A note from me- first chapter i didnt know completely know what i wanted to do with this story but now i do. i tried to add some depth to the charcters, especially sakura and naruto. my annoyance with sakura caused me to make her a little more mature and what not in this story. i wont be bashing her and there wont be a pairing of sakura/naruto. i also wrote this chapter to the tune of "Hero" by Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott. the song describes the story but that'll be understood more as the story moves along .thats it for now
"How are they?" Naruto asked. It was the following morning and Tsunade had summoned him to her office
"Sai went into shock but is fine now. Amazingly no organs were hit. Sakura got the antidote in time and is now sleeping"
"Can I go see them?"
"No" She shook her head "We don't completely know the situation there so itd be better for you to remain here". He collapsed on the floor
"And this was only a warning…"
"That's what Yamato reported that she said"
"Imagine what she could've done"
"Actually that is the interesting part, the only person killed was my friend's brother"
"Why?" He looked up at her
"Not sure. He was injected with a very fast working poison, I told the shinobi that I sent to bring back samples if they can"
"So Im supposed to just stay here while my friends are over there?"
"Yes and you'll be an escort for an older man visiting. Actually I forgot he cancelled" she gave a sheepish grin "Sorry but they'll be fine Naruto, now leave so I can get some work done". He slowly got up then left the office, becoming absorbed in his thoughts
Maybe I could leave tonight but I know the old woman has somebody watching me, shes not that stupid. I cant wait here though. They might need me. Suddenly he heard a yell as he passed by an apartment building and instinctively held his arms out. A young woman fell into them. Naruto was surprised, it wasn't everyday that he caught falling women. She seemed to be an average height with long jet black hair with bangs in the front. She was tanned and wore a brown yukata with shorts underneath and sandals. She opened her brown eyes and looked up at Naruto who didn't know what to say
"Are you ok?" They both looked up to see another young woman with sliver-ish hair like Kakashi yell down
"Yeah" The woman he held answered
"Only you would slip on a random banana peel and fall out of a window!"
"Shut up!"
"While you're down there we need some milk and eggs" With that she disappeared out of the window.
"Ummm are you hurt?" Naruto finally asked
"Just my pride" She mumbled. She looked at him again "Thank you"
"No big deal"
"You can put me down"
"Oh, sorry" He blushed then set her on the ground. She was much curvier than the girls he was used to seeing, well except for the old lady
"Well thanks again but I gotta go" She smiled then raced off leaving Naruto in a daze
"Hey if that's too much woman for ya just send her over here" A guy yelled as he and his friends walked by. They laughed. Naruto gave them a death glare that immediately shut them up. He needed to think so he started walking again. He was tired of everything, tired of the missions, tired of the gossip/ comments about him behind his back, tired of Sasuke, tired of running…especially the running. Running to get Sasuke when he clearly didn't want to come back, running from Akatsuki, etc. He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose I need a long break, maybe it wont be so bad to stay in Konoha for a while… He was interrupted from his thoughts by a shout. Opening his eyes he saw a small crowd, mostly women gathered around another woman who had held a slender knife at a man's throat
"Kill him!"
"Cut off his nuts!"
"Serves him right!" The many women were shouting and encouraging the other woman, actually as Naruto squinted he slowly began to recognize the face. It was the girl from earlier. He nudged the guy next to him and asked what happened
"That loser was beating up on his pregnant wife. The woman saw him and beat him senseless"
"No wonder the women are so worked up" Naruto said
"Yeah, but have you checked out the girl? She's gorgeous but those eyes, there's something about 'em" . Naruto looked at her eyes. From what he could see they looked dark and cold, not that much different from Sasuke's. He mentally kicked himself for thinking about his ex-teammate. Almost instantly she locked her eyes with his, neither looking away. She finally turned from him, then let the man go but not with out kicking him again. The women cheered. Naruto wanted to talk to her but he couldn't see her. Suddenly he felt someone pulling him away from the crowd
"Lost?" It was the woman
"Umm, no. Just wanted to say hi"
"Really?" She stopped pulling him then turned around to face him with her hands on her hips "Well since you like to follow me, do you have a name?"
"Uzumaki Naruto"
"Kay Naruto, you can call me Hikari" She started to walk away. For some reason he didn't want her to leave yet so he walked with her "Glad you're coming along kid, you can help me with the groceries". Kid?! She doesn't look that much older than me. Oh no maybe she's like the old woman. Great
"Twenty-five" She said
"What?"
"That's my age, I know you were wondering and by your big eyed look I'd say you were around eighteen or nineteen"
"Nice guess" He yawned "So where's the store you're going to?" Before she could answer, Hikari yelped then fell face forward onto the ground. She managed to push herself onto her knees "Are you ok?" Naruto asked. She answered by shrieking
"DO I LOOK OK?! I JUST FELL ON MY FACE, ON THE HARD GROUND! AND TO TOP IT OFF I BROKE MY NEW HEELS!" She let off a string of expletives. Naruto was definitely interested now. The woman he saw now was nothing like the cold, almost killer he'd seen before.
"Who is that?" Karin whispered. Sasuke and his team had left a small village. They had been close to Itachi. Sasuke was determined not to let him get away but as they were leaving they saw an older man running down the deserted street towards them
"Help!" He cried. He had graying hair and was a little short. He wore a plain yukata and nearly collapsed when he reached them. Since he'd lived in the Leaf village for some time he immediately recognized Sasuke "You have to help me! She's going to kill me"
"Who?" Suigetsu asked
"Death Herself" Sasuke kept his calm demeanor, the other three exchanged glances
"Lets go" Sasuke started to walk by him
"No don't leave me please! I can tell you where Itachi is!" That got Sasuke's attention
"How?"
"I over heard an Akatsuki member in another town not too far from here"
"You better not be lying" In an instant his sword was against the man's neck "I don't like liars"
"Of course!". He withdrew his blade
"How do we find her?" Karin asked
"Don't worry, she'll find us" Instantly the temperature dropped. A chilly breeze swept by them.
"I have a bad feeling about this" Jugo stated. There was silence, no birds, no animals, not even human talking could be heard.
"She's here" The man stood up and latched onto Sasuke's arm. Normally Sasuke would've knocked someone out for that but he sensed something
"You've found friends Kaito" A lone, masked woman said as she walked down the street toward the group. She wore a light blue kimono with sleeves so long that they touched the ground. Her hair pulled back into a bun. Her steps were slow and confident
"This is her?" Suigetsu asked. He laughed "There's nothing to be afraid of"
"You're right as long as you stay out of my way" There was no hint of fear in her voice
"I don't know what you want but this ends now" Sasuke hoped he could end it quickly so they could leave.
"Childs play" Was the only response he got. The woman disappeared before their eyes
"This is freaky" Suigetsu said
"Not so cocky now, huh?" Karin smirked
"Shut up"
"How about both of you do that!" Sasuke snapped. They closed their mouths
"Hey uh guys where'd that man go?" Jugo asked. They all turned to the spot that he'd just been in and sure enough he was gone. They heard a scream. They followed it a little outside of the village. There they saw the woman with her back towards them standing over the man. She appeared to be replacing her mask
"I warned you boy" In another instant a beautifully carved knife was pressed against his throat as his teammates collapsed. To say Sasuke was shocked was an understatement but he kept his cool "You're not going to kill me?" He smirked
"No, I have no need to…yet." She stepped back "You should get your friends to a doctor, they'll need it" Before she could go he appeared in front of her
"Why'd you kill him?" There was a pause
"We all will die eventually, the life he lived sped up the process" Then with a leap over him she was gone
"Sakura!" Naruto burst into the hospital room. She was sitting on a bed staring at the wall
"Hey Naruto" She said meekly without looking at him. He'd just been to see Sai who was back to himself except for a scar from where he'd been stabbed. He walked over
"Sakura it wasn't your fault". She didn't say anything. Sai had warned him about this. She had been blaming herself. She'd felt that if she'd kept her cool things would've turned out differently. It all went back to when she was younger and had felt she was more of a burden than a real teammate to Naruto and Sasuke. Though she had greatly improved she still dealt with that insecurity.
"I've done worse stuff than that, you were only trying to protect Sai" Finally without thinking Naruto hugged her. Normally she'd scream at him, hit him or call him names but this time was different. "You're a great teammate Sakura and friend" Naruto whispered. A tear slid down her cheek. She hugged him back.
The sun was starting to set as Naruto sat at the ramen stand thinking. He listened to the gossip of the other customers
"She killed him?!"
"That's the story, it's the first very prominent person. There's a rumor going around that the man ran into that Uchiha traitor and asked them for help but even he couldn't protect that poor man". Naruto almost choked when he heard that. He turned to see two female medic nins talking.
"Why do you think she does this?"
"I don't know but I heard that some villages and their Kages may team together and offer a reward for her capture. She's obviously dangerous"
"Lady Death is a very fitting name for her"
"Naruto!" Ino shouted, slapping him on the back causing him to spill some of his ramen. She sat down on one side of him
"Ino nice to see you" He mumbled. The two women had looked over, recognizing him they decided to eat their dinner elsewhere.
"Old hags!" Ino called after them "Don't worry about them Naruto"
"I wont" He put on his fake smile "So where's Shikamaru and Choji?"
"They were supposed to meet me here" She looked around and pushed some of her long hair out of her face. "How's Sakura and Sai? I heard what happened to them"
"They're ok"
"I heard they had an encounter with the mysterious Lady Death, you've heard of her right?"
"Yeah"
"Well did your teammates say what she looked like?"
"Wore a kimono with really long sleeves, hair pulled in a bun and a white mask over her face"
"That sounds creepy. I'd really like to see her" She said dreamily
"Why?"
"Because on top of being so cool she's also a woman. There's not many female shinobi to look up to, even if she is a murderer"
"I guess" Naruto became lost in his own thoughts "Ino can I ask you something?"
"Sure"
"What if I gave up my chase of Sasuke?". There was a pause
"Honestly Naruto I'd think it'd be good for you and your team, especially Sakura. Its time to move on, if he wants to come then he will on his own. You need to stop wasting time searching for him. Besides how can you become Hokage if you're continually chasing him?" She smiled
"Thanks "
"No problem, come with me to find Shikamaru and Choji. They should've been here by now"
"Ok" He left money for his ramen then the two left. Unknown to either Hikari had been sitting at the end unnoticed. Her eyes were closed and her chin rested on her clasped hands. A sliver haired woman walked up to her
"Find out anything?"
"He knew Sasuke-chan"
"Really?" She raised an eyebrow "What are you gonna do about it?"
"Nothing for the moment" She opened her eyes which had become a pale gray color
"Well I assume with this new discovery that Konoha will be home for a little while"
"You assume right" She smirked
The stars in the night sky shone brightly as Naruto walked back to his apartment. He and Ino had found their friends at another restaurant. They'd forgotten about Ino. Naruto managed to sneak away from the scene just as she started yelling at them. Suddenly he felt a chilly breeze. He shivered and started walking faster when he heard a sound come from above him. He saw a figure wearing a white mask crouching near the very end of a roof. The figure seemed to be waiting for someone. Suddenly it turned its attention to Naruto. He didn't know what to do. The figure didn't look like it was going to attack. It kept its attention on him, finally it jumped down the other side of the roof. Naruto raced to the area but as he looked around there was no one there.
"Was I imagining things?" He mumbled. He shrugged then continued to his apartment
Naruto made it home and immediately got into bed but he found it hard to sleep. He finally gave up and walked to his bedroom window. He stared at the beautiful night sky. Everything was so peaceful and calm, well it was until he heard someone knocking on his door. He groaned then threw on a shirt and pants then walked to the door. He opened it to find Hikari standing there. She wore a big smile
"Sorry Blondie but I was in the area. You dropped this earlier" She held out his weapons pouch. He took it and mumbled thanks. "See ya" she started to walk away but Naruto said
"Wait!". She turned around "Umm…" He blushed "Wanna hang out over here for a little bit?". She raised an eyebrow
"Kid, its like 10:30 at night, my feet hurt and Im hungry" He started to apologize but then she said "But ok, since you don't seem half bad" she smiled. She walked in and sat on his couch "So whats wrong?"
"Nothing" He went to the window and started looking out at the sky again. He was too embarrassed to admit that he was just lonely. That feeling came over him more now than ever.
"You're a terrible liar" she stretched out on his couch and watched him "Seriously whats wrong? You barely know me yet you want me to sit around over here this late. Something's wrong"
"I…I don't really want to talk about it, Im sorry. You can go if you want" He turned to face her
"No Im sorry cuz Im not going anywhere. You don't feel like talking but you obviously want some company" she turned on her side "Night Blu"
"That's not my name" He frowned
"I know, you seem so sad though that I decided that's what I want to call you, that and the fact I don't remember your name." She closed her eyes. Soon she was sleep. Naruto had turned back to the window How long am I going to feel like this?