This is the story of how I met the love of my life.
Let me start this story where this story truly starts;
It was close to dusk and the forest was beginning to quieten, there was no sound.
That is until a kunai shot through the air and struck a tree, the silence was broken by the sound of two men groaning in irritation.
"You know you're a terrible shot when you're drunk, gimme those!" The first man bellowed, snatching the blades from his companion.
"I meant to miss her you idiot, we're not trying to kill her." The second man groaned.
"No, we're trying to teach her a lesson, and you're not cutting it close enough." The first man shouted, there was the faint sound of the kunei piercing the wind before it struck the tree - this time there was a small wail when it made its mark.
"Bullseye! You cut her face!" The second man cheered.
"Pass me another knife."
"That was my last one."
The first man scoffed. "God you're useless."
The man stumbled towards their target, kneeling in front of it when he got there.
"Learned your lesson yet missy?" He sneered, removing the girl's gag.
The small girl, filthy and bound helplessly, flinched away from where she heard the man.
"I don't think she has!" The second man called.
"Please...stop…" The girl begged, barely over a whisper.
"I agree, I don't think you have." The man before her said, shoving the gag back into her mouth. He pulled the knives from the tree and turned to walk away. The girl swore she heard a rustling in the trees above her, but the long hair covering her face stopped her from seeing anything.
"Where ya gonna aim this time?" The second man asked excitedly.
"Maybe I'll get her in the arm or leg, really teach her a lesson." The first man's voice was full of malice.
The girl screamed behind her gag, but she was unable to move due to her bindings being weighed under heavy rocks.
"That'll to teach you to steal from thieves, you stupid brat!" The first man screamed.
"Thieves, huh?" A new voice asked, startling the two men and especially the blinded girl.
"Who's out there? The second man yelled.
"I'll give you one warning. Leave the stolen good here, and run with your lives." The voice said.
The two men whimpered in fear, the girl could hear them turn tail and run away. Once again, she heard rustling, then the soft sounds of footsteps coming towards here. Her gag was pulled from her mouth, but she was too frightening to scream or speak.
"I'm not going to hurt you, stay still while I cut these ropes."
The voice was monotone and sharp, but held a tenderness that had her more fearful than before. She felt the ropes loosen, and she quickly pulled her arms to guard her face. Gloved hands held her wrists gently.
"I said I'm not going to hurt you." The voice repeated.
She felt the hands leave hers, and she slowly lowered them.
"Who are you?" He asked.
The girl didn't say anything.
"Are you hurt? Let me see…" The man gently inspected her arms, her legs, then finally he gently moved the hair from her face. The girl flinched ever so slightly, but allowed him to do so.
Both their eyes widened when they saw one another.
The boy had ghostly grey hair, and a hard black eye, the other was covered by his ninja headband.
The girl had shoulder-length lavender hair, big blue eyes, a significant burn scar resided on her right cheek. An inch long cut ran over her cheekbone, blood crusted below it as it began to heal.
"Where are you from?" The boy asked, tucking the hair behind her ear in a way that kept her scar hidden.
The girl gently lifted her small hand and gently tapped the boy's headband.
"What village?"
The girl shook her head, she didn't know.
"What is your name?"
She shook her head again.
"You don't have a name...you're not making this easy for me." The boy muttered, the girl felt a wave of guilt wash through her.
"...forgot." She whispered.
"Forgot? You've forgotten your name?"
This time she nodded.
"I want you to come back to my village with me, perhaps the Hokage can help you."
"Sa...sa….Sarutobi?" She stuttered, surprise rose in her eyes.
"You know the third Hokage, perhaps you're from my village." The boy pondered aloud, standing and extending his hand to the girl. "Come with me to my village, can you walk?"
The girl took his hand nervously, and tried to rise but couldn't. Her knees shook, she'd been tied down for days and her legs were numb. She looked up at the boy and shook her head.
"Alright, then I'll carry you. It's not far." The boy said, scooping her up bridal style and leaped to the trees. He dashed from branch to branch, slower than his usual pace to accommodate for the girl in his arms.
They travelled for a while, perhaps 30 minutes, and came to a large gated wall. The girl was scared, and clung closely to Kakashi as he approached.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Bad things happened here." She muttered.
"You're with me right now, you're going to be just fine." He said gently, she looked up at him in awe. "You'll be safe from now on."
He wandered through town until he reached a particular house, by now it was night and most curtains had been drawn for the night. But not the house he reached, one small window on the side stayed open and light poured from it. He put the girl down gently, supporting her with an arm around her waist and hers around his shoulders, and knocked at the door as gently as he could without being too quiet. There was a wait, then the door opened. Standing before them was a man with scruffy blonde hair in his bed clothes, wide awake but confused.
"Aren't you on patrol...wait….who is this?"
"I was hoping you could tell me that, Minato-sensei." The boy, Kakashi sighed. The man beckoned for the two to enter, and Kakashi helped the girl in and onto a sofa.
"Why do you have a girl at my home at night?" Minato asked.
"I found her on patrol, she was a living target for a duo of thieves. It felt wrong to leave her there."
"Who are you, my dear?" Minato asked the girl.
"She doesn't remember her name, I think she's been out there for a while." Kakashi answered for her.
"Do you have some kind of clue?" Minato asked gently, kneeling in front of her. The girl shuffled away from him, looking up at Kakashi who stood a few metres away.
"Don't be frightened, he's here to help you. Sarutobi-sensei isn't Hogake anymore, this is the Fourth Hogake. Minato Namikaze."
"Well that's a clue, if she knows the third Hogake by name." Minato said. "Do you remember your family name? Their clan crest? Anything?"
"A bird." The girl said.
"A bird?" Kakashi asked deadpan.
Minato wandered over to the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room, shuffled around for a few moments, then came back with some parchment and a pencil.
"Draw this bird, if you think it'll tell us who you are."
The girl cautiously took the pencil from Minato, and began roughly drawing. She drew the silhouette of a falcone inside a pentagon and pushed the paper towards Minato. He took the paper from her, examined it for a minute, and gasped quietly.
"Kakashi, as far as you know, does this girl have any burns on her body?" He asked, his voice sounded desperate.
"She has one on her face, why?" Kakashi asked.
Minato turned back to the girl. "May I please see the other side of your face?"
The girl looked over at Kakashi, who nodded, then proceeded to push the hair completely from her forehead.
"I can't believe you're still alive…" Minato muttered.
"What? Who is she?" Kakashi asked.
"She went missing 5 years ago after her clan was attacked, no one found her body so they assumed she escaped. She's the only survivor."
"My clan?" The girl asked.
"Sawakabe, originally from the Land of Birds. You're Souichi Sawakabe's daughter, Sayuri Sawakabe."
"Sa...yu...ri…" The girl said slowly. "I recognise that name."
"Kakashi, you can return to your patrol now that I know who she is." Minato said.
"I finished my hour before I found here, I'll be heading home if you don't need me anymore."
"Ka-ka…" Sayuri gasped, surprising both men. "Ka-ka...shi."
Minato turned back to his student. "I don't think I'll get much out of her without you here, it seems she doesn't trust me yet. If it's no hassle for you…"
"You're joking." Kakashi deadpanned.
"It's in the best interest of her safety, at best it'll be only a few days."
"Kakashi?" Sayuri asked, wobbling her way from the sofa to the boy.
Kakashi sighed, grabbed her arm and draped it over his shoulder.
"Come on, you're staying with me then. I'll bring her by your office tomorrow morning."
"Thank you Kakashi. I'll see you both tomorrow, bye then Sayuri." Minato smiled.
They left the Hokage's home and wandered down the dark streets to Kakashi's small flat. He gave Sayuri a quick tour, showed her where she could sleep in the spare room, and was about to head to his own room when she grabbed him by the back of his uniform.
"Kakashi…" Sayuri mumbled.
"Yes?"
"I'm scared. Please don't go."
Kakashi turned to her, his dark eyes were still sharp yet held a deeper kindness.
"You don't have to be scared anymore, you're safe here."
Hello everyone! Luka is back with another new fanfiction!
This story has been on the backburner for I kid you not 4 years. I created my OC that long ago and had the story in my head but I've never really written it down. Recently I discovered Issues by Julia Michaels and was inspired to finally write it.
I know what you're all thinking...
"Luka! You are so bad at updating! You can't start a new story when you have another one on the go! You're hopeless!"
Yes. Most of that is definitely true.
Ah well, lets see how this thing pans out!
~Luka
