So...a new story...

Don't read if you don't like depressing death-y stuff.

Also, does anyone remember what day it is today...?

Chapter ONE

Ever since she could remember, Sakura could see the dead. Surrounded by family members, children and adults alike, who could also see the dead, Sakura spent the first few years of her life not knowing that this wasn't normal.

However, even within her clan full of people with rare powers, Sakura was different. The moment she had been born, her clan mates had known she was different, and so, Sakura often noticed this. However, no one said anything, so she didn't either.

Some time ago, Sakura may have thought that it had to do with her title as clan heiress, but now, she had heard enough stories to know that that was not the case. The black thorn like marks that adorned her neck, her wrists and her ankles stood out sharply against her skin, the proof of her existence.

She was the Reaper child.

The first thing the clan children were taught was the difference between a 'ghost' and a 'spirit'.

Ghosts were the souls of those who were dead, but were yet to travel over to the 'other side', known as the 'Yomi no Kuni'. They were recognized by a faint blue glow around their wrists, with a thread that linked them either to someplace or someone who was 'blocking' their entry into the Yomi no Kuni. Their voices could not be heard. The children of the clan were taught how to lead them to the land of the dead.

Spirits, on the other hand, were those who slipped back to the the world of living after they had set foot on the land of the dead. Once they had made the journey, apart from a few limitations, they were free to do as they please. They could also let their voices be heard from the Yomi no Kuni. The only part of the physical world they could not experience was direct touch, but when they did make contact with a Haruno, they would feel a chill, as though something jellylike was slithering down the area of contact. A majority of the phantoms occupying the Haruno compound were spirits.

The ability to talk to the dead was awakened in stages.

At first, it started off with simple words.

Once or twice a month, Sakura started to hear a muffled voice giving one word orders, most of them being things such as 'duck' or 'hide' or warnings, such as 'quiet' and 'coming'.

Sakura didn't know whose spirit was telling her all this, for she had looked around many times but had never once seen the owner, but she always did as the voice told her to. Her current winning streak in hide and seek was a clan record.

Once or twice, she had tried to converse with it but the replies took a while to come back and were always one worded and after a while, Sakura gave up.

Then, over the months, the voice became clearer. Sakura was able to note that the voice was male. It also began to speak in short phrases rather than single words and the amount of times it made itself heard also increased.

At the age of four, most voices became clear and the spirit seeing sight of the children fully developed and it was not rare to see the excited children of the clan running around, talking to the specters for the first time.

While all members could see spirits, their voices could only be heard by the ones the voice wished to be heard by. Sakura was very pleased of this. Out of everyone, this helpful voice had chosen to speak to her.

Children games became more intense as spirits began to pick favorites and tried to help.

During one of their games, Sakura spied the spirit of Haruno Takeru, a shinobi who had fought and died in the Third Shinobi war, whispering into the ear of his younger cousin, pointing out hints.

Sakura carefully tucked her head back into the grass and tuned in to her voice.

'Stay low and once the child finishes counting, head towards that tree.'

Sakura noted that the 'it' child had reached sixty seconds and once she had run off to begin her search, Sakura did as told.

Soon, this one victory became another of many.

It took her a while to figure out that her first spirit friend was someone pretty amazing. He first appeared in front of her on her sixth birthday. After a few hours of trying to hide from her clansmen and constant nagging from the voice, Sakura had finally managed to slip out of the celebration. Out of habit, her feet took her up to her roof, where she sometimes spent time arguing with the voice over nothing. She sat down then quickly zoned out, eyes halfheartedly following the movement of a few spirits that mingled around. Sometimes, someone else would try and whisper to her but her voice seemed to like chasing them away.

Suddenly, she felt a brush of air at the back of her neck a whipped around. She blinked in surprise, not know what she had been expecting, and found herself staring into a pair of piercing pink eyes.

'I believe it is your birthday today, Sakura.'

Sakura instantly knew that this dude was not a part of her clan. However, she blinked a few more times, then rubbed at her eyes. "Your voice..."

The voice belonged to a young man who looked like a teenager. He waved his hand dismissively. 'It took me a while to figure this out.' He said. 'I'm glad I got it by today.'

"I...I've seen you before." Sakura murmured.

The man nodded. 'Of course. I'd be surprised if you haven't.' He hummed. 'Then again, you are but a mere child.'

"I'm six." Sakura said, feeling a little insulted.

'Yes, I can see that.' The man sat down next to her.

Sakura steeled herself into place. It had never been this awkward when she could only hear his voice. Though nervous, unwilling to move away. She could feel the ghost's eyes boring into her and suppressed the urge to flinch. Finally gathering her courage, she allowed herself to peek at him from the corner of her eye. She curiously traced the stitch like marks running from his left eye down to his cheek.

"Who are you?" She asked quietly. "Where do you come from?" She knew that most of the ghosts and spirits that lingered around were deceased Haruno, because the Haruno compound was surrounded by seals that kept most of the others away. Wandering souls yearned for contact, but having a large amount of spirits screaming into their ears could overwhelm a Haruno. Once in awhile a powerful ghost or spirits would manage to push past the wards, but there weren't that many, so the Harunos agreed to let them stay. This man must be one of them.

'I've come to realize that I came a long way.' The man just as quietly. 'I come from Kirigakure.'

"Kiri..." Sakura trailed off, eyes widening. "You're..."

The man smiled. 'My name is Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure.'

NEW STORY:

The Core (Sakura x Akatsuki/Sakura x Multi):

The Akatsuki are an Elite Police Authority group stationed in a city where the lives people are influenced by the predictions of a Supercomputer. The predictions had never been wrong ever since Version Sakura had been released. However, when the computer shuts down one day for no reason, they come across the horrifying truth and the Akatsuki must confront their twisted government.

So...Ye...Like if you want us to continue.

Darque: This is awesome. I get to write a new fic and introduce one of my top five favorite characters!

Raven: Okay...

Well, like we said, new story, but you guys don't get to complain, cause we know that deep down, you're happy!

Also, Happy Birthday to us! We're sixteen now!

Meh, so leave us an extra long review, okay?

Read and Review!