The Fairytale Murders

Act 3: Under the Red Moon

"The sky is drenched in blood." Whispered a raspy voice.

"The sky is drenched in blood… The sky is drenched in blood… The sky is drenched in blood!!" squealed distorted voices, as they laughed under the sanguine sky.

Around and around, they twirled, wearing dresses of pure white. Their skin shone under the light of the red moon. Around and around, they danced- laughing and chanting those words. Under the light of that moon, they seemed inhuman, almost immortal. They each smiled, showing pearly white teeth, those beautiful creatures that seemed so cruel.

"We're waiting… We're waiting for your arrival…we're waiting…" they sang with a sweet voice. They twirled around her, memorizing her scent and kissed her gently on the cheek.

"We're waiting…" they whispered as they faded into the night.

Sakura woke up with a cold sweat. She breathed in heavily as she touched the spot where they had kissed her. Who were they? She shook her head- it was just her imagination. They're not real, she told herself, but somehow, deep inside her consciousness, she knew that they were more than mere illusions. She could smell them; their sweet scent of water lilies lingered in her nostrils. She forgot what they had said. She forgot the red moon. All she could think about was how beautiful they were as the scent of water lilies engulfed her.

"Sakura-chan…Sakura-chan- HEY! SAKURA-CHAN!! WAKE UP!!" hollered Naruto at the sleeping Sakura.

Sakura opened her eyes unwillingly, the sun shone brightly in her eyes. She had forgotten all about last night.

"Wai.. it's so bright! I'm meellting…" moaned Sakura dramatically.

Naruto laughed at his friend's antics. Little did she know, he was planning something behind her back.

"Come on, Sakura-chan. Breakfast is ready! Kakashi said that if you don't wake up in five minutes, he's gonna eat your breakfast!!"

Sakura shot straight up at the threat. All was going as Naruto had anticipated. Although, he didn't seem like he was the type to think up genius battle strategies, like Shikamaru- he had pretty good strategies to steal food. And… he happened to know that Sakura had brought a pack of ramen with her.

"Why, that bastard…" she growled as she sped towards the other two of her team.

She spotted Kakashi, with his nose in the book as always. She stalked up to him and pressed her finger against his chest.

"Where. Is. It." She demanded forcefully.

He looked up from his book innocently.

"Where is what, Sakura-chan?"

"You know what. Where is my breakfast, Kakashi-SENSEI?"

"Well… hehe-"

Before he could say another word, Sakura whacked him on the back of his head. With that, she departed while calling behind her:

"You ate it, didn't you?"

A sweatdrop rolled down Kakashi's masked face.

"Actually, it's in your bag, where you left it last night…"

"Oww.. Sakura-chan, you didn't have to hit me that hard! You sent me through five trees." Whined Naruto, while clutching his head.

"You ate my breakfast and yet you still have to courage to whine about how much it hurts when I hit you?" asked Sakura in a deathly calm voice as she gave Naruto her evil eye. An evil smirk appeared on her face.

"Hmm… did you know that Ibiki-san has taught me another way to extract information? Firstly you have to –beep- to the person's –beep- and then –beep- the –beep-, not to mention to –beep- and to tear out the –beep-. The person will then –beep- and then you're supposed to –beep- and –beep-. Then you're supposed to use the –beep-…" said Sakura, with a happy look in her eye.

Naruto's face turned green. Then he ran off behind Sasuke and Kakashi, whose faces were equally green.

"Waah… Sakura-chan's going to kill me!" he cried.

"Better him than us." They both replied automatically, offering Naruto as their sacrifice.

:"Sakura-chan! Come on, we've been friends for so long! How can you ever do –beep- to my –beep- and then –beep- the –beep-, not to mention to –beep- and tear out my –beep- and then use the –beep-? Besides… you know about my weakness for ramen.. I couldn't help myself! I wanted to stop- really, I did but my body started functioning on it's own! Please don't do –beep- to my –beep- and then –beep- the –beep-, not to mention to –beep- and tear out my –beep- and then use the –beep-!" pleaded Naruto with tears in his azure eyes.

Sakura laughed. Really, how could she keep a straight face to Naruto's puppy face? She patted Naruto on the head.

"Ah.. don't worry, buddy. I wasn't even all that hungry anyways." Chuckled Sakura.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god she wasn't serious of doing –beep- to my –beep- and then –beep- the –beep-, not to mention to –beep- and tearing out my –beep- and then using the –beep-!" thought Naruto.

It was almost noon- the sun shone brightly against the cerulean sky. Sakura sighed and stretched against the rock behind her. Beside her, lay Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi, all of whom were basking in the warm sunlight. All of who were thinking of different things.

Naruto was thinking of a certain pearly-eyed lady, who was waiting for him back in the comfort of Konoha. He was also thinking of his cherished ramen shop, which was forever imbedded in his heart. He smiled softly as a memory flickered through his mind of his and Hinata's first date…

Flashback

It was a hot summer's day in July; the people of Konoha were busy preparing for their annual Sakura festival. A handsome young man stood in front of the blossoming cherry trees, nervously waiting for the arrival of his date.

"Gah… do I look alright? Does this blue kimono-thing suit me? Sakura-chan said that when you're going to a Sakura festival, you have to wear a kimono, but I'm not so sure. What if I look too girly? No wait, I can't think like that. Sakura-chan said to act like myself. But how do I act like me? I don't understand! I thought I was me! How do you act like yourself when you are yourself?" he thought, as his mind was trying to understand the muddling yet vital piece of information that Sakura had given him.

Yet, it didn't seem promising that he'd get it anytime soon. Naruto was nervous. It was his first date with the girl that he had an enormous crush on, he wasn't sure if he would make a good first impression. He hoped from the bottom of his heart that he wouldn't screw it up.

"Don't screw up! Don't screw up! You are Naruto! You are Naruto!!" he chanted to himself, as if it would completely destroy the chances of him screwing up the date.

"God…. Why was it so much easier when I didn't realize that I was in love with her?" he thought, as he wiped his sweaty hands on his pants.

He tried hard to remember the advice that Sakura had given him. Unfortunately, all that came to mind was a pink-haired shinobi talking, but no sound came out from her mouth.

"Oh damn… I don't think I was listening…."

He snapped out of his reverie when he heard a shy voice calling his name.

"Naruto-kun! I'm sorry that I was late." Said Hinata, wearing a most exquisite royal blue kimono.

Naruto gapped at the sight of his date. She was truly beautiful. Of course, not in the way that Sakura was beautiful, but in her own unique fashion. He gazed up at her face. He never realized just how bright her pearly-white eyes shone- it was like he was falling in love all over again.

"You… you look beautiful." He stuttered, nervously.

Hinata blushed.

"Th-thanks, Naruto-kun."

They smiled at each other and walked off, hand in hand.

The first place that he took her was this fancy restaurant. He could vaguely remember Sakura saying that girls liked to be pampered. And there they sat, accompanied by the light of the candles and the bittersweet melody of the violin playing in the background.

"So… uh…. What do you want to do after we eat?" asked Naruto lamely. He really couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Let's go see the cherry blossoms." Smiled Hinata, "I've always wanted to see them."

Naruto looked surprised.

"What? You've never gone out and seen the cherry blossoms?"

"No… My family wasn't that fond of public events- so I wasn't allowed to go…" replied Hinata with a sad smile. "But I'm happy because my first time seeing them will be with Naruto-kun!"

Naruto blushed; he didn't know what to say to this. He hoped that nothing stupid will come out of his mouth. Fortunately, the waiter came back with the sake at that exact moment. He and Hinata both reached for the wine at the same time.

"Ah… let me get it for you. After all, you are my guest tonight!" said Naruto cheerfully.

However, as he reached over for the bottle of sake, Naruto became conscious of the fact that he was out on his FIRST date with HINATA, the woman of his dreams. His hands started to tremble and at that exact moment, the bottle wriggled out of his grasp and dropped onto Hinata's lap. The entire front of her beautiful kimono was soaked in sake.

"Oh.. Oh my god. I am so sorry! I didn't- it just- I- Oh I am soo so sorry!! Oh man…" gasped Naruto.

"Oh dammit. I just screwed it up didn't I?" he thought glumly, as he helped Hinata wipe the sweet wine off her kimono.

"Hinata… you're not too mad at me, are you? I'm really sorry- I'll replace it!" asked Naruto.

Hinata slowly turned her pale face to the tanned one of Naruto's, with a gentle smile, she opened her mouth to speak.

"No-"

"Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama!! We need you at the village center!! There are some ninjas causing the civilians problems!" interrupted a young chuunin.

"But-" began Naruto, "I'm on a-"

"It's okay. We can do this some other time, your village needs you, Naruto." Interrupted Hinata with a gentle voice, as if she was convincing a child.

Naruto pouted.

"But… are you sure that it's okay?"

"It's fine. Don't worry about it, besides I've got to get home and change." Replied Hinata.

With that, she left the restaurant. Naruto stared at her back guiltily, he sighed. He had really ruined it, hadn't he?

"Naruto-sama! NARUTO-SAMA!!" cried the young chuunin.

"Hn?"

"We must go!"

"Ah… right…"

"I'll make it up to her. I'll make it up to her…somehow." He thought, as he sped towards the village center.

Naruto breathed nervously as he approached the Hyuuga house. Was he really doing the right thing? Was he sure that she would appreciate seeing his face after he took her out on possibly the worst date of her life? These doubts tugged at Naruto's mind, making him more and more nervous as each second passed. But then he remembered her gentle smile and he thought:

"No matter what she thinks of me, I've got to apologize to her. Not some rushed, crappy apology- a real sincere one. I at least owe her that. Plus, she might not be pissed at me and I'll get a chance to make it to her! Hehe… I'll blow her socks off with Super-Naruto's-Plan-To-Blow-Hinata's-Socks-Off-So-That-She'll-Forgive-Me-And-Marry-Me. But what should I do?"

He then remembered how she said that she had never once, gone to see the cherry trees. He smiled to himself.

"Yes! That's perfect."

"Hinata! Hey, Hinata!" called Naruto, softly.

But no response came from the window overhead.

"Hinata! Hello? Are you there?"

The window finally opened.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata called as she stuck her head out of the window.

"Yo!"

"Naruto-kun! What are you doing here?" asked Hinata, shocked that he had managed to get through the guards.

"Hehe… I told you that I'd make it to you, remember? Well, I, Uzumaki Naruto, never breaka promise. Especially to a pretty girl like you. So hurry up and get down here!"

Hinata smiled as she jumped out of the window, knowing that Naruto would be there to catch her.

"Okay, hime-sama. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to blind you for a few minutes, just until we reach our destination." Said Naruto, as he wrapped a piece of cloth around her eyes.

"O-Okay." Stammered Hinata, not sure of what to expect from him.

"Ne…. Naruto-kun, are we there yet?" asked Hinata.

"Hmm… almost. Just a little longer." Replied Naruto in a cheeky tone.

Hinata sighed. They had been walking for more than half an hour. She wondered where he was taking her. Suddenly, they stopped abruptly. She felt two arms around her waist, hugging her tightly. She felt two hands, gently removing the blindfold from her eyes. She felt the warmth of his body, so close to her, as she opened her eyes gingerly.

She gasped slightly at the sight before her. He had brought her to the cherry trees. A circle of pale pink blossoms surround the pair, as the full moon above shone over them, giving them a silvery glow. She breathed their scent- never has she seen anything so beautiful. Then, a sudden breeze brushed over them, taking the petals of the flowers with it. It seemed like it was snowing. She shivered.

Naruto felt her fragile body tremble. He hugged her even tighter. He felt her head, as it laid on his chest. She was so fragile, so pure. She reminded him of the cherry blossoms that were carried off with the wind. He put his chin on top of her head, and like that they stood, silently, as they watched the cherry blossoms fly.

He suddenly turned her towards him and with a sincere tone he spoke:

"I'm sorry."

Hinata smiled as she raised one hand and placed it upon his fine chiseled features.

"I forgive you."

With that, he bent his head down and kissed her gently, while the cherry blossoms flew around them, glowing silver under the light of the moon.

Naruto sighed a sigh of happiness as he remembered that night. He closed his eyes as he laid in the warm sunlight, thinking of her and only her.

Sasuke lay there, eyes wide open as he watched the clouds float by. Next to him, Sakura did the same.

"Ne… Sasuke…" began Sakura.

"What?"

"…Don't you… think that that one looks like a rabbit?" she asked, as she pointed to a fat cloud in the sky.

Sasuke looked at it carefully. He shook his head.

"Where did you get that from? That is obviously cauliflower."

Sakura laughed in surprise. She didn't expect that Sasuke Uchiha, the lone wolf of Konoha, to be able to determine clouds as cauliflower.

"No… you've got it all wrong. That is obviously a rabbit. Can't you see the ears popping out of its head?"

"What ears? Those are the white things on top of the cauliflower!"

"Ears!"

"White things!"

"Ears!!"

"White things!"

"EARS!"

"…Dobe."

Sakura took that as Sasuke's surrender. Satisfied, she laid there in silence. Both peacefully watching as the clouds float by. Both perfectly happy to be in the company of each other…

Kakashi lay there, feeling the sun's warmth as it shone down at him. He closed his eyes blissfully.

"Hehe… my book is so good! I can't believe that he –beep- her in the –beep-! And then they had a –beep- with a –beep-! Then, they performed –beep- on the –beep-! Ah… life is good."

It was dusk by the time they reached their destination. As soon as they stepped into the village, they could sense that something was wrong. The metallic scent of blood filled the air. Death had visited.