Part 5 of Arabia.

Prompt # 13

Merchant

Sakura wandered through the small port, happy to be back on solid ground for a while longer. She was still feeling a little tender from her night of drinking but was thankful that Sasuke had taken pity on his crew and allowed them to dock for a short while on their way home.

The market was not expansive by any means but it provided a nice distraction for Sakura's woolly head. She glanced around and could spot at least half a dozen of the crew members nearby, including the captain who was annoyingly not suffering a hangover.

Skirting past the stalls selling food, the girl came to pause at a small table covered with various trinkets. She picked up a string of amber beads and admired their shine in the light, before her eye was caught by a small, hand stitched doll at the back of the table.

Sakura put the necklace down on the table and scooped up the fabric object instead, her fingers gently combing through the black hair on the doll's head.

"Do you like it?"

Sakura jumped at the voice and lifted her eyes to the woman who had emerged from a nearby house. The old lady had one eye that was milky white and not focusing along with the other as well as a slightly frantic look on her face that put Sakura on edge.

"I…" Sakura shook her head. "I think I had a doll like this when I was a little girl… but I can't remember."

"You should get it." The woman insisted.

Sakura shook her head and put the doll down gently, her gaze drawn to the glass beads it had for eyes… green like hers. It unsettled her, this unbidden memory rising up. She knew for a fact that the tribe had no use for toys and yet she was sure she had owned a doll like the one on the table. It was the first time she had recalled anything from her life before the tribe.

"You're a long way from home girl."

Sakura stared at the stall owner and frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You've had a couple of homes now, drifting on the breeze like a blossom… and now you may have found yourself in the most dangerous place of all. On the sea for the first time and yet you've never been more at risk of being lost to the flames."

Swallowing heavily, Sakura edged away slightly. "How do you know…?"

The woman clicked her tongue impatiently. "People always ask such stupid questions. It's clear as the light of day when I look at you. You're heading for the biggest adventure of your life, Girl."

Shaking her head, annoyed at herself for listening to the crazy ramblings, Sakura turned to walk away from the stall.

"Wait!" The old woman's voice screeched and Sakura froze, turning back around on instinct.

"Take this." The stooped old woman pressed something in to Sakura's hands.

The pinkette withdrew her hands quickly, disliking the feel of the woman's clammy skin on hers. She looked down in to her hand and stared at the smooth, black stone there.

"What is this?"

"Protection." The woman hissed.

"Protection? Protection from what?" Sakura peered at the stone more closely and could see characters scratched in to the surface though the language was unknown to her.

"That man." She pointed to where Sasuke was further down the street.

Sakura caught his gaze and widened her eyes at him, letting him know she needed his help. "I don't need protection from him." Sakura said to the woman and tried passing the stone back.

The woman's good eye narrowed at her, the other staying disturbingly fixed ahead. "Not from him. From what he carries with him."

"What?" Sakura glanced behind again and saw Sasuke had detached himself from the merchant he had been dealing with and was making his way to her.

"The dark heart festering in the earth where it belongs. The pieces left to keep it sealed must not be gathered. The orb, the scroll, the seal, the flame and the spring. It will rip the world to shreds."

Sakura backed away as the woman screeched her final words, swallowing harshly. Her back bumped in to something very solid and Sasuke's hands came to grasp her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly.

"Yeah." Sakura muttered, not daring to take her eyes off the woman who was now focused on Sasuke.

"You." She spat. "You who feeds the serpent's hunger."

"Come on." Sasuke said, pulling Sakura away.

"I have warned you!" The old woman called at their backs. "You are as greedy as the man you serve, Pirate! And you will destroy everything of value. Including the little pink haired girl."

Sasuke froze and whipped around, fixing the woman with a cold glare. "What are you babbling about?"

"You know." She whispered, her voice infinitely calmer now. "Deep down you feel the unease in what you are tasked to do but you do it anyway for the wealth... but it will all be for naught." And apparently losing interest in them the lady began to mutter quietly to herself, turning her body away.

Sasuke and Sakura watched her until she disappeared back inside her gloomy shop, an uncomfortable silence left in her place.

Sakura lay on the deck of the ship and stared up at the inky black sky, peppered with dots of shining silver. It was relatively quiet – there were still people tending the sails and of course there were a few crew members at the wheel.

Sakura had tucked herself up near the bow, well hidden as she lay on the floor. The waters they were sailing through were lovely and calm and the very slight swaying of the floor beneath her was comforting.

Sakura raised an arm and held it towards the sky, just level with her eyes. The glossy surface of the stone the odd crone had pressed in to her hands earlier that day shined wetly in the moonlight. Sakura turned it this way and that, watching as the words scratched in to it were thrown in to sharp relief.

"You'll get sick lying on a damp deck, genius."

Sakura rolled her eyes but sat up anyway coming face level with Sasuke's knees. The captain took a seat on a nearby barrel and quirked an eyebrow. "Is that what the crazy old bat gave you?"

"Yeah." Sakura tossed the stone to Sasuke who caught it with ease. "'For protection', she said."

Sasuke rolled the stone between his fingers. "Do you know what the inscriptions are?"

"No," Sakura sighed. "I was hoping you would know."

"I've seen similar writing before, mainly in temples, but dead languages have never been my forte. You should ask Neji when we next go back."

"Neji?"

"He's been well-educated by his uncle. The library at the estate is quite impressive." He passed the stone back to Sakura who clutched it tightly in her hand. Sasuke's eyes were trained on how fiercely she held on to it. "You don't believe her do you? That you will actually need that protection?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know. She seemed convinced."

"She was insane." Sasuke stated flatly. Sakura averted her eyes and Sasuke sighed, sliding off the barrel and crouching in front of her. "You don't need protection… and if you did then you'll find that I'm much better than some measly stone."

Sakura looked up at him then and his serious-as-ever expression caused her lips to twitch in to a smile.

Little had changed at the Hyuuga Estate. Hinata was still stuttering and painfully shy, the grounds were still an immaculate oasis, and Sakura still found Neji to be an insufferable bore.

"Interesting." The heir muttered as he turned the brass jar over in his hands. "This language is very old… almost too old for me to be of help?"

"Almost?" Sasuke repeated, form comfortably lounging on the cushions opposite Neji's desk. Sakura was stood at the shelves along the eastern wall of the room, eyes tracing the various scrolls and tomes residing there.

"I've seen it before, though in passing. It will take me some time to find the right book. Ay I keep this in the meantime?"

Sasuke frowned. "I would say yes, but I have another item to look for, and I may need to use the jar to retrieve it."

Neji nodded and pulled a sheet of parchment to him. "Fine. I'll make a copy of the inscriptions and work from that."

The coffee-haired man busied himself with making meticulous copies of each symbol and Sasuke turned his eyes towards his female companion.

"Sakura?"

The girl looked over her shoulder. "Hmm?"

"Don't you have something you want to ask Neji?"

Sakura scowled as Neji's eyes flicked up to her. "Nope." She turned away.

"Sakura," Sasuke sighed.

"Oh okay." She grumbled, approaching the low desk. Opening her hand, she allowed the shining, black stone to clatter lightly on to the wood.

Neji scooped up the object and brought it up to his eyes. "Where did you get this?"

"Some old lady at a market place." Sakura shrugged. "She didn't seem quite right."

Sasuke observed the intense look on the other man's face and frowned. "Do you know what it is?"

Neji shook his head. "Not a clue, and this writing is unbelievably old… I've no clue what it says."

"Is there no way to decipher it?"

"Probably not." Neji conceded. "At a glance I would guess that it's a precursor to the language on the jar. I may be able to figure it out if I can find the translation to the jar… but that's only a maybe."

"Anything would be appreciated." Sasuke said pointedly and Neji began making copies of the stone too.

Sakura hovered by the desk uncertainly, biting her lip. "The old lady – the one who gave me the stone – she said that it's for protection."

Neji put his quill down and gave the woman his attention. "I thought you said that she was… odd?"

"She was!" Sakura protested before sighing. "She seemed to know things about me." Aware of Sasuke's eyes trained on the side of her face she continued. "She knew things about my past and there was a doll…"

"A doll?"

Sasuke glared at Neji; whether intended or not, there was a slight mocking tinge to the nobleman's voice.

Sakura let out a forced laugh. "Forget it, it's stupid anyway. I wouldn't bother with that stone either, it's probably worthless."

With that the girl fled from the room and Sasuke stood also. "Nice job."

"What?" Neji asked defensively.

"One day you should really try to listen to yourself. You might understand why everyone else wants to punch you in the mouth."

Ignoring Neji's affronted expression, Sasuke followed after Sakura, finding the girl in the gardens, pacing back and forth while breathing heavily.

"Hey."

She paused and looked at Sasuke. "What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Fine."

Sasuke glanced around, for some reason very tempted to hightail it away from this unusually abrupt version of Sakura. "You don't seem fine."

The girl crossed her arms over her chest tightly and turned away from him again shaking her head. "I told you that I am fine. I just don't much like being here."

Sasuke sighed and approached the simmering woman. "You said something about the old woman knowing things about you? You didn't mention it before."

"There's nothing to tell. I'm just being foolish."

Sasuke caught her wrist, pulling an arm away from her chest and pulled her to the edge of the garden and on to a waiting bench. "Why don't you let me be the judge of that? What did she say?"

Sakura licked her lips and averted her eyes. "She talked about how I'd travelled to many places in my life. She knew I was sailing the seas now and said I was in danger."

"Danger of what?" Sasuke's gaze was intense.

"Of being lost to the flames."

Sasuke frowned. "And what of the doll you mentioned?"

Sakura smiled sadly. "I thought I recognised it from my childhood. The only thing is that the tribe never allowed us to have toys, it was a waste of resources. So if I remember a doll like the one the old lady had –"

"Then it's an earlier memory." Sasuke supplied.

Sakura nodded. "I've never remembered anything about my life before the tribe found me. I don't know whether to feel excited or scared that those memories do apparently exist."

Sasuke observed the girl by his side for a moment. "You can feel both."

It was a simple statement and so perfectly Sasuke that Sakura let out a small laugh. "I guess I can."

"But like I told you before, don't worry about what that old crone said. I look out for my crew." Sasuke was purposely not looking at the girl and he almost jumped when her hand slid in to his own.

"Thank you."