Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Of Cat's and Mice ❯ Unexpected Findings ( Chapter 1 )

 

 

Of Cat's and Mice

 

 

 

 

A/n: This fic is episode related; it takes place directly after episodes 116-117: A cool guy's burning battle! The genius ninja will go wild special. Right after the fight between Neji and Kidoumaru. And let's just assume that Orochimaru has just sent Kabuto to go bring back Kimimaro's body, and let's also assume that Kimimaro didn't die, because that was just so wrong, wasn't it?

And I'm also going by the subtitled Japanese version (in case you couldn't tell already) so those of you watching the dubbed version be warned, there are spoilers ahead.

 

Ages (`cause they can be damn confusing):

 

Orochimaru: 51

 

Sabaku no Gaara: 12

 

Uchiha Sasuke: 12

 

Hyuuga Neji: 13

 

Kaguya Kimimaro: 15

 

Yakushi Kabuto: 19

 

 

Chapter 1: Unexpected Findings

 

 

 

Kabuto flew through the forest, his feet hardly touching the tree branches before he was off again. It was the closest he had ever come to flying and the perfect place to clear his head and think. He was on his way to bring back the body of Kimimaro, the former leader of the former Sound Five.

 

He felt his mouth twitching upwards into a smirk. He wasn't happy, necessarily, but he couldn't deny being amused. The great Sound Five: brought down by a mismatch bunch of teenagers. No, not even teenager, kids, mere children had defeated the Sound Villages greatest fighters. On one hand, he was angry because this was a great blow against Orochimaru and a humiliating defeat, ….but….he had never really liked them anyways and wasn't shedding any tears to see them go. Besides, Orochimaru still had him. He wasn't about to go and get himself killed by some scrawny twelve year olds.

 

He touched down on a large tree branch and looked around. He was near the place Kidoumaru had been fighting, wasn't he? Kabuto smirked. He should pay his former comrade a visit, maybe get a good laugh and dance on his ugly eight-limbed body for awhile before finding Kimimaro. It wouldn't take long, he thought, taking off through the forest once more and keeping his eye's open for any hint of the overgrown spider. It didn't take long to spot the scene of the fight. He had to roll his eyes; it was about what he had expected from the man, spider webs and spider corpses everywhere, it was a disgrace. He searched the area for the body of the arachnid but couldn't find any trace of him. Kabuto rolled his eyes, and was about to turn away when something caught his eye. Something was shining, almost glowing, through the trees. He moved to get a closer look.

 

A bright beam of light was shining through a gap in the tree branches and illuminating the ground and the creature laying, curled up and unconscious underneath it. A few feet away was Kidoumaru, sprawled on the ground and clearly dead. Kabuto hardly spared him a glance, he just wanted to know who this angelic creature was who had seemingly fought Kidoumaru and won, not an easy task for sure (he hated the spider but even he couldn't deny his strength).

 

As the creature came into focus Kabuto gave a startled sound. He knew this `creature' and it was far from heavenly.

 

It was the boy from Konoha, the one who had fought in the Chuunin exams and lost to Naruto: Hyuuga Neji, the genius of the Hyuuga Clan. One of the most promising students from the Konoha Village and rivaled only by Uchiha Sasuke for pure talent.

 

He hadn't been so impressive in the Chuunin exam, in Kabutos opinion; in fact, he had been somewhat of a disappointment. Getting beaten by Naruto of all people, and this was supposed genius of the most powerful clan of Konoha Village. Kabuto had dismissed him immediately after that.

 

He looked back at the fallen body of Kidoumaru.

 

Quietly, Kabuto knelt down beside the fallen boy and studied him intently. Maybe he had jumped to conclusions; after all, the kid had just taken down one of the Sound Five. No matter how much he hated them he couldn't deny they were powerful.

 

Kabuto brushed the hair from Neji's pale face. The black hair was loose, the tie and forehead protector that normally held it back were missing, giving him a strangely innocent appearance. The only thing that marred the perfection was the cursed seal, burning a sickly acid green on the pale forehead.

 

For a long while the Sound Ninja knelt, thinking. The boy was obviously very powerful and intelligent which Orochimaru would appreciate, but even more than that he had the Hyuuga bloodline limit: the Byakugan, much like the Sharingan and the Shikotsumyaku, an extremely rare and powerful trait. Wasn't that why Orochimaru had chosen both Kimimaro and Sasuke? Not to mention the boy was undoubtedly beautiful, another trait Orochimaru would appreciate. And with the Sound Five dead he would need to find new soldiers so why not start with, not one, but two powerful fighters, both with unique bloodline limits and both possible containers for the future. He was positive Orochimaru would be pleased to have the two genius students of Konoha as his own. Sasuke was already willing; it would be a small task to convince Neji to join them once he saw all they could offer him.

 

Yes.

 

Kabuto made his decision, he could bring back Kimimaro's body later. Orochimaru would be pleased with his choice, he knew.

 

Scooping up the limp body, Kabuto leapt up onto a tree branch and headed back to the Sound Village, bothering to spare a second glance at the body of Kidoumaru.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

 

His head hurt. His body hurt. He hurt all over. The last thing he remembered was eye's, shocked, wide, mint green eyes. But why? Oh, yes, he remembered, he had been about to hurt the owner of those eyes, but he didn't know why. He didn't know how he ended up in this field.

 

The pale boy looked around, trying to figure out what had happened. He only remembered those eyes…and feeling very sick. And his name, he knew what his name was, it was in there somewhere. He tried to say his name. It felt strange to try forming words, not because he had forgotten but there was something wet in his throat that was making it hard to speak and when he did manage it sounded sickly and hoarse.

 

“Kimimaro,” he whispered, voice rattling wetly in his throat, “I'm Kimimaro.”

 

He waited a moment as if the sound of his name would send someone running to him, but nothing happened. Kimimaro slowly sat up, wincing at the pain all over his body and in his mind. It took an effort even to do such a small thing but when he was up the field was better visible than before but seemed twice as empty as before.

 

Like a child he sat looking around to see if anyone would come help him. It was a foolish hope, he knew, but somebody out there was surely looking for him. Somebody was wondering where he was and cared that he was sitting in the middle of an empty forest with no idea who he was. Somebody HAD to care. The longer he sat there the more he began to worry. He gave a small cough, rattling the liquid inside his throat. The tissues inside his airway began tickling lightly but the tickling soon escalated into a burning pain and he began coughing uncontrollably into his hands, his entire body shaking and seizing up in pain. It took a long time to completely clear his throat and it seemed as if, my the time he was done, he had coughed up half of his internal organs. But he felt much better. A lot better actually, he must have coughed up whatever was bothering him.

 

Kimimaro looked down at his hands to see what it was and gasped. The thin, pale hands were soaked with blood. HIS blood! He had just coughed up a pool off blood into his hands! If he wasn't scared before he was terrified now. There was something seriously wrong with him but he couldn't remember what it was. What was wrong with him? Was he dying? Was he already dead? Could this be his hell, an eternity alone in an empty field? The questions began coming so fast and his eyes began burning with suppressed tears of fear and frustration until he finally managed to snap himself out of it. He wasn't dying, he wasn't dead, and he wasn't in hell.

 

The shaken boy took a deep, claming breath, looking down at his hands and noticed something strange in the pool of blood. Nervously he poked at the strange thing, picking it up in his slippery fingers and bringing it close to his face. It looked like a tiny figurine. He wiped the blood off on the grass and cleared away the excess with the edge of his robes so he could finally see the strange white figure underneath.

 

It looked like some sort of demon, an ugly grinning thing holding a tiny dagger in one hand and a skull in the other. Kimimaro frown at it for a moment before finding a place for it in his torn robes. He'd worry about the strange figurine later, but for now he needed to find someone, someone who could tell him who he was or where he came from. But he didn't know where to find that someone who could do all that. The only thing he could remember was those pretty, mint green eyes. Maybe he could find the green eyed person. It was the only shot he had.

 

Resolutely, Kimimaro staggered to his feet, swaying unsteadily and feeling weak in the knees. As tired and hurt and sick as he was, staying in that field was not an option. He had to find the green eye's, he knew everything would become clear once he found them. They would answer all his questions, he was sure of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: OMG!!! It's been YEARS since I've last written fanfiction and writing this was like trying to squeeze water from rocks! It's hard getting back into it, I mostly write original now so I have to keep reminding myself that I have to keep them in character. Well, I'm such a geek when it comes to Naruto, it shouldn't be too hard….I hope.

We'll see what happens….

Hope u enjoyed the first chapter.