Author's Notes: Gah! I gotted reviews for chappy 2! I beh so happy! X3 Oh, and to answer misamisa3's question... Check out the Chapter Title :3 I missed Sasuke's birthday! XD This is my late present to Sasuke *Cough*Chicken-Butt*Cough* And I had to make Ruka EVIL!!! I had to! You'll thank me later! Keep on reading my faithful readers! As always, have fun! :3

--ChesterPwns


Their wedding was painful.

His death was excruciating.

Hinata had slowly grown quiet because of Ruka's ever constant put-downs and beatings. She always begged her loving brother to stop taking the blame for everything, for if he did, Ruka would either starve both of the siblings or hit Sasuke in front of her. Hinata wanted with all her heart to stand up to the "Loving" mother. She began to hate herself for not defending her brother. Especially when it was her fault.

It was Sasuke's birthday, and Hinata decided to bake her brother a special cake. The young girl woke up in the early hours of the morning just for the occasion. If Ruka saw either of them in the kitchen, they would pay dearly for it. Luckily the mother was still out from last night—neither of the young siblings wanted to know what Ruka's late night extra curricular activities were.

So, Hinata quietly worked with the cake and kept alert just in case she came in early. What felt like hours, the pastry was finally done. An amazing aroma filled the entire kitchen, and she smiled—a rarity during this time. The girl actually had that familiar bounce to her step; it seemed so long ago that Hinata forgot how it felt to fully, truly smile.

Gently, Hinata picked up the plump, moist cake to place frosting on it. She let it sit on the counter before doing so. After a few minutes, she finally found the right colored frosting to use. She turned around, but did not see how close in proximity she was to the wonderful cake as she turned. Even with all her careful planning; even with all of the caution she could muster—the cake fell from the counter.

Everything felt so slow as she saw the unfinished cake fall to the marble floor. So many things happened at once when the echoing splatter rung throughout the large home. Her dear brother seemed to appear out of nowhere by her side; just as he did Ruka made another appearance. The mother's intense hazel eyes flashed a fiery red and glared at the shivering, violet-haired girl held in the protecting arms of her brother.

"It was me! I begged her to make the cake for me because of my birthday," his onyx-black eyes were hard and unmoving.

"S-Sasuke, please! Let me take th blame just this once!" Hinata desperately whispered to him.

He merely held his sister tighter as he endured Ruka's one of many blows. The boy gritted his teeth . He never once shouted or groaned in pain when he was tortured by the mother..

"Hinata!"

She turned around to see her brother dressed in the grey-colored, winter school uniform. It was another of Ruka's many punishments. The siblings were no longer permitted to go to private schools, even if they had enough money to spare.

"Are you all right? You're crying..." his voice had a tinge of sadness.

That sadness made Hinata even more depressed. "Sasuke!" she yelled breathlessly and embraced him tightly. "I-I j-just..."

He smiled weakly and smoothed her long violet hair. "We'll be late for school... Come on, Hina-chan."

The girl smiled slightly as he handed her the backpack. That nickname was always able to make her smile no matter how hard the tears were flowing. The siblings made their way outside and walked to the nearby public school. School was somewhat of an escape from the woman that lived in their home. Both of the now teenage siblings were able to find their own group of friends. Friends that wouldn't ask too many personal questions. Though, at the same time, the two found other people who loved to make their dark lives even more darker.

"Look it's the Ghost-Girl!" a pink-haired girl called out ruthlessly.

Hinata bit her lip in fear. Sakura Haruno would always find something so minute about her and completely capitalize on it. The worst part was that Sakura was also gunning for her older brother.

"And look who's talking, you pink Fuzzbag!" Sasuke called out. His sister giggled.

The Sakura girl was now fussing to her little group of friends. Claiming that it was just harmless teasing. A boy with spiky blond hair and bright cerulean eyes pushed through the pink-haired girl's tiny group of friends.

"CHRISTMAS! IT'S COMING!!" he screamed cheerfully.

He was wearing a festive holiday hat and matching mittens and scarf. His shoes screeched as he stopped right in front of the siblings. Sasuke smiled slyly.

"Why are you happy for a messed up holiday, Naruto?"

The blond-haired boy known as Naruto grinned happily. "You know I'm messed up too, Teme!"

Sasuke merely shook his head. "You're hopeless..."

"Oh!" the excited boy jumped up. "Did'ja hear about the forest behind the football field?"

"W-what about it?" Hinata asked as the trio walked into the cafeteria for breakfast.

"There's been rumors about more people disappearing near there!"

Lately, there has been a string of disappearances in the town linked to their school. The strange thing about them is that the children always return to their parents unharmed, but they come back with fantasy stories. Police see it as odd and the children received some psychiatric treatment, but no further evidence of harm has been found. The case has been closed since then.

"I thought they buried that myth," a new voice chimed in.

This voice came from a red-haired boy. He was known for being somewhat of a loner, but her found solace in the siblings and what they gone through. For the red-haired boy endured some of the same things with his father. Luckily, he had two other older siblings to protect him.

"Well, I guess not, Gaara," Naruto said as he sipped his milk.

The red-haired boy named Gaara simply shrugged his shoulders and turned towards Sasuke. "You think we should check this one out too?"

The raven-haired boy furrowed his brows in concentration. "I'm not sure. This one feels bigger than the rest of the investigations we poked through."

"It may be fun." Her crystal-blue eyes flickered with that rare excitement.

The three boys grinned at the smirking girl. "Sure!" all three agreed.


A/N: Forgive me if the action was rushed. I was listening to "Wizards In Winter" on repeat at 1:00am *Sweatmark* Also, I've been working on many different projects. Currently, I'm rewriting the entire Twilight series and creating a manga based on that rewrite. Message me if you want to read bits of what is going on so far. Wish me luck on that :3
Anyhoo, I'll try to make my updates more frequent now that I am single. Yesh, I am free as a bird! *Smiles* Thank you for the patience! Please keep putting up with me!

--ChesterPwns