I realize that I have been strangely absent in the last few months, and for that, I apologize. I recently started plotting and writing my own piece of original fiction and in the process, I have discovered that this is going to take longer than I first thought. So, I had pushed to the side for a bit until I made another realization. I need to be distracted from my original piece every once in a while lest I run out of steam. Which brings me to this piece of fanfiction.

This is a story that I have been putting on the backburner for a while now. I had, had all of the chapters planned, written, and edited, but then by computer was wiped of all memory via a virus. Eff. I bring this to you all and ask that you be patient with me while I rewrite and edit all of the chapters. The updates may be sporadic, but the goal is one update per month. Like real life, there will be moments of pain, humor, sadness, fear and straight up insanity. So, be prepared and please enjoy.

Much love.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Naruto related. I only own this plot.

Prologue

"Is it better to out-monster the monster or to be quietly devoured?"

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

"Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Little Red Riding Hood. She was always happy and wore a long red cape. Everyone in her village loved her dearly."

The sounds of the rolling thunder vibrated throughout the house.

Sakura sat in the dark corner of her bedroom, clutching her younger sister closer to her body as the sounds of something breaking cut through the silence. The smaller of the two girls flinched when the screaming started. Fu clutched the pale blue, threadbare Mr. Bunnykins closer, hiding her face as tears poured from her eyes. She may have only been three, but she knew that Daddies weren't supposed to act like this.

Kakuzu sat on the other side of his youngest sister. His dark brown hair kept falling into his bright green eyes and it was beginning to irritate him, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the door across the room. He had to protect his sisters. His fingers tightened around the wooden baseball bat that his Auntie Mei had gotten him for Christmas last year.

She knew that he had never played baseball in his life.

And that he never had any plans to.

"One day, Little Red's mother asked her to take some muffins to her Grandmother on the other side of the woods."

The sudden silence in the old, creaking house seemed to have a life of its own. It squeezed at her throat and made her eyes burn, made her heart beat louder and harder than it was supposed to. Momma had told them to stay still and quiet in the darkest corner of their room. Sakura continued to stare at the door intently, her emerald green eyes flashing with the lightening just outside of the window.

The fairytale book that she had been reading to Fu, Kakuzu and Momma only moments earlier sat innocently on the bed. They had gotten it from the local library earlier that day and Sakura had been more than proud to show off her reading skills. She may have only been five, but she could still read better than Kakuzu. Something that she never let him live down. They had been eating the sugar cookies that everyone had helped make for dessert and taking turns reading, some of the crumbs were still on the bed where Fu and Sakura had sat listening to their big brother.

'Kakuzu is like a superhero,' Sakura had thought while listening to his high pitched seven-year-old voice. Kakuzu was never afraid of anybody, and had even chased some of her older bullies away after breaking another boy's arm. Father had even been proud of Kakuzu that day.

Sakura, who had just finished her turn reading, had been preparing to hand the book over to little Fu when the front door had slammed open.

"MEBUKI!" The shout had almost rattled the windows.

"Little Red, being the good girl that she is, did as her mother asked. Carrying the basket of goodies, Little Red began her journey through the forest."

Mebuki had let out a curse at the sound of her husband's voice. Quickly shooing her children into a corner and making them promise to stay quiet no matter what, she ran out of the room and down the stairs.

She never saw the chair headed in her direction.

"On her way, she ran into a big bad wolf.

"Hang on, Little Red," said the Wolf. "Where are you headed?"

"To Grandma's house just on the other side of this river," the naïve girl replied."

The scream that ripped through the house a second time urged all three of the children to move before they could think better of it.

The old, rotting stairs groaned and creaked beneath their small feet, threatening to collapse at any second.

At the bottom, a trail of blood and a pile of splintered wood lead from the last step to the living room, where Mebuki was lying in the middle of the carpet. Her left arm was bent in an awkward angle and her right was held up to her face, trying to stave off her husbands' angry fists.

Haruno Ryu stood over his wife, his clothes radiating the smell of his favorite whiskey. His usually calm orange eyes were crazed and bloodshot and the skin underneath his nostrils was a telling pink color.

"You lying, back-stabbing bitch!" He shouted as he continued to throw punches at the woman he loved. His deal earlier that day had been busted and he had almost been caught. The only one outside of the deal that knew the location had been Mebuki.

Too bad he forgot that he had been bragging about his major deal in the bar earlier.

"The wolf smiled, showing too many teeth. "Oh? You should go pick some flowers for her in that field over there. I'm sure she would like them."

Little Red Riding Hood smiled with glee. Of course, her Granny would love some flowers! With a thank you to the wolf,

the little girl ran off to get some flowers.

The wolf disappeared."

Kakuzu had seen enough.

Running at the man that he had hated his entire life; the boy swung the bat like he had seen in the movies, watching as it connected to his father's ribcage.

The sickening crack gave way to silence as Ryu turned to look at his son, his long brown hair falling over his face to add to the sinister effect. Lifting the boy by the front of his shirt, Ryu tossed him into the wall to his right, the pain in his side never registering to his drug-clouded mind.

Sakura demanded that Fu stay in the farthest corner away from the fight before running at her father as well. Picking up Kakuzu's dropped bat, she began swinging at his legs, hoping that stopping him from moving will stop the fighting.

Mebuki struggled to keep her green eyes open, the ringing in the back of her head making it difficult. She couldn't let Ryu hurt the children. He had made it clear to her that he was only letting her have children to keep her quiet, and she'll be damned if he took her babies away from he in a fit of rage.

"After she had picked enough flowers, Little Red began her journey again.

Finally walking into the clearing where Granny's house was, the little one went up to the door and knocked.

The door opened slowly, and on the other side stood Granny.

But something was wrong."

Ryu snatched the bat from Sakura's hands. Looking down at the terrified girl, he couldn't help but scoff. From her large green eyes to her pink hair, the small child hardly looked frightening.

'In fact,' he thought hysterically. 'She almost looks like one of those ridiculous fairies from those damned books.' Laughing aloud at his own thoughts, he casually swung the bat towards Sakura.

Stars darted across Sakura's vision as the bat broke against her head, cutting into her right eyebrow in the process. She could do nothing but scream as her Papa dug the heel of his boot into her small hand, the crack barely registering to those in the room. Digging her flimsy nails into the jeans covering Ryu's leg, Sakura struggled to end the pain that she was feeling. Sweat began to bead along her hairline and her pupils shrank to mere pinpoints.

She couldn't breathe. Ryu smirked and dug his heel into his daughter's hand even more.

'Please make it stop!'

"Little Red gasped. "Oh Granny, what large eyes you have!"

Granny leaned closer to Little Red. "All the better to see you with, my dear."

Little Red gasped again. "Oh Granny, what big ears you have!"

Granny came even closer. "All the better to hear you with, my dear.""

Little Red screamed. "Granny, what large teeth you have!"

Granny suddenly took off her cap and dress. "All the better to eat you with!"

The wolf had eaten Little Red's Granny, and it wanted her next.

Little Red screamed."

His sister's scream rattled his bones as Kakuzu forced himself to stand.

His leg was strangely numb and looking down at it only confirmed that it was broken. The bones in his shin had shot up and through the skin of his leg due to his less than graceful landing. Ignoring the little voice in the back of his head that told him to sit down and take care of himself, the seven year old launched himself as best as he could toward his father.

Sinking his teeth into the exposed skin of Ryu's arm, Kakuzu refused to let go. Even when the man began slamming his closed fist down onto the top of his head.

Mebuki took this chance to kick Ryu's leg out from underneath him and off little Sakura's hand. Ryu toppled over from his sudden lack of balance, and Kakuzu took his chance and began hitting the man with what was left of the bat. Shaking Sakura's shoulders, Mebuki brought the girl's focus onto herself.

"Sakura? Baby, look at Mommy. Remember what I told you to do when there was an emergency?" Seeing Sakura's head nod in affirmative, Mebuki let out a relieved smile. "This is that emergency. Do what I told you."

Sakura closed the book with a decisive snap.

"What happened next 'Kura?" Fu demanded. Her chubby fingers were wrapped into tight fists held at her hips like she had seen Mommy do to get her way.

Even Kakuzu was leaning closer.

"The original ending sucks, so I'm gunna change it," Sakura announced dramatically. Fu and Kakuzu cried foul, but Sakura would hear none of it.

Mebuki could only shake her head at her bullheaded daughter.

Heeding her mother's words, Sakura struggled to run up the stairs. Her hand felt like it was on fire and the cut along her eyebrow stung.

But she had to keep going.

This was an emergency. She couldn't let her family down.

Ignoring the spots dancing in her vision and the sounds of flesh hitting flesh just down the stairs, the young girl forced her way into her parents' bedroom her eyes immediately focusing on the closet door standing innocently on the far wall.

Failure was not an option.

Sakura frowned at the book in her hands. The images of the Woodcutter coming to save Little Red Riding Hood after she screamed were lies.

Nobody ever heard the screams, and even if they did, they did nothing to help.

Sakura cleared her throat and continued the story.

Fu ran at her Daddy. Surely she could get him to stop. Daddy always said that she was his favorite, that he would do anything for her.

Daddy never lied before.

Fu pounded her tiny fists against Ryu, determination and fear shinning in her eyes.

"Daddy, please stop! Kaku and Momma didn't do anything. Please Dad—"Fu was cut off as her father blindly swung his fist. The next thing she knew, she was lying in a pile of broken glass with the frame of the mirror that was once by the door next to her.

Something warm ran through her light green hair and down her face.

"The wolf chased Little Red into the backyard," she began.

"The girl was so scared, but she knew what she had to do.

Grabbing the handle of the axe that her Granny had in the back yard, Little Red waited for the wolf."

Sakura tore through the closet in her parent's room in blind terror, searching for the beat up blue shoebox that held what she was looking for.

"This is only for emergencies, do I make myself clear?" Her mother had demanded. In her right hand, she held a sleek silver gun. "There are a lot of bad people out looking for Mommy and Daddy, so if they find you and try to hurt you, you use this just like I taught you today, do you hear? You can't trust anyone."

Sakura and Kakuzu nodded in complete obedience. Kakuzu had told her earlier that guns could put people to sleep, and make sure that they never woke up again. Sakura stared at the Desert Eagle as her mother placed it back into the ratty shoebox.

Tossing a massive black coat over her shoulder and ignoring the pain in her hand as she did so, Sakura finally found the box that she was looking for. Pulling the lid off, she grabbed the gun and ran back towards the commotion.

"The wolf ran around the corner, ready to eat his supper.

He never saw the axe coming.

CHOP!"

Sakura stood at the top of the stairs. The silver Desert Eagle was held in her toddler's hands just like her Momma taught her. Feet spread, both hands on the gun.

Down below, Ryu continued to beat his son and wife. His drunken fists landing sure with every swing. His eyes glazed over with the effects of alcohol and cocaine. Fu was standing against a wall, the cut on her forehead still gushing and noisy sobs continued to escape her mouth.

"Stop it Daddy! Please stop it! You're hurting Momma and Kuzu-chan!" She cried.

Take a deep breath. A voice similar to her mother's whispered into the rosette's ear. And keep your eyes on the target.

"Little Red took the wolf's head and carried it back to through the woods for all the other wolves to see.

She wanted all of the other animals to know."

Fu gasped. "She wanted them to know what?"

Ryu stood and glanced up the stairs. Standing there was his second child, the freak. Her eyes held a strange blank quality that immediately set him on edge.

It was the gun in her hands that urged him to move in her direction.

The blood on her face made her look even more like a demon than she usually did. However, even as it ran into her eyes, Sakura did not blink as her hulking father charged in her direction with death in his eyes.

Keep your eyes on the target.

Sakura closed her eyes and smiled at her Daddy.

Sakura leaned forward, her eyes flashing with a seriousness not seen in one her age.

"That no one would ever mess with Little Red Riding Hood again."

Then she pulled the trigger.

A young woman stood in front of the large camera, smoothing her blonde hair before signaling to the cameraman that she was ready.

"Breaking News: Today, wanted drug lord Haruno Ryu was found dead due to a gunshot wound between the eyes in an abandoned house right off of Lucky Seven Lane. Officials claim that they received an anonymous phone call at 5 am announcing Ryu's death. There has been no sign of Ryu's wife, wanted underground fighter and arms dealer, Mebuki Haruno, who is still at large. However, astounding amounts of blood lead officials to believe that Mebuki cannot be far away.

This is Tara Mitsukuni reporting live from Takigakure News at 6."

Author: Well then. That was a lot more chaotic than I thought it would be, but here is the first chapter. Let me know what you all think! I look forward to hearing back from all of my readers. Also, there will be a poll on my page for who the main pairing should be for this story, so don't forget to vote!