The Hunt

He had been following her for three days now.

Breathing quickly, Sakura slid in behind a large tree, clutching the neck of her hooded cape pulling it closer to cover her lower face. The trees provided a bit of cover from the rain, but the humidity clung to her like a second skin, increasing the anxious irritation she felt. Around her the pitter patter of raindrops hitting dense foliage created a calm ambience, juxtaposing the danger that lurked.

She crouched, right hand instinctively reaching for her weapons pouch attached to her hip, fingers unbuckling the clasp easily and gliding over the ridges of kunai kept securely within. She assessed her situation.

He was silent and fast. A deadly combination. She certainly didn't expect this turn of events, but she is a trained kunoichi and it would take more than a stalking game to unnerve her. Even with her level of skills she knew better than to face confrontation – the playbook said to use that as a last resort. So here she was, considering her options.

She couldn't shake him off her trail. Genjutsu illusions barely deterred her diligent pursuer, his speed had more than matched hers when she tried to ditch him between forests and towns, she had even pulled out the basic tricks of a quick costume and makeup change in between town markets. Nothing seemed to be working.

Shit.

She knew what he was after. The weight of the object sits atop her breast bone attached to a long leather band tied around her neck like a makeshift necklace. A heavy reminder of what she had stolen, the objective of this S-ranked mission that only the highest caliber of medical officers could handle. A mission personally assigned to her by the Hokage, to retrieve a rare chakra stone infused with blood fire from a hidden village in Sound.

As far as she knew, this village had been abandoned after a tragic fire raged out of control and destroyed a large portion of its residences. The surviving townspeople sought refuge elsewhere, wanting to leave behind their losses and start anew. There were rumours that it was an inside job, that one of their own elite ninjas had gone rogue and burned the village down. But the truth was never unveiled and the people left it in its misery.

It had been years since that event, and Sakura had no intel on how a chakra stone was found there. Konoha's intel had discovered its existence one day and plans were formed to quickly retrieve it before others did. She understood her orders and never questioned her superiors.

The stone was exactly where they said it would be, buried beneath the rubble of a building that had fallen during the fire. Although it took a bit of digging, sensitive chakra sensory was her specialty and she found it glowing beneath layers of rusted metal and weeds. Much of the compound was now covered with wild flowers or vines and Sakura felt a pang of sadness at the tragedy that touched these homes.

Sakura tied the stone to a leather band and tied it around her neck. Mission nearly accomplished, she pulled out a scroll and summoned Katsuyu to deliver the news back to headquarters. She would be back in a few days.

She felt his presence the moment she stepped past the debris of the old village's gates and started on her way home. A dull chakra signature appeared behind her so suddenly she thought she miscalculated. It was strange but she could only deduce he had masked himself up until that point. Chakra signatures don't just appear out of nowhere and she could read through masking. Somehow this one slipped her senses and she was wary. His chakra flow indicated he was male and had a larger stature than her.

He wanted her to know he was trailing her.

Well, she certainly had questions for her superiors now.

She felt a bead of sweat slide between her breasts. The stone was warm, absorbing from her chakra channels and pulsing with power. Her chakra control was unmatched, she was the prime candidate for this mission, but even Sakura had to admit perhaps they underestimated just how much energy a blood fire stone required. She hadn't failed a mission before and she didn't intend to fail this one. If he followed her any longer she might as well hand him a map to her village and offer tour services.

So much for the playbook.

Two kunai whizzed through the air and landed with precision on its targets. Multiple explosions rang through the Forest as branches splintered and cracked and the force of it sent a few trees down. Sakura observed her handiwork trying to see through the smoke, anticipating an offensive attack. She armed herself once again, and pushed off the ground running, locating the chakra signature and tensing her arms to strike a critical point.

Debris was still suspended in the air and smoke covering her line of sight, but she moved swiftly to end the encounter and finish their game of cat and mouse.

Just when the tip of her kunai reached his jugular — he was gone.

Fast!

She barely had time to react.

Behind me—

She blocked out of muscle memory, arms raised in a cross. Green tinge emitted from her fists into her kunai, as his blade made impact. He pushed her back a few feet and she dislodged him and jumped up to the nearest branch. She was panting. Out of shock or exertion she did not know.

What the hell is this speed?

She looked down from her perch. Mismatched eyes stared intently back at hers.

She recognized it. His left eye, ruby red with three tomoes spinning wildly.

A sharingan.

But the other eye…?

There were few clans left with this type of bloodline technique. They were notoriously feared and rarely found when they did not want to be.

Double shit.

She really had the worst luck.

She forced all her chakra into unleashing her seal, it was early in the fight but she did not want to risk any chances against such an opponent. As the black markings spread across her body from her forehead, he kept his gaze locked on her.

Suddenly a burning pain hit her chest and she inhaled a gasp. The pain intensified and she could feel all her stored chakra start to leave her body.

What's happening?!

She had never felt anything like this before. It felt like she was on fire, being burned inside out. She tried to summon chakra to her hands and hold her chest to stop the pain, but the minute her hands came close to her body she was thrown backwards by a blinding light. Sakura yelled.

Everything went white for a moment, she didn't even know if she had hit the ground. There was a loud ringing in her ears and when she opened her eyes she saw the canopy of the trees and a bright light a few inches away from her face. She was lying on her back but the pain had stopped. She felt numb.

Squinting, she looked down and saw the chakra stone she stole glowing and encased in red flames, levitating right above her collar bone. The leather strap holding it to her had been burnt off as well as any clothing material that has previously shielded the stone. Her bare skin was red and exposed directly below where the stone was pulsing, but luckily nothing indecent was visible. She made to grab for it, but a voice interrupted—

"Don't. You've expelled enough chakra as it is."

Looking past the inflamed stone she saw her pursuer stand over her feet.

"Y..you-!" She croaked.

He stared intently back at her as she struggled to speak.

"Do you know what blood fire stones are meant for?"

She coughed, confused and blinking past the hazy spots in her eyes. She felt drained and weak.

"It takes someone of extreme chakra control to not set themselves on fire at first touch."

This did not make sense. Chakra stones were simply power sources, they never harmed their user. And why was he standing here talking to her? She didn't want to die like this, humiliated and vulnerable.

He walked up next to her and bent down on one knee. He was graceful and his aura reeked of silent power. He reached his hand out from under his black cape and took her limp wrist and placed his hold over her pulse point. From this angle she could see him more clearly, sharp nose and jaw, long obsidian hair covering half of his face. His sharingan was deactivated, revealing a dark eye that looked at her with intimidating scrutiny and curiosity.

With his other hand, he formed a seal in front of his lips and uttered a jutsu that extinguished the flames on the chakra stone. Her eyes widened when he held his hand out underneath the floating stone and it evaporated into his palm.

"What.."

She was starting to lose consciousness, black spots danced in her vision. His hold on her pulse tightened and she felt a warmth seep into her body from where they touched. Unable to fight it any longer, she closed her eyes.

She felt her limp form being picked up and held against his body.

"St.. stop…" She pleaded. "Please… let me go…"

He looked down at her in his arms momentarily.

Then, he fixed his steely gaze in front of him and they disappeared from the forest without another sound.

A/N: Confession that I did not really read the manga religiously so played around with the technicalities of the world building a bit. As always, R&R! ^^