A/N(2): revised

Sakura's Age: 16

Year of Reign: hours pre-appointment

Genre: Mystery

Far More Valuable Treasures

"We realize this is abrupt. If you will require additional funds to provide for them-"

"No need," the woman interrupted gently. "Our family is sufficiently endowed. They will be well looked-after. I am a little surprised my cousin looks to me for aid in this, as I make my home outside this village, but I shall strive not to fail the trust that has been given to me."

Pale eyes studied her carefully, measuring and judging. The wan and weary woman stood in the carnage of a once-prosperous inn, now nothing more than a morbid stage for the exchange taking place. She looked like a ghostly specter of death, standing amidst the bodies littering the shattered lobby, some whole, some torn, some broken; friend and foe, villager and visitor, shinobi and civilian alike. In her arms, the woman cradled a tiny, warm blonde bundle as delicately as if she handled the finest spun glass.

But instead of a messenger of death, she was a symbol of hope, entrusted with four young lives just emerged from the womb, to raise and guide and shelter until her cousin called for her and the children once more.

"Have they been named yet?"

Slim shoulders shrugged slightly. "It is our sincere hope that they will remember everything. They should be able to tell you their names within a few months. Until then, call them as you will."

The woman nodded, and finally bent down to place the small child in a carrier alongside another, brunette baby. Straightening, she settled the carrier on her back, then slid a second carrier bearing two more children onto her chest. Securing both firmly to her, she nodded her thanks as the shinobi that had brought the babies to her lifted her travel pack and gestured to the shattered door.

The two made their way if not quickly then swiftly through the smoking wreckage of the once-great village, the shinobi guiding the civilian along paths that would keep them from prying eyes. It took longer to leave than it had to enter, and the woman was winded when they at last reached a massive complex on the outskirts of the village. It too had taken damage and had its share of broken bodies. These had died far more violently than those at the inn or on the streets, and the woman waited just inside the gate as her guide brought a horse, watching the sky or the road so as not to see the crumpled forms that had fallen to keep the village safe.

When her guide returned, the woman removed the carriers and secured them to the saddle, then mounted and allowed the shinobi to lead her around the complex to a gaping wound in the village wall, the one that had fallen to her guide's family to hold.

"The saddlebags are well-stocked with food and medicine, and I've added extra clothes and blankets to your pack," the shinobi explained briefly. "Don't take the main roads until tomorrow, and only after you've had a bath and burned the clothes you're wearing. You smell of blood, and it will draw any shinobi in the region to you like a magnet. Be swift, but not hurried. Once you start on the main roads, make no attempt to hide your journey – you are nothing more than a distraught civilian fleeing battle and wishing only to return to the safety of your home…"

As she listened to the instructions, the shinobi had been backing away from her, and finally faded into the shadows as the woman gathered her wits and courage and urged the horse forward, taking with her far more valuable treasures than she had brought.