AN: I don't own Naruto (cries a little), there is a lot of japanese in this chapter- for me- (of which only Kaite knows a little bit), so I included translations at the bottom of the chapter. But since Katie won't understand most of it, I thought you would get the real experience by not having those translations there. Now if you would like them I can post them as well, just let me know.
Chapter 2- Understanding
"Chirp chirp chirp"… "Chirp chirp chirp"… "chirp chirp ch..growl"
Katie slowly registered the sounds of her surroundings. She felt what appeared to be dirt and grass underneath her but refrained from thinking further or even moving. Her body was hurting beyond anything she had felt before, it was even worse than surgery she had to have a couple of months ago. When she focused hard enough she could pinpoint whether she was openly bleeding, which she was in some small wounds, and whether there was any broken bones etc, thankfully none.
"growl…grrr"
Katie took a deep breath and figured it was time to open her eyes or that growling may just be the last thing she heard.
Wincing, she opened her eyes to only shut them tight again. A small whimper passed her lips as she had moved her body just a fraction. Her eyes stung with the rays of the sun hitting her face directly.
Knowing how much pain she will be in when she moved, she fought her weak side and attempted to roll out of the sun.
She nearly choked on a scream.
"Ouch….hurts." she rasped, realizing that her throat was sore. She put it down to what happened before she got wherever she was. A sharp pain laced through her skull and she stopped moving and thinking again.
Focusing on just her breathing she managed to wait out the pain.
"Not going to think about that again." She rasped with a faint trace of a smile on her face.
"grrr…"
Inwardly sighing, Katie figured she really needed to move as the only things that made that noise weren't usually very friendly. Biting her lip she squinted to the right and rolled quickly. Katie made it 2 meters before she lost consciousness again.
Katie woke once again only 20 minutes later. Again she focused on her breathing and began to slowly open her eyes. She raised an eyebrow at what she saw.
Sitting above her in a palm tree was a tropical bird or some kind. She registered it vaguely before quickly shutting her eyes and trying to stop the pain that came with thinking. She peeked through her eyes again when she realized there was no pain. Thinking it odd she moved her arm and although she winced, was pleasantly surprised to feel it only ache, not making her want to rip it off.
Opening her eyes again she looked up to find the bird now on a lower branch looking at her. Fighting a smile, she rasped "Tucan". The bird immediately took flight at her voice.
Sighing aloud, Katie figured it was a good time to try a full body movement. Taking a deep breath she tried to sit up. She moaned at the ache that spread through her body and joints as she forced herself into a sitting position. Breathing a tired sigh of relief, she moved closer to the palm tree and set herself against it. With arms and legs feeling like lead already she gave herself some time to restore her energy.
It wasn't long before Katie found herself standing and looking around properly. Looking at where she must have woken up first she did a double take. The group was charred in a rough oval shape, enough to fit her body in it, and she decided to completely disregard that bit of info for now as there were more important matters at hand. She vaguely register the fact she didn't hear the growling anymore, which she was thankful for, and she begun, what she figured would be a long and tiring, search for her friends.
If she had paid more attention to her surroundings instead of making her way haphazardly through the tropical undergrowth and trees, she would have had her breath taken by the majesty of the tropical land. Tropical birds of all kinds of nature flew overheard, called to each other and watched her progress. Trees ranging from the palm to fern sprawled out around her and the faint trickling of possible waterfalls or shallow drinking pools tinkled.
Katie ignored it all for the sake of finding her friends. She gathered her thoughts along the way too, they appeared like this:
Red eyes man appeared in the darkness
After much fire and pain they must have slipped through 'something'
Not in her land, maybe world, because she doesn't live anyway near the tropics.
Separated from all her friends
Hurt and tired
No food or water
An exasperated sigh passed her lips and she stumbled while trying to restrain her tears of helplessness. Grabbing a branch for balance, she plodded along a somewhat animal path. After fighting her way through some scrub she tumbled out onto a sandy beach. Her eyes widened in surprise and she felt awe rock her body. The beach was perfectly laid out and the water sparkled enough to make her eyes water. She breathed in deeply and then gagged.
"Stupid sea air" she spluttered while trying to hold down what little food she had in her stomach, "How could I forget?"
Katie had a rare reflex when it came to the sea air. Obviously it made her want to gag and throw up all over the place, but thankfully over sometime it would become bearable and then she wouldn't notice it. Short breaths and closed eyes for 10 minutes allowed for her to gain her reflex mostly under control.
It was in that time that she didn't notice that someone had followed her onto the beach, nor would she have if it had not been for the faint growl she had heard.
Stiffening, her mind flashed scary movies and the characters that had turned around only to either scream and die or just die on the spot. Fighting the terror rippling through her, she slowly turned around.
It was a boy of about 13 with black hair (almost in a bowl cut), glasses and holding a bow and arrow. Katie would have laughed at the sight, if it was not for the giant tiger standing right next to him. She swallowed the nervous/terror giggle and quickly noted that the clothes he wore appeared to be something like a gypsy costume but with more blue (and apparent higher quality).
"Anata wa dare desu ka? kokode naniwo shiteiruno?" the boys spoke quickly in a language that she didn't recognize.
"What? Could you repeat that?" she rasped and then coughed due to her dry and sore throat. The boy looked somewhat confused and he didn't answer. He seemed to be studying her appearance. She looked down at herself and almost died of shock. Her normal school uniform had mostly been burnt off, her skin was dirty, ash covered and covered in small wound and some blood. She wrapped her arms around herself and cried out in embarrassment, thankfully her private parts seemed to be covered but she would not normally have so much skin exposed.
The boy lowered his bow slightly and said something.
"Anata wa dare desu ka? Go shusshin wa dochira deshou ka?"
Katie looked up at him dumbly trying to figure out the language.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you said?" her voice scraped out. The boy lowered the weapon completely now, confusion and curiousness played out across his features. He put the weapon away and motioned to the tiger. Katie was surprised to see the tiger lay down casually on the ground, but still watching her intently.
"Daijoubu? Ki wo waruku shita?" the boy asked and took a few steps towards her. Katie looked up suddenly and smiled.
"Daijoubu?" She whispered and realized that it was Japanese he was speaking. Thanking whoever was up there, looked at him and said "Ie".
The boy looked a little confused and Katie worried she had said it wrong. It wasn't that she was fluent in Japanese or anything but she knew a few phrases.
"Itai desu ka?" He said, now only a few paces in front of her. Katie felt her face fall and sighed in defeat. It didn't matter how many phrases she knew if she couldn't tell what was asked.
"Watashi wa Hikaru desu." He said patting his chest. Katie looked up and felt a small smile grace her lips when she replied with "Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Katie desu."
Hikaru now smiled at her and held out his hand. Katie looked down at herself and then at him, figured this handshake could be the difference between him leaving her there or him helping her, she held her hand out and shook his.
"Anata wa soreru?" He asked, then turning to signal the tiger. It got up and loped over to them. He turned back to see Katie just staring at him with an eyebrow raised. Hikaru then motioned to the tiger, "Kochira wa watashi no tomodachi desu. Chamu-san desu."
Katie arched her head to the left a little and figured out that he was introducing the tiger, and it's name must be Chamu since Hikaru had put 'san' on the end of that. Katie turned her attention to the tiger, did a small bow and rasped "Konnichi wa Chamu-san". The tiger gave a small nod and Hikaru smiled and nodded. She smiled to herself thinking she had done a good job until Hikaru started talking again.
"Anata wa soreru? Doko kara kita no ka? Watashi-tachi wa anata o oikakete. Dono yō ni janguru no naka de te ni?"
Katie's eyes widened as she heard him spill forth all that Japanese, sighing she motioned for him to stop. Katie knew she needed to figure out a way for him to understand that she only knew a little of the language. Rolling her eyes she figured her best chance was to say all the Japanese she knew and hopefully the mashed up language would signal she can't understand anything else. Well she hoped anyway.
"Konnichiwa, ohayougozaimas, konbanwa, sayounara, arigatougozaimas, Hajimemashite, Oniisan, Oneechan, Ganbatte kudasai," Katie reeled off and took a breath to begin again, "Domo, Ie, Hai, Ii desu ne, yatta, yokoso, sasuga, shoganai, a yokatta, nani, ooshiya, honto, a so desu ka, gomen, mochiron…" Katie stopped and begun violently coughing. She found Hikaru patting her back and offering what appeared to be a bottle to her. His face betrayed his confusion to everything she had just said but showed concern for her also. Katie calmed herself enough to take the bottle and drink; she was grateful for the water that then poured down her throat and eased the sratchiness.
"Arigatou" she whispered, thankful that it was more in her normal voice than in a rasp. She smiled and handed it back to Hikaru. He seemed to be in thought about something and turned to Chamu and said something too fast for her to grab and motioned in her direction. The tiger seemed to understand what Hikaru had said and gave a tiger-nod. Katie rolled her eyes and gave a barking laugh at the tiger's human like understanding. Clapping a hand over her mouth at the hard sound she found Hikaru and Chamu looking at her, both confused.
"Go..Gomen" she whispered.
"Watashi wa sore wa watashi no ryōshin ni tsurete ikuto shutoku ni yakudatsu besutoda to omou. Anata wa meihakudato kono atari karade wa nai. Watashi wa anata no sewa o suru." Hikaru said. It was then Katie's turn to look confused, but her eyes lit up when another few phrases popped in her head that would be useful in any situation. Smiling she said "Wakarimasen, shiriirasen, zenzen"
Hikaru smiled and gave a little smile, "Wakarimasen Tashika ni", he held a hand out to her and Katie didn't hesitate one bit. It wasn't like her to completely trust people but now that she had a few phrases under her belt and two new friends that seemed to be willing to help her, it boosted her confidence in speaking and hopefully finding her friends. Katie placed her hand in his and let him lead her from the beach.
Now that she had some help she felt a great exhaustion begin to weigh her down. Again she didn't take any of the view in as she focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Not aware how long they walked for but feeling relatively safe, she didn't notice the town now begin to be laid out before her. She stumbled and apologized again. Hikaru stopped and looked at her condition in concern. Motioning to Chamu, Hikaru stood in front of her and squeezed her hand for reassurance. Chamu appeared at her side and Hikaru took her other hand and put it on Chamu's back. Katie looked up in shock and wanted to pull it back, but Hikaru held it in place. Her mind slowly registered that this was an effort to offer her more balance and she faintly smiled and whispered "Arigato Chamu-san", to which the tiger growled a little and seemed to puff out his chest a little. It made Katie smile wider as they begun walking into the town.
Katie looked around at the town with a mixture of awe and surprise. Here was a very wealthy town, which from the looks of it, had been in prosperity for some time. The buildings were a bright white almost, standing tall and proud. The people of the town were bustling around laughing, shopping and talking. Fabulous colours in clothing and beautiful people astounded Katie's sight; looking down at herself she felt the embarrassment rise again. She decided to change her mind subject.
"Hikaru-san…ah…nani…?" she said motioning to the town. Hikaru seemed to understand her question and smiled while answering "Kore wa roiyaru-gaidesu. Wareware wa kuni ni iru Cresent Moon Kingdom."
Katie rose an eyebrow but repeated what she thought was the name of where she was, "Crescent Moon Kingdom?"
"Hai" Hikaru said his smile widening further and nodding vigorously. Katie couldn't help but smile, it faded quickly when she realized that the people of the town were now noticing them and were obviously commenting on her. She lowered her head and felt blood rush to her cheeks. She felt Hikaru give her hand a squeeze and even Chamu gave a small growl of reassurance.
It wasn't much longer till they reached wherever Hikaru was taking her as they suddenly stopped and Katie looked up. Before her stood 6 men in uniform and with weapons, although Katie recognized that they posed her a possible threat she looked behind them to the magnificent castle/mansion that rose up behind them. She inwardly giggled at the turrets and royal feeling it gave off. It was then she snapped back to reality. Looking at Hikaru and not focusing on the fluent Japanese that he was using to, probably, attempt to explain who Katie was, she looked for something to confirm a girly suspicion. There on the sleeves of this top shirt was an emblem. Looking up to the gates to the catsle/mansion she saw they matched.
"Hikaru-san…nani?" she said suddenly, pointing to him and then the mansion. One of the men stepped forward and said something quickly to Hikaru whilst giving a small bow.
"OMG…you're a prince!" she said, still not believing her thoughts or her luck. To have met a prince in a different land that obviously, so far, didn't have any intention to kill her was a major advantage to finding her friends and getting help. Hikaru and the man both looked at her outburst with confusion, but only Hikaru smiled. He seemed to have quickly grasped what she meant and nodded hesitantly. Despite herself, she smiled and let out a raking laugh, then a cough and then she found Hikaru's water in her hand again.
"Arigato" she said drinking again. By now she figured Hikaru must have explained how he found her and where he found her, and given her current appearance they must believe that something had happened to her. She was quickly ushered through the gates with Chamu as support still as Hikaru talked quickly with the lead man. The other 5 men stationed themselves around her and the tiger as an escort.
Katie looked up suddenly and called "Taichou" while pointing at the man talking to Hikaru. Hikaru smiled and nodded to Katie, while the man looked at her suspiciously but nodded the affirmative.
"I know I shouldn't feel proud but I kinda do Chamu-san" she said smiling to the tiger, to see her acting quite familiar with the tiger seemed to settle the captain's doubts a little. They made their way past a magnificent fountain and towards the steps. Katie couldn't help it but she sighed with exhaustion looking at the big flight of stairs.
"Why do castles have so many stairs? Oh I don't think I can climb them." She said when they reached the bottom. Everyone else had stepped forward to start up the stairs but Katie let go of Chamu's fur and stopped. Chamu growled to get Hikaru's attention and turned back to Katie. Chamu licked her hand and she looked up.
"I know…it just so many, and I'm already so tired." she said, not surprised to find a small whine in her now mostly normal voice. Hikaru appeared at her side and took her elbow.
"Gambatte kudasai." He said as Chamu went to her side once again. Snorting at hearing 'you can do it' from Hikaru she gave a small smile and a nod.
By the time they reached the top Katie wanted to fall down and just sleep right there. Her body, which had gone from intense pain to ache, was now bordering painful again. Her muscles were twitching and she could feel tears threatening.
"Sō tōkunai ima" Hikaru said leading her inside now. Katie had only looked up momentarily but she had seen pity and concern for her pass over the captain's face and figured she was a pitiful sight indeed. Not focusing on anything that was said around her she was supported into a room that she supposed was a sitting room. Almost supporting her fully now, Hikaru and Cham seated her in a chair quickly. Hikaru got his water bottle out again and went to give her some; surprise fluttered his face when he realized it was empty. Before he went to ask for some water, a bottle was placed on the table by the captain. He nodded and stood back watching Hikaru help Katie find the strength to have a drink. Again Katie whispered her thanks and sat back with her eyes closed.
She remained that way for 5 minutes while she waited for something to happen. Suddenly, as if on cue to her thought the door opened quickly and started Katie from the edges of sleep.
"Hikaru, Nani ga hadaka no on'nanoko nitsuite koreda? Kanojo wa…" Came a female voice.
"Hai, no wa sore ga kanojo ga chi-darakedearu to iimashita …." Came a male voice. Katie opened her eyes to find a large man and a curvy woman standing with Hikaru now. With the last of her strength she shakily stood and bowed saying "Ohayougozaimas".
Katie couldn't remember much of what happened next but she knew it was Hikaru's parents standing there, the King and Queen, and although she didn't know the proper greeting she had tried her best. She felt someone pick her up and the feeling of warm water, the smell of roses and lavender, the sting of her cuts being cleaned and then the feeling of soft pillows and cotton under her head as she faded completely into sleep.
While this had been happening to Katie, her friends had some less than welcoming experiences. It appeared that Katie had been spared most of the suspicion that comes with falling out of the sky in the middle of a village, and although the two groups of her friends were in different villages they were treated as threats to begin with.
It was also during this time that a boy of 16 was returning to his home village after 2 ½ years of intense training. He was still the most surprising ninja and still wore bright orange clothing, but his maturity and understanding of people had developed well (including his skills in the 3 jutsus).
Please Read and Review
AN:
So that is the second chapter. Like I said at the start you seriously won't actually see Katie interacting with the main Naruto characters for a while. Also, if you want all the translations just let me know and I will post them too. So any questions or reviews or comments are welcome! Cheers
Translations to Katie's understanding of Japanese
Konnichiwa = Hello
Ohayougozaimas= Good morning
Konbanwa= Good Evening
sayounara= Goodbye
arigatougozaimas= Thank you
Hajimemashite = Nice to meet you
Oniisan = Brother
Oneechan= Sister
Ganbatte kudasai = Good Luck or do your best
Domo = Hello
Ie = No
Hai = Yes
Ii desu ne = That's a great idea
Yatta = I did it!
Yokoso = Welcome
Sasuga = I'm impressed by you
Shoganai = There is no choice
a yokatta = Oh Good
Nani = What
Ooshiya = What shall I do?
Honto = Really!
A so desu ka = Oh Really
Gomen = Sorry
Mochiron = Of Course!
Wakarimasen =I don't understand
Shiriirasen = I don't know the answer to that question
Zenzen = Not at all
Taichou = Captain
