The light rain had made the mud trail slippery, causing most of the oxen to fall back. Tsunade sighed, watching as some of the men encouraged the other drivers. Beside her was Jiraya, her faithful body guard. Two other rifle men were also standing to her side, ready to defend her with their lives. "The sooner we get this rice home, the sooner we eat! Let's move!" She called out over the rain and wind.
It wasn't the weather that was really bugging her, and soon her true fears were realized when a rifle man scrambled down to her. "Coming this way! Kitsunes!" He screamed through his bandages. All riflemen had white wraps around their entire head besides the eyes; it helped keep the smoke from their guns out of their lungs.
Tsunade let out a growl and flicked her head over to the side, catching sight of the orange, white, and black colored animals. They were huge, big enough for three or for people to ride upon their backs without falling. Twice the size of a horse. On top of one of the two animals, was a human figure, holding onto the creatures back. A mask of clay was over the said person's face, but Tsunade knew who it was. 'He's trying a frontal assault?' The boy was covered in fur, particularly orange with black ear tips at the top of his mask. "Don't let the oxen panic! Stay calm and take up your positions!" She commanded, grabbing up her own custom rifle and nodding for the men to put up the umbrellas, as to keep the powder dry. As the wild beasts neared, she signaled the first round. "Ready…and fire!"
The shots missed by inches and the boy astride the large fox pointed for them to loop around and try again. Tsunade smirked, shaking her head. His efforts were futile and sloppy. She expected more "Second round…fire!"
This time, the shots hit close enough to almost make the rider fall off. Seeing that their 'brother' was nearly hit, the foxes retreated. "That was it? They weren't so big." Jiraya scoffed in victory.
"They are just pups…wait till you see their mother." Tsunade stated, knowing that older and much larger god wouldn't be far behind. As things almost seemed to settle down, Tsunade's eyes caught a red flash. "It's Kyuubi!" She screamed, the beast jumping down into the passage.
Covered by the distress cattle and her men, she couldn't get a clear shot at the nine tailed fox god. This fox was big enough to seat about six people on it's back and was as long as two horses combined. Kyuubi growled, pushing a few cattle away from her with her muzzle, chomping on bone and flesh of men and cow alike. Finally pushing another oxen from her path, she leapt at Lady Tsunade. Smirking, the gun woman fired, and the iron bullet hit Kyuubi in the chest plate. Blood began to splatter all over her orange fur and pain rippled up her spine. However, she still charged, her fangs dripping with a vast amount of saliva. Jiraya barely made it in time. His gun shot out a blaze of fire, stopping the god in her tracks and causing Kyuubi to jump away and off the mountain side. Watching the beast fall, hitting rubble and the side of the cliff as she fell, the man celebrated. "We've finally killed her! Hahahah!"
"You
forget she is a god…it'll take more than that." Tsunade said
calmly, looking over the cliff before starting to walk back up the
passageway. "We move out now."
"What about the men she
pushed over the cliff?" Jiraya asked, his voice quiet for the loss
of life.
"They're dead…lets get the living home."
Meanwhile, Sasuke rode at the bottom of the said cliff, the rain lightening. He sighed, bored, as they moved out of the dense wilderness they had been traveling on and found a river. His eyes onyx eyes widened as suddenly, a few bodies floated down stream. 'What the hell?' The raven thought, though he quickly spotted something else. A man laying against the rocks, probably fortunate enough to be swept up onto the surface. Jumping off his elk, Sasuke rushed over and checked his vital signs. He was still breathing. Picking him up, Sasuke carefully placed him over by Yakul. Getting ready help the said person on Yakul, he stopped as a low growl came from behind him. Shivering in anticipation, the raven turned and pulled up his mask. Scurrying back over to the shelter of a fallen tree, where he had rescued the villager, he peeked out at a enormous fox from behind a fallen tree. The said animal was bleeding from the chest and was the largest of it's kind that he had ever seen. A god perhaps? If that wasn't enough of a shock, two more smaller foxes, yet still large for their size, appeared from the dense trees. A young man, no older than himself it seemed, jumped off the back on one of them. Pulling up the clay mask that covered his face, bright blue eyes looked full with worry as he gazed over the much larger creature. His hair was bright blonde and there were marks, like whiskers, along his cheeks, three on each side. His attire was made of fox fur, which wrapped around him like a cloak or cape. It was held together by a thick necklace of leather and what looked like teeth from the fox god. Perhaps ones that had fallen out after years of use? His pants were a dark shade of green, hugging his waist tightly. The shoes seemed hand woven and a bit big for him. Sasuke almost gulped down his air when the youth approached the larger fox without worry, looking at the hole in the said creature's chest. Instantly, his head dove towards it, sucking out blood. Was something still in the beast? He watched as the blonde quickly worked to try and find whatever was in the god's chest. He wasn't able to find out what it was, for the large god, Kyuubi if he was correct, had become aware of his presence and with a snarl, alerted the boy. Stopping his actions, he turned; eyes flashing crimson for a moment. Blood drenched his hands and covered his mouth and nose as he stood. Sasuke had been found out and it didn't look like they were going to leave until he showed himself. Deciding that this was the best time to ask, since they were gods after all, he stood and revealed himself. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I travel far from lands to the east…are you ancient gods and have I come at last to the forest of the Deer god?"
For a moment, he and the other kistune boy only stared at each other. Who ever he was, he didn't seem amused. His only reply was the further narrowing of eyes from the foxes. They looked at Sasuke as though he were a worm, and to be precise, that's exactly how the said fox boy felt. Turning back to the Kyuubi whom started off, he ran his hand through the fur as it passed him. Who was this boy, to come and demand such an answer? He had to be a foreigner, because he didn't scream when he saw his mother, Kyuubi. Yes, he was a foolish boy, but as long as mother was wounded, he wasn't going to take a chance on attacking the 'human'. That was right. The boy didn't consider himself human, no. He was a kitsune, son to the great Kyuubi. Jumping on one of the smaller fox gods, one of his brothers, he finally answered with a sharp reply. "Leave us alone…"
"Not very friendly…" Sasuke hissed under his breath as the four of them took their leave. His mind snapped it's attention to something else however, when he heard the villager scream. The man that he had saved now looked at Yakul with a sense of fright. "Easy…you don't wanna make your injuries worse." Sasuke said as he approached and kneeled beside the frightened person.
"B-But! This place is forbidden! The lord and master of the forest will find us!" The man yelled, shaking as he tried to move away from Yakul.
His hair was kept back in a ponytail, a brunette. The villager's clothing consisted of a dark blue kimono top and matching shorts. At the mention of 'master', Sasuke's eye brows rose. "Who do you mean? That kitsune I just saw?"
"No! I mean like a huge enormous deer! Only, they say sometimes it has a human face and at night it turns into- ahhh!" He screamed, as Yakul approached him.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, thinking the whole idea was absurd, but he'd help the man anyways. "Where is your village?" Sasuke asked now, standing and petting Yakul.
The elk looked hurt from being screamed at and if this person hadn't been injured, he would have retorted at him for it.
"Iron town is across the river and up the trail…Oh! I'm sorry! I haven't introduced myself…my name is Shikamaru." He added, standing up and eyeing the elk before slowly petting it's forehead. Yakul nuzzled his hand with content, but as this Shikamaru character tried to move his other arm, he winced in pain. "What a drag…Now how am I gonna herd the oxen?" He whined, shaking his head.
Sasuke smirked, finding it unbelievable that the man could be worried about his arm when he could have been killed. Making a sling for Shikamaru out of leaves and vines, Sasuke then nodded for him to get on Yakul. He was hesitant, but Shikamaru felt he could trust this man, whom introduced himself as Sasuke. Actually, he was more worried about how this stranger planned on getting him home than the elk, because he was heading back into the forest. "Sir! I really think we should head back. No human has ever made it through these woods alive…there is a lovely trail back across the river." He informed Sasuke, hoping to make him reconsider.
"The current is too swift for us to get through…we'll be fine." He stated flatly.
Almost all the way back towards this said 'Iron town', Shikamaru decided to complain. First he'd complain about his arm and how he wouldn't be able to drive the oxen, then about the way they were going, and after that Sasuke had stopped bothering to listen. Only ceasing when they came across a pool of water, Sasuke let go of Yakul's reins and took his bowl out of his large pocket in Yakul's side bag. Again, Shikamaru began his little worry wart speech. "Sir, shouldn't we go back? This is a place for gods and demons."
"We'll be fine. Yakul needs to rest a bit anyways." He retorted, narrowing his eyes as if to say 'end of discussion'. As he made his way over to the cool pools, Sasuke's eyes came upon tracks. Paw prints and foot prints, which made him smirk. "…This must be the place where that kitsune boy lives…" He noted, kneeling down and scooping up a bowl of water. About to lift the dish out of the cyrstal liquid, Sasuke's eyes snapped open wider as he looked in the reflection of the water. The image of a deer, with more than twenty antlers caused him to look up. It stared at him with an intent gaze, standing on an patch of mossy land twenty or so paces away. Sasuke couldn't get a better look, because as soon as he caught it's gaze, his arm began to react.
The flesh began to puff out, moving around as though worms were inside, pushing out. Crying out in pain, Sasuke grabbed the spazing limb and shoved it back into the water, the only thing he could think to do. Slowly, it calmed down to a slow pulse and returned to normal. Why it did so wasn't because of the water, but because the spirit had left.
Standing back up, he took a sip of the water and tried to regain his breath. Shikamaru, hesitant to speak, finally said something while peering over Yakul. "Uhh sir, what just happened there? I warned you about this place." He started to scold when he saw Sasuke was fine, but the raven cut him off.
"Did
you see anything just then?"
"Like what?"
"Forget it."
Sasuke growled, starting to get fed up with this villager. He wasn't
good for anything. Handing him a bowl of water, his eyes switched
back over to the pond. "It's gone….whatever it was."
For the next twenty minutes, Sasuke walked with Yakul and his new companion towards the general direction Shikamaru had said the town was. Finally, they reached a clearing and Sasuke's jaw dropped. This wasn't a village! It was an Island out on the middle of the lake, surrounded by large pines and wood pillars. "It's a fortress."
"It's Lady Tsunade's Iron town. We make Iron here from the ore and the sand."
Sasuke
nodded and approached two other men that happened to be on the bank a
little ways down, fishermen from the looks and smell of it.
Immediately Shikmaru called out to them. "Oi! It's me! Shikamaru!
Get us across would you?" He asked his buddies, obviously knowing
them when he got off of Yakul and smiled at them.
"But you
fell-" One of them began before nodding an preparing a boat.
"Fell?" Sasuke asked, eyeing Shikamaru with curiosity as he stepped onto the boat, Yakul swimming behind the said craft when they began to make their way across. "Yea. We were driving the oxen when those kitsunes knocked more than ten of the drivers off the mountain." Shikamaru explained with grim features.
Sasuke bowed his head and looked at the water. He said nothing more as they reached land, stepping out to a great mob. Obviously, rumor had spread quickly that Shikamaru was alive. People lined up at the gate, looking over at him and the new stranger that had appeared in their fort like town. Sasuke merely walked over to Yakul as the elk stood up on land, shaking off. His hands tensed though, when he saw a few riflemen run over. "Listen to me everyone! This man saved my life! You should be grateful to him!" Shikamaru cried out, and it seemed that he was off the hook. The gun men let their weapons rest to the side and bowed to him. Sasuke returned it, happy to be welcomed into the village without a fuss. Or so he had thought, until a gruff voice screamed. "Hold it right there!"
Sasuke peered out from behind his mask, glaring up at the rude man. He was dressed in red robes and had long white hair as well as a crimson headband around his fat skull. Walking down, he placed his hands on his hips and seemed to scan the raven over. "I'm very grateful for what you did, stranger. But something doesn't smell right." He added, pointing at Sasuke, "You got back here almost as fast as we did and through the forbidden forest! On top of that, you did it with an injured man and you want me to believe-"
The outbursts seem common, for a woman's voice hollered over this man's and soon, he could spot a blond haired girl running over to Shikmaru. "Shika! Shika! You alive!!!!" She cried, running over to embrace him, though she stopped short.
She was very...different, Sasuke would admit. She wore a open pink kimono top and shorts, her hair pulled up into two short and spiky ponytails. "That's just great! How are you gonna drive the oxen now, all banged up and mangled! You know what? I wish Kyuubi had eaten you! Then maybe I could have found a real husband!"
The crowd busted out into laughter, though the man that had been lecturing Sasuke didn't seem amused at all. "Temari! Save your sweet nothings for some other time!"
At this, the woman turned on her heel and glared, pointing at the guard. "And as for you, Jiraya! A fine captain of the guard you are! Always striding and throwing your weight around once the dangers over! You never do a lick of work around here!" Temari growled, poking him in the chest.
She then turned to Sasuke and he winced, ready to be yelled at as well. However, the girl suddenly turned sweet on him again. "Thanks stranger…my husband's an idiot but I'm glad he's safe and sound."
"That's a relief…I was starting to think I was doing something wrong by bringing him back home." He admitted, smirking.
Temari laughed and shook her head. At least this guy could take a joke. "Say, why don't you take your mask off? I bet your really handsome." She said, suddenly flirting.
However, that was a turn off for Sasuke. He was luck enough that another person seemed to interrupt the welcoming committee. This woman was dressed in a many layered kimono, a green coat draped over her shoulders and her hair pulled back in low pony tails. Her chestnut eyes gazed over him and it made Sasuke uneasy. "Jiraya…bring the stranger to me later…I'd like to thank him personally…." She commanded, then turned to Shikamaru. "I'm happy your back…and I apologize."
"Uh-oh, Milady! You really should say things like that! If you are too nice to him, he'll walk all over you!" Temari joked openly, causing the girls in the crowd to laugh once more.
Tsunade grinned at the upstart whom was full of spark. She was happy to have such a strong woman in her town. "I hope you'll forgive me too, Temari-chan. I was responsible, I should have never let it happen." She added on a serious note, but Temari didn't seem phased.
"Oh that's alright! Milady, if you hadn't been there," as she said this she glared at Jiraya before smiling back at the gun woman " ..then the wolves would have eaten everyone, and then we'd all have to find ourselves new husbands."
Again, the laughter from the women of the village made Sasuke raise a brow. They seemed to be the dominate species around here. Tsunade called to her guest over the noise, "Get some rest traveler…I will see you this evening."
As Lady Tsunade strolled away, Sasuke's dark eyes narrowed at her back before he slip down his mask, figuring he could trust these people.
Temari glanced over, ready to welcome him to going with her and the men to the 'dinner house' before her eyes lit up. Placing her nose next to his, she gasped. "Whoa! Hey! You're not just handsome! You're gorgeous!"
Sasuke felt a small blush crawl up his cheeks before looking away. Usually, such comments didn't make him heat up, but being nose to nose with a girl was enough to cause him to give off a tint of red. There was something about this town. As he was being led back by the men and Shikamaru, he could feel it in his veins. His answer laid here. It was tied to this village, the Deer god's forest, and the kitsunes. Sasuke thought of the blue eyes that pierced his soul and shivered. Something told him that he hadn't seen the last of that boy.
