Authors note: Hey guys:) So I have finally gotten my first story up. Hope you like it:) Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything of/about/or consisting of Naruto/its characters/world/ and so on. I do however claim this story and the names I have chosen for myself and my brothers.
Chapter 1: Lost in the Woods
"I can't believe this," I said tripping over the roots of a Great Oak, "we just come back from training and guess what we have to do. . . WORK!"
"Kenmei, we all know that they need us to do this," Rihatsu said.
"Yeah," Oushi said agreeing with him, "We are the only warriors in the village. The black belts of Tai Chi", looking at me, "Tae kwon do", nodding at Rihatsu, "and me, a black belt of Judo."
"Why don't we just rest here for a moment," Rihatsu suggested sitting under the Great Oak with a yawn, "We've been traveling for days and haven't found anything."
"Sounds good to me," I said looking at Oushi already passed out within the roots of the tree. Rihatsu was soon to follow.
While Oushi and Rihatsu slept, I thought about how I got here. How we got here. I was sitting with my cousin and our best friend, who were more like brothers to me, under a beautiful Great Oak in Japan. Amazingly, we are all here because of their abilities. Rihatsu trained for many years in the United States before being accepted to this village's Tae kwon do master. Oushi was a street fighter until he was 14 when he was sent to Japan to be apprenticed to a master. Me? I was sent with Rihatsu, after a lot of begging on my part. He sent me to be apprenticed in the only thing he could find for me, Tai Chi, and I turned out to be pretty good. When we finished our three year apprenticeships, Oushi came to stay with us in our little village. Upon his arrival, our village elders sent us to investigate the random attacks on travelers by the foot of a near mountain. That's where we are now… lost at the foot of a mountain. Great…
"Well…I think…I'll just sleep for a little. We will figure it out later," I said with a yawn.
"Kenmei! Kenmei! Wake up now," Oushi said, His voice interrupting my dreams.
"What," I yelled, "is so important?"
"Its night three and we haven't made it back to the village," he explained, "we told the Elders we would be back by now. We have to get back!"
"SHOOT! Why did you let me sleep so long? We need to go now!"
"Calm down, calm down, Fighting gets us nowhere," Rihatsu commanded, emerging from behind the tree, "We would have woken you earlier, but we thought we could figure it out ourselves."
"Figure what out?" I questioned.
"Where we are," Oushi answered matter-of-factly.
"You got us lost?" I asked trying to keep my temper. They always got us lost. Some things never change.
"Technically, we were already lost. We just need to get back." Oushi said pleadingly, "Can you help?"
"Give me my journal."
I took two things everywhere with me: my journal and my mom's necklace. Rihatsu handed me my homemade red-covered book. I kept everything in there; maps, people's names, things we need, things to do…. Everything. I also kept more personal things. It was my lifeline. Rihatsu and Oushi started bickering in the back ground.
"The village is to the north." One said.
"No, the village is to the south", Countered the other.
"Be quiet you two! I need to concentrate!"
"Jeesh, okay. Down, girl, down." Oushi said with a teasing smile.
Glaring at Oushi, I turned to Rihatsu and said, "If I coordinate our location with the direction of the village, which is north…"
"TOLD YOU SO," Oushi interrupted me, and then fell silent when I gave him a warning look.
"Which is north, and the way we've been traveling, I should be able to get us home." Knowing they would never understand what I just said, the boys followed my lead through the forest.
"Maybe you could use the stars," Rihatsu commented admiring their glow, "They look extraordinary next to the full moon."
"Shh."
"Whatever." He muttered under his breath.
"Kenmei"
"Shh."
"Kenmei, I…"
"Shh!"
"But…"
"What Oushi? What do you want?" I yelled.
Flinching back, he said, "Didn't we just sleep here?" I looked around. By a great oak there were three imprints on the ground. Shit.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE WE?" I screamed into the night.
***THUD***
"What the hell was that?" I said quickly, startled.
"A kunai," Rihatsu said, "and here comes more!"
"Behind the tree!" Oushi said running. Rihatsu and I immediately followed.
"We need to draw them out. None of us have very good long ranged attacks." Rihatsu said evaluating the situation.
"Heck, we don't even have a long ranged weapon," I pointed out.
"True."
"I'll go get 'um," Oushi said standing up.
"No" Rihatsu and I said simultaneously.
After a short pause, Rihatsu announced, "I will go with you. I won't let you go out there alone."
"What about Kenmei?"
"She will be fine. She is my sister and I will NEVER let anything happen to her."
"You mean WE will never let anything happen to her," Oushi corrected him.
They talked like I wasn't standing there listening, but before I could protest they were gone. I peeked around the tree. From what I could tell, there were three of them. Oushi took one and Rihatsu another. That leaves one for me, I thought. From a quick scan of things, my brothers were giving their all and losing. With kunai and shuriken flying past my head, I didn't have much time to react. All I knew is that they needed my help … and soon.
Snatching a kunai out of the air, I ran to find my brothers … Find them fighting some strange looking ninja. They all had headbands with four squiggles on them. I've seen these before…but where? Running towards them, I kept thinking about the weird headbands.
My brothers were fighting side by side, defending each other's weaknesses. Rihatsu had a kunai in one hand and shuriken in the other. With the Kunai he was deflecting other's attacks and, at the same time, attacking with the shuriken. Oushi was depending on Rihatsu for support and protection. When Rihatsu pinned then to a tree, Oushi could knock them out, but rarely killed, only the enemy was to fast to be pinned to a tree. Their normal system wasn't cutting it. Oushi rarely protected himself, though Rihatsu tried. Oushi was covered in blood from open wounds all over his body made by unblocked kunai. Kunai flew past my head as I moved toward them.
"Watch out, behind you!" I screamed at Rihatsu all too late. The ninja I was supposed to be occupying struck him from behind in the left side of his back and he fell to the ground weakened by all the fighting. Praying he was alright, I tried to replace Rihatsu, fighting side by side with Oushi. Both watching where we stood, we defended Rihatsu. But I could only help Oushi so much. Moments after Rihatsu, Oushi fell.
I was pissed. No one messes with my brothers. Like I was taught by Rihatsu, I focused my anger into my attacks. Defending my brother's bodies, I attacked with all I had. The only time I was ever good at fighting he said was when I was mad, but I could only hold my own for so long. With the kunai I snatched out of the air, I redirected most of their attacks. But I was hit in my left shoulder and fell. Tired of fighting, I stayed still letting them think I was dead. It worked; they left us there to be found.
After a few minutes of resting, I staggered to my knees, I made sure my brothers were still breathing, they were… "Thank God."
I went for our packs and my medical notes and supplies. Doing what I could from my notes and past knowledge, I cleaned and covered most of the little cuts on Oushi's body. Afraid to pull the kunai out, I cleaned up the blood around it and wrapped it well. I did the same for Rihatsu. With excruciating pain, I pulled the kunai out of my shoulder and bandaged it up. They hit right under my collarbone, so it wasn't as bad. I could only do so much for us. We needed help far beyond what I could give. I knew what I had to do, and normally they would never let me, but who cares?
I put my backpack full of all our things on my back, and then I wrapped one arm around Rihatsu's back to his other side, avoiding the kunai and with my other arm, I did the same to Oushi. They need help and I wasn't just leaving them there. With their feet dragging along the ground, I headed in a straight line toward, what I thought was, the direction of the village. Carrying both of them and all the items was exhausting, so I looked for shelters. Finding some under a nearby tree, I set my brothers down trying not to inflict anymore damage. Under their heads I lay their extra set of clothes to try and make them as comfortable as possible. I checked their wounds and fixed their bandages. After I insured our safety, in our little hiding place, I passed out.
"Someone get the others," I heard a male's voice say as I was lifted into the air.
I'm sorry brothers, I thought, I failed you.
"I'll check for more," a female's voice called from further away.
A few seconds passed that seemed like years when the female's voice confirmed, "No others, let's go."
As we were carried to our uncertain future, the fight replayed in my mind like a bad dream that wouldn't go away. The kunai, shuriken, headbands, ninja, what was it all? I know I have seen these things before. Then a very terrifying question came to me, who are we with? Were they the same ones who attacked us before and they decided to finish the job they failed at first? Before opening my eyes, I tried my other senses. I could feel one arm under my back and another under my knees. I could hear the wind blowing through the trees and recognized my favorite smell of cherry blossoms. I needed to see what was happening, even if I didn't like the answer.
Forcing my eyes to slightly open, I saw Rihatsu and Oushi being carried by a man and a large, rather plump boy about my age, both wearing headbands. A girl, also about my age, was following them with a headband around her waist, while my captor had his on his shoulder.
I knew we weren't on the ground due to the constant bouncing, like jumping. For a few seconds I watched the tree tops grow closer then farther away. Closing my eyes I tried to concentrate on my past lessons and stories I read. Then I remembered an old tale my sensei had told me. One of a village, and the ninja that protected it with their unusual techniques; unusual in the way they learned them and how they used them. I remembered our captor's headbands, which matched my memory of the story, and with what I had just saw, I relaxed because we were on our way to Konoha…