Was looking for a fox skull at the time and got this idea out of nowhere.
I stared over the expanse of the Konoha village, my violet eyes peeking out from the sockets of the skull that covered my face.
"I finally made it." I murmured into the wind as a pitch black crow cawed and landed on my shoulder.
Stroking it's feathers, I jumped from the top of the tree where I was at and landed with a soft 'thump' on the grass below. I had been in this world for ten years now and knew how things worked around here at this point. Unfortunately, back when I first found myself here, things didn't quite work out the way I wanted them to.
When I was seventeen, I found myself lost in the middle of a desert which I later found out was on the outskirts of the Land of Wind. I nearly died before I reached Sunagakure, but I barely made it only to end up getting attacked and chased out by a group of thugs. After that I had been wandering aimlessly from region to region until I came across a place that I should have avoided.
Kusagakure was not really the best place to end up. The beasts that lived in that forest were more than happy to show me my place at the bottom of the food chain, but upon my discovery of chakra, I taught myself how to fight with what skills I already knew, and slowly moved up. When I managed to learn to survive well enough off the land, I began to move about once more, using the skull of a ram I killed as a mask. While in the forests though, I encountered animals that I wished I hadn't.
Bears, in particular seemed to have an extreme dislike for me and nearly killed me on more than one occasion. Wolves were a bit better, and once I displayed my dominance, they became friendly. Panthers and leopards were a bit harder to handle, but after dealing with one the others stayed away unless they were needed. The worst things I had to deal with though, were the people.
They didn't seem to particularly like me stealing from them when I needed food or water. And with the skull covering the scars on my face, it was understandable that they would see me as a threat. It was a long and hard road though and, once I figured out where I was, I decided to head out to where I knew everything was going to happen; Konohagakure. After all, I may not remember much from before I came to this world, but I remembered this. I was in the anime 'Naruto'. Though I still have no clue how I got here to begin with. I don't remember anything before I came here, actually, other than that I'm in an anime or manga...Whichever. I don't even know where I am at in the plot. Not to mention the plot is a bit foggy too.
I mentally sighed and easily snuck into the village with a group of merchants who didn't notice the one extra person who kept their face hidden with a cloak—my skull having been hidden for the moment. Not wanting to catch attention, I snuck away from the people and went into the forest, replacing my ram skull and making friends with the local critters. When it grew dark though, I found a nice tree to sleep in and made sure to keep my hand on the small knife in my pants pocket. One can never be too careful in a new territory.
"You're late!" Three voices yelled and I nearly fell out of the tree at the rude awakening. Crow quickly went up to get an aerial view on what was going on and reported from the skies. From what he said, there were three kids and an adult. I should mention though, that Crow and most other animals have a peculiar way of speaking about people. Each person is related to some animal. So in actuality, Crow told me a short description of the four people.
A fidgety bunny, a silent crow, a loud fox kit, and a lone wolf. The wolf is the one I need to look out for. I kept my presence hidden and asked Crow with bird chirps if I could get closer. A caw from him informed me that it was possible but that the crow and the wolf were ones to be careful of. I told Crow to keep an eye on them and crept closer.
The scene seemed familiar to me. The people were obviously the four main characters, that much I could remember, but what they were currently doing had me a bit confused. I hate when I can't remember something important. That red headed kid in Sunagakure gave me the same feeling. Taking my perch in a densely shaded tree, Crow informed me of no changes and settled himself down across the way in another tree.
"But you'll be in danger!" A pink headed girl called out, and I pinned her as the rabbit, Saku—something.
"Yeah, you're so slow you can't even dodge a blackboard eraser! We'll kill you!" That was the fox kit, or as I know him, Naruto.
"In the real world, those with no talent often bark the loudest. Well, ignore Mr. Dead Last and start when I say." The wolf, Scarecrow...No, Kakashi. He has a point. Those that make loud noises normally are only trying to appear bigger and more threatening than they really are.
Suddenly, Naruto grew angry and pulled out a kunai, charging at Kakashi brashly. Almost faster than I could see, the boy had his own weapon pointed at the back of his neck while Kakashi had barely moved an inch. He's fast.
"Well, it seems like you're prepared to come at me with an intent to kill. So you finally acknowledged me?" He chuckled. "Seems like I'm beginning to like you guys. Okay, let's get going. Ready…start!"
The three, well I should say two, dashed into the forest below me. I tensed, but neither of them saw me, so I relaxed. They were pretty obvious though. I could feel their chakra even though they were hiding fairly well.
"The basics of a ninja are to hide yourself well." Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his head, but I could tell that he knew where they were and that he narrowed his eyes in my general direction.
I need to move. He knows something is off, but he isn't sure what and will probably come to investigate when the kids aren't paying attention. Heeding my own advice, I silently moved further back into the forest and made my way around to another side that was still in sight of what was happening. I had missed something, apparently, since Kakashi was now holding a book and had most likely said something that upset Naruto…again.
"I'll beat you to a pulp!" The boy shouted, going to kick Kakashi in the head.
Kakashi ducked but Naruto recovered quickly and went to punch him, however he wasn't quick enough and Kakashi ended up behind him.
"Huh?"
"A ninja isn't supposed to get caught from behind, idiot."
That seal…I thought, looking at the hand-sign Kakashi was making. It's a fire seal, but I doubt he would hurt one of the kids with a jutsu from that distance.
"Naruto! Get out of there! You're going to get killed!"
I rolled my eyes as the rabbit gave away her position and only confused Naruto more. Unfortunately for him, Kakashi wasn't doing a jutsu. I think he would have preferred one though. I sweat dropped as Kakashi shoved his fingers…well, you don't need to know.
"Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique, A Thousand Years of Pain!"
Naruto was launched into the lake and not long after, a couple of shuriken flew out aiming at Kakashi. He easily caught them though, not even looking away from his book. Naruto then came out of the lake coughing, but I knew something was up.
"Hey, what's wrong? If you don't get a bell by noon, no lunch."
"I know that!" Naruto shouted angrily.
"You sure are weak for someone who's going to surpass Hokage."
I mentally sighed, he was obviously just riling Naruto up. Anger only causes mistakes. Just then though, a bunch of Naruto's launched themselves from the lake and my eyes widened for a millisecond. They all have chakra.
"Hah! My specialty, Kage Bushin no Jutsu! You better not get careless, there's more than one of me now!"
Kakashi was calm though and he lowered his voice a tad so I couldn't make out what he said next. What I did see though, was another Naruto clone jumping on his back, surprising him.
"Weren't ninjas not supposed to get caught from behind? Right, Kakashi-sensei?! Using Kage Bushin, I sent a clone out of the water to sneak around behind you! My ass is still hurting! Here comes revenge!"
Kakashi was still too calm though and when Naruto went to punch the man, I felt a presence nearby. Not good. He may not have found me, but he's damn close. I changed hiding places once more and watched as Naruto fell for a pretty stupid trap. By the time he was hanging upside-down, I knew that the Kakashi there was a fake and that Sasuke's attack wasn't actually killing him. Once he figured it out though, I knew Kakashi had him pinpointed even when he moved.
It wasn't long after that, that I heard the rabbit scream and I assumed that she had fallen for a genjutsu; something I had become eerily familiar with during my travels. Since she was in a direction close to my place, I went over towards Naruto, hoping that his chakra might be able to keep me hidden for a while longer.
"'Underneath the underneath'! What a moron! Damn it! I'm not going to fall for his stupid trap again!" Unfortunately for him, he did and was once more strung up by his ankle. "No! Damn it! The same exact trap right underneath me!"
I mentally scoffed, but reluctantly decided to help him out a bit. I was out of his sight anyway, so I threw a left over kunai from one of their attacks at the rope and let him fall to the ground.
"Ow! Sasuke-teme!"
I ignored his shout and decided that I was probably going to get caught sooner or later so I might as well watch the battle between Kakashi and Sasuke. I whistled for Crow to keep an eye on Naruto and headed over to where I felt the two chakra signatures. By the time I got there though, the battle was already half-way over with. The two had just managed to push each other away from one another and Sasuke had touched a bell in the process.
"Well, I will acknowledge that you are different from the other two."
Sasuke didn't seem to want to accept that and went through a series of hand-signs, one of which I recognized as 'fire'. Mentally cursing, I jumped away and decided that now would be a good time to head away from there before I got burnt to a crisp by his fire technique as well. I didn't get very far though, when a caw informed me that Naruto had gotten caught by a clone.
"Not good." I muttered, only to have to abruptly stop as a kunai landed in the tree I was on, mere centimeters from hitting my mask.
Kakashi crouched on a nearby tree, spinning another kunai on his finger as he eyed me.
"So you're the one who's been spying on us. I never expected someone like you to get in here."
I frowned behind the skull. "'Someone like me'?"
He raised a brow. "You don't know? 'The Black Ram', 'The Shadow of Death'. You have quite a number of names in the bingo book now."
I tensed slightly, having had no idea that I had somehow wormed my way into the bingo books. "I…did not know. I was actually trying to avoid that, if at all possible. Does it say what I'm in there for?"
His eyes narrowed at me, and he caught the kunai in his hand tensely. "You do know that I'm not going to fall for you tricks. I'll take you to the Hokage no matter what."
I nodded. "I was actually counting on it. I need to speak with him anyway. I was just wondering what I did that would cause me to end up in the bingo book."
I reached to get mine, and the kunai he was holding lodged itself next to my head again, cutting my right arm. I glanced up at him and held my other arm up, continuing to reach into my black cloak until I pulled out a dirtied black book and tossed it to him.
"As you can see," I said. "my book is a bit outdated."
He glanced at the first page and frowned. "I can see that. If you really want to know, you're in it for thievery from many important leaders, including the Kazekage."
I nodded. "Ah. I thought that building was a bit lavish."
"You think this is a joke?"
I shook my head. "Not at all. But shouldn't you be taking me into custody? You timer is about to go off."
Sure enough, a loud alarm rang throughout the forest and he sighed, shaking his head and tucking my bingo book into his green vest.
"My, my. This certainly is the first time I've run into someone so cooperative. You're an odd one."
I held out my hands so he could bind them, staring emotionlessly as he turned me around to tie my hands behind my back.
"So I've been told. Please don't remove my mask though."
"Hm?"
"I'd rather not have people see my face…I'm…I've always been hated for it."
He gave me a look after he wrapped more rope around my torso to hold my arms down, but didn't question it as he led me through the forest to the stumps where Naruto was tied and Crow was cawing at him as he yelled angrily.
"I said go away! You stupid bird!"
I gave a small smile, but whistled for Crow who immediately stopped bothering Naruto and gave Kakashi a look.
"Friend of yours?" Kakashi asked.
"Yeah. The only one who's decided to stay around me long enough."
I whistled again and Crow landed on my shoulder, still giving Kakashi a look. Kakashi returned the look with a raised brow, and Crow asked me about him and if I needed help. It was a bit hard to explain that, no, this is what I wanted.
"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked, and I notice that him and Naruto were both giving me strange looks.
"I was explaining to him that I don't need help trying to get away from you, because I'm not trying to get away."
Kakashi just shook his head and led me to one of the other posts to tie me to.
"I take it we're not leaving to see the Hokage yet?" I asked.
"No. Since you're not trying to escape, I can finish up what I was planning on doing here first. It won't take long, but if you do try to escape…" He glared and I stared back evenly. "Don't think I won't hesitate to kill you."
"Okay." I said blankly, and Naruto sweat dropped before turning to him.
"Neh, who's this, Kaka-sensei?"
"I'll explain when the other two get here." He said and we only had to wait a little bit before Sasuke and the rabbit came through the trees, both giving me a look.
"Sensei?" The girl asked. "Who's this?"
"I am a person tied to a stump." I replied calmly and a tick mark appeared on her forehead.
Kakashi sighed. "This is a high level thief I caught spying on us. I will be taking him to the Hokage momentarily, but I thought I should deal with you three first."
A low growl echoed through all of their stomachs as well as mine, earning me another look.
"Apologies. I didn't catch breakfast."
They all sweat dropped and turned to Kakashi.
"Seems all of you are really hungry. By the way, something about the training…Well, there's no need for you guys to go back to the academy."
The two of them cheered, Sasuke staying quiet but still smirking, and I swore that there was something fake about Kakashi's smile.
"Then, then…All three of us…!"
"Yup, all three of you…should quit as ninjas!"
I wasn't sure what was going on, but Naruto's shout had me wince.
"Quit as ninjas?! What does that mean?! Okay! Okay! We couldn't get the bells but why do we have to quit as ninjas?!"
"Because all of you are punks who don't deserve to be ninjas."
Ouch. That's a bit harsh. He's probably got a good reason for it. They certainly are an interesting group though. I wonder what'll happen next. I focused in on Sasuke, just as he charged at Kakashi in a similar manner to how Naruto did at the beginning of this…trial thing. Of course, Kakashi easily pinned him to the ground.
"That's why you're a punk."
The rabbit—I should probably get her name— shouted out to Sasuke, but it was no use. Kakashi was trying to teach them something. That much I knew.
"Are you guys underestimating ninjas? Why do you think you were divided into teams and are doing this training?"
"Huh? What does that mean?" The girl asked, completely clueless.
"He's trying to teach you something, idiots. That thing you guys did wasn't just a fun spar." They all glared at me, aside from Kakashi who looked a bit surprised for a moment.
"Well, he's correct. Basically, you guys are not understanding the answer to this test."
And they're confused again.
"Answer?" Naruto asked.
"Yes. The answer that helps you pass this test." Kakashi replied.
"So," The girl muttered. "when are you going to tell us?"
Kakashi sighed and I rolled my eyes. The answer is pretty obvious.
"Ah, Damn it! What's the answer already?!"
"It's teamwork."
"Yup. Even I know that and I practically work alone." I said, catching their attention.
Crow cawed.
"I was getting to that." I growled at him. "But seriously, if your opponent is stronger than you, you have two choices. Run away, or get some back up."
Kakashi nodded. "The three of you working together may have gotten the bells."
"Hey! What do you mean by teamwork?! There are only two bells! Even if we work together and get the bells, one of us would still fail! What teamwork?! That just makes us fight each other!"
I opened my mouth, but Kakashi seemed to have expected me to speak again and gave me a look, so I shut up.
"Of course." He said. "This test is purposely set up to make you fight amongst yourselves."
"Huh?!" The two, not pinned to the ground, shouted.
"The purpose is to see whether you can forget about your own interests and successfully work together under these designed circumstances. Yet you guys—"
I yawned to myself and ignored Kakashi as he prattled on about each of the three kids' mistakes. Even when he threatened to kill Sasuke, I merely glanced in his direction, becoming more focused on the news being chatted across the forest. Let's see…A few birds singing love songs. A couple of squirrels fighting over who got the acorn first. A paranoid rabbit believing each noise to be a wolf. Nothing interesting. I came back into reality with a small sigh, just catching the end of the group's conversation.
"I am the rules here. Got it?"
I blinked, a bit confused as to where the conversation went to get to this point, but I didn't have to worry for long, before Kakashi was releasing me from my stump prison.
"Oh. We're going now?"
"Yes. Now hurry up."
He pulled me up and we suddenly disappeared in a swirl of leaves. When we reappeared, I struggled to keep my stomach in control. Note to self, don't go with a ninja if he's poofing somewhere. I soon realized that we were standing in someone's office, and that Crow didn't have the same stomach problems as I did. Lucky.
"Is there something you need, Kakashi? Who is this?"
I looked over at the desk and caught gazes with an elder man in a white and red hat. Hokage, I guess.
"Actually, this is The Black Ram. He was apparently hiding out near training area three and…wanted to be captured." Kakashi scratched his head as the Hokage gave him a surprised look.
"Really?" The Hokage glanced at me now, curious, I suppose.
"You could say that." I said, as Crow shifted his beak through my hood, searching for snacks.
"Well then, you have my full attention." The Hokage leaned back in his chair.
I mentally shrugged. Well, what the heck. Might as well state this bluntly. It's the only way I'll get anywhere.
"I wish to become a part of your village."
"What?!" Kakashi said, quite loudly from beside me, but I ignored him, waiting for the Hokage's response.
He simply folded his hands on the desk. "Now why do you think I would grant such a request from a renowned criminal who has been known to have stolen from the Kazekage himself?"
I frowned from underneath my mask. "I didn't know whose house it was, and I was only trying to survive. I took enough food and water to last me a few days and that was it. It's the same thing I did to all the other people I stole from."
He raised a brow, before going through his desk and pulling out a file full of papers. Finding the one he was looking for, he looked it over.
"But here it says you are known to take hostages." He glanced up once more. "Are you trying to tell me that my sources have lied?"
"No, sir. I do take hostages, but not one has been injured. Not a drop of blood has been spilled except my own, and an occasional animal or two, when I have no other option for food."
He set the paper down and watched me with hard steeled eyes. "And I am to take word from a man who won't even show me his face?"
I gazed at him, but soon discovered that he would not budge on this one thing, so instead turned to Kakashi. He removed the ropes around my body at the Hokage's nod, and I sighed.
"I will show you, on the condition that no one else is allowed to see what is under my mask without my permission. I have kept my face hidden for ten years, and I'm not about to let what happened back then happen now."
The Hokage nodded. "Very well."
I nodded, then reached up to remove my skull mask and hood. The moment they were off, both Kakashi and the Hokage were shocked. My bright orange hair was revealed, having been cut short to be managed better, and the three jagged scars on my face completed my look.
"You're…a woman."
I gave Kakashi a brief look, one brow raised. "Yes. It's not my fault I am mistaken for a male. It actually helps keep me from being caught when they're all looking for a man."
"I…see."
He looked away, but the moment I faced the Hokage, I could feel his eyes back on me. I replaced my skull and hood, uncomfortable under their gazes, but waited for the Hokage to say something. Slowly, he put his head on his hands and gazed evenly at me.
"While you may not have harmed anyone, you still technically committed a crime, so I will have to refer to the council about your stay here. That, and you will most likely not be allowed to hide under your…mask and cloak any longer." He then smiled a bit. "We wouldn't want the citizen in an uproar."
I nodded. "Where will I stay until then? I highly doubt I'll be allowed to roam free as I wait for your decision."
"That's right." He leaned back and put a hand to his chin in thought. "I should be able to refer to the council today, but I may not receive an answer until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. I suppose I will be forced to have you held in custody until the decision is made, unfortunately."
"That is fine. I do not mind. It won't be the first time I have slept someplace uncomfortable."
He nodded. "Ah, but what is your name? We can't just continue to call you 'The Black Ram'." He chuckled.
I frowned. "I do not remember my name."
"Don't remember?" He questioned.
"No. I woke up in the Land of Wind when I was seventeen with no memories of what happened before that."
"Hm. That is a predicament. Perhaps we could give you a name?"
"That is fine."
He hummed in thought for a moment, before coming up with something. "How about Nao?"
I shook my head, not liking that one, when Kakashi came up with one. "What about Makoto? They have similar meanings."
I thought about it and nodded. "Mako, for short. And my last name?"
"Kuroyama. Does that work?"
"Makoto Kuroyama. Sounds good. I'll try to remember it." I said and the two of them gave a short chuckle.
"Well then. Now that that's done, Kakashi? Could you escort Makoto to the cells for now? That way you can get back to your students. I'm assuming you passed them?"
He nodded. "Yes, sir. Took them a moment, but they figured it out. Shall we?" He asked me and I nodded, walking with him towards the door as the Hokage called out one last time.
"Makoto."
I glanced at him, waiting.
"Try not to scare my villagers when you get out." He said with a smile and I nearly smiled back.
"I'll try not to."
