A/N: I have revised some mistakes in this chapter-grammatical or otherwise. I still feel like something is missing, but alas, it will have to do.

The Hour of the Leaf

Even a leaf follows the light, then falls
with others. Still alone.

-Betti Alver, Stellar Hour

"I've decided not to mention you to the Fire Daimyo," Sakura told Gin as they walked through the forest. Gin was actually limping slightly.

He shrugged, "Thought he's suppos't t' fry your ass for bein' late?"

"I'll tell him I had to tend to wounds." It wouldn't be a total lie. "I've already sent a missive to let him know that I'm just late. Not dead. Seeing as he hasn't sent one of the other Twelve out after me means either that he doesn't care or he's too busy to deal with me right now."

Sakura glanced sideways at Gin; he was looking straight ahead, his features unreadable. "I'm delivering you to the nearest village. Someone will have the necessary skills to ensure that your wounds heal properly."

"You're dumpin' me off in the middle of nowhere?" He didn't seem overly concerned, but Sakura couldn't be sure that there wasn't an underhanded accusation lingering beneath the surface.

"What else can I do? If I take you back to the Fire Daimyo then one of three things will happen." She lifted a finger, "One: you get killed for being rude. Two: you get thrown out of the Land of Fire for being an ass. Three: I get thrown out in your stead because I had the audacity to bring you around." Sakura lowered her hand, slowing her step, "No matter how I look at it, it just won't end well for either of us."

"Ya know, I was in a position of some importance in Soul Society." Gin stated.

"And you died."

Gin grinned, "Ah, yah. 'Cept it wasn't 'cause I pissed the higher ups off. 'Less ya count Aizen. But he wasn't to good 'imself."

"My point."

"People actually look'd up t' me." He thought of Kira and managed not to grimace.

Sakura mused over his counter. Was he saying that he could behave in front of the Fire Daimyo? That he was capable of being on his best behavior? Though he wasn't necessarily pleasant per se, his conversation thus far had been tolerable, even enlightening. Meaning she hadn't yet found the urge to throw him in a river. Or punch him into one.

But that didn't mean it would last.

She thought of Konoha. What if she took Gin there? Tsunade might not like it—with all the other problems at hand—but she might at least know what to do with him. And it wouldn't be "the middle of nowhere" as Gin had put it. Sakura had friends there.

But that will be even further out of the way… She sighed mentally, not wishing to alert Gin to her thoughts. What if she visited the Fire Daimyo first, then took some leave time? Hah! As if he's going to give me time off during a war!

Then perhaps if she made it a part of an important mission? Surely she could finagle something…

"That's it!" Sakura stopped short as an idea struck her.

"What's what?"

"I know what to do!"

Gin took a step back, "You're smilin'." He tilted his head thoughtfully, wondering briefly if he had even seen her smile before. When she shed some of her worry—or anger—Sakura lit up like a new person, as if she could shine just by freeing herself of her burdens. Gin felt himself thrown off by this change, "Should I be afraid?"

She shook her head, pleased with herself, "No, no. It's nothing bad. Well—" For a moment, she hesitated, "—nothing bad for you, at the very least."

"And for you?"

"I might have to tweak my story a bit," Sakura admitted, trying to hide her blush. She always valued honesty, especially in herself, but in such a strange situation, what was she to do? "The Hokage—that's the leader of Konoha—is an esteemed medic-nin throughout the Land of Fire. I think, maybe, it would be best if I took you to her."

Gin raised a brow, "Ya don't think I'm gonna insult her somehow?"

Sakura shrugged, "If you do, I won't be the one responsible for trying to piece you together again. Tsunade-sama has quite a temper."

Wisely choosing to ignore her comment, Gin reverted the subject back to its original track, "So what's this 'bout tweakin' a story?"

"Don't worry about it." Sakura didn't need to disclose her plan just yet. She wanted to make sure it would work first. "I'll tell you later."

They stopped for a bit at a river to rest. Sakura noticed Gin's labored breathing and chose to act on it. She couldn't over work her patient on the first day. He had been surprisingly quiet and if he was suffering, he didn't let her know it. But she was a medic-nin and she knew the symptoms of fatigue.

"Konoha is southeast of here," Sakura told him as she splashed water on her face. "There is a rock formation at the back of the village with the faces of all the Hokages carved into it. An invisible shield surrounds it and is monitored at all times in case of invasion. If you enter without me, there might be questions."

"The barrier notes chakra, right?" Gin discerned easily. "Then you are assuming that I have chakra worth noticing."

Sakura blinked, realizing that he was right. She didn't sense anything special about Gin, meaning that passing through the barrier wouldn't raise any concern with the guards. That would be even better.

She moved over to him, eyeing his arm. "I best look at that."

He didn't object when she undid the bandage and used a bit more chakra to heal it. The pain had dulled with her past efforts over the last two days, and with each healing, he felt more and more alive in this world. He still couldn't sense any spirit power—within himself or Shinsou—but he sensed more of the world. Maybe that was all he needed really—something to wake him, to rouse him to reality.

"What happened?" Sakura could no longer contain her curiosity. "What did you do?"

Gin hadn't been looking at her, but when her voice broke the surface with those questions, he couldn't help but turn the force of his fox-like gaze upon her.

"It's a very long story," he grinned. "No need t' bore ya."

He saw her brow furrow and he thought she might scold him, but Sakura bit her lip and turned away, determined not to press him.

"I could ask th' same to you, ya know."

Sakura turned back, confused, "About what?"

"This land…your Shinobi war…" Gin stood, "I died in a war, so t' say. All wars start the same way. You can prob'ly draw your own conclusions." He began to walk, southeast as she had previously stated. "Those who die in war are on th' wrong side."

"That's not—"

"True?" He laughed mockingly. "Of course it's gotta be true. I was always on th' wrong side."

"But it's not as simple as right or wrong; that—"

"I'm gonna leave ya sittin' there…"

Sakura realized he intended to move on without her and she felt her face flush in irritation. As she stalked after him, realizing that he had yet again managed to divert her attention from the conversation at hand, her temper flared into a quiet brooding. Fine. I won't ask him any more questions. I won't even speak to him!

And after an hour passed and Gin did not attempt to break the silence, Sakura became even angrier. Somehow, she knew he was merely toying with her. Testing her. Ichimaru Gin was using her as a source of personal amusement and she was falling straight into his trap.

But what trap? She realized how silly it all sounded in her head. What was she so paranoid about? What about him irked her so much? She was acting like a child, giving him the cold shoulder and pouting in silence. There had to be a better way to handle the situation, but no matter what approach she tried, he somehow turned it against her until she looked like a fool.

She could leave him in a village, as she had originally intended. Or, based on her previous instructions, it was entirely possible that Gin could make his own way to Konoha. But for some reason Sakura felt a sense of duty in taking him there herself. She felt it was necessary to explain his situation in her own words. She was worried, in a way, and she didn't like it.

Gin surveyed the country below the ledge, amazed at the scenery that had erupted on the outskirts of the forest. He had never seen anything like it. The human world had such things—the gaping valleys, the maws of ravines—but he hadn't ever noticed them in his short visits during his time as a Shinigami. He hadn't had the time. Which was a strange irony, considering he could have lived for centuries upon centuries. Had, in fact, lived for quite a while.

He sat down, crossing his legs and laying Shinsou in his lap, desperate to try calling his sword once more. A few minutes ticked by; he allowed the scene to carry his mind inwards to his core. But still, there was no response.

Gin didn't want to admit it, but he had retained some hope that perhaps Shinsou just needed time to come around. It appeared, however, that the sword really had died. So how had he managed to find some form of rebirth in this world. What did it all mean, in the end? What purpose did he serve in a world of warring ninjas? He leaned back lazily, Very well, Shinsou…stay dead if ya want.

He felt himself relax, thinking.

Sakura had fallen behind, insisting that she would only be a minute. It had, in fact, been several minutes, but Gin did not notice. She had seemed a bit antsy when she moved off into the shadows of the woods to—

Had she run off rummaging for food—or was it wood? He hadn't really been paying attention.

If he was honest, he didn't really care where she went, so long as she came back with something worthwhile. He was starving.

But it would have to wait—the food or wood or whatever Sakura would return with—though Gin didn't know it yet. Because it was creeping up on him. That timeless dawning of self-realization which all living things must eventually face.

From behind, an explosion of rock shook the foundations of the earth and rocked Gin right out of his reverie.

He sat up, tense, and waited. He knew that he was in no position to engage in battle. But what about Sakura? Sakura! He had nearly forgotten about her.

With a little effort, he scrambled to his feet and began to backtrack through the woods. He kept his eyes alert for sudden movement, but Gin couldn't help but feel severely handicapped in this situation. He halfway considered calling out for Sakura, but if enemies were in the area, he wanted to take them by surprise. Enemies? He stopped as the thought struck him. I ain't gettin' involved with this.

He slowed his step and considered his options. He could continue on his way to Konoha and assume that Sakura would survive. Or he could proceed and possibly walk straight into an unnecessary battle. Or, it might not even be a battle at all, and he was simply paranoid.

This last thought caused him to stop moving entirely.

Was he afraid?

Nah…that doesn't seem right t' me.

But it left him feeling uncomfortably vulnerable. He didn't have Shinsou anymore. His weapon and soul were connected within himself; they were, or had been, in essence, the same thing. His will to fight had stemmed from the will of his blade.

He had never hesitated in the face of battle; he had never panicked or shown concern of death. Not with Shinsou at his side. With his death though, with the death of his sword, had he lost that fighting spirit? That fearlessness and pride that accompanied a good fight?

He was disarmed in more than one way, he realized. And for the first time in a long time, Gin felt a sense of loss that trumped panic and fear. Gin felt that he truly had transformed. That he no longer had his soul. And he felt the burden of that loss as clearly as he saw through glass and air; it encompassed the entirety of his world like dead weight and lodged him firmly into the heart of earthly things. His celestial nature, his otherworldly association, was like a memory—like a ripple in time that had run straight into a rock.

Soul Society had never prepared him for change. Being in Hueco Mundo had not challenged the entirety of his selfhood. Even dying for Rangiku had not caused him to pause in wonder.

But this was new. This was new in the way that a child discovers fear.

Not wishing to fall prey to such anxieties, Gin plunged forward without thinking. He had always been calculating and collected in a sinister prophesizing way. It had never failed to frighten his opponents though most of them couldn't pinpoint just why it scared them. Gin had that unnatural grin, that unreadable expression which threw off the flow of battle. It was not the face of a man in a fight; it was the face of a man who knew he would win the fight without ever taking it seriously.

With the exception of Aizen, Gin had never let that façade fall away. But with Aizen, Gin had actually been serious.

And it was the only time I failed…

The trees passed quickly. As they thinned, Gin noticed the broken bark and fresh stumps. The cuts were relatively clean and the edges of the trees showed no signs of charring, so he got a sense that the explosion had just been damage from an attack and not so much from a fire. He wasn't sure he found that to be encouraging information.

But as he stepped from the trees into a crater, nearly losing his balance when the ground gave way beneath his feet, Gin felt his breath catch in surprise.

There were three enemies within his line of sight. Sakura stood in the middle of them, eyes blazing like grass lit by the moon, fists clenched, with a smile that radiated a challenge.

She wasn't going to go down without a fight; Gin knew this as he watched her. He was a seasoned veteran of battles, albeit ones of a bit different scale. But in all his days as a Shinigami, he had never seen such determination, such utterly human belief, as he did that day in Sakura.

With one exception.

At that moment, he thought of Kurosaki Ichigo.

And Ichimaru Gin finally felt that he understood.

Sakura hadn't expected the attack, but she had an idea that someone was following them. Gin didn't seem to be paying attention to his surroundings. And she figured that if he was this careless in his old world, then it wasn't any wonder that he had died.

She decided to leave him for a bit in order to scout out her surroundings. Within a few minutes, she had actually stumbled upon the first one by accident. A shinobi without a legible marking of origin. Sakura guessed he had defected, but it was possible that a country had hired him. It bothered her that she didn't know who, but, given the circumstances, she knew she would have to consider that later.

Luckily, he hadn't seen her coming. A kunai made quick work of him—silently too—so his five friends hadn't known that she was watching them.

The explosion, Gin would have been happy to know—if he was worried, that is—was of her own making. She had donned her protective gloves and cracked her knuckles, determined to take them all by surprise. There were two groups of two and then one that traveled slightly behind to guard the rear. With a bit of effort, she positioned herself at the right angle for a surprise attack and then proceeded to dive fist first into the first group. One connection and it was all over. The ground gave way beneath the impact of her chakra-imbued punch and they were crushed.

Unfortunately, that method had not been as quiet. The remaining three were quick to act and, within seconds, they surrounded her.

"Whose orders do you follow?" Sakura didn't expect an honest answer, but sometimes a shinobi made the mistake of leaking information when he believed he had the upper hand.

"None of your business, sweetheart." One of the men stepped forward with a smile, hands ready to mold chakra at the slightest hint that she might put up a fight.

How had the guys gotten past the border patrols? Or so close to Konoha? Surely security would be maximized around the village in times like these.

"We're going to need to take you back with us, though."

Just a little closer, idiot. Sakura focused chakra in her hands, using her exceptional chakra control to hold it just to the point of invisibility. When he was within striking distance, she was going to knock him straight to hell. "Back where?"

And then she heard the skidding of dirt and the crumbling of rocks.

They all glanced over to see Gin regain his balance and land a few meters off at the base of the crater.

"Oops," he said with a lazy grin, reaching up to scratch his head. "Didn't mean ta interrupt anythin'. I'll be on my way now…"

Sakura didn't even flinch. Even when Gin began to wander off without so much as a worrisome glance in her direction, she kept her temper in check.

But then Gin did something Sakura would never forget. He took a seat on a fallen log, amusement leaking into the sardonic squint of his eyes. "Actually," he said with feigned innocence, "I'd kinda like t' see this. If you don't mind."

At that point, she was almost certain that she was going to lose it. Didn't he care enough to help? She had thought him a bit heartless, but not this heartless. In a fit of rage, Sakura struck out at the nearest shinobi. She felt strangely satisfied as she felt his jaw give way beneath the pressure of the punch; she felt even more satisfaction when she imagined it was Gin.

The other two found their bearings when their friend slammed into the ground next to them. When they looked up, catching the glittering fury in Sakura's gaze, they seemed to be debating possible escape routes. But they had some pride as men and losing to a woman wouldn't earn them a great reputation. Assuming they survived the tale.

One of them began forming seals. Sakura watched the seals, trying to place them to predict his movements. Rat—Horse—Dog—Snake. But he was surprisingly fast.

"Doton: Ganchūrō no Jutsu!"

Pillars of rock shot up from the earth, surrounding Sakura and caging her from within before she could leap to safety. Angrily, she struck out against the stone, using her chakra fists to smash through the one of the pillars. But they were thick, she noticed, and as soon as she destroyed one, another rose to take its place.

Not wishing to waste chakra, she paused to think through her next move.

"Ah, so this is chakra?" Gin limped towards the cage, ignoring the two shinobi on the outside and startling Sakura, once again, from her thoughts. "You call rocks outta the ground, huh?" He narrowed his eyes, then smiled another of his grins, "No, but that ain't quite it, is it?" This time he turned to acknowledge the one that had remained behind, "You're planning a follow up attack while she's trapped?"

He paused and glanced at Sakura, narrowing his eyes. "Ya mean ta tell me that you're really stuck in there? And I thought this might be interstin'. Ah well…"

Gin hesitated for a moment, his hand fingering the hilt of Shinsou. Did he dare to draw? Well, I ain't gonna be callin' rocks outta the ground anytime soon, so might as well…

Shinsou felt light in his hands. Comfortable. Even if the soul of the sword was missing, it was still a sword. Well, a wakizashi. A sharp one, at that.

He glanced at the rock pillars, studying them for a brief moment, and then let his mind do the math. Gin recalled the times when Shinsou had cut through more than a few flimsy stone pillars. It took a moment to remind himself that it wouldn't be like that this time. It was going to be manual labor, fair and square, not spiritual power.

Gin was about to swing when he felt the ground rumble beneath his feet. Determined not to end up like Sakura, he jumped into the air, skidding back a few paces when he landed just in time to watch new pillars emerge from the soil. "Now, now… that won't do."

Sakura watched quietly from her prison, taking it all in. Now he was interfering? Why? Had he really been watching all along out of curiosity? Just to see chakra at work?

Now that he was in battle, Gin moved fluidly, tied in place and time by the very nature of the fight. Sakura held no doubts that he knew what he was doing. But she didn't want him to save her, she realized, seconds later. He would never let her live it down.

Oh hell no…

"Damn it, Gin!" She let the remainder of her fury encompass her hands and, right as Gin prepared to charge one of her opponents, Sakura sent a flurry of rocks raining down on their heads. She stepped out of her prison. "This is my fight, thank you. I was doing just fine. "

Gin held up his hands in defeat and shrugged, assuming a face of innocence. "Fine, fine. If ya say so."

At this point, their two enemies had had enough. They charged the two, hoping to utilize their argument to catch them off guard. Sakura looked over, her temper already on edge, and Gin stepped back out of the way, sensing danger. "I'm just gonna go back to th'…"

An explosion cut out the last of his sentence, causing him to stop short as debris plastered the earth, rearranging the originally well-structured natural scene into something dismal. As the dust settled, Sakura stood triumphant with arms crossed, gazing straight at him and daring him to challenge her.

But whatever they had needed to prove had been proven.

Gin grinned, opening his eyes slightly, as he landed a safe distance away. This, he decided, was much more entertaining that anything in Soul Society had ever been.