A thick trail of clouds moved past the sun, shielding its light and casting a veil over the earth. A crouched figure, not noticing the change in the atmosphere, continued to stare at the corpse before it.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this much ordeal, Shikai." It said as it picked up the blood red organ and placed it on the corpse's bloody body. "Rest well." It snapped its fingers and the body went up in flames, illuminating a dull light on the figure's hooded face.

Sakura peeked through the little space the door made as she opened it carefully. Her eyes searched the wide living room, running along the elegant couches, chairs, astonishing chandeliers, the bar compartment and the kitchen situated near it. She stepped in when she didn't see anyone in her vision, closing the door softly behind her and cocking her head every now and then to catch, even a glimpse, of any shape shifter in the corners.

When she didn't see anyone still, she stood in the middle of the living room, frowning. Where is everyone?

Few minutes ago, she had ended her lectures for the day and had decided to come back here since she was staying anyway. Mr Hatake didn't show up for class, she wasn't surprised but she was suspicious, and Kosei suddenly had an emergency. To think she could talk to someone who's not a supernatural being around her, especially when her friends were away, and he was acting the most suspicious. She hasn't even told her siblings or friends anything.

Why was I even born into the human world if I was going to be a Lycan's mate? She let out a sigh. I'm so tired. So far, most of the people in my life right now are mythical creatures. Even demons are specifically after my life. She laughed. I feel like this is going to affect my health. She shook her head. No, I've been over this.

She secured her bag over shoulder as she walked up the stairs. Nobody seems to be home at the moment. I wonder why they didn't lock the front door. I should check around to make sure I'm the only one at home, maybe cook up something? She rolled her eyes. Where are all these thoughts coming from? But I am the Luna? I should play a part in living here too.

She sighed as she stopped before her bedroom. I knew it, I'm going crazy, seriously. She turned her head as she looked beside her, noticing how silent the hallway was. A thought came across her mind and she smiled sinisterly. If I am home alone, at least I could get a little craziness out of my system. But first she has to make sure she was home alone, then she could preoccupy her disturbed mind by busying her hands in the kitchen or doing something around the house. It helps everytime.

She walked into her room, dropped her bag on the chair, walked out, observed the doors in the hallway before deciding to open one. She knocked on it. No answer. She knocked again. Nothing. She pulled down the knob and it opened. Hmm, it's not locked. No one's inside. She walked into the room, recognizing it at first sight. It's Sasuke's.

Everywhere was tidy and in order, but the blinds were down. She put her arms behind her as she walked to the big carpet, enjoying the fresh fragrance the room was coated in. Smells like him... She blinked. Wait a minute, why are you suddenly able to distinguish his scent? It's his cologne and I have a nose. She argued with herself.

Suddenly, the sound of door closing was heard behind her and she froze. There's someone here. She felt her blood run cold and her heart beat quickened as she stilled. Please, don't tell me it's...

"Sakura."

His voice sounded confused. She swallowed. What do I do? She clenched her fists. He's caught me in his room. He probably thinks I'm a freak now. Should I run? No, enough of running. I should say something. She inhaled and exhaled before turning around to face him, ignoring the voice that was crying in her head not to.

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke, I..." She stopped talking when she saw the state he was in, her mouth dropped.

He was naked, except for the trousers that were covering his lower part. His hair was wet and the water that dripped from the silky ends trickled down his face, swirling around his biceps, past his structured jawline, trailing the veins on his nape and down to a fine looking body with two or three slight slashed scars on the torso and chest, and toned abs, but it didn't stop there, they trailed down to his v-line and... She jerked her head up and looked him in the eye. She shouldn't go any further. She noticed the towel he was using to rub his head as he stared at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to speak.

He's hot. She closed her mouth and looked away, averting the intensity of his dark eyes, as a faint blush painted her cheeks. "I... uh, I...um..." She swallowed. What am I doing here again? She spared him a glance and saw him walking over to his closet. Nice butt. Finally, she found her voice. "I didn't see anyone downstairs."

He glanced at her. "And you decided to check the rooms one by one to see if you were home alone?"

She was really embarrassed but the way he talked added to the lump she found in her throat, especially when they were alone, in his room, and he was just there shirtless and looking desirable. Her face went red and she shook her head, trying to ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I should go." She didn't know when she said it out loud, but she was moving away from the carpet.

"Wait."

She went still, even became like a statue when he came towards her and stopped infront of her. He was frowning as he searched her face. Her heart thumped as she held his gaze.

"Are you okay?"

She remembered to blink. "What?" Her voice did not come out as she wanted it to but his scent didn't help her as it wafted into her nose.

"Your face is red." He raised one hand to touch her but she dodged it.

"I'm fine." She quickly said, looking at his body. "You should... wear something."

He suddenly remembered that he had just come out of the bathroom. He looked down at himself and at her, then repeated it until realization dawned on him. He moved away from her and walked back to his closet, trying not to smirk.

"You shouldn't be bashful." He told her.

She stammered, trying to deny it. "I...I'm.. I'm not... it's not," she scoffed nervously, "it's not about you being shirtless, it's just..."

"After all, I am yours." He looked at her. "I am at your wimp and will, because of the mate bond."

Her heart skipped a bit as she stared back into his eyes. There was a certain way he looked at her, with emotions swirling those drilling round pools. She didn't know how to respond.

She cleared her throat as she broke eye contact, nervously looking at anywhere but his face. "I'll... I'll go now." She said before opening the door and running away before he could say anything else.

He sighed, looking away from the door. I am in heat. He shook his head. It's already getting to me. He couldn't even control himself for few minutes without looking at her.

Which is why we should mark her. His beast snarled.

Not yet.

If you refrain yourself, you might end up doing it some day, against your consciousness.

Her permission is valid. I will not mark her against her will.

Tch, I know that.

Besides, we have a problem on our hands.

Shikai was not the heir. He had wasted his time on an imposter. The thought still got him mad. And brother wants me to come home. I will, but it's not time.

He remembered the message he had received from the two generals. His father had sent someone to monitor him and had found out that his mate was a human. The disrespect was on a whole new level, and he knew that Danzo was the one behind it.

When the two generals had met him, bloody all over, standing before Shikai's corpse and the organ, and had told him the reason for their coming, his reply to them was:

"It doesn't matter because I don't care."

"Sasuke, you do know that she..."

"They would do nothing to her unless they want their heads rolling in streams of blood." The look he had shot them made them realise that he was decisive.

Sasuke wrung off a shirt from an hanger. He had discarded the bloody one in a trash. He didn't accomplish anything. No heir, no girl in the prophecy, no Death. He was impatient and infuriated.

Sakura sat on a stool infront of the kitchen counter, reviewing the past few minutes of her life. There was something in the way he regarded her and she couldn't shake it off. It was unsettling. What did he mean by he is at my wimp and will because of a mare bond? She looked upwards. Seems like I don't know much about this mate thing as I thought.

She was lost in her thoughts, vaguely saying things, and didn't know when the door opened and someone walked in. The only time she knew was when she heard a coughing sound and she turned around to see a familiar spiky blonde grimacing at her. They both stared at each other without speaking, him stopping mid way with grocery bags in his arms and her hoping he wouldn't ask that question.

He did... though, when she saw his mouth open, she tried saying, "Don't" , but failed.

"Are you talking to yourself?"

She closed her eyes, dropping her head in embarrassment. "You should've just ignored me."

He walked into the kitchen and set the bags on the island. "You looked weird talking into thin air. At first I thought you were starting to see ghosts."

She was silent for a while. "Were there ghosts?"

"No." He looked at her and chuckled as he brought out the groceries and set them on the counter. "But you were..."

"Enough." She said, snapping up a lettuce and putting it in his mouth, eyeing him as he giggled. She looked at the ingredients on the island as he washed his hands, picked up a small pot and rinsed it. He went grocery shopping. "Where are the others?"

"Humm, Shikamaru's with his mate and Jugo is on an errand." He answered as he put the small pot under the faucet, watching it fill a little with water.

She crossed her arms on the counter and tried to lean over to watch. "What are you making?"

Dramatically, he ripped two noodle pack from a bag and displayed it infront of her with a silly smile. "Ramen."

"Ramen? Do you eat that in your world too?"

"Nope." He lit the four burner gas stove and placed the pot on one of it. "I tried it one time while I was at the University and. It. Was. Dee...vine." He added, giving a chef's kiss.

She tried not to laugh. "But it's just ramen. "

He gasped loudly, placing a hand on his chest as if offended. "No, you did not."

She chuckled. "I did. Have you tried onigiri, tempura, or teishoko?"

He placed two eggs in the pot to boil and took up a medium sized pot to boil mushroom broth with kelp. "I still say Ramen. Feel bummed? Eat Ramen. Feel bored? Eat Ramen. Feel sick? Eat Ramen!"

"What happened to rice porridge when you are sick?"

"Meh, it's not dee-vine." He answered as he put the ingredients in the broth, relishing in its aroma.

"Pssh." She shook her head and laughed. Then she added. "I want to know something. What's up with this mate bond and impending war?"

Naruto paid less thought in answering as part of his attention was on the Narutomaki he was slicing on a board. "The mate bond we have was imposed on us by our Goddess. Said it was easier than waiting for your other half forever. When we find our mates, we experience things like sparks and the heat."

"Sparks and the heat?"

"Yup. The sparks can only be felt by beings, not humans. For instance, the Alpha is your mate, he's a Lycan and you're human. He's the only one feeling it, so is he the only one feeling the heat and being in it, well until he marks you, then you both would be able to feel the heat." He glanced at her and saw the confusion glazed on her face."The heat is a part of the bond. It means the urge to consummate the bond."

She hiccuped. Was that why he was looking at me with lust in his eyes?

"Yeah, he's going to be feeling the urge to commit the sin like bunnies in heat, hehe." He laughed sinisterly at the end of the sentence as he twirled a chopstick in his hand and stirred the broth. "And if he doesn't respond to the heat, it's going to get worse. He'll get to experience heat as though his blood is made of lava or he'll force you because it's unbearable, the heat." He ripped the two packs of Ramen and placed them in the broth, followed by narutomaki, a sliced egg and other ingredients, then he lowered the lid. "But he won't do the last one. Knowing him, he'd rather suffer in physical heat."

"This mate bond is the cause, right?"

"Pretty much." He looked at her. "You want some?"

She shook her head. "No, thanks. Ramen isn't really my strong stuff."

He nodded, switching off the stove and placing the pot on a wooden pad on the island.

"So, basically he's feeling stuff he doesn't want to feel because of the bond, since it's not really his own feeling, just a system integrated in him by the Goddess."

He opened his mouth, staring at her confusedly for awhile as he played with his chopsticks. "Ummm, yeah, you could say that."

She let down her head. So, he doesn't really crave me. It's just the bond acting up. Right.

Naruto slurped one bite of ramen before continuing. "There's also something else. Marking your mate also helps in transferring some abilities to her, if human."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"Some like telepathy. You two can transmit messages to one another through mind link. The lycans, in teams or armies, can do that because we're supernatural creatures, we have the ability. Another one is feeling the heat together. Oh, I've said that already."

"Oh wow." She said. "You guys are kind of interesting."

"Also marking your mate without her permission is just like raping her, but without going behind bars, because we believe as she is his mate, he can do whatever he wants with her."

She gasped, frowning at him.

"It's silly, I know. Not all of us support it but we can't do anything about it."

And Sasuke doesn't want to force me neither mark me without my permission. A small smile pulled up on her face. That's kind of nice. Then the smile was replaced with a frown. "But he hasn't asked me if he can mark me."

"He probably doesn't want to hurt you." Naruto replied, admist elevating slurps. "You can die from his marking because you are not strong enough to endure it. Even an average female lycan stays bedridden for few days after she's been marked, not to talk of humans. It's a really painful process, but to her since it's the male who's biting into the female's neck with sharp canines. Plus we're super sensitive of our necks because it's a weak and fragile spot. For all creatures, if you want to end us, go for the neck and it's all over."

Her body stiffened. "Ok, you guys are kind of interesting and scary." And most especially, she could die.

"Then we have the impending war. Two years ago, the seven deadly sins visited us and announced a war on all creatures living in Isekai, our world. The seven deadly sins are the seven princes of Hell. They have control over demons and the evilness of human heart. They are Lust, whom is Asmodeus. Greed, Mammon. Envy, Leviathan. Gluttony, Beelzebub. Sloth, Belph, and the king of demons- Pride, whom is called Lucifer. Then we have an annoying parasite, Lilith and all those creatures of Hell. They want to take over the world." There was a silent pause before he continued. "But, we have a greater advantage over them. There's this prophecy of a particular..."

Suddenly, the front door opened and a loud voice followed, cutting Naruto off.

"Mama's home."

Sakura and Naruto turned their heads and saw four people coming into the house.

"I've told you, don't say that. This isn't your house." Shikamaru sighed as he closed the door softly behind him and locked it.

Temari walked past him. "Beat it, crybaby."

Shikamaru lowered his head as he sighed tiredly. "Troublesome woman."