One

Sakura

The teacup slips from my hand, shattering into a thousand tiny, jagged pieces on the warped, wooden floor.

"Princess!" one of my handmaidens calls out, rushing to my side with a look of intense worry on her face. "Please, step away from the glass. I will clean it up."

"No, Hinata," I reply kindly, discreetly wiping a tear from my eye as I bend to help her pick up the broken pieces. "Fetch a broom, and I will pick up the larger pieces."

"B-but, Princess!"

"Go, please," I smile up at the timid, dark-haired girl. "You will not change my mind."

"Yes, Princess," the girl bows her head lightly before scurrying off in search of a broom.

I sigh lightly, placing the larger pieces of glass from the shattered, white cup on the floor into my open palm. The shaking of my fingers had caused the teacup to slip and fall, breaking apart against the dry, old wood that makes up the flooring. I stand, taking care not to grip the shards of glass too tightly and cut my hand. My eyes find the hole in the wall, our only window in this prison, and my heart sinks upon seeing how close the billowing smoke is approaching. My fingers weaken, and I almost drop the glass for a second time.

It is only a matter of time, now.

I have been sent away from the palace, from my home, for safekeeping. Me and my handmaidens, along with two bodyguards, are shacked up in a small cabin in the middle of nowhere, on the outskirts of the country. I can't understand how the fighting has come so close to us now – the terrain in the surrounding area is marshy and unsuitable for battle. Fear grips my heart like a vice as a shadow of doom lurks over me. Maybe they know where we are…

If I hadn't been born into nobility, if I wasn't a princess, I would have been out there fighting with my countrymen. My abilities certainly would have been useful in a war. But alas, princess I am, and my father never would have allowed me to do such a thing.

Magics are rare, and healing magics are rarer still. My mother had been a mage, before she had agreed to have her magic sealed deep within her, unable to be tapped or touched by herself or another. She had offered the same service to me, which I vehemently refused, and my mother had only nodded in reply with a quiet spark in her eyes that told me that she understood. I was forbidden from telling anyone about my abilities, however. I broke that rule three times, when I told Naruto, my handmaidens, and my guards my secret.

In my father's eyes, my magic makes me vulnerable, makes me a target. In my eyes, it makes me a weapon. A weapon that is growing tired and rusty in a damp, old cabin in the middle of nowhere.

A weapon that might soon be destroyed.

Sasuke

Lightning crackles around him as he rushes into the tangle of bodies, sharp jagged spikes of blue light shooting out towards his enemies. The smell of static permeates the air around him with a sickening, burning aroma. The enemy is retreating, doing their best to pull back their crippled forces. The rank stench of blood is enough to clog the sinuses, and fighters from both armies are tripping and falling over the dead – most of whom are contorted in odd, sickening angles, faces terrified and empty in death.

It is the direction that the enemy is retreating that alerts Sasuke's attention. The enemy seems to very clearly be leading them away from something. Of course, he can't be sure, but there is…something behind him. His heightened awareness can sense it. It is magic, almost definitely, though it is concealed, probably partly by the thick trees and mist behind them.

Using hand signals and single-worded commands, Sasuke orders his men to continue pushing the enemy back, forcing their retreat, as he pulls a few of his better trackers along with him in the opposite direction.

The ground is a murky, muddy, bloody mess beneath their feet, and even Sasuke has to tread carefully to avoid slipping and falling as he runs with his men towards the source of the magical feeling. It is very weak, as though it is being suppressed, but Sasuke can feel it as surely as he can feel the sun on his face. Perhaps it is a magical object, being concealed beneath some sort of spell. Perhaps it is a magical creature of some sort. He can't imagine that it would be any sort of magical human, except for maybe a hermit wizard.

He just can't seem to shake the feeling that it is important, whatever it is. He feels nearly certain that the enemy forces had been trying their damnedest to pull he and his men in the opposite direction, into deeper woods and more treacherous footing. Retreat in the direction they were going just doesn't make any sense.

A tingling sensation shoots down Sasuke's left arm, prompting him to draw his sword and heft it in a swinging motion, successfully blocking a shuriken that had been thrown right at the back of one of his tracker's head's. His man shoots him an appreciative look as they increase their speed, ducking into deeper tree-cover and hurling themselves out of sight from their enemy. A few more misguided shuriken and kunai come flying behind them, lodging themselves into the trunks of hundred-year-old trees with empty thuds. This sudden attack in their direction tells Sasuke that he had probably made the right decision – there is obviously something in this direction that he is not supposed to find.

The slightest tug of a smirk lifts the corner of his mouth. He will find it, whatever it is.

Sakura

I stand abruptly from my cross-legged position on the floor, knees shaking slightly as I rise. I feel the color drain from my face and a lump form almost instantly in the dry cavern of my throat. "They're coming."

"How can you be sure?" one of my bodyguards, Kiba, asks, hands immediately clenching into fists at his sides. "The sounds of battle are waning; it sounds as though they are moving away."

"The majority of them are," I nod, muscles tensing. "But there are some headed directly for us, a mage among them."

Hinata gasps beside me. "A mage?"

I nod grimly. "A very powerful one at that." I pause. "A dark one."

I can feel his massive power pulsing in waves, coming closer and closer towards us. It makes my skin crawl and my stomach flop mercilessly. My heart crawls slowly up my chest to lodge deeply into my already constricted throat.

"You should leave," I sigh, reaching behind my head to tie my long, pink hair up into a messy ponytail with a strip of rag. "This will likely not be pretty."

There is a series of snorts and scoffs from behind me. I quirk an eyebrow as I look back at my comrades.

"Right," Kiba drawls, reaching to rest his hand on the sword sheathed at his side. "We, who were sent here to protect you, will just be on our way. Good luck, Princess!"

"We will never leave your side, Princess! You have my undying loyalty!" Lee cries out with a hint of tears in his eyes. Overzealous and well-meaning, as always.

"They're right, Sakura-san," Hinata whispers, coming to stand at my side. "We will never leave you."

"Thank you all, really," I frown, touched by their loyalty, but I fear for their lives. "But this is a lost battle. This mage is stronger than me, I can feel it, and he is undoubtedly accompanied by others. I'm sure he can sense my presence, my magic can't be entirely suppressed, but you all can still escape. If I'm not with you, I'm sure they will not chase."

"Not a chance," Ten-Ten snorts, twirling a kunai around her little finger, coming to stand with the small group huddled around the makeshift window. "You're stuck with us, I'm afraid. For better or for worse, as they say."

I nod grimly at my companions, not happy with the current flow of events, but accepting it for the time being. They are all just as stubborn as I am, and I am probably partly to blame for that. We have been by each others' sides for years.

We make our way out the front door of the cabin, giving up on the little wooden structure that will offer us no protection against what is coming. I glance over my shoulder at the crooked building that has served as my home for the past month, before returning my gaze forward to my countrymen before me. We have spent three months together in the cramped, musty space afforded to us by the cabin – and I wouldn't trade those months for the world. They might just have been my last ones, after all.

Living in a cabin is certainly different than living in a castle, and while it was often difficult, part of me enjoyed the simplicity. We hunted and gathered food in the forests around us, reading books and telling stories to pass the time. We would sit around the little fireplace at night, pretending that we weren't hiding from anyone and we were just a little family tucking in for the evening. It had been peaceful and I will miss it dearly.

"I would guess that they are less than a mile away by now," I inform the group, doing my best to keep the trembling edge from my voice. I am far more nervous about this than I am behaving. "I will try to hold a protective barrier…but it will probably not last long."

"We'll be ready for them," Kiba snarls. Turning his attention to the woods, he whistles sharply in three short blasts.

A massive, white wolf with tawny brown ears comes bounding from the trees, causing Hinata to take a quick step backwards. The wolf skids to a halt at Kiba's side, raising his nose to the wind and sniffing suspiciously. The thick hair on his back begins to spike upwards as he paws anxiously at the dirt.

Ten-Ten unwraps the obi from around her slim waist, revealing multiple shuriken that had been concealed beneath the fabric. Despite the circumstances, I feel a secret smile tug at my lips at the sight of it. Ten-Ten is more bodyguard than handmaiden – she always has been. She has more than once put her life on the line to protect me, and I am grateful for her. I hope she knows it.

Lee is cracking his knuckles and stretching his limbs, clearly preparing for close-quarters combat, as is his forte. I desperately hope that the enemy doesn't get close enough for hand-to-hand combat. But hoping is usually useless, I remind myself with an anxious twitch of my downturned mouth.

Hinata is doing her best to look brave, I can tell, and my heart aches for her. She knows she is the proverbial weakest link in this scenario, and I silently pledge to myself that I will protect her and that she will be alright. Lee and Kiba and Ten-Ten are all armed and dangerous, and while I know Hinata keeps a small dagger strapped to her leg at all times, I also know she has never had to use it. In her heart, she is pure and she is pacifist.

Raising my hands slowly, I close my eyes and focus my energy. "Mamoru," I whisper resolutely, watching as the green light shoots from my hands, rushing out and molding to form a large, protective barrier around us. Protection and healing spells are my strength. I have had essentially zero real life practice with my magic, however, and I try not to let my nervousness show. I have practiced, sure, but almost all of my practice has been inside the safety of the palace, and only when I wasn't being watched by anyone. I've never had to cast a barrier for the actual purpose of protection before.

The dark energy is growing closer and closer, swelling to the point that I feel as though I can barely breathe. It feels like a pair of invisible hands has reached out and grabbed me around the ribs, squeezing and crushing until the bones begin to groan and fracture beneath the pressure. Whoever possesses such magic...I am not looking forward to meeting them. There is a pang of familiarity in the approaching energy, and that perplexes me greatly. I have not encountered a great deal of mages in my time, but generally speaking, I can recognize the ones I know well by their energy signature. Whenever Naruto is close by, I can feel his boundless, positive energy seeping into my skin. When Kakashi is close to me, I feel a sort of simple calmness, laziness almost.

This energy is dark and makes me feel as though I am being crushed beneath a large and heavy foot. It is heavy and it hurts.

We hear them before we see them. The underbrush in the distance rustles and crunches beneath what sounds like several pairs of approaching feet. Finally, the suspense is relieved as me and my group are faced with four members of the Army of the Sound, pushing their way through the thick foliage surrounding the little cabin.

Our sanctuary is lost.

One of the men is tall and redheaded, with an almost gentle countenance and body language that would have surprised me were my senses not on such high alert. Next to the large redhead is a girl, also redheaded, but a much deeper shade of red – like the dying embers of an evening fire, or the blood of a dying human. Next to her is a slight, lanky, white-haired man with a sword on his back and a maniacal glint in his eye. I am instantly extremely wary of that one.

The fourth man, though…he is the one who causes my blood to run cold, he is the one who causes my teeth to chatter even in this blistering heat. Beneath the warmth of the afternoon sun, I feel an involuntary shiver run down the length of my spine. He is tall, lean, and terrifying. His hair is darker than water under a starless midnight, and as wild as the wind in a hurricane. These things aside, nothing about him is more frightening, more gut-wrenchingly heart-stopping, than his eyes: blood red, and swirling in slow, steady circles.

My breath leaves me in an instant. "Sasuke."

Sasuke

"You've got to be kidding me," Suigetsu chuckles under his breath. "Did we seriously just stumble onto the Haruno princess?"

"We don't know for sure that it's her," Karin replies quietly, narrowing her eyes at the group behind the barrier. "It might not be."

Suigetsu actually snorts, then. "Right. Because this country is just full of pink-haired, drop-dead gorgeous women. Don't be stupid, it's her."

Karin splutters at the insult. "She's not that pretty, and this one is clearly magic. I hadn't heard – "

"Enough," Sasuke speaks, holding his hand up and signaling for quiet. He inspects the barrier in silence, ignoring the familiar girl now standing not twenty feet before him. He has no doubt he can break the protective shield, but he debates how. Bringing his fingers to his lips, he inhales deeply – he hears the members of his party take a step back – and blows, expelling the magic he had gathered in his lungs as a massive ball of fire.

The barrier sizzles beneath his attack, and Sasuke's keen eyes catch a grimace on the pink-haired mage's face. He frowns upon seeing the protective barrier unmoved and seemingly undamaged. Still, he keeps his eyes averted away from her.

Grasping his right wrist in his left hand, Sasuke gathers more energy than he thinks is necessary, just to be safe, into the palm of his callous-roughened hand. Feeling his fingers begin to heat with the power and friction of his spell, Sasuke launches his arm forward, pressing his hand into the green barrier. "Chidori," he breathes under the screams of the lightning emanating from his burning hand. The blue bolts shoot over and through the barrier, finally seeming to weaken it. He continues to hold the spell, expelling a surprising amount of energy before the barrier finally begins to give way. A smirk curls the corner of his thin mouth as the barrier dissipates completely. A small, petty obstacle.

"Heh," Suigetsu laughs. "Easy." He swings his large sword from behind his back, smiling impishly as he takes a step forward.

"Wait," Sasuke snaps, blocking Suigetsu with his arm. "We may be able to take them all prisoner. They might be willing to surrender to us without a fight."

"Come on, Sasuke-kun," Karin whines like a petulant child, clearly missing the dangerous look Sasuke shoots her at the use of the inappropriate suffix. "Can't we just – "

The girl is interrupted by a blinding flash of silver streaking across the space between them and glancing across her cheek, leaving a bleeding gash. Sasuke turns his head appraisingly to the enemy group ahead of them. It would seem that the small girl with the buns on her head had thrown a shuriken while no one was looking. He doesn't doubt that it was a warning, he is sure that the girl with the buns and the weapons could have landed a much deadlier shot if she had wanted to.

Karin raises a hand to her bleeding cheek, inspects the blood on her fingers, and spits in the direction of the Konoha group before them. "Fuckers," she swears before taking off towards them with a dagger in each hand. Suigetsu is right behind her, cackling with glee and swinging his sword like a maniacal lunatic.

Sasuke sighs, frowning at the insolence of his subordinates, but he follows along behind them with Juugo nonetheless. It looks like a fight is unavoidable at this point, anyway. This does nothing to lessen his anger at Karin and Suigetsu, however, and he plans to make them regret their callous actions once all of this is over.

Suigetsu and Karin are already fighting with a wolf and the two bodyguards – and one of the handmaidens, the one with the shuriken – viciously. Sasuke's eyes go directly to the mage who seems to be channeling energy, her eyes are clenched and her palms are glowing green before her. His eyes immediately jump to Karin and the handmaiden, just in time to see Karin's blade bounce off of the handmaiden's abdomen. His eyes flicker back to the mage. Was she casting a protection spell?

A healer, he thinks. Interesting. He hasn't seen her in ten years – it is possible he has forgotten…

No matter. Sasuke merely brings his fingers in an "o" shape to his lips once again, this time directing his katon spell at the cabin behind them, shooting it out and immediately splintering the wood of the building and exploding it into flames.

The blast throws everyone from their feet, aside from Juugo and himself, and undoubtedly breaks the mage-girl's focus, effectively ending her protection spell.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke calls chidori to his hand again, moving with blinding speed to attack the closest of the two guards. It is time he ends this pathetic little battle and gets on with his day. It has gone on for long enough already.

He almost chokes when his hand connects with the brittle ribcage of the maybe-princess instead. How had she – She had somehow managed to dive in front of her own bodyguard to take the attack on herself. An attack that Sasuke had aimed to kill with.

The force of his magic sends her flying backwards. She lands in a crumpled heap some yards away.

Sasuke swears beneath his breath.

Sakura

I taste metal.

Every nerve is on fire.

I hadn't even had time to think before I had flashed in front of Lee to save him, coating myself in a layer of protective magic to attempt to lighten the blow.

Now, I just wish I had let it kill me.

I crack my eyes open – only to see that horrible mage, my oldest friend, bringing his long fingers to his cursed lips again, this time aiming at my comrades.

Acting with strength I didn't know I possessed, I tap into the energy seal on my forehead, using the sudden swell of my power to cast a protective shield just in time. The Uchiha's fire ball explodes against it, dissolving into a shower of jumping sparks that lights patches of dry grass on fire all around us. The cabin on fire behind us is filling the area with thick, black smoke.

Before I can think, before I can even attempt to breathe through the acrid smoke, my hand reaches forward of its own accord, conjuring something like a portal – I have never done this before. All I was thinking when I lifted my arm was that I need to get my friends out of here, all I was thinking is that I need to protect them. I desperately hope it leads somewhere good. Somewhere better than the place we are now. For all I know, it is a portal straight to hell. I have no way of knowing what I have just done.

"Go!" I scream above the enormously loud whooshing sound coming from my newly formed escape route. Staying surely means death, after all. It is worth the risk.

Muffled cries of denial reach my ears – but Sasuke is preparing to attack again, and there is simply no time. I will not sit idly by and watch my former friend brutally murder my current companions. Regardless of where my portal is taking them, I can only hope that I am saving their lives.

Using my other hand – with blackened fingertips, I note – I create a sort of vacuum pull using the air around my guards and handmaidens, tugging them by force into my hastily conjured escape route. Their cries of dismay fall upon me like bricks, bruising me and causing me a great deal of crushing pain. I know I am doing the right thing, we are all dead anyway, but their shouts nearly cause me to falter.

Lee is the last to go – his sword is dug deep into the ground and he holds on to it desperately. I watch as his one hand slips, then the next. His eyes never leave my own.

"Saku – " his voice cuts off as he is finally pulled through and I close the portal.

I release my magic, collapsing into a weak, dizzy heap in the dirt.

My last thought before blacking out is that I genuinely hope that Sasuke will kill me while I sleep.

Sasuke

Sasuke frowns at the crumpled girl at his feet. She should be dead. He had calibrated his chidori to kill her larger, armored guard. How she is alive is beyond him. It is a blessing really, that she lives. It probably would not have gone over well if he had accidentally killed her. He still struggles to believe that the woman before him is the same annoying girl he had known so many years ago. He had definitely had no idea that she was magical, and he has never seen anyone conjure a portal like the one she had made.

She is impossibly small, he notes. From her delicate fingers to the subtle curve of her waist to the petite features on her heart-shaped face, everything about her is just… tiny. Why he is struck by this, he cannot begin to imagine. It is certainly misleading. He narrows his eyes at her fire-chapped lips, bleeding and raw. A light trickle of blood runs from one of her ears, and her skin is ghostly pale. It is a stark contrast to the seal that has spread in dark lines across her face. She will undoubtedly need medical attention.

"Let's get back to camp, we will get her to a healer there," Sasuke directs this order to Juugo, who immediately steps forward and lifts the unconscious girl onto his shoulder.

Karin is positively fuming as she picks up her discarded weapons from the ground, coughing violently against the growing thickness of the smoke. "That stupid bitch. We could have killed them all if it wasn't for her fucking hero act."

Sasuke merely shoots her a look, warning her that she is already on thin ice and that it would be in her best interest to just shut the hell up for once.

She seems to understand him, as her mouth claps shut and she turns away from him, hands balled into fists at her sides as her shoulders tremble almost imperceptibly. She has always been too emotional for Sasuke's taste.

They walk the nearly five miles to the camp that the Sound forces had pitched hastily the previous day. It seems the Konoha retreat is complete, Sasuke notes, as his men are coming back to the camp in droves, some of them carrying the wounded and dead between them.

Sasuke motions for Juugo to pass the girl to him, accepting her into his arms like a man would carry his bride. He feels intensely uncomfortable to have her delicate, broken form pressed against his body, and suddenly the only thought in his head is getting her to the healer and getting her off of him.

The only thought until he sees Karin and Suigetsu attempting to slide away unnoticed.

"You two," he deadpans. A cool, uncaring expression grips his face as he sees them freeze in their tracks, backs still facing him. "You disobeyed an order by attacking those Konoha guards. If I see you eating at all today…or tomorrow, for that matter, you'll both find out what it's like to live without a right hand."

Neither of his subordinates speak, they both remain frozen, although Karin has now glanced over her shoulder to meet his gaze. She quickly thinks better of this, and returns her eyes to the ground at her feet. "Yes sir."

"Yes sir," Suigetsu mumbles in echo.

Sasuke merely grunts in response. "Get out of my sight."

He doesn't watch them go. Instead, he marches forward with the impossibly small girl in his arms towards the healer's tent. He knows the princess to be roughly the same age as him but…he finds it hard to believe that the small person in his arms matches his twenty-one years. He honestly has no idea what he's going to do with her.

Frowning as he easily holds her with one of his arms, he uses the other to push back the flap of the medical tent, immediately hit with the stench of the dead, dying, and wounded soldiers littering the bedrolls laid out in the large tent. His eyes leave the crippled members of Sound's forces, looking for the healer-mage he knows will likely need to take care of Sakura. Her injuries seem severe.

Eyes finally lighting on the white-haired man he had been looking for, Sasuke walks to the back of the tent to deposit the girl into Kabuto's care and out of his own. He doesn't fully trust the man but the girl needs healed and Kabuto is likely to be the one who has to do it.

"Well, who do we have here?" Kabuto asks coyly, lifting an eyebrow when his eyes land on the pink-haired mage crumpled in Sasuke's arms.

"A…potentially high-profile mage," Sasuke replies curtly, hoping Kabuto will understand his meaning. He doesn't relish the idea of the soon to be circulating rumors of the princess of Konoha herself being held prisoner in the camp. He knows they will be all the rage tomorrow, Karin and Suigetsu cannot keep their mouths shut to save their own lives, but as for now, he hopes to keep the information to a limited few.

Kabuto looks at the girl for a moment, before understanding seems to light his face and he nods with what Sasuke thinks is a little too much excitement.

"Yes, yes," the healer mutters, more to himself than to Sasuke. "Put her down over here."

Sasuke moves forward immediately to relieve himself of the girl in his arms, nearly dropping her on the empty mat in his haste to get her away from him. She smells like fire and static and blood and he is just fucking tired of smelling it. She doesn't move as he leaves her there, doesn't so much as twitch a muscle to show that she is alive. Her small chest swells almost imperceptibly with a breath seemingly only every ten seconds or so. He wonders if she will die.

"She should be alright," Kabuto speaks as though reading his mind, nodding as he bends down to inspect her, laying a hand on her abdomen and one on her forehead. "It will just take time. She will likely be weak for some time."

"Right," Sasuke nods and turns to go, eager to put the girl and the whole situation behind him. Her fate will lie in the hands of his superiors, now. He vaguely hopes he might not have to see her again.

"What shall I do with her? Once she wakes up, I mean?" Kabuto's voice has Sasuke turning back around to face him yet again. "I mean, I will obviously outfit her with magic suppressing shackles, but I have a feeling she will not tolerate this environment well. She will probably need to be kept isolated from the others."

Sasuke grimaces. The medic is right, he will have to determine where they will be keeping her. He has a feeling the hot-blooded little woman will not sit quietly in the corner of the medical tent. "I will let you know soon. I'm going to speak with Orochimaru about the matter now."

Sasuke leaves the tent with haste, blinking against the harsh sunlight that shines in stark contrast to the dull, heavy atmosphere of the medical tent. He misses the first twitch of the pink-haired mage's fingers as her body attempts to bring her back from the edge, and he misses the twist of Kabuto's lips as he watches.

Sakura

I am dreaming, I think.

Maybe I am dead.

All I know is I am sitting on the creek bank, watching Naruto and Sasuke chase frogs as the sun begins to set over the hills in the distance. All I know is that I am happy, and that if this is what death is, I don't mind being here.

We are nine or ten years old, I think, judging by the length of Naruto's hair. My subconscious has apparently chosen to take me back to one of the happiest periods of my life. Back when things were simple, when the most dangerous thing that I did was sneaking out of the castle to play with Naruto and Sasuke when my mother had told me to work on my embroidery instead.

I prop my head on the palm of one hand, smiling as Naruto grabs a frog and triumphantly holds it above his head before letting it go again. He's always been so compassionate. Even in adulthood, Naruto managed to keep that ridiculous goodwill attitude. He had also become an extremely powerful mage, even though in childhood he had been mocked for his failures. He was bonded with the mighty spirit of the nine-tailed fox - after many years, he was finally able to form a sort of companionship with him. It always made me smile when I heard Naruto mumbling to himself, talking to the fox-demon inside.

I feel a sharp pain in my chest when I think about him for too long. I haven't seen Naruto in months. He has been out fighting for Konoha, while I have been locked away in the castle and then in the cabin. I know he misses me just as much as I miss him. I can only hope my portal brought his beloved, Hinata, closer to home. I will never forgive myself if I put her, or any of my comrades, in harm's way.

There is a chance I will never know. If I am dead, I may be trapped here by the creek forever.

My eyes drift to Sasuke, who now has Naruto in a headlock. The blonde is screeching and trying to kick water up onto Sasuke, succeeding only in dousing himself. I narrow my eyes at the dark-haired boy, trying to see the terrible man he would someday become. I can't find him. Even as he stands there teasing Naruto, I can tell that there is no real malice in it, only a boy playing with his friend.

My heart clenches in my chest. Sasuke.

I still can barely grasp the fact that he almost killed me - or maybe he did kill me. True, I haven't seen him in nearly a decade, but I never would have expected him to be so cruel to me. Even after hearing stories of his cruelty, of his hatred, I still held a place in my heart for him. I didn't believe that Sasuke could possibly be as bad as everyone was saying. The little boy I had known had been a little standoffish, maybe, but not a cold-blooded killer. Not the type of person to murder an old friend.

The thought of waking up begins to concern me. What is going to happen to me if I am alive? I will undoubtedly be a prisoner of war, either tortured for information that I do not have or held as a bargaining chip, to be used as a pawn in this horrible war. This horrible war that Sasuke's precious Sound village had started. I dread the thought of more abuse at his hands, and I can't decide if I am afraid or angry. How could he do this to me?

I decide if I am alive, I will not speak to him. I won't even look at him. I won't give him the pleasure of showing him the turmoil he has caused inside of me. Any chance I am presented with to make him miserable, I will take. I'm not even sure if I will see him again, he is probably too important to tend to prisoners, but I make my decisions all the same.

I sit on the bank of the creek watching Naruto and Sasuke for what feels like hours. The light never changes. I am caught in an eternal sunset.

A twinge of pain starts in my head, flowing down my body as though someone has dumped hot honey over my head. I begin to squirm and whine as my vision starts to blacken around the edges.

The last thing I see before closing my eyes is Sasuke yelling over to me, telling me that it's late and it's time to go home.

AN: Since the prologue was so short, here's chapter One. Hope you like it!