The Fate of the Souka Clan

By Riotv2

Disclamer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters, minus the Original ones I've created for this Fic

Chapter 1

Takeshi moved through the trees with all the speed he could muster. Blood was flowing freely down his arm from a shoulder wound he only vaguely remembered recieveing. It hurt but by now the pain was the only thing keeping him on his feet.

He couldn't tell how many were left following him now, not that it mattered anymore. Fighting was simply no longer an option for him. From the very start of his flight from the Souka clan home, he knew there were too many of them for him to stand a chance in a strait fight. His only hope for getting away was to hurt them enough to impede their movements so they couldn't follow as easily. That meant laying traps behind him and using whatever delaying tactics he could come up with on the fly. Under the cover of his Kirigakure No Jutsu (Hidden Mist technique) he launched several barrages of shuriken aiming specifically for the enemy nins legs, managing to eliminate at least two from his pursuit. Then later he came across a river and created 2 Mizu Bunshin (Water Clones) and had them ambush his attackers, running for it while they fought. These tactics, while somewhat effective, were also costing him dearly. He had been on the move now for nearly three days strait. He had once tried to hide while sending another clone out in his place so he could rest for a bit. They saw through that however, and he was forced to fight his way though under his mist. That was probably where he had picked up his shoulder wound, he was also now running on very little chakra. Between his injury and his chakra reserves his only option was to put everything he had into speed (which wasn't much) and hope it was enough to get him to Konoha before the sound nins managed to catch him.

'Man. I hope I'm at least going in the right direction. Heh, that would figure, I'd go through all this just to wind up going in the wrong direction.' He thought, idly as his vision began to blur. 'So…This is it then. Hideaki-Sensei, Fumio, Katsuo…I'm sorry I couldn't make it.'

He leapt again for the next branch, he never made it however. His energy finally giving out, he began to fall. Faintly he thought he heard, as the darkness closed in around him, the sound of something large tearing it's way through the trees above him. Followed closely by the sounds of battle and a lot of screaming. Then only silence.

"….You found him…training areas?" a low voice said from somewhere nearby. He could barely discern what was being said from where he lay, barely with the strength to stay awake.

"Hai… -samma." This voice seamed to be younger and with a hint of a growl.

It took Takeshi only a moment to realize that he wasn't dead. From the white walls and sheets of the room he was in, he guessed that he was in a hospital of some kind. He tried to sit up only to fall back with a moan as the movement brought on a wave of dizziness and throbbing pain from the wound in his shoulder, which had been dressed, and only confirmed that he had been brought to a hospital.

The door opened and a young woman of imposing build with blond hair walked in before closing the door behind her, through which he could see briefly a few individuals around his own age trying to peer into the room after her.

The woman walked over towards him while reading over a clipboard.

"You shouldn't try to move too much." She said calmly as she rechecked his wounds, to be sure that they hadn't opened again. "You're suffering from extreme Chakra depletion and you lost a lot of blood." The door opened once again and another girl with dark hair walked in carrying a tray with some small bottles on them.

The older woman just nodded to her in acknowledgement then continued. "You were unconscious when a patrol found you." He tried to sit up again only to be held in place by her surprisingly firm grip.

"..wh..where.." was all he was able to get out before his dried throat caused him to go

into a coughing fit. The dark haired girl rushed over and pressed a cup of water to his lips and urged him to drink, while the older woman answered his incomplete question for him.

"You are in the village of Konoha." He coughed again on the water and reached out for her causing him to again grunt in pain at the sudden movement. "Ho…Hokage…I must find the Hoka…" Was all he could get out before he fell again into unconciousness. The two women just looked on in concern before the younger one turned to her superior in concern.

"Hokage-samma?"

Tsunade shook her head in obvious confusion. "Keep an eye on him Shizune, I need to debrief the squad that brought him in."

Back in the Hokage's office:

Tsunade sat behind her desk, looking over an official report. Before her stood the four members of team 8.

"How many did you find?" she asked looking up from the file.

Kureni spoke up first. "There where five of them chasing him." The one we captured alive took his own life, before we could manage to get any information out of him. There was no doubt that they were from the Sound."

The Sixth thought on this. 'Orochimaru what are you up too?' "What were you able to determine about where they came from?"

This time it was Kiba who spoke up being the best tracker of the three.

"Akamaru and I were able to trace his path back for quite a distance. He left a trail of blood for almost a full day's travel. Beyond that it seems that he was wounded in a large confrontation. We discovered another dead sound nin where the blood trail originated. So we can only guess that he was discovered then fled after being wounded in the fight."

Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "For them to have chased him so recklessly withouteven taking the time to dispose of their fallen…the boy must have done or seen something that Orochimaru didn't want to get out."

"Do you wish for us to continue our investigaton, Hokage-samma?"

"No, Kureni. When the boy discovered where he was he grew alarmed and demanded to see me, before he passed out again. This was obviously his initial destination." She rose and stood before the window. "We'll just have to wait until he wakes up to find out what is really going on."

It was nightfall before Takeshi again opened his eyes. This time it didn't take him nearlyas long to realize where he was or to remember what had happened the last time he woke up and tried to sit up too fast.

"Ohh good you're awake." Takeshi focused on the source of the voice and saw the dark haired girl from before walk over to the door and briefly speak to someone on the other side who imeadiately ran off, before returning to the bedside with a bowl of broth for him.

"Hokage-samma said to let her know when you woke up. She should be here soon so you should try to eat something." He took the bowl and sipped at it slowly. "By the way my name is Shizune" she said while changing the bandage on his arm.

"I'm Takeshi." He replied in between sips.

"Takeshi…you're a shinobe?" she settled in the chair next to him. As he nodded inresponse. "From what village?"

He sat the bowl aside. "I'm not from a Hidden Village." At that moment the door opened and the blonde woman from earlier stepped inside the room closing the doot behind her. Shizune stood and bowed respectfully.

"Hokage-samma." Tsunade acknowledged her with the same nod as the day before.

Takeshi just looked at her in shock. "Ho…Hokage..?"

Before anyone could stop him he was out of bed and on the floor bowing as low as he could in respect.

Tsunade got over her initial shock almost immediately, and placed a hand on his good shoulder to help him back to bed. "Please, you don't need to bow. I do however have a lot of questions for you."

Takeshi allowed her to help him up and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Of course, Hokage-sama. I'll try to answer all of your questions."

Tsunade sat in the chair that Shizune had just vacated. "Now lets start with who you are and where you come from."

Takeshi sighed and began his tale.

" My name is Souka Takeshi. Originaly my clan came from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Though a few generations ago one of my ancestors, the Head of our clan at the time, was shamed by the village. He was brutally punished and then exiled. My clan, believing that the village was unjustified in their actions, decided to adopt his shame as their own and went into exile with him. Since it was the village that imposed the exile they couldn't legally declare us Nuke-nin (Missing Nin). We eventually settled in an isolated area of Wave country. And we've been there ever since. Recently however an emissary came from the Sound village with a request for us to join their village. When we refused, they left. They came back a few days ago…" His voice trailed off at the memories that came to him of the death and anguish he had been witness too.

Takeshi was broken out of his thoughts by Tsunade's voice. "Why would the Sound have wanted you to join them?"

Takeshi met her intimidating gaze with unfaltering certainty, all traces of the painful memories instantly erased from his face. The sudden change was enough to set everyone in the room on edge.

"They wanted our strength. My sensei said that it seemed like they were recruiting allies… in order to launch an attack on Konoha." As much as the changes had startled them, this was almost more than they could take. As soon as the words left his mouth, Shizune was already rushing out the door and back to the Hokage's office to begin preparing for the worst. Tsunade meanwhile remained behind with Takeshi in the hospital.

"Listen Takeshi-san, this is very important. I need to know what the emissary said. Any clues as to what their plans might be."

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama. I wasn't there when the emissary arrived. I was out training with my team, and didn't arrive back until after the meeting was over." Takeshi looked down in disappointment. Tsunade rested her hand on his shoulder.

"What about the rest of your clan. Do you think there might be any other survivors?"

He shook his head and seemed to sink even lower. "I'm not sure. The fighting was getting heavier when my father ordered my team to evacuate and to warn you of the impending invasion. The rest of my team never even made it out of the village. They sacrifised themselves to buy me the time to escape." The tears were flowing freely down his cheeks now. "They died… and now I…I…" Tsunade sat beside him on the bed and placed her arms around his shoulders turning him to face her.

"Takeshi-san, your clans sacrifice is not in vain. You survived and completed the mission your father trusted you with. I will dispatch a team to your village to try to find any other survivors."

Calmer now as her words began to sink in Takeshi straitened himself and again met her gaze. "Thank you Hokage-samma. May I please make a request of you?"

"Of course Takeshi-san. Konoha is in your debt."

Takeshi steeled his gaze. "When you send that team…I want to join them. I must learn the fate of my people first hand…" His hands clenched at his sides, and he spoke in a low steady voice that belied the rage behind them. "…and if possible avenge their deaths."

AN: The word 'Souka' actually means 'homless' in japanease so i thought it would be fitting given the background i've created for this clan. Which i will get into more detail on in one of the next chapters. i just thought that it would be a littel to much info to give in this situation. Leave me some reviews guy let me know how i'm doing.