Chapter 1. Heart

Age 5.

The matron always tells him he's a foundling.

She's a kindly woman, rose-cheeked and chubby around the waist. To the children in the orphanage, she's the closest thing to a mother they have.

Sakumo isn't sure what a foundling is. Matron's explained it to him, but it seems to make so little sense. All the other orphans lost their parents to war, famine or illness. Their nightstands are filled with photographs, their hearts filled with names and love.

Sakumo doesn't know what to think- he has no photographs or names. All he knows is that they left him one day and never came back. He holds very little love in his heart.

When the potential foster parents come to look at them, his lips curve into a smile but his eyes do not.

He's a cute kid, with hair like a thundercloud and large, dark eyes. Matron doesn't understand why no one picks him. One day he overhears her as she asks someone- they say his eyes are too empty.

He isn't sure what that means, either.

xXx

Sakumo isn't really that different from the other children, he thinks. He likes to play tag or hide and seek. The latter is his favourite, because he always wins. It's so easy to him- each child has a scent of their own, so all he has to do is close his eyes and stick his nose up in the air. No one else plays it that way, which seems strange to him. It's not until later that he learns they can't.

They introduce him to a woman named Inuzuka Tomoko. She's a woman in her sixties, all the way from Konoha. She brings a pair of old dogs, their coats matted from the journey. Her eyes are sad, just like Sakumo's. Perhaps that's why he likes her. She visits him almost every day and always brings one of her dogs. He loves their fur and smell, and most of all, their eyes; he's never seen such lively ones.

One day they sting his arm with a needle and draw blood. He's not sure why. Tomoko has a band-aid on her arm, just like his own. He asks her why and she bursts into tears.

She tells him she had a son once; a strong, young man who could find anyone by smell, no matter where they were. He disappeared five years ago and not even the Inuzuka could find him again.

She tells Sakumo she's not his grandmother, but she'd kind of hoped she was.

He doesn't understand what it has to do with the blood, but she says it was the only way to find out. She doesn't stop crying, but she does stop visiting him.

xXx

The next visitor comes in the form of a ninja. Sakumo can tell by the way Matron tenses when he enters the building. The shinobi towers over her, all wide shoulders and sharp eyes. His hair is dark and spiky, and there's an x-shaped scar on his chin. Sakumo blinks at him owlishly, more curious than afraid.

The strange man makes all the orphans hold a small green leaf. He tells them all to press the leaf to their foreheads and focus with all their might on that exact spot.

Sakumo closes his eyes and does as he is told.

After almost five minutes of focusing, the man tells them to take their hands away. Some of the children laugh at the weird ritual and bend down to pick up their fallen leaves.

Sakumo doesn't open his eyes. His hands are at his sides, but the leaf is still clinging to his skin.

The man smiles and points at him. "That one." He says.

Matron sighs sadly and nods.

xXx

Konohagakure is much larger than the village Sakumo grew up in. The gates loom over them, even taller than the tall shinobi. His name is Danzou, he explains, and he is going to turn Sakumo into a shinobi.

Sakumo knows what shinobi are, of course. Ninjas are the first thing on any child's mind when someone says 'hero'. So he smiles and nods and feels like finally, he may be going home. He reaches out and grabs Danzou's hand. It's much larger than matron's, the skin dry and calloused where matron's had always been sticky and wet. But it's warm, and although Danzou's eyes widen in surprise, he doesn't let go until they're inside the village gates.

xXx

xXx

Snow Country, Six Years Ago.

The snow crunches beneath Sayuri's boots as she walks towards the small cave. Its entrance would not have stood out against the darkness of the night, were it not for the glow of the campfire. She stops momentarily, cold blue eyes fixed on it. She hesitates for a moment, then steps forward.

Inside the cave the temperature is much better- the wind is reduced to a distant howl, and snow and wind no longer reach her here. She takes her fur-lined hood down and shakes her head, freeing her silver hair from its confines. The snow-glasses come down next, and then her snow-covered overcoat. She tosses the last two in the corner.

A quick look to the other side of the campfire confirms that her prisoner is still unconscious. She drops the freshly killed snow hare next to the fire, then slumps down next to it. The heat of the fire instantly warms her chilled bones. The hare had been a tricky kill, its agility and sure-footedness in the thick snow providing a real challenge for the kunoichi. The smell of blood still clings to its carcass- it'll make a fine meal. Sayuri pulls a knife from her fur boot and grabs the rabbit to skin it.

The man stirs. Sayuri's fingers clench around the blade's handle, eyes flicking over to him. He groans and his eyes blink open. In the orange light she can't tell their exact colour- just that they are dark.

"What-" He groans again and pushes himself up on an elbow.

"Where am I?" He croaks.

Sayuri looks back down at her rabbit and continues skinning it. His first response is tranquil- that was good, but she'll keep an eye out.

"Land of Snow," She replies curtly.

"I- I know that. Where's- Where in the Land of Snow?" He pushes himself up further. The metal plate on his headband glints in the light. She'd seen it earlier- he is a Konoha shinobi.

"This cave." She says

"Well, aren't you a talkative one," He drawls. He rolls onto his back with a sigh.

She looks back at him, quietly staring him down. He was unusual. Captured by a strange shinobi, yet his response is not to attack her?

"I can sense your chakra," He says, as though reading her mind. "And I recognize your face. You're that Shirogane Sayuri, aren't you? I saw you in the Bingo book,"

She grimaces. Even in Konoha? Kumogakure was becoming desperate.

"Then why are you here, if not to hunt me down?" She snaps at him.

"Ah- serendipity," He smiles. "A chance meeting, if you will,"

"Just tell me already,"

A sigh. "Mission, of course. Nothing to do with you,"

She recognizes a lie when she hears one.

"Yet so ill-prepared. If not for me, you'd have frozen to death," She snaps, pulling the last of the skin off of the hare. She guts it quickly and pulls out its innards. She feels the slightest hint of satisfaction at his disgusted grimace.

"Is that why my wrists are bound?" He grins rakishly.

"I saw your headband. Couldn't take any chances."

"Makes sense. My name is-"

"I didn't ask you for your name."

"Yet I want to give it to you." Another grin.

What a pig. "How generous,"

"Sheer Konoha charm, m'lady,"

"Shut up."

Author's Notes:

I've been meaning to write about Sakumo for ages now. He's always been a favourite of mine; even with what little we know of him, he strikes me as an intriguing character. I hope to explore his character and family history in this story. Expect drabble-style chapters about several different phases in his life.

For reference, I imagine Sakumo is roughly 5 years older than the Sannin. That would make him roughly 28 when his son is born.

As for the section about Sayuri and the Konoha man; all will be explained.

I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review if you did, I'd really appreciate it.