[The same afternoon]

*♪-naruto main theme-♪*

A certain flavid-haired teen stirred in his luxurious bed before nuzzling into his pillows. The volume of the ringtone grew louder the longer it was left ignored. Naruto squirmed in bed and let out an irritated moan as the ringing continued.

"GYAA!!! Who the hell is it-," the boy grumbled and reached out a hand for his cellphone.

"HELLO?"

After a moment of listening, the latter shot up. Naruto's somber face drained its colors as if looking at an iridescent portrait. On the other side of the line was the man he would never dare to disrespect.

"K-K-K-KISHIMOTO-SAN!? Σ(ﾟロﾟ) OHAYO GOZAIMASU," the sleepy-head shouted into the mouthpiece. The person laughed at his spontaneous reaction.

"Ha-ha! It's already half the day, Naruto-kun," the producer corrected. The xanthous lad glanced at his green, frog-shaped clock where its hour and minute hands were at twelve and one respectively. He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed abruptly before asking, "Why'd you call me, Kishi-san? . . . Ah! So you've decided on Yoruno's cast?!"

The Uzumaki's cerulean eyes lit with excitement and curiosity. The three whisker-like-birthmarks curved a little on his cheeks as he flashed a huge grin, brighter than the sun. But what he didn't know by then was what his expectations and enthusiasm would turn out to be.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •
[The Uchiha residence's garden]

A warm breeze swept across the lush green vegetation growing thickly yet accordingly in the luxurious garden of the Uchiha residence. The wind took the lead as the trees and shrubs danced along as ripples formed across the surface of the pond.

A young girl stood at the edge of the pond. Her candy floss- colored hair brushing her cheeks as Sakura stared into the water.

"One more time . . . Just this one last call and that's it," she muttered to herself as the ghost-girl took a deep breath before opening her mouth.

"MU-"

Her call was disrupted by a sudden loud splash from the pond which startled Sakura to the core. The Cherry gasped astoundingly and backed a few steps away.

Water droplets from the pond showered down like rain, but only for several seconds. A silhouette of a person covered in a black robe appeared before her eyes. Unlike her -who's a mere soul- the standing figure was drenched from head to toe.

Sakura's suspicious gaze quickly changed into a look of relief once the man revealed his face.

"Eh! Mugen!?"

"Yah~ Sakura," the young reaper greeted, his lips curved up mischievously before a globular device appeared floating above his palm.

"Hmm~ these are quite a number of calls, I see . . . Missed me?"

The carefree reaper casually ran a hand through his wet hair, trying to brush away the sticky strands which irked him, before snapping his fingers once. Miriculously, all the water dried up; not a single drop left behind. Sakura, on the other hand, just gazed at the young man in front, trying to take in all the sudden change of events. Her wide, emerald eyes slowly turned into a glare. Yet, with a resigned sigh, the Cherry asked him about her 'dream'.

"So? Is that some kind of a vision o-or am I just being superstitious over little things," she asked, after telling him everything that happened to her. Mugen's face grimaced at her words -about the vision she'd spoken just then- but stayed mute which was unlike himself. Instead, he stared longingly into her wide, green eyes brimming with enigma.

Feeling uneasy, the girl called out his name which sounded more like an uncertain phrase.

"H-Hey. Mugen?"

The latter blinked back to her voice before forcing a smile with his eyes closed. Mugen reached out and tousled Sakura's pink locks of hair and replied, "You'll know sooner or later, Pink Lady." Sakura tried to slap away his hand but failed. Her supernatural skills were still too naïve.

"Tch! Stop messing with my hair! ヽ('д'*)ノAnd why can't you just tell me now?"

Finally withdrawing his hand, the young reaper let out a fake chuckle as he crossed his arms.

"You see, Sakura-," Mugen started, but paused all of a sudden. His blood-red eyes landed on a certain conifer tree a few feet away from them in the garden. Confused, the Cherry followed his gaze, to where the evergreen trees were.

"What's the matt- Ah! Mugen," she tried to ask, but was cut off midway when the shinigami leapt into the air in a blink of the eye, heading towards those trees.

What Mugen spotted was a medium-sized bird with pitch-black feathers, a curved beak with a pointed tip and big, round glowing eyes which were the color of blood.

It spread its wings to escape from the approaching danger but wasn't lucky enough. The sharp blade of Mugen's enormous scythe thrust deep into the animal's back, piercing right through its heart. A clamorous agonizing screech of the hell-crow reverberated throughout the vast garden, but was only audible to non-human beings.

Mugen watched as the bird took its last breath before deteriorating into speckles of dust. He glared at it until that heap of debris was permanently gone. Tightening the grip on his scythe, the vengeful reaper mumbled to himself, narrowing his eyes, "Nobody will get in my way. . . This time . . . I won't allow it!" Then he returned to Sakura.

Mugen could see the girl pacing back and forth on the short grass, clasping her hands tightly. She went over to the lad with a concerned look on her pale face once Mugen arrived. Then in a soft, trembled voice, Sakura spoke.

"W-What was that n-noise? Wha- "

"Listen carefully, Sakura," Mugen interrupted; his expression far from his carefree attitude. The Cherry gulped down her anxiety as she perked up to listen.

"We're fighting an unfinished war which started a thousand and sixteen years ago. *Sigh* And they are after you . . . ," the reaper continued as he pointed his chin at her. Sakura still couldn't absorb what was told and froze at her position, unable to digest the exotic information.

Having heard no response from the latter, Mugen huffed before speaking again.

"Anyway, for now, you don't need to know the details yet."

He turned to leave but Sakura stopped him, blocking his way. The reaper's eyes widened a fraction with surprise whereas the Cherry wore a determined expression.

"Why? Why me?? I have nothing to do with that war of yours! And . . . who are 'they'," she exclaimed, demanding for details. Her normally calm emerald eyes shook in denial. Sakura intently gazed into the pair of rubies which were staring down at her figure.

For the longest time, Mugen sealed his mouth. Letting out another sigh, the reaper replied, "Your stubbornness never changes . . . The Tree will give you all the answers you need. About the visions you've said; those are the answers to your questions . . . So, even if you asked me, I won't be able to fill you in about the whole truth."

Then Mugen leapt again into the air, waving casually at the girl and vanished before her eyes.

"Ah, wait," Sakura called out, but the reaper was long gone. She felt a lump in her throat, resulting from the emotions all entering her at once.

"Hahh~," the latter huffed before returning to the mansion.

"Right now I need to cool my head . . ."

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •
[Evening 7 p.m; At Ichiraku 5-star Japanese restaurant]

Both families were seated at their respective places, facing each other. The 'Heads' of each family sat at the top of the main dining table with their family members on either sides of it. Smiles etched on everyone's faces -except for a few people.

The Hyuga and the Uzumaki families were gathered at a grand dinner party after a successful engagement between the two main families' children.

As a sign of collaboration between 'Hyorin Corporation' and 'Sunny Talent Agency' -a rather small group compared to Hyorin- Uzumaki Naruto was engaged to the eldest daughter of the main family, Hyuga Hinata.

"Congratulations Hyuga-sama, Uzumaki-sama," exclaimed their relatives, one after another. The young couple returned them with smiles -fake smiles. The engagement was made purely of business, not 'love'. Naruto clearly disapproved of their parents' idea, but had already reached half-way to their forced wedding.

The latter sat between his mother, Uzumaki Kushina, and his cousin sister, Uzumaki Karin. Everybody was either talking and laughing or having their meals. His fiancée -the extremely shy girl, Hinata- sat across their main table, facing him. Their eyes met unintentionally and Naruto tried to be friendly, flashing a grin at her. Unfortunately, Hinata's face became a tomato and immediately avoided his gaze while fiddling her fingers. She resembled a panicking citizen who was facing the end of the world.

The whiskered boy cocked an eyebrow at his fiancée's reaction. It was their first meeting -moreover their engagement day- so he could understand that she was too nervous to even speak. But for the lad, he thought Hinata was a little over the edge.

'Weird girl,' he mumbled in his head, before turning away to dig into his plate. As Naruto was about to put a piece of the sliced steak into his mouth, he heard someone sigh on his left.

"What's the matter, Karin," he asked with concern as he glanced over at his cousin, then at the barely touched food on her plate. "Don't you like the food? This restaurant's the best in town ya'know?"

He then went on eating his food. Karin gave him a side glare as she fixed her glasses.

"Someone who's already 'married' wouldn't understand my feelings," she retorted in a sarcastic way, causing her cousin to choke.

"*cough-cough-cough*"

Naruto gulped down a glass full of water to suppress the food choked in his throat before putting down the cup. He swiftly turned to his red-haired cousin and snapped in a rather hushed tone, "We just engaged! Not yet married! . . . . Hell, we JUST MET!!!"

Ignoring him, the red-head continued, "*sigh* Even my good-for-nothing cousin is married, I'm still chasing for my love. . . . *sigh* Sasuke~"

"HIM AGAIN!? (ʘдʘ╬) "

Just hearing the name irked the blonde. He turned away, straightened his back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Just forget about that bastard! He's just selling his looks to- OWW!!! ( ≧Д≦) "

Karin stepped on his foot with her pencil-heel before Naruto could finish his line. His voice drew almost everyone's attention in the room and earned a smack on the back of his head from Kushina. She then apologized to both families on her son's behalf, and everyone continued what they were doing. Minato -Naruto's dad- chuckled wearily at Hinata's father and continued their chat.

It was one of the worse days for Naruto -at least by then; stepped on with a pencil-heel by his cousin, smacked by his mom . . . , and ignored by his soon-to-be-wife. But what he didn't realize was a pair of pearls which were surreptitiously examining him from afar.

'. . . Naruto-kun . . .'