Ok, so here's a new story. I'm not sure where it's going because although I have a plotline hashed out, I have had chronically recurring writer's block for the past two years, something I believe to be related to my psychological state. Well, I warned you. Now I shall also warn you; this story I came up with at 5am, after being up for about 38 hours straight. Oh the joy of energy drinks in massive quantities…
This is a much darker fic than I'm accustomed to, so don't blame me if it's crap on a stick. This is my attempt at angst and stuff.
Summary: OC-centric. A young woman shows up in Konoha with a small child with her, claiming to have been lost. She is sick, malnourished, and injured and so is the little girl. The woman is obviously more than she says she is, but she is an extremely talented liar, and can even convince the Hokage that she's no threat. However, her past is far darker and her future far more clouded than she lets on.
Rating: M for mentions of rape, teenage pregnancy, swearing, teenage smoking/drinking, all that good stuff
Chapter 1
She stumbled along the path, sure now of where she was. She tried desperately not to disturb the sleeping child in her arms, but the days without sleep made it quite difficult. It was a massive effort for her to even keep walking. The only thing that kept her trudging along was the knowledge that her destination was only moments away… Oh, and the threat of death should she not make it. Thought were running around in circles in her tired brain, making her confused and irritable. She glanced down at the young girl in her arms as the child shifted fitfully in her sleep. A sad frown crossed her dirt-streaked face as she whispered, almost inaudibly, "Shhh… We're almost there." Indeed, when she looked back up, the city wall was visible, and had she the energy the young woman may have jumped for joy. As it was, she was almost crying with relief as she staggered forward, slightly faster now that the sight of her destination had given her renewed strength. They were really almost safe.
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Shikamaru walked lazily towards the city gate, wanting to hurry up and get the reports from the guards to bring to Tsunade so he could go home and sleep. Because he was so useful to her with his so-called brilliance, the Hokage had made Shikamaru one of her personal lackeys. This, for Shikamaru, meant little free time, and even less sleep. Hell, it was already nearing midnight! Under better circumstances (for him), Sakura would be Tsunade's main lackey, but nooooooo… She was too valuable to the hospital. Whatever, Shikamaru couldn't really be bothered to care, being Tsunade's minion meant a slight pay raise, and he really didn't mind the troublesome Hokage's demands, since they kept him away from home and far from his annoying mother's nagging. He just kept telling himself that this was the last thing he had to do before he went home. He took a long pull on the cigarette that was smoldering lazily in his mouth, inviting the nicotine into his system. The gate was in sight now, so he called out to the guards.
"Oi! Tsunade-sama needs the evening report," he shouted, still walking leisurely towards them so they could have time to organize themselves. By the time Shikamaru reached them, the report was neatly ordered, and you could barely tell that they'd been sleeping on top of it. However, before Shikamaru could take the report and leave, one of the guards said,
"Hold on, there's someone coming down the road!" Shikamaru looked up and, indeed, he could see a figure stumbling along down the path. The person's movements were slow and clumsy, indicative of injury or intoxication. Being that the only bar besides those in Konoha was more than a day away, Shikamaru assumed it was the former. As the person slowly drew closer, he saw that it was a woman, and there was a sleeping child in her arms, the child's head resting on the woman's shoulder. The woman had long dark hair, Shikamaru couldn't tell the exact color in the moonlight, and it was tangled and matted from a long time without care. The woman's ragged clothes had seen far better days, and hung loosely from the woman's too-thin frame. She obviously had been through the mill.
Sighing, Shikamaru let the cigarette fall from his mouth and tamped it out on the ground with his sandal-clad foot. Whether out of impatience or worry, Shika ran forward to assist the woman. She stopped in her tracks when she saw him approach, and he saw that she was tense, on guard, and overall exhausted. When he got close enough, he spoke to her. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Do you need to go to the hospital?" The woman nodded gratefully.
"Thank you," she began. "My name is Yumi, and Moriko and I could use some help." She croaked the words out in a voice hoarse from lack of water, disuse, or both. Shikamaru smiled kindly at her, and just then Yumi's legs gave way to exhaustion. He caught her deftly, and making sure not to hurt her or the little girl, he picked the pair up and turned back towards Konoha. Kami apparently decided that tonight, sleep wasn't something that Shikamaru needed. When he reached the guards, Shikamaru told them to send the report to the Hokage by bird, and that he was taking the travelers to the hospital.
As he ran through the deserted streets of the Leaf Village, Shikamaru replayed the brief conversation in his head. He'd been too concerned for her health to notice earlier, but now that he thought about it he realized that the woman's eyes had been orange, a strange color for eyes, but nothing too out of the ordinary. He also took this time to regard the small girl that the woman had been carrying. As he looked on, the girl's eyes fluttered open for a moment, before she saw that she was safe and with Yumi, and the girl relaxed. Her black eyes fell heavily closed once more, and the girl snuggled closer to the sleeping woman, who in turn clutched the child close. The child had wavy, dark hair as well, and even in the poor light Shikamaru could tell that it was darker than the woman's. Both of them looked too thin, and appeared to have been traveling for quite some time. The woman, Yumi, was no ordinary woman, though, Shikamaru knew that much. Her frame was powerfully built, leanly muscular and made to endure hardship. She had a ninja's body.
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Yumi was running. It was dark as pitch, and her keen orange eyes couldn't see anything in the gloom. She didn't know why or where to, but she was running for all she was worth. Then, phantom shapes appeared at the corners of her eyes, just barely inside her peripheral vision. They were stalking her, chasing her…toying with her. She ran harder, faster, her lungs and muscles screaming from the effort. She had to get away or they'd kill her. Suddenly, there was a man standing in her path, holding a little girl with a knife to her fragile neck. Yumi could only make out the man's eyes and teeth in the blackness, but the girl was clear as day, as if illuminated by a spotlight, the kunai at her throat glinting malevolently. Yumi stopped dead in her tracks, staring in horror at the man holding Moriko. He pressed the kunai ever so lightly against her throat, and a trickle of blood started to creep down her neck. Moriko's eyes were screaming for help, the raw fear in them plain as day. The man's eyes, on the other hand, shone cruelly in the gloom; he had her and he knew it. Yumi fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she surrendered. The man began to laugh viciously as the creeping shadows overtook Yumi, then he slit the little girl's throat. Yumi screamed as the shadows devoured her.
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When she woke up, Yumi was still screaming. She bolted upright, gasping for air. Nurses rushed in, asking what was wrong, and Yumi saw one of them inconspicuously prepping sedative. She forced herself to calm down, taking long, slow, deep breaths as she lay back down. She took in her surroundings…the clean white walls, the bright window, the stiff white sheets…she was in a hospital. She was safe. She laughed shakily and gave the nurses a weak smile.
"I'm fine," she said. "I just had a bad dream…Where is Moriko?" The nurses looked at each other, confused. "She's the little girl I had with me," Yumi clarified. "Where is she?" Yumi was just about to panic when—
"She's right here," a new voice announced from the doorway. Yumi looked over to see Moriko holding the hand of a well-endowed blonde woman. Moriko yanked her hand out of the woman's grasp and ran to Yumi's bed, climbing up and hugging her. Yumi hugged the child back, stroking her long black hair. The blonde woman observed all this and then turned to the nurses. "You are dismissed," she said in an authoritative tone. All five of them left with bows and mutters of, "Hai, Hokage-sama." Then, the blonde woman turned to the pair on the bed and said, "I'm Tsunade, Godaime Hokage. Welcome to Konoha."
So...review, et cetera...Yeah. No idea when I'll update...