Land of Grass, Late November, Konoha Year 60
Water tumbled down distant hills, winding past countless obstacles, persevering through hardship until it finally converged, forming a river. The river's water meandered along the low ground, flowing ever onward towards distant lands.
And where the river passed, the earth grew rich and fertile. Here, tall grasses waved, orioles sang, presenting a scene of vibrant life and prosperity. Perhaps because the river's water nourished the land so well, the once struggling maple trees began to thrive, their leaves forming a vibrant canopy.
The fertile land, in turn, attracted people to come, to farm the land and build homes. Gradually, a small village took root here. The groves of maple trees lining the river became the village's namesake. Thus, the village was named Red Leaf Village by its inhabitants, and the river, Red Leaf River.
Here, people lived by the rhythm of the sun, working at dawn and resting at dusk. For generations, they had lived in this idyllic paradise, completely cut off from the outside world. Until the rise of the shinobi and the establishment of the hidden village system – their tranquil existence was shattered. They had no choice but to submit to the authority of the Daimyo who claimed dominion over their lands, or more accurately, to the nearby Hidden Grass Village, Kusagakure.
Ninja were objects of hatred – an exploitative class, the root cause of their disrupted peace. Yet, the villagers of Red Leaf Village were also forced to rely on them. The Red Leaf River brought them wealth, but wealth attracted plunderers, and the scourge of war eventually reached even their secluded valley.
Red Leaf Village paid commissions to the Grass ninja, who would then help resolve these threats. Though still a form of exploitation, it was decidedly more... civilized than being raided by bandits. So, the village remained dependent on the ninja. At least, provided they paid the price, the ninja offered a measure of protection.
"Granny Rika," a young girl asked an old woman beside her, "how long do you think until she wakes up?" The girl, Junko, rinsed a cloth in a basin of water as she spoke, her gaze fixed on another young girl resting on a tatami mat.
"Patience, Junko," Granny Rika replied gently. "For her to have clung to life this long after suffering such grievous injuries is nothing short of a miracle." Granny Rika carefully unwrapped the bandages wound around the injured girl's abdomen. Taking the offered cloth from Junko, she gently cleaned away the dried salve and blood from the previous dressing change, revealing a gruesome scar, puckered and dark like a centipede, marring the girl's otherwise smooth, pale abdomen – skin like polished jade.
"Come, Junko, give Granny a hand. Let's turn her onto her stomach," Granny Rika instructed. After applying a fresh layer of medicinal salve to the wound, she and Junko carefully turned the girl over. On her back was a matching, ugly exit wound, confirming it was a through-and-through injury.
The village lacked both a proper clinic and a trained doctor. While they could potentially hire ninja from Kusagakure for medical assistance, the price would be steep – a luxury Granny Rika couldn't afford for a stranger Junko had found by the riverbank. Life was difficult for everyone in the village. If not for Junko's fervent pleas, Granny Rika would likely have refused to shelter the injured stranger.
Junko had been born during a time when bandits plagued the region unchecked. The Great War was raging then, and the Grass ninja had ignored Red Leaf Village's pleas for aid. To make matters worse, the bandit leader himself was a rogue ninja. Desperate to protect their homes, every able-bodied adult in the village had banded together to fight. Junko's parents had perished in the ensuing battle. Despite suffering immense losses, the villagers failed to drive off the bandits. Only later, after the Great War finally ended, did they manage to hire shinobi from Kusa to eliminate the bandit threat – but Junko's parents were long gone, never to return.
After decades of slow recovery, Red Leaf Village had regained some semblance of its former peace. But with the loss of her family's main providers, Granny Rika cultivated medicinal herbs just to make ends meet. Orphaned at a young age, Junko had been teased and ostracized by the other village children for as long as she could remember; none of them would play with her. Granny Rika witnessed Junko's loneliness but felt powerless to change it. Torn by sympathy for her granddaughter, she had ultimately agreed to Junko's desperate request to help the stranger.
Fortunately, Granny Rika had learned some traditional healing arts in her youth, so she wasn't entirely without recourse. Finishing applying the new salve, she secured fresh bandages around the girl's torso.
"Junko, I'm going to gather more medicinal herbs," Granny Rika said, picking up the soiled bandages. "Keep an eye on her." She slipped out the door.
Junko curled up beside the sleeping girl, watching her, filled with a hopeful anticipation. I wonder what she's really like? Will she be nice? Will she be my friend? I saved her life, after all… Is she from Grass? Or maybe Rain? Will she want to be friends with me? She should, right? She's really pretty when she sleeps... Junko watched the sleeping girl's serene face, felt her own eyelids growing heavy…
...
...
An unknown amount of time passed. Junko stirred drowsily at the sound of soft coughing nearby. She shook her head slightly to clear the sleepiness, then suddenly recalled where she was and why. Snapping fully awake, she looked towards the girl on the tatami mat.
The girl's chest heaved with a fit of coughing. Suddenly, she coughed up a mouthful of dark, congealed blood. Her lashes fluttered weakly, then her eyes slowly drifted open.
"Granny Rika! Granny Rika! Quick, come!" Junko called urgently towards the door. "She's awake!"
The girl seemed oblivious to Junko's excited shouts, her gaze fixed blankly on the wooden ceiling above, seemingly dazed. Granny Rika hurried back inside at Junko's calls. Seeing the girl's eyes were open, she rushed over to check on her.
"She's out of immediate danger," Granny Rika concluded after a quick assessment. "But still very weak. I'll go make some restorative porridge. Junko, try asking her name, and where she's from." She headed towards the small kitchen area.
"Wh... where is this?" The vacancy slowly faded from the girl's eyes, replaced by a flicker of profound confusion.
"Y-you're awake!" Junko asked eagerly. "What's your name?"
"Na... me..." The girl's brow furrowed slightly in concentration, then cleared. "...Haruno Sakura."
"Haruno Sakura!" Junko's eyes shone with excitement. "I'm Junko! Muto Junko! How did you get hurt? Were you attacked by bandits?"
"Jun... ko...?" Haruno Sakura turned her head slowly, still looking lost as she regarded the energetic, dark-haired girl who seemed inexplicably thrilled. "Where... am I?"
"This is Red Leaf Village. This is my home," Junko answered readily, then repeated insistently, "You still didn't answer me! How did you get hurt so badly? Was it bandits?" Junko, perhaps due to her isolated upbringing, seemed to believe a direct, reciprocal exchange was the proper way to converse: I answer you, you answer me.
But Sakura didn't pay attention to Junko's repetitive questioning. Or perhaps, more accurately, Sakura was currently devoid of emotion. The complex feelings possessed by sentient beings seemed utterly stripped away from her, leaving a hollow calm.
The feeling was disturbingly familiar, yet profoundly alien. As if she'd felt this detachment before, but she couldn't recall when or how.
"Hello? Are you okay?" Junko asked, waving a small hand in front of Sakura's vacant face.
"......" Sakura's mind was an utter blank. No active thoughts, no memories surfaced readily. She was passively processing external information, responding only when prompted by stimuli matching fragments deep within her memory banks. It was unsettlingly strange, as if her core memories were locked away behind an impassable barrier. Only when external information triggered a corresponding memory fragment would her mind grudgingly release the directly related information. If Junko hadn't asked her name, Sakura might truly never have recalled it on her own.
"So, where is your home?" Junko pressed on. "Is it in the Land of Rain?"
"Land... of Rain..." Hearing those words, a flicker of recognition, of something, stirred in Sakura's eyes.
Seeing the reaction, Junko offered helpfully, "I found you near Yanluo Bridge. I happened to be gathering medicinal herbs there that day, and I found you lying on the ground, covered in so much blood."
"Yanluo Bridge..." Hearing the name, the recognition in Sakura's eyes deepened fractionally.
"Yeah!" Junko chattered on. "Not long ago, some ninja blockaded Yanluo Bridge, wouldn't let anyone through! Those ninja are so mean! If I knew ninjutsu, I'd teach them a lesson!" She pumped a small fist determinedly, her nose wrinkling slightly, making her look surprisingly fierce, and rather cute.
"Yanluo Bridge... ninja... Land of Rain..." The keywords resonated. Memories surged, fragmented but potent. The color in Sakura's eyes intensified rapidly, becoming vivid. She suddenly sat bolt upright. "Ssss~~~" Sharp pain lanced through her abdomen, making her gasp and her lip twitch.
Tossing aside the blanket covering her body, Sakura saw her abdomen wound tightly wrapped in bandages. Ignoring Junko's potential protest, she reached down and tore the clean bandages away. Instantly, the gruesome, centipede-like scar was starkly revealed against her pale skin.
"Hey hey hey! What are you doing?!" Junko cried out, seeing Sakura rip off the bandages. "Granny Rika just changed the dressing and applied medicine!" She hurriedly intervened, gently trying to re-wrap the bandages around the girl's waist.
Gradually, gradually, as Junko fussed over the bandages, the strange, blocked-off feeling dissipated like mist. Emotions flooded back into Sakura – confusion, pain, exhaustion, but beneath it all, a fierce spark of something else. Her eyes were alive again with their usual intelligence and spirit. Looking down at the ugly scar across her abdomen, her expression held a look of weary helplessness mingled with profound relief.
It all came back. The desperate fight with Hanzo. Hanzo's death. Her victory. Her survival.
Watching Junko finishing securing the bandage, Sakura asked, her voice rough but clear, "Was it you who saved me? When did you find me?"
Junko looked up at the girl who now seemed much more… present. "Just yesterday afternoon," she confirmed. "You were losing so much blood back then. I carried you all the way back here myself."
"Yesterday afternoon!!!" Sakura was stunned speechless for a moment. The battle with Hanzo had begun around dusk the previous day and dragged on well into the dead of night. Junko had found her the afternoonbefore that night? That's impossible!!!
Sakura knew her condition then. Hanzo's blade had pierced a vital organ. As a skilled medical-nin, she wouldn't mistake the severity. Even if Shishou herself had been there, the chances of successful healing would have been slim. Hanzo's mastery of fundamentals, his knowledge of the human body's vital points, was superb; he knew exactly where to strike for maximum effect. His blade had undoubtedly pierced a fatal point. Even at full strength, healing such a wound herself would have been impossible. Utterly depleted and dying, Sakura had abandoned all hope of survival, resigned herself to death.
But... how did I survive until the following afternoon? And how is the wound now significantly healed? It was completely inexplicable. Sakura couldn't comprehend how she had possibly survived when she had been certain death was inevitable. Why...? How...?
"Um..." Junko said gently, seeing Sakura zoning out again. "You shouldn't move too much. Granny Rika said your injury is still very serious."
Sakura looked up at Junko and managed a weak shake of her head. "It's alright," she murmured. "It looks worse than it feels. It's much better now. I'm actually a doctor from my village."
"You're a doctor?!" Junko stared in disbelief. "But you seem about my age! I'm eleven. You must be too, right?"
Sakura turned her head slightly, offering Junko a gentle, slightly teasing smile despite the pain and confusion swirling within her. "Little sister," she said softly, "your big sister here is actually thirty years old this year. I just happen to look young for my age."
My mental age is thirty, anyway, Sakura amended internally, clinging to that one concrete fact amidst the bewildering mystery of her survival. So it's not technically a lie.
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