I do not own any rights to Naruto (story or characters). Just the characters I make up along the way! I have full love and respect for Masashi Kishimoto!
While this isn't my first story it is under my pen name, Aubrei Seraph. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to ask me any questions or offer any suggestions!
Have fun!
UPDATE: It's been awhile. I've had a lot of stuff happen since I originally published this but my heart has never left this story. I am working on editing chapters 2-4 and I've got through chapter 8 written. Please let me know what you think! :)
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When I met Shiba I was dirty and starving. I had just grabbed a bag of freshly baked bread from a group of traders that had stopped near the oasis. This particular group had just come from an encampment at the center of the desert. I had followed them to where they currently rested at the base of the cliffs. The warm smell of the bread along with soups and cured meat was intoxicating as it wafted in the breeze and my stomach cramped painful trying in vain to eat itself. My mouth was salivating as I reached for the small bag too blinded by hunger to know right from wrong. It was hardly anything worth missing, surely they wouldn't mind?
Coming out of nowhere my vision was suddenly filled with a shadow that swallowed all the light around me. I should have dropped the bag and ran but in my desperation I couldn't think rationally. Lashing out like a crazed monster I attacked her, the bag clutched tightly in my fist. I managed to knock her off guard for a moment before she recovered and countered. She was just toying with me I realized as she easily dodged all my attacks. Had I been at full strength I would have fared better, but in my weakened state I was barely able to defend myself.
Once there was an opening and realizing I wouldn't survive this fight I dashed past her fleeing into the caves. Relief flooded my system as I landed in a heap on the cold stone floor of my home, my body shaking terribly despite the heat. It wasn't until I calmed my racing heart that I realized my hands were empty. In my hurry to escape I had somehow dropped the bag I had so desperately fought for. I remember sobbing into my hands as I huddled in the back of the cave. I was sure I wouldn't survive the night.
I hadn't cried since my father left, but this time the empty feeling all but consumed me. All I could do was let the sobs be pulled from my body. In my weakened state there was no fighting and as the tears pulled the last of my energy out of me I fell into a deep sleep. When I woke it was already morning and the sun was streaming in. Somehow I had survived through the night. As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes I tried to focus on what had woken me. My eyes were drawn to an all too familiar shadow that crowded the mouth of the cave. All I could focus on was eyes as red as blood and teeth that looked sharper than my sharpest blade. Too weak to do anything other than stumble my way further into the cave I tried to put as much distance between it and me. I just knew that I was going to die. After everything that I have suffered through I would meet my end as some hungry wolf's dinner. Closing my eyes tight I waited for the blissful end to all this suffering.
It was a wish I was never granted. As I sat there clutching my legs tight against my chest waiting for death all I got was a soft chuckle. "You're too scrawny for me to eat pup." Her voice was rough but warm as it spoke drawing my eyes open and to the white face of the wolf before me. She really was a beautiful creature with a strong lithe body built for speed and agility. She could have easily jumped across the cave to kill me, but she hadn't. She just stood there staring down at me with a sort of smirk on her face. "Here, you must be hungry." As she spoke she moved a bag closer to me startling me into moving back another few feet. Again she laughed at me which only made me mad. If she was going to eat me why was she teasing me so? Just get it over with!
When I felt that it was safe to move I inched close to the bag flipping back the top and staring into its contents. The bag was small but filled to the brim with cured meat and freshly baked bread. The smell alone was enough to make my stomach twist painfully and I all but dove into the bag. "Easy, don't eat too much at once. You'll get a stomach ache." Despite my fear of her and my ravenous hunger I knew she was right. Biting into a piece of meat and chewing it slowly I tried to pace myself. I was in no hurry to experience any more pain. When half the bag was gone I closed it and carried it over to my trunk where I kept all my valuables. I didn't know when I would find food again and I wasn't going to risk it.
"You really are living out here huh?" She scoffed looking around my room with her nose turned up. "How long have you been out here?" I understood what she was saying but I hadn't spoken to someone in so long that I don't think my voice would have worked. Instead of mocking me she just cocked her head to the side and snorted. "Nothing to say?" I shook my head before my mouth opened in a large yawn one that I was unable to stop. "Sleep little one. I will keep watch." I was too tired to be afraid. I didn't even notice she had moved until the warmth of her fur surrounded me blocking the harsh desert winds. It was the first time in a very long time that I felt safe and secure. Not since my father abandoned me all those years ago.
Shiba became my family after that. She taught me how to hunt and how to make fire. I learned to move through desert and navigate by the stars. As the years passed and I slowly grew she taught me how to mold chakra. Everything that I am is thanks to Shiba. I gained a mentor but I think Shiba gained something too, because I saw that lonely look in her eyes, the same one that haunted my own and the same one that I saw in Gaara's back then. Maybe that was why they got along so well.
Shiba was good at what she did and in under an hour the Kazekage was back in good health, if not a little exhausted. She even allowed them a chance to gather food in the forest while he rested which was a shock to me. Shiba did not trust humans, let alone Shinobi. I was grateful that she made an exception for Gaara, but I was still wary about her around the others. I would hate to have to explain to Gaara why one of his Shinobi was missing a limb.
It turned out that I was right about him and Gaara. Kankuro was his elder brother. While he seemed to relax a little now that his brother was out of the woods there was no love lost between the two of us. He didn't trust me and I didn't trust him. It was a mutual dislike that I was ok with. Kaiyo, the motor-mouth, was a different story. She took to Shiba the moment the wolf gave her permission to approach. It seemed to amuse Shiba to no end the fearlessness that this small woman possessed, because as soon as she was given permission she launched herself at the wolf. It was a sight that I would never forget, Shiba staring at this brown headed woman as she pet her side like some house pet; though I did catch her on more than one occasion purring contently.
Once everyone seemed to be strong enough to travel Shiba and I decided that we had enough human's in our home for one day. The trip back through the caves was easier than before. Gaara was quiet the whole trip back and refused the quilt once the temperature dropped. Then again, he did have his sand armor back on. It probably offered more warmth that the blanket anyway. Shiba followed closely beside him almost like she was expecting him to fall again. They spoke in quiet voices as we walked but as much as I could extend my sight my hearing was a different story. Every once in a while he would look up at me when he thought I couldn't see him. Whatever they were talking about it had something to do with me, of that I was certain.
It was sun down by the time we made it to Suna. The cave system that we traveled through connected to the back of Suna through a secret entrance. All five of their faces were in awe at how close we had been the whole time. "Thank you Yuu-chan!" Kaiyo smiled next to me pulling me from my thoughts. I was curious as to the name but she simply waved at me and pulled Kankuro reluctantly behind her. His arguing followed them through the buildings leaving the other Shinobi shaking their heads like this was common. The rest weren't as quick to leave. They turned to their leader waiting for instructions only to be waived off a moment later.
This was it. After this moment he would go back to his life as the leader of his village and I would go back to my days alone in my forest. I should have been happy, ecstatic even, and yet why did it feel so wrong to say goodbye? Shiba must have noticed my hesitation for she gave me a look and then spoke to the Kazekage directly. "You won't be able to get back the way you came. There is a seal on this entrance that allows only myself and Yuumei through." My heart clenched at her words. Gaara seemed just as ambivalent as I was as he looked up at the wolf before him. "What if I wish to speak with you again?" He asked his voice quiet almost a whisper. Shiba just chuckled before tossing him a scroll. "In cases of emergency only." She clarified before turning and walking back into the cave. "Thank you again Shiba." At his words Shiba let out a snort and muttered something about annoying humans before she disappeared from sight.
Left alone with the Kazekage felt awkward for reasons I couldn't fathom. It was all so confusing that I wanted to just run away from it all. Sadly I couldn't seem to get my body to move. He wanted to say something; I could see it in the way his mouth would open slightly before closing once again. I know my heart was beating its way out of my chest I could feel it pounding against my ribs. "Stay." Stay? Why would he ask me that? I mean, he didn't know me and other than the few times we talked we hadn't spent that much time together. More importantly why did that sound so appealing? "Why?" I whispered back unable to hide the confusion his words caused.
Silence filled the air around us as I waited for him to respond my hands clenching into fist almost to the point of drawing blood. "It would be beneficial to us both if you stayed." My body tensed once the words were spoken and I felt like a fool. He was the Kazekage of the entire Wind Country. Of course his first thought was of his village. How could I have thought anything else? I turned from him then, not able to look into those teal eyes any longer. If I did I knew he would easily sway me and I was not foolish enough to let myself be tricked again. "That's really all you Shinobi can think about, what gets you the most power."
"That's not-!" When his hand reached out to mine, those long fingers curling around my wrist, I flinched feeling that all too familiar pain once more. "I didn't mean it like that, I just- you don't have to be alone anymore." How I wanted to believe those words, but he was a Shinobi and all they cared about was power. "I'm not lonely. I have Shiba and the forest. I don't need anything else." I could feel his sand moving against my skin the entire time I spoke. It was like it was trying to sooth me and I yanked my hand away putting a good distance between us.
I bit my lip against the emotions welling up inside me trying to put a damn on the flood. I wanted to believe him, believe that there was hope still in this world; and yet, I knew better. "Companionship only causes pain." I gritted out rubbing the inside of my wrist where his touch once was. "Not all pain is bad. It means we are still alive." I laughed startling him. "Then it's good I don't feel anything." My words hit him like a slap to the face. I knew he didn't fully understand what I meant but I was done talking.
It hurt. Kami it hurt. The pain I saw in his eyes as I walked away left a vise around my heart. Was all pain this intense? No matter how much I tried to ignore it there it was, beating out a painful rhythm in my chest. Damn him! I should have left them there to die in the storm.
Shiba didn't saying anything when I returned but I was sure she could see the look on my face. I tried to put them out of my mind. Working always helped to distract me and before I knew it the days turned into weeks. That pain never left though. It was like an itch that I couldn't scratch deep in my heart that left me angry and confused. What had been done to me? With a simple touch he had changed my world and now I couldn't seem to rid him from my thoughts.
Three weeks went by and I continued to fall more and more into despair as the ache only got worse. I would find myself wonder along the forest almost in a daze as I battled the throbbing behind my breast. I didn't even realize it when I had walked all the way to Suna. I froze in shock at where I stood flabbergasted at how I had gotten here without realizing it.
"Yuu-chan?" Broken from my rage filled thoughts I looked up only to be met with sad and worried brown eyes. Her voice was like a whisper on the wind so soft that I barely heard it. Tears filled her eyes and before I could even mutter one syllable my vision was filled with curls. "Yuu-chan!" I had never liked physical contact before but there was no stopping her as she knocked us over in her attempt to hug me. Those little touches of Gaara's always surprised me but not as much as being subjected to the full-body hug from Kaiyo.
I stood there stock still as she sobbed into my shoulder wondering what the hell just happened. So many questions were flying through my mind that I couldn't seem to hold onto one before another took its place. It had to be this village, this strange little place in the desert. How else could I describe these strange people and their abilities to break down all my walls? I barely made out her words as she sobbed, the sound muffled by my cloak. "We were so worried! No one had seen you in weeks!" Worried? Why would she worry about me? It wasn't like I visited the village that often anyway and we had only met the one time. "Why?" I asked confused. She just sat back wiping her tears on her sleeves before uttering three words that I hadn't heard in years. "Because we're friends."
I can't describe what my mind was thinking at that moment. The last time someone had said those words to me I watched them die in my arms. That was the last time I remember crying. Tears seemed wasted on a fate that I could not change. I knew this and yet, why were my eyes suddenly filled to the brim? I couldn't stop them even if I tried and really what good would that do now.
I left here there with the promise that I would see is tomorrow. When Shiba met me back home she simply smiled as if knowing what transpired. I asked her about it days later. "Long ago you gave advice to a small boy when all he had in the world was pain. Maybe you should take some of your own advice ever once in a while." With my emotions already a mess I felt my body shake with laughter. She was right; I was nothing but a hypocrite. I laughed so hard that I my sides started to hurt which only made me laugh harder. I laughed and laughed until I couldn't anymore and then I slept curled up next to her. For the first time in years I dreamt of life and laughter instead of death and despair. Honestly, it was the best night's sleep I had in hundreds of years.