting there waiting on them. But I have no idea how wide or long this thing is, and I don't want to take the time to find out.

I was nearing the edge of what looked to be a clearing, and I could clearly see that there was in fact a river cutting through. It looked to be about six feet across, and stretched on for as long as I could see in either direction. I was going to have to take my chances and jump it. When I broke through the lining of the trees I was met with a very unexpected sight. There were six guys, looking to range from about fifteen to maybe twenty-one or twenty-two, all turned facing me in shock as I skidded to a stop. We stared at each other for a few seconds before I decided that I had no idea who they were, and for all I know they were with the freaks chasing me. Then, just as I had come to that conclusion, two of the said freaks came into the clearing. In the second it took me to look behind me, I noticed that one was Itachi, snarling and hissing in a predatory stance, and the other was someone I had never seen before in a similar position.

Upon realizing they were so close, I once again turned to run, only to be stopped by one of the guys. He took ahold of my shoulder and pulled me around so that he was standing in front of me shielding my veiw of the two Uchihas.

"You have no right to be here, Uchihas", the guy said dangerously, literally spitting out the last word. Itachi hissed at hearing this, and the guy who was blocking me growled back in response. I stepped back in shock at hearing it, it sounded so much like a dog that it shocked me.

"You will stay out of this, Inuzuka."Itachi was now circling around trying to get a better look at me. His once deep onyx eyes were now completely red. The guy, who Itachi had called an Inuzuka, noticed how he was trying to get a better look at me and continued to shift so that he stayed in front of me at all times.

"Whatever it is you want with this girl, you are just going to have to forget about it. She is on my land, and therefore I have say as to what happens to her."Itachi merely laughed at this.

"But you see, we won't forget about it. She is this season's chosen prey. We will stop at nothing to get her." All the guys, who I had come to realize didn't mean me harm, looked at me shocked at hearing what Itachi said.

"There will be no hunting on my land. And because you chose to do so I have it within my rights to revoke your stake on her as prey."Itachi's eyes began to narrow.

"You wouldn't do that, dog filth,"Itachi snarled,"In order to exersize that right you would have to place her under your permanent protection, and the moment she was no longer under your care, we would know."

"I don't agree with your family's ways and you know it. You were the ones stupid enough to act this way on Inuzuka land, and I will not allow you to hurt the girl."

"I will not let you take her, she is our prey.",and with that Itachi immediantly lunged out to the Inuzuka, said Inuzuka then pushed me roughly a few feet behind him. At once two others stepped in front of me. I looked between the two at the sight of Itachi and the Inuzuka going at each others throats with bared teeth, clawed hands, and animalistic expressions on their faces. They seemed pretty evenly matched, each pouncing at one another, kicking,and punching.

The Inuzuka was able to grab Itachi and sling him into a tree, where he then ran up to the tree in a speed that was completely impossible in my mind, only to continuously bash the Uchiha's head into the tree. All Itachi seemed to be able to do was grab ahold of the Inuzuka's wrist as he took the beating. I looked to the left to see that the other Uchiha was looking hopeless as three of the Inuzuka's companions blocked him off. Whoever these guys are, they are insainly strong. I mean just look at them, they're all muscle! And the shortest one is no less than six foot. What the hell? I'm just glad they are on my side.

They continued at this for another minute before a loud call sounded from somewhere in the forest, causing both Uchiha to stop and turn their heads in the direction it was coming from. At this the Inuzuka who had been the one doing the talking nodded to the three blcking the other Uchiha, and they all stepped back. Once they were free to go, the two Uchiha did not hesitate in getting out of there as fast as they could. I had now finally stood, just as all six of my now saviors turned to look at me. Oh my god, okay so these guys are pretty intimidating too. But at least they haven't tried to attack me, in fact I don't even know them and all they've done is save me.

I got nervous as the one who had dealt with Itachi made his way over to me. He was pretty huge. He was about six foot, two inches, and he had very broad shoulders. Though he wasn't as stocky as the others, something about him made him seem the scariest.

"Hey, little one, it's okay now, we'll take care of you.", he said softly kneeling so that he had to look up at me slightly. I figured he was trying to not frighten me. He had longish brown hair, that was messy in the good kind of way, dark brown eyes, and red triangular markings on his cheeks. What suprised me though was how young he looked now that I payed attention more to his face. He was about my age, maybe a year older.

"Who are you?,"I was really curious as to why I had never seen any of these guys before. Our town really wasn't really all that big, so I doubt I could miss seeing a bunch of guys who looked like them. The guy laughed at my blunt question. I noticed something about his laugh really calmed me down. It's like I just knew that I had no reason to fear him.

"My name is Kiba Inuzuka, little one, what's your name?," Why was he treating me like Is just a child, yeah I'm only sixteen and I'm young, but it's not like I'm five or something.

"Sakura Haruno, and what's with... what just happened?,"I questioned him. I mean, I go from some guy telling me that him and his family are going to hunt me to having these six unknown guys basically chasing two of them off. It was a little confusing to say the least.

The guy,Kiba, looked at me for a minute before answering. He sighed a bit and looked up to the sky as if saying 'Here we go.'

"First tell me how much you know, little one." I looked at him strangely, it would seem that in the short time that we knew each other he had already taken to giving me a nickname.

"All I know is that that one guy, Itachi, was following me on my way home. When I confronted him about it, he started telling me things about some game his family plays, and how his brother, Sasuke, thought that I was the perfect candidate for their game. When I asked him why he was following me he said it was to see if his brother was right, and he told me that he thought so," here I paused at the looks passing among the group of guys,"then the next thing he says to me is that he's giving me a twenty minute head start to get going. Apparantly him and his family find it more interesting when their...prey... have the upper hand."I gulped at having to refer to myself as prey.

The other guys seemed to notice this, and they all gave me a sympathetic look. Kiba on the other hand, had a pissed off look on his face and he growled out,"Those fucking sick bastards!" I flinched at his sudden anger and his face softened when he noticed my reaction.

"Sorry, but those guys are really messed up in their heads. But you don't have to worry about that anymore, because I'm alpha here, and I've made a vow to protect you", he gave me a reassuring smile as he stood up to his full height. Alpha? What the hell is he talking about? He must have noticed the confused look on my face because he then said,"Come on little one, we need to take you to the rest of the pack. Then we'll explain everything to you."

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Well here you guys go, I hope you like it because I'm enjoying writing it so far. The next chapter will fully explain who the Inuzuka's are, who the Uchiha's are, and just a whole bunch of other information like what Kiba means by being Sakura's chapter's whole chapter's purpose was really just meant to introduce Kiba to Sakura. Well, thanks for reading and please leave a review if you will :D