Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

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My head hit the pillow, yet my eyes wouldn't shut. I stared at the ceiling of the room Ino and I shared. The tiles crisscrossed in a blue and tan pattern, the light crept through the sides of the curtains to hit only some parts of the ceiling and the walls.

I flipped over on my side, turning my back to the window. Ino was already snoozing away next to me, her mouth hung slightly open, eliciting a soft snore every once in a while. I envied her. Sleep wasn't coming easily. Earlier, I didn't want to sleep, I didn't want to stop. I wanted to keep going because stopping, to me, felt a bit like failure.

But now, now that I was situated in a comfy bed, I wanted sleep to take me. It would be another escape from my thoughts. And, I wasn't stupid, my body needed rest even though I wish I was an unending amount of energy.

Ugh, everything was making me angry!

Stewing in my anger lasted for a while, and the next thing I remembered happening was walking along the village wall.

Ino was missing from my side, I was completely alone. The same feeling from before came over me, my skin prickled and I felt the wind shift menacingly. My head turned to the dark abyss of the forest's outskirts. This time, rather than seeing nothing, a pair of red eyes stared back at me. The sight of them drew me in, and my legs carried me towards it.

A part of me was scared, frightened by the fact that I was really not in control of my body. It was moving on its own accord, feeling a call to whatever awaited me beyond the trees.

The bigger part of me was excited, ready to get to my destination. There was a certainty that wrapped itself around me that wasn't abandoning me any time soon. All the despair and anger I carried earlier was gone, just from staring into those glowing red eyes. It felt like I was about to get answers to all the questions I've ever had.

A dark veil was before me, and my feet stopped only for an instant. I reach my hand out and watched as it was swallowed by the blackness. I took a deep breath and plunged the rest of me after it.

I had the sensation I was floating, or maybe it was like free falling. Wind was hitting me in all directions, but I couldn't tell which way I was moving.

It was then that I heard it.

"Sakura…"

My eyes widened all the way, desperately seeking the source of the voice. The deep voice that is always at the back of my mind.

"Until next time…"

Where was it coming from?

My arms waved in frantic patterns, trying to find something to hold onto, trying to find the speaker, trying to find anything.

My hand smacked into something and I grabbed ahold of it. I brought my other arm around and latched on with my remaining hand. I finally found my voice.

"Who are you?" I screamed into the darkness, pulling my hands in closer to me as I did so. "How do you know my name?"

"What are you talking about?" a voice screamed back at me, smacking my hands away.

"What?"

"Sakura, let me go!"

My eyes fluttered open, the light seeping through the edges of my vision and Ino's face slowly pieced itself together in front of me. Her blonde hair in disarray, half of her face covered by it, so I could only see her one eye looking back at me in a horrified expression.

Instantly, my fingers loosened and she was able to grapple out of my hold. She scooted back a few inches and tucked her hair behind her ear, exposing the other half of her face.

"What's wrong with you?" she almost shouted, but then her eyes smoothed into more of a worried look than an angry one.

"I…" My mouth hung open as I puzzled everything together. I'd been dreaming. The thing I grabbed onto while still dreaming was Ino, not the mysterious voice. "I'm so sorry."

She eyed me up and down before grabbing her pillow and hugging it close to her chest. "What was that? What were you dreaming about, Sakura?" She cocked her head slightly to the side. "Must've been pretty bad, you were gripping me so hard."

I winced, and felt an even deeper remorse. My fingers would probably leave bruises on her arms.

My body involuntarily shivered and I looked out the window. The Sun was still peaking through, though definitely not as strong as when we'd first arrived to the room. I was grateful for the light, it helped chase away the darkness I'd fallen into in my dream.

Blinking slowly, I turned back to Ino. She waited patiently, waiting for me to answer her on my time.

"It was nothing." I chickened out, not wanting to talk about it. "I don't remember."

"Seriously?" Ino countered and then gave an annoyed huff. "Well, whatever it was, don't do it again. You scared the shit out of me!"

I nodded weakly, and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I trudged around the room, closing the bathroom door behind me with a soft thud. My back leaned against the wood as my mind stretched in every which way.

It was hard for me to open my mouth and let the words flow. My breathing quickened, fingers balling into fists. Why was it that I couldn't talk to her about it?

Ino knew all about my mysterious voice, she's caught me daydreaming about it so often. So, why couldn't I speak now?

Was it because this time it was happening in a different place? Whenever I thought or dreamed about it before, it was always the same. The voice was always behind me, so close I could feel the cool breath on my neck. Always.

This time though, I was running to it. I was chasing it down. And in such a familiar place, the place where I'd felt something was watching me last night, the place Tsunade went to check out.

What did it all mean? Was I scared for Tsunade last night? Did the darkness mean that I was afraid to lose her?

I shook my head to untangle that strand of thinking. That couldn't have been it, Tsunade wouldn't get hurt that easily.

Why was the voice in that spot then?

I clenched my fists in anger, not able to think of anything that made sense. A growl threatened to escape my lips, but I was able to push it down before Ino heard it through the door.

The bath was filled with hot water already, the steam rising from the water, wrapping itself around me, drawing me in. I undressed and sank into the scalding tub, welcoming the slight pain from the temperature as it distracted me for the moment.

And I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed at my skin, turning it raw and red. Good. Now my outside matched my inside. Red hot anger.

I toweled off, wrapping the cloth around me and securing it tightly above my chest. I opened the door to see Ino sitting up in bed, catching my gaze as I walked out. She got up and poked me in the arm as she passed me.

"You know, dummy, you can tell me anything."

The smile was so instantaneous that it almost made me laugh. "I know." She really was a great friend. I wish I could return the favor as much and tell her what was bothering me, that's what she wanted. She wanted me to unload my burdens and for her to share them. But, I couldn't do that to her, not when I had no idea what was going on inside my head anyway.

Ino shut the door to the bathroom, and I got dressed in a fresh set of clothes, a pair of black pants, and long-sleeved dark red shirt. I slid my black boots on, pulling until they hit me mid-calf.

There was a small chair sitting in the corner, just a few feet from the bed. I reached over to grab my weapons belt that I'd thrown onto it last night. It snapped into place, laying lower on my right hip from the weight of my sword.

I crossed my arms over my chest, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Everything was fine, I had nothing to worry about.

I repeated that over and over in my head as the seconds ticked by. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Lately, I've been all over the place mentally. Being so on and off again angry with myself was something that never happened before. What happened to me? Where had the calm Sakura gone?

Everything used to be so easy. At school, at home; I knew my place, my drive. I would best Tsunade someday, and I hated her fervently from afar. But now, I felt lost, and it made me so unbelievably angry.

Why was Tsunade being so normal? I kept waiting for the punchline in this scenario, of her being my Hunter Captain and holding it over my head, or her making me do such arduous tasks that the others didn't need to perform. She was treating me normally, something that I hadn't anticipated.

I didn't understand.

"Sakura," said a voice through the door. It was Tsunade's familiar tone ringing through my ears. She knocked twice before entering.

She eyed me up and down, noting my readiness. She was wearing something very similar to me, though she was doting a loose white top instead, and her weapons belt was sans sword.

She paced in without shutting the door behind her. She glanced at the closed bathroom door before turning her focus back on me.

"We need to discuss tonight's plan together. When Ino is ready to go, meet me back at the park we were at yesterday." She nodded as if she was answering her own command. "I've already told Naruto and Sai the same thing, so they'll get there soon."

"Yes," I said. "We'll be there shortly."

She gave me a weird look, as if sensing something was off with me. I stared blankly back, trying not to give anything away.

After turning on her heal, she shut the door now. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding in, and relaxed my shoulders. I wrapped the ends of my sleeves around my hands and crossed them over my chest again. Not a minute after Tsunade left, Ino opened the door, letting a flow a steam come sauntering into the room after her.

"I heard Tsunade from the bath," Ino explained. "I'll get dressed and we can go."

I turned away to look out the window, giving her some privacy to change. My finger latched around the curtain and I took a peek at the outside world. By the looks of the sky it was nearing mid-afternoon. But the real shock was when my gaze drifted lower to the streets where people were bustling all around. The whole village was abuzz with activity, people yelling, running, shopping. Now that I was concentrating, the sounds of it all stuck out to me. I was so caught up in my own thoughts before that the noise didn't register.

"There's people!" I shouted and opened the curtains all the way to get a better look.

"Hey!" Ino yelled, worried, from behind. "I'm getting dressed!"

"Oops," I offered sheepishly and shut the curtain. "Sorry."

She laughed lightly. "Jeez, Sakura, where's your head lately?"

"Are you dressed yet?" I asked.

"Yeah, you can turn around now."

"Good." I turned and instantly stuck my tongue out at her.

She picked up her pillow and threw it at me. I caught it easily, but the action still made the both of us laugh.

"Let's go," Ino said. "Before your sister comes after us. I don't want to know what would happen if she caught us." She gave an exaggerated shiver, both of her hands balled into fists by her face as she shook back and forth.

It was surprisingly very peaceful for me to walk through the busy streets. The bustle of the place felt familiar, and made me think of home. This was the longest I've been away from it, so the familiar scene was very welcoming.

Through the crowd, I could see Naruto standing ahead of us. He had his arm raised high in the air waving at us. Sai was at his side, yet he did nothing to show their location to us, he left that work to Naruto.

I started jogging towards them, people in the crowded street parted out of my way, their eyes wary at the sight of my sword. Then we were at the edge of the park. Children were running around, their laughter was an interesting sound in the air. Looking at the adults, they all wore somber expressions, scared of what's been going on. Their faces were juxtaposed by the giggles and squeals of young children.

Tsunade was sitting at a nearby picnic table. I pointed at her and motioned the others to follow me as I made my way over to her.

Splayed out in front of her was the map she used yesterday, a map of the village. She didn't look up at our approach, instead she went right into prattling off a plan.

"Last night I discussed with each of you the idea of a trap to lure the vampires out from hiding." Her fingers thrummed on the table's surface, each press was slow, deliberate, calculating. "This will be put on trial tonight."

"How shall we proceed?" Sai asked as he took a seat in front of Tsunade.

The rest of us sat as well, I took the seat closest to Sai, and Ino and Naruto across from us next to Tsunade.

"Sai is going to be the bait, as per winning the sparring match back home," Tsunade declared. I was about to protest and offer up myself as the bait, but then she spoke again. "Sakura, you'll be with him for being runner up."

"What will we be doing to draw them out?" I asked.

She gave both Sai and me a mischievous smirk. "How's your old lady impersonation?"

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A/N: Ahhhhhhh I'm sorrrrryyyyyyy, next chapter will DEFINITELY have Sasuke appear. I'm so evil XD