To all that are waiting patiently for me to update my other stories, I am deeply sorry...
I got caught up writing something else... again... -_-'
But I promise to update those other stories as soon as possible!
Important Note: Every person in this story has long, pointy ears, much like in the actual Legend of Zelda series.
Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda(which this fic is based on) belongs to Nintendo and Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei.
This is but one of the legends of which people speak...
Long ago, there existed a kingdom where a golden power lay hidden. It was a prosperous land with green forests, tall mountains, and peace. But one day, a man of great evil found the golden power and took it for himself. With its strength at his command, he spread darkness across the kingdom. But then, when all hope had died, and the hour of doom seemed at hand, a young girl clothed in gray and black appeared as if from nowhere. Wielding the blade of evil's bane, she sealed the dark one away and gave the land light. This girl, who traveled through time to save the land, was known as the Heroine of Time. The girl's tale was passed down through generations until it became legend. But then, a day came when a fell wind began to blow across the kingdom. The great evil that all thought had been forever sealed away by the heroine crept forth from the depths of the earth, eager to resume its dark designs.
The people believed that the Heroine of Time would again come to save them. But the heroine did not appear. Faced by an onslaught of evil, the people could do nothing but appeal to the gods. In their last hour, as doom drew high, they left their future in the hands of fate.
What became of that kingdom? None remain to know. The memory of the kingdom vanished, but its legend survived on the wind's breath.
On a certain island, its name being Origin Island, it became customary to garb girls in gray and black when they come of age. Clothed in the gray and black of mountains, they aspired to find heroic blades and cast down evil. The elders wished only for the youths to know courage like the heroine of legend...
But a new legend begins, on the very island mentioned earlier...
"Sai, would you please go find Kyoko-chan and tell her that I'm looking for her?" A man with spiky, brunette hair and black eyes asked from the loft of the simple house.
"Hai, Yamato-san..." The young man known as Sai said, his black hair, ink-black eyes, and extremely pale skin made him a rarity on the island they lived on, when most everyone had sun-kissed skin, before the brunette, now known as Yamato, heard Sai leave to go find Kyoko.
Yamato sighed lightly, feeling as if time was moving too quickly for him, thinking back to when he took Kyoko and Sai in as his own to now, when Kyoko comes of age. For some reason, he felt something big was going to happen today.
From the house he shared with his guardian and elder half-sister, Kyoko, he went east along the dirt path, looking through his telescope with two small ink-brush pictures on each side of it. When he was unsuccessful looking on the western half of the island, he decided to look on the eastern half, quickly walking cross the stone and wood bridge. Still following the dirt road, he now knew where she was as he walked down the pier towards the watchtower. As soon as he got to the top of the ridiculously tall ladder, he saw Kyoko sleeping on her stomach, with a small, a little over five inches tall, blonde fairy with sun-kissed skin and whisker-marks on his cheeks sleeping right next to her, using her long, orange hair as a blanket. The orange-haired girl's amethyst eyes opened to a half-lidded state, before pushing her upper-body up with her arms and turned to look towards the ladder... seeing no one there. She stood up, yawned loudly, and stretched, small 'pops' and 'cricks' came from her back as the blonde fairy, who was still clinging to her hair, was starting to regain consciousness.
After a small sigh left her lips with a dazed look on her face, before her face fazed to sleepy to surprised as she heard a familiar voice say, "I figured you'd be up here..."
"HOLY SHI-! Sai! You nearly gave me a fuckin' heart attack!" Kyoko yelled as Sai plastered on his fake smile, abruptly waking the blonde fairy from his rest.
"Who? What? Wher-? Oh, hey Sai..." The blonde fairy's deep-blue eyes were wide and scanning, before they landed on Sai, who was wearing a dark-blue shirt and black, fleecy pants, smiling his fake smile.
With the fake smile still on his face, Sai said, "Hey Kyoko-san, Dickless-Naruto-kun..."
Naruto shouted an offended 'hey!' before Sai continued with, "This is my favorite spot on this island to look out at the sea and draw in peace. I sometimes call it 'Sai's Lookout'. Anyway, you do remember what today is, right?"
Kyoko's face turned to a questioning one, taking a quick look to Naruto, who was now floating mid-air. He merely shrugged, not knowing either, before she guessed, "Um... is Yamato-san making ramen for dinner?"
Sai anime-fell, before holding up his upper-body and asked in an exasperated manner, "You're still half-asleep, aren't you...?"
"Yup!" Kyoko said in a purposefully-happy tone, one of the very few ways to get under Sai's skin whenever he woke her up before she wanted to.
Keeping his head and voice level, he said as calmly as possible, "Today's your birthday, Kyoko-san."
Kyoko was pleasantly surprised as she then remembered that it was indeed her birthday, but it was no ordinary birthday either, it was the birthday she turned eighteen; the day she comes of age.
Sai interrupted her thoughts as he said, "That's why Yamato-san has been waiting for you to come back to the house. He's been waiting for a while now..."
"He's been waiting? Shit! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Kyoko bellowed out, but before Sai could respond, Kyoko jumped over the guardrail of the watchtower with reckless abandon, doing a perfect dive, barely making a splash.
She resurfaced with a smile on her face, Naruto flying over to her from the watchtower, before she swam to the beach the western island had, more so than the eastern half, which was more mountainous. When she got to the shore, Naruto used a simple spell that dried off her long, knee-length orange hair and her simple, dark-blue sundress, the end of said dress barely brushing her knees, which showed off her curved, but athletic figure. After she was completely dry, she rushed home, quickly opened the door, went in quickly, and closed the door.
"I'm... *pant* Home! *wheeze*" Kyoko said loudly, catching her breath as she leaned against the door as she thought, 'I've been behind in my training...'
She then thought, 'Speaking of training, maybe I can ask Hidan-san, one of the two sword-masters on this island to teach me the ways of the sword. I would ask Kakuzu-san, who lives in the same house, but in the room above Hidan-san, but his prices are too high for one lesson...'
"Welcome home, Kyoko-chan! I'm up here! In the loft!" Yamato said loudly, just when Kyoko finished catching her breath, she walked over to the ladder that would lead to the loft and climbed up it, to see Yamato smiling and holding something behind his back.
"You know Kurenai, Udon and Konohamaru's adoptive mother and Asuma-san's wife, and Hana-san, the boy's live-in babysitter and Kakuzu-san's medic?" Yamato inquired, Kyoko nodding slowly. Kurenai, along with Asuma, adopted Udon and Konohamaru, and she's now pregnant with Asuma's child. Hana came from a merchant island to the north, and has stayed here on Origin Island ever since. She's very good at handling kids and uncooperative adults, saying something about having a younger brother and a mother with an attitude problem.
"Well, Kurenai, Hana-san, and I, since I'm not to good at making clothes, made you this..." Yamato said as he showed what he was hiding behind his back; it was clothes fashioned to look like the heroine of legend's clothes. Black gloves that would reach her wrists, black tight stretch fabric shirt with medium-length sleeves, grey short-sleeved midriff top, long, grey skirt with slits on both sides, black belt with a silver buckle, light grey leggings, black "heroine's" cap, and tall, black traveling boots.
"They're very nice, but they're kinda..." Kyoko said, trailing off near the end. She liked the clothes more than she thought she would, but the clothes looked like they would keep in a lot of heat and it's been very warm the past few days.
"I know you might be warm in them, but hey, you're the same age as the heroine in all the legends and you only have to wear it for a day!" Yamato said, smiling the best he could for he knew she meant no offense with her words.
"That's true..." Kyoko muttered, not thinking that far ahead, her mind still catching up with her body from rushing over here.
Yamato smiled lightly before continuing with, "In the days of your grandparents, it would would be the day that girls were considered women and were trained for battle. But our lives have been peaceful, with only Hidan-san and Kakuzu-san knowledgeable in the art of sword fighting on the island. Hanging the family shield on the wall is also an ancient custom."
Kyoko nodded in understanding before asking, "Um... Can you turn around and close your eyes? I would like to change without you looking... even though I have a tank-top and shorts under this and you've helped change my clothes when I was too young to do it myself..."
Yamato nodded lightly before shutting his eyes and turning around, hearing only the light shuffling of clothing, and after a minute or so, Kyoko then said, "Okay you can look now..."
Yamato turned around and opened his eyes to see Kyoko in the "Heroine's clothes" he helped make; the black gloves elegantly accented her hands, the sleeves on the black, stretch-matrial shirt made it to her elbows, the V-neck grey midriff top accented her body nicely, the skirt and belt gave a cute flare to her hips, the length of the skirt ended right before mid-calf, the light grey leggings clung to her legs beautifully to her legs, but still allowed her to move freely, the black cap made her bangs frame her face, the cap hanging loosely in the back, the rest of of her hair partially kept out of her face as it trailed down her back and to her knees, and the black traveling boots ended just below her knees. Yamato smiled, a feeling of pride spread through him, before he remembered that he had to prepare Kyoko's birthday party later today.
"You look great Kyoko-chan, but I have to clean the house and prepare it for your birthday party later. I'll make your favorite ramen tonight." Yamato said, Kyoko nodding with a small smile on her face, before jumping down from the loft, and as she was leaving she said, "See you later, Yamato-oji-san!"
Yamato was surprised, for Kyoko barely ever called him 'oji-san', because her parents death weighed deeply on her soul.
'I guess she can fully accept me as 'family' now...' Yamato thought with a grin before he started to clean up the house.
'I have a few hours to kill time...' Kyoko thought to herself, before she spotted Inuzuka Hana, one of the people who helped make her outfit, and walked over to her, Naruto following after her, because he was waiting outside the house ad was getting bored. He complimented her outfit, which surprised Kyoko because he barely complimented anything, unless it was food, but she shrugged it off as she approached the Inuzuka female.
"Hey Hana-san! Thank you for helping Yamato-oji-san with making this outfit!" Kyoko said as Hana's attention was directed to Kyoko.
Hana was carrying a jar of medicine on her head from Kurenai's house, that was up the dirt path from Kyoko's house, to Kakuzu and Hidan's house, which was down the path, going in the eastwardly direction.
"Hey Kyoko-chan! I believe you've known me long enough to call me 'Hana-chan'." She said as she put the jar down and smiled at the younger female.
"Sorry Hana-chan, bad habit of mine... Is that medicine for Kakuzu-san?" Kyoko stated, looking at the ceramic pot with curiosity.
There are a few bad habits, she had many, that Kyoko fully is aware of: being recklessly courageous, sometimes being lazy, being too polite when speaking, and when not being polite, being honest to the point of being painfully blunt...
"Yes this medicine for Kakuzu-san, but it's kind of heavy... Can you please take it to Kakuzu-san for me? Just for today?" Hana inquired, asking in a somewhat-pleading voice.
...she sometimes had a hard time saying 'no',...
"Even though I don't have much, I'll pay you a red rupee." Hana continued, sealing the deal in her mind.
...and she was too greedy for her own damn good.
"Okay!" Kyoko said, lifting the jar into one arm, with little effort, as Hana gave her the red rupee, equivalent to twenty rupees, filling her empty purse with the much needed money.
"Thank you, Kyoko-chan! You look nice in those clothes, and happy birthday!" Hana said as she went back to Kurenai's house, to clean the inside, no doubt.
Kyoko neared Hidan and Kakuzu's house, before climbing the short ladder, made more difficult with carrying the medicine jar, before she reached the top and knocked on the door and said, "Kakuzu-san... I brought you your medicine!"
She was used to doing this for Hana every once-in-a-while, usually when the Inuzuka girl had a lot to do and she was nearly falling over from exhaustion, not that Kyoko minded. Hell, she twenty rupees each time, which half she would save, so it worked out.
"Naruto, stay outside. You know Kakuzu-san doesn't like you in his room!" Kyoko whispered to the fairy, making sure he doesn't get harmed by the elder male.
Kyoko heard a gruff 'come in' from behind the door, before opening the door, seeing the usual books and notes everywhere. Kakuzu and Hidan used to travel and bounty hunt a lot when they were younger, but since they, mainly Kakuzu, weren't getting any younger, they decided to settle down on Origin Island, the simple fishing island that Kyoko, her family, and a few others lived. When they did travel, Kakuzu was the brains and banker, while Hidan, who lived in the house, but usually stayed in the ground floor, which was used mostly for training and eating(there's a table, with blade marks in it, in there), was the agility and 'let's-get-this-shit-over-with' of the two. Both were strong separate, but together, they were never defeated, but Kakuzu's health issues caused them to retire from a long, prosperous career in bounty hunting and traveling, rich and comfortable.
She didn't see him, but heard breathing from the loft, where she vaguely knew that Kakuzu and Hidan's bed was up there. She placed the jar with the medicine down, quickly reading and memorizing the notes for traveling on the wall, before saying, "Kakuzu-san... I put your medicine right here. That, and it's almost lunchtime."
She was silent, before turning around and heading for the door, but stopped when she heard a gruff, "Happy Birthday Kyoko, now scram, before I make you clean something..."
Kyoko grinned lightly and said, "Okay...", before she left knowing that, other than his notes and books, he always kept his room clean.
As Kyoko was finished climbing down the ladder, she wondered if Hidan would finally teach her the art of the sword now that she came of age. She grinned, Naruto following because he was bored again, as she walked up to the front door, opened it, without knocking, and walked right in. And since Hidan's motto is, 'If you don't wanna fuckin' die, then come on in!', everyone else on the island stays away or asked for something via Kakuzu, but since she was the only one brave enough to walk in, let alone actually be allowed in, people usually asked her to speak to Hidan if they needed something from him. That, and since she's just waltzes right in, Hidan already knew who it was, so he just lets her come and go if she pleased.
Hidan, however, was purposely ramming himself against the wall, trying to get something that got stuck on a shelf he couldn't reach. He looked over his left shoulder, his left ear had nick in it from a past battle, and saw Kyoko in her 'coming-of-age' clothing, before facing her completely. As per usual, he didn't have a shirt or shoes on, saying it gets in the way of fighting, black fleece pants that ended mid-shin, and a bright-red sash, tied just above the waistline of his pants, his pale, muscled body had a light sheen of sweat, his silver slicked-back shone in the dim light of the room, as did his red-magenta eyes.
He smirked before saying, "Shit, it's your fuckin' birthday already? Damn... the years fly by like fuckin' seagulls. Anyway, can you give me a hand? My necklace of Jashin-sama somehow ended up on a shelf that I can't fuckin' reach..."
Kyoko nodded, before getting a slight running start and rammed herself, with Hidan following suit, against the wall, causing the shelves to fall and the necklace to fall near Hidan's bare feet. He picked up the necklace of his religion and put it back around his neck, before an angry, gruff yelling of, "Whoever caused the shelves to fall will pay dearly for this!", made Hidan and Kyoko look at each other quickly.
Kyoko smiled and quickly said, "Sayonara Hidan-san!", as she ran out the door and closed it as quickly as possible.
She, with Naruto flying close behind her, rushed to Kurenai's house, successful avoiding Kakuzu, who was already in the room, probably beating the crap out of Hidan, when they got to the animal pen, that Asuma built a few days ago, that was adjacent to Kurenai's house. Kurenai was standing in the middle of the pen, a dreamy look in her eyes with a hand on her big baby-bump. She was eight-and-a-half months pregnant, so the baby was due in about two weeks and it showed, the motherly glow was around and the smile on her face was obvious, before she looked over and noticed the birthday girl was sitting on the edge of the animal pen.
"Happy Birthday Kyoko-chan! I see that the clothes that we helped Yamato-san with look great on you." Kurenai said, brushing her long, wavy black hair out of her crimson-colored eyes.
"They fit like a glove! But to me, it looks like this animal pen could use some animals..." Kyoko said, bringing up the empty pen.
The elder female sighed before she said, "I've seen some wild piglets on the island and the boys seemed to like playing with them..."
"Okay." Kyoko decided, confusing Kurenai a bit.
"I'll go collect some piglets!" Kyoko said, walking briskly to the closet piglet.
She slowed down, remembering a tip Asuma gave to her a few days ago: 'Crouch down and crawl towards them slowly, if you don't it'll spook them.' Doing just that, she slowly crawled towards the piglet, before she quickly grabbed it and briskly walked to Kurenai's house, put the piglet in the pig pen, and smiled victoriously. Kurenai had a look of shock and awe, before she snapped out of it.
"Thank you Kyoko-chan! I feel like I should give you something in exchange for your hard work..." Kurenai said, digging through her pocket for her purse, before she pulled it out and opened it.
"You don't have to-" Kyoko started, but was interrupted when Kurenai said, "Here's a red rupee for you, Kyoko-chan!"
Kyoko hesitantly accepted the money, feeling bad that the Kurenai should save some extra money, which she may or may not have, for the unborn child.
Kurenai saw the look on Kyoko's face and smiled before she said reassuringly, "Don't worry Kyoko-chan, we have plenty of money set aside for our soon-to-be new member of the family..."
Kyoko let out a sigh of relief, before Kurenai continued with, "And I'm willing to pay a red rupee per piglet you bring me..."
Kyoko's eyes widened, red rupees suddenly replaced the irises, before running of.
:: A couple minutes and two piglets later... ::
"Thank you Kyoko-chan! Here's the rupees!" Kurenai said with a smile, giving her two red rupees for the two piglets she caught.
"Your very welcome, Kurenai-san... By the way, Asuma helped me catch the last piglet..." Kyoko said, muttering under her breath something about a 'super fast piglet'.
Kurenai smiled before saying, "Well then, that piglet is extra special! Bye Kyoko-chan!"
"What'cha gonna do with the eighty rupees you have?" Naruto asked, floating next to Kyoko's head.
Kyoko thought a bit before a cat-like grin spread across her face as she said, "Quickly! To the Shop Ship!"
She quickly went over to the small red ship that was near the dock and entered, a male a two years older than her, wearing a black jump-suit and purple 'war-paint' as he called it, looked and held a grin.
He then said, "Yookoso(Welcome) Kyoko-chan! What may I do for you today?"
Kyoko smiled and said, "The candy and pocky... Anything new, Kankuro-san?"
"I'm glad you asked..." Kankuro said, before digging through some of the stuff he had just got in, and continued with, "I have this bait bag, perfect for hold bait, such as... All-Purpose bait, which comes in three servings. If you feed it to pigs, they dig up minor treasures, it attracts fish so you can catch them more easily, and it attracts hungry seagulls so you can control them."
Kyoko tilted her head in question, before Kankuro continued with, "It's a new fruit that's called the Hoii Pear, and only edible to birds. But after they eat it, you can control it..."
"Sounds cool. I'd like to buy the usual, the bait bag, two All-Purpose bait, and two Hoii pears please." Kyoko said, opening her purse and counted the exact number of rupees as Kankuro said, "Your total is seventy rupees."
"Crap, I only have four, red rupees..." Kyoko said, before Kankuro smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have change."
Kyoko handed over the four, red rupees, and Kankuro gave her, her usual, which was candy and pocky, the bait bag, the all-purpose bait, the Hoii pears, and her change, which was a yellow rupee, which was equivalent to ten rupees.
"Have a nice day, Kyoko-chan! And have a happy birthday!"
"Have a day as well, Kankuro-san!" Kyoko said as she left the shop ship.
"Do you think the pear actually controls seagulls?" Naruto asked, half-believing it, half-not.
"Let's find out!" Kyoko said, placing the Hoii pear on her head, and suddenly, a seagull swooped down and ate it.
Kyoko was now in control of a seagull, which she used to collect rupees around the island, gaining twenty-five rupees, before she returned to her body.
"How was it?" Naruto asked, before Kyoko smiled widely as she attached the bait bag to her belt.
"Awesome..."
"Wanna go bug Sai, now?" Naruto asked, floating near Kyoko as she crossed the stone and wood bridge that connected the western and eastern-half of the island.
"Sure, but before that... hey Shikamaru!" Kyoko said loudly as she walked quickly towards the only person living on the eastern-half of the island.
From his porch, where he was cloud-gazing, a male with dark hair in a spiky ponytail and dark eyes, Shikamaru focused his attention to the young woman walking through the over-grown grass, which he never bothers to cut, because it grows back just as tall the next day, saying the work was too troublesome.
"Hey Kyoko... Happy birthday..." Shikamaru said before yawning.
"Aren't you ever gonna cut this grass?" Kyoko jokingly asked, knowing Shikamaru was too lazy to cut his out-of-control grass.
"Whatever, too troublesome. People sometimes lose money in that grass, so if you want, you can cut it and keep the money." Shikamaru said lazily, Kyoko rolling her eyes with a grin on her face.
"Yeah, yeah... See you later Shikamaru." Kyoko said as she walked towards the pier that lead to the watchtower.
After climbing up the ridiculously tall ladder, Kyoko spotted Sai looking in the direction of their house, a calm look on his face as he continued to stare into space in the direction of their house. She was quiet, taking in the fact that Sai could express his true emotions, just not in the presence of others. Sai turned his head and saw his half-sister, and he did something she rarely saw him do... smile a true smile.
"Hey Kyoko-san. Did Yamato make that outfit for you?" Sai inquired, looking at the outfit.
"He had some help with it, but, yeah, he did make them..." Kyoko said, small smile on her face as she scratched the back of her head, a nervous habit of hers.
"But aren't those clothes unseasonably warm..." Sai said, stating the obvious.
"Yeah, they are, but I only have to wear them for one day, but since Yamato worked hard to make these, I'll wear the boots, cap, gloves, and leggings in the colder weather..." Kyoko said, always reusing what she can.
"Anyway... Kyoko... could you... close your eyes and hold out your hands? Just for a second..." Sai inquired, making Kyoko very curious as nodded, closed her eyes, and held out her hands. She felt something cool and metallic being placed into her hands, just as Sai whispered quietly, but Kyoko heard it, "I'm gonna give you one of my most valued items... but just for a day or two... Okay, now you can look..."
Kyoko opened her eyes to see Sai's telescope, that, other than his ink and brushes, was his of most precious items. Kyoko was shocked beyond words, happiness welling up in her heart.
Sai had a small, honest smile with a barely noticeable blush as he said, "Happy Birthday... Kyoko-nee-chan..."
Kyoko gave Sai a hug and she quickly pulled away with a big smile on her face as she said, "Thank you Sai!"
Sai, still with a light blush on his face, showed her the basic controls of how to zoom in or zoom out the view of the telescope. After getting used to the controls, Sai suggested that she should try to look at their house. Kyoko looked through the eye-piece of the telescope and was able to see the house perfectly.
"Hey, who's that person next to the island's post-pox?" Sai asked, trying to see the unknown person.
Kyoko was curious, so she zoomed the telescope in and had focused in on the red post-box, having the person of interest in view. The person next to the post box was male, approximately in his mid-thiries, had pale skin, extremely pale lavender eyes, long brunette hair, earthly colored short-sleeved kimono, baggy, yakata-styled pants that ended just above the ankle, a light beige bag that the male pulled letters from, and short, leather traveling boots, and his arms were like that of a bird, before they morphed into regular, human-looking arms, the only exception was that his arms had long, white feathers that looked like the sleeves of the kimono from a distance.
"That person is part of the Hyuuga clan, the clan responsible for getting our mail to us. They all have similar features such as eye color, skin pigment, and the ever noticeable wings, which they gain from their proximity to the sky spirit, Soraiki... I read about it awhile ago..." Kyoko said, explaining it to Sai before she zoomed in to get better look.
When she had it on full zoom, the Hyuuga postman looked around, as if he heard a noise, before looking up, fear and worry evident on his face. He became agitated, almost panicked looking, feathers going in multiple directions, which caused Hana to walk over to see what was the matter, before the Hyuuga male pointed to the sky, which caused worry and panic to spread across her face as well. She also noticed that everyone on the island was looking at the sky, even Sai was looking at the sky, the sight making him go silent out of fear. Kyoko, being too curious for her own good, she zoomed out the telescope and looked to the sky, only for the sight to cause her eyes to widen and to nearly drop the telescope from her hands.
A huge, monsterous bird with blonde head feathers, extremely dark brown body feathers with red and white down feathers, and blonde/beige-mix colored tail-feathers, was flying not too far from the island, and was getting closer by the second. When Kyoko zoomed in on it's talons, she saw that it was carrying someone who was out-cold, before zooming out again to see the bird was being fired at by cannon balls. She used her telescope to follow the trajectory, only to see that a pirate ship was launching cannon balls at the bird! The pirates missed a few times, the speed of the bird made the cannon balls miss, before it slowed slightly and looked back, only to see a cannon ball flying at it at high speed towards it's head. It was then hit right on it's lower beak, and it was hit hard, because it let go of the person it was carrying before it corrected itself. But the person, to which Kyoko can now say that the person is male, fell until he landed the forest area on the upper part of the western half of the island.
"This is bad... That guy fell into the forest... He needs help!" Kyoko said as she hooked her telescope, for awhile anyway, to her belt before rushing to the ladder. She lightly gripped the stringers, the vertical parts of the ladder, and pressed the inner part her feet on the outer part of the stringers, quickly sliding down the ladder. When her heels landed against the pier, she turned one-hundred and eighty degrees and ran to her house for the supplies she needed, Naruto clutching the end of her cap for dear life.
Entering the surprisingly empty house, Naruto decided it was safer to stay inside Kyoko's cap, but still watched everything from the rim of the cap as Kyoko pulled out a few things from under her bed; what looked to be a katana, but was really two kodachi sharing a sheath, which she practiced using in secret,a dagger, just in case, camping supplies, a compass, cooking supplies, matches, and a magic, dark-grey travel pouch connected to a black belt with a silver belt buckle. Naruto gave her the pouch for her birthday last year, he said he used some power magic to make it, that it could care a large amount of items without it getting heavier or bigger, and now she felt she could use it.
She muttered the simple spell Naruto showed her and all the stuff except the kodachi and the dagger, were magically warped into the bag to use at another time. She slipped the kodachi sheath securely in the belt-loop of her skirt, keeping it in place with a black string, securing the dagger's sheath onto the right side of the belt that was more or less an accessory, that was partially sewn into her skirt, with the metallic snap it had, and then slipped on the pouch's belt so that it hang loosely, but securely over her right hip.
She moved swiftly, before two voices called out, "Kyoko!"
She looked back to see Hidan and Kakuzu, a man with string-like back hair, deeply sun-kissed skin, deep-green eyes with the whites of his eyes red, and black stitching across his body, including his face, standing side-by-side outside of their house, Kakuzu holding a katana in a black sheath. Kyoko looked at the blade then to Kakuzu and Hidan, Hidan staying quiet for once.
"We both knew that you practiced the art of the sword, both the style of the katana and the kodachi, in secret, but since you taught yourself better than either Hidan or I could, we're giving you this blade as your birthday gift..." Kakuzu said, tossing her the sheathed katana to Kyoko, who caught it with little effort.
She unsheathed it partially, before gasping lightly. It was a very beautiful and very sharp blade, the hilt was weaved with silver and white, and the pommel had a ruby on it, like it was custom-made... She then read the kanji that was inscribed on the blade, 'Courageous until the end'.
She looked at Kakuzu and Hidan, giving them a questioning look before Kakuzu said, "I had the blade custom-made and Hidan had the special hilt-weavings, inscription, and ruby on the pommel for extra out of his own pocket."
Kyoko smiled, put the katana back into it's sheath, secured the sheath to a strap so that it hang diagonally across her back, and hugged Hidan and Kakuzu before she pulled away.
"Thank you Kakuzu and Hidan! I'll treasure it always!" She said, bowing respectfully to them, smiled lightly, turned, and ran to the eastern-half of the island, where the simple suspension bridge to the forest is located.
As she went up hill on the eastern part of the island, to get to the bridge, she noticed that the path was blocked by saplings and a sign that the path to the forest was closed. Kyoko was one not to have patience and it was an emergency, so she drew her new katana, which she just decided to name Tengokuryoku, and with one swing the saplings were cut and she continued to quickly ascend the steep hill until she made it to the bridge. She ran across the old suspension bridge, jumping across the middle where there was a missing plank, before she continued to ran, making it to the other side quickly, making excellent time.
She entered the forest, immediately spotting the male that the bird had dropped, dangling from a branch that was barely holding him up. Kyoko moved quickly, briskly walking up the small incline to get to the next part of forest. She jumped down into the next portion of the forest, immediately noticing a fairly weak-looking monster; it had blue skin, a warthog-like face but the ears were pointier, had claw-like hands, and wore rags. She quietly drew her katana, before jumping the off-guard enemy, slashed it four times, this purple and black blood-like substance staining her blade, before the monster's body 'poofed' from existence, the blood-like substance evaporating from her sword. She then remembered that she hid a red rupee in the hollowed log right next to her, which she promptly crawled through and the rupee immediately to her purse, which she has stored in the traveling bag, which was a power that the bag had that was very convenient for her.
From partially under the rim of Kyoko's cap, couldn't help but sweat-drop and think, 'Even in a serious situation, she still thinks of money?'
Kyoko climbed up onto the nearby stump and leaped across to the elevated area in front of it, to get closer and try to help the unconscious male that was stuck on a tree branch. She looked over to look at a giant boulder and a sign that said, 'Fairy Fountain Site: This site marks the remains of an ancient fairy fountain that is said the heroine of legend used to ease her weariness. It's also said that if you meet the Great Fairy who lived here was blessed with great fortune, so came to be known as the Fountain of the Fortune Fairy.'
"The fairy here a friend of yours?" Kyoko asked, half-jokingly, half-seriously, Naruto as he crawled out from under her hat and floated to read the sign himself.
When he finished reading the sign, he chuckled before saying, "Oh, she's a friend alright! I've known her since I was in diapers! She also hate the name 'Fairy of Fortune' because it's only half true. She can give fortune and wealth to others, but she herself has horrible luck with money..."
"That's unfortunate..." Kyoko commented, feeling sorry for her, before Naruto continued with, "But she has great power! She could easily make the two-hundred rupee limit on your purse one-thousand rupee limit easily!"
"Wow..." was all Kyoko could say, before Naruto said, "Yup, it's a pretty impressive power..."
Kyoko then remembered what they were for, before she walked over, climbed, and walked up an inclined log to reach the last part of the forest and try to get that guy down from the branch. Just in case, she drew Tengokuryoku from it's sheath, before whispering, "Naruto, do you know any spells that weakens or temporarily stuns monsters?"
Naruto nodded, knowing that the situation changed from some-what lighthearted to very serious. Kyoko hopped down from the log Naruto following as close behind as his wings would allow, being on-guard as they slowly moved toward the unconscious male, when suddenly, two of these weird bird-like creatures carried two monsters similar to the one she fought earlier, before they dropped them down, beginning the fight.
Kyoko slashed one of them four times, causing the monster to disappear in an explosion of purple and black smoke, while Naruto used a simple illusion spell to distract the other one. Kyoko swiftly switched out the katana for the kodachi blades, and quickly disposed of the monster, its' existence gone as quickly as it came. Kyoko smiled and gave a thumbs up to Naruto, who returned the gesture by smiling and giving a thumbs up as well, before hearing a slightly pained groan come from the tree branch.
The male had black hair with navy-blue tints that sticked up in the back and had long bangs that framed his face, and pale skin, but not as pale as Sai's, but still rather pale, wearing a dark-grey sleeveless shirt, black sleeveless vest, which was caught on the branch, white shorts, black sandals, a red sash around the waistline of his pants, and a red bandanna lightly wrapped around his neck.
"Great... the bastard woke up after we did all the work..." Naruto mumbled, Kyoko silently agreeing with him as she sheathed her kodachi back into their sheath, before she whispered, "True, but at least he's safe..."
Suddenly, they heard a loud 'thud', they looked over to see the male had struggled, the branch broke, causing him to fall on his ass.
"Ouch..." The male hissed out as he stood up right as Kyoko climbed onto the earthy ledge the tree that the raven-haired male fell out of, making the male look at her. She said nothing as she figured he was unharmed, but she at least made a friendly smile, at an attempt to be nice, but he looked at her outfit with a weird-ed out expression.
The male then said bluntly, the beginnings of similar fates in an unexpected way, "Wow, what the hell's with that getup?"
Kyoko felt her anger boil, an aura of murderous intent flowed from her body as the male continued to think out-loud with a slightly perplexed facial expression, completely ignoring Kyoko and Naruto, "Hn, whatever. So, where am I...? Oh, that's right! The monstrous bird came and..."
Then out of nowhere they hear a male yelling, "Sasuke! Sasuke-san!"
The three looked at the entrance of the forest to see a tall male with spiky orange hair and equally orange eyes, wearing a dark-grey V-neck t-shirt that looked like it strained against his fit body, a red bandanna tied around his bicep, white pants, a red sash much like the male now known as Sasuke, and black sandals. Kyoko and Sasuke hopped down from the ledge, landing in the first section of the forest, for the forest looped like that, with Naruto following close behind and then was floating next to Kyoko's left shoulder, the three watched the tall orange-haired male quickly walk over to Sasuke.
"Thank god you're safe! When I saw you get dropped on this summit, I thought you were..." The taller male said, worry evident in his voice.
"Summit? That bird dropped me on the top of a forested mountain? That bastard!" Sasuke said, his anger levels rising at the thought.
He walked to to the entrance of the forest, turned slightly to face the orange-haired male as he continued with, "Don't just stand there! Let's go! It's time to repay that bird in full, plus interest!"
The taller male took a quick glance at Kyoko before saying to the raven-haired male, "But Sasuke-san... What about this girl?"
"Don't worry about her! Come on!" Sasuke said as he left the forest, leaving Kyoko and the tall male in the forest, before the male did another quick glance at Kyoko before following after Sasuke. Kyoko, being unnerved by the quiet of the forest and of being alone, Naruto wiggled under her cap yet again, before she followed the two males out of the forest.
With Sasuke and the tall, orange-haired male standing to the side, Kyoko walked forward, as she heard a familiar voice say, "Oi! Kyoko-san!"
She looked and saw it was her half-brother, Sai, waiting on the other side of the suspension bridge, a small smile spreading across her face, but then she remembered the monstrous bird was still out there.
"Sai, you should be at home! That giant bird is still out there!" Kyoko yelled, Naruto crawling out from under the cap he floated over to the tall male and Sasuke, who were watching from the side.
"Che... After all that trouble me and Kyoko went through, we get no thanks or gratitude, just rudeness!" Naruto muttered as he sat cross-legged on Sasuke's shoulder.
"What do you mean, fairy-san?" The tall male asked, Sasuke secretly listening in on the conversation.
"One, the name's Naruto, Uzamaki Naruto. And two, while sleeping beauty was out-cold and dangling from a tree branch that his vest got caught on, me and Kyoko, mainly Kyoko, were kicking monster ass to keep this ungrateful prick safe!" Naruto said, making Sasuke feel little stabs at his ego that he didn't thank them.
"Nice to meet you Naruto-san. My name is Juugo, a member of Sasuke-san's pirate crew." Juugo said with a tiny smile, before he asked, "Is the boy that Kyoko-san is talking to her boyfriend?"
Naruto laughed before he said in a some-what serious tone, "Sai's her half-brother and the only living blood relative she has..."
An awkward silence took over until they heard Kyoko yell, "Sai! Don't cross the bridge!"
But it was too late, as Sai was almost half-way across, when the whoosh of air, a large blur of blonde and brown feathers, and a shrill bird call, Sai was snatched up by the gigantic, monstrous bird.
"Kyoko!" Sai yelled to his elder half-sister, fear and uncertainty welling up inside him as he was being carried away.
Kyoko tried to run, catch the bird, and make it return Sai, but a strong hand on her shoulder stopped her from doing so. She looked and saw Juugo was the one that stopped her.
"Kyoko-san, I know this must be hard, but you can't save Sai-san..." Juugo said softly, trying to be as gentle about it as possible.
Kyoko felt like crying, but she knew Juugo was right; she couldn't save Sai... well, not right now, anyway...
"What the...? You... want us... to let you come on our ship?" Sasuke asked incredulously, Kyoko nodded, confirming her answer to the raven-haired male's question.
They were near the island's dock, where the pirate ship was, miraculously because the water was fairly shallow near the dock, docked for the time being. Sasuke rubbed his temples as his temper was rising, which usually didn't happen to the raven-haired male, who was usually able to keep his cool.
He composed himself before he inquired, "You do know who you're asking, right? If you hadn't noticed, we're pirates... You know, terror of the sea, and all that crap... The only thing we'd get from bringing some annoying girl along with us is a headache. I know you must feel angry that your half-brother was kidnapped and all... But I'm pretty sure that we don't owe you anything..."
Kyoko was ready to tell off the raven-haired male and beat him to a pulp, before a voice interjected with, "And how, may I ask, do you figure that...?"
Kyoko, Sasuke, Juugo, and a female with long, black hair and black eyes, wearing a long-sleeved, horizontally stripped, black and white shirt, grey fleece pants, black sandals, and a black belt with a skull belt-buckle. The male voice belonged to the male Hyuuga mailman that warned the island, standing calmly before them, unlike before, when Kyoko had seen him nervous and worried.
Kyoko turned slightly to face the Hyuuga and bowed lightly before saying, "Thank for alerting the island Hyuuga-san, if you didn't, I wouldn't have been able to take the necessary action as quickly as I did."
The Hyuuga bowed lightly back, a tiny smile on his face, before he said, "No problem Kyoko-san. Pardon me for not introducing myself, my name is Hizashi Hyuuga, of the Hyuuga clan. By the way, I know this may be inappropriate to say right now, but Happy eighteenth Birthday Kyoko-san."
Kyoko was about to say something when Juugo asked, "Pardon my interruption, but what right do you have to interrupt someone else's conversation?"
The Hyuuga turned to face the pirates completely, his eyes turned warm to icy cold in a millisecond, before he said, "I apologize if you're offended, but all I mean to say is that if you big, bad pirates hadn't come to this quiet, little island, that poor boy wouldn't have been snatched away by that bird."
"And what the hell do you mean by that?" Sasuke asked, his temper flaring considerably.
"Please be quiet for a moment, and I'll tell you!" Hizashi snapped, making Sasuke stand down and hear the elder male out.
Hizashi calmed himself, before continuing with, "As my work entails delivering letters, I spend a good portion of my time traveling amongst the many islands. As a result, I hear many things. Have any of you heard that young males have been getting kidnapped recently from all regions of the Great Sea?"
It was silent for a few seconds, before Kyoko and Naruto raised their hands, indicating that they have indeed heard the news of it happening.
Hizashi said to the two, "Both of you are quite well-informed."
They both muttered a quick 'thank you' before Hizashi continued with, "Whether or not you've heard it or not, it seems to be the case. Young males with long, pointed ears like yours have been getting kidnapped, never to be seen again... And unless my eyes fail me, the young male who was just kidnapped from this island also had long, pointed ears, does he not? Much like you do, Mister Fearsome Pirate."
Sasuke unconsciously touched one of his long, pointed ears, vaiguely recalling that Sai did indeed had long, pointed ears... That, and Sai kinda/sorta looked like him...
"My point being is that the giant bird mistook that poor boy for you, and that's why it grabbed him..." Hizashi said, voice calm and straight-to-the-point.
"..." Sasuke said nothing, quietly letting the information sink in, also feeling more guilt than he did before, knowing he possibly caused the kidnapping of someone who shouldn't have been.
"And I do believe that it was Kyoko-san and Naruto-san that saved you from the monsters in the forest, was it not?" Hizashi inquired, a small triumphant smirk on his face as Sasuke got flustered, Kyoko and Naruto had confident, triumphant smiles, Juugo nodded in confirmation, and the un-introduced female pirate was holding back her laughter as best as she could.
But Hizashi didn't stop there as he continued with, "And while I'm at it, I may as well tell you that the bird that kidnapped both you and Kyoko's half-brother has made its foul nest to the north, on the heights of the Forsaken Fortress."
Sasuke's eyes had widened slightly before he said, surprise evident in his voice, "The Forsaken Fortress? Isn't that the place where..."
Hizashi had a face of victory before inquired, "Now, under the circumstances, I believe it's not too unreasonable to give Kyoko-san some assistance, would it?"
Sasuke, knowing he lost the argument, said begrudgingly, "Hn, I don't need you to tell me that!"
He then turned to face Kyoko, before he said, "I may be considering this, but I've only heard evil rumors about the Forsaken Fortress. Also, you can't seriously have no form of armor or a shield to protect yourself. I'll let you stow away on when you some form of protection. Once we leave, it will be awhile before you may get to see anyone, so say your necessary good-byes. I don't want to hear any complaints about you being homesick..."
Kyoko nodded, before she ran off to say her good-byes, and get the shield from Yamato...
She got through some of her good-byes quicker than she expected; Shikamaru gave her a quick hug and asked that when she came back, to play a game of shogi with him. Hidan gave her a light hug, a few battle tips, and some throwing knives, 'just in case', he said with a light blush. Kakuzu also gave her a hug and battle tips, but he gave her a book that he called 'the monster log', which had some basic descriptions of monsters that he and Hidan faced off against before retiring, but some of the pages were still blank, leaving room for any monsters that he and Hidan didn't get.
From Asuma, she got his specially-made trench knives, which became sharper when you focus your energy through it. From Kurenai, she got a hug, some advice, a lot of food, which she placed in her magic pouch, which was able to preserve food for years on end, and some illusion spells so she could fool the enemy, because every second counts in battle. Konohamaru and Udon gave her hugs and wished her luck, to which she ruffled their hair and said to be strong big brothers for their unborn sibling.
Hana hugged her and told her good luck. She told Kankuro she was leaving soon, but he told her that he could use a special type of magic to control puppets that were in similar shop ships all across the sea, and that when he has a complete map that had all the shop ship locations, he would mail it to her immediately.
So here she was, in front of her own home, her nerves causing an uneasiness of unimaginable levels. She slowly opened the door to see Yamato with a slightly down-cast, before he looked over, hearing the door being opened and closed, and saw her standing there, not truly able to met his eyes directly.
Yamato then broke the silence with, "Kyoko-chan, what's troubling you? Where's Sai? Is he drawing in the watchtower?"
Kyoko couldn't answer him, but she did say, making up a quick lie, "I'm gonna check if the shield is safe, since it's been in the family for a long time and there are pirates outside..."
Kyoko climbed the ladder to the loft to quickly get the shield and get out, but when she got up there, she saw that the shield was gone. Kyoko panicked, jumping down from the loft and turned to face Yamato, but the words she was about to say die in her mouth as she saw Yamato's back facing her, looking like he was holding something in his hands.
"Kyoko..." Yamato said, leaving off the honorific, meaning he was dead serious as Kyoko walked towards him.
"Is this what you're looking for?" Yamato asked, turning around to face Kyoko, the shield in his hands, before holding it out to her.
Kyoko looked at the shield, taking some time to take in the features of the object; it had a silver rim, the more reinforced part of the shield was black and had silver vine-like markings on either side of a triangular symbol, three gold-colored upward facing triangles and one black downward facing triangle, which was in the middle of the three gold-colored ones, and below that was the family crest: an intricate blood-red butterfly, which filled the space on the lower-half of the shield. Kyoko looked Yamato in the eye, confusion in her expression, to which Yamato smiled a sad smile back.
He then said, "Take it with you. I think it would be of better use to you, than it sitting on a wall..."
Kyoko, hesitantly and lightly, pulled the shield from his out-stretched hands, held it in her hands for a few seconds, before placing it on a part of the back strap that held her katana, some-what concealing her katana and kodachi. Yamato bowed his head slightly, Kyoko doing the same as she felt something slide down her cheeks.
"So it's true then... Sai-kun really was kidnapped then, wasn't he?" Yamato asked, a silent tear going down his cheek as Kyoko was trying to wipe away the tears that wouldn't stop flowing from her eyes.
"What kind of mother-fucking assholes could take a guy like Sai? He may not be good at somethings, but he's a great artist who has good intentions with everything he does and...!" Kyoko said, her voice cracking slightly, before Yamato hugged her, silently telling her she could freely cry, and that she did. After a few minutes of crying, Kyoko lightly pulled away, her eyes slightly red and puffy from crying, before she smiled lightly.
She then said, "Don't worry, Yamato-oji-san. I'll save Sai-kun, come back, and then we can celebrate my birthday properly! Dattebayo!"
Yamato chuckled, Kyoko had picked up that habit from Naruto's speaking pattern, but the promise in her words made him a bit more at ease. She waved good-bye, Yamato mirroring the action, before exiting her house, probably not going to see it for a long time...
Kyoko took a deep breath, Naruto mumbling from under her cap to not copy his way of speaking, before she walked over to Hizashi, Sasuke, Juugo, and the female pirate. They stayed quiet for a bit, seeing that she was crying, before the female pirate noticed her shield.
The female pirate said, "Wow, that's a pretty old-looking shield... I'm surprised one won't get splinters from that thing."
"Kin-san, that's not a very nice thing to say..." Juugo said, his voice a bit exasperated, but still held a chastising tone to it.
"Hn, whatever. If you're ready, then let's go..." Sasuke said, turning and walking towards his ship, Juugo and Kin following after him.
"Hai..." Kyoko said loud enough for Sasuke to hear, quickly said good-bye to Hizashi, before she followed behind Juugo and Kin.
Once they were all on the ship, the anchor was raised and the sail was released, causing the boat to move forward.
Kyoko, with Sasuke nearby, were standing on the stern, everyone was on the edge of shore yelling her good-byes and words and encouragements.
"Good luck Kyoko-chan!" Kurenai and Asuma yelled, Kurenai having a hand over her baby-bump.
"If you visit Windfall Island by any chance, tell my mom that I'm doing fine on my own!" Hana yelled, a smile on her face.
"Kick some monster-ass! Make this Jashinist proud!" Hidan yelled.
"Safe up as much as you can, you'll need it!" Kakuzu yelled.
"Make sure you're rested! If you come back to this island exhausted, it will be troublesome for me!" Shikamaru yelled, lazily waving her good-bye.
"Good luck saving Sai-onii-kun, Kyoko-onee-chan!" Konohamaru and Udon shouted, waving good-bye like everyone else.
Kyoko smiled at their words, happiness and courage swelling in her as she waved back as well, before she looked over and saw Yamato standing on the porch-like platform, watching her leave the island for who-knows-how-long.
Kyoko then shouted, "Don't worry everyone! I promise to bring Sai back safely!"
As Kyoko watched the island she calls home become smaller as she got further away, a flame of determination blazing within her, before a chuckle broke her out of her thoughts, causing her to look at Sasuke.
"Are you sure you don't want to quit now and head back to your island? There's still time, and you're just going to get more sentimental from here on out..." Sasuke stated, making sure the girl won't chicken out.
"No, I'm going to rescue Sai..." Kyoko said, staying headstrong, not falling for whatever mind game Sasuke was trying to pull over on her.
"Hn, we'll arrive at the Forsaken Fortress in a few hours, so go below deck, as to not get in anybody's way..." Sasuke said, causing her blood to boil, but she silently went below deck, not even bothering to retort the raven-haired male, for her journey had just begun.
End of the first chapter! Woot! I'm so happy!
Now that I have this idea out and flowing, I'll be able to get some of my other works worked on as well! Yay!
Please read and review! ^_^