The Red Room Chapter IV: Through the Haze, a naruto fanfic

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU PROCEED TO THE STORY!

In this chapter there is an herbal shop scene; everything said there is based on facts and personal experience (I'm Vietnamese/Chinese XD). The herbal shops where I lived had a very old and traditional look to them; and the shopkeepers really did use the old-fashioned scale as well as the modern ones. ALSO, I've looked up the herbs and their translations which will be listed at the end of the chapter. ONE MORE THING: the seal I had Sakura use the herbs for-I just used random herbs, I don't know if they had meaning altogether or not-I just wanted to add an herbal shop scene.

Now you may go forth!

Chapter IV

By: Hoozuki

Through The Haze

"It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit."-Antonio Rivarol

Saturday, March 27th, Konoha City

…

In the Land of Fire, the winters aren't really that bad—which consist of little to no frost, slight mist, hardly visible steamy breaths, and a thin sweater. The weather hasn't changed in five hundred years, so it really wasn't all that surprising to Uchiha Itachi when he woke up and saw the Sakura tree outside his window blossoming. When their parents and the rest of the clan got massacred almost three years ago, Itachi made sure to keep up on maintaining the cherry blossoms' beauty around the compound so it wasn't so gloomy—when he said he made sure, though, he actually made Sasuke do all the work to give his little brother something to keep his mind busy on something else besides the clan massacre. On that thought, he remembered his brother making a racket this morning trying to get ready for a mission with his team. He and the rest of Team Kakashi left for Ame no Kuni today on a mission request to subdue a demon. Apparently, this time Naruto picked it out the mission which Sasuke obviously was not happy about. But still, a smile appeared on the older Uchiha sibling's face, reflecting on how in the past few years, his baby brother grew so much. Sasuke became a Chuunin with Naruto when they were twelve and won't actually become a Jounin until he graduates from the Academy and that would depend on how much he excels as well.

Beep-Beep!

Black eyes shifted from the pink tree outside to move to the right to where his alarm clock sat on his nightstand. It read six A.M. The man sighed tiredly. 'I woke up before the alarm again,' he thought inattentively as he pushed himself lazily off the bed and moseyed his way across the room to his bathroom. Once there, Itachi glanced at his reflection, his thoughts drifting somewhere far off on how he wasn't going to enjoy the upcoming meeting.

7:00 A.M.

…

Itachi stood before the Hokage and her two advisors, quietly staring ahead while avoiding their intense scrutiny as they observed him. He was dressed in his ANBU uniform with his tiger mask in place, thanking god that they couldn't see his eyes actually roaming on their individual expressions. Tsunade, the busty blonde Fifth Hokage, gazed at him with annoyed hazel eyes while Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage—now advisor, smoked his clay pipe with a patient countenance and Mitokado Homura, same age as the Sandaime, looked just as irritated and stern as Tsunade behind his green lens. The soon-to-be twenty-one year old man had just finished telling the three of them that he had no leads on the 'Village Disappearance' case. The only thing he did find out was that there was only one survivor and her name was Haruno Sakura. It seems that she is the same age as Sasuke and was always on the move. After he informed them of this report, he had given the blonde woman a large envelope, regarding all the things he had looked into.

The Godaime let out a heavy sigh, her intense gaze finally dropping to the manila envelope in her hand, so full of paper from the last two and a half years that the metal clasp could hardly keep the flimsy flap closed. As her painted nails went to open the tan envelope, Itachi quickly raised his hand to stop her.

"Hokage-sama," he called out solemnly, "I'd recommend reading the report in private. The report contains many of the child's medical records some of which is extremely sensitive."

Tsunade nodded, understanding he wanted to keep up the patient confidentiality. She gave a quick side glance to Homura who—to her pleasure—looked more pissed off than anything. Hiding her smirk, Tsunade brought her attention back to the young man before her. "Uchiha Itachi, I'm reassigning you for now on a new mission in Ame," she said in a commanding tone. "It seems the city has been experiencing a large amount of random murders; and they have requested assistance from us in the matter. I want you to leave in an hour."

"Hai!" Itachi gave a nod and disappeared in a puff of smoke to go get ready.

Clear of Distortion

11:30 A.M. …

…

Crunch!

The young pink-haired teen trudged to her kitchen with a barely noticeable frown on her face, stepping on plastic bottles of water and kicking away glass jugs of liquor uncaringly. For her reward, the old woman she helped last night gave her a nice bottle of sake which she drank appreciatively. However, the hangover she got in return as well as the pain in her lower back caused her to be even grumpier this morning as she slammed her frying pan onto the stove. All the while, she grumbled inwardly about the demon that gave her so much trouble yesterday. Evidently, when she arrived at the residence of the eighty year old who had issues of things disappearing and breaking, Sakura knew that this demon was going to be a pain in her ass. Sure enough, as soon as she began to perform the exorcism, the damn thing started playing pranks on her which pissed her off to no end. After being slammed into walls and furniture for the twentieth time, Sakura finally caught the bastard in a trap. When she ran up to see what it was, her instincts were right: it was a baby kitsune. After much lecturing to the baby demon, she sent it off, telling it not to cause anymore problems. Because of all the pain she endured, Sakura was happy to accept the liquor to help numb the pain; unfortunately, it just gave more headaches today.

While the salted fish was frying and the miso soup was simmering on low heat, the teen went to turn on the television to see what was on the news. She didn't even bother with the weather these days since there was always a constant overcast over the entire country—which wasn't very big. The longest amount of sunlight lasted only five minutes tops. The meteorologist was saying how the incoming storm wasn't going to be as bad as the last week; Sakura rolled her eyes, remembering the woman saying the exact same thing about last week's storm. Once the table was set, Sakura grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the drawer and settled into her seat. Before she touched anything, her vacant eyes stared at the empty seat across from her, the image of her smiling little brother with his red hair and green eyes flashing by quickly. Every morning, it was the same routine: she'd make her breakfast, watch the news, and then when it was time to eat, she would painfully be reminded of her loneliness as she sat by herself, remembering her otoutou. A quick intake of air followed by a slow release later, Sakura finally took a bite of her rice, chewing little by little while picking off pieces of the fish for her rice.

"This year will mark the Third Anniversary of the Uchiha Clan Tragedy," said the news anchor who, for some reason, annoyed her with his extremely high-pitched voice despite his masculine appearance.

'Uchiha Clan Tragedy…ka?' she thought while sipping her soup slowly to not burn her tongue. Her ears listened closely, eating more fish, as the man goes onto talk about how the clan was known to be one of the most prestigious families in history yet was somehow wiped out in a single fortnight, leaving two boys. This caught her attention as she brought it back up only to have the camera zoomed in on the attractive blonde co-anchor who nodded sadly in agreement.

She planted her chocolate eyes on the camera expertly. "Ceremonies and tributes will be held in May as requested by the Hokage and the current Head of the clan," she informed her audience. "…giving them the month of June to…"

By this time, Sakura was already done with breakfast and was just sipping her tea, tuning out the news. 'So somebody killed their family, huh?' the young girl mused, her green eyes watching the clouds through her living room window. In the reflection of the glass, Sakura could see her Inner self floating behind her with long white arms—for once not covered in blood—wrapped around her neck with a small mischievous smile on her face. Her similar long pink locks were billowing around her as if she was in water. Though only Sakura could see her, to her, Inner Sakura was very real and felt real. She could actually smell the scent of blood rolling off of her; feel the warmth of her body; hear the girlish laughter; and had even tasted her from their last kiss—which she later learned was the only way to seal a contract, much to her discomfort and aggravation.

'Hmmm~…do you think they killed their own?'Inner asked lightly while moving her right hand down to the inside of Sakura's tank top, settling it over the girl's beating heart.

Sakura could feel the wicked amusement radiating off her Inner while her own irritation was boiling, but she did nothing to stop her—not that it'd do any good if she did. Her eyes glanced at the T.V.—which zoomed in on the faces of the two young men with similar features, yet one was older—turning it off with a hard push on the power button of her remote uninterested. She stood up to gather all the dirty dishes and put it in the sink, leaving them there to wash later. As she went about cleaning the kitchen and getting ready, her lookalike floated in place, a pout on her pretty face since Sakura was clearly ignoring her. Once done, the teen went to the living room, kneeling in front of a small wooden cabinet beside the T.V. stand and opened the two little doors. Inside was an altar that usually was dedicated to the deceased where the ones left behind prayed for guidance and luck among other things. There were two mini light-up paper lanterns with red tassels tied underneath hanging on both top corners, creating symmetry with the photo of the deceased, a small gold pot, and an offering all in the center. In the pot, the ashes of the burned incense piled high as the numerous thin red sticks poked straight up. Once a week, the Haruno would buy a long-lasting fruit as an offering on the altar. Every day, she would light three sticks of incense followed by three bows; and when the week was over, she would start the ritual again.

Silently, she grabbed three incense sticks from the plastic tube in the far inner left, lighting them and watching as the yellow burn off to reveal red orange ember. When the sticks began to smoke leaving a nice scent, she lifted them over her head, eyes closed and prayed. During her prayers, however, her mind always shifts to memories of the past often on how she could've done everything differently, especially how she could've saved her little brother's life. There was always a constant flow of regret in her emotions when she prayed because she had nothing else to feel appreciative for. Minutes flew by and the scented sticks were placed in the pot, spilling the ashes onto the wooded platform. Before closing the doors, Sakura took out the small frame, looking at the photo with sadness and regret. There, her little brother was forever immortalized as a photograph behind glass. His bright smile lit up the whole picture while the sun kissed his vivid red hair making it shine, and his emerald eyes had twinkled with happiness.

The young woman placed a kiss on the glass, and put it back on the altar, whispering, "I'll be back in a couple of days, otoutou." Before leaving her apartment, Sakura slung on her backpack and grabbed her motorcycle helmet while unsealing her door. The seal kept the demons out, and she resealed it as well once she was outside.

'So…where are we going?' her other self questioned dully, watching her Outer self get on the black bike.

"We're going to exterminate a demon."

En route to the border…

A group of three men were walking on their way to a village on the border between Hi no Kuni and Ame no Kuni to help with the demon problems there. Uchiha Sasuke had grown considerably over the last few years and not just in his abilities unfortunately. The young black-haired man was almost as tall as his sensei now, losing all the baby fat on his face with his handsome eyes now hidden under his bangs. He let out a quiet heavy sigh. Don't get him wrong; it's not like he doesn't appreciate his looks—because he would hate it if he ended up looking like the blonde next to him—but they seemed to cause more harm than good. Because of his good genes, girl were constantly trying to win his affection which in turn makes his idiotic—slightly shorter—best friend, Uzumaki Naruto—who was currently grumbling about something—jealous and annoyed with him.

The said spiky blonde, blue-eyed boy glared at their laid back sensei for all he was worth, but the silver haired Jounin didn't flinch. Sasuke looked at the twenty-eight year old man with an interested lifted brow. He had always wondered where he got his left Sharingan from, and had thought about asking; but Itachi told him it wasn't polite to pry when it came to issues like that. The subject might be a sensitive topic for others, so it was best to not even ask.

"Huh…" Sasuke let out another weighty breath, his ear hurting a bit from Naruto's constant high-pitched whining.

"Why in the hell are we walking again?!" the blonde screamed vehemently. "I mean, what's the point of owning cars if we can't use them?!"

Hatake Kakashi turned around exasperatingly slow, annoyance and patience in his right eye—an odd combination Sasuke thought. "First off, manners, Naruto," he reprimanded, but the boy only turned his head away defiantly. "Second, we can't use cars because it uses too much chakra. If there was another way to run cars besides using our own chakra, I'd use one; but for now we walk. We need to conserve our energy for the mission."

"Datte!"

The older man groaned. "Naruto, this is a B-ranked mission—one that you picked might I add—we need all the strength we have just in case something happens."

The topic of 'something happening' perked up both boys' ears. "Are there any ways on how to subdue this demon?" the Uchiha asked. When they had picked the request, there wasn't much information—'Figures…'—and when they received permission for the mission, they were only told to kill it since it was causing a disturbance. Since the mission was ranked B, Sasuke can only assume that demon had been killing the residents.

Naruto's cerulean pools went from his friend to their sensei with curiosity. "Yeah, how powerful is it?"

"Hmmm…won't know until we get there." As Kakashi said this, a smile was plastered behind his mask. His two subordinates nearly choked on their saliva upon hearing the answer and looked at him unconvinced. They were both thinking something along the lines of 'How the hell could you not know?!' Upon sensing their skepticism, Kakashi-sensei stated assuredly, "Look, we'll be there by noon tomorrow and they'll tell us in detail."

"Matte!" Naruto suddenly shouted his right hand extended. "Where are we staying tonight?"

The single onyx eye blinked curiously. "We're camping out, of course."

Naruto groaned and Sasuke just glared at the man, puzzling him. "Kakashi-sensei, we camped out for the last request. Can't we, just once, stay in a motel or something?" he whined. "My back's still killing from last time and I still haven't gotten back my childhood."

Sasuke looked at the ground uncomfortably, and had to admit that that last request was completely horrifying and traumatizing since they had to camp out during the last snow storm. In order to keep warm that night, the three of them—one man and two hormonal teenagers—had to huddle together to conserve heat. The next day was completely awkward and they couldn't even look each other in the eye after that. The young man shuddered at the memory, feeling goose bumps form on his arms.

The Jounin appeared to have also remember the traumatizing event as he quickly changed his mind and said, "You're right; we should sleep in a motel in separate beds."

"In separate rooms more like it," Sasuke grumbled, recalling waking up to something poking him from behind only to shockingly realize that it was Naruto's morning wood. Of course, there was a lot of screaming and accusations thrown around with both boys losing their childhoods—it took them six months to finally look at each other, but it was still mind-shuddering. "I don't want to wake up to another ass rape again."

The blonde became so red in the face Sasuke was sure he could see steam coming from his ears due to the reminder. "Teme! Just when I thought I flushed that image from my brain, you had to go and say that. Besides, you're not the only one with nightmares these days!"

After his little outburst, silence suddenly settled in between the three of them awkwardly and embarrassingly. Kakashi coughed into his hand, noticing his two students catching each other's gazes which snapped away instantly. He dropped his head tiredly, praying that nothing goes wrong on this mission.

Past the Blur

Yamakawa no Sato…

…

Sakura was sitting inside of an old-style Japanese house in the main meeting room for guests, fatigue aching every part of her body. She had arrived at four, having stopped along the way to complete other requests before she came to the border village. Not only that, but trying to run her bike on her chakra alone was taxing. 'I should've just walked,' she mulled over, looking at the room bored from underneath her hood. To make sure no one knew who she was, the fourteen year old hid behind a cloak, the large fabric keeping her face hidden in the shadows. Before her sat a family three with the Head in the center, his wife to his right, and his daughter on the left. It was nice to wear the cloak since it allowed her to observe without being noticed, but it also gave her an air of someone not to be messed with—which she personally enjoyed. She first looked at the man in the center: he looked to be in his fifties, a big burly man with speckled hair, clean shaven, and wrinkles forming at the corners of his blue eyes and mouth. His wife—a woman in her late thirties—was a homely brunette with soft features and a tiny build. Lastly, their daughter was also a brunette like her mother who Sakura swore looked like her in every aspect but her eyes which were her father's blue ones. On either side of the family stood two guards, watching her every move. Everyone in this room was dressed in traditional kimono, but her.

"Thank you for coming, Haruno-san. My name is Yamakawa Hiroshi," the man introduced himself in a deep gruff voice, and then turned to his left, a hand gesturing to his wife who bowed her head. "And this is my wife, Wakana, and my daughter, Renge."

Sakura tilted her head to each one just before getting straight to business. "Please tell me your situation, and I'll handle it from there," she said softly in a polite tone, startling the family. When Hiroshi said nothing, she asked, "Is something the matter?"

Hiroshi cleared his throat, embarrassed by his behavior. "Ah, suman. I didn't really know how young you were since you have your cloak on," he explained. "May I ask your age?"

"I'll be turning fifteen tomorrow."

"So young."

"A young girl doing a mission like this," Wakana stated in pity, shaking her head.

"Will she be able to handle it by herself?" said Renge, the daughter, mockingly.

Not appreciating the remarks, Sakura cleared her throat, frowning at them which they could sense without looking at her. Hiroshi immediately raised his hands up in defense, apologizing for offending her. "We've also called for help from Konoha shinobi," he added carefully. "They'll be arriving tomorrow afternoon."

"That…is not necessary," Sakura interrupted. "I'll be done by the time you tell them the situation. Now please, may we proceed or are you going to question my capabilities again?"

Even though he was a big man that could take on anyone, the Head of the Yamakawa Clan had a feeling that he should not push his luck with this girl, and proceeded to clear his throat once more to save some face. "Yes, of course!" He looked directly at Sakura bravely trying to gauge her expression, but could not see it through the shadows. "This demon has been here for a week now; and has been killing off our young men and women."

"And what have you done so far to get rid of it?"

"Everything! We called in monks and priest and exorcists, but they've all failed."

"How many victims were found?"

"Five men and seven women—the young people like to go there and socialize."

"And 'there' is?"

Black and gray brows met together in the center from the endless Q&A and her lack of emotion. "Haruno-san, I realize that this is a mission, but I want you to understand how hard this has been on the families who has lost loved ones," he told her in a hard tone. "The least you can do is show some sympathy."

It looked as if she was taking in his words until the teen took in a large breath, releasing it slowly before replying back. "Yamakawa-san, as head of this village as well as its securities, you know as well as I do that the key to solving a problem is to remain objective and not become biased just because we know the victims' families"—the Head was going to open his mouth to retort back, but she lifted a hand to stop him—"If you want to give the families some closure, I suggest we get this done as quickly as possible. There's no point in dragging everything out and making them suffer, is there?"

Yet again, the old man couldn't argue back, knowing she was right. With gritted teeth, he answered her more of questions. "'There' is the Yamakawa Bridge that connects the two parts of town. It rests above the river and slopes—that's where all the young people go. My daughter here—"he gestured with his left hand "used to go there, but I forbade her and the rest of the young folk from going until we could find someone to get rid of the demon."

"The demon, tell me how it kills its victims and when it's usually active," Sakura asked, but to him it sounded more like a command.

"It usually comes out at sunset every day, but it's hard to tell with all the heavy storms the past few days."

Sakura waited for him to continue onto her next inquiry; however, he looked queasy.

"The state in which the victims were found was a bit gruesome—it seems the demon only ate the organs and the eyes were removed. According to the autopsy, the victims were alive when the demon started feeding on them."

The room was then engulfed in silence as Hiroshi and his family waited for her response. In her head, Sakura was going over the facts, determining what she would need to exterminate the evil spirit. Finally after a moment, she opened her mouth to ask, "Do you have a long bow blessed by a temple priest?"

"Just a bow?" he asked, receiving a nod. "We do, but don't you want arrows?"

When she said nothing, Hiroshi had one of his guard fetch the bow from the next room. As soon as he came back, the guard handed the girl the long bow that was red in color and a good weight in her hand. At the very top, the character 'yuki' was carved into it. Closing her eyes for a second, Sakura reopened them to see that the bow was, indeed, blessed as she could see a light blue aura radiate from it. "Where's the bridge?"

"If you follow the river to the middle of town, you'll see the bridge," he informed her, looking at her uneasily. "How long would it take? To exterminate the demon, I mean."

With a lifted brow, Sakura answered, "I won't kill it until tomorrow." She sighed seeing his confused face. "I'll be setting up a barrier tonight to trap the demon, but it takes time for the barrier to actually weaken it. Why?"

"Well, it's just that the reward I'm giving is 10, 000 ryo and no one seems to have been able to kill the damn thing yet," Hiroshi clarified tiredly, his blue eyes glued to the tatami mats. There was movement before him and he looked up with surprise as Sakura stood up facing the open door. The sun was just breaking through; the last rays of light could be seen penetrating the clouds. And as it did, he could see the light hit the girl's eyes that made them so vivid and green. He had never seen eyes like hers before and when she turned to face him, he, for some reason, felt sure that she would be the one to kill the demon.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything," she told them indifferently, turning to leave.

"Ah!" Wakana suddenly cried out, shocking everyone, as she stood quickly and caught the teen's attention. "A room has already been made for you, dear, and the guards will let you through when you return."

Sakura thanked Wakana, and then asked the guard who brought the bow if he could put it in the room to which he accepted. Once she left the compound, Sakura followed the river like Hiroshi said, heading to the middle of town where it was the busiest. She decided to stop by the herbal shop first before seeing the bridge to get ingredients for the demon. Along the way—front, behind, left, right, above—Sakura saw demons of all sorts following her impatiently as the bone pendant she wore protected her from their ravenous hunger. But these days, she became aware that the power of the pendant hasn't been working as well since the demons were daring enough to approach her.

In less than ten minutes, Sakura arrived at the herbal shop she passed earlier on her way into town. 'This town really is small,' she mused entering the shop, the scents of many herbs—fresh and dried, invading her nostrils. There were many different shapes of jars around the little space filled with roots, barks, seeds, and even powder. There were also wooden drawers built into the wall with many more herbal remedies. The bell above the door had rang out when she came in, alerting the shopkeeper of her presence. While she was looking around, a muffled voice called out from the back room and out came an elderly man with a bright smile on his face. However, he paused behind the counter as soon as he took in her appearance which was nothing but the cloak.

"How can I help you…um?" he stated, and then became unsure of how to address her.

The young woman noted this, so she tilted her head back a bit so he could see a little of her face. "Sorry, it was raining earlier today," she inclined her head to the weather outside to which the elder man understood. "I would like to buy a few herbs today."

Immediately, the shopkeeper took out several sheets of paper, placing them on the counter to wrap the herbs. "What ailment did you need a remedy for?"

"Actually, I'll be needing individual herbs," Sakura said, still looking around in fascination. "I need a pound of goshitsu, byakushi, akyou, kouka, ryuutan, and hakka, please."

"A pound of each?"

She answered with a nod.

"It'll be really expensive. Are you sure?"

"Hai. Daijoubu. Money is not an issue."

His brows lifted in question while his face held an expression of mild surprise; but he grabbed two jars from the shelves and the rest from the drawers. When he was behind the counter, the owner pulled out an old style herb scale which was made up of a copper pan at one of the black wood beam and a rounded copper weight at the other. The owner switch out the small copper weight for one that weighed a pound. Then, while Sakura watched in interest, he started grabbing a handful of each herb, weighing in on the pan—taking some out if it's too much and vice versa if there's too little. To figure out if it was too much or too little, he would balance the beam on the pad of his thumb; and when the beam leveled out, it was a pound.

While keeping his eyes on the herbs, he offhandedly remarked, "I'm a little amazed someone as young as you would know a strong technique like this."

The said girl grunted in response. "I've been getting that a lot around here for some reason."

"It's because all of the priests and monks the town sent for before you were all very old and experience." After measuring out the last of the roots and barks, the old man began wrapping them carefully; so that by the time he was done, they'd have a neatly pack square shape. Afterwards, he placed a seal of the shop on each package, and then placed them on top of each other to tied them all together with a single string. "For this seal to work, you'll need fresh blood." He then handed her the package silently.

Sakura, without commenting on his last words, asks instead, "How much for this, Ojiisan?" while pulling out her money, hearing him clack away on a calculator.

"It'll be 5000 ryo."

She hands him the money, takes the bag, and turns to leave. But as soon as she got through the door, she heard him say, "Good luck."

Yamakawa Bridge isn't something she could call impressive, but she is impressed that the old thing lasted as long as it did. It looked incredibly beaten down with its broken wooden rails, cracked cement, and weathered paint. Beneath it ran the river which was unexpectedly clean and clear. The slopes on each side of the bank were vibrant and green with fresh grass and several budding trees. Everything seemed to look pure and untainted; still, right underneath the bridge was extremely dark that reeked of blood. In her vision, there appeared to be a green wispy smoke emitting the smell of decay and rot. The closer she got, the stronger the smell became. That combined with the evil jaki gave her a painful headache as she covered her nose. Looking at her watch, it read six thirty p.m.

'Well, time to get started…'

The young woman sat against the wall of the bridge with her backpack and supplies beside her. From her bag, she pulled out a mini mortar and pestle as well as a knife and a box of matches. From each pound of herbs, she only grabbed a pinch, and grinded it thoroughly together in the bowl—the rest she was going to save for other occasions. Once the ingredients were combined, Sakura took her blade to her left hand, a long slice cutting down the palm. Her bleeding fist clenched tightly, dropping ten drops of blood into the mixture, making it an even darker color while giving it a paste-like texture. When the blood was stirred into the herbs, Sakura stood to smudge the inside of the bridge wall with her blood to attract the demon. Afterwards, she took a match, lit it, and tossed it into the bowl. At that moment, there was a blinding purple flash followed by thick red smoke, rising to surround the area. Now that everything was set, all she had to do was wait.

…

11: 45 PM

…

She sat out there for a good five hours now and had moved to sit under the stony structure because of another downpour. By this time, Sakura was tired, grumpy, hungry, and pretty much hating the demon right now. 'Why the hell hasn't it shown up yet?!'

A giggle echoed from the back of her head, annoying her instantly. 'Maybe you scared it off, sweet Sakura-chan,'Inner said in a slow teasing tone. 'Being angry all the time will make people scared of you.'

Sakura dropped her lids a bit at the comment. 'That's fine… as long as no one get hurt again.'

Inner Sakura rolled her red eyes, stepping around her other self to stand in front of her. And then out of the blue, Sakura found herself in the Red Room again, recognizing the dripping sounds and dim red glow; and narrowed her eyes dangerously at her smiling bloody self. Inner Sakura kneeled down while tilting Sakura's chin up with a tantalizing glint in her gaze. Slowly, she bent down to give a chaste kiss on her Outer's lips, still not getting any response.

"I hope you're still not blaming me for that temple incident," she murmured softly, unfazed by the hateful glare.

Sakura wrenched her face away, but that didn't stop the other girl from invading her space as she right away felt soft lips placing kisses on her neck. "They were innocent people," she growled, trying to ignore the chills she experienced where her Inner chuckled. "They were only trying to help!"

Abruptly, Inner Sakura pulled away, anger evident in her ruby red irises, but the smile was still present. "They were trying to seal me away, taking you away from me." Sakura said nothing and looked away. Inner leaned in, her lips brushing Sakura's ear in a spiteful sneer. "Unfortunately for them, the seal weakens when you're asleep. They didn't know that darkness was the time that I am at my strongest, did they, Sakura-chan?"

When she didn't answer, the crimson-stained girl just smiled and brought Sakura back to reality. It took her a moment to regain her senses. But the time she did, Sakura rapidly saw the demon's wide jaw open broadly around her. Senses quickly kicking in, the teen jumped out of the way just as it took a chunk of the wall. When she was a good distance away, Sakura began chanting the ancient mantra while simultaneously forming signs for each seal, 'Rin! Pyo! To! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!'

"Fuuin!"

The red smoke that had surrounded the area earlier gathered to form solid bars around the demon in a large circle. When the cage completely solidified, the bars began to suck chakra out from the demon, weakening it. Panting from the amount of chakra it took her to perform the seal, Sakura cautiously made her way closer to examine it. He, from the looks of it, was by far the largest demon she had ever dealt with. The top of her head barely reached the top of his knee cap. She was sure it could crush her body with just a squeeze of his fist if he could. The skin was an ugly mud brown that oozed pus and blood on some parts of the flesh. But there was something odd about it. It looked like there something crawling beneath the surface as if there were insects in the skin. Moving her head closer, Sakura nearly jumped with the flesh opened up on all of the pus and blood spots to reveal the missing eyeballs of the villagers and many more. Her green eyes moved to glare at it, disgusted by his hungry gaze. There was yellow drool coming from his mouth, dripping onto the grass and quickly eroding the ground right away. She looked up further to see horns twisted every which way and grimaced.

"It took you long enough to get here," she grumbled in aggravation, catching his attention.

His blood shot eyes widen in fury, shaking the bars crazily. "I'm going to kill you, human!" he screamed, his voice guttural. "When I get out, I'll rip you limb from limb!"

Sakura scoffed, turning away from the demon and ignoring his threats. The way back to the compound was a little unnerving as she could sense the shadows following her until she crossed the threshold and they disappeared. The fourteen year old was actually astonished that they had the grounds blessed and was relieved to know that she didn't have to put up seals and sutures tonight. Taking in a deep breath, she glanced at her watch and saw that she came back at a quarter to one. The girl trudged to her room tiredly, wanting to reach her bed as soon as possible. Once there, she dropped herself onto the futon, falling into nightmare filled sleep.

Outside the Cloud

Sunday, March 28th…

Sakura had gotten up really early that morning to run several laps around the small village with no sun to greet her. She got back by noon to shower and get ready to see the fowl demon again; when she opened her door, however, the girl was startled to see a maid in a simple kimono kneeling outside her room.

The maid, who was still in the bowed position, looked at her with an expressionless face. "The Master wishes for you to join his family for lunch," the woman told her, and then turned to leave, expecting Sakura to follow.

But she didn't.

The maid turned back, this time confusion on her face. "Are you not coming, Haruno-sama?"

A frown was visible on her lips. "I'm not really comfortable with that. Can you—"

"Yamakawa-sama insists," the woman interrupted. "Please follow me."

Seeing no way out, Sakura followed with her supplies in hand.

She was brought to a large traditional dining room in no time where a large rectangular table sat in the center. Hiroshi was at the far end facing her with Wakana and Renge in their usual left-right position. The pink-haired girl took a seat on the only cushion available which was on the opposite end of the Head. Awkwardly, she tucked her feet beneath her, trying to avoid the stares directed at her. The maid that escorted her came back to place a small ceramic bowl of rice in front of her with a pair of expensive looking chopsticks.

The wife looked up at her and smile. "How was your room last night? You had no trouble getting in, did you?" she asked politely.

Hesitatingly, Sakura picked up a piece of fish before her and dropped it into her bowl as she replied quietly, "No, I had no trouble; and the room was fine. Thank you for your hospitality."

Wakana tilted her head in appreciation, taking a sip of her tea. Ahead, Hiroshi took a big bite of his lunch beforehand, directing his gaze to Sakura. "How is your mission coming along?"

"I've already seal the demon, and am currently draining him of his chakra which will weaken him greatly," Sakura explained curtly, taking no notice of his shocked stare. "By the time your reinforcements from Konoha arrive, I'll be done."

"Eh~!"

The new voice caught her focus as she moved her eyes from Hiroshi to his daughter, Renge. The girl looked to be a few years older than Sakura and had a pretty face. But pretty faces can only go so far if one had a nasty attitude. This was the vibe that Sakura got from this girl. The way she looked at her with an air of arrogance and incredulity like she was dirt made Sakura want to slam her face in.

"So you really can do something after all," the brunette said rudely, waving her hand offhandedly. "And here I thought you were just after our money."

A pink brow twitch as a vein popped out.

"Renge!" her mother reprimanded with a frown. "Do not speak to our guest in such a tone. Be respectful as you are also a lady of this house!"

Renge rolled her blue eyes defiantly. "Guest? She just barely turned fifteen today, Kaasan. She's hardly worth our time. I mean, she's just going to use a bow to kill it?" she continued to mock Sakura, a sneer marring her face. "What is she going to do? Whack it to death?"

This time Hiroshi grew red in the face, ashamed and angry at his daughter's words and behavior. "That is enough, Renge!"

Of course, the daughter went on to ignore her parents, used to doing this to them all the time. "Seriously, what kind of family makes their kid do this kind of work anyways?"

"Renge—!"

The Head of the family stopped halfway when he saw his guest lifted a small delicate hand. Once he stared at her, the other two did as well. From the shadows of her cloak, the three of them could see glowing green eyes and shivered.

"It's fine, Yamakawa-san," Sakura waved off the remarks like they were nothing but annoying flies, with no emotions while directing her cold gaze to the daughter, making her flinch. "To answer your questions, Renge-san; I have spiritual chakra that I can shape into an arrow—that is the reason why I asked for a blessed bow. As for my family, they're all dead."

Immediately, Sakura could see all the guilt flooding across the girl's face and almost wanted to laugh at her foolishness. Instead of doing just that, she opted to just leave the family hanging as she took the bow and the rest of her stuff and left the compound.

In fifteen minutes, after that ridiculous fight, Sakura was at the bridge, standing ahead of the demon with one hand on her hip. She looked at it with an impassive expression while it glared holes into her skull in return.

"Decided to let me out, brat?" he spat, causing the eyes on his flesh to oozed more liquid.

"Only if you're willing to leave this town, I won't kill you," Sakura returned monotonously.

The demon let out a furious growl, yanking and charging at the cage, shaking it. "Go to hell, you little bitch!" He then proceeded to spit his slime at her that she dodged in order to avoid get hit.

The teen let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Suit yourself." She left again, provoking the demon with an amicable wave her hand. Going up the slope, Sakura thought that she was actually being nice. She gave him the chance to live, but if he insists on being a jackass, she'll just have to kill it.

Then she heard the beast scoffed confidently. "You think by killing me, you can get rid of the guilt and shame of killing your baby brother?" he questioned, making her glance back at him. "That sin will haunt you for the rest of your life. When it catches up to you, I'll be there to make sure it happens."

The demon waited for a reaction, but received nothing as the young spiritualist left.

Standing back on the main road, Sakura was trying to decide where to go next, looking up and down the dirt path, not letting the demon's words get to her. As she did so, her green eyes landed on a mother and daughter shopping hand-in-hand and swiftly narrowed them. Anger followed soon after as the memory of her mother—'No, not mother—'of that woman resurfaced. 'No! Don't think about it,' Sakura scolded herself. 'There's no one here to hurt me anymore.'

Tearing her gaze away from the two, Sakura chose to go down the right end of the road towards the entrance of the town. There was a cherry blossom park there that she saw on her way in here. Seeing as how it was spring, the young woman wanted to go to the park and just relax.

When she got there, sea foam eyes took in the scenery before her: couples walking, children playing, families gathering—all underneath the falling pink petals. The trees were lined on each side of the walkway which had a bench at every fifth tree. The path then opened up to a big circle with a playground in the center filled with little kids laughing while their parents watch from afar on the side benches. The cherry line stopped at the playground; the cherry trees were then scattered around the large plot of land—some in clusters, others individually. On a whim, Sakura decided to jump onto the cherry tree closest to the tree line and the playground that way she could people-watch. She settled on a large branch, leaning against the old trunk while observing the little kids play. Since this Sakura tree was so big and in full bloom, the fourteen year old had no problem blending in without being detected. From where she lounged on the branch, her eyes could also see a bit of the sky which gave way to another light downpour. With the rhythmic lull of rain and exhaustion weighing immensely on her eyelids, Sakura let herself fall into a sound sleep.

Beyond the Fog

At the Main Gate of Yamakawa no Sato, 2:00 PM

…

Team Kakashi finally made it to the border village, albeit two hours late due to all the rain they encountered along the way. While Kakashi-sensei was getting all the paperwork done at the border station, Naruto gave a sneaky giggle, dragging a reluctant Sasuke away with him to the Sakura Park.

"Where are we going, Dobe?" Sasuke asked, irritated and tired at his friend's childishness.

The blonde turned around with a large sheepish grin. "Since Kakashi-sensei is the Jounin-in-charge, he could do all the paperwork without us!" he exclaimed while laughing jovially at his brilliant idea. He twisted back, ignoring Sasuke's eye roll, to yell even louder at the cherry tree line. "It's spring, Sasuke-teme! You gotta enjoy it! Just look at how pretty they are!"

As they passed each tree, Sasuke did exactly what his best friend said: he looked…very unenthusiastically. He has seen literally hundreds of Sakura trees at home thanks to Itachi making him do all the garden work, saying with his lousy excuse that it'll keep him occupied or something. But he already had Naruto for that.

"Whoa!" Naruto shouted excitedly, while simultaneously yanking on Sasuke's sleeve and pointing to the playground equipments. "Look! Look! This place is huge! There're so many cherry blossoms everywhere! And look at the jungle gym!"

As his best friend kept tugging painfully popping his shoulders, Sasuke pulled away roughly growling. "I can see that, usuratonkachi!" he yelled back, giving Naruto a taste of his own medicine. But unfortunately he was ignored when the blonde ran around the park like a little kid. However, since he, Uchiha Sasuke, was no longer a kid, the young man refused to run around like an idiot; and opted to stay where he was by the playground entrance awkwardly staring at his friend amusing the children there. Closing his eyes briefly, Sasuke took in the scent of rain and cherry blossoms. It was a nice smell, fresh and clean. He thought about the trees at home, and how his mother always took such good care of them that every spring the petals appeared to glitter in the sun. The trees here were pretty, but they could never compare to the ones at home.

In the middle of his reminiscing, something soft fell onto his nose, making him scrunch it up at the tickling sensation. Opening his dark eyes, he felt for the soft petal and found it on the tip. Tilting his head back, his dark obsidian orbs soften at the sight of the petals falling like rain. But he noticed from the corner of his gaze that looked to be strands of pink.

When he turn his neck to look, automatically his gaze widen slowly in amazement and disbelief. Amazement because he's never seen anyone, let alone a girl, sleep so peacefully in a tree before; and disbelief because the pink strands turned out to be locks of light pink hair against a porcelain face. He was so dumbstruck that all Sasuke could do was stand there and stare. The Uchiha then saw her stir, probably sensing his presence or heard his intake of breath, he wasn't sure. He watched intently as eyelids pressed tighter to keep from waking up. But as soon as the girl began to open her eyes, the nerve-wrecking feeling Sasuke felt two years ago suddenly came back. For some reason, it felt stronger this time. He felt like he couldn't breathe the air was so thick. Before he could ponder more about it, however, a sharp intake of air averted his focus back to the girl in the tree. He refocused his eyes on her and also found he needed to take in another breath as well.

'Such innocent green eyes…' he simply thought.

Sasuke felt that he was being pulled in by how innocent those shocked green eyes looked. They were clear like liquid and full of emotion at this moment. He could tell she was thinking the same thing about him. That's how every girl was in his village. She's probably never seen eyes as dark as his just as he has never seen hair as pink as hers. He didn't know how long they stared at each other, but the moment was broken when all that innocence was washed out by sudden coldness. He was actually impressed that she didn't fawn over him like most girls did. Instead, it looked like she was trying to kill him with her glare.

Amused by this reaction, Sasuke decided to provoke her with a small smirk to which she noticeably flinched at. He inwardly laughed at her actions as she jumped down from the tree with several belongings in hand. Now that she was at ground level, Sasuke could see that her hair was extremely long and looked silky. She had a petite and fit physique and was a head shorter than him. She was wearing black skin tight pants with knee-high boots, allowing Sasuke to note how long her legs were. As for her top, he saw her wear a low cut white shirt underneath a black leather jacket that ended just below her bust. All in all, he thought she was very pretty. The girl was aware of his gawking and glared even harder before turning around to exit the park in another direction, throwing a black cloak over her tiny form.

Sasuke chuckled at the girl's behavior, watching her stomp off haughtily. Hearing the idiot call him, Sasuke, too, turned away with the smile still present on his face when he came back—the action confusing his companions…

Alrighty! So they finally meet! I was actually going to post this yesterday or this morning-however you want to look at it-but I got tired around 2 am. lol Anyways, I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter since it took me forever to type, add, and re-edit (I like to hand-write everything first). I hate Renge by the way. She's my to-go character to provoke you guys. Haha!

So here are the herb names and their translations: Look up the Chinese names instead cuz you'll find better results that way.

Goshitsu- Niu Xi; Achyranthes Root

Byakushi- Bai Zhi; Angelica Root (very common)

Akyou- E Jiao; Collagen (powder)

Kouka- Hong Hua; Safflower Flower

Ryuutan- Long Dan Cao; Chinese Gentian Root

Hakka- Bo He; Wild Mint Herb

More:

Yuki-courage

Jaki-malicious ill will

Fuuin-seal (verb)

Datte-but still

Kuji-in-The Nine Hand Seals used in many religions like Buddhism, Shinto, also Ninjutsu and Jujutsu.

A/N: I know I said I would have Itachi and Sakura meet as well; but I couldn't fit that it otherwise it would've been 30 pages instead of 20. Also, the Kakashi-Naruto-Sasuke (in that position) brief recall was influenced by the movie "Without A Paddle." lol I couldn't resist since Sasuke's attitude is based on his original and Road to Ninja self. BTW! This was the fastest update in my entire FANFIC LIFE!

Anyways, I'd like to thank the lovely people who've added me to the following list as well as those who have reviewed. Your support is very much appreciated as it keeps me going to continue this story. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Hoozuki