Author's note: Halloween period means more supernatural stories! This idea popped up in my mind earlier this week and I figured, why not write it? It's going to be two parts, let me know if you're interested in reading the second part!

Also once more: IMPORTANT NEWS. In November I will start my first job. That means I'll have to change my schedule regarding the chores I do in the household and it might take me a bit to figure out how to plan everything efficiently. I will do my best to keep the updates regularly, however. But in the case I do end up missing a week or longer, you know why. Some stories are easier to write than others, so yeah, that's another issue that affects how my writing goes.

Warnings: Sakura's pov; Alternate universe; medievalish setting (yeah, we're back to this again); character death; NOT FOR SAKURA FANS!; that's it for now, I think

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like the first part!

Part 1

Konoha tended to be a dull village most of the time. Clamped between a large forest and some mountains, the area saw little to no visitors. Occasionally some market vendors would set up shop for a day, selling or trading their goods, but most of the time Konoha had to be self-reliant because it would take too long to travel to the closest town. It was no wonder then that a lot of young people ended up leaving once they were old enough, desperate to put the humdrum behind them.

With how stodgy the village was and how eager the young people were to leave it, it came thus as a big shock to everybody when a pair of brothers ended up purchasing a house near the forest. The house had stood empty for quite some time after the last occupants had passed away. Bordering on the forest and one of the houses furthest removed from the village's centre, nobody had been particularly eager to make the place their home – until the two brothers showed up.

They were still fairly young and simply showed up one morning, their belongings covered underneath a large cloth in a cart. They no longer seemed to have their parents as they were the only ones making the empty house their new home. It was obvious from their looks that they were brothers. Both men had black hair, though the oldest had his long hair pulled together in a low ponytail while the younger one had one lock covering his eye sideways and his own shorter hair spiked in the back. Both had black eyes, the same alabaster skin, the same full mouth and both had a slender but muscled built.

Both were incredibly handsome.

"It is completely unfair how much they look like gods," Ino sighed wistfully, twirling a piece of her long blonde hair around her finger.

She and Sakura were watching the two men unload the cart from a fairly hidden spot behind a tree. As soon as they had picked up the rumours that two men were moving into the empty house near the forest, they had abandoned their studies and had hastened to catch a glimpse of the new arrivals.

"Are you complaining?" Sakura asked; her own eyes glued onto the younger of the two men. She thought – hoped – he was around their age; that would make it easier to get to know him. Although to be frank, his older brother didn't appear to be that much older either.

Really, how was it possible for a man to look so incredibly handsome, let alone two of them?!

"Far from it," her friend giggled quietly, covering her mouth with her hand. "Truly, though, what did we do to be granted with such a wonder? You think they are aware of just how dreadfully boring this village truly is?"

"Well, I for one am not going to inform them about that," Sakura scoffed. "I do wonder why they chose this village of all places to live in, though. We're not exactly easy to locate."

"I'm sure if we give it a couple of days, the older ladies will provide us with the information we need," Ino said amused.

"True," Sakura giggled.

The elderly ladies in Konoha sure had a gift for finding out information about everybody, even if the people in question were complete strangers. They were the reason why Sakura was aware of so many secrets in the village because her parents certainly did not tell her anything interesting.

The two girls watched how the last wooden box was removed from the cart and the younger brother carried it inside. His elder brother talked to the owner of the cart for a moment, handing him a pouch with his payment. The man tipped his hat towards him before he urged his donkey to start moving, leading it onto the road that would allow them to leave the village again. The elder brother rolled his shoulders and appeared to take in his new surroundings; his gaze sweeping from side to side.

For a couple of seconds his eyes glided right over the tree Sakura and Ino were hiding behind and they ducked at the same time, crouching behind the bush covering the lower part of the tree. Sakura's heart started to beat quicker in response to her surprise and her wide green eyes met Ino's equally surprised blue ones.

"You think he saw us?" Ino whispered worriedly, biting down on her index finger.

"I think he would have said something if he had, no?" Sakura asked in return.

She dared to peek around the bush and sighed in relief when she saw the man walking into his new home, closing the door behind him.

"He didn't see us," she announced and rose up again. "He went into the house."

"Good, didn't want to ruin our chances before we even have a chance to talk to them," Ino sighed and stood up as well. "We better go back, though. I don't think we should test our luck too much now."

Sakura agreed; they had been lucky just now but they shouldn't push that luck too much. She still wanted to get to know the men better – especially the younger brother – and that couldn't happen if they were caught peeking at them!

Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke were their names, Sakura was quick to find out. Sasuke was indeed her age while his brother was five years older. Not much was known about their parents, but it appeared they had sadly passed away a while ago, leaving Itachi in charge of his younger brother. According to one of the elderly ladies, the two brothers had decided to move to Konoha because they could no longer stand to live in the same house where their parents had died.

Theirs was a tragic story, but they didn't appear to let their past drag them down. Sasuke started attending classes with the rest of them while Itachi joined the doshins, quickly making a name for himself because of his fair and just treatment of everybody. While some of the doshins could be quite boorish, clearly Itachi with his good education was not one of them. Aside from his good manners, his beauty naturally attracted the attention of many women in the village. Sakura could understand why, but truthfully she considered Sasuke to be the most handsome of the two.

There was just something about the intense look in those beautiful dark eyes and the low timbre of his voice that caused Sakura to suddenly have a lot more problems focusing on her studies. Unfortunately she wasn't alone with her newly developed feelings for the new arrival, but so far all the girls had silently agreed that nobody was to approach him just yet. Talking was fine; anything more than that? Absolutely not.

Too bad not everybody seemed to have the same understanding as the girls did.

"Are my eyes deceiving me or is Uzumaki actually talking to Sasuke-kun?"

Tayuya's incredulous question had Sakura immediately looking up from her book and she watched with growing outrage how Uzumaki was indeed talking to Sasuke, wearing a stupid shy smile as if he was a dainty lady being courted by her love.

As dull as Konoha was, most people did get along quite well with each other. Amicable conversations were often had, laughter and happiness was shared and one knew they could rely on their neighbours and family for aid. Uzumaki, however? He was the anomaly. His parents having died from an illness when he was still a baby, Uzumaki had bounced between several homes; none of the families able to stand him for very long. The village Leader, Sarutobi Hiruzen, eventually took pity on Uzumaki and gave him one of the smallest houses to call his home, ensuring someone regularly checked in on him when he grew up.

With no parents to keep his stupidity contained, Uzumaki grew up to be an irritating prankster, an illiterate one to boot because he didn't have enough money to pay for his studies. He did all sorts of random jobs to earn money but with his short attention span, his illiteracy and his tendency for dumb jokes, he couldn't do much aside from helping the farmers with their fields or their livestock. Sometimes he could be seen helping out the doctor, a blonde woman named Tsunade, but Sakura was sure the older woman only let Uzumaki help her out of pity.

Aside from one teacher, Iruka, and Tsunade, nobody really seemed to care about Uzumaki. Sakura would feel pity for him, but really, how could he expect to earn some sympathy when he seemed to prefer to act like an idiot most of the time? People's patience only went so far after all.

"What could they possibly have to talk about?" Ino asked befuddled. "Any of you know if he somehow got paid to do some chores for the brothers?"

"Not as far as I know," Tenten replied, shaking her head. "Maybe Sasuke-san is just curious?"

"Why?" Tayuya scoffed and Sakura could only nod in agreement. "It's not like that fool has anything interesting to say."

"He seems to like hogging Sasuke-kun all to himself, though," Sakura remarked, narrowing her eyes as Uzumaki just kept talking Sasuke's ears off, swaying closer to him.

Sasuke was listening with a polite expression, of course, because even though he hadn't been living here for long yet, his well-mannered demeanour had become quite well-known already. He probably didn't want to hurt Uzumaki's feelings by rebuffing him, but really he shouldn't worry about that. With someone like Uzumaki, one had to be blunt or otherwise he would never understand you.

"Eugh, I can't stand watching him keep bothering Sasuke-kun," Tayuya said annoyed and strode towards the pair.

"What is she going to do?" Ino asked surprised, closing her own study book.

"I have no idea," Sakura replied and kept watching, wanting to know what the red haired girl was planning.

Tayuya halted next to Sasuke and whatever she was telling Uzumaki, it had the blond idiot deflating, even flinching almost even though this time she hadn't even punched his shoulder. Honestly, for a guy he was really quite pathetic. He could barely take any punches that the girls threw at him whenever he got on their nerves too much; it was a miracle the other guys hadn't done him in yet!

Uzumaki flushed a deep red and turned around, scurrying away. Tayuya said something to Sasuke next, who simply shook his head and left as well, walking in the direction of his home.

Tayuya looked disappointed for a short moment, before she shrugged and walked back to them.

"What did you say to him?" Ino demanded as soon as Tayuya was back with them.

"Yeah, he looked ready to cry," Sakura added.

"Asked him if he didn't have a field to attend to because he surely couldn't be here to study with us," Tayuya answered, flipping her red hair back over her shoulders.

"Th-that's not n-nice, T-T-Tayu-Tayuya-san," Hinata scolded her nervously.

"Hinata-chan, I've told you this before and I'm saying it again, you need better taste in boys," Tayuya commented, clucking her tongue.

The dark haired heiress to the Hyuuga clan blushed a bright red and started tapping her fingers together in a move that indicated she was incredibly embarrassed.

Privately Sakura thought she should feel embarrassed for considering Uzumaki to be more handsome than Sasuke or even Itachi. Honestly, Hinata might be the heiress to one of the oldest and most respected clans in the village, she really did not have any romantic taste whatsoever. Sakura really couldn't understand Uzumaki's appeal, but somehow Hinata had been interested in him for a while now. She was a sweet girl, but so odd at times.

"I – I just – just th-think th-there's no-nothing wrong w-with Naruto-kun," Hinata squeaked in defence of her poor taste.

"You're the only one thinking that," Tayuya snorted.

"What did you ask Sasuke-kun?" Sakura questioned curiously.

"Ah, I asked him if he was interested in studying with us but apparently he studies best on his own," Tayuya replied and sighed. "I guess he's still somewhat reserved but he'll come around."

Sakura could only admire her confidence, though secretly she hoped the other girl was right. It was difficult to find anything in common with Sasuke when the dark haired boy was rather quiet, but if they could study together … Ah, perhaps soon that would be possible!

Konoha was a rather dull village and while they had doshins, the crime rate was fairly low, contained to theft and the occasional brawl when some people were unable to handle the liquor they drank freely. Barely anything serious happened in the village because here everybody knew everybody or almost everybody at least and the worse that might happen was a fight that became a bit too serious.

Yes, Konoha was a rather peaceful village – which made the shock that much bigger when a dead body was found between the pig stalls.

"… any idea how it happened?"

Sakura closed the door behind her, pulling off her shoes and ready to call out she was home, but mother's hushed question had her shutting her mouth again.

"Tsunade-sama thinks it's highly likely that the attack was done by some sort of animal."

Both father's voice and his reply had Sakura frowning as she hovered in the hallway. Father was part of the doshins and shouldn't be home yet. What was he doing here already? And what was this about an animal attack? Had one of the cows reacted violently towards a farmer again? Or had one of the horses kicked its owner?

"An animal? But from I've heard the body was too gruesome to look at!" Mother exclaimed. "What kind of animal could be behind this?"

"The doctor isn't certain, but she suspects it was either a bear or a wolf or something else similar to that size," Father replied. "Whichever one it was, it had sharp claws and apparently killed to kill because the body didn't look like it had been eaten. Perhaps she scared the animal and it attacked her in return? I honestly have no idea. I just hope we won't have to deal with a dangerous animal on the loose," he sighed.

In the hallway Sakura's eyes widened. Someone had been attacked by a bear or a wolf? It had been years since they last had experienced any attacks from those animals! She couldn't even remember the last time she had heard a wolf's howl or seen a bear with her own eyes. Were they passing through the forest again?

"I don't know how we're going to tell Sakura what happened," Mother muttered, sounding worried. "I know she wasn't that close with the girl, but still they attended the same classes and I have no idea how - "

Giving up on her eavesdropping act, Sakura immediately strode into the kitchen; her blood rushing loudly in her ears. Who were they talking about? Who had been the girl who had been attacked? She had been with Ino nearly the whole day, helping out in the flower shop of her parents so she couldn't be the victim. She had seen Tenten and Hinata on her way home so they couldn't be it either.

"Who are you talking about?" she demanded, startling both her parents with her appearance.

Mother pressed her hand against her chest, regarding her wide-eyed. "Sakura! I had no idea you were home already; why didn't you say something?"

"I planned to, but I overheard you talking," Sakura admitted, for once not paying attention to the chiding look she received from father. "Who was attacked?"

Father and mother shared a heavy look with each other before mother stood up and walked over to Sakura, cradling her hands in her own.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but a farmer found Tayuya between two of his pig stalls this morning," she said softly, brushing a pink lock out of her daughter's face when a shock went through her. "It seems that an animal attacked her last night. She had passed away by the time the farmer found her."

"Tayuya is dead?" Sakura repeated shocked. "An animal killed her?"

"It looks like it," Father confirmed in a gentle tone. "It – we think she must have scared the animal and it attacked her in return. Tsunade-sama couldn't do anything for her anymore by the time she was found. I'm sorry, Sakura."

Shock settling in, Sakura easily let herself be pulled into her mother's embrace, hearing but not comprehending what her parents said to each other above her head. Certainly, she and Tayuya had never been close, not in the way she was with Ino or even Hinata, but that didn't mean her death didn't come as a shock. Tayuya had been killed by a wolf or a bear? That was horrific! Nobody deserved to die a horrible death like that!

"Once she is … more presentable, do you want to pay your respects to her?" Mother questioned quietly after a while.

They had made their way to the living room where they sat together; mother running her fingers soothingly through Sakura's hair while she clung to her mother. She wasn't overcome with grief per se – how could that be when she had never been that close with Tayuya? – but she felt numb nonetheless. It felt strange to consider that from now on she would never see the red haired girl in her class again.

"Yes, I'd like that," Sakura murmured, rubbing a hand over her face.

It was the least she could do for her classmate.

Tayuya's funeral was held a week later and was attended by quite a lot of people. For all that Tayuya could have a big mouth at times, she also had got along with a lot of people and it showed.

Everybody of their class showed up, including Sasuke, which Sakura considered to be very thoughtful of him. He could have easily stayed home because he hadn't known Tayuya that well – or at all even – yet he was still here, paying his respects to her parents. His older brother was present as well; apparently he had been amongst the group of doshins who had been called upon by the farmer when he had come across the gruesome scene of Tayuya's death.

The funeral went by in a rather serene matter. Sakura had never attended a funeral before, but the atmosphere was actually quite peaceful. It wasn't as uncomfortable as she had assumed it would be; listening to the priest had something soothing even.

That was until they all went outside and there was a scuffle on the side of the road. When Sakura peeked around a group of men gravely discussing the funeral, she huffed annoyed when she spotted Uzumaki being accosted by Sakon, Ukon and Jirobo. It wasn't the first time the three of them got into a fight with Uzumaki and she doubted it would be the last time. Honestly, did Uzumaki have to cause trouble everywhere he went? They had just attended a funeral, for god's sake!

Out of respect for Tayuya's parents, she walked over, intending to break up the scuffle before it could grow more violent.

"Aren't you all ashamed? We literally just were at a funeral!" she spat, keeping her voice low as to not attract other people's attention. The last thing she wanted, was to get lumped in with these idiots!

Sakon grinned at her while his twin brother looked ready to punch Uzumaki in his face. Uzumaki for his part was awkwardly hovering on the side of the road, the idiot.

"We were just wondering what Uzumaki was doing here, considering he barely even knew Tayuya," Sakon replied and shrugged. "That's not such a weird question to ask, is it?"

"Why are you here?" she asked Uzumaki directly, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Just paying my respects like the rest of you," Uzumaki replied rather defensively. "That's called being polite, you know!"

Ukon snorted harshly. "What do you know about being polite?"

"More than you do!" Uzumaki bit out at him, which really, was he just begging to get a beating now?

Ukon narrowed his eyes and raised his fist threateningly. "You want to repeat that a-"

"Something the matter here?"

They all froze up in surprise when Sasuke's smooth voice washed over him. Sakura whirled around immediately, her lips parting in surprise. Sasuke stood a bit further away, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his cloak. His dark gaze slid from her to the boys behind her and his eyes narrowed then.

"Well? I asked a question," he said impatiently.

While neither Sakon, Ukon or Jirobo had problems confronting other people, no matter their rank or age, they at least were smart enough not to challenge Sasuke it appeared. All three of them scowled, but backed away from Uzumaki.

"Nothing the matter here at all," Sakon said through gritted teeth and with a sharp gesture of his hand he beckoned the other two to follow him.

"Did they bother you?" Sasuke asked Uzumaki.

Sakura was torn between admiring him for his concern and feeling frustrated that somehow Uzumaki was receiving all his attention now.

"It's fine," Uzumaki muttered, looking away and scratching the back of his neck.

"You really need to learn to stay away from them," Sakura couldn't help but scold him. "You're making it way too easy for them!" Honestly, one would think that after several beatings, Uzumaki would have learnt to avoid them.

"It's not like I seek them out!" Uzumaki defended himself.

She opened her mouth to reply, but Sasuke interjected, "You're going home?"

She perked up, thinking he was talking to her but when she glanced at him, blushing, she was upset to see him addressing Uzumaki instead.

"Oh? Erm, yeah, got nothing else to do," Uzumaki replied, shrugging awkwardly.

"I'll walk with you, just in case those three decide they want to bother you again," Sasuke decided and even though Uzumaki protested, Sasuke still accompanied him when he walked away.

"Eugh." Of course Sasuke was a gentleman as well! But why did he have to be one to Uzumaki of all people?

Heaving a deep sigh, she turned around and wormed herself through the throng of people, seeking out her parents so they could return home as well. Uzumaki might be fortunate enough now to have Sasuke accompanying him, but Sasuke would realise soon how pathetic Uzumaki was. Nearly everyone else had already realised that fact long ago after all.

Nearly a week later the vicious animal ended up making two more victims. The quiet if dull atmosphere clinging to Konoha was no more.

AN2: Things go bump at night in the village of Konoha ... Interested in more? Let me know!

Once more: which sequels would you want to read the most? You have until the end of December to let me know! I'll put the most requested on my planning for next year then :)

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.