Vengeance in Seven Days

By: Crystal Avatar

Disclaimer: I do not own the character names Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata. The author wishes to express his sincere fear of real-life ninja being sent to murder him on the charge of exposing their histories or otherwise offending them. Please don't hurt me…

Author's Note: Welcome to chapter two! The cinders of love begin to fly in 'Day Two- Flirtation', Part I !As always- reviews, flames and praise are nice to receive- but praise is the best! Encouragement keeps us authors going- you all know that! More reviews, people!

C.A

Punctuation Notes

"Talking" 'Thinking' SFX (Author comments)

Day Two – 'Flirtation', Part I

"Shinta-san! Shinta-san! Please join us for breakfast!"

Naruto snorted in fright. The surroundings all came to him at once, all of it unfamiliar like a dead log smacking into his face. His eyes had trouble opening and his golden hair was stiff and unruly over his ruffled brows.

'Where…?'

He struggled to remember where he was for a few brief seconds. The room he found himself in was not the stale cell the clan had issued him, but a cozy, humbly, but prettily decorated bedroom. He could not hear the usual shouts of new recruits training in the courtyard outside his window, but instead, the merry laughter of young children playing on the street outside. The sunlight poured in through his open window like fresh water.

Leaf was where he found himself to be- he was here because of his mission.

"Shinta-san! Wake up! Wake up!"

Misa-chan, the young girl from last night was gently rapping on his door. Naruto knew he couldn't recall the innkeeper mentioning that breakfast was included in the payments. He got up, dressed only in his white cotton pants and several coarse bandages wound around his midsection, to welcome the young girl into his room.

The young teenager was ecstatic, but was momentarily taken aback when the door was opened.

"Shinta-san! Thanks for finally letting me in you- you look… strong…"

"… Thank you, Misa-chan."

Naruto slipped on a matching, inconspicuous jujutsugi (jujitsu training clothes) that his jo'nin had given him years ago back at the castle, to hide his sculpted, but scarred, body.

Misa-chan paused for a second and took a chance to contain her excitement.

"Mother sent me to get you- she has cooked breakfast for us!"

"That sounds very pleasant, why don't you tell her I'll be there in a few moments?"

"No- it's okay, Shinta-san, I can wait for you!" Misa insisted.

Naruto paused for a second. "Okay…"

The young man stretched his body and headed into a small bathroom at the other side of his room. Out of sight from the little girl, he gently washed his face. A small, wooden pail of water had been provided for this and he proceeded to wet his hair, massaging the back of his neck, preparing his senses for a new day.

The little girl began to speak from just outside the main door to his room.

"Shinta-san, are you okay?" She quizzed.

Naruto spat out a mouthful of water into another vessel.

"Yes."

"Are you hurt? The marks on your chest look awful!"

Naruto closed his eyes for a second, allowing the water to run down his face.

"They're okay now. They're just scars."

"Scars?

Naruto stepped out of the bathroom with a dark, fading bandana now adorned on his forehead, holding his wild, blonde hair in place. He looked at the flower standing in front of him- there was no doubt in his mind she would grow into a stunning woman. A certain sense of compassion bit at him- how could so much promise flourish in such poor conditions?

Then he also had to remember that this girl was a potential enemy. A rebel.

"Yes, Misa-chan. Scars are wounds that have healed."

"Oh… did you used to fight people?"

"Yes- but all of them were bad."

"Wow- I bet all of them got a lot of scars like you, Shinta-san."

"Not exactly. It seems only I get scarred," Naruto allowed himself an ironic smile.

Misa noticed this and asked, "Why is that funny? Doesn't that mean only you get hurt?"

"I guess it does."

Naruto paused before he quickly decided to break the awkwardness of the silence between them.

"Umm… we should go meet your mother. We shouldn't keep her waiting."

"Yes, yes! Follow me!"

Misa led her guest down the stairway to another door.

"We live right next to you! Isn't that great?"

She opened the door and instantly Naruto's mouth began to water. His stomach churned and cried for food, his heart leaped at the pleasant aromas coming from the kitchen.

"Ah, Shinta-san, I do hope Misa did not wake you. I thought you would be up by now- come and please enjoy breakfast with us. We would like your company."

The mother's voice was a behind a wall, in the adjoining kitchenette. The proprietor's room was apparently much larger than the guest rooms- Naruto now stood in a dining room. The owners' bedroom, bathroom and kitchenette were all joined to this central hub.

"Thank you, madam. I am most flattered by your gracious hospitality."

"Shinta-san, you need not speak so politely with me all the time," the voice called back, then the beautiful innkeeper appeared by the doorway to give him a stern, but playful look before she spoke again, "For one, my name is Hiroko, not madam!"

Naruto smiled, not knowing what else to say.

"Misa, present these dishes to our guest on the table. Please, Shinta-san, take a seat."

Naruto sat and watched as the young daughter brought out a series of steaming dishes. Within moments, the table was filled with all sorts of wondrous cooking.

"We have rice, miso soup (or misoshiru as it is also known), fish and pickled vegetables!" The young daughter pointed to each dish in turn proudly.

"I hope it is enough to satisfy you. A poet of your caliber must surely enjoy more gratifying things," the mother sighed, taking her seat at the table opposite Naruto.

"Not true. This has to be the finest meal I have ever received in my life!"

Which was probably true for him.

"I will eat with thanks ('Itadakimasu'!)!" Young Misa announced abruptly.

And Naruto and Hiroko shared a brief, knowing smile and allowed themselves to follow the young girl's lead, feasting on a most filling breakfast.

After Naruto had helped Hiroko clean her cookery, he had asked to return to his room so that he may begin with his 'work'. A brief bow was exchanged and Naruto was alone once again. Misa had been reluctant to leave him alone, but she was eventually won over.

'Time to get to work.'

A stone was set in his throat- 'Is this the kind of people I've been sent to destroy?'

Naruto unrolled a large sheet of paper and held it down on his small table with the vials he had been supplied. He used the brushes to sketch a crude outline of the city, regularly peeking his head outside of his crude, but high window, supplying his makeshift map with landmarks dotted about the town.

After a few hours of this had passed, Naruto had realized he had plotted all that was to gain from his confined room and decided to venture out into the village where the sun was beginning to rest behind the horizon. There would still be daylight for a while.

He left his room, locking his door, and made his way down the stairs. Hiroko was in the kitchen- Naruto could hear her humming happily from the adjoining door in the lobby behind the counter. He felt no need to report to her or Misa, so he left the inn without a sound.

Naruto had a rough sense of direction in the town thanks to his studies. He decided that now was the time to learn about the people themselves. He needed a suspect and to do that he needed information. For now, he thought, gossip would suffice.

He headed to the part of town where there would still be many gathered and he could slyly eavesdrop on their exchanges- the marketplace.

'I have to remember my cover,' he reminded himself.

He reached the marketplace, which had only been a few blocks away from the inn. It was still a center of hustle in the southern part of the village, even at this time of the day. People were lining at stalls of drying fish, bags of rice grain, small wooden tea sets and cutlery. Marketers shouted at the top of their lungs, clients argued and whined.

Naruto wasted no time on the distractions- shuffling discreetly from one crowd to the next, listening to their trivial conversations, updates on the hardships of their lives.

"These days the price of meat…expensive!"

"She's grown into quite a beauty, my daughter, she'd make a fine wife…"

It was as if the villagers had no idea that a very obvious outsider was mingling with them. So had Naruto been trained in the art of brushing peoples eyes and thoughts away from his person.

"He's in the army… says that Tokugawa has placed our village under suspicion of…"

Naruto sharpened his ears and leaned closer to the two old men talking in the center of the marketplace. Their conversation seemed most interesting to him.

"Has your son told you why? Why would Leaf be suspected of harboring criminals?"

"I'm not sure… he says that they may even send spies! We must watch what we say from now on… the walls would begin to grow ears, if you understand my meaning."

"Yes… very true… but should we alert the mayor to this?"

"Maybe we should… you never know…"

At that moment, something in Naruto's head clicked. It was the intuition of a ninja that suddenly rang through and made him aware of something very disturbing.

'There's another ninja here. I can sense someone watching me.'

His eyes darted to and fro, left and right, up and down.

And then he caught an eye, one narrowed, feminine eye staring at him from inside the crowd. Staring at him through the gap between two people's shoulders.

As soon as the owner realized she had been spotted, she turned and pretended as if she had never been noticed. Despite this, Naruto could feel he was dealing with someone well trained.

The mysterious girl was a flurry of soft, pink hair and had an awesome, slender body that weaved through the crowd, trying to make an easy and silent escape.

Then her face bumped into his chest. Naruto's chest.

Naruto grabbed her shoulders in the midst of the crowd of villagers. They were so tightly packed that no one had noticed what he was doing to her.

"Relax, lady, I think we need to talk."

Her face was planted on the floor. She did not look up at him; she just hid behind her flowing, pink tresses. She made no attempt to free herself either, which was quite strange.

'Are you ninja?' Naruto held that question inside. "Who are you?"

The lady finally looked up and paused gracefully before replying.

Her tone was even and seductive, cool and melodic.

"I am Sakura. Geisha to the Mayor of Leaf."

"Geisha?"

Ignoring his surprise, the girl pronounced a beautifully, simple poem as if her response was automated.

She said, "Unpredictable/Temptingly kind, but ruthless/I am the river."

"Oh boy," Was all he could say.

DON'T MOVE! PART TWO IS COMING!

Thanks for reading this far!

In the continuation of Day Two…

Nighttime has arrived at Leaf!
Will Naruto be up past bedtime chasing kunoichi (female ninja)?
And what the heck is going on between him and the innkeeper?

Not even a ninja is safe from the kiss of death…

Stay tuned for some undue compassion in the next installment!