Sakura and the Prince of Flowers
By Miss Angel Maxwell

Free Talk: Now we are approaching the climax of the story so I hope I did a good enough job at making it exciting. Please tell me what you think. And Happy New Year!

Chapter 21: "Just Keep Running"

Sakura felt wonderful when she awoke the next morning and it showed on her glowing face. She still was not sure what was going on with Sasuke, who was as quiet as ever as they walked through the woods, but in all other matters she was content. If Rock Shin was right that the monster in my dreams is just a product of my anxiety, than it's a pretty good sign that it wasn't in my dream last night. I think my anxieties must finally be coming to an end now. And why wouldn't they? Even if I'm not completely ready to be someone's mother, I have my teammates and friends to support me, and Lee's blessing. And before the end of the day I will be back in the best place in the entire world. Konoha. Home.

Sakura's cheerful mood helped her to set a quick pace for her little traveling group, and by midday, they were within an hour's walk of Konoha. Naruto and Sasuke were out in front leading the way and Gaara and Shin were in the back, bringing up the rear. In between, Sakura was walking next to Temari and having a spirited discussion with the Sand girl about baby names.

"Nadeshiko?" the blonde asked, wrinkling her nose. "You really want to name the kid Nadeshiko if it's a girl?"

"What's wrong with Nadeshiko?" Sakura asked innocently. "Ino says it's the flower that represents the ideal beauty of womanhood."

Temari shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno, with you being named Sakura and all, it just seems a bit cheesy… You know, flower overload. But I guess it is your kid and you can name it whatever you want. So what if the baby is a boy?"

"I haven't thought about that as much," said Sakura. There are just so many cute names for boys, but they're all kind of the same. It's hard to think of one that's really special."

"Well are there any boy names that are common in your family?" Temari asked.

"You mean family names?" Sakura replied. "Not that I know of. But maybe in Lee's family… I'll ask his grandpa… Hey Shin!" she called congenially, slowing down and turning her head to face her elderly friend. "Shin, are there any names… Gaara… Where's Shin?"

The redhead, who was now walking by himself, gazed back at her. "He's gone off into the woods," he said coolly. "He would not tell me why, but he said not to make a big deal or to alarm you with his departure. I assume he had to use the bathroom."

"Oh," Sakura breathed. She was trying to appear calm and collected, even though her insides were squirming with unexplainable dread. Even the baby seemed scared and kicked her painfully hard, causing her to wince. Where could he have gone off to? Her concern must have shown on her face, though, because when she rejoined Temari the older girl immediately asked if she was all right.

"I… I'm fine…" Sakura said softly. "It's just… I'm a little worried about Lee's grandpa. He's an old man and he's gone off alone into the woods. I hope he'll be okay."

"Is that all that's got you looking all freaked out?" Temari replied. "Don't worry about it, Pinky. That guy is old, but he seems to have it together. He knows what he's doing."

"You're right," Sakura said. "I shouldn't worry." Even as she said these words, the young woman could feel her heartbeat getting faster and her forehead growing moist with nervous perspiration. She couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

"Hey look, we're almost out of the woods!" Temari exclaimed, pointing towards an opening in the trees ahead of them that was filtering in bright sunlight.

Sakura felt only slightly relieved that they would be out in the open soon. Rock shin still hadn't returned. Then she heard a noise coming from deep in the forest behind her. A whisper. She tried to ignore it, but a couple of minutes later she heard it again, louder this time, and she immediately spun around. "Shin? Is that you?" she asked nervously. Her traveling companions all stopped and looked at her strangely. "You all heard it, right? That low whispering sound?"

"I didn't hear anything," said Temari.

"Me either," Naruto agreed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Gaara asked. "Do you need a drink of water?"

Sasuke just stood there and stared at her.

"You… you all think I'm losing it, don't you?" she stuttered.

"We just think you're tired," said Temari. "It's a good thing we're almost to Konoha."

"Please, just stop and be still for a few minutes," the pregnant girl pleaded. "You'll hear it! It's an evil whisper… low and scary!"

The five young shinobi stood in the middle of the forest path for fifteen minutes, and nobody heard anything besides the twittering of birds and the gentle rustle of tree branches. Not even Sakura heard anything strange.

"Maybe I am just tired," she sighed. "Let's keep going. Still, I swear I heard…"

Just as the travelers had begun to walk again a sound penetrated through the trees, not a low sinister whisper like Sakura had described, but a panicked squeak, quiet at first then growing louder and louder. "Now that I heard," Naruto announced. "Isn't that Gray Brows' voice?"

"It is!" Sakura exclaimed. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth and called back in the direction of the shrill cry. "Shin! We're over here! Did something happen?"

The reply was another terrified squawk, longer this time, a scream, and getting closer. As the sound got louder, the young people realized that it wasn't just incoherent screaming. Rock Shin was yelling actual words, and as he burst through the woods behind them, arms flailing, those words became suddenly very clear.

"Run!" he shouted. "Run young friends! Get to Konoha! Get Miss Haruno to Konoha and don't slow down for me!"

"Wait, calm down…" Sakura began. But the old man cut her off.

"No time! No time! Just run!"

A sickening crash of splintering branches and snapping twigs exploded a few feet behind the panicked man, and the children stared up in wide-eyed horror at the massive, hairy arm that had just ripped through the trees. Sakura's feet were glued to the ground with fear. Her heartbeat was now so strong that her whole body throbbed with each pulse, and her mind was so numb with fright she barely felt anything when Sasuke and Naruto each grabbed one of her hands and began running full speed, pulling her along. Through the edges of her eyes she could see Gaara and Temari running along either side of her teammates. Someone was missing.

"Shin!" she yelled, wrenching her neck around. "Where is he?"

"He'll be fine!" Sasuke yelled back. "Just keep running!"

Even though they only had seen a glimpse of the creature's arm, none of the young shinobi had any doubts as to the identity of their predator. It was one of the Children of the Kyuubi. The unthinkable, a one-in-a-million chance attack, was happening. And it wasn't a dream. All Sasuke and Naruto could think about was getting Sakura back to Konoha where she would safe, and that singular thought was what drove their feet to beat faster and faster against the ground. Even the blinding light of the sun as they emerged from the forest into a field of grass couldn't slow them down.

They knew that the monster was hot on their trail, but they had no idea how close until a roar, loud as thunder, tore through the atmosphere right behind them. The sound was like the howl of an injured wolf combined with the screech of pure human terror and as soon as it cut into their ears, Sasuke, Naruto, Temari, and Gaara all felt something lock onto their ankles and cement them in place. The only one unaffected was Sakura, but because her teammates were holding her hands, when they stopped it yanked her to a stop as well.

"What's wrong?" she shrieked. "What happened?" Then, glancing over her shoulder she could see that her friends were completely petrified, except for their eyes and lips.

"Keep running!" Sasuke yelled through his frozen jaw. "You'll have to wriggle out of our grip, but you need to get back to Konoha!"

"But what about…!" she squealed.

"It's not after us!" Naruto growled. "It just did this to get us out of the way while it hunts you down! Now run!"

Sakura didn't want to leave her friends like this and Shin was still unaccounted for. At a loss, she fell to her knees and began crying. "This is it! This is the end!" Then the smell hit her, so powerful and disgusting it made her bend over and wretch. It reminded her of the early months of her pregnancy. She suddenly gasped. "The baby!" It was exactly the motivation she needed to pry her fingers out from her teammates' iron grip and get back on her feet.

She began running as fast as any pregnant woman could, but it wasn't fast enough. The creature's breath was hot and wet on the back of her neck. But she kept moving her legs. If she could just make it back to Konoha, her baby would be safe. Then, in the worst possible turn of bad luck, her little foot caught on a rock in the middle of the grassy field. Her ankle twisted painfully and she flew to the ground face forward, protectively holding her belly as she went down with a scream. She rolled herself over onto her back to get up, but the creature was now right above her.

Sakura's nightmares could never have prepared her for the shock of seeing one of the Children of the Kyuubi looming over her less than a meter away. It was the most grotesque thing she had ever laid eyes on, at least three times the size of any man, wrapped in powerful muscles, and covered with thick brown fur. The beast wore no clothes, but stood on its hind limbs like a human. Both its hands and feet were huge and equipped with long sharp yellow claws. The neck was as thick as a tree trunk and supported a hideous wolf like head with massive jaws, pointed ears, and small yellow eyes. It had the snout of a hyena, long and tapered, lined top and bottom with menacing teeth, with a vile tongue dripping gooey saliva. Most terrifying of all, was the fact that its mouth was stained with fresh red blood.

"Shin!" Sakura gasped despairingly, but when she spoke she had to breathe in through her nose and the stench hit her full strength. The smell of putrid flesh was so strong that despite being in mortal peril, the girl had to lean over to the side and vomit repeatedly into the grass. "He's dead…" she choked, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Then she looked up at the monster that was about to kill her and gritted her teeth defiantly. She was going to die anyway, so it really didn't matter what she said.

"You killed him!" she yelled with teary eyes. "He was my friend and you killed him! And you used a jutsu on my other friends so that they can't move!"

The creature stared back at her through tiny black slits in its yellow eyes and though its mouth never moved Sakura could hear its voice. It was that sinister whisper from before, speaking directly into her mind.

"They got in my way," it hissed. "Got in the way of my mission. As the last of my race, it is my final duty to kill the only one to ever survive an attack from one of my sisters. It was purely by accident that you became our victim that day, but you should have died. And today, at last you will. I do my sisters honor in killing you, young one…"

"You can't kill me!" the terrified girl shouted. "Not as long as I have my teammates nearby!" She pointed over at the frozen forms of Sasuke and Naruto who were not that far away.

"They are powerless to help you now," the creature spoke into her mind. "The seal that once protected you has been dissolved. Nobody can protect you now."

"I… I'm not afraid to die," Sakura stuttered, though she was so wracked with terror she wasn't sure if she really believed it or just said it impulsively. "And if there was a way that you could kill just me, I would probably just give up all hope and let you kill me." She paused and sniffed as tears were now liberally dribbling down her face. "But if you kill me, you will be killing my unborn child as well, and that would be a fate worse than death for me. So I beg you, as one intelligent being to another, please have mercy. My baby has done nothing to wrong you. Please don't kill it…" Then she began to sob and hiccup.

"The Children of the Kyuubi show mercy to no one!" With this cruel statement, the monster raised its mighty clawed hand to strike the desperate young woman.

-

"What's going on? I can't tell!" Naruto roared through his teeth. "It's got her pinned down on the ground and it's not attacking her!"

"Her mouth is moving," said Sasuke. "But I can't hear what she's saying. Is she trying to reason with it? Errrr! If I could just get over to her! I can't even use my chakra! This must be one of those mysterious jutsu that Rock Shin was talking about."

"I cannot manipulate the sand," Gaara said from left.

"This sucks!" Temari stammered from the right. "She's ten meters away and we're powerless to help her!"

"I'd tap into the Kyuubi's chakra if I could," Naruto growled. "It might draw that thing's attention over here… I'd rather be torn open like a sack of rice than have the same thing happen to her… I…" He stopped for a moment when he saw the creature's arm rise up to swipe at Sakura. "Oh god! It's going to kill her! I can't watch!"

Sasuke, however, couldn't take his eyes off of her. Somewhere deep in his heart he was still hoping for a miracle, even as the claws swung down. "Oh my god…" he uttuered.

-

Sakura was clutching desperately onto her belly in a feeble attempt to protect her baby as the vicious hand of death descended upon her. Then suddenly, time seemed to slow down and the arc of the beast's claws became a crawl, as if the air were thick and viscous. Sakura could feel a hot and volatile power surging from her stomach and coursing through her veins. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before, a supremely intoxicating chakra flowing to every inch of her body, infusing her with strength and courage she never thought possible.

Without even having to think about it, her hand shot out and caught the creature's huge arm and twisted it backwards with a disgusting snap. The monster threw back its head in an agonized roar as the bone broke, and Sakura used the brief moment to leap up to her feet, as agilely as if she weren't pregnant at all. A half-second later, the beast was back on her, this time lunging with its massive bloody jaws. But once again, Sakura was somehow one step ahead. She took a step back to avoid the assault of razor sharp teeth then swiftly kicked up as hard as she could. It was a direct hit. The monster's lower jaw slammed upward, severing the slimy tongue that had been lolling out of its mouth in a splatter of blood.

The tortured screams of the monster couldn't slow Sakura down. She was making moves at twice her pre-pregnant speed now. Like a cat, she dashed behind the injured and disoriented creature and climbed up onto its back, her small hands digging into the dense, coarse fur. She wrapped both of her arms around the monster's neck and pulled back as hard as she possibly could. She pulled for her unborn baby who she wanted to protect the most. She pulled for Lee who had given his precious life so that she might live. She pulled for Shin who was now almost certainly dead as well. She pulled for Naruto and Sasuke, her beloved teammates who she was finally reunited with. She pulled with all her strength, until her arms ached and she had used up every last drop of the mysterious and wonderful chakra that had been bestowed on her.

With a loud crack, the creature's spine had snapped and, with its spinal cord severed, the last of the Children of the Kyuubi fell to the ground, dead. Completely exhausted, Sakura slid off of its hairy back and onto the grass and just stood there, motionless.

The moment the monster died, all four shinobi who had been petrified were instantly freed and began running towards the scene of the fight. They had seen everything, how Sakura's skin had begun to glow a reddish hue right before she caught the monster's arm, and how the chakra had swirled all around her, spinning grass into the air and whipping her hair up. Sasuke and Naruto had seen something almost exactly the same when they watched Rock Lee kill one of the Children almost nine months ago. Sakura's moves even looked like his when she was fighting. Both boys also remembered vividly what happened to Lee after his fight was won. They ran, terrified, as fast as they could to Sakura's side, but neither Sasuke nor Naruto got there in time to catch her before she collapsed to the ground in a motionless heap.

To be continued…