Gonna keep it short and say how much I love you guys. Your patience is really helpful when I'm struggling to work on everything at once, which includes school, work and writing. I haven't had the time to update quickly, so please bear with me that updates will take time. In the meantime, please feel free to find another author who writes better than me and do something that makes your day c: Please remember that italics and boldness would not be completely present or there, so I will fix it to my best chance until further notice.

Thank you for waiting. Reviews, Follows, Favorites and anything else would make me happy, but that will be your choice. Please enjoy and have a wonderful day!

=xxx=

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She's a being that is created under the image of flowers and light.

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She is a gentle creature, reaching upward to the sky with curiosity…

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So gentle, that he had always feared she was fragile.

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If only the monster before him understood that before he killed her.

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Tasting Flesh

Chapter Twenty-five

Sasuke watched as she aimlessly twirled around ahead of him on the sidewalk, her little red coat sprouting out like an upside-down teacup before she halted, glancing around dizzingly until she met his eyes and smiled oh-so-brightly. He smirked lazily back at her, telling her in a silent way that she was doing okay and could resume her little dance. She giggled loudly and went back to skipping in her walk, her mittened hands swinging by her sides as her chopped pink hair stuck out like iced branches under her hat...only they were frozen in pastel frosting and not actual water.

Sakura suddenly stopped with her heels dug into the ground, twisting her body to gaze wonderingly towards across the street, where some citizens of tiny Konoha walked about in their day. The only contrast was four distinct, hunger-filled faces of homeless-looking creatures huddled on the edge of an alleyway between two stores. Simply staring at her with mouths open, gasping for breath as their lips looked dry as sand.

Without hesitation, she turned around and scurried to Sasuke, who was dressed in a simple black coat (as forced by Chiyo herself) and reached her hands up with a small pout on her lips. He didn't hold it against her as he cupped under her arms and lifted her into his hold, burying his face into her shoulder and neck as a cuddling motion.

"You're alright, baby girl," he whispered softly, wrapping an arm around her and rubbing his palm on her back. He knew she wasn't afraid of them and he had the hunch that she wanted to show them that she wasn't alone. The other arm was hooked on her bottom, balancing her gently as he went on walking. She was light as a feather.

"I don't like it when they stare, Sasu-kun," he heard her grumble into his hair. Her little arms wrapped around his neck and her face hid itself into his exposed neck, loving how he was always hot and cozy for her. "I don't like it."

"I know," Sasuke chuckled lightly as he kissed her cheek carefully, minding how her cheeks were flushed from the winter's cold. "But you do know that you're gonna be eight soon, and you might as well be too old for me to carry you."

"You never said no," she snapped, pulling her head back to glare at him - no doubt something she picked up from him. He simply smirked bigger and kissed her chin, letting her know that she was right. Smiling once more, Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his thick neck, inhaling his scent and finally relaxing in his arms. She knew that he would always protect her.

"Why do they stare so much, Sasu-kun?" she whispered quietly as he carried her around the corner towards the Haruno Shrine. The trail went uphill now when she began speaking, and Sasuke figured she dozed off.

Sasuke peered around the trees and sensed their presence, sending off a threatening aura through his chakra. They flew back a great distance, but he still didn't trust them. "They're hungry, that's all. They won't come any closer to you, though."

Her little, cold nose nuzzled against his pulse and his hand rubbed her back for comfort. "I don't like it. When they're hungry for me when I didn't do anything bad..."

"I know."

"JUMP!"

Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon and Ino and Sakura jumped as high as they could with their hands in the air, fingers stretched out as far as they could to at least touch the little fuzz flying through the air. So far the past hour, they have been unable to properly catch the flying puffs that were born within trees (where in the Human World, it was originally from dandelions and weeds), but the major difference was that these white puffs were more...puffy?

For Sakura, they looked like tails of rabbits or giant cotton balls. When she first noticed them, she began getting excited infront of the little Demon children and her best friend, acting like a little child herself once she tried to catch one, but it was far too high for her to touch. The little kids got excited as well and began jumping with her, though they jump far higher than Sakura could ever do, and Ino simply shrugged and joined in.

It wasn't until Hinata and Karin came and wondered if there was something in their breakfast, but that was short lived once Karin tried to reach on her tip-toes to get it. Hinata simply giggled along with them and watched as she occasionally rubbed her belly when the baby inside her began kicking.

Getting tired of jumping herself, Sakura exhaled and sat on the earthy floor, watching everyone else play her game in catching the fuzzies. It was interesting to see everyone jump higher, but they still are unable to reach and catch them, as if they were flying higher to resist capture. Holding her face to feel how warm it is, Sakura laughed loudly when Ino began cursing when they stuck to her blonde hair and flew away before she could grab them. Rolling to her feet, Sakura got up and went over to Hinata, who was still standing with an amused smile on her lips as she grabbed her hand in greeting.

"I s-see that you are having a good morning, S-Sakura-chan," Hinata said softly as she plucked a leaf from Sakura's long hair, who pouted shyly in return and then grinned cheekily. "I think my ch-child will be easily amused by you - maybe he w-will like to play with you."

"He?" Sakura perked.

"I think it will be a boy, a-actually," Hinata cooed softly as she smiled at her own belly. "I hope it is a boy, so that Naruto can play with him and do boy things; it's a wish I have, honestly…"

"I'm sure Naruto will love the baby, no matter what gender it is," Sakura grinned.

"The idiot is obsessed with the baby already, I'm not sure he will pay attention to what it will be and care nonetheless," a deep voice emerged behind them both, making Sakura jump and turn around with bright eyes as she leapt forward.

"Sasuke-kun!" she shouted before burying her face into his warm chest. Opening her eyes, she noticed white fluffs attached to his black attire. "Sasuke-kun...what is..?"

"Hn," was all he said as he plucked one of the big, white fluffs off of his shoulder. "They are...very odd."

Taking off his black cloak in time for the children noticed, Sasuke held it out to Konohamaru as he screamed at how the prince is covered with the fluffies and planned on taking him down for it. The child grabbed the cloak with red cheeks, gidding, and ran away from both of them to bring to his friends, who cheered and plopped themselves ontop of the cloak. Sakura watched with a smile while Sasuke boredly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"Where have you been, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked genuinely curious. Her little hands gripping his shirt as she peeked up shyly at him. "I haven't seen you lately."

"Meetings with Father," he responded quietly, pressing a small kiss to her hair before she giggled at his tone. "I have also spoken to Karin, and she had agreed to take you to the village today."

"You can't take me..?" she frowned suddenly. She looked up to him with wide eyes, remembering for the past few weeks it had not been raining and she would wake up Sasuke in the morning and ask him if she could go to the village and see what it was like with him.

"Psst, Sasuke-kun," she would whisper as she plopped herself on his back and pet his soft hair like a cat's ear. While he was on his stomach, she knew that was when he was most tired, but that never stopped her from trying to cuddle him for a favor.

Finding him shirtless in bed, Sakura did not hesitate to run her fingers along his toned back and nuzzle his shoulder when he grumbled himself awake and grunt at her. "Can we go to the village, please?"

He would roll over, taking a look at the shouji door that revealed little colors of morning light, a light purple color that was mixed with deep midnight blue. Sighing, he snaked his arms around her and pulled her to him; hiding his face into her pink hair as his fingers touched her bare arm, making her squirm a little bit. "Not right now."

"I know that, but I mean today, Sasuke-kun."

He smirked, she noticed, and allowed himself to press a firm kiss and leaving his lips against her temple. She knew that this was a good sign, and that Sasuke would consider her idea when they both actually got out of bed within the next few hours.

"There are some odd occurrences happening, and Father wishes for me to be involved in," he explained sorely, yet he fully understood his role. Looking down to meet Sakura's eyes, he noticed that she was still urging him to explain further. "Lowlife Demons, Sakura."

"Oh." Sakura didn't wish to hear anymore and forced a smile on her face as she looped her arms around Sasuke's neck and cuddled him gently. Resting her head against his shoulder, she let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to be in trouble, or something, since you've been avoiding your responsibilities."

"I consider it my honeymoon," Sasuke grunted flatly as he slowly put his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. "Father is aware that I'm busy."

"...What do you mean by that, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura blushed to the brightest shade of red, doing her best not to look to see if her husband was smirking or not.

And he wasn't, actually, but still amused by her response. He was still referring to her, but in just spending time and relaxing for once. He raised his hand and placed it on top of her soft head, patting it affectionately to calm her down when she began to fuss with embarrassment. "You just need to have fun with Karin today...I don't want you to get mad because I can't go."

"I'm not mad!" Sakura chirped with a grin, looking at him with still-pink cheeks. "I'm just a little sad that you won't be taking me, that's all. Don't worry about me, Sasuke-kun! I've been training with Kakashi-sensei, so if anyone tries to do anything to me, I can kick their butts."

"It's not anyone trying to mug you I'm worried about," Sasuke blinked, unfazed. "It's the attention that you'll be getting in the village itself."

"Sasuke-sama doesn't have to worry!" Konohamaru's voice interrupted the two to look down and see the child wrapped in the prince's big, bulky cloak (which still had white puffs attached to it). "Everyone in the village knows about Sakura-neechan, and they're really excited to meet her - but they don't wanna crowd her, either!"

"We can be Sakura-neechan's bodyguards, too!" Moegi announced with a cute salute to Sasuke. "Naruto-niichan would be proud of us if we do so!"

"And get leveled up!" Konohamaru thought outloud before roaring with joy and running off to catch Udon.

With that said, Sasuke slowly let his wife go for her to stand up straight and silently ordering Karin to come over from her game. The red head instantly hurried over and bowed to Sasuke politely in greeting before gently taking hold of Sakura's sleeve.

"Do you want to go now, Sakura-chan?" Karin asked politely when Sakura turned to see her friend. "Sasuke-sama has a meeting to get to, and I don't think Fugaku-sama would like the idea of him being late…"

"Don't jinx my father's mind, Karin," Sasuke scolded lightly and looked away when Sakura glared at him. "I don't...want to go to the meeting anyway."

"You're becoming lazy, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura grumbled and lightly bat at his chest, which he was unaffected by it since she has learned when to use her strength. "Don't even try to get out of this."

"I'm not," he responded with a tight line on his lips. He crossed his arms to get Sakura to be unable to reach a spot to hit him, but she easily switched to his lower belly. Finally reaching over and pinching a lock of Sakura's pastel hair, Sasuke leaned down and pressed his mouth against her cheek.

"Listen to Karin," he instructed against her skin in a soft voice, "and if anything goes wrong, you do whatever it takes to make it back here safely and I'll take care of it."

Sakura hummed in agreement when Sasuke kissed her cheek, holding her still by gently grasping her other with his free hand. She giggled when his lips began to trail down to her jaw, and then to her neck, making her squirm and push him away. "You're going to try and make me forget about your meeting, but it's not going to work, Sasuke-kun!"

He grunted in irritation and stood down from the fight.

Karin smiled nervously and took Sakura's hand when she stuck her tongue out at him in victory, trying to create a less of a situation from happening. Sakura gave Sasuke one last kiss on his nose before he could pull away in time; making him sniff in response as she waved goodbye to him, wandering off with Karin towards the children to plan out their trip to the village.

By the time Sakura looked back to Sasuke, she saw that Naruto had appeared and was whispering into Sasuke's ear. Her husband's expression was unchanged, however Sakura could just tell that there was something wrong when he nodded and followed Naruto into the building. She was about to let curiosity get the best of her until Konohamaru reached and climbed into Sakura's arms, silently demanding to be carried by her. She grinned and got up with Konohamaru, allowing the Demon child to flip over to her back and hang from there as Karin went on ahead to find and Uchiha to open the wall for them to leave.

=xxx=

Sasuke entered the room with Naruto, where Minato and Fugaku stood with a few other male occupants of the castle. The Demon God prince frowned deeply as he met his father's eyes and followed the gaze when the older one looked sideways, where Tsunade and Chiyo sat behind the crowd of Uchiha and Uzumaki men that seemed to be still like statues and silent. This made Sasuke very unsettled, and didn't hesitate to break the silence in the room in his usual rude voice.

"What's the meaning of this?" he bit out, ignoring Naruto cursing at him for his behavior. "I thought this was a private meeting, Father."

"It has come to my attention that we have an issue with the Lowlife Demons," Fugaku said in his monotone voice, crossing his arms and seemed to be very passive.

"And that's news to me because..?" Sasuke sniffed with a roll of his eyes.

"The team I had sent out this morning brought back information on the corpses they've made from their encounter," Fugaku went on, waving his hand to the attendees behind him.

Sasuke watched as his distant uncles and in-laws move around his father and dump a load wrapped in stained sheets. He stared blankly when they pulled an edge off to reveal a dead face of an obvious Lowlife: the face hollowed with starvation, and the teeth shattered from constant grinding and pale skin that seem to peel away from dryness. However, what caught Sasuke and Naruto's attention was what the corpse was wearing…

"This is a royal Demon?" Naruto blurted out with raised brows, eyeing the fine material of the shirt the corpse was wearing, some tears and dirt ruined the apparel, but it was still obvious that this person was once a very important status. "Where the hell did he come from?"

"Take a look at the eyes," Tsunade spoke out of the masculine murmurs, seeming to dare anyone with her sharp tone.

At the same time, Naruto and Sasuke looked at the face that still had his eyes and mouth wide open. What shocked Naruto and made Sasuke tense was the milky color and pupiless eyes of the corpse itself. The same kind of eyes that a pregnant occupant of the castle has, but filled with life and joy, rather than death and misery.

"Hyuuga!" Naruto nearly shouted, his shoulders hunching. "W-who-? How is that even possible? Since when did royalty or high ranked Demons become Lowlives?"

Minato was the one to step in and knelt down to cover the dead's face with the stained sheet. "That's what we're calling this meeting for. Apparently there's more of them out there, and they're not that fresh… They've been like this for a long while now."

"And the Hyuuga hasn't sent any word that the family is going insane?" Sasuke grumbled, having Naruto nod in agreement to his question. "Didn't you and the rest of the family assumed that something like this was going to happen to the Hyuuga?"

"Aa, but that's the thing, you spoiled brat," Chiyo chuckled darkly as she got up from her seat. She needed some assistance from Tsunade, who acted tenderly then from before during their poker games, and she walked over to the small circle that was formed in the room. "You assumed correctly, but this is the first time we're seeing this on the Uchiha territory."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed into slits. "Are you implying something?"

Chiyo nudged her foot against the corpse's head, causing cracking sound to fill the room as the head twisted to its side. Minato bit his lip from saying anything, since he had tried to offer respect to the deceased (and Naruto internally felt the same). Sasuke cringed at the sound as Chiyo stared at him with a daring glint in her aged eyes.

"Records say that there hasn't been a Hyuuga Lowlife in the Uchiha territory until Sakura arrived," she said, glancing to Tsunade who looked equally violent in the eyes. "This is why we want to meet in a group with you, Sasuke. We need to talk about something that I don't think you will want to hear…"

Sasuke looked at Naruto, who remained oblivious and continued to look at the dead body that lay in the middle of the room. He saw his friend's expression become hard, yet depressed by the loss of what could obviously be his wife's relative. Sasuke was unsure to try and comfort Naruto, so he stood still as he looked back to Chiyo with wavering black eyes.

"What is it?"

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Can you hear the heart beating?

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The strong sound of blood pumping?

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I can hear it from miles away, and I am surely ready…

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I am ready to hunt. I am ready to feed.

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Can you hear my hunger growing?

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"Ohh! Karin-chan, look at these pretty scarves! They're so pretty!" Sakura gushed brightly with Moegi at the vendor selling clothes, where a whole arrangement of colored scarves and wraps placed out in a rainbow effect. Both girls swooned and gently prodded the rims gently, amusing the sales woman greatly as the redhead and other two Demon children caught up to them.

"I like the pink one, Sakura-neechan!" Moegi squealed as she pointed to it, which had a white design of flower petals around it with a light spray effect. "And this one, too!" she gasped with awe as she pointed to a yellow one with orange slashes.

Sakura was nibbling on her cloak's sleeve as she gazed starry-eyed to all of them. "They're so beautiful," she cooed and looked to the woman standing idly to the costumer's aid. "Did you make these all by yourself, ma'am?"

The Demon woman bowed and blushed lightly. "Hai, mi'lady. My daughter and I make them all by hand…"

"You're both so talented!" Sakura exclaimed with amazement as she childishly held her face.

"Thank you, Sakura-hime. It means a lot for you to say that," the woman smiled brightly and picked up the yellow scarf, leaning forward and wrapping it around Moegi's shoulders. She did the same to a navy-blue scarf with murky streaks of grey around Sakura, tucking it securely into the red cloak. "Please, take these two for me. As gifts for your first trip to the village, Sakura-hime."

"But I should pay!" Sakura gawked as Moegi cheered and ran off to show off to her two friends, which Konohamaru and Udon reacted boredly by her excitement. "There must be something I can give in return, right?"

The woman shook her head with a smile. "We've been waiting for your arrival to our world, Sakura-hime. You just being with our Kingdom is good enough for me."

Karin had arrived to Sakura's side when the pink-haired teen bowed deeply in thanks, doing the same to the woman who bowed back and wished them both well on their adventure in the village. Sakura looped her arm with Karin and began talking about the pretty colors of the scarf she was given, soon pointing to a new item of interest ahead of them as the kids caught up and clung to their clothes.

The village that surrounded the Uchiha Compound was like walking into a Renaissance era. Vendors and stalls were constructed outside of homes and shops to show off a variety of items and colors that Sakura had never even dreamed of seeing before; banners with the Uchiha crest hung from roofs in the pathways, and the aroma of flowers and food overtook her senses as she tried to take a look at everything at once. Noises of children playing and conversations were everywhere…

But the biggest thing that Sakura took from her new environment was that everyone was purely happy.

This was the Kingdom that Sasuke's family had been rebuilding from the time of Rin's death, from the images that Rin showed of poor conditions and fragile emotions haunt the past, but Sakura was overjoyed with the sight of the present Kingdom. This is the Kingdom that Sasuke was born, and waited for many years to return to her world and bring her back…

'It looks so different from before,' Rin's voice whispered in Sakura's thoughts, making the Forbidden Flower smile as she pulled Karin to another stall. An elderly man who was carving figurines and placing them on a large landscape that replicated the village, the castle painted on the wall. 'I'm so glad that this place has changed so much to be even more better.'

Sakura sent a comforting squeeze to Rin, knowing how distant she must feel about being back in the place she before disliked for reasons that were not in her control. Sakura could feel Rin relaxing more as she ventured and met people, who were surprisingly calm and relaxed about Sakura's presence. Most of them were very thankful towards her, and had even asked if Sakura would like to visit again soon.

The elderly man smiled at Sakura, placing his recently finished carving of a man with a child onto the side. "You must tell Sasuke-sama that he must come back to visit soon - my wife has been meaning to thank him for his help carrying her groceries home."

"Sasuke-kun comes here?" Sakura blubbered in pure shock, covering her mouth with her free hand as Karin giggled.

"Oh yes," the old man nodded while slapping Konohamaru's hand away from his knives. The Demon child hissed and hid behind Sakura. "Prince Sasuke comes here very often, mostly to avoid his mother, I assume, and he is very involved with the villagers. It's a shame that Fugaku-sama and Mikoto-sama can't come often as they used to...they always enjoyed having time to themselves in the village."

"I never thought Sasuke-kun would be here...in such a crowded place, too!" Sakura pointed out when a local band began to strum their instruments.

The elderly man chuckled and picked up a new piece of wood. "Maybe you could come with Sasuke-sama next time, Sakura-hime?"

"Hai!" Sakura grinned cheekily, thanking the elderly man before leaving again with Karin beside her.

The whole village seem to have parties and festive atmosphere everywhere they went, causing Sakura to constantly question why Sasuke would ever want to be in such a place where it was noisy, and yet he claimed to hate noises. The redhead Demon remained shy about it, but it didn't take long for the Forbidden Flower to get answers out of her.

"Sasuke-sama likes to interact with the Kingdom," Karin explained once they got farther away from the larger crowds of people. It reminded Sakura of a park with a small picnic area back home, yet it was still colorful. Not many people were around, so the children were able to run freely and yell at the top of their lungs as they tackled each other and growled, all while Karin and Sakura sat down on a wooden bench. "He doesn't talk much to the villagers, but he just...lets himself in when something is happening; like if someone needs help or a child is crying. One time, a little boy was crying, and Sasuke-sama just picked him up and carried him on his shoulders to get candy."

Sakura's jaw dropped as she blushed intensely, her little hands tightly grasping her red cloak to stop herself from shaking so hard. "Sasuke-kun…" she mumbled, causing Karin to look at her with great concern. "He's such a softy!"

Karin blanched and shook her head. "No, he's still the same...he just cares for his people, like his parents do," the Demon hummed with a soft smile when Sakura calmed down but still remained amused by it all. "I will admit, however, the only time that he is considered a softy is when he's with you, Sakura-chan…"

That made Sakura grown, blushing madly as she looked away from Karin at the sudden shyness. This made her companion laugh lightly. "It's a good thing, though! Sasuke-sama has basically been a grump ever since he was a child; you're basically the only one who can actually make him relax and be happy for once. It makes me glad to see Sasuke-sama like that, and everyone else in the whole Kingdom feels the same."

Sakura's eyes got a bit watery, but her lips curved the littlest bit in a smile. "I still don't remember a whole lot - I can feel that - but being with Sasuke-kun now...I feel the most happiest from as long as I can remember. I love Sasuke-kun very much!"

"And he loves you so much, too, Sakura-chan!" Karin agreed with a toothy grin. Both females began laughing at their childish expressions when Udon and Konohamaru burst from the brush, startling them when they collided into their laps and buried their faces into their thighs.

"We didn't mean to!" Konohamaru whined against Karin, his voice high and plugged from forced tears. "Udon started it, and I laughed because I thought it was funny!"

"I did not!" Udon growled sharply, pushing against his friend. "Dun blame it on meee!"

"What happened?" Sakura asked as she placed her hands on top of both of the boys' heads, trying to calm them down. "Where did Moegi go? What did you two do?"

Both boys stood up, rubbing their faces like infants with their sleeves as they blubbered out fading sentences. "Udon and I were playing, and then Udon tackled Moegi and fell into the mud with her… She got really messy, and her scarf got dirty… But Konohamaru laughed because I made a snorting noise, and Moegi thought he was laughing at her ruined scarf… She ran off and she won't listen to us! We're sorry!"

Karin got up from her spot, looking down to Sakura with a determined gaze. "We should go look for her, Sakura-chan. She'll probably listen to us better than these two monsters."

"Hey, we're not monsters! We're future soldiers of the Uchiha Kingdom!" Konohamaru snapped. "And we would have found her too, if it wasn't for the weird smell in the woods!"

"Smell? What smell?" Karin glared at Konohamaru, who jerked away and stiffened. She glared daggers at the child until he fessed up.

"It's this weird smell," Konohamaru said, nudging Udon's arm with his elbow. "Udon can't smell it, but Moegi and I did. It smells like rotting meat...I was hungry, but after smelling that, I feel icky."

Sakura got up from her spot and started heading towards where the boys emerged from. "We should get Moegi. I don't want her getting near anything that could make her sick."

"Sakura-neechan, I don't think you should go!" Udon blubbered as Karin began following the pastel-haired teen. "You should stay here and wait until we come back."

"It's not safe to leave Sakura-hime alone," Karin pointed out once the two kids caught up to them, assisting Sakura to look out for roots that could trip them. "It's best if we stay in a big number, that way, if anything was to happen, we'd be stronger than one alone."

Sakura smiled brightly at Karin's reasoning, holding a hand out to Konohamaru to lift him over a log, but the child pouted and leapt high over it himself. Sakura wasn't hurt by it, but she soon found him standing beside her for a few moments before lightly grasping the skirt of her red cloak, sniffling and keeping his head down. Sakura giggled and pat the top of his head, making the Demon child smile a little bit before continuing on.

"Moegiii!" Sakura called out. "Moooegi, where are you? The boys want to apologize to you, sweetie!" Her tone was gentle, but loud enough for the Demon child to hear.

"I'm sorry for laughing, Moegi-chan!" Konohamaru cried out. "I...I think you look really pretty with your scarf. Honest! I don't want you to cry!"

Karin's eyes scanned around the area infront of them, obvious to Sakura that she was looking to sense the child and anything else within the area that was becoming more woodsy as they ventured further. "Are you sure she went this way? I can't sense anything."

"Yeah," Udon nodded.

It came at them quickly. The smell of rotting meat and other ghastly material that Sakura couldn't name, causing all of them to stop in their tracks with different reactions: Sakura hunched forward and held her mouth closed, her eyes watering as she nearly coughed up whatever was in her stomach; Konohamaru growled and buried his face into Sakura's side, wrapping his arms around her; Udon actually fell on his bottom and nearly passed out from the stench…

Karin's reaction was the most odd, Sakura noticed looking her way, she was frozen on the spot with her red eyes widened as her plump lips quivered in what seemed to be numbing out of her control. Tears slipped from her eyes and trailed down as she slowly bent forward to hold herself against a tree, her nails digging into the bark and making scratching noise.

"Karin-chan?" Sakura breathed out, having to pinch her nose and her arm wrapping around Konohamaru, who had started crying from the smell.

"It's worse than before!" the Demon child wailed, coughing into Sakura's side as she moved them both towards Udon and Karin. Sakura settled Konohamaru next to his friend, which allowed him to hide his face into his shoulder as he did the same in response. "We were here, but it wasn't this bad!"

"Moegi!" Sakura forced out after inhaling the horrid smell, as loud as she could for it to echo. She got up and placed a hand on Karin's shoulder. "Karin-chan, are you-?"

A loud Thump! surprised the four, their heads shooting towards the opened area where Moegi's unconscious body laid. On her belly, her limbs sprawled as her tattered body slowly sunk into the grass. Her breathing was harsh, but she was very much alive.

"Moegi!" Konohamaru screamed and bolted towards the opening. Sakura tried to stop him by reaching out, but someone else had quicker movements in grabbing Konohamaru's scarf and yanking him into the air. Sakura yelled as the enemy grabbed the child's skull and rammed it into the ground, causing chunks of earth to erupt as Konohamaru screamed in pain and fought back as hard as he could.

Konohamaru growled fiercely, completely ignoring the fact that his face was bleeding from the impact, he clawed at the creatures face before he was dropped. He tried to scramble up and make a run towards Moegi, who's eyes barely opened and broken hand reached towards her friend; a large foot stomped on Konohamaru's back, keeping him in place…

Then, applying pressure, the foot snapped Konohamaru's bones, making the Demon child wail in pain before falling limp to the earth, unmoving.

"No!" Sakura screamed as the creature turned towards her. The face was concealed by black hoods and face-masks, yet the eyes were completely visible. Tired, sickly black eyes stared at Sakura.

A few more bodies emerged from the shadows, one landing at Moegi and smashing her head with his foot, stopping her cries, and two right behind Karin and Udon. Sakura's head snapped around as she tried to lunge at the attackers at her remaining companions, but a hard hand grabbed her wrist, yanking her back into a cold body that sealed her with iron arms.

"No! Karin-chan! No, no!" Sakura shrieked, kicking as hard as she could. Adrenaline was pumping through her body, but none of her strength would emerged to light. She watched with forming tears as Karin snarled and forced a kick at the enemy's gut, with the small tiny frame, Karin tried to push Udon out of the way, but the child was stunned by the sight of his friends.

"Get out of here, kid! Don't just stand-!" Karin gasped when the enemy quickly recovered and grabbed a large chunk of her red hair, pulling harshly at the roots and forcing her to stand up as the enemy slipped a knife against her neck. Karin choked against the hold and struggled to breath as the stench became more unbearable for her. "S-Sakura-!"

Udon, coming to his senses, tried to jump away but was quickly put out by the last enemy, who had pulled out a katana and plunged the weapon right through Udon's body. Sakura screamed and thrashed around, but the person restraining her held tightly, hurting her ribcage as she continued to scream at the top of her lungs.

"Stop! Just stop! Don't hurt them!" she yelled through her tears, continuing to kick and grab the sleeve, clawing as hard as she could. The smell. The heat of her body overpowering her. Sakura felt like she was going to throw up at any moment. She looked to Karin, who was trying her best to hold still in the enemy's grasp with the knife pointed at her throat. "Karin-chan..!" she sobbed helplessly, becoming dizzy.

Karin opened her eyes and looked at Sakura, their eyes meeting and for that moment, everything was submerged in fire. The Demon smiled as sweetly as she could to Sakura, making her breathe even harder.

"It's going to be okay, Sakura-chan," Karin whispered lightly, wincing when her captor yanked on her hair harder. "J-just...let me..!"

The body holding Sakura sighed, as if bored. Sakura froze at his tone of voice and her green eyes widened. "Put her out," the voice demanded, sending chills down Sakura's spine.

It was like in slow motion for Sakura. When it all happened in a breath, time seemed to slow down into minutes as the knife against Karin's neck reached across the exposed skin, the teeth of the blade digging into Karin's throat and ripped her flesh open.

Sakura remembered screaming, watching Karin's matching blood pour out and stain her clothes and equally red hair. The one who ordered Karin's killer hushed Sakura by harshly grasping her jaw, squeezing to the point that pain wasn't even the definition of what she felt… Sakura watched as Karin's body fell to the ground, face first and never moved again.

"No!" Sakura cried out for the last time before her captor knocked her out by pounding his fist once against her temple.

The last thing Sakura remembered was being shushed, having it echo in her mind as the whole world went dark.

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Desperation drives those to do the unthinkable.

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The hunger for Power drives those to do the wrong things.

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You forget what you are taking. From whom you are stealing from…

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And, even then, you're just going deeper and deeper into Hell.

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE- I dunno what to say for myself. I love you guys.