This chapter contains not only the history of the samurai life (yes, if you know it, you know what I mean) but as well as that of certain entertainers. Before I began, I wanted to do something different with Sakura, given what I did with Hinata and Tsunade together in "Woman of the Snow", despite this story being different from its predecessor. I also wanted to keep Sakura in character of Part Two without going all the way in Part One (the one we couldn't stand).

Chapter title translation: "honor".

Chapter Two

Meiyo

Sasuke Uchiha learned his lessons and took them seriously when he was ten years old. As a young child, he played warrior with his brother who mastered much sooner than he. It was child's play until he knelt before his parents and received the lectures - stern from Fugaku but tender from Mikoto.

Now, when you were a warrior for your land, it was more than just a job; it was your life. When your family before you pledged their lives to your lord, it meant unwavering loyalty if it meant death. When you married, your wife was obliged to follow suit - if she were a true warrior like yourself, which was hardly a case. Women became samurai notably to protect the lands and the children; seldom would she go out. This Sasuke thought was purely a man's world, as far as he was concerned. Itachi said their father once explained within their clan that men protected their women and children as it had been made.

As a whole, you were expected to give your life without hesitation. Disgrace would come in many forms: defeat and cowardice to even kill yourself to avoid the dishonor. Young Sasuke grimaced when he was told the gory details of disemboweling yourself in the middle of your body, spilling your organs out as the final act before you would go into the afterlife, and that alone scared him out of his wits.

Unwavering loyalty wasn't easy to live with. It sounded as such when your daimyo gave you financial security, status, and protection, yes? When you were too used to it, Itachi would say, the blow was powerful when reality would hit you in the face and shame would follow your steps. Everything you were given would be gone in a heartbeat.

How could his friend Naruto be so happy despite knowing all of this? "Because no matter what, you shouldn't give up!" he'd answered when he was asked this. Now, when they were young men of eighteen, he was asked again, and the answer hadn't changed at all.

He and Naruto sparred together in their training. As he got older, Itachi would be home less and less, coming back only to go right home to see his beloved to whom he was now married. The Uchiha and Uzumaki clans united was a fine match, he said, but underneath was that notion he called love. Two souls as one without yet becoming physical, and would only become such when they were truly man and wife.

Sasuke had been stricken with the dark flag called jealousy before he forced himself to shove it down. This was Itachi's happiness and the good of their clan, so he had no choice but to respect their wishes.

He wasn't sure about marriage on his part, but did he have a choice? If he did, then he wanted it to be a strong, capable woman who knew how to handle him, and he would tolerate her if she wasn't one of those flirtatious wallflowers.

Little did he know that the opportunity would be presented before him when he met the one who would be his future in the years to come.

He, Naruto, his brother, and many others served under one Orochimaru, a feudal lord with the face of a snake, even the appearance of a terrifying ghost - there was no telling, but he was a sight you didn't see every day. When he and Naruto were at their age now and tasked with killing the general of the Ame samurai - as well as those beneath him - who were said to be wandering outside their village, it was their own master who had the best with members of the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans, so it was a great honor.

I like a challenge; I wish to have that one's head myself - and Naruto to share the victory with me.

All of them knelt at attention that day, out of armor in late winter when the snow was melting, marking the beginning of the upcoming Ume Festival where the plum blossoms in the name would be sweet and in luminous white, shades of pink and yellow, the leaves turning purple rather than green like the cherry blossoms to follow. Noticeable to mark it different from sakura would be the dark bark and closed rounded petals. The fruits to bear would not be right away sweet to digest, but sour and had to be handled with care before going into the mouth and down the throat.

But they would not be here for the parties and prayers, even if they might stop in other small towns and villages in their travels to come. They would do as their lord instructed them.

"Failure is not an option," Orochimaru said, serpentine golden eyes hardened like precious gems in the mines. "We honor our village by laying siege for their atrocious acts over the last year, attempting to start a second war."

Failure is not an option. Return home with honor, or die with it if you fall.

~o~

She didn't know who the one responsible for her life change was, but she would never forget what he looked like. She was always dreaming about the day it would come when she would get her revenge on the men who broke into her home, killed her father, and raped her mother in front of her, then would have done the same to her had she'd not been hidden safely.

She spent the last year being on the move, intent to look for them and kill them herself if she had to, but she wouldn't go all out like the warrior men in her own village. She had her inheritance from her father, being enough, but she wouldn't go insane spending it. While she would be out, it meant learning more about the world and each culture if she were to survive. These men were from Ame, but they were shunned. These thugs are going to get theirs.

She hated samurai; she hated how many of them thought they could have anything they wanted - especially the ones who lost their status and their honor. That was who these were, without their armor. She was careful to take in their clothes and their faces, even their names, and counted them - three total - and when they were gone, her mother was barely alive and gasping, begging her to never give up and remain strong. To do what she had to in life, love despite what she witnessed...and to remember not all men or even samurai were the same. Because her own father was one himself.

Only to be killed, caught off-guard, by lowly thieves in their own home when no one even heard their screams for help.

She could have slipped away, but they would have found her and did what they did to Mebuki.

What happened when she told people what happened? Shame, of course. When people heard the story, she was wracked with dismay because she couldn't even fight them off. She had to hide to save her own skin, they said. No matter everything she did for these people, this village she loved, so she decided she would leave and seek retribution. Even if hardships lay ahead.

Wherever she would go, living as a serving girl and eventually a geisha in an entertainment house, she would listen to the gossip and latest news, keeping her ears open as often as she would. With her otherworldly hair and youthful fairness, she earned popularity amongst the customers much to the jealousy of her fellow performers...and her hair was the main attraction. The focal point compared to the rest of her being made her so proud of herself.

She enjoyed dressing up, for girls and women like her were passionate attractions in terms of singing, dancing, playing the shamisen, as well as engaging in friendly conversation.

As a young girl, she took the training, long and grueling, when her mother had been one herself before she met her husband. Sakura Haruno, a round-faced, peachy-skinned child with a wide forehead she was self-conscious of, was at first excited before reality struck her in the face with what life was truly like - as well as the fact that when you married another samurai, you had to learn the ways of the warrior if you couldn't go out on the battlefield with him. So everything she took from the tender age of ten to now had paid off. She was lucky the ways of imprisonment, abuse, and paid sexual relations for survival weren't existent in Konoha in these times.

If I want to give my body to another, it would be my husband or a man I truly loved.

She didn't like makeup she was made to place on her face: that ghostly foundation coupled with penciled black to her brows and tops of her eyelids, finished with cherry red on her lips to give them a good shape. She looked like a doll, but that was the purpose; she was here to make the guests feel welcome, listen to their words even if certain things didn't interest her, and the other girls had to go through this, too. When night fell, their faces would be seen well without reliance on the sun.

Mother Konan came to see her, informing her that she had a very interesting trio of customers who weren't wealthy patrons - but a handful of samurai from Konoha Village on assignment but needed a break while carrying their mission. She didn't even ask their names, just went out and saw the ones she was to perform for; it took all her self-control to not drop her jaw, but present herself with the dignity and grace of the acting hostess.

Armed within her navy blue kimono rich with red plum blossoms as well as her makeup and rosy hair in an elaborate hairstyle that was going to give her a headache at the end of the night. But she had a feeling tonight would be worth it as soon as she saw the three young men she was charged with entertaining, alongside Ino who was wearing the same makeup as her, golden hair similar to hers, but in an olive green kimono blossoming with pink flowers...the flower they would witness blooming, the one SHE was named for, in the coming season.

One of them she remembered once making harmless catcalls and asking her to be his woman, and she was tempted to cut off a part of him that hurt most if he ever did that again; he got the message right away. Naruto Uzumaki - so, you became that great warrior you always boasted about, did you? She hoped he wouldn't start doing it now.

The other - Itachi Uchiha. Her heart just about stopped in its tracks when she was taken aback by the handsome new leader of his clan, but he was married with a first child on the way. He was off-limits if she was EVER interested in him...but the other made her world turn upside down and then back up again, prompting her to carry out the dance to the music telling the story of the long-gone Heian Era.

She always kept her eye on him from afar, ever since that night they met at the festival, because he broke her heart by running away from her - but gave his name - without another word. Just left her to find his brother or even his friend and comrade here. He said he didn't hate those events, but he didn't love them either. He had listened to what little she had to say to him before running away as boys would. And after that night, she didn't see or speak to him again, because he was an Uchiha and they were always busy indulging as well as giving their lives for this village. Samurai were like that. Too few of them truly had golden hearts.

The music playing made her dance just for Sasuke alone, who was angular and broad with manhood, his face showing zero signs of interest unlike his older brother and flash-eyed Uzumaki comrade, but his eyes told another story: I recognize you, and I see your talent.

The question was also there: is this where you have been all these years?

She watched him lean to his brother and exchange a few words, but she couldn't make it out and could NOT afford to lose concentration. Was he telling Itachi that he knew her, but only for one night and a few minutes?

~o~

He spat any kind of distraction when on assignment, but Itachi said if you don't have some form of relaxation and release, life was harder than it had to be. So he let his elder brother and excited friend take him to the nearest geisha house, filled with the best food and entertainment there was, denying prostitution in the wake.

Being out of the armor for the night, for they were stopping here for now, Sasuke was relieved to be in his lighter but still heavy kimono while Naruto and Itachi did the same. Their hostess and owner of this place was a beautiful, blue-haired woman with her hair in a bun and accented with a matching flower, before bringing out a couple of her best girls for their pleasure...but the one, in particular, caught his attention and shocked him, but he schooled himself into the expressionless man he was. This face people knew from him like the other Uchiha.

Pink hair...green eyes.

That girl from the Shin'nen Festival...it was Sakura. She was here in a place like this. He hadn't seen her since that one time, but he heard the story of what happened to her parents a year ago when rogue Ame soldiers slipped in. She vanished afterward. And now he found himself enjoying hot food and sake while she and her fellow geisha danced and served them.

All the while to a song which told the story of an old-time passed, of adventure and peace, to the depths of the mind which became the place of happiness - but that enchantress had him under her spell, much to the amusement of his brother and best friend, the latter hooting while enjoying himself some sake as the blonde in green.

It wasn't the magic of the song itself, but only her. As if there were nothing and no one else but her. He was tempted to tell Itachi that he was right in enjoying something once in a while, but he wasn't sure about engaging in the act with a prostitute even. As far as he was concerned, that kind of matter was reserved between husband and wife, which Itachi believed in, too, even if the marriage was on the rocks.

He was certain, as well, that he didn't like the way these women had their hair the way they did...but parted down the middle, long and shiny like his brother said was the most desirable.

But it also exposed that elegant column of a creamy neck, while the rest of her body was hidden well. Sasuke didn't understand why the neck was so attractive, but it was.

He hadn't said any words to her, just seen her only now in this light, and that makeup - though known to attract customers in the past, her not being the only one - and he knew he was the fish on the hook she cast out to him. She had him wrapped around her finger without trying too hard.

She was the daughter of a samurai, excelled in the arts, and now he had an idea as to why she could be in a place like this besides to start her life over: she is hunting for the monsters responsible for destroying her family.

"Do you know her, Sasuke?" Itachi whispered to him, and he answered without hesitation that it was a long time ago, where and when it happened, and his brother smirked.

In his mind was none other than the plan to speak to her tonight, seize the opportunity since he would be on the move again.

~o~

She and Ino shared a room, and before the lantern would be blown out, her roommate and fellow entertainer said she had a surprise visitor when the hours were over. It was social and had nothing to do with work. Frowning, Sakura stopped combing her hair and set it down by the lamp and mirror, standing and going to the door...

...only to find HIM there, in dark winter kimono and clearly sober, unlike his blond friend who was elsewhere. His brother had to be, too. He was here alone, which gave cause for hope to rise in her since he DID remember her more than she thought. Although she learned to never get her hopes too high, especially after her mother and father were taken from her.

"Sasuke Uchiha," she said, standing in front of him in her maroon sleeping yukata, mirroring out of business and here on a personal level for the first time. It made her wonder how often he thought of her if he ever did.

He answered back in a voice deeper than she remembered, as was expected. It was smooth but lighter than his brother's deep monotone. It caused small parts she couldn't place in her own body to flutter. "Sakura...Haruno. I only knew you for a few moments on a single night, and here I find you in a place like this." Then his eyes shifted.

"Your hair is longer than I remember but thick and glossy as I recall."

Her hair - the main attraction of her life, but the way he said it made her skin tingle even more, like sparks of fire that hadn't begun the real blaze. "You didn't come all the way out here with your brother and friend, as paying customers, just to talk about my hair, did you?" Sakura asked quietly, holding the lantern in her hand on its stick in between them, both taking a single step closer to each other.

Almost like moths close to the flame.

"You're right," he answered. "Itachi, Naruto, and I as well as others are scattered out in these parts on a mission assigned by our lord. The Ame samurai, for the things they did to us. What about you?" His eyes darkened but glimmered like rocks in the water.

Sakura was sure her eyes hardened when she answered, spitting venom. "I'm looking for the ones who did those horrendous things to my parents. Two down...and one to go."

The song Sakura danced to was "Heian Period" by Derek and Brandon Fiechter. In Sasuke's mind which was his view of the "era long passed" came from the comment of one who enjoyed the YouTube video.