Soutou "Struggle"

A/N: Welcome to part two of my trilogy! If you are a new reader, I highly recommend you check out my profile and read part one, entitled "Shinri" , so you won't be lost. For my veteran readers, this is the part where stuff starts getting super fun. Enjoy!

Chapter One: In Search of Paper

Struggle - to contend resolutely with a task or problem, strive.

It was raining, again. The day after Sakura and Kattan had left the battle grounds that had been their temporary camp in search of a village, the cloud filled sky had finally cracked open and deposited a constant deluge on the dry earth. In Fire County as far south as they were, there was no winter, only a rainy season, and the fact that it had been raining nonstop for nearly a week told Sakura that they were caught in the beginning of it.

Sakura's rain cloak had proved invaluable after all, as had the supplies they had scavenged from the destroyed camp. Unfortunately, after a week of travel and no sign of civilization, the pair's food was running low, even as Sakura supplemented their diet with her knowledge of edible plants. Combined, Sakura's demanding chakra and Kattan's growing puppy belly had gone through as much food as would have taken normal travelers twice their size twice as long to eat.

Sakura scanned the sky, and quickly realized that the storm meant to worsen, and she signaled to Kattan that they needed to find shelter quickly. The intelligent little puppy understood even the most cryptic of Sakura's instructions, and immediately picked up the pace. It was odd, Sakura realized, how quickly they had formed a bond of trust and already were able to communicate to each other as if they had been together for years. Sakura credited the trust to the nature of their first meeting, and the fact that they had both risked their own lives to save the other. How well they communicated, however, was still a bit of a miracle to her.

It didn't take long for the pair to locate a shallow cavern in the rocky landscape, just in time for the rain to increase to waterfall force. They slipped inside, pleased to find it otherwise uninhabited and hunkered down together for warmth. Kattan was soaked to the bone, her soft downy fur hanging limply from her shivering frame. She snuggled down in the rain coat against Sakura's leg, and after a few minutes had warmed up enough to fall asleep. Sakura giggled to herself at Kattan's soft puppy snores and squeaks as she dreamed. To occupy herself, Sakura stared into the curtain of rain at the mouth of their little shelter.

She could tell from the landscape that they were nearing the western coast because of the thinning forests. The nearby coastline was rocky and predominantly sheer cliffs, making the likelihood of finding a seaside fishing village low. As they traveled east along the coast, however, the cliffs would taper off to the marshes and sandy expanses of the beaches near Tea Country. That would be the most likely area to find a fishing village, but it was still at least a few days away. Sakura wasn't sure they had a few days, especially as the edible vegetation became sparser. Without enough food, Sakura wouldn't be able to keep up her chakra reserves.

She didn't just need chakra for traveling. Most of the chakra she recovered went straight into healing her old wounds and scars. It had taken some effort, but her injuries had already faded to minor scars. Even her worst wound, her right foot, had healed, and Sakura had managed to grow most of her missing flesh back as well, using her left foot as a template for what her right foot should look like.

The theory for the medical jutsu that could re-grow missing parts had actually been developed by Shizune, but neither she nor Sakura had many opportunities to test the jutsu, since few patients had come into the hospital missing chunks of flesh or entire limbs.

Few patients who needed it wanted the procedure done though, because it was incredibly painful. It required using chakra to injure the body so the medic could more correctly guide the healing process that would have otherwise healed deformed. It was tedious and tiring work, especially if the wound was old. Sakura had used the jutsu on herself every few days because every bit of healing made it easier to walk, so it was worth the chakra and pain.

Lately though, she had been saving her energy, instead of using it almost immediately on medical jutsu, and her chakra was fully recovered as far as she could tell. It was empowering, but it wouldn't last long if she wasn't careful with her food supply.

Unable to do anything to improve their situation at the moment, Sakura resigned herself to her education. She hadn't given up on the scrolls, even if they had been taken. She daily, at every opportune moment, recited the contents of Miharu's scrolls to herself to assure that she didn't forget the jutsu. After several repetitions of the information, Sakura was satisfied that she remembered everything, and pulled out Lee's book to read.

In the last few days she had found the time to read it, and had since reread the chapter on the first gate, and read the information about the second gate. She figured that it wouldn't hurt to try to learn to open the third gate, especially since her strength had largely returned to her.

Sakura flipped through the pages of Lee's book and began to read.

The third chakra gate, the Gate of Life, or Seimon, is located near the top of the spinal cord. The attribute it increases is the response time of your nervous system. Because of the added strain and the response of the sympathetic nervous system, blood flow is increased, and the skin turns red. This is the last gate I can open, but opening more is very possible, as Gai-sensei is capable of it. The first two gates only cause slight damage, and you should still be able to walk or even fight after closing the gates. The third gate, however, does a disproportionate amount of damage to the body, rendering you almost immobile after closing it. Because it affects the nervous system, it also causes great pain while the gate is open, making it a very difficult gate to master.

The white noise in the background faded slightly, and Sakura looked up in curiosity. Just as she suspected, the rain had slowed to a drizzle. It was still daylight, and she decided to risk more rain in the hope of stumbling upon a village or at least better shelter before nightfall.

She gently shook Kattan awake. The little wolf yawned and scooted out from under the cloak. She cocked her head at Sakura, who was tucking her book away, then shook herself awake. She pranced out of the cave and into the woods without any instruction from her human companion. Dusting off her cloak and bags, Sakura smiled as she followed Kattan back into the rain.

Night was approaching rapidly with the help of the cloud choked sky, but Sakura and Kattan had yet to find a suitable camp site. The landscape had changed dramatically in the space of a few hours, and now all of the large trees had been replaced by thorny shrubs and massive boulders. Sakura couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her, but she was certain that she would have been able to see the coast had it been daylight. The soft moisture soaked breeze carried the tangy smell of salt water as it blew across the landscape from the south.

Sakura noticed Kattan pause and sniff the air suddenly. Something had caught her interest. Sure enough, when the breeze shifted slightly to the west, Sakura could smell something new. Smoke, cut wood, and tilled earth. The smells of a village. Sakura glanced excitedly down at Kattan and the wolf yelped back in joy.

The pair set off running haphazardly in the darkness to the east, both occasionally slipping on the wet stony ground, but both too excited to care. A village! Sakura had never thought she could be so happy over something so simple as a bed to sleep in and food to eat. It was ridiculous.

Ahead of them, orange glowing lights began to pierce through the darkness, and slowly the silhouette of the village began to appear against the dark sky. It was a tiny coastal town, one that likely rarely received visitors, but it would do. The structures were all wooden, with the occasional bit of smooth cobble stone for chimneys and walkways. Everything was painted a cool soothing shade of blue or white, though time and the elements had worn most of it away. It was a peaceful little town, which suited Sakura perfectly.

The cobbled streets were mostly empty by the time Kattan and Sakura reached them, but there was still some activity around the Inn. About a dozen people had gathered, and were straining to look inside the bar at the lower level of the building, as if they were vying for the chance to catch a glance of a celebrity. Sakura could care less about that sort of thing, so she and Kattan continued into the old but well kept looking building. The pair pushed themselves past the small crowd at the entrance and ventured up to the front desk.

An old woman greeted Sakura cheerfully, "Good evening sweetie, are you here for a room?"

"Yes, please," Sakura answered politely. The Inn keeper flipped through the room record and a bit of worry danced suddenly across her smile creased features.

"Is everything okay?" Sakura inquired.

"Oh, yes. Yes, dear. It's just," the woman paused as if considering her words carefully, "There's only one room left, and the bathrooms are communal for each floor. On that floor, two gentlemen are staying."

Sakura waved off her concern, "Oh, that's alright! Really, I don't mind. I'd sleep on the roof if you let me, at this point."

The woman laughed a little, and took in Sakura's haggard, road weary appearance before nodding and retrieving the key, "Alright, here's your key. Up those stairs and yours is on the right."

"How much do I owe you?" Sakura began to rummage through the small pouch of money she had stolen from the dead bandits.

"No, no, don't worry sweetie. It's on the house, you just rest up now, you hear?" the woman gave Sakura a warm motherly smile before returning to her work in an adjacent room.

Flattered, and eternally grateful, Sakura and Kattan bounded up the stairs and into their new room. It was a humble, but excessively clean little place. There was not just a bed with fresh white linens, but also a rustic looking desk and a small dresser for Sakura's things. The bathroom, as the Innkeeper had noted, was outside at the end of the hall, and much to Sakura's delight, unoccupied.

In fact, the entire floor seemed empty of any chakra signatures, meaning that Sakura's new floor mates were likely out for the evening. It certainly helped her feel more comfortable as she peeled off her dirty and blood stained clothes and slipped into the white cast iron bath tub.

The hot water was infinitely soothing, but Sakura was looking forward too much to the bed to languish in the hot water for too long. She shampooed and straightened out her long pink hair, twice for good measure, and then quickly plopped Kattan into the water next to her and gave the dirty looking brown-black pup a good scrubbing as well. Kattan grunted and groaned in protest, and as soon as Sakura let her loose on the bathroom floor, she shook herself vigorously and shot like a soggy black bullet back into the bedroom.

Sakura finished her routine by brushing her hair and teeth, and with one of the provided snuggly white robes wrapped around herself, she strolled casually back to the bedroom for the best nights sleep she could remember having.

The muted grey sunlight seeping through the lacy white curtains told Sakura that, while it was morning, it was also still raining. It was a weather pattern Sakura would have to get used to it seemed. But it wasn't the dull sunlight that had woke her. Suddenly, from the hallway, she heard again the sound that had disturbed her sleep. The Innkeeper was talking to someone, a man. His voice was deep, calm and polite, but there was something about his aura that made Sakura realize that he was angry about something. The Innkeeper was trying to placate him.

"I'm sorry sir, but there was only that room available, and she's just a little civilian girl, and she'll probably leave before tonight."

"Still, I am disappointed that my request for a private floor went unheeded."

"I can refund you your money…"

There was a long pause, and Sakura could feel the aura of the man reaching into her room. He was searching for her chakra, which could only mean that he was a Shinobi. Sakura quickly feigned sleep and suppressed her chakra. After a few minutes, he seemed satisfied, and Sakura felt his aura begin to walk towards the stairs. She heard him respond to the Innkeeper, his anger completely forgotten.

"That won't be necessary."

Once the bewildered Innkeeper had left as well, Sakura hopped out of bed and began to pack her things. There was no sense in staying and causing trouble for the old woman. She gently roused Kattan from sleep. The little wolf yawned and watched Sakura pack for a little while before jumping down from her spot at the foot of the bed.

"Sorry, Ka-chan, but we have to get going. We need to find paper, I'm going to buy some fresh clothes and food, and then we have to get going again," Sakura folded her last set of clean clothes and stuffed them back into her pack.

The clothes she had been wearing when she arrived were unsalvageable, and they were ugly, so she had thrown them out. Not that the baggy civilian men's clothes she was wearing now were any prettier, but at least they were clean. She tightened the waist rope around the pants until the fabric was so bunched up that it looked like she was wearing a burlap sack. The sleeves of the off-white shirt were almost six inches too long, so she rolled them up to her elbows to keep them out of the way. She pulled out a rolled up bandana and tucked her hair back with it, so the rain wouldn't make it stick to her face or obstruct her vision. Sakura's younger self would have been ashamed of her current appearance, but there was no one here to impress, and everything simply came down to survival.

"It's not safe," Sakura continued as she tossed on her rain cloak and shouldered her bags, "to stay in one place for too long, especially when there are other Shinobi around."

Kattan seemed to agree or at least understand, and she followed Sakura out of the cozy Inn without complaint.

It was noon before Sakura gave up. She and Kattan had been looking for paper all day, and no one seemed to have any. It was a luxury, it seemed, that most parts of the world simply went without. The few people that knew anything told Sakura that sometimes merchants bring some paper or scrolls to sell, but it's always expensive, and no one had been by to sell any in months.

Sakura had instead managed to find some clothes in her size that she liked, but she didn't put them on, since the rain would just ruin them. They were civilian clothes, and not cut out for the potentially rough life of a Shinobi, but they were something other than ugly men's clothes, so Sakura had been willing to spend a sizable chunk of her stolen money on them.

She also refilled their rations, almost for free, since the vendor had taken pity on Sakura. It seemed to happen a lot, and Sakura wondered if the people of the town were just that nice, or if she looked just that pathetic. Maybe it was both.

The only place that they hadn't visited yet was a small but bustling tea house on the edge of town. When Sakura approached, hoping to buy something to warm herself up before hitting the cold damp road, she noticed a crowd similar to the one that had been gathered around the bar when Sakura had first arrived in town.

She peeked inside with her chakra, and found, not so surprisingly, the chakra that belonged to the man from the Inn and another huge chakra that made Sakura's skin crawl a little. They must have been someone important if they had not only requested a private floor, but also drew crowds wherever they went. Part of her wanted to avoid the area completely, just in case the men were trouble, but part of her was just as curious as the townspeople, and besides, she had wanted to buy some tea.

"Come on Ka-chan," she motioned in the direction of the tea house, "We'll just order from the front, and we'll be fast, so no worries."

As she pushed herself past the crowd towards the front of the shop she caught pieces of their conversations.

"… mercenaries?"

"… powerful Shinobi…"

"Wow, look at that weapon!"

"… don't get visitors like that often…"

Sakura reached the small bar area at the front of the tea house and addressed the waitress. The young woman seemed lost in staring at the odd visitors around the corner of the bar, out of Sakura's sight.

"Excuse me," Sakura waved as the girl startled and turned around.

"Oh, gosh! Sorry! What can I get for you," she straightened her apron and took Sakura's order.

"Just a two green teas, one with just a pinch of sugar, and the other, "Sakura pointed at Kattan, who had managed to scramble up onto one of the low stools and was wagging her butt happily at the waitress, "half whole cream and no sugar."

The waitress reached out, patted Kattan cheerfully, and cooed, "Coming right up!"

The next minute, she was back, and Sakura sat calmly sipping her hot tea while Kattan eagerly lapped up her warm milk tea from a shallow bowl on the bar. The crowd was beginning to get bored of gawking, and many had gone back to their lives, giving Sakura the opportunity to peek around the bar at the men. She took Kattan's empty bowl and, pretending to be looking for the waitress, she rounded the corner. What she saw made her nearly drop the bowl in shock.

The girl was timidly waiting on two men sitting across from each other at a long wooden table. Two men, wearing black cloaks with red clouds. Akatsuki.

One of the men, the one with the scary chakra and equally scary sword, was huge. Both wore straw hats with white cloth strips which concealed their faces from anyone who wasn't at eye level. Sakura had never seen any member of Akatsuki in person, but based on what she knew, she was inclined to avoid them.

"Oh! Sorry! Can I get you something else?" the young waitress addressed Sakura, to her horror, but the two S-class Shinobi didn't seem to notice. Sakura fought for composure and willed her voice to speak as if she had no idea who the two men were.

"Ka-chan would like a refill," she held out the empty bowl, "and then, just the check."

She seemed to have fooled the enemy Shinobi sufficiently, since both seemed engrossed in their food still. Well, the big one was engrossed in his food, the other, was…

Sakura held back a squeal of excitement. The other was writing something down, on paper.

"Paper, paper. He has paper. He has paper." Sakura wanted so badly for the men to suddenly become someone else, so she could walk over and ask for some paper. No, no, there was no way. She would look for paper at the next town.

"The next town, where paper is a luxury, which no one has?"

The waitress walked over, took the empty bowl from Sakura, and returned to the front bar. Sakura didn't turn to follow her. If she didn't find paper soon, she would start forgetting parts of the jutsu, and her opportunity to help her precious people would be lost forever. There was no time to be a coward, her mother, her friends, her village deserved better.

"They have no idea who I am, they have no reason to do anything to me, they haven't hurt any villagers…yet. If I offer money, maybe he'll sell me some. Gods, what am I doing?"

Sakura straightened her ugly baggy clothes, suddenly very aware of and slightly embarrassed by her appearance.

Calmly, nonchalantly, as casually as she could muster, she strolled over to the men, pointed, and exclaimed as if she had just noticed it, "Oh! Paper! I've been looking for some!"

Both Shinobi turned to give the new girl standing, by all appearances, fearlessly at the end of their table their full attention. The dim light of the tea house kept their faces shrouded in shadow, which she was secretly grateful for. Sakura turned slightly to her right to address the smaller man directly and kept talking as if chatting with a long lost friend.

"I would be eternally grateful if you would be able to spare some, even just a little…" she trailed off as the Akatsuki set down the pen he was holding and reached into the pack at his side. He pulled out three empty scrolls, the only ones he had, and a pen, and set them on the edge of the table directly in front of Sakura.

Sakura reached out and slowly took the items from the table and tucked them inside her own bag. She beamed happily, though inside she was confused as hell, "Is it really that easy?"

"Thank you… uh, how much do you want-"

"Sit."

Sakura jumped visibly at the sudden sound. His voice was soft and calm, but it had a layer of power that made Sakura realize that his word wasn't a request, but a command. The larger man cocked his head slightly in confusion at the man across from him, but he remained silent.

"I…uh," Sakura pointed towards the exit, "I have to-"

"Sit."

His tone was firmer the second time, and Sakura could see that continued refusal would be a bad idea. The man slowly moved his bag from the bench, making room for Sakura to sit next to him, and, hoping to avoid making a scene that could endanger the villagers, she finally complied with the order.

As Sakura took her seat, uncomfortably close to the dangerous S-class criminal, he smoothly pulled a plate of dango in front of her, as if offering her some of the food. More interested in preserving the peace than her own dignity or pride, she picked up a stick of the sweet dumplings.

"Oh, thank you," she ate slowly and carefully. The possibility that the food was poisoned had crossed her mind as the Akatsuki reached out for the tea pot and poured her a hot cup of oolong.

"I can metabolize most common poison," she reassured herself as she slowly took a tiny sip of the tea. Her senses hadn't revealed any additives to the food, and after a few minutes of silence, Sakura realized that the food was untainted.

"What is he doing? Why is he insisting that I sit here and eat his food and drink his tea?"

The waitress was obviously equally perplexed when she came back over to attend to her lingering guests.

"Just keep the tea and dango coming," the larger man sighed into his cold tea, obviously exasperated and bored.

"And your guest…?" the waitress gestured towards Sakura.

"Hime-chan is having what we're having," the man snorted mockingly.

The waitress's eyes grew large in shock. Worried that she had taken him literally, Sakura hurriedly shrugged and mouthed across the table at her, "I'm not a princess!"

Puzzled, the poor waitress turned to retrieve yet another order of tea and dango.

Sakura was becoming impatient with the odd and unexplained behavior of the Akatsuki men, so she hurriedly made an attempt to leave. Before she could finish standing, however, the smaller man to her right reached up and gently restrained her by her forearm. She could have easily pried herself free, but his action was accompanied by another command.

"Sit." The tone was impressively subtle, but he was starting to sound a little irritated.

"That makes two of us buddy," Sakura wanted to yank herself free and slap him across the face, but she simply defied him and stayed standing.

It had occurred to her earlier that a repeat incident like what had happened with the bandit and the mercenary was likely in this situation, since the two criminal Shinobi had no other reason to be interested in a poor disheveled looking pink haired little civilian girl. It was a scenario that Sakura was determined to avoid. She would fight her way out of it or die trying if she had to. Unfortuantely, neither man had made any indication whatsoever for the reason for her continued presence, and Sakura was unsure that starting a fight was the best idea yet.

After a few minutes of tense silence the man spoke again, his voice carrying an almost undetectable dangerous edge to it that made Sakura want to rip out of his grip and run.

But what he said had her rooted to the spot in sheer terror.

"Sit. Sakura."

"No, no, he knows my name!" numb with shock, she allowed herself to be pulled back down to the bench. Her heart felt like it was doing back flips as she struggled for composure.

She wracked her brain for any way he could have heard her name, something logical, something not connected to Konoha. Did he recognize her from the Inn? The Inn registry kept guest names, but she hadn't paid, so she didn't have to sign her name. Did she tell her name to anyone in town? No, she wasn't stupid enough to leave a calling card like that. Then when? How?

Sakura had miraculously managed to keep a calm exterior in spite of her growing fear, and in a feat of utter daring, she chanced a curious glance up at the face of her demanding host. The glance instantly became a staring contest as her horrified green eyes made contact with the unmistakable swirling red Sharingan of Uchiha Itachi.

A/N: Oohh, creepy, what's he thinking? We'll have to wait and see next chapter! This part is slated to be only ten chapters, but they'll be longer and more will happen in each one. This chapter is actually a little short. But that means it will take me a little longer to update. Next, I'll be working on 'Hesitation' before the next chapter of this story, so keep an eye out for that. Thanks for all of the feed back on part one, and thanks in advance for letting me know what you think of 'Soutou'!