Naruto jumped out of his bed from hearing the sound and ran to his window. From the dark, his eyes searched about until he saw them. The street lights were their spotlights, but only one girl stood out to him from the stage of asphalt and few litter. Under the street light, the lights glossed and polished over her black leather jacket. She was wearing tight combat boots strapped with silver buckles and small studs and spikes. Still, it was too dark to see her in detail. However, he did grasp a glimpse of the color of her hair, in the name of tea rose.

'Sakura…!' he ran out of his room in panic, still in his pj's.

There was calmness in the air, but it was almost as if it was stiff, unstirred. When Naruto barged out of his door, he stood there, just like the rest of them. First, there was Sakura standing in front of him. Turning left, he saw a group of girls in long jackets and flight suits, each holding a bat in their hands. Sakura had no weapons.

He pulled her to the side quickly.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?!" he whispered to her ears sharply. Without much concern, she gave a short "Feh" and dug into her ear with her pinkie. He was baffled.

"But…Sakura-chan!"

"Hello, dipstick," she replied back, keeping her eyes on the gang of girls.

"You…!" Naruto shouted.

"It's been a while," she said casually. "Now go back or I'll beat you."

"Hey Haruka," yelled the girl in long white jacket in the front center. "Who's that, your boyfriend?!"

Snickers ran through the group, until it grew louder and louder. Haruka just stayed still while letting Naruto tug her arms.

"Stop causing troubles!" Naruto whispered to her. Suddenly, Haruka dropped her head. He couldn't exactly see her eyes, but he saw her draw that same awful grin once more.

"You mofo brats just can't get enough, huh?" Haruka quipped.

The laughter stopped abruptly.

"You mess with us, we deal with you, bitch!" the girl in white spat. Behind, the girls started to make random shouts that became a unified chant. They held their bats up in the air and swung it around wildly. Feeling brave, Kasumi took a stick of gum and popped it in her mouth.

"Saku… I mean, Haruka!"

"Leave it to me," she whispered to him, and then shouted to the rest of the gang, "I bet I can beat you losers with one hand."

They laughed and rioted.

"As if," the girl in white scoffed.

"Well, how much do you wanna bet, ugly Kasumi? I can see that you have a lot of cash in your left pocket there."

Gritting her teeth, the girl in white called Kasumi dug her hand into her left pocket, money scrunching like a pile of thin scraps of metal.

"You're on- I'm gonna make you shithead pay!"

"Bring it on, then," Haruka said calmly. She took off the large, dark sunglasses that she wore and tucked it inside her leather jacket.

"Haruka!!" Naruto shouted, but before he knew it, she pulled her arm away from him and was reluctantly walking away.

Kasumi sneered, then cocked her head toward Haruka quickly and narrowed her eyes. The girls, riled up and packed with energy, charged up to her with their swinging bats and wild grins.

Haruka steadily walked. One by one, they were coming closer and closer.

"Haruka!" Naruto shouted. He was about to witness her fall again. He couldn't let that happen. He was going to take a step to run, but stopped.

There was no need to run.

There was no need to do anything at all. Walking in a straight line and within few seconds, Haruka's open hand sharply hit each of the girl's pressure points. One by one, they fell to the ground like cut down trees, either paralyzed or grunting in pain. Her movements were so fluid and breathtaking- it was almost like art. At last, Haruka had finally reached to Kasumi in less than three minutes.

"Ye-yeah, well, they were all weak lil' bitches!" Kasumi shouted, though there was a bit of tremble in her voice at the end. She held her bat tightly, her fingers visibly shaking.

Haruka walked closer and closer.

"Get back or I'll hurt you!" Kasumi shouted once more, though those words felt so half empty.

Haruka stopped, but then continued taking another step, this time, much slower.

Kasumi gnashed her teeth. She was chewing bitterly, the sticky pink lines showing each time she chewed. With each step Haruka took, Kasumi's chewing grew louder. She was ripping her gum apart, murdering it to calm her nerves.

Finally, Kasumi swung her bat and surprisingly, Haruka caught it in her hand. She held it firmly for a few seconds, enjoying Kasumi's struggle of trying to pull it away. But soon enough, there was a crack, and the bat's tip snapped off.

"You broke my bat, bitch!" Kasumi shouted. Haruka smirked, throwing the tip of the bat up in the air and letting it land in her hand. After a few more, she tossed the tip away and bent over to Kasumi's left ear.

"You either pay up and run or fight like a real chick," Haruka whispered. Beads of sweat rolled down on Kasumi's face. Nevertheless, she furrowed her brows and made two tight fists.

"Arrrgh!!!" Kasumi shouted and quickly punched Haruka to her stomach. From the distance, Naruto could see the spot of tea rose cascading down to the ground.

"Sakura!!!" he shouted. Kasumi cackled and and sighed.

"I win…," Kasumi said. At the ground, Haruka was kneeling in front of her. Kasumi was about to finish the game by kicking her pretty face- that disgusting face that she always despised. Just then, there was a powerful strike to the outside of her thighs. Kasumi yelped and fell to the ground.

Haruka smirked.

"What the hell….!" Kasumi shouted, but before she could even finish, Haruka swiftly jumped up and kicked Kasumi in the face. She flung backward, caught off guard. She skidded down the street, feeling the friction between her body and the cold, jaggged battlefield. When she finally halted to a stop, she sat up. The back of her jacket was clawed and scratched by the asphalt. Her head was spinning. She felt something trickle down from her nose. Kasumi wiped it with her sleeve and saw blood.

"You broke my nose, fucking skank!" Kasumi yelled. "And you cheated, you piece of shit! You said that you would use only one hand!!!"

Haruka walked over to her defeated enemy, and then bent her back down. She was seeing Kasumi's face in full.

"I did," Haruka replied calmly. "But only because you didn't fight like a real dirty chick. You fought like a real dirty slut down at the bars."

Kasumi was burning red.

"What?! Why you!"

With one finger, Haruka poked the tip of her head and smiled sweetly like a doll.

"Good night," she said, and Kasumi eyes rolled away to her forehead. She fell backwards to the ground.

"By the way, that didn't hurt, bitch," Haruka muttered and rummaged inside of her leather jacket. Sunglasses and one stick of cigarette. She held one end of the sunglasses' leg and flicked it open. Smoothly, she put it on and jabbed the joint into her lips. This time again, she fumbled through the pockets of her navy tights and found her lighter. She flickered it a couple of times, twisting the silver disk with her thumb. At last, the light came with a tick and she burned the end of the joint, smoking like a pro.

Baffled, Naruto ran to her and began to talk in gibberish. She quickly shut his jabbering mouth with her hand.

"Umph!"

"Be quiet," Haruka said, drawing the joint out of her mouth with smoke following the end of its tail.

"Fine," Naruto removed her hands and spoke. "But why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this if you said you want to protect Sakura-chan?"

"Because," she said again, placing the joint between her lips. "I have my own reasons."

"Hey…!"

"This is her body, but right now, I'm in control. I can do whatever I want because right now, this is my body!"

"…?!"

After safely sending Haruka away, Naruto went to his room. He lied down on his bed, wondering what this all meant. Nothing seemed to add up. First of all, why were there Haruka and Airi? Or was Sakura never really Sakura? Perhaps Sakura was really born as either Haruka or Airi, but that still didn't make sense. Why, of all times, was she Sakura until now or prior to those three months?

Three months… yes, three months. Three wasn't a big number, but adding seconds, minutes, hours, days, and weeks made months. Months could add up to years and so forth. How long will she be this way or that way?

He wondered what could've happened those three months. Shikamaru said that they were on a mission that included chunins and jonins, but he could remember nothing of the sort. When he woke up, Hinata was right next to him in the hospital. Tsunade mentioned something about Sasuke, and he didn't have a clue of who that person was.

Tirelessly wondering and without knowing, he drifted off into the dream land.

Blur. Then more blur. Another blur. Red blur. Pink blur. Navy blur. White blur. An autumn leaf? Flowers? The sky? Houses? Blur. One two three… three two one. Birds. Birds. Dark blur. A fuzz. A cry. Then a cry.

Another cry.

"Sasuke…. Don't side with that bastard!"

Faint blur. Cut to another clip.

Tears…?

"Naruto… Naruto…! Don't! Don't…."

"I'll have it once I do this. Then, I will kill you."

"Why, Sasuke…?! Of all the people… of all!"

"I have to."

"Then… then, I'll kill you!"

"He's nobody now! Nobody…!"

Dark blur. Another cut and snip. Then re-clip.

Dark and light.

"Naruto… Naruto… Don't! Don't…"

A cry? Blood. Fall to knees. Death.

Sword plunge.

"No…!!!"

A shriek.

Words cannot be taken back or erased. No matter what. Never.

A scar. And then another one blooms.

"I win…. I…!"

Vanish.

Dark blur. Faint. More faint. Very faint. Ray of light stung his eyes. He tried to block them with his arms. Feeling the movement of his body and the silent chirps growing ever so louder, he sprang up from his bed. He found that his body was drenched in sweat.

"Whew," he sighed. It was only a dream. His shirt was stuck on his body from sticky sweat. Feeling hot, he removed the shirt and climbed out of his bed.

"I guess a shower will do," he said. He was walking steadily toward the bathroom.

The tall, rectangular mirror placed behind him depicted a lithe boy with two slash marks on his back. He never noticed it, and silently went in to take a shower.

The door closed, and so did the door depicted on the mirror.

Books, and then some. Sometimes, it felt like she couldn't get enough of them. She loved to read. Sometimes, Ino teased her about it, often making a conclusion about the books and her forehead. Simply put, she was a nerdy brainiac. Yes, she did become angry, but rather, that anger dissolved anyhow once she saw books again.

Haruno Sakura held books tightly to her chest and was walking home. She just came from the library. These days, Tsunade wasn't calling her for missions, but rather for more intense medical training. Sometimes, it was about the 'evaluations,' though it was strange that she received them. The 'evaluations' were usually tedious, sometimes even irritating to the point where she wanted to run and jump out the window. Tsunade asked her too many questions, and although Sakura liked quizzes, there were questions that she couldn't answer.

More of those evaluations were held later that afternoon. She sighed in grief, hoping that at least once, those evaluations would cancel.

At least a good walk will help me, she thought. She was thinking of taking the long road home. She wanted fresh air. Lately, she felt stiff. She never trained her body too much, but somehow and always, her body felt tired. Her muscles were aching, and strangely, her clothes and breath smelled of alcohol and smoke. Strangely though, she felt healthier than ever.

Walking forward with a smile, suddenly, she noticed something odd. At the distance, near a path where many trees resided, she saw someone in a dark monk's robe. She couldn't see the face of this stranger because he was wearing a hood pulled all the way down to the half of his face.

Strange, but I feel like I've seen that somewhere…. She thought and narrowed her brows down. Her crystal clear emerald eyes became misty, trying to search through the files of familiar faces.

Strange… strange…

And then, another voice.

What are you waiting for? Don't you want to find it out? It'll be fun like last time.

Huh…? Who said that?

Me, of course.

…What?

She could feel her pulse beating hard like hammer beating down on a nail. Beating. Beating. There was a silent hum behind her, but when she turned around, there was nothing. But the hum continued, and began to grow louder and louder until she became one with the hum…

The sun. It was too hot. She slumped down to the ground, dropping her books that she held so closely to her chest. She scattered them away on the pathway and then held her heart. The beat, the rhythm. It was suddenly out of control, erratic.

And then, a blink and blankness, drawing in black…..

The stranger in dark robes was walking fast, as if he was sliding across the muddy tracks and broken path of twigs. He was deep in the woods. Few more steps and there, he will escape from the light. He had to find a place reside in, a place full of darkness. This path full of trees was only adequate enough to cross about.

At the front, he saw a foot reach out from the bushes, cutting his way.

"Looking for some place?" she said to him. He stopped. The face underneath the black smock smirked.

Squirrels gathered around and scurried away. Crows gliding and swaying from the wind found their place to perch on the dead branches of the evergreen trees. Soon, a group gathered around and began to caw erratically. Irritated, the stranger hissed, and without further ado, the crows scurried away to another place somewhere in the sky.

Haruka cocked her head curiously and furrowed her brows, her arms akimbo. Her grin was made of amusement and a hint of contempt.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" she said. There was a pause. The sounds of insects buzzing and croaks of the frogs had died out. The sunrays were peaking through the small gaps between the trees.

His smirk was withdrawn into a plain line. He walked again. She spread her arms and made a short stomp to the front.

"Didn't I?"

"Maybe…. But it's quite spiteful to see you again," he replied quietly, making another smirk. She scoffed.

"Again? What do you mean by that?"

"Ah, so you don't remember me well, do you Sakura-san?"

Haruka gritted her teeth.

"Just what the fuck is so great about that bitch?! Sakura this, Sakura that! I'm the great mother fucking Haruka so get that straight, damn it!!!"

The stranger stood there in silence, while Haruka kept breathing in and out heavily. There was no sound of nature- just two strangers out in the field, watching each other in cold distance.

The stranger smiled in amusement. He raised his hands and started to clap slowly. After finishing the rounds of claps, he laughed maniacally. Annoyed, Haruka tightened her teeth and glared at him with an evil glaze of green.

"Great job, Sakura-san, you have truly become a demon indeed since the last time I saw you. Are you still wrapped in guilt and shame? Have you changed because of that and Sasuke-kun?"

"Sasuke?" Haruka said. The name rang a bell. Where and when did I hear that name before…?

"My, it's even a greater shame to know that you've forgotten your beloved Sasuke-kun, Sakura-san."

Haruka raised her head. Her ears were perked, and her eyes were burning in rage.

"The name is…," Haruka said, and then jumped up in the air to strike. "Haruka!!!!"

The stranger stood still, enjoying every minute of her contempt. When she was almost near with her fists, he moved away in quick speed. It was almost as if he disappeared.

'Huh…?' Haruka's punch had landed to the ground. The earth cracked and crumbled loudly, its hidden animals scurrying off in fear.

"Still not as quick as ever, heh," the stranger grinned. He was further away from her. But he was caught off guard when Haruka used her fist in the ground as a stabilizer. She then quickly did a backward summersault in the air and landed a kick right to his chest.

"Oof!!!" he yelled, rolling down the hills until his back hit a slanted tree. Haruka breathed heavily.

"Don't screw with me!" she yelled. "I want some answers. I know that I've seen you somewhere before. Your vibe is filthy. I know I've felt this before, so fess it up. My instincts never lie."

The stranger stood up in a swaying motion, trying to grasp his balance. Her kick really did a trick, for he was starting to cough up blood and gasping for air. But from afar, she could see that he was grinning like an insane person.

"What are you, a masochist?!"

He began to laugh hysterically. His laughter chilled her spine and the air that was already polluted by his sinister deeds.

"We'll see each other again," he said. He fumbled through his dark robe and pulled out a large yellow tag written in red scribbles. He slapped it onto the slanted tree behind him and jumped away in quick speed.

"Hey…!" Haruka yelled and tried to chase after him, but it was too late.

Boom!

"Hokage-sama, come take a look at this!"

"What is it," Tsunade said unenthusiastically. Staying in the office day and night made her back stiff and temper shorter. The ninja in front of her kneeled down on one knee then yelled again.

"This morning, we found two of our chunins killed."

"What?!" Tsunade rose from her desk quickly, ignoring the sudden strain on her back.

"But that's not all- their heads had been wiped clean and taken away, along with their hearts!"

"Take me there!"

"Yes, ma'am,"

Just then, another ninja entered.

"Hokage-sama! There was an explosion today near the wooded areas, and now there's fire spreading near the houses because of that!"

"What…?!" Tsunade gritted. Is this an invasion, she thought. But it would be strange to have two chunin ninjas decapitated and mutilated.

"Take me to the murder scene first."

"Yes, ma'am," the two ninjas said in unison.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled at his old teacher. Somehow, he seemed to be in a hurry.

"Hey, Naruto," Kakashi replied, but was making a run. Naruto followed along.

"What's going on? Why are the chunins and jonins rushing to?"

"There's an emergency," he replied. "There were two chunins killed, and an explosion near the wooded areas."

"What?!" Naruto furrowed his brows.

"Naruto, do something for me- go to the explosion site first. I have to run to the murder scene. Maybe you can help out with something there. Follow those groups of ninjas there. They are heading toward the explosion site."

"Roger," Naruto said and headed to another direction.

--------

The fire was tremendous. Groups of ninjas gathered around, some using water jutsu techniques to put out the fire, while others using their strength or other techniques. Everyone was in use.

"Naruto, summon the toads!"

"Yamato-taichou?" Naruto said, staring at the man bringing huge waterfall down the burning trees.

"Hurry!"

"Alright," Naruto gathered his hands, performing the hand seals. Then using his own blood, he pounded his flat palm to the ground.

"Summoning jutsu!"

With a sudden smoke of clouds, Gamakichi appeared.

"Yo," the huge frog said, waving his amphibian hand.

"Hey, I need you to do me a favor. Can you use some kind of jutsu to put out this fire?"

"Uh, sure," Gamakichi answered, alarmed by the overwhelming heat. "Water release: bullet technique!"

A sphere of water formed in Gamakichi's mouth. It grew larger until he finally projected it to the fire. Multiple more came later on.

Suddenly, they heard a yelp.

"That sounded like Sakura-chan," Naruto said. The blazing fire wildly danced and trilled in front of them, trying to distract whoever heard the scream.

But they heard a faint cough, then another faint yelp that echoed throughout the blaze.

"Sakura-chan…!" Naruto said. "Gamakichi, cover for me!"

"Yeah, sure… wait, you're going to go in there?! It's too dangerous!!!"

"Don't worry, I've got a plan," Naruto said seriously. Gamakichi gulped.

--------

Wandering around helplessly, the teenage girl was caught up in the moment of brilliant blaze. Everywhere she went; there was another group of fire. Fire, fire… dancing wildly around her, beckoning her to jump into the wildness.

She didn't know what happened. All she remembered was that there was a bright flash of light and then a blackout. Her mind was spinning at the speed of light. When she woke up, she felt hot. Her eyes were wide open, her hands trembling. Fire, fire, burning bright….

It was hard for her to walk. She found out that her left arm and her right leg was broken when she tried to stand up. She decided to crawl. So this is what fear is like…

She had to try to be quick. Often times, the burning trees fell in her path, from sideways to the front and back. Air was escaping from her lips and her nose. Many times she tried to hold her breath and crawl faster, but still, the attempts were futile. She was still heading towards nowhere.

Am I gonna die…?

She laid down on the muddy track, feeling the heat sweep over her body. The fire was spiteful and out of control, crossing its way to anything it wanted. Even the slightest touch from its fingers had killed anything. She watched small creatures die with flames riding on their backs, their large dark chocolate eyes' smoldering and losing its twinkle. She wondered if she would die like that.

The fire was drawing closer to her, enjoying her suffering. It was savoring the moment, slowly, patiently crawling up to her with rhythmic flow.

"Sakura-chan!"

Am I hearing things….?

"Sakura-chan!!!"

The voice of that dipstick…?

"Sakuraaa!!!"

But… I'm Haruka…right?

Rasengan…!

Suddenly, there was another explosion that strangely released cool and hot air.

Without a warning, drops of water came pouring down from the sky. Her fingers twitched slightly, feeling the coolness of water. Water… she felt so grateful to see it again.

"Great job, Gamakichi! Keep shooting the water balls to the sky!" she heard the voice shout. She raised her fading eyes up. There was a huge water ball that split into millions and billions of drops of water. She stuck out her tongue slowly. How long had she been there? Perhaps hours?

"Sakura-chan," he said, seeing her lying face down to the ground. He turned her over and held her.

From the heat, she blinked slowly, later, her eyes engaged to his face. He didn't notice her watching him at all.

Had he always looked that way? She never noticed the other side of his face, the bone structure and those blazing blue eyes drawing in the unknown feelings of the deep. His hair was the color of a golden wheat field, shining brilliantly from the fusion of orange, red, yellow, and wisps of intense white.

He turned back to her, and she was caught off guard. She gasped and then choked on air, coughing horribly from the thick smoke.

"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" he asked, shaking her. The pair of her jade green eyes faltered and slightly turned away, narrowly escaping his look.

"Sakura…? Is that all I am?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

She pushed him away with her useful hand.

"I don't need you," she muttered. "I don't need anyone."

She tried to crawl away again, but collapsed from the shooting pain. Naruto held her wrist and pulled her in to his chest.

"Are you crazy?! Hang on!" he scolded, and carried her away from the closing fire and nearly collapsing trees. Gamakichi followed them after.

She felt the warmth of his body. Human warmth- it was the warmest feeling that she could receive. She had never been carried by anyone like that before. She locked her fingers into his shirt and curled in.

"You okay? You're kind of red," Naruto said. Indeed, her cheeks were like little blossoming Japanese Quinces.

"Shut up and keep running," Haruka pouted, fidgeting with her hands from not knowing what to do. Finally, she crossed her arms and sucked in air in her mouth, bloating her cheeks.

"Huh, it must be from the fire. Why were you out here all alone anyways, Haruka?"

"Huh…? You know that it's me?"

"Well, yeah," he muttered. He wanted to say of course it's you. You're the only one who would ever get into these kinds of situations. But he didn't. He was too busy running.

He realized that it was her when she immediately pushed him away and tried to stubbornly move by her own. Haruka seemed like the obvious choice.

He ran faster, wanting freedom from this insuffocating prison.

As for Haruka, she fell into a deep sleep in his arms.

"How long have they been here?" Tsunade asked, cringing at the sight of blood and the smell of rotting, mutilated bodies.

"About at least one week or so," answered one male ninja, finishing a quick autopsy with Shizune. He stood up. "I think that this one is Taro and this one is Kana. They were M.I.A for a while."

The heads of the victims were cut clean like dandelions on the field. They had no necks either, but just a small stump that was punctured and dug in quickly. They realized that the hearts of those victims had been pulled out by using the stump as the entrance. Tiny little heart pieces were scattered on the ground.

Shizune still kneeled down, unfolding and folding the hands of the dead.

"Strange. Why are their hearts removed through their necks?" she asked herself quietly.

"We've even searched their homes a week before, but there was nobody there. We've searched the entire Konoha area too…"

"But who could've suspected that they would be here?" a girl ninja said. The team of ninjas and Tsunade in front stared at the tiny room disguised as a cave hidden in the middle of the forest, their eyes wide open.

All was still….

"Anything else?" Tsunade said, clearing her throat to break the stiffness of the air.

"Wait… there's more," Shizune said as she carefully removed the flak jackets of the two corpses. But then, Shizune froze too, her eyes growing wider, her jaws dropping.

In curiosity, Tsunade and her team closed in, their eyes suddenly growing wider than ever.

On their chests, '998 more' was carved in neatly.