"Leave me alone!" the girl yelled. Fear was clear in her eyes and she was shoved hard against bamboo.
"You think you're better than me! Don't deny it, you bitch!" the lighter blonde yelled.
"I don't think I'm better! What have I done to you?!" the darker blonde yelled back. "Nothing!"
"Liar! You've spread these terrible rumors about me! I hate you!" the taller girl threw a punch, but the shorter girl caught it and easily used her momentum against her and she went flying.
"Ino…I thought we were friends. I truly believed we could be friends until we died, but I guess that isn't possible. If you were truly my friend, you'd stick by me and believe my words for the truth," the girl said, tears streaming down her face. She wiped them off her cheeks with the back of her hand and walked away.
"That's right, bitch! Run, Naruto!" Ino yelled back, refusing to acknowledge her words.
Naruto's simple kimono was thin from so many wears and washes and was short, only reaching to her knees. The sleeves had fallen off after someone had cut the stiches in the village. She never found out who it was, but it didn't matter. The pattern on them was terrible anyway.
She walked back to her house, which was the best one in the village. It was a rather large village. Her father had been rumored to build it, but she doubted it. His extremely pale skin made him seem wimpy.
It was almost night when she reached her house. Taking off her shoes, she stepped in.
"I'm home," she chimed.
"Welcome back, Naruto-chan," her father smiled at her. He was sitting, reading something.
"I'm going to make dinner, what do you want?" Naruto asked.
"You've been hurt," he said. He stood and examined her knee and elbow. They had scabs that were trying to form but were still bloody. He clicked his tongue and found some bandages. He quickly covered her wound but still had a worried look.
"No one took your necklace, right?" he asked. She reached for her neck, but found it bare. Her mouth slightly opened and she looked at his yellow eyes for answers.
"This isn't good. I've got to make you a new one now, Hold out your arm," he instructed. She did so and her skin was pricked with a kunai. Wincing, she let him collect a sample of her blood.
"Make dinner. I'll have this done by tomorrow," he said and disappeared into the house. Sighing, she began to cook rice and other vegetables. She sliced up lettuce and carrot and potato, cracked eggs, and roasted seaweed. After an hour of tending to so many pots and pans, it was done.
"Tou-san! Dinner is ready!"
After a moment, she didn't hear him. Tiptoeing to his room, she listened for any sound. Right before she was about to open the door, she heard voices.
"…going to do with that sample? Please don't lie to me, Orochimaru-san."
"To…to create another seal. I can't allow her to leave this village, or my side," Orochimaru replied.
"Seal? For what purpose?"
"Her blood is pure. Her clan's blood can prolong life. Rumor is that the Sage of Six Paths used this blood to live for as long as he did. It is said that Kami-sama's blood is of the purest. With her blood, I'd be able to live forever."
A gasp. "Then…she is…"
"Yes, she is—" Orochimaru's grin was cut short as his head was cut off. Naruto opened the door and couldn't scream at the horrifying sight in front of her.
"You…you…" Naruto felt tears run down her cheeks again. "You killed my father!"
"He is a criminal to both the city of Konoha and the Country of Fire. He is wanted dead by His Majesty and the Hokage. You were simply a tool," the young man replied, his sword covered in blood. Naruto couldn't hear any more of this crap.
"Liar!" she ran at him and managed to land a good punch, having the element of surprise; a pretty girl like her wouldn't be expected to know how to fight. She grabbed another sword and engaged him in a fight.
She was quickly on the defensive, parrying his move with barely enough time to make sure she wasn't giving him an opening.
"I don't want to fight you," he said. He gritted his teeth and she was thrown back. She shakily stood and dropped the sword. She engaged him in a hand-to-hand battle and was quickly overpowered. He was too skilled. He punched her stomach hard. She fell to her knees and glared up at him.
"Who…the hell are you?" Naruto asked.
"Uchiha Itachi," he said, sheathing his sword.
"I…hate you…I'm going to find you…and kill you…" Naruto promised as he jumped out of the window.
She fled the village with only a few personal belongings. She was glad it wasn't winter yet; she'd freeze to death. She walked through the village silently, knowing the route to conceal her footsteps. After a few minutes, she saw the village she had known for her entire life grow smaller and smaller.
She kept walking on the path for hours until she saw dawn was near. Glancing up at the sun she glared at it. Once it came past the mountains, she had to look away; the sun's rays were strong. She stopped under a tree and noticed how it had persimmon growing on it. She glanced at the path and saw no one coming. She climbed the tree and took a few persimmons.
"Hey, don't climb so high; it's dangerous," a male voice called. Naruto was startled and tumbled down. She landed hard on her back and coughed; the breath was knocked out of her. Glancing up she saw a man with spiky white hair.
"Who are you?" Naruto narrowed her eyes and reached for her sword.
"Calm down," he held up his hands in peace. "I'm just a traveller. It's dangerous for pretty girls like you to be traveling alone. Plus, you've got quite the figure," he grinned.
Naruto sighed. He had a point. "Fine. In return with me staying with you, train me. You seem to have quite a nice sword."
He smiled and motioned for her to follow. She walked over and in a flash, he had her on her knees facing away from him and her long blonde hair was in his hands.
"What are you doing?" she asked, reaching for her sword.
"Stop," he said. She froze and then saw her hair fall down around her.
"You cut my hair. WHY?!" she whirled around as he let go and scowled.
"To protect you. You ran away didn't you? If something bad happened, you're running from it. I don't want you, my companion, to be harmed," he said, his eyes hard with seriousness.
She realized he probably knew more than she did. But considering the situation, she decided she didn't want to know. Enough terrible things happened to her and she didn't want to ruin a new friendship by bonding them further with horrible truths. She already didn't believe that Uchiha Itachi. But for some reason, that name rang a bell.
"Yeah," she agreed, feeling the shortness of her hair. I must look like a boy now, huh?
He grunted, a signal to keep moving. She followed in silence until they stumbled upon another village. She followed him into a tavern, where to her surprise, she wasn't seen as an object the way the women walking about were. Do I not look female? She sighed, thinking it was for the best.
"This way," the man said. She followed him up a flight of stairs and down into a basement.
"This is where I live, for now. We'll move tomorrow," he said.
"Who are you, anyway?"
"I'm Jiraiya. You might've heard of me," he said as he sat down on a chair. "Can you cook?"
"Yeah. I've actually never heard of you…" she blushed slightly.
"I'm one of three students of one of the greatest swordsmen to live. My old sensei died a couple years ago and my two teammates disappeared somewhere. I taught the Hokage's bodyguard everything he knows," Jiraiya said.
"Ah," Naruto said. She quickly busied herself with making dinner. Jiraiya watched her intently, seemingly finding the blonde girl's fast and fluid knife skills extremely fascinating. Uneasily smiling, she served him fried rice.
"Here," she handed him chopsticks and tea.
"Thanks," he said in between mouthfuls. A fourth of the way into her portion, smaller than his and almost done with her tea, he asked for seconds.
"Yes," she nodded and scooped more. He took the bowl back and quickly ate it. "I take it you like it?"
"Yeah. Here's another reason to keep you with me. I hope you're ready for tomorrow, so eat up. I'm a mean teacher," he smirked and finished his portion. She nibbled at hers, not feeling all that hungry.
"Eat," he ordered. Surprised that he'd be this adamant at having her eat, she complied and ate the rest of the fried rice.
Jiraiya found some bedding and handed it to her. Grateful that after leaving the only home she knew was turning out to give more openings than she'd thought, she took it and laid it out.
She didn't fall asleep immediately. She stared up into the darkness, the soft sound of Jiraiya's snoring not rhythmic enough to lull her to sleep. Images of her murdered father came back. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. I will get you, Uchiha Itachi. The death of Tou-san will not go unpunished.
Still, what her father had said to this young man was unsettling. What did he mean, her blood was pure? And seal? To seal what? Her? Where? Why? She shook her head, not having enough information to answer anything. But for now, she could speculate. Then, another piece of information came to her. Orochimaru had said that he wanted to live forever and how her blood could achieve that. Naruto bit her lip. She was forever grateful to him, having raised her after her mother had died in childbirth. He'd picked up the pieces and raised her well, only to die right in front of her.
Was her father a real criminal, like Itachi had said? That name…Uchiha. It had some other kind of familiarity, something she had heard once before, long ago. Maybe he was a mercenary, the kind that got famous from killing rich people. Her father wasn't rich…was he? It would explain the large house they owned. It was the largest in the village.
If Orochimaru was a criminal, does this mean he was using his daughter?
No, that is ridiculous. He loved her. He raised her and cleaned her wounds when she fell and let her cry when the boys and girls in the village teased her for her strange whiskers. He had taught her how to protect herself with the sword and how to cook and clean and so many other things she couldn't name off the top of her head.
Sighing softly, she felt herself slip into unconsciousness.
Naruto's eyes opened. Dawn hadn't come yet. She got up and noticed how a different kimono, no, yukata, had been laid out. It was a male's design. She quickly changed into it and went to make breakfast.
The sound of crisp vegetables being cut and the smell of egg woke Jiraiya up. He sat up and blearily looked around. His eyes caught blonde hair. Tsunade? He shook his head; her hair was longer. This person was in his kitchen…cooking. He blinked and remembered. He picked up a girl, running from something. Ah, yes, Naruto. He scratched his face and stood, walking over to her. She smiled at him and handed him a bowl of eggs, rice, and vegetables along with chopsticks.
"Enjoy," she said and set down a cup of tea. He muttered a thank you and watched her eat.
Once the two of them were done and he'd washed the dishes, they walked outside and he began to train the girl on different techniques about using the sword.