Hello readers, Rose here! This is my latest idea, and as you must have guessed by the summary and description, this is a NARUTO fanfiction! This is the first one I've attempted to write and post since officially joining the fandom about a year or so ago (though I had been watching the anime since I was like ten), so I'm pretty curious to see how this turns out.
As always, please enjoy!
Summary: After escaping from captivity years after her kidnap, Ren Himura finds herself in the Hidden Village of the Leaf. Desperate to learn about her "chakra", she applies to become a shinobi. When several shadows from her past threaten to take her life, she finds that a familiar jonin will come to be the sanctuary she wasn't sure she needed. Or, it may be that he is in need of something as well.
Chapter One: Be Careful of What You Wish For
Many times has the phrase "time is but an illusion" left the lips of man.
She wasn't sure how long she had been in that dark, putrid-smelling room. Weeks? Months? Years? It was impossible to tell time in this confinement of hers; no windows, no clocks ticking away on the moldy walls. The only sound she would hear for what seemed to be an eternity was her own heart beating in her chest and oxygen escaping her lungs in resigned repetition.
She tried to recall through her scattered thoughts how she had ended up here, or what she had done to deserve this fate. It seemed to be so long ago that she was resting peacefully in her own soft bed, memories of her village slowly fading until they could have been thought a mere dream.
The only things she had come to know were the clinking of her shackled limbs as the moved and the bitterness of the cold atmosphere on her light-depraved skin. The only time she would manage to glimpse something- anything -other than the darkness surrounding her was on the rare occasion they would decide to bring her a meal.
She scraped a finger nail absentmindedly across the dusty metal tray beside her, not a speck of "food" left on its cold surface. Any excess crumbs had either been scavenged in hungered desperation or left to the small insects that also made their home in this prison. She remembered trying to eat those at one point, pained from being at the brink of starvation, but they held a taste too repulsive for her weakened body to stomach.
She now remembered what had happened on that night. Awoken to the acrid scent of smoke filling her nostrils, the full moon still hanging in the sky being much to dim to be the cause of the bright, warm light flickering outside her window. She also knew that she was forbidden to leave her quarters during the night by her father, who was concerned for the girl's well-being. It had been ingrained into her mind as a small child that the world was a dangerous place for someone like her, somebody who possessed such a rare "gift".
Though, she now thought it to be more of a "curse." Of course, they had taken her, after killing and massacring each and every villager present at the time of the attack. She had grown up with all of those people, and despite the fact that some of them didn't think well of her because she was different, she had thought fondly of each of them.
She had hoped the enemies would kill her quickly, but instead, they imprisoned her. Because of her "ability", they deemed that she was much too valuable to simply spill her blood. They threw her in this dark room and shackled her to the grimy concrete floor. For the first week she had tried to use her ability in means to escape, but after being left on the bring of starvation before she was fed, she soon found herself too weak to muster up the power.
Not able to truly live, but not able to die... It was a pathetic existence, and a large strain on her mentality. She knew it was hopeless to wish for escape, as she had decided there was no chance of ending it long ago. It seemed it had been a lifetime since she was able to merely take a breathe of clean air. She was in Hell.
But by far, the worst above all other horrors were the experiments. Every once in a while, but rarely, somebody would come in to take a vial of her blood. It left her arm stinging and aching from the careless application and withdrawal, sometimes bruising the skin. They would inject her with an inky syringe afterwards, the effects leaving her with a dangerously high fever and delusions for up to a week after, also causing her skin to become inflamed to the point of causing immense pain whenever she moved. She still wasn't sure what was continuously being injected into her body, or what its purpose was.
It was a horrible way to live.
And there were days that she prayed for death.
...
A bright light invaded her vision. It slowly began to fill the room, further and further, until her entire body became illuminated. As her eyes painfully adjusted to the light, she shakily began to make out a silhouette standing in the doorway. It hurried towards her, and she weakly tried to recoil when a hand clamped onto her arm to steady her.
"Easy," a voice spoke in a placating tone, stilling the girl in her movements. There was the tinkling sound of metal, and her eyes vaguely made out a worn key ring. The figure slipped a key into the rusted metal shackles, causing the other to freeze in shock.
"Come on, we don't have much time. We're getting out of here." As if to prove their point, yells sounded from a distance, and the hand from before now tugged on her arm with force. She stumbled upward and let out a cry when acute pain echoed through her joints. She was weak from lack of food, and she hadn't stood to walk for a long time, leaving her unaccustomed to the sudden use of her limbs again. As she felt herself swaying forward, the person wrapped their arm around her body in support. They hobbled along quickly together, breaking from the room and into the brightness of the outer hall.
She was now unsure of their surroundings, relying completely on the stranger beside her as her eyes adjusted to the blinding change in light. The shouts from before became more prominent as they rushed through many halls and rooms. She clung onto the fabric of their shirt with the last of her strength and hoped they would lead her to safety. When she was finally able to see once more, they were hurrying towards a splintered wooden doorway, leading to the outside.
Trees dominated her vision on all sides, fresh oxygen crashing into her lungs like a tidal wave. The sound of wildlife filled her ears, attuned after so long of having to rely on senses other than sight. Her throat constricted, wanting to scream into the forest and let her voice vibrate through the crisp air, had she the strength. This was something she never thought she would see again in her life. She could hardly believe these things in front of her were real, and was almost tempted to pinch herself in order to ensure this wasn't a cruel dream.
After suffering for so long, to the point of praying to the heavens for her own death, Ren Himura was going to be free.
Suddenly, a whistle sounded through the atmosphere, and she found herself falling towards the earth beneath her. She let out a hiss of pain as a body landed on top of her with crushing force, and meekly managed to crawl from beneath its weight. As she turned to face the person who had freed her from her captivity, she inhaled sharply.
Fresh blood seeped from a pair of pale lips, stray bleached locks sticking to the side of their dirty cheek. A pair of lifeless brown eyes seemed to bore into her soul, as her gaze froze on the large shuriken protruding from their back. Her pulse quickened, breath beginning to enter and exit her lungs at a swifter pace. The person laying in front of her was dead.
She spun from the sight, clawing at the dirt and trying to bring herself to stand. Her legs wobbled beneath her, and as she swayed heavily to the right she found herself latching onto the rough bark of a tree. Though her limbs already burned with exhaustion after not using them for so long, she forced herself forward, the image of scarlet liquid still anew in her mind. Memories raked at the back of her mind, threatening to surface and pull her into their depths as she stumbled haphazardly through the forest.
Twigs and stones bit into the skin of her bare feet, the shouting seeming to become ever closer even as she fled. Tears dared to blur her vision and her chest constricted painfully. She didn't want to be thrown back into that moldy room and left to rot. She was so close to freedom now.
Her ears twitched as she picked up on voices ahead of her, causing her to stop in her tracks. She slumped harshly against a tree, the rough bark nipping at her exposed skin as she attempted to catch her breath. The shouts behind her neared, while the ones in front of her were slowly moving away. There was a chance they could be with her captors, and that confronting them would simply get her thrown back into her previous situation. But as the seconds ticked by, and those who she had confirmed as the enemy neared, she realized she didn't have much of a choice. Either remain and wait for the inevitable, or move forward and take a chance on the small group of strangers before her.
She pushed herself away from the tree, moving to brace herself on another as she forced her aching limbs to continue working. The calls behind her began to steadily fade, the ones before her becoming more prominent. Words drifted to her ears, and she lurched forward, erupting through a mass of overgrowth to tumble onto dry dirt.
"I told you someone was following us."
Her eyes widened as a kunai whizzed her way, and she wondered if she had made a horrible mistake with this group as well. She managed to evade most of the weapon's force, though the blade still sliced heavily into the flesh of her upper arm as it passed. She let out a quiet cry as warmth began to seep from the wound, causing her already fuddled mind to dizzy further. In a last attempt to protect herself, she found her hands subconsciously forming into a sign, and the blood seeping from the gash on her arm began to harden. However, before it could take new shape, her body began to shut down, muscles going limp and crimson droplets falling harmlessly from her previously outstretched fingertips. Tears now overflowed from her eyes, tumbling down her cheeks. A weak sob escaped her lips soon after as she realized she wasn't able to get back up.
A voice in her mind cruelly reminded her that this was what she had wished for many times in the recent past. But, when that person had entered her cell and removed her restraints, holding the promise of freedom with their actions, she had never felt more desire to live. She had far exceeded her body's limits in her efforts to flee, desperate not to return to her hellish captivity. It seemed in the end, she would receive her wish, the answer to her prayers, even if it was what she no longer wanted.
Her vision darkened whilst black spots danced before her eyes, yet she barely managed to make out the approaching form of a long-haired male. Pearl-colored irises with just the slightest hint of lavender caught her gaze, and she felt her mouth shakily form a string of words before her sight became completely overwhelmed by darkness.
"I don't want to die."
There you have it, chapter one of "Crimson Lily"! I'm excited to be sharing this on fanfiction, as I've been excited about this idea for a while. I'm not sure how quickly I will be able to add chapters, as I have also recently recently released another new story, as well as begun on a reboot for another. Some may say it's not wise to start so many stories at once, but truthfully, my muse seems to have a mind of its own..
I hope all of you enjoyed the chapter! If you did, perhaps leave a review? Or, the same if you didn't! Any and all feedback is welcome, as long as it is done respectably.
As far as the matter of updating, if you find that this is worth checking out the next chapters, you could give it a quick follow and be alerted when a new chapter is up for this story.
Hope to see you all next update.
~Rose