Hey, everyone! Can't talk long cause I'm in art class, but here is chapter 15!

            Sasuke closed his eyes, having heard everything. He had consented to leaving simply because he knew that his vamp hearing would catch every word. Naruto was crouched beside him on the roof, his fingers plugged tightly in his ears as to try to respect Sakura's privacy. Naruto's hearing was actually better than his, so Sasuke knew that no matter how hard he tried, Naruto would still be able to hear the entire conversation. Sasuke wasn't that great of a person. He was nosy, and when it had to do with Sakura, he wasn't just going to respect her privacy if he was going to protect her. Wait, what was he thinking? Why had he decided to protect her?

            Um, maybe because she's our mate? Duh, his inner chimed.

            She is not, he retorted sharply. She's a Normy.

            Really? After this whole conversation, you still think she's a Normy? You were even there when that woman said those words to her! And she seemed to know who we were, so I'm sure she was from there too. What if our mate survived, and she ended up here? They never found a body, Sasuke!

            Sasuke had no quick-witted response to that. All the facts lined up perfectly as his inner said. He hadn't given much thought to the fact that Sakura could possibly be from the forest, or a supernatural. She hadn't manifested powers, though that could be explained by the fact she wasn't aware she had them. Everything lined up almost perfectly, and yet the Konoha medics had identified his mate's blood on the scene where her parents had been murdered, which meant that if his mate was alive, she would have to have a scar.

            If she has a scar, I'll concede that she's my mate, Sasuke replied to his inner.

            Our mate, and fine, if that's what it takes for you to give us a chance at happiness, he responded, sounding victorious, but continued in a more serious tone, By the way, we need blood soon. Human blood.

            Sasuke gritted his teeth.

            I kn—

            "Ne, Sasuke," Naruto's voice interrupted.

            "What, dobe?" Sasuke asked, irritated.

            "I think Sakura-chan's right. We need to take her with us," he said seriously, his cerulean blue eyes piercing his own onyx ones.

            Under normal circumstances, Sasuke would have said no, but Sasuke needed to know if she was really his mate or not, and now that he had met her, though he didn't want to admit it, he couldn't imagine leaving her behind.

            "Guess we have no choice," he grumbled.

            "Eh? Seriously?" Naruto said, dumbstruck.

            "I said so, didn't I?" he bit back.

            "I-that's.... look what you did to me! Now I'm speechless!" Naruto yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him.

            Sasuke slapped his finger away, and rolled his eyes, jumping down from the roof, and slipping back into the house through the open window in Sakura's room.

            "Bye, Soraya," Sakura's voice floated to him.

            "Bye, Sakura-san. Take care," Soraya's voice came clearer as Sasuke walked into the living room, leaning against a wall.

            Both women's eyes were red-rimmed, and the little kid, Sasuke was pretty sure his name was Akio, was sobbing into Sakura's dress.

            "Don't worry, Akio, I'll come back and see you, okay? I promise, and you know I don't break my promises," Sakura said in a wavering voice as she patted Akio's mess of red-brown hair.

            "But, Saku, that'll probably be in a long time!" he wailed.

            "I know," Sakura said, her voice cracking, and Sasuke's heart squeezed at the sadness in her voice. "But I'll try my best to come back and see you soon, okay? So, promise that you're going to grow to be a strong boy who helps your mom a lot, and that girls from all over will fall for, okay?"

            She wrapped her pinky around his, and pressed their thumbs together.

            "Mm," he said.

            She hugged both of them, and as they turned to leave, Soraya's eye caught his own. She smiled and whispered, "Take care of her."

            Sasuke's eyes widened; how had she known that he could hear her?

            "Hm? Did you say something, Soraya?" Sakura asked.

            "Nothing at all," she responded. "Best of luck, Sakura-san."

            "Thank you," she said, and closed the door with a click.

             The pinkette stood there for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. Sasuke started to move, wanting to go to her for some reason, his body urging him to go comfort her. As soon as he took the first step, however, her eyes swiveled to him, and she hurriedly wiped her tears. He stopped. They stared at each other for a moment before Sakura said, "We need to talk."

            "I—" he started, but stopped as he listened in on a commotion happening outside, right outside the door where Sakura was standing. In one jump he was beside her, and scooped her up in his arms, darting away from the door just as it was broken down, splinters of wood raining down on the floor.

             "S-S-Sasuke-kun," she yelped, her cheeks bright red.

            Now was seriously not the time.

            In the doorway stood a large man that Sasuke had never seen before, but seeing the way Sakura's hand rose to her cheek when she saw him, Sasuke deduced that this was the man who had hurt her, and that enraged him.

            "Well, well, little girl, it seems your consorting with the outsiders goes farther than I thought," he sneered, bending to fit through the doorframe.

            Behind him, Sasuke could see several burly and stupid-looking men. He counted around four.

            Sasuke growled low in his throat at his insinuation, making the large man's eyelid twitch.

            "Nashiro," Sakura said in a cold voice. "I didn't think you'd come so soon."

            "I actually think I came late, little girl," he responded.

            The way the man talked condescendingly down to her made Sasuke's blood boil. He put Sakura down and pushed her behind him, resting his left hand on the hilt of his katana behind his cloak.

            The man, Nashiro, took a step forward, and Naruto instantly appeared at Sasuke's side, growling as well.

            "Took you long rnough, Usuratonkachi."

            "Sorry, Teme. Thought you'd scare them off, but after hearing the way he talks to Sakura-chan, I couldn't just sit around and do nothing," Naruto replied, glaring at the said man.

            Sasuke saw Nashiro slightly flinch at Naruto's appearance, stopping in his advance.

            "What do you want, Nashiro?" Sakura asked, stepping out slightly from behind Sasuke's back. His eyes narrowed at her, but she ignored him as she straightened her back in defiance.

            "What do I want?" he barked, sneering maniacally. "Well, I think what most of the village wants at this point. You may have swayed them to your side before, but after your little stunt with these miscreants, it seems they've come to see reason. It's time for you to leave."

            Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but Sasuke beat her to it.

            "Then I guess our goals are aligned because Sakura's coming with us," he said icily.

            Sakura stared at Sasuke in shock, and a grin came over her face. Nashiro's eyes widened a fraction, but then he smirked.

            "Well, it seems the filthy creature speaks."

            Sasuke brushed the comment off, but that seemed to really push Sakura's buttons as her face contorted into a scowl, and she launched herself at Nashiro. Normally Sasuke would have been able to stop her, but he was weak from lack of blood, and his fingertips only brushed her side.

            "How. Dare. You!" she yelled.

            Her jade green eyes seemed to glow, and as she clenched her fist to punch, Sasuke felt a sudden immense power radiate off of her in waves; her chakra was unlike any other he'd felt before, and seemed perfectly in sync with his own.

            Maybe she really is...

            Her fist collided with Nashiro's gut, who seemed to not have been expecting it. There was a split second where nothing happened, until the skin of his gut twisted, and he was sent flying out of the house into the four guys behind him. The force of her punch was so strong a gust wind stirred up, and Sasuke and Naruto had to steady themselves to stay upright. Crashes were heard, and as both Naruto and Sasuke ran to Sakura, Sasuke saw that he had gone through several houses, his human imprint visible in the walls of each one.

            Naruto and Sasuke stared at her in shock. She seemed shocked herself as she stared at her fist. Then her eyes stopped glowing, and the power Sasuke had felt subsided instantly. She sank to her knees, still looking at her clenched fist.

            "What am I?" she breathed out.

            Sasuke was wondering that himself.

            Well, now we know for sure she isn't a Normy, his inner remarked.

            Shut up.

            "Uh, guys, that was freaking awesome and all, but I think we need to get out of here, dattebayo," Naruto said, pointing through the now broken doorway.

             Sasuke and Sakura looked where he was pointing, and saw the remaining four of the group as well as a couple stragglers from the village charging at them, while others looked fearfully on.

            "Yeah," Sasuke agreed.

            He pulled Sakura up, but she still seemed in a daze, staring at her fist.

            "Hey, look at me," he said.

             She didn't respond, so he grabbed her chin, and forced her eyes to meet his own. Her eyes focused immediately on his, and all he could see in them was pain, confusion, and shock. His heart constricted painfully in his chest; it must be terrible to not even know what you are or where you come from. Life was just throwing surprise after surprise at this girl with no reprieve. It was a wonder she had managed to pull herself together.

            "Hey, I know it's tough, but right now you need to pull yourself together one last time so we can get out of here, okay?" he said in a gentler voice than he had ever used in his life.

            "Mm," she responded, lips trembling.

            "Okay, go get whatever you need quickly; we'll hold them off, and hurry back," he ordered.

             She nodded and ran off. He turned to Naruto to see him blushing.

            "What's with your face?" he asked, bewildered.

             Naruto smirked, putting a hand in front of his mouth.

            "That's the most intimate thing you've ever done! You even talked nicely to her. She is definitely your mate, man."

             Sasuke felt the heat rise to his cheeks, and he smacked him upside the head.

            "Ow!"

            "Shut up, and focus!"

            They both turned to face the oncoming onslaught of people. They both cracked their knuckles, and Naruto extended his fist to him.

           "I bet I can beat them without going into jinchuriki form and you without using your sharingan."

            Sasuke met his fist with his own.

            "Deal. Let's see who beats the most first."

            Their wounds were both still vulnerable, but puny Normies weren't that big of a deal. They both launched themselves at the enemy, grinning from the exhilaration of the fight before them.

            This is going to be fun.

I literally finished writing this ten minutes ago, and edited it like now. Hope you liked it, and it's not too rushed, but I didn't want to make you guys wait anymore. My internship/shadowing thing is done, so I have time to write now! Hopefully there will be more updates now. Also... I WANT TO WRITE SO MANY STORIES AT ONCE BUT I CAN'T!! IT'S SO FRUSTRATING!!! Ugh. Anyway, need to get back to art so, vote, comment, and share! Ciao! Ja ne!