Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Freedom's Lily

The memory is still blurry, but I remember my mom's warm hands hugging me close to her body. Her heart beat faster with fright and mine matched the tempo. I could smell the vile scent of blood, spilt blood. Someone was attacking the village. I didn't know who it was back then as I do now, but I was still scared. Frightened would be the right word, actually. I was maybe seven; eight possibly. I don't remember exactly. I turned to face my twin brother and saw the fear in his eyes. I knew in my heart that they must have matched my own.

A man walked up to us. He had long, black hair. I knew he was crazy at that moment; insane actually, and that fact would probably haunt me for the rest of my life. The man picked me up by my armpits, my mother crying out in protest. Something wet stained my cheeks and I knew I was crying. The man looked me over a couple of times and then, satisfied, took me with him.

So how long has it been since then? Twelve years? I didn't know. I lost count a while ago.

The door was opened and there stood a man with a familiar face. He had white hair and glasses, but I'm not going to go all hopeful and all and say that this was my childhood friend that had come to save me. He wasn't. I had scene this man probably every single day since I got here. He was the man who rarely spoke to me unless it was to tell me that his boss wanted to see me. The only other time I ever had contact with him was when he brought me food. His boss rarely ever wanted to see me, of course, because I wasn't special. I hadn't been the one born with my clan's Kekkei Genkai. My brother had been the one born with it. I was just a misfit; nothing special.

"Orochimaru-sama wants to see you," mumbled the man as if I was nothing but garbage sitting outside in the rain. No, probably not, since I doubted that he would ever bother to speak to garbage.

With a nod, I stood up, the bottom of my dirty, disheveled kimono brushing against the floor. I walked out of the cell and Kabuto closed the door behind me. He led me out of the dungeon and into the room with the crazy, black haired man known as Orochimaru-sama.

The white haired man, Kabuto, kneeled down onto the ground, signaling to me to follow his lead. When I had finally kneeled down and he was satisfied, he said, "Orochimaru-sama, I brought the girl."

"Very good. I have a task for both of you," said Orochimaru, a creepy grin appearing on his lips.

"Her? But she could betray us!" hissed Kabuto, standing up.

"That's why it's your task to make sure that she doesn't."

Kabuto sighed, giving up, and said, "Orochimaru-sama, I apologize for my outburst. What is the task?"

Orochimaru grinned his psycho grin and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "Bring me Sasuke Uchiha!" hissed my lord.

I tied a sash around my waist with a sigh. I was leaving this hell hole. It would feel good to be outdoors again. I could have sworn that my skin had become as white as a ghost! I probably looked terrible before Kabuto insisted I look a bath. My hair was a rat's nest and I probably smelled really bad, too.

I walked out of the bathroom and came face to face with Kabuto. "You done?" he asked impatiently. I nodded in response. He nodded back to me and then led me away. The hallway was dark, but my eyes had a long time to adjust so I could see just fine. Dust lined the walls and small bugs ran around our feet. I could have sworn I even saw a mouse!

We came to a door and Kabuto pushed it open. The light came through the door all at once and I cringed. The sunlight was too much! My eyes protested in agony as they begged me to run back to my cell which seemed nice and safe at that moment.

"Come on!" hissed Kabuto, pushing me forward. "It's just sunlight!"

I nodded. It was just sunlight. It couldn't hurt me. I walked out the door and was greeted by the outside world. There was a sweet scent in the air. Dew clung onto the grass, birds chirped in the sky. I kneeled onto the ground and saw ants running through the grass with food, hurrying home. Everything was as I remembered it and more. It was so beautiful. I wanted to start running and never stop. I knew if I did that, though, Kabuto would make sure I didn't get far. Besides the fact that the sunlight still burned my eyes, being outside felt wonderful.

That night, we camped out under the stars, me staring in wonder at how beautiful they were. I finished my second helping of food and put down my bowl. A small burp escaped my lips, but I thought nothing of it. I noticed from the corner of my eye that Kabuto had stared at me for a second and then went back to his food. Eager to start up a conversation, I said, "You're a pretty good cook." I really didn't understand why I had picked that as a conversation starter – he hadn't even made it – but I couldn't take it back now. Naturally, I got no response. "You don't talk much, do you?" I asked, once again, gaining no response.

It was quiet for a while until Kabuto asked me, "What is your name?"

"Huh?" I asked, thinking that I might have mistaken what he had said.

"What is your name?" repeated Kabuto, his tone indifferent.

I tried to remember what I name was. I dug deep into my memory, shuffling way back to before Orochimaru had taken me away from my family. I tried my hardest to remember, but I just couldn't no matter how much I tried. I hadn't heard my name in over a decade. "I can't remember," I said, answering him.

Kabuto nodded and put down his food. He then stood up, stretched, and walked inside the tent he had set up. I sighed and stretched out right there on the ground, peering up at the stars above. The outdoors calmed me and in seconds I was fast asleep.

We woke up the next morning and started on breakfast. During breakfast, Kabuto pulled out a headband with a familiar symbol. I tried to remember it's importance, but, like my name, I couldn't and my memory failed me.

"Put this on," ordered Kabuto. I had a lot of questions to ask about the headband, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I took the headband, my finger tips brushing against his hand, and tied it into my hair. Kabuto stood up and said, "Let's go." I nodded, brushed off my shorts, and then went to help Kabuto take down the tent.

"Kabuto-san," I said.

"Hmm?" he asked.

"We're tracking Sasuke Uchiha-san?" I said. Even though Sasuke was six or seven years younger than me, I still felt like the formality was needed. He was Orochimaru's goal, after all.

"What about him?" asked Kabuto.

"Well, I was kind of wondering what Orochimaru-sama was going to do with him."

Kabuto shrugged. "That's up to Orochimaru-sama."

"Oh. I would hate it if someone else had to put up with what I had to. It doesn't sit well in my stomach. Twelve years was a long time and I expect to be locked up once again when we return."

"I have a feeling Orochimaru-sama won't bother locking you up again," said Kabuto.

"Huh?" I asked, turning to face the white haired man. Kabuto didn't answer and it was quiet once again. We finished packing the tent and set off once again towards Konoha. The birds chirped overhead. I looked around to try and spot some, but Kabuto ordered me to keep my eyes strait. Leaves crunched under my feet as I walked. It was good to be free.

The forest got denser as we kept moving. Pretty soon, the leaves made a canopy overhead and hid most of the sun. Only little rays passed through. My throat became dry and begged for water, but I did my best to ignore it. Best not to hold up the mission even for a few seconds for my needs. After a while, Kabuto said, "Let's take a break." I put down the backpack I was holding and stretched my arms to the sky, glad to be free of the weight. When Kabuto looked at me with a puzzled look, I put down my arms.

"What?" I asked him, turning my head to the side. Kabuto shook his head and mumbled something. I pouted and took out my water bottle; taking a long drink. I sat down to wait until we would start moving again. Kabuto slung his backpack over his shoulder and signaled me to follow. I sighed and started walking through the forest again. As I walked, I lifted my arm up and wiped sweat from my forehead. It was getting kind of hot and I had started to feel the sweat that caked my body. As the sun was about to set, I saw a gate with the same symbol that was on my headband.

"Is that Konoha?" I asked, knowing the name of the village we were headed.

Kabuto nodded. "That is. Let's camp out one more night and come up with a plan." I grumbled, but started to set up camp. When I was finished, I sat down to eat, but when I took a look at the food, I couldn't bring even one piece to my mouth.

"I'm not hungry," I said and excused myself, walking into the tent. When I was curled up under the covers, I head Kabuto walk into the tent and lie down next to me, his back brushing against mine. I blushed; it had been awhile since I had been this close to another person.

I woke up the next morning to find myself alone in the tent. I sat up and yawned; stretching my arms as far as they would go. I tried to calm my hair down with a brush, but I soon gave up and walked out of the tent. I saw Kabuto, putting supplies in a bag.

"Hey," I said, a small smile on my face. "What are you doing?" Stupid question.

"Repacking," he answered.

"Oh," I said, a small pout appearing on my face. Kabuto finished packing and stood up.

"Come on," he said.

"What about the tent?" I asked.

"Leave it. We won't need it for a while."

I nodded and followed him away from the camp. "Kabuto-san, what are we going to do in Konoha?" I asked.

"There is going to be a Chunin Exam. We're going to try to capture Sasuke Uchiha during it," explained Kabuto.

"Oh," I said, "but wait, Kabuto-san! I'm not a ninja!"

Kabuto shrugged. "I suppose I can help you somewhat and teach you a bit."

I nodded and felt heat rising into my cheeks. "I would like that very much, Kabuto-san."

"By any chance, have you remembered your name yet?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Sorry. No. I haven't."

Kabuto stopped walking and turned to me, picking off a small flower from the ground. He reached over with one hand and untied the headband. With the other, he stuck the flower behind my ear. "Well, until you do remember your name, I think you should go by Sayuri."

"Sayuri? Why Sayuri?" I asked.

"It means small lily." He said in that indifferent tone of his, but I didn't care. It was…well, sweet. "Sayuri-chan, be free," he said and walked away. I stayed rooted to the spot for a while, the wind blowing my hair. Suddenly, I felt the weight of the flower gone from my hair. I looked up into the sky and saw it soar away through the air. When it was out of sight, I started running, not caring where I was headed. It didn't matter, anyway.

I was finally free.

THE END

A/N:Rasko is back! Yes, it's true. No, I wasn't dead. I just took some time off from fanfiction to work on nanowrimo, but now I'm back. Of course, I had to come back to a Naruto One Shot. -slaps self-

This was requested by .Death of quizilla. I apoligize if Kabuto is OOC. I'm not a big fan of his and I usually don't pay attention to him when I read the manga. Well, I do, but not close enough to know exactly how to protray him.

I hope to continue working on Cards and Alleys and have a lot of inspiration for it, but first I want to finish a couple of overdue requests. So if anyone who is a fan of that story is reading this, don't worry. I will continue it.

Please review. I want to know what you think.