The air was cleaner then she remembered it being. Strong gusts of wind brought with it the smell of early morning dew that hung in the air of the cliffside she was currently standing on. It was nice. One of the nicest place she had been to in a long time with the thick green trees covering the entire mountain side reminding her of the forest of Konoha. Sakura had been in Earth longer then she had anticipated and longer then she felt comfortable with. She wasn't worried that she was in immediate danger but it was her years on the run that caused her to be agitated when she stayed in one place to long.

Earth Country was full of mercenaries just trying to make a living taking missions that villages couldn't send their shinobi on therefore it was easy for Sakura to blend in with the sea of faces that came and went from the village nestled within the cliffside. It was a hard place to get to so civilians never really left and shinobi's rarely like the journey this far from the borders of their villages. It was a beautiful little sanctuary at the edge of the known world, or at least that how Sakura saw it. When the early morning sun lit the valley below in its soft light and turning the sky into shade of pink more beautiful than her hair, she knew she would like to here the first time she came. And Maybe one day she hoped she could retire in this little village and live of the rest of her life watching the sun rise and set between the mountains peaks. It was a nice dream, a nice option to have for someone how rarely thought of her future. But sometimes, in secret, she liked to dream. To dream of a future where she wasnt always running from her past.

The village didn't have a name that she knew off and it was so small that it could be barely considered one. But somehow she had been in the village for more than a month which was the longest time she had ever spent in one place. Her mission ran longer than she expected in Stone and her informant had left before she was able to meet with them so now she was stuck waiting for them to make it back to their rendeavour spot.

It wasn't like Sakura to wait, to give people another chance. She had often walked away from meetings if the person was more that thirty seconds late. It was just who she was. She respected time, knew how precious is was, so if a person was late she left them. She was always like that, even when she was in Konoha and a patient was late to their appointment she just scheduled them. Time was one of the few things one could never get back. Once it was gone, it was gone forever and she was never one to play with such a precious gift.

But for Rie, for Rie she could wait. She could have all the time in the world and it would not bother rarely saw each other, their lives pulling them in different directions, so when Sakura received a message from Rie saying she wanted to meet she would always rearrange her schedule to make it work.

It worked well, they worked well, even if they were worlds apart. Meeting Rie had been a chance encounter that had changed her life. It was like meeting a different part of her, a missing piece of herself she didn't know was gone. It was like Rie had become her Nartu… she stopped herself before her thoughts brought him up. It was easy because they were so alike that one would remind her of the other, but it wasn't the same, they weren't the same and it was like she constantly had to remind herself to keep those to parts of her life separate. The past and present. They couldn't touch, could never meet. Not even in her own mind.

It wouldn't be long. In a few days Rie would be here and they would be with each other for a short time. By now she would have heard about what Sakura did in Konoha and this was without a doubt going to start another lecture about her recklessness, but Sakura would take it. Any chance to see that girl was worth whatever fight they were bound to get it into. They would always fight and make up. It was who they were. It was like breathing. In a short time Rie had become her everything, the one thing left she could trust, the one person not tainted by her past. She was the one person Sakura could be herself with, the one person she allowed herself to laugh with. Rie was like the air that blew between the mountains bringing the scent of summer along with it.

A small smile framed her lips as she turned away from the rising sun to walk back into the village. For the first time in a long time Sakura had something to look forward to.

She walked through the market as the food vendors were still setting up their carts for the morning rush that was to come. This early in the morning sleep still clung to their faces so they didn't greet her as she walked by. Her cabin was located near the back of the village off of a road that was barely used except for the children that went to and from school. It was quiet and no one bothered her so her days were full of the soft laughter of children as they ran by and her nights full of calm sounds from the fire that kept her warm. She needed to buy a few things before Rie came, a few extra things she would need around the house because she didn't know how long Rie would be able to stay. Two weeks was the longest they had ever spent together and that was almost four years ago.

High above the trees in the late afternoon Sakura sat hidden within the canopy as she watched the weekly ships dock on the harbour. The ships came once a week from neighbouring villages to bring goods to sell to the locals. It wasn't a lot and the village still lacked many of the main necessities required for them to function properly but the little settlement nestled between the mountains rarely cared for the outside world.

The children clammered around the ships as they watched the men unload the crates and would whispers of the mystical things that lived inside. Rie was to be on one of these ships, it was in her letter Sakura had received a few days ago and similar to the children she could feel the familiar buzz of excitement take her over. She hadn't seen her yet as more ships docked and the children ran around bumping into men and boxes. Rie would be here, she always was exactly where she said she would be so Sakura just had to wait a little while longer.

There was a break in the chaos before she saw it, a small pause in the movement below but Sakura saw a face that she could recognize from anywhere. Her hair had grown since that last time they had met, it was past her shoulders and stopped just below her bust. Sakura remembered Rie saying that she was going to grow her hair out to be longer that Sakura's and at the time Sakura just laughed. She didn't like longer hair but no matter how much or how often she cut it her hair always grew back, so after a while she stopped and just kept it in a long braid that fell past her waist. Rie however had kept her black hair short her whole life. She was often mistaken for a boy from behind however one day when they were eating breakfast before they both had to depart she declared that she would grow her hair out like Sakura the next time they met. Sakura thought it was a joke, but looking at her now she couldn't believe that the boyish girl she had come to think of as a sister could look so differently because she grew out her hair. She would have been unrecognizable if it wasn't for the fact that Sakura was so in tune with her and that she could pick out Rie heartbeat from within a crowd.

She watched her smiling as Rie continued her animated conversation with a person standing behind her. Sakura's chakra was well hidden within the trees as she began to stand to make her way to the docks below. It was going to be nice to have Rie around, at least after she got past her usual yelling at Sakura carelessness. But she didn't mind, a part of her missed the nagging almost as much as she missed her. It was the first time Sakura felt relaxed in months - but then she saw it.

She felt her heart stop suddenly because standing behind Rie politely nodding to whatever she had said was the one person who could ruin everything Sakura worked so hard for … Uchiha Itachi.

It was as if he had felt something for a split second, something that made him want to drop down into his fighting stance. It was like one second he was alerted to a powerful chakra signature within the trees and the next second it was gone. If it had been anyone other than him they would probably not have noticed it, but Itachi had been on alert the moment he stepped out of Konoha and his sense were sometimes sharper that his Sharingan.

He politely turned his attention back to the young woman standing beside him while he used his chakra to probe for anything unusual in the area. It was odd but whatever it was had vanished as quickly as it appeared. The young women was still talking although he had missed most of what she said but she had been talking to him for most of the last leg of his journey. The ship to the village was quite small and between the men that were scared of him and the ones that were secretly trying to challenge him, Itachi found himself unexpectedly in the company of this young woman travelling to the same village he was to visit her friend. She didn't fawn over him like the women in Konoha would, nor did she mention in any of their interactions the notion of marriage. She was different in ways he wasn't use to. She was kind and witty and most importantly did not constantly seek his attention. In the week that they were on the ship together they would occasionally share lunch and a few times play a surprisingly challenged game of shogi. Itachi always won, but there were a few times that he was sure she had forfeited the game to him.

The village was where they were going to part ways as she planned on staying for a few days and Itachi planned on continuing forward. Rie, who he embarrassingly after the fourth day had to ask for her name because she had never given it, never inquired about his plans nor did he ask about hers and a part of him would miss having simple interactions with a person who wanted nothing from him. There was no ulterior motive, no hidden agenda. Just a fellow traveler on a boat to past the time with.

"Itachi would you like to have lunch before you depart". Rie had called him by his name from the first day he had met her and he had eventually given up from pursuing her that he shouldn't call her by her first name as well.

"I am afraid I can not I have to…"

"Itachi we didn't eat lunch on the boat and I know your hungry because I am starving, so how about we have a late lunch and then you can go on your way".

"Rie…"

"I am not taking no for an answer", she continued.

Itachi looked at her for a moment, the way her defiance rolled off of her like someone who always got what they wanted. Itachi didn't know Rie well but he knew she probably did always get what she wanted.

After a moment he nodded and moved to pick up her bags from the dock as they made their way into the city.

"Okay great. I'm assuming because this is a port village that would have some really good… oh Asumi!", Rie yelled.

"Asumi over here" she began to bounce back and forth trying to gain the attention of a girl in front of her.

Itachi didn't see her at first, the dock was still very crowded but as soon as the people parted he saw a woman around Rie's age with long brown hair and sapphire blue eyes calmly waving back at her. Without hesitation Rie ran forward to embrace the girl who stumbled back by the impact.

"Oh I have missed you Asumi" Rie laughed as she hugged her.

"I have missed you to Rie" the girl replied calmly.

Itachi walked up and gently placed Rie's bags on the floor beside her, "I see you have found your friend. I will be going now, it was a pleasure to meet you Rie".

"Oh that's nonsense Itachi we still have to have lunch. Asumi must know a good food place to eat right" she said turning to look at her friend expectedly.

Asumi looked at Rie and that back at Itachi and calmly nodded. "There is a good Ramen stall not to far from here".

"That great. Come on Itachi its going to be great. One last meal than your on your way I promise".

Itachi looked at her slightly annoyed for the first time by her constant insistence but he was bred to be polite so he calmly nodded as he picked up the bags and followed the women into the village.

Sakura focused on keeping her heart beat and her breathing calm. It was a series of unfortunate circumstances that currently lead her to be walking down the village streets with Rie and Itachi like old friends catching up. She knew she had to get Rie from the port because it was one of their many signals that they had between each other. If for some reason Sakura had not shown up at the port than Rie would have taken it as a sign that something had gone wrong and would have tired to return on one of the ships leaving the dock. That probably would have altered Itachi that something was wrong, that Rie wasn't the sweet talking girl he thought she was if she immediately turned around and left. There were too many possible things that could have gone wrong but from the way Itachi had regarded her politely she could assume that he didn't suspect it was her. She didn't know him to well but Sakura's perfect chakra control and years of experience meant that she would be able to pass by him undetected as long as she didn't do anything to raise his suspension. Rie, for as talkative as she was and an excellent liar and would never relieved Sakura's identity, therefore all she had to do is get Rie's attention and hopefully excuse themselves before anything happened.

The ramen stall was small and barely fit the three of them with Rie's luggage. Sitting on the side next to Rie and farthest from Itachi, Sakura barely paid attention the conversation as she ran through all the possible scenarios in her head.

"Itachi why don't you stay the night" she heard Rie ask completly gaining her attention. Sakura didn't want to look up because for the most part she was doing her best to avoid prolonged eye contact with him but she tried her hardest not to kick Rie under the table.

"I am sorry but I must decline your offer, I have to get going" he replied finishing off the last of his Ramen and putting down enough money to cover the entire bill.

"Well it was a pleasure to meet you Itachi" Rie said standing up to give him a small formal bow.

Itachi nodded, "Rie, Asumi-san I wish you both a safe trip".

Sakura nodded and turned to finish the rest of her food while Rie kept watching Itachi's figure retreat.

"Ugh! Wasn't he beautiful Asumi"

"Rie" Sakura smiled, "he could still probably hear you".

Turning beet red Rie quickly turned around and returned to her food trying to hide her embarrassment as Sakura chuckled lightly.

"But he was handsome right" she and whispered to Sakura after a moment.

Sakura turned back to look at the road that Itachi had disappeared down remembering the years she spent watching a similar Uchiha boy walk away from her and turned to look back at her friend.

"How have you been Rie?"

Rie sighed and looked at the girl beside her who would forever remain a mystery to her.

"That's what I should be asking you… Sakura".