Imperial Judgment

Written and typed by LittleMissEffervescent

Chapter One

Clash

"Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue."

- Confucius

'I should have skipped this town.' Sakura thought regretfully. 'I ought to have known when I saw that emblem.'

Sakura had noticed that billowing flag as she silently strolled into this small town. It wasn't much of a concern to her; Japanese soldiers hardly ever had permanent outposts in this part of the country – it was probably left there by passing soldiers as a reminder to the citizens of the town who was above them. She was just fleeting through the town, maybe stopping occasionally to purchase some supplies and food but nothing else. She didn't plan on remaining anywhere for too long. It was just her. This part of Guizhou Province was particularly hilly and it was going to take her awhile to pass.

Her plans arrived to a sharp halt when she spotted the tall, armed and obviously foreign men standing not fifty feet from where she was paying for some medical supplies. They were browsing through a large booth that sold antiques and rare trinkets. Though, Sakura noted, there were only two men, they were armed and very physically fit. One was busy searching through the booth, noisily making comments and asking for suggestions from his comrade. The other was slightly taller than the boisterous blonde beside him and was standing silently outside the booth, most likely ignoring his teammate.

Pulling on her pointed straw kasa, Sakura handed the woman her due and silently slipped out the store, purchase placed quickly in her side bag. She attempted to stroll past the two soldiers unnoticed, keeping a deliberate but casual pace.

Sakura was not ten feet from the dark haired man standing outside the booth when a small child ran blindly down the street and bumped into her with unceremonious grace. The little boy fell back with a groan and, after gathering his bearings, looked up fearfully at Sakura's shadowed face.

"I-I'm… sorry, sir," the small boy whimpered while stepping back frightfully. "I didn't mean to run into you. Please forgive me." The boy bowed lowly and seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Sakura bit her tongue from cursing aloud. The little boy's sniffling whimper had caught the attention of the two soldiers standing well within earshot of her. They both had turned around slightly to gaze at her. Sakura sighed and bent down to eye level with the child in front of her.

She pat the small boy's head with small affection. The boy looked up with an expression of pure terror. "It's fine. Just watch where you're running next time. You could get someone and yourself hurt." Deliberately turning her voice into a soft tenor, Sakura gave a kind, reassuring smile and stood.

"Yes, sir." Gazing at her with a grateful smile, the boy nodded profusely and wiped the tears off his cheeks. "I'll be careful next time." He turned and quickly ran back in the direction he came from.

Straightening, Sakura readjusted her kasa casually, lowering it to conceal her most noticeable features. Her vivid pink hair was tied in a high, messy bun that was covered by her straw woven kasa and its shadow obscured the soldiers' view of her bright green eyes. The most the soldiers would be able to comprehend was that she was a very feminine male.

Shifting her side bag slightly, Sakura slowly began walking forward, heading towards the edge of town. The two soldiers in front of the antique booth were both now observing her with subtle interest, much to her annoyance. As she passed the two, she cast a sharp sidelong glance at them and smirked at the blonde's noticeable reaction. He had done a full double take and his mouth was open in disbelief.

She heard a harshly distinct whisper behind her. "Hey, did you see the guy's eyes? Have you seen anyone in China with green eyes?"

"Shut up, idiot. He can still hear you." Sakura smiled at the other man's baritone response. Both soldiers had believed that she was a man, much to her relief.

Her thoughts on the soldiers being foreigners were confirmed also. Both men had spoken in hushed Japanese, no doubt with a classic Edo dialect. They probably didn't understand the short conversation she had had with the small boy in Mandarin. The soldiers also most likely didn't know that she could understand them either. She smiled as she walked away from the two soldiers.

Sakura walked down the empty dirt path through the dense forest, her side bag shifting against her hip with every step. Haphazard tree branches wove over the path and the shadows created intricate webs beneath her feet as she trekked through the forest. She stared ahead absently and sighed. Sakura was beginning to get irritated. Her temper didn't usually get the better of her and she normally had unlimited patience but this was getting downright annoying.

She paused as the dirt path slowly faded and widened as she approached a small, vacant clearing that led to an open grassy riverbank. Sakura discovered a tall, shady tree beside the verdant bank and sat down, leaning against the tree's base and sprawling her legs out carelessly. Pulling her sword out from behind her and setting it beside her, she lifted her kasa slightly and uncovered her eyes.

Her bright viridian eyes scanned the bank indifferently before she scoffed lightly. "If you're going to tail someone, you should at least make a decent effort to cover your presence. Do you mind coming out? You've been stalking me for nearly three hours. It's getting a bit irritating." She spoke in standard Mandarin, hoping to discover something worthwhile about her pursuers.

Silence answered her tenor request. Rolling her eyes, Sakura lowered her kasa once again and leaned back against the tree, preparing to take a short sleep.

"Do you honestly think it's a good idea to fall asleep when there are dangerous and armed men within killing distance of you?" a baritone voice asked, bored.

Sakura opened one of her eyes and smiled. "Do you honestly have it in you to kill me?" She replied, amused, in Mandarin.

"You're pretty good," a scratchy, cheerful voice remarked thoughtfully. "You wouldn't happen to be in one of the Special Ops. Squads Tsunade sent to this province, would you?"

Sakura sat up fully and lifted her kasa before resting it in her lap. Loose strands of long pink hair billowed silently around her face as she regarded the two men in front of her critically, her bright green eyes intrepid and fierce.

The blonde blinked repeatedly before pointing excitedly at her. "You're a woman!"

Sakura laughed lightly. "I believe I am. Now, I'm going to repeat myself; do you have it in yourselves to kill me?" She continued to answer in Mandarin, testing how broad the men's knowledge of Chinese was.

The blond bright blue eyes twinkled with amusement. "We got a fierce one. Why would we kill you?"

Sakura's eyes flickered towards the blonde's comrade. The blond man laughed lightheartedly. "Nah, Sasuke wouldn't kill you. He's too much of an ass."

Sakura had to admit; the blond companion was easy to look at. The dark haired male, Sasuke, was tall and slender, yet you could see the powerful and toned muscles, the smooth features of his face, the dark slate eyes, and onyx hair styled in rebellious spikes. He was dressed in, what Sakura recognized to be, an ANBU uniform that suited him perfectly. The infamous swirled tattoo on his left bicep stood out against his pale skin. And then, he sneered at her.

Sasuke scoffed. "I have enough pride to not kill a helpless and dimwitted woman who thinks she can parade around with a sword at hand with no knowledge of what it is, much less, how to use it."

Sakura retorted with equal malice. "I have perfectly decent knowledge of what a sword is thank you… along with how to use it. You needn't make assumptions about people you know nothing about. It's an annoying habit I find in people," she spat, her cheeks turning pink with suppressed rage. "Are you royalty? Where the hell do you get off treating people like they're beneath you?"

The blond was looking between Sakura and Sasuke with a hesitant smile before bursting out with a wide grin.

"Haven't seen someone like her before," the blond grinned foxily. He took a step forward and waved with a friendly smile at Sakura. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you. Don't mind Sasuke. He's just pissed because he and I were stationed in this province instead of our country's frontier like we were supposed to. Good thing we learned Mandarin when we were younger or we wouldn't understand shit in this country."

Still glaring spitefully at Sasuke, Sakura stood up, grabbing her sword and kasa, and approached Naruto. "It's nice to meet you too." She shook Naruto's hand lightly before placing her kasa back in its place and readjusting her sword back on her back. "I'll be seeing you, then." Giving a short wave, Sakura strode past the two soldiers and headed toward a dirt path on the other side of the clearing.

"By the way…" She murmured in Mandarin as she stopped short to turn toward to the two men observing her. She flashed them both a friendly smile before saying in perfectly executed Japanese, "I have enough compassion to not kill such an arrogant, chauvinistic and absolute pathetic excuse of a man. Welcome to Guizhou Province, China."

"The thing most women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it."
- Roseanne Barr

Shall I continue?

Standard disclaimer for my FanFiction:

Naruto is the rightful property of Masashi Kishimoto. If I were the owner, Karin would've been skewered and roasted alive by now. And yes, that is a suggestion, Kishimoto. I recommend you use it.