Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Exodus '04

Absolute Devotion

Chapter 4: Fortune Telling

Landscapes keep changing
History teaches something
I know I could be mistaken, but my heart has spoken
I cannot redirect my feelings

Several weeks have passed; none of them have given up hope. The next village they reach seems to be like the last. No one knew anything, yet everyone knew who he was. I never realized he was so famous. Shopping for supplies Sakura is stopped on the street by an old woman. "You have love in your eyes."

"What do you mean?'

"Hm… I can tell you if you'd like?"

"Tell me what?"

"Your hearts desires, though a couple of different mediums my child." Sakura took a chance and followed the woman into a small building. It was an odd smelling room, incense she couldn't quite place the smell. She was taken to a small room in the back and was told to sit down. This room had two chairs and a nice table between. The smell in the room was that of pine trees. There where bookshelves that lined the walls, filled with books and other things that Sakura couldn't really identify. Is that a monkey's paw? "Now Sakura-san…"

"How do you know my name?"

"I am a medium after all." She smiled, Sakura silently said 'oh I see' as the woman continued. "You are looking for someone. Someone important to you, it is your destiny. What you live for, what you love for… you and those two young men with you." Sakura watched the old woman with interest, how does she know this? She took out some well used old cards, shuffling them with between her gnarled fingers then placing them in front of Sakura, "If you will cut them, think about the one you love… about the person you are looking for."

Sakura did as she was told, aitai, Kakashi, aitai… cutting the cards she slid them back to the owner. Who dealt them out on the table in a ring formation, face down. She began to read them, her words were clear. Sakura for a moment was scared by them but she tried to understood what she meant,

"History will teach you something, you know you could be mistaken, but your heart has already spoken, you can't redirect your feelings, past the ocean, through the desert, and now snow. You have already said goodbye to the friends and world you know."

Looking up she smiled, "You know what this means, you always have."

Sakura looked at the woman blankly, "I'm really not sure what you mean."

"I have told you what you have already know, what you have ready done. You've gone though quite a lot it seems. You left everything behind, abandoned everyone, everything in hopes of finding that person. You have courage, I commend you. But do you really want to find what it is you are looking for?"

"Yes." She said flatly. Momentarily she realized that what the old woman had said was everything they had gone though. History did teach something, you can't look back on past mistakes move forward. It was like a revelation, she wanted to see him more. Her heart was pounding as the woman turned over the last four cards.

"You will find what you are searching for, in an unexpected location, look underneath the underneath my child. You will find what you are searching for there. Do not give up hope, seeing as you and your friends have already said goodbye to the world you know."


Leaving the fortune tellers home she walked down the streets of the small village. Unexpected location, underneath the underneath… coming into the inn that they were staying in that night, she confronted her two friends with the information she had. Sasuke had been watching her with his dark eyes, listening to what she said.

"You really want to trust the musing of an old woman?" He placed his cup down on the table, looking at her waiting for her to answer with her emotions.

"She was right about everything; she told me everything that has already happened to us. What is there not to trust about what she said, really?"

"Unexpected location…? Where exactly is that?" Questioning the information he was given, Sasuke was always one for logical reasoning, Fortune telling was not something he believed in. However there was some light to what the woman said if it did give them a light of truth, hope then it was something worth looking into. He knew unfortunately that things are never that simple, underneath the underneath is very broad, and didn't give them a precise location or where about of the man that they were looking for. This made him anxious to hear Sakura's answer.

"I don't know." She could see disappointment in his dark eyes, he wanted her to have an answer… and answer which she didn't have. Naruto's eyes also saddened at her words, he had really hoped she had an answer. Their travels had changed him for the better, he had learned a fine subtly that he didn't have once before, he knew when to keep his mouth shut and this was that time. Stay silent and just be there for Sakura.

"Let's get some sleep." Motioning for them to leave the common room of the inn, Sakura made her way to the room; she wanted to be with him more that night. Curling up in her blankets she was comforted by her two friends who sleep on either side of her that night. They knew she was in pain, not physically but emotionally after all she was the one that was in love.

TBC

Tarot Cards: They can be used to divine the future, believing or not believing is up to the user and person being read. There's several ways to read cards, most common being the Celtic Cross formation. Fortune telling isn't for everyone, take it at face value nothing more, nothing less.

Monkey's Paw: The paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with such an enormous price that the final wish is to undo all the previous ones. ( There's a book about it, a horror short story: "The Monkey's Paw" by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902. Also xxxHolic the CLAMP Manga/Anime had a story dedicated to the monkey's pawn.)