Chapter 1
--Shikamaru's PoV--
"Asuma-sensei, are we there yet?" Ino whined from where she, Chouji, and Asuma were walking ahead of me with their backpacks and, in Chouji's case, bags of potato chips in hand.
Asuma sighed and replied for the fifth time in the past three hours, "No, Ino. We're not there yet. We're not even close to being there. It's going to take us two days to reach Youseimura, not two hours."
I sighed and thought, Troublesome woman.
The next few minutes were traveled in near silence, the only things keeping the silence from becoming complete being our footsteps and the sound of Chouji chewing his chips loudly.
We were going around a bend in the tree-lined dirt path, Asuma still in the lead, when we suddenly froze.
A large chestnut-colored stallion was blocking our path, a snarling gray wolf standing to either side of the beautiful creature, each with a savage beauty of their own.
I went wide-eyed along with the others. We could handle crazy people, but psychotic animals were a different story.
"Asuma-sensei!" Ino cried when one of the wolves suddenly lunged at Asuma, fangs bared.
The man cried out when the animal's powerful jaws closed around his left leg, knocking him on his ass.
The other vicious wolf headed right for me while the horse went after Chouji and Ino.
The wolf bit down on my wrist just before a loud whistle sounded from a tree branch above me.
All three of the animals immediately released their prey and stepped back, giving a young girl room to land in front of them with her back to us.
"Moto! Wataru! Eri! What have I told you about attacking travelers?!" As the animals began to whine and look remorseful because of the girl's words, I studied her while holding my bleeding wrist.
She looked to be about my age, twelve or so, with waist-length, straight green hair. The color would have looked wrong on someone else, but it seemed to fit this strange girl perfectly for some reason.
"No, I did not say you could eat them if they smelled good!" the green-haired girl yelled as if she could understand one of the wolves' guilty-sounding growls.
After a few more growls from the wolves and a neigh or two from the horse, the girl said, "You're supposed to fight off the other animals! I'm supposed to fight off the humans! And that's only if they're a threat! Do these guys look like threats to you?!" She gestured back at me and the others, and I couldn't help but notice that her nails were long, clean, and painted a light, shimmery green despite the fact that she seemed to live out here in the forest.
While she continued to argue with the animals about whether we were threats or not, I continued to study her.
She was only a little bit shorter than me, dressed in a short, white silk dress with spaghetti straps that showed off a lot of her skin, scarred from what was probably previous battles and pale even though she probably spent a lot of time in the sun. She didn't have any shoes on at the moment, but judging by the fact that her feet weren't cut up or anything, she probably had some shoes laying around somewhere.
The wind suddenly picked up, blowing the girl's green hair to the side, and I went wide-eyed, just barely keeping my jaw from dropping. My companions had the exact same reaction, even Asuma, who had finally gotten to his feet with the help of an uninjured Ino.
The girl's ears were pointed, like an elf's or something.
She turned after a moment, apparently noticing our shock.
The wind died down, her hair dropping to cover her pointed ears as she asked, "What?"
I gazed into her green eyes, which were a shade darker than her hair, shocked. Before I could answer her question, though, she rushed forward and gently took my injured wrist in her hands.
"Damn it. I'm sorry. Why didn't you tell me she had bitten you?" she asked, carefully turning my arm over and studying my wound. She caught sight of Asuma's leg after a moment and sighed angrily. "Why didn't you say anything, either?"
She released my wrist and turned to face the two wolves and the horse. "You're lucky I love you. Get out of my sight," she told the creatures, glaring at them.
The wolves whimpered and walked off into the trees with the stallion following close behind.
"Come on, people. I'll help you fix up your wounds," the green-eyed girl said with a tired sigh while turning and walking slowly into the grassy forest, ignoring the dirt path that stretched out before her.
I exchanged a startled look with my teammates and our sensei before turning and following her into the shade of the tall, ancient trees that made up the beautiful forest.
"Take off your clothes," the pointy-eared girl commanded once we were all standing at the edge of a clean-looking, tree-surrounded lake.
"Excuse me?" Asuma sounded just as confused as he looked.
"Well, you don't actually have to take your clothes off. Just stick your injured leg in the water, and it'll heal," the girl stated with a shrug. Her green eyes suddenly darted to me. "The same goes for you. Stick your wrist in, and it'll heal."
I looked from Asuma to the lake and then back to the girl again, my dark eyes suspicious.
She sighed angrily after a moment while grabbing my uninjured wrist and yanking me toward the water.
"Hey!" I cried, dropping my and Asuma's bags as I was pulled forward by this abnormally strong girl.
"It's not going to kill you," she growled before shoving me right into the water.
I landed face down in the shallow water, taking a moment to study the sandy ground that gradually sloped down into the dark abyss that was the bottom of the clean pond. That peaceful moment ended when I noticed a few droplets of red hitting the water beside my head.
"What are you doing?" I asked angrily, getting to my knees in the shallow part of the lake and watching the green-haired girl squeeze a few more drops of blood from her pricked index finger.
"Fresh elf blood is what makes the water work properly," she stated, her dark eyes moving to mine. "And yes, I am an elf. We aren't just baby-stealers in fairy tales."
When she figured out that I wasn't going to put my wrist in the water, she sighed, but this time, it sounded a bit sad.
Kneeling beside me, she gently took my injured wrist in her hands and carefully dipped it into the water beside me leg, so she was leaning over me, shoving the back of her head right into my face without realizing it.
The wind blew toward us, carrying the sweet smell of cinnamon sugar to my nostrils. I closed my eyes and breathed the scent in greedily. I liked the way she smelled...
I felt her eyes on me suddenly, and my own eyes snapped open. I blushed the slightest bit when I saw her tiny smirk, glad I had my back to my teammates. A sudden tingle in my wrist forced my eyes away from hers and to my wound.
It was glowing a light green color that matched her eyes almost perfectly and healing quite rapidly.
I went wide-eyed and tried to pull my wrist from her grasp, but she held on, making sure my injury remained under the water.
"Relax," she murmured, watching my wrist as it continued to heal.
We were both silent for a moment, then I just had to say, "So you're an elf?"
She nodded. "Yep. Well, I'm technically only half elf. My mother was a pure-blooded elf, while my father was a pure-blooded human. They were executed soon after my birth because interbreeding isn't allowed, and I was held captive in my own village. I escaped about a month ago, though, and I've been living here with the animals ever since," she explained absently, still watching my wrist. "I'm surprised my blood activates the healing properties of this pond. I thought my human blood would effect it somehow."
"What village are you from?" I decided to ask after a few more moments of silence, ignoring the eyes of my teammates that I could feel on me.
"Youseimura," she replied simply.
I froze suddenly, and she looked up at my face. "That's where you're headed, isn't it?" she asked flatly.
I nodded. "Is it an elf village or something?"
"Yep. The only elves that are still alive today, actually. They disguise themselves as a small ninja village, though. They don't have the ability to access their chakra, but they do have superhuman strength and agility." She pulled my wrist out of the water and held it in front of my face. "There ya go. All better." She then released my arm and got to her feet, ignoring the fact that her legs and the bottom of her dress were soaking wet.
I got to my feet, studying my wrist. Making a satisfied noise, I looked over at the green-eyed half-elf. "Thanks."
She gave me a brief smile. "No problem." Her look turned cold as she turned to Asuma. "You next, and don't you dare refuse. I am not afraid to toss you in like I did him."
Asuma, being afraid of the little girl, decided to take off his shoe and stick his injured calf into the water like a good boy.
The girl made a soft sound of approval before slicing her other index finger open with an abnormally sharp canine and letting some of the blood drip into the water.
After a few minutes, Asuma's leg was completely healed and the green-haired girl was once again looking satisfied.
"Good. Now, you guys wait here while I go get you something to eat. It's going to be dark soon, and I don't want to be out gathering food when the hunter-nins begin their usual search of the premises." With that, the beautiful girl turned and walked away from the lake, leaving me sopping wet and already tired.
Hunter-nins? How troublesome.
"My name's Kikei, by the way. Kikei Otome," our green-haired hostess stated just after sunset as we all sat around a campfire, eating various kinds of berries and some of Chouji's chips.
"Your name is Freak Maiden?" Ino said rudely, shocked at what the poor half-elf's name translated to.
"Yep. I'm not sure what my parents actually named me, but the village elder decided to name me Kikei, 'freak.'" The gentle girl explained while lightly stroking the fluffy white head of the rabbit she had sleeping on her lap.
Asuma glared slightly at his blonde student before looking over at Kikei with a small smile and saying, "I'm Asuma. It's nice to meet you."
She smiled the slightest bit in return. "Likewise."
"I'm Chouji Akimichi," the boy told the half-human, his words muffled by the chips he was currently pulverizing with his teeth.
"Ino Yamanaka." The girl was glaring at Kikei, but I didn't really know why.
I didn't even bother to question the mean look, though, and instead focused on telling the generous forest maiden my name. "Shikamaru Nara." I hadn't meant for it to come out sounding so lazy, but it's not like I could help it, really.
"You smell like deer," Kikei stated quietly, her soft green eyes focused on the rabbit she was still petting gently, ever so gently.
I blushed. "I do?" I had showered after being around the deer. How could she still smell the stench of deer on me?
"Yes," she replied with a small nod. "Elves have very sensitive noses, especially when it comes to the scents of animals. I was lucky to at least inherit that much elfin ability from my mother, although I can only smell animals, not people."
"Speaking of the elves, what else can you tell us about them?" Asuma asked, peering out at the pond full of healing water located directly across from him.
"I'm not actually supposed to say anything, but you guys don't seem like the untrustworthy type. Eri would have killed you all on sight if you were." She looked up, sensing our confusion. "She's an excellent judge of character." Her gaze dropped back to her little bunny friend. "Most animals are, but Eri's skill in that area is exceptional."
"You know the animals in this forest quite well, don't you?" Asuma questioned, now watching Kikei.
"Of course. Elves have always interacted with animals quite well. Some better than others, though. I'm one of those better ones despite my human blood."
The elf-human hybrid seemed like she would only answer questions, not just tell us about her race outright, so I decided to ask the next question.
"What are some other common traits and abilities that the elves possess?"
The girl shrugged. "Some are peaceful villagers, others are born warriors. The only things that make the elves different from the humans are their strength, speed, almost frightening grace, and considerably heightened senses, as well as their inability to use their chakra."
"What about you? What traits and abilities do you have?" Ino was the one asking the questions this time.
"I have the speed and grace, but not the superhuman strength. In place of the strength, I have the ability to use my chakra. It doesn't do me much good, though, seeing as I can't do too much with it. I also have the hearing of a slightly advanced human, the smelling ability of an elf, and perfect vision during both night and day." She glanced up at us sadly. "I sound like I'd be pretty strong, don't I?"
"Yes," I replied, wondering why she seemed to depressed all of a sudden.
"Psh. I wish," she muttered. "I have a few of the strengths of each race, most of which I can't even use properly, and nearly all of the weaknesses." She sighed and got to her feet, glancing up at the full moon. "Well, it's almost midnight. You guys should get some sleep."
She turned to leave, and I quickly asked, "Where are you going? Shouldn't you stay here and sleep, too?"
She smiled at me over her shoulder. "Elves are nocturnal, and I have some stuff to do. I can smell a wounded owl nearby." She turned and began to walk away again, adding a quick, "Relax. I'm not going to go alert a giant ninja army to your presence or anything," before disappearing into the eerie darkness that was the forest away from our campfire.
--Kikei's PoV--
I jumped from one branch to another swiftly with my eerie elfin grace. The hunter-nins are still lurking nearby, I growled mentally. They must have smelled the humans or something. A rustle in the branches to my left caused me to dart to the right and hide behind a bush, my green eyes remaining on the rustling leaves above.
"Kikei, I know you're there. Don't even bother trying to hide."
I growled aloud this time as I stepped out of the bushes. "Tatsuki," I hissed, glaring up at the older man standing on the branch I had been occupying only moments ago. He had short, spiky brown hair, reddish-purple eyes, and a cockiness that would fit a muscular twenty-year-old better than it fit this somewhat scrawny sixteen-year-old.
As I studied him more in the moonlight, I realized he wasn't wearing his usual hunter-nin clothes. Hell, he wasn't even wearing a mask.
Noticing the confusion my dark eyes held, he smirked. "I'm not here to fight you or capture you or anything," he stated, casually jumping down from the tree branch. "I'm actually here to distract you."
"Distract me?" My confusion was slowly turning into alarm.
"Yep. Distracting you while my hunter-nin buddies captured your little human friends."
My eyes widened and I immediately turned, running back toward my camp, where I had left those poor, defenseless humans. Damn it! Why the hell am I so stupid?!