Disclaimer – There is no way that I own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden and any registered characters in it.
Rustling through the bushes, his nose told him that food was surely nearby. Following the intense aroma of cooked meat, he weaved between the trees until he reached a clearing. Hiding behind a large log, he noted seven armed men setting up camp. Each man, equipped with a sword had individual tasks; three were constructing tents, two were attending to a fire – which was cooking the edible spoils he so desired – and two were on the other side of the clearing talking to a figure he couldn't make out. Suddenly he heard a shriek that nearly deafened him, raising his head in alarm; he spotted and narrowly dodged a large frying pan that had been thrown at him. Understanding he was now in peril, he instinctively turned tail and fled.
"What was that monster!?" cried the figure in the distance. As he ran further and further into the distance, he overheard the faint reply.
"Please remain calm, milady. It was simply a fox" One of the men replied, "No need to fear, I mean, what harm could a fox do, eh?"
"That Is It! I want to go home now! Why has Father decided for me to take this route to the festival? Is this some kind of sick punishment? What have I done to deserve this? Alas, I am alone, cold and destitute."
The seven guards looked on with resigned expressions that told the story that they had heard this ever since they had started the journey. The three setting up tent were first of them to speak.
"She's doing the amateur dramatics again – with emphasis on amateur."
"Tell me about it, why we have to get stuck with that brat I'll never know."
"I know! Anybody but her would be excited that they were travelling through the Land of Fire. But with no 5 star resorts or extreme sports stars, I guess such culture and heritage is lost on her."
"What was that?" Came a tempered voice, creating as much fear amongst the men that one would think that Death God itself was the one asking the question.
"Nothing!"
"We were just saying how relieved we are that that fox didn't harm you, Milady!"
"Hahaha, we'll just get back to our jobs."
The two in charge of cooking began to chuckle at the scene, having overheard their comrades' conversation.
"Well personally, I'd like to put as much distance between myself and this place as possible."
His partner raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really, I mean we're only a day away from the Fire Temple. There are people who'd pay a fortune to visit landmarks such as that."
"More fool them. You know what this country is. It's Ninja territory."
The figure that the seven were obviously escorting came into the clearing during this conversation. 'Milady' was a Jade-haired young woman. She resonated angelic beauty, fastening a violet kimino – clearly having been out of the clearing to change. The kimino clung suggestively around her body, displaying all her assets to her escorts (forcing each to turn away to hide their nose-bleeds). Her hair, falling to her waist waved effortlessly in the dusk breeze as her garnet eyes became half lidded as she stared at the two cooking guards; scepticism apparent in her gaze.
"Don't tell me you're worried about ninja?" she scoffed, holding a hand to stifle her obnoxious laugh. The ridiculed guard, biting his tounge to retort, managed to hold enough composure to ask:
"You aren't afraid of ninja, Milady?"
"Ha! Scurrying about in the trees, too afraid to stand up for themselves and fight like men! Those guys are a joke! 'Oooh, look at me with my itty-bitty Kunai-thingy! Better watch out or I'll use to file your nails!' Give me a break."
One of the two who were originally speaking to her became slightly tense at her loud taunting.
"Milady, it isn't wise to behave like that in these woods. You never know who may hear you." He pleaded. The girl shook off his warning with an air of arrogance as she continued to push the point.
"First father tells me to go through this back-water country, with no palm beaches – not the mention the total lack of hot, young and rich actors – and now I find out that the place is crawling with ninja-morons." The girl drops her head in a manner that would suggest she felt fate had dealt her a truly miserable hand.
"She's afraid of a fox, but Shinobi: no problem..."
"Immediately looking up, "Did you say something, tent-monkey?"
"No, no, Milady. Nothing at all!"
"Well, Good!" the girl sighed and sat staring up at the darkening sky, where she could already make out various stars breaking through the violet rays of sunlight. Instantly recognising various constellations, she remembered when her mother would lie with her in the garden, teaching them to her. Of course, that was before...
"Food, Milady?" offered one of the escorts.
Quickly becoming aware some time had come to pass, the girl took one bite of her food; looked at her chefs and proceeded to throw it into the bushes.
"That is Revolting! I refuse to eat it. Oh, why are you punishing me like this father? Not only do you send me on this pathetic excuse of a vacation, but now you intend for me to eat this garbage! I guess I shall have to starve!" storming off to her tent, the escorts looked on without much surprise. Turning to one another, ryo began to exchange hands.
"Haha, I told you she wouldn't eat it! Show me the money!"
"I bet you made hers taste off on purpose..." grumbled one of the guards.
Inside her tent, she lay quiet content and tranquil. When not flaunting her arrogance, she appeared very beautiful when calm. Quickly fading into a dream, she found herself in the heavily secluded garden, with overgrown plants and bushes allowing her to feel like she is in the wild. That is, of course, before she grew to hate nature in favour of fashion and boys. She was much younger, in a white night-gown but still having her hair flow gracefully through the wind. Beside her was a beautiful woman whom also had long green hair, but had clear, violet eyes that inexplicably calmed the minds of whoever stared into them.
"Mama, tell me what those stars are!" pleaded the little girl.
"Haha, okay my little angel. These stars represent an ancient hero. He was known as the Sage of Six Paths." The mother traced an intricate line across the sky, pointing out the constellation to her daughter.
"Who was he? Was he a really strong hero?"
"Oh my, yes. He a great hero who founded the Shinobi of today."
"Shinobi?" The girl quizzed, unfamiliar with the phrase.
"They're ninja. They use powers and magic to help protect people."
Looking back up at the constellation, the girl began to wonder if she would ever meet one of these 'Shinobi', when a clatter of metal invaded the dream.
Jumping up in the tent, she first notices commotion outside. Assuming her escort had snuck some sake with them and become rowdy, she exited the tent to chastise them, only to find the scene far different than she imagined.
"Milady, Run!" Screamed one of the guards; heavily wounded and beneath a masked man, carrying two Katanas; whilst the rest of the escort engaged two other similar men, and were faring badly.
"Aha! This is the girl we heard before! What was it she said? Oh, that's right 'better watch out or I'll file your nails with my itty-bitty kunai!'" Ramming both his blades into the shoulder blades of his prisoner to prevent him from moving, the man approached her, drawing out said Kunai.
"Well, I'm not a beautician, so forgive me if the filing extends to the rest of your fingers, or we could just skip the nails and remove the hands all together?"
Balancing the tip of the blade on his finger, he drew closer to the retreating girl – yet her movements were slow due to the terror she was facing. All she managed to stutter was a meek "help".
Bearing down on her, the man grabbed a handful of her hair, and pointed the blade right towards her jugular.
"What's wrong? Where's that big mouth of yours now? It appears we don't just crawl around in trees; we also thieve and kill – with a little 'extra'" at this he placed another hand on her breast "How about I take the tongue, since you like waving it about so much?" Sniggering at her feeble attempts to break free, the ninja began to slide his hand further down her body, when –
BANG!
Turning immediately, the ninja saw the rest of the escort knocked down, along with one of his companions fighting them, with a lot of dust clouding the area. Sprinting out of the dust, a wounded man carrying a Shuriken and a blonde girl sped past the two, shouting something about 'Leaf' whilst retreating further into the woods. Bemused at first, the ninja momentarily lost focus of his prey, and was punished with a heavy stamp onto his foot, before she turned and kicked him right is his lil' Kunai. With the ninja dropping in agony, the girl attempted to escape but quickly fell over one of her escort. Regaining consciousness, one of the three ninja thieves stood back up as his comrade helped up the now high-pitched ninja.
"What was that?" Asked the delirious one.
"I dunno. Some guy just ran past shouting something about Leaf." The information was drowned by his comrade's laughter.
"It was that little bitch! Enough playing, get the cash while I finish her!" he ordered.
Just then, when she again believed she was out of luck came another –
CRASH!
Two more wounded bodies fly through the clearing, dropping onto the floor revealing several missing teeth and various bruises and cuts across their body. Looking up at where they came from, the four spectators next saw two figures leap into the clearing.
"He's not here!"
"I just told you! He's already a mile north – if you would just keep things quick, rather than get side-tracked by these two; we'd have got to him by now!"
"Haha, No way! They had it coming!"
The three thieves, regaining enough composure spoke up.
"Who the Hell are you two!?"
Eyeing them up, the three recognised one thing that the two wore upon their foreheads – the Hidden Leaf Symbol.
"Er, what was it that guy was shouting about before?" stuttered the now fully conscious one.
The girl looked up in time to notice the two newcomers to the scene. Both young men, in their mid teens stood bold and confident in front of their new opponents. One had blonde, untidy hair (that she initially disapproved of) and wore a bizarre orange jump-suit of sorts. The other was a different story. He had gorgeous, long brown hair, donned in noble robes that hung loosely on his athletic physique, but it was his eyes that she was stunned by. Sheer grey in colour, she felt herself comparing them to pearls rather than pupils. She found them more beautiful than eyes full of colour – they seemed more tranquil and reminded her of her mothers.
"Huh, who are these guy?" asked the rough-looking blonde.
"I do not know, but the scene surrounding us would make me guess these three are bandits attempting to rob these travellers. Naruto, Listen!"
The blonde turned to his teammate.
"I will handle these three. I want you to go ahead and help Ino."
"What? No way, I've got these three!" protested Naruto.
"Naruto! I am a Jonin and Leader of this mission. You have already wasted too much time fighting these two" he gestured towards the two 'punching bags' that Naruto and he had just beaten, "You halt the prisoner's progress and secure Ino, then wait for me."
Naruto looked as if he was about to protest again, but the stare he received from his comrade taught him better. Nodding before dashing through the woods faster than the girl could follow, she noted this man's eyes were slightly different than her mother's; they had authority in them, and she liked that.
"Heh, you Leaf Shinobi think you're so tough? Sending your friend away was the last mistake you'll ever make!" declared the leader – whose voice was now his natural tone.
Rather than looking nervous at the odds, the girl noted this 'leaf' ninja was calm and even bore a wry smile upon his face. Slowly opening his eyes, the girl saw the veins surrounding his temples bulge as he called out:
"Byakugan!"
Well, there is my first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Please give feedback, but go easy on the flames please.