Disclaimer: I don't own ccs or the characters! Although, I wish I did!

Lilover131: Hey everybody! I hope you all liked the last chapter! I know…I'm SO evil for leaving you with the cliffy's all the time! Have you guys seen chapter 109 for tsubasa? TOTALLY AWESOME! Kamui is really cute! Poor Syaoran…that arrow must have hurt a lot…lol. So anyways, here's chapter twenty-three!

Cry of a Wolf-Chapter Twenty-three: The glow of your eyes

Sakura looked around her surroundings. Nothing seemed to give her any clues as to Naraku's plans. She was beginning to run out of time, when she felt her friends aura's growing closer. 'They're coming! I have to do something quick!' Sakura thought. Suddenly, Naraku approached her once again. Sakura glared at him fiercely and recoiled in distrust. She couldn't run away for he had long bound her arms and legs together.

"Stay away from me!" Sakura demanded. Naraku grinned evilly.

"The time has come. Now the plan comes into action," Naraku said to Sakura with a sly grin. Sakura's eyes shone in concern from the strange look. Before her mind could think any more, she was knocked unconscious with a quick hit on the back of her head.

With the others

Kohaku ran through the forest at a fast pace. Syaoran, who was followed by Eriol, Tomoyo, Meilin, his sisters, and all of the guardians, closely followed him. Kohaku's strong sense of smell was very handy right now. Thanks to the Chinese tracking spell, and Kohaku's nose, they would find Sakura very soon.

Syaoran was constantly watching Kohaku, so that he would not lose track of him. He knew that they were heading the right way when his scars burned more intensely. Syaoran winced a couple of times from the stinging, but no matter how high the pain, he continued to run. Any second he delayed could be the second where Sakura would be lost forever. He wasn't going to take any chances. Suddenly, something seemed to jump from the trees.

"Watch out!" Eriol yelled out to Syaoran. Within a split second, Syaoran whipped out his sword and sliced the opposing enemies that jumped from the trees. Several snakes dropped dead on the ground. Syaoran quickly sheathed his sword, and continued to run. Eriol stepped forward to follow, but many snakes slithered in his path.

"Eriol! We have a problem!" he heard Ruby Moon say. He turned around and saw that they had all been surrounded by snakes. All of them slithered closer and hissed threateningly. Suddenly, several jumped at them and Eriol and the guardians killed them all. Although, as quickly as they had surrounded them, there was yet another crowd. They seemed to be endless and didn't plan on showing any mercy.

"Guys!" Syaoran said, turning around to see his surrounded friends and family. All of the non-magic users were in the middle for protection, except for Touya and Meilin of course, who punched and kicked flying snakes. Syaoran was about to pull out his sword and assist them, but was stopped by Meilin.

"GO! We'll catch up with you! Go save Sakura!" Meilin yelled.

"But…" Syaoran started. He didn't want to leave them behind.

"GO SAVE MY SISTER, DAMMIT!" said Touya, who was also trying to fight some snakes. Then, Syaoran looked to Kohaku, who was pulling on his clothing. Kohaku looked up with pleading amber eyes; amber eyes that were full of such mystery.

"All right!" Syaoran said, with determination glowing in his eyes. With that, he began to run further into the dark forest. Kohaku led quickly and they slowed down as they neared a clearing. The glow of a cherry blossom tree could be seen, and that's when Syaoran realized. 'I saw that tree in my dream too!'.

Syaoran stepped inside the clearing, and became reacquainted with an all too familiar presence. Naraku was close.

"So you came," Naraku said, as he stepped out from behind the cherry blossom tree. Syaoran glared intensely at the evil before him.

"Where's Sakura?" Syaoran said, in a demanding tone. Naraku smiled.

"You seem to get straight to the point," Naraku said. He had expected that. In lightning speed, Syaoran dashed forward with his sword and slashed at Naraku. However, he easily dodged.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Syaoran said, screaming now.

"You are quite testy today," Naraku said. Syaoran was becoming irritated. He continued to slash at him until he would give him an answer, and Naraku never told anything. After several unsuccessful slashes, Naraku flew to Syaoran's side and elbowed him on his back, causing him to fall down to the ground.

"If you gave me a second to talk and didn't attack me blindly, I might actually tell you where she is," Naraku said, causing Syaoran to glare up at him in anger. Syaoran raised himself off of the ground, and distanced himself a few feet. Then, he stood still.

"Come," said Naraku with a luring hand gesture. With that, Sakura walked out from behind the cherry blossom tree.

"Sakura!" Syaoran cried out. However, when she walked out further, she was followed by two more Sakura's. 'What?' Syaoran thought, confused.

With the others

When they had finally disposed of the snakes, they quickly ran in the direction where they last saw Syaoran and Kohaku. They ran until they came across a clearing, and who stood in the center were Syaoran, Kohaku, Naraku, and three Sakura's. Wait…THREE SAKURA'S?

"Why are there three Sakura's?" Meilin asked. Angrily, she stepped forward to go to Syaoran, when suddenly she was deflected back by an invisible wall.

"What's this?" Meilin said. She began to pound on the wall with her fists and sent several kicks at it. All were failed attempts.

"It's a force-field. Naraku's keeping us out," Eriol said. Touya was enraged, and began to yell out to Syaoran.

"Hey kid!" Touya yelled, hoping to grab his attention. Syaoran didn't seem to hear at all.

"SYAORAN!" Meilin yelled, much louder than Touya's. Syaoran still didn't hear.

"He cannot hear, sense, or see us," Eriol said, as he studied the magic in the force field more closely. Everyone groaned in irritation. Then, everyone remained quiet when Naraku began to speak.

"There are three Sakura's. Each one of them has a snake wrapped around their arm," Naraku started, as he pointed out their arms to show the snake.

" Two of them are copies of the real one. You may remove one of the snakes without my interference," Naraku said. Syaoran's eyes widened. Was that all? Then, Syaoran's eyes narrowed.

"What's the catch?" Syaoran asked. He didn't think it would be that easy.

"The catch is…if you choose one of the copies…then you will be killed by the copy…and the real Sakura will be bitten and die," Naraku said.

Syaoran's eyes widened in shock. If he chose the wrong Sakura…then he and the real Sakura would die? He had a thirty-three percent chance of living…and a sixty-six percent chance of dying. The odds were against him.

"And what if I refuse to take this challenge?" Syaoran asked. Naraku gave a wicked grin.

"Then she will die anyway," Naraku said. Syaoran looked down. He had to go through with this, if he wanted to have any chance of saving her. Thirty-three percent chance was better than nothing.

"I'll do it," Syaoran said. Naraku smiled slyly, and made another gesture to the triplets to come forth. They all looked as lifeless as dolls. No expression was shown on their faces, and their skin was paler than normal. Other than that, they all looked exactly the same. This was going to be harder than it looked. 'Which one is the real Sakura?' Syaoran thought.

Eriol was looking questionably at the triplets, with a look of confusion on his face.

"Did you notice something, Master Eriol?" Spinel asked. He knew Eriol all too well, and was no longer in drunk mode. Eriol gazed over to the others, who were looking at him for an answer.

"I think so…" Eriol said. Everyone began to listen closer.

"What did you figure out?" Feimei asked.

"Well…it all just sounds too simple. 'Just choose the right Sakura and you can go unharmed?'. It doesn't sound like something Naraku would do," Eriol said.

"So you're saying that there's possibly another catch?" Fanren asked.

"Yes, or a release of false information. He's lying," Eriol said.

"How do you know this?" Kero asked. Eriol pointed towards something.

"Look over there," Eriol said. Everyone's gazes drifting to the direction he pointed, and what they saw all caused them to gasp in shock. Naraku saw their expressions through his force field, and he only grinned. He knew that Syaoran couldn't hear or see them. There was nothing that they could do to interfere in this.

Syaoran studied each Sakura carefully, and couldn't seem to find any valuable clues as to which one could possibly be the real Sakura. They all looked exactly the same! He was never given any amount of time to choose, so he used each minute carefully and wisely. At least he wasn't being rushed to choose. That would certainly cause him to choose the wrong one! 'How can I choose the right one?' Syaoran thought. He was becoming very frustrated. He stared into each one's eyes and found that all lacked any kind of life. They were the same shade of green, but didn't seem to have the light that normal eyes had. It was then, that Syaoran remembered something his father had told him long ago…

Flashback

The Li family had gone to visit Yelan's sisters one spring day. Syaoran was only two years old, and his aunts thought he was positively adorable. He hated visiting his aunts. They always hugged and kissed him, which a very distasteful thing for a young toddler such as himself. Yelan was among triplets, who couldn't be told apart from their appearance. All of the triplets had worn their hair down, making it virtually impossible to tell who was who. Syaoran always accidentally ran to one of his aunts when he meant to go to his mother. When this happened, the aunt he ran to would hug him to death.

Kyo laughed at his son's struggle. Syaoran didn't understand how Kyo could always tell his mother apart from the others. Curious as to how he did this, Syaoran tugged on his fathers clothing.

"Outosan, how do you always find mommy?" Syaoran asked his father, with his cute two-year-old voice (TOO CUTE!). Kyo smiled warmly.

"Let's just say that everyone has a certain glow to their eyes," Kyo told his son.

"Glow?" Syaoran asked, confused.

"Your mother has a light in her eyes that is different from everyone else. We all have a different kind. I'm different. Your aunts are different. Your sisters are different. Even you are different," Kyo said.

"I can tell the difference, because no one can be exactly the same". Syaoran thought hard about what his father meant. The next time he wanted to run to his mother, he looked in their eyes and…he ran to the right person.

End of Flashback

Syaoran smiled from that memory. He had forgotten what his father long told him. Now he would find the right Sakura. After all… no one would ever have the same glow as her eyes. Syaoran scanned each Sakura's eyes carefully once again, and narrowed his eyes in realization. He glared at Naraku fiercely.

"You're a lying asshole," Syaoran stated. Naraku seemed surprised for a moment.

"NONE of these are Sakura," Syaoran said.

With the others

Everyone could not believe their eyes. What sat next to the tree unconscious…was Sakura.

"That asshole! He's lying on purpose so he can kill them!" Touya yelled outraged.

"That's not fair!" Meilin said, angered as well.

"We must help her! Maybe we can get to her!" Tomoyo said. Everyone nodded in agreement. They all ran towards the cherry blossom tree she lay next to, hoping that they could try and stop this madness sometime soon.

When they reached Sakura, they were stopped by yet another force field.

"Dammit! He's blocking us!" Yue said.

"Let's blast our way through then!" Kero said, as he began to shoot flames at the force field. Eriol nodded to the guardians. At that moment, they all began to blast beams and kicks with all the strength they could muster. Each blast and kick bore itself into the invisible walls, and seemed to be wearing it down.

"I think it's working!" Touya said, as he continued to kick harder and harder. Finally, with one last large blast, the wall shattered.

"We did it!" Meilin said happily. Touya ran to his sister who still remained unconscious. Everyone else followed.

"Sakura?" said Tomoyo, with concerned violet eyes. She didn't really care about video taping anymore. Eriol examined her closely.

"She doesn't seem to be severely injured. Only some cuts and bruises," Eriol stated. Everyone sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness!" Tomoyo said. Eriol smiled.

"You are a very kind person, Daidouji-san," Eriol said. Tomoyo smiled warmly. Suddenly, Sakura's emerald eyes opened slowly.

"Guys…is that…you?" Sakura started. Everyone nodded. Sakura smiled.

"Thanks for coming…" she said quietly. She gazed around for Syaoran.

"Where's…Syaoran?" Sakura asked. Yue pointed past the other force field in their way. Sakura gazed through, and saw Syaoran standing before three versions of herself .

"Why…?" Sakura started, confused.

"He cannot hear or see us right now. He's being forced to choose the right Sakura to save you and himself," Ruby Moon said. Sakura's eyes widened.

"The right Sakura? …But…I'm…" Sakura started again.

"We know. Naraku has lied to him," Eriol interrupted. Sakura stared in horror. So this was his plan? To kill him by using her?

"I can't let this happen!" Sakura said, as she stood up suddenly. However, as soon as she stood up, they all heard the words that brought them great relief.

"You're a lying asshole," they heard Syaoran say. It was quite shocking to hear after they had just worried about him being deceived. The slightly surprised look on Naraku's face was enough to say that his plan was not going as he had expected.

"NONE of these are Sakura," Syaoran said. Everyone smiled. He had figured it out! Naraku grinned.

"How did you figure it out?" Naraku asked, curious. Syaoran grinned.

"Because someone once told me that 'everyone has a certain glow to their eyes'. None of these could possibly have the same eyes as Sakura does," Syaoran said. All of the sisters gasped for a moment.

"Outosan," said the four sisters at the same time with a smile. Then, everyone remained silent as Syaoran began to speak again.

"Now…where's the real Sakura?" Syaoran asked. He was tired of the little games that Naraku liked to play. Now…Syaoran was in control of this game.

Lilover131: How was that chapter? I know…another cliffy…lol. It's the cliffhangers that keep people reading the stories! So anyways, as you know…Naraku is a lying, manipulative person. Hooray! They found Sakura! Although, even though it's happy right now because he figured out the trick…they are still in danger…That's all I'm telling you! HAHAHAHAHAH! See you next time!