Author's note:
Hello there! Here's my second project. Geishas and shinobis, a delightful combination. I uploaded the prologue just to check if you guys like it.
Reviews are kindly welcome, I'd love to hear your opinions. Continue or delete?
It's a warm spring day. The soft sunlight baths the okiya, ther rooms are silent since the maiko are still sleeping peacefully. There's only one girl awake, the sound of the samishen fills the beautiful garden. Her long hair falls down her back, a cascade of delicate cherry blossom waves frames her heartshaped face. Bright green eyes look down at the instrument, like a kitten would look a toy. And she actually resembles a cat, an elegant, pretty cat. But if you look at her closely, a nostalgic aura embraces her little body. How can an eighteen year old girl look so sad?
"Sakura-sama. Okaa-san told me to find you." A female voice surprises her.
A young shikomi is looking at her with almost reverence and her pleading eyes bring a small smile to the pink haired girl's rosy lips.
"Tell the maiko to come to my room. And bring my crimson kimono."
The young girl nods and hurries down the corridor, disappearing inside a room. Sakura gets up lazily. She needs to get prepared for tonight.
While Chiyo and Izumi bring the clothes and the make-up to her boudoir, Sakura remembers her phase as a mere apprentice. It was difficult, to complete all her tasks and have a relaxing time the same day. More that 5 hours of sleep was a dream she never achieved. But unlike the clumsy maikos that get to help her today, she was smart and hard-worker, and that won her a chance to learn from her nee-san, the legendary geisha Konan. Sakura shakes her head, amused by her thoughts. "If only Konan-sama could see me now." Her nee-san only made one mistake -she fell in love. And geishas are forbidden to fall in love with someone that is not her danna, the man that maintains them.
"Sakura, hurry up. The carriage won't wait for you."
Tsunade-sama, the Okaa-san of her okiya, is leaning against the doorframe. She's a strong woman, and her permanent scowl shows how severe she can be with weak girls -her beautiful and young face is only a diversion from her true power. It's not rare to see hard punishements on the courtyard to girls who didn't take care enough to bring her sake in good conditions or because they spoke in a louder voice than she allowed them. Tsunade-sama is feared, but Sakura is charming enough to control her bad moods.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Sakura nods.
She brushes her long hair and braids it in a loose but perfect bun, embroiding it with floral hairpins. Her face gets even paler when she applies the foundation, since it's made of talcum powder. She uses a khol pencil to draw black lines around her green eyes, and her lips wear a bright red color. To finish it, a bit of blusher on her cheeks. That's the way that a geisha gets ready to impress her clients. She smooths the skirt of her crimson kimono and smiles to the atonished maiko.
"I hope you learned what I did. One day you will be the ones looking like this at your mirror."
Most of the girls that live in the okiya, learning to become a geisha one day, are orphans, just like Sakura. She was extremely lucky to be discovered by Tsunade Senju, the granddaughter of Hashirama -the Senju leader. Who knew that a little scared girl would be so suitable to learn medical ninjutsu?
"Sakura-sama, the carriage is ready!" A shikomi announces.
And then, the youngest and most beautiful geisha in the Land of Fire leaves her okiya. What people might not know is that this cute girl is not so defenseless. There are two daggers tied to her tights and a few smoke bombs in a bag hidding inside her obi. Her hair is pink but she knows how to hide it with a henge no jutsu. Sakura, 'The Nightingale', is secretly under the protection of the Senju clan. And she has a mission for tonight.
"I heard you got hurt in the battle." Uchiha Madara's voice is apathetic. His eyes lazily drift through a map like he's searching something.
"I'm sorry, Uncle, but our sensor division didn't tell us in time. There was nothing we could do."
"Nothing you say, huh." Madara lets out a bitter, dry laugh, and narrows his eyes dangerously. "I knew your brother could have done it better, but I still trusted in you." He lets his callous fist fall on the table. "And yet you lose another village."
"Uncle, I-"
"You are on probation for two months from this moment on. I won't risk another battle just because you think you are experienced enough. Dismissed."
He then leaves his uncle's office, his fists clenched tightly, a scowl on his face. Why does it always end on his brother? Since he was a kid, Itachi was always the best. And he was tired of living under his shadow. Why is it so hard to show everybody that he is a great shinobi?
He's the second best shinobi in the Uchiha family, and he has proven it. His doujutsu, his taijutsu, his genjutsu, his ninjutsu. A three hour daily training keeps him strong and agile. His name is feared in the battlefield and every other Uchiha respects him. He's so angry that he involuntarily activates his Sharingan. Being an Uchiha sometimes is a tough job.
When he was little, he used to envy the common civilians. They lived peacefully, rising rice and having children, maintaning a cozy house, being friends with the rest of the village. But he was born in a shinobi family, and he would never regret it. Uchiha's love their family, and they would do anything to protect each other.
Uchiha Sasuke is the second son of Uchiha Fugaku, and he is obliged to be perfect. He might be one day the Head of the Family.
The Uchiha's compound is huge. It takes him fifteen minutes to reach the training grounds. There are his cousins Obito and Shisui laughing calmly and throwing shurikens to a post like if they are playing. And he secretly wishes he could be like them. They don't come from the principal family and they can take their lives easier. Obito got engaged to a kunoichi two months ago and he seemed the happiest person in the world. Sasuke couldn't even dream about that. He would end up marrying a random female cousin by Madara's order to keep safe the Sharingan legacy. Two years more and he will be twenty, the ideal age to get married in his family.
He's not in the mood to talk to anyone so he just decides to keep walking, until a well-known voice surprises him.
"Sasuke, why are you so angry?"
His older brother, the perfect shinobi, is looking at him with concern in his eyes. Both brothers have similar appearances. Black hair, onyx eyes and pale skin. While Itachi prefers it long and tied on a ponytail, Sasuke was born with natural spiky hair on the back of his head, and he lets his long bangs frame his handsome face.
"Did Uncle talk to you?"
"Hn." Sasuke looks away, he's not interested on talking.
"I just had a conversation with him."
Sasuke narrows his eyes. "What is all this about?" He knows that Itachi loves him and that he has always tried to make his life easier, but Sasuke doesn't trust Madara. After Fugaku and Mikoto -his parents- died on the endless war versus the Senju clan, his uncle Madara took the power again and the battles turned even more vicious. Madara is a person born to fight -as long as he gets what he needs, he doesn't care about the method.
"He put me under probation." Sasuke can taste the bitterness of his words.
"But I got to make a deal with him." Itachi smiles when Sasuke's eyes widen. "You got a mission tonight. If you succeed, you will be back to the battlefield."