"Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!
And, by the incantation of this verse,
Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!"
–Percy Bysshe Shelley
This is an AU fic. I do not own any Naruto characters, except Sanu and all Jinchuriki except Naruto and Gaara. Apart from them, the Jinchuriki are my own characters, none except Naruto and Gaara are canon. But I own the jinchuriki and the tailed beast's alternate forms. All rights to respective owners.
Step, step. Struggle to place one foot before the other in the shifting sands. Bleeding and torn from the sand that innocently brushed over her feet, she continued her trek through the desert. Even that night, as the desert turned to ice and she lay half-buried under the cold sand for some warmth, she never thought of giving up. She had to warn the other Hidden Villages, had to get them to stop, stop the upcoming danger.
If the desert of Wind Country didn't kill her first.
...
One of the dogs kept turning his head toward the wind, and their master was beginning to wonder what had his ninken so distracted. There wasn't really anything alive in the desert to get their attention, and if it had been another ninja he was sure Mitsukeru would have warned him already.
"What's up, Mitsukeru?" The jounin asked quietly, crouching down beside his only female dog, who glanced in his direction before looking back to their right. The jounin looked also, his eyes narrowing when he didn't spot any enemies or even anything but sand. "Is something out there?" He asked, raising a hand to move his mask away from his eyes to look properly. But even with his own bloodline ability, he still could find nothing. But he heard a whisper of something, faint and weak, over the sound of the wind. The jounin stood slowly, his eyes still searching the desert for the source of the noise. Mitsukeru shifted anxiously, letting out a small whine and butting her master's hand with her nose. She received an absent pat in return and, giving up on getting his attention, grabbed the hem of his vest and dragged him in the direction she wanted.
"Hey! Mitsukeru, let go!" He protested, trying to prise the strong jaws off his jounin vest but couldn't. Followed by the other curious dogs, the teenager found himself being led by his ninken toward an empty patch of sand. Mitsukeru finally released him and the confused ninja looked around.
"Mitsukeru, there's nothing here to see-" He found himself when Mitsukeru whined again, digging away at a small mound of sand and uncovering one very human hand, reddened and bruised by the force of the winds and the sands. "Oh...shit..."
...
The ground seemed to be moving beneath her, lifting up and down in an even tempo as she groaned, trying to roll over and away from the moving sands. But instead of moving away, she was firmly held in place around her legs and wrists. She still, sinking back into the darkness. Then, mentally growling at whatever was stopping her moving away from the now still ground, she managed to crack a single eye open enough to see...
Absolutely nothing. Nothing but pure darkness surrounded her, but after a moment or two a rustle of cloth was heard in the stillness, and suddenly the light of a flame appeared, floating above a gloved hand.
"You're awake. That's good, I was worried the jutsu wouldn't be effective, with me lacking training in that field and all." A voice, male and low, whispered to her and she slowly rolled over to face the voice, wincing at the pain that wracked her body at the movement. "Sorry, I couldn't heal you properly though..." The man sounded sincere and the flame grew as he placed it in a lamp, illuminating a pale face, framed by dark hair. Bangs framed either side of his face,, shadowing dark serious eyes that lightened as she rolled over and opened both eyes, meeting his.
"...Have I seen you before?" She asked and the teen visibly froze before laughing it off.
"You must be mistaken. I very much doubt you've seen me before." He replied but it faded when he noticed her still studying him as she slowly sat up.
"No, I've met you before. In passing, but I know you..." She mused, not missing how the boy's hand was moving slowly toward his side. "Now I remember, you're I-"
There was a brief moment of swift movement and the teen spluttered as he was pinned down on the mat she had been lying on a mere half second before. Any normal civilian watching would have thought he had missed and she fell on top of him, but any ninja watching would have seen that even as he had leapt toward her, intending to silence the one person who knew his identity, she had flipped sideways; launching off the ground with her hands, rolling sideways in the air, then rebounding off the foot that hit the floor to land crouched over the teen's back, pinning his legs with her knees and her free arm pinning him down across the shoulders.
The teen swallowed carefully, suddenly aware of the kunai pressed against the side of his neck, the same kunai he had tried to attack her with.
"How did you-? Who...are you?" He choked out and the kunai moved away slightly, no longer any immediate danger to cutting the side of his throat open. The woman shifted forward so her mouth was close, no, right beside his ear. She whispered something that even a ninja pressed against the wall of the tent right beside them would have been able to hear, and his eyes widened in shock before a dull thud was heard. The woman stood up and off the now-unconscious teen, having knocked him out with a tap to the temple with the handle end of the kunai.
"Sorry, but that's all you'll remember. Now, if you don't mind..." The woman crossed the room lightly, wincing every time she stepped on her left ankle, and picked up a bundle that had been lying beside the teen before he'd tried to silence her. "You'll have a bump for a while though, it should heal soon. Also kid, you're not a bad healer, my ankle isn't so bad anymore." She grinned before shouldering her small backpack again, lifting the hood of the sleeveless jacket she was wearing after tucking the bundle inside, making sure there was enough breathing room, and raised the flap of the tent door to disappear into the night once again.
...
"Ooh...my head..." The teen stirred, blinking blearily at the tent illuminated by dawnlight before the memories of the past night flooded his mind, causing him to shoot upright with a gasp then a groan, holding his head in his hands as it protested against the sudden movement.
'She's a jounin? Then why is she running from Suna? ...Was she ordered to do something by their Kazekage and refused? How did she know me? But what did she mean, everything is going to change? And why did she tell me to go there? There's nothing left there after the attacks, the Hokage made sure we checked it out. Something about it being a place of power that could become dangerous...it's just ruins, nothing else...
Might as well check it out, I need answers. Now.'
And with that last thought, the teen packed away his kunai, gathered his belongings, called for his ninken, and set off after the woman.
...
"Kura! 'Ara! I'm back!" The young woman called out as she entered the well-hidden home and the moment she was in sight, two shapes came flying out of the house and tackled her around the waist, both hugging her tightly. "'Ara! Kura! You're crushing Kanako!" The woman yelped and both pre-teens immediately pulled back, letting their mother lift the girl out of her jacket. Sea-green eyes opened and immediately the other children started cooing over her.
"Awww, she's so cute!" Kura grinned and 'Ara nodded, her emerald-green eyes lifting up to look at the steel-grey eyes of their mother.
"Which one is she?" She asked and the woman looked around before leading the two girls toward the house. There were too many risks of them being overheard outside the house; even as well shielded as it was from anyone not permitted to enter, see or hear it. It could always be breached if someone ever figured out how...
As they drew closer to the house Kura ran forward to open the door, but before her tanned hand could touch the handle it swung outward, a small girl hanging off the iron handle. She was wearing a light blue dress that just reached her knees, and her long black hair was held back in a tie.
"M-Mommy's back!" She shrieked and let go of the handle, landing lightly on the ground and wrapping herself around one of the woman's legs. Their mother laughed, still walking forward depite the extra weight.
"Yes yes, I'm back. Where's your father? He'll want to see Kanako and make sure she's alright. Plus I have news for him." The woman's face turned from a smile to a slight frown. "Kura, can you go get him?"
The girl beamed, knocking off a mock salute before racing off, her bare feet leaping lightly over the ruins around them with practised ease. 'Ara watched her go, slightly envious of the girl's limitless energy.
"Here 'Ara, you can hold Kanako? I need two arms free to move some stuff." The blonde woman asked the girl before passing the infant to the redhead, who stiffened at the sudden weight, only moving to watch her mother walk inside, managing to pry Nibi off her leg as she went. 'Ara looked down at the infant, who blinked back before reaching up a chubby hand to grab hold of a lock of hair, making it's owner wince as she began to suck happily on it.
"That can't be good for you." 'Ara sighed as she pulled her hair back, flicking it over her shoulder and vowing to cut it again soon. All of the children's hair grew fast, they could shave themselves bald and it would grow back to its past length within a month. She carried the newest member of their family inside their house, watching as her mother flew around the house, moving stuff out of rooms and into new rooms. It seems Kura and 'Ara would still be sharing a room and just moving into a bigger one, and instead of Nibi sleeping with her mother she would be moving into a room with Tonami, their father.
"Mom...?" 'Ara called out as the blur passed her. "Kanako's hungry."
There was a muffled curse from behind her and the woman stopped in front of the girl, holding her arms out. 'Ara willingly handed the baby over and their mother walked toward the kitchen, only to stop when a man stepped out in front of her.
He was taller than her by only a few inches, his dark blonde hair held back in a tie. His dark blue eyes lit up as he caught sight of the child in the woman's arms.
"Ah, is this Kanako?" He asked and when the woman nodded, he gently picked her up and inspected her in his hands. "So small...an absolutely adorable henge too, well done Sanu." He praised the woman, who smiled at the compliment.
"It was simple enough, she's small so it's a lot stronger. Plus it hides her seal." Sanu shrugged, Tonami inspecting Kanako as Sanu released part of the henge, revealing the seal on the girl's head.
"Ouch, that had to hurt both her and her Bijuu. Which one is she?" Tonami winced and Sanu sighed.
"Raijuu, the sixth. All that anyone would tell me is that it's a slug variant."
"Ew...you know I hate slugs." Tonami pouted and Sanu laughed.
"Kura won't like her Bijuu that much either then. She's just like her father." She teased and Tonami pouted, passing the re-henged infant back to Sanu. "But she's so cute." She beamed, running her fingers through Kanako's hair. I6t wasn't very long, but it would grow quickly. "We'll call her Kana for short, and let her decide about her Bijuu when she's older." She decided and Tonami nodded before resting a hand on Sanu's shoulder.
"What was this news you wanted to tell me?" He asked quietly and Sanu bit her lip before letting out a sigh.
"The Uchiha's tried to take over Konohagakure...one of their own stopped it by killing his whole clan, save his brother. I was rescued from dying in the desert by him, Itachi Uchiha. Oh, and he's coming here."
"Shit! He'll recognize me!" Tonami wailed, tugging at his hair in exasperation. Sanu smirked.
"Oh don't worry, I get the feeling I was meant to run into him. I don't think Kami wants him to go where he was heading. Same with how you were. Who knows, he might even stay..."
"Saaanuuuu!"
Yeah, weird first chapter. So, I wonder if anyone knows who Kura and 'Ara are? (No, Kura is NOT BAKURA! this is a Naruto fanfic, not a NarutoxYGO crossover!)
Also if it looks like Sanu is collecting Bijuu...it's not in the sense that you think! Trust me, it's not as straightforward as that. Also, Tonami is someone you all know: whoever gets it right gets some input on the story plot!
This is my first fanfic ^^; Also, if there are any typos, can u point them out? I probably missed some, this laptop doesn't have spellcheck -.-
Please review, and let me know what you think!
~Voice of Midgar~