Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Shinobi and The Miko ❯ Kaguya ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own the Naruto characters or settings. The OC is mine, though. This is my first fanfic. Feedback appreciated. Hope you enjoy!

 

Edited June 17, 2010.

 

Kaguya approached what she could only assume was Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The air smelled fresh and clean, and the breeze played with the trees, rustling the branches and delicately caressing her face. It seemed so… peaceful. She was a little surprised. She expected a Hidden Village to feel more tense or alert. Perhaps that was the beauty of the disguise.

 

The front gate was wide open, though guarded by a few shinobi. They watched her carefully as she passed, but made no move to stop her. One of them took off, moving silently through the canopy and then over rooftops, undoubtedly to inform someone that they had a visitor.

 

Kaguya wandered down the streets for a few minutes, returning the occasional greeting from a townsperson or ninja, but mostly just meandering in silence. Instead of actively searching for what she sought, she chose to familiarize herself with the village itself. She found that quite often, if she just waited, things found their way to her of their own accord.

 

She caught a whiff of something delicious, and followed the scent to a small storefront. To her chagrin, her stomach chose this point to remind her that she had not eaten a proper meal in a week, having lived on traveling rations for the duration of her journey. Curious and famished, she lifted the curtain and walked inside.

 

“Well hello there miss,” said a young woman that Kaguya assumed must be the waitress. “Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen.” She bowed politely from behind the counter she was busily cleaning, and her guest bowed back.

 

“Thank you,” Kaguya responded. The onside of the restaurant was very small, though it was still clearly a step up from your run-of-the-mill ramen stand. Not that its sole guest had much experience with them. She found her way to a seat at the counter, setting aside the small bundle she was carrying. “Do you serve Miso ramen?” she asked quietly. In truth, this was the only type of ramen she'd ever had, and as hungry as she was, she did not wish to take a chance ordering something unfamiliar.

 

“Do we serve Miso?” came an incredulous male voice. “Missy, who do you think we are? Do we serve Miso. Hmph. I guarantee we serve the best Miso you've ever had.” The man, apparently the cook, had the gruff sort of voice that Kaguya had come to associate with stingy merchants and hardheaded priests, though there was a kindness to it that neither of these sorts of people possessed.

 

The thought was a comforting one. Perhaps there would be a place for her here after all. She hid a smile behind a hand as she replied. “Well, I should very much like to try that then.”

 

A few moments later, a steaming bowl was placed in front of her. She inhaled the scent of the familiar spice, and was hit by a wave of nostalgia. Stomach won out over sentiment, though, and she decided she'd best just eat and hope it didn't burn her mouth too badly.

 

“Ittadakimasu.” She picked up her chopsticks and took the fist bite. “Mm! Cook-sama, you were quite right. It's delicious!”

 

He chuckled. “Well, Missy, that's nice to hear. We don't get many visitors around here. Where are you from? If you don't mind my asking?” She noticed that he shifted his weight when he asked, as though he were unsure what the reaction to such a question might be. Kaguya supposed she understood; some people were likely to be offended by the inquiry.

 

The girl herself, however, was not, though this did not mean she was entirely comfortable answering. She paused for a moment, and a pensive look passed across her face. What could it hurt? “I come from a place near the border of the Lands of Fire and Water.”

 

“That so?” He was curious, but savvy enough to tell that further questioning would probably yield him nothing else, and she was grateful for it. Just as she was about to change the topic to something more innocuous, the curtain lifted again, and a man stepped inside.

 

“Ah, Kakashi, welcome! Is Naruto with you?” The proprietor regained the cheer in his tone, and Kaguya quietly resumed eating, glad of the interruption.

 

The new customer- Kakashi, she supposed- shook his head. “Not today.” His voice was largely toneless, controlled, though the topic of this Naruto person was undoubtedly cause for some amusement, for there was a subtle mirth to it as well.

 

“Shame, that.” The owner gave a melodramatic sigh. “Kid's one of my best customers.” She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or serious when he said this.

 

“For you, perhaps. I, however, am glad that I'm not going to be cleaned out today,” was the cool reply, and Kaguya felt the owner of the voice take a seat one away from her. He was clearly one of the famous Leaf shinobi, and she wondered briefly whether or not he knew the person she had come to see. Probably not. There are an awful lot of ninja here, if the rumors about this place are true…

 

Perhaps at some gesture or unnoticed prompt from the other man, her thoughts were interrupted by the cook. “Ah yes. Missy, this man is Hatake Kakashi, one of the jounin here in Konoha. Kakashi, this is…er…”

 

“Minamoto Kaguya.” She stood and bowed before returning to her seat. “Pleased to meet you, Hatake-sama.” Unsure exactly what “jounin” meant, or how to address someone like that, she chose the safest route: extreme politeness.

 

“Likewise.” He turned to the owner. “My usual, please.”

 

The two ate in a relatively comfortable silence, and the employees returned to their tasks. Kaguya was fascinated by all the small sounds of the shop: the boiling of the broth, the clanking of pots and pans, and the sound of the running water as the waitress washed dishes. Where she was from, silence was highly-valued, and so even something like this was most unusual, and rather interesting.

 

“Gotchisoosama,” Kaguya spoke quietly, placing her chopsticks on her now-empty bowl. She reached into her pack and felt around for the money to pay for her meal.

 

“Don't worry about it,” said the owner. At her reluctant expression, he continued. “I'm serious. You eat free here for as long as you'd like.”

 

“Thank you.” Unsure what else to say, Kaguya rose, bowed, shouldered her rucksack, and left, but not before slipping a tip underneath the bowl.

 

The owner caught his daughter's look. “What? Nice kids like that are hard to find. Besides, it's not like she'll eat us out of business.”

 

***

Kaguya had resumed her seemingly aimless trek across the village, stopping every once in a while when something caught her attention, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

 

“Excuse me. Kaguya? Sorry to… interrupt you, but I need to ask you something.” There was a slight skepticism in the tone, and she supposed she understood. It probably made little sense to someone who was used to actively seeking information to simply wander about until it found her, but what else could she do? She knew little about how shinobi villages worked, and even less about how to address anyone who might be able to help. Would asking a direct question about a ninja be considered rude?

 

Needless to say, she felt fortunate that this seemed increasingly unlikely. Realizing that she had not yet answered the enquiry, she spoke. “Hatake-sama? Certainly. What is it?”

 

“Well, as you may have guessed, this village doesn't often see strangers wander in. As such, we tend to be pretty cautious about these things.” There was no hesitation, no attempt to sugar-coat his intention, and for that, Kaguya was grateful. This Hatake Kakashi seemed the blunt sort, which reminded her of someone else she knew.

 

Nevertheless, she was a bit nervous, and tightened her grip on her pack. “Ah. I suppose I should have expected that. What is it you need to know?

 

“It's not about what I'd like to know. The Hokage wants to see you. I was told to bring you to her.” The Hokage? Kaguya knew that the person in charge of the Hidden Leaf village was called that, though she had no idea why someone so important would want to see her. Perhaps this person was a hands-on sort of leader? Or maybe Konoha just didn't get that many visitors.

 

“I see. Very well then.” She fell into step beside him. The Hokage. When she'd first decided to come here, she hadn't thought about anything like this happening. Although, she admitted to herself, she hadn't thought it through much at all, this crazy plan of hers. What if the person she'd met all those years ago was lying? What if she had staked everything on a false pretense? Then again, it still made sense now for the same reason it had when she'd decided to come here: she had nothing to lose.

 

***

“Come on, grandma, let me go look for Sasuke already! The three years are almost up!” Naruto narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. There was absolutely no way he was giving up.

 

“Please, lady Tsunade, we don't have much time.” Sakura added her own pleas to his, and he was happy for the support. She can't say no to the both of us!

 

Tsunade sighed, and propped her elbows on her desk, steepling her fingers pensively. “Look you two, we've been over this. We can't spare the resources right now. We have more missions than we can handle already, not to mention a village to defend and the Akatsuki to worry about. It's just not possible.”

 

As he had so many times before, Naruto felt himself boil over. It seemed that anything to do with Sasuke was a sore point for him these days, and he was always simmering about it, ready to blow a gasket every time his request was refused.“I don't care about that!” he yelled. “Just send me and Sakura then. We'll go by ourselves!”

 

The fifth Hokage raised a hand to her forehead, massaging her temples. “No.”

 

“But, Lady Tsunade-” Sakura was interrupted by a knock at the door.

 

“Come in,” said Tsunade, clearly relieved. Naruto was about to keep on trading anyway, but the door opened, and he decided against it.

 

“Lady Hokage,” Kakashi intoned by way of greeting. He was followed into the room by a girl no older than Naruto, who murmured “my lady” and bowed deeply before lapsing into silence.

 

***

 

She was quite striking, this girl, thought Tsunade. Not beautiful exactly, or at least not in the conventional sense of the term, but interesting. Despite her age, her hair was as white as newly-fallen snow, braided in a plait that reached her waist. She wore a soft green kimono, obviously borrowed, since it fit her poorly, and carried a small bundle over one shoulder. Oddly, she wore both bracers and shin protectors as well, though she carried no visible weapons.

 

But it was what the Hokage discovered when she examined the girl's chakra centers that surprised her the most. TI flowed freely through most of her network, moreso than some shinobi she knew, and there was a decent amount of it, too, save one thing. There was absolutely no chakra around her eyes.

 

“You're blind.” Tsunade said bluntly.

 

“I am, my lady.” The girl acknowledged this revelation without visible emotion.

 

Interest piqued, the older woman prodded for more information.“What is your name?”

 

“I am called Minamoto Kaguya. You are Lady Tsunade, the fifth Hokage, are you not?” If she knew she was being scrutinized, the girl showed no sign of it.

 

Still, Tsunade regarded her carefully. I wonder how much she knows. “That's correct,” she replied evenly.

 

Naruto and Sakura, who had been openly staring throughout the conversation, both opened their mouths to speak, but it was Naruto who managed it first. “I'm Uzumaki Naruto!” he piped, “and this here's-”

 

Sakura smacked his arm. “I can introduce myself, thank you! I'm Haruno Sakura,

and it's nice to meet you, Kaguya-san.” The two looked like they weren't really sure what to make of the whole situation, though Naruto was approaching it with his customary friendliness and enthusiasm. Sakura was more reserved about it, but then she had a mind more suited to calculation. If Tsunade was unsure where this child fit, then Sakura was probably downright confused by her arrival. Not that I blame her. To show up, unannounced, now of all times…

 

Kaguya smiled warmly. “And the both of you as well.” Well, that at least seems genuine. Still, spies are taught to lie well, though what spy just marches through the front gate?

 

Tsunade cleared her throat, returning the focus to herself. “Now that the introductions are over with, I would like to know exactly why you wandered into my village this morning, Kaguya-san.” The Hokage figured that the direct approach was best; if this girl was a spy, she'd soon know, one way or another.

 

No longer needing to conceal her blindness, Kaguya closed her eyes and kept them that way as she replied. “I'm looking for someone.”

 

“Oh? And who might you be looking for?” The question was laced with some degree of incredulity.

 

Kaguya shifted from one foot to the other. Is she nervous? Well, that much is obvious; the question is, is she nervous because she lies or because she speaks the truth? “His name is Uchiha Sasuke. He said he was of the Hidden Leaf Village.”

 

Sakura stifled a gasp, and Naruto was about to say something, but Kakashi placed a finger to his lips- or at least over his mask- so his student settled for leaning forward to catch everything that was said and looking as though he might explode at any moment.

 

Tsunade could understand the surprise. “Well. That's quite the statement. As it happens, Sasuke is from this village. But before I tell you anything else, I'm going to need some information. The situation surrounding him is rather… delicate at the moment. Why don't you tell us how you met him?”

 

Kaguya considered briefly, then nodded. “Well, it was almost three years ago now…” Naruto squirmed, but Tsunade silenced him with a glare. “I come from a border village between here and the Land of Water. It's not really more than a temple and a few homes. I was a miko at the Temple at the time. As a border town in a somewhat… disputed area, we frequently saw attacks from both sides. Because of this, most of the priests are distrustful of shinobi, so we are always aware when one comes through.”

 

Tsunade nodded, then, realizing that this was a useless thing to do, spoke. “An unfortunate sign of the times we live in. Go on.”

 

“Well, however distrustful we may be, people of my order are not allowed to turn away guests who ask for lodging, so when Sasuke-san came through, we put him up at our temple. Most of us were hoping he would just leave instead of staying the night, but we were quite glad he didn't the next day.” Here her brow furrowed, and she appeared troubled.

 

Either she's a spectacular actress, or she does not deceive us. “By which you mean…?”

 

“We were attacked by some Mist shinobi that night, more than we'd ever seen before. When they saw that Sasuke-san was a Leaf ninja, they went after him as well.” She paused. “Suffice to say it wasn't the wisest of choices. Whatever his motive may have been, he had saved our village, but not without cost. The injuries he sustained weren't too serious, but he did have a strange mark on his neck, one that was resistant to even the most powerful healing jutsu we could manage. When he awoke, he told us to stop trying, that it couldn't be removed. We healed his other injuries, but that one kept him bedridden for some days.”

 

“The curse-mark...” murmured Tsunade. “Wait…you said your order uses jutsu? But you're not shinobi, are you?”

 

Kaguya shook her head. “No, my lady. We use something comparable to medical ninjutsu, but it's not really the same. Many of us can also do some martial arts, but that is not our order's calling, merely a necessity of our location.”

 

Tsunade rested her chin on her folded hands and considered her guest anew. “I see. I think I've heard something about this. But that is a discussion for another time.”

 

Kaguya bowed her head in acknowledgement, then continued. “He was with us for about a week, all told, and I got to know him somewhat. Well, enough to understand a little about him, anyway. He told me about his brother, and a little about his team as well. There isn't much to do but talk when one is bedridden, and none of the others really wanted to treat a shinobi, so… he was able to walk a few days later, and he left.”

 

Tsunade frowned, pensive. “I still don't understand exactly how that brings you here.”

 

“Well…” Kaguya bit her lip, clearly unsure of how to continue. “After he left, I decided to work on finding a way to get rid of his mark. I found some things, but nothing terribly conclusive. I figured I might've been able to develop something and then come visit him to see if it would work or not. I was actually on the verge of giving up though.”

 

She paused and took a deep breath. Tsunade thought she saw the girl shudder. “Three months ago, they came. There hadn't been an attack in ages, and then all of a sudden… they were missing-nin, all of them. They weren't interested in capture. They… just started killing. We were powerless. The head priest sent me and a few of the younger acolytes to the underground tunnels for safety. We managed to make it out, but the village burned behind us. I got the acolytes to the nearest Land of Fire town after that, but I didn't have any family to send for me, any place to go after that. So…I wandered for a while. And I guess I just decided to come here. I didn't have a place to be anymore, why not visit Konoha? It sounds awfully foolish now that I say it like this, but…”

 

She trailed off, and the silence hung in the air for a few moments, nobody wanting to be the one to speak next. Finally, Tsunade said: “You have brought us grave tidings indeed. I have an idea of who these missing-nin serve, and if I'm right, things are worse than I thought.”

 

“Would you tell me what it is that you know about the attack on the temple?” Kaguya's voice held a note of desperation, and she abruptly snapped her mouth shut, perhaps guessing that her question was inappropriate.

 

Tsunade paused, looked at Kakashi, who shrugged, as well as Naruto and Sakura, the former of whom looked like he was about to tell her anyway.

 

“I have only my suspicion at this point, but I imagine that those missing-nin were probably under the employ of a man named Orochimaru,” she said carefully. “Coincidentally, it is this same person who Sasuke now works under, and it is Orochimaru who gave him the curse mark.”

 

Kaguya looked at first surprised, then simply confused. “But why…?”

 

The Hokage sighed. “We don't know for sure.”

 

“It's revenge,” said Naruto, uncharacteristically devoid of feeling. “Sasuke wants revenge on his brother and he thinks training with Orochimaru will help.”

 

“Regardless of his reasons, Sasuke is now missing-nin,” broke in Tsunade. “And as such, no longer anywhere near this village.”

 

“But we're going to find him!” Naruto interrupted, temporary melancholy vanished. “We're gonna bring him back to Konoha. We can't just let Orochimau have him.”

 

“Yeah!” agreed Sakura, with no less enthusiasm.

 

Tsunade rolled her eyes. She should have made them leave. “All right, all right, you can give it a shot. But! The two of you are not going by yourselves! And it's going to take a few days for one of your teammates to get back to Konoha, so don't get too excited yet.” I swear, these kids are going to be the death of me one day…

 

“Yeah! All right! Thanks, Grandma Tsunade! You won't regret this! We'll bring him home safe and sound, you'll see!” Naruto burst out of the room, Sakura not far behind.

 

“It's not him I'm worried about.”