Pain...
It hurt...
He couldn't even move. Even breathing was painful.
The metallic taste of his blood had not left his mouth at any time during the long hours he was lying on the cold ground of the dense forest.
How had he survived that fall?
He remembers very well the feeling of being hit by that black sphere... he remembers very well the feeling of falling off that cliff.
He remembered the voices of his parents calling to him, while both their figures moved further and further away.
He could not open his eyes... nor did he want to, to be honest with himself. He was afraid that by doing so, the pain would increase.
It made no sense how he was still alive... maybe it was the dense tree tops of some of those trees that cushioned his fall.
With that pain he felt, the blond boy didn't know if being alive was such a good thing at that moment. He controlled himself as much as he could not to cry.
Not to not show weakness, but because it hurt so much. His lungs felt like they were going to explode every time he breathed.
And the worst was the side of his abdomen, which throbbed furiously. This was the place in his body where it hurt the most.
He even tried to call for his mother... for his father, but he just couldn't. His voice wouldn't come out, and he didn't even have the strength to open his mouth.
The thirst became more present, overcoming the hunger he felt. He had no choice but to drink the blood that flowed from his mouth.
An unpleasant experience, to say the least.
Hours passed, and he became more and more frightened by the random noises he heard around him. At times, very muffled, he could hear sounds of what sounded like wild animals.
His heart began to beat fast at the thought of predators nearby. He was easy prey there.
Even though he was cold, in pain, hungry, afraid... he could not resist the fatigue of his body, and eventually gave in to sleep.
A day passed... he was in a precarious state, thirst was what worried him most at the moment, as it was even more agonizing than hunger.
But for some reason he could move... well, at least move more than the day before.
Desperation began to take over, and although it still hurt a lot when he moved, he decided to get up.
The boy had no choice. If he stayed there, he would die for sure.
But if he stood up, he had a chance, a small chance, to survive.
For the first time since he had fallen in that place, he opened his eyes.
His blurred vision was uncomfortable at first, and it took him a while to get used to it.
The forest was dark, lit only by the few rays of sunlight passing through the treetops.
Slowly moving his neck to the side, the blond boy stared for a few moments at the "wall" of the cliff ahead. It was a miracle he was still alive.
Turning his head to the side again, he looks at his surroundings. Nothing but a dense sea of trees with dimly lit corridors ahead.
Groaning slightly in pain, he begins to move his arms. Gritting his teeth as he feels his body protest.
He had broken some bones, for sure. He didn't know exactly which ones, but his left arm and the area around his ribs throbbed at the slightest movement.
He knew, because Kakashi had told him something similar before. In one of the training sessions he was doing with Minato.
Taking a few deep breaths, he gritted his teeth hard and turned his body around, getting down on his knees and supporting his body on his right arm.
A few drops of blood pooled with the red stain on the ground, right where he was standing.
His body trembled, and suddenly he felt a strong urge to vomit. The world around him spun, and he stood still in the same position for some time.
His mind hovered over the moment when he had crashed into the branches of one of those trees. The leaves cushioned his fall considerably before his ribs crashed into one of the thick branches above him.
He went down, unable to do anything but let his body fall and crash against all those hard surfaces, until, before he hit the ground, he uses his arm to try to break the fall in pure instinct.
In a way, it worked.
Taking a few more deep breaths and trying to ignore the pain in his ribs as he does so, he stands on one of his legs and forces his body upward, gritting his teeth as he slowly rises to his feet.
Once he did, he had to control himself very carefully not to hit the ground as he felt the world around him spinning again.
Luckily, there was a tree nearby that supported him until he recovered.
Breathing weakly, he faces the dark forest.
He didn't know where to go, what to do, how to get back.
And at the moment, he didn't have the strength to scream for help.
He stood still again, just staring at the path he was supposed to follow. There was no other path anyway.
At slow, limp, hesitant steps, he began to walk through the forest, leaning on every tree he could as he moved.
- Damn slaves. How much more do we have to walk through this fucking place?
A man, not too tall, with short straight black hair, brown eyes, scar on his neck, asked another just ahead of the group he was in.
Ten men in total, all wearing similar clothes, a dark green overcoat, black, blue or gray pants with a simple blouse.
All of them had some swords and/or kunais attached to their clothes, some with backpacks on their backs.
The man in the front was the tallest, the leader of the group. Short brown hair, sterner features compared to the others, scars across his face, and he was the only one wearing a black overcoat.
- Weeks, months, hell, years if you have to. I swear, the more we go on missions together, the more you complain.
The leader replied, tucking the map in his hands into one of the side pockets of his overcoat.
- Not doubting you, boss, but are you sure this place is safe?
One of the men asked, looking around with very suspicious, even fearful eyes.
Boss- Safe? No place in this fucking forest is safe. This is the "least dangerous" path we can use. Any messages from the other groups?
He looked over his shoulder at one man in particular.
- No. They haven't found anything yet.
The man answered.
They continued walking for some time, until they were forced to stop suddenly as the ground shook suddenly, and they felt the presence of someone, or something, incredibly strong nearby.
- B-but... what is it? Such a strong presence...
Chief - Get in position!
He ordered, and they got into battle stance, each covering the other's back and eliminating any blind spots they had.
The ground shook again, the presence seemed to get even stronger, even closer.
Boss-... We have to get out... this presence... is not from a human.
He said with a slightly trembling voice, already intent on getting out of there.
But before they could move, the sound of breaking trees caught their attention.
The presence was so strong that they simply could not move. Their eyes widened as they saw the being that looked at them with a rather... disinterested face.
The forest fell silent, and they swore that they could hear the beating of their own hearts.
- It's... it's-it's the... K-Kyuubi...
One of them could barely speak, his trembling voice coming out almost in a whisper as his wide eyes focused on the huge, beautiful fox in front of him. They all knew her... they all feared her.
The strongest Bijuu of all the Bijuus. It was said that just the violent swinging of its tails could destroy an entire country.
Her beautiful tails swayed slowly as she just watched that group.
- Humans... here... what a unpleasant surprise.
Her deep voice caused shivers to run down the bodies of the men, who began to tremble as soon as they heard her. All of them surprised and frightened by the fact that that beast could speak.
-Get out... this forest is no place for your kind.
The fox stared at them for a while longer, until she turned to walk away.
The relief became general, and the sense of fear slowly receded as the fox walked away, which allowed them to think in a more rational way.
Everyone knew the fox, everyone feared it... everyone wanted its power.
And just like the other Bijuus... she had a big prize for whoever captured her.
All that was needed was a seal strong enough to bind her. The same way the one-tailed Bijuu was captured a few years ago.
And, in that group of mercenaries, was one of the men who participated in the sealing of the Bijuu. That being the biggest reason he was there.
And like every human being, greed began to replace his fear.
Memories of when he helped seal the one-tailed Bijuu hovered through his mind, and slowly, he reached into his backpack, which contained all of his sealing items.
The leader of the group was the first to move freely, and as he turned around, he widened his eyes as he realized the man's intent.
- No-
Too late.
The man opened his backpack and immediately took out two not very large black sticks.
Imbuing them with his chakra, huge silver chains emerged from the sticks and advanced towards the fox. A copy of the powerful adamantine chains of the Uzumaki, although nowhere near the originals, they were still strong enough to bind a Bijuu.
The fox's tails were wrapped in the chains, as were all its paws(?).
The man advanced towards the fox while concentrating even more chakra on the chains, preparing to launch the containment seal.
The group of mercenaries stood still for a while, and soon, more of them decided to act as well. The sight of the fox "trapped" by the chains only fueled their greed.
Just like the first one, they took black sticks on which, soon, silver chains appeared and advanced towards the fox.
- You idiots! You don't-
And again, he was interrupted.
It was only an instant, a tiny instant, just a few milliseconds, perhaps, but it was enough for the place to be stained with blood and limbs splattered all around.
The remaining mercenaries could only stare as the chains holding the fox's body were destroyed, and the remains of those bodies fell to the ground.
Fear again entered their hearts.
The fox's presence became even stronger, to the point that they were even having trouble breathing.
- I gave you a chance... why don't you humans ever listen?
She said in a much more threatening voice than before, slowly approaching the group of mercenaries.
Her red eyes seemed to glow, to stare deep into their souls.
Was it their impression, or had the air become colder?
- This arrogance... this greed that prevents you from evolving as a race... it angers me. I tried to stay away from you so that there would be no need to have more bloodshed, but you... you seem to be looking for trouble.
She stooped down in front of them, her teeth bared literally right in front of their faces.
- This is the last chance... leave this place.
The power behind those words... the mercenaries immediately started running, as fast as they could, and didn't stop until they were far enough away.
The fox sighed and retracted her chakra.
Turning around, she stared at all that blood on the ground with a small amount of guilt in her eyes. Unlike the rumors, she hated killing.
But in those millennia she had lived, she had been forced to do so countless times. The fox was not proud of all those lives she had taken.
She often wished she could go back in time and wish she had never done that. But, she had learned to live with that weight.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a faint but persevering presence approaching from some bushes beside her.
The presence was too different to be from any of those men, too weak and too small to be from any man.
His red eyes stared, surprised and curious, at the little boy who was slowly approaching.
- A human child? Here? Hey, boy, you-
The fox stopped talking as she paid attention to the boy.
Tattered clothes, dried blood all over his body, a broken arm as well as some of his ribs. A tired expression and desperate eyes.
Kyuubi was incredulous at the boy's condition, especially as she felt such weak energy draining away more and more. It was surprising that he was still moving, even in that state.
She couldn't help but feel disturbed by that sight. A child, so young, so pure, in that state... who else would leave her like that?
What other creature in the world was so cruel to do that to a child?
The child didn't stop in that forest because she got lost from her parents.
The human race has always proved to be trash, since the beginning of time. Garbage, even with their own kind.
The fox, then, could not help but feel surprised, too.
The boy was not bothered by all that blood, or that arm or leg that was lying on the ground not far from there.
There was no fear in his eyes, only desperation.
And for the first time in a long time, the fox didn't know how to react when the boy hugged her paw.