Chapter one| Unexpected
Gathering up her belongs, Sakura bid the last patient of the day goodbye. Exiting the small house near the edge of the quiet village, she set off for the familiar road home. The young woman passed the rice paddies and watched children play games of catching frogs before being called back home by their mothers. She smiled at the children as the raced past her, calling out goodbyes to her in a chorus. She continued onto the worn out path that went into the forest where she lived.
The sun would soon start to set. Another day of spring would be gone and soon summer would be here, she thought to herself as she wiped the sweat that had gather on the back of her neck after a tiring day of healing. She willed her feet not to drag, wanting to hurry herself home before dark. All she wanted was to take a bath and wash all the sweat off and then sleep. Sakura promised herself she would look for herbs tomorrow then sighed softly to herself. Even if she did that, she still would have to look over her tools and be certain they were in working condition then after that she would have to create more of her strong pain relief salve. She almost ran out today.
Sakura suddenly stopped, too caught up in her thoughts she didn't notice how quiet the forest was. The silence was eerie and unusual. Even at this time of day, the sounds of a bird's wing flapping or the rustling of unseen deer was common. The young woman looked around slowly, eyes paying attention for anything amiss when she noticed a patch of dark blue almost hidden within the bushes.
As silently as she could, Sakura moved carefully forward to investigate, pushing branches aside to get a good look. Her green eyes widen in shock. Hidden in the overgrowth of plants laid a man covered in wounds on the ground unconscious before her. The medic swiftly took note of all his injuries. His hakama was cut on his left leg but there was only a shallow cut. A gash on his torso stain the navy cloth to almost black with his blood. That was where she had to begin work she concluded as reaching into her medical bag, getting out gauze to stop the weeping wound. Her eyes traveled upward in search of any other injury that would need to be treated immediately.
The medic let out as gasp when her eyes finally reached the face of the sleeping man. Hidden in the shade of the fauna around him was silver white hair, matted to his face in sweat and blood. She couldn't tell how old he was by his face as a mask covered over the nose and lower-half of his face. She reach up and delicately move the hair away from his face only for her heart to sink into her stomach. His left eye had a vertical cut while his right eye had slight bruising around it. She wouldn't be able to tell how bad his eye was injured until the man was in a safer location but luckily the cut on his left eye wasn't bleeding heavily. There was a chance it may be saved.
Sakura quickly cleaned and wrapped any wounds that looked serious and glanced over the man one more time to make sure he was ready to be moved. Thanking the gods her home wasn't too far from where she found him, she began the slowly process of half dragging, half carrying the man to her house. More tired than she can remember, Sakura looked down at the man who was now safely sleeping in her house. Closing her eyes, the pink hair medic prepared herself for a long night.
Author's Note: This isn't necessary to the story to read but if you do read it, thanks! This is my first fanfic in a long time. I haven't written anything in years and never for this fandom. So hopefully my writing will get better as we go along. I was originally planning on a writing a very different story but I got caught up with this plot so after this story I might work on that. I was inspired to write a feudal japan setting with my favorite pairing. I'm going to put in a lot of research so I hopefully don't mess up and make any history buffs mad. Reviews would be nice just so I can get a feel for what I'm doing right/what you guys enjoy or if you have any tips/suggestions.