© Circius 2008
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Well, I've now decided this will probably end up being a pre-slash, and have the sequal be the full SasuNaruSasu goodness. Or maybe not...BAH! I can never make up my mind.
Also, now you are about to be introduced to OLD HATTIE and the Rat. Two of my favorite OCs (yes, I do own them). Please don't worry over the fact that yes, this story will be filled with OCs...I'm sorry, but there wasn't anybody else that would fit, and I promise my OCs also won't be annoying, with like...uber powers and stuff. They'll just have strange blood-line limits...and a few weird features. Please don't hate my fluffy OCs! I do lurves them.
I'm glad that a lot of people are favoriting this story, and I do appreciate it! No scratch that, I lurve it! And I don't beg for reviews, but often, I appreciate them so much more, thinking that people actaually cared enough to WRITE to me! And I guess that's true for any author though...peh, just trying to say I appreciate you all. HUGS AND KISSES!!
Disclaimer: Seriously. If I owned Naruto in any way, shape, or form, I WOULDN'T BE WRITING THIS!!
Yes, well, now...ON WITH THE SHOW!
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The Way Things Fall:
Chapter Two: Of Rats and Mad Hatters
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The blonde's eyes were heavy, as though they were coated in the heaviest of leads. Tanned eye-lids slid open only for the blue gaze to be struck by the too-bright sun, so they were once more snapped shut, willing the burning light to go away.
"OIIII! DID YOU HEAR ME MIDGET?! I SAID OIIIIIIIII!"
But the voice did not leave his conscious alone, and since he was a benevolent soul by nature, who did not like to cause a ruckus, the eyes opened again at the command of the cracking, heaving sound of the words.
"SWEET KAMI!"
He swore, the hand that had pushed him up into sitting position slipping as he tumbled backwards.
The face looming at him was grinning.
She was obviously an old woman, but not an old like the woman he remembered calling the hag was, no, it was an ancient kind of old, with the humming of long forgotten powers hovering around her, or at least, that was how much the blonde could tell from his Kyuubi-enhanced senses. Her hair was wispy and scraggily, but long, held up by hundreds of intricate twists and braids, and even then, loose pieces of the grey and white still tumbled freely, pooling around her hips. Her back was hunched over, her limbs long and boney, her fingers slender and spider-like. There was no place on her body that was not covered in folds, wrinkles, or scars, save for her hands, which looked eerily youthful, swirling dark henna tattoos covering them completely before starting to fade away at her forearms, where there were only markings here and there.
Otherwise her skin was colored like mushrooms, but not splotchy at all, just faded gold and grey, weathered away by time; from what seemed to be many years of harsh life. Her nose was sharp, slightly crooked, thin, wrinkled lips twitching up at the corners in her smile, her frayed, grey eyebrows raised in a sarcastic manner.
But her eyes were what had freaked the Kyuubi vessel out most of all. It was her eyes that held the glimmer of danger, of madness, but it was not that that had him nervous, because Gods knew how often he had seen it-no.
It was the fact that she had no pupils, no color on the pale eyeballs rolling around in their sockets. Nothing but an eerie, opaque white that reflected whatever she gazed at, coated over by a thin layer of cataracts, clouded in their gaze as both eyes met, obviously marking her as blind…though she sure didn't act like she was, knowing exactly where his eyes were and looking through them. Yes, through them, not into them, but in a way that seemed she was gazing at the very depths of his soul. It wasn't even like Hyuuga eyes, where there was still the hint of color in their depths. There was nothing but that pure, emotionless white.
It was unnerving.
"Ah! I see you're awake now, aren't ya, midget?"
She cackled in her wheezy voice, looking as though she was about to keel over at any moment.
The blue-eyed nin pushed himself back up into a sitting position, crossing his legs over themselves as he kept her gaze, acting as thought he wasn't perturbed by them, while on the inside, he most definitely was.
Her clothing was somewhat akin to a gypsy queen's (1), or at least, the kind the blonde had always read about in story books as a child; with a millions scarves, bells, charms, talismans and trinkets all over her person, overtop ripped silk layers of skirts and shirts.
"Who…who are you?"
He asked hesitantly. The woman laughed again, she laughed the kind of laugh only old people seem to be able to make, crazily, in a very senile manner as she rustled her clothes a bit in order to sit down on a mat nearby.
"Why, me? I'm Old Hattie. The one who saved your sorry ass, I'll have you know."
The blonde blinked…did she just start insulting him for no reason?
He jumped again as she laughed in that nerve-racking manner once more.
"Ho, you're a funny one, you are. Bruising so easily from that fall, and then Kyuubi trying to heal you away."
She gave a grin, her eyes closing at the width of it. Blue eyes noted that she had a few canines missing as well, over to the sides of her mouth, but her front teeth were browning somewhat, yet they were filed like certain villages had their nin do it, to a sharp point.
But then, something clicked.
"Wha--Kyuubi? How do you know about Kyuubi?"
Her eyes opened again to stare at him, and he suppressed a shudder as he saw a fly crawl across it without her even blinking, standing in the center and looking around like some deformed pupil.
"How do I know the nine-tailed fox demon? HA!"
The nin jumped again as she leaned forward, watching the fly drop dead off her face. What--
"Once you get as old as I am, there's few things you haven't seen…though I do consider myself quite…knowledgeable in demons. Gods know I've learned as much as I could about them all my life. Yes, I would know Kyuubi's chakra from anywhere."
Her wrinkled lips moved in a manner that was indecipherable to probably the most skilled of lip-readers, and he wasn't even sure how she was able to form actual words.
She looked at him expectantly for a response, and he fidgeted a bit with the rug underneath him.
"Wait…so you know about demons Mrs…erm, Hattie--is that even Japanese?"
He asked, starting to get used to the odd woman in front of him as he slowly began to relax. If she was going to kill him, she probably would've done it already.
"Nope!"
Another cackle.
"Well…what is your name?"
"Aww, she won't tell you, Old Hattie don't tell no one what her name is. Takes away from her powers, Or…least that's what she told me. Hello mister!"
A giggling voice came up from above, sitting on a rock, her small legs swinging down. It was the girl that he vaguely remembered waking up to, with ruby-red hair and eyes Jealousy would be most envious of, a bright, poisonous green in color.
She added on her greeting to the end, and her grammar was completely improper, but what actually threw the blue-eyed nin off was the fact he hadn't been able to tell she was there. A child her age, she looked to be roughly eight or so, couldn't have possibly mastered the gift of masking chakra yet, it was impossible. And how come he hadn't heard her get over there anyway?!
'That's because she's got something weird in her chakra signature. I can't even pick her up. It's almost as though the child doesn't even…exist…'
Kyuubi answered the question in his mind, and he stored the information away for later.
"Hee-I'm Nezumi! Who are you?"
"Rat?"
He questioned. It was most definitely an odd name if anything.
"Yes, Rat, because that's what she is, little vermin--"
Old Hattie muttered under her breath as the Rat stood up indignantly.
"You shut-up Wrinkle-face!"
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME YOU LITTLE--"
"Wrinkle-face, Wrinkle-face! Nah-nah nah nah-nah!"
Rat started running around in circles before turning to the now standing, fuming old woman and sticking out her tongue. The fox-demon container cringed from the yell that came from the frail old body in response.
"I'M GOING TO CURSE YOU RAT-ASS INTO THE NEXT CENTURY YOUR LITTLE VERMIN PIECE OF--"
"HEEEEEY!"
Both parties blinked and looked at him oddly. He had his hands in the air and was waving them to get their attention.
Said hands fell back to his sides as he turned to the witch-woman.
"So, erm, Old Hattie, I wanted to thank you very much for your hospitality, and I don't want to impose on your company for too long, so…if you would just give me back the clothing I came in, I'd be most thankful…"
He trailed off, motioning to his new ensemble of light brown farmer-pants a few sizes too big, matched with a billowy white shirt that also hung off of him like a bag.
Nezumi grinned before skipping down the rocks in a zig-zag formation until she stopped right in front of him. Her hair was braided, save for a few shorter chunks framing her heart-shaped face, with two long ribbons that flowed behind her. Her ears were pierced all the way up, and she wore a smart little corset with short shorts. The odd thing about her though, the thing that drew one's eye immediately, was the large, ugly black scar running up her chest all the way to her lips, perfectly splitting her body into two halves before shooting off to the left-barely missing her whole nose to curve off in a line right underneath her left eye, where it then seemed to take on a swirling pattern, similar to the tattoos all over Hattie's person. The black was hideously dark against her pale, flower-like skin, and seemed to pulse in a sickly manner, like a throbbing wound.
The blue stare went from the scar to her blinking jade eyes, eyes that should've been filled with such innocence of the world--
But weren't.
"What…what happened?"
The Rat just giggled before she leaned forward in a stretch and said,
"We had to burn your clothes, a'cause you were COVERED in BLOOD and it was all ripped up and…yeah. Stuffs like that."
"What?!"
He cried out indignantly, temporarily pushing his question to the back of his mind untill later.
Hattie laughed again, in that wheezy, rheumatic manner.
"Because they were utterly destroyed anyway. It doesn't really matter anymore though does it? What's done is done midge--you know…you are much taller standing up. I think I'll call you Blondie instead…yes. Blondie fits. Yours locks are like gold you know."
She told him matter of factly as she hobbled over to where the two of them were standing to grab him by the scalp of his hair.
"Ooww--"
"Yup, like gold. Smells funny though."
She stated as Nezumi giggled.
The blonde gave her a look that the girl ignored as she sat down on the mat and patted the spot beside her. He stared for a moment before Hattie sat down as well, and then he hesitantly joined them.
"So. Blondie. What's your real name? And mind telling what happened to you out there? Or at least…tell us what you remember…"
Blue-eyes looked the seemingly harmless old-woman with a different light. First Kyuubi, now this--
"How do you know about my memories?"
She whirled on him, a twister of clinking metals and colorful silks.
"Because I saved your LIFE."
He didn't understand precisely what she was saying until it sunk in after a moment of silence.
"No you didn't, Kyuubi--"
"You were hit with a strike of Chakra with the strength equivalent of roughly five lightning bolts, and your head was just about cracked in half from that fall you took. The nine-tailed fox was doing all it could, but when the part of your brain that dealt with all of your memories was bleeding profusely…well, the brain is a delicate thing, and your lucky I got there before the demon's chakra fried all of it. You were thiiiiis close to becoming a vegetable all your life."
Hattie pinched her flabby forefingers until they were about a hairsbreadth apart for emphasis as the information started to process in his still aching head.
"Wait--Kyuubi almost--what?"
Inside of its prison, a certain Kyuubi twitched its tail a bit.
'Ehh…from what I can recall, I was just sending as much chakra as possible to keep you alive…though what she's saying is true, they have medic-nin's especially trained just for brain-injuries, because it can only be healed in a manner that requires delicate and precise chakra control--'
'I KNEW THAT!'
'Yeah well…I…erm…forgot about that tiny little detail?'
He rolled his mental eyes at the demon, who in return, fumed.
'YOU KNOWYOU WOULD'VE BEEN DEAD A LONG TIME AGO WITHOUT ME YOU BRAT! YOU SHOULD LEARN TO GIVE ME SOME RESPECT--'
'After you just about FRIED MY BRAIN?!'
He shot back.
There was silence.
He looked up from his inward battle to see Hattie and Nezumi looking at him interestedly.
"Were you talking to Mr. Kyuubi mister?"
The younger girl wanted to know, her eyes like saucers.
"…yes…."
"Can you do that whenever you want?"
"Umm…yes…"
"THAT'S SO COOL!"
She cried, apparently fascinated by him. He smiled sheepishly before rubbing the back of his head, ruffling his blonde hair in the process.
Hattie then pulled out a bag from the many folds of her clothes and looked to Rat.
"Vermin, I need you to get the rest of us. Tell 'em I'm with the newbie, and to move their asses back here, or we're leaving next dawn without them."
The ruby-haired girl looked disappointed, and gave a small pout.
"Already? But we just got 'ere a month ago, and I wanna get ta know the new mister more--"
"You will, don't worry. Go now, and hurry up with it!"
The bag was tossed to Rat, who caught it with the tips of her fingers before glaring at the hag in front of her, and then, deciding that arguing a bit more would be pointless, she turned on her heel to run back to the place in the distance where the blonde assumed the rest of "them", whoever "they" may be, were.
Once she was out of hearing range, Hattie cackled to herself before turning back to him, locking his blue-gaze with her own eerie one.
"Well now, let us see the extent of all your mental damage."
She rummaged in her clothing again before her tattoo-covered hand emerged victoriously with a long wooden rod. She put it in between them before leaning over to whisper some words to it. He watched interestedly, eyes widening as the rod glow a pastel blue color, lighter then the sky, and ribbons of chakra wound itself about it--
But it was only there for a moment, when he blinked, it was nothing more then a normal rod again.
She grinned that pointed-tooth grin again as he looked at her questioningly.
"Now, how old are you?"
"Nineteen."
He said, without hesitation. She raised an eye-brow at him, before muttering under breath something--"
"hrmmm…younger…expected…strange…"
But that was all he could catch before she shot another question at him.
"When's your birthday?"
He opened his mouth to respond confidently--but then, his smile faded.
"-I-I…I…don't remember…"
He trailed off, searching his mind…but all he came up with was blank.
Hattie nodded, as though that was a perfectly acceptable answer.
"Right then, so…do you remember your name?"
There was a pause before the defeated sigh.
"No."
"Hmm…well then, that's fine. I think I'll give you a new one though, since I don't think you'd like everyone here calling you Blondie--"
"Does it matter? I'm going to leave here soon anyway, once I can get some decent clothes--"
Spider-like hands, whose youth contradicted her otherwise ancient body, slammed down onto the rug/blanket in front of him.
"You aren't that smart in the medical field are you Blondie?"
He stared at her, a pit falling in his stomach.
"What's that suppose to mean?"
She sighed, before looking at him with blank, yet seemingly sad eyes, slow, creaking movements finely befitting her age.
"When you fell, like I said before, you got that internal bleeding in your mind…and well, having so much foreign chakra smash your system so thoroughly…it was such a shock that your brain completely shut down. If it wasn't for the Demon-Fox…you would've died long before I reached you, but his chakra was pretty much only a home-made life-support. It couldn't heal all the damage that you sustained, especially in your brain, because it was too overwhelming, and it didn't know how."
She paused, staring intently at the rod on the ground, as though it would help her explain.
"When I did find you, the fox's chakra, still trying to heal you, but not succeeding, worked like any other subconscious-controlled healer in your body would at the time when your brain finally beginning to fully shut-down…"
She looked up at him, her words slamming into his conscious with painful honesty ringing in every sentence.
"It tried to destroy the problem…which meant literally trying to take out that whole section of your brain. I only got there in time to stop…most of the damage. Your body's still weak, if you haven't noticed, the foxes chakra's still giving you the energy to stay awake."
The nin blinked before checking himself.
Damn. The witch was right.
"But, you stopped it, so doesn't that mean that I just don't remember certain things? I could just find my way back, and I bet once I hear my name or something like that again, it'll all coming rushing back--"
"No."
His optimism was cut off by her dark words, said with such ill forbiddance.
"Remember how I was talking about that foreign chakra you were hit with by whomever the hell your enemy was?"
"Yeah…"
His voice was suddenly rough at the memories of that certain opponent--his fingers slowly curled into fists.
That…bastard.
"Well, it also slipped into your own chakra stream, and of course, you must know about how another person's un-reined chakra inside you can be extremely toxic…well, your chakra flow goes to your brain as well, and it was then that the foreign chakra clashed with the Kyuubi's…and then…then it melded with the demon chakra that was also trying to destroy that part of you to form a…poison, if you will."
"A poison?"
Came the shaky question as the blue eyes looked up to meet the white, said white turned back to gazing at her rod.
"Something like that, yes…what I'm trying to say is that since it's mixed with Kyuubi's chakra, your body doesn't realize that it's bad and…though I tried to clean it out, I couldn't. Clever little sucker is what it is, but, since the combination took place in that certain part your mind-it was like an electrical current really-the chakra will continue to eat away at that part of your mind, wearing it down, you know?"
All the information swirled around him as he tried to take it in.
"So your saying that this poisonous chakra inside me is eating away my memories?"
"Yes. It'll be a slow process, but eventually you'll loose all of them until all you have left are the new ones after the accident that made the chakra-poison...for lack of a better word. I was able to save that much of your brain by putting a barrier of my own chakra around the foreign shiz, plus the rest of that portion of your brain."
"This is way over my head."
Old Hattie sighed before shaking her head as she seemed to wrack her own brain for solutions.
"It's the first something like this has ever happened to anyone that I know…but…that is the reason you shouldn't leave us. Your memories might come back, even after the chakra finally shorts out after it runs out of things to eat away, if they are triggered by a strong reaction to something or someone from your past…and we might be able to keep a few of those memories if you talk about them everyday, reiterating them into your mind. But if you leave, you wouldn't know where to go, and you'd probably end up getting killed. Plus, I do know someone who might be able to help you…maybe he could destroy the poison before it could finish its job…I daresay we could get you there in good time…you'd just have to stay with us for a while."
There was a strained silence between them until she turned a white eye at him to look at him cynically. His fingers were rubbing his temples as he thought of his other possible options…there weren't many.
"Would you let me sta--"
"Yes, I think we'll have use for you. You're strong-enough…well you look strong enough."
She cut him off, fixing a stray amulet that had fallen out of the knot of the others hanging about her neck. He looked up at her, surprised.
"You're going to help me? Just like that? But…don't you care about…you know, Kyuubi?"
He waited for the witch to amend herself and send him on his way, probably without any food either; well he couldn't blame her…he was surprised that no one had killed him already because of the Demon…
"BAH!"
He jumped again as she started laughing, again, in that strange, disturbing manner.
"You--ha--you don't know who we are, do you Blondie?"
"What do you mean?"
Another wheeze. Another cackle.
"We are the Outcasts. All the people the world didn't want, left for dead or worse. Gods know we wouldn't care if you have a Demon--I actually think you'll be quite popular for it; you'll have the most interesting stories to tell!"
He blinked.
"So…you don't care?"
"Does it look like I care Blondie?"
Another pause.
"…No."
"Good. Now…I think I'm going to name you…hmm…"
The nin raised a blonde eye-brow skeptically as he waited. Hattie's face seemed to twist a bit, scrunching up as she thought for a moment until the idea dawned on her, and she smiled.
"Aiiro."
"Indigo blue? What that hell is that suppose to stand for?"
He asked indignantly, and her laugh rung through the air as she bent over to pick up her rod, dust it off, and then slip it back into her robes.
"And what's with the stick--eh--HEY! Where are you going?!"
She moved in her ancient manner over to the most elaborately decorated stone-hovel (shocker there), and pushed aside the curtain hanging over the door for privacy, unveiling an inside that would make any magpie or packrat jealous.
"I'm getting you decent clothes before everyone gets here!"
She told him, diving into a pile of clothing herself, seeming to merge with the mass. He watched, fascinated of how someone her size could vanish so easily into one pile. He heard the clinking and shredding as things were pushed aside until…
"Hel-melanpfromemta-kushplenetuti-HA!"
Her muffled, meaningless jabber was cut off suddenly as she leaped back up, clothing that actually looked his size this time in her hand.
"Here now, go put this on!"
She ordered him, turning to plop down onto a throne of silks and pillows, bedecked with chains and jewelry, leaning back, as though to get comfortable.
Truly, it was like a Dragon's cave of treasure in there, and it wasn't to long before he located the curtain that was apparently used as a dressing room behind her "throne" , and he went behind it to change.
As he peeled off the shirt that was already beginning to stick to his tanned skin from the hot air, Kyuubi decided to put in its input.
'Aiiro…I like it. Sounds…dangerous. Mysterious. Like the dark hero that all the ladies throw themselves to the ground for. What about you?'
'I dunno…it just doesn't seem to…fit.'
'Well of course you don't think it fits, because it's obviously not your name and you're not used to it. But why don't you just stick to it instead of being "the nameless guy" for all the time that you're here?'
'I guess…'
The blonde still seemed hesitant as he began to look at the new shirt in front of him to discern how exactly it went on…did that buckle go there or--what the hell, was that another strap? How in the--
'You're looking at it upside down, kit.'
Kyuubi sighed and put its head on its paws in defeat.
'How come I ended up with a vessel that can't even put a shirt on correctly?'
'HEY, THIS IS HARDER THEN WHAT IT LOOKS--I'd like to see YOU try, Mr. I'm Good-at-everything fox.'
'HELLOOO. Paws. No opposable thumbs. And I will have you know I am NOT a mister. I have no gender. Us demons can choose, because we're so much better then you mortals.'
'You can choose your gender?'
'Why yes, actually--'
"OIIIII!"
He was shaken out of his thoughts again by Old Hattie's screech.
"Hmm?"
He asked from behind the curtain. Hattie made a sigh.
"That whole conversations in your mind thing is simply going to have to stop. It's bothersome to get your attention."
"Sorr--"
"Anyway, I wanted to know if you remembered anything about where you're from. One of the outer farming villages perhaps? Because it looked like you had known what you're doing…you were trained by a ninja, yes?"
"Trained? Lady, I AM a ninja! And I'm one of the best, see--"
His hand went immediately up to where his forehead protector usually rested, only to meet…bandages.
"My…head-band…What did you do with my head-band?"
He asked in a dangerous tone. If they got rid of his head-band, that was it, memories or no memories, he was out of here--
"If I told you I burned it, do you really think you could run away? You'd forget where you are and where you were going within days. The second you get out of my reach, I won't be able to manage the chakra barrier I put on you to prevent the poison from spreading to your present memories. If you leave, it'll eventually disappear, and you'll have amnesia forever, forgetting everything you did the day before. Plus, you can't get the cure you need unless you have me and my…contacts."
What was she trying to say--
"But no, I didn't really. Aiiro…we found you without a headband…you were born and raised in a Hidden Village?"
Hands searched a head that now felt so naked and bare.
"I…thought I did…but now…"
Now…he didn't remember. He didn't remember anything.
And he didn't know if he ever would.
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WHOO! Eleven pages, Times New Roman Font, size TEN! Yesss...
Anywhose, here's a few details:
(1) Umm, I'm not sure if Gypsy Queens exist in the Naruto verse...well, actually, I'm pretty sure they don't, but that's okay, it was pretty much to paint a mental image.
Thank you very much!