Author's Note:
Just a light warning, Sasuke sometimes uses course language and isn't afraid to swear.
~X~X~X~X~
Chapter 1: Fateful Encounters
The village was quiet, nothing but the sounds of birds and simple farmers going about their work so early in the morning. Within a small house an elder woman stared out the window, she softly squinted with a gentle smile, "Ah what a lovely day." She murmured to herself before she glanced towards the hall carefully, "Sakura! Sakura! Oh, now where has that girl gone too?" She mused to herself, she got up slowly with the assistance of her cane only to be meet by a pink flash racing down the wall and holding her hands up waving softly and ushering for the older woman to sit down. The elder woman laughed softly, "Sakura! Please, I am not that old." She said with a simple huff, her name was Chiyo, and she was the doctor in the small village called Hikari, Sakura had become her apprentice and adopted daughter after raising the small orphan since she was a baby.
Sakura tilted her head tenderly before she reached into her bag and softly pulled out a small pouch offering it to Chiyo with her green eyes beaming with delight. Chiyo smiled with interest as she took the pouch and looked in it carefully, her eyes softened as she looked at the young pink haired teenager with a cheeky grin, "Very good." She praised impressed with how much Sakura had learned. She looked up at her, "At this rate you will be able to take over the clinic so I can retire." She laughed, Sakura blushed shaking her head before she fiddled with her hands a moment, she softly signed to her, 'I couldn't do that, you are too important.' She signed softly bashfully looking down softly. Chiyo smiled gently shaking her head about how humble the girl was before she chuckled, "One day you will Sakura, I promise, we will find a way to make it happen." She said before she cupped the girl's cheeks in her hands making her look up into her eyes.
Sakura looked into her eyes before she smiled softly nodding her head, she knew it would be inevitable that her life would one day fade, but she wasn't sure of when it would happen. She would probably go after Chiyo but not terribly long after, everyone said they were working on a way to fix her curse, but she knew it wouldn't matter. She didn't mind though everyone in the village had given her a most incredible life, it was better then anything she could have asked for. She smiled softly and placed her hands upon Chiyo's comfortingly to let the woman know she was okay. Chiyo chuckled softly, "Now why don't you go out for a bit and get some sunshine, perhaps you could take that nice neighbour boy up on his offer to go for a walk by the lake Mhm?" She asked and giggled as Sakura's face turned an adorable shade of scarlet shaking her head profusely before she smiled. 'He is a nice boy, but I do not want to fall in love until the curse is broken, I wouldn't want him waiting for something that might never come to be.' She signed softly.
Chiyo thought about it and nodded her head in agreement, "Very well then, could you run an errand for me then before you go out to the forest to pick herbs?" She asked instead, Sakura blinked her eyes quizzically before she nodded eagerly, she wouldn't mind doing it for Chiyo. Chiyo walked over to the cabinet and opened it up reaching inside to grab out a small box and walked over to her offering her the box into her hands before clasping them together. "This medicine is for Mrs. Nokoribi, can you please deliver it to her on your way out?" She asked delicately. Sakura beamed and nodded her head happily before she kissed Chiyo on the cheek and bowed turning to leave only to be stopped by Chiyo taking her arm. "Did you take your medicine?" She advised, Sakura paused and looked back at her with a determined look nodding her head in justification that she had done so. Chiyo smiled hugging her tightly before she kissed her forehead, "Alright then you can go." She said before she sat back down in her seat by the window. Sakura smiled nodding her head as she headed to the door, she slipped on her overcoat gently and grabbed a basket before she slipped on her shoes and headed out into the quiet streets of the village.
Everyone knew each other in the village and as the morning sun beamed down over the forest everyone was starting to stir and go about their daily life. Many smiled upon seeing the pink haired beauty enter the streets, waving and bidding her a good morning as she passed by, she tenderly waved her hand in return flashing them smiles of joy as she did. Though she knew all their names off by heart she could no longer speak their names, the curse that plagued her had stolen her strength and stolen her voice, she couldn't speak anymore though she longed too. The medicine she took negated some of the effects of the curse, relieving her momentarily of pain and allowed her to be able to walk and move around without issues. Sometimes she fainted or got very sick once the effects wore off, but she tried to always remember to take her medicine. She was very thankful to the whole village that looked out for her and kept her safe and worked together to ensure she was doing well; she really couldn't thank them enough.
She slowly came to a stop as she knocked on the door of a house, the door opened and a younger woman smiled down at her, she had soft brown hair and hazel eyes, "Sakura-chan!" She cooed gently seeing the little pink haired wonder. "What can I do for you?" She asked gently as her eyes wandered down to her shoulder, Sakura blushed and pulled her coat up meekly before she grabbed out the box and offered it too her. "Ah! My medicine! Thank you so much for bringing it to me." She said tenderly, Mrs. Nokoribi smiled at her, Sakura blushed and rubbed her neck softly nodding her head softly. The woman glanced at her softly, "How does your mark feel today?" She asked causing Sakura flinch softly she reached back touching her shoulder before she gave her a happy smile nodding her head. "Oh good, I am glad. Well careful out there today, blow your whistle if anything happens, we'll all be there in no time." She spoke. Sakura nodded and waved at her before she headed down the street again biding her goodbye with a bow of her head before she carried on.
Sakura's mind drifted to the curse mark upon her back, it had appeared once her symptoms started, it was a cherry blossom tree painted on her back. Chiyo told her that when she was a baby it was a just a little bud and every year it grows bigger. They believe that once the tree fully blooms across her back she will die. She bit her lip softly knowing it would come eventually but she still had time to enjoy the rest of her days learning about being a doctor and living with Chiyo. Her eyes softened as she looked at the forest ahead of her, she slipped into the depths without hesitation as she let the forest swallow her entirely leading her down the path littered with sticks and leaves that cracked or crumpled whenever she treaded upon them. Her eyes glanced towards the side of the path looking at the rocks and bushes peacefully molding with the trees, grass, and flowers in such a serene grace that it gave her a great sense of peace.
The sun delicately drifted through the trees, seeping through the leaves, and falling upon her face causing her to close her eyes and enjoy the warmth that enveloped her. Her pale skin shone in the rays of the sun before she looked ahead seeing the sun skirt across the ground like a spotted pattern upon a beautiful painting. She smiled happily and ran down the path letting the wind dance through her hair, she knew this place like the back of her hand and never got lost in these woods. She laughed silently as she raced down the hill towards a small pond before she stopped and peered inside gently seeing her face, she waved down at herself before the water rippled and a turtle poked his head out opening it hungrily. She let out a soundless chuckle before she grabbed a piece of lettuce from her basket and offered it to him gently, he happily gobbled it up before disappearing into the water again. She continued down the path quietly watching the animals go about their day peacefully not disturbed at all by her presence.
She paused after a few minutes and smiled as she walked over to a patch of flowers and knelt softly to pick some of them, they would be very useful in creating medicines. She paused after a moment listening to the forest that seemed to go silent, fear crept upon her as she worried, she had lost her hearing for only a moment before the sound of hooves barreling through the forest came to her ear. She got up carefully dusting herself off before her eyes widened seeing a black and white horse nickering in panic racing towards her, she gasped silently and moved closer to it holding her hands out in front of her with a bold look upon her face. The horse slowed down and looked at her hands unsure of what she was doing before she smiled at him and noticed he was wearing reigns, she carefully reached up and grabbed them before she placed her hand on his nose and rubbed it comfortingly. The horse closed his eyes and nickered in worry as he pressed his face into her chest, she pets his neck and looked down at his leg with concern seeing a cut.
Her eyes widened as she softly knelt and examined it, she softly waved her hands to him to tell him to remain calm before putting her hand on his leg and focused, a green glow emitted from her hand healing the wound upon his leg carefully. "How did you do that?" A husky voice spoke she gasped silently and whirled around a little frightened by what she saw.
~X~X~X~X~X~
Earlier
Morning in the Uchiha Kingdom was exactly as one would expect, a large city, busy and bustling streets, and plenty of noise everywhere. Everyone was awake and getting to work to get the kingdom running as soon as possible, they had many travelers passing through and often took advantage of that fact. The palace stood at the center of the kingdom looking very elegant and grand, the maids and servants rushed about cleaning and preparing everything for the Uchiha's family routines and various other events that took place within the castle. The King and Queen were preparing a ball in the coming months that would host a variety of nobles and royalty from across the Land of Fire. Their main intention besides keeping good relations with all the other kingdoms was of course to find a wife for their youngest son Sasuke.
Sasuke woke up with a groan before he forced himself to crawl out of bed, he rubbed his neck before he stretched and frowned upon hearing a knock upon the door. "Are you ready yet?!" An impatient voice shrilled towards him, he grunted letting out a simple, "Hn." Before he walked to his bathroom to get ready gazing upon his disheveled raven black hair and deep onyx eyes that looked annoyed by just glancing upon himself. A blonde-haired teenager with bright blue eyes burst into the room fuming, "That doesn't tell me yes or no baka!" He hissed angrily. "Not everyone speaks your cryptid tongue!" He huffed crossing his arms. "Shut up Naruto, it is to early in the morning for this nonsense." Sasuke grumbled uncaringly as he did his business and got to work walking out of the room grabbing his shirt slipping it on before he grabbed some pants and put them on as well. Looking himself over he fixed his hair a little and nodded his head before he grabbed his sword. "I am ready see, that wasn't long at all." Sasuke smirked a bit looking at him.
Naruto rolled his eyes, "Yea, yeah that might work for you but not me, we have a schedule to keep up!" He said, "I don't care for it, we are doing something different today." Sasuke mumbled quietly shaking his head before he headed out of his room. Naruto's eyes widened, "What you are skipping out on training today?" he asked, Sasuke casted him a glare before he sighed, "Yes, I can't afford to waste time doing the basics repeatedly. I need to find a girlfriend or something to get my parents off my back before the ball." He said, "What are you going to hire a girl? Because literally have the kingdom would drop dead for you." Naruto teased him laughing childishly causing Sasuke's eyes to twitch with annoyance, "No." He murmured crossing his arms, "No, I want to find someone more stable who they couldn't say no too… I am not saying I will find the one, but I certainly might find someone of interest in another kingdom, the girls here are annoying, I couldn't live with that." He muttered bitterly before he thought about it.
"We are going to the Hyuuga Kingdom, I could find someone there." He said without hesitation causing Naruto's jaw to drop immediately followed by a shrill protest, something along of lines of was he crazy. "Hn." Was all Sasuke responded with, not really caring about his spastic nature, Naruto shook his head, "Sasuke that is crazy even for you, I am sorry, but that Kingdom is all uptight with their rules and stuff, if you propose to their princess and don't actually go through with it you could bring down a war upon this country." He gasped at the idea shaking his head, "That is stupid even for you teme!" He hissed causing Sasuke to roll his eyes. "You are lucky I find you mildly amusing, or you would have your head on a stake for calling me such a thing." He smirked a little playfully causing Naruto to pale, "You have a funny way of saying that I am your best friend Sasuke." Naruto laughed after a minute trying to shake off Sasuke's threatening words. "Besides Baka, I am not going there to propose to their princess, that is probably what my parents have planned anyways. No, I am going there in search of a girl who isn't annoying, and I can tolerate enough to pull off my plan without too much consequence." Sasuke explained nodding his head.
"That seems really underhanded." Naruto said thoughtfully rubbing his chin before he looked at Sasuke, "You could really end up breaking someone's heart you know." He explained though Sasuke wasn't in the mood to listen honestly, he had his mind made up. His parents were pressuring him into it so he would find a way to make it work for his own benefit, perhaps he might even find a girl who would do it just for the fun of it until they both grew bored before marriage and split. It seemed like a solid idea at the time anyways he could probably get away with it too if everything went as planned it would just mean finding the right girl. "Let's go." He said after a minute as he turned and headed towards the stables lightly with Naruto who groaned in protest rambling on something about being a real bastard sometimes, but Sasuke ignored him as they strolled through the magnificent halls that were decorated in the Uchiha colors, adorned with jewels and fancy vases and tapestries. Portraits of family members every now and then, ones he knew and lived with and others who were old and long dead.
Sasuke ignored them all as he made his way out of the palace and towards the courtyard full of plants and a beautiful pond where gorgeous koi were swimming effortlessly and a small turtle was sitting on a rock basking in the morning light. He strolled past them all with Naruto on his heels still rambling about some bullshit he hadn't listened too before he walked into the stables, "Oi." He called lightly watching as a young stable boy ran over, "Your majesty! How may I help you?" He asked, "Get my horse ready to ride." Sasuke ordered lightly and watched as the boy took off swiftly, "Mine too!" Naruto called before a yawn came from up in the loft, "We are riding out?" A lazy voice beckoned tiredly before Naruto chuckled, "Shikamaru get your butt down here! We are going to the Hyuuga Kingdom today!" he called listening as the voice groaned from the loft and a black-haired guy walked down from the ladder rubbing his neck. "We always have to do stuff when it is time for me to nap." He yawned again tiredly.
Sasuke frowned, "You are always sleeping." He murmured lightly with a glare before Shikamaru smiled lazily, "Not always your highness, I happen to be awake whenever we train… mostly." He said looking off to the side as Naruto laughed softly, "Yea right." He said waving his hand, "Either way." Sasuke muttered shaking his head, "Get your horses ready to ride." He said as he walked to the stable boy who was tending to a majestic black and white stallion softly, "Nobuyuki…" He whispered lightly petting his head softly before he got onto the saddle once it was strapped on holding onto the reigns, the horse nickered happily and snorted before standing stoically awaiting orders from his master. Naruto hopped onto a soft chestnut brown mare who nickered with delight before Shikamaru climbed onto a grey dapple mare who gave a light snort. "Are just the three of us going?" Shikamaru asked as Sasuke nodded his head, "Hn. Anymore will just become a burden." He said and let the stableboy latch on their saddlebags with supplies before he took off with Naruto and Shikamaru entering the dense kingdom.
They moved swiftly down the stone path laid out that separated them from the rest of the kingdom winding down through before it started to conjoin with the rest of the roads in the kingdom becoming ever busier but thankfully by now everyone was used to their beloved prince riding out and easily moved out of the way to avoid getting run over. Droves of girls swooned in eager delight as Sasuke passed by them, they called out his name and other comments such as asking him to marry them or to let them bare his children. He cringed lightly as their desperation and clacked his tongue urging Nobuyuki to run faster with Naruto and Shikamaru chasing after him swiftly into the wild lands ahead of them.
Between the Uchiha Kingdom and the Hyuuga Kingdom was practically savage lands, bandits roamed the forests usually stealing when they could, or even poor villages that often got raided as they didn't have the protection of Anbu Knights that protected the kingdom from such attacks. Savage and free lands with untamed animals that often roamed the forests with little worry of humans as most avoided the main roads. However, every now and then one would wander to close and end up attacking travelers, often why Sasuke would travel with Naruto and Shikamaru who were both his personal Anbu guards though they were of similar age both has their own unique abilities that made them useful and not to say that Sasuke was useless himself. Sasuke was trained in the arts of his family bloodline and only ever lost fights against his brother and father, against other guards however he had never lost. He was considered a prodigy. Hence why his family were eager to secure his future for the kingdom as soon as possible, much to his dismay.
Sasuke was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance, he tsked lightly before he looked at Naruto and Shikamaru, "We are still going." He said, "What if we get caught in the rain?" Naruto asked warily, Sasuke frowned, "Don't worry about it, if we do, we can ask for shelter at the Hyuuga Kingdom, they can't turn us away." He rationalized lightly as they race through the forest and down the path, they were barely halfway there when an arrow whisk past them causing Nobuyuki to rear up in panic before running off with Sasuke wildly deviating from the path as he burst through the forest running over a few bandits as he did. "Sasuke!" Shikamaru and Naruto called in a panic but before they could bandit leapt from the bushes taking them on.
Sasuke groaned as he grabbed onto Nobuyuki's reigns and pulled back on them tightly trying to slow the panicked horse down, he wasn't sure how far they went before the horse snorted tiredly shaking his head, Sasuke frowned and looked around he was far from where he had come from, and he wasn't entirely sure how to get back. He gazed down at his horse and sighed heavily; this wasn't exactly what he planned at all. He slowly ran his fingers through his hair trying to think of a way to find Naruto and Shikamaru from this point but before he could he noticed someone trying to sneak up on him, he pulled out his sword and glared around, "Show yourself!" He ordered boldly before another arrow shot out, Nobu reared up causing Sasuke to fall from his saddle but caught himself before he hit the ground and rolled back getting into a fighting stance as he watched his panicked horse run off again. He grumbled to himself before he swiftly swiped his sword blocking an arrow that dared to try and cut his perfect skin before he reached back into his pouch and pulled out a few kunai launching them into the trees and watched as two bandits dropped before a third one dove down at him, Sasuke smirked and swiftly jumped at him kicking him roughly in the gut before spinning around midair and axe kicking him into the ground. He landed and glared at the bandits before he looked around for more.
"Tsk." Sasuke frowned before he sheathed his sword and grabbed his kunai cleaning them off before he looked at the bandits carefully, they were nothing but low-level thugs looking for their next score. His eyes narrowed shaking his head before he searched for Nobuyuki wondering how far his horse could have possibly gotten, he looked down at the ground seeing the trail of blood made him frown knowing his horse was probably in great pain, hopefully the Hyuuga Kingdom would be able to take care of him. He walked along the trail when he heard the soft nicker of his horse, he ran towards it and his eyes widened in surprise by what he saw, a thin pale girl around his age was embracing his horse softly petting him, her eyes were like dazzling emeralds that held a gaze that was soft and gentle. Her hair was the most brilliant shade of pink he had ever seen, and he thought it was very unnatural but so strikingly beautiful that it almost drew his breath away. Her pale skin was angelic and looked soft it gleamed in the light of the sun, and her hair surrounded her face like a halo and despite the light of sun glistening upon her she shone more delicately like the moon itself.
What she did next shocked him more so though she smiled softly at his horse and knelt before the majestic beast and held her hand to his wound, it glowed bright green and healed his wound. This girl knew how to use medical ninjutsu and her control over it was incredible, yet she was in the middle of the dangerous woods? He approached her lightly, "How did you do that?" he asked her curiously and blinked surprised when she jumped and looked up at him a little afraid. He had never had a girl afraid of him before and he wasn't sure what to do, he opened his mouth to speak again when Nobu nickered happily and nuzzled the girl softly, she giggled silently and pet him in return before she looked at Sasuke and then gestured towards the horse, she wondered if he was the horse's owner. Sasuke slowly nodded his head a little annoyed she still didn't answer him, "Yes, Nobuyuki is my horse. What are you doing out here all by yourself? Don't you know it is dangerous?" He asked with a light snap wondering how dense this girl was to be out here on her own.
Sakura examined the young man curiously, they had to be close in age, but he was taller than she was, his hair was a most lucent shade of raven black that looked as dark as the midnight sky. His eyes were a piercing dark onyx that burned like the warmth of the sun. She had never seen anyone as remarkably handsome as he was, his muscles rippled under his shirt as he moved slightly closer and she moved back a little warily. Despite his handsome looks she didn't know who he was and blinked surprised by his odd behavior and shook her head softly before she signed to him lightly and noticed his confused expression as he looked over her hands, "What are you doing?" he asked unsure of if she was trying to do a ninja technique but he had never seen such hand signs before it was nothing like he had ever known so he braced himself for an attack when nothing came but her confused looked by tilting her head he realized she wasn't trying to attack him. "Why don't you speak?" he challenged her irritated by her lack of answers. She was taken back when he didn't understand but thought about it carefully and softly put her hand on her throat and gestured trying to speak but no voice came out. He watched her closely and his eyes widened as he flushed with embarrassment as he realized she couldn't speak, he grumbled to himself, "Sorry…" He murmured though now he was unsure how he would get her to answer any of his questions.
"Alright yes or no questions then. Are you out here alone?" Sasuke said thoughtfully looking at her, Sakura nodded her head gently, "I can work with this." Sasuke mused, "Alright, then do you live around here?" he asked, Sakura once again nodded her head gently and he thought about it carefully perhaps she was from one of the villages around here, there were some around but honestly he hadn't known one was out this far away from the path, he wondered how they ever survived considering she was roaming around unprotected like nothing was wrong with the world. He let out a gruff snort and opened his mouth to answer another question when thunder roared over them loudly and rain began to follow, Sakura frowned worriedly rubbing her arm before she pointed in another direction. His gaze followed it warily before he walked over to Nobu and took his reigns. "Fine I will take you back to your village then I will get a map and head out." He grumbled, he could at least find his way like this before he blinked surprised when Sakura grabbed his hand and lead him down the path carefully.
Sakura had never met another person outside of her village or a horse as big as Nobu was, it was so exciting that she could hardly contain herself honestly, she had never seen the outside world and had so many questions to ask him, but he couldn't understand her whatsoever. If she brought him home maybe Chiyo would be able to translate for her, plus he seemed nice enough that she could learn a little before he left on his way. She gasped silently when she felt his arm snake it's way around her pulling her closer, she blushed deeply and pushed against his hand unsure of what he was doing, "Stop squirming and shhh." He said pulling her against a tree as he noticed more bandits wandering around in the distance, he tsked to himself unsure he could fight with her, she seemed so small and fragile now that he had felt her against him.
Sakura blinked a bit and looked towards where he was looking, her eyes widened in surprised seeing more outsiders in their territory, she had never seen so many before and she wondered what they were doing here. "Stay here." Sasuke murmured handing her the reigns to Nobu, she fumbled with the rope before she looked at him and nodded her head quietly keeping against the tree quietly. Sasuke stalked towards the bandits and paused as he heard them talking, as he got a better look at them, he noticed they weren't quite the same as the ones from before, they all wore black cloaks with strange symbols on the back of them and they looked far stronger. "The village has to be around here somewhere." One mumbled looking at the map angrily, "We will find her for the master without fail, even if it takes us years to find her." Another uttered as he grabbed the map and looked it over quietly. "Master said the village was around here, that is where she was taken." He mumbled before he paused and looked around quietly. Sasuke frowned he didn't like the looks of them and when they stopped talking, he dropped lower and made his way silently back to the pink haired girl, those guys were bad news and he had to get her somewhere safer.
He made his way back to her and looked at her putting his finger to his lips before he moved closer to her and whispered into her ears, "Which way is it?" he asked before he pulled back. Sakura nodded her head and pointed towards the northwest of their current position, which was good since it was the opposite of where those guys were looking. He smirked a bit as he grabbed onto Nobu and pulled himself onto him with Sakura on his lap, she blushed surprised and looked up at him as he kept holding onto her and the reigns and clacked his tongue, "Yah." He said to Nobu who took off down the path leaving the strangers behind him with the mysterious pink haired beauty in his arms. Sakura closed her eyes fearfully at first having never ridden a horse before, she slowly opened her eyes feeling the rain beat against her skin and the cool of the breeze as she gazed ahead of them her eyes sparkled as she gasped silently watching the forest move so swiftly around her.
Moments later thunder rumbled above them, and rain pounded against their skin and clothes as he pulled back on the reigns causing Nobu to slow down after they had gotten to their destination, Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise as he gazed ahead of him, "What… is this place?" He muttered in disdain.