This is my first real story, It has been in my head for months, and now its out to you all. Muhahaha. Okay, um sorry bout that, a little caffine this morning. Not only that but I read shocking news this morning. All I need to say is "Major depressing. Major spoiler." Well any ways on with my story.

Oh, and by me saying, and its going to be now- I don't own Naruto. Thank God. (I forgot the guys name) owns this, and he's a sadistic man... I say no more.

Running. I am running for my life. That much I know as my sandals clink and tap a rapid, repeating staccato beat against the wooden floors. But where am I? Who's chasing me? And, most importantly why?

I have no idea.

Run faster. Run harder. Run from them. From him.

A strange voice echoing through my brain seems to mock me as it begs for speed with the urgency I can't comprehend. Endless demands competing with my own thoughts skitter across my brain like a dog's claws on slick linoleum.

Where am I? Run faster. Who's chasing me? Run harder. And why? Run from him.

But no one is there. The corridor is black, skyless, deep underground. And I'm already running as fast and as hard as I can.

I suck in a breath and take in my surroundings- trying to think, to process, to find a shred of familiarity in the dark wooden beams crisscrossing the black ceiling, the mammoth fans above cut into the ceiling every few feet, expelling hot, sour air that my already burning lungs struggle to accept. It all seems so familiar and yet at the same time completely foreign. Like a déjà vu pricking at the dark recesses of your brain, or the name on the tip of your tongue- the one you always remember at 3:00 a.m., when it no longer matters.

Except, this time I think it might still matter. And 3:00 a.m. may be too late.

"Don't let her get away!"

Correction. Someone is following me. My heart slams against my chest as I realize my pursuers- whoever they might be- aren't far behind. Sweat pools in the hollow of my throat, then drips down, soaking my neck and chest. My muscles burn, my lungs refuse to take in air, I can barely swallow, and my vision has gone spotty. Soon I'll have to stop. To take a break.

But to stop is to die. That much I know. And so I keep running.

I turn a corner and my bleary eyes catch sight of a ladder in front of me, embedded firmly into the wall, a potential salvation ascending into the darkness. Where does it go? Could it lead me to the hatch my enemies seek to keep me from? To stop and check it out will eat up valuable time- time I don't have. But I have to take a chance. I can't run forever.

I throw myself against the ladder, wrapping my hands around each rung as I climb, step after step. The ground falls away, and with it the dim tunnel lighting, and soon I am engulfed in blackness.

A few seconds later I bang my head against something, almost falling off the ladder from the impact. I steady myself, then reach up with one hand, fingers exploring the ceiling until they come upon a latch. More frantic exploration reveals a handle. There's definitely some kind of trapdoor.

"Up here! Get her!"

I hear feet clanging against the floors as my pursuers start up after me. I don't have much time left. Wrapping my hand around the trapdoor handle, I yank on it with all my might. This is my one chance to escape.

It doesn't bulge.

I pound on the door, my heart exploding in my chest as I realize that I likely have precious seconds to live. Surprisingly, my life does not flash before my eyes; in fact, I'm still having difficulty any life at all. Who I am. What I do. How I got into this mess.

Run away from them, the mysterious voice in my head demands.

"Shut up," I mutter, tired of its useless advice.

The first man reaches me, paws at my feet through the darkness. "We've got her!" he cries. And indeed, it seems he has.

Not willing to give up without a fight, I slam my foot down on his hand, the heel driving into his palm. A crush of bone. A yelp of pain. I repeat the blow, then a wild kick to where I estimate his head to be, all the while clinging to the ladder for dear life. I don't miss. Knocked off balance he looses his grip, falls backward, and hurtles screaming down into blackness. A sickening thud, followed by silence, tells me he's likely met his maker below.

But his death is not enough to save me. The second guy is right behind him and much more prepared for my ally cat tactics. There's a flash of light- a crimson beam cutting through the darkness- then a sharp, icy pain spreading through my ankle, shooting through my veins at a lightning pace, reaching my toes, my fingers, my brain simultaneously. My grip loosens, my head swims, my mussels fail. At first I fear he'll just let me fall, hurtle down to my death. But my attacker grabs on and starts dragging me down the ladder.

Not good.

At the bottom, the men flip me over so I'm lying on my stomach, spread on the ground. I can't move at all, my body is Jell-O, my muscles completely useless. But I can see. I can hear, I can feel.

Three men kneel above me, armed with tools, and glowing strings, complete with gauges and lights and a really long needle. I'm not sure what the dose was, but I know for a fact that I don't want it done to me.

I can't move, and I'm numb. The glowing strings are what's holding me down. I look up to see one of the men revealing a vial of some sort. He presents the vial to the man with the syringe, who takes it and sticks the needle inside, sucking up the unidentified contents.

"Are you ready, my dear?" the man asks, his lips curled in a sneer.

While doing this, I see from the darkness, before me stood a man dressed in a black cape. He looks familiar. He's the one I've been running from.

"Please!" I beg, not thinking for one second that anything I say will make a difference, but at the same time desperate to try. "Please forgive me! Just let me go!"

The men laughed, all but one- shaking his head in mirth.

"You don't have a choice," he replies as he walks up to me. He's smaller than the others but all the more powerful, probably the most.

They grab my arm and flip me over. I watch helplessly as they stab me with the syringe, injecting silver liquid into my unwilling veins. I scream, knowing it will do no good. Knowing there's no escape.

"Your destiny was chosen for you. You will die for me, as I will for you." His voice is dark, and cryptic as he said his last words to me before I fallen into oblivion darkness.

---

"Sakura, Sakura dear! Wake up!"