Note: I finally came up with an awesome idea for a fan fiction. My inspiration's include but are not limited too: Memoirs of a Geisha, She's the Man, and V for Vendetta. Hopefully this story will be one of those that inspire even if it is just a fan fiction. I put a lot of thought into it. Unfortunately I don't have internet any more so probably what will happen will be that I will finish it before I ever post it. Anyways enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor the Naruto storyline.

Chapter One:

When Light Fades

If you had told me there was something wrong with the small village that I lived as a child then there is no doubt in my mind I would have believed you full heartily. I knew even as a small child that something was abnormal in the way that we lived even if a stranger had never said one single syllable. As I sit here reflecting on the past I realize now that our village was like the boulders on the bed of a sea and with every crash of the waves we were slowly being warned down. Even stone has its weaknesses and fire was no different. It wasn't until my own father's time however when our defenses failed and the facades of hope melted away.

The village had a system like most at the time with a counsel of elders, who in most cases were older than anyone else in the village, and in some crude way or another consider wiser. Under the eye of this wrinkled parliament was our leader. Some described our leader as a general, others said he or she was like royalty elected by the people. Whether a general or a prince, the title Hokage was meant as something to respect. And we always respected the Hokage.

To understand the importance of such a role one must first understand the responsibility of the Hokage. I suppose you could compare him or her to a captain on the ship, the villagers as the passengers, and the ninja as the sailors. In order for a ship to move she must first be well prepared for any onslaught from starvation to disease and even to pirates. Our pirates were enemy villages that became jealous over the power my village obtained. If the passengers were not kept well and happy the ship would not be a success for who would pay for the means to keep it a float? If the sailors did not respect and listen to their captain then there would be mutiny. It was the Hokage's job to protect the goods we produced, keep his passengers or in our case the villagers well and happy, as well as command the crew (the ninja) with the dignity and respect he wished them to treat him. If all three points were not balanced then we would all perish. And just like the captain, the Hokage if he was a good man, would go down with his ship perishing under the murky waters of time.

My father was a young soldier but older than his present Hokage at the time when our walls were finally released down upon us. Many of the older members of the former society agreed that if the demon had not shown up we would have won without a doubt with a man like the fourth Hokage. But even the Fourth as great as he was was still only a gifted man. And when facing the fangs of a demon a gifted man can be no more than just that. The moment he perished was the moment Hell engulfed our small village, or so I am told.

While the stories of the past linger in the air as if flies buzzing over a caress in the middle of summer, I could tell no difference. The world I was born into is quite different than the old memories of the failing minds in elderly heads. The first time I was sold into slavery I was five years old. My mother had come down with a sickness that was plaguing the village around that time. Often her green eyes were clouded, whispering of days in her childhood. I never paid them much attention for at the time I had been very small and preferred to play with paper dolls. Soon the fever had taken her away from my father and I when I was only three years old.

I stayed with my father until they came for him. The men dressed in black who wore masks made of porcelain. The masks were not the traditional ones of animals like the special forces wore so many years earlier. These men wore masks that meant to mock us as they dragged the Resistant members away from their homes. The lips of the masks drooped heavily as their ebony eyes gleamed out at us. Sometimes the masks had black tears streaming from their dark eyes contrasting the white that reminded me of snow.

When they took him they took me as well selling me to well off to a family on the other side of the village who had managed to buy their freedom in one manner or another. In those days that was how it was done, if you wealthy you were allowed to buy the pardon from the new governor at a very expensive price. My family had never been one of the Resistant leaders but they had attended meetings here and there. When this was heard of my father was seized to be made an example of, and I became the property of the governor himself.

This story of sadness my young life had been thrust into is not the story I wish to tell you. So in turn allow me to skip ahead a few years. When I turned eight my previous owners were also among those who wished to resist the new government. The woman,\who though she was my mistress, pulled me aside one day as I was making my way to attend the hens in their roost. She was a kindly woman in her late fifties who refused to support a nation that enslaved children. With the kindness of a mother who had lost three sons to the battle so long ago, she had taken it upon herself to buy as many children she could to save them from the brutality of the government. Even though I was young I was very perspective I had figured out nearly a year ago her funds were slowly draining away due to her kindness.

"Sakura," she called to me from her bedroom door, "Please come here."

Unable to refuse her, not because she owned me but because of the debt I felt I owed to her, I obeyed entering her room as quietly as I could. The sun was not yet up but in the darkness of her room I sense she was uneasy. Her husband, also a veteran of the war, had not come home that night. And we all knew without a doubt, that the faithful man would never be returning home. Just like my own father, and so many other people before them. She did not ask me to turn on the light, and for a very long moment we were both silent taking in the call of the crickets outside her window. I was afraid for her, for what they might do to us when they came. I never once spoke of my fears as I fiddle with a strand of my long hair my eyes only looking at the floor. Finally she broke the silence asking me to sit next to her on the bed, patting the area with her hand. The movement was a small one, like so many things she did, but it comforted me as I climbed up next to her. She began to speak, stroking my long abnormally colored hair as she did so, "You are a smart girl Sakura and I am sure you understand what our nation faces right now. Times are tough, and will only get tougher still before any of this is righted. People-"

She sighed pausing for a minute, "People will not stand against these monsters leading our village until their own blood is spilled. And for this, the rest of us will suffer greatly. Do you understand what I'm telling you dearie?"

I nodded my head.

"I know you do. You are a smart girl I'm fully aware of that. That is why I asked you to come in here. My husband, your adopted father, has of yet to return home. They have him and soon they will come for me."

I gasped, shaking my head in protest.

"Listen to me darling," she murmured her words into my hair as she hugged my little body tightly to hers, "You are the only female child I have adopted. Do you know why that is?"

"No ma'am," I choked out. I was afraid, afraid of the men in masks and her words to me seemed as if she were telling me they would take her away as well. Tears were already brimming their way to the surface of my eyes as I listened intensely to what she was telling me.

She sighed again the heaviness weighing her down as she tried to explain, "Girls, well, in a sense they are worth more than boys. Not that those in charge will ever admit to this they prefer the notion that women are of little value. But have you ever noticed that they auction the girls off at a higher price than the boys?"

I paused contemplating what she was trying to tell me. Yes, I had noticed that but I was a child back then and the reasoning never really presented itself to me. The only logical thing I could think to say, I did in a very small voice, "Yes ma'am but some girls aren't. I noticed that. Mostly the older ones."

She hugged me tighter, "You are indeed a smart girl. Yes well that is because of the girl's physical condition. I understand darling that you are very young but I have to make sure you comprehended everything fully. Girls who have never been touched by a man are worth far more than the others. And men will pay anything for a girl unscathed do you understand?"

I nodded my head because while I was not sure of the exact meaning of her words I did not want to disappoint her.

As if reading into my mind she continued, "You may not understand everything I am telling you as of this moment but in time you will. Now then listen to me Sakura I have only a little money left. But is enough to send you to the Academy for the duration of six years, seven if you are very careful with the money I will give you."

"But," I started to protest, "The Academy is only for the boys of clan members. I'm a girl, and…I'm not even from a clan."

"You don't think I don't know that sweetie?" she patted my shoulder as if reassuring me, "You will have to pretend to be a boy from my own clan. There is no other way for you unless you rather become a slave. And trust me my sweet little flower not all masters are as kind as myself."

"What about the rest of them?"

I had been referring to my adoptive brothers because even though they were not my actual brothers they held an area of my heart in their hands. Just as it had been back then, it remains still so to this day. Unfortunately time often has a way of causing one to loose contact with those who are most important. As if a wave washing away the footsteps in the sand, life has a way of washing away even the most dear people to our hearts.

Her voice trembled from the turmoil she felt inside her soul, "I cannot afford to save them all. I will send the youngest to my cousin in the south. She like me, refuses to support this government that plagues us so drastically. But again like myself, her funds are running low and she can only take in one child. As for the twins, my husband has contact a group of men who are smuggling children in the land of water for a hefty price. The price, as high as it is, is well worth it because my husband's own brother lives there and has agreed to train them in ironworks. As for the rest, I will do my very best to find them places, but I must be completely honest my dear when I tell you that most likely they will be sent to the work camps mining for metals."

"Why me?" I murmured realizing just how lucky I was that she had chosen me to send to the Academy instead of one of the boys. Lucky, being a relative term if one understood just what kind of danger my life was being thrown into.

She released me, turning my small shoulders to face her in the darkness, "The life of a woman slave is not something I would like my worst enemies to endure. The Academy is the only way for you but you must understand the dangers you will face if you are found out."

She took my hands into her own, "If they find out you are a female they will execute you for treason."

I gulped.

"A life as a trained ninja can lead to a brighter future for you if you are not found out. You can make some money and get a passage to one of the neighboring nations."

"Leave the Leaf?" I murmured the fear of all she was telling me bubbling instead my chest waiting to exploded into a panic.

"Unless the current government is over thrown there is no Leaf."

Her words stunned me, burning themselves into my mind as if cut into my very skin with a knife. She trudged on carefully choosing her words so that she would not scare me, "You have a few years until you start to become a woman. Until then they will think you are nothing more than a boy as long as you don't reveal your womanhood. Today I will take you into the village and we will buy you the supplies you require for the school. I have already written the headmaster about your intelligence and paid for your tuition for the next six years including boarding and meals. It has taken up most of my fortune but I know you will not fail. You cannot."

"But-"

She cut me off before I could finish by placing her fingers to my lips, "I know that this is scary for you but you must look at the bigger picture. I have little less than two days maybe three at the most before they come for me. The others whom I have found a home for will be leaving in an hour. I must prepare you and strive to find a home for the rest if it is at all possible. You will be leaving the day after tomorrow for the school which begins the year in one week. I know everything is happening fast but I have no choice."

She got up from the bed and moved to her wooden desk at the end of the room. She flicked on her desk lamp flooding the room with a dim light from a dying bulb. Her hair, wiry from a night of no sleep, curled around her dark eyes. Wrinkles of exhaustion inhabited her face as she pulled out a folder, placing it in my hands. Cupping my chin in her hands she whispered, "Memorize all this by tonight. It is the information I have gathered for you so that you could go to the Academy. When all the information is as well known to you as if you have always known it burn it in the backyard. There can be no traces of it whatsoever."

I nodded my head unsure if I was capable of such a task but unwilling to admit my fears. She ran her fingers through my long hair that I adored so much before kneeling in front of me for the last time she spoke, "Things will not be easy for you but you must release any bonds you have to your old life. You must look, think, and act like a boy to convince them that you are what you say you are. Now then go study the paperwork. Later I will send for you and we will go get all the things you require."

I gripped the paperwork tightly in my hand as I stumbled out of her room unsure of what I was going to do. My mind was bewildered, as if nothing in the world would ever make sense again. When I found myself in the garden I settled under a weeping willow tree nestled between it's limb like roots. Looking up at the swaying branches that concealed me from anyone who might be looking, I started to cry. There was so many doubts that tortured my little heart as I opened the folder. To pretend to be something that I was not worried me to the extent of tears. I was no actress, and I sure as hell was not a clan member. I had no special gifts passed down from my family's line that could help me keep the truth hidden.

Inside the folder the paperwork was written neatly on heavy white paper with official stamps and seals to make things all the more real. It said my name was Kyo Takan and that I was born in the year of the Ram. I sighed at that small bit of information that would mean I was pretending to be two years younger than what I really was. The advantage was as the other boys matured in their faces and bodies while mine remain soft and child-like they would simply think it was due to the age difference. This gave me a small sense of relief, and so I read on. I was born to Isuma and Nobu Takan in a city from the north of the Leaf. My family perished in a fire sometime last year and was believed I had as well until I appeared on the steps of my uncle's home in the Leaf. Allowing the papers to slip from my fingers I stared at the ground in disbelief.

It was a lie.

I could feel it in my bones. The fire had killed the real Kyo I was sure of it. I knew even with all her influence and wealth that my mistress could not forge identification paperwork and clan membership seals. It was beyond her reach entirely especially now that all her wealth was slowly fading away. Leaning my head back on the trunk of the majestic tree I prayed for the soul of the real Kyo hoping that he had perished from the smoke instead of the flames. One of my deepest fears had always been to die in a fire, and to find out this child had was unsettling. Once my praying was finished I took up the papers one more time, and began to memorize them.

It was around noon before I was summoned back to her room. She was formally dressed with her long gray hair sweep over her back in a thick braid. Turning towards me she reached out her hand to take mine. The smile she gave me was weak as she began, her words not hiding the pain she felt, "You have never been to the market have you?"

"No ma'am," I replied quietly.

I never had any need to go into the city since she provided everything we needed herself. Her smile faded away, "I suppose not since I rarely go inside the city myself. The items you require cannot be given to you from my home. And since you are going to be using them you might as well see what each item is, where it is bought, and how much it costs. Remember Sakura, knowledge is the most powerful weapon one can obtain."

She waited for me to nod before adding, "The city is much different than the country. When we reach Konoha you cannot act as if you are at home. To them you are nothing more than a slave and as such you must act as if you are one. Never look at anyone, only the ground. When I command you, you must bow deeply before replying. Do not look at me and always say 'Yes Mistress'. If you do not it may rouse suspicion from the guards who will act without thought. The world is a cruel place, but someday hopefully things will change. Who knows, maybe you will be the one to change them, hm?"

"Me?" I was startled by her words.

"Why not?" she made her way to the door, "No one else has. Who's to say the first female ninja since the fourth Hokage would be the one to make the difference. To me there are no accidents, only fate."