A rosy haired female was silently traveling through the forest. She was wearing a form-fitting dark green tunic with matching green leggings with worn black leather chaps and a black leather belt with soft black leather boots that went to her calf. Her cloak was made of dark gray mountain wolf pelts, it was wrapped around her shoulders that went down to her calf and was kept together with a sterling silver clasp in the shape of a silver circle, her clan symbol. Underneath the wolf pelts was a black satin silk cloak with the hood over her head. She had a long bow hanging on her shoulders with an ox hide quiver full of swan fletched arrows.

She crept silently, like death itself, through the trees, careful not to make a sound as she followed the game trail. The trail lead deep into the forest, were the villagers have tales of demons and other creatures of dark magic lurk.

Eventually the trail led her to a clearing with several bucks and a few does were grazing. Crouching down low to the ground, she pulled her bow off her shoulders and her left arm reached behind her as her slim fingers wrapped around an arrow shaft, her green amber ring on her ring finger sparkling in the morning sun's rays. Pulling it out, she notched the arrow and pulled its draw string back tight. Taking aim, she aimed her arrow at the largest buck at the center of the clearing. Aiming for its heart, she let loose the arrow and watched as it silently whizzed through the air.

Not waiting for the arrow to make its mark, she quickly grabbed another and let it loose on another unsuspecting deer. Both the deer fell, startling the others into a frenzy. Before they all bolted into the forest she fell another deer, this one a doe. Bouncing up, she walked quickly to the first buck she fell in the center of the clearing and pulled out the arrow, careful to not break it. After doing the same to the other two, she dragged the deer till they were side-by-side and, unhooking the rope that was coiled up on her belt, tied them all together. Once they were tied she grabbed the rope and, with a grunt, walked forward pulling them behind her.

After the first two miles, Sakura's breath was coming out in short puffs. Eventually she finally came across her horse, his white fur glistening in the sun's rays. Putting her thumb and index finger to her mouth she let out an ear splitting whistle causing her horse to rear up and rush forward to greet her.

Smiling, Sakura petted his neck before untying the deer and, making the horse lay down, hefted them one-by-one on the horse before tying them down to prevent them from falling. She then urged the horse back up and walked forward, pulling the reins to have it follow her. She went to a part of the forest where she had her traps set. She walked into the woods a little and stopped at the sight that greeted her.

In one of her traps she had set, a female gray wolf lay dead. With a sad shake of her head, the Rosie haired girl took it out of the trap and before she left the bushes beside her rustled slightly accompanied by a little whine. Curious, she crept closer and moving limbs aside, saw a young light gray wolf cub, not even a month old.

"Awe. Poor little one... I'm terribly sorry for what happened to your mother." A soft smile found its way to her face as the cub cautiously moved forward and rubbed itself against his mother's form. Feeling pity for the thing, Sakura scooped the cub up into her arms and walked back to her horse. Tossing the dead wolf on top of the deer, she held the cub close to her form as she walked back to the village.

As she approached the village the forest became sparser. When the gate came into view, she tucked the cub under her left arm and draped the pelts over it to hide it from the guards at the gate. People here are too superstitious about creatures from the deep forest. 'But that doesn't stop them from buying my game.' She thought wryly. Passing through, they tipped their head in greeting but otherwise said nothing.

Upon her sight, the villagers moved away, for they did not wish to cross her path. The girl sighed, she did not mind though; it meant that they left her alone except for when they needed her. Hurrying to the back of the village. To the far right corner at the back of the village, a large privacy fence surrounded a medium sized log house, a tanning hut and a couple of sheds and a small barn for her horse. There is also a few large trees' in the area.

She walked over and opened the gate before going back to grab the reins of her horse and pulled him in and shutting the fence back. Once the gate was securely shut and locked, she set the cub on the ground. It sneezed and fell on its behind before looking up at her with scared, confused green eyes. She smiled as she reached down and petted it before grabbing the reins again and leading the horse to the shed closest to the tanning hut. She then grabbed the she wolf and took her inside the shed and set her on a table, stained dark red from its previous guests. Then she went and grabbed the deer and, one-by-one, hung them up on metal hooks that lined the wall.

She turned around and saw that the cub had followed her in the shed and was sneaking around. At an ox skull, the cub tried to growl menacing but only succeeding in making her smile and laugh lightly. She walked out the shed with the cub at her heel and took the reins once again and led the horse to the barn beside the house and took the saddle off before shutting the gate and giving it more hay.

Walking to the smoke house, she went in and looked for a chunk of meat that was still close to being raw. Then she left and handed it to the pup. She grinned as it tore at the meat with a hunger so great she worried that it would get sick. After she was sure that it wouldn't, she went back to the shed and went to a drawer in the back corner and grabbed a set of knives.

Approaching the dead she-wolf, the girl set the knives beside the dead form before selecting the sharpest knife and began to cut and peel the skin off it. When she has successfully removed the hide, she set about the task of butchering it. When she was half way done she heard a loud banging on her fence accompanied with someone yelling for her to hurry and let him in already.

She rolled her eyes as she recognized who it was. She left the shed and walked over to the gate and lifted the latch to open it. A blonde haired male busted through the second the gate gave a little slack.

"Sakura!" he yelled before he tackled her in a tight hug. Struggling to breathe, Sakura petted him on the back as she tried to get out of his iron tight grip.

"Na..rut..o... Can't breathe..." she managed to say as she let go of her and sheepishly laughed.

"Oops... my bad.. heh heh.." He said as he scratched at the back of his head. Smiling, he looked at his best friend and was about to say something when movement behind her caught his eye. Looking behind her he saw a light gray cub hiding behind her legs, pressing himself against her.

Noticing what he was looking at Sakura hurriedly grabbed his arm and yanked him in her yard and shut the gate then slammed him against the fence with her hand over his mouth. Pinning him to the fence, she leaned closer and looked him dead in the eyes. "Say something about him to you-know-who. And I swear I will kill you." Sakura hissed out, causing him to widened his eyes in fear and almost pee his pants. Letting him go, she walked back to finish her business in the shed.

Following her, he tried to wipe the blood of his face from her hands but only smeared it. Naruto went into the shed and his hand shot up to cover his nose from the smell. Looking at the wall he saw three deer hanging on hooks and looked over to the table and saw what was left of a wolf. Once she was finished butchering it, the leftover meat and bones she tossed to the floor and the cub pounced on them with his little tail wagging excitedly as he nibbled on them.

"... Why did you kill the she-wolf for her cub?" Sakura turned around and stared at Naruto incredulously as he gave her a confused look.

"I didn't kill her for the cub. I found her dead in one of my traps and then I found him in a bush beside her. I didn't want him to starve so I brought him with Me." she explained.

Then she swept the butchered meat into a basket and went over to a deer and began to skin it. She tossed the hide on the table on top of the wolf pelt and began to clean it. When she was done she set that meat in another basket and started on the next.

Naruto sat in the chair against the wall and watched Sakura work. 'I wish I could be like you Sakura.' he thought when he felt something soft brush against his leg. Looking down, he saw that the cub had lain down beside him, his head on his paws as he watched Sakura.

When she was done, Sakura motioned for Naruto to grab the basket of deer meat and follow her. Sakura stacked the hides on top of the wolf meat and left for the smoke house. Naruto watched as she hung the thin strips of meat over a rope that ran the length of the shed (A/N: XD beef jerky!...err..Deer jerky! lol). Then she put up all the rest of the meat, separating the deer from the wolf.

After that she grabbed a bucket and tossed it to Naruto and grabbed herself one, then they both left the yard, the cub following close behind Sakura, to the well in the middle of the village. Many people watched them as they made their way to the well, many of them whispering behind their hands while some pointed to the cub following Sakura.

Sakura stopped when the well came into view, as did Naruto, for at the well was a group of men known as the Akatsuki, that the village either feared or greatly respected, but mostly feared. She checked to make sure that the cub was still with her before walking slowly to the well, bucket in hand and ready to swing it if necessary. When they got closer, the group of men got quiet, watching Sakura and Naruto under close inspection.

The cub flattened his ears and pressed itself against her leg when one of the men looked at it.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in. A bitch and her lackey. Oh and look! She brought us a new target." A silver haired male said with a sadistic grin as he leaned forward to try and grab the cub. As his hand grazed the cub's ear, it yelped and hid behind Sakura as she slapped his hand away. The male raised an eye brow at her. "Oi. What the fuck, bitch did you just touch me? I ought to punish you for that!" He said, and then a grin found its way to his face as he grabbed her arm and yanked her forward onto his lap. His grin widened as he took in what she was wearing.

The cub started growling loudly when the male grabbed Sakura, but then he yelped as a brunette male picked him up by the scruff of the neck. "Hmm... Still young. His pelt would sell for a high price."

Sakura, enraged by both the males, reached her arm down to her boots and slipped her hand in them as her fingers wrapped around the hilt of a knife. The silver haired male was busy grinning and wiggling his eye brows at his friends while his hand groped her ass. Then, without warning, Sakura yanked her hand out of the boot and stabbed him in the shoulder and jumped away from him, taking the knife with her and slashing it at the brunette to grab her cub.

"WHAT THE FUCK! You damned bitch. How fucking dare you stab me!" The silver haired male cursed as he applied pressure to his shoulder. The brunette just shrugged and dropped the cub and went to stand with the others away from the well.

"If you... Gentlemen don't mind, we're getting our water and then leaving." Sakura said with venom in her voice, knife poised and ready as Naruto rushed forwarded with both buckets. Sakura watched them closely as Naruto ran back to her, both buckets filled with water. As they both backed away, Sakura noticed the curious look in the eyes of the leader of the group. His grey ringed eyes watching her with interest before they went out of site. She put her knife away and bent down to pick up the cub and wrapped the black silk cloak around it. The young cub looked up at her and licked her chin then his ears perked up and looked all around at the people watching them.

She looked down at the cub and smiled at him, "I guess the whole town knows about you now." She said to the cub. His mint green eyes looked up at her with a tilt of his head.

"Ne, Sakura why do you need the water anyways?" Naruto asked as he was careful not to slush the water.

"It's so I can clean the skins Naruto. So they don't rot." She said matter of factly as the Gates to her home came closer to their view. Opening the gates she set the cub down and took the buckets from Naruto as he gazed at her quizzically. She laughed at his expression, "Go Naruto, I think Hinata is off from the infirmary." She said and his face lit up in a bright blush before hugging her and leaving.

She shook her head and laughed a little as she shut the gate with her foot and walked to the shed beside the smoke house where she had the basket set out from the earlier skinning. The cub trotted over to the bone he had and started to happily gnaw at it, his small tail wagging the entire time. Sakura smiled at him before laying out the wolf hide carefully, so that she doesn't ruin the fur. She cleaned the pelt and set it on a table to cure. Then she started to clean the deer skins, scraping off the hair and bit and pieces of meat still attached. Splashing water on it to keep it cleaned. The ground under her was soaked and covered in hair and chunks of meat when she was done. Then stretched out the hides and set them out to tan and had the pelt stretched out also.

Sweat was starting to form at her brow when she was finished and cleaned everything. She looked up and saw that it wouldn't be long before the sun set. Sakura sniffed her arm and quickly turned away.

"Phew, I don't know about you pup but I smell." She joked as she got the two empty buckets again and walked to the gate. The cub saw her walking away from him and quickly got up and ran to her as fast as his stubby legs could carry him before she shut the gate.

She walked back to the well and was relieved when those men weren't there. She filled up her buckets and made her way back home. The entire time the cub right behind her trying to keep up.

There was some people still out and gave her glares. Sakura sighed and kept walking and opened her gate, let the cub in, and then shut it behind her. This time, she walked up the steps to the porch of the 2 story house and opened the door. She kept it open as she got the giant tub beside the fireplace and moved it into the fire place before pouring both buckets in it. Then she went back outside and gathered some firewood against the side of her house and placed them under the pot and lit them. It took a while but a good sized fire started to blaze under it. She looked down at the pup and her kitchen as her stomach growled. Walking into the kitchen area she didn't have much bread but she had a lot of vegetables. It didn't take her long for her to decide to go get another bucket of water for dinner.

After she got back from the well for the third time the water in the tub had a rolling boil. She set the bucket down and put on a pair of thick protective gloves before she dragged the it out of the fireplace. She went back to the kitchen and grabbed a jar of dried white and bright purple flowers and put some in the boiling water. Then she went back to the kitchen and grabbed a small cast iron pot and hung it over the fire place and poured some of the water from the bucket in it. Then she went out and walked to the smoke house where she grabbed a good chunk of the hind flank that she just put in there.

Walking back to the house she could see the smoke leaving her chimney as the temperature started to drop with the sun. When she opened the door the scent of jasmine and lilac filled the air from the steaming water. She looked around for the cub and saw him lying down before the fireplace. Then walked to her kitchen and cut off a good portion of the flank and set it to the side then she cut the rest of the meat into pieces and went over and placed them in the pot over the fire place as the water started to form bubbles at the bottom. This action caused the pup to sit up and watch her as she went back to the kitchen and cut up an onion and carrots. She went over and placed them in the pot as well with the meat. Then she looked in her cabinets and grabbed two jars. One filled with salt and the other filled with pepper before heading back to the boiling water and put in a few pinches of each before setting the jars down.

By now the sun had already set and darkness was spreading over her yard. She jogged up the stairs to her second floor and went in the largest room on the right. She opened a large cedar truck that was at the foot of a large plush looking bed covering in a variety of fur blankets and large fluffy pillows.

In the trunk she pulled out a large white tunic and cream colored lacy panties and a bar of rosemary and lemon soap and a large thick cloth to use to dry off with before closing it and returning downstairs.

She set the clothing down on her old worn couch before making sure her door was locked. She first took off her boots then she undid her belt and slid her chaps off as well as her leggings too. Her tunic went to just above her thighs as she reached her fingers under the hem and pulled it over her head.

Now all she was left in was binding around her breasts and cream colored laced panties that was shear in some places. First she unwrapped her chest binding to reveal her plump, round breast and then slowly slid her panties down. She shivered some as the chill air somehow reached her causing goose bumps to form over her body. She looked at the giant pot and saw that the water was still steaming before she slowly lowered herself into it.

Sakura sighed in contempt as the hot water covered her body in its warm embrace before dunking her head down into it to become fully soaked. As her head left the water the smell of jasmine and lilac filled her senses and was comforted by the smell. She grabbed her bar of soap and started to rub it vigorously all over her body and into her hair, making suds all in the water. She could feel the coarseness in the soap from sand to help scrub her body. Placing the soap on the ledge on the pot she dunked again to wash the soap from her hair and body. When she emerged again her skin had a soft pink tint to it. She was pleased that she no longer reeked of dead animals and blood. The water was still warm when she stood up and grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her body before she stepped out and walked toward the fireplace to finish drying off. She took the towel and rubbed it all over her before she started to dry her towel. The heat from the fire making it much easier to dry off and was finished very quickly.

She went over and grabbed the fresh pair of panties and slipped them on. Her tunic was loose and baggy. She looked over at the pup and picked him up, deciding that he should be cleaned as well.

Said pup did not agree and furiously tried to escape the warm water but Sakura kept him in as she covered him in the water before gathering her soap again and scrubbed him to where he was no longer grey but a fluffy white. The pup tried to intimidate her by growling but Sakura only laughed as she rinsed him off good and plucked him from the pot and wrapped her towel around him. She walked over and sat on her couch near the fire place and rubbed him dry then sat him down. He was still slightly damp and as soon as his paws touched the floor he shook vigorously as if he could shake all the water from his form before walking over the fire and pouting as he sat there. His nose twitching constantly as he stared up at the small pot hanging in the fireplace as a delicious scent wafted from it. The water in it already turned brown and thick from the stew.

Sakura walking into her kitchen and grabbed a large wooden spoon and went to stir it. Her stomach grumbled as this caused it to put off more great smelling aromas. Deciding that it was finished the put on gloves again before grabbing an iron rod and using it to swing the pot from the fire place. She carefully grabbed the handle of the pot before setting in the small table in front of the couch. Then she went into the kitchen and grabbed 2 bowls and the rest of the bread she had left. She placed them on the table and went back into the kitchen to grab the hunk of meat she had set to the side ad well as the bucket with the left over water and went back toward the fire place.

She filled one bowl with the water and set it on the floor and the pup immediately went to it and drank heavily, almost empting the bowl. Then she gave him the meat and watched as he tore into it. She sat and watched him eat for a bit letting the stew cool down some. Then she scooped a good amount into her bowl and broke off some bread, deciding to save the rest for the morning. She dipped the bread into her stew and soaked it before taking a bite of it. Her stomach growled happily as she started to eat, finishing off the bread she started to eat on the stew. Its thick rich taste went well with the gamey taste from the deer. She snuggled into the couch as she ate. The pup managed to get on the couch after many failed attempts at jumping up there, and lay down next to her and yawned.

Sakura had savored her stew, after her long day's work she was starving and knew that if she gobbled it up quickly she would hurt. She was halfway finished when she started to get goose bumps. Sakura had a bad feeling that she couldn't shake off but dismissed it to the back of her mind as she finished off her food. She set the now empty bowl on the table and sat back, petting the cub.

Sakura sighed as it was time for bed so he placed the lid on the pot, keeping it good for the morning, and put everything in her kitchen, promising to straighten it up in the morning. She looked at the large bathing pot before she went to open the door and pulled it outside on her porch and dumped it out on the ground. She then hurriedly dragged it back inside her warm house and the chilled night air only made her bad feeling grow more, as if she was being watched from afar. She placed one more log in the fire place for the night and went to the kitchen to grab a glass and filled it with water from the now almost empty bucket and drained the glass. Sakura wiped her mouth and set the glass down. Her emerald eyes looking out a window in her kitchen that showed only darkness. She felt the pup beside her and she looked down at it and saw it looking up at her sleepily.

Sakura smiled and reached down to pick him up and held him close to her as she walked up the stairs to her room and pulled back some pelts before setting the pup down in them and laying down herself. She covered herself up with the pelts as the cub snuggled closely to Sakura under them and they both promptly fell asleep. Both un-aware of the danger that was lurking outside.