Pairs of yellow eyes stared out from the background, hungry and shining in the dark, cold night.
Konoha, within the Hokage's Office.
"Could you please repeat that for us, just one more time?" asked Kakashi as gently as he could, all while wishing this wasn't real, as he clenched his hands behind his back, now beyond numb.
"M-My name's Ayano, and I-" she began softly, fairly intimidated by the darkly glaring Uchiha and the strongly incensed Uzumaki, who would constantly interrupt her. And did so yet again.
"Don't give us that bullshit!" yelled Naruto, just about livid and fed-up with turning in circles "Why do you have those clothes, huh?! That cloak and scarf?! Where'd you get them?!"
"Naruto. Enough. Please, don't interrupt us anymore. You too, Sasuke. Not a word," uttered Kakashi right when the young Uchiha had been about to speak up again "It was already enough that you knocked her out, and dragged the poor thing all the way here. Brutishness isn't the solution to everything, you know? Now, what were you saying, dear girl?"
"I-I-I..." she stammered out nervously, very ill at ease and barely able to believe her situation.
Ambushed, somewhat kidnapped, and was now basically interrogated by the current Hokage of Konoha and two of the legendary New Sanin. What a day for an average girl such as herself. She would surely have something to talk about as she would get home. ...If she ever got home.
"Speak," ordered Sasuke tersely, startling the girl and earning an annoyed look from Kakashi, but that tone actually seemed to be the push she needed to speak.
And say words they all would have rather not heard. At all.
"I found them on the road towards the mansion," she blurted out nervously, unable to look their way, still rather unsettled by the peer pressure of the atmosphere "The night was colder than I expected, and I was starting to freeze, and- and- They just...happened to be lying there, I swear."
"And, please tell us, what were you doing out at such an hour?"
"I- I was only tasked to get some medicine for my lord from the nearest village and get back as fast as I could. Please, I- I am but a servant who works for him. You've got the wrong girl-"
The front door abruptly slammed open, curtly interrupting the girl's sentence, and revealing the previous Hokage and her assistance, as they came rushing in, whilst the former demanded: "Where IS she? Where is Sakur-?"
A slow, tired sigh left the Hokage's mouth.
If anyone were to give a closer look at Kakashi's features then, it seemed like he hadn't slept in days - a possibility well backed up by the uncharacteristic, yet dark circles underneath his eyes.
"It's not her," he answered eventually, but before anyone could inquire further, he shifted his attention "Shizune, could you please lead this girl to our Unidentified Foreigners Department?"
Stares followed as the girl, barely fourteen, was led out and towards the Department in question.
Rewinding time, back to the night before the initial ambush.
The night was morbidly and forbiddingly cold, but at least Sakura had the warmth of her cloak.
Far too mesmerized by the moon shining with gentle strength from behind the clouds, the young woman hadn't noticed yet the pairs of fierce, burning yellow eyes in the bushes along the road.
And not paying was exactly what had gotten her into her current situation, running for her life.
The menacing click of their paws raking against the ground as they launched after her, chasing, threateningly drew closer and louder, and this no matter how hard and fast she pushed herself to run, to flee, from the horde of what started off as two or three. And which now sounded like over twenty, if not more, trailing after her, like flames at her heels...
'Those aren't normal wolves!' yelled Sakura out in her mind while she ran at high speed through the trees, swiftly dodging as one of the beasts to the right almost succeeded in tackling her down 'They just can't be! It should NOT be ok for them to be this fast-"
As though on a cue, the daunting and humongous shadow of one of them came dashing through the forest, at terrifying and near lightning speed, charging straight for the young female ninja.
And yet, luckily, she managed to dodge it, though barely, as it sprung too high over her head, missing her by mere centimetres, its claws scraping off a few strands of pink hair.
"-Or this aggressive, what on earth is going on?!'
While the moon hid behind the safety of the clouds, the world around Sakura - still running, despite the aching pain in her legs and the shortness of breath - was almost entirely in the dark.
And while shadows followed, much too close for comfort, a breeze brought shivers to her skin. Which only served to remind her of her grave error, when she had assumed that abandoning her cloak and scarf would have been enough to deter their sense of smell. No such luck apparently.
However, luck was suddenly on her side again, as the moon chose then to beam so brightly, that Sakura was granted with the ability see a little better than before, and no longer run amok, scarping her arms against the branches and getting her feet caught in roots she couldn't see or-
One of the shadows abruptly landed in front of her, popping out of nowhere like some ghost, before it prowled her way, eyeing her with eerie yellow eyes, filled to the brim with bloodlust.
With this menacing creature blocking her path, Sakura immediately veered and took off into a different direction altogether, not once stopping or looking back.
Eerie sounds, of guttural growls and breaking branches, cackled and cracked alarmingly close despite the force with which her legs were kicking the ground, speeding her along.
Sakura felt sweat pour along her skin along with goosebumps blossoming to life, both due to the effort and fear. Was she going to get out of this nightmare in one piece? Alive?
The possibility was becoming more and more improbable, even further so when the young ninja abruptly found herself tackled roughly and pinned to the ground, by the largest of all the beasts.
Prudent against any sudden movements, Sakura, staying put for now, could feel its heavy breath upon her face, as it dug its claws into her shoulders, nailing her down and keeping her in place.
Only seconds in, and she could no longer breathe; it felt as if the colossal-like being was intent on crushing the life right out of her with its weight alone. Her bones were now aching under the sheer pressure, her lungs screaming...
Weighing her options and calculating a way out of this hectic mess, Sakura stared at the monster looming over her, its horrid jaw ominously pried open, its three pairs of yellow eyes gleaming-
Wait. Three?!
Once again, the clouds flew away and made way for the moonlight, which brightened the forest around her. And upon the beast on top of her.
Three pairs of pointy ears, which looked more like horns. Three pairs of hungry eyes, glowing with hellish voracity. Three mouths full of razor-sharp, carnivorous teeth, dripping with saliva.
Sakura couldn't believe she was witnessing, going stock still while her breath stuck in her throat. For towering over her was none other than the Cerberus - the three-headed Hellhound of legend, from the stories her ancestors had written about...
Green eyes widened with horror.
'Oh no.'
Two of the monster's mouths let out ungodly sounds then, as the creature called upon its pack of wolves, summoning them, whereas its final mouth launched at Sakura with otherworldly speed. Aiming straight for her head.
Blood splatters splashed through the air, painting the grass and its teeth, all into a deep maroon.
And it was only thanks to the sudden rush of adrenaline that Sakura had managed to deck out of the way in time, by a hair's breadth, thus keeping her head intact.
But alas, not her shoulder, which the beast savagely ripped off and was now chewing upon, like she was some tasty piece of chicken. And the young ninja's mind knew but one word then. PAIN.
It happened in less than a millisecond, but just as Sakura let out a shrill, agonized scream, her abilities activated, fires coming to life and causing a beautiful blue to lighten up the night sky.
The beast above her reared backwards, roaring in pain, three mouths howling a raucous racket, whilst Sakura immediately took advantage of the moment and, faster than she would have known possible, promptly got to her feet and fled yet again, running off into the dark of the cold night.
'No amount of training could possibly prepare anyone for this,' rationalized the young female ninja in the midst of her flurry of desperate panic, pushing herself beyond the pain, aware that if she didn't find a way out of this horrid situation soon, Sakura would be dead before the dawn.
Indeed, no training had the solution for fighting alone against a pack of dangerous beasts which, unlike shadow clones, didn't just disappear, instead of coming back with twice the amount of rage.
And the beasts drew even closer as she ran.
Clutching hard at her bleeding, injured shoulder, alive with raw pain, Sakura tried to concentrate her healing chakra around it. But wounded and exhausted as she was, her chakra wasn't working fast enough, blood seeping through her fingers at an alarming rate.
And the beasts kept drawing closer as she ran.
She could feel herself getting lightheaded by the second, the beasts' heavy steps closing in upon her, so she decided to take a deep breath and just do it; what other choice did she have anyway?
And so, rather than green healing light flashing around her wound, greenish flames came to life.
Steam clouds formed from Sakura's warm breath as she walked around and along with the ruins. There was no reason for her to be there, in all honesty- Merely a hunch, a gut feeling so to say.
The deserted ruins had greeted the young female ninja with a sorry sight, burnt marks scorched the still-standing, but mostly, crumbled walls, while black fires and embers melted and stained out the snow, here and there, creating elaborate, albeit intriguing patterns.
After taking in a deep breath, Sakura let herself fall into autopilot, not too certain why, but it was like her body knew more than she did, knew exactly where she needed to be as of right now.
And so, her feet dragged themselves along the iced ground, leading her through the debris, as she wondered what was pulling her. A lost memory perhaps? Some important piece of the past?
Suddenly stopping right there and then, Sakura, pushed by instinct alone, squatted down by a small cluster of ebony black flames.
And as the fire crackled, sending dark embers into the air, she squinted her eyes, trying to peer into the unforgivably hot and dark light.
There was something inside of it, standing out starkly amidst the raging, darkened flames.
Concentrating and engulfing both of her hands within the coolest of flames she could use, she reached into the fire, feeling through it and searching for whatever it was that she had seen, before getting a hold of it and pulling it out.
It was a scroll, all intact and well - a strange sense of déjà vu washed over her, but she didn't think much of it. Then again, Sakura had this strange sensation that somebody had been trying to get rid of all the important scrolls and documents hidden around within this village. Just a hunch, she supposed; she had no proof, to be honest...
Brushing away those thoughts, for now, the young female ninja found herself both incredulous and in awe over the fact that the piece of parchment hadn't burnt to ashes and nought ages ago. What on earth could have preserved so-?
It was then that she felt what she assumed was the faint lingering remains of chakra, weaved across the paper. It was like an unseen force swirling through the medium, but very carefully arranged in a checker's pattern over the scroll, protecting it.
A small grin broke across Sakura's face, deeply admiring of her Ancestors' ingenuity here - able to sense it was undoubtedly their doing, due to the similitude and resemblance to her own - before the young female ninja carefully unrolled the piece of parchment and read its contents.
Green Fire: also known as 'the Fire of Medics', 'Healing Fire', 'The Merciful Fire'...
Sakura was still running, the Beast of Legend and its pack still hot on her heels, like a hellfire.
'...The Green Fire is used by healers to cauterize, disinfect and speed the cell regeneration, especially in the case of a wound or an illness. Be warned to never take your eyes off of the fire; do not lose focus, and keep calm while making use of it,' she recited, having memorized it all.
But she went and bluntly ignored all of that, now pushing forward as fast she possibly could, with her vision dimming and tunnelling further and further at an alarming rate. She had no time to follow instructions.
Half along the way of hyperventilating completely, she desperately kept the sole idea of using the Green Fire, and tried her best to not look back over her shoulder to see the horde after her.
And she honestly didn't need to. Their paws, pounding loud and menacing against the ground, like a cacophony of blades and drums, were close enough as it was. And getting closer still.
How long could she hold running on like this? She felt like her heart, lungs and legs were going to explode-
A sliver of hopefulness soared through her being as she felt the Fire working its magic, her cells multiplying themselves with high-speed, stopping the flow of blood and cauterizing her injury, for now. It may not restore her shoulder to full use, but it would have to do until after this hell.
Trees flew by as she upped her speed by a fraction, forcefully convincing herself that she wasn't exhausted, that she wasn't in pain, that this wasn't the end of her.
And maybe it wouldn't be. After all, she could hear the splashing of water, somewhere to her left, sounding louder as she drew nearer and nearer to wherever it was located: 'Finally. Safety.'
Pivoting her feet towards the direction of that one distinctive noise, Sakura rushed right for it and, no less than a couple of minutes later, the forest's trees offered an opening and the young female ninja came across a clearing.
There was just one problem.
Beyond the clearing, there was nothing else, for beyond its edge, there was a menacing canyon - and it was nowhere near a small one.
Heart caught in her throat, the young female ninja cautiously neared the brink, but not too close, before peering down below, and seeing the water of a river flowing fast through the landscape.
Glancing over at the other side of this immense canyon, Sakura was dismayed to find that it was too far a distance to bridge, even if she took a leap of faith or tried infusing her lunge with-
She turned around too late, letting out a cry as a pair of yellow ones met hers, right in her face, before the attacking beast, aiming for her neck yet again, tackled her and took her over the edge.
Back in the present, within the Hokage's office.
"EVERYONE, PLEASE REMAIN CALM!" the Hokage yelled over the loud crowd of ninja - which consisted of Konoha 11 and Sai - as they all burst and barged into his office uninvited.
"What do you mean?!" retorted Ino, tears at the corner of her eyes, voice even louder than his "It's impossible for Sakura to not be here, finally - everything led to her! IT HAD TO BE HER!"
"Come now," interjected Sai, a little louder than usual so he could be heard over the others "There's no use making such a big problem out of something so small."
Those words stunned everyone into deathly silence, with Naruto being the only one able - or brave enough - to break it, as he eyed the artist ninja like the latter had grown a second head: "...Small? What do you mean 'small'? This is a pretty, damn big problem. Can't you tell, idiot?!"
Realizing that he was lashing out, the young Uzumaki then took a deep breath as he lowered his gaze, before speaking in a soft, sad tone: "I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'll speak for us all. We miss our pink-haired friend. So much, it hur-"
"Good to know it's mutual."
Like a command had been given, everyone turned around towards the sound of a sinister voice.
"Kaji," spat Sasuke, glaring murder at the man they had been searching for, who now casually stood on the windowsill like he owned it.
"Lovely to see you too, Uchiha," drawled the pink-haired male sneeringly with a huge grin to his lips, the only thing visible on his face being dimmed with his back to the glaring sunlight "Say, did anyone tell you guys that you should really invest more into security? It's like BAD."
Before anyone could do anything or even fully react at all, the enemy had teleported himself to set foot on the Hokage's desk, before randomly yet precisely seizing a pen from the penholder.
By the time that had transpired, everyone was already either grabbing their weapons or making hands signs, ready to attack, defend or just react accordingly...But, alas, no one was fast enough.
As the sun outside suddenly found itself blocked by a drifting cloud, for less than a second, Kaji's right eye was visible, glowing in the shadow under an eerie, amber light.
The innocent pen in his hold was then surrounded by white fire, and before anyone could grasp the situation or analyse it, the pink-haired male smashed it in the table.
And the Hokage's Tower blew up.
Thank you for reading and thank my Beta, Seth's Kiss, for pre-reading.