Full summary: In this rewrite to the Naruto story, new faces and new adventures alter the storyline to a new and exciting tale. Even though this story focuses on 14 year old Akaruo Tori, many characters, like Naruto, Tsunade, AND Itachi make appearances in this story including a bunch of new characters. Accepting OCS- follow profile!
The Untold Chronicles:
Rise of the Shadowed
-Chapter 1-
Wind rushed passed me as I leapt off of my current tree branch to the next one, just in time to escape the explosive note going off behind me. The force of the explosion sent me catapulting forward, causing me to gasp. I reached up to grab a tree branch and tightened my fingers into a fist once my hand hit something hard and wooden. Bingo.
I pulled myself up enough so that my torso was leaning against the branch I had caught. Behind me, I could hear kunai knives ripping through the air. 'Dammit,' I thought as I let go of my branch and hurtled towards the ground. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! The knives dug into the tree's bark as I righted myself in the air in time to land on my feet and begin running as if the devil was at my heels.
'Which way, which way!' I thought frantically as I darted this way and that, out of the way of each stalagmite that suddenly shot out of the ground I had been previously running on. The chip in my ear made a high pitched whirring sound as someone signed in. I waited patiently to see who was trying to communicate with me.
"Tori! Tell me your location now!" I frowned as I skid to a sudden halt so I wouldn't fall into the sudden crater under me. After I made sure that it wouldn't keep growing, I leapt over it before dashing to the left. "Tori!" I cursed under my breath as I dived under a barrage of rocks that were hurtled my way. Aisuru just wouldn't let me go, would he?
"Aisuru-Teme! I'm kinda busy!" I cried as I ran up a tree and began to travel through the large plants yet again. Aisuru growled. I could just imagine how he would be gritting his teeth and twitching every so often.
"Tori, that wasn't an option. Give. Me. Your. Location." I grunted as I changed my direction and began heading to the right.
"Why?" I dared to ask. Aisuru sucked in his breath, as if trying to keep his cool. He probably had been trying too do that, actually, seeing as I was the only person who was able to make him go chimpanzee-mode. "I can handle this on my own! I'm just fine, okay? You copy?" I didn't wait for an answer. Instead, I pulled the earpiece out and turned it off before placing it into my pocket and continuing to run away from the advancing threat behind me.
I stopped before attempting to leap to the ground again, but a hand wrapped around my ankle. I didn't have time to react when the hand yanked back and pulled me up, so I would be hanging upside down and staring at my captor's feet. I got a pretty good look at him from that angle. He wore a mask similar to that of an Anbu ninja's, though I KNEW he wasn't an Anbu Black Ops. He was bald and wore an all black jump suit with a black flack vest over it and had weapon holsters on either leg.
"Gotcha," he cheered, a broad and somewhat creepy grin growing on his face.
"As if!" I cried, shoving my free foot into the person's gut and pushing off at the same time. This escape didn't work, though. The man reached out and grabbed my hood before throwing me down to the ground with such strength, I couldn't fight the air resistance so I could right myself in the air.
So to sum it up, I landed flat on my face, right into the hard ground before skidding a bit. I moaned into the grass, feeling a burning sensation beginning to run along my front half. A soft crinkling sound signified someone landing beside me.
"Stupid brats these days. All of 'em think they can take us on without even breaking a sweat. Pathetic." I grit my teeth before pushing off of the ground, ignoring the pain that shot through my shoulders and how my knees protested against putting weight on them. Once I stood on my feet, I gave my opponent a strong round house kick. The man managed to catch it. I grit my teeth as I reached into my kunai holster on my right thigh before chucking the knife at the guy.
Letting go of my leg, he leapt over the attack. His feet attached to a near by tree branch. "You missed," the man pointed out before lunging towards me. I dived out of the way, letting him fly past me. While his back was still towards me, I charged for him.
"Take this!" I cried, spinning on my heel to get more momentum before thrusting my fist into his back. The man's body arched opposite to the force of my punch before falling forward to the ground. I grinned when his body collapsed against the rock. "Looks like this little brat could beat you just fine," I mocked, pulling down my eyelid while sticking my tongue out to him. After that, I spun around. "Now, I'll be on my way!"
I didn't get far before I felt someone's hand palm the back of my head before shoving my head to the ground. I heard a crack of protest in my nose when my face collided with the hard soil. I let out a hiss in pain and tried to ignore the fact that my nose started bleeding.
"Don't ever!" the man cried, lifting me up by the head again. "EVER!" he threw me towards a nearby tree so fast, I couldn't do anything but wait for the impact. When I hit the tree, I felt all the air in my lungs escape me. Slowly, my body slid to the ground. I slumped there, trying to get my energy to come back to me. "Think YOU could beat ME!" I heard the man's fist coming before it could hit me. I just managed to duck the attack. His fist dug right through the tree and to the other side.
Trying not to let my surprise show, I smirked. "Missed me!" I sang before shoving my fist into his side. The man flew the other way, his fist ripping out of the tree it had lodged into in the process. My smirk grew into a wide smile when I heard the satisfying crunch from his digging into a pile of trees. As I managed to stand up, I began to celebrate. "Ha-ha! Score!" I shouted, thrusting my fist into the air in a victory pump motion. In the middle of my celebration, I heard a loud crack.
Please, No, I thought, looking to my left. I looked just in time to see a tree hurdling my way. "HOLY!" I cried, just managing to jump out of the way.
"Give it back, you little tart!" The man cried, standing up in a pile of debris and broken tree parts. I cringed before placing my hand on the scroll attached to my waistband.
"Tori… I know I might regret this… but you're in charge of obtaining the scroll of formations from these guys and bringing it back to Iwagakure." A smile spread across my face.
"Cool! I finally get to show all of you what I can do, huh!" I cried, leaning forward excitedly. Izoku-sensei looked like he was regretting his decision as h ran his hands through his long obsidian locks.
"Just don't screw this up, Tori. You've got a lot of people counting on you." I gave Izoku a thumbs' up.
"I won't let you down, Sensei!"
I let a small smirk grow on my face. "Sorry," I said as I patted the scroll. "I've got a lot of people counting on me." I pulled out a kunai and angled it towards my enemy. "I'm not about to give this back, so tough luck!" The man narrowed his eyes.
"Very well. Kinta!" I blinked.
"Kinta?" I asked, before looking up to see a large man fall from the sky. "What the heck!" I cried, running out from under Kinta's path. The man landed where I was standing, shaking the ground and causing multiple fissures to form in the ground. Kinta was a very large fellow, and seemed to stand at least twelve feet tall- or more. He had sand colored skin and black hair cut into a buzz. He had on a similar jumpsuit to my previous adversary's but his was sleeveless, revealing a tattoo of a rhino on his left arm. I gaped at my new opponent before shaking my head slightly. "Whatever. I'll take you both on! Just come at me!"
"Do I get to crush her, Ryouga?" Kinta asked. Ryouga nodded.
"We'll both do the crushing because the little bitch stole our scroll." I tightened my hand around the kunai's handle, trying to stop myself from trembling. This fight isn't that bad, I thought, trying to reassure myself. It was rather hard, considering the fact that Kinta looked ready to eat me.
"Let's get this over with!" Kinta hollered, barreling towards me. Before I could even run out of the way, Kinta's large hand grabbed my waist while the other ripped the scroll off of my pants.
"Let me go!" I cried, trying to plant a kick on Kinta. It was like kicking a rock wall. I gasped as pain radiated through my leg. Kinta grinned before dropping me to the ground and trotting back towards Ryouga, shaking the ground the whole way. "For a big guy, you're fast," I commented, slowly getting up onto my haunches. "But unfortunately, you're gonna have to go down, because I need that scroll!" I raced towards Kinta before focusing my chakra into my fist and letting my hand snap forward, catching Kinta in a rough left hook. Kinta stumbled back before moaning.
"I can't see!" he cried, beginning to stumble around. I smirked as I straightened up and placed a hand over my fist. 'The Kotei Suru,' I thought with a grin. This was my fighting style and traveled through the Akaruo clan (MY clan) though it was nearly non-existant now. Basically, it messed with the five senses on contact, and my blow to Kinta was hard enough to corrupt his vision. Bonus.
"I got you now!" Ryouga cried, as he kicked me in my gut. I tumbled back, but refused to stay down.
"You're not gonna beat me!" I cried, preparing to perform a hand sign. Before I could even get past the first, someone landed in front of me. My heart sank at the sight of the familiar mop of brown hair. "Aisuru! Go away! I'm about to win this match!" I moaned. Aisuru didn't respond. He wore what he always wore on missions- a dark blue t-shirt and black gloves along with black baggy cargo pants that traveled to his ankles. He had on a black shirt under his t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up to about the middle of his forearms and wore a kunai holster on his right leg.
"Tori. Shut up." I glared at Aisuru's back as he slid into a fighting position. "Let me handle this."
A few minutes later, Aisuru had a sword sticking out of Kinta's chest. I cringed at the sight before averting my eyes.
"Did you really need to do that?" I asked. Aisuru shrugged as he collected the scroll into his hands. It was fairly battered from it's being in the middle of my fight and Aisuru's, who just used fancy water style jutsu and his fancy over grown broad sword.
Tsh.
"I want to make sure the job is done," Aisuru muttered before sheathing his sword on the sheath that rested on his back. "Now let's go. Gin is back at the fort." My eyebrows rose up nearly to my hairline.
"You left him to defend the fort alone!" I shouted. Aisuru shrugged again as he took the trees, without even notifying me about it. I followed, a step behind him. "How could you do that, Aisuru! What if he gets attacked by someone like Kinta!" Aisuru didn't even look at me when he responded.
"Well I trust that he will do a better job than you." I grit my teeth and glared at Aisuru's back. The jerk thought he owned everyone. Well he was wrong- he didn't own me, and he never would. If I had to act difficult to prove that fact, than I would.
We arrived to the fort, only to see Gin happily massacring many enemy shinobi quite easily. Granted, none of them were as big as Kinta, but they were still pretty burly. Gin hadn't even activated his kekkei genkai yet and within a course of minutes, the area was filled with unconscious ninja. When Gin spotted us, he trotted over with a cheerful grin.
"Hey guys!" He greeted. "Do you have the scroll?"
"Yes," I answered. Aisuru rolled his blue eyes as he walked right by Gin.
"Get ready to leave," Aisuru ordered. I frowned at his back as I reached for a rock that was near my foot. Before I could have the pleasure of chucking it at Aisuru's back, Gin caught my wrist. I turned to glare at the blonde. His blonde hair hung just passed his nose, nearly covering his brown eyes, but not quite. He wore a grey sweatshirt with green pockets and wore very dark blue slim pants that went down passed his ankles. He had bandages covering his fists and wore his headband around his forehead, like Aisuru. I glared at Gin.
"What?" I asked. "He didn't even congratulate you!" Gin sighed before letting go of my wrist.
"So? No need to lash out at him. Besides, that would only make Izoku-sensei think you're not ready to go out on missions like these… and I trust that you enjoyed this, right?" Gin gave me this look that said, 'You know I'm right because I'm the voice of reason.' I turned my glare to the floor. Gin WAS always right.
"Fine. Whatever. Let Aisuru parade around like a jerk, why don't ya," I grunted before storming off after Aisuru to begin to get ready to leave. I heard Gin sigh behind me, but I wasn't about to apologize.
It was deathly quiet on our walk back to Konoha. I supposed it was the tension between Aisuru and I- I was glaring at him every time he so much as glanced at me while he got all egotistical and resorted to grunting at everyone. Izoku-sensei didn't seem to notice, but he didn't try to start a conversation, which was expected of him because Izoku was never one to help awkward situations. Poor Gin was caught in the middle of it all, looking between Aisuru and I worriedly.
"So… this was an interesting mission, right?" Gin asked, laughing nervously.
"Hmph," Aisuru grunted, crossing his arms tightly over his chest.
"What he said," I muttered. Gin sighed and looked to the ground, shutting his mouth for the time being. After a few more minutes of silence, he tried again.
"How about Iwagakure. It's really pretty, right?" I felt bad for him now and decided to at least give him an answer.
"I guess. If you like a lot of rocky terrain…" I nodded as I shoved my hands into my pockets. I was currently wearing a periwinkle colored sleeveless jacket that stopped just below my knees and also sported a black tank top with a yellow oval on the front of it. Navy blue shorts hugged my legs and ended just above the end of my jacket. I tied my hitae-ite loosely around my neck and wore black ninja shoes. Bandages covered both of my forearms.
"Hmph," Aisuru muttered again. I glared at him.
"Could you be more annoying?" I snapped at the boy. Aisuru didn't respond. I continued to grimace at his back, and was really tempted to let a rock fly at his back, but Gin conveniently placed himself in between us.
"So you think it's rocky?" he asked me, trying to change the subject. I could tell he was desperate, because Gin was usually better at changing subjects. However, when it came to Aisuru and I, there were no subject changes good enough.
"I don't get why you think you're better than everyone else," I grumbled. Aisuru shrugged.
"Maybe I am," he sighed over his shoulder. I twitched.
"That's a jerky thing to say," I pointed out. Aisuru didn't comment after that. It was around this time that Izoku decided to drop into the conversation.
"There's Konoha's walls right there!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Think, in a few minutes, we'll be home!" Gin sighed as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Finally. I don't think I can handle keeping these two from fighting," Gin sighed throwing his hands up before folding them behind his head. Izoku smiled over his shoulder. The man was about six feet and wore the typical Jounin attire for a Leaf Village Jounin. His black hair traveled down his back and stood out from his pale skin, though his skin wasn't as pale as mine.
"Atta boy, Gin! That's the spirit!" Izoku's grey eyes literally shined with excitement when we entered Konoha's gates. "And we're home free! Mission complete!" Izoku shouted, before letting out a loud and hearty laugh.
"Why did you wait until now to say mission complete?" Gin questioned. Izoku stopped laughing, but a smile remained on his face.
"Because you never know until you're home," Izoku stated before holding up a hand. "I'm going to report to Tsunade-Sama. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone… in fact… go home! We'll meet at the Ramen Shop tomorrow. Sayonara!" And with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Alright," I began, scratching my indigo hair.
"I guess… That mean's bye. See you guys tomorrow," Gin called, waving over his shoulder.
"Bye!" I called. Aisuru didn't even bother to say anything as he headed off in the direction of his home. I sighed before shoving my hands in my pockets and doing the same thing.
Once I got home, I wasn't too surprised to see my father resting on the couch. He had the same indigo colored hair as me. It was about the same length too, just above his shoulders, though his hair was shorter than mine. My dad was sprawled on the couch, nearly covered in a pile of papers, scrolls, and open books about foundations.
I smiled when I walked by him and one of his eyelids shot open.
"Tori? You're home?" Dad asked groggily. I placed a kiss on his forehead.
"Yea, I'm home. It's okay, you don't have to get up right now. Just get some rest, okay?" My dad looked ready to protest, but eventually relaxed back into our couch before drifting back into sleep. I sighed as I walked passed him and into my pocket sized room. I peeled off my jacket and kicked off my shoes before collapsing on my bed.
"Home at last," I sighed and succumbed to the ever present exhaustion that floated over me.
Sun was streaming in through the blinds, lighting up my room ever slightly. I slowly sat up before yawning and stretching. My back popped as it shifted back into place after a good night's sleep. After that, I let my arms drop, slapping my thighs loudly.
"Good morning," I whispered into the air, and continued to sit for a few minutes, collecting my vigor. Eventually, I stood up and headed to the bathroom to shower and get dressed. I left my hair alone for the most part, but I did brush my side bang better, which came across my face from my side parting. My black eyes didn't have bags under them, much to my relief. I dressed up in my usual attire and got ready to go.
"Good morning!" I hollered. My dad was already dressed for work in a pair of bright orange overalls and a black shirt under it.
"Morning, Sunshine!" Dad exclaimed as he pulled a large bag onto his shoulder. "Going to meet the team?"
"Yep!" I exclaimed. Dad gave my cheek a kiss before heading to the door.
"Well I'm off, too! See you at dinner!" I sighed when he was gone. He always said 'see you at dinner' but usually was never there. It wasn't his fault; he needed to make the money, and sometimes had to work more than 24 hours straight to get even the slightest amount of pay. I bit my lip as I made myself some breakfast before leaving my house at exactly 12:00 pm- this was a bit of a record for me, actually.
As I walked through the familiar streets of Konoha, looking for the ramen shop, I noticed how many people, or more accurately how many shinobi, were talking amongst their tight posse.
"I wonder what they're talking about," I mulled before shaking my head slightly. It was none of my concern.
I wasn't all that surprised when I saw Gin, Izoku, and Aisuru waiting for me at Ichiraku Ramen when I got there.
"Yo," I greeted, holding up a peace sign before taking my spot next to Gin.
"Good morning!" Gin exclaimed. He was a morning person (or rather afternoon person) and wasn't afraid to show how bubbly he was. Aisuru, on the other hand wasn't a morning or afternoon person. In fact, he wasn't really happy at any time of day- at all.
"I hope you had a good night of sleep, Tori, cuz I'm about to drop down a bombshell," Izoku stated, a smile on his face.
"Aisuru's off the team!" Gin, Izoku, and even Aisuru stared at me as if I was crazy. Maybe I was. Either way, I just smirked. "What? That'd probably be the best thing that ever happened to this team." Aisuru rolled his eyes.
"Coming from the weakest link." I grit my teeth together before reaching for a nearby chopstick. Gin pulled it out of my reach.
"No fighting," he growled before glaring at both Aisuru and me to make sure we got the point. I sighed before bringing my hands back to my sides.
"Fine. What's going on, Izoku-sensei?" Izoku clapped his hands together.
"You three are going through the Chunin Exams!"
All was silent.
"That means don't climb tall trees, Tori."
All was almost silent. I glared at Aisuru.
"One time!" I cried.
"That 'one time' kept us out of the exams, Tori," Aisuru pointed out before looking at Gin. "Tell her." Gin sat up straighter, paling slightly.
"What? Don't drag me into the middle of this affair! I'm just a silent spectator!" Aisuru rolled his eyes.
"You're the one who told me there was a bee going by near my head. You KNOW I'm afraid of bees!"
"That didn't mean jump off and almost break your skull. Cuz of that, we couldn't compete because we needed a three man squad."
"Oh what-ever! You'd probably get beat that time, anyway. That was Gaara's year." This silenced Aisuru, who glared off to the right. I smirked. I knew that would get him. Ever since he heard about what Gaara did- how he murdered all of those people and was a raging lunatic- Aisuru got a bit afraid of him. And that was a pretty major feat. Personally, I wanted to meet this Gaara-guy and figure him out.
"So yea," Izoku exclaimed, interrupting Aisuru before he could even begin to argue with me. "Chunin Exams! They take place in three days! So… get ready for it, alright? And don't let ANYONE intimidate you." Izoku nodded before grinning. "It'll be fine, guys."
Gin nodded a few minutes later. "Yea… they're just exams…" Even I knew how untrue that sounded. The Chunin Exams were the exams. With an academic portion as well as ninja-skills parts, the test was an ultimate quest that would be a huge milestone if completed… when completed.
I stood up, flipping my hair. "Well, we can't just sit here collecting dust! Let's go around the village!" I cried. Izoku smiled at me.
"That's a good idea. See if you can sniff out some competition. Aisuru, Gin, go with Tori." Aisuru moaned before leaping off of his stool, followed by Gin who was all smiles.
"Okay, let's go!"
Our hunt for competition didn't go anywhere until we entered the training grounds. That was where we first met them.
"Hey leave her alone!" My ears twitched. I recognized that annoying voice anywhere.
"Konohamaru," I whispered before looking back at Aisuru and Gin, who were both looking straight ahead. "Should we…"
"Yea," Aisuru stated flatly, before he led us to the direction Konohamaru's voice had come from. We hid in the trees as we traveled through the training fields. "There!"Aisuru hissed. I looked down. There were three ninjas standing over Konohamaru and Udon. One of them was holding the front of Moegi's shirt.
"These little pin pricks amuse me," the short boy said with a grin. "Can I play with them, Kaigara? Please?" This one had spiky silver hair and almost see through skin. His eyes were malevolent and golden, similar to that of a snake's. A sword was on his back and he was dressed in a black sleeveless sweatshirt and white shorts with a kunai holster on the right leg. He had a studded collar around both wrists and one around his neck, while his headband hung from one of his pockets.
I recognized the sign as the Kumogakure symbol. Gin raised his eyebrows in shock while Aisuru managed to keep his cool.
"We didn't come here to play with kids, Kotoharu," the middle one said. He wore a black long sleeved shirt and black pants. His headband was black and around his forehead, though it was nearly covered by his mane of wild orange hair. Kotoharu pouted slightly at the taller boy.
"But Kaigara, I never get to play anymore," he whined. "Don't you want to have fun? Hm? What about you, Sakana?" The girl remained silent. She wore a white kimono with a black flower petal design on it. Instead of an obi, a black headband was tied around her waist. The girl had floor length black hair and red eyes that were dim and reminded me of blood. A fish-scale necklace rested around her neck.
"Kaigara. Sakana. I promise not to start anything," Kotoharu moaned. "I'll even clean up the mess, yes I will!" Right when the words left his lips, Kaigara brought his fist down on Kotoharu's head. Kotoharu immediatley let go of Moegi and began whimpering while he held his head in pain.
"Shut up, Kotoharu! You're such an idiot! Can't you feel those three genin watching us?" My heart nearly froze.
"They can feel us?" Gin whispered. Sakana looked up, a smirk on her face.
"Yea. We can feel your chakra presence. So why don't you cut this act and get down here?"
AND DONE! Okay, all my dears, please, submit characters (but follow the rules on my profile or I might not accept). I'm already in love with Kotoharu :). That's all I have to say right now so…
Reviews are ALWAYS welcome even if its just a flame!(and they give me inspiration!)