Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 1 Lost Kitsune
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All around, the ocean was gently washing the shore in its waves. The salty liquid reached the edge of the sandy white beaches surrounding the border of the Water Country. On one particular shore lay a figure. At first glance, it seemed dead, but if one looked closer they could see it was merely unconscious. The figure stood out with its blond hair and tan skin. It was wearing orange rags and was covered in scratches and bruises.
The blond boy's eyes started twitching until they opened, revealing a crystal blue that put the water surrounding him to shame. The boy, around 9 years of age, did not move. His vision was out of focus, seeing only a great expanse of blue before a silver spot blocked parts of it. He tried to focus, but the pain of his body put too much strain on his mind.
'Huh, where am I? How did I get here? …Who am I?' The blond boy's eyes slowly closed as the boy once again drifted into darkness.
A ten year old Suigetsu was happily walking in one of the numerous beach side villages at the border of the Land of Water. He grinned widely as he recalled how he was able to escape the pursuing Hunter-nin that were after his head. He wished he could see the faces on those idiots when they realize that the jar they were carrying back to Kiri wasn't him but merely a popped Water Clone. He chuckled to himself, making many villagers stare at him as if he was crazy, and maybe he was. He chuckled again as he took out a scroll that contained three of the seven swords of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Originally, it contained all seven, but since his brother died and many of the swordsmen took their swords with them, only these three remain.
Suigetsu held up the scroll as his grin turned malicious. 'And now, they're mine.'
Suigetsu went to put back the scroll in his pocket when he noticed he wasn't surrounded by buildings anymore. He realized he must have wandered off in his reverie. He was about to turn around when he spotted something close to the sea. At first, he wasn't sure what it was with the bright yellow and orange being its only distinguishable features, making him think it was an exotic fish. His curiosity getting the better of him, he approached the brightly coloured mass and noticed it wasn't a fish but a boy.
'He looks dead. Who did this to him? Tch, what do I care? I should get out of here before anymore Kiri Hunters come after me.' He was about to turn around when he noticed the boy open his eyes. 'Holy shit! He's still alive!' Suigetsu rushed towards the downed boy and looked into his eyes. He was shocked by their colour as not even in Kiri was there such a pure blue. He was about to talk when he noticed the boy seemed out of focus, almost as if he was about to pass out again.
'Shit, this guy is gonna die here unless I help him. Should I?' Suigetsu debated on helping him. On the one hand, this guy was pretty cute and might even be the son of some powerful or rich person that will reward him for helping his son. Though, judging by the state of his clothes, it was unlikely. On the other hand, if he stayed here any longer, even if it's just to bring him to a hospital, it might let the hunters enough time to catch up to his deceit and come back.
He looked back at the boy and noticed the damage done to him. He couldn't help but be impressed as any other person would have died from those wounds. The boy had numerous stab wounds to his chest, some of them, Suigetsu noticed, had actually hit several organs like the lungs and liver. He also had what appeared to be a broken leg and a dislocated shoulder, the damage of which might prevent this kid from ever moving right again. Finally, from the dried blood on his head that the ocean hadn't yet washed off, there were also signs of a severe concussion.
As Suigetsu continued to debate over whether or not he should bring this kid with him, he noticed something peculiar about the stab wounds. He bent down to take a closer look and was astonished by the sight. Some form of red chakra seemed to be healing the boy. Suigetsu could see as the chakra slowly and carefully knitted the skin back together. As he bent further down, he could hear some cracking noise and realized with shock that it was his arm being popped back into its socket and his foot being repaired. With that, Suigetsu came to a startling conclusion.
'Could this kid be a Bloodline Purge Victim?' At this, Suigetsu got angry. This kid, this innocent kid, was another victim of the monsters that ran this country. Just because he was different, they completely maimed him. With that, Suigetsu decided to bring the boy with him. Even if it might slow him down, he wasn't about to leave the blond at the mercy of the Kiri Ninja.
He crouched and easily lifted the boy, much to Suigetsu's surprise. He knew he wasn't the strongest person so the blond must weight practically nothing for him to be so light. This enraged Suigetsu. 'He must have been starved, too.'
Placing the boy on his back, careful not to aggravate his injuries, Suigetsu started walking in the direction of Water Country's border all the while making sure they weren't being followed by hunters.
He slowly walked and saw the harbour where he would take a boat to one of the ports bordering Yu no Kuni.
Suigetsu smiled as he was about a mile away from the harbour.
"Well, well. Here I was, hunting a monster, and I find a traitor instead." A malicious voice sounded from behind him.
Suigetsu stilled and turned around. He cursed as he noticed a hunter standing behind him. He gritted his teeth as he heard what the hunter said. He thought he was talking about blond, as he suspected the blond had a bloodline which these "hunters" were supposed to exterminate.
Suigetsu gently deposited the blond and discreetly took out his scroll.
The hunter, upon noticing the blond, exclaimed. "Oh, the traitor's taken a pet, eh? Hehe, he looks pretty cute, maybe I should bring him back with me so that I can "play" with him. At least, before I kill him, hehe." That broke Suigetsu's patience.
Not wasting any time, Suigetsu unrolled the scroll and unsealed one of the swords. The hunter jumped back as he barely dodged the sword that almost crushed him. His eyes widened as he recognized the sword. The sword was large with a hammer and a blade connected to each other by a chain.
"Th…That's the Ka-Kabutowari." The Hunter stammered as he recognized one of the legendary swords of Kiri. "H-how did you get it, scum." The hunter growled out.
Suigetsu didn't answer and just continued his assault. He lifted the weapon with some difficulty and tried to slam it on the hunter again. The hunter easily dodged it and saw as it impacted the ground. He noticed that Suigetsu was panting.
"Hehe, looks like you can't use it, can you? You're still just a brat, HAHAHAHA." The hunter was so distracted he didn't see Suigetsu had thrown the blade of the Kabutowari towards him. The hunter was bifurcated without knowing what happened.
Suigetsu panted as he watched the hunter gasp once, before the top half of the torso slid off the bottom half, killing him. He dropped the Hiramekarei in pain and tried to gain his breath back.
"Damn, I need more practice." He resealed the weapon and made his way back to the blond. He paused as he noticed all the wounds had been healed. "Well, at least I know he'll be fine." He picked up the boy, this time carrying him bridal style as he made his way to the harbour. It was easy enough to sneak into one of the cargo boats. He was actually lucky as cargo boats usually travelled much faster than passenger boats to deliver their cargo faster. He estimated at least two maybe three hours of wait long.
He snuck into a deserted room to hide out. The entire three hours were relatively quiet. There were some instances where Suigetsu was afraid some of the crewmembers would come in, but other than that the three hours passed by smoothly.
When they reached port, Suigetsu grabbed the still unconscious blond and snuck out. When he finally reached the outer regions of the port village, he kept walking until he saw a line of trees. He walked as much as he could until he hoped he was far away enough from Mizu. After a while, he reached a clearing and made his way to one of the trees, and dropped to the ground, the blond still in his arms.
He stood back up, leaving the blond lying against the tree, and went to fetch some firewood before it became too dark. He returned and set up camp, checking over the blond one more time to make sure he was okay, and seeing all the wounds were now closed, the arm and leg fixed, and the head wound had receded, he went to sleep right next to his companion, telling himself he'll deal with the blond tomorrow.
Suigetsu was cooking some rabbit he caught in the forest when he heard a groan. He turned to see the blond boy once again open his deep blue eyes. He watched as the boy slowly lifted himself up before taking in his surroundings.
Suigetsu smirked as he recognized it as a survival instinct, meaning either this kid was trained as a shinobi or he learned how to protect himself.
Suigetsu continued to watch him until the blond suddenly looked in his direction. The blond gasped and tried to get away making Suigetsu wonder just how abused he was.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm Suigetsu, you?" Suigetsu told him as he held his hands up in a placating gesture.
The blond looked at him in confusion. "Sui-getsu?" Suigetsu nodded. "I…" The boy frowned. "I'm…" Suigetsu watched as the boy truly seemed to be ignorant of his own name. The blond looked up. "I don't know who I am." Suigetsu figured as much. When he woke up this morning, he checked the blond over again to make sure he was okay and saw the dried blood on his head. He remembered that the dried blood from yesterday came from a head wound, the severity of which could have caused permanent brain damage. However, Suigetsu wasn't sure if the boy's healing ability would have an effect on the brain. So, as Suigetsu suspected, the brain injury seemed to have caused long lasting damage. He was only glad it was merely memory lost, which he could deal with, instead of autism or epilepsy or other mental illnesses that would have been hard to treat.
Suigetsu looked back up as he heard the blond slowly approach him. "So, do you know who I am?"
Suigetsu could have lied. In fact, he could have actually had fun with this by cruelly making this boy believe whatever he wanted him to. His personality was hardwired that way. But as he looked into those blue eyes, he saw the hidden turmoil in them, making them look like twin storms of sorrow, he knew that this boy didn't deserve any malice, especially after the state Suigetsu found him in.
"I'm sorry, I found you wounded and brought you with me." Suigetsu responded truthfully, a first for him.
The blond looked disappointed. "Oh, I hoped you at least knew my name."
Suigetsu looked thoughtfully at the blond. "Well, I may not know your name, but I can still give you one." The blond looked at him in surprise. "I mean, I have to call you something, right?"
The blond's eyes widened in excitement at the prospect of at least having an identity and Suigetsu watched in amusement as the stormy blue eyes became crystal clear like the blue sky. It's almost like his eyes could reflect weather patterns. This gave Suigetsu an idea.
"Well, why don't we call you Arashi?" Suigetsu suggested with a grin, revealing his shark like teeth.
The newly dubbed Arashi seemed unconcerned by the bluenet's teeth as he tried out his new name. "Arashi? Yeah, I like it. My name is Arashi." Arashi grinned at Suigetsu.
Arashi suddenly looked nervous, making his eyes fog up a little. This made Suigetsu frown, not because Arashi was sad, but because the blond was easy to decipher which, for a shinobi, could be dangerous. If Arashi was going to follow him, they would have to work on that. "Are…are we friends?" Suigetsu broke out of his musings as Arashi asked that question.
He looked over at Arashi and noticed he was fidgeting. Friend? Suigetsu never had friends. The closest he ever had was his brother, but since he died, Suigetsu had no one that was close to him. People always feared him or hated him, either because of his personality or his talent. He never had anyone he trusted enough to be called friend. As he thought about it, maybe this amnesiac boy is a blessing in disguise. A blank slate, uncorrupted by anyone and who would follow him anywhere just because he is the only one Arashi knows. It may not be what could be considered a friendship, but it was something that made him feel happy about. Having someone to rely on him and someone who will trust him always is something Suigetsu always wanted but could never have. Suigetsu looked at Arashi. "Yes, we are friends."
Arashi looked so relieved that Suigetsu couldn't help but smirk. While he may not be his usual cruel self with the boy, it doesn't mean he won't be able to enjoy teasing him a bit.
Suigetsu then looked up, making Arashi look up as well to see what his new friend was looking at.
"What are you looking at?" Arashi asked.
Suigetsu turned back to the blond. "I just wanted to check the time. It's closing up to midday so we should hit the road soon."
"Hit the road? Where are we going?" Arashi titled his head, making him look like a fox.
Suigetsu grinned again, his shark teeth more prominent. He took out his brother's sealing scroll and unsealed all three swords. Naruto looked in awe at all three swords. One looked like a hammer and a blade connected to each other by a chin, one looked like a large sword with an empty space inside that contained a scroll with strange papers with seals on them, and the last one resembled a needle with thread coming from it. "My ambition is to collect the four other swords of the Seven Swordsmen. I already have these three, I just need to get the other four."
Arashi looked at Suigetsu. "Then I'll help you! You helped me, so I want to help you."
Suigetsu looked surprise before grinning. "Heh, fine." Suigetsu crossed his arms and gave Arashi a condescending look. "But first we have to train you. The way you look now, the only thing you could be used for is bait." Suigetsu smirked.
Arashi blushed and pouted making Suigetsu laugh before Naruto joined him.
"So, where are we?" Arashi asked.
Suigetsu pulled out a map from his bag. He opened it, revealing the various shinobi countries. "We are here, at the border of a small port city in Hi no Kuni." At this, Arashi flinched making Suigetsu look at Arashi in confusion before continuing. "For now, we should head up north to Yu no Kuni. There are no shinobi there anymore so we could train in peace. After that, we should look for some leads as to the whereabouts of the other swords." He rolled back the map and returned it to his pouch. "For now, we should just eat before moving out." Arashi nodded and Suigetsu went to get the roasting rabbits.
They quickly finished their rabbit before cleaning everything. All set to go, they started heading north.