Hey guys! I'm so so so so so so sorry for the super late update! I've been super busy, but seeing as it's been a while, I did my best to update!

Anywho, I wanted to say that, even though I'm not very good at drawing, I will try to make a sketch of the characters so you guys have an idea of what they might look like right now. As soon as I have them, I'll add a link somewhere here to my devianart account.

Phew, now that that's settled, on with the story! I hope you guys like the chappie. Please read and review and let me know your thoughts!

CHAPTER 9

Into the Woods

The air was heavy with painful cries; it was reeking of blood and scorching with the flames that came from what once was a beautiful coach. Men were shouting incoherently in angry voices, and all the chaos she could see was muffled by the loud buzzing in her ears. She was stumbling, uselessly trying to regain her footing, but everything felt backwards; as if the sky was made of earth and the clouds were the soil beneath her.

In the distance, she recognized the king's angry roar and the pained screeches of whatever had caused his rage. She dared not look. She was too focused on the flames and the smell of charred skin. Her heart stopped. The familiar weight against her chest was not there, nor the tugging and tangling of her hair.

"Where is Sasuke?!" her eyes frantically searched for him, instantly making contact with Serafi, who she had forgotten was kneeling in front of her with the prince nestled against her neck. Her yellow eyes were wild with panic and concerned, and it was then that the priestess realized her lips were moving. As she focused, she managed to understand the frazzled woman.

"–you must flee, my lady! You do not have much time. Take the young lord and search for a safe place to take refuge!"

Everything happened so quickly after that.

As soon as Serafi saw recognition in her lady's eyes, she all but shoved Sasuke into her arms and pushed her towards the foliage. Strange creatures emerged from the flames and started fighting Serafi and the nearby guards. They were ugly beasts with gray skin and leathered wings. They looked like a mixture of human children and giant bats. With great speed and precision, Serafi had been able to block and retaliate against the creatures, stepping backwards to prevent any of them to reach Sasuke and Sakura.

"Fear not, my lady. I will protect you at any cost!" a bright light momentarily blinded the priestess as it surrounded Serafi. After it cleared, beautiful, glass-like wings were protruding from the fairy's green skin. Her normal attire had been replaced by armor before they left the castle, but that too was gone. Her now exposed skin had shaped itself into millions of scales. It was classic of a fairy of her kind to transform her body when in the heat of battle. Serafi was one of the lucky ones, who not only possessed skin as hard as stone, but her limbs also elongated to provide a more fearsome, strong and formidable opponent.

She soared to the sky and fought off the creatures clinging to her, slashing at them with her wings and now clawed hands. Sakura, snapping from her awed state, stood and cradled Sasuke in thick layers of her hair, placing him on her back. Serafi was being quickly overrun by those creatures. Even though she was more than capable of killing them, they were far too many for her alone.

"As if I would flee at a time like this!" Sakura made haste to leave the covers of the foliage, only to be interrupted by Serafi's voice.

"Do not be a fool, my lady! You could perish in your haste to aid me!"

"Am I supposed to just stand here and watch you fight for me?!"

"No! You are supposed to run! You are far too weak for battle! You must preserve that energy to protect the lord if it would ever come to that in the forest". In a burst of yellow-green energy, Serafi managed to eliminate the remaining monsters surrounding her. She descended from the skies and returned to her normal physical form. She was panting, sweating, and covered in their orange blood.

She smiled at Sakura, and bowed. "It is done. I will now follow you through the forest." She ushered the priestess farther into the woods.

"I will be right behind you, my lady" she said.

She gave a final, harder shove that sent her to the ground. Not more than an instant later, a searing pain erupted from her chest as a sword went right through her. The last thing she heard before darkness enveloped her were Sakura's horrified screams.

"Forgive me, my lady. It seems I lied. Now run!"

She ran as fast and far as her legs could carry her. She did not care how many times random branches snapped against her cheek or how many times she fell to the ground and tripped on roots and rocks. She was sobbing uncontrollably, tears were falling from her blood and mud stained face. Serafi had been killed. Protecting her, making sure she would be able to escape unharmed.

It was all her fault. She was making them her priority, as it was the duty she always talked about so proudly. She had taken it as her duty to protect them. To accompany them. To die for them.

"I never wanted anyone to die. Why must this happen?!" When exhaustion finally consumed her, she collapsed at the foot of a great tree. She moved to lean against the white trunk, cradling the sleeping infant against her chest as she cried inconsolably. When there were no more tears to shed, she stood up once more and continued walking aimlessly.

She had no idea where they were supposed to go in the first place. She had no idea which direction she should walk in to find said destination. And of course, she had no clue as to how to tread this forest without finding danger. She was certain those creatures would pursue her and Sasuke, if there were any remaining.

"I cannot stay still and wait for those creatures to find us. Surely, Lord Fugaku will find us first, right? He must have noticed by now that we are missing." She scanned the blue and gray forest before her gaze set on Sasuke's face. He was looking at her intently, with those intelligent eyes that seemed to understand all that was happening. She smiled at him, trying to portray a sense of security she did not really have. He smiled back, cooed, and caressed her face with his tiny hand. Then, as peacefully as ever, he closed his eyes once more. Sakura had come to understand that Sasuke was not always asleep when he closed his eyes. He was the kind of child who would look around to analyze his surroundings, and if they were not interesting, he would lay back and relax until something else happened. She could only hope he had not seen the gore she had witnessed that day.

Hours had passed, and she was still treading the woods; never really getting anywhere. The sky had darkened considerably. This interesting forest, however, was completely full of light. In the darkness, the canopies glowed a bright blue-green light, illuminating everything in her way. The darker the sky got, the brighter the woods became. That was both an advantage and disadvantage. For one thing, she could see clearly, but so could anyone. She was easy to find anyways, with her pink hair and all.

"If those things find me before the lord, what will I do?"

After looking around, she climbed a thick tree and hid among the branches, cradling the child in her arms and wrapping him in her hair and the cloak his older brother had gifted her. The forest was quiet; there were no birds chirping or animal noises to be heard. Not even a nearby stream could be heard. It was so cold that she could see her breath. She cast a spell to encircle them in a barrier that would keep them warm and invisible from enemies. As she leaned back against the branches, she felt exhaustion gripping at her. She fell asleep admiring the blue-green canopy above her.

The smoke had cleared and the fire had been diminished to mere embers scattered across the black wood of the carriages. The scent of singed flesh and burnt wood had drifted in the air. But the bodies were numerous, both enemy and ally alike. His loss of many good soldiers had his rage simmering, ready to combust at any moment. Heavy footsteps approached him and stopped a respectable distance behind him. The crunching of the gravel gave away the heaviness of a knight's armor.

"Have you found them yet?" Fugaku's gruff voice broke the silence. A young voice replied to his inquiry; one of his youngest –and newest- knights. For a brief moment, the lord was surprised such a weak looking man survived.

"No my lord, but we have gained safe passage towards the kingdom. As we travel north, the search party will continue their mission to find the priestess and the young lord."

"Very well, resume your duties, knight."

"Yes you highness" and with that, the young knight disappeared into the wreckage. The demon lord's eyes scanned the road, assessing the damage done to their convoy.

The only carriage still standing and intact was his own. The others had caved under the flames and attacks from the strange creatures. Fugaku had sensed them from almost a mile away, but he did not think them foolish enough to dare attack an Uchiha fleet. "Seems idiocy knows no bounds". He did not fear much for his sons' life. He was an Uchiha, after all. Surely he would survive something like this. As he fought those beasts, he saw, from the corner of his eyes, as the priestess ran into the forest with the prince as her servant was slain.

For a moment, when he had glanced towards the priestess as she fled, he could have sworn she had been struck, but considering she was enveloped in a red cloak, it was perhaps his imagination. He quickly dismissed his worry and commanded his remaining men to escort him to their destination. Hopefully, he would see his son there.

His eyes hardened as they scanned the sea of corpses at his feet. Those beasts surely acted on someone's orders. And he would be sure to make them pay in kind for what they had done, even more so if he was to learn his son had been harmed.

She felt impossibly warm, as if being embraced by sunlight. She dared not wake up, but a sudden throb at her side unwillingly rose her from her dreamless slumber. She opened her eyes, squinting slightly as they were met by light streaming through the thick blue canopy above her head. She struggled to sit, feeling even weaker than the day before. She placed her hands at her side, pushing herself off the soft grass tickling her back. When she finally managed to sit, she realized three things: firstly, she was no longer in the tree. Instead, she was in a vast meadow circled with gray and blue trees. Secondly, she was lacking her crimson cloak and white priestess haori; in its place, bandages wrapped around her torso. Lastly, and what shocked her most and had her bolting to her feet: Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. He was not on top of her chest, or her back, or tangled in her locks. Before her panic blinded her, soft footsteps startled her.

A smooth, rich voice interrupted the otherwise silent melody of the plain, being carried by the wind to her.

"With an injury like that, I am surprised you have been able to tread so deep into the forest."

Turning so swiftly she caused herself vertigo, a sturdy arm caught her waist before she could fall. Her emerald eyes looked up, being greeted by the beautiful vermillion of Itachi's orbs.

Please read and review! What did you think?! :D was it too mean of me to kill off Serafi?

ALSO! I wanted to let you guys know that I have a very old Deviantart account where I was never really brave enough to post something but now decided to. I will take that account to post pictures of what the characters are looking like (Including poor Serafi). You can search for my profile under the name SilverHartStranger. A very important heads up is that I am not a very good artist, so they might look odd to you, AND, other than colors, they will look almost nothing like the real characters in the anime and manga. Still, I hope you like them and let me know what you think! Until next time guys!

-Aiiro Hart