Guess what? I am posting this chapter on my birthday! I turn 16 today!

Anyways, on with the show!

Sakura woke up the next morning, to the smell of pancakes.

She sighed in content, and walked downstairs.

"Morning Hidan!" she said happily.

He turned to look at her. "Morning Cherry! Sleep well?" he asked. he walked over, and whispered in her ear. "We have to talk about something after breakfast."

Sakura nodded. "ok."

Hidan smiled, and led her to the kitchen. Today was Saturday, so he didn't have to worry about her being late for school.

He had her sit down, and brought out what he had made for breakfast.

Pancakes.

Sakura saw them, and her eyes lit up. "I didn't know you could make pancakes!" she said, all excited.

Hidan smiled. "Yeah. Every Saturday I have pancakes for breakfast. Have ever since I was a little kid. My mom used to make them. Me and my dad would sit at the table playing stupid little games, and she would laugh from the kitchen. I was only two, but somehow, everything was just so… So much fun. And I always knew what me and my dad were doing. Everything used to be so much fun." he said, a thoughtful look on his face, as he stared at the floor.

Sakura looked at him. "So… What happened?" she asked.

Hidan looked at her. "They… Died. There was this giant crash. 13 years ago. Them, along with a lot of other people died. My adoptive parents, a couple years ago decided they couldn't handle me. They were rich, so they gave me enough money to live on my own. I have ever since." he said

Sakura hugged him. Tight. "My parents died in a car crash 13 years ago as well. My parents now, they had a son. 11 years ago, there was this stupid shooting. Naruto's mother got caught up in it, and my brother went to help her. The man shot my brother, and Naruto's mother died due to blood loss." she said. A single tear sliding down her cheek.

Hidan hugged her tightly. "Its ok Cherry. You're not alone this time. I promise." he said.

Sakura pulled back and looked at him. "Thank you. And sorry I was so mean to you a while ago." she apologized.

Hidan looked at her and smiled. "Don't worry Cherry. That's all in the past." he said.

Sakura smiled and kissed his cheek.

Hidan smirked. "You missed."

She looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

Hidan leaned forward, so his lips were just above hers. "You. Missed." he said.

Just as he was about to kiss her, there was a knock on the door.

Hidan sighed in annoyance, making Sakura laugh.

He walked over, and opened the door.

On the other side, stood Karin. "Hello Hidan-kun! How are you?" she asked, in a flirty way.

He blinked. "Umm… I'm ok? Why are you here?" he asked.

Karin fluttered her eyes. "Because you asked me on a date and told me to meet you here." she said.

Sakura checked the time. She saw it was 11:00, and freaked. Her dad got home soon, and they were hanging out this afternoon with Naruto at the cemetery. Just like every other year.

Sakura ran up to Hidan. "I have to go. I'm meeting Naruto in a bit. Bye!" she gave him a quick kiss, and ran from the house.

Hidan smiled after her.

He then turned to Karin, who had hearts in her eyes. "Who sent you here?" he asked, his voice borderline deadly.

Sakura ran home. She bolted inside, and saw Naruto sitting in her living room, with her dad. "H-hey! s-sorry i'm l-late!" she panted.

Naruto laughed. "Sakura-chan! What did you do? Run here?" he joked.

Sakura glared at him. "Naruto.."

He shut up.

Her dad cut in. "Alright kiddos, you ready to go?" he asked.

They both nodded.

They walked out to the car, and hopped in.

The 10 minute drive to the cemetery, was quiet, and calm.

Once they were there, Sakura and Naruto jumped out, and went over to two graves, that stood side by side.

"Hey Takeshi-nii! I miss you…" Sakura whispered as she sat in front of her brother's grave.

Naruto sat in front of the other one. "Kaa-chan! Me and Sakura-chan are here now! Did you miss me?" he asked.

Sakura looked over, to see he had a couple tears in his eyes.

Naruto really wanted to hear his mother say yes.

He knew she wouldn't though.

The wind ruffled Sakuras hair. She looked at the tombstone.

She took her finger, and traced her brother's name against the cool stone.

She jumped, when she saw writing appear on the ground in front of the tomb. "Sakura, be careful. Do not go out on your own. Stay with someone." the words said.

She got rid of the words, and wrote her own. "Why? What's wrong?" she wrote.

The words vanished, and new ones replaced them. "Somethings coming. Hidan will help. Watch over Naruto. Be safe." the words said.

Sakura rubbed them away. "What do you mean 'somethings coming'?" she wrote.

The words were once again replaced. "Sis, please. Just be safe. The dreams are also important. Listen to them." the words then vanished. nothing new showed up.

it was at the word 'Sis' that sakura knew who she was talking to.

Sakura wrote in the dirt. "Love you take-nii!"

Her father then called them. "Looks like a storm's coming guys. Time to go." he called.

Sakura and Naruto sighed. They then began the walk back.

About halfway to the car, Naruto froze. "Ah! I forgot my jacket there! Be right back!" he then ran off.

Sakura and her father both knew he just wanted to say good bye one more time, and left his jacket there on purpose.

They didn't stop him though. They knew he needed this.

5 minutes passed, and there was no sign of Naruto.

Soon, 5 minutes turned into 10.

Then 15.

Then Sakura and her father went after him. They saw him laying on his mother's grave.

Her father saw it before Sakura.

Sakura was too busy watching the sky, and the trees.

The sky was getting darker, with the promise of a storm.

The trees were swaying with the wind.

'Just like in my dream...' she absentmindedly thought.

Her father looked at the sky. "Sakura, its going to rain. Why don't you go to the car, and I will get Naruto." he said.

Sakura nodded. "Ok! I'll go get the car warmed up. And be careful. He lashes out when woken up." she then took the keys, and went to the car.

Her father watched her leave. Once she was far away, he sighed. "Sakura, he won't be waking up."

He looked over at Naruto, and called the cops.

Naruto had half of his face shaved away, to the point where you could see the bones.

Even then, some of the bone was shaved away as well.

His throat was slit, and his eyes were laying on the ground, above his head.

They lifelessly watched the world around them.

His head was bashed in.

His guts had been dislodged from his stomach, and were under his head like a pillow.

He was glad Sakura hadn't seen this. She wouldn't have been able to handle it.

Sakura sat in the car. She was confused when a cop car showed up, along with an ambulance.

She was about to get out of the car, when her dad showed up. He got in, and started the car.

He then pulled out, and drove home.

Sakura looked at him. "Where's Naruto?" she asked.

Her father didn't respond.

She kept asking, but he didn't say a word.

Once they were home, Sakura was worried out of her mind.

They walked into the house, and Jiraiya was sitting on the couch. "So what was so important I had to come here for?" he asked.

Sakura took her dads hand. "Dad. Where. Is. Naruto?" she asked.

Her dad sighed. "Sweetie, Naruto was… He…" he sighed and shook his head.

Sakura stumbled back, and shook her head. "N-no… No, no, no…" she said. She then bolted for the door, and tried to run outside.

Her dad stopped her, and held her tightly.

Sakura lashed out, trying to get away.

She was screaming and crying. She tried to hit her dad, and he ended up needing Jiraiyas help in restraining her.

She soon calmed down, and sobbed against him for a bit, before she blacked out.

When she woke up, it was starting to get dark outside. She sat up, and groaned.

She saw something move out of the corner of her eye. She froze, as a scream lodged itself in her throat. Her entire body shook with terror.

The shadowy figure stepped closer.

Sakura backed herself up into the wall, hoping she wasn't seen. She tried to make herself as small as possible.

The shadowy figure reached the side of her bed, and held its hand out.

Sakura closed her eyes, hoping this was some stupid dream, or a sick joke.

The shadowed figure placed its hand on her shoulder.

Sakura was about to scream, when the figure placed its other hand over her mouth.

Sakura shook, trying to get away from the thing.

It tightened its grip on her shoulder, and sat on the bed in front of her.

It was obvious that no one knew this thing was here.

Sakura began thrashing about, trying to get away from the thing.

She felt it shift, and it wrapped its hand around her neck, and pinned her to her bed.

It squeezed her throat just enough so that she had trouble breathing, but not enough that she couldn't breath and would die.

Sakura gasped. "L-let….. M-me.. G-g-go!" she gasped.

The figure laughed. "Tsk tsk tsk, my dearest Princess. You must not struggle. It will make this all the more," the creature leaned in, so their mouth was by her ear. "Painful, and delightful. We wouldn't want that now, would we? I might end up getting carried away…"

She shuddered at the feel of their hot breath on her neck and face.

It felt different from how Hidan did it.

This time, it was more threatening than playful.

She felt her body freeze up. She couldn't control what was going on.

The shadowy figure released her throat, and placed its hands on her shoulders. She was still pinned down.

"Sakura! Come on! You have to wake up!" she heard someone call.

Sakuras eyes shot open, and she immediately sat up.

She was panting, and she frantically searched her room, hoping the shadowy figure had left.

She relaxed when her eyes landed on Kisame and Itachi. "W-where… t-there was… I mean…" she frantically looked around, and jumped when the door opened.

She screamed, and threw her pillow at the intruder.

It hit Sasuke in the face. "Sakura, are you ok?" he asked.

Kisame shifted and sat on her bed, instead of pinning her down. He then wrapped her in a hug. "Shh Kitten. It's ok. It was only a dream…" he whispered.

Sakura hugged him back. "Ok, Kisa…" she then closed her eyes.

She felt someone begin to rub her back, and turned to see Itachi sitting behind her. "Sakura, are you ok?" he asked.

Sakura looked at him. "Yeah, just some stupid dream…" she said.

Itachi looked at her. "I would like to know what you were dreaming of, that made you stop breathing. But that can wait. I was asking about how you are holding up with what happened to Naruto…" he said.

Sasuke came a bit closer, and Sakura became scared.

She didn't know why though.

Itachi turned to Sasuke. "I believe mother will be concerned for your location. Perhaps you should go home." he said.

Sasuke glared at his older brother, but left.

Itachi looked back at Sakura. "Why are you suddenly afraid of my brother?" he asked.

"I don't know… I really don't... " she said.

Itachi nodded. "Sometimes our subconscious knows things that we do not. Maybe it has something to do with that?"

Sakura nodded. "Maybe…" she said.

Kisame shifted and looked at her. "So tell me Kitten. What were you dreaming of that had you so scared you stopped breathing?" he asked.

Sakura took a deep breath. "I dreamed that I had woken up. And there was this shadow creature in my room. It closed in on me, and pinned me to my bed. It had its hand around my throat, just enough so I had trouble breathing. Not enough to kill me though. It said that by my squirming… Something would happen… And that it would be painful. It also called me princess. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it to a face. It was as if I knew who it was, but couldn't remember. Kind of like I had met them somewhere, a long time ago…"

Itachi and Kisame looked at her, shock clearly written on their faces. "Sakura-chan, what did his voice sound like?" Itachi asked.

Sakura looked at him. "Kind of weird. He sounded old, and kind of snake like almost." she said.

Kisame and Itachi shared a look.

Sakura eyed them, confusion all over her face. "So what do we do now?"

Kisame went over to the door. "Hidan wanted to know when you were awake. He said there were some things he needed to discuss with you." he then walked out.

Itachi took the opportunity to hug Sakura. "Sakura-chan, we will help you. And we will keep you safe. I promise. Please, if there is anything we need to know, you can at least tell me. I will tell the others. We need to know everything about what we are getting into." he said.

Sakura nodded her head, and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Alright, Tachi-kun. I promise." she then closed her eyes.

She liked his hugs.

"Tachi-kun? Can I call you Tachi-nii?" she asked.

Itachi smiled. "Of course, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled.

A couple minutes later, Kisame returned with Hidan. "Alright. Itachi, Hidan asked if it could be just the two of them." Kisame said.

Hidan went straight to Sakura, and hugged her. "Don't worry. Everything will be ok. How you holding up?"

Sakura hugged him back. "I guess I'm ok. I'm really going to miss him." she then began to cry again.

Itachi and Kisame took this time to leave.

Hidan hugged Sakura tighter to him. "Everythings going to be ok. I promise. He's alright now. He can watch over you. Just like your brother is." Hidan said.

Sakura pulled away, tears streaming down her face. "My brother… He warned me… Not to be alone. And he warned me, that something bad was going… To.. To happen. He told me. He wrote it down in the ground. He promised everything would be ok, and he warned me about something bad happening. I should never have let Naruto go back on his own! Its all my fault! He died because some random person wants to get back at me for something! And then they haunted my dreams Hidan! He came into a dream I had last night. I dreamed that I had woken up. And there was this shadowed creature in my room. It started out away from me, then it closed in on me, and pinned me to my bed. It had its hand around my throat, just enough so I had trouble breathing. Not enough to kill me though. It said that by my squirming… Something would happen… And that it would be painful. It also called me princess. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it to a face. It was as if I knew who it was, but couldn't remember. Kind of like I had met them somewhere, a long time ago. Hidan! I don't know what's going on! All I know is everyone I know is in danger! What do I do?" she sobbed.

Hidan pulled her to him, and held her against him. Her head was resting on his chest, and she was sobbing. He wrapped one arm around her waist, and the other was smoothing over her back. He rested his chin on top of her head, and waited for her to calm down, or cry herself to sleep.

Sure enough, after crying for about 10 minutes, she fell asleep against him. He gently shifted her so she was laying down, and then layed down beside her. He continued to rub her back, and held her close.

He just couldn't leave her.

Not now.

Not when she needed someone the most.

He just couldn't.

He closed his eyes, and fell asleep beside her.

I'm standing in the same field I usually am.

The butterflies do not fly around.

They are sitting on the ground around me.

The fireflies do not light up the sky.

They are perched in the trees.

Their lights glowing in the branches.

The trees, they do not dance.

They have their branches around me.

As if they are protecting me from something.

Something I cannot see.

The boy is not here.

No.

Not the boy.

His name, I learned, is Hidan.

Hidan is not here.

I want him to be here.

I need him to be here.

As if on cue, he shows up.

"Sakura, please do not cry." I hear him say.

I look at him.

The trees let him come to me.

The butterflies move and clear a path for him.

The fireflies fly around him, so he can see where he is going.

He approaches me.

I stand up, and feel his arms wrap around me.

I break down in his arms. "H-hida-an! W-what-ts go-in-g o-on?" I ask, as I cry.

He sits us both down. "I don't know Cherry. Please, stop crying…" he whispers.

The trees close us in.

Nothing can get in now, that they don't want in.

They will keep us safe.

I wrap my arms around Hidan, and hold him close.

He kisses the top of my head.

"You missed…" I say.

He pulls away and looks at me.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

I smile a small smile. "You once said that to me. When I kissed your cheek." I say.

I see him smile. "And I like your smile." I add.

He shifts, so now i'm sitting in his lap.

"You do? Well I like yours. So please smile more. I hate seeing you cry…" he says, his mouth close to mine.

I smile. "better?" I ask.

He nods. "Definately."

I giggle.

My giggles are cut short, however, when I feel his mouth on mine.

This time, it feels different.

Different from when he kissed me that time when we played manhunt.

Different from when I kissed him for half a second when I left his house a couple days ago.

This time, it feels like a dream…

Well, this is a dream.

But this feels real.

Yeah. I don't know. I like this better though.

I wrap my arms around his neck, and kiss him back.

I feel him smile against my mouth.

I smile back.

When we pull away, he rests his forehead against mine.

"Time to wake up. Alright Cherry? We have to talk about some stuff…" he says.

Almost immediately, he starts to fade.

Once he is completely gone, panic fills me.

I don't want to be alone here…

I wake up, and bolt upwards.

I look beside me, and feel relief flood through me when I see him looking up at me.

"Sorry… Did that scare you?" he asks.

I nod. "Yes. For some reason I didn't want to be left alone…" I say.

He smiles at me. "Alright Cherry. But there are some things we need to talk about…"

There ya go! Extra long chapter! To make up for the shorter chapter! And HidaSaku fluff!

See you next week!