-XXX-

"Now, in the interest of formality, let us begin by having you tell us about yourself and how you came to enter this house." Neji said as Sasuke, Sakura and himself were seated in what appeared to be a living room after a few minutes.

"Um, right, I'm..." She stuttered.

"What have we here? Is it true? Is there really a cute little human girl here?" Another voice coming from the top of the staircase interrupted Sakura's introduction. There stood a hyperactive blonde with blue eyes like the ocean and the three whisker markings on his cheeks.

'T-This person appeared out of nowhere!' Sakura was looking at him and suddenly the man appeared right next to her on the sofa, licking Sakura's left cheek.

'He licked me…!'

Sakura was startled and immediately pulled away. "Mmm, you smell so nice and sweet."

"Please let me have a lick too." Came from the other side of Sakura's ear. As she turned her head for another male voice, her right ear was licked by a boy, probably around 12 years old, holding a teddy bear.

'Another one appeared all of a sudden… What on earth is going on?!'

'And on top of that, I got licked again…'

"What?! What are you doing? Stop it!" Sakura shouted in fright a pulled away. 'What is it with these people?!'

"You're right, she is sweet. She's surprisingly delicious for being just a mere human." The little boy said to the smiling blond.

"Now you two, don't you think that behavior is a little impolite towards a lady you have only just met?" Neji, who was sitting in the armchair, scolded the blond sitting next to Sakura and the boy standing behind her.

"What?" The blonde was disappointed. "You're stiff as always, Neji. What's the big deal? Doesn't everyone want to taste something that looks yummy? Don't you, Konohamaru?" He asked the boy cuddling the teddy bear.

"Yes." He replied.

"Knock it off, dobe..." Sasuke said, sitting in another armchair on the right side of the couch.

"Hey... Why is this girl here?" Konohamaru directed his question to Neji. Neji seemed to be the main one here, taking care of the rest rest of the boys.

"Isn't she part of tonight's meal?" The blond asked, confused. His disappointment was evident.

"As if..." Sasuke shrugged with a smirk on his lips. "Why don't you use your imagination for that? This one's already my dinner. I'm the one who found her." He said to him, his expression still indifferent. And no room for objections.

"But you let her get scooped off your plate." Neji stated nonchalantly.

"Fuck off, Neji! Don't mention that." Sasuke snapped. Neji's attitude was slowly starting to get on Sasuke's nerves again. He's always meddling in everything and acting like he's better than everyone else.

This whole conversation was bizarre. Why were these guys talking about her like she was a five-star menu being prepared for dinner? 'What have I gotten myself into?'

"Excuse me… What?! I'm not a thing or some food! What's wrong with you?" Their words annoyed Sakura so much that she completely forgot that she was in a room with four very strange men.

'What does these guys think of themselfs? Obviously a pretty face doesn't mean a pretty personality.' She glared at them with an offended look.

"Lame. I've had enough of you appropriating everything." A voice came out of nowhere.

'God, how many people actually live in this house? And why is it all men? Isn't there a girl here? That would be comforting... What kind of place is this anyway?'

Sakura was beginning to wonder why she was here, who these people are, and why no one knew of her arrival. Should she call her father and ask him directly what was going on? He was the one who sent her to stay at this mansion where her relatives were 'supposedly' staying. Of course, she's new to this town and she's never been in this house, so she doesn't know any of these guys. But people from here should have known she was coming, right? Did her dad forget to call here and make the arrangements?

"Huh? This voice… I know that's you, Gaara. Show yourself." Naruto said impatiently.

Naruto called for the man with the red hair, circles under his eyes and with a tattoo on his forehead, who suddenly appeared leaning against a cabinet, across from the small chair where Sasuke was sitting.

When did he come? Was she so lost in thoughts that she didn't even notice him to came here? No. This time there's no mistaking it. She thought it was just her imagination… but this person just appeared out of thin air!

"I thought it smelled like human in here. So you're the one causing this. How dare you interrupt my precious sleep?" Gaara said, not taking his eyes off Sakura with an angry expression.

"I'm sorry but I… Who are you?" Sakura asked in confusion. 'Another rude boy. If he wants to talk to me like that, he could at least introduce himself, right?'

"My question first!" Gaara shouted, punches a wall at his side.

This frightened Sakura so much that she didn't dare say a word. This boy seems to have an explosive temper. Now… Sasuke looks nicer next to this guy. Sasuke may be weirder, but he's not as violent. At least from what she's seen so far.

All that could be heard in the living room was the sound of plaster falling from the hole Gaara had just made with his bare fist and Neji's sigh.

"Phew... As short tempered as ever, huh? Hahaha." Naruto laughed nervously.

"Shut up, you bastard! Or do you want to make it personal?" Gaara has had enough of Naruto's taunts. This guy's just making trouble and getting away with it, thanks to his fake smile.

"This pisses me off. If you don't shut that mouth of yours, I'll cut it up into pieces." Konohamaru immediately stood up for Naruto.

"I'd like to see you try with that stature of yours, kid." Gaara replied with a sneer. What could this kid do to him? Throw a stuffed animal at him?

"Teddy. Take a good look. He's going to be our next target." Konohamaru said to his stuffed friend in his arms.

'I don't like where this is going at all.' Sakura didn't even flinch in fear and tension. The fear of even breathing too loudly ran through her head. It seemed like a fight was slowly brewing. What's going on here? Had she instigated it?

"For god's sake... Can you people cut it out? No matter how calm and collected I may be, I'm starting to get irritated as well." Neji ended the argument between those two boys, because he was always only tired of this barking.

"I don't care what you do with this person..." Neji pointed his finger at Sakura, who was surprised by the gesture.

"I just can't stand to watch them fight it out over you in front of my eyes." Neji said to Sakura, closing his eyes briefly in exhaustion.

"Let's take it nice and easy from the beginning... Has anyone been told anything about this lady who has come here to live with us?" Neji urged the others to help him solve this headache-inducing problem.

"That's... You know..." Sakura knows exactly her part of the story, so she should explain everything properly. The only problem is... 'I'm too scared to talk!'

"As I said..." Nervously, Sakura started playing with the rubber band she had on her wrist just in case. The way everyone was looking at her, waiting to hear what she was going to say, was uncomfortable.

"She's trembling. That's awfully cute! Makes me want to gobble her right up." Naruto declared, looking at Sakura with excitement in his eyes.

"Her teeth are chattering. She must be beyond terrified of us." Konohamaru remarked.

'Isn't that obvious? I'm in this creepy place after all!' And she hasn't the slightest idea what these guys are up to. Shouldn't she be greeted by someone with whom her father had arranged the details of her arrival?

"What is it that you don't get? We're pretty much like an open book." Gaara remarked, leaning against the cupboard again, his mood now calmer. That's good...

"Come on now, enough with the chit-chat. We'll never get anywhere like this. You really are testing my patience. You there." Sighing heavily, Neji stared at Sakura, who didn't know which of the boys was safer to look at at the moment.

"How can we hold a conversation when you're that frightened? Hurry up and explain yourself!" Neji raised his voice forcefully and Sakura jumped in startlement.

"Understood! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

Sakura blurted out at the man who could be working for the police in interrogation. He'd be really good at that. And those eyes of his that seemed to see through her added the icing on the cake.

-XXX-

"... And that's how I got here and into this house."

Sakura has calmed down quite a bit while telling her story, and even the atmosphere seems a bit better. Probably because the boys aren't at each other's throats now and are carefully trying to understand the situation.

"So you're the daughter of a priest?" Was the first question that came unexpectedly from Sasuke.

"Exactly. Is there anything wrong with that?" Sakura asked curiously. Is there something wrong with being a pastor's daughter?

"No wonder you stink..." Gaara said in disgust, looking away from Sakura.

"Excuse me?!" Sakura couldn't believe that this boy had said something like that to her face. What the hell did he even think of himself?!

"The pastor's daughter ended up in this mansion... You must have terrible karma. Besides, I don't know anything about these relatives you're talking about." Neji uttered, getting more and more irritated.

This guy… and the others too! Everybody keeps labeling me "human". What are they? Gods? Princes? Nobility? 'Arrogant jerks they are.' Well, scary jerks, to tell you the truth.

"As I suspected, it must have been a simple mistake on our part." Sakura meekly replied. Perhaps it would be best if she left from here, checked into a hotel somewhere, and called her father for an explanation.

"It's a shame, but I have to agree." Naruto said disappointedly. "It's out of the question for someone related to the church to be sent to this house."

"All right, I am sorry for the inconvenience!" Sakura stood up abruptly and bowed, slightly surprising everyone in the room. "I think this is some kind of misunderstanding, so I'll be on my way. I'm so sorry to interrupt you this late and barge into your mansion." With quicker steps she walked to the staircase by which she had come up.

'I must hurry and get out of here. I have a bad feeling that if I stay here any longer I'll get into a lot of trouble!'

"Just a moment!" Neji shouted before she could leave. He stood up to give emphasis to his words.

The moment Sakura turned to look at the man who had called out to her, Neji teleported and appeared at Sakura's right. "I am attempting to verify the truth of the matter. Wouldn't it be rather impolite to leave now?" Neji asked, his gaze now buried in hers, his sense of superiority more evident than ever.

'He... He teleported?! Suddenly he's right next to me!'

"This is not true. I'm dreaming, this is not possible!" Startled, Sakura took a few slow steps backwards, away from Neji. Fear overwhelmed her entire body. Despite her loud heartbeat, she could barely hear her thoughts or her surroundings.

'This is too weird! There's no way I'm staying here!' She'll sleep in the park, under the bridge, for example, as long as she doesn't have to be around these people...

She doesn't care who they are, or if it's just a bad dream. She needs to get out of here… and fast. She just hopes she can run away from this house while she has the chance. Because this opportunity to escape might never come again.

There was a dead silence, and only the sound of her irregular and fearful breathing echoed through the room. Until suddenly, an unfamiliar voice interrupted Sakura's frightened thoughts and broke the thick, uncomfortable silence.

…

"Are you the woman he mentioned?"

-XXX-

End of Chapter 3