sparkzzz: I will not reveal the father just yet! ;] In fact, I don't think I REALLY reveal him until the sequel, but there's a few HUGE hints near the end of this story. I really wanted Itachi to stalk her, in a way, but all will be revealed in this chapter. He's in it, so get excited and read it carefully. You'll love what's going down soon enough darling and thank you for reviewing so frequently! -gives her a cookie-
Goddess Hanyuu: =P Like my little preview, did ya? I want to keep all of you on your toes and it just seems like the best way is to give little snippets of the next chapter. Plus, it'll hopefully get more reviewers, but so far no luck lol. And hell yeah Deidara! I love his art loving ass! 'KATSU!' In fact, he'll play a small part later on in this story too, but only a SMALL part. And in my first edition of TIASV, Kimimaro actually plays a huge role, but not in this one. He becomes like another Sasuke to her, someone she loves and cares for. Unfortunately, Hidan doesn't appear, I don't think. I haven't gotten that far in writing this story yet. ;] Yes, I love all three... Gaara too. Everyone loves Gaara!
aniwolfgirl: I put up the previews to keep you on your toes, my love! ;] I do hope you enjoy what is about to come!
anon: It's alright about the reviews lovey, but do give me one for this one. It's packed with goodies! I'm glad you love Sayomi as much as I've come to love her. She is actually one of my favorite OC's, besides Kotone from Praying for Closure and an OC no one has ever met from another story on the Prince of Tennis, Kimmy Castille. =] Keep reading and reviewing!

ON TO THE STORY MY DARLINGS! -battle music-

X: Feverish Hallucinations

My body felt heavy, my limbs screaming each time I tried to move them. I was hot, sweating, and yet my skin felt cold and shivered violently. What was going on? Where was I? Each thought brought a new pounding to my head, beating as if a rapid drum solo was resounding between my ears.

"Sayomi? Sayomi! I'll call a doctor immediately. You're burning up. Are you conscious?" Was that Kakashi? I gave my best shot at a snide snort, instead hearing it come out as a weak groan. Damn, I must be sick. That had to be it.

"Go back to sleep, I'll get a medic over. Youko, I'll be back shortly."

"Hurry up, Kakashi. When she gets sick, it's something notorious. She's rarely bedridden."

I suppose I slipped unconscious after this, breathing raspy and throat aching...

-( Trust is a Sacred Vow )-

Dream Sequence

Everything was burning, the smell of soot heavy in the air. The forest was dancing with flames, the stars no longer shining with the heavy smoke rising towards the heavens. A figure was running, the flames shooting from her mouth each time she turned around. Something- or someone- was in avid flight after her, hearing the figure running across the landscape, narrowly avoiding each dose of fire.

"You can't escape me, Kasai! And you know it!"

The screaming was definite, and the figure is made out to be a woman with a bundle in her arms. She was skirting around the forest, barely arriving in a massive village hidden in mists. The small bundle is dropped at a doorstep, though the woman only stops for a mere moment to place a loving kiss upon it.

"I love you, my child. I always will. Beware of the snake. He will come for you if he ever finds out you are alive. Remember, please remember this. I love you, Sayomi."

She takes off once more into the night, shinobi flocking around the area of the fire near their borders as she glances back. None realized the bundle on the doorstep of the home, not until a figure comes forth from the recesses inside to see what was going on. There, they found a baby and a note to accompany it, receding back inside immediately.

A breath of relief falls from her lips, and the lithe little figure moves to the opposite end of the village and towards the forests. The chase was on once more, a new bundle in her arms she had picked up at a small stall in the village- stolen. It looked to be a large blanket wrapped around meat, about the same size of the child.

"I'm coming for you, Kasai. Stop and this will all be over."

"Never, you devil!" Her silver hair floods around her, eyes a beautiful blue that shone with determination. Her trek is soon stopped short, a massive ocean rising against her. "I'll kill you if you come any closer. Then she will never be yours!"

"I want her for one purpose and one alone," the voice murmurs, and a shadowed man steps forth. His face or his body could not be seen, even in this dream-like state, and the slender woman turns to face him. "Now, give her to me and she won't be killed for many, many years to come. I have to hone her capabilities first."

"And I would rather kill the both of us than see that happen!" She was screaming, growling almost viciously. "You will be repaid, you monster! In this life or the next! I thought you loved me, wanted a family, but I was sorely mistaken! Now, watch as everything that might have cared for you goes up in smoke!"

Before he can stop it, a massive shroud of flames overtakes the woman and the bundle of meat, not a single scream escaping her. She was a tough character, a kunoichi no doubt, and held on to her package for dear life.

"NO!" The man rushes forth, still unable to be made out, trying to stop the burning. "ALL OF MY WORK WILL NOT BE DESTROYED!" Unfortunately, by the time he was able to calm the avid work of fire, nothing was left of the woman and her bundle of meat besides a charred corpse without teeth, without hair, with little left hanging from the bones. The bundle was even less, now a simple pile of ashes. "Everything I worked to achieve, the perfect specimen, and she ruined it all. She better be happy she is dead, for my bloodlust is unreal."

Before he could further examine the remains, a rustle is heard behind him. The man flees, a group of shinobi appearing where he once was. "I saw flames over here too. Wait, what is this? It's a corpse."

"Seems a homicide of two parties," another shinobi, a mask over his face, murmurs. "Come, we must report this to the Mizukage. Harui, stay here and collect the bones."

They never knew that only one person was burned in such an accident.

End Dream Sequence

-( Trust is a Sacred Vow )-

I was conscious again, I believe. I had a dream that shook me to the core, my heart thundering in my chest. That woman, she looked so familiar, almost like me. Could that have been my mother? She said my name... But how was I able to see such a thing? Was it her ghost that prompted a memory of something I never really witnessed?

"Is she alright, doctor?" I believe Kakashi had returned with a medic. "The Genin are done and about to go in the preliminaries for the third part of the exam. I need to know if I should stay or go?"

"Kakashi, go. I'll look after her. She wants an update, and you need to be there for the kids," Youko, I think, answered him. "Now, Hatake."

"I'll handle things from here," a new voice was speaking, and I suspected it was the doctor. "She has caught a nasty virus that has been going around other villages. The less people she comes in contact with the better. Let me administer you a shot since you have been here with her." A brief silence now, and I suppose the doctor was following through with it. "Good, now leave and handle what you need to. I'll hook her up to an IV to get some fluids in her and find out a proper medication. I'm sure this nin-fox will be willing to tell me what I need."

"If you say so," Kakashi must have been moving about, for I heard his footsteps come closer through the haze over me. "I'll be back as soon as I can with our Genin, Sayomi. Get well soon, and hurry up about it. They're a big enough hassle with you, let alone without." I felt my hair brushed back from my forehead by a warm hand, nearly wanting to holler at him to remove it. I was too hot, but too cold, and I did not need human contact.

Thankfully, the man must have left for the door closes reluctantly after someone. The doctor was speaking again, "-more medication for her to sleep. I'll return in a few hours to check up on her, or my nurse will. If anything changes, come find me. She'll be out again soon and I don't want-…"

And I drifted asleep once more…

-( Trust is a Sacred Vow )-

Dream Sequence

It was another day in Kirigakure, nothing to do and bored out of my mind. I had taken to training out in the woods near the home I shared with the Terumi family, out towards the ocean in a place the Great Fire had barely touched so many years ago. It was my personal peace, a cliff overlooking the sea that sported a single mark where the grass was scorched so long ago and refused to grow again. Of course, I heard a rumor that it was the same place a single body was found clutching something, but paid no heed to it.

I was sweating, my body aching from my rigorous exercises the last few hours, plucking various weapons from the trees used as target practice. I was young, about thirteen, and was turning fourteen in a short few days. Upon said date I would be taking my exams to become a Jounin, a test I had heard was brutal and vigorous to say the least, able to push a shinobi or kunoichi to their limits and possibly break them altogether. Needless to say, preparation was key.

Mei had come an hour ago, telling me dinner was ready and I needed to get home soon. We would both be moving out next week too, living on our own considering our fast progression through the ranks. We needed solitude for our schedules to work, and living in the Terumi house did not give such solace.

I was slow-moving on my feet, ambling through the woods and dragging myself with earnest. Oh, I was definitely hungry alright, and knew a hot meal was sitting on a table, slowly growing colder with the amount of time I was taking. "Damn, if only I could actually move a little faster, perhaps I would be able to get to bed sooner."

So raveled in my thoughts, I had not realized until I kicked a small bump in my path that something was lying on the floor of the forest. I blink, looking down and rubbing my mask once I found a little creature bleeding to death on the ground. It was a dingy color, sporting large ears and a gaping muzzle of sharp teeth, panting heavily and giving a small whine every once in a while.

"Oh my! We need to get you to a hospital!" I murmur, picking up the strange, wounded animal and pulling my final reserves of strength to rush towards the veterinarian in Kirigakure. Luckily, despite the late hour, I ran forward just as the man was locking up the place. "Hey, I'm sorry, I know you are closed, but please. I need help immediately."

The man turns, face screwed into a hardy scowl before his eyes glance down to the creature in my arms, blood now covering my entire body. "Oh heavens, child! Come inside." He unlocks the door once more, yanking it open and ushering me in. I place the animal on the table, breathing heavily with the strain of the run. "Tell me how this happened."

I give him a quick explanation of how I found the animal, sprawled out and dying near my training grounds, and beg him for help to save it. I wanted this beast to live, though unsure as to why I suddenly cared so deeply for a creature. I had always loved animals, but not the extent of paying so heavily out of my own pocket to save it.

"You go home and rest. Come back in a few days and we'll see how he's doing, alright? Now, go on. You're just in my way right now," he murmurs, setting to work on the pet.

Of course, I was back in a short three days, having gone on a brief mission in the meantime by order of the Mizukage. Upon my return, I immediately shot straight for the animal clinic to check on the creature I had dropped off before I left.

The vet was ambling around, and his smile was uplifting as he turned to see who had entered his building. "Oh! It's you! I wondered if you'd be back after paying so much to help him out. He's alive, and moving around even! Would you like to see the quick healer?" I nod and he leads me to the back where the kennels are. "I'm amazed at just how quickly his wounds closed up. I suppose you were keeping him on mind, and that surely helped the process."

He motions to a fairly large kennel and a white bundle that was within. The creature could now be distinguished as a fox with long ears, eyes a magnificent red. He had been lying about when I arrived, but upon seeing me he hesitatingly stepped forward, staring at me.

"He's a bit of a mean one. Won't even let me open the door up without trying to hurt me. I'm afraid he'll have to be put down if he cannot act right, Miss," the vet mumbles, handing me some paperwork and receiving the final payment. "Well, if you still want to take him, than by all means try. Good luck." The bell up front rings. "I'm afraid I can't stay to try and stop a fight, so be careful again. Thank you and come back when you need to!" The man hurries away from the room.

Without a second thought, I bend all the way down to the cage and stare the beast in the face for a moment. He could not have been more than a foot and a half in height, but held a fierce gaze about him that might frighten most. I smirk under my mask, beginning to unfasten the lock. "I understand if you want to go home, little one, but I would not suggest attacking me. If not for me, you'd be dead off in the woods right now. I'm the one who found you, so do be good."

Once the door is open, I expected him to leap forth and escape or sink his sharp canines into me. Luckily, the fox simply stared, muscles tensed and ready to spring should he need to. "I am Sayomi, a kunoichi of Kirigakure no Sato. I have no idea if you can understand me, but that's where you are if you can. I found you bleeding out in the woods. Now, I need to carry you out of here, and from there you can do as you please, alright? Just be decent that long and then you can run free, okay?"

I swear the animal nodded, for when I held open my arms he easily climbed in them. Of course, he was a bit timid in the action and I felt how profound the ridge of hair on his back became, but never did the little beast try and harm me.

The vet gave a shocked expression on the way out, but smiled in the end nonetheless. "Seems you have a way with animals, Miss. You ever need a job, let me know!" I chuckle, opening up the glass door and walking around towards the woods. I would need to go and help Mei unpack a few things at the house we were renting out near the woods, so I would simply walk a bit further out of the busiest part of town before letting the creature go.

Once I feel more comfortable with a wild animal being loose so close to the woods he came from, I place the fox on the ground and smile at him. "See, that wasn't so hard. Now, you go home or come back to my place and eat if you want. It's obvious you can understand me, so the offer stands. I have to go now, alright?"

I turn, heading off towards the home we had finally gotten, unable to hear whether the silent fox was following behind me or not. It was doubtful, and I did not even think about looking back. Of course he ran back towards the woods! He needed to go back home after all.

Finally, I was on the front steps of the new home, opening up the door and finding my adopted sister going through a box with a fond smile on her lips. "Mei, I'm back. I had to run by the vet and release that animal. He's off in the woods by now, I'm sure."

She glances towards me, then stares with a laugh coming from her. "I suppose not. Seems you have a shadow, Sayo." At this, I quickly swivel about to find the kit sitting on his haunches, fluffy tail curled around him and cocking his head at me. I grin, crouching down towards him and hearing Mei call, "I'll go to the kitchen and finish up our food while you have a moment with it, alright?"

I had not heard her though, "So I guess you would like some food. Do you have a name? Can you speak this language huh? If not, it's alright. I'll give you a name if you like. Or, if you aren't staying for more than a meal, you can just pretend we aren't even here. I'd really like a little guy like you to help out on my missions though. You seem really sweet, despite how mean the vet said you were. I'm a kunoichi, like I said earlier, and I'm about to be a higher-ranked one next week. What do you say, huh?"

He sits for a moment longer, and then I was surprised at what just occurred next. "My name is Youko. I have no home." The voice was light, still soft from younger years as a child. I grin, reaching out my hand to him. The creature shrinks forward, then climbs up onto my shoulders. He could not have been more than twenty pounds after all.

"Then you just found one. Come on, Mei is a great cook." I never knew how amazing this new companion- I would not dare call him a pet, for he was like a family member to me- turned out to be. Not only was he a summoning creature that had chosen to stay in our world, but his father was indebted to me.

After a ton of work during the next year- now a Jounin- I earned my own summoning beasts, nin-foxes, and the grandest of all- Father Oinari, an enormous fox that had not allowed a summoner in hundreds of years. I was taught Steam Release, my fabled jutsu, and became a fierce kunoichi because of one chance encounter in the forest.

And, I gained a friend I loved and cherished…

End Dream Sequence

-( Trust is a Sacred Vow )-

"Sayomi, I'm going out to get something to eat for a moment. I promise I won't be gone long. If you can hear me, you need to get well soon. You've been out for days. The Genin aren't allowed to visit because of how contagious you are to humans. Only Kakashi has been allowed, since he paid that ridiculous and highly expensive price for the injection two days ago," Youko was whispering to me, and the animal gave a small lick to my cheek. "The doctor says this could be deadly in fact, and you've got me worried. You have to pull out of it, you stubborn fool. Not only for me, but for Kakashi, Sasuke, Mei, Naruto, and Sakura. Hell, for Father Oinari and all my relatives. If not, you know they will never become summonings again. They're just as caution to trust others as I was. Remember? I have to go now, but I promise I won't be gone long. Don't you dare die on me, you hag."

Deadly? Surely I had not caught something that could kill me. It was unheard of for me, and though my sicknesses were normally raging, they were never considered deadly. I had to pull out of this, I just had to. I could not leave the ones I love because of a damned sickness! That was not how a kunoichi of my stature should go, no, not at all. If anything, I should go out in a blaze of glory, defending my village and all those I cherish. I was not sure if I was really conscious after this point, for it was silent for what felt to be ages. My eyes flutter open, sure I was still in a dream state, and I found a man hovering before me. I could barely make out a set of a blazing red eyes and black hair, but was not really sure if I was sane or not.

"I must still be unconscious," I grumbled, hearing the scratching noise that was my voice, "otherwise I would be sure there was an Akatsuki member in my home. That would be completely idiotic though, on both our parts. I suppose I am pretty sick though, and I'm sure Youko just said I was dying. Preposterous all the way around."

A hand reached out, the back of it touching my forehead and assumedly taking my temperature. My focus was blurring every here and there, making it hard to realize just what was going on. The man leaned closer, and I was face-to-face with a set of heated Sharingan. Sasuke? No, he had not awoken his yet. It must have been the elder Uchiha, Itachi. Again, that was not possible. He could not be in my home, despite what Yakuza had mentioned a few days prior.

"The infection will recede when I leave." The voice was mesmerizing, deep and beautiful, just as I remembered the Uchiha's to be the time we faced one another and I could not keep my eyes from him. A sharp pain came to my arm, and I weakly moved my head to see a syringe was stuck in me, soon tucked away within the folds of the cloak. "From Iwagakure. Take care of my brother. Keep him from the snake."

Oh yes, I was surely dreaming. The Itachi I had heard rumors of only left his little brother alive to one day kill him, to make a monster of him. This hallucination was certainly false, and even I believed I could do better. 'Shit Sayomi, at least keep your hallucinations in character!'

"This dream is strange," I mumbled, sighing to myself and feeling my body relax further. "I will always look after Sasuke. I've fallen hopelessly in love with that boy, as a sibling would for their younger one, so you have no worries, hallucination. And considering this is a completely false dream, I'll be able to say this and the real Uchiha will never know. You're pretty damn good looking, despite the evil and all. I'll be kind of sad to kill you, if I get the chance."

I saw a slight twitch in the corner of his mouth, the perpetual frown, and swore he almost smirked for a moment. Of course, this was a dream and I suppose this part of him was still kept in character. He placed his hand over my eyes, the lids fluttering closed at the gesture, and once the hand was removed and I opened them once more, the man was gone.

I slipped once more into a state of unconsciousness, not feeling nearly as achy or sick in my limbs. Perhaps the liquid that had been injected in me was working, but that was impossible considering all of this was false. I would simply wake up in the morning and nothing would be wrong with me, all of this an elaborate nightmare.

Next in 'Trust if a Sacred Vow':
Things were different and she could feel it. Why was life changing around her so and had everything really been a dream to the woman? Just what was going on in her life? Sayomi had never been so happy before and she finally was able to spend a real night out with her favorite Jounin and Genin. The Chuunin Festival was finally here and damn... Kakashi looked amazing.

And why the hell was Jounin-sensei dancing with her?