GoodGurl: Heh heh I guess I broke my promise in updating weekly, but sometimes an Author gets writer's block and that's what I've been getting for the past…two weeks I believe? Anyway, here is the sixth chapter of the exciting story y'all love to read:D
Chapter 6 – Sayuri
The morning mist covered the land and surrounded the whole world with an eerie portrait, similar to horror stories told to children who were thought to be brave. Normally, people would still be comfortable in their beds, tucked under their blankets and waited until afternoon sunshine welcome them with warm kisses on their cheeks. However, there was one who was too impatient to wait for sunrise and would rather stare above the fog and welcome it.
Her long eyelashes fluttered once and a while, forcing the sleep that has consumed her for a few days (after taking pain medicines) to wither away like the wind, but she knew it was impossible. Sakura heard a soft knock and when she wouldn't answer, she heard it again; this time a lot louder. She needed not to comply, because at the third knock, the door opened. It was an hour now since she last heard from Kiyoshi Shinpachi.
"I was beginning to think you disliked me for giving you so many pain medicines…" Kiyoshi spoke mildly, adding a little chuckle to his comment.
Sakura kept her eyes trained outside the window towards the cloudy texture of the forest. "If I wasn't wounded, I would have gone with him." Yes, she knew that Sasuke would be stubborn enough to go alone. Any mission Sasuke would be assigned to, he would take away any risks to accomplish.
Kiyoshi was not surprised, however that Sakura knew right away of the decision Sasuke had made. "Either way, I have a feeling you were planning on going to him I suppose?"
Sajyra glanced at him. "I barely know you, yet you seem to know what I'm thinking."
The older man laughed half-heartedly and handed her another bottle of the pain medicine. "The Haruno family are known for their stubbornness when it comes to the people they love."
The pink haired Chuunin looked away, embarrassed about Kiyoshi's statement, not because she was denying it, but because most of it was true. "How long?"
Kiyoshi nodded, understanding the question. "Two more days of drinking the medicine provided for you and then you can come with me to the village where Sausuke had gone off to."
She agreed and drank the entire bottle with two gulps before handing the empty bottle back to Kiyoshi. Much to his interest, Kiyoshi took the bottle without another word and left the room.
When Sakura was sure he was gone, she glanced out the window and said silently to herself. "Sasuke-kun, please wait for me…"
Lately he hasn't been himself. Sleeping late wasn't his normal habit he had welcomed, but in the most recent events, insomnia had taken over. A day had arrived quicker than he imagined and in those twenty-four hours he spent, he continued on to journey until he arrived at his destination. Mist village was true to its name and to prove such a statement, the village itself was surrounded with an array of cloudy mist and silence. Sasuke was unsure at first whether to venture no further, deeper towards the "lively" part of town with people walking as if they were dead, down sidewalks.
"Can I help you, young man?" Sasuke glanced up, after realizing he wasn't alone and noticed a brightly uniformed middle-aged woman smiling at him.
Although Sasuke found it quite odd that a woman was wearing brightly coloured garments under the lucid, serene mood of the village, he went on to say, "Yes, I am looking for a certain man…"
The woman, with her raspy, deep voice, laughed out loud. "Boy, there are many handsome young men your age looking for a man!"
Sasuke blinked and when he realized what she meant, his eyes widened and he blushed. The woman laughed again. "Perhaps, I should be a little clear on the jokes I make! Now, what is the name of this man you are looking for?"
The dark haired Chuunin let the woman's horrid jokes slide away before saying, "His name is Jounichi Haruno."
The laughter suddenly died down, the woman's face now replaced with a look of shock. "I don't know him…" She turned and headed back inside her home.
"Wait…" Sasuke was seconds in front of her. "You had that look just now…you KNOW him, don't you?" He could tell that just by looking into her eyes, the woman was debating whether to trust Sasuke with the information she might know, or lie to him straight out.
She sighed and took a quick glance to her right, before saying, "It's going to be a long story…"
"I have all day…" True, he had all day, but part of him was hesitant whether to stay in the village long enough to listen to a middle-aged woman's tale.
She stared at him, a skeptical look played in her eyes, yet she strolled pass him and walked inside her simple, straw hat home. "Well, come on in," the woman said, after noticing that the young Chuunin still stood outside as if waiting to be invited in.
Sasuke took one big step with his long legs and he was inside the small house, having to duck just below the doorway. Inside, Sasuke noticed, was a lot bigger than he thought. Of course, for a woman living alone, it was quite surprising. Perhaps the only thing that made it bigger was the lack of furniture. There was a kitchen in the left hand corner of the large space that made up the whole house and if Sakura had seen such a thing, she would think if the most "cutest" kitchen. On the same side of the kitchen, which was of course a round wooden dining table, with four legs, one having to be propped on top of a small flat rock to keep it steady. With this table were two chairs, one of them, the farthest to him had one leg broken (though you can never really tell), since it seemed to have been glued on tight together.
"I apologize for the mess," the woman said in a very apologetic tone. She walked over to her kitchen counter, which was practically made into old bricks stuck together and began pouring tea from a kettle on to a cup. "Have a seat!" She gestured for Sasuke to sit on the nearest chair while she served him tea and sat on the broken chair. It squeaked once, then it stopped altogether after that.
Sasuke mumbled a "thank you," for the tea before taking a few sips from it. When he had done so, the dark haired Chuunin put the cup back down and patiently waited, all the while the woman was thinking on how to start off this story. She nodded to her right. "You see that pile of rubbish on the mountain over there?" The young Chuunin glanced to his left, only noticing the window overlooking the high mountain of Mist village. "That pile of rubbish used to be a temple, which was destroyed twenty-one years ago. In that temple a very important priestess guarded that very same temple with a very important scroll inside…"
"Sayuri-sama!" A girl about eighteen, with long brown hair looked up from her sweeping. A second girl, a year younger than her, walked up to her. "Your father wishes to speak with you."
"All right," Sayuri nodded. "I will be there in a few moments. I have to finish sweeping." The young girl nodded and was just heading out the door when it opened by itself. She gasped, startled by the sound, followed by the heavy footsteps of two men.
"What happened Rika? Did something happen?" Sayuri poked her head from behind the shrine.
Rika shook her head. "I am fine, Sayuri-sama…" She glanced at one of the men dressed in their traditional Mist village ninja robes and frowned. "Do knock before barging inside, Gin-kun!"
The handsome Chuunin gave her an apologetic look. "Gomen, Rika-chan but this is quite urgent. I need to speak with the Yamakage-sama."
"He is as usual in his office, Gin-kun," Sayuri replied, nodding at a building just adjacent to the temple the young woman was sweeping from. She took a quick glance at the man standing behind Gin. He looked very young, although a few years older than herself and wore the trademark of Konoha around his forehead, a village whom Sayuri knew her father has been negotiating with for the past two years. She had seen him before, but never really taken a good look at this man before her. Indeed, from what Rika had told her, he was very handsome, tall and rugged looking. Her father had told her that a man from Konoha would be coming back after two years for the scroll they were waiting for. The scroll was a very important document that Sayuri had been protecting for those two years. As a priestess, it was her duty to guard this very important document, despite the fact that she had no idea WHAT was written in it. "Now, would you mind leaving so I can sweep the floor you are standing on?"
Gin looked down at the leaves and dirt he was standing on and quickly stepped away. "Ah! Gomen…We will go." And when he had finished apologizing, Gin led the man up the steps of the temple towards the palace.
"Rika-chan?" Sayuri looked back towards the front gates and noticed Rika just coming back seconds later. "Rika-chan, did you ever find out the name of that man Gin-kun is with?"
"Mou, Sayuri-sama," Rika said, frowning. "Have you already forgotten his name? It was only two years ago…eto, I think it was Jounichi Haruno. Why?"
Sayuri shrugged and continued sweeping. "No reason…" When she finished sweeping the floor, Sayuri leaned the broom against the shrine wall and turned towards Rika. "Come now, Rika-chan, I think I better go see father. He is quite impatient when I am not there every time he asks for me." She walked pass Rika and ascended up the steps towards the temple.
They had arrived ten minutes later on the front doors of the palace. Gin stood near the door, chatting with the two guards, while listening to the conversation that was happening inside the palace walls. "Really, Gin-kun, do you have other things to do besides listening to conversations?"
Gin straightened up and turned to face Sayuri and Rika, sweat pouring down at the sides of his face. "Ah! Sayuri-sama! I was just…"
Sayuri sighed. "No need to apologize, Gin-kun…" She walked pass him, ignoring the pleas of the guards that there was an important conversation happening inside and walked in. Rika followed closely and watched as her young priestess slowly sashayed towards the conversation, careful not to disrupt something important.
"Ah, Sayuri…" The conversation quickly ceased there at the sight of the young woman walking down the aisle. The Yamakage stood up and walked over to his daughter gracefully, his steps as quiet as anything. "Haruno-san, I would like you to meet my daughter, Sayuri."
The tall, young man turned to look at her and nodded. "Nice to meet you, Sayuri-san." He bowed, while Sayuri did so in return, giving him a kind smile. And when he lifted his head back up, the young woman had a chance to look into his eyes. His eyes were a bright green and Sayuri was very good at observing people's eyes and this man's eyes held so much knowledge of the world. This man had traveled many places and had seen many things, unlike her, who was trapped watching over the temple and not know what was happening outside of the Mist village walls.
"Nice to meet you as well, Haruno-san," Sayuri retorted.
"Haruno-san, Sayuri is the priestess of the temple here in Mist village and she is the one who protects the scroll that Konoha wishes to achieve."
"Otousama, I have been wondering…" Both men's heads turned to look at her. Sayuri saw it as a sign of intrusion to their conversation, but she went on to ask, "What is the scroll for? What is written inside?"
Her father seemed to hesitate, but what surprised her was the fact that this man before her, this stranger from Konoha was the one who answered. "The scroll is a contract tying two large lands together and in this case, Konoha and Mist. It is a very important document and your village is the one that has published it, to make it legal and to make it safe from other villages who wish for domination of others."
Sayuri nodded and smiled at him. "Thank you for that information. I honestly thought THAT would've been the answer." She glanced at her father. "Why couldn't you tell me that yourself when I was assigned to protect the scroll?"
The Yamakage sighed. "I didn't think it was that important anyway."
"Importan? Don't you think it was important to let me KNOW about these things so I'm NOT confused?"
There was silence and after a few seconds, the sound of someone clearing their throat could be heard. Sayuri and her father turned their heads at the man who gently bowed and said, "I am done my business here. Thank you again. I will inform the Hokage-sama that the scroll is finished and I shall come back tomorrow to pick it up."
Sayuri watched as the man turned and headed out the door. 'Tomorrow,' she thought. 'Tomorrow, I'll see him again….'
And tomorrow had arrived…
Sayuri was up early in her sweeping and stood closer by the gates and once and a while glancing to see whether Gin would open the door, followed by the handsome man from Konoha. She was intrigued by him, the way he moved, the way he spoke…he was one of the first few men she would dare make any eye contacts with. A priestess was not allowed to look at a man a certain way, only respect, but Sayuri found herself attracted to him.
Then, the moment of truth…
She heard footsteps heading towards the gate. The sound of footsteps paused and then the gate suddenly opened. However, Sayuri was not prepared for what was behind that gate. Two tall men appeared from behind the creaking gate, wearing unfamiliar black robes, their faces covered everything in black, except their eyes. There were black marks around their eyes, indicating that eyes were the most important feature for these men. Startled, Sayuri picked up her broom to the level of her eyes and gripped her hands around it. "Who are you?"
One man, taller than the other one, seemed to have only noticed Sayuri there. Without a word, he charged towards her and started attacking. To his surprise, however, Sayuri was sporting best defenses against her opponent. "Good for you Priestess…I didn't think women like you could defend such attacks."
"Well I am not like other women!"
The sound of a fist clashing against a broom could be heard. The noise attracted many of the Mist ninjas patrolling the area and Rika and Gin were there seconds later to witness Sayuri fight with all her might. "Sayuri-sama!" Rika gasped as the broom Sayuri was using broke from one of the men's strong fists.
"Sayuri-sama!" Gin ran to her aid, but the shorter man was already attacking him so the Chuunin was forced to defend himself from his new opponent. He crossed his arms in front of his face to block the man's attacks, but he had a mistake by leaving an opening near his stomach and he was punched in his gut and he collapsed on the floor.
"GIN-KUN!" Rika was about to run to him when she too was knocked unconscious by the same man.
"RIKA-CHAN!"
The man grabbed Rika's wrist. "Oh, bad idea to let your guard down…" The man was about to punch her in the gut when something stopped him. Surprised, he glanced up and noticed a hand gripped around his wrist.
"You're right…bad idea," a man spoke from behind the ninja. Sayuri glanced behind the man and noticed Jounichi frowning up at the taller man. "I am no fighter, sir but when it comes to hurting women, I don't tolerate such behavior. Now, please let go of her."
The taller man smirked. "And what will you do if I don't?"
Jounichi kept the frown on his face. He really was no fighter, but even shinobis who only go to different villages to negotiate matters, still have to train and learn how to defend themselves and others. Konoha were strong on many shinobis whose hearts were defending people. The brown haired man took one deep breath before making his moves.
Startled, his opponent was surprised with these fast attacks and he had no time to defend himself. His companion was behind Jounichi seconds later, attacking from behind. Much to his surprise, however, Jounichi used some kind of jitsu and appeared behind the other one and punches him from there. The shorter shinobi gasped and fell to his knees and collapsed.
"Why you-!" The taller man charged, but Jounichi was ready for this and he used a different jitsu, sharp leaves appearing around him and cutting through his opponent's skin. He screamed, blood pouring from the cuts. He charged again, but since there were lots of blood from this particular attack, the man collapsed, breathing hard. "What's…what's happening to me?"
Jounichi sighed. "These leaves have a special 'something' inside them so you just lie there and do nothing." He walked over to him and crouched down beside him. "Now tell me, why did you attack Sayuri-san and those people over there?" he asked, pointing to Gin and Rika unconscious on the floor.
"We were sent here for the scroll. The scroll belongs to us!"
"Belongs to you?"
"You're trusting the wrong pe-!" Suddenly, something shot through the air, pass by Jounichi's foot and plunges directly into the man's heart and he dies instantly. "Good job, Haruno-san." Jounichi looks up and noticed the Yamakage approaching them. The one who threw the kunai to the man's heart was another ninja and he walked over to the dead ninja and pulled out his kunai and replaced it back in its sheath. "Are you all right, Sayuri?"
Sayuri nodded and smiled at Jounichi. "Arigatou gozaimasu Haruno-san," she said, bowing in gratitude. "Haruno-san protected me father."
Yamakage nodded in approval. "Yes I saw. And I believe I have found someone to protect you from now on, Sayuri."
Jounichi looked at him curiously. "Me, sir?"
"I saw the way you fight and I'm hiring you as my daughter's bodyguard until the scroll is COMPLETELY finished. Since Konoha and Mist will soon be allies, this would be a great opportunity to test the trust of our new allies."
The taller man didn't say a word.
"Good, I'm glad we understand each other. Tanaka, please do take care of Gin and Rika for me. I don't want any mess in my courtyard. Sayuri let's go back inside." With that said, he turned and left, while the tall shinobi named Tanaka picked up the two men easily with his arms and left.
"I'll be there, father," Sayuri called. She glanced at Jounichi and to his surprise and even her, kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you again, Haruno-san." She smiled at him and goes over to Gin and Rika to make sure they were all right and to her relief they were.
Jounichi watched her for a bit before turning around and leaving, contemplating on the new job he was unaware he had been hired to do. 'Okay, since when have I become someone's bodyguard?'
"The end," the middle-aged woman said, leaning back.
Sasuke stared at her, annoyed that she suddenly stopped without ending the story right. "The end?"
The woman shrugged and stood up. "Well for now anyway. I'm quite tired and it's been a long day for me. I'm sure you are tired as well, Mr…?"
"Sasuke…Uchiha Sasuke," the dark haired Chuunin replied quietly.
"Yes… Uchiha-san," the woman said, smiling kindly at him. "You will stay if you want to hear more of my story." She turned and got ready to go upstairs, when Sasuke's voice stopped her at the first step.
"How do you know if this story is true? And if it's true, how would you have known the whole story?"
The woman smiled. "I guess you will have to find out tomorrow, ne? I'll go and prepare your room for you. But I'm sure you already know who I am…I have always been beside my Sayuri-sama for as long as I can remember"
Sasuke blinked and watched her go up the stairs. "Rika…san," he mumbled.
Note: WOOHOO! Finished the sixth chapter! Okay so we GOT a little bit of story about Jounichi but why? Well, it will all be explained slowly! Be patient now! See you on the next chapter:D