A fair-skinned brunette stood in the centre of the dark room trying to ignore the dozens of pairs of hungry eyes scrutinizing her with lewd interest. She would have scoffed but had to resort to looking down at the floor and pulling her arms tighter around her naked chest trying to preserve what little dignity she had left.

She never thought her life would come to this. Taken from her home and family, transported like cargo to a foreign land across the sea, along with fifty other poor girls. Now here she was – for sale. It didn't feel real, like a nightmare she was desperately trying to wake up from.

The only reason she survived the horrific journey in the suffocating belly of that ship was Hinata and Tenten. Two girls in the same situation and locked in the same crate as her. They had encouraged and comforted each other when things were at their worst, forming an unbreakable bond. They kept each other alive.

"I think they should have thrown this one overboard," someone suggested when Sari had been ushered to the centre of the room.

She took a deep breath and tried to drown out the sound of cruel mirth that followed the comment. The old Sari would have stridden over and slapped her tormentor hard across the face for his insolence. But the ordeal of the past weeks had crushed her vibrant spirit and all but destroyed her faith in human nature. She had come to realise the world was a cold, cruel place with no tolerance for a self assured happy-go-lucky young girl like her former self.

The old prostitute who ran the auction house stepped forward. "Any bids?"

A few men stepped forward to have a closer look at her, inspecting her scrawny arms and pallid face but they returned to their seats seemingly disinterested. She ought to be grateful at their looks of disdain; it meant that she would not be subjected to the likes of their ownership. But honestly what woman would take pride in rejection?

She wasn't strong like Tenten. She wasn't beautiful like Hinata. She was thin and weak from the weeks at sea but she held her head high and returned each reproachful stare sent her way. She would not falter.

Hinata and Tenten had both had their turn in front of the crowd to be sold and now it was hers.

The room stayed silent, no one seemed to want this scrawny, plain looking foreign girl. Sari bit her lip. Impatience flickered across the sallow face of the old prostitute and a sick feeling churned in the pit of Sari's stomach. What would happen if she didn't get sold? Would she suffer the same fate as the bodies of the girls that had not made it, disposed of like trash?

"Four dollars" came a voice from the crowd.

Sari looked at the woman who had bid on her. She had a tired painted face like the one who ran the place and Sari realised she must have been a prostitute also. There was only one reason for someone like her to buy a young girl; she was going to be sold to a brothel. Sari's dismay spiralled into panic.

"Six dollars" called the man from the front row. He had hair as dark as his eyes and was slouched back in his chair as if bored by the proceedings. Sari could tell by his fine robes that he was wealthy. She didn't want to consider the reasons a man like him would buy a girl from a back alley auction house.

"No more bids? Sold to Sabaku no Kankuro"

Before she even had a chance to catch her breath and absorb what had happened the old prostitute ushered Sari back to the airless room where the girls who had already been sold were waiting. She found Hinata and Tenten and went over to them, they were clutching each other and crying but when they saw her approach they sprang apart.

Tenten had been sold to a farmer and Hinata to a wealthy businessman for a massive sum.

"Have you been sold?" Hinata asked.

With a sigh Sari nodded.

"Who bought you?" asked Tenten tipping her a look of friendly concern.

"I don't know" Sari answered sitting down wearily. "He was called Sabaku no Kankuro but I don't know who he is or why he bought me."

"What does he look like?" Tenten persisted

"He was the dark haired one sitting in the front row."

Tenten peered through the gap in the curtain into the room where another young girl had taken centre-stage. "The meat-head with the bored expression? He bought Yukata as well."

Sari looked over at Yukata, another brown-eyed, dark haired beauty. She was lying on a mat nearby just staring into space, completely detaching herself from the situation.

"What do you think he wants you for?" asked Tenten drawing her attention back to their little group.

Sari wondered herself, "I don't know...

One of the servants guarding the doors in case any of the girls tried to run away—but really, where would they run to in this shadowy depraved foreign city?—had been listening to their conversation and sniggered. "You've got no idea what you're in for do you girly?" he said with a smirk.

"It's rude to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations" snapped Tenten glaring at him.

"Shut up bitch, I wasn't talking to you!" he turned his attention back to Sari. "I heard Kankuro say he bought you as a concubine for his brother Gaara."

Concubine.

The word echoed in her ears and a shudder rippled through her slender frame. Of the few possible futures ahead of her concubine was not the worst. It was better than working for a cheap brothel or suffocating down in the pitch black hell of a coal mine she reasoned swallowing her apprehension.

The three girls stared at him.

"Have none of you heard of Sabaku no Gaara?" enquired servant incredulously.

"Obviously not, care to enlighten us?" Tenten shot back sardonically.

The man stepped towards her with his arm raised ready to teach her a lesson but stopped himself apparently deciding it wasn't worth his mistresses' wrath if he damaged the merchandise.

"You better watch your mouth missy, it's gonna get you into trouble" he said threateningly.

Tenten scowled, her lips parted with promise of what was to come but Sari quickly interrupted before the feisty brunette pushed it too far. "Could you tell us who Sabaku no Gaara is?" she asked very politely.

A look of cruel amusement crept into the servant's eyes. "The Sabakus are an old noble family from the desert. The head of the family is always also the Kazekage of the desert village Suna. But that's not the point." He waved it off smirking evilly at Sari "The Kazekage, your new master, is a cruel and merciless man. A murderer. People who cross him tend to just 'disappear'." He leaned in towards her until his face was inches away from hers, Sari could smell his putrid breath. "If he doesn't like you, or if you piss him off, you may just join them" he said in a vindictive whisper before laughing loudly.

That night the trio held onto each other tightly, dreading the sunrise. Laying rigid on her mat Sari didn't sleep a wink, the servant's description of her new master played on repeat in her head. She could pictured him clearly, a darker version of his brother. Eyes black and devoid of all pity, the corners of his mouth turning up in a sadistic grin as he thought of all the pain and despair he could inflict on this worthless, ugly foreign girl.

Inevitably the morning came and so did the tears she had kept bottled up inside her. It was time for them to separate.

Hinata's opal eyes had gone crimson, bloodshot from all the crying. "Will we ever see each other again?"

"If not in this life, in the afterlife," Tenten joked trying to lighten the mood as she had become accustomed to doing. But no amount of fake smiles and sunshine could brighten the dismal mood which pervaded amongst them.

"We will see each other again." Sari said firmly .But as much as she wished it were true the waver in her voice betrayed the doubt she felt in her heart.

So with one final embrace and a heavy heart Sari turned away from them and towards her uncertain future