Disclaimer: Despite the valiant efforts of my crack ninja gerbil writing- 
er, _legal_ team during the 1.5 years since i last posted a new chapter of 
this fic, the characters contained herein _still_ aren't mine; damn you, 
accursed copyright law! Masashi Kishimoto has a won a temporary reprieve 
until i can find someone who can teach rodents with brains the size of 
sunflower seeds the 'Silent Tort Murder Technique...'

First Draft Warning: This is a preliminary version of the chapter! Other 
than my long-suffering prereaders (Jen, Gaunt, thank you _so_ much for 
putting up with me! ;_;), _nobody_ has see this chapter yet. It hasn't been 
posted to fanfiction.net, and will not go there until it's been thoroughly 
vetted by a few other folks to make sure it isn't total crap. It's been so 
long since i finished anything, and this chapter has undergone so many 
revisions, i'm not sure if i even know how to write anymore >_<;... Anyhow, 
that's where you all come in ^_^;...

Continuity Warning: STOP! If you've only been reading the fic as it's posted 
to the FFML, i suggest you read no further, lest you be spoiled O_O;. The 
FFML versions of Suiren have only reached chapter 5, which is equivalent to 
chapter 7 in the original numbering scheme. This is chapter _21_ in that 
numbering scheme, so if you do bravely (or foolishly) choose to read this 
cold, be prepared to be very, very confused. For those of you who _have_ 
read Suiren before, i might suggest re-reading "Morning" and "Afternoon," as 
this chapter follows directly in continuity with those ones and contains 
almost no preamble or recap. Again, a _lot_ of things occur between the most 
recently posted revision of "Light" and this chapter: you have been 
warned...

Non-Yaoi Warning: There are only two occasions during this chapter where 
multiple living males appear on screen at one time, and in both cases, 
professional discipline prevents them from stripping down on the spot and 
having a hedonistic toss in the lilac-scented body oil... however...

Naughty Kunoichi Warning: ...most of the kids in Naruto aren't mature enough 
to have developed that level of professional discipline yet...

...And I think that pretty much covers my ass for the most part, regarding 
this chapter -_-;. Gah, it's been a long time since i posted new material- 
and this isn't even all i was originally planning to include in this 
chapter! You'll probably be able to guess what i'm hinting at when you get 
there. Gomen ;_;...

Because this chapter is totally new, it can be changed much more freely than 
the 'revision' chapters i've been posting to the FFML, so please, _please_ 
tell me what you think! I literally scrapped another completed and vastly 
different version of this chapter before finally getting back to it (when i 
started posting the FFML revisions) and writing this version. 

I'm not sure how many folks on the FFML have braved the stinking, fetid 
literary jungle that is fanfiction.net to read the rest of Suiren, but 
hopefully there are at least a few of you out there >_<;. If some of you 
are... er... 'inspired' to go and look them up before reading this [hint, 
hint], the previous chapters can still be found at 
www.fanfiction.net/~eimii...

And now i'm gonna stop talking, because this is really probably too much 
song and dance for an untested first draft ^_^;. Please sit back, relax, and 
enjoy the fic! (i hope...)

~Eimii






BLOOD...


"Revoked?" Frowning at the lion-masked ninja that blocked her path, Sakura 
got the strangest impression that he wasn't looking her in the eye. His gaze 
was obscured by the narrow eye-slits of his mask, but it almost felt like... 
*Dammit, is he staring at my forehead?!* 

Bristling, the green-eyed kunoichi prepared to give this uncouth interloper 
a piece of her mind, but stopped herself at the last moment. "...Oh. Crap." 
She wasn't wearing her forehead protector today. Officially, she wasn't even 
a ninja anymore, so it made sense that her security clearance had been 
revoked. "I didn't think of that."

"You should probably stay away for now," the ANBU warned, his head twitching 
in the direction that Sakura been walking. She'd been planning to visit 
Yoshinari at the torture and interrogation center before she went to meet 
Kurenai-sensei at the gates. 

*I guess I'll just have to leave the letter,* Sakura concluded unhappily. 
Reaching into her coat pocket, the pink-haired girl pulled out a plain white 
envelope with the name "Hyuuga Yoshinari" written on it. In the end, she 
hadn't been able to think of anything to say to Temari, but hopefully that 
conversation could wait until she got back. "Could you deliver this for me, 
then?" she asked hopefully. 

Accepting the letter, the ANBU scanned the name before nodding and stuffing 
the envelope into his weapon vest. "Good luck on your mission," he offered, 
vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Staring at the place where the masked man been standing, Sakura shifted 
uncomfortably. *He said 'stay away _for now_,' and he knew about the 
mission...* Apparently, ANBU was keeping a closer eye on her than she 
realized. *I wonder what they'd do if I were _really_ quitting. After 
reading all those ANBU mission scrolls, I'll bet they'd kill me before they 
let me become a missing nin...*

Suddenly wanting to sit and calm her nerves, Sakura spied a sweet vendor's 
cart not too far away. Walking over, she lifted the shop curtain. "Mitarashi 
dango and tea, please," she ordered automatically, dropping her pack and 
taking a seat at the narrow bar that protruded from the front of the yattai.

"Welcome back, Anko-san," the shop keeper replied warmly, looking up. The 
salt-and-pepper bearded man gave a start when he saw his customer. "Ah, I'm 
sorry. My ears must be going in my old age; I could have sworn you were 
someone else," he apologized, setting to work on Sakura's order.

"D-don't worry about it," Sakura managed with an unsteady smile, feeling 
like she'd just been dunked in a barrel of ice water. She almost told him to 
cancel the order, but it was only a moment before a steaming cup of tea and 
tray of rice dough skewers appeared in front of her. "...ah, thank you." 

"Enjoy!" the proprietor barked, returning to the cutting board behind the 
counter where he was rolling more dough balls.

Sakura let the tea warm her hands as she stared down at her shadowy 
reflection in the cup. *...I like dango, don't I?* Though the big changes 
scared her, it was sometimes _more_ disturbing when she couldn't tell if she 
was acting like Anko or herself. 

*...Since when did I start eating them at 6:00am, though?* Picking up a 
stick of grilled dumplings, Sakura's mouth watered at the sweet and savory 
scent of rice dough and soy sauce, but it almost felt like she'd be 
admitting defeat if she ate it.

"I hope you haven't picked up _all_ of your teacher's bad habits," a 
familiar voice commented from over her shoulder.

*The next person that %$*#in' sneaks up on me is getting an explosion note 
shoved up her ass...* Sakura vowed, feeling her cheeks redden in 
embarrassment. Turning around, she glanced up at her captor. "As few as I 
can manage, Kurenai-sensei. Good morning."

Yuuhi Kurenai appeared uncharacteristically amused by Sakura's answer. "Good 
morning, Haruno-kun. I take it you don't do it on purpose, then?"

"You have no idea," Sakura confirmed irritably. For some reason, Kurenai's 
smug, knowing smile made her want to taunt the jounin about _totally_ 
falling for her 'Anko' impression when they went out to lunch. Then she'd 
probably laugh like a jackass, wolf down her food and pretend she didn't 
have any money so she could stick Kurenai with the bill.

For once, there was no doubt in her mind as to where _those_ thoughts came 
from. "Would you like some dango?" She offered, viciously stomping down the 
foreign impulses and putting on her sweetest, most innocent smile.

She must not have sounded sincere enough, because Kurenai peered at her 
suspiciously. "I don't like having 'no idea,' Haruno-kun." Sitting down, the 
jounin selected a skewer with practiced ease, her posture and body language 
telling Sakura that she was slightly annoyed, but wasn't going to let this 
child ruffle her feathers.

It was kind of creepy, being able to read the woman so well, even though 
this was only the second time they'd spoken (or the third, if you counted 
the day she'd possessed Anko). "It's nothing you need to worry about," 
Sakura assured her, trying to sound trustworthy. 

Kurenai quirked an eyebrow at the pink-haired girl. "That remains to be 
seen. You seem to have some very _troublesome_ secrets..." The jounin 
trailed off, seemingly content to leave it at that. Taking a bite of her 
dango, she smiled appreciatively at the sweet seller. 

*You don't know the half of it,* Sakura lamented, bringing her own dango to 
her lips.

Having finished her snack, the red-eyed kunoichi folded her hands in front 
of her and favored her charge with an appraising look. "Awfully casual 
today, aren't we, 'Lady Haruno?'"

Nearly biting through the bamboo skewer in surprise, Sakura frowned at the 
older woman. "I brought some nice clothes, just like you told me to, but I 
still think this is a mistake," Sakura opined, savaging another stick of 
dango and washing it down with a swig of tea. 

Aside from leaving her forehead protector and most of her ninja gear at 
home, she hadn't made many concessions to the mission in her wardrobe 
choices. They'd be doing a lot of walking, so she'd worn her favorite red 
blouse and black exercise shorts today, with the grudging addition of a 
brown oilcloth raincoat (far too much like the one Anko wore), since the 
weather looked like it might turn ugly.

"After having a look at your family records, I'm inclined to agree with 
you," Kurenai observed sardonically.

Seized by a fit of coughing as something went down the wrong pipe, Sakura 
growled a curse that made both Kurenai and the shopkeeper wince. With a 
flick of the wrist, she embedded her dango skewer in the yattai's wooden 
awning, right above Kurenai's head. "$%&#*in' wait for me ta finish eatin' 
before ya say stuff like that!" she snapped, glaring daggers at the jounin. 

"...It's becoming very difficult to believe that this is something I 
shouldn't worry about," Kurenai countered, unfazed by the younger girl's 
outburst.

Returning to herself, Sakura's gaze drifted from Kurenai's face to the 
improvised missile, then back again. "%$!@#%!" Standing up, she closed her 
eyes and bowed deeply to the dark-haired woman. "I'm sorry. That was 
uncalled for," she apologized hastily.

After several tense seconds, Kurenai released a put-upon sigh. "I suppose I 
can't scold you as your superior officer at the moment..." she conceded. 
When Sakura straightened, the red-eyed kunoichi was giving her a critical 
stare. "The question is, what should I do with you? That certainly wasn't 
_normal_..." 

*Dammit, I do _not_ want to talk about this right now.* Casting around for 
some avenue of escape, Sakura had a flash of inspiration. "Can we discuss 
this later? I think I should go on ahead," she declared with as much 
sincerity as she could muster. 

"Oh? And why is that?" Kurenai pried incredulously. 

*Better make this good.* "I think it would go more smoothly if I didn't 
arrive with an entourage. He may not take kindly to a squad of ninja showing 
up on his doorstep, unannounced." Sakura gave the jounin a suggestive look.

Much to Sakura's relief, this seemed to make Kurenai think for a moment. The 
Lord Haruno was well known for having some rather significant _issues_ with 
the relationship between Konoha and the Fire Country, and it would be wise 
to tread carefully if they wanted his cooperation. 

"You have a point," Kurenai finally allowed, though she didn't look happy 
about it. "When did you plan on leaving?" she prodded, letting slip a hint 
of sarcasm; clearly, she wasn't fooled at all by this flimsy excuse.

That was fine with Sakura; she wasn't afraid of being a _little_ shameless 
to get her way. "I'll leave immediately," the pink-haired girl declared. 
"Hopefully, he'll have made a decision before the rest of you arrive, so we 
won't have to waste any time."

"Hmm..." The jounin's crimson eyes grew pensive, and a hint of worry pinched 
the corners of her mouth. "I'd prefer to at least send Kiba or Shino with 
you as an escort, but we aren't due to meet for another two hours and I have 
a few things to take care of before we depart," the noted in 
dissatisfaction.

"I'll be fine!" Sakura assured her. "I've improved a lot since the exam, and 
it's not that far. I don't need anyone to look after me." *Especially not 
those two perverts!* Scooping up her pack, Sakura slung it over one 
shoulder, staring at the jounin expectantly.

"It isn't your safety I'm worried about," Kurenai corrected, giving Sakura a 
wry look that Anko probably knew all too well. "...Fine, go. We should catch 
up with you early this afternoon if there aren't any unexpected delays."

*Yes! Safe!* Mentally pumping her fist in victory, Sakura lifted the shop 
curtain to leave. "Alright, see you in a few!" With a hasty parting wave, 
Sakura stepped onto the road, throwing up a concealment jutsu as she 
vanished into the slowly wakening streets of Konoha.




*What on earth was _that_ about?* The more she saw of Haruno Sakura, the 
more Kurenai was convinced that there was more to the girl's relationship 
with Anko than just 'teacher and student.' That last outburst... the 
resemblance was downright eerie.

"Hah!"

Startled by the shopkeeper's laugh, Kurenai found the man staring at the 
place where Sakura had been sitting, running a hand through his hair and 
grinning like a fool. Tracing his gaze, she noticed that Sakura's tray of 
dango was empty. Hadn't there been two or three left?

Turning to her, the sweet seller cleared his throat and tried to school his 
features, though he seemed to be having some difficulty. "That'll be three 
mon for the dango and tea," he requested politely.

*_What?_ Oh, for the love of-* It didn't take Kurenai long to realize what 
had happened; she'd been in this situation far more times than she cared to 
remember. "You didn't make her pay when she ordered?" she asked 
incredulously.

Chuckling, the shopkeeper shook his head. "Didn't think I needed to. She 
related to Anko-san?" he guessed.

"Hmm..." Kurenai frowned, distracted by her thoughts. "Something like that, 
perhaps..." 




Finishing off her last stick of dango, Sakura contemplated the naked skewer 
for a moment before tossing it into a passing litter bin. *That was kind of 
bad.* She'd already gotten a couple blocks away before she'd realized her 
mistake. *I'll be hearing about this when she catches up.* 

Thinking about what she'd done stirred conflicting emotions in Sakura. She 
was ashamed of herself, and a little nervous about what Kurenai might do to 
her later, but both of these seemed to only enhance the thrill of the chase. 
Her limbs were light as she fled from the scene of the crime, and she felt 
like she could run for days. *Dammit, it's wrong to feel good about stealing 
food!*

She would just have to take her punishment when it came. It was easy to pin 
it all on Anko's influence, but she was just as much to blame. "I'm no 
'$%*(*@#in' perfect little angel,' either," Sakura scolded herself 
stubbornly, though a smile tickled her lips; the words sounded better in her 
own voice than they had in Temari's.

*This could get dangerous, though.* Kurenai would easily recognize Anko's 
mannerisms, and being near her actually seemed to make them worse, like the 
crazy woman wanted to come out and play with her friend. Sakura hadn't been 
able to stop herself when Kurenai had dropped the bomb about her family 
records.

*I shouldn't have freaked out like that.* She wasn't sure why it bothered 
her so much. She knew it wasn't strange for a couple's first child to be an 
'accident,' and she didn't feel unloved by her parents or anything weird 
like that. Her friends probably wouldn't think anything of it if they knew. 
*Not anymore...* But if the other kids had found out about it when she'd 
first come to Konoha... 

*Kurenai didn't make a big deal of it, though.* If anything, the genjutsu 
master had seemed calmer this morning than she had the previous afternoon. 
*I guess she just doesn't like flying blind.* 

Sakura could certainly understand _that_ feeling. This entire mission stunk 
of some sort of veiled agenda. If Kurenai could get information on her 
family so easily, it should have been no problem for the diplomatic corps, 
so how had they 'missed' the fact that her parents weren't legally married? 
*If they wanted to make it look like a 'personal request from the Lord of 
Ryuuzai's loving granddaughter,' they should have just made _that_ my 
mission.*

It wasn't like he would make it easy for them either way. *I guess grandpa's 
the only one who would do, though.* The Lord Haruno enjoyed a large amount 
of sovereignty over Ryuuzai province, a small concession to the fact that 
Konoha had claimed most of his lands as their own at the end of the last 
great ninja war. If he was willing to sign the peace treaty, there would be 
less pressure to inform the Daimyo of the invasion, as it would become a 
'regional matter.'

Despite her earlier assurances, however, Sakura had no idea how she was 
going to convince her grandfather to cooperate. When it came to ninja 
affairs, it was impossible to predict which way Lord Haruno would jump from 
one moment to the next. 

*Maybe it would have been better to wait for the others.* Kurenai was 
probably pretty experienced in diplomacy, and Sakura was confident that she 
could at least get them an audience. *Whatever; they want me to do 
_something_ here, so I guess I can at least I explain the situation to him. 
I have the letter, and the others will only be an hour or so behind.*

That's what Sakura had assumed, but as she approached the edge of the 
village she noticed a familiar white-eyed girl standing in the shadow of the 
guard towers that flanked the main gate. Hinata was dressed to travel in 
loose black pants and a two-tone hooded coat, and a backpack much like 
Sakura's own sat neatly at her side. 

The pale girl looked unusually serious today. Her gaze was fixed firmly on 
the road leading into town and her forehead protector was tied properly 
across her brow for once. She must not have had the Byakugan activated, 
however, because she didn't seem to notice Sakura's stealthy approach- and 
neither did the chuunin guard standing next to her, for that matter.

*It's that guy!* Sakura couldn't recall ever getting the man's name, but a 
giddy sense of deja-vu seized her as she recognized the gate guard that had 
stopped her the first time she'd tried leave Konoha using concealment 
genjutsu. *I guess I really have gotten better since then...*

The irony wasn't lost on Sakura when the lion-masked ANBU suddenly faded 
into view atop the village wall. Hinata and the chuunin were facing the 
other way, so they didn't notice him; he was probably just warning her not 
to skip town without checking with the guard. *I don't think this is what he 
had in mind when he asked me if I was gonna try out for ANBU,* the pink-
haired girl mused nostalgically. 

Grinning at her mysterious watcher, Sakura leaned forward and dug in her 
toes, sprinting the last dozen yard before planting her feet and sliding 
sideways in a small cloud of dust and fallen leaves, her long coat whipping 
around behind her. Crouching low, she put one hand forward, palm down, and 
threw the other out to the side like a samurai in a kabuki play. "SURPRISE 
INSPECTION!" she roared, releasing her genjutsu as she skidded to a halt in 
front of Hinata and the guard. "Haruno Sakura has arrived!" 

Laughing as the pair dropped into defensive stances, Sakura held her pose 
for a few seconds, then straightened and turned to the side, giving them her 
best impression of Sasuke's 'brooding avenger' profile. "You're both lucky 
I'm not a _real_ ANBU inspector," she chastised gravely, crossing her arms. 
"In these dangerous times, one must be ever vigilant for unseen enemies!"

When Gai-sensei was coaching her, he'd _insisted_ that she do all sorts of 
silly 'image training' with him, so that she could 'find her sense of style' 
and learn to project 'the power and beauty of youth.' A forgiving 
interpretation might call the stupid poses and corny lines a very bizarre 
form of psychological warfare, but Sakura had never found a use for them 
until now. 

Surprisingly, it was Hinata who recovered first. Covering her mouth with one 
hand, the normally quiet girl tried to suppress a fit of giggles that 
bubbled up in her throat. "W-wow! That was so _cool_, Sakura-chan!" she 
exclaimed, her pale cheeks flushed pink as amusement threatened to shatter 
the stony mask that the Hyuuga seemed to wear from birth.

*She says it's cool, but she's still laughing...* Hinata had an unusual idea 
of what constituted 'cool,' Sakura decided. Breaking character, the pink-
haired girl gave her victims a self-depreciating smirk. "Ha ha... thanks, 
Hinata-chan. Sorry if I startled you guys," she apologized lamely.
 
Turning to the chuunin, who had just begun to relax, Sakura let a hint of 
mischief peek out in her smile. "You both looked so _attentive_, I just 
couldn't resist," she teased. Looking past the guard to the walls above, 
Sakura watched the lion-masked ninja fade from view once more. His body 
language wasn't nearly as expressive as Yoshinari's, but Sakura could guess 
what he was thinking. *Sheesh, it was just a joke!*

The chuunin must have noticed her gaze, for he shifted his stance to take a 
look around. He was too slow to catch the ANBU, however. Returning his 
attention to Sakura, he put on a pained smile of his own. "Are you trying to 
get me into trouble with Anko-sama again?" he joked half-seriously.

"Since when has Anko-neechan needed an excuse?" Sakura countered, a little 
sore at the insinuation. She'd almost faltered at calling Anko 'Nee-chan', 
but the cloud of confusion that slipped over the chuunin's eyes was 
priceless. 

Reluctantly reigning herself in, Sakura put on a straight face and reached 
into her coat for her travel papers. "I'm visiting family outside the 
village," she explained, handing over the documents for inspection. "I was 
supposed to have a ninja escort, but due to circumstances, I'll be leaving 
ahead of schedule. I shouldn't be in any danger, but..."

Glancing at Hinata, who was watching her anxiously, Sakura decided that she 
wouldn't mind the company. "Hinata-chan, since you're here early, do you 
want to come with me? Kurenai-sensei and the others will catch up with us 
later, and Kurenai-sensei said she'd prefer it if I had an escort."

Hinata seemed surprised by the suggestion, and Sakura could see the 
indecision gnawing at the dark-haired girl as she reflexively glanced down 
at her feet before catching herself and looking at Sakura's face instead. 
"I'm not..." Chewing her lip, Hinata wouldn't make eye contact, but after a 
second she gave a jerky nod. "I- yes, that would be fine." 

Clearly, something was bothering her former classmate. *Dammit, I hope it's 
not those stupid rumors again!* Hiding her displeasure behind a reassuring 
smile, Sakura waved as if to dismiss the idea. "You don't have to come with 
me if it makes you uncomfortable-"

"No, it's nothing!" Hinata blurted, shaking her head emphatically. "I just- 
um- w-we should let Kurenai-sensei know," she suggested, her voice rapidly 
dropping to the timid near-whisper that Sakura was accustomed to hearing 
from the shy kunoichi.

*At least she's trying,* Sakura mused sadly. Maybe she was wrong, but it 
would still make her feel better if Hinata would open up a bit; it didn't 
_feel_ like 'nothing.'

"That shouldn't be a problem," Sakura assured her nervous new traveling 
companion, not letting her smile slip an inch. Addressing the guard again, 
the pink-haired girl tried to look responsible. "Yuuhi Kurenai and the rest 
of her genin team should be meeting here at around eight AM. When they 
arrive, could you inform them that Hyuuga Hinata departed with me?"

Re-folding her travel papers, the chuunin looked even more bewildered than 
he had before. "I should still be on duty then, but... um..." Probably 
stumbling over how he should address her, he respectfully returned the 
documents, holding them with both hands. "Ma'am? Might it not be better to 
wait for the rest of your escort? It would only be a couple hours' delay."

"Are you implying that the roads in Ryuuzai province are _unsafe_?" Sakura 
scoffed in what she hoped was a convincingly offended tone. Unfortunately, 
this time the guard didn't appear to be buying it. Frowning, he gave her a 
look that said, 'you should know better than that.' 

"C'mon, it's not like we're gonna get ambushed on the road to _Ryuuzai 
castle_," Sakura whined in exasperation. "And besides, we aren't exactly 
defenseless: Hinata-chan is a Hyuuga, the 'mightiest clan of the Leaf,' and 
I-" 

He'd never believe it if she told him that she'd single-handedly captured an 
entire squad of Hidden Sound nins; she hardly believed it herself. "I'm 
Mitarashi Anko's student," Sakura finished dryly, trying her best to sound 
proud while at the same time lowering her voice so nobody else would hear. 
"Anybody that messes with us is gonna wish they hadn't!"

Something seemed to click in the chuunin's expression, like a little 
mechanical bird popping out of a cuckoo clock. "Mitarashi Anko's... 
student?" he repeated slowly. At Sakura's nod, his eyes drifted to the 
pocket where she'd just stowed her travel papers.

"You aren't authorized for that information," Sakura stated curtly. 

The guard brought his right hand up to his face and began massaging the 
bridge of his nose, as if he felt a headache coming on. "I see... well, 
then... I suppose you can go," he replied haltingly, waving them through in 
defeat. "I'll inform Yuuhi-san of your departure."

"Thank you!" fairly skipping across the threshold, Sakura hooked her free 
arm through the loose strap of her backpack, settling it comfortably on both 
shoulders for the trip ahead. 

Waving to the guard and following at a more restrained gait, Hinata darted 
Sakura a questioning look. "You... you have family at Ryuuzai castle, 
Sakura-chan?" she asked tentatively.

*Hmm... I guess she hasn't been briefed yet.* It would probably be best to 
leave the explanations to Kurenai-sensei, but she could at least give Hinata 
some need-to-know information, so her 'ninja escort' wouldn't embarrass them 
in front of her grandfather. It didn't even look like Hinata had made the 
family name connection. *Since they can't exactly go undercover, I guess a 
Hyuuga might not be coached in Fire Country politics like a regular 
kunoichi.*

As they crossed the wide clearing between the village walls and the forest, 
Sakura peered askance at the white-eyed girl. "Hinata-chan, do you know 
which noble house governs the Ryuuzai province?" she replied with a cryptic 
smirk. 




"But what if your uncles dropped the charges?" Hinata prodded insistently. 
"Then, couldn't your parents get married?"

"They'd never do it; they think my dad's no better than a kidnapper," Sakura 
dismissed, her arms crossed behind her head as she stared up at the rapidly 
graying sky. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched her companion 
curiously. 

*She's in a good mood today.* The Hyuuga heiress seemed positively 
enthralled with Sakura's awkward family history. She'd ended up telling 
Hinata a lot more than she'd originally intended to, just to see how the 
other girl would react. 

"Hmm..." Biting her lip, Hinata wore an intense expression, as if she _knew_ 
she could find a solution to Sakura's problems if she just thought about it 
hard enough. Her resolve lasted all of five seconds before she gave Sakura 
another bashful, guileless smile. "It's so romantic, though!" she sighed 
dreamily.

"It is not!" Stretching her arms above her head and then lazily letting them 
drop to her sides, Sakura sighed in exasperation. "I know it sounds like 
something outta some silly manga, but when a _real_ nobleman can't keep his 
pants on and gets a _real_ farm girl pregnant, there's nothing even remotely 
romantic about what happens next."

"He came back, though!" Hinata pointed out brightly. "The poor samurai came 
back after making his fortune, but he had to spirit his true love away to a 
hidden village, because of her overprotective brothers. It's _just_ like in 
a manga! There's even a princess raised as a ninja- ne, Sakura-hime?"

"Gah! Now I _know_ you're teasing me," Sakura deadpanned, not feeling any 
real animosity toward the giggling brunette. It was nice to see Hinata relax 
for a change. *It sounds more like something out of one of broom-head's 
dirty books, though.* Hinata really did have a weird take on some things. 

"'_Princess..._'" Snorting, Sakura favored the white-eyed girl with a flat 
stare. "The _real_ Lady Haruno would skin me alive if I ever said something 
stupid like that. Besides, there's always something unique or special about 
the heroes of those stories. My family's _boring_."

Unconvinced, Hinata glanced to the side and began fidgeting with the 
drawstring of her hood, the corners of her mouth pinched into a tiny frown. 
"They don't sound boring to me," she protested quietly.

*Oops, looks like I pushed too hard.* She should have known that Hinata 
would back down from an argument, even if it was all in good fun. Mentally 
kicking herself, Sakura wracked her brain for something else that might coax 
the shy girl out of her shell. *Hmm, forbidden romance...* A flash of 
inspiration lit behind wicked emerald eyes, and Sakura gave Hinata a 
conspiratorial grin. "Heh, if you think _that's_ crazy, listen to this..."




It was about six months after Lord Taishakuji took his late grandfather's 
place as the Daimyo of the Fire Country; not exactly a quiet, peaceful time, 
as both Lord Haruno and Lord Satsuma had died protecting the previous 
Daimyo, leaving the army and the navy in the incompetent hands of the 
politicians. Banditry and piracy were rampant, and more and more the 
merchants were turning to ninja villages for protection. 

After his confirmation, the new Lord Haruno wasted no time in dispersing us 
back to our home provinces- 'to help prevent another tragedy,' he said, but 
it wasn't like any of the regional lords were important enough to bother 
assassinating. Maybe he knew what was coming, or maybe he just thought, like 
all of those other pampered bureaucrats, that it wasn't 'necessary' to have 
an army watching our mighty 'allies' in Konoha. 

Either way, by that time there were only twenty of us left, men and boys who 
didn't have homes to go back to. We were the Lord of Ryuuzai's men, no mere 
rural samurai doing civil service under some ancient law. We would defend 
Ryuuzai Castle to the end. 

They came in the dead of night, trying to take us by surprise. We were no 
fools, though; this was what we'd trained for. The first Hidden Stone ninja 
to poke his head out of the ground took an arrow in the eye for his trouble. 
After that, with the element of surprise lost, the battle began in earnest.

I'm not dumb enough to believe that they sent so many men because they 
thought they'd need them; they wanted to use Ryuuzai castle as a staging 
point for their assault on Konoha, so they brought their entire 
expeditionary force there at once. I doubt they expected to lose six squads 
just taking the walls.

When the foundations for this castle were laid, before Konoha or the Fire 
Country even existed, the first Warlord had priests and spiritualists offer 
sacrifices to the gods, consecrating each and every stone against violation. 
The Hidden Stone couldn't use their earth moving techniques to bypass our 
defenses, so they were forced to climb, scaling the walls one bloody foot at 
a time. You see how they curve inward? That made it easy for us to pick off 
would-be intruders with our bows without exposing ourselves too much.

Unfortunately, while their techniques couldn't affect the castle itself, 
they could still use the ground around us. They breached the gate with giant 
iron spears that exploded from the earth and started swarming in, five at a 
time, still confident they could overwhelm us. We'd split our forces between 
the walls and the outer courtyard, so we weren't unprepared, but-

What does this have to do with your grandmother? She was there, child! I'm 
just getting to that part. Patience is a virtue that you would be wise to 
learn if you wish to live long in this world.

As I was saying, even with the home turf advantage, we were still 
outnumbered ten to one. The fighting was bloody between the outlying 
buildings, and it was clear we wouldn't be able to hold them long enough for 
reinforcements to arrive. 

Before the battle started, it had been agreed that if defeat seemed 
inevitable, one of us would attempt to flee the castle and take the Lady 
Haruno to safety. Though it pained me to abandon my comrades, I was selected 
for this duty, and as the youngest and most junior vassal of the Lord, I 
could not refuse.

As midnight approached I began making my way back to the inner castle. It 
was impossible to say how many ninja we had killed by that point, but I 
could count five of our own among the fallen, a quarter of our number; it 
was time to escape. Moving quickly from building to building to avoid eyes 
on the rooftops above, I reached the inner wall without incident. Though the 
courtyard crawled with ninja, there were still archers on the outer walls 
and the enemy hadn't yet reached the keep.

I didn't detect any signs of battle as I descended into the deepest part of 
the castle, but I knew it was only a matter of time. The great wooden doors 
of the cold cellar were closed when I arrived, and two women with naginata 
stood before them.

"Seinan-dono," Lady Matsunori called, not lowering her weapon.

"What happened to 'Sei-kun,' auntie?" I countersigned, remembering my part. 

Relaxing slightly, the iron-haired matron nodded in acknowledgement. The 
Lord Matsunori was the oldest of us, well past the age when most men would 
have put down their swords, and his wife had always treated me like a 
favorite grandchild. Beside her, Lady Shouda began rapping on the door with 
the butt of her spear, and after a few moments it opened just enough to let 
me in.

After I entered, the cellar the door was closed and barred behind me and I 
was confronted by the last thing I was expecting to see: the shiny, shaved 
head of a monk. "Yo, Sei!" Kuroda Takeshi greeted me, smiling serenely.

Takeshi? When did he get here?

"I arrived last night while you were on patrol. I'm here to assist brother 
Itsuki as he guides the Lady Haruno through her time of mourning," he 
explained, glancing to the back of the storeroom. Now I noticed other 
voices, and between the rows of straw-packed crates and clay pickle vats I 
could see some lamps burning.

Walking that way with purpose, I wasn't surprised when my childhood friend 
fell in step beside me. "He's doing a _hell_ of a job," I grumbled, letting 
him know what I thought of his mentor's efforts. The Lady Haruno hadn't left 
her chambers in weeks; we were starting to wonder if she had taken ill. 

"We can only do so much if she does not wish to progress," Takeshi chided in 
that wise, lecturing tone that monks like to use; it didn't suit him at all. 
"How is brother Itsuki, anyway? Still alive, I hope?"

"Still alive," I confirmed. Last time I saw him he was up to his neck in 
ninja, laying them out with his staff like he was one of the eight wrathful 
gods himself.  

"That's good," Takeshi replied easily. He said something after that, but I 
don't recall what it was. We'd reached the small huddle of wives and 
retainers at the back of the room, and my attention was totally captured by 
the vision that stood before me. 

Like an apparition, the Lady Haruno was transformed. Pale as the moon and 
swathed in robes of mourning, she wore her grief like a shroud. Her eyes 
were hollow and empty, like the eyes of a doll, and her hair, once long and 
elegant, the color of cherry blossoms in full bloom, had been cut brutally 
short. What remained had been dyed black as crow feathers. 

Eh? Yes, she did; still does. Yes, just like yours- but don't tell her I 
told you that. In fact, it would probably be best if you didn't mention it 
at all.

As I was saying, I barely recognized her. For as long as I'd served her 
father, the old Lord Haruno, Renge-hime had always been as bright and 
refreshing as a warm spring day. I'd even dreamed of marrying her someday, 
though I knew it was impossible. I almost forgot why I had come, when I saw 
her like that.

Fortunately for all of us, one of the household servants reminded me. "We 
are ready, Seinan-dono."

Shaking myself out of the daze I had fallen into, I nodded to the kitchen 
maid. "Well, then, let's go." 

Surveying the dozen odd men and women that would be escaping with us, I 
couldn't find anything lacking in their preparations, so I waved for them to 
follow me to the northeast corner of the storeroom. Nobody went back to get 
Lady Matsunori and Lady Shouda; they would follow their husbands ahead of 
us, buying us as much time as they could.

Someone had already taken the lid off of the huge pickle vat in the corner, 
revealing a dark pit that extended down through the floor of the room. One 
by one, the servants crawled down into the vat, two of them helping the 
barely responsive Lady Haruno into the cramped tunnel below.

Going last, I braced my feet against the curved bottom of the vat and 
reached over to the grab the lid and heavy pickling stone that were sitting 
atop the crates beside the vat. Balancing them above my head, I crouched 
down, sealing the lid above me. I had to grope in the darkness for a moment 
to find the footholds in the tunnel below.

Climbing down, I stopped when my head was still in the vat and felt for the 
metal pipe that protruded slightly from the back wall. A gush of brackish 
water hit me in the face when I unscrewed the cap, and though I scrambled 
down the ladder and sealed the portal above me as fast as I could, I was 
still drenched in pickle juice when I reached the others. 

Hopefully there weren't any Hidden Stone ninja that could track by scent, 
because I stunk fiercely. Apparently, the pickles in the hidden reservoir in 
the wall hadn't been changed in quite some time. The smell alone might have 
kept them from investigating the vat too closely, when they found it. 

Taking the lead once again, I accepted a hand lantern from one of the 
servants and started down the tunnel. The passage was barely tall enough for 
me to stand up straight, and dust and cobwebs coated my sodden clothes by 
the time we'd passed under the castle walls. 

We crawled along, single file, for what seemed like hours before we finally 
reached the end of the tunnel. Pushing aside an ancient wooden wardrobe 
admitted us into the cellar of an abandoned farmstead about two miles east 
of the castle proper. 

"Stay here," I commanded, motioning for Takeshi to follow me as I crept up 
the stairs. 

Luck was with me this time, for the main floor looked undisturbed. Putting a 
hand on the monk's shoulder, I nodded silently for him to go back down the 
stairs and get the others. Then, when he turned around, I unsheathed my 
sword with my free hand and beheaded him on the spot, not resheathing my 
weapon until his body crumpled to the ground and lay still for several 
seconds. A glance at the head, which had bounced across the room, filled me 
with relief; it wasn't Takeshi after all.

How did I know? Instinct, child; my gut told me something was wrong. Takeshi 
would never visit the castle without coming to find me as soon as he could 
sneak away, and this man was far too quiet when he moved. Plus, it always 
pays to have someone on the inside. His arrival was just too coincidental to 
ignore. 

After hacking the limbs off of the corpse for good measure, I checked the 
perimeter of the house. The Takeshi imposter wouldn't have been able to use 
any ninja techniques to signal his allies while we were surrounded by the 
consecrated stones of the castle, and the invaders wouldn't have anything 
larger than a scouting party so far east, so I guessed we were probably safe 
for the moment.

Dividing our party, I instructed the servants and wives to head south toward 
the Tosa river, avoiding the main roads, while I took the Lady Haruno north 
into the mountains. Renge-hime, who had not spoken a word to anyone since 
I'd arrived, could barely shamble along faster than a walk, so I was forced 
to carry her on my back. 

Still, we made good time, and before the sun started to rise we were nearing 
the foothills of the Ryuusei mountains. We sheltered in caves and gullies 
for more than a week before a team of trackers from Konoha, hired by the 
Lord Haruno, came to find us. 

After being whisked away to the capital, I learned that none of my comrades 
had survived the siege, but the Hidden Stone's forces had been so weakened 
in the taking of Ryuuzai castle that they'd decided to retreat back across 
the border rather than attack Konoha. Only a hundred men, barely half of 
their original number, remained when the Hidden Leaf crushed them in the 
Valley of the End. 

One hundred ninja, killed by twenty swordsmen, a senile monk and two old 
ladies; I got a good, long laugh out of that. I'm sure the old Lord Haruno 
would have approved, though his younger brother seemed to think my humor was 
in poor taste. After thanking me for delivering his niece to him safe and 
sound, he had a servant press a string of coins into my hand and show me to 
the door.  

That probably would have been the end of my service to the Fire Country, if 
a pair of constables hadn't found me in a run-down flop house two months 
later and brought me once again before the Lord Haruno, this time so he 
could rail at me for 'raping' his poor, recently orphaned ward. The Lady 
Haruno was nowhere to be seen when the purple-faced buffoon made this 
accusation, but I could guess what had happened.

As a nobleman, having been elevated to that 'lofty' position by the girl's 
own father, I was forced to defend my reputation. I had done nothing without 
the Lady's consent, and if she was with child then I was prepared to accept 
full responsibility. 

The Lord Haruno would have none of it. I won't go into the details, that 
blow-hard must have vomited obscenities at me for nearly ten minutes, but in 
the end he commanded that I commit suicide before the Daimyo's court to 
atone for my sin. As I'd done nothing wrong, I refused, and challenged him 
to a duel. He'd dirtied both Renge-hime's honor and my own with his false 
accusations, and if he would not permit us to cleanse our names in the eyes 
of Heaven, then I would let the gods decide who was in the wrong. 

Now, normally a mere constable would appeal to a higher authority when asked 
to witness a duel of such gravity, but apparently the new Lord Haruno wasn't 
well-liked in the capital. Silencing his protests with a grave stare, one of 
those solemn arbiters led us out to the garden while the other had a servant 
fetch our swords.

While the city-soft dandy was belting on his weapon, the first constable 
asked me to formally declare my intent to marry the Lady Haruno and accept 
all the duties and responsibilities of her estate if I survived. I did so 
without hesitation, and then struck down my former liege with a single blow 
the moment the law men stepped out of the way. Neither of them seemed to 
think this unsporting, and the matter was concluded.

Everything happened in such a blur that I still wonder if it wasn't all set 
up in advance. Renge-hime hardly reacted at all when she returned from her 
doctor to find her uncle and only living relative dead by my hand, but that 
might have been due to her already fragile state of mind. 

In any event, the ink on the marriage contract was still wet when I knelt 
before the Daimyo and presented myself as "Lord Haruno Seinan of Ryuuzai," 
with Renge-hime sitting quietly at my side, and we've been together ever 
since...




"The Lord Haruno isn't the _real_ Lord Haruno?!" Hinata sputtered, 
forgetting her impeccable Hyuuga manners for a moment. "And your 
grandmother, was it really- or did he-" holding her hands apart like she 
wasn't sure what to do with them, she stared beseechingly at the other girl.

"Oh, he's the 'real' Lord Haruno; don't ever let him hear you say that he 
isn't," Sakura cautioned, wincing at the memory of her grandfather tanning 
her behind pinker than her hair for making the same mistake. "He just 
married into the family. I guess it caused a big stir in the capital until 
grandpa started challenging the gossipmongers to duels. It quieted down 
after that." Regarding her companion with some small trepidation, Sakura 
wondered if she hadn't gone too far in telling Hinata that story. The white-
eyed girl's reaction was a bit more than she was expecting. 

"As to the other part... I dunno. I can't imagine grandma staying with him 
if he'd really raped her." It was pretty hard to fathom why she stayed with 
him at all; the Lady Haruno Sakura knew was _completely_ different from the 
'Renge-hime' in her grandfather's story. 

"I'm surprised you hadn't heard about it before, though," she noted 
incredulously. "The Lord Haruno is pretty famous, and they taught us about 
the failed invasion by the Hidden Stone in history class."

Collecting herself a bit, Hinata still looked terribly confused. "I- I don't 
remember Iruka-sensei describing it like that," she replied defensively.

"Yeah, grandpa says Konoha would lose 'prestige' if we admitted how hard it 
would be for us to take Ryuuzai castle; that's why they don't tell us how 
many Hidden Stone really died there," Sakura explained. The old man had 
actually laughed at her when she'd told him Iruka-sensei's version of 
events. "He showed me the mountain of ninja gear they collected after the 
battle, though. All of those Hidden Stone forehead protectors looked pretty 
authentic to me, and there were a lot more than twenty of them." 

Humming uncertainly to herself, Hinata looked down at her feet. "B-but I 
don't think Iruka-sensei would lie to us..."

"He might not know about it. The battle happened before he was born," Sakura 
suggested, though she suspected that the kind-faced chuunin knew the truth, 
whatever it was. She was just beginning to understand the shady internal 
politics that went on in Konoha, thanks to the ANBU mission scrolls Anko was 
making her study, but the Battle of Ryuuzai Castle and the Kyuubi cover-up 
were only the tip of the iceberg.

Unfortunately, now Hinata seemed even more troubled than before, which was 
exactly the opposite of what Sakura had been trying for. "So, wha'dya think? 
Pretty wild, right?" She prodded hopefully. "The nameless hero of a 
forgotten battle saves the princess and becomes a Lord overnight, after 
killing his liege in a duel; now _that's_ something out of a story."

It took few seconds, but slowly the frown melted from Hinata's face, 
replaced by a familiar, timid smile. "Y-Yeah... but you skipped all of the 
romantic parts," the heiress accused. 

Crossing her arms, Sakura snorted grumpily. "He didn't tell me any of 'em. 
'You'll understand when you're older,' he said."

Giggling at Sakura's mock irritation, Hinata's body language relaxed a bit 
more. "How old were you when he told you that story?" she asked.

"_Nine_," Sakura spat. "I'd asked him why he and grandma got married. He 
didn't have any problems telling me all the gory details of the battle, but 
he wouldn't say _anything_ about how they ended up... you know." 

Catching herself, the green-eyed girl clamped her mouth shut. If she wasn't 
careful, she'd end up saying something crude and offensive, and Hinata would 
think she was some sort of pervert- if she didn't already. *And she'd 
probably be right.*

Nodding in understanding, Hinata stuffed her hands in her pockets and stared 
ahead, as if she were looking toward their destination. "I don't know why 
you think your family is boring, Sakura-chan. Your grandfather doesn't sound 
boring at all," she pointed out.

"Well, I was sort of talking about my parents," Sakura admitted. "Grandpa 
isn't boring, I guess. In fact, a lot of people think he's a little _too_ 
exciting," she mused sheepishly.

"Hmm?" The brunette gave her another curious look.

"You really haven't heard of him?" At the young kunoichi's hesitant shake of 
the head, Sakura grimaced. Even if this was _Hinata_, things could get messy 
for a ninja in Ryuuzai Castle if she didn't now what to expect. 

The skies seemed to sense Sakura's worry, as thunder pealed in the distance 
and a stray raindrop struck her cheek. "There are a few things I'd better 
tell you, then..." she warned, turning up her coat collar and feeling a 
twinge of envy as Hinata pulled up her hood. *Dammit, forgot to bring a 
hat.* This was already shaping up to be another _beautiful_ day on planet 
Sakura (population: at least three). 




Slowing to a jog, Sakura tried to control her heavy, labored breathing and 
looked back to see how far behind Hinata was. *This is harder than I 
thought...* 

In theory, if she could use chakra to support her own body weight on the 
surface of a moving river, it should be easy for her to ward off a few 
measly little raindrops. In practice, however, releasing chakra from your 
hands or feet was _much_ easier than, say, releasing it from the back of 
your head. Despite her best efforts, her hair was still noticeably damp, and 
she was quickly tiring herself out.

It was good practice, though; she could almost feel her chakra flow becoming 
more even and efficient as she maintained the technique. *And it's safer 
than trying to do ground fighting drills stuck to the ceiling,* she decided, 
fussing with her limp bangs to make sure they still covered the cut on her 
scalp above her left eye. *If that's a _real_ Hyuuga training method, it's a 
wonder there are any of them left at all.* She'd have to ask Hinata about it 
later.

As if summoned, a black and gray-clad figure leapt from the trees and 
hurried to Sakura's side. Hunched low, Hinata used one hand to hold her hood 
down against the driving rain that slashed at her as she emerged onto the 
muddy road. "Sakura-chan?" she called over the howl of the wind, obviously 
confused by their unnecessary exposure to the elements. 

"We're getting close to the castle," Sakura explained. "They patrol the 
forests and roads around here pretty carefully. We don't want to look like 
we're trying to sneak by them." 

"Ah." Nodding in understanding, the shorter girl straightened a bit, and 
Sakura could see that her cheeks were flushed. The unexpected hint of color 
made Hinata look cute, but it was obvious that she was struggling to keep up 
the hard pace they'd set since it started raining. 

Though the pink-haired girl felt a surge of pride that all her stamina 
training hadn't gone to waste, she was doubly glad that Hinata was her 
escort, and not Kiba or Shino. Even bleeding off chakra at the same horrific 
rate as she was, neither of the boys would have been the least bit winded by 
now, which would have made her current state of exhaustion rather 
embarrassing. "Just a little farther, Hinata-chan," she assured her 
companion breathlessly.

Not wasting any energy on speech, the brunette simply nodded again, keeping 
her eyes on the road ahead. They ran on in silence for a few more miles as 
the forests on either side of them slowly surrendered to rolling hills 
dotted with farm houses and rice paddies. Eventually, these too fell away, 
replaced by an astonishingly flat, stony plain that did nothing to hide the 
looming gray wart on the horizon that was Ryuuzai castle. 

*'Flat land can be a disadvantage against cavalry or siege engines, but it's 
the hardest terrain for a ninja in enemy territory to navigate safely.'* 
That's what her grandfather had told her, and Sakura had to admit that it 
was probably true. The castle had a commanding view of the land around it. 
Unless you wanted to waste chakra on concealment techniques, there wasn't a 
whole lot of cover to be found. 

On this grim, featureless canvass, the tall wooden crosses scattered across 
the plain stood out like words on a blank page. Surprisingly, Hinata didn't 
seem to notice them at first. It wasn't until she caught Sakura staring at 
one close to the road that she commented. "There are a lot of them." 

"Un," Sakura nodded in agreement. "They don't re-use them until the body's 
rotted away or been picked clean by carrion birds and wild dogs, so they 
have to put up more if they've got a lot of 'examples' to make." Sakura 
didn't see the hundred that would have been needed for all of the Hidden 
Stone ninja that died during the invasion, but there were probably more on 
the northern face of the castle. 

As they drew nearer to the cross Sakura had been staring at, both girls were 
surprised to find that it was occupied. "H-Hidden Sand?" Hinata whispered in 
disbelief, staring up at the forehead protector that hung loosely around 
black, bloated neck of the badly putrefied body. 

"The uniform fits," the green-eyed kunoichi noted in mild disgust, looking 
away. "I guess some of them came too close to the castle during the 
invasion." That definitely wouldn't put her grandfather in the best of 
moods, especially if any of his men had died during yet another assault on 
Konoha.

"There are more," Hinata mumbled, squinting at some of the other nearby 
crosses. "Hidden Sound as well." 

Looking up, Sakura picked out enough rotting corpses for two four-man squads 
before she stopped counting. *Too many bodies. There was a skirmish here, at 
least,* she assessed, doubting anew the wisdom of calling on the Lord Haruno 
as a signatory to the Leaf-Sand truce. 

Sakura kept her dark thoughts to herself when she noticed a party of four 
samurai in straw hats and raincoats approaching them on foot from the 
direction of the castle. "Here comes our escort," she cautioned.

Stiffening, Hinata nodded. Though her face was closed and unreadable once 
more, Sakura could feel nervousness radiating off of the smaller girl in 
waves. After seeing what happened to ninja that the Lord Haruno _didn't_ 
like, Sakura could hardly blame her. 

"We have a valid reason to be here, and they know me. We should be fine," 
Sakura reassured her friend, ignoring the uncertainty that gnawed at her 
stomach like the maggots eating their way through the dead men that 
surrounded them. "We'll be fine..." she repeated hollowly. 




"...You're _very_ lucky your grandmother isn't here to see this." Placing 
the letter on his desk unopened, Haruno Seinan favored his granddaughter 
with an inquisitor's stare, clasping his hands before him with the aura of a 
judge preparing to pass sentence. "I'll read what it says in a moment, but 
why don't you give it to me in a nutshell; what does the Hidden Leaf want 
with '_Lady_ Haruno Sakura?'"

Grimacing at the emphasis on her newly discovered peerage, Sakura decided 
that trying to spin things for her grandfather probably wouldn't get her 
very far. "Konoha is ready to end hostilities with the Hidden Sand," she 
stated bluntly. "They want a representative of the Lord of Ryuuzai to 
witness the peace treaty... probably so it won't need to go any higher up." 
That last bit was conjecture on her part, but she wanted her grandfather to 
know that she'd thought about it, because he certainly would.

Cracking a wry smile, the Lord of Ryuuzai nodded in approval. "I expected as 
much." Picking up the envelope again, the self-styled 'last warlord of the 
Fire Country' pulled out the letter and unfolded it on the desk in front of 
him.

Sakura took this as an invitation to walk around and read over his shoulder, 
leaning on the plush leather armrest of his office chair. For as long as 
she'd been allowed to visit him, her grandfather had always enjoyed having 
her around when he was working. He was proud of the duty he upheld as the 
head of the Fire Country's modest army, and because his eldest grandchild 
was effectively 'the enemy,' he seemed to take special delight in showing 
her how strong and competent he was as the 'one true defender' of the Fire 
Country.

On this occasion, however, something didn't quite fit. "When did you start 
wearing foreign suits, grandpa?" the pink-haired girl wondered, peering 
skeptically at the charcoal gray jacket and slacks that had been hidden 
behind his imposing oaken slab of a desk.

Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, the Lord Haruno continued to 
read while he replied. "Your uncle Hachi told me that they make me look 
younger." Turning more of his attention to Sakura, his smile widened. "What 
do you think? Is he right?"

Since she'd already memorized the letter, the young kunoichi decided to 
indulge him, and backed away for a better look. Sakura had always thought 
that her grandfather had a slightly villainous air, with his narrow, angular 
face, high cheekbones and hawkish nose. His dark eyes always seemed to find 
the things that she didn't want found, and his voice when he was giving 
orders made her shiver with fear and anticipation. 
 
"You need to grow a beard, grandpa," Sakura quipped, grinning uneasily at 
her grandfather's smooth, unlined face and long black hair, now pulled back 
in a stylish ponytail rather than a topknot. Even in the traditional kimono 
and hakama he normally wore, he scarcely looked old enough to even _have_ 
grandchildren. In a suit... Sakura would be embarrassed to be seen with him 
in public; she just _knew_ he'd end up hitting on every lonely housewife in 
Konoha. "You look like a lawyer!" she needled.

Laughing and wincing at the imagined blow, Haruno Seinan gave his 
granddaughter a hurt look. "What a horrible thing to say. Is that any way to 
talk to your grandfather?"

"I thought you didn't like it when people sugar-coated things?" Sakura 
countered.

"There's a fine line between sugar-coating something and having a shred of 
tact."

"That sounds really weird coming from you, grandpa." Her grandfather was the 
_last_ person Sakura wanted a lecture from about 'tact'... after Anko and 
Naruto, of course, who probably didn't even know the meaning of the word.

"Hmpf!" Turning his nose up at her, her grandfather made a show of returning 
his attention to the letter. "I don't remember my adorable, polite little 
granddaughter having such a smart mouth the last time she visited," he 
grumped.

Paling, Sakura cast her gaze to the floor. "Ah- s-sorry..." she mumbled 
apologetically. She really needed to be more careful around her family and 
friends; sometimes it was too easy to forget how much she'd changed in the 
last few weeks. 

"What's that look for?" Dropping the act, her grandfather's feigned offense 
was replaced by a look of confusion. "I'm not mad at you," he assured the 
pink-haired girl, turning in his chair to face her. Sensing that his 
granddaughter's mood hadn't improved, he stood up and walked over, placing a 
hand on her shoulder. "Sakura, is something bothering you?" 

Clenching her jaw, Sakura fought the urge to pull away. It didn't look like 
she was going to get better, so she had to start telling people _something_. 
"...Yeah, I guess so," she admitted lamely. 

Cursing herself for sounding weak, Sakura steeled her resolve and lifted her 
gaze, only to feel awkward and foolish in the face of the concern reflected 
in her grandfather's eyes. "Uh... I- I just... I don't think I'm as nice as 
everyone thinks I am." Forcing a crooked smile, she tried to ignore the 
dampness at the corners of her eyes. "I haven't been so good at hiding it 
lately, and I've nearly lost a couple friends because of that..." 

Sighing deeply, Haruno Seinan pulled his granddaughter into a gentle 
embrace. "Sakura, I've always been proud to have such a mature, intelligent 
grandchild... but you think too much. I have three sons; Hachi is only a few 
years older than you are. You think I don't know that teenagers can be a 
pain in the ass?"

At Sakura's indignant squeak, he gave her shoulders a playful squeeze, 
mussing her candy-floss locks before letting her go. "You're a good kid, but 
anyone who thinks that thirteen year old girls are as innocent as they seem 
needs to get his head examined. You _are_ going to get into trouble, and 
people _are_ going to think badly of you. That's just how it is when you're 
young, no matter who you are."

Chuckling, the Lord of Ryuuzai placed his hands on his hips thoughtfully. "I 
think there's more to this. You're scared of something, and you don't want 
to tell me what it is- but that's all I'm going to say. It's good for kids 
to find their own answers, and I know you have enough sense to ask for help 
if you need it."

Pausing when Sakura leaned forward to return his hug, he gave her a 
reassuring pat on the back. "I have no idea where you get _that_ from," he 
noted, smirking bemusedly. "Probably your mother, since I know you didn't 
inherit it from Renge or myself."

"Probably," Sakura agreed with a sniffle, straightening and moving to sit on 
the edge of the desk. Her grandfather's backhanded compliments actually made 
her feel a lot better. She didn't need to be 'perfect' to gain his approval, 
but he wasn't going to pull any punches with her either. "Mom worries too 
much. I wish she would trust me a little more." 

"She's your mother, Sakura," her grandfather rebuffed mildly. "She has a 
hard job. Besides, I'll bet you do all sorts of things to make her worry, 
especially now that you've started working. Speaking of which..." Flipping 
over the envelope to expose the name once more, the dark-haired man glanced 
at it questioningly. "You're a ninja of the Hidden Leaf, not a member of the 
Haruno clan. Who do they think they're fooling with this garbage?"

"I wish I knew," Sakura admitted, frowning in annoyance. "It sounds 
suspicious to me. The only reason I could think of was that they wanted to 
get the request to you without going through official channels." 

Too late, Sakura realized that telling her grandfather how shady the mission 
seemed probably wasn't the best way to convince him to go along with it. *He 
doesn't trust Konoha at all, though. He probably already thought of that.*

Nodding, her grandfather picked up the letter, eyeing it critically. "That's 
a plausible explanation, but there's no real incentive in here for me to 
play along, and without my cooperation you've simply wasted both of our time 
and you're worse off than you started."

"No incentive?" Sakura repeated in disbelief. "What about no more Sand nins 
coming into the country to kill people?" 

Her grandfather dismissed the suggestion with tiny shake of the head. 
"They'll keep coming. The merchant cartels of the Wind Country have been 
sending assassins to 'discourage' their foreign competitors for years. The 
only thing that changes is who they're killing."

"If you agree to sign the treaty, they won't be coming to kill _me_," Sakura 
pointed out.

The old man gave her an arch grin. "You're always welcome to stay with me if 
things get too hot for you in Konoha. You're family, no matter what your 
grandmother says. You'd have to quit being a ninja, of course..."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Sakura quipped ironically. "They made me quit 
yesterday." 

"Eh?"

"To resolve the 'divided loyalties' issue, they made me dissolve my ties to 
Konoha. If it weren't for the timing, it wouldn't even be suspicious; it's 
common for genin to quit after failing the Chuunin Exam," Sakura explained, 
balking only slightly at mentioning her shame. 

"So you failed?" her grandfather observed, his voice betraying neither 
disappointment nor approval. 

"Yeah; I wasn't ready for it, I guess." It was far easier to admit it to 
herself now. She wasn't sure if she was ready to try again, but she knew 
that she'd gotten stronger since then.

"I see..." Nodding in understanding, the Lord Haruno apparently decided to 
let the matter drop. "But if you're not a ninja anymore, they can't order 
you to go to the Wind Country and sign this treaty," he observed clinically. 

"No, but my chances of reinstatement may hinge on my cooperation." That was 
the impression she'd gotten when she'd signed her resignation forms, anyway; 
it still kind of bothered her. "Normally, once you're out, you're out for 
good, but they've said they'll make a special exception for me, pending the 
completion of this mission."

"That sounds like blackmail to me," her grandfather observed distastefully. 
"Not to mention the fact that such an agreement violates the spirit of the 
treaty you're signing by excluding a genuine representative of one of the 
concerned parties."

Sakura didn't try to defend her leaders' tactics. Two weeks ago, her 
knowledge of the subject had been pretty abstract, the stuff lectures and 
textbooks, but Anko's assignment had forced her to put herself in the role 
of an ANBU assassin. It was hard not to feel chilled to the bone by the way 
some of the most crucial decisions were made. "That's politics for you," she 
mused.

Her grandfather peered at her curiously. "Indeed... when did you get so 
cynical? It's good to be cautious about what you believe in, but it makes me 
a little sad that you had to learn that so young."

"Only since I became a ninja," Sakura assured him with a small but genuine 
laugh. "My commanders so far haven't exactly inspired trust and devotion." 
Kakashi, she thought she could count on in a pinch, but he was pretty 
unreliable otherwise, and Anko... She felt a kinship with the hyperactive 
psychopath that was hard to define and impossible to ignore, but she 
wouldn't trust her current commander with a book of matches.

Giving her a look that spoke volumes, her grandfather sighed and shook his 
head. "At least you don't give up. So what happens to you if I refuse to 
cooperate?"

"That's a good question." From the start, it was almost a given that she 
wouldn't be the representative, so her role (as far as she knew) was solely 
as a messenger. At this point she was probably supposed to make some sort of 
play for familial sympathy. *Yeah right, like that'd work!* 

"They'll probably still reinstate me, but they won't be happy with me," the 
'ex'-kunoichi admitted truthfully. "I've been told that I have to go to the 
Wind Country either way, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do there 
since I'm not the 'Lady Haruno' they're expecting."

"You sound like you're looking forward to it," the Lord Haruno noted 
sarcastically. 

"Like _hell_ I am," Sakura growled. "I feel like I'm walking blindfolded 
into enemy territory." 

"But aren't the Hidden Sand suing for peace?"

"And they were killing my friends a few weeks ago!" *And I couldn't do 
anything to stop them.* The bruises had long since vanished, but every time 
she thought about it Sakura still kicked herself for how badly she'd botched 
her 'rescue' mission during the war. "What about you? Do you think we can 
trust them not to stab us in the back again?" 

"Trust them? Of course not," the old man denied with a snort of disdain. 
"You can't build trust on pile of fresh bodies. But peace treaties aren't 
about trust, they're about necessity. You saw those men by the road?" He 
waved vaguely toward the southern wall of his windowless office. "We caught 
them fleeing after the battle. They'd been defeated, but they were still 
very much alive when we found them. The Hidden Sand _needs_ peace right now, 
and so does the Hidden Leaf; if one side or the other was strong enough to 
win, there wouldn't have been any survivors left for my men to fight."

*Ouch! I guess nobody needs to tell _him_ the score...* Her grandfather was 
a unique case, though; there was still a chance that Konoha could hide their 
weakness from their clients, if not their enemies. *As long as we don't have 
to go begging to the Daimyo's court for an envoy.* 

Seeing that she'd done as much as she could, Sakura let the anger drain from 
her and gave her grandfather a shrug of surrender. "That's how it looks. So 
are you going to let us have peace, or do we have to ask someone else?"

"Just one question before I answer that: What's in it for me?"




"Sakura-chan!" Looking up in surprise when Sakura entered the room, the 
Hyuuga heiress set down the steaming cup she was holding. "H-how did it go?" 
she queried anxiously.

Shutting the door, Sakura took a seat across from Hinata, noting in approval 
that her grandfather's men seem to understand the concept of hospitality. A 
teapot and a tray of rice crackers sat in the middle of the low table, and 
there were a few red cushions piled in the corner, though Sakura elected to 
just sit on the floor. The entire room looked well-maintained and clean; 
you'd never know that it was really a holding cell for 'dangerous guests.' 

"It went okay, I guess," Sakura replied wearily. "He hasn't agreed to 
anything, but at least he didn't turn us down flat." A worried frown creased 
Hinata's brow, and Sakura gave the smaller girl a half-hearted grin. "If 
you're a ninja, getting grandpa to do _anything_ for you is like trying to 
make Manda-sama dance."

"That doesn't sound good," the pale girl noted unhappily.

"Eh, it can be done," Sakura assured her with chuckle. "But he usually eats 
you afterward."

Hinata grimaced. "That sounds even worse."

Laughing out loud, the pink-haired kunoichi reached across the table to snag 
a seaweed-wrapped cracker. "Yeah, I guess so," she agreed. Biting down 
happily, Sakura savored the salty flavor on her tongue. "At least it's over. 
All we can do now is wait for Kurenai-sensei to show up and hope for the 
best."

Nodding, Hinata's made a visible effort to relax. Picking up her tea, she 
took a dainty sip, only the tips of her fingers peeking out from the long 
sleeves of her jacket to grip the textured clay mug.

"Why do you always wear such baggy clothes?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"Eh?" Blinking in confusion, Hinata lowered the cup from her lips.

"That jacket is at least two sizes too big, and so is your other one," the 
green-eyed girl critiqued. Scanning her companion's attire, Sakura struggled 
to make out the lines of Hinata's figure. "You should try some brighter 
colors and wear tops that show off your arms. I'll bet you'd look great in a 
sleeveless dress."

Blushing, Hinata dropped her gaze to her hands, as if she'd discovered the 
most interesting thing in the world floating in her tea. "R-really?" she 
mumbled bashfully. "I- I don't know. I'm not- I don't think I would look 
good in something like that..."

*I'll bet there's least one boy who would disagree with you,* Sakura mused. 
Kiba was so bad at hiding his enormous crush on Hinata that you'd have to be 
blind to miss it. *Blind, deaf, and in a %$#*&ing _coma_! He practically 
wags his tail and begs whenever you walk by!* 

Sakura knew what the problem was; she all too familiar with the symptoms of 
low self-esteem. *But you have friends! Don't you understand what that 
means?! People _like_ you, dammit! Stop being so down on yourself!* Standing 
suddenly, the pink-haired girl stormed around the table and grabbed Hinata's 
sleeve. "These are soaked!"

"Huh? Ah- y-yes, I suppose; I didn't expect it to rain so hard-"

Pulling the shy kunoichi to her feet, Sakura dragged Hinata stumbling toward 
the door. "C'mon, we still have a couple hours before the others get here. 
There's a bath in the guest wing you can use to warm up a bit, and then you 
can change into some dry clothes; I have some stuff that might fit you."

"Wha- S-Sakura-chan?!"

A knock on the door alerted the guard on the other side, and without 
ceremony they were released back into the courtyard of the small, fortified 
station that defended the ferry crossing to the castle. 

"We're going to the castle," Sakura stated in a tone that brooked no 
argument. When the young soldier hesitated, Sakura grabbed Hinata's hand and 
pulled the other girl close. "She's my bodyguard; I'll personally answer to 
the Lord if she tries anything. We're only going to the outer bailey, 
anyway."

Glancing behind him to a samurai about Kakashi's age with a strong, square 
jaw and very imposing sideburns, the guard received a nod of approval. 
"Right this way, Sakura-dono," he instructed, leading them to the gate at 
the far end of the yard. 

Constructed on a small, stony island at the juncture of two fast-moving 
rivers that marked the end of the Ryuusei mountain chain, Ryuuzai castle was 
defended by a formidable natural moat and steep stone walls that towered 
dizzyingly over the water. The only way most people could get to the castle 
was via rope ferry; the tunnel from her grandfather's story had doubtless 
been sealed off long ago, or else he wouldn't have told her about it.  

Studying the choppy surface of the river, swelled to overflowing and whipped 
to white peaks by the wind, Sakura decided to wait for the ferry rather than 
try to run across again. Walking on moving water was a lot harder than 
standing on a puddle, and Hinata didn't look much recovered from their 
earlier race through the monsoon.

Unable escape from Sakura's 'body by Gai' enhanced grip, Hinata put her 
other hand on Sakura's and tried to coax the pink-haired girl away from the 
dock. "S-Sakura-chan, I'm fine! Really-"

"No you're not!" Sakura snapped testily. Upon reflection, she realized that 
Hinata was probably referring to the condition of her clothes. "...your 
hair's all wet."

"That's because you ran out into the rain before I could put on my hood!" 
the white-eyed girl protested vainly, reaching back to pull up her hood even 
though the damage was already done. 

"Oh..." Blinking at Hinata's sudden outburst, Sakura felt her irritation 
dwindle slightly. *I guess she's not a total doormat.* Midway through 
slicking a sodden pink forelock from her eyes, Sakura realized that she'd 
also forgotten to put on her 'hood.' 

"Well, my hair's all wet now too, and while _you_ may be fine with shivering 
your ass off and catching pneumonia, _I_ feel like taking a bath, so you 
might as well come along to keep me company," she reasoned.

"What? But-"

"No 'but's! You're an honored guest of the Princess of Ryuuzai and the 
Haruno Clan will be _deeply_ offended if you continue to decline our 
generous hospitality!"

"Eeeh?!"




Sandwiched between the castle walls and the inner bailey, which was like a 
small fortress all by itself, the outer bailey was reserved for entertaining 
guests, garrisoning troops and conducting public functions such as trials 
and executions. 

It was also the only section of the castle that ninja were officially 
permitted to enter. All of Hinata's ninja gear was confiscated before they 
were cleared through security, but that was to be expected; not even samurai 
were allowed to wear their swords in the castle unless they served the Lord 
of Ryuuzai or the Daimyo himself.

>From the gates, the guest quarters were roughly east across the courtyard, 
situated in the narrow wing of the bailey that followed the southern edge of 
the island. This allowed guests easier access to the keep, as the entrance 
to the second tier of fortifications faced east, 120 degrees from the main 
castle gates. The lay of the land rose in steps as you moved counter-
clockwise around the island, so it was a long, uphill walk if you had an 
audience with the Lord. 

Catching Hinata starting up at the ramparts, even now patrolled by dozens of 
archers, Sakura grinned roguishly. "It's kind of hard to believe that twenty 
men could defend all this," she observed. "Sometimes I think grandpa is full 
of crap- and he accuses _us_ of getting it wrong." 

The pale girl nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Maybe... The 
walls are steep, and they have walkways on top of them, the same as Konoha." 
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Is that a cannon?" She pointed at a gray-
black tube poking out of one of the towers in the distance.

Squinting, Sakura tried to make out the object of Hinata's scrutiny through 
the rain. "I dunno, it might be." Her grandfather was always looking for 
loopholes in the weapons treaties between the Fire Country and the Hidden 
Leaf. "Can you use the Byakugan to check?"

Stopping in her tracks, Hinata had the look of a spooked deer as she 
considered the question. "Um... but.. w-wouldn't it be bad if someone saw 
me?" she asked nervously.

"Hmm..." The white-eyed girl had a point: some of the men on the walls 
probably _were_ watching them. "Yeah, you're probably right. We'd better 
just pretended that we didn't see anything." She could ask her grandfather 
about it later, when Hinata wasn't around to get in trouble. 

Nodding to herself, Sakura walked onward, turning to look over her shoulder 
when the other girl was slow to follow. "C'mon, it's not much further," she 
urged, tilting her head toward the red-roofed guest houses at the end of the 
lane. 

Navigating the buildings by memory, Sakura quickly found the quarters she 
usually used when she visited; despite being 'family,' she'd never been 
allowed to stay in the keep. Looking around the spacious antechamber of the 
guest house, the pink-haired girl didn't find any servants in evidence, but 
there were a pair of towels and folded yukata sitting just inside the 
genkan. "Someone must have called ahead," she noted, not at all surprised 
that their conversation had been overheard. "The bath's probably ready too."

"Ah..." Staring blankly at the floor for a moment, Hinata crouched down and 
deliberately began removing her boots.

*Geez, how shy can you get?* In the end, Hinata had been too polite to 
refuse Sakura's invitation, but it was easy to tell that the brunette was 
dragging her feet. *She must've at least used a public bath before.* Hanging 
her coat on the drying rack conveniently placed by the door, Sakura pulled 
off her boots and grabbed a towel; they weren't going to be hanging around 
for long, so she didn't bother to take a robe. 

Given the space constraints of a river island fortress, the guest house 
wasn't as large as one you might find in, say, the capital, but the walk 
from the foyer to the bathroom was still long enough for Sakura to sense the 
tension building as they approached their destination. Hinata was completely 
silent, and her eyes never left the floor she trudged along beside Sakura, 
clutching her towel protectively to her chest. 

A curtain of warm air descended upon them as they entered the changing area, 
making both girls blink, and Sakura decided that it might make her friend 
more comfortable if she led by example. Snagging a handy clothes basket with 
her toe, Sakura dropped her bag on the floor and began to undress. Her 
blouse and undershirt went into the basket in short order, followed by her 
black exercise shorts. 

It wasn't until she reached back to unhook her bra that Hinata finally 
started to follow suit. Sakura released a tiny sigh of relief as Hinata 
unzipped her jacket, revealing a mesh undershirt much like Sakura's own. 
*She must not ever take that coat off,* the pink-haired girl decided. 
Underneath the shirt, Sakura could see that Hinata also wore a plain black 
sports bra, though _that_ comparison made Sakura seethe with envy.

Once Hinata got going it wasn't long before she caught up, and soon both 
kunoichi stood naked as the day they were born- except for one thing. 
"Aren't you going to take off your forehead protector, Hinata-chan?" Sakura 
prodded impatiently. 

"Um... y-yes..." Seeming more self-conscious than when she was taking of her 
adorable, pinwheel-patterned panties, Hinata took a couple deep breaths 
before reaching back to untie the knot behind her head. Once the dark cloth 
fell away, Sakura could see that there was a thick strip of white gauze 
underneath.

Feeling a twinge of worry, Sakura was immediately struck by how strange it 
would be if Hinata had gotten hurt the same way she had. *Stupid Hyuuga 
training techniques...* She was about to comment, but the intense look on 
Hinata's face as she unwrapped the bandage made Sakura hold her tongue. 

When the last loop of gauze peeled free from Hinata's skin, stuck to her 
brow by a jagged line of reddish-brown stains, it took Sakura's brain 
several seconds to process what she was seeing. Unfortunately, her mouth was 
much faster on the uptake. "Holy $#%&, is that real?!" she blurted, gaping 
at the stylized manji branded on Hinata's forehead.

Jolting as if she'd been bitten, Hinata stared wide-eyed at the other girl. 
"S-Sakura-chan?!"

"Ah- oh #&%^$! Waah!" Slapping a hand over her mouth, Sakura exchanged a 
look of shock with the white-eyed kunoichi. *Dammit! I can't believe I 
&$%#^in' said that!* Taking her hand away, Sakura gestured frantically for 
Hinata to stay calm. "I'm sorry! You just surprised me is all! $#%*~- I 
mean- I didn't mean-" At a loss for words, Sakura shut her mouth before she 
could dig herself any deeper. 

Still looking rather poleaxed herself, Hinata twitched again and stared at 
Sakura for a long moment of silence. "...holy $#%&," she finally mouthed in 
an almost reverent whisper. 

Sakura could feel the steam coming out of her ears as a terminal blush 
spread from her hairline right down to her shoulders. "Hinata!" she gasped.

"#&^$!" Hinata swore giddily, eliciting a wince from the pink-haired girl. 

"Hinata-chaaan!" Sakura whined, blinking away tears of panic as she reached 
up to grab the other girl's shoulders. "Quit it! Yuuhi'll %^&#$in' _kill_ me 
if she finds out I taught you that!"

Giggling inanely, Hinata shook her head. "I'm- I'm sorry, Sakura-chan! I 
just..." Taking a calming breath, the brunette brought a hand up to wipe her 
own watering eyes and gave Sakura a smile of relief. "I'm sorry. I'm not 
trying to tease you, but that was funny!"

"I don't care if you tease me, just promise you won't talk like that 
anymore!" Sakura pleaded.

"But it feels so... so..." The Hyuuga trailed off with a playful grin. 
"Wow... #&^$!"

"Hiiinaaataaaa!"

"Okay, I'll stop," Hinata assured the red-faced girl, finally regaining a 
bit of composure. "Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" she asked, her smile 
dimming to less worrying proportions.

"I'm fine," Sakura lied. Her heart was still doing backflips, even though it 
looked like Hinata wasn't going to start treating her like she was some sort 
of evil anti-Sakura from another dimension. *It's a good thing she's got 
such a funky sense of humor,* Sakura mused.

Realizing that she was still holding Hinata's shoulders, Sakura hastily 
dropped her hands to her sides. "Sorry about that," she apologized, averting 
her gaze, though her eyes caught on the blood-stained bandage that Hinata 
still held. 

When she looked up again, Sakura couldn't help but glance at the curse seal 
in the middle of Hinata's forehead. "What about you Hinata-chan? Are you 
alright?" she ventured hesitantly.

Catching Sakura's furtive look, Hinata grimaced. With the hand she'd used to 
wipe her eyes, the pale girl slowly reached up to brush the mark lightly 
with her fingertips. Looking ill for a moment, Hinata swallowed uneasily. 
"I... I think I'll be okay," she decided, giving Sakura a fair approximation 
of her earlier smile; a little more vulnerable than before, but still warm 
and sincere.

Though she wanted to return the smile, a small frown forced its way onto 
Sakura's lips. "Do you want to talk about it?" she prodded gently, still 
feeling like she was wading waist-deep in murky waters. 

Shuffling her feet, Hinata clutched both hands in front of her to fidget 
nervously. "...If you want to talk about what's bothering _you_, Sakura-
chan," she offered, her voice rising in concern.

*Am I that transparent?* Sakura wondered. Quirking an eyebrow, Sakura gave 
her friend a roguish smirk. "Are you sure you wanna know? My life's been 
pretty %^&#$ed up, lately," she warned.

Giggling again at Sakura's 'slip,' Hinata nodded. "I want to- to-" she 
stuttered, squeezing her eyes shut and quickly turning away as her body was 
wracked by a sneeze. "Ah, excuse me," she apologized with a sniffle.

"It's alright, but let's stop standing here and get in the bath before you 
catch a cold," Sakura prodded, unconsciously slipping into a mothering tone 
as she ushered Hinata toward the entrance to the bathing area.

As expected, the huge, wood-walled bath at the far end of the room the was 
already filled and uncovered. Tall windows on two sides of the bath opened 
out to a small viewing garden behind the guest house, while tasteful wood 
paneling lined the other walls. Only the row of modern taps with extendable 
shower heads marred the traditional simplicity of the room.

Grabbing a pair of wash buckets and stools from the stack in the corner, 
Sakura and Hinata set to work cleaning up. Liquid body soap and shampoo were 
provided, though the pink-haired girl took a moment to grimace in distaste 
at the generic brands. *Still cheap, grandpa.*

Wetting her washcloth, Sakura turned to her companion. "Want me to scrub 
your back, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata, who was in the process of gingerly sponging away the dried blood on 
her forehead, turned to peer at the pink-haired girl out of the corner of 
her eye. "Please," she replied politely. "Thank you," she added, when Sakura 
scooted closer. 

"Don't worry about it!" Sakura chirped, squeezing a bit of soap into the 
washcloth and scrunching it between her hands to work up a lather. Kneeling 
behind Hinata, Sakura took a moment to marvel at the brunette's creamy 
white, perfectly unblemished skin. She could do without the creepy eyes, but 
the Hyuuga certainly seemed to have more than their fair share of genetic 
advantages. 

Before she could stop herself, Sakura's gaze drifted lower, zeroing in on 
the hint of breast that she could see under Hinata's arm as the shorter girl 
leaned forward. *Dammit, they're $#%&in' huge!* It was hard to believe that 
she was looking at a girl only three months older than herself. From the 
graceful curve of her neck to the slight flare of her hips, Hinata body was 
100% more womanly than Sakura's own stick-like figure. 

Seized by a sudden urge to tease her timid but well-endowed friend, Sakura 
let a devilish leer split her face. Her hands curling into cruel, grasping 
claws, the young mischievous pink leaf snake coiled silently, preparing to 
strike.

Just as Sakura was about to pounce on her unsuspecting prey, the pale girl 
gave a reflexive jerk. "Sakura-chan?" Hinata called nervously, starting to 
turn around.

Startled out of her jealous trance, Sakura nearly fell over backwards as she 
hastily retracted her hands. "Ah! Uh- I- I just thought for a second that I 
might have grabbed the wrong b-bottle!" 

Thankful that she hadn't dropped her washcloth, Sakura leaned forward and 
began industriously scrubbing Hinata's shoulders. *Gah! What the hell was I 
thinking?!* Fondling Hinata's breasts was almost certainly _not_ the way to 
put the girl at ease. 

Much to the Sakura's chagrin, however, the urge to give Hinata's chest a 
playful squeeze didn't subside even after she returned to her senses. Her 
hands twitched longingly as she worked her way down Hinata's back, inching 
closer and closer to that succulent forbidden fruit, now hanging so 
tantalizingly within reach. 

*Maybe if I asked first? 'Hinata-chan? I know this is gonna sound weird, but 
whatever Kiba's told you, I'm _not_ a lesbian- so can I touch your boobs?' 
Yeah, that doesn't sound perverted at all... Dammit!* It probably wouldn't 
be satisfying if Hinata just _let_ her do it, anyway; she didn't want to cop 
a feel so much as she wanted to hear the shy girl squeal. 

*I'm horrible,* Sakura scolded herself, stubbornly yanking her hands away 
from Hinata's sides. *Hinata-chan doesn't deserve to be treated like that!* 
Finishing her work with stoic efficiency, Sakura released the breath she was 
holding and backed away. "All done!" she declared, congratulating herself on 
a small victory over her inner psycho. Despite constant temptation, she 
hadn't even so much as tickled her maddeningly cute 'bodyguard.' 

Mumbling a second bashful "Thank you," Hinata picked up her wash bucket and 
dumped it over her head. This time, Sakura didn't need any doujutsu 'eye of 
insight' to see the tension in the brunette's shoulders and back as the 
curtain of suds parted.

*So she did notice...* Swallowing a melancholy sigh, Sakura wordlessly 
returned to her own stool, not wanting to make her friend any more 
uncomfortable. *I wish she'd just say something.* Sadly, Hinata was too nice 
to make a fuss, even if she thought she was about to be ravaged by some 
deranged sexual predator. 

Hearing the other girl stand, Sakura was surprised to find Hinata moving 
toward her, washcloth in hand. "W-would you like me to wash your back now?" 
the pale girl offered, the hopeful look on her face wilting slightly under 
Sakura's stare of confusion.

"...You don't have to do that, Hinata-chan," Sakura finally managed to 
protest, but the gratitude in her voice much have reached Hinata, for the 
brunette didn't retreat.

"It's no trouble," Hinata replied, brightening once more. When Sakura raised 
no further objections, Hinata came closer and knelt behind her. "Could you 
hand me the-"

"Got it!" Hardly able to believe her luck, Sakura quickly bent over to grab 
the soap by her feet. *Maybe she didn't notice after all.* As she was 
twisting around to hand the bottle back, Hinata leaned forward to take it 
from her, and Sakura suddenly felt something warm and wet pressing up 
against her arm. 

Their faces only inches apart, both girls reddened simultaneously, but for a 
moment neither Sakura nor Hinata neither moved to disengage. *Wow, they're 
soft too...* Sakura mused in wonderment.

"Ah!" Realizing what she was doing, the pink-haired girl hastily released 
her grip on the soap and turned away. Behind her, Hinata also let out a 
mousey little squeak as she fumbled to catch the slippery plastic bottle. 

"S-sorry..." Sakura mumbled sheepishly, once it sounded like Hinata had 
things under control. She wasn't quite she what she was apologizing for, but 
it felt like the safest thing to do. 

"N-no, that was my fault," Hinata assured her in a meek, quavering voice 
that burned the image of the other girl's deliciously flustered face into 
the front of Sakura's mind. 

*Kyaaa- so cute!* Valiantly fighting the evil impulse to whip around and 
tackle her adorable playmate, Sakura gripped her knees and squeezed her eyes 
shut, waiting for the moment to pass. *No! Bad! No abusing Hinata!* Her 
attention focused inward, Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when the felt 
the first brush of Hinata's hands on her back.

The pink-haired kunoichi had to draw on every shred of self control she had 
to keep from vibrating out of her seat while Hinata worked, but she 
persevered, praying for Hinata to finish quickly. Much to Sakura's dismay, 
however, the seconds soon stretched into minutes as the Gentle Fist user 
deftly kneaded Sakura's knotted muscles, trying to massage away the dynamic 
tension that Sakura's desperate internal struggle was creating. 

For a moment, the pleasurable torment ceased. Then, almost clairvoyantly 
Sakura sensed Hinata's fingers nearing again, this time pausing to hover 
just out of reach. Hesitantly they descended, tracing a curving path from 
Sakura's left shoulder, down her back and around her right hip. The shy girl 
said nothing, but Sakura could feel the electric prickle of Hinata's curious 
gaze on her skin.

"I had some close calls during the invasion," Sakura supplied, thankful for 
the distraction. "One of the ninja I fought used razor wire." A scattering 
of fine white lines now crisscrossed Sakura's body, attesting to how close 
that fight had truly been. 

There were medical jutsu to remove scars, but it was hard to get approval 
for such 'vanity operations' during times of war. *I should have just asked 
Yoshinari-san if he could do something about them,* Sakura realized, 
grimacing at her own stupidity. "Ugly, aren't they?" she observed. 

"No!" Hinata cried with far more force than Sakura was expecting. "No, I 
wouldn't- I wasn't thinking that! I can barely see them! I only noticed 
because you're- you're blushing..." 

Trailing off awkwardly, Hinata resumed scrubbing, though she seemed 
distracted. "...I wish I could have helped," she added with a regretful 
sigh. "I collapsed during Naruto-kun's fight; I couldn't do anything..."

"I couldn't do much either," Sakura commiserated, glancing over her shoulder 
to give Hinata a weak smile. 

Staring at her owlishly, Hinata seemed surprised at this admission. "But 
Shino-kun said you helped rescue Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun."

"Did he?" Sakura quirked an eyebrow. *I wonder how much he told her.* She'd 
sworn Shino to secrecy about her techniques, and any information regarding 
the capture of enemy ninja was considered classified, which didn't leave a 
whole lot left to say. 

"It was the other way around," Sakura corrected ruefully, unable to mask the 
bitterness that welled up in her throat. "I tried to help, but in the end 
Naruto had to rescue me again..."

"That doesn't mean you didn't do anything!" Hinata argued, a hitch of envy 
creeping into her voice. "At least you were there. Shino-kun wouldn't say 
what happened, but he thinks you're really strong. He warned Kiba-kun not to 
fight you because he'd definitely lose."

"Kiba wants to fight me?" Sakura blinked in confusion. *Why the hell do all 
of the loud idiots want to fight me all of a sudden?*

"He was really mad at you couple weeks ago," Hinata confirmed with a nod. 
"Shino-kun said you used a genjutsu on him that made him do something really 
embarrassing."

*Ooooh, _that_.* Sakura tried not to think about the ramen incident; it 
wasn't a pleasant memory for her either. *Dammit, I should'a just ripped his 
#*@&$^in' tongue out!* Now, thanks to Kiba's big mouth (and a small 
miscalculation on her part), not only did the entire village think she was 
gay, but Sasuke-kun probably thought she was some sort of sadistic monster.

"Hinata-chan, what do you think of me?" Sakura asked suddenly, turning 
around to give the white-eyed girl an earnest, pleading look. "I know you've 
heard lots of horrible things about me, but you act like it doesn't bother 
you. Are you scared of me? Do I make you uncomfortable? Do you think I'm 
weird? Tell me the truth."

Rocking back on her heels at the need that burned in Sakura's lambent green 
eyes, Hinata pulled her hands to her chest defensively. "I- no, I'm not..." 
she wavered, her gaze drifting to the floor, but then her brow furrowed and 
a tiny frown appeared on her lips.

Locking eyes with Sakura once more, Hinata sat up a little straighter, as if 
to prepare herself. "I-" Chewing her lip, the pale girl dropped her restless 
hands to her lap. "I- I like you a lot, Sakura-chan!"

Hinata's cheeks flared brighter as she realized how that sounded, and her 
composure fizzled with an almost audible 'pop!' "But not like- I mean, I 
really admire you!" she amended dizzily. "You're confident and smart and 
strong- but when I talk to you, you don't..." Shrinking a little, Hinata 
looked away again. "You don't seem so different from me. When I'm with you, 
I feel like maybe I could be that way too..."

*Hinata-chan...* Not letting herself think twice, Sakura lunged forward to 
capture the shy girl in a fierce embrace. "S-stupid," she whispered 
hoarsely, burying her face in the crook of Hinata's neck. "Why the hell 
would'ja wanna be like me?"

Though she'd felt Hinata stiffen at her touch, the brunette's hands were 
warm and accepting as they wrapped around Sakura's back, pulling her close. 
"I told you," Hinata murmured, "you're amazing."

"Only if ya mean amazingly (#$%&^ed up," the green-eyed kunoichi growled.

Pulling away slightly, Hinata gave Sakura a frown that was probably meant to 
be scolding, but only managed to make her look like a sad-eyed puppy. "You 
shouldn't be so hard on yourself," she pouted.

Despite the sincerity of Hinata's rebuke, Sakura had to laugh. "You're one 
to talk," she quipped. Not wanting to let go of Hinata to sit back down, 
Sakura grinned wickedly and spread her legs to straddle Hinata's lap 
instead. 

"Besides," she purred, snuggling closer to bask in the incandescent glow 
that lit Hinata's face like a 240 watt bulb, "maybe I'm a bad girl who 
deserves to be punished."

"S-s-saa-Sakura-chan?!" Squirming helplessly, Hinata stared wild-eyed at the 
affectionate pink python that had just slithered around her waist. "W-wait! 
I-"

"I love you too, Hinata-chan" Sakura whispered playfully, giving the 
brunette a friendly peck on the cheek, "but not like- huh?" A stab of worry 
shook Sakura out of her licentious stupor as Hinata's entire body seized up, 
then suddenly went limp, a though her adorable new toy had blown a fuse. 
"...Hinata-chan?" Panic welled in the pink-haired girl's stomach as she 
shook her unresponsive companion. "H-hey, are you okay? Hinata-chan?!"




S  U  I  R  E  N




To be continued... soon, really ^_^;...

~Eimii

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