Chapter 2 – Fortunate Accident

"Ready Akamaru?" Kiba yelled. "Double headed wolf…. TRANSFORM!" In a huge cloud Kiba and Akamaru transformed into a double headed white dog.

Ready Akamaru? Let's aim for that tree. The beast shifted its position as one head spoke to another in growls. FANG WOLF FANG ATTACK! The beast took off at lightning speed, spinning at high rotation. They slammed into the tree; splinters, twigs, branches, huge chunks of tree went flying as they tore it in half. They slammed into another tree, and another. They went through five when the transformation ended suddenly. Akamaru went rolling and Kiba bounded off the sixth tree, clumsily landing on his feet.

[barking]

Kiba sniffed the air in the direction Akamaru was pointing.

"It is blood!" He jumped on Akamaru's back and they raced towards the direction. They passed shattered fragments of the trees they just destroyed. Akamaru abruptly stopped and turned his head in various directions.

"Are we close boy," Kiba's voice dripped with worry.

Akamaru responded by lying down, letting Kiba know to get off and proceed on foot. His nose pointed in the direction and Kiba ran towards the waterfall. What is this? He noticed the smell of blood was quickly fading out. Soon he found his answer. There was a body face down…half in and half out of the waterfall pool, blood tinting the water. Not far from the water's edge was a huge piece of tree, about as thick as a torso.

Kiba panicked as he saw the head of the body was all red. Oh shit! Oh shit! I killed someone! He pulled the body out of the water and rolled it over. I didn't crack the head open… its red hair! Elated that he did not completely annihilate someone, he quickly performed CPR and the girl spit up water.

"Hey…hey…" he said trying to revive the girl. "Are you okay?" She opened her eyes, but they just rolled back into her head and she lost consciousness. "Hey! Stay with me! AKAMARU!"

Akamaru was already lying down and Kiba quickly placed the girl on Akamaru's back. "Head straight for the hospital, don't let her fall off. I'll be running right beside you… GO!"

Akamaru took off but Kiba stayed back and quickly surveyed the site. There was definitely debris from their mid-day practice, but he had no idea that it would make it outside a three-mile radius. He picked up what he assumed were the girl's belongings and quickly followed after Akamaru.


Akamaru howled as he jumped passed the guards at the Kohona gate and jumped along the rooftops straight for the hospital.

"Wait! Akamaru!" the guard called. He turned to his comrade, "Was that Kiba on his back?"

The second guard flipped through the logs. "They just went out for practice…Wait, look." They turned in the direction of the gate and saw Kiba rapidly approaching.

"Kiba," the first guard called. "What's going on?"

"Oh man…" he slowed.

"Kiba?"

"I…I injured someone during training."

"Who was it?"

"I...I don't know. I've never hurt someone before that wasn't sparing with me." Panic and guilt were all over his face.

"You should go. The medics will want to know what happened. Hurry…" Kiba nodded and ran off.

By the time he made it to the hospital, the girl was being wheeled down the hall; a staff medic was waiting with Akamaru in the front. "Tell me what you know, Kiba. But first, Akamaru needs to wait outside; he's too big to be in here for long."

Akamaru whined, but Kiba reassured and thanked him for working so hard. "Wait for me outside, okay?" Turning back to the medic, he placed the bag at her feet. "We were training, working on our Fang Transformation, trying to make it more destructive. We tore through trees when we suddenly smelled blood. Over by the waterfall, I found the girl in the water. I pulled her out and performed CPR and immediately put her on Akamaru's back."

"Did you notice any injuries?"

"No, I didn't really check," he said ashamed he never thought of it. "I mean there was blood. I thought it was from her head, but that was just her hair."

Well, she was bleeding from her head. The staff medic thought to herself, picking up the bag. "We're taking her back to give her a thorough examination."

"I want to know how she is. Will, will that be possible?"

"Why don't you come back later?"


Sakura arrived at the gate. "Hey! I'm here to pick up the gate reports for Lady Tsunade," she said smiling.

"Here they are," the guard passed her a scroll.

"Anything good?"

"Well, it's not necessarily good, but Kiba arrived back with an injury."

"What? He was hurt?"

"No, he hurt someone. He came back about an hour ago. Akamaru brought the person to the hospital."

Sakura finished reading the last part of the report and tucked it in her bag. "I'll let Lady Tsunade know."


[knocking]

"Enter."

"Lady Hokage, you summoned?"

"Yes, the gate report said that someone was brought in due to an injury caused by a chunin training, what do you know about this person?"

"It's a female, late teens to early 20s it seems. She sustained injuries caused by flying debris. There are abrasions of various depths which we healed. There are cracked ribs, which Kiba mentioned were caused by…" the medic flipped through a report, "they were caused by 'chunks of wood as big as a body.' Although we were able to ease the pain, the broken bones, of course, will take some time to heal on its own. There was a bit of blood loss, but not enough to need a transfusion."

"What's her current status?"

"Stable, but unconscious. We're monitoring the concussion, so hopefully she'll revive soon."

"Any identification?"

The medic shook her head. "No. Just a bag of clothes and some money. A metal cuff, which we took off her wrist for the i.v."

Metal cuff? A few weeks ago, Sakura mentioned the Uzumaki girl was wearing a cuff. "Did you happen to see anything on the cuff?"

"Um…no, I didn't look at it personally," the medic trailed off, confused by the question.

"What color is her hair?"

The medic flipped through the report. "Red. Is something wrong, Lady Hokage?"

"No. Thank you. Please let me know when she's awake. I'd like to know what she was doing on the borders of our land."


The next day Lady Tsunade made her way toward the Kohona hospital. Tsk. She looked around. Kakashi's not here. I don't have time to be wasting like this.

She eventually heard the sounds of Kakashi's approach. "Ugh, it's about time. How long do you plan on keeping me waiting?"

"Oh, sorry about that, I got caught up," Kakashi smiled.

"No matter, let's go in. I'd like to know if the girl inside is the same as the one you saw while you were with Sakura a while back."


[light chatter]

Someone's inside?

[door slides open]

"Lady Tsunade!" Kiba jumped.

The red-head turned. "Mr. Star-Gazer?" Everyone looked at Kakashi.

Well, that would be the answer to my question. Lady Tsunade thought while she measured Kakashi's reaction.

"Ah, Chise, right?"

She nodded, "Good memory."

"Well, I am a ninja."

"Kiba," Tsunade said, addressing the chunin, "Would you mind…"

Kiba stood to leave. "I'm glad you're okay. I was really worried."

Chise smiled gently, "I'm fine. I appreciate you taking care of me and not just leaving me there." Kiba made a move to apologize again, but Chise stopped him. "How about this, when I get out, let me meet Akamaru, okay?"

Kiba nodded. "Yeah, definitely."

[door close]

"We'd like to ask you questions, if you're feeling up to it," Tsunade said, standing at the foot of her bed.

"I figured you would. But first, would you mind opening this fruit cup and handing me a spoon?"

Kakashi handed her the cup, which she settled between her thighs, and then the spoon. "Ehh…" she squinted, her eyes in pain.

"I'm honestly quite surprised you were able to carry on a conversation like that," Tsunade said, watching.

"I couldn't let the kid feel any worse."

Kakashi finally understood. He pushed back the hair that fell over the left side of her face and saw a bruise flowering from jaw to temple. "So you made him sit on your right side." Kakashi sat on the bed. "Here," he said, reaching for the cup. "I can feed you while you talk to the Hokage."

Chise winced in pain again. "Kakashi, prop her up on the pillows and lay her back. Her ribs are broken. She shouldn't even be sitting up."

"I asked a medic to help me before the kid came in…" she said between pained breaths as Kakashi assisted. He fed her while Tsunade asked questions.

"Your last name?"

"Uzumaki."

"Where did you get that from?"

"What? That's a stupid question. My parents. Why would you even ask that?"

"Where are your parents now?"

"Dead." Chise looked at Kakashi and back to Tsunade. "Why are you asking?"

"How much do you know about the Uzumaki Clan?"

"We're a clan?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Why don't you tell me what you know? I'll tell you why I am asking when you're done."

Chise didn't like the questioning, but this was the Hokage; Kiba and the medics had taken good care of her, so there was not much choice.

"I lived with my parents until I was about 10. My father was an Uzumaki. Both my parents were ninjas and died in battle, but not at the same time. My mother died first, my dad a few years later. After they died, I left home and have been travelling ever since."

"Are you a ninja?"

"Well I think that's an obvious no. If I was, I probably would have felt the presence of a flying tree and could have dodged it," she quipped.

Feisty isn't she? But if she's not a ninja, then she won't have any sealing abilities. That's a waste. "What do you know about the Uzumaki Clan?"

"Nothing really. There aren't many left if any at all. My father said we were hated and at one point wiped out, but in the past few years of travelling, I've gotten a different impression."

"How so?"

"Well, there's a 'Great Uzumaki Bridge' over in a water village I passed a few months back. I had bought a map and it was prominently labeled, so I went. It was a great little town, so much commerce. Then, some people heard my name was Uzumaki and brought out the bridge builder. He told me it was named for some great ninja…which of course, I thought was my dad. However, he said the kid was about 10 years younger than me. So that piqued my interest."

Ah…Tazuna…then it's definitely Naruto. Kakashi thought feeding her another bite.

"So you travelled here to find him."

"Huh? No… I just travelled. Why, is he near here?"

Tsunade and Kakashi exchanged looks. "Would you be interested in finding the Uzumaki ninja or does it not matter at all to you?" Kakashi asked, giving her the last spoonful.

"Sure. It's an interest. The kid may be family. But, I'm not about to make it a life goal to find the remaining clansmen. For all I knew, I was the last."

[knocking]

"Enter."

"Ah, Lady Hokage," the medic bowed. "I just came to check on the bandages."

"Prognosis?"

"About a week on bed rest. Then discharge."

Tsunade nodded. "Chise, what are your plans after this?"

"I haven't really thought about it, other than finding Kiba to meet his dog."

"Alright. Kakashi, let's go."


They left her room and waited until they were back in the Hokage's office to speak.

"Do you think Kiba knows her last name?"

"If he did, I think he would have mentioned it upon seeing me," Kakashi answered, standing before the Hokage.

"Well, I think we should talk to Naruto. Bring it up casually and see if he's interested in meeting her. This could upset him or derail him from his missions, especially if he knows she's in the hospital."

"When did you want them to meet? Before or after her discharge?"

Tsunade knitted her brows together. "Ehhh…you tell him Kakashi. Then let him make the decision as to when. However, I want you and Jiraiyah to be there, just in case."

Kakashi nodded and left.


Author's Notes:

I keep forgetting the disclaimer, but like all my stories, I don't own anything except my "other character" and the story idea around the other character.

A huge majority of information is coming from the Shippuden anime as well as the naruto wikia site.

PLEASE REVIEW! Comment, questions always welcome.