A/N: Thanks for those who've reviewed! This chapter just got so long I had to split it in half! Enjoy!


Chapter II

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By: Hoozuki

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Along the Way

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"I won't deny there's some big changes coming down the road."—Rick Higgins

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Three Months Later…Tanigakure

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"Sakura-chan!"

Quiet ringing and silence was the only reply.

"Sweetheart?"

The woman's voice rang stridently throughout the large mansion until it became still once more. The woman stood at the foot of her winding staircase worriedly. A butler came from the living room with a question in his eyes. She shook her head 'no' while giving a slight wave of her left hand to say, 'It's okay.'

The woman's name was Fujioka Akino, formerly Hakurei Akino, younger sister to Haruno Mebuki, and aunt of Haruno Sakura. She was in her mid-twenties with blonde hair and blue eyes. Akino took in her young and only niece after hearing about the accident in the village at Sound. She has been worried for Sakura ever since the child arrived two and a half months ago: whether she'll get along with the other children at her new school; living in a bigger city like Tani; or if she likes her aunt and her uncle. She has never had her own child, so she was absolutely happy to take in her orphaned niece; but she never realized how hard it would be to connect to a child who had lost her entire family in a single night.

Sighing dejectedly, Akino climbed the long flight of stairs until she reached the second floor. The couple lived in a three story mansion—she was a successful television journalist while her husband was a well-known CEO of Fujioka Corps. Though she was always gone most of the time, Akino tries to spend as much time with Sakura as she can. Taking a left turn and down the hall, passing three doors when she stopped in front of her niece's door on her right, Akino tentatively raised a closed hand to knock on the wood.

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

Of course, no reply was given. She could hardly get the twelve-year-old to talk about her likes and dislikes; what made her think Sakura would answer the door? Softly, she turned the shiny silver knob, opening the door cautiously. Peeking through the crack, blue eyes saw a clean pink room with nothing out of place. The only thing missing was her pink-haired ward. Letting out another breath, the young woman went to the third and last floor where she knew the child would be hiding out if she wasn't in her room. On the third floor was a large balcony in the lounge room; however, the only way to get to the balcony was to climb through the skylight. Upon entering the lounge room, she scanned across the large space for the twelve-year-old. Lo and behold, sure enough—the skylight was open and the ladder was pulled down. As soon as she managed to climb through the narrow opening, she whipped her head here and there to see if her niece was anywhere in sight.

'Of course, she's not going to be anywhere I can spot her,' Akino grumbled inwardly, finally managing to get onto the roof. Steadying herself, Akino crawled up on the other side of the roof to see strands of pink hair flying. Sighing in relief, she made her way over to the child where all she saw was the girl's back, facing away from her.

"Did you need me, Akino-obasan?" came the quiet muffled question.

Akino halted halfway from patting the child's head, suddenly feeling anxious. She didn't know why, but she always felt intimidated by her niece's quiet demeanor. Withdrawing her hand, she resigned herself to sit beside the child. "No, not really," she answered lightly with a bright smile. "I just wanted to spend some time with my niece." Her blue eyes briefly glanced at the little girl's unmoving form, sensing that she didn't want to talk. Smiling sadly, Akino, all of a sudden, felt a wave of unhappiness she's been trying to keep in for weeks as she finally placed her hand gently on Sakura's arm.

In contrast, Sakura had narrowed her gaze to small slits at the unexpected contact. With gritted teeth and fisted hands, she suffered through the ordeal, getting the impression that her aunt needed the comfort. Though she tolerated it a bit, the abrupt contact surprised her since she made sure to never touch or let anyone touch her. Feeling the pat has lasted long enough, Sakura placed her hand over her aunt's to move it. Naturally mistaking it for prolonged touch, the woman gripped her hand with more force than necessary, causing the girl to wince.

"Akino-obasan…you're hurting my hand," the child managed to ground out before pulling her hand back swiftly.

The blonde blinked, slightly startled and embarrassed. "Ah, gomen ne, Sakura-chan," she apologized while wiping her tears. "It's just hard to know that I won't see my sister again. I'm sure you feel just as sad since your mother told me how close the two of you were." Because Akino was busy dabbing her eyes to keep from ruining her makeup, she didn't notice the deadly glare aimed her way.

Lowering her head to hide her anger behind a curtain of hair, Sakura parted her lips to murmur almost silently, "When did Okaasan say this?"

Stopping in the middle of her task, her aunt had to think back when the conversation happened. "Eto…I think a couple of days before the accident," she answered absentmindedly, completely oblivious to her niece's behavior. "Sakura-chan? Doushita no?"

Without answering, the child stood up promptly, gracefully walking back to the skylight with no trouble unlike her aunt. She avoided looking at her aunt's eyes; the resemblance to her mother was too much to bear, especially how kindly the woman treated her. It made her wonder why she wasn't born into this family instead. Although, she couldn't say the same thing for her uncle who was only home twice or thrice a month which she was completely fine with. If it was only just her aunt and herself, she would've been fine with the situation; but, that man was like the men in her village. She just never liked it when he was home.

Just as she was about to jump down, her aunt's voice stopped her. "Sakura-chan, I know I haven't been the greatest aunt, not visiting you and all," she said nervously. "But you'll tell me if something's bothering you, won't you? Like if I'm too annoying or if your uncle's being mean?"

For a long moment, Sakura didn't react, debating whether the woman was being sincere or not. Then, without a word, she went back to kneel before the woman (it felt like Akino was staring at her older sister with those similar bright green eyes). The child, for the first time, initiated contact by placing her right hand over her aunt's heart. Pushing past the normal sounds of heart beats, Sakura concentrated on reading her heart's desire. By doing this, she could tell what the person was hiding and if their intentions were pure or not. Feeling no malice in her heart, Sakura slid her hand up to cup the woman's face while moving so that her lips were by her ears.

"Akino-obasan," she started, feeling the woman tense up. "You are the kindest person I've met…demo, there are some things that need to be kept in the dark or they'll destroy you."

The blonde's brows furrowed in trepidation, her words repeating in her head like a broken record. "Sakura-chan—" she was stopped when her niece's hand moved to the back of her head, keeping her in place.

"Onegai…onegai…don't come out of your room tonight," she pleaded, her voice coming out in a tiny whisper. "Whatever you hear, please, just stay in bed." And then there was only the whistling wind whipping around them.

Akino tried to turn her head to look at the girl's expression, but she had a firm grip on her. What Sakura told her had left her anxious and alarmed. 'I mean, how am I supposed to respond to something like that?' she thought with exasperation. After what seemed like ages as Akino wrestled with her thoughts, the child finally let go and disappeared down the skylight, leaving her aunt to contemplate her message.

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As soon as Sakura dropped from the opening, she whipped around, sensing someone behind her with a sinister aura. Out of instincts, her powers seeped out, and picked up a letter opener on a nearby table behind the person to strike. Once seeing and realizing who it was, she stopped the letter opener from going through the person's neck. She narrowed her eyes, her cautious demeanor returning as she burned holes into the man's skull.

Seeming not to sense her disgust towards him or the letter opener currently drifting in the air behind his neck, the man—a handsome brunette with brown eyes—uncrossed his arms with an amicable smile. He took two big steps and was in front of her, placing his hand underneath her chin to raise her gaze.

"How has my favorite niece been since I last saw you?" he asked smoothly, his voice pleasant and sweet enough to make candies melt. When he received no reaction from the girl, his head tilted upwards to the open skylight, and looked back down to see her eyes shifted elsewhere. Her uncle had leaned down to put his lips by her ear just as she had done to her aunt earlier—although, instead of feeling pity, Sakura wanted to rip the man's intestines out for the revulsion he always made her feel. He smirked, knowing she'd stiffen at his proximity to her. "I hope you've been behaving yourself while I was away. I wouldn't want you to hurt my wife now."

Green eyes were covered by tightly clenched lids while hands turned into hardened fists. In her current situation, Sakura know she couldn't utter a word of rebellion. If she did, all her work of keeping the village incident a secret would go to waste. Opening her eyes to glare at the man called her uncle again, Sakura resigned herself to his tortures in order to keep her aunt happily unaware of the situation. Her teeth then grinded loudly, seeing his smug grin. 'Calm down,' she urged herself. 'Now is not the time.' The letter opener at that moment lowered back on the table from where it came.

Lifting a brow at her angry expression, her uncle let out an even wider smile. "Unless you want me to tell her who really killed her beloved sister?" he questioned innocently.

Hatred flashed across her green orbs as she wrenched her face free of his grip, and stomped away. As he followed her small, disappearing figure, his tongue came from its place to moisten his suddenly dry lips. A moment later, Akino could be heard grunting when trying to climb back down from the skylight. Watching her struggle, he went over to assist his wife until she was on the floor, and pulled the latch close.

Whipping around, Akino lifted her brows in surprise. "Arai! When did you return?" she inquired, not expecting him to be home until late tonight.

Arai gave his wife a quick peck on the lips, smiling brightly. "I wanted to surprise you and Sakura," he replied, taking her hand in his, leading them back down to the main floor.

Upon hearing her niece's name, Akino's face contorted to one of worry and anxiety. "I'm concerned for Sakura-chan," she told her husband, looking up at him. "Has she talked to you about anything?"

Arai shook his head 'no.' "She doesn't really talk to me much." The two stopped by the kitchen; Akino kissed her husband, and went on to make dinner with Sakura's words still ringing in her ears.

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Dinner was rather quiet and uneventful as the Haruno child quickly ate and went back upstairs. Akino sighed, washing the dishes since the maids and butler went home for the night. Absentmindedly, she had been scrubbing the same spot for ten minutes without realizing it while she tried to decipher the meaning of her niece's cryptic message. 'Don't come out of my room whatever I hear tonight…' she repeated in her mind over and over. Even when she was done with the chores, went to bed, and laid there staring at the ceiling, the phrase reiterated itself nonstop. 'What did she mean?!'

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On This Path

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It was around ten when Sakura had locked the door to her bedroom, and jammed the doorknob with the back of her desk chair. After making sure it was secure, Sakura quickly grabbed her backpack and duffle bag from the closet, and started loaded thing like extra clothes, undergarments, and toiletry. In her backpack, she carefully took a vase—which she had the lid taped down securely, so the contents inside wouldn't spill—off the bookshelf across the room and placed it gingerly at the bottom of the sack stuffed with more clothing to cushion it. Then, going back to her closet, Sakura bent to the second to last drawer—pulling it out quietly and slowly—and took out the socks and lifted the false bottom where a small stack of large bills of cash sat in the far left corner. Then money came from her parents' stash before she abandoned the village. Once everything she needed was jammed into the two bags, Sakura changed into warm clothes suitable for easy traveling and wore tennis shoes that made it easier to walk and run.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura stood by the open doors of the balcony and stared back into the room she spent living in the past two and a half months. The pink floral wallpapers, the lace curtains, the ruffled bed skirts, and the tulle canopy: Sakura already knew whose room this was meant for and pitied her aunt. The room was made for a child lost before it even had the chance to breathe. Akino had a still birth, losing her baby at seven months. So when she had the excuse to finally use her baby room, Akino was more than ecstatic to see someone occupy the space. Letting out another sympathetic sigh, Sakura jumped down from the balcony and began making her way to the gates in front, and finally off the Fujioka residence.

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On the Right Track

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Akino suddenly woke up in a sweat, her stomach churning uncomfortably. Seeking immediate comfort, the blonde turned to her right, feeling for her husband only to find a coldness that should've been warmth. She looked around frowning, and saw a crack in the doorway.

"Whatever you hear, please…don't come out!"

Her body gave a jolt as her hands gripped the comforter strongly when the words practically raised alarms through her head. Her eyes went back to where her husband was supposed to be. She bit her bottom lip in uneasiness. It's not like she didn't trust him, but she had a feeling that he was the cause of Sakura's strange behavior. Resolutely, Akino quietly placed her feet on the wooden floor, swallowing the lump in the throat while making her way to the slightly opened door. She prayed that her gut was lying to her, and it was just her mind screwing with her when she peeked out the door. What she saw made her insides froze and her fingers twitched on the door knob. Her husband was trying to get into Sakura's room, cursing as he did so. Finally, he gave up and was headed to their bedroom. Akino panicked considerably, wondering what she should do. Then, at the last minute, she opened the door, stepping out in the dimly lit hallway.

Aria stopped in his tracks, shock clearly evident on his face. His surprise was quickly replaced with a frown, though. "Akino, what are you doing up?"

"I thought I heard something," she responded sleepily, watching as he looked visibly relieved. "Anything wrong?"

"Just went to my office to check on some paperwork I forgot."

"Oh…sou ka."

Aria lifted a brow. "Are you okay?"

"Un…just tired is all," she replied quickly, then feigned a yawn. "Coming?"

Her husband shook his head. "I just have to take care of more paperwork," Arai stated, turning back to stare at the girl's door, and then looked back at his wife with a small smile. "Just go back to bed, sweetheart; I'll be there as soon as I'm done."

The woman nodded, watching the brunette walk off in the direction of his office. She went back inside their bedroom, sitting numbly on the mattress. What was she supposed to do now? How was she supposed to stop him from hurting her niece? Akino let out a frustrated groan into her hands.

Bam!

Looking through her fingers, a blonde brow lifted in curiosity at the sound of a shutting door. She waited for a moment to hear any more sounds, but none came. It was silent again—nothing followed the slamming door, causing her suspicions to rise. Getting up from the bed, she swiftly went over to the large window on the other side of the room just in time to see her husband disappearing into the woods surrounding their land. Her heart sank; running to Sakura's room, Akino shook the doorknob finding it locked. Crying out in frustration, she ran back to get the key to the room, successfully unlocking it until she went to open it and it wouldn't budge. With determination and adrenaline driving her, Akino slammed into the door until the knob broke off. Instantly, she was greeted by the frigid cold air as she stared at the open balcony doors. 'Sakura!'

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On the Way

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Konoha City…Midnight…

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Creak!

Sasuke woke up to the sound of the wooden floors creaking outside his bedroom and sat up quickly. Two months of training in, and he was already aware of his surroundings; not that he wasn't before he chose to go to the Academy for shinobi and kunoichi instead of a civilian school. Getting up from his bed, he softly made his way over to his door, opening it in time to see his older brother trying to sneak into his own room. But the older boy stopped half way when he noticed his younger sibling.

"Can't sleep Sasuke?" Itachi asked, walking into Sasuke's room.

The twelve-year-old shook his head, dropping down on his bed with a plop! "Not really—I'm anxious for my test tomorrow," he answered as an arm draped over his eyes. "You? You're home pretty late; work stressing you out?"

"You can say that…"

The boy looked at his older with a fine brow lifted.

Itachi sighed. "Kakashi-san and I were sent to investigate a village disappearance, trying to find something—anything—on it…but we got nothing," he explained. He leaned on the door frame while rubbing his temples to get rid of the ache there. His dark eyes opened to stare at the same pair of eyes as his. His little brother was sitting on the edge of his bed, now interested. Itachi chuckled quietly at his brother's behavior as he moved to sit beside him. Placing a hand on his head affectionately, he asked, "Sasuke, why did you join the Academy instead of going to a regular school?"

A brow rose at the inquiry. "Because I wanted to be a shinobi like you," Sasuke answered like it was obvious, and then added, "Besides, civilian schools don't teach you how to defend yourself as well."

"Not because of Otousan?"

"No," he answered quickly. Then added, "Now tell me what else happened while you were away."

The eighteen-year-old nodded idly. "Hai, hai," he said casually, but dropped his gaze to the ground, suddenly serious. "The people outside the village said the disappearance happened three months ago, but…"

Sasuke leaned forward in curiosity. "But?"

Obsidian orbs narrowed. "But…there was no sign whatsoever that the village even existed. It seems as if it was just…erased."

"You said three months ago right?" the younger Uchiha asked thoughtfully while Itachi nodded. Sasuke looked at his brother with that same look of restlessness that the older sibling recognized that night. "It happened the night I had that strange feeling. What do you think is going on, Nii-san?"

Itachi took in a lungful of air, exhaling it completely a moment later. "I'm not sure, but I know it has something to do with that village."

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Down the Road
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Sakura groaned, feeling groggy and a numbness throughout her body. Her head was swimming nauseatingly; and as she tried to take in the surroundings, the entire room just seemed to spin. Groaning again, the child closed her eyes firmly, attempting to acclimate herself and remember what had happened. It was a few seconds later when everything came rushing back.

Flashback…

'Shimatta!' she swore inwardly when a branch swung back in her face, cutting and leaving a mark on her cheek. Tenderly, she touched the cut and hiss at the stinging sensation. Bringing her attention back to the task at hand, Sakura glared at the black silhouettes of the trees before her, trying to figure out which way to go. She closed her eyes a moment before moving forward with a string of profanities. She cursed her aunt for living so far in the woods and away from society. 'Damn privacy! This is how people get killed!'

Snap!

She paused in the middle of stepping over a fallen tree and listened to the leaves. The woods were suddenly quiet: no crickets, no skittering of night animals, no sounds whatsoever. Pink brows furrowed cautiously, not liking the sudden tense atmosphere. Shifting carefully, she quickly hid in a large bush while pulling out a hunting knife she had taken from the workshop behind the house a few days ago. 'Did he already realize it?' Her eyes narrowed at the thought, and had no doubt that he was probably on the way to find her. He always came at the right time to 'check on her.' She clicked her tongue in irritation and bitterness. Eyes darted left to right several times in suspicion. Slowly, the twelve-year-old backed out of the bush, wary to not make even a single crunch.

Ba-bum!

Sakura stiffen suddenly even though her mind screamed for her body to run. Her green eyes widen; the hairs on the back of her neck stood high; her hand gripped the wooden handle of the blade tightly as her legs barely held her up from such uncontrollable shaking. Rigidly, she turned around swallowing the saliva down her throat with much difficulty. Almost instantly, blood drained from her face at the same time she let out a stifled gasp.

A pair of wide eyes was staring back at her sinisterly. It wasn't the fact that someone was staring at her that scared her, no. It was because the eyes were so wide with sick intentions that all she saw was the whites of his eyes paired with a slow growing thin smile. Then, as if slapped awake, her legs were suddenly full of energy and her hands have regained feeling back into them. Adrenaline coursed through her as the child swiftly swung her right hand, cutting his arm. The result was him crying out in pain to which she smirked at with the sight of blood. And while he was distracted, Sakura threw a quick kick to his testicles, making him crumble to the ground.

Run!

Dropping her duffle bag, she burst forth for her original destination: the highway. If she could reach the highway, there's no way he could get to her—not with every person on the road witnessing. Her heart was racing even more quickly; her ears picking up the sound of her uncle grunting as he ran after her. She grinded her teeth in nervous desperation, willing her legs to go faster.

"You can't get away from me!" he yelled after her. "Get back here, you little bitch!"

The girl shook her head, not wanting to go back to that hellhole. 'Come on! Faster!' Her legs pushed and pushed until she finally saw patches of light through the trees and bushes. Green eyes lit up with hope at the sight and there was newfound determination to escape. Sakura raced the last few feet and breathe a sigh of relief when she saw headlights and heard the sounds of cars zooming past. Just as she was about to cross the threshold, a hand darted out and wrapped itself around her face to keep her from screaming. Another hand snaked its way around her waist, dragging her back into darkness. She thrashed all-around violently—anything to get out of his grip. She could smell the chloroform; and tried not to inhale, but slowly she lost consciousness.

End of Flashback…

Tiny hands tightened into hard fists once her memory came back. Taking a deep breath, green eyes gaze around the room, seeing nothing but darkness. Hearing nothing, Sakura went to move only to find that her hands and feet were bound. 'Shit!' she swore silently, realizing what position she was in: she was lying on face down with her hands chained together above her head to the head board while each foot was chained separately to a bed post at the end of the bed. Panicking, she began yanking on her restraints, tears falling down her cheeks and perspiration forming on her forehead. Amidst her struggle, the door opened letting in enough light to reveal her uncle with a gag in his hand. Eyes darted to his face, petrified. He smiled amicably which scared her even more.

"Hello, Sakura-chan…"


A/N: I'm sorry for the cliffy. I just had to do it! Anyways, this gives you a bit of her personality after the incident as well a tidbit with Itachi and Sasuke. Next chapter will be another time skip which will also focus more on what been going on on Itachi and Sasuke's end.

Doushita no - what's wrong?

Shimatta - damn it

***ALSO! To make things interesting, I just want to see if we could reach 30 reviews by the time I'm done with the next chapter which will only take me two weeks. If we do, of course, I'll update; but if we don't reach 30, I'll wait until we do because it's always fun to make you guys wait! lol And then we'll double the reviews from there! HAHA! I might draw out scenes from the chapter if you guys are good!***

ANYWHO! I'd like to thanks these readers for reviewing (DO YOU GUYS THINK I SHOULD THE SUMMARY TO MAKE IT MORE INTERESTING?)

Zoe
WildFlamez01
anonymous
ILOVESxS
janisaur
.CHoMP (for the life of me it won't let me type out your whole name!)

Anyways, thank you for your support and for reading this. I'm definitely having fun writing horror and I hope you enjoy it as well! See you in two weeks hopefully! Hehe

Sincerely,

Hoozuki!