Author's Notes:
First of all - do keep in mind that English is not my first language. I live in Denmark and my English is pretty much self-taught. But if you do find any mistakes, I'd appreciate it if you gave me a heads-up, and I'll try and correct it. :)
Well, on to the story itself: I first wrote out this story 2 years ago, and it's been an ongoing project since then – one that's been a lot of fun and that I never stopped working on. I've been asked if I was going to publish it on any webpage, but I've always said "no – this is something I write for me." – but I realized that this project – in my eyes – deserves my motivation. And what's more motivating than having other people read and judge your work? So here it is. :)
I've written 10+ chapters so far. And though it contains an Original Character, there's no romance in this story as such. The character and Naruto's relationship does develop and will be completely different by the end of the story than it is in the beginning, but I'll leave it up to the reader to decide whether they're couple-material or not (though they are a couple in my head). The character was never intended to be a "Mary Sue", so if you do find her too Mary Sue-ish, please, do speak up.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy.
-Janni Pedersen.
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Copyrights:
Naruto, franchise and related characters © Masashi Kishimoto
Kita, Yuunai family, Kei, Iwahara, Saito and related characters © Janni Pedersen
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NOTES:
Words and symbols that may appear in the following chapter and which may need an explanation.
"Y'know" (said by Naruto): My "interpretation" of Naruto's catchphrase, "dattebayo". I REFUSE TO USE "BELIEVE IT!" . :C :C
Italic only indicates thoughts/thinking, which is not said out loud. Italic and bold indicate words that are put extra stress on.
Konohagakure: Hidden Leaf Village.
Kumogakure: Hidden Cloud Village. Kumogakure is located in the Country of Lightning.
Leaves and Lightnings.
Chapter 1.
"She killed him! She must have!"
"Oh god…"
"It's Yuunai again! It must've been!"
"Shh… she's over there!"
Voices, coming from everywhere… the stabbing, throbbing pain in her head… the coldness of the concrete.
These were the first things she noticed when she started waking up. She winced in pain as she slowly sat up and opened her eyes… and despite the pain of light sensitivity, they immediately snapped wide open. A group had gathered around her, and as she sat up and faced them, she noticed… them - those cold eyes she knew so well… just a thousand times worse now. She stumbled to her feet.
"This has gone too far!" a voice suddenly roared - a rather large man suddenly lunged forwards, and the girl flinched, preparing for the blow…
"Iwahara-san, it's no use!"
Another voice broke in, making her eyes snap open again – another guy had stepped in, and was now holding back the large man from before – whom she now recognized as the village blacksmith.
"We need to address her parents…" the man who had broken in spoke calmly, looking the blacksmith right in the eye, "that's the standard procedure. You know that."
"A man died this time around! There's nothing 'standard' about that!" the blacksmith roared, ripping his arm out of the other man's grip and pointed at the girl, "we can't let this… thing hurt anymore people!"
The girl stepped back. Her breath caught… died… had she killed someone?! Her hand involuntarily flew to her mouth.
"Don't look so surprised, brat!" the blacksmith suddenly lunged forwards again, and before the girl or the other man got to react this time around, the blacksmith had grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, lifting her up to his eye-level, "it was only a question of time before you'd do it, wasn't it?! Ever since you were born, you've been hurting people like this! And now… this?!" he turned around, roughly pushing his way through the circle of villagers. He then pointed towards a wall near the end of the small alley, turning the girl around by the collar as well, forcing her to look.
Her eyes once again grew wide in horror… a man laid by the wall. Soaked in his own blood. His eyes were bloodshot, and his mouth, frozen in a silent scream. She tried to talk, but no sound came out. She recognized him- She shook her head, as if she was trying to shake this off… hoping this was a bad dream and that she'd wake up.
"Ibaraki… san…"
"You did this!" the blacksmith snarled. She flinched at his words…
Then, it was true… it had happened again… and this time, she had actually killed someone…
"No…" her voice was nothing but a small, weak whisper. She shook her head again, "no…"
"YOU DID THIS!" the blacksmith repeated, yelling, "don't try and deny it!! We saw you!" he threw her onto the ground, making her slide across the wet concrete before he walked over to her, glaring down at her with his eyes, narrowed.
"Run." He hissed, "go home! You're gonna pay this time around, Yuunai..!"
The girl looked around the dark alley… the other villagers had gathered behind the blacksmith, still glaring at her. She tried to speak, but once again, she couldn't get a single word past her lips… she slowly got to her feet.
Then, started running…
The blacksmith kept looking in her direction - even after she was out of sight. Letting out a sigh, he turned to the remainder of the group, still with his eyes narrowed.
"It has gone too far…" he growled, "notify Raikage-sama and the elders… we need to do something about this."
xxx
xxx
"A mission?! FINALLY!"
The ANBU sighed heavily, covering his face with a hand, seemingly embarrassed at the energetic blonde teenager's eagerness.
"Naruto…" he muttered, "it's just an escort mission. A simple one at that… it's only a C-rank! And with Sakura and Sai joining us, I'd almost classify it as a D-"
"But it's a mission!" Naruto grinned broadly, "it's been way too quiet lately, y'know!"
"I suggest you notify the rest of your team and you guys start preparing… We're leaving in three days!" Yamato crumbled the piece of paper, which had previously been wrapped around the now eaten onigiris, "lunch break is over. Let's get back to training."
"But Yamato-taichou!" Naruto whined, with a familiar fox pout spreading on his face, "we've been training for five hours straight, y'know! Can't we call it a day?!"
Yamato got to his feet, looking the blonde teenager over for a moment.
But an almost wicked grin then spread on his face.
"You said it's been too quiet. You should know by now that that just means something big is coming up." His grin grew, "and that's what we have to be ready for! Let's spar."
Naruto stared at him, perplexed for a moment. As a chuunin, sparring with an ANBU would hardly be considered fair. Normally, that is. A determined smile spread on his face. To hell with normal! He wasn't normal!
He got to his feet and adjusted his forehead protector while he kept his piercing blue eyes on his teacher.
"Got it!" his smile widened, turning into a grin, "you're gonna regret saying that!"
xxx
xxx
"You've got to hurry! We have to leave! Now! Pack only the essentials… no fooling around, Kita!"
Her mother shoved the backpack into her arms, roughly. She didn't even looking at her.
"Hurry up, for goodness sake, child..!"
The girl quickly nodded- she turned on her heel, and ran off, towards her room…
When she had returned home and tried to tell her parents what happened, hell had immediately broken loose… her parents didn't waste any time. They wouldn't be able to take a lot with them… but seeing the expression on her parents' faces, she knew they had to get out of Kumogakure - as fast as possible.
When she got into her room, she started grabbing everything she could reach, stuffing it into the backpack. She was practically hyperventilating, swearing under her breath as she packed.
"Shit… shit… shit..!"
What have I done?! She thought to herself, in between the swearing, what the hell have I done?!
A scream suddenly tore her mind back to reality. A loud crash followed… she heard yelling, more screaming, and then… smelled it. The room quickly started filling up with smoke. She turned on her heel and ran out into the hallway, sprinting down towards the living room…
She could've sworn that her heart ceased to beat…
A group of villagers had gathered there, some of them, now in close combat with her parents. The rest were setting fire to the room with torches.
Her mother turned her head a little, noticing her instantly while still holding up the enraged shinobi she was fighting.
"Kita!" she screamed, "get out of here!! NOW!"
The shinobis turned too, noticing her… she stood, frozen for a moment… it was like everything moved in slow motion… the men that were fighting her parents tried to get past them, yelling. Her father turned his head, glaring right into her eyes.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" he yelled, "we'll hold them back! Just run! Don't look back, Kita!"
She snapped back into reality. She wanted to stay and fight with her parents, but her body disobeyed her- instead, she suddenly set into motion – running. Back to her room…
She just barely got to grab the backpack as she jumped out the window, landing on the small lawn in front of it.
"KEI!" she screamed, her voice, shrill.
A neigh immediately tore through the noise as a reply, and a black horse came racing towards her, around the corner of the house. She didn't waste any time, but jumped onto the back of the horse, burying her heels in his flanks, making him set off into a wild canter with a scream.
She heard the yells behind her… the crackling from the burning house. She turned her head, just in time to see the rest of the villagers in the house, racing outside. Then a crash… the house started collapsing…
A scream tore through the air, and her heart skipped several beats. She almost fell off the horse… she turned around, quickly, fighting the vomiting sensation and a sudden darkness that threatened to engulf her body… she clenched her eyes shut…
Mom… forgive me
She couldn't stop. Her eyes turned distant as she kept urging the horse onwards, her teeth clenched.
"Please… forgive me…"
xxx
xxx
The elderly man had his eyes closed, a deep frown creasing his already wrinkled face. His hands were folded in front of his face, his elbows, resting on his desk…
The men – two men, even older than him - in front of him were sitting on their knees, on the tatami mats, looking at him, intensely – as if they were watching his every movement. His every breath.
"So…" he finally spoke up. Despite his age, his voice seemed strong; "she killed someone…" He opened his eyes, looking the two men over. One of them nodded.
"Ibaraki Masao, Raikage-sama…" one of the two Elders replied, "apparently, she had no connection to him… he was a teacher in the shinobi academy."
"Of course… She doesn't have any connection to anybody, Morita-san…"
"Raikage-sama!" the second man, who had remained silent until now, spoke up, "we must do something about this! It's not the first time she has had one of these seizures, and with all due respect… it has gone too far now…"
"I know…" the Raikage looked at him, frowning again, "I agree, Kimura-san…"
"That has already been taken care of, Raikage-sama." A third voice suddenly broke in, and all three men - as well as the two guards turned - puzzled. Iwahara, the blacksmith, was standing in the door, bowing as the Raikage looked at him.
"Iwahara…" the Kage lifted an eyebrow slightly, "what do you mean?"
Iwahara looked up from his bow. His eyes, still cold from rage.
"A group of shinobi gathered at the Yuunai residence." He replied, "they just wanted to evict and expel the family, but it went too far and they set fire to the house."
His voice was as cold as his eyes. He showed no remorse, "the girl ran off. But her parents- Yuunai Tasou and Ayako- died in the flames…"
The Raikage promptly got to his feet, gritting his teeth.
"Iwahara! That's an outrage! Those were innocent people!"
The blacksmith seemingly ignored the Raikage's critique.
"So was Ibaraki…" he almost muttered this, "The people demand for the girl to be assassinated too. They're arranging hunter-nins to be sent after her."
"They cannot do so without my permission!" the Raikage seemed pretty close to enraged, "how dare you?!"
"With all due respect, Raikage-sama…" Morita – one of the two Elders - spoke up again, turning the Raikage's attention back to him, "this girl is dangerous. She has no control of these seizures…"
The Raikage practically glared at the Elder for a few seconds. But gradually, he seemed to calm down a little – a frown still remained on his face however.
"The only reasonable thing would be to expose of her." Iwahara's voice was still cold; "As Raikage-sama knows, I have served this village loyally for more than thirty years. I will happily take care of this unfortunate case."
"But-"
"Raikage-sama! We must do this! Everyone already voted in favor of getting rid of this girl and her family years ago! We cannot procrastinate any longer!" Iwahara cut the Raikage off, "and we cannot let her bring trouble to other villages either! She's dangerous! She's a murderer!"
The Raikage fell quiet. His creased, old and worn face seemed to get even more wrinkles as he concentrated.
"Please, Raikage-sama…" Kimura joined the conversation again, "we must take action…"
The old man closed his eyes for a moment. Then, let out a sigh, and turned to Iwahara.
"Very well…" he rubbed his face, "but make it quick. And painless."
Iwahara looked at the old man, silently, for several seconds. Then, bowed – deeply.
"Certainly, Raikage-sama."
He turned and left – and once the door was closed to the Raikage's office, a small smile started appearing on his face as he walked down the hallways.
"Finally." His smile grew, "Yuunai will no longer be a problem!"
He paced up, hurrying down the hallway. Had the Raikage actually known his intentions and involvement in this, he would've stopped Iwahara on the spot.
But the Raikage didn't – and it had just cost two people their lives – and a third was on the line…
xxx
xxx
The horse was still cantering, and the girl, still holding on for dear life. Tears were running down her face, and her eyes were still distant as she and the horse moved through the bushlands, at breakneck speed. She didn't know where to run. She didn't know where to stop. But they had to keep moving. They'd soon cross the border. Into unknown territory… but they had to keep running…
She wasn't stupid – her parents were most likely dead. And her mind screamed at her to just stop the horse and wait for someone to close in on her – to end her life as well. But her body refused to cooperate. A small fraction of her brain remained in control – the part that wanted her to keep going.
The part that believed that even though someone was chasing her – that even though she had no where to go and no place to hide – she could still make it. Somehow.
And she knew that that was what her parents died for – for her to go on. That's what they wanted her to do.
So she didn't ask any questions. She didn't bother thinking. She just let the horse run and the tears flow. Let her mind empty itself and go numb.
It was the only thing that made all this doable, after all. The numbness…
So she welcomed it.
xxx
xxx
Iwahara bowed deeply as the shinobi stepped into the room.
He was tall. Muscular. He was in a black metal armor, and a black mask was covering the bottom half of his face, up to the top of his nose. His eyes were black, his hair was black… everything was black apart from his ivory, scarred skin, which made him look almost surreal.
He looked Iwahara over, coldly. The blacksmith involuntarily shivered. Those eyes had no respect for life – be it the one he was hired to end, or Iwahara's. And it showed.
"Sehomara-sama… I'm glad you could make it…" Iwahara's voice was prone- the mere presence of this shinobi was making him tremble.
Sehomara however seemed to pay no attention to his welcome.
"My mission." He demanded. Iwahara flinched at his deep and coarse voice.
"You know of the Yuunai girl, I presume…"
Sehomara just gave him a small nod.
"Her family has now been killed and she has fled the village. She's heading towards the Country of Fire, it seems. The Raikage has demanded that she too is exposed of."
Sehomara narrowed his eyes.
"You're sending me after a teenage girl…" it wasn't a question, but a statement.
"We apologize if it's an inconvenience, Sehomara-sama…. We-"
"Stop your idiotic babbling." Sehomara turned to him, making him flinch once more, "I've heard about this Yuunai girl, yes. It should be interesting…" he suddenly smiled under his mask, "I take it I'll get a few shinobi to accompany me?"
"W-why yes!" Iwahara's voice was now trembling, "as many as you want…"
"Fine. Assign a good scout and six chuunins. That's all I'll need."
"Sehomara-sama…" Iwahara laughed nervously, "is that really enough? I-"
"You heard me!" Sehomara sent Iwahara another glare – which was enough to make the blacksmith shut up immediately. He then smirked again; "consider it done… give me two days…"
End of chapter one.
Thank you for getting this far! If anyone actually did get this far. XD I'd appreciate it if you'd leave an honest review - do keep in mind that this is something I've written for fun more than anything, but I'm always striving to get better. Hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing! :) Thanks for reading!
-Janni