The fire from their battle had gone out some time ago, and the tell-tale smoke that was floating up into the air was also gone. Anyone wandering through the woods here, although it was unlikely anyone would wander to such a secluded area in the middle of nowhere, would be startled to come across the ruins. It was truly a surprise that any grass had remained.

"What's this?"

The Daimyo and his advisors had been cutting through and had smelt the fire when they were nearby. One of his advisors had braved the collapsed trees and climbed through to find Misaki's corpse. Horrified and nauseated, he immediately felt his breakfast rise up in his throat and out of his mouth. As he lurched away in a corner, one of the retired generals had climbed through the mess and found him, and the corpse.

"An Uchiha." He was quick to identify the corpse, experience telling him that it was best for the daimyo to leave as soon as they could.

"H…How can you tell?" Asked the sickly advisor, looking very pale.

"Look here," The older man pointed with his thick fingers at the face, "The eyes are missing- Uchiha's frequently have their eyes stolen by enemies or by members of their own family or clan."

"How morbid…" They agreed silently.

"Should we bury him?" The advisor asked nervously, clasping his sweaty palms.

"No. Best to leave this scene as we found it."

"But that's a bad omen, Haruka-senpai." Nervously, he tried to look at the body again, but couldn't bear the sight of it.

"Running into a living Uchiha…Now that would be a bad omen. Men die all the time, let the animals and nature have her way. Come, Ao-san."

In a way, Ao and Haruka were both relieved to leave the scene. Returning to their caravan, Haruka was able to omit the corpse from his mind, having already seen several bodies in his lifetime. Ao, on the other hand, remained nervous and clammy through their journey. He was young and naïve in his thoughts about the world of the shinobi and the shock of seeing a mutilated corpse so closely had shaken him.


When Chieko finally woke, there was a purple-faced monkey peering curiously at her face while it pulled her hair.

"Oi, oi oi. You're alive. Wake up." It spoke to her, in a weird nasally voice. For a moment, Chieko thought it was a child, but the size of its little fingers and the twitch of a tale made her question whether she was simply dreaming.

"Come on. Up, up, up." It jumped around in a circle with its hands in the air. "Get. Up."

Groaning, she pushed herself up on her forearms and immediately curled up from the burning pain in the centre of her body. "Hol...ly…Fuck."

"Language! Language! Watch your language!" The monkey jumped in place, spinning in the air as it repeated its words.

"Oh, shut up." Chieko hissed angrily, her voice weak. Her head ached, and for a good few minutes, she saw white spots. Believing she'd gone blind at last, she clenched her eyes shut and sat back with her legs folded beneath her.

With her eyes shut, she practiced her breathing and felt each part of her body. Her shoulder ached from where her brother had twisted her arm, so she rolled it. With a jolt of pain, it popped back into place. She moaned.

"Let's go. Let's go. There's people a comin'."

The little monkey had wrapped its small hands around her forearm and was pulling her hands away from her face. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find it breathing on her face. She flinched her face away.

His face was purple, and his fur was stone-white and fluffy in a manner similar to young animals. Curious red eyes stared intensely at her. He looked very alien.

"Who are you?" She asked with a frown, suddenly tense.

"No time. No time. People a comin'." It repeated again and pulled her arm. As if on cue, she sensed a group of unfamiliar albeit weak chakra signatures and stumbled onto her feet. The little monkey held onto her arm and climbed onto her shoulder as she staggered forward. It looked panicked and was shiftily turning its head to scope the surroundings.

"Tree. Tree." It whispered urgently. Tiredly, Chieko climbed into the nearest, densest tree. The monkey climbed ahead of her, hopping slightly as it gestured her to follow.

Hidden away now, both watched curiously as a young, lanky man appeared through the collapsed trees. He slowly approached Misaki's body, and Chieko stiffened as she watched him reel from shock and then bend over to puke.

The monkey was breathing into her ear in soft, quick breaths.

The young man was followed by an older bald man, who looked more battle-hardened. They spoke briefly, looked around and warily climbed back the way they had come, leaving the corpse behind.

"Are they gone?" She whispered to her new companion, a little worried at her low chakra levels. The monkey was twitching a bit and climbed through some of the branches, away from her. A moment later it returned, climbing back onto her shoulder.

"Gone." It said affirmatively.

Heaving a sigh, Chieko slowly lowered herself through the branches, grateful for her upper-body strength. She had little chakra to spare to make climbing easier.

She sank down at the foot of the tree and leaned her head against the trunk. Her arm was caked in dried, flaky blood. She crinkled her nose and wiped the wetness from her eyes. This was no time for her to cry.

"So," She started tiredly, "Who are you?"

The little monkey was perched on the grass before her, peering at her face with the same intensity she had woken up to.

"Saru. I am Saru."

Amused, Chieko raised her eyebrows, "I can see that you are a monkey, what is your name?"

It scratched its head, "I won't tell you until you tell me yours."

"Chieko." The Uchiha was fairly amused. She wondered if this monkey was an escaped Sarutobi pet.

"Saruta." It replied quickly. Continuing to fidget, Chieko became curious.

"Are you frightened?"

"Yes. No. I saw the fight. I saw the death." Its fur seemed to stand in fear and Chieko felt guilty. She reached out with her cleanest hand and allowed it to sniff her. It held her palm between its small hands and sniffed her- something it had already done when she was unconscious.

Chieko gathered that it was probably young, judging from the small size. It was remarkably clever.

"Are you someone's summon?"

Curious, it tilted its head. Chieko did her best to explain.

"How did you get here?"

Fidgeting again, it clasped her hand and spoke cautiously, "I lost."

"Lost? What did you lose?"

It tilted it's head in the other direction then, "I don't know this place, I lost." It explained.

"Me too." Pushing herself onto her feet, she crouched down to offer the monkey her forearm, "You can travel with me, if you like."

It seemed to consider for a moment, before jumping lithely onto her arm and climbing up to perch on her shoulder, one hand fisted in her hair.