Saving The Inner Self
Chapter One: Meeting the Team
Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi headed towards the sound of fighting. Kakashi had been hearing it for a while now and told the others they were going to check it out. The continued flying through the trees until they came to a clearing, once there, they quietly made themselves somewhat invisible.
"Boys we have visitors." Said a tall man wearing a hitai-ate around his forehead as most shinobi do. The symbol on his hitai-ate was on they'd never seen before, it was like a swirl with two dots in the middle of the swirls. Almost like a yin yang sign except the swirls were spread out and had a line through them. His blonde hair was rather wild and stood up in a gravity defying hair-do and his orange eyes made him look deadly. He wore an outfit much like Kakashi's except his shirt was black; the vest was almost identical and green. His pants were long and also green, except a much darker green than his vest.
"All right...so?" asked the first boy, he had brown hair streaked with red and had several bangs hanging into his red-brown eyes. He had an identical T-shirt to Sasuke's and baggy white shorts. He wore fingerless, black, gloves with his symbol engraved into the metal part. His hitai-ate was around his left thigh.
"Are they unwanted?" asked the second boy. He had light blue hair that fell just below his ears. It lay flat against his head and his part was almost un-seeable. His eyes were a welcoming sea blue colour. He wore a black, long-sleeved, turtleneck under an open vest. His vest didn't have the big shoulder pads like his teachers. His pants were long and light blue, they looked airy and comfortable. His hitai-ate was worn around his right upper arm.
"I do not know." Said the man slowly. "Why don't you ask them?"
"Be my guest." Said the blue haired boy.
"Heh, why thank you, Neo." The brown haired boy threw kunai straight at Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke causing them to jump into the air so they could avoid the daggers. "Aww...they're just Konohagakure ninja." Whined the brown haired boy. "What a waste of kunai." He mumbled.
"Still, we should welcome them." Said the boy identified as Neo. His soft blue eyes stared at the four. "Welcome Konoha ninja." He said smiling warmly. He bowed deeply and looked to his comrade.
"Yes, you know, Kyoji, it is good to be polite. Welcome Konoha ninja." Said the tall man bowing not as deeply as Neo, but it still gave off a warm gesture.
"Fine, fine, you win Koei-sensei." Pouted the boy identified as Kyoji. "Welcome strangers." He said bowing slightly.
"Thank you." Said Kakashi bowing his head a little as well. "May I ask where you are from?" he asked cautiously.
"Meh, you could but you wouldn't get an answer." Said Kyoji shrugging and trying to pull his kunai out of the tree. 'How had he gotten over there so quickly?' Sasuke wondered.
"You should really be more polite Kyoji. Master Koei, should I go get Aya?" asked Neo softly.
"No, she is meditating. I do not wish to disturb her until it is time." Answered the teacher identified as Koei.
"So we gonna talk to these creeps now that we've acknowledged them?" asked Kyoji loudly. He was once again beside his teacher.
"What makes you think we're creeps?" asked Sakura with a tint of irritation.
"Well, you were spying on us." Kyoji said looking thoughtful. "And you came from the Hidden Village with the ill-mannered, irrational ninja guys." Said Kyoji smirking at her obvious anger.
"Our ninja are not ill-mannered." Shouted Sakura while Inner Sakura yelled [Let me at him! I'll tear him to pieces. How dare he call our ninja ill mannered and irrational!]
"Then you obviously don't know them very well." Kyoji said winking at her causing her to blush.
"Oh get off their backs." Neo said butting in. He could see the anger rising in Sasuke and Naruto's eyes. "They don't seem to know about those ninja so just give them a break." He added defensively.
"So now you're taking the side of the Konoha strangers?" asked Kyoji inquisitively.
"No, I'm clearly stating that you don't know a thing about them so don't be so quick to judge." Neo said politely. This ninja was one that would probably never stop smiling or never stop being polite.
"Uh-huh..." Kyoji said with a raised eyebrow.
"Boys, we can get to know the Konoha ninja later, right now Aya is ready." Koei said advisingly.
"Alright!" Kyoji said punching the air. "Now you'll see a real ninja fight Konoha losers!"
Neo pulled out a shuriken and looked towards Kyoji. "Let's go." He said, suddenly dead serious.
Kyoji nodded and the two threw their shuriken at what looked like nothing until their shurikens bounced off an invisible shield. Then the fight began. The two began pounding at the invisible force until it seemed to shatter and they saw a girl sitting in the air with her legs crossed. Her head was bowed and her hands were closed together with her index fingers and middle fingers pointing up. She wore the same kind of fingerless gloves as Kyoji. She wore the same coat as Shino beige and looked to be a size too big. Her pants were tight black shorts. From her knees down were wrapped in bandages and her hitai-ate could be seen on her right upper arm. She had black-purple hair tied up in a high ponytail and even in the ponytail it flowed down to her shoulder blades. As soon as the force field shattered, the girls' eyes snapped open to reveal two bright green orbs and she stepped down onto the ground. The two boys were now tired from trying to break the shield which gave this girl an incredible advantage.
"Ready?" she whispered softly. "To lose?" she smirked as they attacked shouting loudly to feel more powerful.
She dodged their attacks easily and after each of them made an attempt to attack her she would hit a chakra hole and close it while at the same time injuring them. When Neo finally hit her, she stumbled a bit before turning her swagger into an attack and repelled Kyoji into a large tree as she swung her arms and released a high amount of chakra. Neo looked at her viciously and lunged. Aya jumped into the air then jumped off Neo's back driving him into the ground and sending her flying at a recovering Kyoji. Aya was too fast though and elbowed Kyoji in the stomach sending him flying again. The two finally gave up and sauntered over to their teacher.
"Well, that wasn't excellent, but it was better than the last time. Congratulations Aya, you're getting better but you still haven't perfected your dodging. Keep practicing." He said to them as the two boys sat on the ground panting heavily while the girl, Aya, stood up straight, nodded and bowed. She then started to walk away.
"Hey wait a minute. Where are you going?" Asked Naruto loudly.
Aya gave him a side-glance and shook her head. "Naruto, even though you're the strongest on your team, you're very stupid." And with that being said in her calm voice, she kept walking.
"Hey! How did she know my name?" Naruto asked loudly.
Kyoji opened his mouth to answer but then shut it and put on a thinking pose. When he finally did answer, his information wasn't very informative. "Don't know." He said shrugging.
"You must've met her some time ago, Aya remembers everyone and everything." Neo added thoughtfully.
"I don't remember no girl like her." Naruto stated confidently.
"Your memory skills aren't the greatest anyway Naruto." Sakura said while sweat dropping.
"HEY!" Naruto shouted as everyone started to laugh.
Somewhere near by, something rustled in the bushes. Out of nowhere a kunai shot at the rustling sound and 12 ninja jumped out of the bushes.
"What business do you lowlife have here?" Came Aya's voice sounding distant and echoing.
"Now, now Aya be nice." Koei said to the air.
"Aww man! More Konoha ninja?" Kyoji said looking disappointed.
"HEY!!! It's Gai's team, Kurenai's team and Asuma's team!" Naruto said bouncing up to them.
"It's been a while." Said Neji loftily.
"Oh well, they're no threat anyway." Said Aya's voice. "Even Kyoji could take them all on." Aya added smugly.
"Really?" asked Kyoji astounded. "Wait a minute. That was a diss!" He shouted loudly. "Aya get your ass down here so I can kick it!"
"I think not. I'm going down to the river to think about something." Aya said as her voice faded.
"More like someone. You're going to think about your boyfriend that you've never told us about, right!?" Kyoji shouted smirking.
"No, I do believe she was talking about me." Said a new voice. "Aya dear, I'll be waiting for you by the cliff that you love so much." Said the male voice.
"NAGO YOU BASTARD!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Aya shouted, her calm collected manner gone entirely. The others could hear the rustling of leaves as she ran through the forest.
"Master Koei what do we do?" Neo asked worried.
"FIND HER!!!" shouted Koei angrily. "If she gets attacked now she may die! She used up too much chakra when she threw Kyoji into the tree." He added.
Kyoji, Neo and Koei all vanished by using a teleportation technique. Leaving the others there without a clue as to where they should run.
"Follow the sound of water." Hinata said softly.
"Akamaru and I'll sniff them out!" Kiba offered as Akamaru barked in agreement.
"My bugs will help as well." Shino added.
"Good! Let's go!" shouted Gai.
"Let them work first, Gai." Kakashi snorted.
"Look who's talking." Gai said watching Kakashi walk into nothing.
"I'm following their energy levels." Kakashi said pointedly.
"How can you tell the difference?" asked Gai demandingly.
"One of the many techniques I picked up using the Sharingan eye and using my eyes and mind." Kakashi said proudly.
Now it was Gai's turn to snort. "Whatever."
~***~
Out on the cliff, Aya stood her dark purple hair swinging in the wind, facing a boy with the same dark purple hair only it was short and spiked up, and his eye was as black as coal. He had his hitai-ate worn over one eye. He wore a blood red kimono shirt over a white shirt and red pants. He had a black sash tied around his waist and a katana sheath at his side. Aya's upturned collar hid her face, but with the look in her eyes anyone could tell she meant to kill.
"So, after 8 years this is how you greet me Aya-chan?" asked the boy, Nago somewhat mockingly.
"Don't you Aya-chan me! I came to kill you and I will." Aya replied venomously.
"Aya, Aya, Aya, what am I going to do with you?" he asked shaking his head.
"You will stand there so I may kill you." She answered, stone faced and determined.
"Right." He said in a non-believing manner. "And what makes you think you can kill me? After all, I've killed an entire village with hardly any movement at all, as you probably remember. And to think, that was 8 years ago." He said thoughtfully.
"Because I've improved and my will and determination are much stronger than yours." She said glaring at him.
"Ay yes, will power. Such a wonderful thing, isn't it Aya-chan?" Nago asked smiling softly.
"SHUT UP!!!" Aya shouted angrily.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what would mother and father say if they heard you now?" Nago gasped comically. "Oh my, is Aya-chan being reminded of certain feelings?" Nago asked with his fake pout still on.
"What would you know about feelings? You've never felt since the day you changed when you were 11! At least, you never felt when you killed mother and father, or when you pulled out Nagi's heart and crushed it before my very eyes. And you never felt when you left me there in the middle of the woods on a cold winter's night." Aya hissed.
"Oh, I'm hurt. Nice to know you still remember though." Nago smiled happily.
"Oi! You! Guy with the katana! What do you want with Aya?" came Kyoji's loud voice striking down the silence.
"What interesting friends you have Aya-chan." Nago said pointedly.
"At least I have friends." Aya mumbled to herself.
"What was that?" seethed Nago while lifting up Aya by the collar of her jacket.
"Oh. Did little Aya-chan finally hit a nerve? So the beast does feel. Hatred that is!" she spat in his face while smirking.
"Bitch!" Nago shouted and tossed the smaller girl to the feet of her comrades.
"Aya! Are you ok?" Neo asked in a soft voice.
"I'm fine. Go away, I don't want you guys to get hurt." She whispered back.
"Come now Aya, it will be fun to have an audience." Nago said back to his smug mood.
"No, it won't." Aya said flatly just as the others arrived.
"But they shall enjoy watching their friend get killed. Don't you think so, little sister dearest?" asked Nago looking smug.
"LITTLE SISTER?!" Almost everybody shouted.
Aya walked forward and turned back looking at the others. She then punched the ground and watched as the cliff separated itself from the rest of the mountain.
"NO!" Koei shouted trying to grasp the cliff with his own ki but he couldn't quite get a grasp on it.
Aya then turned to face Nago and explained. "There is a force field round us for some ways up and it will only go away if one of us dies or becomes too weak to fight. There is a positive ki holding us up right now and it too will fail if one of us dies or becomes too weak to fight. Ready older brother?" asked Aya standing still and watching her brothers' every move.
"Ready when you are." He said assuming a fighting position.
"NO! Aya I forbid it get down here the instant." Koei demanded desperately.
Aya looked over her shoulder and gave Koei a 'just try and stop me' look and was then thrown towards the force field because Nago had swung the first punch.
Chapter One: Meeting the Team
Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi headed towards the sound of fighting. Kakashi had been hearing it for a while now and told the others they were going to check it out. The continued flying through the trees until they came to a clearing, once there, they quietly made themselves somewhat invisible.
"Boys we have visitors." Said a tall man wearing a hitai-ate around his forehead as most shinobi do. The symbol on his hitai-ate was on they'd never seen before, it was like a swirl with two dots in the middle of the swirls. Almost like a yin yang sign except the swirls were spread out and had a line through them. His blonde hair was rather wild and stood up in a gravity defying hair-do and his orange eyes made him look deadly. He wore an outfit much like Kakashi's except his shirt was black; the vest was almost identical and green. His pants were long and also green, except a much darker green than his vest.
"All right...so?" asked the first boy, he had brown hair streaked with red and had several bangs hanging into his red-brown eyes. He had an identical T-shirt to Sasuke's and baggy white shorts. He wore fingerless, black, gloves with his symbol engraved into the metal part. His hitai-ate was around his left thigh.
"Are they unwanted?" asked the second boy. He had light blue hair that fell just below his ears. It lay flat against his head and his part was almost un-seeable. His eyes were a welcoming sea blue colour. He wore a black, long-sleeved, turtleneck under an open vest. His vest didn't have the big shoulder pads like his teachers. His pants were long and light blue, they looked airy and comfortable. His hitai-ate was worn around his right upper arm.
"I do not know." Said the man slowly. "Why don't you ask them?"
"Be my guest." Said the blue haired boy.
"Heh, why thank you, Neo." The brown haired boy threw kunai straight at Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke causing them to jump into the air so they could avoid the daggers. "Aww...they're just Konohagakure ninja." Whined the brown haired boy. "What a waste of kunai." He mumbled.
"Still, we should welcome them." Said the boy identified as Neo. His soft blue eyes stared at the four. "Welcome Konoha ninja." He said smiling warmly. He bowed deeply and looked to his comrade.
"Yes, you know, Kyoji, it is good to be polite. Welcome Konoha ninja." Said the tall man bowing not as deeply as Neo, but it still gave off a warm gesture.
"Fine, fine, you win Koei-sensei." Pouted the boy identified as Kyoji. "Welcome strangers." He said bowing slightly.
"Thank you." Said Kakashi bowing his head a little as well. "May I ask where you are from?" he asked cautiously.
"Meh, you could but you wouldn't get an answer." Said Kyoji shrugging and trying to pull his kunai out of the tree. 'How had he gotten over there so quickly?' Sasuke wondered.
"You should really be more polite Kyoji. Master Koei, should I go get Aya?" asked Neo softly.
"No, she is meditating. I do not wish to disturb her until it is time." Answered the teacher identified as Koei.
"So we gonna talk to these creeps now that we've acknowledged them?" asked Kyoji loudly. He was once again beside his teacher.
"What makes you think we're creeps?" asked Sakura with a tint of irritation.
"Well, you were spying on us." Kyoji said looking thoughtful. "And you came from the Hidden Village with the ill-mannered, irrational ninja guys." Said Kyoji smirking at her obvious anger.
"Our ninja are not ill-mannered." Shouted Sakura while Inner Sakura yelled [Let me at him! I'll tear him to pieces. How dare he call our ninja ill mannered and irrational!]
"Then you obviously don't know them very well." Kyoji said winking at her causing her to blush.
"Oh get off their backs." Neo said butting in. He could see the anger rising in Sasuke and Naruto's eyes. "They don't seem to know about those ninja so just give them a break." He added defensively.
"So now you're taking the side of the Konoha strangers?" asked Kyoji inquisitively.
"No, I'm clearly stating that you don't know a thing about them so don't be so quick to judge." Neo said politely. This ninja was one that would probably never stop smiling or never stop being polite.
"Uh-huh..." Kyoji said with a raised eyebrow.
"Boys, we can get to know the Konoha ninja later, right now Aya is ready." Koei said advisingly.
"Alright!" Kyoji said punching the air. "Now you'll see a real ninja fight Konoha losers!"
Neo pulled out a shuriken and looked towards Kyoji. "Let's go." He said, suddenly dead serious.
Kyoji nodded and the two threw their shuriken at what looked like nothing until their shurikens bounced off an invisible shield. Then the fight began. The two began pounding at the invisible force until it seemed to shatter and they saw a girl sitting in the air with her legs crossed. Her head was bowed and her hands were closed together with her index fingers and middle fingers pointing up. She wore the same kind of fingerless gloves as Kyoji. She wore the same coat as Shino beige and looked to be a size too big. Her pants were tight black shorts. From her knees down were wrapped in bandages and her hitai-ate could be seen on her right upper arm. She had black-purple hair tied up in a high ponytail and even in the ponytail it flowed down to her shoulder blades. As soon as the force field shattered, the girls' eyes snapped open to reveal two bright green orbs and she stepped down onto the ground. The two boys were now tired from trying to break the shield which gave this girl an incredible advantage.
"Ready?" she whispered softly. "To lose?" she smirked as they attacked shouting loudly to feel more powerful.
She dodged their attacks easily and after each of them made an attempt to attack her she would hit a chakra hole and close it while at the same time injuring them. When Neo finally hit her, she stumbled a bit before turning her swagger into an attack and repelled Kyoji into a large tree as she swung her arms and released a high amount of chakra. Neo looked at her viciously and lunged. Aya jumped into the air then jumped off Neo's back driving him into the ground and sending her flying at a recovering Kyoji. Aya was too fast though and elbowed Kyoji in the stomach sending him flying again. The two finally gave up and sauntered over to their teacher.
"Well, that wasn't excellent, but it was better than the last time. Congratulations Aya, you're getting better but you still haven't perfected your dodging. Keep practicing." He said to them as the two boys sat on the ground panting heavily while the girl, Aya, stood up straight, nodded and bowed. She then started to walk away.
"Hey wait a minute. Where are you going?" Asked Naruto loudly.
Aya gave him a side-glance and shook her head. "Naruto, even though you're the strongest on your team, you're very stupid." And with that being said in her calm voice, she kept walking.
"Hey! How did she know my name?" Naruto asked loudly.
Kyoji opened his mouth to answer but then shut it and put on a thinking pose. When he finally did answer, his information wasn't very informative. "Don't know." He said shrugging.
"You must've met her some time ago, Aya remembers everyone and everything." Neo added thoughtfully.
"I don't remember no girl like her." Naruto stated confidently.
"Your memory skills aren't the greatest anyway Naruto." Sakura said while sweat dropping.
"HEY!" Naruto shouted as everyone started to laugh.
Somewhere near by, something rustled in the bushes. Out of nowhere a kunai shot at the rustling sound and 12 ninja jumped out of the bushes.
"What business do you lowlife have here?" Came Aya's voice sounding distant and echoing.
"Now, now Aya be nice." Koei said to the air.
"Aww man! More Konoha ninja?" Kyoji said looking disappointed.
"HEY!!! It's Gai's team, Kurenai's team and Asuma's team!" Naruto said bouncing up to them.
"It's been a while." Said Neji loftily.
"Oh well, they're no threat anyway." Said Aya's voice. "Even Kyoji could take them all on." Aya added smugly.
"Really?" asked Kyoji astounded. "Wait a minute. That was a diss!" He shouted loudly. "Aya get your ass down here so I can kick it!"
"I think not. I'm going down to the river to think about something." Aya said as her voice faded.
"More like someone. You're going to think about your boyfriend that you've never told us about, right!?" Kyoji shouted smirking.
"No, I do believe she was talking about me." Said a new voice. "Aya dear, I'll be waiting for you by the cliff that you love so much." Said the male voice.
"NAGO YOU BASTARD!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Aya shouted, her calm collected manner gone entirely. The others could hear the rustling of leaves as she ran through the forest.
"Master Koei what do we do?" Neo asked worried.
"FIND HER!!!" shouted Koei angrily. "If she gets attacked now she may die! She used up too much chakra when she threw Kyoji into the tree." He added.
Kyoji, Neo and Koei all vanished by using a teleportation technique. Leaving the others there without a clue as to where they should run.
"Follow the sound of water." Hinata said softly.
"Akamaru and I'll sniff them out!" Kiba offered as Akamaru barked in agreement.
"My bugs will help as well." Shino added.
"Good! Let's go!" shouted Gai.
"Let them work first, Gai." Kakashi snorted.
"Look who's talking." Gai said watching Kakashi walk into nothing.
"I'm following their energy levels." Kakashi said pointedly.
"How can you tell the difference?" asked Gai demandingly.
"One of the many techniques I picked up using the Sharingan eye and using my eyes and mind." Kakashi said proudly.
Now it was Gai's turn to snort. "Whatever."
~***~
Out on the cliff, Aya stood her dark purple hair swinging in the wind, facing a boy with the same dark purple hair only it was short and spiked up, and his eye was as black as coal. He had his hitai-ate worn over one eye. He wore a blood red kimono shirt over a white shirt and red pants. He had a black sash tied around his waist and a katana sheath at his side. Aya's upturned collar hid her face, but with the look in her eyes anyone could tell she meant to kill.
"So, after 8 years this is how you greet me Aya-chan?" asked the boy, Nago somewhat mockingly.
"Don't you Aya-chan me! I came to kill you and I will." Aya replied venomously.
"Aya, Aya, Aya, what am I going to do with you?" he asked shaking his head.
"You will stand there so I may kill you." She answered, stone faced and determined.
"Right." He said in a non-believing manner. "And what makes you think you can kill me? After all, I've killed an entire village with hardly any movement at all, as you probably remember. And to think, that was 8 years ago." He said thoughtfully.
"Because I've improved and my will and determination are much stronger than yours." She said glaring at him.
"Ay yes, will power. Such a wonderful thing, isn't it Aya-chan?" Nago asked smiling softly.
"SHUT UP!!!" Aya shouted angrily.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what would mother and father say if they heard you now?" Nago gasped comically. "Oh my, is Aya-chan being reminded of certain feelings?" Nago asked with his fake pout still on.
"What would you know about feelings? You've never felt since the day you changed when you were 11! At least, you never felt when you killed mother and father, or when you pulled out Nagi's heart and crushed it before my very eyes. And you never felt when you left me there in the middle of the woods on a cold winter's night." Aya hissed.
"Oh, I'm hurt. Nice to know you still remember though." Nago smiled happily.
"Oi! You! Guy with the katana! What do you want with Aya?" came Kyoji's loud voice striking down the silence.
"What interesting friends you have Aya-chan." Nago said pointedly.
"At least I have friends." Aya mumbled to herself.
"What was that?" seethed Nago while lifting up Aya by the collar of her jacket.
"Oh. Did little Aya-chan finally hit a nerve? So the beast does feel. Hatred that is!" she spat in his face while smirking.
"Bitch!" Nago shouted and tossed the smaller girl to the feet of her comrades.
"Aya! Are you ok?" Neo asked in a soft voice.
"I'm fine. Go away, I don't want you guys to get hurt." She whispered back.
"Come now Aya, it will be fun to have an audience." Nago said back to his smug mood.
"No, it won't." Aya said flatly just as the others arrived.
"But they shall enjoy watching their friend get killed. Don't you think so, little sister dearest?" asked Nago looking smug.
"LITTLE SISTER?!" Almost everybody shouted.
Aya walked forward and turned back looking at the others. She then punched the ground and watched as the cliff separated itself from the rest of the mountain.
"NO!" Koei shouted trying to grasp the cliff with his own ki but he couldn't quite get a grasp on it.
Aya then turned to face Nago and explained. "There is a force field round us for some ways up and it will only go away if one of us dies or becomes too weak to fight. There is a positive ki holding us up right now and it too will fail if one of us dies or becomes too weak to fight. Ready older brother?" asked Aya standing still and watching her brothers' every move.
"Ready when you are." He said assuming a fighting position.
"NO! Aya I forbid it get down here the instant." Koei demanded desperately.
Aya looked over her shoulder and gave Koei a 'just try and stop me' look and was then thrown towards the force field because Nago had swung the first punch.