Chapter Two: Hoard

"Ne, Haji, why are the villagers so mean to that blond boy?"

She was six when she first saw him, sitting by the swings, on the outskirts of the playground. She thought he had looked so lonely, like a little lost puppy. She didn't like looking into his eyes, as blue as the summer sky, and seeing an immense sadness in them.

"His name is Naruto, and they think he's a demon."

She decided to approach him, because she wanted to know why he was sad. As she started walking over their, an adult tried to stop her. They had reached out to grab her arm, but were stopped when she snapped her teeth at them. Even at the tender age of six, her teeth were just as sharp and dangerous looking as a dragon's. They looked away from her in fear, suddenly remembering who she was and who she was meant to be.

"He doesn't look like a demon, more like a sad puppy."

Naruto had watched in fear as she walked over to him, her gait confident and graceful. She had been learning to walk like her mother. When she stood in front of him, she titled her head to the side and gave him a smile. She made sure to hide her teeth, she didn't want to scare him any more than he already was. Haji looked on from a distance, his stature appearing relaxed, but they knew better. He was ready to jump in and protect his little dragon.

"The villagers do no know him, and they fear what they don't know. They turn that fear into hatred and anger, and so turn that onto Naruto."

Sakura didn't like the way he flinched when she held her hand out to him. She didn't like the way he tucked his shoulders in, nor did she like the way he glanced around, looking for a possible escape route. She frowned, she didn't want him to be scared of her. She wanted him to be her friend.

"But he's just a kid, like me!"

Naruto waited for her to hit him, like all the adults did. He waited for her to attack him, to start calling him those horrible names. But she didn't, she just stood there, waiting for him to shake her hand.

"People can be cruel, my little dragon, even to children. There is not much we can do to stop them."

"Yes we can, we can, we can protect them!"

"Do you want to protect him?"

Naruto glanced up at her, and hestitantly reached his hand out to her, gently taking her hand in his and giving it a little squeeze. The smile she gave him stretch across her face and filled him with a sense of safety. He gave a smile back and squeezed her hand again, this time a little stronger than the first.

"Yes, I want to be his friend and protect him from the world."


Haji watched on as his heiress shook hands with Naruto, the so-called demon of the village. She looked so happy to have him shake her hand, and that filled Haji with peace. He knew she needed friends her own age, but the children in this village were cruel, and he wanted to protect her from their taunts and hatred. But seeing her now, eyes alight with a fire he had never seen before, he knew this brief meeting would form a bond that would stretch across their lifetimes. He smiled to himself before looking around the little playground. He saw the disgusted looks of the civilians, saw how they sneered at Naruto. He frowned at them, hating how they judged one another so carelessly. He glanced around again, catching sight of a marked one. He saw the worry in their eyes as they watched the interaction. He looked closer, noting that worry was the only emotion they displayed. When they looked up, they caught him staring. They bowed quickly, before looking back over. The worry was still there, but it was less. Now there was a soft curiosity shining through.

He could see the question there, one that often went unasked amongst the clan.

Would she mark him as her hoard, would she make him the first to bear the pink dragon?

Haji asked himself that, as he watched the two children play amongst themselves, before reaching up and touching the spot under his left eye. His dragon mark stood out proudly against his skin, declaring for all to see that he belonged to the Dowager Empress' hoard. He, too, wondered if Sakura would hold true to her word and protect this young child from the world. He could only hope that she would, as Naruto needed more kindness than they could give.


Sakura had never felt hate before, as she had lived a happy life so far. Sure, she got angry at times, but she had never felt the icy flames of hate lick at her heart before. They burned her in a way that was unsual. It was a cold burn, a burn that heightened her senses and made her pupils narrow into a thin line. Her lungs ached with the need to spread forth her hatred, to sear the earth and incinerate all who stood in her way.

Haji had once explained to her that a dragon never truly feels anger the same way as a human does, as they could not be bothered to feel something so passionately. When she asked if there was ever a time a dragon would be angry, Haji's face had turned serious before he had answered.

"When a dragon's hoard is threatened, there is nothing that can protect you from their anger. It blazes, scorches, and torches everything in it's wake. It is a cold flame, that freezes and burns at the same time. When you feel that coldness in your heart, when you feel like destroying everything around you in order to protect those that are most precious to you, may the Gods have mercy upon your enemies, because you will show them none."

And after watching that shinobi slap Naruto, her friend - her best and first friend, across the face because he had bumped his shoulder against him, all she wanted to do was tear him apart, to watch his blood stain the earth red and to hear his screams. And that scared Sakura. It terrified her to the point of moving without thinking, to slip into a protective stance over Naruto as he curled into a ball and cried; she bared her teeth at the shinobi, showing him her terrifying maw and the teeth that lined it. Her pupils stayed narrow as she watched the shinobi halter in his movements, to turn and glance at her.

What she did next both terrified and excited her; she growled, low and deep. It reverberated in the shinobi's chest, and stopped the movements of all around them. Civilians shuddered, those who were old enough to have seen a Haruno's dragon fell to the knees and covered their ears. It didn't matter that she was only six; she was still the heiress to the Dragons, and their wrath knew no bounds.

Beneath her, Naruto continued to cry as he felt something hot tug below his right eye, it hurt like a branding. He clutched the area and pressed against it hard, unaware of what that meant. When the pain went away just as quickly as it came, he felt something warm wash over him. It felt like someone had wrapped him up in a blanket, soothing his fears and worries away.

He moved his hands away from his face and looked up. His eyes widened in shock; Sakura looked terrifying as she stood above him. She was growling at someone and her teeth were on full display.

She never showed anyone her teeth, she said it scared people when she smiled.

Sakura didn't like to scare people, Naruto remembered. She hated people fearing her.

So what had happened for her to suddenly change her stance?

That's when Naruto remembered the stinging in his left cheek; he had been slapped and knocked down by a shinobi, all because he had bumped into them. He hadn't even had the chance to apologize to the man, they had just attacked him without warning. He glanced back up at Sakura, she was standing over him in a protective stance. His heart bloomed at that, he didn't think she cared that much about him, after all, they had only known each other for a few days, surely that wasn't long enough for someone to get attached to another? He looked around for Haji, Sakura's scary guardian, and wondered where he was-

Suddenly they were both being scooped up and cradled into a strong, hard chest. Naruto blinked and came face to face with Haji, who looked terrifying. His own teeth were bared, but he wasn't growling. No, he was staring daggers at the shinobi, who was cowering under his gaze. Naruto looked down and saw that Haji was carrying Sakura under his arm, as she was still growling and lunging at the man. Naruto shivered at the sight of his best friend looking so ready to hurt someone. All because he had got slapped.

"Leave our sight, you filth." Haji spat out, his calm voice replaced by an icy tone. The shinobi took off, not once looking back. Naruto watched his back, memorizing everything about him. He would make sure to avoid that man from now on.

A heartbeat passed, then a second, then a third before Sakura finally stopped growling and Haji had stopped projecting his killing intent. He looked down at his little dragon, saddened that she had to experience hatred at such a young age. But he looked at Naruto to check for wounds, he found a pink dragon under the boy's right eye; it was the same shade as her hair, with a little green dot reresenting the eye.

Naruto had been marked; he now belonged to Sakura as part of her hoard.

Haji smirked to himself before he started walking, heading in their direction of home. He knew what had to happen next, as all clan members did. It was practically a law amongst them, and no one, not even a Kage, could break it.

Once you are marked with the dragon, once you are marked as their hoard, you belong to the Haruno clan. And there is nothing that can be done to change that, not even death.


AN: Sorry if it seemed a little rushed, or not all that much. I had the plot bunny just jump into my head and didn't want to risk losing it.

As always, please review and let me know what you think!