Chapter 1: Arrival
I can't seem to be able to insert a video here, so here's a link to the Naruto OST 'Floating Dead Leaves', or Ochihabune in Japanese. I think the song would bring a nice vibe if you listen to it while reading. I hope you enjoy it! :)
watch?v=Cy7y8uwjq08
This wasn't her first attempt in such thing, but it was, for sure, the first time she made it this far. She huffed in annoyance as her footsteps increased on the wooden floor. Next to her, a boy with the most annoying temper she came across tried to keep up with her bold legs.
'Say again, what was your name?' He asked, trying to get rid of the black curls that blocked his eyesight.
'Kaiya.' she sighed.
She wasn't acquaintances to him for more than five minutes, but she was already tired of him.
'Hm, nice name.' He stated, just as he did for the past five times when he asked for her name. 'Well, here we are.'
They stopped in front of a large set of wooden doors that almost touched the high ceiling.
'Don't forget,' the boy warned, 'we're about to talk to the Hokage, and, since he's the leader of the village, you might want to show some respect.
'Excuse me-' She said indignated, but couldn't say anything more as the boy already knocked at the door.
Who was he to order her on how to act? She would've said a few words to him, but she had better things to do than to blindly argue. She looked ahead as she put her dark auburn hair behind her ears in a nervous manner, preparing her speech for the thousandth time that morning.
'Enter.' A deep voice said from behind the doors.
Here goes nothing, Kaiya thought, as the boy pushed the doors open. He entered, followed by a hesitant Kaiya. While the boy closed the doors, Kaiya analysed the room. It was a rather spacious, circular room with huge windows at it's another side and very few items located in it; a couple of portraits spead across the walls and a desk at which sat an old man with and pipe in his mouth, clothed in the official clothes of a Kage.
'Hello, Akira. How may I help you?' The man greeted with a smile on his face.
'Good afternoon, Lord Hokage.' Akira spoke as he bowed, making Kaiya wonder if she should do the same. 'I came in to report.'
'Report? So early? Let's hear it, then.' The Hokage said, with a mix of surprise and worry; the report should've been done only in four hours.
'This girl, Kana-'
'Kaiya, you-' Kaiya corrected before blocking herself, frowning. She couldn't help it; she hated when people mispronounced her name, especially if she'd say it many times before. To top it all, she not only said it many times before, but in a very short amount of time.
'Right. She demanded to see you. Daichi and I tried to explain to her that you're a busy person but-'
'It's fine, Akira.' The Hokage turned to Kaiya. 'How can I help you?'
'I wish to settle down in Konoha.' Kaiya spoke loud and as clear as she could, just as she practiced beforehand.
'Settle down?' The Hokage raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'How comes?'
The Hokage looked at the girl. She was tall with a dark auburn hair, a tired pose, light scars here and there on her face and arms, casual clothes, a small, dirty, yellow purse tied just above her hips and a look that almost suggested that she took part in a pig fight.
The most eye-catching thing about her would've been the tachi sword she was carrying on her back. Much to his surprise, she didn't wear any forehead protector that might've helped him identify any affiliation. He didn't know if he should feel worried or curious about it.
Kaiya looked at the Hokage, locking her onyx gaze on his. She saw this coming, and she never looked forward to explaining. Taking what happened in the Mist Village, she preferred telling as little details as possible.
'It's nothing complicated.' She simply answered, well aware of her seemingly odd accent. 'I want to find a way to improve my life, and the best way I could think of was to affiliate with a Hidden Village and become a shinobi.'
The Hokage raised his eyebrows; he clearly didn't expect this answer.
'Ah. I don't hear that these days anymore.' He muttered to himself, before turning serious again, puffing out from his pipe. 'So, tell me again, your name was... Kaiya?'
'Yes, sir.' Kaiya confirmed.
'Only Kaiya?'
Kaiya clenched her fist, her knuckles making cracking sounds, while her face twitching, a usual reaction for her when not pleased with something.
'I suppose.' Kaiya coldly answered through her teeth.
'But that's impossible! We all have a last name. There's no way you're an exception.' Akira butted in.
'Well, it looks like I am.' Kaiya clapped back, giving Akira an eyebrows-raised look, along with a gaze that overflowed with anger, something that surely shut the dark-haired boy off for the moment.
'I see.' The Hokage decisively said.
He couldn't disagree with Akira and he had to admit that the girl's refusal to answer made him curious, but all he could do was to try and find the reasoning behind the girl's judgement.
'Well,' he continued, 'I honestly don't see why I should refuse you. Anyone who wills to fairly work in order to survive just like you do deserve a place in Konoha.'
'Lord Hokage!' Akira spat out.
There must be some truth in it, Akira thought, and the old man must be going senile.
'Don't worry, Akira.' The Hokage said, raising a hand. 'I'm not going senile as some villagers say.'
Akira's jaw dropped and his eyes widening in utter shock, as the Hokage let a small smirk form on his face.
'Villagers say that he's senile?' Kaiya asked in surprise. They dared to talk about their leader like that?
'Yes, but it's all a bluff, I say.' Akira said, half-frozen in shame.
The Hokage let a chuckle escape his mouth. It was always fun to see people denying their gossip of him when in front of him. In truth, he could find some reasons to not let the girl stay, but her answers truly impressed him. She didn't let anything but her funny accent slip by, covering it with intelligent answers. If she only was able to drag the stone, then she might really be of use in Konoha, maybe even standing the chance of becoming part of the ANBU. There followed a few moments of silence, in which the Hokage arranged a few papers on his desk.
'Well,' The Hokage coughed as he put the last few papers away, 'if nobody has any more objections, I will take notice of a few important things.'
Kaiya's face remained still even though on the inside she glowed with joy, while Akira clenched his fists in annoyance.
'First of all, if you want to live in Konoha, you must be part of it.' The Hokage explained, now in a rather dead serious manner.
'I-I don't understand, sir.' Kaiya said.
'I don't expect you to do yet.' The Hokage puffed amused. 'You see, the ninja world is a very complex thing that doesn't base only on the training nor aptitudes you have for your missions. You'll meet people, not only fellow colleagues and teammates, but also friends for a lifetime, and you will, for sure, create different kind of bonds with them. Unlike other countries, here in Konoha, we have something that we call the Will of Fire.'
'The Will of- what?' Kaiya questioned, confused.
'The Will of Fire.' The Hokage smiled. 'It's a philosophy that was founded by one of Konoha's founders, Hashirama Senju. He became the First Hokage and shared his Will of Fire with other people around the time of Konoha's foundation. Do you have any idea of what it might mean?'
Kaiya thought for a moment, but she couldn't find anything.
'Not really, sir.' Kaiya eventually answered.
'Well, here's the deal,' The Hokage spoke. 'I will assign you with a team of genin shinobi, and by the time you become Jounin, I expect an answer.'
Kaiya hesitantly agreed. There would surely be a long path until she'd become a Jounin, let alone the thought if the old man would make it until then, taking his age and position in the village.
'Well,' the Hokage began as he started searching through his drawers. 'If you're going to live your shinobi life here, you may need this.'
He raised a blue bandana with a piece of metal in the form that had the symbol of Konoha craved in the middle.
'What's that?'
'It's called forehead protector.' The Hokage explained. 'Every village-affiliated shinobi in the world has it. It can define which village you're part of and, obviously enough, to protect your forehead by any attacks aimed there.'
Kaiya looked at Akira and noticed the same piece of blue material and metal proud fully resting on his forehead. She then looked at the Hokage and realised he didn't have one.
Forehead protector'?' Kaiya repeated.
'Indeed.' The Hokage confirmed as he carefully placed the forehead protector on his desk.
'Why don't you have one?' She blurted the question out, regretting it almost instantly.
'He's the Hokage! Of course, he doesn't wear-' Akira spat in annoyance.
'Akira, Akira, please.' The Hokage made a sign with his hand in an attempt to silence the boy down and waited until he did so. 'As Akira most kindly said, I'm the Kage of Konoha. A Kage wouldn't need a forehead protector as they would wear the symbolic clothing, showing their position in their hometown village.'
Kaiya looked at the forehead protector for a moment, before taking it in her hands, analyzing it.
'Thank you.' She simply said as she tied it to her head.
The Hokage smiled, understandingly.
'Now, am I right to assume that you don't have a shelter?' The Hokage asked, Kaiya nodding. 'Well, if I am right, there should be a free apartment close to Konoha's centre. I'm sure Akira would be glad to show you the way.'
'I wouldn't think so.' Kaiya muttered as Akira puffed in annoyance.
'Is there anything else, Akira?' The Hokage asked, mainly for the discussion to flow.
'No.'
'Then you two should go.'
'Indeed, we should. 'Akira agreed. 'The sun is setting and I honestly don't want somebody like her down Konoha's streets at night.'
Kaiya gave a short glance to Akira and was shot by a sharp gaze in return. She hoped that the Hokage didn't catch Akira's allusion, but of course, he did. He had years of experience with people, and disrespectful allusions weren't something rare.
'We'll be off, Lord Hokage.' Akira said, with a bow. 'Goodbye.'
The Hokage only nodded In response and watched as Akira exited the door, followed closely by Kaiya.
'Asumi-san.' The Hokage called out.
He didn't need to say any more. A young kuniochi appeared in front of him. She was tall with sand-coloured hair, a white bunny mask covering her face and a katana on her back.
'Lord Hokage.' She said with a bow.
'I need your help.' The Hokage spoke, with a calm urgent in his tone. 'I need you to keep an eye on someone for a while.'
'Who?' The woman asked, curious.
'Let me explain. You don't have to worry about going far away, as you'll only have to work here, in Konoha. You may as well have heard that I let a girl settle in Konoha.' The masked kuniochi nodded. 'You've got to keep an eye on her. She's around fourteen with brown hair and responds to the name of Kaiya. Keep an eye on her. See what she does for a while, analyse her behaviour and program, anything you can.'
Although she didn't really feel pleased with it, Asumi nodded. She didn't understand why the Hokage ordered her such thing. It wasn't any special mission, and a Jounin could do it just fine.
'Maybe you don't understand very well, Asumi.' The Hokage said, feeling the disbelief in the kunoichi. 'This is a quite delicate situation, as Konoha's safety depends on this mission. This mission would only fit an Anbu member, and you're the best candidate for this, taking your skills and the fact that you're a rookie, thus you still have that... taste for freedom just like every youngster in Konoha. Do you have any question?'
Asumi only shook her head.
'Good. You're off.'
The kunoichi disappeared as fast as she appeared, leaving the Hokage alone in his office. He sighed.
'What does a Hokage have to do in order to protect his village? He wondered aloud.
A/N
Hey there! First of all, thank you for reading the first chapter of The Possessions of the Wild! What did you think of it?
Before you read any further, I just want to say that the book is STILL in work and the chapters won't be edited later on. So expect some clinginess or slightly out of character for the canon Naruto characters.
You might have noticed the background music I put at the media, right? Well, every now and then, I like putting a song I consider that it fits the chapter. The song 'Floating dead leaves'(the one in the media) is my favourite OST, for sure! What about you, guys?
Now, when the Hokage analysed Kaiya, I mentioned something about a sword, right? What was it called, again? A Taka... Taichi... ah, yes, a Tachi! A Tachi is a Japanese one-edged sword that's pretty short, compared to its brothers and sisters. Its length varies between 70 and 80 centimetres (from 27 to 31 1/2 inches) and it looks something like this:
Yep, that's a Japanese sword, folks. Well, I won't detain you from going to the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one. Bye! :)