Note: I'm really enjoying this story even though I know I should really be writing on my other stories. But that is neither here nor there because I am writing this one right now lol. Anyways please remember to leave me nice long reviews about much you love this.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor the Naruto storyline.
Chapter Three:
Full of Broken Thoughts
Pulling me on my feet Lady Mumi ushered me to the back of the store with the clerk following closely behind us. Once the door of his office was shut she knelt before me examining my cheek carefully. After a few moments of silence she finally spoke, "Listen to me darling you must never speak to that boy again."
Stunned by her words I looked into her eyes unsure of their meaning, "But why?"
She pulled me close to her in a hug, "There are many things that you do not yet understand. That child is dangerous. You cannot trust him. Promise me you will never speak to him again."
"Yes Ma'am," I murmured unsure her words were the truth. The boy had not seemed very dangerous to me, in fact, as I recalled back to my memories he seemed nothing more than a frightened child.
Satisfied with my answer she whispered, "Tonight when we return home I will alter your appearance so you look like the boy in the picture."
I recalled the folder back to mind remembering there in fact had been a picture in the paperwork. He had dark brown hair with green eyes similar to mine, with a short choppy hair cut that bordered his pale face. She meant to cut my hair and change the color so that it would seem all the more real. Fearing the drastic physical change I would endure I could only nod my head in compliance. My hair color was just to abnormal to keep in its natural state. It had to be done.
Removing a bag off of the man's desk she told me, "Remember to keep your eyes on the ground at all times. If someone tries to stop us from leaving the village do not panic. Do not give them a reason to hurt you further. Now then let us go. Goodbye Diachi I will see you again."
"I look forward to that day," the clerk replied earnestly as we made our way into the street.
It was nearly dusk before we reach our home, the sky painted with the warm colors of red and orange. Leading me into one of the back rooms, Lady Mumi motioned for me to sit down on a straw matt as she placed all the items she had bought in a single canvas bag meant to be worn on the back. Then she banged her fist gently on the floor boards before finding what she was searching for. Lifting up the planks she slide the backpack underneath pulling out several objects.
"Memorize this," she ordered me, "In case the ASHES team comes for me before I can send you off remember where your supplies are. Everything you require for the school is in that bag, not to mention some money in case you require anything else. The hair dye, scissors, and clothing are in this bag."
She held up a much smaller bag made of plastic for emphasis on her words, "But I doubt you will need to know about this one since we will be disguising you tonight. But you never know what is going to happen."
She sighed as she slid the bag next to her knee before holding up a small leather journal with intricate designs on the corners. Handing me the leather piece of art she waited as I examined it closer. The design was foreign with detailed knots as the decoration, and nymph like women in the center of the very same knots. Running my finger over one the more complicated knots I asked her, "What is this for ma'am?"
"To remember," she replied watching me carefully.
"Ma'am?"
"Sometimes we can be so enthralled in our rouses that we forget who we really are. Listen to me Sakura it is important that you become this boy Kyo as your way of survival but you must never forget yourself in the process. Whenever you have the time you must write in here as a woman so that you will never loose yourself. Keep it close darling and never let anyone see it."
Comprehending the full meaning of the magnificent journal she had given me I place it carefully inside the canvas bag. The next thing she presented to me were several scrolls on chakra control and chakra points. There were two books thicker that the width of my hand on the male and female anatomy explaining the muscular system, nervous system, urinary track system, digestive system, and all other functions of the human body. And then the last gift she presented me with was a fabric cover book listening the different herbs around the world, what they looked like, and what their purposes were.
The books were meant for a medical ninja, something that had been forbidden during the reign of the new government.
Looking down at the name of the author who had written the books, I gasped out of pure disbelief. Meeting my lady's downcast eyes I said to her barely above a whisper, "Lady Tsunade wrote this?"
"Yes," she replied taking the books from me and laying them next to the canvas bag underneath the floor, "She was once a good friend of mine."
"These books," I murmured to her, "They are forbidden."
"There are lots of things these days that are forbidden."
Before she could respond the maid came into the room baring in her hands a note. Clearing her throat, Kimi, waited for the mistress to acknowledge her before speaking, "Mistress a note has arrived here for you."
"What does it say?" Lady Mumi seemed nervous as if she was unsure she wanted to hear the contents. When Kimi looked at me unsure if she read the contents outloud Lady Mumi informed her quite quickly, "Well Kimi what does it say? Sakura is not going to tell anyone, will you my little flower?"
I shook my head no in response. Clearing her throat once again with a gurgle, she said shakily, "The Lady has sent word that she will protect the rest of the children. She will be sending escorts for them with in the hour."
Releasing a sigh of relief Lady Mumi placed all the items she had bought, including the ones meant to disguise me, inside the hole in the floor. Covering it up with the boards she stood one her feet scooting a small rug on top of it so not raise any questions. Once she was finished she motioned for me to stand as well, "Sakura dear, I must prepare your brothers for their journey. I want you to get some rest because tonight will be your last night here in my home. In the morning I will make you look the part you are intended to play. Now then," she placed her elegant hand on my back, "Have you memorized all the information I have given you?"
"Yes ma'am," I replied walking with her to the door of the room.
"I knew you would not disappoint me. And have you burned them as I have instructed?" she inquired as we began walking down the hall. Kimi had made her way ahead of us, I had no doubt in my mind she was going to alert the boys to start packing.
"I have yet to have the time," I responded which had been the truth.
Or at least part of it.
I had memorized the information quite thoroughly but there was something else keeping me from burning them. The heart of the matter was that the child I was suppose to be impersonating had died in a fire. And now, I had to burn any proof that he had ever perished so that I could roam freely without the chains of a slave. This irony saddened me to the core. Not that I could ever admit to it to my mistress.
"Go and do it now our time is running short. I promise you tomorrow you will not have the time."
We had paused in front of my bedroom door, "Yes ma'am."
She lingered there for a minute watching me with her eyes before placing her hand on my thin shoulder, "You will do fine I have no doubts in your abilities. I only wish," she sighed heavily before speaking again, "I only wish I would see the woman you will become."
Her words stung me deeply because I had not expected them to be so blunt, "Don't say-"
"Sakura," she said harshly causing me to jump a little from her tone, "you cannot look at the world as a child does. You will only perish at the hands of merciless men. You must think of the world as it really is and in reality the world is a cruel place. People, good people, die. And if my enemies capture me as they did my darling husband then I will die. It is inevitable, but I have accepted it as such. You, however, have the capability of changing this but only if you are alert. Never fool yourself. Nothing is ever what it seems."
She paused for a moment allowing her words to sink into me before continuing on, "Stay focused on your studies Sakura. Do not lose yourself for anyone. Prove them all wrong. Prove to this oppressive government that a female, non-clam member can be just as talented as her opposites. Make them eat all the concepts they have been trying to poison us with. Destroy them with their own logic."
Leaning down she kissed my forehead before finishing her lecture, "I had a daughter once."
My face jerked up to hers, noticing that her eyes were no longer seeing me as they swelled with tears, "Long ago, before you were ever born. She was four years old when the war broke out. Our house was destroyed taking her along with it and seriously wounding me. Ever since then I have never been able to bare children."
She blinked coming back to reality, "The point of that little tale is this: even though you had a mother, and even though I had a daughter, I love you dearly. I imagine that if my baby had lived to be your age the two of you would have been quite close. The war has taken many things from both of us, but even more so from this country. Remember that."
With her final words she walked down the hallway with the elegance of a queen. I watched after her for a few minutes, rolling her words over and over in my mind as I entered my room. It seemed different some how to me as if someone else had been living there all these years. I moved to my bed where the folder containing my new name laid. It was all so over whelming. Lady Mumi fully believed I could be one of the ones to change our nation and right all the wrongs that had been taking place. I was nothing more than an eight year old slave, with a rather large forehead, and strangely pink colored hair. The only thing that was special about me was that I had been adopted by the kindest woman in all of the world. A woman who, because of her kindness, was convinced she would be dead soon.
Whatever it was that she thought she saw inside of me I could not see but I felt obliged to obey her wishes. Somehow I had to find a way to save her. Somehow, I had to find a way to save us all from the shadows lingering overhead. And do this, I had to pretend to be a boy I had never met. Who had died the way I feared the most. For a cause they I barely understood. To save the very same people who refused to save themselves. All of it made my headache.
Pulling the paperwork off of my bed I turned to leave the room when I saw a figure out of the corner of my eye. Jerking around I demanded in the darkness for the person to show themselves to me. No one came forward. Trying to focus my eyes in the darkness of the room, I once again called for them to moved forward, but they did not. Shrugging it off as my imagination I stalked out of the room and headed for my mistress's study. She had always kept a fire roaring in there even in mid-summer, and especially when she was deep in thought. She had always said that watching the flames dance around themselves was entrancing. I found this to be true as well although I never dared to get to close to them for my own personal fears.
I had been right in assuming there would be indeed a fire in the office. It was dying but it was more than enough to burn the paperwork. I crossed the floor, tossing the folder inside the hearth before I could changed my mind. The warmth of the fire glowed across my face as I watched all the evidence of the real Kyo Takan burn in front of me. Again I said a small prayer for the boy's soul asking him to forgive for what I had to do in order to right all the wrongs in the world we had shared. I prayed that he would understand me, and that he would not be angry in the afterworld as I might have been.
When the folder was reduced to no more than ashes I heard the noise of horses coming from outside the window. Walking over to it, I peered into the darkness of the night knowing that my mistress was escorting the rest of her children, with the expectation of me, to whomever was to encounter them. She was a brave woman, a woman whom I felt so much pride for knowing, and even more so, pride that she considered me like a daughter. She fully believed she would not see the world she loved so much righted, and I prayed she was wrong.
As the cries of the horses faded, I watched the moon with her iridescent high lightening the property her husband's family had owned for nine generations. The evergreen grass was thick even though the fall was coming soon and with it the promise of winter. And littered in the stalks was countless wildflowers stretching to the cobble stone fence marking the end of the property line. Recanting the days I ran through the very same grass with wild flowers Lady Mumi had weaved into my hair- I grew sad. How many times had my brothers chased after me? Sometimes they pretended to be old heroes of war stories, defeating countless armies, and saving me, the damsel in distress.
But soon, I could not help but think as I moved away from the window I would no longer be the dame. I made my way down the hall, and back into my room. With change on the horizon, I knew sleep would not come easy for me but I made the effort anyways just as my lady had bid. Changing into the cotton sleeping dress she had provided for me, I began the normal ritual I had always done before going to sleep. I brushed my hair, then braided it back to keep it from tangling in the night. Sliding underneath my covers my mind reeled with dreams of blond rogues and dark eyed rescuers.
