EKUSA

Chapter 1: One Fateful Encounter

"There once appeared a small girl. Many were fooled as her chakra alone could crumble mountains and cause tsunamis. To ward off this demon-like child, the people assembled all the shinobi from the village. One brave young boy who was still on his journey in becoming a shinobi himself was able to fend off the demon, but because of that, parts of his memories became hazy. That shinobi was called…"

-Sasuke's POV-

Outside, near the entrance of Konohagakure, I lay flat on the ground, back against the pavement. I slowly sat up, recovering from the earlier collision.

"I am greatly sorry!" A fairly petite girl in traditional priest clothing was bowing. She had long black hair and vivid red eyes. She kept apologizing to me until something caught her eye. I turned around and looked at what she was looking at. The famous Konohagakure monument could be seen at our distance… and it has been drawn on with paint. The girl, with concerning eyes, muttered to herself, "My Uzumaki-kun..."

Already feeling annoyed, I was about to turn around and walk away until I heard the little girl's stomach grumble. The girl blushed and couldn't look me in the eye. I walked towards the girl and, with both my hands, pinched both of her cheeks. The little girl turned even redder as her face was filled with bewilderment. She squirmed as she was trying to get away from my grasp, "Please stop this right this instant."

"Come on," I said, and I let go of her. The little girl, unknowing of where I was going to take her, hesitated to follow me at first. After a while, I could hear her small footsteps hasten to catch up to mine.

The little girl's face brightened once we reached the ramen shop. I began to walk away. "Excuse me!" I flinched at the sound of the little girl's calling. She ran up to me and faced me, panting. What a fragile girl with little stamina.

Finally catching her breath, she smiled and said, "As a thank you, allow me to treat you."

In the end, I got stuck joining her for some noodles. After our orders arrived, the little girl was hesitant to take her first bite. She slowly took one noodle, closely observed it, and ate it. "Wahh~ Delicious!" She stared at me with sparkling eyes. I looked away, turning slightly pink. "Idiot…" I whispered aloud.

I was about to begin eating until I was disturbed by the cook nudging my shoulder. The cook whispered, "Who is she? Is that your girlfriend?" We both looked at the girl as a radish slipped from her chopsticks, causing the soup to splash on her face. I really wanted to hit this man right now. I've never felt so insulted in my entire life.

The sun was setting when we left the ramen place. "You are unaware of how grateful I am. I do not know what I would do if I had not crossed paths with you Uchiha-sa…" She stopped at mid-sentence and fell silent. I looked at the little girl's eyes. The different look in her eyes caused me to flinch. I couldn't find the words to describe what her eyes expressed.

Finally, but faintly, she said, "…my dear Uzumaki-kun please be strong…"

She fled.

I was stunned for a moment, and began to follow her. My thoughts were going crazy. How could I be so dumb? For someone I've never met before, how did she know my name? Or have we met before? Suddenly, a very blurry picture of a child's silhouette appeared in my mind. It disappeared.

I followed the girl into the forest without her noticing. I wasn't sure for how long I was following her for, but it was dark out now. She was very quick compared to before when a short distance would leave her out of breath. When she stopped, I hid behind a tree. The girl knocked Naruto out, making him passed out on the floor. What is she doing to Naruto?

A split second later, a bombard of kunais went flying straight at her, pinning her to a nearby tree behind her. She was bleeding everywhere yet she did not flinch or scream at all. While taking each kunai out of her body, she raised her voice, not to Naruto, but to the forest, "I understand that you are strong… but please put away your weapons already."

She gasped as I tackled her, protecting her from a huge spinning shuriken. I ended up on the ground on top of her, but I supported myself up with my hands so as not to crush the girl. I winced as the girl gently touched the scratch on my cheek the shuriken just made. "He tainted the shuriken with knock-out oil." Once she said that, my vision began to get blurry. How could I be so weak to faint from such a simple trick as this?

The enemy appeared out of the trees. The little girl placed me leaning against a tree and stood up to face the enemy. "I suppose I am obliged to take you on myself, Mizuki-sensei," she said, staring at him with the same eyes; the same eyes she had when she fell silent at mid-sentence. It was at that moment I could finally describe what her eyes' intent was: death.

She took out her dual fans and opened them both, hearing a painful screech echoing through the dark forest right after. My vision then faded to black…

"…ha-sa… chichi-san! UCHIHA-SAN!" I woke up, lying down on the little girl's lap with her worried face looking down at me. My eyes grew wide and quickly removed my head from her lap. Sitting up, I turned away from her face. I was turning slight pink. Why am I acting like this?

We were both still out in the forest and the sun was shining brightly upon the both of us. The little girl's eyes began to well up with tears. "Please do not scare me like that again! –Hic-" Sighing, I patted her head to calm her down. She stopped in an instant, and gave me a warm smile.