Authors not: Hey, this is my first fan-fic on here but any comments or flames are welcome Yes, I am aware that I suck at writing summaries but if anyone has any suggestions, I'll be pleased to hear them.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, even though my sister wishes I did '
-1The girl was standing in the middle of the room, breathing heavily. Around her lay over a dozen bodies, all dead and surrounded by blood. "More blood…" the girl hissed, her red eyes glazed over. They flickered clearly for a moment. "No... not again!" the young girl exclaimed in a whisper, shaking her head and looking around her in horror. She dropped the bloody knife she was holding and began to cry silently. Moments leaked by before the girl bent down and picked up her knife again, gripping it tightly. She wiped it off on her skirt and left the room, her eyes once again glazed. "There will be more blood... There must be…"
Kiba Inuzuka was at the training grounds where all of squad 8 was to meet their sensei. Shino was waiting and Hinata was on her way, close behind them. Their sensei arrived a few minutes later, most likely with another mission for them all. "Alright, team. We have another D-ranked mission. You'll be tending t-" Kurenai started but was interrupted by a loud rustling. A moment later, a young girl stumbled into the grounds from the forest, wearing an old sweater and a short skirt. Both were soaked with blood and she held a sharp kunai knife in her hand. She looked at the group and with a little gasp, she fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Oh no!" Hinata exclaimed and immediately rushed to the girls side. When she turned her over and truly looked at her face, she realized that they were about the same age, at least.
"We need to take her to the hospital immediately." Shino stated quietly, yet seriously. Kurenai looked at her student for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"That blood loss may have her near death already. I'll take her. Now, I need you all to go to Ms. Tanaka's house and tend to her garden. There's nothing more you can do for her now. I'll meet you there soon." Kurenai said then picked up the girl and ran off towards the hospital. Shino started towards Ms. Tanaka's house and Hinata looked after her sensei for a moment before following her teammate. Kiba looked back to where the strange girl had collapsed and saw her bloody kunai lying on the ground. He picked it up and held it up to Akamaru, who sniffed it and growled. Kiba gave him a concerned and understanding look before slipping the knife into his pocket and following after the rest of his squad.
Their sensei joined them just as they'd finished their job. "How is she?" Hinata asked, feeling concerned.
"She's perfectly fine. Just tired and under-fed." Kurenai explained.
"What about the blood?" Kiba asked and Akamaru barked in agreement. Their sensei just shook her head.
"It wasn't hers. She didn't have a scratch on her. Just a few bruises." she stated simply.
"Not hers?" Hinata asked quietly. Kurenai nodded.
"She should be waking up soon. Do you want to see her?" she asked.
"Oh, yes." Hinata replied and Shino nodded. Kiba thought for a moment before nodding as well. He didn't like this, not one bit. Kurenai proceeded to lead her team to the hospital and right to the mysterious girls room. Her long, snow white hair was fanned out around her face on the pillow. She was also clean and a curious looking bruise on her neck was now much more noticeable without her old clothes. Hinata walked up to the side of the bed and put her hand on the girls forehead which was surprisingly warm.
Almost immediately, the girls eyes snapped open and swept over the room, taking in all they could. In less than seconds, the girl had jumped out of the bed and lunged at Shino, as if she was holding a knife. Shino just grabbed her wrist and held it effortlessly, keeping her far enough away so that she couldn't hit him. Akamaru barked at her fiercely and she turned her attention to him. She snarled, revealing sharp teeth and with one hard yank, she broke free of Shino's grasp and lunged at Kiba instead. But he was too quick for her. In the blink of an eye, he had her in an arm lock with her own kunai at her throat. She looked at the kunai in horror, then at Kiba with a look that said help me.
"What a way to wake up!" Kurenai exclaimed with a laugh and put a hand on the girls shoulder. Kiba released his grip and slid the kunai back into his pocket with one quick movement. The girl proceeded to look up at Kurenai, looking thoroughly frightened. "Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt you. Can you tell us your name?" the Jounin asked. The girl hesitated, then shook her head. "You don't want us to know your name" she asked in confusion. The girl shook her head vigorously.
"You don't want to tell us your name?" Hinata asked. The girl nodded her head in agreement.
"So you want us to know your name but you don't want to tell us." Kiba said, sounding very annoyed. The girl turned to him and frowned in disapproval.
"Maybe it isn't that she won't tell us... but that she can't." Shino said, breaking the silence. The girl turned to Shino, looking happy, then jumped over and hugged him. He blushed slightly as she let go and smiled at him.
"So you can't speak?" Kurenai asked. The girl turned to her and nodded. "Would you write down your name for us?" The girl nodded after a moment hesitation. "I'll be right back then." she said and left the room. The girl immediately walked up to Hinata and tugged at her jacket, then pointed at herself.
"You want to try it on?" Hinata asked quietly. The girl shook her head then tugged on her own hospital shirt before pointing to herself. "What do you mean?" Hinata asked her.
"Your clothes?" Shino asked. The girl turned to him and nodded with a smile.
"Oh! We don't know where they are. Sensei might…" Hinata explained. The girl nodded and turned to Kiba. She walked up to him and came so close that their noses nearly touched and surprisingly, Akamaru didn't bark. Her red eyes seemed to be trying to tell him something but he just couldn't understand. She then reached a hand into one of his pockets and she finally realized what she was after. He took her kunai from his other pocket and held it out to her. She looked at it and sniffed it for a moment before giving Kiba a cautious look and snatching the kunai away from him. At that moment, Kurenai returned with a slate, an eraser and a few pieces of chalk.
"Here you go." she said and handed them to the girl. The girl smiled thankfully, then sat back down on her bed. "So then, can you give us your name now?" the Jounin asked. The girl nodded her head then wrote her name on the slate and turned it so everyone could see.
"Aka Tsukiko" was what was written on the slate, getting some surprised reactions.
"Is that really your name?" Hinata asked, a little nervously. Aka nodded sadly for Aka means bloody.
"Are you a ninja?" Kurenai asked, eying the kunai which was once again in its owners hands. The girl nodded her head a few times then her eyes widened and she began to shake her head vigorously.
"Well, which is it? Are you a ninja or not?" Kiba asked rashly. Aka hesitated a moment before erasing her name from the slate and writing her reply.
"Yes and no. I can't really explain…" the slate read..
"What village are you from?" Hinata asked softly. Aka began to scribble out her reply from earlier and write a "none" underneath the white scribbles.
"What do you mean?" Kurenai asked.
"I have never stayed in any village very long so I do not really have a village." Aka wrote.
"Didn't stay long… Wait! How old are you?" the Jounin asked. Aka hesitated a moment before writing 11 on her slate.
"So, that makes her a year younger than us…" Shino mused. Aka erased her last words and wrote furiously.
"What are your names?" she wrote and held it up for them all to see.
"We haven't told you have we?" Kurenai asked her. Aka shook her head then proceeded to look at everyone expectantly. "Well, I'm Kurenai Yuuhi and these are my students." Kurenai explained. Aka nodded then turned to Hinata.
"I'm Hinata Hyuuga." Hinata said, blushing under the other girls intense gaze.
"I am Shino Aburame." Shino said simply and Aka smiled, then nodded. She then turned to Kiba and cocked her head expectantly.
"I'm Kiba Inuzuka and this is Akamaru." he muttered and Akamaru barked. Aka smiled then tugged on her hospital shirt then pointed to herself.
"She wants her clothes." Shino explained when Kurenai gave her a puzzled look.
"I can't see why. They're bloodstained beyond repair. Do you mind if I take you out to get new clothes?" the Jounin asked. Aka hesitated a moment before shaking her head.
"May I still have the old ones back?" she wrote and gave Kurenai an almost pleading look.
"Oh, alright!" she said after a moment of thought. Aka smiled and hugged the older woman who stiffened in shock then patted the girls head. "Alright, now before I get the clothes we have one problem that needs to be resolved." Kurenai said seriously once the young girl had let go so she could breathe again. "Aka can't live in the hospital. She needs somewhere to stay." Silence settled over the room and Aka stood so still that it seemed she almost wasn't breathing. "I have barely enough room as it is and she is not permitted to live with me anyway." Kurenai explained.
"I regret that there is no way she will be able to stay with me and my family." Shino said, sounding as emotionless as usual.
"I-I don't know but I can ask my father." Hinata offered. Akamaru barked, then Kiba sighed.
"You can stay with me if Hinata's dad say no…" he offered reluctantly. Aka smiled then started to breathe again.
"Now then, I'll go get your old clothes and when I come back, we'll go shopping. Sounds good?" Kurenai asked Aka. The young girl nodded and smiled then the Jounin left the room.
"Thank you." Aka wrote on her slate, making sure that everyone read it. Aka then took her knife over to the water basin on a table near the wall and began to vigorously scrub away the now dry and faded blood from the knife's sharp edge.
After a moment, Kurenai returned carrying Aka's bloodstained clothes in her arms. Aka pulled her now clean Kunai out of the basin and dried it on her shirt before gathering up her old clothes from Kurenai's arms.
"Alright, we have a new mission. I met Tsunade in the hall and she gave me some money. We are all to take Aka clothes shopping. She seems to have taken quite an interest in our mysterious friend!" the Jounin announced. Hinata smiled as Aka hugged her and Shino remained expressionless. Kiba, in the meanwhile, was groaning and cursing the world as well as going on about how girls took forever to shop and ended up buying half of every store.
Aka looked at him angrily then walked up to Kiba and smacked him over the head. Akamaru proceeded to bite Aka's hand and when he did not let go, she leaned in and bit the puppy's ear. Eventually, they both stopped when Kiba started freaking out.
"S-should we go?" Hinata asked, giving Kiba a nervous look.
"I think so. Now Aka, I suppose you should change into your blood-stained clothes until we get the new ones. We can't have you going around in a hospital outfit." Kurenai pointed out. Aka nodded then took her old clothes into the bathroom adjacent to her hospital room. She came back moment later, wearing her old clothes and carrying the folded hospital clothes in her arms. She set them down on the bedside table before picking up her kunai, her chalk and her slate. "Right. We'll start at the Hikari shop." Kurenai said with a small smile then led her squad out of the room.
The Hikari shop was close to the hospital and specialized in everyday clothing but also had just about everything else as well. Kurenai was mostly the one picking out the clothes and every once in a while, Hinata would pick some out as well. They continuously heaped the clothes into one of the changing rooms with Aka who seemed completely overwhelmed and confused by what was going on.
Finally, Shino pointed this out to Kurenai who immediately began to go through and put many of the things back. the first thing that Aka actually tried on was a pair of leggings, a denim skirt and a red halter top that Kurenai insisted she try on. It was immediately discovered, once she came out, that she did not like it very much. It was then that the group really saw how underfed Aka was. You could almost see her ribs poking through the fabric of the shirt.
Kurenai then sorted through the clothes again and muttered about how hard it was to find something she would look good in. Shino left at some point and Kiba didn't even notice for quite a while, but when he did, he cursed his teammate for not taking him along. But, Shino returned a few minutes later carrying something in his arms which he handed to Aka when she came out of the dressing room.
When she came out, she was wearing a white dress that came to just below her knees. It was a fairly simple dress and yet, it was perfect for it didn't show her body's shape. She smiled thankfully at Shino and once Kurenai had gotten over the shock, she congratulated Shino. They left the store soon after that and stopped at no others, much to Kiba's relief.
The group followed Hinata to her house and she went inside to ask her father if Aka may stay with her. Outside, you could hear some angry yelling and Hinata came back not soon after, looking as though she had just cried. "I'm sorry, Aka-chan. Y-you can't stay with me…" the Hyuuga flustered.
"Alright then Kiba, looks like she's gonna have to stay with you." Shino said, his voice almost laughing at his teammate. Kiba gave him a death glare.
"Alright…" he said then led Aka to his house once he had said goodbye to the rest of the team. Kiba didn't say another word to the girl but just led her to the spare room where she curled up on the bed and slept, without even eating. And as Kiba drifted into sleep later that night, Aka struggled in her sleep, fighting with her inner nightmare.