Chapter 1

~Tale as Old as Time~

XxxxxxX

The branches of thick-bodied trees bowed with the passing of swift blurs. The sun, high above the sky, dictated the time of day as high noon. And, even as the clouds were beginning to pour somewhere ahead, the horizon was clear as day.

"Shizune-san! They've disappeared." I called out to our squad leader, feeling my pink tresses whip against my face quite uncomfortably. It had been doing that for some time now and was beginning to get on my nerves. Unfortunately, we were in too much of a rush that I just didn't care anymore.

She was in front of me, Shizune san, and even as she said nothing, I could sense the rattling of her nerves. Who wouldn't? Especially when you had a bunch of rogue shinobi on your tail.

"S-Sakura chan! Over there!" I heard Hinata from the back of the line and quickly shifted my gaze to a mass of black something. "SHIZUNE!" On a reflex, my arm shot out and grabbed hold of whatever part of Shizune I could to stop her. I had her arm by the wrist, calling forth Hinata and our other squad member, Ino-buta to evade the incoming blob.

Ino, the blonde, stood beside me, panting whilst we hid behind tree trunks. Shizune, obviously frustrated at her ignorance, was on my other side. Hinata had chosen another tree trunk, her Byakugan activated. It was when there was a sudden shift in her eyes did I know something was up. A small gasp slipped from Hinata's lips, and an abrupt explosion sent the upper half of our foliage sanctuary tumbling down.

On instinct, all three of us jumped out and took another hiding spot. "Damn it," I cursed under my breath, feeling the ever familiar adrenaline rush course through my temples. I glanced right and left, feeling the presence of the rogue shinobi hop onto the tree opposite of ours. Oh damn them, they were just waiting for a good beating.

"We don't have time for this," Shizune gritted her teeth, slightly raising her hand to reveal poisoned needles, her favorite weapons. "Fine, if it's a fight they want—Hinata, stay back and watch them. Ino, try to take one of them. Sakura," She was barking orders in a rapid, harsh yet whispered spout of frustration. When it came to my set of orders, however, she simply glanced at me, preferring to pause for a while, "...you know what to do."

I could tell what she wanted to do; I could feel myself grin from the thought of it. Yet, even as I initiated the attack by jumping up onto the highest branch of our so-called hiding place, I couldn't shake the doubt that struck my nerves. Could I do it? I spied the rogue shinobi—outnumbering us earlier and causing us to run—waiting for us to appear, and made a quick calculation. With that, I was ready. I turned, waiting anxiously for Shizune's well timed command.

Ino took her place a few trees over, readying herself with her usual ninjutsu, the body switch. Hinata stood where she originally was, perilously surveying the area. With the three of us in place, we only had to wait for Shizune to signal the attack. The rogue shinobis were looking right and left for any sign of us, their cocky laughter and futile efforts of taunting only channelling our urge to strike back.

I stood crouched above everyone, focusing all efforts in waiting for the right moment to leap into action. But as those buffoons stood around with idiocy masked with a lack of fear—not bravery per se—I felt my temper rise. What was taking so long, Shizune? Call it! Shizune was a good leader, she was calculating and she knew what to do. When we were tasked by the Hokage to provide medical aid to fellow Konoha Shinobi who were sent to take out the infamous Orochimaru, it didn't take a second thought before the four of us rushed out to help our team members.

All our teammates, minus us, were the ones sent for the delicate operation of taking Orochimaru into custody. Unfortunately, things had gone awry and even as news came that Orochimaru had been 'killed in action' by a joint effort of Sasuke and Naruto, they hadn't returned by their expected time frame. We told the boys that an all-offense team wouldn't work and they needed medic nin to go with them. Unfortunately, their cockiness and their 'you'll be safer staying here' speech did not do them any good, and now they were rushing to their safety all the same.

I noticed Shizune below, eyeing me and mouthing silent counting. With a nod, she yelled go and I jumped, powering my fist with blue chakra and leaping onto the battle field. I felt my fist come into contact with the sturdy branches that those ruffians were standing on, hearing a scrambling of boots and surprised cries before the crash following the impact resounded throughout the forest.

The blast from the sudden pour of heavy wood pervaded my thoughts, shunning all noise. My senses were covered with the clouds of battle and the blur of green and brown. I shut my eyes for a moment, savouring the satisfaction of success and a job well done. As I fell, I could scarcely make out the silhouettes of disturbed birds flying to safety before I felt the ground split beneath me.

And thus the battle began.

XxxxxX

The clouds above were thick and dark, blocking out the sun completely. My hair was wet with rain water and my skin was cold from the sweat and harsh yet slow moving wind. I panted as I ran through the forest, a hand grasping my broken arm. I felt the throbbing pain of my swollen ankle and the sharp ache of my ribs. My senses were a hazy blur, the instinct to keep away from danger powering my legs to run even when I felt the absence of energy to do so.

Unfortunately for us, the battle hadn't gone as we planned. We had them. They were sprawled on the ground, groaning and moaning in pain as I did now. My fist was on the ground, the source of the gigantic cracks that tore open the earth below. Branches, as heavy as ton, weighed some of the rogues down, cutting down the number of men we had to fend off. Those who survived and had the leisure of ambulation had begun to engage with Shizune and a wary Hinata who was attacked despite her efforts to keep out of sight.

I sprang into action with a readied fist. Ino took hold of one bandit and used his body to attack the others though she jumped back into her own body just as soon as a sharpened kunai aimed at the man's chest, fatally impaling him. Soon enough the battle became one on one. I unfortunately had the decency to, without meaning to, spar with their leader.

He was a brutish one with gigantic muscles and an uncouth mouth to boot. Throughout the battle, it was mostly me scrambling to safety from one of his punches because just like my punches, one hit from him would end the battle. It was a good thing my body was small enough to crawl through his strikes, and lithe enough to dodge them.

He wasn't all bad looking, perish the thought, but he appeared vicious as hell. To make things worse, he was shirtless and kept throwing pick up lines—bad pick up lines. Dear god, why did I attract weirdoes? Why couldn't I attract the men that I wanted to? I mentally groaned, okay enough chit-chat. Suppose it was time to end it once and for all.

I infused all my will power, strength, chakra and...disgust, onto my fist as I aimed one last punch. To my disdain, he had enough dexterity, surprisingly, to jump out of the way, god damn it all, and I ended up crumbling the ground below. Everything would've worked out with me standing up and attempting to try again, but my foothold was lost. I stumbled forward, the ground beneath me reduced to little rocks.

Everyone applaud, I had managed to destroy the very foundations of a Cliffside. He knew it too because the emasculating scream that he let out from his big mouth almost made my ear drums burst. Of course, I too screamed. "SHIZUNE!" I yelled out before attempting to grasp anything from the cliff that could break my fall. Thankfully, I had managed to, twice, grab onto rocks and prevent myself from plunging onto my death as that fiend did. Nevertheless, all hope disappeared when those rocks loosened and I eventually fell although it wasn't as far down as to kill me.

Broken ribs and a broken arm were but mild repercussions from the fall. I heard my name high above the cliff, and spied Hinata who had raced to aid me but wasn't fast enough. "S-SAKURA CHAN! A-Are you a-alright?" Surprisingly, despite her soft-spoken manner, her voice reached me.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine Hinata." I called out, giving out a muffled shriek when I felt the sharp spike of pain on my arm and several other parts of my body. I attempted to stand, but the soreness of my ribs beckoned me to use medic chakra first. With as much as I could do, given my current amount of chakra reserves, I could only ease the pain a little.

"HARUNO!" That was Shizune.

"FOREHEAD!" Ino, sounding worried, screamed from the top, "JUST WAIT THERE! WE'LL GET YOU!"

"Don't!" I managed to yell out. I felt my throat dry, the exhaustion making my head spin. "It's too high up! You three go on ahead to the mission site!"

"And leave you? Forehead what the hell are you thinking?"

"I'm fine! I'll catch up."

"NO we're coming to get you!"

"Not through the cliff side." I was sarcastic. Snide as I was, it was a result of a VERY painful body and a lack of interest to argue any longer. "Look there's bound to be a clearing somewhere. I'll probably meet you guys there. If I don't, I'll be heading to the mission site."

"Haruno I don't think you—"

"Shizune san, with all due respect, the mission." I attempted to stand, using one hand to pull myself up with what little energy I had left, "for all we know, Naruto and the others may be gravely injured. I'm fine and I'm not so badly injured," I paused to suck in air, I felt an abrupt, searing pain from my leg injuries, "I can walk but I don't think I'll be able to climb back up. And you guys shouldn't come down, we can't risk it."

"B-but S-Sakura chan what if you run into s-something?"

I glanced right and left, noting the appearance of the forestry around me. It was dark, a little frightening, but certainly gave the appearance of being uninhabited. "Don't worry. I've still got enough power in me to knock over a grizzly bear," I chuckled, reassuring them of my current status though even I knew that was impossible in the state I was in. I could barely walk. Of course, I wouldn't tell them that. That wouldn't be 'reassurance' now, wouldn't it? "Shizune san, trust me, I'll be fine. You guys go on ahead."

There was a pregnant silence after. I figured Shizune was contemplating on the situation though I could hear the voices of Ino and Hinata putting in their respective inputs. They were unintelligible speech, but I could make out whose voice was whose. I felt the tension thicken, my heart beating irregularly from the aftermath of the fall. My breathing pattern was off; I could feel it. My chest rose up and down not as it normally did. Fuck they needed to leave and quick. I didn't want to pass out and make them come for me. If they did, who knows where the hell we'd end up.

Things would be better if they left me. They'd get the mission done faster and make it in time to save Naruto and the others, whatever state they were in. I was fine, barely able to stand, but fine nonetheless. Although deep down, I couldn't help but feel the sense of loneliness that was beginning to creep up. But that was probably just the concussion in my head, and I believed it to be. Well, it was either that or the bad bruise I had on my abdomen.

"Sakura chan," Shizune said tenderly as she was perched on the cliff's edge, "We're going to go on and help Kakashi san and the others, are you sure you can make it out alright?"

"Yes! Who knows, I might make it before you guys do!" I attempted to silence my groans, feeling my knees shake from my weight. I couldn't stand any longer, and my sight was slowly dimming.

"Alright!" Shizune briefly turned away, saying something incoherent to Ino before waving a hesitant goodbye and turning to leave. When they had seemed to be gone, I sunk to my knees, panting heavily in order to catch my breath. I let out a loud, though not enough to reach the top of the cliff, pained moan before collapsing onto the ground. I lay there for a while, feeling darkness weave its way to my vision. In moments, I had passed out.

It was only when I felt the light trickle of rainwater on my face did I stand up again. I felt a little refreshed from my unintentional nap and managed to stand albeit my gait was unsteady. I limped my way through several trees, perusing the mass of trees. There was nothing in sight except the deathly looking colossal trees and crows that stared at you with beady, black eyes. I shivered from the cold, rubbing my arms to keep myself warm.

I'll admit, the place was spooky—okay no, it was damned scary, but I was a kunoichi and things like these shouldn't be enough to scare me. They shouldn't have, anyway. I used my working arm to grab hold of the tree trunks, pushing myself from tree to tree with my lame leg. "Ah fuck this," I managed to utter as the rainfall began to really fall. Those were some huge rain drops. I increased my speed; I didn't want to get wet any longer. Besides, I was shivering so much it felt like I could just freeze to death. My teeth were chattering!

The owl somewhere in the forest kept hooting, and the crows above kept crying out something that sounded like 'ahou ahou'. I was no friggin' idiot, and those damn birds only wanted me to punch them out of their misery. Fortunately for them I was in no mood to deal with "bird brains" or had the energy to do so. I stopped for a while, attempting to catch my breath. Who knew limping could be so exhausting?

"Oh dear kami," I managed to say as I heard the distant rustling of leaves. I turned to the direction it came from, readying my singly capable fist for defence when lo and behold I ended up running instead. I ran—limped—as fast as I could because behind me was a creature I could hardly put up a good fight with: A wolf.

True, a bandit would've kicked my ass, but at least I had a fighting chance against it. But this wolf, this animal of carnage, had nothing but raw predator written on its toothy growling snout. And everybody knew what raw animalistic behavior did to creatures of prey: it ripped them to shreds. I wasn't ready for that.

The water from heavens spilled heavily on me as I made my way through the forest. I didn't even stop to look if the wolf was still behind me or if it chased after me let alone noticed me. All I knew was I had to get away from it before it sensed me any further. I scrambled through a hill, crawling my way through the mud in an attempt to reach the top. When there seemed to be some good footing, it was then that I finally stopped. But boy was I in for a shock.

I felt my heart stop, my jaw dropping a good height. I held my disabled arm tightly in an effort to wake myself up from some disturbing dream which I soon found futile as I realized that this was really happening to me. I managed to shuffle backwards, trying to get up with my wounded hands.

"No way," I couldn't deny the feeling of amazement that washed over me, the feeling of awe as I looked at the majestic facade of what appeared to be a castle straight out of those foreign books I had come across in my child hood. Of course, the castles there were white, magnificent and full of wonder. Not to say that this castle wasn't white, magnificent and full of wonder, because it was, it was just that this castle was also creepy, seemingly haunted and looked horrifying. I instinctively swallowed, pulling myself to stand with a freely hanging rope.

And misfortune leads to another because when I did pull myself up, it came loose and a loud, echoing ringing resounded throughout the castle, causing a whole flock of flesh eating crows to rise up and fly away—and were those bats too? I let out a silent gasp, spinning around to find myself shrieking from the horror that was that same wolf I met at the forest, snarling as it did before.

"Okay good doggie," Lame, I know, but it was the best I could do. I backed up as slowly as I could against the grand two-door entrante of the castle slash mansion. I saw the dog lower itself into a growl, beady eyes alerting me of his ready-to-pounce-and-kill-you stance. But I soon found myself screaming not from the howl or grave bite, but from my sudden lack of balance. How was I to know that the door was open? I fell down onto my already well-kicked ass and onto the dusty carpet of the castle foyer—or what I deduced to be the foyer. But that was to be noted later as I began cruising backwards. The wolf began its attack, but that menacing growl changed into a yelp as I managed to kick the door close against his snout.

Who's raw carnage now?

I sat there on the ground, bum throbbing in pain, my breath labored, and my heart pounding from the encounter. "Mother of—" I cut myself off, turning so I was prone against the cold floors. My legs shook beneath me as I attempted to stand, my breath still heavy and irregular. I could faintly hear the scuffling of the wolf outside, its fruitless clawing bringing joy and peace to my wracked mind. I groaned, losing my balance and ending up leaning against dusty walls.

I sank to the floor, my back against cold walls. My vision was dimming progressively. I scrutinized the noble appearance of the foyer. It was grand, able to accommodate a large amount of people. It would've been well lit had the chandeliers, coated in aged gold and copper, been lit. Two wooden stair-cases, symmetrically across one another, acted like curtains to accentuate the two-floor tall arch that led to a seemingly infinite hallway.

I couldn't see the end of the hall, didn't even attempt to. I was too tired and too occupied with surviving to stare in awe. My lids were heavy, the need to rest sucking all power to think. My mind blanked, feeling my eyelids flutter to a close just as I spied in my peripherals the faint blob of blue. A ghost? Could be.

Who knew what creatures lurked in this god-forsaken castle?

XxxxxX

-Gah I hate it. No honestly, I do. Without a single hint of modesty, I really abhor my writing here. I had to re-do this chapter over and over again before I was satisfied enough to post it. I really don't do first-person well unless it was talking to 'you'. I promise I will work on my writing abilities in first person. (The whole reason I've taken long to update this). I had to cut this chapter short lest I continue with this mood. I don't think I delivered the right mood and tone of the story. Agree? Please review with your insights and critiques as they are always welcome. =D Thank you so much!

-Putting my writing issues aside, onto the plot: Oh wow, Sakura found herself in a haunted castle and has fainted yet again! What awaits in that castle? What's that blue blob? A ghost? A haunted thing? Banshee maybe? And what happened to Naruto and the others? Find out next time. =)