"Tada!" Sakura began excitedly as she sprawled out five yellow rectangular looking papers on the table infront of the four men seated on the couches.

Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru and Jugo glanced at the tickets before looking at her questioningly, waiting for her to explain.

She beamed. "We're going to have fun today."

Two weeks ago, her siblings had visited her and she'd had her exams. During her exams, she had noticed the lycans, moving about suspiciously in the dining hall and school hallways, looking like sheep without their shepherd. She'd also seen Mr Hatake discussing with them. She'd asked Naruto about it and he'd said that they were on a case in which they were having a progress to. Their faces looked stressed, so she decided that they have a break.

The past few days with them was not what she had entirely envisioned it would be. They were comfortable to be around with and they talked a lot. And by talking a lot, she meant the Beta, but he wasn't so bad. Shikamaru was lowly motivated but he still interacted well. They even told her stories in the kitchen as they whipped up something.

Jugo was almost always attending to errands and Sasuke talked less. Every single time, she stole glances at him, curious of his wellbeing. She couldn't deny it. She was worried about him experiencing the heat. Though he was straightforward with everything he did and said, he was nice to her and treated her comfortably. He hadn't forced her to do anything and he always asked if she was alright. Sometimes, she felt bad. She wasn't the one who was supposed to be asked that question.

He, on the other hand, did not look like he was hurting. She watched him everyday and yet, he didn't seem to have a heated issue, but she wasn't about to give up, which was why, after her exams, she decided that they experience some fun.

Sasuke, his arms folded and his dark eyes focused, raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" He felt a hot jab at his flesh and blinked. He was trying to resist the violent heat spreading through his body like floating lava, which was barely a breeze. He glanced at Jugo, who nodded at the look of his eyes.

Jugo had come back from Isekai after his visit to Masashi, not just only to ask her questions. Sasuke had told him to inform the female priest that he was experiencing the heat and to require of a potion which would impale and dilute the heat, even if it was for a short period of time. Jugo had come back successful with three potions and a nagging message from the worried priestess.

Sasuke was grateful for it, and thankfully, he was used to torture. Also, there were a lot of things on his mind after Jugo's return. Masashi had said she knew nothing of it, so he had two options; either Danzo stole from her or he has been working in the darkness on something much more than just monitoring him for his father. Knowing the secretive and distasteful old man, it was estimatedly the latter.

"Come on, take a break guys." His mate's voice probbed him back to reality. "You all look worn out. Try burning out the stress."

"We're not like you humans." He told her.

She spared him a glance. "Even supernatural creatures need to have rest and fun sometimes. Come on, you can't say you don't deserve some rest. Guys listen, there's going to be a full blown parade." She'd hoped she'll see it with her friends but they were too busy as it seemed, also, they had tried calling her but strangely, her phone couldn't be reached. She had to hear it from Temari herself, who visited her in school, because even she couldn't get to them. Temari had made a joke about Selene having a hand in it but it didn't seem like just a joke, especially when her sibling left her with a warning that she should be careful.

When the silence became too much in the room, she frowned. "Guys."

Sasuke regarded her skeptically for a while and before he could say anything, Naruto had stood up.

"I agree." The spiky blonde nodded, his stance like that of a presidential candidate giving a 'heartfelt' speech before an audience. "We should honor the love and care the Luna has shown to us."

"Yes." Sakura added, nodding at his words, like his number one supporter.

Sasuke eyed them both. What is wrong with...? Then he heard his Gamma's voice.

"I guess a break won't be so bad." He closed his eyes and threw his head back.

Everyone turned to Sasuke and stared at him, until he shut his eyes. "I was going to say fine anyways."

Immediately, Sakura jumped up, earning a look of astonishment from Sasuke. "Yes! We leave in six hours." She made her way to the stairs, grinning excitedly. "Everyone get ready before that time."

"Luna, I don't think..." Jugo tried saying but she shot him a glare.

"You're coming with us." She jumped unto a staircase. " What do you think the fifth ticket is for? A low budget silk napkin?"

Be... Sasuke noticed the shift in her balance on the stairs as didn't watch where she was going, but before long she was gone. Careful. He leaned back, closing his eyes and sighing.

Not long, he heard Naruto saying. "Is that a smile on your face, Alpha?"

Shocked, he looked at him. "What smile?"

"A small smile, it was there."

He had also noticed his lips curving up a bit and had thought that it was his imagination. He looked away. "Her happiness is contagious."

Naruto chuckled as he sat down beside a suspiciously still Shikamaru. Are you dead, Shikamaru?

"Sasuke sama, the potion."

Sasuke grunted as he collected the small chubby looking bottle with a clamp as coverage from the lycan and unbottoned the first two buttons on his shirt.

"She should know." Shikamaru suddenly said.

"No." The look Sasuke gave him was sharp and decisive. "She shouldn't know about this. She has the look of someone you shouldn't mess with but a heart like that of a fluffy, soft pillow. She'll probably feel the need to help me out of pity. No one tell her."

As if on instinct, the Alpha and his Gamma looked at the Beta and found his jaw dropped. He immediately averted their gazes, studying imaginary lines on the ceiling.

"He did something." The Gamma announced.

"Naruto?" The Alpha narrowed his eyes at him.

The spiky blonde stood up and walked away from them. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it? Wow, I foresee no death today." He whistled, speaking rhetorically until he was out of sight.

Few hours later, at dusk, they had pulled up at the amusement park. Naruto, Shikamaru and Jugo had gone in a separate direction but he knew they were around. He followed and watched his mate as she went from stall to stall, beaming excitedly and feeding her curiosity with the various displays and games in the park.

The amusement park was huge and large. It reminded him of how advanced the human world had become. There were long and large train like objects with names like 'Ghost-fright' or 'Cart-to-death'. Stupid names but he understood that they were humans. There were also clown-dressed freaks or people dressed in animal costumes. There were game stores, food trucks and so on, but the most annoying thing was there were people, a whole lot of them, talking in high tones and cheerfully too.

It amazed him at how many the park could contain. He had to keep his feet down so he won't lose sight of his mate, especially with the way she was beaming over the shabby things they sold.

The only thing fun about the place was her, his mate. He was amused and intrigued at her over excitedness, her love for those small things, like stuffed animals and cotton candy, the way her eyes lit up whenever she was amazed at something. He didn't want to admit it but she was pleasant. She was annoyingly pleasant, to look at and listen to.

It must've been the smoke from the fire a clown was holding or the cologne of a passerby, but he caught something in the air. He turned around and ran his eyes along the crowd. Demons. He could smell them. What are they...?

"Sasuke."

He turned to see his mate's green eyes gleaming gorgeously and a toothy smile on her face. "Let's ride the wheel." She pointed at a big, tall object few feet away from her.

He eyed it. "You want to ride that thing?"

"Yeah. Don't tell me you're scared?"

"I'm not saying that because of me." He glanced at her.

She scoffed. "Oh please, I'm a pro at riding things like that."

Few seconds later, Sasuke's arm was being held hostage by a screaming pinkette. The Alpha shook his head, trying not to laugh and stealing glances at his mate's horrified face as their cart rushed downwards, twirled upwards and flipped in the air.

Few minutes later, she was holding unto him for support as they walked away from it. Her legs felt wobbly and her face had gone pale. He had wait for her at a restroom to straighten herself up, as she said, before they walked to a hard ware stall.

He watched as she ran her eyes along the vintage hardwares, looking interested in their designs and patterns. "For a medical scholar, you really like... all of these." He concluded as though irritated.

She frowned at him confusedly. "Who doesn't? You can't say that just because I'm an adult, I shouldn't engage myself in amusing activities. Most of us like drinking, and clubbing while most of us like to just... revisit childhood memories." Then she paused. "Do you know why children have lesser emotional and mental issues than adults?"

He stared at her, watching her eyes glow as it reflected the fireworks in a distance.

"It's because they don't have a care in the world. They just let themselves go. Playing in the rain? Playing soccer in the middle of the street? Playing games with one another? Those are the joys of childhood." Then a pained emotion cursed through her eyes. "Even though some of us didn't get to have that childhood." She beamed. "But that won't stop me. I, for one, am going to enjoy the short life I have and make sure I have interesting stories to tell in the future." She smiled, a sincere, beautiful smile that he felt his heart skip a beat.

Taken aback, he blinked, breaking eye contact. Is it the mate bond? He wanted it to be but it didn't feel like it. Convincing himself that it was nothing, he looked away.

She moved to the next stall and immediately brightened up. "Dangos!" Her eyes ravaged the shining scrumptious sweets." These are really good. You want some?"

He eyed them. They looked like diabetes vibing in gangs. "No, I hate sweets."

She stared bewildered at him. She heard Naruto say something about it and that he really liked tomatoes, but she didn't think it was that much of a big deal. "Even dangos?"

He shook his head, watching as she bought ten of them inside a bag. Tch, she's just like Itachi. Both terrible sweet tooths.

As she put one in her mouth, something crossed his mind. He wanted to ask about her childhood, what happened to her parents and about her life before she was adopted. Possibly, if she was maltreated, she would have marks or scars all over her body. His eyes trailed from her face to her neck, down to her shoulder blades and stopped at her back which her blouse covered. There were no marks or scars, just clean, flawless skin.

He looked away, zoning out on a big ball like statue beside a peasant stage, deep in thought. So, she wasn't mistreated. The only thing that affects her is her witnessing her parents die in a fire.

She stole glances at him, noticing his eyes glazing over. Is he mind linking the men? She opened her mouth to say something when she heard a sound coming from a small dark corner few feet infront of her.

Curious and unconsciously, she slipped away from Sasuke's sight and headed towards the dark alley. As she got closer, she saw a small female child, with wild brown hair, balled up and crying into her knees.

"Hey kid." She called out, walking cautiously to the girl.

The whimpering stopped and the child raised her head and blinked at her.

Her face softened as she ran her eyes over the child. It reminded her of the time she'd fled to the attic after an intense beating from Mother to cry alone.

"Why are you here, crying... oh." She huffed as the child closed the space between them as swift as a cat on its period and gave her a tight hug.

She smiled, patting the child's head and crouching to her height. "Why are you all alone here?" She asked, looking into the child's big hazel eyes. The child didn't answer, she just continued to stare blankly.

It must've been in a hallucination or a brief trance but she saw the child smirking evily. Sakura frowned, squinting her eyes at the child but seeing the continuous blank look on her face.

Then the hair on her skin stood. Something isn't right.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had turned a little feral when he couldn't find his mate beside him.

"Sakura?" He swiveled his head to the side as his eyes turned red. Where did she go? He had just turned to look away for a second.

His eyes roamed through the large bodies of people before him. Demons. He could smell them, ever so disturbing, ever so irritating.

But he couldn't smell his mate. Her scent was faint, and he knew the Demons had something to do with it if they were here.

Sakura.

As quick as a rabbit fleeing fearfully, the child's innocent façade disappeared and in her small hand was a tiny bottle and a devilishly looking pocket knife. Sakura's eyes trailed from the dangerous items in the child's face, witnessing the evilness swirling in her hazel eyes. That's when she knew, the child wasn't just a child.

Sakura tried to move back, but the little girl was faster. She raised the knife and plunged it down in speed. Knowing, she couldn't do anything fast about it, Sakura closed her eyes, waiting to feel streams of blood dripping down her skin.

But it never came.

Instead, her body was sent sprawling backwards, hitting the ground in the process. She opened her eyes, slowly at first, then rapidly when her brain reminded her of the situation. In her vision, she saw a person's back towards her face, as if protecting her. She looked past the figure and saw the child, glaring at them both.

She struggled to her feet, only to hear the figure's voice.

"Don't move." The voice was masculine but gruff.

True to words, she didn't, but her eyes went wide when she noticed that the figure's voice sounded familiar. It was so strong that she argued she knew it.

The man in the black cloak put out a hand, as if telling her to back up. She did but became frozen when a strong tornado like wind wound around the small child, and when it cleared, a tall woman was standing there, holding a long dark staff.

Sakura was awed. The woman had an ethereal beauty. Her hair was black and long, it swept past her hind limbs. Her skin glowed like the sunset in the horizon. Her eyes were big and colourful, she couldn't tell the real colour of it. Her sculptured face was home to the most beautiful features Sakura has ever seen. The cloth she wore was leathery and black, straps hung over here and there. It gave off her cleavage and thighs, and showcased how her body was to die for.

"Lilith."

Sakura remembered to blink when she heard the man's voice again. Lilith... so that's her name.