Yay, chapter 1! Hope you like it! XD

Chapter 1:
Lodged in the Stones; Part 1

Sunlight split through Jupita's eyes as the sun rose for the day. It was so much brighter then the light that reached the Galaxies, causing her to wince before refocusing her vision. She currently sat perched on top of her new house; a sturdy, but run-down, little structure. Her eyes studied the Konoha sunrise; taking in every detail of the foreign sight, letting the fact sink in that this was her life now. She had met with the Hokage the previous day, gaining her home and permission to tag along with teams when needed.

A new pair of clothes had also been issued to her, so she could train without the worry of the cloth being torn. Her new clothes; a sleeveless iron mesh undershirt along with a thin black tank-top and shorts that were somewhat baggy, but managed to stay huddled next to her skin, had the Galaxies's emblem patched on the right side, Jupita's connected 21 sitting just under it. Over that, a deep grey, sleeveless zip-up hoodie was worn. The girl had also managed to claim a pair of black gloves with a swirling image of a white galaxy on them. Jupita kept the gloves on her hand, not wanting to separate herself from the last remnant from home she had, the only other two being the charcoal pencil that sat unused on the small desk in her room and the knife she kept with her.

Sliding back into her home, Jupita pulled her hair up into a high ponytail, tucking annoying fringe back into its place. It was her first day of observation, maybe even a little training. The group she would be traveling with contained four people, captain included. The Hokage had told her, and the captain supposedly, to not tell the three others who she was, or why she was there. Advice had been given that she should follow from a distance, keeping herself hidden as much as possible.

Although Jupita understood why it would be best to not reveal who she was, the force behind the urging was a bit unsettling, even to a girl who lived her whole life in hiding. But, never the less, Jupita took it upon herself to come up with an alternate background for herself. It was a simple task, not much to come up with except a name, for she could say she was a traveler. Hopefully, these ninja wouldn't be able to detect her profuse lying. One ninja, as she had been informed, was an ANBU, so she'd have to watch for him.

All and all though, the day welcomed Jupita with open arms. The air brushed warm against her skin and soft white clouds spotted the blue ocean of a sky. The people of the village chatted happily with each other, enjoying life as they had it. Children chased each other, laughing with huge grins on their faces. In front of one house, a white, and quite large, dog slept peacefully against his owner's side. Another home held a blue haired girl, who was joyfully cleaning the walkway. It was such a cheerful place to be, but it sent a stab of white hot pain through Jupita's chest, pulling the one word that scarred her to the surface.

Happiness…

Jupita's tongue flickered inside her mouth as she closed her eyes, longing for a taste of the feeling she never had. She calmed herself before looking over to where she would meet her new teammates. A man already stood there, quite young, but looked to be very serious. He wore the standard flak jacket that came with being a Jonin along with a pair of black pants. A strange mask-style forehead protector framed his face, his brown hair sticking out around it. The Konoha Leaf sat proudly in the middle of the metal plate, the light reflecting off causing Jupita to glance at her own.

The forehead protector that sat in her palm was quite different from this man's. The ribbon that held the metal plate was a slick black, making the white whirlpool galaxy that represented her home along with the Konoha Leaf that was carved in the corner to stand out. The Hokage had also given her this, telling her it would cause for greater peace in the future. The Galaxies symbol, of course, was larger than the leaf, but still seemed so small to Jupita.

Turning her attention back to the meeting place, her eyes sparked at the sight of another three at the scene. One, a blonde boy with whiskers decorating his face, grinned widely as he chatted with a pink-haired girl that had a small smile on her face. A boy with oil slick hair followed behind them, his eyes watching them, observing their moves. A slight movement of his lips indicated he said something, presumably rude due to the blonde spinning around and yelling at him. The boy just laughed and walked past him.

Jupita quickly tied her forehead protector around her neck, letting her hair fluff out around it in a billowing set of multi-colored strands, and made her way over to her new teammates. As she approached, the older man, who Jupita placed to be Yamato, nodded at her without openly giving away that she was there. The Hokage must have told him to keep it quiet, as he didn't bother to introduce her to the other three.

Up close, Jupita could see that the blonde boy had a pair of cerulean eyes that matched his wide grin perfectly. That would make him Naruto, the one who the Hokage spoke so fondly about. The girl was obviously Sakura, the one that copied the strength of the Fifth. Jupita would have to watch out for her, seeing as something was a bit off about her. The last would have to be Sai, the ANBU she had to beware. Letters from the Sutākage stated the one who ran this boy's operation had locked in a sabotage of Galaxies a while back. A sworn enemy from the start, this child was going to end up troubling Jupita.

She edged closer to the group, her ears just barely able to make out the conversation.

"The mission today is going to be located in the Land of Earth, starting in the Hidden Stone Village and ending back here in Konoha. We will be escorting the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, so this A-Rank mission calls for no mistakes. It will take us about three days to get there… Is everyone ready?"

"Yosh! Let's go!" Sakura's emerald eyes danced as Naruto's voice boomed, his fist rising in the air, showing his excitement.

"Right." With that, Yamato lead the younger Shinobi out of the village.

Jupita trailed behind them, close enough for her to make out what was said by the captain, but far enough away that a small sound from her wouldn't disturb her silence. They talked about many topics; other friends, food, planning to train, new techniques. It was a nice conversation, filled with joyful emotions, causing Jupita to smile slightly as she treaded on behind them.

Her smile quickly vanished as black flashed in her peripheral. Flickering her eyes to the trees around them, she caught trail of a slight fall of leaves. A barely noticeable, but definitely there, footprint ruined the smooth soil of the rest of the forest floor. Someone was tailing them.

Jupita slowed her pace, getting farther and farther behind the others. This caused the ones in the woods to slow too, knowing if they passed her that they would most likely be spotted. She continued to fall back until Team Kakashi was no longer in sight. The girl took in a deep breath and gripping the ivory Aikuchi that she carried, hidden in the small knife holder that wrapped under her hoodie.

The Aikuchi that Jupita used was a treasured thing to her, carved from the ivory of a tusk she found. The handle was made of thick mercury, making Jupita the only one who could hold it. If anyone else tried to use her weapon, their body temperature would cause the handle to melt. The only factor allowing Jupita hold it being the fact that her body heat was 45° below 0, an interesting mutation within in her that anyone else would die from.

She pushed her trust into the blade, knowing it would get her through this potential fight. Taking one more breath, Jupita stopped short. She could hear the ones behind her stop abruptly, a whispering curse escaping one of their mouths.

"…Come out."

"Heh, so one did spot us."

Jupita looked back to see two men now standing on the road. They were ninjas from the Hidden Rain, a village specializing in Genjutsu and assassination skills. This fight would not go Jupita's way if she made even one mistake.

One, a handsome boy that looked to be around Jupita's age, was already trying to get her attention on his smirking brown eyes. The other, this one a young man, was twirling a Kyogetsu-Shoge around by its rope, letting the hook knife swing freely. He was the one that spoke for the pair.

"Don't worry, when you die you can escort the Tsuchikage's granddaughter to hell."

Author's Corner:

So I hoped you all like the first chapter! And I hope you review!
If you guys have any suggestions for the Tsuchikage's granddaughter's name, please feel free to tell!

Again, please review!

(^o^)/
-B+Hg