Hey guys, I sooooo sorry for not updating sooner. I'm not going to give you a crappy excuse, I'll just admit it: I was lazy. There, plain and simple. Anyways, this chapter didn't exactly come out the way I would like it but that's okay. I didn't do this before, but I want to THANK EVERYONE FOR THE REVIEWS! They motivate me!

Anyway, enjoy the read. I hope you like it as much as I do.

I don't own anything.

"Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams?"

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

I was running like there was so tomorrow, through thick snow and blistering winds. It was freezing, but I didn't care, all I knew was that I had to get away. Looking behind me, all I could see was the black darkness that consumed everything. It was coming after me. Everywhere I turned, it became harder and harder for me to breathe, something was holding me back from reaching the light. In this world of black and white, I could either escape from the darkness or be engulfed by it.

But then he was there, standing alone. The darkness seemed to only circle around him, never quite touching his figure.

I have seen that red hair before. But something was different. Something was off about this picture. I slowly made my way towards him when suddenly I was thrust into a new scene.

A bedchamber appeared through the dark fog.

I wandered towards the only figure; my eyes widened when I caught sight of the red head.

He was just a young boy, no older than me at least. The redhead had his head down, body slumped. He looked so sad, and so lonely. The thought made my heart ache. I carefully made my way towards him and sat next to his side, resting my hand on his shoulder. He turned his gaze towards me, tears glistening at the corner of his eyes.

I tilted my head. "Why are you crying?"

"She's gone."

"Who?"

"My mother."

He started to cry. I quickly wrapped my small arms around his shoulders, rubbing my hands across his back to soothe him. He wrapped his arms around me, and brought me into a tight hug. He started to sob into my chest, everything pouring out of him like a waterfall. He laid his head on my shoulder, his frail body shaking from the force of the sobs wracking from him.

"It's okay, it's okay," I cooed.

He lifted up his head and looked at me with a pair of watery brown pink eyes. I gave him a comforting smile and kissed him lightly on the forehead. He started to calm down bit by bit until he pulled away from me.

"What's your name," he questioned.

"Sakura," I said with a smile, "what's yours?"

His eyes turned into two crimson pools.

"Sasori."

He smiled then, fangs flashing.

My body froze.

I jolted awake with a start, breath labored and ragged. I clenched my chest in order to soothe my heart's erratic beating. My other hand clenched around the silk sheets-

'Sheets?'

I did a quick scan, checking my surroundings. I was in a room. Last time I checked, I was dying from hypothermia in the some part of the woods. I didn't notice before, since I preoccupied trying to calm myself from that nightmare, or was it a dream? I have no idea, but all I know is that I'm in a strange room, in a strange place and I don't know how to get out of this situation. I immediately got out of the bed-only to be hit with a wave of light-headiness. The world was spinning and I immediately fell off-balanced.

I felt a hand grab my elbow to steady myself and put me back upright on my feet again. My body tensed up from the unknown hand holding onto me. I was too scared to look back. I felt the body behind me shift then warm breath tickling the shell of my ear.

"You shouldn't have moved so fast," the voice said in a bored tenor," you'll faint again."

Well, whoever was behind me was definitely male.

"Are you too scared to see what lies behind you, girl?" There was a hint of mirth in his tone, causing me to get irked at his jab at my fear of him.

"No," I said defiantly and turned around to face him to prove me point. "You're much younger than I expected."

'A lot more handsome too' I added silently in my mind. He looked like a teenager, with his short black hair and black ink eyes, but you could never tell with his kind. They could look like a ten year-old but in actuality, could be well over two hundred years old.

"My name is Shisou Uchiha-"

"Uchiha," I said in alarm, backing away from instantly. My guard was up as I looked at him suspiciously. "Did Itachi send you here to finish me off?"

"Itachi? My cousin?" He questioned.

"So you're related to the incarnate of evil, I see."

"What are you talking about?" He asked me. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion," strange kid," he muttered.

"I heard that."

He smirked before shaking his head in exasperation," I don't know how you know my cousin, frankly, I don't want to know, but I'm not here because of…whatever you think I here for."

I frowned at his comment, but let him continue. "I'm only here because his Highness asked me to check on your health. You took quite a beating kid; let me tell you, it was not easy to heal you. You were jacked up pretty badly, but with me as your Healer, you're perfectly fine now. No need to thank me," he finished with a prideful smirk on his perfect face.

I let his information sink in before I asked him where exactly am I. My eyes scanned his youthful features for any fallacy, but when I found none, I gave the young man a small smile of gratitude. He gave me a toothy grin and wrapped an arm around my tiny shoulders.

"You're in the King's private chambers. He wanted to be here when you woke up, but had to deal with some…pressing matters at the moment." He muttered something then that I could only make out 'blond idiot'…'always in trouble'…'womanizer.'

I gave him a questionable look, but he merely patted my head. "I'll inform him that you have risen. Stay right here, I'll be back."

I nodded and gave him a reassuring smile .With that, the Uchiha glided towards the entrance of the room and left me. I waited a few moments to make sure he was actually gone until I made a mad dash to the door. I had to get out of here. I stealthily made my way down the corridors, when it hit me.

I have no idea where to go, let alone how to get out of this place.

I have to admit, I panicked, which made me lose all my sensibility. I started running through the hallways randomly, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible when I heard a voices coming down the hall.

"Hey, did you hear? That blond joker got caught with Konan again."

"That's hardly anything new. I just saw him get scolded by His Highness last night."

"Yeah, but the guy who caught them in the act this time was Pein."

One of the demons made a surprise sound before other one telling the story continued.

"You should have seen it. There was so much blood. And the best par- hey, do you smell that?"

"Smell what?"

"It smells like…"

There was pause.

I held my breath.

"Human."

My heart dropped to my stomach.

Oh no. My eyes widened. I looked side to side, searching for a hiding place for the time being. When I found none, my heart seemed to drop. The voices were getting closer. What were they going to do to me? Somewhere in the recess of my mind, I remember being told about young girls being sacrificed to demons to satiate their thirst for evil. I reprimanded myself to think such a thought at a moment like this.

Waiting in that room seems like a good idea right about now. Then they were there in front of me.

"Hello, little miss. Lost?" Their smiles were stretched into maniacal grins. Their eyes bled crimson as they looked at me with hunger glinting in their depths. I was struck with paralyzing fear by their gaze. They slowly started to advance towards me.

I was going to die.

'Move!'

I immediately started to back-track my steps. As I turned around to run away I rammed into a body, causing my body to sprawl across the floor.

I heard an intake of breath from one of the demons.

"M-my liege!"

"Leave."

"But the girl-"

"Leave if you wish to live."

They nodded dumbly before disappeared in a blink of the eye.

"Turn around girl," the voice commanded and I could not deny its request. His voice had a smooth velvet quality to it that made me want to tell him everything. It was hypnotic.

"Look at me." No matter how much my mind screamed for me to run away, I reluctantly looked up to his face.

A gasp escaped from me before I could stop it.

Red hair.

Pink-brown eyes.

"Sasori."

Didn't see that one coming did you? Hope you enjoy it. Please Review.