Warnings: Swearing, Alcohol Use, Sensitive Themes

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Chapter 3: Pleasant Surprise

When she awoke, she had leaves in her mouth and the sun in her eyes. The chill of the night was fading as the warm daytime moved in to replace it. Her back twined in resentful agony as she tried to sit up—the cold forest ground had not been kind to her spine throughout the night. Ignoring the sharp pain across her back, she sat up, stretched her arms, and lifted herself from her dirt bed.

The sun was lovely and the area was clear. Even better, no one had noticed her throughout the night—she had managed to stay off the radar for another night as a missing nin.

Sakura wondered where she should restart her search for Itachi. Who knew where he might be now? Probably digging up a new hidey hole somewhere in Suna or taking a vacation on a remote island. After all the years that it took for her to locate and battle him, he was hidden in the fog again.

Before descending into pessimism, Sakura reminded herself, "You've had a lot of practice in tracking his movements. Now, it'll be even easier to track him because you're able to step outside of Konoha and search with your own eyes and ears instead of waiting for unreliable whispers of his whereabouts. You've spent five years preparing for this."

He was inevitably conspicuous whenever he passed through towns, so if she was lucky, she could head to the nearest village and see if the people there may have heard something that would be useful to her. Hopefully, her inquiries would not draw too much attention to herself and she could move onto the next town without arousing suspicion.

Suddenly, a grumble of hunger interrupted her thoughts. Deciding that biology could not wait, she paused to open her pack and then took down a few food pills with a swig of water from her jug. Now that she had been fed and watered, she decided that she was ready to go.

Embarking into the dense forest, she kept herself on high alert in case Tsunade had decided to call her a traitor by now. It would be more likely that Tsunade would extend the allotted time before labeling her a missing nin, but she could not rely on her former closeness with the Godaime to save her from the consequences of her actions.

Sakura wandered for a few hours before signs of civilization cropped up throughout the forest—worn trails, occasional farm supplies, and some cut down trees. It was a relief to know that she was headed in the right direction. The trees seemed to be thinning, so she quickened her pace. Soon enough, Sakura found herself on someone's farm property.

Shit.

Her eyes scanned the premises for a house with hopes that she could politely knock on the front door and ask for directions. If she did that, it might make her illicit presence seem a bit less out-of-place. Fortunately, her pink hair made her look fairly innocuous, so perhaps she would not trigger any rumors within her first few days as a missing nin.

She noticed a small wooden house not far from where she stood and used chakra to sprint faster than the untrained eye could see to its front door. Looking down at herself, Sakura took a moment to smooth out her clothes and hair, adjust her bag, and gather the nerve to knock gently on the plain wooden door.

Knock knock.

Even her knock sounded timid and tentative. That was good, though—she wanted the people she encountered to think of her as weak and un-noteworthy. She heard the hollow sound of footsteps on floorboards from inside and quickly straightened herself. While it was vital that she did not arouse suspicion, she also hoped to glean some useful information from whoever was inside.

An elderly woman opened the door just enough to peek her face out and announced, "You're the second young'un to knock on my door this week. You seem nicer than the other boy, though—he had an aura so dark that I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he'd been born from the bowels of hell themselves. What do you need, child?"

Before she could even part her lips to respond, she was preemptively cut off by the woman who interjected, "Wait a minute, now! You have…pink hair?! Oh, sweet heavens. Child, you are in trouble. So young 'n' you have the son of the Devil out searchin' for you. Come inside and have a cup of tea before you see the end of your days."

Sakura stood there too stunned to move. Someone was searching for her already? It seemed too soon for Tsunade to have sent out a search party. But who else would be looking for her? This was completely unexpected.

After a moment's contemplation, Sakura decided it would be best to accept the invitation inside and find out a bit more about the person who had terrorized this poor woman in search of her pink hair. Even if it might have been a trap, it did not sit well with her that people were scaring old ladies in pursuit of her.

"My name is Marion, dear. Make yourself at home," the elderly woman insisted.

Marion led her inside and urged her to sit down at a sturdy wooden table in the kitchen. The woman retrieved a mug from the cupboard and set it in front of her. With the sound of hot tea hitting the bottom of the cup, the silence was broken. The elderly lady sat down and it was clear that their mutual interrogation was about to begin.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind me asking, what did this boy look like? I just can't fathom who would be out for my blood like this. I'm very sorry that he came and frightened you while in pursuit of me," Sakura apologized with unforced genuineness.

The old lady furrowed her eyebrows in distress and then explained, "He looked handsome enough, so I welcomed him inside without hesitation. It's pleasant to get visitors every now 'n' then. He had black hair 'n' nice black eyes to go with it—not the scary kind, but the comfortin' kind. Then, the next time I looked at him, those same eyes were swirling with the angriest red I'd done ever seen. I swear, he made my heart stop 'n' added another ten years onto my age with just that look.

"Then, he demanded to know if I'd seen a young woman with pink hair. He said he had important business with you 'n' we both know that that can mean nothin' good. When he was satisfied with me swearin' that I hadn't seen you, he stomped on out in an angry fit frightenin' enough that I thought he'd break the china in my cabinets. He is a force to be reckoned with, child. Those eyes stare straight into your soul."

Sakura knew what eyes Marion was referring to—it could be none other than the sharingan. It did not seem like he had used the Tsukuyomi on her, but it sounded like his behavior was traumatizing enough.

Why was Itachi searching for her, though? It still did not make any sense.

"Do you remember what time it might have been when he came by?" Sakura inquired.

"Of course, dear. It was the dark of night 'n' I thought that he might've been needin' a place to stay for the evenin'. With eyes like that, though, I doubt that a few shadows 'n' howls could scare him…" the woman trailed off and then asked with hesitation, "What's your name, child? I can understand if you don't want to tell, but it gets lonely livin' outside of the village…you might be the last friendly visitor that I see in all of my days." The meaning of her last words carried a heavy weight.

Sakura took a moment to assess the dangers of revealing her identity, but quickly concluded that her hair would give her away no matter where she went. Additionally, saying who she was had the added benefit of seeing if the woman recognized her as being on the missing nin list.

"Ma'am, my name is Sakura Haruno. My hair is like cherry blossoms, after all," she revealed with a small smile.

"Thank you, dear," the woman smiled as her withered hand grabbed one of Sakura's gloved ones with a reassuring squeeze, "You can stay the night, if you'd like. I imagine you'll be hoppin' from place to place with a man like that after you."

"I can't stay, but I appreciate the offer. Could you possibly send me off in the direction of the nearest town, though? My hair may be conspicuous, but I'll wear a hood to cover it. There's no need to worry about me," Sakura consoled. She was lying, of course, because she wanted to be found. She just felt that she did not need to give the elderly lady who had been so hospitable more reason to worry. If Tsunade had not begun to search for her yet, she would do as she pleased in the meantime.

"But you don't have a hood on your dress, dear! Let me give you a cloak if you really must be goin'. It's hangin' right by the door, so you can grab it on your way out," the woman urged.

Sakura rose from the table and the elderly woman joined her. They walked to the entrance of the house where she threw a black cloak of fine quality over Sakura's shoulders—it would certainly keep her warm during the coldest nights and dry in the soggiest weather. Plus, it seemed that wearing a mysterious black cloak was the final step to becoming a true missing nin, so why not go all the way?

The woman opened the door and pointed toward a worn trail that started about twenty feet from the doorway.

"You can take that trail straight into town. It's a long walk for someone of my age, but it'll probably feel short to a spritely young woman such as yourself. But, you take care now. If you ever find yourself down this way again, feel free to knock on my door. Just give me a flash of your pink hair 'n' I'll recognize you in an instant! If you find yourself in a bind, remember that my home is yours, Sakura."

Sakura drew the frail, little Marion into an embrace and then said upon release, "Thank you for all of your hospitality. I won't forget your kindness."

With a small wave and a bigger smile, Sakura headed down the trail Marion had specified. She hoped never to need to take the elderly woman up on her offer, but it was nice to know that she could if she needed a place to hide out.

As she walked away from the farmhouse, her mind wandered back to what information she had gained from this encounter. A man with black hair and the sharingan was looking for her that night—it would have been after her battle earlier that day. Perhaps something happened during the exchange that sparked Itachi's interest? He fit Marion's description, after all.

Two facts stood out from Marion's story: he was looking for her and he knew to not look in Konoha. The latter bit brought some relief, as that meant that Konoha would be safe from his wrath, but the former still left her baffled.

As confused as Sakura was, it was convenient that each of them was pursuing the other—this would make their next meeting happen sooner than she would have ever expected. Although the wounds on her back had not yet fully recovered, she felt more prepared than ever to meet him face-to-face. She had fought him and lived to tell the tale. From that encounter, Sakura was able to glean some important information about his fighting style while keeping a few tricks of her own out of sight. If anything, that battle had been a scouting mission for the real thing.

Sakura's excitement expressed itself as a lick of her lips followed by a sunless smile. She yearned to converse through the exchanges of blows that they would surely share.

The only remaining member of the Uchiha clan was looking for her; she would find Itachi Uchiha much sooner than she had expected.


Authoress's Note:

Hi, everybody! The poll regarding preferred weekly posting time is still up on my page, so please participate if you have any preference. :)

Thank you very much for reading!

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