The grass flattened underneath cloven hooves as a young deer sprinted through the great forests. It darted between massive trees with trunks as thick as buildings. Its reddish-brown pelt covered with white spots helped it to blend in with the woodlands.
A low growl sounded behind it.
A ferocious, mighty bear hunted after it with saliva dripping from its maw. The predator had already caught onto its scent. It was only a matter of time before it would catch up to the deer and kill it.
Intense fear coursed through the deer's blood. Its lithe body harmed itself whilst running even faster. Patches of fur scraped off when it narrowly brushed against the trees. Once healthy lungs became ragged from the exertion.
In response, the bear pursued even more relentlessly. Pitch black eyes remained unblinking as it sought after its prey.
Survival was all it was. There was no good nor evil.
The deer would die if it was eaten.
The bear would die if it did not eat.
Yet, in the end, it was the ursidae that was slaughtered first.
Prowling through the great trees with a dark hide that melted into the shade, shadows, vines, and plants, the giant leopard held up the bear in its mouth as a cat would a mouse. With a single bite, the bear was already dead.
Nature was far too vast. The predators of prey have creatures that prey on them. Those creatures have predators as well, an endless chain of life and death that never ceases.
The deer was frozen in place in the face of an apex predator. Even if its reserves were not exhausted, it had no chance of fleeing from the beast if it didn't let it. The beast's claws were all large enough to skewer the deer completely. Its fate was entirely at the whims of the monstrous feline.
The giant leopard would drag the bear up into a fork within the trees before eating. Doing so allowed it to feed undisturbed.
Something caused its ears to twitch. They rotated back and forth with quick, sudden movements. It let go of the dead bear and arched its massive, flexible back, putting weight on its hindlegs. Thick, coiled muscles rippled beneath its glossy coat.
Laughter echoed through the forest.
It was childish and playful, light and melodious.
The leopard hissed.
A young little creature looked down at it from the top of the branches. Its back was to the sun. It bared its little fangs at the larger beast with a malefic smile.
Not a moment later, the leopard smashed its paw through the trees. It was like trying to catch a butterfly. The little creature effortlessly slipped through its movements. All the while, laughter resounded through the trees.
The feline's jaws snapped forth with crushing force, only to be met with empty air. Its head was grasped as its own momentum was used to fling it over the earth. The gigantic body struck against the trees, causing a rain of leaves.
Rolling back to its feet, the leopard was only met with a brutal strike to its skull. Then it was struck at the belly, then the back. It found itself trapped within a storm of strikes. It retreated into itself with dilated pupils, hissing out loudly.
The little creature gripped its nose and made it fall to the ground. Its fate was now at the whims of another.
When the trees broke down and sunlight trickled down to the forest floor, the untamed girl smiled.
The deer's neck was snapped and carried away.
The bear's corpse was dragged up a tall tree and devoured.
Such is nature. The strong flourish and thrive.
Soon, a deer carcass roasted over a heavy pan bombarded by flames. The girl ripped away strips with her bare hands without care for the heat or fire.
Her teeth sank into the juicy hot venison.
Wandering into her line of sight, a stray cat approached her silently through the grass. She tossed it a soft chunk of meat and watched it tear into the snack. It meowed and secured itself a warm spot beneath her legs.
The small cabin in the woods of Konoha was lived in by her and her alone.
Once she finished eating, she licked the grease off her fingers and wiped them off the grass. She was thirsty, so she took an iron pot filled with water and boiled it to kill any diseases or harmful spirits as she was raised to. She drank straight from the iron vessel since she possessed no cups.
Natsumi rubbed her stomach and exhaled. She had gotten all of her nutrients for the day.
So she decided to go for a walk and found herself wading through a stream with her feet bare. The water and smooth stones reflected the sun and sky. Mother Nature could be very beautiful when she tried...
Beautiful, free, a bountiful provider, and a real bitch when you cross her.
A fair warning to keep in mind.
Though the bones in the ground should be warning enough.
Even the Land of Fire becomes covered in snow when winter comes, contradiction be damned. Soft and white powdered sheets blanketed the buildings and streets of Konoha. Fog swept across the air as if the intangible clouds had finally succumbed to gravity. It all looked as pure as it was empty.
Small footsteps crunched though the snow, leaving traces that would soon be covered up or swept away.
Naruto could see his own breath, though the novelty of it wore off a few days ago when he was locked outside of his own apartment because the door was frozen shut. It was too long until he could at least force the window open.
He spent the day training in the woods.
Naruto practice throwing kunai and shuriken at market targets in trees. He practiced blending in with the environment. He practiced taijutsu, performing the punches Iruka-sensei showed at the academy.
At some point, the snot in his nose had become frozen. His skin felt numb too.
'I'll save up for a better jacket... somehow...'
The streets were way emptier now. It looked like nobody wanted to be out in the cold now.
Well, neither did he.
Naruto rushed quickly as he could to get back to his apartment without slipping on any patches of ice. The faster he went, the more the sharp and cold air smacked him in the face. He wished he still had his scarf.
His shoes were becoming soaked by the snow, causing even his feet to begin freezing. He remembered hearing a story in the academy about how shinobi had entire body parts fall off when they were trapped under freezing blizzards. It felt like the same fate was going to befall his toes.
Rubbing the snow off of his face, he took a big breath and carried on.
"Hrrn, why is winter even a thing? Spring should stop lazing around and hurry up," Naruto grumbled to himself.
He proceeded to run into something supple head-on without looking and was immediately knocked back into the snow. It was hard to make anything out for a little bit as he was dazed. Naruto was frustrated more than anything.
"Hey!"
"Haa?"
"You!"
"You?"
Sky blue eyes stared into pitch black.
He spotted a sharp fang peeking out from her lips.
She wore a big, heavy coat reminiscent of a great winged beast.
Just a moment ago, she wasn't even visible through the snow.
"Oh, you're that runt from before. You drinking your milk every day?" Natsumi pulled her scarf down closer to her chest to get a better look at him. The snow evaporated on contact with the white scales.
"Stop calling me a runt, you vengeful jerk!"
She tilted her head and didn't say anything. There was a large dark bag hoisted over her shoulder. Every time she softly breathed out, it looked like she was blowing away a storm. Bending down until they were face level, she raised her hand from under her coat.
Naruto felt his head snap back as if a wasp had crashed into his skull.
He had been flicked in the forehead. It was like it was stung by a burning needle.
"What the hell!"
Natsumi rubbed her chin, "You were barking at me, so I flicked you."
She saw the kick coming as if was frozen in ice.
The sole of his foot swished harmlessly in front of her nose.
"Sorry, I don't enjoy beating down weak people that much. Go fight a stray cat or something," the sharp toothed girl told the boy buried in the snow while she threaded a hand through her hair.
Naruto watched her silhouette disappear into the falling snow as the street lights began to flicker out.
He grit his teeth as he was forced to go through the bitter taste of crushing defeat once again. As if losing wasn't bad enough, he was again being looked over as if winning against him meant nothing.
It was frustrating.
Something heavy fell on him. It was torrid and a little rough.
"My body's feels like it's burning now. Hold on to that for a bit."
Naruto was buried in the snow and buried under a coat made of a beast's fur.
It smelled like cedar and ash.
An axe fell down and split a log of wood cleanly in half. The smooth and worn stump beneath was rooted deep into the ground with strong roots. Large clouds swept through dark midnight blue skies and let the moon shine down on fresh green grass. Flowers were blooming and animals came out of hibernation. The bears no longer dwelled solely in their caves, nor did the snakes need to hide in their burrows.
Spring had arrived, ensuing cold winter and preceding hot summer.
The small campfire flickered and crackled, giving golden light in response to the moon's silver.
Her bare feet could feel the coolness of the grass as the winds blew through the forests.
Natsumi tossed the firewood into a growing pile and grasped another log. The sharp blade cut through the fragrant wood once more.
The sound of cutting wood was the only sound that belong here at this hour.
When she breathed out, a puff of flames vanished into the air.
"Don't just sneak around, or I'll burn you black like charcoal."
She heard his breathing pause as his heart continued to hammer inside his chest. Rubbing her eyes without any real care in the world, she blew a lock of hair from her eyes. Nothing was ever really hidden from her.
A dark shapeless mass blocked the sun for a moment and draped over her head. Upon shaking it off, she realized it was an old coat. The scent had mingled and changed, but it was still certainly the one her's to begin with.
The boy had already started running away, having given back what was given to him.
He got pretty far before she moved. Then he was held off the ground by the scruff of the neck.
"Damn, you're avoiding me like the plague. What, my coat wasn't good enough for you? I made it myself." Honestly, she was genuinely a little irked about that. Even a king would be lucky to have it.
"Quit grabbing me!" Naruto squirmed in her grip. "I gave back your weird coat, so we're even!"
"The hell you calling weird, you weirdo?" She shook him by the collar. "And don't tell me what to do."
Even with both arms, gritting his teeth, he wasn't able to pry off her fingers. His cheeks puffed with the exertion as his lungs felt like they were going to burst. It was trying to tear metal apart barehanded.
As he thrashed around, he couldn't even recollect why he decided to try and find where the stranger lived to return the coat that was too big for him.
"Don't they teach children in this age to not go wandering around at night? " She dropped him. When he was about to pick himself back up, she bent down and roughly put a hand over his head, looking at him with those pitch-black eyes of hers that ate away light. "Go home before you get scolded."
He slapped her hand aside and picked himself up. "Nobody's gonna scold me. There's no one at home but me."
"Hmm..." She tilted her head while observing him without a sound. It looked like smoke whispered from her lips. Natsumi jerked her thumb behind her. "Finish chopping that pile of wood. It isn't good to put things off. It's best to take care of this in early spring."
"No way! Why would I!?"
She tapped her chest, "I'll make dinner. Food tastes better after working."
After the girl walked into her cabin, Naruto was left alone outside. The metal gleam of the axe flickered along with the flames, mounted at the end of a heavy wooden handle.
Looking behind him, all he could see through the trees and woodland was darkness and strange sounds. Naruto picked up the axe with both hands. It wasn't too hard to lift up. When he brought it down on a log, the blade was caught on the edge and glanced off, chipping a piece of it.
He tried again, swinging harder this time. The blade got caught halfway across and a few notches deep. Pinning the log down with his foot, it took several grunts of effort to pull the axe back out.
The next time, he tried to make lighter cuts at the same spot. Slowly but surely breaking through the wood.
In time, the first piece was split in two.
The girl heated oil on a thick pan and tossed a handful of chopped garlic. While it browned, she chopped a couple of onions. Unwrapping a bundle of waxy leaves, she took out a large catfish and cut it into pieces as well. The fish was washed with clean water and well salted.
After the onion was added to the pan, the fish followed.
Soy sauce, fish sauce, chili peppers, black pepper, fresh water, and lemon was added in while it all boiled. The meal was left to simmer.
Rice was cooked alongside it over the fire in a clay pot.
The fish eventually took on a dark, caramelized appearance.
She stuck her hands into the fire and allowed the ash to clean everything off. Rice and fish were informally placed on a long slab of wood with a spoon and a distinct lack of plates.
"Dinner's ready."
Naruto looked over, lowering the axe from tired palms. He didn't move from his spot.
Natsumi waved him over heedlessly, "Hurry up. Waiting is a hassle for me."
"Ah... I don't need..." Naruto's stomach growled when it seemed like he might have managed to pull off the fib. It was a sound that lasted only a second or two. Breakfast of bread and milk with a lunch of cup ramen meant not a damn thing it seemed.
Naruto paused, wondering if perhaps it had gone unnoticed.
"Pfft!" Natsumi grinned while her lips pressed together, barely stifling her laughter before it all flooded out.
Then she laughed.
And laughed and laughed and laughed.
"You need to eat more, or you won't grow. Even babies can figure it out."
Naruto scowled at her and began wishing he could take her down with a jutsu he learned. Too bad he didn't have anything flashy yet, then he'd make her beg for mercy. Finally prove she isn't hot stuff.
A rumbling came from the earth.
The boy felt a chill run through his spine from his feet to his skull and then back the other way. It felt like even the ground was trembling.
No beast on the face of the world made such a sound.
He looked around to see if a monster had stalked in from the woods.
Instead, he caught a glimpse of something more surprising and likely less menacing but possibly more life threatening.
A light blush matching her rosy hair bloomed across her face.
Not quite getting it but feeling that perhaps he had gained the upper hand somehow, Naruto was struck with the urge to boast.
"Ha!"
"Shuddup~," she hissed at him, hair flaring up. In a heartbeat, Naruto was picked up once again and dumped near the fire. She forced a wooden spoon into his hand. "Eat before the food is cold."
He poked at the fish, watching the dark sauce and oil glisten in the light of the fire. When he cut off a piece of the fish, fragrant steam escaped from the white flaky meat. Blowing on it to cool it down, he opened his mouth wide and took the first bite.
It tasted hot. He had to keep blowing out of his mouth between chewing. Then he could taste it.
Spicy. Sweet. Salty. Savory. Light. Rich. Filling. Warm.
It was too unfamiliar to properly describe, but it was good.
"Taste good?"
"Nmn." He made a noncommittal hum.
She plucked the spoon out of his hand and ladled a piece of braised fish with rice into her own waiting mouth. The food was still piping hot. She stuck the spoon back into the pan afterwards.
". . ." Naruto looked at the spoon then back to her.
She gestured at him to take another bite.
The tips of his ears started to feel hot. He looked between her and the spoon. Steam from the fish and rice wafted towards his nose, mixing with the smell of fragrant smoke and pine. His belly continued to urge him on.
They took turns sharing the utensil, eating from the same pan and pot.
It was a nice, simple meal under a quiet night's sky. Perhaps this was the first time Naruto could say he had a home-cooked meal.
Dwelling in the Hidden villages are gatherings of specialized individuals who can manipulate the physical and spiritual energies within their bodies to create "Chakra". With that chakra, they are able to achieve feats and abilities beyond that of normal humans to fight and deceive.
These are shinobi. They protect clients, collect information, assassinate targets, and will even go to war if seen fit. There is no life that brings more danger nor respect. It is not a way of life that can be handled carelessly.
The Hidden Leaf is naturally no exception. Shinobi must be ordered into a hierarchy.
Genin are the lowest level of shinobi. Genin are given headbands with their village's symbol on it to represent what village they come from and that they are full-fledged shinobi.
Chunin, the middle shinobi, are qualified to watch over and guide other shinobi. Chunin have reached a level of maturity that primarily consists of leadership skills and tactical prowess.
Jonin, the elites, are generally highly experienced shinobi with great individual skill who serve as military captains. They are sent on the most dangerous and vital missions. There combat prowess and skill in using chakra go far above most shinobi.
Jonin Commander is the title given to the highest-ranking jonin of the village. This shinobi is capable of representing all other regular shinobi of the village when necessary.
Finally, there is the Kage.
Those who have achieved the title of Kage, a title synonymous with shadow, are the leaders of the five most powerful Hidden Villages and are naturally the most powerful individuals in their respective villages. These villages do not directly rule the country but are effectively equal to the government. The Kage stand equally with the rulers of their countries, oversee the activities of their villages, and are the undisputed leaders of shinobi society.
The Kage who leads Konoha is the Hokage
However, the Kage as well are responsible for standing at the head of a hidden darkness, forces that hide and drag others into the shadows. A force unknown to all but a few yet always present. They kill whomever they must kill without mercy. They hide what must be hidden without a trace. Their numbers are unknown. Their strength is unknown. Their identities are unknown. The qualifications to become them are unknown. These Black Ops serve directly under the village leader.
They are the Anbu.
In a moment of time in a quiet night, one of them stayed vigil behind the shadows.
Her hair was purple and straight. Her figure was subtle. She wore the standard uniform provided for an Anbu, black and grey armor, metal arm guards, black gloves extending to her shoulders, a spiral tattoo on her shoulder, and a katana strapped to her back. Covering her face was a porcelain mask resembling a cat with three red stripes.
She was the one tasked with surveilling the boy after the last and before the next.
The boy was sleeping now. A fur blanket was draped over him as he slept on the soft grass.
The foreigner was still awake watching the flames. The light flickered between its many colors. Her bloodline was unknown. Her strength was unknown. Her desires were unknown. The girl was nothing. That was dangerous.
If the need arose, then she would neutralize her. Without the Hokage's orders, she could only do so if the boy was at risk of being kidnapped or killed, so all she could do at the present was wait.
Something strange happened.
The foreigner looked in her direction. Such an occurrence could be coincidence.
What wasn't a coincidence was her smile, a bestial grin lined with sharp teeth. Her eyes that refused to reflect the moon or fire were filled with cunning. The silver light that shone through hair the color of cherry blossoms gave her the appearance of something infernal.
The Anbu touched the hilt of her sword. Capture was an acceptable response now.
Spring wind blew against her face. She touched it and felt her soft, bare skin against her glove.
Her heart skipped a beat.
In the foreigner girl's hand was a porcelain mask. She was in the same spot as before. Nothing had changed. The mask turned red and dark as searing cracks burst through it, shattering and crumbling into embers when it had caught on fire in her grasp.
A cold sweat ran along the anbu's back. She quietly unsheathed her sword.
The girl lightly blew out the campfire and turned her back to her. She knelt next to a soft spot and curled around her scarf before lying still. It was a peaceful sight. There was no movement save for the rise and fall of her breathing.
When the sun came, she awoke and sent the boy off.