Blood Bound

It was the dark of night.

The moon was just above the mountaintops. The moon was big and white, spotted with patches of grey from the impacts of the mediators, shaping the moon's face.

The stars were out and bright, like fireflies glued to a piece of black blue paper and hung up in the sky.

The moon was close, meaning a high tide for the villages close to the sea.

A dark figure raced through the woods, panting and stumbling sometimes as it ran on its two legs. As it neared a small clearing by a pond, the figure became illuminated by the moon light, but only slightly. It was a young girl. Her bare arms and legs scratched from the tree branches, reaching out to grab her, her black shirt tattered and ripped at the sleeves, her legs and shorts stained with dirt and grass.

The cold night air was piercing her lungs as her breath came in short gasps for air. She ran on, stumbling over the uneven ground. She couldn't see anything but the very out line of objects illuminated by the moon light.

A hideous growl emanated from behind her in the woods. It sounded as if the earth itself was crumbling apart at her feet, trying to swallow her up into the pits of hell.

She dared not to look back to see if her pursuer followed her. She probably wouldn't see it any ways. She couldn't even see the path in front of her. She was about half way around the lake, when her right foot caught in a tree root. Snagging her foot out from under her and making her lose her balance. She gasped and yelped out in surprise as she found herself falling toward the ground. She extended her arms out in front of her to catch herself, but it was too late.

The ground already struck her, hard, causing her to lose her breath.

She shuddered, clutching the ground, trying to regain her breath, trying to force herself up and to keep on running. But she couldn't, her arms were weak, her legs felt like rubber, and her throat stung with every breath. She lifted her head, looking up, with half-closed eyes thinking about how much further she had to go before she was out of the reach of the demon pursuing her.

A deep howl was heard. It made the wind blow, making the trees bow before the beautiful song.

The girl's head snapped up. She looked to her right, pin pointing the beautiful tone. Something caught her ear; she thought it would be the last thing she'd ever hear in her life, which seemed to be coming to an end so suddenly.

A vicious snarl of the demon emanated from a very close range. The demon was a good couple of meters away and closing at a fast pace.

The girl tried to get up, struggling with her weak arms. She got to her knees, hands still on the ground, when she heard the vicious snarl again, this time it was right behind her. She froze, eyes wide, body shivering with fear.

This is it, the chase has come to an end, the demon has finally caught his prey.

The girl slowly turned her head to the left, to peer over her shoulder, cold sweat dripping down her face, to take a good look at her pursuer before he devoured her. She couldn't see anything but the silhouette of the demon.

She then saw its big, bright, stunning yellow eyes, full of hate and rage. She gasped, rolling over on her back side, sitting there, staring at the mesmerizing yellow eyes of the demon. She was paralyzed. She couldn't move. She wondered if this is what it must be like to die at the hands of a demon, to feel nothing as they paralyze you with their eyes and to finish you off, quick and painless.

The demon stood on four legs, muscular under its thick fur. It stood about one meter high. Its head was low, to what it looked like. Its muscles tensed and relaxed, ready to pounce at any given moment. Its yellow eyes glaring at the girl. The demon's tail was raised high with excitement from the chase.

The girl sat there frozen. She couldn't move.

The demon took a step forward with its massive paw, not even making a sound as it stealthily walked toward its target.

The girl snapped from her trance, and realized that the demon was getting closer to her. She scooted back as fast as she could, glancing back occasionally to see where she was going, but making sure the demon kept its distance.

The demon had other plans. It took bigger strides, gaining more ground on the girl.

The girl gained enough energy for one last run, and in one quick flash, she turned, stood up and sprinted off in the opposite direction of the demon.

The demon followed in pursuit.

The girl only got a couple meters before she fell.

The demon lunged at the girl, fore paws forward and claws extended, snarling in victory.

The girl turned around, with her backside on the ground. Seeing the demon lunge at her she put her arm up in defense, fear consumed her as she took in the last sights of her would be life, and she did the only thing she thought would help . . .

She screamed -

Kakashi Hatake woke up with a start, bolting up right into a sitting position. His breathing coming in shot gasps, cold sweat rolling down his face and back. His eyes wide in fear, grey spiky hair sticking to his forehead, hand clutching the green sheet that covered his shaking body. His dark-blue Anbu shirt soaked with sweat, not helping the fact that the cool night air was still hanging around even though the sun was just coming up to another humid day.

His breathing started to even out, as he calmed down. He sighed as he slumped over and placed his head in his hands. He stayed there for five minutes before running both hands through his messy hair. He groaned as he threw his head back to try to gather his thoughts.

This had been the third time this month that he's had the same dream. More like a replaying nightmare.

He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to wipe the sleep away from his groggy body.

The cool night air began to disappear into the heat-drenched day that was to come.

Kakashi slumped over again, dropping his hands into his lap. He didn't want to get up, but he had to. He had to go train the genin for the chunin exams. Kakashi groaned as he threw the covers off his legs and turned to sit on the edge of the bed, feet hanging off the side. He gripped the edge of his bed, trying to rid himself of sleep.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Kakashi's grogginess had left him in an instant, waking him up for the day's duties. "Yes? Who is it?" He yelled to the door.

No one answered his call.

The door slowly creaked open, but no one was there, just an empty hallway.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow.

Suddenly, there was a scream. It came from down the hallway, some ways.

"AH!" It was Naruto's voice.

Kakashi's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. 'What the heck was going on?' He questioned. His question was soon answered.

"AH!" Naruto came running into the room screaming. "Kakashi sensei! Make her stop!" The spiky, yellow haired kid ran around the room, rambling on about Sakura.

Just then, a girl with pink hair and green eyes came running over to the doorway, blocking Naruto's exit. The girl balled her fist and held it up into the air. "Oo! Naruto!" She threatened. "Give it back right now!" Sakura's green eyes turned deadly as she glared at the genin dressed in orange, running around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off. With that, she ran after him, hands extended like claws, reaching out to catch her target.

They ran around the room for minutes, shouting at each other, bickering and yelling.

Kakashi just sat there with an animated sweat drop slowly going down his face. "Okay then." He muttered to himself.

Sakura had finally caught Naruto. "Give it back!" She sternly demanded. She put him into a headlock. When he didn't give back her item of possession, she proceeded to pummel his head until he gave up and returned her item.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Naruto sighed and held up a photo album in the air. "Fine, here."

Sakura let Naruto's head go, as she snatched the book out of his hand.

"Ah!" Naruto shouted as the ground came up to meet him. "Oof!" He fell to the ground with a loud thud, face first into the ground, butt up in air.

Sakura didn't even care if Naruto got hurt. "Now to see if you ruined my book." Sakura scuffed. She walked over to Kakashi's unmade bed and sat down on the side.

Kakashi had gotten up, changed, and put on his jonin shirt and vest while the two were fighting. He bent down, pulled on his shoes and properly placed the white wraps around his calves. Last, he placed his black hitai-ate back in its proper place, covering his left scarred eye. After tightening the medal headband into place, he shook his head, causing his hair to stand up in its proper position. He pulled on his black gloves with metal backing; it helped to protect his hands if a sharp object were to hit the back of his hands.

Naruto gripped about his throbbing head. He ruffled his blonde messy hair.

Sakura flipped through her brown book full of photos and memories. Some were of her and her family, but of the team as well. She was about to flip a page when something caught her eye. "Hm?" Sakura questioned. "What's this?"

"What is Konohamaru making a funny face or something?" Naruto asked after rubbing his head, he got Sakura's shoe in his face.

Sakura glared at Naruto, she had enough of him. "No . . ." She stated bluntly. "It looks like a person."

Kakashi was about to walk out of the room and tell them to lock the door on the way out, but this caught his ear. Kakashi turned around and stepped over the unconscious, yet twitching Naruto. "Let's see." He stated. He held out his hand, silently telling Sakura to hand over the book.

Sakura stood up and handed her prized book over to Kakashi.

Kakashi turned the book over, because Sakura handed it to him upside down. He stared at the book's pages, scanning the photos on the page to see if he could spot anything out of place.

Sakura walked over to his left a bit and then craned her head to look at the book up right. "See," she stated. "Right there," She pointed to a picture that was of the group on the training field outside the village by the lake.

Kakashi took a good look at the picture.

It was true! There was somebody in the picture! The figure was on a branch of a tree, blending in with the shadows of the leaves, barely noticeable, unless you studied it hard, you could see an outline of a person.

"Hmm . . ." He sighed as he studied the picture. 'Could it be?' He wondered. 'Nah, it couldn't.' He denied. He handed the book back over to Sakura. "It could just be a Jonin checking up on our training." He replied, as he turned and headed toward the door.

Naruto became conscious again and sat up, rubbing his sore head.

"Oh!" Kakashi stated, as he was half way out the door. "And don't forget to lock the door." He walked out of the door and down the hall, hands in his pockets, and turning right at the corner.

A boy, with black spiky hair, a konoha about his forehead, blue shirt and white pants, walked toward Kakashi on the opposite side of the hallway, hands in his pockets like Kakashi.

"Well, good morning, Sasuke." Kakashi said as they drew nearer.

The boy just grunted a 'hello'. He walked right past Kakashi, heading straight for the other two genin, which had made their way into Kakashi's room.

Once Sasuke turned the corner, a woman in a full body chain mail, brownish pants, a tan over coat, short, purple hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a konoha tied about her forehead came bolting around the opposite corner, in front of Kakashi and skidded to a halt, legs spread a little further then shoulder width.

Once she spotted Kakashi, she bolted up toward him, slightly out of breath. "Kakashi . . ." She slightly panting.

"Anko?" Kakashi asked the tired woman.

"Lord Hokage needs you, at once." Anko stated. She then turned and took off in a new direction.

Kakashi sighed. He began to walk off and reroute to the Lord Hokage's room.

Once he got there, he stood outside a wooden door. He knocked three times, and then opened the door, poking his head in.

"Lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked. "You summoned me?" He walked in shutting the door.

"Ah, Kakashi," The elderly man, at a desk with several scrolls and papers about it, stated. "Come in, come in!" The elderly man had a square like hat placed about his head, with a point at the top, the colors were red and white with a red symbol on the front point saying Konohagakure.

The hat had white cloth dropping from the sides and back, the elderly man wearing the hat and grey hair and a wrinkled face, with several liver spots here and there.

His hands were busy writing some things on pieces of paper that were placed around his desk, and his mouth moved around as which the brown pipe moved as well, and his white sleeves barely moving.

"Lord Hokage." Kakashi stated as he bowed before the elderly man.

After Kakashi stood up, there was about several, minutes of silence before the Hokage spoke.

"Now, I have a special assignment for you." The elderly Hokage had wrote something down and then placed the pen down and pushed it and the paper aside. He looked up at Kakashi and placed his hands by his mouth.

Kakashi awaited his assignment, calmly and collected. He wasn't expecting much, probably a scouting mission. But, what he wasn't prepared for was the mission that was to await him.

"Some bodies have been found." The elderly man stated. "They haven't told me any details, but they said to send someone with a good knowledge of tracking and exceptionally sharp eyes." He lowered his chin to look at Kakashi through lowered eyes, meaning he was serious about wanting Kakashi as that 'someone'.

"Yes Lord Hokage." Kakashi stated, bowing his head. "I understand."

Kakashi turned on his heels and walked straight to the door.

As he opened his the Hokage called out after him, "They're out by the woods, past the training grounds."

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder, gave a slight nod of the head and walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Kakashi walked out of the gates and toward the grass covered, training ground.

By a trail, mostly walked by genin and Chunin in training, being blocked by medical corps ninja.

There were two of them. One had a clipboard and the other looked very pale. They were talking to each other. They stopped and looked at Kakashi as soon as he drew nearer.

"Kakashi sensei. . ." The medical corps ninja with the clipboard stated. "You're here."

Kakashi stopped and nodded acknowledging them.

"Okay . . ." The corps ninja stated looking at his notes he had taken. "Why don't you escort him to the place?" He stated to the pale medical corps ninja.

The pale ninja jumped back slightly. "What!" He stated loudly. "Are you kidding! I'm not going back there!"

The medical ninja with the clipboard seemed to glare at the pale ninja. He seemed to be the head ninja.

The pale ninja slumped over and sighed, "Fine." He began to walk the path, which he dreaded so much.

Kakashi followed him.

The forest seemed to consume all the light, though you could see, yet it was still dark. The forest looked like a tunnel with the light at the end, only it was behind them not in front.

About one third of the way in, something had caught Kakashi's eye, he didn't let onto it until about two thirds of the way in.

"You know," Kakashi's voice broke the still silence.

The medical ninja, before him, jumped slightly. He stopped.

"You can go back you know." Kakashi stated, nodding back to the light behind them.

The ninja jumped at this moment. "Arigatou!" He bowed and took off in the direction of the light.

Kakashi looked over his shoulder to make sure he was far enough away. Once the medical ninja disappeared into the light, Kakashi kneeled down toward the ground. He placed his right knee on the ground and right hand to balance himself.

He studied the ground.

The ground was covered with grass and brush.

Kakashi moved some foliage out of the way to examine the ground more carefully.

Just as he thought, as he moved the brush away, a mar in the soil unveiled itself, a beautifully placed paw print of an animal with four toes, a big paw pad at the base of the toes, and claws.

Kakashi ran his fingers over the print.

The print was larger than his hand.

"That's one big wolf." He muttered to himself. He scanned the rest of the ground, rotating his head from left to right.

Other prints began to pop up. It must have been a pack.

Kakashi stood up and followed the tracks.

They led straight to a grove of trees, which were grown closely together.

"Talk about not falling far from the tree." He mumbled.

Suddenly, a stench hit his nose. He flinched. The stench was nauseating, how come he didn't notice this before? There was definitely a kill nearby.

Kakashi walked around the closely-knit trees. He found a small opening, which he could just barely squeeze through. He was more focused on getting through the crack rather than see what was on the other side of it.

He got stuck, but he squirmed a bit, trying to loosen the trees' grip.

As he finally pried his body from the trees and stumbled into the center of the ring, he froze, staring at the ground.

'Blood?' Kakashi questioned.

He flinched again. The stench was really strong this time, this must be the kill.

He dared himself to look up. Which he did, and what he saw almost made him loose his stomach.

All around him, was a battle field, no... A war zone, no... This was much worse, whatever did this, it's not a forest animal, and it's not human.

Five bodies lay about.

One hanging from a tree by his neck, kunai and shuriken stuck in him and a slash from his left shoulder, running deep, all the way to his right hip. His limp, bloody body hung there, slowly swaying, the rope creaking with its slow movements and blood trickling down his form to a puddle, which had become a good foot across.

Three of his comrades were severed among the ground. Their body parts everywhere. A hand here, a foot there, and skin, clothe and bone among the ground, blood coating them.

One had his head severed. His head wasn't that far from his body only several centimeters from the corpses cut neck. The face still had a shocked look on it, one of fear and terror. His eyes wide open and his mouth slightly ajar, trying to scream, but was cut short. So now he only screams in silence.

'Whatever he saw, it must have killed him quickly.' Kakashi thought, looking at the dead man's expression. Kakashi looked around at the others.

The other two were in no better shape. You could barely tell who they were.

They were decapitated, severed, and cut to pieces. Their body parts lay all over the floor. They looked like they went through a blender.

And what really made Kakashi want to vomit, was their entrails spilling out of their body.

One of the disemboweled bodies had its heart ripped out of its chest. You could tell because there was a massive hole where the heart was supposed to be, someone could have easily stuck their hand in there and ripped it out. The heart lay not that far away, with a big chunk out of it.

The other one probably died from lacerations and having his limbs being cut off, including his head, which seemed to have been cut off, yet it couldn't be seen.

Kakashi guessed it used to be where a puddle of blood was about a meter away.

Remnants of a skull were there, only the back half and some hair, but the rest was gone. Probably crushed.

The one hanging from the tree died from the deep cut to his torso.

The last one was pinned to the tree, a spray of kunai and shuriken stuck in him, dripping blood at the points.

As Kakashi moved away from the bodies, he surveyed the scene, watching where he stepped, making sure not to step in the blood, body parts, or guts sprayed around the ground.

Blood coated the trees, as if something with blood was flung around in the center of the tree clump.

The tree bark was cut deeply. Dirt and grass was torn up, showing signs of a struggle on the ground. There was something very odd about some of the cuts and puncture wounds on some of the trees and victims' bodies. Some of the cuts were in rows of four. And the some of the puncture wounds looked like bite marks from something with very sharp teeth and fangs.

Kakashi knelt down by one of the tore ligaments. He picked it up and turned it back and forth, examining the bite mark.

'Could it be?' Kakashi asked himself. Kakashi replaced the arm back down on the ground where he had found it. He looked around at the rest of the remains. He stood up and placed his hands in his pockets.

Rustling was heard overhead. Then a figure jumped down beside him, to his right. A flutter of clothe and jingle of metal could be heard as the figure landed on the ground.

"Nobody deserves this..." It was the woman from before, Anko. "Even if they were spies." She stood up and scanned the damage.

Kakashi glanced at her through his right eye.

Just then, there was a faint groan.

The two Jonin snapped their heads to the man pinned to the tree.

"He's still alive!" Anko shouted to Kakashi as she ran over and checked the guy's pulse. "Quick! Get him down!" She ordered Kakashi.

"What?" Kakashi asked stunned. "Why do I have to do it?" He complained.

Anko glared at him.

"You're in front of him, you take him down!" Kakashi grunted glaring back at her.

An intense battle of wills were clashing.

Anko glared harder, as did Kakashi.

"Fine," Kakashi said in a playful tone, putting up his hands and smiling, or at least it's what it looked like. "I'll do it."

Anko's face dropped and her shoulders slumped. "Wha?" She was dumbfounded.

Kakashi walked over and took out the shuriken and kunai that attached him to the tree.

Once free, the guy slumped forward off the tree, falling on Kakashi.

The person groaned in pain.

Kakashi caught him and laid him down on the forest floor.

Anko turned and yelled for a medic.

The guy coughed, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. He was bleeding internally.

"Damn." Anko muttered. "Try getting something out of him." She nudged Kakashi as she knelt down beside him.

Kakashi sighed. He looked back at the guy.

The guy's headband had the lightning village symbol.

The person grunted and opened his eyes half way.

"You okay?" Anko asked, butting in front of Kakashi.

The guy groaned in response. He closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side a bit.

"Can you tell us anything?" Anko asked.

The guy opened his eyes, straightened his head and looked straight at Anko.

"Who, or what, did this to you?" Anko asked. Poking her nose in deeper then she needed to, literally.

The person groaned and shifted a little on the ground. You could hear popping and tearing. "They... they came out of now where..." He was really weak. His voice was very airy and hoarse.

"Who are 'they'?" Anko asked pushing Kakashi away again.

He looked at Anko, "The wolves..." He stated meekly. He then reverted his sight to the treetops.

His eyes became glazed over and distant, lost in thought.

"I have never seen them so vicious." He stated.

This got Kakashi tense. "A pack of wolves couldn't have done this." He stated, as a matter of fact. He stood up and began to turn away.

"But..." The guy interrupted. "There was one..."

This got Kakashi's attention.

"Its eyes... They were as red as freshly spilt blood." The guy closed his eyes, trying to remember the horrible wolf.

Anko cocked an eyebrow and looked over to Kakashi.

"It was as if the devil himself was reborn into this world..."

Kakashi looked over his right shoulder at the guy.

"It tore everything apart..." His voice became weaker and weaker as he spoke.

Kakashi scuffed and began to walk in the opposite direction.

"Then there was a girl... no... an angel..." He sighed, opening his eyes and smiling slightly. "She graced us with her presence..."

Kakashi halted and whipped his head and body around, and sprinted slightly back to where the man was laying. He shoved Anko out of the way, causing her to fall on her butt.

She landed painfully and grimaced. She glared at him and rubbed her butt. "You don't have to be so pushy. You could have just asked." She muttered to herself.

"What did this girl... I mean, angel... Look like?" He asked, getting in the guy's face.

"She was a goddess among the wolves." He stated, as if he was in a dream. "They obeyed her, as if she was one of their own."

Kakashi squinted in thought.

"But..." The weak man lifted his arm as best he could, but it was painfully slow, and pointed to his headband. "She had one of these on," He put his arm down, "like you." He nodded towards Anko, who got up and brushed herself off.

She looked up and glanced back and forth, then stared at the man and pointed to herself. Mouthing the word, 'Me?'

The man's body shook with a violent cough.

Anko jumped and yelled, "Where are those medics!"

"They're coming as fast as they can!" Some one's voice yelled.

The guy groaned and closed his eyes.

"Oh, no you don't!" Kakashi muttered and grabbed the man's collar and shook him. "You have to tell me! What did she look like? Did she give you a name? Something? ANYTHING!" Kakashi yelled to him, shaking him violently.

The guy groaned in pain.

"Kakashi!" Anko yelled, trying to pry his grip off the dying man. "Be gentle! Put him down!"

Kakashi did as he was told, not real gently but let him go and made him fall towards the ground. "Tell me, what she told you!" He demanded through clenched teeth, trying to keep his anger in check.

"They called her..." The guy groaned, "The protector of the forest..." and with that the guy sighed, slightly closing his eyes and body going limp. His life had passed on.

Kakashi's eyes went wide slightly... 'It can't be...' Kakashi bowed his head and prayed for the man's safe journey, for him and his fellow ninjas' souls.

"Kakashi!" Anko yelled running back to the scene. "The medic's are here!"

Kakashi just sat there silently.

"Kakashi?" Anko asked, peering over his shoulder.

Kakashi looked over his right shoulder, "It's too late..." He stated, turning back to the man and leaning forward, closing his eye for good. "He's gone..." He sighed.

The medics sighed. They were tired from running all the way, carrying the stretcher. They groaned.

Anko slumped her shoulders, putting a disappointed look on her face.

Kakashi just sat there, looking at the dead man.

Thinking as to what he had just recently said. 'What did it mean? Is she really alive after all these years? Or could it just be something that I want to hear and yet I'm not?' These question, and more, raced through his head.

Throughout the day, he thought, wandering the forest to try to find an answer. He did find one; however, all the questions added up to one simple one, 'Who could it be?' Kakashi asked himself as he looked up in to the star filled sky.

A shooting star passed overhead, beautiful and unique, its tail disappearing into the night sky, trying to chase after the unseen falling star. Alone and lost shall it remain, until its owner comes to retrieve it again, just like Kakashi's mind, wandering the stars to find the answer.

'Is she alive?'