Status: Incomplete

Notes: April 15, 1850 - San Francisco, California is incorporated as a city.

1848, Captain James Glynn sailed to Nagasaki, which lead to the first successful negotiation by an American with sakoku Japan. Upon his return to North America, Glynn recommended to the U.S. Congress that any negotiations to open up Japan should be backed up by a demonstration of force; this paved the way for the later expedition of Commodore Matthew Perry.

A/N: Those were the historical facts I've used to write this chapter. I have used a lot more, but I won't reveal them until it is clearly revealed in the story. It would be boring to spoil it for you haha :P

Anyway, I'm sorry about this delayed update. I've been swamped with schoolwork, and spent a week in France, followed by a week spent in bed due to fever and a bad cough. Then it was all about catching up with school again, and now I will spend a week taking care of a French student. So, time for my writing is limited.

That aside, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! It's a step forward in the story, even if it might seem like a filler. Three more characters introduced! :D WOHO!

For any grammar mistakes and/or typos, I am deeply sorry. Hopefully it won't disturb your reading too much.

o-oOo-o

Wild, Wild Love

o-oOo-o

Introducing Perspectives

Location; San Francisco, California

Looking out of the window, he observed the streets below with mild interest. Having just been incorporated as a city earlier this year, it had experienced a healthy increase in both economy and business, especially trading by boat because of the location near the sea. This was the reason why he had established his own business here early on, anticipating that it would serve well for him after a few years. With funding from his wife, and a large amount of his own fortune, it had been quite easy to get started, but it wasn't till now that he was starting to notice the increase of income. Slowly, a balance was building between the receipts and expenses. It was yet to be stable, but he was a patient man, and with the support and cooperation he had he was sure to succeed. Running his own trading company – consisting of only a few ships – would not run as smoothly had he not known the people he did. His own son was of a great use as well; even the younger son was promising, although not as brilliant as the elder.

A knock on his office's door brought him out of his thoughts, and Fugaku Uchiha turned from the window overlooking busy streets in order to greet whoever called for his attention. "Enter!" he called, the heavy Japanese accent still bothering him enough to make him frown. Twenty-two years, and he had yet to master the language!

"Father," the man entering the room greeted in a more familiar language, his long, raven hair tied back; only the long bangs on either side of his face escaped the silky ribbon. Fugaku's frown eased slightly as he remained on his spot, observing his oldest son as he came to stand before his desk. Acknowledging him with a nod, the older man waited for him to state his business. "I have finished reading the contract, and found nothing that would harm the company; I only have a few disagreements that I am sure you have already spotted. It will be ready to be signed after Mr. Wilson and Mr. Norman have offered their opinion as well."

Fugaku nodded, pleased by the efficient way his son worked. It was quick and satisfactory, and in this case, highly needed. The Uchiha clan leader was trying to settle a trading relationship with another company in Japan; having tried to do so for almost two years with a painfully slow progress. Only now were they able to start form a contract, but the Japanese trading counterpart had yet to send a ship with their businessmen to negotiate about the upcoming alliance. He suspected they would do so within days, which gave them enough time to make sure the contract was waterproof and would benefit his company as much as possible without rousing any significant suspicion.

"Very well Itachi," he answered his son, the Japanese rolling smoothly off his tongue. "It seems like this will work out for the best. You are free for today; I'll have a talk with Mr. Wilson and Mr. Norman as soon as possible."

The younger male nodded, turning to leave. Fugaku spoke again, as the door opened. "If you're going into town, bring your brother. I'm sure he must be quite bored."

Sending his father an amused grin provoked by the dry tone of the elder's voice, he replied with a nod; "As was my intention father; Sasuke has been quite eager to meet up with his teacher. Since he's in town, I thought we could pay him a visit."

Sighing, the man nodded and gestured for the youth to leave; feeling quite tired. Sasuke's teacher was in town? Well, this could only mean trouble. He just hoped they wouldn't get him involved in whatever mess would surely occur.

o-oOo-o

Kakashi was a rather simple person. He believed himself to be forgettable; easy to slip by unnoticed in a crowd, and hiding behind the image of irrelevant. But even though he was simple, he was also smart, and knew for a fact that he was none of the things he believed he was. In defense of this horrible contradiction, he had to say it was all a matter of how you look at things; a point of view, a perspective, if you like.

And this particular ability to confuse using the tongue (sometimes in less respectful manners than mere speaking) had time and again proved to be one of the qualities he possessed that made him able to blend in, despite not being subtle at all. With grey, spiky hair on a not-old (he refused to use "youthful", due to past scarring encounters) head and an ever-present scarf covering half of his face like a common robber, it was hard to not attract some kind of attention (especially when the combination of his covered face and his holster inevitably would stir unease in these times).

Which is why, he reasoned, people were currently giving him a wide breadth while walking by where he sat on the abandoned barrels outside one of the stores along the busiest street in town. Not that he cared, for whatever was left visible of his face was now hidden behind both his hat and book. As long as he paid them no mind, perhaps they would return the favor. It was wistful thinking, he knew, but again, it was all about perspectives.

"Good evening, old friend," a familiar voice interrupted. Kakashi grunted in reply, staring stubbornly at the paragraph he knew he would not be allowed to finish. The man was just about to remove that lacy, delicate garter with his mouth and the woman's reactions were promising, so far. When the presence of the speaker did not go away, he sighed and snapped his book shut; smiling despite the knowledge that it wouldn't be visible. Only the crinkles of his eye betrayed it.

"Ah, Itachi! Long time no seen. How's your brother?"

oOo

The sound of hooves made her stiffen, before she realized it was only one horse. The men had been around three to five, so it had to be Naruto. Relieved, she slowly moved to locate the blonde. Her green eyes landed on a brown and white coloured horse, moving up to greet the gaze of its rider.

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

How was this possible?!

oOo

Location; California, a few miles from the border of Oregon

Heaving a deep, heavy sigh, Sakura stared blankly at the fabric making up the walls of a rather small tipi; feeling utterly miserable. Her eyes were dry after spending so much time crying, and her throat was still raw from screaming when the Indian man snatched her off her horse and rode off to his camp. But no matter how much she'd kicked, screamed, cried and begged, the redskin had not budged.

So, here she was; prisoner of a wild bunch of savages, hands and feet securely bound. The panic of getting captured had given way to shock, which was finally starting to subside into the despair she was currently trying to suppress. It would do her no good to make the situation even less favorable by encouraging thoughts and emotions that would leave her feeling worse than she already did. Thus she tried to see the humor in having escaped armed robbers, only to end up bound inside a tent in the middle of nowhere – waiting for the Indian Chief to come back from a hunt. Or something like that. She hadn't been paying much attention when the man who had greeted her captor upon arrival had spoken to her in broken English. If he had indeed told her that they were waiting for the Chief, she couldn't help but wonder if she wanted it to happen sooner or later.

If it was later, then perhaps there was a slim chance that Naruto would somehow come to her rescue. But if it was sooner, then whatever was to happen to her would be over more quickly; Naruto choosing to be hero or not.

"This really isn't my day," she mumbled out loud, shoulders hunched and lips pulled down in a slightly pained frown. Her legs and arms were starting to protest from the awkward position she was in, but at the moment, she didn't really care. Having no good understanding of time, she could only guess how long she had been alone in the empty tipi; waiting for something, or someone, to tell her what was going to happen. It was quite maddening, but she tried hard not to give in to another fit of hysterics.

A few more moments dragged by, with only the sound of children playing outside and men and women alike talking in what seemed like several different language she'd never heard before. When a few of those voices grew stronger, changing from a background buzzing to a much more distinctive sound, she stiffened and felt a new panic attack creep up on her rapidly. Once the loose fabric working as a door was being pushed aside in order to let the owners of the voices in, she was already trying desperately to wriggle as far away as possible; scooting backwards with difficulty. It wasn't until a deep laugh filled the small tent that she looked up to see exactly who had entered.

A tall, well-built man well into his forties stood before her; skin dark from the sun, hair bony white and blending with the feathers of his headdress. Red war-paint decorated his face, and what was visible of his chest. He wore what she assumed to be typical Indian wear; leather and rough fabric, worn from sun and whatever activities he participated in (she wasn't sure if Indians did much more than ride horses, paint themselves, wage war against the Whites and kidnap innocent, helpless maidens, among other gruesome acts she'd heard from the men passing through her old town). He must be the Chief, not only for the overly decorative headdress but he seemed to give off an aura of authority and power. She didn't know if her nervous, highly distressed emotional state was to blame, but at the moment, that wasn't what interested her. No, because the man before her looked nothing like a redskin; merely like an American dressed in a savage's clothes. She had barely taken time to progress this before she noticed the person hiding behind the huge frame of the Chief. Spikes of sunny blonde hair could be seen and once she spotted the blue orb of a familiar, twinkling eye she let out a loud scream of dismay.

"NARUTO?! WHAT THE HELL?!" she exclaimed, completely forgetting her rather dire situation in favor of letting out all her frustration, fear, misery and anguish on the guilty looking young man. If he'd seemed surprised at hearing her coarse language, then she hadn't noticed. But if she had, she wouldn't have cared. "WHERE THE FUCK WHERE YOU?! HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH?! YOU—YOU ASS!!"

She was abruptly reminded of where she was and why she was feeling like jumping off a cliff in the first place when the man, whom she'd named Chief for now, let out another bout of rich laughter. Had he been someone else, and had she not been bound and victim of way too many bad things during the course of one day, then she would've found it charming and contagious. Sadly, she was not at all amused to realize she'd just snapped in the presence of an Indian Chief and possibly earned a fate worse than whatever the redskins had planned for her from the beginning. Staring with wide eyes at the blonde, her whole being filled with too many contradicting feelings for her to bother acknowledging, she absently wondered why he was chuckling nervously and scratching his head like nothing bad was happening. Really, she would never understand men.

"Seems like you've found yourself a feisty lady this time around, Barking Fox! A quite fine one, if I may say so. Since when did you get such a good taste in women, kid?" the Chief said in heavy accented English, voice still filled with laughter as he patted the younger man's back in what looked like a rather painful manner. Struggling to keep his balance, the blonde growled. "Shut up, you perverted old man! Could you explain to me why you have her all tied up, huh?! Do you do this to all your female hostages? Sick bastard!"

Sakura blinked, stunned by the familiar way the two acted around each other. This was not what she'd imaged when she'd allowed herself to hope Naruto would come for her rescue. This day was beyond salvation; nothing was going the way it should! Sniffing, she looked away, ignoring the argument going on before her. It was all just too absurd. It couldn't possibly get worse now, even if the day wasn't over just yet.

o-oOo-o

It took him a while to explain the situation to a rightfully pissed female, but once he had assured her there was no danger around and no harm would be done to her, or him, she relaxed enough to actually listen to his story.

"So," she said after a while, now seated comfortably in the middle of the tent with her hands and feet free from their previous position after much hissing and beatings from her part. "You somehow thought I would be safer off if you just sent the horse towards this camp, since somehow, these –people –are your…friends?"

He winced at the tone of her voice, well aware of the prejudices that followed his people everywhere in this country. Even if he didn't want to admit that she too had such thoughts of the Indians, he knew that it was stupid to expect something else. But like with the Whites, Indians too had their own less kind opinions about the fair skinned. None of them – be it white or red – had any intentions of seeing things from the other's perspective. It was a tiresome circle of blind hate and violence he would do anything to break, which was why he silently swore to himself that somehow, he would make this beautiful young lady understand by the end of the night. It was already dusk, and soon the old perverted hermit would come and fetch them for dinner, so he reasoned now would be a good time to start since she had calmed down from her previous fit of rage as well.

"Yeah, exactly!" he began, sunny grin in place. "There is nowhere safer than here in the prairies, Miss! My people would die to protect you, you know. The tying you up was to keep you from running away; I was told you were pretty desperate to get away. I'm sorry about that, Miss Sakura. I should've wanted you, but I didn't have time to think…" He trailed off once he realized that his speech had not gone the way he had intended, and warily he eyed the pink-haired girl for any sign of anger. She merely looked annoyed, and he wondered if perhaps she was too tired to throw another fit.

"I told you already; I'm not happy about it, but it saved me. So thank you," she sighed, pausing as a puzzled look settled in her impressive, emerald eyes. "I was wondering, Naruto…You keep referring to the..Indians…as your people. How come?"

Grinning widely, he gave himself a mental pat on the back. She had unknowingly steered the conversation in the direction he wanted, and for that, he was grateful. He had never been one to organize his speech.

"I think I'd have to tell you my story for you to understand, Miss Sakura," he said, momentarily pausing to think of her own tale she had shared on the carriage ride. "I never got the chance to repay your favor earlier today, did I?"

He found himself blushing at the sweet smile she sent him, suddenly feeling a need to make her do that more often. His musings were interrupted by her equally sweet voice, now devoid of any irritation or sore emotions. "I'd love to hear it, Naruto. I'm very curious about you, you know."

For a few seconds, he was stunned. Then he realized that this was the second person in his life who had ever wanted to know about his past. A third person had claimed he didn't care about the past, and he was fine with that, but this was different.

It was odd, but suddenly he felt modest.

o-oOo-o

Naruto never got to tell his story in the tipi, due to the Chief's interruption. Had it not been to invite them for dinner, she would've been much more annoyed than she was. At the moment, she was quite content with sitting by a large fire munching at the delicious wings of some big bird, and occasionally taking a sip of wine (how they had gotten a hold of the beverage in the middle of nowhere, she didn't want to know).

Her blonde companion was seated to her right, on the large trunk of wood serving as a bench, and happily stuffing his face with meat, potatoes and multicolored berries. He was occupying any space left by her side since she had chosen to sit by the very end of the trunk, thus saving her from any unwanted company. Nothing of what he had told her so far made her less ill at ease around these redskins, but she hoped his story would maybe calm her nerves enough for sleep to come tonight. Licking her fingers clean, she decided now was a good time to urge him to continue where he left off in the tent (which was around "when I was a kid").

"Hey, Naruto," she called, getting his attention. Suppressing a wince at his bad eating habits, she smiled. "I'd like to hear your story now, if it's okay with you."

She had to wait for his answer, since his mouth was too full to even pronounce "yes", and she had to stifle her giggles at the amusing sight he made when he tried to swallow everything at once. Coughing, he quickly took a gulp of wine before breathing deeply and turning to face her with a sheepish grin.

"Yeah, of course!" he said, settling his plate on his knee as he cleared his throat. "I apologies in beforehand, Miss Sakura. I'm not the best storyteller, but you don't have to worry; the story is good enough to make up for it!"

His confidence made her laugh, because he positively radiated of it, and because it somehow was so...so very Naruto.

"Anyway, like I said in the tent before the pervert interrupted us, this story begins when I was a kid. I was an orphan, you see. I don't remember my parents at all, so no need to feel sorry about it," he began, hurriedly assuring her before she could offer her regrets. She frowned, but urged for him to continue. "Anyhow, I lived quite a good life at that orphanage. I mean, I lived better than most people; I had food three times a day, clothes and someplace to sleep with a roof over my head.

Back then, I didn't really appreciate it though, 'cause I've always been an outsider and the other kids weren't exactly kind. It wasn't their fault though; the monks and nuns treated us pretty roughly. I was quite the rebel, so they were extra harsh on me. I wasn't really following the path God's children should.

And one day, I wasn't sure if I wanted to either."

o-oOo-o

TBC

oOo

A/N: -GROAN- yes, I know, it is SHORT. And a bad cliffie to boot.

Anyway, I am aware that I have started a lot of things in this chapter, only to leave them hanging. One of the reasons being that I don't want to overwhelm with a lot of plot at the same time. Much like the title says, it's an introduction of sorts. Kakashi's and Sasuke's characters and Naruto's story are things I wanna develop, so yeah.

But don't worry, I aim to fit a lot of ItaSaku into this. I just don't know how long it'll take haha XD

That aside, I hope you enjoyed the read! :) Please leave me a review!

Thanks! :D