Well, after much procrastination and finally finishing the planning for this fic, I'm starting chapter two. I'm thankful for the reviews I've had so far. You have no idea how much they mean to me, seriously. This chapter is for you guys, but I'm sorry to say I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I've changed it over and over and this was the best I got, but I've revised it, so this for truly is the best I've got. (Revisions are always under par for me, sorry.) Tell me what you think.

Chapter 2: Happy Birthday

Eyes blinked slowly as her senses returned, sleep slowly fading from her system as she rubbed her eyes. Blinking once more, she reached out, groping blindly for her alarm clock only to feel dirt slip through her fingers. Looking around her, she found herself on the dirt path in the middle of a forest. The last memory she had was falling asleep, so how had she ended up here?

Looking around, she studied the landscape. Grassy fields and trees stretched for miles on either side of her as the sun shone an angry glare. Sakura sat up, arm raised to shield her eyes as she struggled to her feet. Strangely, she felt tired, even after having just woken up from her sleep.

Suddenly, a prickling sensation made itself known. It felt like something had zeroed in on the point between her shoulders and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand. She was being watched.

"Hello?" she shouted with only the wind answering her question. She shivered and felt a twinge of unease in the pit of her stomach. It was still there, still watching her, but why and what?

Her feet began to carry her forward, bringing her somewhere, but where? She had no idea where she was going. She didn't even know where she was, but her legs continued to move, continued carrying her somewhere. Curiosity prodded her from the back of her mind. She wanted to know what she was leaving, but something told her not to look back, to keep going and to just look ahead, but she wanted to know. She needed to know and when she looked back, she regretted her decision immediately.

Black. Miles and miles of pitch-black darkness. It clouded her senses and filled her lungs. It was hard to breathe and she was soon gasping for breath. Her eyes darted to the ground and watched in horror as the ground she treaded upon became swallowed by the darkness.

'Come on!' she commanded herself, pushing her legs to move faster. She could feel something on her; something was breathing down her neck and her heart leapt into her throat.

It was then that she felt something latch around her ankle. She cried out in pain before falling to the ground. She looked down at her ankle, wincing at the burn marring her skin. It felt like someone had poured molten lead onto her skin.

A glimmer caught her eye and she looked up to see the darkness morph, eyes and a cruel smile forming before her green eyes. Below the face, a figure appeared with raven hair and porcelain features that enchanted her. He was beautiful.

The man wore a white shirt and black pants and looked at her from beneath heavy lids, as if watching her from a dream. She reached her arm out to him and he slowly reached back. When they were almost touching, he slowly closed his eyes, fingers brushing against hers. Suddenly, obsidian turned garnet and the cherished innocent she believed him to be became hellish. He was a demon.

A sinister sneer crossed his face as he looked upon her, bloodlust clear in his eyes. The fear she felt threatened to overwhelm her, suffocating her from within.

Maddening.

She attempted to pull her arm away, stand, save herself—anything, but she was paralyzed. And then…she felt it. Pain. Searing, agonizing pain assailed her mind as his fingers grabbed her wrist, gently winding his fingers around her. His touch burned her and she struggled to remove him from her.

"Your efforts are in vain," he said, voice mocking, but soothing to her ears. She stared at him with wide eyes, unable to speak or scream and felt her breath hitch as he leaned towards her, his breath hot against her skin and her sharp inhale resounded in her ear as he licked the long column of her neck. He smirked against her skin.

"You're mine."

And then she felt pain, his words playing in her ear as she saw his cruel smile from behind closed lids and the lingering scent of something wreathe around her, and then…nothing.

Sakura woke up with a gasp, throwing her covers off her legs as she sat up and looked around wildly, the adrenaline still coursing through her system as the nightmare slowly ebbed from her mind. A wave of cold washed over her and she turned to the light streaming through the white curtains over her open window. Sweat drenched her clothing; her heart was thumping madly against her chest. Gasping for breath, she tried to calm herself. Her hand reached up to feel her heartbeat.

"Dream…it was just a dream..." But it didn't seem like a dream. She could still feel his breath on her.

"Like he's still here…" she said softly to herself, lost in her thoughts. Just what was that dream? She'd never had anything like it. So dark, so…frightening.

She quelled the shudder that tried to run down her spine when she remembered something else that had been plaguing her mind. Who was that man? Sakura touched where her shoulder and neck joined. This is where he bit her, but as she stared into the mirror across from her bed, she saw there was no mark, yet she could feel a lingering tenderness.

"Maybe I slept weird again," she told herself.

"You're mine."

And she couldn't help the shudder that ran down her spine that time. Those words weren't horrible by themselves, but the way he said them with such venom in his voice made it feel like acid on her skin. She heard a knocking at her door.

"Hey forehead! Answer your door!"

"Sakura, I don't think you want Ino to break down your door!"

Sakura ran to her window and looked down. Why were they there? "Hold on, I'm coming."

She ran down the stairs to her front door and yanked it open to see three women standing on her porch. One had blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, bangs hanging over her right eye. Her eyes were sapphire and were complimented nicely by her white pants and white blazer covering her baby-blue T-shirt. The one to her right had brown hair put into two buns at the top of her head with brown eyes. She wore a white zip-up hoodie over a green shirt and jeans and to her far left was a woman with long dark blue hair and pale eyes, a purple tint to them. She wore a yellow cardigan with a pink shirt underneath and a white skirt.

"Hey Tenten, Hinata-chan," she greeted pleasantly before turning to the third girl with a smile. "Hey pig."

"What'd you call me?!" the blonde woman fumed. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Whatever; why are you guys here?" she asked only to feel Tenten knocking on her skull. Didn't possible brain damage mean anything to her?

"It's your birthday today, or did you forget?"

"Oh. I just haven't looked at my calendar recently," she lied. She couldn't tell them that she had forgotten today was her birthday. Ino would have a fit and drag her into the street just to yell at her and she was not about to face public humiliation in her pajamas.

"You going to let us in or what?"

"Make yourselves comfortable while I go upstairs and change."

"And go shower. You stink."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Leave it to Ino to make a person feel special on their birthday.

"Yes mother," she said sarcastically, snickering to herself as Ino fumed at the idea of being called old before slipping upstairs. After a quick shower and changing into some clothes, she headed downstairs, only to hear snickering coming from her living room.

'Huh?'

Climbing down the rest of the steps, she padded into the living room and nearly went into cardiac arrest.

"Surprise!" Ino and Tenten shouted in their party hats as Hinata let out a small toot with her party favor.

Sakura looked around the room. Balloons filled her normally cream-colored ceiling in an array of powder pinks and pale greens. Streamers were strewn across the walls and the words 'Happy Birthday' were taped to the back wall behind them.

"Something wrong, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura turned to the pale-eyed girl, tears in her eye. "No. I love it. You guys are the best," she said giving Hinata a hug, Ino and Tenten joining in with a collective 'Aw.' Sakura wasn't usually one for touchy-feely moments, but she couldn't help it. They were throwing her a surprise party. Her friends were so sweet.

They soon untangled their arms from each other since they were choking Hinata and plopped themselves onto the couch as Ino went into the kitchen.

"So, how are things?" she asked.

Tenten sighed. "Boring as usual. Lee tried to set me up with someone again. You know Temari's brother?"

"Gaara-san?" Hinata asked quietly. Tenten shook her head. "No, not the red-head. The other guy. The one who wears that hat on his head that sorta looks like a paper bag."

"Kankuro?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, that guy. Anyway, failed miserably. As soon as he got to the restaurant, all he would talk about were puppets," she said cringing. "And before Kankuro was Deidara. He was okay. Very cute with the long blonde hair and those eyes! But then that happened."

"That?" asked Hinata curiously.

"She found out he was gay…or rather, he was bisexual before and turned completely gay in the middle of the relationship."

"He was so cute too!" pouted Tenten. "But whatever. We're still friends. I just hope Lee isn't trying to set me up with anyone again."

"Better you than me," Sakura said, flinching as a memory of his last proclamation of love appeared before her mind's eye. Now, Rock Lee wasn't a bad guy. In fact, he was really kind and sweet, but he was…overzealous—yes, that was a good word for him. He'd get large bouquets of roses and teddy bears for her everyday and set challenges for himself when she refused to accept his gifts. It was endearing that he'd run 500 laps around the school for her, but seriously!

'Plus, there's his bushy eyebrows, weird eyes, and obsession with green spandex and Gai-sensei, his idol and chemistry professor.'

'But he is cute in a dorky kind of way,' she defended. Who was she talking to exactly? Sakura didn't actually know, but she had a sneaking suspicion it's a manifestation of how she really perceived people…that or she was crazy.

"I'm back!"

And the girls all look up to see Ino with…

"Ino, what the hell is that?" she asked pointing to the large bottles of clear liquid, each with a red bow attached at the neck. Ino simply grinned larger. "It's sake! You're of legal age now, so it's time to introduce you to the world of liquor!"

"So you brought three bottles of sake?" Tenten asked incredulously and Ino nodded like it was nothing. Then again, they'd all seen how Ino drank and this wasn't much for the girl.

Tenten sighed. "Okay, lay it on me," she said holding a small saucer up. Ino smiled and filled the other two saucers, leaving Hinata's empty since the girl asked for just water. Raising her glass, Ino turned to smile at Sakura and raised her glass.

"Drink up, forehead. We're going to party tonight!"

And seeing how it was only 9:32 in the morning on a Saturday, Sakura knew it was going to be a long day.

"Bye guys!"

"Bye…hic…Saklura," Ino slurred, Hinata nodding beside her with a slight blush on her face and Tenten lightly snoring against the far left pillar of her porch.

"Can you get them home alright, Hinata?"

"N-no problem," she said before opening her mouth up for a yawn and leading the girls away. Now Sakura felt bad. When Ino had told her to drink the sake, Sakura switched her cup with Hinata's and drank her water while she drank Sakura's sake and now she was walking each of the girls home at 11:45 at night.

Watching them go, she sighed guiltily as she dropped her hand to her side, shut the door, and headed to the living room.

To say it was messy was an understatement. Empty sake bottles and empty pizza boxes and ice cream cartons littered the coffee table and the area around it. Balloons were stuck to her ceiling and the taped-up words and streamers littered the carpet after Ino thought it would be fun to dance on the table like a mad woman. God, she hoped her neighbors didn't hate her after today.

Cleaning up as best she could (she'd get the balloons down tomorrow), she walked up to her room for another shower and a change of clothes before looking around.

Sakura's room wasn't that big of a deal in her opinion. A bed, a dresser, a mirror, a window and a window seat, a desk, a chair, a nightstand, and her closet were all that were inside…and her book collection—but she only had 40 books…in her room. The rest were strewn around her house, but she only had forty in her room, she swore it! And no, she didn't have a problem. She just liked to read.

"Dickens, Hemingway, Cisneros," she sang as she spun around her room, naming a few authors she had there. Though most of what she had in this room were considered American classics, she had others as well like The Tale of Genji.

As she spun around, the room blurring into a sea of color, something caught her eye. On her desk was the book she got from Hitomi a few days ago. It was a leather bound book about the length of her forearm. When she first saw it, she couldn't believe how much dust was on it. With a thought on how old it was, she thought it would be wrecked, but now that she looked at it, it seemed to be in pretty good condition. It wasn't like it was new or anything, but it was still pretty good.

Leaning over to prop her elbows on the back of the chair, she had to wonder why she gotten this book. Like Hitomi said, it wasn't like the other books she'd normally get. She had never understood the point of fantasy. People fighting dragons and talking to fairies never appealed to her—and yet, she got this book, a book that talked about angels and demons and the creators of the universe. She'd never gotten this type of book before, but something nagged at her to get it. This feeling that she had to have it—like the book was calling to her. Sakura laughed out loud.

"Yeah right, like I was destined to have this book. You really are falling off your rocker, Haruno." But something inside Sakura kept nagging at her like it was saying otherwise and as if under a spell, she scooped up the book. Distantly, she heard the chiming of the clock and realized it was midnight.

One...

Two…

Her right hand was moving towards the book, the gold leaf cross on the cover gleaming in the moonlight.

Three…

Four…

The wind blew at her window; the sound of the pages turning reminded her of how she didn't remember opening her window.

Five…

Six…

A shadow seemed to flicker over the moon, her fingers crept closer still.

Seven…

Eight…

The fingers of her left hand shifted under the book's weight, the strong smell of leather and aged paper tickled her nose.

Nine…

Ten…

Her hand was closer now and warmth was pulsing against her palm, as if the book had a heart, a life of its own.

Eleven…

Twelve.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

A piercing scream tore through the air. Her scream. Why was she screaming? Why did it hurt so much? She felt like she was on fire, like someone had drained her blood and replaced it with molten lead. Her fingers were twitching uncontrollably over the cover of the book in her hand, gold patterns and gems creeping and skittering across the leather like ivy. Her head tipped back and her eyes rolled back into her head. Blood was trickling down her body and she heard something behind her tear, sending searing pain through her system from her back. Something blocked out the light, leaving a cool shadow on her face and…she saw people, but they were fuzzy and their voices muffled, like she was seeing them through a fog.

"Stop. What are you—?"

It was a feminine voice. She sounded distraught. Who was she talking to? What were they doing?

"No, no, not my husband! Kuga! No! No!!! Oh god, no..."

Kuga. This person, was he hurt? Was he dead? Suddenly, the visions were clear. A woman was kneeling over a man. Both wore white robes that were slowly staining crimson from the man's body as color slowly drained from his face. He gasped for air, the sound grating painfully on her ears. He was dying.

She could make out the barest of colors. It was dark, a small window above her lighting the room. Kuga was tall with medium-length brown hair and ice blue eyes. His throat was slit, blood still dripping from his neck and the stab wound in his stomach; his eyes began to glaze. His wife held his hand, sobs racking her body, but Sakura couldn't see what she looked like. The woman was in shadow.

"Kuga, no…don't leave me. Please don't leave me. We still have our baby to think about. Remember how excited you were about the baby? Come on, you can't leave me! The baby needs you! I need you!"

Kuga turned, tears falling form the corners of his eyes as blood trickled from his mouth and his chest rose and fell rapidly with each breath he took in vain. His mouth moved, forming a sad smile. He knew…he knew he wouldn't make it. She seemed to know too.

"No, Kuga, no!!!"

And with his body failing him, he gazed upon her sadly, regret burrowing further into his body as she wept. He was going to leave her and he hated it, and no matter what he told her, it would hurt.

With his last ounce of strength, he willed himself to hang on, just for a bit longer, for her. His hand moved closer to her face, brushing against her cheek and wiping a tear from her face. She looked up in surprise. "Kuga?"

"S-s-s—"

But it was no use. His vocal cords had been severed and blood was bubbling over his lips. It wasn't fair. He wanted to tell her so many things. That he wished he could see their baby. That he would regret never being able to see their child grow up. That she was the only person to make him feel the way he did. That the day she became Matsui Keiko was the happiest day of his life and that he loved her. He had so much to say. He could only hope that 'sorry' was enough.

"Sorry for what? What, Kuga? Kuga?!"

And as blood soaked his clothing and stained the white wings under him, he exhaled and became still. He was dead.

"Kuga! Kuga, no!" Keiko sobbed as she held his hand and watched as his body began to disappear, fading into small twinkles of blue light. She reached for them, watching with horror as they slipped past her fingers.

"Kuga! No! Stop! Stop. Don't leave me…" she sobbed as more of his body faded. His legs, his head, his torso—even his arms had started to fade.

"No, don't leave me like this, Kuga," Keiko whispered against the hand she pressed to her cheek, but his hand disappeared from her hand and she felt a warmth brush against her cheek before the last twinkle slipped away as well.

"No…" Keiko whispered, face falling into her hands before something flashed in the light and soon, more blood painted the white marble floor and darkness enveloped the scene.

It was the last thing Sakura saw before the darkness enveloped her as well.