Super quick update on the 2nd chapter, or should I say first?

Anyway, I was overwhelmed by the reviews and follows from the prologue. Not a huge number to brag about but definitely more than I expected for my first fanfic ever. You guys are awesome.

I did expect a few flamers when I left the anonymous reviews on, but truth be told, I really don't mind. Reading them is quite fun actually, as I think of ways to write the story to make them more miserable, lol. I always encourage valid, honest, constructive criticism.

That being said, many of you stood up for me and gave me support to keep writing and not feel down, so I really appreciate it. Much love goes out to all of you :) I wish the guest reviews had a name so I could thank you specifically. Thank you Tayyabalaraib,It's Nice, Rina, Sandy, hime-23, Stella Chanelle and Cat Beats. I'm not a seasoned writer and I hope I can do your support and expectations justice. Also thanks to everyone who followed and/or favorited this. It means a lot to me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

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1. Jigoku kara no ken

(Undisclosed location, 5 months later)

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"Uchiha, there's no easy way to say this", the blind seer's unseeing gaze was fixated on Sasuke's face. It was unnerving how his hollow eye sockets seemed to follow every little movement Sasuke made with his eyes or head- no matter how small or subtle. Even more unsettling was the thought of how this geezer managed to survive when his two eyes had been plucked out of the skull in their entirety. However, those were thoughts the ronin had pushed back many visits ago. Now, the old blind seer's empty gaze only raised the hairs on his arm for a moment, before familiarity sank in.

Slowly, Sasuke let out a sigh he hadn't realized he was holding.

"I don't pay you for ambiguity, Bashou. I know there's something wrong. Just say it. There's nothing I can't handle."

He'd soon find out he was wrong.

Bashou- the blind soothsayer traced his fingers over the dark pattern that had begun forming on Sasuke's right forearm. His extraordinary sensory abilities relayed every inch, every line of that tattoo-like mark to his brain. In his head, he could see it- a shape resembling a snake's fang with a forked tongue- that was growing little by little with every passing day. He'd heard about it, but this was the first time he was "seeing" it up close. Even in the midst of the concern he had for the swordsman, there was a tinge of regret for not having his eyes anymore to see it.

"It's your katana", Bashou replied with quiet deliberation. "How long have you been using it?"

Sasuke frowned, before resetting his face into a mask of indifference. He always felt Bashou watching and wanted to appear respectful to him for some reason. He could never explain why. Just instinct, he supposed.

"Around a year, been swinging this since my former katana broke. I found this blade in rather…..unusual circumstances.", Sasuke wasn't much of a talker and he didn't feel like reminiscing THAT story now. "How is that relevant again?"

"Ah, Uchiha, this isn't just any katana. Do you know what cursed blade you possess? The abomination you swing and keep besides you at all times?"

Sasuke absently scratched the dark mark on his forearm. There was a constant itch since it started appearing around a month ago. One night, the itch had grown to a full blown wildfire. The pain had almost tempted Sasuke to hack his arm off, but it was his sword swinging hand and the one that earned him his livelihood. By morning the pain had subsided and the slight itch had resumed. But it appeared to have grown overnight- very little, but Sasuke's eyes never missed anything. It was then that he had decided to pay Bashou a visit. He didn't like making himself known to many people, and often had to travel far to meet an old acquaintance. And in these times of war, making a trip to this secret location discretely had taken four weeks.

"Sasuke?"

"Hai", he brought his wandering mind back to the matter at hand. "It is the Kusanagi sword. From the old legends. I don't believe in any of them myself but I have had to put away people coming after it, and it has proved to be a really sharp sword."

Bashou held him in place with a stare. Sasuke could see the inside of his head. The old man's mere existence was unnatural. Even the most mangled corpse was an easier sight to stomach than this. But the ronin kept staring back, unblinking.

"You ignorant fool, it is just like you to only judge things by how useful they are. Maybe where you come from, the Kusanagi legend is just that- a mythical sword forged to vanquish the darkest evil. The reality, as always, is vastly different."

Sasuke was getting impatient now, but there was nothing he did better than suppressing his emotions and wearing a mask.

"And again, I ask- how is it relevant?"

"How is it relevant, he says! The sheer ignorance", Bashou stood from his place and started pacing back and forth, like he was trying to make Sasuke grasp the enormity of this predicament.

"It's the Jigoku kara no ken! The sword from hell. Long before the world as we know it came into being, this sword was forged in the fires of hell for the Devil's army to use against the soldiers from Heaven. It is said this blade left a scar on Kami sama himself!"

The seer was almost shaking now, and Sasuke couldn't tell if it was in rage or passion. All he could manage in response was a small "I see".

"Every generation, this blade finds a wielder- whose darkness of heart and lust for blood matches its own. Make no mistake- YOU didn't find this or stumble upon it by chance. It was destiny!"

Sasuke only let out a small laugh. This was ridiculous.

"So, like magic then? Do you realize how insane your words are right now?"

"You're one to talk, with that mark on you!", Bashou shot back. Once convinced there wouldn't be any more interruptions, he continued.

"It is true that this is an extraordinarily sharp katana- infact, I'd say the sharpest in the world. But do you know what it requires to maintain its edge? Blood. Every single time you draw it from its sheath, it demands the touch of blood. If you don't cut down an enemy, you'll have to feed it drops of your own blood. Otherwise, it gets duller and will abandon you when you need it the most."

Sasuke shrugged. Drawing blood had never been a problem for him. It did mean that he couldn't take his katana out for some practice swings however. But with the war and bandits and targets all around him, he was getting his entire kenjutsu perfected against live dummies.

Bashou went still again, and Sasuke had the feeling that the next words would be heavier than usual.

"And once you've wielded it, your death looms closer and closer. It doesn't matter if you throw away this sword for a new one, or decide to find peace- as if that's even possible today. You've been marked. In a year, this mark on your forearm will grow- over and under your skin, inside your veins until every breath feels like agony, every piece of you wants to crumble and then it will claim your soul."

Claim his soul- Sasuke knew he definitely wasn't destined for heaven. So, to hell his soul would go, where the kusanagi was forged, and the blade would find a new master.

The silence that reigned over Bashou's small hut for the next several minutes was heavy. None of the men moved a muscle. Sasuke's fingers inched slowly toward the hilt of his katana and gripped it tighter. As outlandish as this whole thing seemed, he knew Bashou wouldn't lie. And he knew his katana and the mark on his forearm weren't normal.

A year. A lot could happen in a year. Uchiha Sasuke had never been one to give up without a fight.

"I better get going then. There's somewhere I need to go."

It was a long shot, but he had heard stories of miracles from Amegakure. The citizens worshipped their leader like a God. While the entire world remained engulfed in war and destruction, the small territory of Hidden Rain remained relatively undisturbed. Sasuke had heard stories of how its leader- Pain and his right hand woman, Konan were capable of performing feats believed to be impossible. He wasn't sure if he'd find an answer there, but there was nothing to lose. All he'd need to do in exchange was spill some blood on their behalf.

As he got up and started making his way out, Bashou stopped him one last time.

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

The ronin stopped and turned around.

"I wish I didn't have to be the bearer of bad news. Death comes for us all. You can't change your fate. What you can change though is how you die."

The blind man paused for a moment and hoped his final words could reach the wandering swordsman in some way.

"I've known you a long time, Sasuke. You carry a great burden on your shoulders. There is so much self hate, but also longing. You come across as a cold killing machine, but I see the regret and guilt weighing on you. The desire to be loved and remembered. These 12 months- use them to make peace. With yourself and the world. With the people you care for. You're more than a taker of lives. I hope you manage to see that."

Sasuke wanted to let the old man know how wrong he was. He had buried every semblance of compassion and love a long time ago. But somehow, he couldn't find it in his heart to disagree. So he just nodded once, before turning back and taking off.

Amegakure was a week away.

…...

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...

(6 days later, Amegakure)

Karin waved to two of her serving girls to slide the shoji doors closed after the latest group of customers came in. Nobody took their shoes off before entering her establishment. On any other day, these customers only brought in dust along with their shoes. But today was Sunday- the one day of the week when it rained. And on Sunday, people brought in wet mud, ruining her beautiful tatami mats. Karin demanded absolute cleanliness- both from her place and her girls, and she hated it when anyone spoilt hours of cleaning with a few excited steps.

Amegakure, by all intents and purposes, was utopia during this war. While bandits, mercenaries and armies ran rampant all over the world, the Hidden Rain was free of any disputes within the war. However, the peace within the borders relied on absolute obedience and allegiance to their leaders- Pain and Konan. And to ensure and when required- enforce this obedience, the entire village crawled with law enforcement officials all night and day. There was the regular city watch, the specialized samurai squad- the Shinsengumi, and Pain's personal fleet of ten of the deadliest swordsmen in the world, called the Akatsuki.

Owning a pleasure house in Amegakure was proving to be very fruitful for Karin. With very little fights to break up, and owing to Pain's neutral stand in the war, the swordsmen of Hidden Rain were getting restless. They had taken to getting drunk on duty, spending more time in Karin's yukaku (pleasure house) with the girls. Initially, Karin had been an agreeable hostess, indulging her guests in games, stories, and conversation. She had dedicated server girls to perform music and dance and keep her guests entertained too. There was the occasional patron who paid a little extra for sex, and Karin would generally have a room arranged for that person with one of her employees. Business had always been steady for the redhead, but ever since she brought in the new girl last fall, the number of visitors had increased substantially.

Karin looked at her now, the woman with the midnight blue hair extending to her lower back speaking to the new visitors with remarkable grace. She almost felt jealous, but the woman was too kind to hate. And she made her more money than any other girl. Karin observed how her otherworldly lavender white eyes moved from one person to another, listening to everyone with a disarmingly simple smile that took away every fiber of worry and made even the harshest stranger feel at ease.

Indeed, kami sama must have been truly pleased with Karin the day he sent Hinata to her doorsteps.

She had never revealed her surname or which clan she was from. People without a clan name were generally poor orphans, destined for a lifetime of slavery. But looking at Hinata as she expertly prepared tea for the guests, arranged flowers and played a soft melody on the shakuhachi flute, Karin knew the girl was hiding something. Only a lady of a noble family could do all this along with engaging multiple people in polite conversation simultaneously. What was Hinata hiding and why?

Her reverie was broken by the sound of an apprentice server girl calling her name.

"Karin sama! Karin sama! We have a problem."

"What? B-", the rest of her sentence was drowned out as someone kicked down her shoji door with full force.

Outside, drenched in rain, whistling with unbridled glee and clearly drunk out of their boots were six men in foreign garb. Each of them carried a different kind of sword, different from the katanas Karin was used to seeing but the danger emanating from them was apparent to everyone inside. Some of the girls shrieked and scurried away indoors, while the men started picking up their belongings to leave as well.

Despite never seeing them before, Karin knew who they were. There had been rumors all week that Pain was receiving an emissary team from the Hidden Mist. Security had been ramped up in anticipation of the Mizukage's arrival. These unfamiliar men were surely from Kirigakure and Karin could wager a guess as to just who they were.

Everyone else seemed to have figured it out too, because leading the six men was one of Pain's famed Akatsuki members- the monster of the Hidden Mist, Kisame Hoshigaki. Everyone in Amegakure knew of his capabilities and his blood drenched past, and they revered and feared him in equal parts for it.

These were the infamous Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. And by the lustful looks being thrown the way of Karin and her girls, it was apparent they were here purely for pleasure, not business.

"Karin, I've brought guests as you can see", Kisame's raspy, feral voice barked. He stepped in with his muddy sandals, cloak dripping rainwater. His giant sword- the Samehada was tied to his back.

"They are the Mizukage's entourage and Pain sama wants them to forget all the fatigue from their journey. I trust you'll make them all feel comfortable and show them how accommodating you can be." Kisame's razor sharp teeth glinted as he smiled, while the remaining six swordsmen laughed and hooted.

"A-Ano, Kisame sama", Karin gulped. She could smell trouble like few others and this was the toughest spot she'd ever found herself in. Most of her girls were only trained in hosting, entertaining and pouring sake for their guests. Only a few dabbled in sexual favors for their clients, and she could tell these foreigners wouldn't be satisfied with just them. At the same time, Kisame's appearance and tone made it abundantly clear that refusal wouldn't be looked at kindly.

"Hai Kisame sama! Karin sama is a little unwell, and the girls will be with you shortly. In the meantime, please have a seat and allow me to be at your service", a soft voice rang out before Karin could speak. The effect was immediate. All the girls stopped trembling and faced the swordsmen with a newfound confidence. Even Karin's throbbing heart stilled somewhat.

Hinata had walked up to The Monster of the Mist and taken this entire situation unto herself. With a deep bow, she beckoned the intruders in and passed a reassuring smile the redhead's way. As if she was convincing Karin she'd handle the whole thing and it would all be okay.

Karin felt absolutely sick at the thought of poor, sweet Hinata braving herself to be at the mercy of these beasts. She was also to mortified to step in and help.

"Oh Hinata chan! What have you gotten yourself into!"

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(To be Continued..)

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Next chapter- Hinata's POV!

1st things first- being a Geisha doesn't mean being a prostitute. Geishas are actually hostesses, skilled in various arts, music, dance, etc. Hinata isn't a prostitute.

Secondly, read and review please :) Thanks!