Konban wa! I had an idea, so I figured I would write it out before it went away again. Not to mention the fact that I wanted to post another chapter before I leave for my dad's tomorrow because I don't know if I will be able to write anything there. I'll be taking care of my dad, who is being released from the hospital Wednesday, as well as doing my summer homework, so I have no clue how packed my schedule might be...it all depends on whether or not my dad does well once he gets home.

So anyway, here's my next chapter and I must say I am proud of it. It has some suspense in it and you will have many questions at the end.

Hehehe! I am EVIL like that!

Chapter 20: Spies and Murderers

Hiei sat in the tree outside of Kurama's house, watching carefully as all the lights in the house were slowly extinguished until just one remained.

That one soon went out as well and he jumped onto a closer branch.

The glare from the street lamps made it a little difficult to see in the window at first, but with some slight readjusting of his position and squinting of his eyes, he was able to see the form of the sleeping occupant.

"How can a normal human girl do that well in a fight against me?" he asked the wind as he watched Sakura roll over in her bed.

"She can't be normal," he decided, "And I will find out what she is."

----

She banged on her door, pounding her fists in it as she tried to knock it down, screaming the whole time.

"Let me out! Let me out!"

She rammed her shoulder into it and, when that did not work, kicked it.

Still she could not open it.

So she stood there, locked in her room as Ryu and her father and everyone else fought off the attackers.

"Father," she called out, "Ryu."

They had locked her in there when the attack started, trying to keep her out of the fight.

But didn't they understand? She wanted to fight. She wanted to fight alongside them.

A rush of footsteps past her door and a blood-curdling scream and silence.

Sakura tried the door once again, to find it unlocked.

Finding herself free of her momentary prison, she ran for the study, where she had heard most of the noise coming from: arguments and fights.

"Father!" she shouted as she ran into the room only to stop dead in her tracks at the scene in front of her.

The walls were splashed with blood, bodies lay everywhere, but none of that mattered.

No.

All that mattered was the body that lay in the middle of the room – the body dressed in her father's robes – the body without a head.

She couldn't speak, she couldn't move, she couldn't look at it but she couldn't look away.

She moved closer, maybe out of morbid curiosity. She just had to make sure – was this person her father?

He was.

Footsteps rang loud in the room and Sakura looked up to see who had interrupted the silence of death and her mourning.

"Ryu…"

"Sakura," the blue neko replied with a pained expression.

"You are covered in father's blood," she noticed.

"I caught him as he fell and lay him on the ground," he replied, "I chased after the bastard that took his head, too. I just wish he had not gotten away."

Sakura nodded dumbly as she pulled her father's body onto her lap.

"Your katana?"

He hesitated for a moment.

"I threw it at the escaping murderer," he finally said in chagrin, "I lost my temper."

"Oh."

Her gaze returned to her father and she stared blankly at where his head should have been until her vision grew blurry.

In confusion she brought one of her now bloody hands up to her eyes and wiped at them, smearing her father's blood on her cheek. What was this water coming from her eyes?

"Sakura, give me the body," Ryu commanded as he noticed the young girl going into shock. He reached out to take it from her, but the lost girl merely pulled it closer, hugging it to her chest.

"Iie."

Her breathing grew ragged, the water spilled down her face and neck, some drops falling onto her father's cooling corpse as she rocked back and forth.

"Father!" she cried out in pain.

"Father!"

----

"Father!" Sakura screamed as she sat up in bed.

Hiei watched from the window in confusion. Had her eyes flashed silver momentarily? Or was it just the light?

The panicking girl doubled over in pain as she lifted her right hand up to her left biceps and gritted her teeth so as not to release any more cries that might wake the other occupants.

She stood up and made her way over to the mirror in her room, flipping the light switch on the way.

She squinted momentarily as her eyes grew accustomed to the light, but then lifted up the left sleeve on her nightshirt to reveal her youki-seal, glowing the same cerulean blue as Ryu's youki.

Hiei stared in wonder at it.

His eyes could not be playing that many tricks on him. So the girl was a demon in disguise.

But why?

And who, if anyone, knew her secret?

Oooh! Do I have your attention? Hm...what will Hiei do with this newfound information and how will Sakura react? That even I do not know. And I'm the authoress. That can't be good, can it?