2
As he opened the door, Itachi didn't expect to see his brother accompanied by his faulty female teammate. His brother looked at him expectantly, while the kunoichi seemed more interested in observing her surroundings, as if she had never visited this village before.
He then simply made way for them to enter, "You're late little brother."
Sasuke snorted and headed straight for their captain, certainly bringing important news that they had been waiting for long enough. The road from Konoha to Kaotaki was relatively short for shinobis, about half a day of travel, whereas as civilians it could easily take three days. As he closed the door back, he suddenly heard a loud noise.
"What is she doing here ?" the lady screamed, her finger pointing at the kunoichi. "I thought you were sending her back!"
Sakura Haruno unexpectedly stood still, as the woman kept screaming in her face. Their captain, who was presently reading the Hokage's note, glanced at them, and went back to her note, somewhat annoyed by the scene judging by the tension in her mouth.
"My baby got stolen because of her!" she continued. "She shouldn't be here! I don't want her around!"
Her tantrum lasted a few minutes, until Hyuuga, putting the note in her pocket, finally decided to intervene, "We're sorting this situation out as we speak. You'll be pleased to learn that we're going to get your child back regardless of your... unreliable nature. While we organize what will happen next, you should go back to your room, ma'am."
"Are you even listening to—"
"Yes," she answered. " And I'll make sure she won't be around you this time."
The lady, satisfied, just nodded and went back to her room. Hyuuga turned around, her lowered eyebrows betraying her blank stare. "This is why you shouldn't befriend packages Haruno. She wouldn't have been able to blame anyone if you had done so, no matter who was responsible."
Haruno seemed apathetic, "I understand."
"Come with me now."
They quickly disappeared through the door leading to the basement. This house was usually used by Anbus as a meeting point. Indeed, the village of Kayotaki being located near the Fire country border made the house's location convenient for meetings.
"Where's Naruto?" a familiar voice suddenly asked behind him.
His little brother, somehow, always managed to surprise him. It was obvious that he had been lying about failing his Anbu training. After seeing with his own eyes how reckless his teammates were, there had been no doubts left. His brother simply couldn't have failed the examination. His blond teammate, on the other hand, couldn't have possibly succeeded, which meant that, for a reason he couldn't understand yet, Sasuke had decided to take the blame for him.
Sasuke was looking through the window's curtains, wearing his usual bored expression.
"Scouting. Do you wish to join him?" Itachi finally said, catching his brother's attention, who then looked at him with distrust.
He had noticed how his little brother had been looking around the house for his blond teammate. His father's reasoning was starting to make more and more sense. From the little he had seen from the well-known Team Seven, he couldn't understand how they hadmanaged to be successful against the snake, back during the Fourth shinobi war.
Sasuke remained quiet like he knew anything he could say would be used against him. That was always the problem with family, they knew better, and tricks didn't work as well as with strangers.
"You have to stay focused, Otouto ."
"Hn."
The prisoner was a young man with short brown hair, not much older than she was. He had bright blue eyes that reminded her of Naruto. One of his arms lay awkwardly against his chest. Broken elbow . Sitting on the dusty floor, his white garment looked dirty. Some parts of his trousers were torn revealing purple shades over his tanned dirty skin. Several bruises and cuts . Both of his feet were hidden behind a linen fabric. There was however something odd that caught her eyes. A rope was tightly tied around his left ankle, the linen cloth underneath appearing to be as red as scarlet, possibly an open wound.
Diagnostic: the patient isn't in a life-threatening situation.
"This is all your boyfriend's work." Captain Hyuuga said, pointing at their new guest .
She winced inwardly at her choice of word, but then, she realized something else that made her feel infinitely more content. The man got caught alive, which meant Naruto had willingly chosen not to kill him. Despite all the training he had been through, he was still being himself and choose not to eliminate an enemy they knew nothing about. She felt so relieved.
Hyuuga leaned towards her. "Do your thing," she ordered. "I want him on his feet and able to walk. Don't fix him completely though. I don't want to have to chase after him, we don't have time to waste..."
She nodded, refraining from asking more questions, especially about her teammate's whereabouts, and felt the tension left her when she heard the door close up. Following her captain's wishes, she brought back her focus on the wounded man, who had been watching them like a hawk. She couldn't see a killer in him, nor a terrorist, but she knew not to judge too quickly, especially considering she almost got killed by one of his comrades.
"How long have you been bleeding?" she asked, as she crouched down in front of him.
"Why do you care?"
She snorted and tried to grab his arm, "Let me see."
He groaned, as the pain started flaring up in his limbs when her fingers touched his elbow, "Is it your way to torture people?"
"I don't torture people, I heal them," she revealed while positioning her hand on his forearm. She felt him tense even more. "Please relax."
"First the blond asshole breaks my bones and now you want to fix me..." he mumbled, breathing loudly. "Honestly, doesn't it sound like a waste of energy? Or is it a way to show us you're all maniacs who get off on inflicting pain on others?"
Contrary to her initial belief, his elbow appeared not to be broken but was instead simply dislocated, which would make her job way easier. It was a common procedure that even a non-experienced medic or someone unfamiliar with medical aid could perform. Nonetheless, she let a few amounts of chakra enter the area around his elbow, just in case there was something else she had missed.
"You should consider yourself lucky," she said, her gaze fixed on his arm. "I know another asshole who wouldn't have hesitated to kill you."
She held his elbow straight, rotated his hand, and made sure the palm was facing forward. Then, she slowly flexed his arm so that his wrist was directed to his shoulder. A sudden cracking sound signaled her that the procedure was over.
"Ah! It's well known that shinobis have no honor!" he mocked. He started moving his arm like it was a brand new tool, "Wait—it's already done? Incredible! I didn't feel a thing!"
"Don't move it like that," she warned, as her eyes shifted to the injured feet. "I always find it funny when people like you, kidnapping children, give lessons about honor."
He stopped moving his arm this time. "Don't speak of things you don't know anything about, Kunoichi! "
The mink's finally showing his true colors. She wasn't offended in the least, considering she had no interest in listening to whatever reason had made his gang of rascals decide that going after a baby was the right thing to do. In fact, even trying to justify it would sound insane. She knew there was no way to discuss rationally with such people. Nonetheless, she wouldn't let her personal opinions interfere with her job, that was how medic-nins were supposed to be: detached and pragmatic. She couldn't claim to have ever been able to act like one, as a matter of fact, she was probably at the very opposite end of what a medic-nin should be, which was yet another reason to remain in her holy and safe hospital, instead of wasting her time on the field treating a teenager, or rather a criminal kidnapping babies.
Under the linen cloth, she discovered he had a piece of metal stuck inside the flesh of his feet. A shuriken to be precise. Naruto really got him good . Whoever had decided not to remove it had been clever. Although she suspected it had probably had something to do with not giving the prisoner the ability to escape, instead of injuring him further. In any case, the shuriken was stuck deeply enough to require medical assistance.
"Are you going to remove it or what?" the rascal whined, unable to stand the pain anymore. "Why are you looking at it like that? Is there something wrong? Please don't— don't tell me I won't ever be able to walk again. It just can't be—"
"Just calm down," she said. "How long have you been in here? And please don't ignore my question this time, unless you want to lose your feet."
"I don't know… Maybe a day."
The lad was lucky. Without warning him, she held her feet in one hand and just pulled out the foreign object from his flesh in one go, which made him instantly curse. She then proceeded to heal him by injecting a green and warm chakra coming from her hands. It was somewhat frustrating to refrain herself from healing him completely, akin to asking an artist to voluntarily forget to fill up with colors a square of a painting. However, orders were orders. Now, the skin looked repaired, and the wound was closed up, still, it remained fragile enough to easily tire apart if the body's owner decided to run away from his captors. Fortunately for him, the healing process would continue naturally and allow him to run again.
"It's done," she finally said, "but forget about running or fighting. Could damage your feet even more, so don't do it. Try getting up."
"I still can't feel my feet".
"Yeah... it's normal. It'll get better in a few days."
The click coming from the door alerted her that, at last, it was time to go back on the road.
The road to Monokuri's hill would take five days, counting breaks and nights in between. Captain Hyuuga had, indeed, discovered the gang chasing children cared very much about its members, to such a degree that they had recovered the dead body of their mate as well as the wounded. She had then concluded they would also attempt anything to save the prisoner—or at least that was her theory. Her inquiries had then led her to believe they were temporarily hiding around the Monokuri's hill, located in the River Land near the Fire Land's border, where there was a high chance they could retrieve the stolen baby.
Sakura was currently walking behind the gimpy prisoner, who she had found was named Ryuu.
"I feel like an old man, thanks to this stupid stick!"
"I can take it back," she offered. "You won't need it for long anyway."
He stopped, and shook his head, "No. I'd rather keep the only weapon I've got. Besides, I still can't feel my feet , and we've been walking for hours already. I can't stand it anymore!"
"You're quite demanding for a prisoner, you know..."
From above, they looked like they were all alone inside this deep forest, lost travelers nobody would even find, but it was far from reality. About two kilometers ahead, Captain Hyuuga was leading the march with the civilians. As for Naruto and Sasuke, they were both traveling by themselves, on each side of the main group, far enough from them, but close enough to be able to react quickly if things were to turn dire. It was indeed a formation meant to ensure they wouldn't get caught off guard easily by a sudden assault. When it came to their last member, Sasuke's brother, he had been chosen to close the march, and to her disarray, happened to be visible within her vision's range – possibly a deterrent preventing their guest from having silly ideas, although there was no way he could escape in his current state.
Speaking of their keeper, she felt he was getting closer and closer to them, which made her look behind her shoulder for a second. She then looked up at the darkening sky, "I think your prayers have been heard, Ryuu."
And indeed, not a minute later, the Uchiha announced they were stopping there for the night. They found a spot between trees and bushes, a few steps away from the main path, where they wouldn't stand out as much. Sakura started gathering rocks, without giving much thought to her prisoner. Once she had gathered what she needed, she finally noticed Ryuu was still standing, almost leaning against a tree, which didn't fit with his wish to rest his swollen feet. She dropped her rocks and branches and went after him. Tch! Not afraid to whine, but too pride to ask for help. He seemed annoyed at first, but let her help him sit.
She went back to her business, knelt on the ground, and started forming a small circle with the rocks. Her eyes shifted a little while to the Uchiha, wondering whether he would help her or keep ignoring her. It wasn't usually her task to take care of bonfires, it was more something Sasuke would do, since lighting a fire was as easy as breathing for him. While she didn't know for sure what was his brother's elemental affinity, most Uchiha were fire users, so it seemed likely that he was one too. As she attempted to spark a flame, it was starting to be clear he wouldn't assist her in any way, maybe that was the way she was supposed to impress him. Lighting a fire could certainly be seen as the best achievement she had done throughout the mission. Still, she had a feeling that it would not be enough.
The sky was now dark enough to bring a cold breeze through the forest, Sakura was holding her knees while staring at the small bonfire she had made. Her hand reached for a small box inside her pocket, from which she took out a pill. Shinobis would sometimes hunt to get proper meals, but in some cases, depending on the time available and the level of threat, they would simply consume ninja pills, meant to give all the nutrients the body needed to function. Some called them magical pills, but there was certainly nothing magical about their taste. It was like water, tasteless, although, unlike water, it could calm the hunger for a while. She met Ryuu's eyes, and after pondering for a moment, handed him a magical pill.
"What's this for?" he asked, looking at the pill in her hand.
"Aren't you hungry?"
He immediately took the pill. Although he didn't seem convinced, having seen her eat one had been enough to lower his mistrust, he then made himself more comfortable in an attempt to rest and finally closed his eyes. Sakura wondered how someone could fall asleep while being watched, as she rested her head again her knees, only to realize she was being watched herself. It was ironic how one's presence could be so easily noticeable but also so quickly forgettable. Her guardian had his eyes fixed on her. Anyone would have looked away the minute they got caught. Anyone but him.
What's his deal!?
The truth was that she had never really thought much about her teammate's brother. She knew who he was and that he was considered a prodigy, a skilled shinobi, and thus one of the very best. But he belonged also to the nobility, being an Uchiha, and on top of that the heir of his clan. He came from a totally different world, one she would never fully grasp. In truth, she wasn't so fond of her teammate's clan, most of them behaved like they were better than anyone else, and that wasn't something she could approve of. Even her teammate behaved like that, but she liked to believe he didn't really mean it, that it was more something he did out of habit. He certainly dared not do it with her or Naruto, it actually tended to happen more with strangers, which made it easier to overlook. People born into the nobility, belonging to powerful clans, and being admired and feared by everyone made their arrogance more understandable. It didn't mean she would ever condone such behavior.
She knew the rational thing to do would be to look away, but for once, she didn't feel like playing the scared girl. If he's going to stare at me, I may as well do the same. And so she kept staring absent-mindedly as if she was looking at a painting and trying to find its meaning. Unfortunately, she couldn't see well enough in the dark, and it was really likely that there wasn't anything to find to begin with. Many thought Sasuke had similarities with snakes: cold, generally unfriendly, and emotionless. However, his true friends knew there was nothing emotionless about him, as a matter of fact, he had quite a temper and was rather susceptible. His brother, on the other hand, was taking the whole typical phlegmatic posture to another level.
She was certain such traits couldn't only be explained by his upbringing though, otherwise, Sasuke wouldn't be so angry all the time – especially for stupid reasons, which was unusual for Uchihas. In his brother's case, it was probably more a combination of entering the Anbu at an early age, and thus taking assassination missions as a child – which was too young, even by shinobi's standards. But then, there was her masked sensei, a real anomaly, that destroyed completely her theory. Even to this day, she couldn't believe he became Chuunin at the young age of six.
Studying the human mind would certainly never be her forte. She decided to finally break the spell by closing her eyes and seeking some sleep. After all, they were supposed to gain back some energy for the rest of their journey. Despite this, something was troubling her, something familiar reaching her senses, or rather someone .
"Sakura-chan !" a voice whispered behind her.
She winced as she felt a hand stroking her head. Notwithstanding her displeasure, she remained quiet, refusing to acknowledge his presence, until she heard something she would have never anticipated.
"Itachi-san," Naruto greeted, "I need to borrow her for a second."
What? Did he just call him—
She sighed as she stood up, her arms crossed on her chest. I guess I will never get to rest. Naruto then lead her recalcitrant body towards an unknown path, between trees and bushes, far enough from the camp, but still close enough to be able to run back to it easily in case something happened.
"Okay," Naruto forced her to face him, "what's wrong? Did something happen?"
She let out a breath.
"Is it because of the kid?" he asked. "I know it wasn't supposed to go like that. But—nobody expected such a welcoming party . Don't blame yourself for it, it wasn't your fau─"
"Naruto," she interrupted, "I can't fucking believe you lied to me."
Caught off guard, he backed away from her, "Wh—what are you talking about Sakura-chan!? You know I would never─"
"Don't," she hissed. "The day you came back, you told me you needed to take another exam to complete your training, like it was merely a formality, instead of telling me you had failed the final exam! That's a big difference, don't you think?"
"Sak—"
She lifted her hand, "And do you know what's even better? From what I've gathered, it wasn't even your failure. It was...Sasuke's! So really, I don't understand why you just didn't tell me the truth."
"Look— let me explain Sakura-chan," he said, as he came closer to her, "I didn't want to worry you, okay? We're going to nail it next time anyway, so I...just didn't want to make a big deal out of it. That's it."
Sakura's eyes narrowed, "You're lying again! I can't believe it."
"No, I'm not! I'm telling the truth," he protested.
"And that must be why you and Sasuke don't talk to each other anymore, right?"
Naruto lifted his arms, "Mah, you know how susceptible he's when—"
"No. It's more than that."
"Sakura-chan! Come on! I didn't lie to you!" he repeated. "I just...couldn't help but remember the way we left each other one year ago. You weren't exactly supportive of my choice to join the Anbu...and now, with what happened, I didn't want to prove you were right all along."
"Baka! I don't care anymore if that's what you're asking," she answered. "It doesn't matter. I got over it, and...what path you choose's only your own. Not mine. It's not for me to decide what you should do or not. But lying to me Naruto, please don't do it ever again. I see clearly that neither you nor Sasuke want to talk about whatever happened during your training and that's fine. I'll be patient. But you can't keep going like this! Something's wrong with Sasuke and you got to do something! You know better than anybody else how he gets when he shuts himself off from everybody. It's a disaster waiting to happen..."
"I know," he sighed, "but really, I assure you I'm the one who messed up. Not him."
She certainly couldn't agree with him on this one.
"Well, I overheard a conversation between him and his brother the other day, and I'm pretty sure he said something about Sasuke failing. Not you."
"It's a failure for both of us Sakura-chan," he whispered, looking sideways. "Look. Stop looking at me like that, I'm sorry for everything, okay?"
"Okay," she said, her arms still crossed on her chest. She had a feeling it wouldn't quite satisfy her blond friend, and without letting her decide, once again he lunched at her, crushing her tightly into his arms, like she was a stuffed toy.
"I can't stand you being angry with me Sakura-chan, " he murmured into her ears.
"I know," she said, as she let her arms rest on his back, "but you were a jerk, and I'm already tired of all of this. You know I'm not even supposed to be here...on this team ."
"Don't say that! The granny knows what she's doing," he assured, "plus you get to team up with us and skilled fighters. You should take advantage of that."
"Heh. If you mean Sasuke's brother, you can have him!"
"What!" he laughed, "Itachi-san's one of Konoha's best assets! He's done things...incredible things. If you ever see him fight, the way he does it, it's mesmerizing, he—"
"Kami! You speak like a stupid fanboy Naruto!"
"No, I'm not! I just admire the fighter he is. Anyone would recognize that!"
"That's exactly what a fanboy would say!"
"Alright, you win. Call me whatever you want, I don't care!"
She shook her head, "In any case, I think he's weird."
"Weird? How?"
"He's just weird."
"You don't make any sense Sakura-chan," he mocked. "It's not like you to be so quick to judge someone without knowing them. Give him a chance."
Is he really defending him now? Interesting.
"And you know him maybe? How long have you been on a first-name basis with him?" she asked.
"A couple of months," he revealed, "'met him at the Anbu headquarters."
It made sense considering he was one of them now. Still, there were more than a thousand fighters there, what were the chances of falling upon the famous prodigy?
"Did Sasuke introduce you to him?" she continued, eager to confirm her suspicions.
"Nah, there're underground training grounds, all members can use them to train and...well, he was there and-"
"Okay, okay," she finished. "I knew Sasuke-kun couldn't have suddenly decided that after a decade of knowing each other, it was finally time for us to meet his family, right?"
"Saku-"
"Anyway! Try to be on your best behavior during this mission Naruto , I've already done big mistakes, and for whatever reason, Sasuke seems to care about what his brother thinks of us."
"Well," he smiled, "I know he likes me, everybody does!"
"Yeah.. except you're not supposed to be here right now, you're supposed to keep watch."
"Alright," he mumbled, "I'll go, and trust me, everything will be just fine Sakura-chan."
I hope so.
The area was becoming more and more familiar as they went through a large clearing in which the dense green grass could finally be touched by the sunlight. Far ahead, a trail of smoke could be seen reaching up the sky and to its root what looked like a roof made of dark wood. A carved animal figure could be seen on its top, which gave Sakura enough hints to finally be able to link a name to this place. Okojo Inn .
She wasn't quite sure what kind of Inn it was, but she was certain she had stopped there before with her teammates. In fact, she remembered that there was also a village nearby.
Ai...Aitako..Aitari Village.
This must be where we're headed.
"I need a drink, Sakura-chan."
Hearing her name made her freeze in her tracks, her eyes bore into her captive, "You weren't asleep."
"I was trying to," he explained, as he showed her his palms. "Do you think it's easy to sleep while being watched?"
She chuckled. What a minx . That was something she definitely could not argue with. Nonetheless, there needed to be some boundaries between them, especially considering she needed to be on her best behavior after her monumental failure, "Please, don't use my name ever again, Ryuu. We...we're not friends."
"So you can use my name, but I can't use yours, don't you think that's a bit unfair?"
He had a point. Again.
She sighed, "Unfair? Maybe you should have thought of that before starting a career as a child abductor."
This seemed to do the trick, although the man rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to the path. Their small argument had unfortunately made the distance between them and their guard shorter, enough to make Sakura urge her pace. As they approached the Inn, there were met by several white goats, bleating loudly around them. She could now see clearly the roof and the small carved animal that she hadn't been able to identify from afar. It turned out to be some sort of fox, she couldn't tell which specie exactly, in any case, it was a nice-looking carving that reminded her of the ones she used to collect as a child.
"Go away!" Ryuu shouted, as two goats started to chew his clothes.
Sakura reached for her belt, grasping her flask, which without any surprise was empty. The village should not be that far from their current position, but it was too late, she was already starting to imagine how some water would ease her dry throat right now.
"Do you have one?" she asked.
"You took all my stuff away, remember?"
"I don't—"
"Not you. The tall kunoichi with black hair and white eyes."
"It doesn't matter," she headed towards the stairs. "Don't move."
"It's not like I can go anywhere with them. "
The goats certainly seemed to have taken a liking in him—there were four of them now. Sakura chuckled and headed towards the small stairs leading to the Inn's entrance. As her feet hit the first step, she suddenly remembered something or rather someone. How could I possibly forget about him, she thought . She turned around and look ahead in the direction they came from, and as expected, their keeper was there, slowly heading towards them. When he got close enough, she let out a short breath and took the first step.
"This is...Okojo's Inn. I need to— I'll just go refill my bottle with some water," she explained. "I won't be long."
Itachi stopped in front of her and just looked up at the Inn. As he studied the place, the memory of her teammate's words came to her: it's not like you to be so quick to judge someone without knowing them. Give him a chance . Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to do so—although she still deeply believed something was seriously off with him. She just couldn't have a good opinion of someone who refused to look at her when they spoke, and who behaved like she wasn't even there. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke, he never addressed her directly. Even Sai, the most constipated man she had ever known—thought he had made great improvements—had never behaved in such a way with her. Somehow, she doubted the outcome would be the same when it came to Sasuke's brother. All of this did not matter anyway, she had to do her best. For Sasuke.
Break the ice now.
"I could fill up yours too," she finally suggested.
She wasn't sure he had heard her for a second, seeing as he seemed more interested in observing the carved animal sitting on the inn's roof—not that she could blame him, the well-crafted carving would be well worth a few shoots. But when she noticed him sliding his hand toward one of his pockets, she knew she had won. He then released his almost empty flask from a scroll and extended it toward her.
She naturally grabbed his bottle, her fingers wrapping themselves around it, but as she tried to bring it towards her, she was instead met with resistance. There was no more distraction now, no wood sculpture to observe, but her, and because there wasn't anything else she could do to make this situation less awkward, she just stared back at him and smiled slightly, "I'll be right back, it should only take...a few minutes."
The bottle fell in her hand and was finally hers—or at least temporary—she wasted no more time and almost ran as she took the stairs and pushed the door to Okojo's Inn. The place wasn't as deserted as she'd thought it might be, that was the first thing she realized. There were a group of people resting at a table, an old man drinking at the counter, and some men settled at the back. She couldn't remember anything about the interior, which turned out to be more foreign than the inn's appearance from the outside. Maybe it really had been a while after all. Shinobi visited so many places that they couldn't possibly remember them all, even within the fire country.
Sakura walked towards the counter and discovered an outstanding shelf of alcoholic beverages. She recognized several brands, coming from the best breweries in the country, such as a particularly refined one that had an aftertaste of cherry. She could almost taste it on her tongue, but then her eyes fell on a rarity, the slightly tainted orange bottle gave it away, it was a sake from a county in the Rice country, made by a master brewer, and one that was usually difficult to acquire. It was said that one taste could turn any nightmare into the most delicious dream.
"I got it from a lost traveler," an unfamiliar voice suddenly said, one belonging to whom she could only assume was the tenant. "He couldn't handle it anymore. He even told me the bottle was cursed and had made his life a nightmare. So, he decided to give it up to me. I thought it would make me rich. Alas nobody wants to taste it, people just stare at it for a while, and then they never come back. Maybe it's really cursed."
"Why not destroy it?"
"And lose a year's worth of wages? No way," she laughed. "Would you like a taste?"
"No!" Sakura gasped, then suddenly remembering her purpose here, she handed out the empty bottles, "I actually need these refilled with water, please."
The tenant looked unconvinced, "That's it?"
"Yes, please."
She grabbed the bottles, "You know, there are two kinds of people who come to my Inn," she turned the faucet on, "the ones that come set themselves up to my tables and order food, and the ones who come at my counter and stare at my beverages like they've just found the meaning of life."
"I'm just impressed by your collection, ma'am."
"I have no doubts about that," she put the filled bottles on the counter.
"How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing," she smiled, "if anything, your comrade has paid enough to compensate for it."
"My comrade?"
"A tall lady with white eyes, accompanied by two fancy folks."
It somehow comforted her to learn she was not the only person whose unique characteristic made her stand out. Hyuugas had such peculiar eyes nobody could mistake them as civilians, still, she wasn't under the impression they were in any way shamed for it, certainly not in the way people saw her as exotic . She thanked the tenant, but as she grabbed back the bottles, she suddenly felt fingers close around her wrist, "Careful young woman," she whispered, "one of my clients, who I suspect is more than a civilian, has been observing you during our whole conversation. I know his kind. Up to no good, I tell you!"
"I—thanks," she murmured, without being in the least surprised. She had seen way too much already, too much to worry about one weirdo or some enemy holding grudges against Konoha. She walked back to the door, not caring about the fact the guy was now standing up and staring at her like he was having an existential crisis.
Those eyes...
She went swiftly past him, determined to ignore this potentially troublesome situation, and finally reached the door. Once outside, she let out a breath that she had been holding without realizing it. The borrowed bottle found its way back to its owner, a little too forcefully, as her hand pushed it in an inelegant way against the quiet Uchiha. Right away, she strode towards Ryuu, and shooed the goats away, while pushing the man by his shoulders, "Forward!"
"Alright, alright," her prisoner whined, "What about my drink—"
"Here. Take it."
Giving a last glance behind herself let Sakura distinguish a shadow standing still by the inn's stairs, and as her eyes shifted, she fell upon another shade, moving on the ground towards her. It seemed she would never be able to escape them.