The world swirled around in clouds of purple, black, and grey. When this first started happening I couldn't feel anything but a great tug in my chest, as if something was pulling me, guiding me through this cloud until I broke through on the other side. One moment, I had been fuming over a stupid joke made at my expense, and then there was nothing but black... and silence.

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Chapter 1: Lost and Found

Leiko Urumetsuki was the first to awaken to the silver moonlight. Her black eyes glared around at the surroundings, instantly picking up several things- like the silence, the black air, and the rough, forest landscape. This wasn't home.

She lifted her head, just high enough that her nose was above the ground and took a deep breath as she did so. The ground was damp under her fingertips, and the air was moist. It was close to dawn, she would guess. Shifting, she sat up and peered behind her, where she heard mumbling, and a few more groans. Three bodies stirred in the dark, waking from an unexpected slumber into the shocking scene before them. She was relieved, in a way, to detect a head of blonde hair among the three.

Though it was not that head of blonde hair that gained their bearings first. It was the only other one with Leiko's colour of hair- dark as the night around them, with the silver shine of the moon- that pulled his head up and looked her in the eye. He looked away just as quickly as he had stared at her, his blue eyes unable to hold her gaze for any length of time, no matter the circumstance. His skin seemed to glow under the moon, making him more handsome than Leiko dared give him credit for.

"Where are we?" he asked. His silky voice drew out over the terrain, scattering what few birds were left in the area. It made the other two girls flinch and become suddenly aware of their surroundings as they stared in shocked awe. The blonde- whose blue eyes were wide with surprise- seemed somehow less fazed than her friend, a pink haired girl with matching eyes who shook in her place. She had never seen anything so out of the ordinary before. How could anyone go from being in the dead centre of town, to the middle of a strange forest?

Yasashiku Hakaisha, the male of them all, stood first and brushed himself off. "It's probably best to get moving," he started. He glanced down at the two curious girls closest to him and gave a friendly smile. "If we stay too long, who knows what strange animals could pop up." The blonde and pink haired girls jumped up instantly, anxious now to get out of the forest they had somehow found themselves in. But Leiko stayed in her place, sitting on her butt, with her legs bent out to their respective sides, and palms on the ground in front of her- much like a stubborn puppy.

She sighed, frustrated. Her bad mood was worsening by the moment. Something strange tickled her nose when the wind blew, making her wrinkle her face up unattractively. She heard a light laugh and turned her head up sharply, Yasashiku filling her vision. He held a hand out to her, offering his help.

"There's no use staying on the ground," he pointed out.

Leiko snorted and shifted so that she could stand, taking his hand agitatedly. He pulled her up firmly, and once she was on her feet, he turned to the other two girls to beckon them forward.

"Let's go."

Leiko stepped ahead of him, even if he seemed like he was leading the way, and began trekking through the dark woods. Easily she treaded over fallen logs, tangled plants, and monstrous, evil-looking tree roots. Yasashiku fell behind, however, offering to help the pink haired girl, Kohana, through the foliage.

Keiko, the blonde, patiently waited until she stumbled one too many times, it seemed. She scoffed, sighing impatiently. "A little help for your sis, Leiko?" she questioned irritably.

Leiko turned to raise an eyebrow at her, only to find her younger sister in a tiff, hands on her hips and scowl on her lips. Amused now she doubled back, reaching out to grasp her hand, and the girl's frown turned into a cheery grin as she grabbed for her hand in return.

Keiko was proud to own the privilege of being one of the only ones Leiko would come into contact with.

Small talk began between Kohana and Yasashiku as they continued their way through the forest, only falling quiet again when she fell asleep while piggybacking on the male. Keiko appeared to find this amusing. Leiko did not. There was that small bit of the male she felt bound to defend, and Kohana was not the most innocent of pre-pubescent girls.

Or had she hit puberty by now? Leiko pondered briefly.

Lost in thought, she was brought out again by the male's voice. "Do you smell that?" he asked cautiously. Blinking, Leiko turned to look at him. He held his head slightly higher in the air, looking around for signs of something he had apparently smelt. She too began searching for it, paying attention to scents in the air now. It was quick enough to detect.

Smoke, meaning a fire, which blocked out many other scents, and also something that made her nose wrinkle in distaste. It was oily, salty, and... fish.

But Keiko seemed pleased. "Aww~ food," she whined. Her stomach growled almost immediately afterwards. How the girl could only think about what was cooking was beyond the black haired female, however with the lightest of glares, she glanced at her sister and cautiously stepped forward. She couldn't let her starve after all.

It wasn't very long at all before the light of flames was clear in the darkness. It was easy to see Keiko's excitement, the way she held a new, anxious bounce to her walk. To keep her from dashing towards the fire- which with her luck, she was likely to fall into- Leiko grabbed the sleeve of her shirt and urged her into nearby bushes. Spying.

The smell was far stronger now, making Leiko shudder lightly as she crouched behind a tree. After a moment she peeked around, eyes glinting with the light of the flames just on the other side of the brush. She could pick out... three- no- four figures on the other side. Three small ones, and one bigger one. Three kids and an adult. Biting her lip, she pondered. They couldn't be that much of a threat, right?

Suddenly, one figure moved, turning its head in her direction, and she quickly snapped around behind the tree again. Quite noisily. She grimaced.

"Come on out, we know you're there." The voice was male, deep and- Leiko would call it- charming. It didn't seem at all hostile, but calm, collected, and not at all afraid that something was lurking in the bushes.

Leiko turned her head quickly towards Keiko, scowling deeply. Motioning with her eyes, she implied what she wanted clearly. She could go out in the open first. The younger girl's mouth dropped open and she stuttered for a moment before biting her lip nervously and standing so that she could be seen.

Leiko watched carefully as her sister laughed nervously and waved. "Hi there." She tried to smile, much to the older girl's amusement, but it did not look at all happy. "Um..." Bouncing on the spot, the girl seemed at a loss for words. After all, was it every day she had to ask strangers for food? With an audible sigh, she pointed at the fish. "We um, smelled you guys cooking and uh..." Her stomach finished her sentence.

But Leiko smacked her forehead. Her sister was so clever. "'We'?" she heard the smooth voice of the male echo, followed by the small gasp of the girl, and the slap of her covering her mouth, clearly realizing her stupid mistake.

Slowly the remaining three- Kohana still perched on the male's back, sleeping- crept from their hiding places, though Leiko found one thing strange when she laid her eyes one the opposing figures. There were four- three pre-teens, and one adult- but the adult, who had obviously been the one conversing with her younger sister, did not seem at all surprised that there had been more than what met his eye.

And that was all she could see of his face. One eye.

That was all, before something interrupted her vision entirely, and sharp cold tickled her throat. Leiko's black eyes glared into another set of black as she tipped her head back, taking the tiniest of steps back to keep her balance. The sudden intrusion into her personal space was not bad enough, but it seemed the black haired youth, who seemed to act of his own accord, appeared to feel the need to place a blade to her neck. Leiko's lip twitched before she could help it, and she grit her teeth to keep her mouth shut.

"Who are you?" he sneered at her. This only earned a harsher glare in return as finally the other figures around seemed to catch up with the commotion. Though the one eye of the man Leiko had spied seemed perfectly calm. Clearly he expected something more of this boy than Leiko did- perhaps a certain degree of control over himself, to the point that there was no true need to worry.

When Leiko didn't answer, Keiko spoke up. "Leave her alone! What's the matter with you?!" she yelled. But the boy seemed reluctant to shift his position. He was so utterly steady, that Leiko wondered if he was moving at all.

"Calm down," Yasashiku's voice rose through the commotion. Leiko's gaze didn't avert to him, but stayed locked on the boy's. Though her attention was all Yasashiku's. "We're lost. That's all. If we're not welcome, we'll leave."

The only time that either Leiko's or the young boy's eyes shifted away from each other, was when she heard the shuffling of the older male as he stood. "That's enough, Sasuke."

The youth tensed for only a moment, seeming reluctant to back off of Leiko. However, she caught the movement of his lips as he whispered lightly, dangerously.

"There's something not right about you..."

Though there was perhaps, some agreement on her end, Leiko could only stare mockingly as the boy backed away, just as Master ordered. Silly little puppy, she silently mocked.

"You needed food, right?" Leiko's stare was broken as her attention was diverted to the older male. His gaze was on her, almost as if prodding her to answer him. It was an innocent enough question, and yet somehow she felt that there was some meaning behind it. If only to get her to speak.

"Yeah... we'd be really grateful," Keiko answered instead. Her stomach rumbled, making her blush lightly. She hadn't eaten in what felt like forever.

His gaze finally drifted to her, and he seemed to understand the point that there was no answer that could be provoked from Leiko. "Then you're welcome," he cheered instantly, suddenly friendly. "There's enough to go around."

Keiko brightened until a loud voice cut into the scene. "But Kakashi-sensei!" Her face fell as she stared at the blonde boy, who seemed to be not the only one to protest, but certainly the only one to voice it. "We worked hard for that food! I'm starving too!"

Leiko watched her sister glance between the young boy and the other male- Kakashi, she gathered his name to be. But the latter seemed content to have them there. And it wasn't him, anyways, who berated the poor youth.

"Naruto! That's rude!" the pink haired girl yelled, bashing the boy over the head.

The older male ignored the commotion going on around him and beckoned Keiko and Yasashiku towards the fire where food sat waiting. Leiko, however, was reluctant. She neither liked fish- at all- nor did she feel welcome. The stare from Sasuke- no matter that he didn't voice anything- made her uneasy.