Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, plot lines, etc. and I do not claim to.
Author's Notes:
I wasn't going to publish the first chapter of this story until I had at least five of the chapters done, but I wanted to see what everyone thinks of the story first. I apologize if the pace seems a little slow at first, but I decided that if I wanted to make a realistic girl-falls-into-the-Naruto-universe story then it was going to have to start out a little slow. I do promise that the pace will pick up and there will be much action to come, you just have to stick through the first few chapters to get there. I've decided against putting my character right in the middle of Konoha to begin with, and my hope is to make Haruka as believable of a person as I can. As I said in the description pairings will be decided as the story goes, if at all. I don't want the story to be centered around a romantic relationship, but if something blossoms then who am I to stop it? It is possible that the rating will go up at some point during the story, I'm not exactly sure how much swearing, violence, etc. I want to put in yet, so for now I'm going to keep it at T. As always, constructive criticism is much appreciated, as I'd love to know what you think of Haruka's character and what-not. And now, without further ado, please enjoy.
Chapter 1:
Denial
They say there are five stages that humans go through in order to reach acceptance of a particularly unsettling or life-changing event. First is denial; failure to acknowledge an unacceptable truth or emotion or to admit it into consciousness, it is used as a defense mechanism. When the individual realizes that the denial cannot continue, they begin the second stage of anger. From there comes bargaining, which eventually turns into depression. If the individual has successfully undergone and completed these four steps they will, in theory, reach the fifth and final stage; acceptance. Haruka Suzuki was somewhere in-between stages three and four.
"-and I promise I'll save the rainforest, give all my money to the less fortunate, donate every last drop of blood in my body, and I'll even stop global warming, just-please!" On her knees with her hands clasped in front of her in desperation as she shouted towards the sky, the girl was definitely a sight to see. She was on the verge of a mental breakdown, and it had taken her less than ten minutes to get there.
The last thing she could remember was collapsing into her soft, warm bed for a short afternoon nap, which had gone exactly according to plan up until she had woken up to find herself not in the comfort of her room, but in the middle of what she would would later come to lovingly describe as "the worst goddamn forest to sleep in ever".
Her first reaction upon opening her eyes had been to give herself a pat on the back for how creative her mind was when coming up with a location for a dream. The colors and textures were so real, she could almost feel the dirt beneath her palms as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. What little sky she could see through the dense canopy of leaves above her was more blue than she had ever seen in her life, and the soft sound of running water from a small stream only a few feet away made for a beautiful setting. It also happened to make her unbelievably thirsty. With less grace than she would like to admit, she scrambled to her feet and shuffled over to the stream, where she immediately collapsed and dipped her hands into the satisfyingly cold water, bringing it up to her lips and- wait. Since when does water feel like anything in a dream? Since when was it even possible to drink something? And so, the blissful world of ignorance and denial that Haruka had created was shattered all at once.
The next five minutes were a blur of curse words so foul they could make a sailor cringe, and panicked running back and forth. Haruka had never been the type to outwardly overreact to a situation, but she felt justified in the fact that this wasn't the kind of thing that happened in real life. People don't wake up in the middle of a forest without any knowledge of getting there- at least normal people don't, and the last time she checked she was about as normal as they come. That sort of thing just didn't happen. She allowed herself the five-minute panic-attack and then promptly proceeded to collapse in a pathetic heap on the ground, content on never moving again.
"Where the hell am I?" She groaned, thumping an exhausted fist on the ground. How she longed to be back under her cozy warm sheets in her wonderfully soft bed, instead of the hard ground she was laying on. "And why don't I remember how I got here?" She asked, knowing only she could hear. "And why am I talking to myself?" She really must be going crazy. Rolling herself onto her back and staring up at the leaves, she took a few deep breaths in to calm herself.
Alright Haruka, let's just try to look at the bright side of things. You still have all your clothing on, that's a start. Nothing seems to be hurt, also a good thing. And, hey, you're finally getting some good-old fresh air in those lungs, so not everything's going so bad! You can get some water from the stream, and there has to be something in this forest to eat, you've just gotta get off your lazy butt and go find it! Now come on, no more feeling sorry for yourself, let's do this!
Her little pep-talk, while strange, helped her find the strength to push herself up off the ground and take a better look around where she was. There were no paths or trails that she could see, but the stream seemed to get larger the further she looked down it, it could even end up being river if she followed it for long enough. Where there's water, there has to be people! Water always points toward civilization. Or... was that moss? Cursing herself for never taking a survival training class in her life, she made a silent promise that if she ever got back that it would be the first thing she'd do. And I'll buy myself a decent pair of hiking shoes, and I'll wear them to bed all the time, just in case. She thought as she looked down to the white wool socks she had on, noticing they were already caked with dirt.
Besides the socks she had on a pair of jeans and a black long-sleeved t-shirt. She thanked whatever gods might be out there that she had taken her nap in sensible clothing, waking up in the middle of a forest was bad, but waking up in the middle of a forest in only pajamas would have been a whole new level of bad that she didn't even want to think about.
She ran a hand through her long hair absentmindedly as she surveyed her surroundings, trying to comb out any snarls and dirt with her fingers. When she was satisfied with her work, she hesitantly leaned over the stream to see if she could get a good look at her reflection. Well, alright, at least she didn't look any different. She still had brown hair, her eyes were still green, and she still had one nose and one mouth, so far so good, at least she was still herself. Who'd you think you were going to be? She asked herself with a dead-pan expression. Hey, I saw Freaky Friday. I'm not ruling out anything at this point. She shot back at herself, frowning. Oh God, I really am going crazy, aren't I?
Standing up, she dusted the dirt off of her pants and sighed. "Alright, I suppose sitting here isn't going to do me any good." Deciding her best option would be to follow the stream until she could find either some sign of people, or at the very least a place that could be used as shelter, she began to walk, taking it one step at a time.
Whoever thought the sun was a good idea should be shot. After what felt like hours of walking, her thoughts had deteriorated into little more than angry rants about everything that was in her field of vision. What does grass even do? It doesn't give me shade, I can't eat it. You're not helping anyone, grass! If she wasn't tired out of her wits she might have realized how just ridiculous she sounded, but as it stood she was far past the point of using logic or reason, they had left long ago, around the time when her stomach started growling.
As she had predicted, the stream eventually fanned out to where it could be called a river, and the dense forest had thinned out to what could have been considered the right amount of woods for a park. Unfortunately, unlike a park, there were still no trails to be seen.
A low growl made Haruka flinch and put a hand to her stomach. "I need to find something to eat. Now." She said firmly as she slowed to a stop. She could see some mushrooms growing near a rock along the bank of the river, but immediately decided against it. "I'll eat grass before I take my chances with those." She made sure to keep within sight of the river, the last thing she wanted to do was lose her only source of water. The soft chirps of nearby birds caught her attention and she followed the sound, coming upon a small flock of birds she couldn't recall ever seeing near her home before, but she shook off that thought when she realized the birds were eating from a small group of bushes they were resting by.
If the birds are willing to eat those berries then they must be safe. She told herself, grinning at how logical she sounded in her mind. I don't even need those survival classes. She mused as she approached the bushes, frightening the birds away as soon as they noticed her. I'm probably just as good as the teachers! Whether it was the hunger or the heat that was getting to her head and making her so cocky, she'd never know. Haruka Suzuki- number one survivalist in the nation! She picked a few berries off of the bush that looked ripe edible enough, grabbing just enough to make a small pile in the palm of her hand. Then she just stood there, staring.
What if I was wrong? She wondered, images of her eating the berries and dying all alone in the middle of the woods rushing into her head. What if they really are poisonous? What if they are a type of berry only poisonous only to humans? What if-! She would have continued if a loud growl hadn't been the voice of reason. "Fine, but if we die I'm blaming you." She said, glaring down at her stomach. She looked at the small pile of berries once more before popping them all into her mouth. They were a mixture of sour and sweet that vaguely reminded her of the raspberries that her mother used to grow out in their front yard when she was younger, and they went down smoothly.
She was able to find some more ripe berries on the bush that she wrapped up in a large leaf she plucked from one of the many trees surrounding her. At least this way she'd have something for later, in case she couldn't find any more food for a while. With her berries in hand, she made her way back to the river, took a quick drink, and looked up to the sky. The sun was starting to get dangerously low, and with no town or city in sight Haruka had begun to get nervous. She had never been camping before in her life, and the thought of spending the night alone out in the middle of nowhere was not exactly comforting. Come on, Haruka. What happened to being the number one survivalist in the nation? You should be able to figure this out. How the hell am I supposed to make a fire? Of course she had heard something about how rubbing two sticks together could start a fire, but she had neither the time nor the patience to be trying something she had no idea how to go about without looking like a complete idiot.
She eventually settled on back-tracking a small ways to where she had seen a large rock formation that created a small alcove that she was sure she could use as some protection against the elements should she need it, though she desperately prayed she wouldn't. When she reached the rock formation the sky was already streaked with shades of navy, and it was only getting darker by the minute. She opted to eat the small stash of berries that she had rolled up in the leaf rather than taking the chance that they would attract any unwanted visitors in the middle of the night, she could always get more the next day when she passed by the bushes again. It wasn't very large, but eventually she was able to find a comfortable position in the alcove, and was thankful when sleep took her before the pitch-black of night could set in.
If the shooting pain in her back hadn't been enough to wake her up then the sound of footsteps and voices was more than enough to jerk her out of her drowsy state. At first she just sat there, frozen in her spot as she strained herself to try and make out what was being said. She could hear two voices, one she guessed was female and the other was undeniably male, which grew louder as they slowly and unknowingly made their way towards Haruka.
Her whole body tensed up and she could feel the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand straight up when she spotted a faint light moving through the trees. It was impossible to tell the time of day, but she knew she couldn't have been asleep for very long. If it hadn't been for the rising moon or stars that gleamed over-head it probably would have been too dark to see her own hand right in front of her face. Not that it mattered much, at this point she was more worried about the slowly advancing light-source than the surrounding darkness.
What do I do? I can't just run out and beg them to bring me home. What if I scare them off? What if they aren't friendly? What if they speak a different language? What if they're murderers? Haruka's imagination had the tendency to get the better of her when she was worried about something. Do I run? No! What if they're my only way back home? But what if-! Too late.
While she had been debating on the best plan of action, the light had gotten close enough that she could hear the two voices very clearly, and just a few more feet and she'd be able to see the people they belonged to, and in turn they'd be able to see her. Their voices were strange to her, but it wasn't that she couldn't understand what they were saying. It was the same language that she spoke, but at the same time it wasn't, she could get the gist of the conversation, but every-so-often a word or phrase would be thrown in that she had never heard before in her life, and their accents were very different from anything she had ever come across.
She watched helplessly as the leaves from the bushes in front of her shook and parted, and she was finally bathed in the soft glow of light. She ducked and blinked to adjust her eyes before raising her head back up to look at her new company. Before her stood an interesting pair, to say the least.
She took a moment to examine the two, the man stood with his mouth agape and his foot in mid-step. His hair was black with flecks of gray in it and he had a thick beard to match, his hair said that he was at least in forties, but his body looked to be physically in its late twenties. On his back was a very large bag that had various odds and ends sticking every-which-way out of it, and he held a lantern in his right hand. The girl next to him was very small in comparison, and looked to be only a year or two younger than Haruka. She held a lantern as well, using both hands to hold it from the bottom as she carried it. Her hair was black and reached down to her waist, and her skin was almost deathly pale. She looks like a life-sized doll. Haruka thought as she stared at the girl.
The silence that filled the air was awkward and tense as the two parties took in what was in front of them, and Haruka had the sneaking suspicion that she resembled something like a deer caught in the headlights. She had no doubt that her hair was in need of a good combing, and the dirt that covered her head-to-toe probably didn't help her look any more presentable. After what seemed like ages, but was probably only a few seconds, Haruka let a sheepish grin cross her face. She raised her hand and gave the best half-wave she could muster, trying her hardest to think of something-anything she could say to break the tension.
"What's up?"