Preview of Chapter 21 – Perfect

Author’s note: Promised to have the new chapter posted on my birthday. Didn’t happen! But I did get a foot of snow, which is a lovely birthday gift really. So instead of writing, I have been enjoying the deep winter weather. So in honor of snow, and of birthdays, and of leaving things undone in order to “kiss the joys as they fly,” a gift to you: another preview of the upcoming chapter. (Needs a little more polishing, so please forgive any choppy writing or errors.)

Chapter 21 – Perfect

Everything seemed brighter when Sakura returned to Konoha. People seemed friendlier, medic training and hospital shifts were easier — even her tedious Team 7 missions were more bearable.

She floated through her daily routines, aware of where her good mood stemmed from. She had to remind herself not to say anything to anyone. But before she knew it, the time was at hand to collect her next mission scroll.

Sakura stood patiently at Tsunade’s desk, waiting, watching the top of her blonde head as Hokage went over some paperwork.

“And you were happy with the last mission, Sakura?” she questioned, not looking up.

“Yes!” she said with a bright smile. “I thought it went off alright.”

Tsunade sat back and apprised her student. Red nails clicked on the desk for a moment before she picked up a scroll that had arrived that day.

“Well, they were certainly happy with you,” she said, handing her the letter. Sakura flushed at the kind words of the innkeeper.

Tsunade laid her hand over a small pile of scrolls, each end bearing colorful and unfamiliar wax seals. Sakura frowned lightly.

“Word travels fast,” the Hokage said wryly to her apprentice. “You have been requested specifically for several missions.”

Sakura’s eyes went wide. Tsunade chuckled.

“Yes, I think this is enough to keep you occupied well into the autumn,” she said. “And I’m sure there will be more.”

“Wow….” Sakura said quietly.

Tsunade leaned back in her seat and surveyed the girl.

“And you are still comfortable with these border country missions?”

“Hai, Tsunade-sama,” Sakura said quickly. “These have proved to be no more challenging than the ones within Fire Country.”

She drummed her fingers on the desk, considering the young kunoichi. Sakura patiently withstood the scrutiny. Tsunade nodded finally, having come to some decision.

“Do not let your guard down. Ever. Each country, each mission is unique. And I have little way of knowing which of these,” she flicked her fingers at the pile of scrolls, “will cause you the most trouble.”

Sakura nodded.

“Take every precaution. As you well know, you are on your own out there.”

“Hai, Tsunade-sama,” the kunoichi said, pushing down the giddy urge to grin. But in her mind, she contradicted the Hokage. She knew she was no longer alone out there.

“These towns may have no problem begging for assistance from outside their borders,” the Hokage grumbled, “but you don’t have that luxury.”

“As a Konoha kunoichi, the only ones you can ever trust are fellow Leaf nins. And some of these will take you quite far from our borders. If you should need aid, it might be several days in getting to you….”

Sakura bowed her head. She took the Hokage’s chiding as it was intended: It was the formidable woman’s way of showing she cared. But she couldn’t ignore the hesitation in Tsunade’s voice.

“I do not take any mission lightly, Hokage-sama,” Sakura said earnestly.

That seemed to placate her. Tsunade reached for the top-most scroll from the pile, and she and Sakura began reviewing requests.

Tsunade’s words were still on her mind as she left the village a few days later on her next assignment.

Though there was a pang of guilt at forging an alliance with a foreign shinobi, Sakura knew she trusted Katsuro with her life, as much as she would with any other Konoha nin. She was venturing into the unknown, but she knew she wasn’t alone. And that gave her a measure of comfort.

This one was more straightforward, and her host, a local politician, much less hospitable. But Sakura didn’t mind. She was on her own in the evenings.

No high flying ideals here, Sakura thought as she watched the long table of men hammer out a trade agreement. All the heads of local families…and one young kunoichi. The irony wasn’t lost on her.

The men tolerated her. Although she already had a full roster of missions where she was specifically requested, this was not one of them. And though no one would utter a word of displeasure at her presence, Sakura couldn’t ignore the unhappy looks she got from many of them. She wasn’t hired by the town, specifically, but by the one who stood to loose the most. He was interested in keeping things above board.

She cast a glance sideways down the long low table. The men all wore different colors, different symbols, anything and everything to standout from their neighbors, but to her eye they all looked the same. All shifting eyes and sour expressions. Their contempt for her was second to their contempt for each other.

After the first full day of bargaining, haggling, then rescinding all offers, Sakura was completely happy to leave the struggles of the day behind and take a walk.

She ate a quick quiet meal at the modest inn, then asked about any scenic walks in the area, hoping to draw as little suspicion as possible to her actions if, in fact, Katsuro did show up for a few evenings.

The widower who ran it directed her to a path past the hot springs. Sakura had seen it the night before when she arrived. A graveled walk, lined by a low stone wall, that ran quietly away toward the dense woodland beyond the town. She had already guessed that would be her first route to try.

Setting out into the hush of early evening, Sakura followed the path as it carried her away from the town, crossed a bridge of the celadon-hued river and wound up into the blueing hillside. She caught the view over her shoulder.

In the dying light, the river looked like a soft green thread winding through town. At the center, plumes of steam floated about the rocky hot springs, the white drifts taking on a rosy hue from the many lanterns just then being lit.

The town looked as peaceful as their reputed hot springs were.

She turned her back on the scene. Ahead of her the stone-lined walk wound even higher into a deep bamboo thicket.

All around her, uniform tall green trunks swayed gently. Crunching up the pebbled path, Sakura’s footfalls sent the thin slivers of leaves swirling form her feet. The town disappeared completely.

Sakura had to admit, it was a remarkable place, but stayed she on alert.

The lines of bamboo were beautiful. And concealing. She supposed anyone other visitor would breathe in the repetitive beauty. But her training kept her from feeling completely at ease. The black shadows of the bamboo were the perfect hiding place. The rigid emerald lines played tricks on the eyes. An attacker could be standing mere feet from you, and you simply wouldn’t know it.

But, if she thought like Katsuro, then this would be the perfect spot to meet. He could appear in front of her, then dissolve back into the thicket at a moment’s notice.

The cool evening night air rustled the paper leaves again, and ruffled the edge of her hair. But the breeze that licked around her throat was a little warmer. Something was different. Perhaps he was here—

“Sakura,” a voice came softly from the bamboo trees behind her.

She spun around, already smiling.

Katsuro stepped out form between the long lines of bamboo then stopped, one hand coming to rest on a fallen trunk that slanted in front of him like a bar.

With his other hand slung carelessly in his pocket, he looked at her differently than he had in the past. Instead of enthusiasm or unbridled joy, he fixed her with a long steady look. Only the slow tugging up at the corner of his mouth gave any hint of his true feelings. His brown eyes held a measure of warmth that Sakura could nearly feel.

Katsuro’s shoulders rose and fell with a slow breath, but the soft half-smile never wavered. It was as if something were unwinding inside him. As if some anxiousness or unease had abated.

Sakura understood his look. He was grateful she had come. He must have doubted her, she thought.

She smiled tenderly back, guessing at what he would not tell her. That he had waited for her, hoping she would show up but not knowing if she would. Alone in these woods, with only doubt to keep him company. And the hope that she would keep her word.

But Sakura had a mission to do. For her, it was unthinkable not to come here. More than just an pretty promise, her mission was a hard-and-fast obligation, unchangeable. He was the one who came and went as he pleased.

But perhaps he didn’t think about those things. Perhaps he was only thinking about her.

Breaking the stillness of the moment, Katsuro beckoned her silently to come with him with a quick nod of his head.

Sakura smiled warmly. One hand on the low stone wall, she hopped over into the walled-off wilderness. Sakura wove around the thick bamboo trunks till she got to the slanted one. Then, crossing that final obstacle, she looked up into Katsuro’s smiling face. And they both disappeared into the swaying green bamboo thicket.