DISCLAIMER: The song mentioned is not mine. Don't remember the name of it, but it's from an old movie. Neither is the plum story. That's from the Joy Luck Club. I just really liked the lesson learned.

Tracking down Hoshigake took a few moments but Saya finally caught up with the blue bugger. You see, just seconds after their tiff, Saya realized that she not only had no idea where a shower might be, but she also had no clean clothes. Reluctantly she sped off towards where she thought she had seen Hoshigake go, and then sniffing out his chakra signature, she pin-pointed his destination.

Rounding the corner, she stopped in mid step when she met the sight of not only the swordsman, but also the one and only Uchiha. It seemed as though they were conversing outside a doorway, about what though, she knew not. Both men gave her their attention as they heard her arrival.

"So," She began, waltzing the rest of the way towards them, "Ya think you guys could help a poor girl out for a minute?" She rubbed her head, feeling awkward in the situation she was in. Kisame snorted.

"What could you possibly want now?" He demanded, obviously a little ticked that she had interrupted their talking. Feeling even more awkward, Saya nonchalantly shrugged his impatience off. Itachi watched her expression, waiting for her response.

She suddenly couldn't hold back a smirk, one which she hid behind a fanned palm.

"Well, you see, I have no idea where the shower and, or bath may be." She paused and grinned wider. "I also need clean clothes. Care to help me out?"

"No." Kisame grunted turning his back to her, his grumpy mood settling in once more. Her smile hadn't faltered, but her eyebrow began twitching ever so slightly.

"There is a shower next door to your room." Itachi answered quietly. "You may borrow Kisame's and my clothes for the time being." Saya clapped her hands together in thanks, a tired smile replacing the forced grin.

"Many thanks Uchiha, I owe ya one. I stink worse than Hoshigake at low tide, and I urgently need to clean up" Kisame scrunched up his nose at the mention of his name, and crossed his arms loosely.

"And since when has tidiness been a worry of yours? Last time I checked you were a homeless bum." Saya, seemingly unperturbed by his slander, simply rolled her eyes.

"I may not be the epitome of womanly virtue, Hoshigake, but I'm not a slob." She retorted. "So, may I have the clothes now? I'd rather not prance around naked." Itachi turned around and opened the door, which was presumably to his or Kisame's room. Perhaps both.

"I'd rather you not, too." Kisame mumbled under his breath. "I think I'd be scarred."

"Wait here." Itachi commanded, disappearing into the opening. Saya ticked her head to the side, a dark aura seeping from her pores.

"Hoshigake." Her eyes zeroed in on him, the pupils pin-point. "Did you say something?" She asked sweetly. Hardly impressed, Kisame grunted.

"Might wanna get your ears checked, onna. I didn't say a word."

"What's your problem, Fish-Sticks? On the rag again?" Saya snidely flipped her hand out, her eyes half-lidded, and her canines particularly noticeable at the moment. Kisame whipped his face to the side to glare at her hatefully.

"Onna, I'm going to rip you apart!" He snarled. Saya only mocked him with hand gestures, increasing Kisame's already high blood pressure. Suddenly, a ball of cloth was hurled at Saya's face, taking her by surprise. She quickly threw up her arms to catch the clothing, Itachi's voice emanated from the rooms darkness.

"Be ready in an hour. When you are done, follow the roots up to the entrance and wait for us." With that, the door was slammed shut, leaving only Kisame and Saya with each others company. Saya chuckled inwardly, adjusting the clothes in her grasp. She did a sloppy salute to Kisame before turning on her heel and sauntering away.

"Later, Hoshigake." She waved a hand in the air lazily, a yawn escaping in mid sentence. Kisame shouldered Samehada before turning his own way.

/

Saya frowned.

Okay, so it was more of a scowl.

You know what I mean, right? 'Cause there's definitely a difference between a frown and a scowl: A scowl is much more dramatic. Way more. In fact, it's like a completely different image of discontentment.

Anyway, she was scowling. Sure, the bathroom had been easy enough to find. The shower had hot water. It was even stocked with soap; soap that smelled for 'Passionate Pomegranate' . Of course, when she noted this, she couldn't hold back a hearty, bellowing laugh that most likely disturbed most of the underground inhabitants. (In fact, this is true. As Hidan was finishing his training with Sho, both paused in mid-argue to raise a brow at the echoing guffaw: Kakuzu looked up from his money counting and bill-balancing: Itachi blinked, but it was a distinguishable blink: Sasori tiredly looked up from his work, but only to continue once more: Kisame muttered under his breath about crazy women while getting dressed: the yet-mentioned Zetsu, who was just arriving at the base from above, wondered who was laughing so loudly and interrupting the peaceful silence: and a shadowy figure, also yet mentioned, scoffed in disgust at the strange disturbance in the air.)

Moving on, Saya had lathered up and washed away a couple of weeks worth of grime and dirt, completely purified her hair of yuckiness (Yeah, I just said that, sue me), and dried herself off nicely. All in all, it was a very relaxing ritual, one she didn't get to partake in very often, and the shower was pretty nice as well

So what was making Saya not just frown, but scowl?

The clothes lent to her…

As she glanced in the mirror in the bathroom, she attempted one more time to right the hakama pants she was given. They were plain and black, probably Hoshigake's according to the length. They were a bit too long for Saya, and since she was actually Itachi's height, she imagined that the largeness of the pants dubbed them Hoshigakes. She yanked on the meager obi wrapped around her petite waist, tying it forcefully into a tight knot. The scowl subsided and left a smile at her handiwork.

The top was also just tad big on her: It consisted of a thin, navy blue material with elbow-length sleeves. The first tie-knot didn't start until mid bosom, so the neck hole was oversized and hung at her shoulders loosely. Thankfully, she had hand washed her black bra, which was still intact, and it served as an undershirt so she wouldn't be too revealing. She simply tucked in the shirt to the side of her pants to remedy the length of the shirt as well.

She easily slipped her geta sandals back on, humming cheerfully. Her turban was regretfully….well, it was dirty beyond repair, so she tossed it along with her other old clothes. There was just no coming back from where those garments had gone.

Her hair tie was still usable, though, so she pulled up her thick locks into what could best be called a bun (It wasn't really, because her hair was too thick. In fact, most of her hair fell to her shoulders, but she didn't really care much) Whistling a tune, Saya cleaned up her mess before unlocking the door.

Just as she did, she looked once more at the mirror. A curving black tattoo, which had once been hidden by her haori, revealed itself along the side of her neck, and if inspected, landed itself on the back of her neck. The smile kept, and she made her way out, ready for travel and whatever the day brought. Her head was clear, her mood was great, Hoshigake's humility was hers for the taking….

And so was her revenge.

Or what she would like to call, justice.

/

A long time ago, before an illness claimed her mothers life, Sayuri had been very close to her mother. Her elder sister more so, for the first born almost always has more time spent with the parents. However, Saya was the one who was the apple of her fathers eye.

But that is another matter, for a different time.

Sayuri spent most of her young days within the sphere of her mothers watchful eye. Her sister, her mother, and her would visit the villages stands and near-by relatives on some days while playing in their gardens and the beach on others. Truth be told, Saya's early childhood was very much care-free, untouched by the war.

One day, a day in which the manor held her attention and Saya had no Jin nor Katsutoshi, who has yet to be notably mentioned, to play with, she and her family sat leisurely within their manor. Rather, her elder sister of five years sat calmly within the confines of an open room, sewing a pattern. Her mother also sat, but on the outside corridors floor, which was raised only a mere foot from the backyards garden. Saya herself, only four at the time, studied a resting grasshopper on a lone leaf of a small flower. She wondered if she could catch the insect and show her mother how pretty the green exoskeleton was. As she prepared to pounce, the creature leapt from its position, as if expecting the attack, and hopped away swiftly. Saya frowned and smacked her hands on her knees, unhappy with her failure. As she began mumbling under her breath, her mother interrupted her.

"Catching wild things can be hard, ne?" Her mothers smile stretched across her face, and warmed Saya's insides.

"Mama, how did it know I was gonna catch it?" She asked in a whine.

"It's because of that dumb face you make when you concentrate on things. It was scared away by that ugly expression" Her sister sniggered. Saya scowled and glared at the sewing girl.

"Now, now, Misa." Her mother cooed. She looked back at Saya. "How do you think it knew, Sa-chan?" Saya crossed her legs and thought for a moment. Of course, being so young, she simply told her mother what first came to mind.

"Because it saw me, right?" She murmured. Her mother nodded.

"It saw you, but it also felt you. Nature is a lot more knowledgeable than we give it credit. Besides," Her mother tilted her head, "Wild things aren't meant to be caught."

Saya's mother taught her many things. She hoped to curb any spoiled behavior that might arise from Saya's fathers adoration. Most of the lessons Saya learned came from her mothers instruction.

In fact, just before her mother fell ill, Saya learned the art of invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning not only arguments, but future battles as well. While out shopping one afternoon, her mother pulled her along the market aisles.

"Bite back your tongue," Her mother scolded when Saya cried out for a bag of salted plums. At the manor, her mother told her, "A wise person does not fight against the wind. Instead, come from which the wind originates, and blow with it. The strongest wind cannot be seen."

The next week Saya bit back her tongue as they entered the market and neared the plum stand. When her mother finished her shopping, she quietly plucked a small bag of plums from the mans assortment and paid for it with a handful of other items.

But what was Saya's favorite lesson, came in the form of a lullaby. It was one her mother sung every night, just before bed. She would plop beneath covers and listen with tired eyes to her mother, as her mother sat lightly near the end of her bed.

"Like a tunnel that you follow

To a tunnel of it's own

Down a hollow to a cavern

Where the sun has never shone,

Like a door that keeps revolving

In a half forgotten dream,

Or the ripples from a pebble

Someone tosses in a stream

Is the sound of distant drumming

Just the fingers of your hand?

Pictures hanging in a hallway

And the fragmentof this song

Half remembered names and faces

But to whom do they belong?"

Saya would fall asleep to her mothers sweet voice. However, Saya herself would not come to realize the songs true meaning until far after her mothers death, her fathers death, her sisters death, and ultimately….

But that is for another time.

/

"Eh, onna, what's it yer trying to do?" The giant rat, or otherwise 'Shacklebone Squirrel', clutched the tree branch next to Saya as she peered down at the entrance to the base. She stared down at the ground lazily, awaiting both Hoshigake and the Uchihas arrival.

"Ne, I was gonna throw this awesome prank on Ao-san, but I decided not to." She drawled. The rodent looked at her.

"You mean Hoshigake Kisame?"

"Un." She grunted. She supported her chin with her palm, and gazed silently downward.

"So what changed yer mind, ya know?" He chattered, crawling onto the other side of her. She sighed.

"Well, I sort of remembered something my Okaa-san once told me a long time ago."

"Oh? And what was that?" Saya continued her watchful lookout without blinking.

"To make a friend, one must first accept humility." She paused. "Of course, I don't really want to be friends with the tuna, but if I'm gonna be stuck with him, I may as well make it pleasant time spent." She nodded her head from side to side before sitting up and hanging her legs off of the branch. She finally met his gaze. "By the way, what's your name?" The summoning squirrel puffed out his chest and stood on his hind legs.

"M'name is Geshi, ya know?" He declared proudly.

"Ne?" Saya raised a brow. "Nice at meet ya, Feji-san. I'm Imatsura Sayuri." She swung her legs while he fumed.

"I am not fuzzy, Y'know! So don't call me that! I am the protector of this gateway and have been for a very long time, so respect the status, Y'know!"

"Whatever you say, Feji-san." She said in a monotone. Just then, the tree's trunk slid open and revealed both men as they emerged from its confines. She sighed.

"Guess this means it's time to go." She said. "Not much time before the solstice. Not much time to plot. I wonder if I'll be ready to reclaim what I have always sought." She murmured. Geshi watched her with a funny expression.

"What's that supposed to mean, Imatsura Sayuri?" But Saya has already hopped down from her seat, and descended to the forest floor.

Right.

Well, I know this is sorta going slow.

Boring.

Lame.

The works.

But I wanna cement it in, ya know? I'm trying to build up her background.

Regardless, the next chapter will reveal more of Sayas relationships as she's faced with old acquaintances. That, and a mouthful of humor on Kisames behalf. Suggestions on the plot are appreciated.

Thanks.

~Serb