Lonely Petals, Chapter One: Unknown Soldier

"Every time I hear the phrase 'Insanity is relative' I automatically think they're talking about my cousin who is locked up in an asylum. The voice in my head agrees with me." - Unknown

"Well brat, it seems as if we're royally screwed."

Naruto glanced over towards the bars of the mental cage that trapped the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, rolling his eyes as he responded sarcastically, "No, you think? What on earth gave you that idea? Would it have something to do with the lower portion of my body getting completely blown off? Or the fact that I don't have any arms anymore?"

"Actually, the fact that you're bleeding. You're almost out of blood, you know."

"Yeah, kinda figured that." Naruto sighed and crossed his mental arms, "I can't believe I'm going to die because of a freaking exploding tag accident. That's so freaking gay it's flamingly so."

"I agree completely, brat, which is why I'm going to screw with you."

Naruto glared suspiciously at the fox, "And how are you going to do that?"

The fox's tone was similar to the tone Iruka had often taken when explaining a concept to an exceptionally slow student, like Naruto for instance, although Kyuubi's was a little bit more mocking and mean spirited than the chuunin's had been. "I'm going to attempt to send us to another dimension."

"Again, how are you going to do that? And why would that screw with me?"

The fox's grin turned malicious as it continued speaking, "Well, for one, a part of the Seal was destroyed, and since my chakra partially healed the wound in a very odd way, it altered the Seal's fundamental characteristics. And by going to another dimension, I will automatically be freed, and as a bonus the process will most likely kill you."

"It'll what?!"

"Don't worry, it'll be very, very painful when you die."

"Thanks," Naruto drawled. "That makes me feel so much better about the whole situation."

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The next thing Naruto knew, his was lying face down in a rocky river bank, feeling strange, and wondering why he had arms and legs again all of a sudden.

Shaking his head to try to physically clear away his confusion, Naruto crawled to the slow moving river on his hands and knees. He winced every time his left elbow touched the ground, as a small wound had somehow made its way there without his prior knowledge.

Gently reaching down with his right hand, Naruto grabbed a small handful of water and began cleaning the wound. He patted down his coat pockets, until he came across the first aid kit that was already there. He took out a bandage, removed his coat, and began to wrap the wound.

After that was finished, he glanced down at the water, and was slightly surprised at what he saw reflected in the water's surface. His appearance was slightly different now. His hair was black, his face considerably less square in the jaw, and his eyes....his eyes were now an interesting shade of orange.

Naruto took off his shoes and put his feet into the cool water, relaxing and staring off into the clouds. He pondered about what he would do now, before blinking in shock when realizing that the only thing he could remember off the top of his head was that his name was Na...something. That and the weird feeling that he didn't really care too much for multi-tailed foxes....

So he was alone in the middle of nowhere with no clear recollection of, well, anything, his eyes had were a weird color, and he had a wound near his left elbow that was itching like crazy.

Oh, what a wonderful day.

Hearing a small splash, Naruto looked upstream and discovered that a body was floating down the river.

He scrambled to his feet and rushed into the middle of the water. Making sure to be careful, Naruto gently guided the body of a ninja out of the water and onto shore. Once there he turned the body over with the utmost care so that he could see if the person was still alive.

She was, but she was also unconscious. And not only that, but Naruto also personally thought that she was beautiful, her facial tattoos only making her more so.

Naruto glanced up at the setting sun. He was going to have to find some shelter quickly if he wanted to help the young woman fend off the reaper for yet another day.

Gently reaching down, he picked her up and carried her bridal style through the woods, making his way towards a large cliff face in the hope there was a cave nearby.

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The first thing that Tsume noticed upon once again joining the land of the living was that she had been wrapped in three or four blankets, and that her clothes were no longer on her body. She tried to jolt in surprise, but she found that she was too exhausted to do even that.

"Please don't try to move around too much," a deep masculine voice told her, "you're lucky to even be alive. Do you feel a large amount of pain in any particular part of your body?"

"Everywhere, though that might be too specific," Tsume said as she turned her head as much as her aching neck would allow to glance at her (apparent) savior. His black hair was very smooth, yet his overall appearance was very rugged, like something had chewed him up and spit him out. And his eyes were a curious shade of..."Why are your eyes orange?" she asked him.

The man chuckled, "If I knew who I was, I would probably be able to tell you which one of my parents contributed the most to the determining of my eye color, but since I can't remember jack except my apparent ninja skills and that my name started with 'Na', I couldn't really give you a definitive answer, even if I wanted to."

If she wasn't in so much pain, Tsume would've arched an eyebrow. "You're rather quick to trust, don't you think?"

The man shrugged, "Well, considering that due to my memory loss, I've only 'existed' for less than a day, it doesn't really matter to me all that much what you do with that information."

"Why did you save me?"

The man smiled charmingly at her, "And leave a pretty girl like you to die? Not on my watch."

Tsume blushed slightly. She'd been called terms like 'hot', 'sexy', or 'do-able' by some of the more open lechers of Konoha, but no one had ever called her a 'pretty girl' before. And no, her father didn't count. He was a freak who kept on calling her overly embarrassing names in public for no other reason than that he could.

Noticing Tsume's blush, the man chuckled lightly, "Would it be easier for you if I told you I had an incurable Hero Complex?"

Tsume smirked lightly, despite the pain it cause. "Wouldn't that be a lie, though? Since you don't even know your full name, let alone how you use to act."

The man laughed out loud for a little bit, before continuing the conversation, "Point taken, miss...?"

"Tsume, Inuzaka Tsume. Chuunin of Konohagakure."

The man nodded his head, acting as if he understood completely. "I have no idea what a 'Hidden Leaf Village' is, but I'll take your word for it."

Tsume shot the man a deadpan look, "And you know what a chuunin is?"

The man blinked rapidly in surprise. "Actually," he said, "for some odd reason, yeah, I kinda do know what that is. It goes genin, chuunin, tokubetsu jounin, jounin, kage, right?"

Tsume nodded, "Yeah, well, for the five major villages it's true, anyway. Do you think I can go back to sleep now? It kinda hurts to breathe."

"Sure thing," the man replied. "And while you're dreaming, try to see if you can come up with a name for me. I got nothing here."

"How about...Nagataka..." Tsume said before she fell asleep.

"Everlasting filial duty?" asked the newly christened Nagataka. "That's kinda hard to do when I don't remember who my parents are, you know. Though I have to admit, there were worse choices she could have stuck me with."

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TBC

AN: Yes, I know, another multichap fic that I'll probably never finish. I know what ya'll think about that. This time though, no promises. I'll try to update, but then again I almost never update...well...anything.