The Willow Maid (SasuHina)

Into The Forest

This story was inspired by The Willow Maid by Erutan, although I will be adding my own twist to it

Long ago in the land of fire, there was a great village by the name of Konoha that was filled with many kind people of different backgrounds. The village was peaceful under the rule of their fifth leader, Queen Tsunade. Over the village she had an iron fist with a caring heart, and it is because of her nature that she had maintained the order that had once been lost after the sudden death of the third leader, King Hiruzen. Like every village of this time, they were famous for something, or perhaps it was more of a somebody in this case.

In this village there was a hunter who went by the name of Sasuke Uchiha, those who saw him would be in awe of his beauty but he in turn had no interest in anyone else. He who had skin as pale as snow with navy hair that seemed as if spun by the silkiest of silks and dyed with the night sky itself, and his cold coal eyes as dark as soot. Many people from far and wide, royalty and poverty, had come to him in hopes that he would take their daughter as his bride, only to be denied and turned away, their hopes and dreams ripped from them. This kept happening until soon no more would come to the village in hopes of marriage, but more so in hopes that he would use the women to bare his child and bring fame to their families, but he found no interest in that either. "I will have only the most beautiful woman as my bride, with her I'll raise my children, with her I will live my life.", he had explained to all that had asked regardless of how many times they asked. His hunting buddies, however, found his behavior to be saddening and pathetic, a notion that Sasuke paid no heed too.

"You'll end up dying alone being picky like that.", his friend Naruto had stated as he sat at a table in the corner of the pub with his childhood friend Sasuke. Naruto wasn't bad looking per say, but it was more of his seemingly lack of intelligence and goofiness that had scared away most of the ladies, that, or his childish love for fairytales and folklore. His skin was sun kissed with three whisker like marks on each cheek, as if the great God Apollo had shined upon him while he had been just a infant while his sister Artemis had gently marked his cheeks, his hair was as yellow as the sun above, and his eyes were as blue as the vast, salted ocean far out in the North. "What does it matter to you, aren't you in a relationship with someone anyway?", the raven haired male cocked an eyebrow as he ignored the wooden mug of beer in front of him, playfully mocking his friend. Naruto sulked and crossed his arms, "You like doing that, don't you?", he asked bitterly, pouting like a child who hadn't been allowed to go with the hunters and gatherers to help them pick berries.

The very sight had caused Sasuke to laugh, "With a face like that, how am I not suppose to love it, idiot?", he asked in a joking tone as he rolled his eyes. The blond haired male pouted even more, but the face was quick to leave when Sasuke had stood before putting a few coins on the table for his untouched drink.

"Where are you going?", a simple question.

"I'm a hunter, where else could I be going?", a simple answer, although Naruto could read between the lines.

"Look, if you intend to go into that forest you'll get in big trouble. Granny said to stay away from it.", another argument, but this one in a hushed tone. Sasuke had dreamed of going into that forest, he wanted to see things no one else had seen before.

"What's the matter? You okay there, scaredy cat?.", came the playful insult with a chuckle.

"A cat has nine lives, but it seems you're interested in only having eight. I don't know about you, but I can only take so many beatings to the head.", half playful, but seriousness clear in the air.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and brushed his friend off, "If you say so, scaredy cat.", he teased once more with a tiny chuckle before walking out of the pub. The sun was high in the sky, it was the perfect time to go out hunting, and Sasuke was in a little adventurous mood. He was quick to grab his things from his home before heading out of the village gates where, not surprisingly, no one was keeping watch. As he walked he took in his surroundings, he hadn't understood why people were always so scared to just adventure and discover great things, it was better than just sitting around the pub and talking about relationship problems. He was well aware that he was on his way to dying alone, he would admit it, his standards were high.