Chapter 1
A single drop of dew slid down a viridian leaf, gathering momentum as it picked up other specks of water. It eventually reached the tip of its green platform and hung there momentarily, hesitating and unsure, before finally disconnecting silently. This particular drop fell with a soft plip onto the scuffed metal surface of a ninja's headband. It found its way into a deep gash that ran through the metal, and rolled along this crevice until dripping out the other side.
Sakura felt the drop run down the side of her head and shook her messy hair with a yawn. She was sitting at ease in a high tree branch, with hands clasped behind her head, gazing almost wistfully at the clear sky overhead, watching the rising sun chase away the chilly dawn clouds. The sweet smells of early Spring caressed her senses pleasantly, making the rogue nin wish she was in a more comfortable spot, so as to better watch the sun catch the dew. This was her favorite time of day, when the world sparkled freshly and everything was untainted and pure.
While the sky grew lighter, Sakura tumbled down into her thoughts.
She was still unable to wipe Konoha from her mind in the two months since her departure, because she'd always loved her village growing up. It was the only life she knew, and this abrupt change called 'freedom' was a double-edged sword. Sakura could roam as she pleased, easily moving from place to place. All she had to do was avoid the main shinobi countries on her map, and that was fairly easy. It wouldn't serve to travel through one anyway, because there were no job opportunities for a ninja in a country already run by ninja. But there was a huge downside to this exciting new life. Besides trying to avoid being hunted down every now and then by Anbu, rogue shinobi, bounty hunters, and once even an assassin, Sakura had to maintain order in her way of living. This meant managing her money and being frugal, avoiding bar fights (which was terribly hard given her appearance and recently grouchy nature) and having shelter to sleep in at night. Of course, there were many assassin houses she could join, and she could easily become a high paying doctor anywhere, but both of these things would be like setting off flares to show Konoha her location. There was no denying it, Sakura Haruno's name, if not her face, was already known amongst the underground society that was shinobi. Currently on the top of her mental checklist for necessities was money, so she wouldn't have to sleep in sheds anymore.
Sakura breathed in slowly again. Speaking of a job, her target should be getting close by now.
Movement detected.
Ah, speak of the devil and the devil shall appear. Immediately, the trained and sensitive ears of the kunoichi picked up the sound of a twig snapping far below the canopy of trees. She quieted her breathing at once, and sat up slowly. Locate Target. The commands from her inner self were automatic, from years of training and experience.Eyes scanning the forest floor, her gaze locked onto a large moving figure stumbling through the woods. Observe Target. Sakura teetered sideways and rolled off the branch, landing below on another one closer to the figure. The hulking figure was, as she had known beforehand, a squat balding man with small watery eyes. Sweat rolled down his strained face as he struggled to run over uneven roots and through bushes. He swiveled his head around to look over his shoulder, his face drawn and terrified. Despite his fearful expression as he tripped over the uneven earth, Sakura couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for him.
It wasn't too long ago that she herself had learned the trick of this trade. If you wanted to remain mentally stable and keep your job, you don't have time to feel sorry for the person you're hired to kill. Besides, the paycheck wasn't big enough to allow for pickiness. But today, Sakura considered herself lucky to have such a despicable target. Speaking of which, the man was getting away. In a whirl of black and pink, Sakura dashed through the trees until she was ahead of him, then rolled off her branch a second time and landed silently on the forest floor. As the crashing sound got closer, she quickly snapped an expressionless white mask over her head. One of the many things Sakura had learned in her new profession was that Judgment had no face.
The man suddenly ran into view and spotted Sakura with a yelp. He almost fell over in his haste to stop moving. Sakura took a step towards him, and he ended up falling over anyway. He raised his hands above his head and cowered against a tree trunk, unintelligible pleas escaping his mouth. Monotone and cold, Sakura's voice rang out like bells from a grave.
"Kokumaru Miyamoto, I have no personal qualm with you. However, I have come to take your life." As she spoke, the stench of urine infiltrated the sweet forest air. The whimpering mass before her was shaking in terror. He peered at her between his shivering fingers.
"W-why?" He asked in a fearful tone, between the whimpers and moans.
"Why? Well, you know I can't tell you who hired me, but let's see…" Sakura paused and thought for a moment. "You have been accused of kidnapping a minor, assistance in murder, and fraud, I believe." The man, Kokumaru, widened his eyes at her knowledge of his crimes and pushed himself further against the tree. Sakura drew her short, straight blade and held back her arm.
"Wait," he shrieked, "Wait!"
Dispose of Target.
A flash of gray streaked from her hand. With a low 'thunk' the blade planted itself cleanly in the middle of the man's forehead. His eyes rolled back and spit dribbled from his sagging mouth, and then he rolled sideways and moved no more. The moment his eyes went blank, Sakura's shoulders dropped to a tired slouch and she pulled off the mask. The heavy air of death dissipating, she sighed heavily and gazed around her surroundings, not really focusing on anything in particular. Looking again at the body against the tree, she pursed her lips and trudged over to extract her short blade. As Sakura was yanking it out of the man's head, she suddenly sneezed loudly, hushing the forest creepers back into silence. Rubbing her nose with the back of her fist, Sakura sniffed loudly, deciding regretfully that the whole chilly morning thing might have to stop.
--
Far away from Sakura, in a small coastal village with no name, dawn light was reflecting off of the glimmering ocean beside the small cluster of buildings. The inhabitants of this little fishing town were just waking up to begin their long day of labor, when the sound of shattering glass echoed off the thin walls of the houses. A door slammed loudly and a boy ran from his house and purposefully dashed up one of the town's only two streets. He pounded his tiny fists on the door of an old building, which only opened after what felt like an eternity to the child. A very old man peered out and looked down at the panting boy, who spoke at once.
"He- he's awake! I just walkin' in to check on him and he was sittin' up an' holdin' his head all hurt like so I accidentally dropped the water cup which broke!" The boy rushed his speech so quickly, stumbling over his words, that the old man had to stand still for a moment to take it all in. But he was out the door as fast as an old man could go, and the two trotted off to the boy's house, shuffling along the dusty street.
"He looked hurt real bad Gramps, can you fix'em? His eyes was all red'n drippy!" The old man, Gramps, merely shrugged and scratched his stubbly chin as they arrived at the open door. They stumbled in, made their way to the second and only other room in the house, carefully stepped over the shards of broken glass, and turned to a bed in the corner. There, Itachi Uchiha sat hunched over in pain, grasping hid upper face. The boy clung to the frame of the doorway and watched in wonder as the other man crouched beside the bed and spoke clearly and comfortingly.
"Can you speak?" Itachi merely sucked in air shakily to show he could at least listen, so the man continued.
"Well everybody in this here town calls me Gramps. Some of the kids found you in the forest yonder, half dead an' bleeding so we all carried you here. You been sleepin' for days now. How's your eyes doing?" Gramps lowered his head to see under Itachi's fingers, and then frowned deeply, something he did rarely. He couldn't even tell whether the wounded man even had eyes, because of the coagulated blood and matted hair that clung to his face. Suddenly, Itachi's hand found Gramp's shoulder, and he held fast to the thin fabric with a surprisingly strong grip. The little boy could only just make out what Itachi was saying through pained gasps.
"Look in the cloak… use money and get… me a doctor…" Gramps turned his head to the red and black cloak that lay in the corner of the small room, and he stood up to sift through its pockets. After snapping open the purse and seeing the amount inside, Gramps raised his white brows and showed it to the boy in the doorway, who looked from Itachi to the old man.
"Hey Gramps, think he'll let us keep the change?" The boy asked hopefully.
--
Some hours later, in a nearby town much larger than the fishing village, Sakura the innocent and civilian stepped out of a bathroom stall in a dirty bar's restroom, tugging at her dyed hair. Apparently, the black dye she had bought was so cheap that a light shade of pink would only turn into a dark, dusty rose color. Ah well. She examined her reflection in a cracked mirror to make sure nothing but the calluses on her palm gave her away as a ninja. Clad in trendy sandals, a generic skirt and shirt, and cheap bracelets, she turned away from the mirror, satisfied that she looked like any other eighteen year old in the area. It was thanks to her superhuman strength that she could pummel a man to bits and not look like a female wrestler. And it was important to look normal right now, because someone else was opening the bathroom door. Sakura quickly shoved her black assassin clothes into her pack and zipped it closed as two gabbing women walked in.
Sakura was washing her hands in the chipped sink as they looked in the mirror to freshen their heavily made up faces. It was impossible not to hear their giggly conversation.
"Oh my gosh! That is so cute. I'd totally have a kid, but I don't wanna do the whole pregnant thing, y'know?" One of them was saying.
"Yeah, he was adorable. Just starts tugging on my skirt and he was like, "Where's the hospital? Do y'know where it is, miss?" As the second women did her impression of a begging child, the other "Awww'd" loudly. Sakura, drying her hands on a piece of paper towel, wondered why on earth these two women were making a bigger deal over the cuteness of the kid than the fact he was asking for a hospital. She walked briskly from the bathroom and the cooing sounds of the women died out. Sakura stepped out into the sunlight from the empty bar and looked around her. A light breeze lifted her darkened hair upwards, and she turned in the direction the wind blew, passing cafes and shops, little clothes stores and food markets. Today would be like no other. It was all a horrible cycle of killing someone to get money to buy food to stay alive to kill someone, all while bouncing back and forth between a hunter and an innocent, normal person. This lifestyle was enough to make anyone depressed, even the most hardened of all ninja.
As Sakura wandered about the bustling food market square, trying to decide what she could afford, a commotion some way to her left was drawing a crowd. Genuinely curious, she jogged over to peer over the heads of people forming a circle around-
"Move, move!" Sakura shouted to the people around her as she shoved past them. They looked around at her, confused, before shuffling aside to make room. Lying on the dusty brick ground was a boy no older than eight, with worryingly pale skin and a drawn, tired face. Sakura snapped into medic mode and felt for various vital signs. It didn't seem like anything serious; fatigue was most likely. Sakura slid her arms underneath his small limbs and scooped him up. The crowd was slightly shocked by the assertive action of this normal looking person, and she stood for a moment, hesitating. If she took him to the hospital, there might be some issues with identification, not only for the boy but for her as well. Hitching the boy higher in her arms, she carried him through the market and the dissipating crowd. The plan was to find a bench where he could lay down, and maybe she'd be able to find water or food, but an obstruction in the shape of an old man suddenly blocked her path.
"Heyyy, you found Toshio! Good job, lady!" The man grinned pleasantly, aware of the fact that the boy was obviously unconscious and not well. Sakura wondered for a moment whether he was insane or just one of those annoyingly positive kinds of people. Either way, she found herself sitting under a tree a few minutes later with a cup of water in one hand and the boy's head resting in the other while he feeble drank water. The man, who identified himself as Gramps, explained that he came from a small fishing village near the coast of this non-shinobi country.
"Well, now you're prolly wonderin' what brings such poor, country folk like ourselves to a town like this, but the truth is that we're looking for a doctor." Sakura looked up, almost spilling the water in the cup, which she was halfway through setting down.
"Do you mean a medic, or a surgeon? What I mean is, is it a sickness or a physical injury?" Sakura wondered why she was even asking because not only could she heal both sorts of maladies, but these two probably didn't have much on them anyway. Gramps glanced at Toshio, who looked back at him through half closed eyes set in an exhausted face.
"Well, it's an injury, I suppose." Sakura quirked a brow at his odd tone, and he elaborated.
"It's a man, maybe four some years older than yourself, but he ain't from the village, see. We found him in the woods with every sort of little injury, but the big problem is his eyes." Sakura set down the water and racked her brains for a face to match this description. Her inner being was pounding her skull, telling her she was supposed to know something about this.
"Well he's huffin' away back in our village with bleedin' eyes, or what's left of'em, an' he gave us a wallet here and says to find him a doctor. Well I looked through his coat- he had a real weird coat- and found a wad of cash. So if you happen to know any good doctors what doesn't mind travelin' a bit, feel free to let me know."
While Sakura drank in his words about the injured man and why she should know this one, Toshio spoke quietly in a raspy whisper.
"We checked the hospital but none of the doctor's can leave their job, see." He paused to breath, "But you knew what to do when I fainted, are you a nurse, lady?" Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and looked around at him.
"Um, yes, I am." Gramps looked doubtfully at her average attire and fashionable sandals. Sakura waved a hand at herself.
"Oh, these are just my off duty clothes, but I'm a trained medic." She didn't see the point in giving him the name of her shishou or her own formal title, because only a nin like herself would know what it meant. The best she could do was name some credentials, and describe her wide array of medical skills. Convinced, the cheerful old man stood up and with surprising strength, picked up Toshio and carried him on his back to the outskirts of the town. They milled about, watching traders go in and out of the town, until Gramps spotted a horse drawn wagon heading out to the main traveling road. When the old man opened up Itachi's purse to hand the trader some money, Sakura noted the part about being loaded was true. Great, she could heal eyes without too much trouble. Maybe even spend a week in Gramp's village, earn some cash, and get another job from there.
As these comforting thoughts of a secure future for the next few days set in, Sakura felt a sudden wave of tiredness come over her and sat down next to Toshio among the crates in the bumpy wagon. Country scenes slowly rolled past her like a moving portrait, and Gramps had begun to hum a merry old tune that wiped the restlessness from Sakura's mind. Slowly falling into a relaxed state, Sakura began drifting off. She hadn't slept since waking up in yesterday's shed, and had spent all night awake in the forest, where Kokumaru Miyamoto's body was most likely providing a feast for the flies by now.
--
Itachi floated between conscious and a troubled sleep. He couldn't see at all. Not wanting to damage himself further, he had to avoid the desire to feel around his face. All he could do was trust in the old man's promise to find him a doctor, but how long would that take? Even if he did find a medic, the odds of them having the skill to return him to sight were small, and Gramps had been gone for five days already.
Itachi recalled what had happened in the past several years. After his fight with Sasuke, his inches-from-death body was dragged back to an Akatsuki hideout, where trained medics must have restored him to half health. Healing was an agonizingly slow process when you're almost dead. But what had happened then? His memories were fuzzy and muddled… He must have been in a coma of sorts, because Itachi's memory after the healing started only a week ago, with his eyes severely damaged. With this information, the calculating man came to the conclusion that Akatsuki, unable to mend his useless body, had dumped him in the woods and left him for dead. But why not dispose of him? Itachi only hoped the answer to that would come in time.
The glorious sunset outside the weathered window was fading into colors of rose and orange, but Itachi could not see this. However, he could hear the clicking of the door outside, with shuffling footsteps and murmuring voices.
"He's in here, and I hope you got tools and whatnot b'cause I'm paying you half now and the rest later with nothing in between for fancy gadgets."
"That's fine, I won't need all the money in there. You took the trouble to find me, so you should keep some as well." Itachi had to admit he was surprised. Not only had they found a doctor successfully, but she sounded quite young. On the very off chance that this medic was who he thought she was, Itachi might be lucky enough to have his sight returned, and possibly the Sharingan.
The door to the room opened quietly, and Gramps led Sakura in. She stopped suddenly, and dropped her pack in shocked horror, unable to even speak.
"Well sonny, this here is miss Sakura and she's here to fix you up!" Gramps looked back and forth between her expression and what he could see of Itachi's. His cheerful expression intact, he asked aloud,
"What, have you two met before?"
--
I love helpful criticism more than anything, and would really like to improve as a writer. I'll never lash out at anyone for critique, so say what's really on your mind! Thank you very much.
XD Ok, as far as updating goes, it'll prolly be every week and a half, or so. (finals are in mid/late June, so after that you don't have to worry about never updating, but please be patient..?)
By the way, when Sakura says, "I have no personal qualm… etc" Did anyone recognize that from Tenchu? Rin says it in one of the earlier missions, yessums.