The sun was setting in the village of Konohagakure. The sky was painted a brilliant, bright orange, almost as if to honor an absent resident…..
It had been nine days since Naruto had left to train with Jiraiya. Everyone from the old man that ran Ichiraku to the Godaime herself noticed how much more quiet it was without everyone's favorite Day-Glo-orange-clad knucklehead around. Sakura seemed to be affected the most. Ever since Sasuke abandoned the village to follow his dream of vengeance, she had only Naruto and Kakashi to turn to. Now that Naruto was gone, she found herself having little support for what used to be Team 7. Instead she turned to Tsunade, relying on her to teach her how to be a proper medic nin. It has soaked up much of her time these days…..
The friends Naruto had left behind were solemn and quiet now. It wasn't until Ino had proposed that she, Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata have a girl's night out today that things seemed to be normal.
"So, what was your favorite part?" Ino said inquiring about the movie they had just gotten out of.
The girls were making their way back from the Theatre District. They had just seen a romantic movie. The streets were lit by the streetlights as they last light of sun faded from the horizon As they walked back toward the residential area, they were passing all the places where they had very fond memories from the past.
"Mine was the proposal!" Sakura replied, hearts in her eyes, obviously thinking about a certain raven-haired Uchiha.
"I liked the proposal too…" Hinata said quietly. She probably had a certain blue-eyed wonder in her mind's eye.
"I liked the part were the ex shot the wife!" Tenten yelled out. (Wow, wasn't expecting that.)
"What!? Are you serious Tenten!? Everyone was crying when that happened. It was the ending for crying out loud!" Ino screamed.
Tenten scoffed. She was the only person who seemed at all unaffected by Naruto's leave, but everyone knew she was just as sad as Lee was….but let's avoid talking about Gai-junior for now.
As the girls walked along, they made light conversation about many things. Local boys who had recently been deemed 'cute' (Hinata stayed out of that conversation), the current gossip, and how happy they were that Naruto wasn't there to poorly spy on them. When they passed Ichiraku Ramen they all stopped their conversations and stared at the stand. The owner waved at them, and they half-heartedly waved back. They probably had too much on their mind. As they started passing the entrance gate, they resumed their conversations. But it was all interrupted when a loud crash came from outside the gate. They stopped in their tracks and listened intently. Another, and another, and another, each time the sounds grew louder and closer. The last one sounded like it was straight ahead and out from the trees emerged a young man followed closely by five others.
"Don't you know when to give up, you little punk!?" one of the five screamed.
"I could ask you the same thing, but it would rude to ask an assassin that wouldn't it!?" the boy yelled back to the supposed assassins. "The sooner you realize that you can't catch me the sooner we can end this stupid little chase!"
The boy turned to face the gate of Konoha and looked straight at the girls. His face flashed into a scared expression and he immediately stopped running. He pulled a 180 and turned to face his assassins. He pulled his fists into a battle position and stood motionless as his attackers came at him. They spread out, each surrounding one side of him. No one moved. No one blinked. No one breathed.
The girls used this chance to find a suitable hiding spot. They peeked their heads out into the open a little.
The attack came from behind. One assassin charged him, kunai in hand, aiming for the nearest blind spot. They boy sidestepped it and grabbed his arm, hurling him to the ground. The next came from his side, charging at him again. His response was to swing the man he had arm-locked and throw him straight into the other attacker. They both crashed into a tree, not moving at all. The three remaining jumped high into the trees, seeking cover. Shuriken emerged from the branches, all flying toward their target at high speeds. He rolled to the side to avoid. Another wave of stars came after him. He rolled to the side again. This time there was a pause between the shuriken. No sound was heard at all. You could've cut the tension with a knife. After what felt like an eternity, the shuriken were thrown again, but this time they weren't aimed at the boy. They were headed straight toward an exposed Tenten.
"Tenten!!"
Tenten's mind couldn't register that the shuriken were coming for her until it was almost too late. Being an expert weapons handler, you'd think she would be able to come up with split-second reactions when it came to dodging weapons. Apparently not, as she reflexively threw her arms across herself in an attempt to block the shurikens. She waited for them to come, biting her lip to prepare for the pain.
It never did come.
Tenten opened her eyes to look up at the young man, body standing erect and arms spread wide. Blood dripped from his back.
'He took the shuriken for me…' Tenten though silently.
The boy lifted his head to look straight into the eyes of Tenten. She froze. His eyes were the coldest gray she had ever seen. Stone cold, emotionless gray eyes that burned holes through her skulls. She seemed to look into his eyes forever, when he finally spoke with the most intense tone she had ever heard from someone who looked so young.
"Stay back, and let me handle this!" he hissed through his teeth.
The battle silenced ended as two assassins emerged from the trees. They were falling back to their charging methods and took advantage of the boy's current situation. Unfortunately, the boy was more than ready for their attack. He jumped back and, for the first time, he showed that he knew some ninjutsu. He started forming hand seals. He formed the Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and then Tiger.
Katon!Gokakyu no Jutsu!
A huge fireball shot from his mouth. A fireball that big could only mean a massive amount of chakra. Anyway, the assassins jumped high into the air, easily getting out of the fireball's path….
…only to be knocked back down by a bone-crushing kick delivered by the young man. They flew straight into the fireball, and…well, you know….ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The fireball subsided with an explosion that shook the ground. No attack followed. It all seemed to be over.
'He was fast enough to initiate a jutsu and follow up with a counterattack to their dodge! Amazing!' Sakura thought as he came out of his battle state.
The boy stood there, panting hard, his chest rising and falling quickly. The girls came out from their hiding spots and rushed toward the boy. He turned to watch them approach him; his eyes still an emotionless gray. They stopped some feet away from him and were hesitant to come any closer. He looked them over, checking to see if anybody had been hurt. He finally spoke up, in a light voice that warmed the cold spines they had all developed.
"Is everyone alright? Anybody have any injuries?"
Sakura was the one who spoke up, "Yes, everyone seems to be alright, but what about you?"
His eyes warmed up and for the first time, he cracked a smile. "Me? I'll be fine, but I think I should find a hospital, y'know cause I'm bleeding pretty bad back here." He answered, turning to show that the shuriken he had taken for Tenten had cut him pretty deep. Blood still flowed slowly from the wounds. "You guys know where one might-"
He was cut off as a kunai flew from the branches and flew straight toward the group. It was, once again, heading for one of the girls, but this time Ino was the one who was caught off-guard. It continued its current trajectory even as she through he arms up to defend herself, not having in kunai or shuriken on her person to deflect it with. The kunai stopped as it hit flesh, but it wasn't Ino's flesh. No!! It was the young man who saved the day again, throwing his hand in front of the kunai, but the only bad part was that it went straight through his hand, blood going through the air, splashing to the ground a few feet away.
The young man ripped the kunai from his hand and hurled it back into the trees. Their were several sounds of fleeing, but the sounds stopped and were closely followed by the breaking and cracking of branches as the final assassin hit the ground, the kunai expertly wedged between his eyes. His death was proven as a puddle of deep red blood formed around his limp body.
"Freakin' coward. Aiming at a defenseless woman…." The young man said, wincing in pain and clutching his hand. He looked up at Ino, sympathy showing in his eyes. "Are you okay?"
Ino, still in shock from what just happened to her, recovered and managed to reply to the boy. "Yes….I'm okay…..but ….." it was then that what he said registered in her mind.
"Defenseless!?"
"Huh?" He stared at her, the most confused expression you've ever seen plastered to his face.
"You called me defenseless!!"
"Aren't you!?" He throws his arms up in defense of himself
"I may have no weapons with me, but my taijutsu could best yours any day!!!!" She had obviously forgotten he just took down five assassins three times her size, weight, and height.
"Care to wager on that-Agh!!!" Dropping to his knees, he clutched hand as it bled uncontrollably. It was then that Sakura noticed something. His blood was dark. Darker than it probably should have She took a quick glance at one of the dead assassins, his blood barely visible in the darkness, but it was red nonetheless. His blood though…….it was almost black. She shook it off for the time being, getting him to a hospital was what was best for now.
He looked at his hand, all covered in blood, "Yeah…….I'm probably gonna die…" he said, a smile spread across his face, then he passed out. (Pretty optimistic for a dying man, don't cha think?)
As he laid there unconscious, Hinata used her Byakugan to see if he had drained his chakra. She made a small gasp and told everyone that he still had tons of chakra left in his system. Matter of fact, his chakra was already rebuilding itself. Sakura wasn't surprised. She remembered the fireball, and how even Sasuke couldn't even make one that large from that jutsu. If she could make a guess, his stamina could be compared to that of Naruto's, and that's a big deal. But she wasn't one to jump to conclusions, so she'd have to wait and see.
In the light, the girls finally could get a closer look at him. He had long black hair, the sweat making some strands stick together in a wild look. It was even longer than Sakura's before the Chuunin exam. His clothes seemed to boast the fact that he hadn't changed since he had put them on. His jacket, torn and ripped, was black and the hood covered bits and pieces of his face. Speaking of his face, Tenten was shocked that he such a soft and warm face. She remembered how cold and colorless his eyes had seemed when they had made eye contact. A small shiver ran down her spine. His jeans and sandals were just as battle-worn. Both seemed to be eroding and faded away. His sandals were black, but no one could tell if it was from their constant use, or if they were just like that. Now, it was time to move him.
"Someone grab his shoulder!"
"I got his belt loop!"
"I can't get a grip!"
"Will someone grab his shoulder already?!"
"Aiiee!!!!"
"What is it Hinata!?"
"I think I grabbed his…."
"SOMEONE GET HIS FUCKING SHOULDER!!!"
The girls had the hardest time dragging his raggedy ass over to Konoha Hospital. He was pretty damn heavy even for five near-Chuunin ranked kunoichi. Ten minutes of towing his unconscious butt, Sakura decided she should probably report to Tsunade before our favorite Godaime ingested some evening alcohol and got a little tipsy. She healed him as best she could, and then turned a corner toward the Hokage Tower. On the way, thanks to Sakura's healing prowess, he had regained consciousness and was coherent enough to answer some questions.
"So, what's your name?" Ino and Tenten asked simultaneously. Hinata wasn't hearing them, having to fill Sakura's place by grabbing his shoulder. (Hehehehe….)
"You really wanna know?" he answered them, cautiously avoiding eye contact.
"Look, you saved me and Tenten from quite possibly death, so I think it's only gentlemanly to tell us your name." Ino lied through her teeth. She and Tenten had taken much worse than kunai, but due to a recent study by a drunk Tsunade, if you needed to get something from a man, put him through the ol' guilt trip. It was that or seduction, and Ino hardly knew this guy. (But I bet she'd like to have coffee with him later….)
He didn't answer, he just looked at the ground for a while, lost in his thought. He finally decided to speak up, after a five whole minutes of silence. He looked up at them with his gray eyes again, acceptance and thankfulness clear to see. Tenten could feel a blush on her face.
"My name is Tsuteki Takui. You can just call me Taiku though" and promptly lost concsioussness again.