Disclaimer – I, in no way own Naruto or characters from Naruto, manga or otherwise, but I do own original characters of this Fanfiction. You'll know who as you read.

To Embrace

Ch. 1

Converge

Konoha was now in sight; a signal to his other companions and they slowed at the gates. "What business do you have with Konoha!" The guard inspected the three children in front of him; he'd never seen clothing like theirs before. "Were here for the Chunin selection exams." The girl traveling in between the two boys was the one who spoke, the guard jumped down to inspect their papers. Noticing more than ever their unique appearance, the girl who spoke had long jet black braided hair that reached to her stomach from his frontal view. Beautiful was an understatement she was breathtaking and at such a young age. Her skin was dark but not tanned dark, her eyes were metallic silver and her form was lean and curved in all the right places. Her face was sharply soft with high cheek bones a small nose which definitely suited her and soft cheeks if he were to guess.

She wore crimson pants that hung from her hips and were tied by a strange braid like belt, the pants themselves stopped mid calf and the traditional ninja sandals adorned her feet. From the hem of the pants a fishnet shirt traveled up and came out over her bare shoulders. Covering the fishnet shirt was a tight vest also crimson giving her the appearance of being bathed in blood, he shuddered involuntarily. On each lower arm were wrist guards that stopped at the elbow and adorning her back were two short spears each a few inches longer than her forearms. Her Hitai – Ate was a thin strip wrapped securely around her neck like a choker; the guard's eyes went to his left to the girl's teammate. He was taller than her by an inch or two and if she was breathtaking he could be considered the same when it came to male attractiveness. The guard had never considered himself to be gay but this young man was causing a reaction in even him.

His skin too was a golden brown and his face was thin and chiseled giving him an unnatural look. His hair was long, streaming down like a midnight blue river with flecks of silver bursting from here and there. It was also tied in the back just above the caller bone and from that pony tail his hair was separated into three additional tails, two flowing down his chest the other his back as far as the guard could tell, considering the young man was wearing a deep black trench coat that flowed to just inches above the ground. His shirt was deep blue with depictions of Gryphon's embroider every where, in the middle top of the shirt two golden wings dominated the fabric as it opened up to a silver fishnet shirt underneath. Basic blue pants that stopped just above the ankle in the traditional style with traditional ninja shoes completed the outfit. His Hitai – Ate was worn around his waist with the same unfamiliar marking of their village as the girls. But his eyes…they were a bright lightning blue with flecks of sliver swirling around their depths like a tie-dye shirt design. The guard swept his eyes over the last of the group lingering on the girl for just a moment before she caught him staring.

The last of the group shared the same golden browned skin but while the other two had been waiting patiently for him to verify their paper work this one seemed to be staring off into space looking here and there as if he were lost. His face strong yet average with deep brown eyes darting here and there. He had a muscled frame covered by a loose solid jade green shirt that hung past his waist leaving his arms bare. The buttons that ran up the middle of the shirt were gold and shaped to resemble faces of different wolves. His sapphire blue pants were form fitting but baggy for easy movement and unlike the others he wore no shoes and yet his feet were clean soft in appearance. His Hitai – Ate was tied upon his forehead gleaming deep black even as the symbol for his village gave off a metallic white glint. On each wrist was a two inch length bracer that was of a strange design, two long strips hung down for another three inches with a loop hole at the end. But his hair…his hair seemed to spike down his back in layers giving the appearance of a……well the only thing the guard could compare it to would be a wolf's mane. Two strips of hair fell down the front of his slime face, one going over each eye.

Suddenly those eyes were turned on him and he flinched despite himself. "Are you gonna keep staring or do you wanna take us out to dinner?" The guard blanched and at that moment one of the other guards still on top of the gates came into view. "Hey Maul, what's the hold up…you having trouble?" The guard had his hand reflexively on his kunai pouch and his other hand was scratching his ear. The three Genin could easily tell he was only doing that so he could swiftly draw the sword on his back. "No Kohaku, their papers are in order. Open the gate!" The one on Maul's left spoke, "About time." "Novel! Show some manners." The girl elbowed Novel in the ribs and proceeded to take back the paper work of the three. "Geeze Kyneta, not only are you strong but did you have to aim 'between' the ribs?" Novel rubbed his whole side to emphasize. Kyneta sighed and their teammate laughed out loud. "It's not funny Larai." Novel glared, "Oh yes it is."

And Larai continued to laugh only to have Novel rush around Kyneta to get to him but he dashed off over the wall Novel hot on his heels the coat he wore fluttering in their wake, Larai's laughter filling the air. Kyneta gave Maul an exasperated look. "I'm sorry about that, their…well their idiots." And she was gone, taking off after the first two. Maul stood there shocked, the gate had yet to be opened and it wasn't some small jump. The wall surrounding Konoha was at least a little over half the height of the Hokage tower and those kids had just jumped it like it was nothing. Maul gulped as Kohaku landed beside him. "Did you just see that?" Kohaku simply nodded. If this was the caliber of ninja frequently coming up in the ranks…oh man. "Hey what village were they from?" Maul turned to Kohaku. "Some place called Shinwa." Kohaku scratched his chin for a moment then looked at Maul incredulously. "They're from the Village hidden in Myth? I've never heard of that village." "I know me neither but their papers were completely authentic. The seal used to imprint the documents can only be put on by a Hokage by a special intricate casting only a Hokage would know." "Perhaps I should go talk to the Hokage about this." Maul watched as Kohaku ran up the gate to the stairwell leading inside Konoha and as he landed back at his post atop the watch tower he decided to buy tickets to this year's Chunin exams.

Naruto and Sakura were both starring at the raised fist of the boy in the black jump suit as he held Konohamaru. Just as his fist went forward to meet Konohamaru's face every ones eyes shot open in shock. A second ago an unknown ninja from a foreign village was about to beat up Konohamaru and there wasn't much Naruto could do to stop it. And then all of a sudden another boy Naruto had never seen before was standing on the face of the first tossing a stone up and down in his right hand. "Only weaklings pick on those who can't defend themselves." Larai had lost Novel for the moment but he knew it wouldn't be long before he was found. He'd still been running when he came across the idiot under his feet about to hurt a small child, he'd 'stepped' in. Naruto was torn, if it wasn't Sasuke showing him up and making his life a living hell it was somebody else, who had he pissed off.

"Hey! You got in my way!" Naruto felt he needed to reassert the fact that he had the situation fully under control. Larai's brown eyes met Naruto's blue ones and for a moment they just stared then Larai turned his head towards an upper branch in a tree on the side of the road. "Thanks for the help." Sasuke just glared as the newcomer let the rock he'd thrown fall to the ground, he'd never seen this guy before and if that wasn't enough this boy had bypassed the awareness of everyone in the area even the kid who's face he was using as a foot rest. Sasuke cursed in his head. "Someone else with Haku's high ability." The whisper hadn't gone unheard as Larai's eyes gave Sasuke a questioning look. Sasuke's own eyes narrowed and just as Larai was going to ask the question of who Haku was, a groan from under him interrupted. Larai stepped to the ground as Kankuro began standing, rubbing his face the whole way.

"Why you son of a bitch." Kankuro was officially pissed, Temari stepped off to the side she'd already decide to stay out of it and another cute guy had shown up with the first about to be tested by her brother. Kankuro reached his arm around to his back and grabbed the bundle he kept there, bringing it around he set it on the ground ready for battle. "Kankuro!" Sasuke turned to see another kid in similar clothing to the one named Kankuro and the girl with him. "You're a disgrace to our entire village!" Sasuke glared, this one too had snuck up on them all without even the slightest hint to anyone, what was going on. "Not only do you get into a schoolyard brawl but you let a foreigner make a fool of you. How can you stand yourself? I only do because you serve a purpose…for now." "But Gaara that little one slammed me…" "Shut up or I 'Will' kill you." Kankuro blanched followed by a slow shudder in the face of Gaara's glare. "Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry." "Yeah, really sorry." Temari piped in to placate her teammate.

Gaara was on the ground in a moment in the midst of a swirl of sand; he eyed Sasuke who'd just jumped down after him. "I'm sorry about my friends. It won't happen again…" Gaara pointedly looked in Kankuro's direction "…will it?" Kankuro shook his head from side to side. "No." Gaara's attention went from Kankuro, to Kankuro's relief, to Larai. "I apologize to you too." Larai got a bad feeling from Gaara but didn't let it show after all he got a strange feeling from the blond haired kid with the big blue eyes too. He wasn't sure but something about both of them seemed……familiar. "No problem just keep him on a leash, alright?" Gaara's eyes narrowed a little, something about this guy was strange and that symbol on his headband was unlike any he'd ever seen before. Plus he'd seen how he'd beaten Kankuro and the rock the raven haired boy had thrown which would have stopped Kankuro as well was caught easily. "Done, let's go." Gaara began to walk only to be halted by the pinked haired girl that was with that bumbling blond. "Wait! You can't go anywhere until you reveal what you're doing here. Suna is an ally of Konoha but its ninja aren't allowed across the border without authorization." Temari stepped forward. "Ha, were here for the Chunin selection exams."

"What's that?" Came out of Naruto's mouth which caught Larai's attention. "Genin from all over the country come together for a certain amount of tests to determine the next wave of Journeymen ninja." Larai explained simply to the aggravation of Temari which also didn't go unnoticed by him. "That doesn't explain who you are." Sakura stated pointing at Larai. "I'm Larai, Phase Larai from Shinwa." Blank faces were the style of the day as everyone stared at him. "Don't worry you'll find out." All of a sudden a blur rushed directly towards Larai making him jump to the side. Standing where Larai had once been was another boy that made Sakura and Temari think they were falling in love. If Sasuke was good looking this guy was gorgeous and he was wearing the same symbol as Larai. Larai dashed to the left and Novel cut him off but it was only a faint as he leapfrogged over Naruto using his blond head as a spring board. "Hey what's your name?" Larai called back. For a second Naruto wasn't sure if it was him Larai was asking but before they got to far away he yelled… "Uzumaki Naruto!" "I'll remember it……you too Gaara!" As the two dashed off you could hear Novel yelling death threats at Larai's laughter. 'He reminds me of someone'. Thought Sakura. Sasuke turned back to Gaara. "And you are?" "Gaara of the Sand at your service, and you?" "Uchiha Sasuke." As the two starred another blur landed right between them. "Have you seen two guys running around, one chasing the other." Kyneta tolerated the silence for two seconds before she sighed and dashed off in the direction of faint laughter.

Every guy in the immediate area had gone red in the face even Gaara who seemed so unshakable and rock steady to everyone else. "That girl…" Sasuke had never seen a girl so beautiful in his life. "…was...beautiful." He said watching her form fade away in the distance. "Let's go." Gaara said and the sand Genin were gone. Sakura on the other hand was trying to piece her shattered world back together. Sasuke had never even acknowledged another girl before but he was calling one beautiful and what was worse was it wasn't her. Sakura's mind for the time being had shut down but something on the edge of her consciousness kept poking her out of her self loathing. As her eyes focused again she could see Naruto waving his hand in front of her face and asking if she were okay. Naruto got an answer in the form of a fist which sent him back to reminiscing with the ground. As Sakura watched Konohamaru and gang try to revive Naruto she noticed that Sasuke was gone. Damn, well he probably went home and she should do the same, today had been full of surprises and it seemed she had another rival for Sasuke's affections…double damn.

"What do you think?" A figure in the shadows of the tree Sasuke had just been on looked at his partner. "None of them are of any concern to us. Keep an eye on the one named Gaara and the Uchiha." The companion of the first two frowned. "And the unknown ones?" The one in the middle shook his head. "They won't be a problem after all the one called Kankuro isn't much when it comes to skill from what I saw." The one who'd spoken first his hair standing against gravity smirked. "Who's so careless they let their own face be used as a landing pad? Their all a bunch of weaklings." With that the three were gone.

Larai had just ditched Novel for the ump-tenth time by diving behind the side of a building just off the paved road. He turned around to peer past the corner only to see Novel sniffing the air and being given predatory looks by every woman that saw him. "Crap." Novel's nose wasn't as good as Larai's but he could definitely pick up Larai's scent. Larai scanned the area almost frantically, his mind racing to find a solution to his hiding problem. That's when he saw the weapons shop, "Yes!" A weapons shop would get enough customers in a day to hide his scent, after all Novels' nose was good but not 'that' good. Larai dashed across the street. A citizen of Konoha was on her way into the BE PREPARED weapons shop, it was a corny name but was true in a sense considering it was in a ninja village. An unprepared ninja could very easily end up a dead ninja. Just as her hand was about to open the door there was a whoosh of air and the door opened and closed right in front of her seeming to her as if by it self. "Okay…" she stepped back and then walked away. Perhaps today wasn't the day to get her husband his birthday gift.

Once inside Larai let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He turned around and peered out the shop window and saw Novel come around the corner he'd been at five seconds prior. It was pretty sunny so he was glade his headband didn't reflect light because of its dark coloring. He watched as Novel once again sniffed the air yet made no progress in determining Larai's location, that's when Larai noticed that the once busy street he'd just been on was deserted. Then something expected and yet unexpected happened, Novel was mobbed by a bunch of Konoha girls. Larai sighed, had they really ran through that much of the village, there had to be at least 30 of them and only half were Novel's age. He watched as Novel was bombarded by questions from the way the girl's mouths moved. Larai also noticed that quite a few of the girls were Kunoichi. Novel began to talk to them as he waved his hands to calm them somewhat; Larai watched this with unrepressed envy and boredom. That is until he saw the next girl to join the group, not four minutes into a conversation with one of Novel's fan girls did Kyneta show up.

Larai's eyes went to size of dinner plates and a hiss was sucked into his mouth as if he'd burned himself. Novel on the other hand hadn't noticed and the more he talked the more livid Kyneta's face became. "Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking, you. Idiot!" Larai growled at Novel hopping he'd get a clue and stop, I mean what kind of ninja doesn't' notice an extremely pissed of girl radiating killing intent. The other girls around and even the Kunoichi had begun to disperse in abject fear of the crimson clad foreigner behind the young man. After another two minutes Novel turned around to a tap on his shoulder and starred into a pair of metallic eyes burning with the promise of his impending doom…and it wasn't gonna be quick either. "Crap." If Novel had known where his teammate was he would have seen him say the exact same thing in unison with himself.

Novel opened his mouth to explain only to be having a very intimate conversation with the ground a split second later. Larai watched as Kyneta literally stomped Novel into the ground and as much as he tried to sympathize with Novel he burst into laughter. Kyneta looked up and Larai was on the floor in an instant with his hands clapped over his mouth. His eyes were wide and he waited three minutes before venturing back up to the window, outside Kyneta was still beating a nearly unconscious Novel. He sighed in relief. "Uh, could you get out of the way please?" Larai looked away from his best form of entertainment to look at a girl whose path he was blocking. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize…" The girl shrugged her shoulders and began moving past him; Larai couldn't help but notice just how pretty she was in her traditional Japanese solid blue shirt and black pants. Her hair was up in two buns on the sides of her head and she wore a headband with the symbol of Konoha on her forehead.

Larai couldn't fathom why but he walked up beside her. "Hi, I'm Larai who're you?" The girl in question looked at him for a moment. "TenTen, nice to meet you." "You too." "Where are you from I've never seen that symbol before." She walked over to a rack of short swords in all different styles. "I'm from Shinwa." TenTen balanced the weight of one before putting it back on the rack and picked up another. "Never heard of it." She put it back and walked back up to Larai before motioning for him to follow her to another rack. "Yeah well…were sorta…coming out." TenTen looked back over her shoulder. "Ahhh." "I'm here for the Chunin exams. I see you have a head band what about you…is your team entering?" Larai found it strange that he was actually interested in the answer and was hoping it was yes. "Yeah…" TenTen picked up a pouch of Kunai, one long pike, and an assortment of shuriken and placed them on the counter. "…Hope to see you there." She paid and began walking out of the store Larai followed her onto the street. "Well its in two days and you know this village so how about showing me around tomorrow?" TenTen gave him what he dubbed an appraising look and then nodded. "Sure, I would do it now but I have to get to my training area before I'm late for practice." She picked her pace up into a run and waved goodbye. Larai waved back knowing for sure that he'd seen her cheeks tented pink and turned around to stare into a pair of metallic silver eyes. "Crap."