She was running, running through the forest, not knowing where she was going, and not really caring either. Anywhere, anywhere other than back home, well away from her village, from her people. She had been running almost nonstop for the past two days, resting at night, and she could still hear it ringing in her ears, it still haunted her. That horrible voice, that aloof voice that hid the knife that stabbed her; every time he talked to her, calling out “Chizuko! Get back here! You keep running; you can never come back!” She didn’t care at that time, when she could take it anymore. She didn’t want to hear him, her father, any of them. But even though she was well away from her village, she could still hear him, and that made her just as miserable as before she left.
Chizuko was running until she got to a stream. She stopped at its edge and knelt down to splash some water on her face. She sighed in relaxation as the cool droplets touched her heated skin. She splashed more on, washing away her fatigue, her worries. She wished it would do the same to her memories, those horrible memories she had at home. She wanted to forget about her parent’s bickering, pushing, especially her father, who would constantly lead her to do things she would’ve otherwise refused to do. Like Kosuke. It was planned since she was thirteen that she’d marry the now 17 year old Jounin Kosuke. Now fourteen, the day that Chizuko was dreading for the past year and a half seemed to have jumped closer, even though it wouldn’t happen until about a year later.
But Chizuko couldn’t take it; the year had gone by so fast, who knows how much quicker the next year would be? The anxiety was killing her. She didn’t want to marry this guy. From the day it was decided, Chizuko was forced to spend as much time with her future husband, even if it killed her. Literally; her father didn’t care that Kosuke was once in a while abusive to Chizuko. No, all he cared about was how Kosuke’s reputation as a young Jounin from a successful family would benefit his. And since Chizuko was their only daughter, their only child, it was all up to her. Nothing mattered for her, at least to her parent’s point of view.
Chizuko felt that she had rested long enough. She got up, crossed the stream, and ran, ran as fast as she did the day she ran away, the day she found out that the wedding day was already decided. Already decided, like it was coming sooner than it really was. Chizuko couldn’t take it; she ran right then and there, not looking back, even when Kosuke tried to stop her from leaving; she only heard her father’s shouts echoing as she sprinted. He hadn’t even tried to stop her; he wouldn’t care. He only thought of her as an object to boost his reputation, to be of a greater rank. There were other ways to attain this.
The thought of this made tears stream down Chizuko’s face, as she thought of the memories at home, few that were good. She tried to hold them back, but the tears came down no matter what, she practically choked on them. The uneven breathing resulting from this forced her to stop. Leaning on a tree, she tried to stop crying, tried to catch her breath. But it was no use; once she started she couldn’t stop, not easily at least. She looked at the darkening sky; she could make another mile before dark if she tried. She gathered the last of her strength and burst at full speed, even though she was exhausted. She didn’t want to stop, not until she stopped crying, until she forgot all about this, until…
Chizuko couldn’t think, could barely breathe; everything was getting dark, but it wasn’t from the setting sun. No, she couldn’t give up now, she was going to fight her fatigue. She felt her feet dragging heavily, and eventually she collapsed in clearing, her limp body refusing to get up.
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Chizuko could feel the sunlight streaming on her, her eyes sensed it, they felt it. She tried to fall back asleep, fight the light that was slowly waking her, by shutting her eyes tighter; but it was no use. She was fully awake. She squirmed as she tried pulling the covers farther up. That’s when she realized she was in a bed. A nice, comfortable bed.
Oh no, did I even leave home? She sat up quickly, then winced as she felt a pain in her side. She felt her abdomen and noticed a bruise. Great, she thought as she looked around the unfamiliar room. Where am I? She was frightened; she had no idea what was going on. By the looks of it, she was in a house, most likely a guest room to be exact. She spotted a desk, a closet, the bed she was in with a quilt, a dresser and mirror, and a chair by the desk. She didn’t like this, not one bit. She was in a stranger’s house, in a bed, and she didn’t know how long she was out; who knows what could’ve happened from the time she collapsed to the time she woke up.
I need to get out of here, she thought in panic; she looked around frantically, searching for a way out, the whole time her head was thinking, Get out, now. She was about to jump out of bed and open the window to leave when she heard footsteps. She gasped in surprise as she looked in the doorway and saw a girl about her age standing at the door, trying to hide her obvious confusion with a smile. No way out now.
“I see you finally woke up,” she said, still smiling as she walked over and sat at the chair by the desk. “It’s been almost a week since I found you in the forest.” Chizuko was too shocked and confused to say anything. “I’m Sakura, by the way.” The girl smiled. “I healed a few of your wounds, but I’m sure there are a few cuts you still have.”
“Yeah, and bruises too,” Chizuko said, remembering the pain in her side.
“Yeah, probably,” Sakura nodded. “But I’m training to be a med-nin; I think for the most part you’re fine. Did you know you were on the verge of having a sprained ankle? You must’ve been running a lot.” Chizuko nodded to reply; a few days it had been, when she ran away from her fears.
“From where?” Sakura asked.
Chizuko was silent for a moment; could she really trust this girl? What if she turns me in, and they find me? She looked at the girl, who’s sincere smile told assured Chizuko that she was going to be ok. Chizuko looked at her hands folded neatly in her lap as she answered truthfully, “The Land of Earth.”
“Wow, that is far.”
Chizuko nodded again.
“Why?”
Chizuko looked down at her hands. “It’s a long story,” she said quietly.
“Oh, alright; I won’t ask anymore,” Sakura nodded. “So, do you need anything?”
“I’m fine,” Chizuko was still looking at her hands.
“I’ll get you some water.”
“No really, I’m-” Too late. Sakura had left the room. Chizuko sighed as she lay back against the headboard. She really didn’t want to stay too long. Now that she told Sakura where she was from, she should probably get out of here as soon as possible, just in case. What if word spreads? It’s bound to reach her village. Knowing Kosuke he probably went searching for her, at her father’s request.
When Sakura came back with a glass of water Chizuko took it politely.
While Chizuko was sipping it Sakura spoke, “I really like your hair; it’s so pretty.”
Chizuko stopped drinking at this and lifted a bit of her long lavender hair. Letting it fall Chizuko said, slightly embarrassed, “Thanks.” She felt like she should’ve said more. “I like yours, I wish mine was lighter. And it looks so soft.” How awkward. She was never good at talking to strangers; this girl made it look easy. She finished her water and Sakura took the glass.
“You look pretty well right now; how about I give you a tour of the village? You could do with some fresh air after being out for a week in here.”
“Um, sure,” Chizuko said hesitantly; as much as she didn’t want to stay in one village for too long, she didn’t want to seem rude, and didn’t want to arouse suspicion, just in case. Besides, she was tired, she deserved a rest in a village instead of out in the wild, even if it was safer to hide in. She got up and followed Sakura out of the house. She was shown around all over the village, from the academy to Ichiraku’s. They were on their way back to Sakura’s house (where Chizuko was going to be staying too, she found out earlier) when they passed by a boy with a dog. He stopped when he saw them and turned slowly to get a second glance.
“Akamaru, you see her?” he asked his companion. “I wonder who she is.” He looked at the dog, a mischievous smiling coming across his face. The dog gave a quick bark as he jumped out of the boy’s arms, running toward the girls. “Hey! Akamaru!” the boy ran after the dog, who had caught up to the pair. He had eagerly placed his paws on Chizuko’s leg, begging to be picked up.
“Hi,” Chizuko said as she leaned down to pet the dog. By this time the boy caught up to them.
“Sorry about that,” he said as he leaned down to pick up his dog. He caught Chizuko’s eye; he smiled and Chizuko glanced downward as the two of them straightened up. “He gets like that whenever he sees someone new.”
“Kiba,” Sakura said, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you and Akamaru had some sort of…connection…”
“Oh well…yeah,” he started, but didn’t try much more to cover himself. He knew Sakura knew he had planned this just seconds before with Akamaru, just so he could meet Chizuko. It was just like him to do something like that.
“So…” Kiba started again. “Who’s your friend?” He looked at Chizuko, who stood trying not to make eye contact with this boy, this stranger. This strange boy.
“Oh, this is…” Sakura began, then stopped. “What was your name? I don’t think you told me.”
Chizuko kept staring at the ground; she felt her face heating up, and she hoped no one could see that. She quietly answered, “Chizuko.”
“Chizuko,” Kiba repeated quietly. “It’s really nice.”
“Oh. Thank you,” Chizuko said, glancing up at him momentarily. They locked eyes for a second, then Chizuko shyly looked away. It reminded her of her first encounter with Kosuke; he was nice, made compliments…then…
“Kiba, are you going to the New Year festival?” Sakura asked.
“Yeah, of course!” Kiba said.
“Chizuko, there’s a festival in a few days; you should come.” Sakura said. “Hey, in fact, let’s go find you a kimono right now!” She grabbed Chizuko and dragged her away, leaving Kiba to watch the two of them leave.
“So what’d you think of him?” Sakura asked as they entered a shop. “He seemed to like you.”
“He was nice,” Chizuko said. Maybe too nice; she barely knew him!
“Yeah, he was,” Sakura said. “He really seemed to like you.” Sakura picked out a kimono. “Maybe you should go to the festival with him.”
“What?” Chizuko asked, nearly dropping a pair of earrings.
“Yeah, I mean; just to get to know him better, nothing big,” Sakura said, taking the kimono she picked out and placing it in front of Chizuko. “You’d look cute together I think, especially with this kimono on you.”
Chizuko took the violet fabric and examined it in front of her while she stood at a mirror. Her long hair fit nicely with the color, the blue flowers and sash complementing her eyes nicely as well.
“You’d look so pretty in that!” Sakura said happily. “Go try it on; it’ll look so good on you, like it was made just for you!”
“Oh, well, ok,” Chizuko said hesitantly as she headed to a dressing room to try on the kimono. When she stepped out of the room with it on Sakura gasped.
“Oh, you look so pretty!”
Chizuko spun around in front of the mirror to examine herself. It fit perfectly, the color was gorgeous; Chizuko liked it. She sighed, and for the first time in a long time, she truly felt relaxed.
“Wow,” she breathed softly.
“Buy it, now!” Sakura said, pushing Chizuko back into the dressing room to change back. She came out with her regular clothes on, kimono in hand, and the two of them went to the front to purchase it.
“You have to wear that to the festival,” Sakura said. “That also means you have to go.”
Chizuko nodded, “Alright,” she said quietly but confidently, as they went to Sakura’s house.