A/N: I have always wanted to write a fantasy. You know, wizards and dragons. And after reading so many magical fan fictions I decided I might as well try and do my own! The only thing not completely from my mind is the poem. R&R, if you will.

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Chapter One

What has been hidden will rise up again;

Beware those who seek it for their own gain.

Though the power of Demons and Sorcerers are strong,

A pure one will find it, One who seeks no wrong.

The blood of a maiden must surely be spilled,

For the source of its Evil to truly be killed;

Lest words of nightmare and terror be spoken,

And the wall between Hell and Earth shall be broken.

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As the puffy, gray clouds rolled in from the south, tiny raindrops fell from above, one of the specks of water landing on the young woman's nose. Blinking once, then twice, she looked towards the sky from her comfortable spot beside the old oak tree, only then realizing the storm that threatened to come. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to be showered by nature's sorrow as the rain fell heavily to the earth.

She smiled, pink lips stretching across her pale, smooth skin.

Oh, how she enjoyed the rainy season, showing that April had finally arrived. Soon, it would lead to summer, then autumn, and last of all, winter. but, alas, the cycle would not end there, but forever go on. Always changing, never to pause, or stop completely.

That is what she loved most. That is why she believed nature to be all powerful, for how it only applied to the rules that it had created, and never to listen to anyone else's. How it could be sad and gloomy one day, and sunny the next. Or the way it's most fierce winds could blow away trees of enormous proportion, to being the most delicate of breezes that gently cool you in the heat. Yes, it would seem as if nature was almost perfect, unlike so many other things, including her. This thought made her frown. All of her imperfections flooded her mind.

Why did she have to always be so shy, no matter what the case being? Or her ever so annoying habit of fidgeting with her fingers, and never being able to say a complete sentence without stuttering once. She was also tall for her age; at least it appeared so to herself.

She stood at 5'7, with curves accustoming every part of her body. From her petite waist, to her legs and small feet, which now were bare so she could feel the cushiony grass below. She had a round gentle face, with high cheek bones and was always glowing with a blush. Her eyes, a soft lavender shade, always looking downwards, rarely meeting others' eyes. She had long, beautiful raven-colored hair, that went just passed her mid-back.

Her outfit at the moment consisted of a white top, that seemed a bit too big for her, with long sleeves that could be buttoned or unbuttoned at the cuff. She wore black shorts, that had once been a pair of pants. But the weather would soon grow hot, so she cut them, only three inches above the knee. She was, after all, modest. A pair of slip-on shoes were deep within her bag, along with an extra shirt, some coins, and a few dried herbs and berries.

She had always found herself interested and amazed in the practice of magical herbalism and using the Earth to heal. She spent her spare time reading whatever she could find on it, and not long after she could walk through a forest and easily recognize a plant and you of all its medicinal or spiritual capabilities. Some would consider her a witch, but she herself took the title of Healer.

If only she had this ability when she was younger. She remembered her Mother had fallen ill, and having to leave her and travel north to find a sorcerer who could create a cure….She never returned, and years went by before all hope was finally lost.

So she left her home on her eighteenth birthday, bringing only what she needed. She decided that she would start her journey West, to Armaguech. There were many tales of this country. Not all of them good. But she knew that she had to start somewhere.

She went back to reality and realized that the rain had gotten heavier, and knew that she would have to find shelter somewhere. Standing up, she quickly grabbed her bag, and ran for cover under the canopy of the forest. Her eyes bounced from place to place until she finally spotted what seemed to be a cave. Smiling inwardly she squeezed through its small opening.

Sitting down to catch her breath, the young woman decided to examine her surroundings. She was surprised to see that the cave was bigger than it seemed. But what caught her eye, was what seemed like floating orbs of light drifting around, lighting up the dark place. She crawled quietly to get a closer look at what they were.

Finding one that was lingering more to the ground, her eyes widened with amazement to see that it was not an orb of light, but instead a small being, similar to a human, only it had long silver hair, and yellow bug like eyes. A glow surrounded its entire body, and it wore what seemed to be a makeshift of white daisy petals wrapped around its delicate figure. The creature could have been no bigger than a thumb.

The girl sat still, transfixed by it, but the almost dreamlike state was broken when the creature spotted her, and its glow went black. It bared its tiny sharp teeth and let out a deafening sound from its mouth. All the other orbs turned dark at the alarm and joined in when they too spotted the girl. Her hands flew to cover her ears but it did nothing to block out the screams.

"P-please, s-stop!" She shouted. But they seemed to just grow angrier.

Her eyes squeezed close and she blindly got up and ran in a random direction to escape from their screeching. She fell to the ground when her forehead collided with the wall of the damp cave. Blood dribbled down her temple as she slowly began to lose consciousness.

Before she fell completely to the world of dreams, she felt as if she was being lifted, and the noise of the screaming creatures grew silent….

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"Don't leave me…." The pale girl mumbled quietly to herself, as she snuggled closer to the muscular chest that she was now accompanied by.

He chuckled, and said jokingly, "I would never do a thing like that. Especially since I haven't gotten to do anything fun with you yet."

This reply left the eighteen year-old girl slightly confused, as she didn't understand what the voice had meant by fun…But the confusion only lasted a moment. Her eyes flew open, and she screamed so loudly that the man was sure any villages nearby would most likely hear, along with those two big ogres that had been chasing him earlier.

"WHAT!!"

She jumped up to quickly and the top of her head hit his jaw, making him fall back and have his leg trip her so she went to the ground with him. They ended up in a very intimate position, but the girl did not notice as she was gazing into his eyes that were almost hidden beneath his blonde bangs.

His eyes were strange, for the left one was a dark blue and the right a rich red, both having vertical pupils similar to a feline, and etched into each of his cheeks were three slashes, almost whisker-like.

He raised one eyebrow and said, "Eh? What's wrong?"

She shook slightly as a blush spread across her face, making her put her head down in…shame? He couldn't tell. But what caught him was her scent, for she smelled like lilacs. He decided at that moment that he really liked lilacs.

Putting that thought away, he however did notice the position that they were in and took advantage of the opportunity.

"Uh, I know that this isn't the best time to say this, but what you're kneeing into isn't a weapon, and I was kind of hoping to be able to use it in the near future, if you know what I mean." He was amazed a person could turn such a dark shade of maroon.

"S-sorry!" She got up in a flash and moved at least twenty feet away from him behind a tree that's flowers were just beginning to bloom.

Standing up and dusting himself off, he looked towards her questionably. "Well your a weird one, aren't ya?"

The girl couldn't stop blushing from behind the tree, because she had never really been around a person of the opposite gender before, especially one who was wearing nothing but a pair of dirty orange pants and a black sash tied around his waist, showing of his muscular chest and slight six-pack. He wore no shoes, and had a a greenish stone on a leather string hanging around his neck. She wondered if it meant something to him.

"You know, you really set off those Howlers back there."

"H-Howlers?"

"Yea." He smiled, and walked over to her. She looked away from him and he wondered if she found him ugly. "It's pretty obvious why they call them that. Damned things could make someone go deaf." When she didn't say anything, he frowned. "Tch, you're too quiet."

Just when he was about to reach his arm out to make her face him she fell and he immediately caught her. "Hey! Are you alright?!" His eyes shifted and he noticed that she was bleeding. "Damn it."

He looked around for the bag that he had found with her, and setting her gently on the ground went and got it. He searched around in the bag and found a small cylinder box.

Sniffing it, he raised an eyebrow and opened it's top. Inside was a mint-colored ointment. 'Definitely smells like medicine...' He ran back over to the wounded girl, took some of the paste and rubbed it on the hurt area. He watched in amazement as it healed almost as quickly as he could.

"O-Ow.." She winced when it healed, and rubbed her head. Blinking a few times she looked towards him and muttered, "Thank y-you."

"No problem..." He seemed to be examining her, and then remembered what it was he wanted to ask. "So where are you heading to anyway?" She thought about it for a few minutes, and them gave him an answer.

"W-West...I'm going to the w-wind country."

"Hm? You mean Armaguech?" She nodded. He squinted at her and then said, "Then what the hell are you doing in the Forest of Seasons? You do know that you're heading south, right?"

Her mouth gaped open. "What?!" He let out a sigh.

"Well, since you obviously have no idea where you are going, and since I happen to be going to Armaguech for...reasons untold, " His grin stretched across his face, "I'm going to take you there myself!" 'And maybe her pretty face could get us some free food on the way there too!' He added, but didn't dare say it aloud.

"T-together?" He nodded vigurously. "I...guess that c-could work...But promise me you're not g-going to try anything." He let out a nervous laugh.

"Hehe, of course!" He got up from his crouched position and stretched out his arms. "Well, time to go! It's going to hale soon."

"Hale? But it's spring." He wagged a finger.

"This is the Forest of Seasons. The weather changes quickly here. Nature works in mysterious ways." Shrugging, he walked away for a moment and came back with her bag. "I found that ointment in here!" He handed the bag to her.

"What ointment?" She asked him, confused. He scratched his head, and looked around for the small container.

"Um, I guess I lost it."

What the blonde man didn't know, was that the girl hadn't packed an ointment of any kind, and that they would never find it again, for it had, in fact, been stolen.

Looking through her bag and making sure everything was there, she slung it over her head and made sure it was tight and secure so she wouldn't lose it.

"So, my new traveling buddy, what's your name?"

"H-Hinata."

Hm..." He seemed to be thinking hard about something. "...seems innocent enough. My name's Naruto!"

"O-okay, Naruto." She smiled softly, and for a moment the blonde thought he was going to blush. Shaking his head, he turned around and crouched a little.

"Well, get on!"

Hinata's face turned red and she froze. "Huh?!"

"Tch, we'll travel a lot quicker if I carry you, since I can run way faster than you can. Plus, I want to make it there within a week. And face it, if we walk, it'll take us half a month to reach the wind country." Naruto explained to her.

Hinata though about it a moment, and then deciding he was right slowly climbed onto his back. "I guess that's true..."

"Great! Now hold on tight, got it?"

When he felt her tighten hert arms around his neck, he took off through the trees so fast that Hinata almost let go. "Haha, I told you to hold on!" He bounced from tree to tree and even did a few flips but stopped when Hinata hit him across the head. "Fiesty, aren't we?"

She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to forget about her fear of heights. "H-How much longer did you say?"

He twisted his face in thought and then replied, "At this rate, probably three days. But we're gonna have to stop at some time and rest, so I guess a week at the most."

"O-okay. Oh, why are you going to Armaguech, by the w-way?" Hinata jerked forward when he suddenly stopped, and swore she got whiplash. "What's wrong?"

When he didn't answer her, Hinata grew worried. "Naruto?" He looked back at her with a frown.

"You know, I kind of forgot exactly why I was going." He kept on moving from branch to branch. "I guess it because I'm looking for something."

"What is it?" Hinata asked, curious as to what it was he was looking for.

"Nothing you need to worry about. It's probably just a myth, anyway."

Even after Naruto told Hinata that, she still couldn't help but wonder...She promised silently to herself that she would find out.

After all, if something is just myth, then why would anyone bother to go to such an extent to find it?

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