Yo! Here is the next chapter and It is much longer than my usual. I had EVERY intention of having Kakashi in this chapter but instead it just wrote itself. Okay a warning.

EDIT 1/12/2015: This story now has a beta and with this note, what you are reading is the beta'd version. All betaing has been done by bleeding-roses 16

1. There is some medical stuff in there. It is not accurate and I'm just dragging it out. I am not a doctor or anything, it is slightly researched but not at all accurate.

Pleas enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I just have this plot!

On my way to Rain, I had kept an eye out for any rare herbs and for a good bamboo grove. I used to play the piano and a bamboo flute, since I couldn't recreate a piano the simplest thing was to make a flute and thus I started by whittling. I have to admit my whittling, at the start, was atrocious but it was better than nothing. Most of the wood I had gotten from the trees in Rain country were soaked. There was this constant fog of exhaustion that I had felt when I had crossed the border. At first it was something subtle but eventually it had gotten heavier. I must admit, even though I had realized the dangers of travelling by myself I was still very naïve about my situation and as such I had no idea how lucky I was when I had been able to walk past a bandit gang unhindered. Back then I thought my disguise was perfect.

Much of Rain was like that, rife with corruption and many were still healing from the third war. Nursing their losses and licking their wounds. But many did find their way back to stand on their own legs again and I had the privilege of giving a few smaller villages a helpful shove.

Excerpt from the Memoirs of Akiko Hatake nee Reko

Page 56

X

A heavy fog covered the forest as Akiko made her way through. Happily stumbling through the dark as she noticed the ache in her heart start to lessen, if only slightly. It had taken a good two months to wander from Gufu and into Rain. Akiko was often on the move from before sun rise and stopped well after sunset and once in Rain, it was becoming harder to keep track of time since the fog had blanketed everything and didn't lift at all. And it was this fog that had led her into a sticky situation just after the border. Akiko had walked through a border town that had been completely run by Bandits. She hadn't noticed it so she had continued following the dirt path, Akiko wasn't so sure of the terrain to make her own way through the area so she kept her head down and kept moving, fear was starting to build. The close she got the stronger the fear became.

There were structures that were too run down to be called houses on either side of her, lights were from the windows and there were people standing on the corners. The hair on the back of her hair stood up, and Akiko could feel the force of the stares. Struggling to keep her breathing level, Akiko could feel her limbs become heavy and her heart was pounding in her chest. She dearly hoped that it would not attract any attention from the loudness. Keeping her head low, Akiko could see someone coming from the other direction. Fear and panic was now clawing at her insides, the man passed her and grunted a greeting and Akiko nodded one of her own desperately praying that she would not be found or stopped.

Nothing happened. Akiko left the small town as peaceful as she had arrived in it. As the fear slowly drained out of her, a giddy excitement started to take its place. She had just walked through a bandit town and they probably thought she was male. She, Akiko Reko had tricked a whole bandit town. A hysterical giggle had slipped out her throat and as she continued, the pride of her success had yet to abate.

X

It was another two weeks before Akiko stumbled onto another person, specifically a child, when she was foraging for some edible plants. Said child was covered in dirt and wearing rags and it seemed they were on the floor searching for something. Akiko felt her heart clench, she had always had a weakness for children, after all in another life she had the privilege to see the growth of two generations of her own line. Slowly and deliberately, she stepped on a branch to make some noise. The child froze whipping their head in her direction, letting Akiko see that the child was a girl. Smiling softly, Akiko knelt down before her, hoping she didn't scare her away.

The girl's eyes were wide with surprise and the shadows of war and hunger, Akiko felt her heart clench from the look in those eyes. A shade of ordinary brown with pupils blown wide with equally brown hair. Akiko made slow motions to nibble on the wild radish she had found, making clear motions of chewing and swallowing before offering the rest of the plant to the child. The girl cautiously made her way closer to Akiko before snatching the radish and jumping back again like a cautious wild animal. Akiko doesn't move as she watches the young girl eat the small plant like it's the only thing she's had in days and the sad thing is that it's probably true. Softly Akiko begins to hum a song just as she did for her children and grandchildren. The little girl looks at her curiously when she heard the humming but made no motion to approach, but Akiko does nothing to indicate that she would move either, causing a small stalemate between them.

It takes three hours, a lot of patience and various methods of cajoling before the child would let Akiko be in touching range and another two before the girl lead her somewhere.

X

Akiko had been taken to what could be best described as a town in ruin. There were collapsed buildings, small towers and ramshackle houses. The streets were filled with holes from removed debris or explosions. The people there were thin and starving, many had eyes filled with a morbid sort of resignation. There were few filled with hope, those that were seemed to be moving about with nervous energy but with no real direction and attempting to clear the rubble . Akiko followed the small girl in shock as she took in her desolate surroundings. Intellectually she knew that war was a terrible thing, that it had caused death destruction but she had never seen it for herself and if this is the result of War...Akiko wanted nothing of it.

'These people have nothing left. Not even the hope that things could improve.' She thinks numbly as she is dragged along. Neither she nor the girl speak, each wrapped up in their own thoughts or concentrated on reaching a destination. They arrive at something that was, Akiko assumed, supposed to be a house. With a single-minded determination, the young girl marched forward and banged on the door like a mad woman. Akiko stared at her incredulously, as she continued to pound the door with a ferocity she hadn't even seen being used for a door. The door had opened so suddenly that it had caused Akiko to jump and for the girl to be pounding on the doorway occupant instead of the door.

"Damn it Sayuri, What the hell do you wan...Well hello there." The man stood at the door way in clothes that were covered in oil, staring at her in a way that made Akiko rather uncomfortable. He smirked his grey eyes glinting at seeing the subconscious fidgeting in her fingers. Akiko forced her hands stop fidgeting and smoothed them out on her pants, her smile polite and distant. The girl, Sayuri, tugged at the man's pants and when he looked down she held up what was left of the radish and then gestured to Akiko. The man's demeanour changed, the stress lines on his forehead becoming more visible as he straightened out slightly and his eyes too bore a more calculative look as he stared at her. Akiko held his gaze with her own flat one. She knows he won't make the first move, so she takes the leap instead.

"This place looks like it could use some help." Akiko says blandly, and feels her panic rise when she doesn't get a response. He stares at her for a long while, and Akiko can feel the urge to fidget become stronger.

"You offering to help?" He asks, dragging his words as if asking silently 'what can you even offer?'

Akiko grits her teeth, understanding the silent message easily.

"I am."

"So what can you do?" His lazy attitude to her was starting to work on her nerves as her panic slowly turns to anger.

"I'm a medic." She says, her tone short and clipped. The man looks stunned for a second before a shark grin replaces his lazy smirk. Akiko is taken aback by the sudden change in expression and it shows. The man across from her laughs before holding his hand out.

"I'm Mamoru and this is Iwate, once a strong hold village of Hanzo during the Third War" Akiko reaches out and grips his hand in a firm hand shake.

"Akiko, wandering traveller and medic." There is no exchange of last names, not here where it isn't needed.

X

Iwate, the name told to her by Mamoru, was slowly improving and it was also the longest time she had ever stayed in one location. Three years had passed since she first met Mamoru and Sayuri, the ache had slowly slipped her mind the more she spent in Iwate. Much of the rubble had been cleared, the holes filled in, houses were in a liveable condition, a med-clinic was up and running, a school of children was being built and instead of a sense of depression, the feeling of hope in the air was almost tangible. Akiko had made close ties with many of the residents and also had a number of students from the clinic, forcing her to remember the practices, techniques and information she had learnt as a Doctor in a life time ago. She taught them about different herbs and their properties, how to use them as a tea or a salve. She taught them what to do in an emergency and the basics of surgery and hygiene. The small town was now on its feet and strong enough to have a clinic running with the proper tools which had been forged in the third year of her stay and although it was nothing like Ame it was still a sight to see.

The people were happier than when she had first arrived, they had just started excavating the fallen towers and various bunkers that had been left by Hanzo. Akiko just gave them a little push in the right direction, giving them knowledge where needed. Despite all the successes that were achieved, the heavy losses were still felt. At the end of her third year inn Iwate, Akiko decided to leave, not quite as innocent as when she had arrived.

Before she leaves the slowly rebuilding town Akiko visits one last place, the cemetery. Walking past the head stones of familiar names she stops at one in particular.

*Sayuri*
Died: March 4th XXXX

There is no information regarding the date of her birth, many of the flies were lost during the war. Instead it bears her death date. It's been a year since that day. Akiko had been there, she with all her knowledge of two lives had been there and was unable to save Sayuri.

XX XX

There was a sudden rumbling followed by the corridors shaking. Many medics and trainees in the hallway simply shook it off as a demolition in progress and yet as Akiko worked in her small office, explaining the new duties to the head Nurse, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and dread began to fill her.

There was a sudden commotion in the lobby, the siren for an emergency had been sounded. With practiced hands and swift legs, Akiko and six other staff grab seven large red duffle bags and rush out the door unhindered by the weight of them. It wasn't hard to find the site, dust clouds were billowing up from the out skirts of the village and Akiko feels dread build up in her. The site was one of the oldest of Hanzo's outpost, tall and imposing it had cast a dark shadow over the town and from what she had been told made completely of an Earth jutsu. Some of the civilians had inspected it and declared it structurally unsafe and in danger of collapsing. What had set Akiko on edge was that Sayuri seemed to have this strange need to enter the strong hold and no matter how many times Mamoru or she told the girl that it was dangerous, Sayuri would always attempt to enter. Silently Akiko prayed that the girl she saw as a sister wasn't involved at all.

The cries are what reach them first, then it is to the sight of numerous people working on top of the rubble in attempts to pull the bystanders out from under the rocks. Akiko doesn't say anything and the six other medics behind her disperse. Akiko helps the nearest man, checking him over. There is blood sliding down the side of his face but overall he seems coherent, she asks some basic question to check his memory and asks him to stand to test for dizziness in case of a concussion. She gives the green light for now and tells him to check up at the town clinic later. Akiko searches for her next patient when someone screams her name.

Her head whips to the voice and the dread that she felt before turns into lead because out of the rubble is Mamoru, covered in dust with a few scratches but that is not what terrifies her. It's the small lifeless figure in his arms that does.

Rational thought stops for a second as she runs to them, telling herself that it's not Sayuri in his arms. That it's not Sayuri, the sweet girl who doesn't speak lying limp in his arms. But the closer she gets, the clearer she see Sayuri's face. Akiko want to crumple to the floor and cry, she want to beg the gods not to take away the little girl she thought of as a baby sister. But she doesn't, Akiko forces herself to calm down because Sayuri's life is at stake and if she doesn't get it together Sayuri Will Die.

"S-she went into the c-compound and I-I I told her n-not to but she d-didn't l-listen" Mamoru stutters, sounding as broken as she felt. Akiko chokes, it had been the one place that Sayuri had always wanted to go and it was the one place that they never let her. Akiko could feel the guilt as he places her down on the ground, her eyes flutter and there is a dazed look in her eyes like she can't see them

"Sayuri, Sayuri can you hear me?" Akiko calls, forcing back her tears because if she starts crying Akiko knows she won't be able to stop. Sayuri twitches her head slightly and her eyes become focused again. Akiko holds the relief back because she has to make sure that Sayuri is out of danger, the girl coughs and it comes out wet, ragged, and worst of all red. She's breathing, but there is a worrying wheezing sound that comes with it. Sayuri has a tired smile on her lips and struggles to raise her arm in Akiko direction.

"Don't move, you need to save your strength so I can treat you" Akiko holds her hand and reaches for the red duffle bag but Sayuri is insistent and Akiko opens the clenched fist to release a black leather strap. Akiko grabs in with one hand and quickly puts it in her pocket. Sayuri's breathing changes to strangled gasps and Akiko's heart plummets into her stomach.

'Collapsed lung caused by air in the chest cavity.' comes the diagnosis and Akiko frantically searches her bag searching for a scalpel and a syringe. She finds both and when she turns, Sayuri is no longer breathing and her chest is still expanded. Hurriedly, Akiko lifts up her shirt and feels for the ribs, pressing down searching for the air bubble. Finding it just below her breast, Akiko makes a small incision and inserts the needless syringe but doesn't watch the air leave as she moves to the repeat the process on the other side. Sayuri still wasn't breathing, her heart had stopped.

Tears are filling her eyes as Akiko places her hand one on top of the other and performs CPR.

"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15...Please Sayuri! Breath..26,27,28,29,30" Akiko cries but there is no response. She blows air in to the lungs, the girl's chest expands slightly. Akiko keeps going, there's still no response.

"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17...Don't leave us! Breath...28,29,30" She knows it futile after a while because no matter how many time she does it, Sayuri is already dead. Crying openly she doesn't stop even with the knowledge.

"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14...BREATH DAMN IT BREATH!...please just breath" Her voice breaks and her arms stop moving because there is no point. Sayuri is dead. Akiko rests her head on Sayuri's chest.

"Why Sayuri? Why couldn't you just stay away from it? Couldn't you have told us what you wanted and not gone yourself?" She asks the still form, her silent tears running down her face blur her vision. Maybe if she had tried harder, forced the point more. Had better equipment, forewarning, even Chakra damn it! Anything! Then just maybe Sayuri wouldn't have...she would be...

There is a tap on her shoulder and Akiko can feel Mamoru's had on her shoulder. She looks at him, and can see her own grief reflected back at her. They don't embrace, both of them continue to kneel silently at the Sayuri's cooling body. With a shuddering sigh she wipes away her tears and Akiko curses the inequality of villages and the power plays, she curses the lack of development in the healing field because there is nothing in this hospital that can save Sayuri. Moving sluggishly, Akiko picks her Sayuri's hand before kissing it softly because no matter how much she wants to grieve right now, not matter how much she wants to just collapse and stay with Sayuri and cry she can't because there are other people in the same accident that need help. And it comes with a sudden clarity why there was that one rule Doctors weren't allowed to treat family, she had always thought that if you treat family you would have a more fierce desire to save them instead it's the opposite. Emotions get in the way and compromise decisions.

With one last mournful look, Akiko gets to her feet, forcing all feelings back, and rushes to help those still living leaving Mamoru with Sayuri.

XX XX

A clearing of a throat broke her out of her memories.

"You're leaving." It wasn't a question. Akiko says nothing already knowing who it was that was speaking. She can hear the person moving to stand beside her as they both look on the grave of their sister.

"Here, something to remember us by." Mamoru hands her a thin metal sheet. Akiko turns it delicately in her hands and finds a latch. With a quick flick of her fingers, she opens it and softly gasps. Inside are two photos, one with Sayuri, Mamoru and herself altogether laughing and the other is all the staff she had trained to be medics for the local clinic. With reverent hands Akiko gently closes it again and places it in her bag. She looks up gratefully at Mamoru before smiling softly.

"Don't forget to visit and don't lose sight of yourself." He says before leaving. Akiko moves in the opposite direction, following the road out but not before casting one last look at the grave and the small town that she had helped build. And with that Akiko puts her straw hat on and begins wandering once more following the ache that had returned with a vengeance, but this time it wasn't from the need to travel.

Right see what I mean. Please leave a review of what you think!

I thank my reviewers for their encouragement and constructive criticism!

Also, this is in a place where supplies are limited and there is little to no high class sterile hygiene. Here people die of infections if not treated properly. If you do, do research on the collapsed lung thing, it is fan fiction and I didn't want Akiko to be completely unscathed by death. Sure she's seen dead bodies but she hasn't had someone close to her die and in this Shinobi world, that happens whether it is to disease, war or famine, people die.

I wasn't sure about the compressions, whether it was 15 or 30 but when I searched it up, it said 30 fast compressions and breathing into their mouth.

Also regarding the chapter with Jiraiya, yes, he will be making more appearances on this fic.

R and R!