Chapter 1

Umino Iruka was scouting the forest just beyond Konoha's border. He was not alone; other ninja from the village were with him, including ANBU agents, jounin, chunin, and a few genin. It had only been twenty-four hours since Pain destroyed the village. The teams had been sent to search for any remaining members of Akatsuki. Iruka could spot two of his teammates; Nara Shikaku was twenty yards to his left and Sai was thirty yards to his right. Every member of the scouting team wore headsets so they could communicate as easily as possible.

Iruka listened for any unusual sounds coming from the forest. His ears were straining for any sound at all and it was a shock when he heard Sai's voice loud and clear.

"Iruka-san, I have not spotted anything unusual nearby, I shall go farther away and search deeper into the forest." Sai informed him.

"Go ahead, but make sure you're in range of at least one headset." Iruka commanded.

Sai gave a curt nod and disappeared quickly into the deep green foliage. Iruka dropped to the forest floor and began to search quietly on foot. Shikaku landed near him a few yards away. Just as Iruka was about to speak, both men heard a soft whimpering coming from no more than five yards in front of them. The two men looked at each other and nodded, each going their separate ways to locate the source of the sound.

Iruka made his way off to his right. Quietly, he moved swiftly toward the source of the whimpering. The sound grew louder and Iruka felt that it sounded like a wounded, pathetic animal.

Then, he stood just behind the tree where the sound was coming from. Iruka stepped lightly around the tree and saw a disheveled woman kneeling at the base of it. He had startled her; she screamed and stood, trying to get away, but fell again to her knees. She was grasping her left thigh.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you." Iruka told her in a calm voice. Shikaku stood only a few feet in front of the woman looking confusedly at Iruka. Shikaku stepped toward the woman, who looked up at him with frightful eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to help you." He told her as he knelt down beside her. "Now, let me see your leg."

She whimpered again, but sat fully on the ground and stretched her left leg out to him. Iruka sat down next to her and watched as Shikaku gently pushed the ripped kimono up to her hip. The wound was deep and gnarled. She was bleeding at a steady pace and a thick line of white had formed at the edges of the wound. Iruka had to stop himself from take a sharp breath in at seeing how bad her injury was.

"Miss, can you tell us your name?" Iruka asked.

"Anzu." She answered in strained high pitched voice.

"Like the fruit." Iruka answered.

She smiled and nodded before clenching her teeth and letting out a strangled cry when Shikaku put pressure on the edge of her leg wound. He body lay fully on the ground now, her face turned down. Iruka noticed the gold pins bound in her hair, the scent of cherry blossoms radiated off her clothing and skin. Shikaku ripped a piece of cloth and tied it around her upper thigh as a makeshift tourniquet. He wet the rest of the cloth and placed it over the wound. She squealed in pain and reached out for Iruka's hand. She squeezed it tightly. Iruka allowed her to take his hand in her pain and felt how soft and smooth her skin was. The cool silk of her sleeve brushed against Iruka's wrist.

It was then, as Shikaku concentrated on cleaning Anzu's wound, that Iruka took the liberty to look over her person. Her body was slim, but mature, and her blue kimono hung comfortably to her body. There was a second, light green, kimono under the first; it too was ripped and soiled with blood. His eyes moved to her feet where he expected to find elegant shoes, but found nothing; she was barefoot.

Iruka looked up to see how far Shikaku was in cleaning the wound. The older man looked at Iruka through the corner of his eye and smirked at him. Shikaku didn't miss for a second that Iruka was giving the young woman the once over.

"I'm almost done rinsing your wound." Shikaku said softly to Anzu. He lifted the wet clot, now soaked with blood, from her leg and examined the damage. He saw a glimmer in the wound as the sun shone through the trees. Keeping pressure above the wound, Shikaku pull a three inch shard of glass from the wound, the woman's body shivering in pain. After the glass was removed, the wound began to bleed freely again.

"Iruka, I can't help her anymore. She needs medical attention from a medic nin." Shikaku said in his raspy voice. "I'm going to catch up with Sai. You go ahead back to the village and bring this woman to a medic-nin."

Iruka nodded his agreement. Shikaku left in a hurry. Iruka stood from where he was sitting. Anzu was looking up at him while keeping the wet cloth over her wound.

"How do you suppose you will get me to the village? I cannot walk." Anzu inquired.

Bending down and placing his hands under her legs and back, Iruka picked the petite woman up bridal style. "I'll just have to carry you there." He smiled.

Anzu blushed and averted her eyes. She was finding it hard to keep pressure on her wound while being held as she was. Iruka tried to carry her without jostling her too much, but he found this very difficult. She would whimper or squeak when he regained his grip on her or when he moved too hastily.

"When did this happen?" Iruka asked.

"When did what happen?" Anzu asked confused.

"When did you get your injury?" He asked smiling.

"Oh, it happened last night when I was making my way to Konoha." She answered.

"Why were you journeying to Konoha?"

"I was searching for an elderly man named Jiraiya." She answered, obviously caught up in her thoughts.

"Master Jiraiya?"

"Yes! Do you know him?" She asked hopefully.

"I did. It grieves me to tell you that he is dead. He passes away about a month ago." Iruka informed her with saddened eyes.

Anzu became very quiet and closed her eyes. Her lips moved silently as she held her face content. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked at Iruka dead on.

"How?" she asked sternly.

"What were you doing just now?" Iruka avoided the question.

"How?" She asked harsher than before.

"He was killed by a ninja, the same ninja that did this." Iruka nodded his head upward.

They stood at the opening of the gates. Iruka surveyed her as she took in the destruction of the village.

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Author's Note: This is my third fan-fiction story. I hope you enjoy it. Please review.

Yuushi-chan