Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters in any way.

XxXxX

She had been called many things in her life. Weak, pathetic, fangirl, bitch. None of them, however, actually succeed in describing what she really is.

The people who surround the female don't know the real her, hidden underneath the mask of an incompetent, love struck girl. They don't know how much she really knows or how much she's done.

That's exactly how she likes it. Being underestimated is one of her greatest weapons. But like every good thing, it has to come to an end eventually and she'll be damned if she isn't the one who decides when and where she takes her mask off.

For as long as she can remember she had watched the comings and goings of the world. She had listened and learned wherever she could. She taught herself everything she knows; how to find food, how to cook it, how to manipulate people to meet her own ends. She knows where forbidden information is hidden and how to get it. She knows who to watch and who to listen to so she can get what she wants.

Like every good puppeteer she is patient and soon she had her strings placed where she wanted them both physically and metaphysically speaking.

Humming a tune, viridian eyes looked up from the book she had been reading and she smirked. Soon she would take she mask off and then people would see her for what she really was.

They would see the puppeteer.

XxXxX

She had been born different from other people. In fact, if she were honest with herself, she hadn't been born at all. She was merely created.

Created without a purpose on the whim of a madman but she didn't mind.

Not having one set for her at the beginning meant she could create her own. She could do what she liked when she liked.

The world was much different back then. Not as many Born Humans and not as much disrespect. She could remember a time when Born Humans and Created Humans alike would look at her with fear and respect in their eyes. They would tremble at the very mention of her name as she was the Created Without a Purpose. She had free reign over where she went, what she did and what she thought and that made her dangerous.

Born Humans were made without a purpose in mind but they were weak and fragile. They were no threat. Created Humans had a purpose laid out for them. They were strong and intelligent but didn't have the free will to do damage. They were no threat.

Then she came along. A Created with free will and yes, she was and still is a threat.

The difference between then and now is that the Created have all but been forgotten; nothing about them was mentioned anymore except for in myths and legends. They were just stories to be told by the light of a fire.

Born Humans have become stronger (though still weaker than a Created) as well as more arrogant. By now all the Created have died out, their purposes fulfilled and no one left to make more. All of them that is, except for one.

Without a set purpose she kept changing hers to suite the time and so she never had to end. She allowed herself to become the stuff of legends and took on a different role each time she was needed.

No longer in the spotlight she kept to the shadows. She watched as hero's came and went and villains rose and were defeated. All the while she learned. Sometimes she would come out of her self-imposed exile and join in. She would choose a side and fight for it and her side always won.

She became an expert in all areas; Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, as well as becoming a master swordswomen. All to give herself a purpose.

Another era came and ended and the makings of a new village had started when she felt it. Deep in her bones there was a sense of foreboding and she knew that this new village would be the start of something.

So she watched and waited for the show to begin.

She saw the beginning of a lot of things being what she was but nothing compared so far with the beginning of the Uchiha Clan. A seemingly small event when compared with some of the wars she had seen and been through but she knew that, like a small stone falling into the water, this would create ripples which would be felt for many years to come.

From underneath the shadows of others where she liked to watch she saw the stone which would begin it all. A Born Human by the name of Uchiha Madara.

The tall, proud, beautiful man was a force to be reckoned with and she wanted to see how this would unfold. She knew that this man was a danger being almost as strong as she was but it didn't matter. She made sure he didn't know she existed.

Despite that however, as she hid in the shadows she watched and she continued learned. She taught herself his weaknesses and strengths and his habits. If the time ever came where she would have to defend herself against this man she would be prepared.

Years passed and, just as she saw the beginning of this man, she saw his end.

The title of Hokage.

He was so sure he would be the first, and when it went to Senju Hashirama he couldn't accept it. He tried to rebel but back then the other Uchiha's wouldn't follow him because at the time, they wanted peace.

After an epic battle which she would never forget the Shodai Hokage managed to defeated him in what is now known as the Battle of the Valley of the End.

She remembered every detail of that fight and since then she has often returned to the Valley of the End to remember the past. Most of the time she would get the feeling that she hadn't seen the last of the Uchiha

And so another passing of another era and she was still alive. Still without a purpose. Still in the shadows.

Still learning.

XxXxX

It was a clear night when she decided to return. After over sixty years of wandering through the shinobi Nations, learning, watching and meeting new people, she decided it was time to return to Konoha; the once-home of the Madara.

By now she had gained two new skills; the ability to use medical jutsu as well as social skills. In her travels she had met many a missing nin and had managed to befriend a few. She had even taken on a few of them as lovers though there were only two or three of them that she would truly miss.

But now she was coming back to 'true civilisation'. She would no longer be out in the wild.

She had a feeling that things were about to start happening again.

She had a feeling again that the ripples were going to begin to hit the edge of the pond.

She packed the few belongings she had and started off toward the Village hidden In The Leaves.

XxXxX

She had stood outside the gates, just far enough away that the guards wouldn't see her or detect her chakra.

Fools, she had thought. After everything you would think that they would put a bit more effort to secure the front gate. She could remember a time when you could see shinobi lining the walls, eyes alert and fixed on the roads watching and waiting; ready for the slightest danger. How the mighty have fallen.

It didn't look like how she had remembered it. The streets had been emptier and some of the buildings were in the process of being fixed.

It was to be expected though, she thought in retrospect. After the Kyuubi attack and the death of The Fourth, Konoha's resources had been stretched thin. Apparently it had been a bloody fight before The Fourth had managed to seal the nine tails in a newborn child. According to some of the whispers (from relatively reliable sources) it had been his own son.

That had been another for her coming back. She had seen how other vessels were treated by their villages in the past. While a few had managed to secure some form of respect like the Third Tail's vessel a lot of them were treated like tools or just rejected by society in general.

Coming out of her reverie she had decided that she had spent enough time thinking about things which really didn't concern her. She had done a quick henge which, while simple in and of itself, was flawless.

Through years of experience she had perfected this technique which every ninja knew.

After that passing though she had grabbed a scroll out of her bag and summoned two objects. Then she had walked through the gates...a young girl with pink hair and stunning viridian eyes and her two parents. A young girl called that would come to be known as Sakura Haruno.

XxXxX

So that's how she got to where she was now. Dusting off her hands as she stood she started putting away the book she had been reading. She had played her part perfectly after arriving at the village gates thirteen years ago.

She turned her head to look at the two figures slumped against the wall. Lifeless glass eyes stared back. Oh yes she had played her part well. After all it was the responsibility of the puppeteer to create a believable illusion for the story and she always took pride in her work.

Sakura walked over to the two life-sized puppets leaning against the wall in the bedroom. They were her 'mother' and her 'father'.

In reality they were just two puppets that she had made years ago out of boredom but they served their purposes well enough. Everyone in the village thought she was a normal girl with a normal home life. When she was 'younger' people used to see her walking through the markets trailing behind her laughing parents. They looked like the perfect family especially when compared with her teammates.

One had never met his parents.

Another had lost his at an early age and grew up alone.

The other had lost his father as well as his teammates.

In her time here she had observed how the village worked. Seen how they train their new shinobi.

She watched as her teammates protected her because they thought she was weak. She watched as they fought amongst themselves. As her supposed teacher failed to teach her much of anything.

She had seen the Suna and Otto nins try and invade the village. She had been attacked by the container of the one-tail and couldn't fight back because that would reveal her true nature.

As the boy she pretended to love abandoned his home, his friends, his village in the pursuit of revenge on his only (known) living relative.

She watched as the other genin and chunin that she knew went after him. Watched as they each fought Otto nins and barely survived.

And there she was. Seemingly perfect. Apparently naive. Considered weak.

She was none of those things. No one even suspected that her parents weren't real. They were just pieces of shaped wood which had been painted and dressed up with a relatively weak illusion placed over them to give the appearance of warmth and life. They were tools of hers and nothing more.

Without her chakra they were just inanimate objects.

Now they were stiff from disuse as both of her parents had apparently passed away while visiting family in a nearby civilian town years ago.

No one in this village even knew that she had been watching the battle with the Bone Wielder; the white haired boy with the lung disease.

She glanced towards the bedroom window.

They never realised why they never found his body once they returned to the scene of the battle. They had just assumed that the Snake Sanin had taken his subordinates body back to sound as to not reveal the secrets of the curse mark imprinted on his body.

She was getting tired of this village and its people. She disliked the way they had dismissed her despite what powers she had shown. She wanted-… no needed a change.

She needed a challenge and that feeling of excitement that she only ever really got when she amongst the people that most others despised.

Tonight she was going to leave no matter what; neither the village nor any number of its citizens would be able to stop her. It was time for her to make a change and get out of this place. It was stifling here and it was constricting her very soul.

Yes tonight she would leave but she had to pack away a few things first.

XxXxX

Thump.

The filled bag hit the floor, its contents rattling a bit. Her pastel pink hair, which barely brushed against her shoulders, fell in front of her face in a curtain. She sighed in annoyance and brushed it back as she bent down again to grab the small leather pouch filled with gold and silver coins and put it in her pack.

It was filled with her earnings for the last few weeks. It would be enough to survive for at least month, if not a month and a half which was all she really needed. When money was scarce she could hunt for her food.

Glancing around she looked to see if there was anything else that she would need.

Already her puppets were safely stowed away in their scrolls, her various weapons already hidden on her persona or, like the katana laying on her bed, ready to be used should the need arise.

Am I forgetting anything?...Her gaze landed on a floorboard plank and she walked over to it and pried it up. Underneath it there was a small piece of folded cloth.

Picking it up she let the faded material fall away to reveal a small cylindrical pendant attached to a supple, broken-in piece of leather. Staring at it for a moment she slipped it around her neck fastening it with a silver clip.

Placing the panel back she stood and stretched listening to the gratifying sounds of her back cracking and popping. Settling back down to her normal height she grabbed her Katana off its place on the bed and strapped it to her back letting it settle neatly between her shoulder blades and she then put a coat on over it covering it mostly from sight.

Sakura quickly stole a look at herself in the full length mirror on the wall next to the bed. Apart from it, a dressing table, a cupboard and her bed there was nothing else in the room.

The reflection in the mirror showed a young woman around the age of 19 or so. Forming her hands into a hand-sign she whispered, "Kai", and the reflected shape rippled and distorted until the imaged changed and the woman now appeared to be around the age of 21.

She smiled at herself and set about fixing the high collar of the plain black top she wore. Underneath it a dark purple top showed where black top wasn't buttoned up. The beaten long-sleeved leather coat she wore hung to her knees and its hood was down and partially covered by her hair which reached down just past her shoulders.

Plain black pants hugged her legs nicely and flared out slightly around her knees only just showing her plain black army regulation boots which had kunai hidden inside them.

Her arms were adorned with elbow length fingerless gloves mostly obscured by the sleeves of the coat. The material was black like the majority of her attire. They were old and worn but, apart from the occasional scuff, were still in perfect condition despite their age.

Sakura backed out of the room, grabbing her pack on the way out and closing the door behind her.

If anyone was watching her as she walked down her hallway and into the living room they would have noticed a slight bounce in her step but no one was watching and so no one noticed. Huh, too bad for them.

Sparing one long glance around the room she had just walked into she checked the nearest clock. 1:32 am. It was time to get a move on.

Slinging the pack over her shoulder she opened her front door and walked out of the house that had been her home for the last thirteen and a half years.

XxXxX

The streets were empty, not strange considering what time it was though it did put her slightly on edge. It wasn't just empty; it was silent. Pulling her coat tighter around her body she buttoned it up all the while letting her chakra expand outwards in thread-like strands until she had it surrounding her like a web.

The rest of her chakra she brought up to just under the surface of her skin letting it pulse and crackle, ready to be used at a moment's notice. Still not wanting anyone to realise her departure just yet she was careful to still keep it cloaked so no one would notice it.

Sakura stopped just before reaching the gate and pulled her hood up over her head. Slipping into the shadows around the base of the wall she glided along like a wraith until she came to the sentries guarding the entrance.

Moving forward and making sure not to make a sound she slipped up behind the nearest one and touched his back at the base of his neck. Converting the form of her chakra she sent a tiny jolt of electricity into his skin.

He grunted slightly but other than that he didn't make a sound. Quickly, before his partner noticed she slung an arm around his waist, keeping him upright for a few seconds before setting him down at the base of the wall.

Just as the other guard noticed that he was alone she repeated the process and then there were two Chuunin level shinobi lying at the base of the wall.

She made four clones. Two were in their image and those she set at the gate. The other two which shared her own face she made each take one of the two shinobi back to their respective homes. Nodding at the remaining two she made her way out of the gate and out of Konoha.

When she was about ten metres down the main road a wide grin split her shadowed face and a chuckle made its way up her throat. Raising her hands in a hand-sign she spoke the very same words she had said many years ago while discussing something with an old friend.

"Art's a bang."

Back in the village a single building that had once housed a shinobi of Konoha blew up.

XxXxX

8:45 am: The investigation held the next day revealed that there had been no casualties despite the size of the blast and that a natural compound was used as the explosive. For an unknown reason it had burned with an unusual purplish hue.

10:15 pm: The investigation of the explosion turned into a hunt for the missing woman who had lived in the house where the explosion took place.

1:30 pm: The two shinobi who were meant to have been guarding the front gate that night were discovered.

They had been at their home in their beds with no memory of the night before or how they got there despite multiple eye witness accounts of them at their stations until their shift ended at the scheduled time and were relieved by the next two man team as per normal.

1:56 pm: The missing person's investigation then turned into an investigation into the security of the village.

By this time whatever traces of the woman's exit of the village had been washed away by the rain that had fallen earlier that day.

3:37 pm: Sakura Haruno, ANBU and medic nin of Konoha was officially declared MIA and was suspected of treason. Her status was changed to missing nin and she was to be placed in the next bingo book.

Later that night at around 6:45 pm the people in Konoha who knew her personally discussed her disappearance and its implications. They came up with many ways to explain her leaving including that it was an undercover black op which involved her needing to leave the village with the title of a criminal.

At the same time in a bar many miles away from where the afore mentioned people were, in a small bar on the outskirts of some no name town a stranger was sitting at a bar drinking a bottle of sake with a small smile on her lips.

8:11 pm: After ordering three more rounds she finished off her last drink, paid for it and walked of the bar to find the nearest hotel. She wasn't even tipsy.

XxXxX

"Fuck. What a dump. I knew I should have listened to that old woman's advice when she said I should try the other hotel to see if they had any vacancy's before coming to this place." A sigh escaped Sakura's lips before she could stop it as she stared at the bare and dilapidated room.

Dumping her pack at the base of the single bed she continued to talk to herself. "I guess it's better than nothing. Just hope this hell hole has hot water."

Her body moved with a mind of its own, first closing and locking the door then placing a few weapons around in case they were needed. Unconsciously she checked for escape routes and other objects in the room she could use in her defence if she was attacked. After all it never hurts to be prepared.

Her feet had carried her into the bathroom without her consciously thinking about it. Turning the handle labelled "hot" she held her hand under the running water for a few minutes until she was sure that there was indeed hot water in this place.

Nodding to herself she turned the tap off with a sharp twist and walked to the shower. Turning the hot water on first she waited and then started turning the cold water up until the shower water reached a temperature where she could get in.

Leaving the shower running Sakura walked into the other room again and placed her bag onto the bed in front of her which she then rummaged through grabbing a bottle of some no name shampoo, a bar of non scented soap and a loose fitting top, shorts and underwear.

Double checking that the door to her room was locked as well as placing a few wards around it she then walked back into the bathroom, closed the door behind her and proceeded to strip after placing the change of clothes and bath products on the counter below the mirror.

Clothes and weapons fell away to reveal milky white skin and a toned, well proportioned body. Though it was something to admire it wasn't without its own flaws. Scars marred her body from her back, to her stomach to her legs and arms.

These were one of the reasons why she was never assigned a seducftion mission. While she had the body for it the scars would give her away as some type of fighter for sure. It was one of the reasons why she kept them when she could easily heal them or at least make them less noticeable.

While she hadn't been a virgin for a great many years she did not enjoy the thought of seduction missions.

Stepping into the shower Sakura let out a sigh of contentment as the warm water ran over her muscles. The tenseness she didn't even realise was there drained away at the feeling and she ran her hand through her hair and let the water soak through it turning it into a darker more natural red colour instead of its usual pastel pink.

Pouring a bit of the shampoo onto the palm of her hand she then began to wash her hair.

Once the shampoo had been completely rubbed into her hair she leaned back into the path of the water and let it run though her hair washing out all the shampoo.

Then she used the soap and began to wash off the dirt that had accumulated on her skin while she was travelling. Looking down she watched a bubble make its way down her body and onto the floor of the shower and then follow the current of the water down the drain.

Closing her eyes for a minute she began to let her mind wander while listening to the sound of the water. Startled she opened her eyes again and realised that she had been in there longer than she thought.

"The damned waters starting to go cold."

Washing off the last of the soap she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Surprisingly there was a pile of clean towels hanging up on a rack next to the entrance to the door and she grabbed one off it and began to dry herself off.

Leaving the towel hanging around her shoulders she stepped into her panties and then her shorts, re-tied her chest bindings and slipped the top over her head while trying not to get it wet from the water dripping from her hair.

Opening the door to the bathroom she shivered with how cold it was now that there was no steam in the room to keep it warm.

Quickly Sakura started circulating her chakra faster, building up heat and keeping her warm. Moving her hands into a series of hand-signs she performed a small, self-sustaining Kanton. The ball of fire hovered around eye level and she turned her back to it and began running her hands through her hair.

The heat from the jutsu and the heat generated from speeding up her chakra soon had her hair drying and turning back into the familiar pastel colour.

"That's a lot better now. I hate having to go to bed with wet hair." Letting her mind go blank she moved her pack off her bed, but not before grabbing a protein bar out of it.

Slipping under the covers while eating the last bit of the food she let the feeling of drowsiness crash over her.

The light from the fire ball was slowly diminishing as it was burning itself out and by time it had extinguished itself Sakura was already in a light sleep.

XxXxX

It was silent in Konoha. News of Sakura's defection had spread like wildfire and most had slipped into an unbelieving stupor.

How could their kind, caring, weak Sakura do this? How could she leave them? It seemed like an impossibility but the facts were all there.

There were only three people in Konoha who were still awake and who were not on guard duty. Naruto, Kakashi and Sai were gathered together in what was left of their former teammate's home hoping that they would find something that explained this better than treason. It was most likely a futile search as ANBU had already come and gone, having already searched through the wreckage.

Still they had to try.

They had split up, each searching their own area. They had been searching for over an hour when they decided to call it quits.

They regrouped in what was once the front lawn of the house.

"Find anything?" Naruto's blue eyes searched Kakashi's and Sai's and he saw their answer.

His eyes narrowed. "There has to be more to this. There was no warning, no reason for her to leave. We have to be missing something."

Kakashi's shoulders slumped and he sighed.

"I know but from everything we've seen it looks like...well it looks like what their saying is true. I know it's hard to accept but-…."

"Damn it Kakashi! Stop talking like that!" Naruto's voice was reduced to a hiss as he tried to keep quiet so not to wake anyone living in the neighbouring houses.

Sai came to Kakashi's defence. "Kakashi is right Naruto. All signs point to Ugly leaving of her own free will." He had stayed silent to this point but Naruto's refusal to listen to reason was getting on his nerves.

A growl escaped Naruto's lips before he could stop himself. Hs body tensed and Sai's mirrored his as he prepared to dodge the blonds attack. But none came. In a split second the tension in Naruto's body drained away leaving him looking considerably smaller than his real six foot five height.

"….I know….It's just first Sasuke….and now Sakura." He looked at his two older teammates. "I just wanna know why…I just want to understand."

"I don't think we ever will." Both the ink artists and the Kyuubi containers heads turned to look at Kakashi.

"I don't think this is something anyone can understand until their driven to do the same thing. We're just not meant to."

He looked back at them. "Come on there isn't anything more we can do here. Why don't the two of you stay over at my place tonight? I have two guest rooms and plenty of food."

Sai nodded to this after a moment of consideration while Naruto just gave a grunt of agreement. Both turned on their heels and headed off in the direction they knew Kakashi's house was in leaving the Copy ninja alone in front of the rubble.

"Besides," he continued at a whisper, "I could use the company tonight. We all could."

XxXxX

Sunlight shone through the windows of the hotel room unrestrained. Apparently the owner of the building was too cheap to buy curtains for all the rooms.

As a result of this Sakura rose with the sun. She woke as soon as the sunlight fell across her face and she through the covers off her and meandered into the bathroom, still basically half asleep but awake enough to walk around with some semblance of grace.

Going through her morning routine of showering, changing clothes and finding food amongst everything in her bag she slowly became more and more awake as the minutes passed. By time she finished she was fully awake she was ready to go.

The weapons she had placed around the room the night before had been collected and returned to her persona and the wards she had place on the doors and windows were disabled.

The corridors were empty when she left. Most other people were still asleep or just waking up. Reaching the front desk she gave the owner the money she owed him, silently vowing that she would go back there at some in the future and cut his eyes out. She didn't appreciate the way his gaze travelled over her body settling on areas she wished they didn't.

Glaring at him she turned making sure to keep all her emotions from showing on her face and walked out the door into the morning air.

It was one of those days where the weather couldn't seem to decide whether it wanted to be hot or cold, dry or rainy. Every now and then rain would fall and then stop as suddenly as it came replacing the cool air with humid warmth as steam rose from the ground.

Finally the weather seemed to come to the conclusion that it wanted to be warm and dry. Rain stopped falling sporadically and the sun rose heating up the air.

Sakura reached the entrance to the town in less than ten minutes and stepped gladly out of civilisation and into the wild.

Birds flew through the trees along side her as she used her chakra to help her move quicker. Wind blew softly through her hair making it fly around her face almost like halo. The thought of being an angel almost made her laugh.

The trees around her became taller and denser as she moved further and further away from Konoha. A sense of peace came over her as she ran and jumped. Something that she only ever felt when she was surrounded nothing but flora and fauna.

Humans put her on edge after a while and she only realised now how bad it had gotten. The headache she didn't even realise she had melted away and her sight became cleared as if she had been standing behind a panel of tinted glass for the last few years.

This time she did laugh. While it would have sounded pleasant to anyone who heard it in passing someone who had heard it more than once would have noticed the slight tinge on insanity in it, carefully veiled as to go unnoticed.

Coming to a clearing she stopped and sat down a thought about her situation. She had left Konoha finally and was on her own. She could go where ever she wanted and do whatever she wanted.

But what do I want to do? That thought made her pause and her body stiffen while lying on her back. What do I want?

I don't want to go and join another Hidden Village. Too many rules and I don't want to be constricted in my movements after I just gained my freedom.

By this time Sakura had let her hands wander over the grass she was laying on, picking at the strands without really paying attention to what she was doing.

I need something that will allow me to have my fun, have my freedom as well as keep me from getting bored. Being a nuke nin for hire has some appeal but that has its own set of challenges. I would be more vulnerable to attack than if I was in a group, after all I doubt Konoha will let me off free.

I refuse to go and join Sound despite the protection, and entertainment. It would constrict my movements too much. That actually rules out any village shinobi or civilian.

That leaves one option. Only problem is that I'll have to wait and see if I can attract their attention. If I haven't already that is.

Nodding to herself she stood from where she had been lying, brushed her hands and clothes off and went about looking for wood for a fire and food.

Ten minutes later a cheery fire was blazing and two skinned rabbits hung on a spit over the open flame cooking slowly.

She reached out and prodded the cooked rabbit testing how hot it was and then ripped both of them off the spit placing one on a mat which had been sitting next to her and bit into the other one which she still held in her hand.

Sakura closed her eyes as the taste of rabbit filled her mouth. She chewed on the mouthful savouring the taste before swallowing and taking another bite. Soon the rabbit skeleton was stripped bare the job made easy by her unusually sharp and pointed teeth. Most of the time they were unnoticeable only really being seen when she was eating or giving one of her insane smiles.

Considering the smiles were about as rare as people seeing her eat not many people noticed which was something she was grateful for.

After burying the carcass she wrapped the other rabbit and stowed it away in her bag for later. Grabbing the water canteen she stood and walked towards the small river she had seen while hunting for the rabbits.

Kneeling down at the edge of the stream she unscrewed the lid and dunked it in the water letting it fill up. Screwing the cap back on she set the canteen down next to her and cupped her hands in the water, filling them up and bringing them to her face.

Splashing the water on herself she rubbed her skin slightly washing a bit of blood that had been splattered there by one of the rabbits when she killed it.

She rocked back onto her heels and draped her arms over her knees. Above her head a Mockingbird landed on a branch and began to sing. Its song resonated over the water and resounded throughout the area.

"It's a sin to kill a Mockingbird..." The words escaped her mouth unbidden and as soon as she said it the bird stopped it song and look down at her, head cocked to the side in curiosity.

It hopped about on the branch for a few seconds before spreading its wings and flying down to land near her feet. It warbled a few slightly off-key notes and she smiled at it and raised a hand towards it careful not to startle it.

The Mockingbird hopped back a few centimetres before flying up and perching itself on her outstretched hand.

Twittering cheerfully it allowed her to stroke its head before she took her hand away. Looking at her it began to sing again more softly as if just for her.

Using her other hand she pushed herself up taking extra care not to jostle the bird. Once standing she held the arm that it was resting on out and it took the hint and flapped its wings three times before taking off.

It sang as it flew and she almost felt sad to see it go.

Sakura realised that the sky had become dark while she had been at the stream and scooped up the canteen before walking back to the clearing.

Setting up wards around the campsite to warn her if anyone was coming she got ready to turn in for the night. Pulling her coat around her body she settled down between the roots of a large tree on the edge of the clearing.

As her eyes began to close the song of a Mockingbird reached her ears and began to lull her to sleep.

Why do you sing for me pretty bird? Why do you sing for me?

XxXxX

Little did the sleeping woman know but also resting around a mile or so away from her campsite were two others. Black and red cloaks covered the bodies of two men as they slept. If they had been awake at that moment they too would also have heard soft call of a bird.

It sounded as if it was singing a lullaby.

Hush little baby, don't say a word,

Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don't sing,

Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

xxxx

This is the first chapter and I will finish this one no matter what. I'll update as soon as I can.