Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Crimson Tears ❯ Moonlit Forest ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto do you really think I'd have to write a disclaimer?

 

A/N: As you should already know, this is an AU, so not all of the characters are going to be in here. That is either because A) I don't want to put them in here or B) I haven't met them yet. After all, I've only read through book six… too many characters and I'll confuse myself… ^ ^;

 

Muse: Stop babbling damnit! Get to the story already!

 

Advena: Gomen! I can't help it!

 

Muse: NOW!

 

Advena: *sniffling* Yes ma'am…

 

 

His breathes came in sharp gasps that he tried desperately to quiet. Hearing the faintest whisper of leaves ahead, he stopped and faded into the night-shadow of a nearby tree. He quietly set down the man he had been carrying on his back and lightly tapped his shoulder. When he turned his glazed, half-lidded eyes to him he mouthed a warning to him. When he nodded his understanding, he concealed him and focused his complete attention on the surrounding area.

 

Leaves rustled ever so slightly on his right and he snapped his wrist, sending a shuriken in the direction of the sound. He heard the `ting' of metal hitting metal and drew the dagger at his side. He stalked through the foliage and quickly looked around. His eyebrows drew down in confusion when he neither saw nor heard anyone. When he felt the cold press of metal against the back of his neck, his eyes widened.

 

“What is your business here?”

 

He did not know who was behind him, but he could tell that it was a man, and judging from the timbre, in his late mid to late twenties. He leaned forward and spun, slashing the dagger where the man had been. Tensing, he slipped into a ready stance. He heard a `whoosh' and he moved to the right, a kunai flying past him, and a second one in the shadow of the first, burying itself in his leg.

 

Hissing he blocked the kunai that was slashed at him with his dagger. The man before him had short hair the appeared white in the moonlight. A mask covered the bottom half of his face and a hitai-ate band with a leaf on it covering one eye.

 

There was a rustling of clothing and three people around his own age burst through the nearby trees.

 

“Master Kakashi!” A girl yelled at the man.

 

“Sakura! Naruto! Sasuke! I told you to wait at the camp!”

 

The young man took advantage of Kakashi's few seconds of distraction to yank the kunai out of his leg, knock the kunai out of his hand and swing his fist at Kakashi's face in the same movement. Kakashi quickly gathered some chakra and slammed his hands into the young man's chest sending him flying into the trunk of a tree. He had not even recovered from the blow when he felt an arm across his neck, pinning him to the tree. When his head stopped spinning, he opened his eyes and saw a single cold grey eye boring into him.

 

A few minutes passed in silence when he heard a startled yell behind him.

 

“Hey where's Sakura?”

 

Kakashi increased the pressure on the young man's throat and turned his head to look at his students. Naruto searched the immediate area frantically while Sasuke calmly studied the spot where Sakura had been standing. They heard a yell some distance away. Naruto and Sasuke's heads snapped in the direction of the yell and the dashed off in the direction of the sound.

 

The second they cleared the trees Kakashi felt, before he heard, the presence of someone behind him. Before he could react there was the blade of a katana pressed just hard enough against his neck to draw a thin line of blood.

 

“If you're not careful you're going to suffocate him.' The voice that whispered into his ear was male and hard as steel, laced with barely concealed pain. Kakashi lessened the pressure on the young man's throat and the young man took in a sharp breath of air. His voice softened when he spoke again. “Are you alright Kama?”

 

“Enoki-niisan?”

 

Kakashi felt the katana began to shake slightly against his neck. The katana slipped suddenly from his neck and he heard harsh coughing behind him. Kama's eyes widened in panic and he shoved Kakashi off him with sudden strength. Kama caught Enoki as he fell to his knees shaking uncontrollably, hacking up blood.

 

 

Naruto and Sasuke arrived at the spot where they heard the yell. They found Sakura tied to a tree with her hands high over her head.

 

“Sasuke! Naruto!”

 

They quickly untied Sakura and she shook her hands to get the feeling back in them.

 

“What happened?” Sasuke asked.

 

“Hands grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth. He tied me to this tree and then just left me here. The really strange thing about all of this was that he…”

 

“He what?” Naruto piped up.

 

“Never mind.” Sakura shook her head and walked back to where they had left Kakashi with Kama. Sasuke and Naruto shared a quick look and followed after her.

 

 

Kakashi began to walk towards them, frowning. Enoki leaped shakily to his feet and shoved Kama behind him. He spread his feet to steady himself and bent his knees, katana in hand. Kakashi stopped where he was and he noticed for the first time that Enoki's clothes were soaked with blood. Kakashi's eyes widened slightly.

 

How can he move in the condition he's in?

 

At that moment Sakura, followed by Naruto and Sasuke, walked back through the trees. Sakura stopped and gasped.

 

Pointing at Enoki, she exclaimed loudly, “That's him! He's the one who tied me up!”

 

Naruto growled and with a shout threw a shuriken at Enoki. He leaned his head a little bit forward and the shuriken sailed past his head.

 

“You have horrible aim Naruto.” Sakura tormented while her inner Sakura screamed in rage. How dare he tie me up!

 

“I do not have horrible aim! That was a fluke!”

 

Naruto blinked and found himself staring up into the angry eyes of the young man Kakashi had been fighting. Naruto barely managed to block Kama's dagger with a kunai he had in his hand. Kama continued his offensive, his strikes gradually coming faster and faster. Naruto was struggling to keep up with Kama when Kama's focus shifted to block an attack from Sasuke. Sasuke paused for a fraction of a second and Kama used that to start on the offensive.

 

Enoki stared at Kakashi intently, searching his eyes. He dropped his stance and sheathed his katana. “Kama.”

 

Kama halted in his attack at the steel in his weak voice. Sasuke blinked in surprise when his opponent was suddenly not in front of him, but next to the man standing in front of Kakashi. He whispered something to him and Kama nodded. He turned to Kakashi and bowed slightly.

 

“Forgive my assumption. I thought you were an enemy.”

 

Kama looked at Enoki and he nodded. When he swayed slightly, Kama wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled his arm over his shoulders. Kama's head snapped up suddenly and his eyes narrowed.

 

Meanwhile Sakura was looking at Kama and Enoki in Confusion. “What's going on?”

 

Naruto put his kunai away. “I'm just as confused as you are Sakura.”

 

They both looked at Sasuke. He gave them his attention and shrugged.

 

Naruto mumbled under his breathe, “Show off.” Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this, but did not say anything.

 

Kama dove to the ground, dragging Enoki with him, just as six shuriken flew over his head. Kakashi moved out of the way of the projectiles, a kunai appearing in his hand.

 

“We have lingered to long.' Kama looked over at Enoki and cursed. His eyes were barely open. Kuso! The jolt when we hit the ground must have been too much.

 

Four people stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Kama cursed again when he realized who they were. A tall man with all of his face covered but his eyes stepped forward and gestured at Kakashi and his students.

 

“You may leave. Our business is with those two.”

 

Kama stiffened as the man's voice echoed in the trees. He stood over Enoki and the other three shinobi behind the speaker stepped forward, weapons in hand.

 

Kakashi turned and walked into the trees speaking over his shoulder at his charges. “Go back to camp.” All three of them blinked at him in disbelief, but followed him never the less. When they had caught up to him, he whispered to them, “Pack up the camp. Be ready to leave quickly.' With that he disappeared from in front of them.

 

 

Kama studied his opponents as they surrounded him. They were three men and one woman. The woman laughed at him coldly.

 

“Do you really think that one genin can take on four jônin alone?”

 

Kama turned and risked a look at Enoki. No, I don't think I do. But I have to try.

 

The two in front of him moved in on him and attacked. Just as he blocked them the two behind him chose to attack. Kama prepared himself for their strikes, but they never came. Instead, he heard two grunts behind him. The two shinobi in front of him narrowed their eyes and jumped back from Kama. He felt a presence at his side and he turned his head slightly. His eyes widened when he saw Kakashi at his side. The man dropped the two shinobi at his feet.

 

“Bind them. I will take care of the others.”

 

Kama nodded and bent down and began to tie up the men, trusting Kakashi to keep his word. Having finished tying them up, he quickly patted them down and removed their weapons from their person. He set the weapons out of their reach and looked up. The man who had spoken earlier and Kakashi were engaged with each other. Kama looked around for the woman and he felt panic settle in his heart when he did not see her. Kakashi disappeared then reappeared behind the man and hitting him upside the head, rendered him unconscious. Just as the man hit the ground, Kama felt the cold press of blade against his neck. The woman smirked and snapped her eyes to Kakashi.

 

“Move and I'll remove his head.” Kakashi froze and the woman smirked again. “On second thought…” She trailed off and flicked her wrist, sending a kunai into Kakashi's neck. Kakashi's eyes widened and he fell to the ground. The woman began to laugh coldly, “I think I've changed my mind.” She was about to do so when she felt a blade pressed against her neck.

 

“Do and I'll kill you.”

 

“Kuso! That was a doppelganger.”

 

“Let him go.”

 

She released Kama and Kakashi struck her on the back of the head with the hilt of a kunai. She hit the ground with a thud and Kama scrambled over to Enoki. He was fighting to keep his eyes open. Kama placed his fingers on Enoki's throat and felt his pulse. Cursing inwardly, he gently pulled Enoki's arm over his shoulder. He rose into a crouching position and placed his arm around Enoki's waist. He stood slowly and was about to readjust his hold on Enoki when he felt the man become lighter. He looked over and saw Kakashi pulling his other arm over his shoulder. After he had also placed his arm around Enoki's waist he jerked his head over to the left.

 

“This way.”

 

Kama walked with him into the tree.

 

 

They heard the crunching of leaves and they looked up from double checking their gear.

 

“Master Kakashi-“Sakura stopped in mid-sentence when she saw who was with him. Why are they here?

 

“Are you ready to leave?”

When nobody answered he raised an eyebrow at them it was Sasuke who broke the silence.

 

“Yes we are.”

 

“Good. I want you to stay here with them.” When they nodded he disappeared into the forest.

 

Kama's knees buckled slightly at the sudden weight. He looked around for a place to lay Enoki down. When he spotted a good location he shifted his grip on him and had taken a couple of steps forward when he felt Enoki get lighter again. Looking over, he saw this time that it was a short boy with blonde hair.

 

“Naruto what are you doing?” Sakura was barely able to keep the scathing tone out of her voice.

 

Naruto ignored her and helped Kama gently lay the older man down. Sakura was about to make a comment when Kama spoke softly.

 

“Enoki-niisan? Can you hear me?” Enoki very slowly turned his head to look at him. Kama pulled out a water bottle. “You need to try to drink something so you don't become dehydrated.” He placed Enoki's head on his lap and placed the water bottle at his lips. Enoki took a couple of swallows and winced as the water went down.

 

Sakura watched the exchange quietly. She bent down and rummaged through the bag at her feet. She pulled out some gauze and bandages and walked over to Kama. Kneeling down, she studied Enoki.

 

“We should try to stop the bleeding.”

 

Kama looked at her and paused before he nodded. She looked at Enoki again and blinked. There was blood all over his person.

 

“Where exactly is the wound?” With all of the blood she honestly could not tell.

 

Kama chuckled dryly. “In the side.”

 

“Naruto could you?”

 

Naruto nodded and he unzipped Enoki's vest. He grabbed the shirt and Enoki sucked in a shallow breath. Sasuke walked over and knelt down, smacking Naruto's hands away.

 

“Be gentle baka. Go and stand watch or something while I do this.”

 

Naruto scowled darkly, but went and stood at the edge of the campsite. Sasuke gently and very slowly rolled Enoki's shirt up and they both gasped. There was a huge gash in his side. Getting over their shock, Sakura used some gauze to clean off as much blood as she could. She took some more gauze and pressed it on the wound. Enoki sucked in another breath.

 

“Sorry!”

 

Sakura grabbed a bandage and handed the end to Sasuke.

 

“Could you lift him up a little?”

 

Kama lifted Enoki off the ground a little. Sakura then passed the bandage under him to Sasuke, who then passed in over Enoki back to Sakura. They continued this until they reached the end of the bandage. Sakura secured the bend of the bandage and Sasuke rolled Enoki's shirt down. After Enoki's vest had been zipped back up, they both sat back.

 

“Thank you.” They both nodded simultaneously at Kama.

 

 

Kakashi sprinted through the woods as fast as he could without making a sound. Hours later Kakashi finally reached the edge of Konohamaru. He did not stop, but continued running until he reached the home of the Hokage. Curious people, woken by his no longer smothered movements, stepped out of their houses. The door of the house was opened just as he reached it. He was then led down the hall and into a room where Hokage III was waiting. The servant then quietly left the room, closing the door behind himself.

 

“What brings you hear at this hour Kakashi?”

 

“I ask permission to bring outsiders to the village for medical treatment.” The Hokage's eyes narrowed.

 

At that moment the door opened again and the servant ushered someone in. The Hokage looked at the newcomer and sighed.

 

“Okay. But since Iruka felt his presence was needed, take him with you to help. Bring them directly to my house. I will have people waiting to take care of them.”

 

Kakashi nodded and left. Iruka looked at the Hokage and then followed after Kakashi, wondering exactly what he had gotten himself into.

 

 

Sasuke stood up as something occurred to him. Sakura looked up at him curiously but he just shook his head and signaled at them to be silent. When he made sure that all of them had seen his instructions, he slipped off into the trees. A couple of minutes later he came through the trees and ran towards them.

 

“Hide! The shinobi are collecting their weapons!”

 

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura immediately disappeared, taking the packs with them. Kama bent down and whispered into Enoki's ear.

 

“Sorry about this.”

 

Kama quickly gathered Enoki into his arms. Pain shot through Enoki's body at the movement, and he bit his tongue to keep from making a sound. Kama climbed into a nearby tree with thick foliage and adjusted Enoki until he was semi-comfortable. Settling himself in, his head snapped to the left when he spotted the four shinobi who were hunting them entering the small clearing they had been in just minutes ago. They searched the ground quickly.

 

“They just left.” The woman spoke as she looked at the impression left where Enoki had been laying.

 

“Where do you think they went?” One of the other men who had been tied up wondered.

 

“They were with a man wearing a hitai-ate band with a leaf on it.”

 

The oldest man there stood from his crouching position. “Kohaku and I will go on and continue looking. You two go back and report.”

 

The two men stood up. “Yes sir.” When they had disappeared Kohaku stood up.

 

“How did we get stuck with them Kuwa?”

 

Kuwa chuckled. “They may be idiots but they are good shinobi. Now we must try and get those two before they reach Konohamaru.” That said they disappeared.

 

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura appeared in the clearing. Kama gently picked Enoki up and walked down the side of the tree. He sat him down at the base and sat down next to him. The other three looked at them and sat down around the base of the tree next to the pair.

 

Three ours later, no one had moved, with the exception of Naruto, who was pacing back and forth across the small clearing.

 

“Where is he? It's been eight hours!”

 

“Eight hours is good time considering how far from the village we are.” Four heads snapped in the direction of the voice and watched Kakashi enter the clearing followed by…

 

“Iruka- sensei!”

 

“Hello, Naruto.”

 

“This is nice and all, but we need to leave.” Kakashi frowned at the tone in Sasuke's voice. He sighed and explained. “The shinobi came through here about three hours ago. Two called Kuwa and Kohaku continued on while the others went back to report.”

 

Sakura yawned and stood up, shivering in the morning air. “They were headed towards Konohamaru with the intention of intercepting us.”

 

Kakashi smiled at them. “There is no need to hurry. There are many shinobi in the village capable of defending it. But we should hurry anyway. Our friend over there needs help.”

 

Iruka noticed for the first time, the two sitting nearby. The younger of the two had short, pale purple hair and bright green eyes. He stood and draped the older man's arm over his shoulder taking him up with him. He turned and faced them both towards the group. The older man's hair was a deep red pulled into a high ponytail that fell to his waist. Iruka was a little surprised at its length. He could not tell the man's eye color because they were closed to mere slits on his faced as he struggled to stay awake.

 

“Sasuke, take Kama with you ahead to the village.” Sasuke nodded and Kama's eyes narrowed. Just as he opened his mouth to speak Kakashi spoke again. “Your brother will be safe with us, do not worry.”

 

Kama was about to insist on staying with his brother, when Enoki whispered something in Kama's ear. Kama nodded in resignation and looked at Kakashi. “Alright.” He let Kakashi take Enoki from him and gave his brother one last look before he left with Sasuke.

 

Sasuke raced through the forest at a break neck pace, Kama following quietly at his heels. Between the two they barely made a sound.