Leaf In Ruin
Summary: Legend has it- or more appropriately, local rumor- that a nine tailed fox demon named Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked and destroyed the village hidden in the leaves in the land of fire, Konoha. There was no hero, and there was no glory. Just a bunch of fools blindly taking on the impossible, bringing their home and families to ruin and death. The survivors, bitter and pained, forced to shoulder the disaster of the past do as they must to bring life back to the rubble that once was a prosperous village with death keeping its close watch on those still bothering to live.
I do not own the Naruto series or characters.
Um, OOCness here and there I suppose. It's not a solid idea as of yet, so I don't know how it's going to progress. Warnings for everything, and I was planning on Sasu/FemNaru, so I don't know how that's going to go either. Criticism is openly welcome.
It's also my first fic.
Chapter 1- Opening
The air was hot with humidity, as the summer often was, leaving a heavy weight. It was sickening to be out in such weather, and it was sticky to say the least. One could easily argue though, that despite the hot air and gross feel leaving everything it touched sticky and awkward, summer was much better than the winter. At least, in theory, there was cool shade to hide in, even though the reality wasn't a big difference.
It would be an understatement to say that life was merely rough and leave it at that. Things were much worse than rough. They could get better, though, if the locals weren't so stubborn. It was a curse, the stubbornness and pride, if one can call it that.
A beginning would be a good place to start, so that everything could progress to a middle and eventually, a most welcome end. This was Konoha. Or, at least, what was left of it after a costly event. The 'citizens' of this 'village', empty terms used to label themselves and the heap of rubble, were reluctant to speak of the 'event', the catastrophe, apocalypse. Well, those who were there, anyway. It could be summed up in one word though, for those of them born after or were too young at the time and by chance, managed to survive. Kyuubi. One simple word, or more specifically, one name. This one name, however, held the power to silence an entire village and create an atmosphere filled with pain, death, and revenge, all in one.
The children had heard the story hundreds of times, the remaining adults making good and sure that the future would avoid a repeat of history. As the story went, there were 9 tailed beasts, ranging from one to nine in regards to the number of tails each beast had. The strongest was Kyuubi no Kitsune, the 9 tailed fox, which just so happened to live quite near to a village that had been founded years after the legend of the beasts began. Something happened, somewhere in the fabrics of time, that prompted a meeting between the legendary creature and the people of the village. This meeting, as one may guess from the grim expression of those near whomever is telling this tale, was not a pleasant one. After that one meeting, the beast and people took quite a strong dislike to each other, a bitter hatred. One day, approximately 16 years ago, there was a battle, and Konoha was put to ruin.
Kyuubi, the victor, was rumored to still live in the area. That seemed odd though, to those of the children who connected the demon and the village. How could one beast, whom could flatten mountains with a swipe of one tail, and was obviously gigantic, be rumored to be around, but no one had seen it? A creature that large, surely would be easy to find, would it not? The answer to this question, however, was that the beast was a shape changer, as foxes are often thought to be, and could be anything from an ant to an eagle, and even the trees if it wanted to. It was unsettling, and due to that fear many of the villagers refused to set so much as one toe outside the boundaries of the village.
People regarded the legends, the rumors, and the superstition with an overly paranoid approach. The children were forbidden to speak of it, and those who disobeyed that one simple rule were, more often then not, punished. Some children admired the legends, wanting to believe that there was actually a mountain sized fox with nine tails watching them. Others were stricken with fear, reluctant to even set foot outside their homes, let alone the village. Provided they listened to the more knowledgeable villagers around them, the children learned a great many things about the beasts and their village. They were told that it had once been prosperous and rich with both material and non-material wealth. Many, however, opted to ignore these tales of happiness and wealth, preferring more to pity themselves and the current state of the once respectable Konoha.
It would be understandable to anyone who happened upon Konoha. The battle with the nine tailed beasts had such an effect that the building were reduced to piles of rubble and the people held no hope for revival. Old Konoha had things like 'electricity' and running water, but where were those things now? The villagers, filled to the brim with resentment and hatred, blamed their plight on the Kyuubi beast. The monster that destroyed their home, and ruined their lives. Though it was, to the average viewer, entirely the demons fault. As with any 'accident', there are those who doubt the validity of what they'd been told, though more specifically, there was one who doubted. One who wasn't entirely sure it was the whole truth.
She was a small girl in stature, though almost 16 in age, with tan skin, rays of the purest sunlight as hair and the bluest of oceans in her eyes. A cloud of stubborn determination and a childish naivety reflected in her personality, and a desire to live strongly and freely. However, she was unable to wrap her head around the stories and tales the village elders fed her. Something about it had always seemed fake to her, seemed unreal. Countless numbers of questions had been asked, but no answers were received, there was nothing to quench her thirst for undoing the not in her stomach that appeared whenever someone mentioned the incident, or told the tales.
Though she wasn't sure she believed them, she was ever so fond of the legends. She loved hearing them told, and often repeated them to herself adding her own twists when it seemed right. The blonde almost liked her version better. In her version, a courageous hero defeated the fox and saved the village. The villagers were happy, and no one had to lose their families or loved ones. A bitter taste always appeared when she wished for her own fantasy, reminding her of the actual reality and the naivety of wishing for change. In reality, the fox attacked. In reality, there was no hero. In reality, hundreds of people died, leaving only their children and unfortunate loved ones to bear their grief and hatred. In reality, nothing could change.
It was a terrible realization that she came upon at the ripe age of 12. Someone had died because of an injury they'd received when the beast attacked the village, all those years ago. While it was a trivial thing, as well as inevitable, it tore her misplaced ideas of a better future and hope from her and promptly stomped them into the back of her mind, where they were left to collect dust. For some reason, that person represented their life, the frailty of it. From that moment on, she stopped openly believing that someone would save them, and she accepted that this was the way things were, and were always going to be.
The value in living life on a day to day basis became a prominent thought in her young mind. Aside from the precious moments she allowed herself to believe in childish dreams and the fantasy that festered in her mind at night, she continued to live as one person trying to get by. A hobby had formed from this, as something to do to keep her from falling deeper into insanity than she already was, with one foot in the door. Scavenging.
Konoha had many treasures, that was for sure, even if they were hidden under piles of broken buildings and the like. Such pretty little things, like chains and pieces of finely made jewelry could be found everywhere, and the blonde took it upon herself to collect them in the her wake hours. Other people didn't seem to understand her joy in rummaging through rubble to find little trinkets and priceless treasures, but she didn't mind at all. She was keen on having her business be her business without the interference of others, and the others were more than happy to leave her to her own devices. After all, they were weary of her, afraid even. Some thought it was a sick twist of fate that this blonde girl was born the very day, and during the very moments that the beast attacked their home.
It had become common place for her to be disliked, and she had grown quite used to the poor treatment by the other villagers. She didn't understand though, that just because of her birthday she was hated. Had she been able to control when she was born, and known that this would happen, she might have wanted to be born a little earlier. Regardless, it was something she had no control over, and therefore couldn't understand the anger and hatred the villagers eyes showed and she firmly believed that it wasn't her fault. How could it be?
So the villagers went about their business, and she went about hers, barely able to maintain a natural relationship between herself and the others. Someone, every once in a while, would become violent. It wasn't suprising, really, as anger and hatred are normally presented in a negative way. That was life. It was tolerable.
None of that mattered, though. It sat outside the door of her happy place, waiting for her to return to reality. Right now, reality was entirely ignored as the blonde stared indecisively at something that might become a treasure. A cylinder shaped container sat harmlessly on the ground before her. She had found it near the old Hokage monuments, and hadn't bothered to check what it was before she picked it up and shoved it in her bag. Her brow creased and uncreased as she thought of what exactly this thing was, or could be. Tenderly, she lifted the object in question to examine it more closely.
It was around the length of her forearm, and twice as wide, though it wasn't entirely cylindrical. One side was flat, giving her the impression that it had been crushed under something, though upon closer inspection it appeared to be natural. She wiped a section of the object clean with her thumb and grinned. This, now this was a treasure. It was skuzzy and covered in dirt, but it was definitely worth keeping.
Under the layer of dirt that had been cleaned away, was a gold coloured surface. It was, despite its age, relatively shiny and seemed to of been well kept before the village was destroyed. From what she could see, there was an intricate design imprinted on the gold surface, and there was also a latch on one side. Curiousity prodded her to open it, but the thought of never knowing was somewhat thrilling. With a wash, this thing would undoubtedly be one of her most prized possessions, even if she had found it in a heap of debris. She abruptly shoved the item into her bag and started examining an oddly coloured rock when she heard someone approach her.
" Been keeping busy, have you?" A kind voice asked curiously, instantly recodnizable. The blonde turned to face the voice and smiled, glad that it was only the friendly brunette that had been looking after her when she was younger. He returned her smiled and sat a few feet away from her. " Find anything interesting?"
" No, not really," She forced a sigh, trying to seem as innocent as possible. Sure, she trusted him but she wasn't ready to let anyone in on her new treasure, not until she knew what it was. " I think anything of any value has been totally busted, and most of the stuff around isn't anything really cool. The whole place has been completely emptied of anything that might be worth something."
" That's a shame. You've tucked away most of it though, haven't you? Your place is so full of trinkets and junk, I'm surprised you can actually move around in there without breaking anything. Oh, and here, I brought something for you to eat," The older man smiled, taking out something wrapped in cloth from his pocket and handing it to her. She took it gratefully, having remembered that she hadn't managed to find something for herself.
" Ma, ma, thank you, Iruka! I was hungry!" The blonde unwrapped the item, then grinned when she realized what it was. " Ehhhh!? Where did you get this?"
" They were handing them out in the village earlier, and I know how you love fruit, so I figured I'd grab one for you. Enjoy," Iruka chuckled. The blonde was giddy at the best of times, and down right ecstatic the rest of it. Her enthusiasm was a relief though, considering the times. He could only laugh in response to her when she jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck, babbling something about 'thanks' and 'you're the most awesomist amazing nice person ever!'. Despite the hardship and misery that most of the villagers were going through, the girl managed to stand tall and strongly face it, and it was nice to be in the company of someone who wasn't wallowing in self pity and despair. The brunette let out a content sigh as the girl bit into the apple he'd given her and her eyes popped out of her head. His contentment quickly dropped when he remembered why exactly he was there.
" Wow! This is really yummy! Huh..?" She took a pause from her munching and looked up at the man, confusion swirling in her eyes. " Hey... Iruka, you're leaving so soon? Are you ok?" The blonde frowned, concerned.
" I'm fine, but I have to be getting back. It's getting late," He smiled sadly as he turned to leave. " Please be careful. Don't forget what day it is today, Naruto."
She nodded quietly, watching his receding back until it disappeared over the rubble before sighing to herself. The apple in her hand was carefully wrapped and stuffed into her backpack as she lifted it over her shoulder.
" I know, Iruka..." Naruto mumbled. He was right, it was getting late. If she stayed out any longer the festival would-
Ding. Dong. Ding-
- Start. Panic set in as Iruka's silent warning weighed on her mind. She had to go. It was late, and it was starting. She had to go, now.
" Shit!" As soon as she knew that the bag on her shoulder was secure, she ran. She knew exactly where she was going, she just hoped that she'd get there before they got to her. Going on the road was too dangerous, so she ran through the debris, praying that no one would see her. It wouldn't take long for them to find her, either, since there weren't any alleys or buildings in the way. This was bad. " Shit!" She swore as her knee crashed into a piece of concrete that she had ran too close too. But she was close. If she kept going, she could make it. They would only follow her so far. They wouldn't go there.
Her heart pounded when she heard voices somewhere behind her. They found her. She willed her legs to move faster. They would catch her if she didn't. Blonde hair flew in matted tangles behind her as loosely tied ribbons came undone.
The gates of Konoha were just in front of her, just a little farther and she was safe. Voices swore behind her. They stopped when they realized just where they were chasing her to. She kept going, running until she knew she was safe. Her pace refused to slow, even as the gates blurred past her, and she found herself scrambling through trees, bushes, and undergrowth. The branches seemed to reach out for her, to grab her, and managed to tangle themselves in her long blonde hair.
" Ah, shit!" The blonde swore as her head was yanked back by the branches she'd managed to get tangled into. She groaned, miserably. She'd managed to get away from them this year, but it seemed to of been at the cost of her long hair. It was caught, badly. Her hands instantly flew to her matted hair, trying to see if she could get herself free without ripping her scalp off or cutting it. Wishful thinking, of course. Today was generally a bad day, from morning until night. Naivety at the afternoons luck had her thinking that she might be able to get off easy, but apparently not. " Dammit!" Naruto growled, pulling a pocket knife from her bag and slicing through her hair, wincing as she felt the weight of it get cut off. Oh well, it would grow back.
Blue eyes barely adjusted to the dark looked around. From what she could see, she'd squeezed into a small enough area that she could barely move around in it, and wasn't about to get out of it any time soon. That was alright, though. They hadn't followed her in. She curled herself into a ball and let her head drop against her tattered bag. It looked like she'd be sleeping there for the night. That was fine. Her eyes were tired and her legs were sore. She would get herself out in the morning.
So, Chapter 1 done. What do you think? I'm not to sure what I myself think of it, but any suggestions or comments would be welcome.
Thank you for reading~