Naruto AU. Set in Medieval Japan.

Alright. So, this is a new story from me. It's more of a side-project than a main one, A.K.A. something I just do for the lolz. I sometimes write this whenever I get a writer's block in writing Reconnaissance. Which is why this story would not have a set update schedule. Not that my other story has a set schedule either but, oh well.

Okay. Let's go.

In a small, lone village, surrounded in darkness, the sound of a scabbard getting dragged onto the ground was echoing throughout. Fits of coughing came along after, blood spluttering onto the gravels, but he continued walking on, lifting his feet one step after another, ignoring the way they shook uncontrollably from overuse. Pure black eyes scanned around the area, his vision blurring as each second passes by, finding a place where he could stop for a while to rest. Deciding onto the house just a few feet away from him, he pushed beyond his body's limits one more time for this night to go to the back of the house and sit there onto the cold, hard ground, leaning his head onto the wooden wall.

Exhaling and spitting out some blood from his mouth, he removed the sleeves of his yukata just to see that some parts of his body were turning black, particularly his abdomen. Clicking his tongue, he fixed his clothing and put his sword to the side, thinking to himself that the wounds are not enough to end his life today. He had experienced far worse than what he had right now.

His eyes looked up at the moon above him, wondering how far he was from Kusa, the last village he was in before he was found. He didn't know where he was right now either. Not that it was really important anyway. It's not like he's going to stay here for too long. This village was too small to keep him safe. It would be hard to blend in among the crowd. It would only take days before his pursuers would find him here, compare to big villages like Kusa and the much more humongous Suna.

He just needs to rest for a while before moving on to the next village. Perhaps, Iwa would be his next destination. He's quite interested in the mountains there in the village. Or maybe he could go back to Kusa, thinking that his pursuers would never get an idea that he would be stupid enough to go back there, but knowing his pursuers, they would be staying in there for a while, waiting for him like a dog. Those people were smart, determined, and persistent.

Sighing as he shook off his thoughts, he suddenly felt his eyes drooping down, begging for sleep. Everything was going silent around him, his senses giving up on him one by one. He closed his eyes, giving in to the fatigue, his hand comfortably resting on the scabbard of his sword. A few minutes would do, and then he would be off towards Iwa.

Praying for safety in his head, his body had finally gave in.

Her eyes focused onto the man in front of her that leaned on to the walls of the back of her house as he slept. She really didn't know if he was unconscious or not, but judging by the way he hadn't woken up when she dropped the broom when she saw him as soon as she got out of the house, perhaps he really was unconscious.

Her eyes landed onto the sword under his hand, amazed at how beautiful the weapon was. The scabbard was deep red, just like its hilt, while the handguard was golden. Even the band tied onto the scabbard was red, though a shade darker. She can't believe that a weapon used for violence could be this marvelous to look at.

She watched him breathe peacefully, his head down, covering his eyes with his disheveled brown hair. His yukata was loose enough for her to see his body that was covered in scars and bruises. It was truly a warrior's body. He was lean, but his arms had enough muscles to show that he was a true swordsman. Even his left hand showed it, with callouses in the right places, no doubt that it came from holding his sword a million times in his lifetime. Judging by the freshness of some of his wounds, it seems to be that he had been in a fight before he got here in Konoha. She checked his pulse and touched his neck to see if he had a fever, noticing that he was warmer than normal.

Standing up and brushing her kimono down, she removed the sword from his hand gently and went inside her home. Putting the sword that she brought with her on the dining table, she went to her room to prepare a futon for the man sleeping outside her home.

It has been a while since he had slept on a futon.

In fact, why was he in a futon anyway? Didn't he blacked out on the ground?

Realizing the situation he was in, he quickly rose up, only to groan when he felt an immense pain on his abdomen and right shoulder. His hand instinctively went to where the pain was coming from, noticing that it was wrapped in bandages. Not only his torso, but his arms were wrapped up as well, with the smell of a minty herb coming from them. He took a quick look around in the room, noticing his trusty sword placed beside his bed. Nothing was damaged at all, the condition of it still the same as before.

What was happening? When he woke up, he was definitely sure that he was captured. It was a perfect opportunity since he fell unconscious, which he mistook for drowsiness. However, he was sure that no one would be an idiot to treat him and leaving his sword beside him, with no one to guard him whatsoever. No idiot in this world would be stupid enough to leave the sword beside an unguarded swordsman. It was like the person who took him in was asking to be murdered.

He could hear the sound of water running, with the accommodating sound of plates clanking with each other, through his door. Whoever took him in must have been really kind, however, unfortunately for that person, his or her life must end now. He couldn't afford leaving that person alive. The person is going to get killed anyway for treating him, so might as well be him who ends it instead of leaving it to his captors.

Taking a deep breath and standing up, he took his sword and slid the door open as quiet as he could.

She sighed to herself when she got another cut on her finger while she was cutting vegetables. She may be good at cooking, as people told her several times, but her hands were still clumsy enough to cut her finger. Wincing as she dunked her finger into the pale of water, her thoughts wandered to the man she brought in, who was currently sleeping in the spare room she has.

Her face began to flush red when she remembered taking off his clothes to treat his wounds. As much as she didn't like invading his privacy without his permission, she didn't really have any choice. There were stab wounds on his hips and legs and, in order to reach them, as well as to stop the bleeding, she had to remove his yukata. She whispered an apology to the unconscious man countless times as she applied medicine to each of his wounds.

She was just thankful that the man was unconscious throughout the process. She really didn't know what to do if the man suddenly woke up and saw her removing his clothes.

A water dripped onto the water, making her look up at the ceiling, checking if there were leaks. She found none. Besides, it wasn't raining for the roof to leak. She felt something running along her cheeks, only to realize that it was her sweat that dripped onto the water. She found it odd since it was the middle of autumn, so there was no reason for her to sweat in the cold weather.

Her hands were suddenly trembling, and her breathing was starting to become ragged. She could feel her heart beating faster and louder, the hairs on the back of her neck rising, her world darkening each second, but she didn't know why. She was starting to panic, but it wasn't because of the blood that was coming out from her finger. No, this was a different sensation. A feeling that she was unfamiliar with, but knew what it was.

The fear of being killed.

She heard the wooden floor creak, and in one swift motion, she turned around, only to find a blade just barely touching the skin between her eyes, with the man she rescued staring at her intently, his sword being gripped by his right hand. His pure black eyes devoid of any emotion felt like he was staring at her soul more than her physical body itself.

She gritted her teeth, trying not to move a single muscle or else, her eyes would get stabbed. That fear she had was not because she was sensitive to her surroundings, but his killing intent was so intense that she could feel it. There was no doubt that he was serious on killing her then and there, no hesitation or regrets. She quickly looked at her left, eyeing the knife that she was just using to cook a few minutes ago. If she could just get the hold of that and use it as some sort of defense… It may not be a helpful weapon against a swordsman of his caliber, but it was enough of a weapon to faze him.

She noticed that, unfortunately for her, the man may have noticed her intentions as he was looking at the knife as well, but for some strange reason, he never did anything. He did not move to grab the knife and place it far from her reach, nor did he taunted her to use it. He stood there, motionless, still holding his sword near her head, and that made her even more scared of him than before. He was confident that even if she used that knife, she still stood no chance against him.

"You're really an idiot, aren't you?" he suddenly asked, his voice rough and strained. She knew that she should feel offended with his comment, but the fear in her body just overruled every other emotion. He then dropped the sword, the sound of its clank echoing throughout the room, then dropped his right arm to his side after it. "If you treated me, then you should know what was wrong."

She sighed loudly, catching her breath as soon as he dropped his sword, his words replaying again and again inside her mind. Her eyes went to his right hand that looked limp, then finally realized what he was referring to.

"Y-You… You are not right handed…" she said, her soft and exhausted voice making it sound like she was whispering when that wasn't her intention at all. The man looked at her for a second, before crouching down to grab the sword he dropped with his left hand, further confirming her conclusion. Not only did she forgot that he was left handed when she even took a look on it before she brought him in, but his right shoulder was wounded, which would make gripping the sword harder if he was right handed.

"But you… you really did thought of killing me, did you not?" she asked the man who was checking up his sword. She was sure that the killing intent that came from him was not an act. She was definitely sure that he really had intended to kill her then and there before he called her an idiot.

The man sheathed his sword after looking at it a couple of times, content that it had no damage whatsoever. He seemed to have regretted dropping his treasured sword like that. "I changed my mind when I saw you. You looked and felt harmless."

That still did not explain the intensity of his killing intent. She definitely felt it throughout that ordeal. If he had changed his mind the moment that he saw her, that is, when he opened the door to his room, then why did it not disappear at all? Watching the man who crossed his arms by slipping them into his sleeves, she thought to herself that he might have been lying, but decided to just drop the subject altogether. She really did not want to enrage this man, afraid that he would attack her.

Noticing that there was blood seeping through his bandages, no doubt from his actions, she took a step forward and reached out her hand to examine it, only for him to back off when she did. Their eyes met, his eyes still black and frightening, but calmer compared to moments ago. She immediately looked down, an instinctive move on her part whenever she meets the eye of someone.

"I-I'm just… going to check…" she trailed off, her voice shaky due to nervousness. He then looked at his bandaged body and saw that there were blood stains that weren't there before. It was obvious that he didn't even notice, and she was left to wonder how he managed to tolerate the pain.

With a quiet sigh, he went back to his room, bringing his sword along him, and she took that as a cue to follow him, as well as allowing her to fix him up. It felt a lot better when she had permission than when she didn't.

"M-my name," she started, but he never turned around to face her, instead shifting only his eyes to look at her. As long as she has his attention, then she doesn't really mind it. "It's Hinata."

The man gave no response nor acknowledgement to Hinata, much to her disappointment. Here she was, introducing herself as a form of respect, and he ignores her. He could've nodded, or let out a hum, anything that indicated that he heard her, but it seems to be that he never cared.

While Hinata went to the closet to get the necessary materials, her eyes constantly went back and forth to the man who sat onto the futon and proceeded to take off the sleeves of his yukata, exposing his wrapped up torso. She felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she looked down, trying to avoid looking at his body. Even if his body was wrapped up in bandages, filled with wounds, bruises, and scars everywhere, it was still attractive to look at. Just the view of his back showed how strong of a warrior he is, and how much he is confident of his abilities as a swordsman. There's also the fact that there was a man in Hinata's house, and that somehow makes her even more nervous and flustered.

"Kiba."

His sudden voice surprised Hinata, making her drop the box that contained the medicines. His back was faced towards her, but his face was turned to her, making Hinata wonder if he noticed that she was gazing at him for a while now, much to her embarrassment.

She went down on her knees to pick up the ointments and the medicines that poured out of their containers. "What?" she asked, as she grabbed the gauze and rolled it neatly in her hand.

"It's my name," he said. She heard him wince in pain when he started unwrapping the bandage from his body by himself. "It's Kiba."

"How about your surname?" she knelt down near him and helped with removing the bandages, careful to be slow and gentle with her hands.

"You didn't give out yours as well."

"It… is not important."

"Same here."

After mutually agreeing to not tell each other's surname, Hinata then proceeded to start treating him. Sometimes she could feel Kiba's eyes on her, watching as her hands did everything automatically, which makes her hands tremble. She's really not used to someone watching her work, and even if someone was watching her, their eyes didn't feel as intense as his. His gaze felt like he was observing, or studying, how she had treated him, perhaps to use what he had learned in the future.

It was odd, feeling nervous yet comfortable being in the same room as Kiba, when a few minutes ago, he was about to kill her. It might be because he doesn't emanate a dangerous aura anymore, his stance and posture being more lax. She still has her guard on whenever she faces his back to him, but she trusts him enough to not take advantage of that.

Kiba stared at the sleeping figure of Hinata, watching her shoulders go up and down that matched her slow and calm breathing. He only had to wonder how she could sleep in his presence when he could just slash open her skull right now, with no one to know who did it. He could easily chop her head off, or just cut off her tendons, destroying her life for all eternity, maybe cutting her tongue off while at it, leaving everyone to wonder who did it.

She stirred a bit, making him flinch and back off, and sighed when she did not wake up. He then closed the door to her room then went back to "his" own. He tucked the sword into his sash then climbed up the window sill.

As much as Kiba appreciated the kindness that Hinata showed to him, to the point that he revealed his name to her, he had to go. He couldn't afford to stay here for any longer. Not only did he endanger himself by staying here, wasting time, but he has endangered another person's life. He had to go to ensure Hinata's safety, as well as her own. His wounds might not have closed yet, his whole body still feeling tired and painful, the medicines that Hinata had applied would probably make them heal faster.

He had thought of just leaving her a letter, but decided not to do so. Commoners like Hinata would not be able to read it, knowing that they haven't received education.

Looking at the moon above him, admiring its brightness and roundness, he dangled his feet on the window, ready to jump off, when he suddenly heard his door slid open.

"Where are you going?" Hinata asked, her eyes half-open, her mouth in a frown. Kiba stared at her with widened eyes, surprised that she had awoken when he just checked her a while ago, while trying to ignore how loose her kimono was. "You can't go. You're still wounded," she said, her tone was not angry, rather, just stating the obvious.

Kiba looked outside, feeling a sense of longing, then looking at Hinata who was patiently waiting for his response. Judging by her tone, it seems to be that she really did not mind if he went out of the window and walked off. She was just stating what she thought, no force or coercion.

Giving one final look at Hinata, who immediately looked down when their eyes met, Kiba removed his feet from the window and removed the sword from his sash, placing it gently onto the tatami floor. Hinata was obviously surprised at his decision to stay, and he was as well. The woman didn't even tried to convince him, and yet, he chose to stay for the night.

Hinata licked her lips and asked about his wounds, before saying good night to him. He watched her bow at him and close the door to his room, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He looked up at the moon that shone brightly above the town, providing what little light it has to the room, before he went back to his futon and lied down, closing his eyes.

As much as he didn't really like staying here, it would be really rude to leave Hinata without thanking her one bit. He might as well stay for one night, thank her, then just leave after that. After all, it's only once in his lifetime when someone is nice to him.

"Where is it?"

Hinata refused to look at Kiba who was standing behind her and was trying to control his voice and anger as much as he can. She couldn't see him, but she knew that he was going to explode any minute now. "The what?" she asked, continuing to wash the rice, trying to put up a front.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about," Kiba walked towards Hinata and forced her to look at him by turning her, gripping her shoulder tightly. Hinata winced in pain and tried to remove his hand, but her strength proved futile against his grip. "Where's Akamaru?"

"Aka-what?" she really had no idea what he was talking about, or referring to.

"Akamaru!" he exclaimed, and grumbled when he saw Hinata's still clueless face. "Sekigan, if you want to call it otherwise," he explained, but Hinata still got the same expression. "My sword, you idiot!"

Hinta's mind recalled the beautiful and striking red sword of Kiba, and realized that "Akamaru" was the name of his sword. Ignoring being called an idiot for the second time, she stared at his eyes directly, trying to compete with his rage. "I hid it."

"What?!"

"I hid it. I won't give it back until you are fully healed," she said, surprised that she was able to say that straight. After seeing Kiba almost run away when she just took him in and treated him, Hinata was nervous. Kiba wasn't healed yet – at all – and for him to just run away without even thinking about his health has made her worry. Perhaps taking him in made her think that she had some sort of responsibility over him. That she had the responsibility to watch over and take care of him. If he ever died out there, she knew that she would feel guilty about it, and guilt was something Hinata wouldn't be able to handle well.

It only took a split second before the atmosphere around her house had changed, as if something had snapped in Kiba's mind, turning on his killing intent in a blink of an eye. It only took a split second for Kiba's grip on Hinata's shoulders became so hard that made her think he was about to break her shoulder. It only took a split second for Kiba's eyes to change, his eyes becoming more ferocious and insane, replacing the calm and uninterested eyes that he usually had. She started panicking as soon as their eyes met, her breathing becoming ragged like before. She froze on the spot, her hands and her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

"Where is it?" he asked once again, his tone scarily calm and collected.

Hinata swore that she heard her shoulder crack a bit. "I promise I'll give it back! I'll give it back after you get healed! I-I promise!" She cried out in pain, her eyes filled with tears, and was about to scream when Kiba had let go, his violent aura disappearing at the same time.

Her legs gave out on her, and she dropped onto the ground while holding her shoulder. It wasn't broken, but it might as well be considered as broken. Noticing that Kiba was motionless, she looked up, only to find Kiba staring at her room, looking at the cabinet there.

There was no doubt. Kiba actually knew where Hinata had hid his sword.

Hinata was about to ask something when the knock on the door made both of them flinch. They both looked at the door, hearing the knocks a second time, before looking at each other.

"Shikamaru…?" Hinata said as she opened the door bit by bit, trying to ignore the pain she was feeling on her shoulder. She was just glad that it wasn't her right shoulder that he assaulted. "Uh, g-good morning."

"G'morning," Shikamaru Nara said, nodding at Hinata as he blew out some smoke from his pipe, being careful not to blow it at the woman in front of him. Hinata didn't really liked the smell of cigars, finding them really awful, but did not have the courage to tell Shikamaru about that. She knew that it was Shikamaru's way of releasing his stress, especially for his role as the assistant of shogun, even if the cigar was bad for his health. Even his wife couldn't able to make him stop smoking, no matter how much she had hit or shouted him to the point that it could be considered as abuse.

"I-is there something you need?" she asked.

"No. Just wanted to give you something," Shikamaru said, handing her a basket of fruits and vegetables. "It's from Chouji. Fresh pick."

Hinata took the basket from Shikamaru's hand, and gasped when the weight had increased the pain in her shoulders. Noticing Shikamaru's worried look, she laughed it off and checked the content, finding some apples, oranges, peaches, along with some carrots and cabbages.

"You have someone in there?"

"…W-w-what?" Hinata stuttered, her heartbeat stopping for a second.

"Just asking. You have two teacups out so, I was wondering if you have a guest," he simply stated.

Hinata looked at the table and saw that Shikamaru was right. There were two teacups on the table. She was intending to serve tea to herself and Kiba, but was immediately forgotten when Kiba had started asking the whereabouts of his sword.

"I… I was just cleaning…" she weakly said. Shikamaru's nod indicated that he was content with her answer, much to her relief. For someone who was known to be lazy in the village, he sure is perceptive and observant. She didn't even know that Shikamaru was looking behind her, and wondered if he always did that whenever he visits her home – or anyone's home for that matter.

"Anyway, I'll be going now. I've got work to do," Shikamaru said as he started to walk. Everyone knew that Shikamaru, despite his words, never goes directly to work. It was just a code for "I'm going to stare at the clouds for hours before going to work." Hinata always wondered why the daimyo had kept him as an assistant when Shikamaru's always late for work. But then again, the daimyo wasn't really strict with the time since the daimyo himself is late as well always.

"Thank you, Shikamaru!" Hinata called out, with Shikamaru just raising his hand, acknowledging her thanks. She then closed the door and sighed loudly, thankful that Shikamaru didn't get suspicious. Putting the basket on the table, she then went to Kiba's room, finding him just sitting there in silence.

She really didn't know why she had asked Kiba to hide, when it could have been easier to just show him to Shikamaru and explain. But then again, though Kiba is a swordsman, he was a ronin – a wandering swordsman with no master to serve. She already knew the instant she found Kiba behind her house, knowing that no swordsman with a master would be alone and wounded. No master wouldn't allow to leave his subordinate to wander around and fend off for himself. A wandering swordsman like Kiba was shunned in society, and she was afraid that by revealing him to Shikamaru, and Konoha itself, she was afraid what the village would do to him. Kiba also seemed to understand his situation when he agreed to hide.

She then proceeded to cut one of the apples that she just received and placed them on a plate, handing them to Kiba who was looking at her with widened eyes. Hinata's surprised too as much as he is. No sane person would be kind to someone who just hurt them, but here she was. Hinata was starting to think that she was a masochist, but she just couldn't leave him alone despite his violent tendencies. Some people might call her crazy, while other would describe it as pity, but Hinata might consider it as just wanting to keep him company.

"Why does you sword have two names?" she asked, watching Kiba hesitate to grab an apple.

After some contemplating, he finally took one and bit it. "It's how you read the kanji. It's written with the kanji for red and round, like this," he wrote the word 赤丸 in the air. "The kanji can be both read as Sekigan and Akamaru. The former is the official name, but I prefer to call it the latter. It's easier," he explained, taking another bite from the slice of apple, with Hinata noticing that his canines were unusually sharp.

Maybe she didn't just want to keep him company. Maybe she actually liked the fact that she wasn't alone now. That she had someone to talk to in this small, quiet home of hers. Even though Kiba was violent and scary, he was kind and respectful as long as you get on his good side.

"I promise to give it back, Kiba," she said, catching his attention. "As soon as you are healed, I will instantly give it back. I promise."

She heard him click his tongue in annoyance.

"Whatever."

Congratulations. You've reached the end. Here's some mochi.

Uh, please review? ...please?

Anyway, thank you, and see you next chapter~