Chapter Two
Sachiko stared at the woman, caught off guard enough to stop in her tracks. She would recognize those distinctive orange eyes and blue hair tied into a neat bun, decorated with a simple paper flower anywhere. Though it was an incident that she hadn't thought about in years, she hadn't forgotten the girl she had saved, captivated by her beauty even then.
The distraction was enough for her captor to catch up to her, and she went tumbling to the ground again as her captor grabbed the chains connecting her ankles. She spun around to face him, eyes narrowed.
"Run, Kaii! Get out of here! I'll find you later!" Sachiko shouted at the little boy, waiting until he stumbled out of the chaos to turn her attention to her captor, who was trying to drag her back towards the door he had first brought her through.
Sachiko dragged one foot back as far as she could with chain and rammed it against the back of the man's knee as he tried to drag her, hitting him just hard enough for his leg to buckle. Then she yanked both feet backwards, ripping the chain connecting them from his hand.
She wasted no time in acting, launching herself for his throat, and wrapping the chain connecting her wrists around it. She yanked it back sharply, using every bit of her diminished strength to hold him in place as she strangled him. It hardly hurt when he clawed at her hands desperately, her own desperation and rage overpowering his.
The man struggled against her, pulling at the chain with one hand while he scrabbled for a kunai with the other. He eventually managed to grasp it, driving the blade backwards into her gut. It hardly had any effect on her, much to his horror and panic. It had been a last ditch effort to make her loosen her grip, and it had done nothing but make her constrict the chain tighter.
"I warned you." Sachiko bared her teeth, making sure he was unconscious before loosening her grip and letting him go. She reached down with trembling hands and grabbed the kunai, biting her lip to contain her pained grunt as she yanked it out of her gut. "I warned you that I'd cut your heart out while you're still alive."
Sachiko leaned over her captor, raising the kunai high with both hands, shaking from the effort it had taken to restrain him previously. She meant every word as she plunged the blade down towards his chest.
"Mama!" Kaii's voice stopped her, the blade hovering just a centimeter from her captor's chest. The panic in his little voice was enough to send her running, as much as she could with the chains around her ankles, for the little boy.
She spotted the short woman that had been controlling the auction trying to drag Kaii away with her, perfect hair and makeup completely wrecked. Clearly, she hadn't escaped the chaos well enough to maintain her perfect image, and the mad glint in her eye was enough to tell Sachiko that she was off the rails out of her mind.
"Kaii!" Sachiko dove between Kaii and the angry woman, throwing up her arms to defend against the kunai she tried to stab her with.
Blood splattered across the walls and floor as the blade carved a trail through both her arms and into the debris riddled ground.
As Sachiko struggled to sit herself back up to defend against the next frenzied swipe from the maddened woman, she found herself and Kaii closely shielded in what seemed to be a paper wing.
Standing between herself and the short woman, was the blue-haired woman, with her own beautiful paper wings. She glanced back at Sachiko, her beautiful orange eyes showing clear recognition despite the time that had passed, and the condition that she was in.
"Keep those wounds covered. I'll take over from here." The woman spoke, her voice clear and calm as she turned her attention back to the short feral woman that was already leaping for her.
Sachiko shifted her attention to the chains restraining her from actually helping, paying no mind to her injuries. If she could just get the chains off, she'd have access to her chakra again! The battle would be over in an instant if she could bring her wings out.
It was then that she realized that after these four years in captivity, her wings would be in a sorry state. Without the usual care that she took with maintaining them, they would be in shambles.
A hiss of frustration escaped her lips. She was never one to sit back and let herself be rescued. With a deep frown, she changed her plan; if she could cut the chains, she would be able to move more freely, even if the cuffs stayed on. She would still be without her chakra, but at least she would be able to properly defend herself and Kaii.
Sachiko adjusted the kunai in her hands, driving it down into one of the chain links in the chain that connected her ankles. Holding the pressure, she twisted the blade and snapped her feet out in opposite directions, relieved when the strain was enough for the link to snap.
Now she had more mobility, which was good in the long run. But when she looked up, she realized that she hardly needed to spare the effort; the short, angry woman and several of her cronies had fled, leaving only those too weak to flee and those already dead, as well as a few of the other prisoners, most of which had been injured in the battle.
Beside her, Kaii whimpered, crawling close to her and wrapping his little arms around her as much as he could. He shut his eyes and burrow his face against her shoulder, his cobalt blue hair, bright as a blue jay's feathers, hid all traces of his tears.
"Kaii, it's alright now." Sachiko whispered, wrapping one arm tightly around him. She dropped the kunai and began to pat his head. "You're safe."
"You're both safe." The blue-haired woman spoke up, turning to face them.
Sachiko glanced up and tilted her head. "I never expected to see you again, and I never would have thought it would be under circumstances like this." Her voice was soft as she slowly stood up, lifting Kaii into her arms. "Thank you for helping us. But now we have to go."
It wasn't that Sachiko thought they were going to hurt her or Kaii, but instead that she knew she needed to get home as soon as possible. She had been gone for four years without contact, and knew her village must be in uproar over her sudden loss of contact.
"You shouldn't be going anywhere by yourself with a wound like that." The blue-haired woman gestured towards the bloodstain that was rapidly growing from the place she'd been stabbed. "You can come with us, and we'll make sure you're taken care of."
"Konan, we should go back. Yahiko is waiting for us." The red-haired man came over slowly, a frown on his pale face.
The blue-haired woman, Konan, glanced back at her friend, giving him a slight nod. Then she offered her hand to Sachiko. "Come with us. We'll make sure you get home."
Sachiko studied Konan, tilting her head ever so slightly. "Get these cuffs off of me first, and we'll come with you." It was a little bit of a test; she wanted to see if they would allow her the freedom to use her chakra and manifest her wings. "He has the keys." She jerked her head towards her unconscious captor, who laid sprawled in the spot that she had left him just a few feet away.
Without a word, Konan went over to the man and searched for the keys, finding the keyring tucked away in his jacket pocket. She returned a moment later and undid the cuffs around Sachiko's ankles, and then the ones around her wrists, frowning at the welts that had been left by them.
Sachiko heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed. "Thank you." She felt much more comfortable now that she could feel her chakra again.
"Konan, who is this?" The red-haired man asked after a moment, tilting his head at the somewhat familiar way they treated each other.
"The one I told you about, Nagato." Konan replied after a moment.
Kaii peeked up from Sachiko's shoulder, glancing back nervously at Konan and Nagato with wide brown eyes. His gaze settled on the paper flower in Konan's hair.
"Kaii, you can't have it." Sachiko warned gently. "How about a feather, instead?" She glanced around, frowning a little, and finally decided to throw secrecy to the wind.
She gathered her chakra slowly, trying to get used to having access to it, and then manifested her wings from the pale pink and blue matching tattoos on her back.
Her wings, once beautiful, were tattered and emaciated, hardly resembling wings at all. The pale pinks and blues of her remaining feathers had mostly faded to an ashy grey from a lack of care. She reached around slowly and plucked one of the nicer feathers from her wing, ignoring the pinprick of pain, and handed it to Kaii.
"Well, what are we waiting for? I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to." Sachiko asked, looking up at Konan and Nagato as she ignored the distinct dizziness that she knew came from blood loss.
Konan and Nagato both exchanged a glance before ushering Sachiko and Kaii out through the entrance they had created, leaving the rest of the Amegakure shinobi to clean up the mess and deal with the remaining prisoners that had been left behind.
Sachiko walked quickly, making sure not to show even a bit of her weakness. Her footsteps became unsteady once they finally made it out into the open air, fading sunlight shining down on them.
It had been so long since she had seen the sun, and she was momentarily startled by it. It gave her a sense of relief that she hadn't felt in such a long time.
She swayed on her feet, finding her dizziness just a little too much for her to handle. Before she knew it, Sachiko was falling, her vision fading to black as she lost consciousness. Her last sensation before everything faded away was of someone catching her before she hit the ground.
Sachiko woke up bathed in weak sunlight, and when she opened her eyes, she didn't recognize her surroundings.
Light streamed in through a window to her left, fading as clouds passed in front of the sun, and when she glanced around, she found that she had been buried in blankets on someone's bed.
As she sat up, a jolt of pain went through her abdomen. She glanced down, finding that her wound had been bandaged neatly, along with the welts around her wrists and the gashes that went down her arms. A frown crossed her face for a moment as she glanced at her wings, which had been carefully tended to.
A soft sigh escaped her lips. Wherever she was, she had been taken care of. She was safe for now.
It was then that she realized Kaii was nowhere in sight. Panic jolted through her, and she slowly untangled herself from the blankets, slipping off the bed carefully.
Her legs were still unsteady beneath her, but she didn't falter as she made her way over to the door, slowly opening it and peeking out into the hallway. Everything was quiet at first, until a peal of childish laughter came from down the hall. Kaii.
Sachiko frowned a little, slowly making her way down the hall. As she walked, she realized that there was very little personalization throughout the hall, as if the owner of the house or apartment didn't spend much time there.
When she reached the end of the hall, she was greeted with an odd sight. Sitting on the floor, folding little paper animals and flowers was Konan. She kept a close eye on Kaii as he leapt between pieces of furniture, his small blue wings, still too small and weak to support his weight, flapping wildly.
Kaii landed not so gracefully on one of the chairs and sat still for a moment, trying to process how he'd ended up faceplanting. Then he noticed Sachiko, his big brown eyes widening.
"Mama!" He leapt off the chair and came scampering over to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her leg.
Sachiko reached down and lifted Kaii into her arms carefully, letting out a sigh of relief. "I'm here, little one." She gently stroked his hair, trying to reassure him that everything was alright.
Konan glanced up from her work, finishing the paper flower she was working on before getting up. "You're awake."
Glancing up at Konan, Sachiko nodded slightly. "I owe you one." She said softly, slowly making her way over to the taller woman slowly, her gaze never leaving Konan's beautiful orange eyes.
Sachiko set Kaii down on one of the chairs, stopping in front of Konan. She took her hand in both of her own bruised hands and lifted it up to her face, placing a delicate kiss on her knuckles. "Consider that a token of my appreciation." She said softly.
Someone cleared their throat from the doorway, and both women glanced over to see Nagato looking particularly awkward about interrupting whatever had just happened. "Am I...interrupting?"
"No." Sachiko replied, offering him a smile. "I was just extending my heartfelt thanks." She slowly made her way over to him, her gaze never leaving his one visible purple eye. She took his hand in her own and repeated the action she had done with Konan. "Thank you both." She was unable to hide the mischief in her expression as Nagato's eye widened in surprise.
Behind her, Kaii giggled, rolling around on the chair. He had never been in such a safe environment before, and he was happier than Sachiko had ever seen him.
Sachiko turned around and crept over to Kaii in an exaggerated fashion, lifting him high into the air once she was close enough. "And how could I forget my most favorite person in the world!" She said delightedly, hugging him tight and planting a big kiss on his forehead.
Kaii giggled louder, wiggling in her arms. "Mamaaaaaaa! Stop it!" He laughed as Sachiko set him back down on the chair and tickled him.
After a moment, Sachiko stopped and ruffled his hair. "Be a good boy and stay put, alright? I've gotta talk to my new friends alone, okay?"
Once Kaii had nodded, Sachiko straightened up and turned to Konan and Nagato, following them when they took her into the kitchen.
"Look, I'm really appreciative of your help, but we need to get going now." Sachiko began, her wings folding neatly behind her back, the tips of her ragged feathers brushing against the ground. "Once I'm home, I'll send along something more to show my appreciation. I don't have anything on me right now. Everything was taken from me when I got caught, even my headband."
"Perhaps you should rest and regain your strength first." Konan suggested, studying her closely.
"I can't. I've been away from home for too long. And I have to find Kaii's parents." Sachiko lowered her voice a little, so that the little boy wouldn't overhear. "And I've never been one to sit still for too long."
"I thought he was yours." Nagato spoke up quietly, tilting his head.
"He is, in the sense that I've been taking care of him since he showed up in that place. I love him, and I would die for him, but somewhere out there, his birth parents are looking for him." Sachiko smiled faintly.
That was being optimistic. In reality, it was likely that his parents were dead or had abandoned him, otherwise the whole village would have been mobilized to search for him.
"I'm back." A new voice called from the front of the house, and Sachiko turned her attention in that direction, tilting her head.
A moment later, a man with orange hair stepped into the room, looking rather tired. His brown eyes widened just slightly when he saw that Sachiko was awake and acting as if she had not just spent four years in captivity.
Sachiko tilted her head, hardly surprised to find that she recognized this shinobi as Konan's other companion from the day she had saved them all those years ago. She turned her attention to Konan and smiled. "I'm glad that both of your friends ended up okay. Sorry, I couldn't stay longer to make sure you all would be alright."
"You did more than enough." Konan glanced at the orange haired man and Nagato, frowning just a little. "This is the one that I told you saved us, Yahiko, Nagato." She glanced at Sachiko, as if wondering if she would say anything about how she had broken their deal and told her friends about what had happened.
Sachiko smiled at her, tilting her head. "Don't worry, beautiful. I'm not mad that you told them about me after I asked you not to. The cat's out of the bag now, anyway. I doubt we're much of a secret anymore, by no fault of your own." She winked and turned her attention back to Yahiko and Nagato.
"What's your name?" Yahiko asked after a moment, going over to stand next to Nagato.
"Ah, sorry. I'm Sachiko. Princess of the village hidden in legend. The most beautiful woman in the sky. The thief of many a maiden's hearts. I have many names; those are just a few." She winked again, a smile playing across her lips.
The three Rain shinobi stared at her blankly, seeming to wonder if she was serious, and how she was so well composed after such an incident.
"I know I don't look like much right now." Sachiko smiled sheepishly. "I've been in quite a situation for some time, as I'm sure you've figured out, so it's been a little difficult to take care of myself. But anyway, that's not really what's important right now. I need to get going."
"You really should rest. We can send word to your village that you're safe." Yahiko spoke up, frowning.
Sachiko raised a pink eyebrow and tilted her head. "And how exactly do you plan on getting the message there? The only way up is by flying, and I imagine that sort of ability is hard to come by outside of my village." She spread her wings out wide to make her point, noting the way that Yahiko's eyes widened in a nearly imperceptible manner.
"With the state that your wings are in, I'm not certain you'll be able to get up there either." Konan said softly, reaching out to brush her fingers against Sachiko's rough feathers.
That thought hadn't occurred to Sachiko, and she frowned a little. It was true that her wings were in bad shape, but she didn't want to delay any longer.
However, if she couldn't even fly, then she wouldn't even have a chance of getting home without help. It was a difficult decision, but she didn't really have much of a choice in the matter until her wings grew strong enough to carry her weight again.
"Fine. Bring me a bird and I'll give it the coordinates so it can take a letter back home." Sachiko finally gave in, frowning. "But in the meantime, where will Kaii and I go? We have no money, and no one we can ask for help here."
The trio of Rain shinobi exchanged glances, as if silently asking each other about how to handle the situation. When they'd glanced back, it seemed as if they'd come to some kind of conclusion.
"Damn, can you guys just read each other's minds or something?" Sachiko couldn't help but ask, not realizing that it just took a close bond to be able to read each other that well. She'd never really had a close bond with anyone since her mother had died, so she wasn't quite sure she could understand.
"We've just known each other for a long time." Konan replied, frowning a little.
"The two of you can stay here for now." Yahiko said after Konan had replied to her question. "You'll be safe."
Sachiko nodded slightly and sighed. She was resigning herself to staying away from home for just a little bit longer. But as she glanced at Konan, she decided that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to stay with such a beautiful woman.
couldn't help myself with posting this chapter so soon after the first one! forgot to mention, but this is like almost completely canon divergent! anyway, hope you're enjoying this so far!