SURPRISE! Yea, early chapter. :D Well, that's because I won't be in the Americas on the first of July. I'll be all the way in Taiwan. But I can't just leave all you guys hanging, so here's a treat. For a bonus, I'll throw in the next chapter also, becuase it's so exciting! You'll see why.

Second Movement, Part Two

Shinpi paced quickly through the festive grounds reserved for the caravan each year. She carried a large bowl of mixed ingredients in her hands as she made her way through the crowd of workers to reach the kitchen area where most of the women were busy at work preparing for the dinner courses of the evening feast.

The caravan had always held their own personal feast after the parade. It was a big event for the members of the caravan and Shinpi had only missed the feast once because they were scheduled to place for Ichun Shou a day earlier than normal.

"Here are the ingredients you called for, Risa-san," Shinpi said as she handed an older woman the bowl of ground meat mixed with veggies used as filling for dumplings. Risa was the best dumpling maker in the entire caravan. Her perfectly shaped dumplings looking like golden nuggets.

"Thank you very much, Shinpi-chan, for your hard work," she said, her face wrinkling up with laugh lines.

"It's no problem," Shinpi said honestly. "I will go through fire and ice just to taste your hand made dumplings."

"Oh my, that is very kind of you, darling," the elderly woman said. "How about you stay with me this year and I'll personally teach you the secret of making my dumplings?"

"It would be my pleasure!" Shinpi said, excited.

Just as they were about to start the preparations, Chikako and her gang of girls walked up to Shinpi and Risa. With their arms crossed in front of their chests they were quite menacing as a group, but Shinpi was already used to their advances.

Shinpi stood in front of Risa as a way to protect the old woman since Chikako would, and have before, hurt people Shinpi care about just to get on Shinpi's bad side. It was pleasurable for Chikako to see Shinpi struggle and hurt. It was all pay back for having her own heartbroken since Toroki had started to ignore her due to his infatuation in Shinpi.

Chikako took one look at Shinpi's determined eyes and felt sick in her gut. She scoffed, "Don't worry; we won't hurt the old timer. She's not a freeloader like someone we know."

The group and girls and Shinpi simply stared at each other for several moments, each with a terrifying glare in their eyes.

"What do you want?" Shinpi asked, breaking the chain of silence.

Chikako glanced back at the girls with a smirk and an ignorant puff of air. "See, I told you she would give in." Chikako shifted her hateful gaze back at Shinpi. "I guess even trash knows when they are outnumbered. Here." Chikako tossed a long list on the dirt ground in front of Shinpi. "Go buy these for the festival tonight. And make sure that you get everything, or don't show your face." With that Chikako turned her healed and started to walk away.

"I will be reimbursed, correct?" Shinpi asked.

Chikako peeked behind her shoulder and smirked. "You make a decent amount of money on your own. See it as a contribution for the annual festival. I'm pretty sure you can handle this amount."

The group didn't turn back around as Shinpi crouched down to pick up the list Chikako discarded on the ground. The first thing she noted was many things that had already been taken care of. Chikako and her gang must have taken hours thinking of all the new things to add just to make Shinpi's life difficult.

Shinpi headed over to her station and pulled out a pencil she brought around with her to mark on music. She crossed off the things that obviously weren't needed anymore and went out to make sure that there weren't any more things unneeded on the list.

"Thank you," Shinpi said to the group of women squatting on stools while they stripped the stems of string beans.

She headed for her station to grab her bag and kokyu, which she is never without, to get ready to start her shopping spree.

While Shinpi was getting ready, a small head of long black hair poked through the flaps of the station tent.

"Um, Shinpi-san," a young girl named Lupa murmured softly as if she were keeping a secret.

Shinpi whirled around quickly, but lowered her guard when she saw that it was only the harmless Lupa.

"What do you want?" Shinpi asked.

Lupa showed herself in and stood at the middle of the room, fidgeting with her finger nails. She was a gentle shy girl, but she's in Chikako's gang never the less. Shinpi had often seen her looking back worriedly whenever Shinpi and Chikako crossed paths.

"I was wondering," she muttered, "if you would want any help. I know you've probably noticed there is a lot of stuff we don't need on the list. And Chikako had already told the leader that you've donated for the festival and not to recompense you. So, I thought if I were the one that bought the items, then he would reimburse me at least."

Shinpi strapped her bag across hers shoulder and looked at Lupa in the eye. The young girl was just a little taller than her.

"What about Chikako. What do you think she'll think when she finds out that you've helped someone she hates so fervently?"

"I never liked Chikako-san. She had always been mean and a dictator towards everybody in the group. And recently she has only been getting worse. I only became part of them because, Risa who had always played with me since I was little, joined and pressured me. But you have to know, I hated every moment!"

Lupa angrily brushed away the tears that had started to fall out of her eyes. The part she hated most was that she didn't have the courage to stop Chikako. She knew all the girls wanted her tyranny to stop, but not one had the nerve to stand up against her.

Shinpi smiled at the girl. She was younger than Shinpi by only a couple of months, or so does Doc say. Shinpi reached up and combed her finger through the Lupa's long hair.

"Don't worry," Shinpi said. "If Chikako decides to bully you because of this you just come to me and I'll show her a piece of my mind! But just to be safe, try not to be alone or with one of the girls when you walk the streets, although I think Chikako would only use stalker-ish tactics for me."

Shinpi gave Lupa a brave smile. "Come on, let's go."

The two walked closely to each other as they walked down the streets. Lupa continuously fidgeted with her fingers while glancing around corners and alley ways at anyone that could be an eye for Chikako. Shinpi calmly distracted her with conversations and stories of the people she had met and played for.

Lupa, who loved romantic tales since she was a babe, took all the stories Shinpi told her as if they had all come from a book of passionate fairytales. Soon she started to blend her own story together using inspirations she got from Shinpi. Chikako never crossed her mind again that day.

As they were closing in on the open farmer's market and shadow crept up before him. Toroki's tall dark form overcastted the two girls and Lupa promptly hid behind Shinpi's tiny back.

Shinpi and Toroki stared at each other like Shinpi had done before with Chikako, only the internal battle was even fiercer with Toroki. Lupa, and the people bypassing could feel the chaotic aura that emitted from the two.

Toroki glanced down from Shinpi's eyes for a moment and observed the empty pack on her back and the straw basket in her hand.

"Shopping?" he asked. Shinpi hadn't heard his voice in over two years and the sudden husky tone surprised her as much as him taking the initiative to speak to her at all.

"Yeah," she said firmly, making sure she left no opening for him.

Again, the awkward silence came between them, though not so terrible as the last. The ice seemed to have melted with the words that were exchanged between the two. Finally, Toroki walked away like a silent ghost and Shinpi let out an anxious breath.

"What's up with him recently?" Lupa asked. She knew Toroki was the originator of Shinpi's suffering, but she had never seen them interact with each other.

"I don't know," answered Shinpi. "His whole being confuses me, and I don't think about it much. Be wary of him also. He may be the prominent heir to leadership, but he's an odd one. But never mind about him. Let's continue."

Behind the corner of an alleyway, out of hearing range, Toroki peeked from the solid stone wall at the two girls, his eyes pinned on Shinpi. His heard throbbed in his chest more than he would have like it and his mind was on the edge of insanity. When he was little these feelings confused and irritated him so much he felt he needed to vent them out on the source, but as they grew up and she became more beautiful, he found it more and more difficult to act like a child in front of her. Now he is stuck in a grey zone, unable to treat her like before, and unable to converse with her properly. So their poor excuse of a conversation made him feel giddy inside.

He leaned his back against the cold stones to cool himself before walking off with thoughts only before the beautiful blonde minstrel.

Shinpi and Lupa weaved quickly through the market place full of fresh produce and soon the sack and basket were full. Finally, the only item was an entire fish they needed for the festival as a sign of annual happiness.

The two strolled over to the fish market and browsed through the variety of fish that were available. Soon, they came up to a fish that looked perfect in size and taste. The master of the shop through, with his large thick arms crossed before his chest, hardly looked like he was up for negotiations. Nevertheless, Shinpi did her best at bargaining.

Chikako and her closest companion, Ayumi, giggled while they hid behind a cart of fish, watching with glee at their ingenious scheme unravel. They had previously bribed the shop owner not to sell Shinpi the fish that they knew she would have eyes on for anything fewer than thirty dollars. The price of the fish plus what was spent on the other ingredients would add up to a fortune that Shinpi would never see again. And of course, she herself couldn't eat everything she just bought alone.

They continued to watch the fierce battled of prices between Shinpi and the fish seller. Both of them were equally stubborn and wouldn't let either get a foothold.

"You must be playing a trick here!" Shinpi yelled that the gruffly man. "What kind of second-rate store in this! Do you want to your business to fall apart? I say twenty dollars! Take it or leave it!"

"Then in that case, I'm tossing it out the window! I'll only take forty-five, or get lost!" he screamed back.

Shinpi's brows almost tangled into a knot on her forehead, and she gritted her teeth. In all her travels she had never seen a more stubborn salesman. He was an idiot through and through, and big stupid idiot that didn't know when to quit.

"Forget this!" she declared crossly, "there are more fish in the sea. I don't have to particularly buy this one. I hope I never have to encounter you again!"

Already too emotionally involved in the negotiation, the man forgot about the bribe and took Shinpi's words personally. He stomped out from behind his stall with smoke flaring from his nostrils. He put his giant scruffy hand on Shinpi's tiny shoulder and before she knew it he had shoved her toward the bay just below her feet.

Lupa's mouth gaped opened as did everyone that had been watched idly as the obscene act was being committed. All Shinpi could think about at the time was her precious kokyu. God knows what kind of damage it would receive if it were submerged in water. She couldn't let the only memento from Kaimu be destroyed in such a silly argument. Before she spared a thought for herself, she attempted to throw the instrument to Lupa hoping that she would catch it, but it was too late. She had already fallen too far from the dock.

Shinpi closed her eyes and prayed to whoever was listening that there would be no harm to the kokyu. But, to her surprise and relief, she never felt the impact of the cold water. She opened her tightly squinted eyes to the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life.

Clad in a long black robe marked with red clouds, his face was barely visible under the paper veil of his straw hat. Shinpi was absolutely stunned at the power and beauty of the man that had saved her, she was completely speechless.

A cold red eye glanced down at her from behind the paper strips that danced in the breeze. Shinpi was so mesmerized she had to remind herself to breath before she had even started to consider the fact that he stood on water.

Her heart skipped a beat and she felt disheartened when his gaze moved away from her to the dock where everyone stood watching the two. Faster than the blink of the eye, the mysterious man had lifted the both of them off the water and onto the safety of the dock. He lowered Shinpi down gently and set her foot on the wooden ground before fixing his terrorizing eyes on the fish trader that had the gall to shove a girl into the water just because of a simple dispute.

Everyone held their breath. The locals had recognized that this man was part of the infamous group called the Akatsuki their Mizukage had warned not to associate with; they were dangerous and did not value human lives. Lupa and Shinpi knew from rumors they heard on the road.

To everyone's surprise the man simply walked away silently, without another glance back. Everyone let out a terrified sigh and went about their business cautiously.

"Shinpi-san?" Lupa tapped Shinpi's arm gently as she still stared after the man's back.

Shinpi looked over at Lupa as if she were forcibly pulled out of a trance. "I'm sorry, Lupa," she said. "I've got to go."

She handed the sack on her back to Lupa and went after that man.

"What about the fish?" Lupa called after Shinpi.

"Just buy it!"

With that Shinpi disappeared, chasing after a phantom.

Lupa glanced, shyly, at the brawny man. The man, in turned, shuddered under her gentle glance and said, "I'll give you the fish for free! Just don't hurt me!"

Shinpi followed the shadow of the man in the dense crowd of the festive streets of Ame, fearing that she'll lose him as the distance between them increased. She followed him into a long alley, hoping that she'll be able to corner him, but he was already gone by the time she got there. She walked down the empty alley making sure he wasn't hiding until she came to the dead end. She looked up, distraught and disappointed. The heart in her chest beat as it were on fire, and it brought redness to her otherwise porcelain cheek.