Third movement, Part 2

"Kurochi?" Mayuri called out again as she got dressed. "Where did that little bird go?" She glanced at the clock in her room. It was time to leave, but her shoulder was still unoccupied.

The instruments were already loaded and the horse was already tethered and time was out. So she gave one last warning, "We need to go now. I'll have to leave by myself if you don't come out. Kurochi? Last call." She waited and counted to ten. "Okay, I'm leaving. I'll be back at around nine. Bye!"

Before she closed the sliding door to her room, Mayuri worriedly peeked in one more time for any sign of Kurochi. Even though the little crow acted proudly and aloof like his master, he never left her side for too long. Since she woke up this morning, she hasn't caught sight of him at all.

He's alright, she assured herself. He must be, his master is Uchiha Itachi, one of the most powerful and skilled ninjas in the world. Kurochi's very existence derived from Itachi's chakra.

It was early February, and jobs have regulated to only a few a day. Mayuri was relieved that she wasn't as busy anymore, but her wallet hurt by it also. Due to the heavy rainfall at the beginning of the year, many of her instruments needed conditioning and a few costly minor repairs.

A few days went by, and Mayuri still hadn't caught sight of even Kurochi's shadow. It seemed as if the little bird had just vanished into thin air. No matter how long she searched for him, called out to him, he never showed up.

"Lupa," Mayuri said, her voice just a little shaky, "have you seen Kurochi anywhere?"

Lupa finished sipping her piping hot soup and set her bowl down and saw that Mayuri hadn't touched her dinner. Instead she was busy twisting a handkerchief around in her hands.

"Sorry, Shinpi-san, but I haven't."

"Do you think he ran away?" she said a little too quickly.

Lupa shook her head. "I don't think he's a normal pet. He's always so protective of you. It's very strange that he would just leave you."

"Then where can he be?" she mumbled, her tongue being tied up in her mouth with worry and anxiety.

Lupa held her hands to keep them from fretting more and found them cold and trembling. "Calm down, Shinpi-san, everything is going to be alright. He'll come back."

Since she couldn't move her hands anymore, Mayuri started to tap her foot incessantly. "I just… I just feel so… so alone without him. You know, when Kurochi is near me it feels as if he's near me. You know."

Lupa put a hand on Mayuri's head and patted motherly. "Yes, yes, I know. I know. I know just how much you love him and what Kurochi represents. But you'll see, he'll be back, because I know he loves you the same. He married you, right?"

Mayuri looked at the ring on her finger. She wore it on her middle finger since she didn't want the tribe to know about her marriage until after the season was over. Lupa was the only person she told, and as a true friend, she kept her secret well.

"I have an idea," Lupa said and she got up and moved to the other side of the table to sit next to Mayuri. "You have the day off tomorrow, right? So, instead of spending the night alone at your inn, comes sleep over at my place. It'll be much better than being on your own."

Mayuri smiled at her friend's consideration. "Thanks Lupa, that's very nice of you, but there are still a lot of things that I need to take care of, like wiping down the instruments and washing the costumes. Thanks for your offer though. I'll come see you in the morning. Goodnight."

Mayuri stood up and took her bowl still full with cold food to dump away.

"Are you sure? I can stay with you if you want too."

"No, I'll be fine."

"No. No, I'll come with you. This way we can both clean up after and you'll be able to sleep earlier. Don't you dare refuse me, Mayuri." Lupa pointed and finger at her and looked absolutely determined to have her way.

Mayuri let out a breath with a weak, tired smile. "Fine then, have you way."

Lupa jumped up and took Mayuri's arm, wrapping her own around. "Then let's go."

To Mayuri's satisfaction they were able to get to bed before one o'clock. The instruments were polished until Mayuri could see her own reflection on the bodies and the clothes were hung up to dry. The two girls completely just collapsed onto the mattress and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the soft mount of their pillows.

Even though Mayuri was happy Lupa stayed to help her, and she was experiencing her first sleepover with a best friend, but the little perch she bought Kurochi was empty and she couldn't manage even a small smile.

In the morning, Mayuri heard a soft knock from the door. Thinking that it was Kurochi, she leapt out of bed, leaving Lupa in a foggy wakefulness, and ran to the door. With all her force, she swung the door opened and was ready to lecture.

"Kuro-!" But she froze immediately.

Before her stood a woman she had never seen before, but undoubtedly, she wore the same cloak as Itachi. She had dark hair, almost blue, as her eyes and eye shadow were. She stood erect, but she looked forlorn, as if she had never been happy as a child.

"I'm sorry. Excuse me, but you are?" Mayuri asked.

"My name is Konan," the woman replied, her voice cold.

"Konan-san, is it? So, what do you want?"

"You are Uchiha Itachi's wife, aren't you? Mayuri, he called you."

"Yes. Is this something about him? You work together don't you? You wear the same cloak. Has something happened?"

"Please understand that I wouldn't normally do this, but he asked me to send you a message if he were to die."

Her knees buckled before she even heard the words come from Konan's mouth and Mayuri fell to the ground. Her body was numb. She couldn't feel the cold creep into her body and she couldn't feel the tears stream from her face. All she could feel was her heart beating, when the one that held it didn't.

"I can't be," she said without realizing.

Lupa came to the door and saw the stranger and Mayuri in a boneless heap on the ground. She ran over to Mayuri's side and shook her friend's shoulders.

"What did you do?" she screamed at Konan.

Konan ignored the mindless stare and the flaring anger. She was here to fulfill the only favor Uchiha Itachi asked of anyone, no matter how annoyed she may feel about it. She didn't care how Mayuri reacted, but she would have felt guilty if Mayuri didn't know that she was now a widow.

"I can see she's in no condition to hear me out," Konan said to Lupa. "So, when she's calmer tell her this. Uchiha Itachi has died in battle. If you want his body, you can get it at the spot and time written on this piece of paper." She conjured up a folded white piece of lacquered paper. "That's all, good day."

Lupa took the paper and helped Mayuri to the bed where she curled up in a fetal position and covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

Heikuro, the doctor's young apprentice knocked gingerly on the wooden frame of Mayuri's room door. Lupa, who had checked out of her own inn, came to stay with Mayuri since a few days ago, opened the door. Heikuro has been coming to see Mayuri for a little while every day since she received the shocking news of her husband's death.

"Any changes?"

Lupa looked into the bed room and shook her head. "She ate a little today, but no major changes. She doesn't talk, she doesn't play. When I talk to her she doesn't respond. I'm so worried Heikuro-san. What if she never recovers? If I knew this was going to happen I wouldn't have helped her sneak away to be with him so often. I would have kept her with me, but…. But I…."

Heikuro put a gentle hand on Lupa's shoulder. "It's not your fault. None of us thought this was going to happen. Don't beat yourself up about, it won't help Shinpi. She'll recover. She's strong, and she will," he reassured her with a firm shake.

Heikuro headed toward the bedroom and knocked before entering. His patient didn't respond. Mayuri simple sat there like a doll waiting to rot away. Her eyes were empty shells, like crystals with no shine. Her skin had lost its healthy glow, there were dark circles under her eyes, and she had lost a terrible amount of weight within the last week. Her hands and shoulders were bony and her cheeks had sunken into deep valleys.

"Hello, Mayuri." He and Lupa start to use the name her husband gave her in hopes that she'll revive after hearing it. But as usual, Mayuri stayed still, unmoving. "Any changes with her body?" he asked Lupa.

"She hasn't gotten her period yet. Actually, she hasn't had it for January either. Do you think she could be, you know?"
"Well, there could be many reasons for a delayed menstrual period. The stress she got from her work schedule could be the cause of the miss last month, and her sudden depression can be the cause for this month's. Just wait a little while longer. We can't be sure just yet.
"But in the state that she is in now, I don't think it's a pregnancy. If she is with child, its more than likely that the child will die in her womb if she doesn't regain some of the life back. Let's just pray for the best. Any other changes?"

"Except that her health is deteriorating and that she's getting skinnier and skinnier, there is none."

"It's not good for her to stay copped up in here. I'm not too busy tomorrow; we'll talk her out on a walk in a wheelchair tomorrow. Fresh air and sunshine will be good for her. She might remember what it was like to be wild again."

"I hope so. Thanks Heikuro."

"Make sure she gets rest. I'm guessing she spends her night crying."

Lupa nodded with slumping shoulders. To give Mayuri space, Lupa slept in the adjoining room by herself, but the thin paper door couldn't keep the quite sobbing from Mayuri's room. For the last eight days Lupa had found the pillow and sheets damp with Mayuri's tears.

Suddenly, they heard angry footsteps from the hall way and the inn keeper's frantic voice.

"Please, sir, don't disturb our guest," he cried just before Masamoto threw the door opened.

Without caring for manners, he strode in, swallowing the room as he went with his large ego. He walked straight in the bedroom where Heikuro and Lupa were gathered. He looked at the young apprentice, soon to take over his master's work, then at Lupa, then at Mayuri at the center.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked Heikuro. "I've got complaints from patrons saying that she hasn't played for anyone in the last week. Is she 'ill' again?" he said with disdain bringing everyone back to the year Mayuri lied about being deathly ill with a contagious disease.

Heikuro held up a hand to calm the tribe leader down. "Masamoto-sama, I assure you, she's truly ill this time."

"What's she down with? Has she lost her voice? Her hearing? Are her fingers too weak to play?"

"No, it's a matter of the heart. I'm afraid she's lost the will to live."

Masamoto's knotted eyebrows knotted even more with disbelief. "What do you mean she's lost the will to live? The world has not ended, and she doesn't have a chronic disease. She's not old, nor has she accumulated a grave injury."

"She lost her husband!" Lupa screamed unable to take anymore of Masamoto's mocking and bitter words. She pointed a finger at Masamoto as tears spewed out of her eyes. "What would you feel if Nakao was killed? You don't understand! You never take the time to understand anyone!"

Masamoto grew silent and closed his eyes to think. He opened them after three heartbeats.

"So she's married. Out of the tribe?"

"I believe so," Heikuro answered, as he wrapped a protective arm around Lupa.

"It's that mysterious ninja she played hookie with. Was," he corrected. "Since she's married out of the clan now, she's none of our business. She's on her own now, you, neither of you, should waste any more time with her. She's no long a part of us."

"I'm sorry, Masamoto-sama, but I will continue to see to her until she gets better. As a doctor I cannot leave someone in her condition alone, she will die. As a childhood friend, I must see that she gets better."

"Suit yourselves." Masamoto waved a lazy hand as he started out the room. "But when the caravan leaves, it leaves without her."

"Then we'll stay with her until she's ready," Lupa said as Masamoto disappeared into the hall.

The inn keeper stepped forward with his head hung low. "I'm so sorry. I know Shinpi, I mean, Mayuri-san's condition right now is very delicate. It won't happen again."

"Don't worry about it. A herd of elephants couldn't stop that man. Don't bet too hard on yourself. We should be thanking you for lending out a room to an invalid."

"Shin—Mayuri-san is an old patron, we're honored to have her here to recover. It's just a pity, the state she had been reduced to. If you need anything to make her more comfortable, then please, don't hesitate to ask."

"You're offer is appreciated. If we need anything, I'll be sure to let you know. Thanks."

The innkeeper left and Heikuro headed back into Mayuri's room, where Lupa had started reading to her some of her favorite literature.

If only Kaimu were still here, Heikuro thought, he would be able to pull her out of her desolate depression. But unfortunately, neither of the men she loved most was there.