Espadara Uchiha
Active member
Naruto walked through the streets of Sunagakure, Banryu slung over his back and Jakotsutō at his side. His left arm, which was now a prosthetic, was at his side. Naruto would occasionally make a fist with the hand, surprised at how well he could control it. He supposed that he could eventually get used to the new arm, but it would take a while after spending so much time with one made of flesh and blood.
A presence came into being behind him, and turning around Naruto was quite shocked to see Gaara, fully healed. It seems that Chiyo wasn't kidding about Gaara healing fast. Though considering the boys status as the container of the Ichibi, Naruto wasn't too surprised.
Naruto instinctively threw his hand in front of him, grabbing hold of a large sake gourd. Naruto looked at Gaara questioningly, but the Suna native was already walking away. "Thank you, Gaara!" Naruto shouted, tying the new gourd to his waist. Gaara paused briefly, his back still facing the blond. After a few seconds of brief consideration, he turned his head to look at Naruto.
"I loved only myself, and fought only for myself...and yet you defeated me. I want to know how...but I don't think you know the answer yet, either." Gaara looked as if he had more to say, but he continued walking. "The gourd is high quality...use it."
Naruto smiled, and began making his way out of the village, glad that he had finally proven his training. And so, the Rebel and The Jinchuuriki went on their separate ways, their parting on good terms.
A shame their next meeting wouldn't be as friendly.
Saki was whistling happily through the gap in her teeth (said gap given to her by a particularly drunk brute of a man) as she swept the floor of the brothel quite decently, considering her age.
She was a small, petite girl, barely over the age of seven. Her silver, nearly white hair reached to her shoulders, except for a small bang of hair which was blue, currently covering her dark hazel eyes. She was wearing a mans t-shirt and what may once have been a pair of shorts, though her clothes were far too ravaged to appear as anything other than mere rags. She was barely seven years old, but her face was sporting a moderate bruise on her right eye. Despite the obvious abuse handed to her nearly every waking moment of her existence, she still had the inner glow of childhood within her eyes.
She was an orphan, like most of the girls who were forced to work at the shady brothel. Due to Kirigakure's demands for more shinobi to assist against the so-called 'Bloodline Rebellion', the poorer female population of Kirigakure was now being forced to avoid abortions of any sort. With ruthless Shinobi, angry at the continuing war and needing a quick release prowling around the slums, it was dangerously easy for any woman to become an unwilling companion in bed for the night. Or in the alley, if there was no time.
Unfortunately, the Mizugake did not consider the fact that the poor in Kirigakure could barely feed themselves, let alone any unwanted children. Dozens of children were being placed in the state Orphanages, which rapidly became filled to the brim with orphans who were angry at everything and everyone. Most were secretly carted away to be used in hidden experiments; others, to be sent on the front lines filled with explosives in hope of drawing out any rebels.
Those orphans dumped within the gutter, however, became prime candidates for the Mizukage'a ANBU.
Saki had been lucky enough to have been placed in the orphanage with her older brother, who was born to her family when they still had some money, before the Rebellion started. He would tell her stories of a simpler time, where there was no constant fighting, when he was just an eight year old boy and she was just an infant. But the Rebellion was hard on her parents, and the siblings were forced into an orphanage together.
They had escaped a few years later though, much to her delight. When she finally saw a clear sky, she could hardly believe something so beautiful had been kept from her for years. Her brother had left her in a small town with a kind church, telling her to behave while he went to help Kirigakure finish the Rebels so there could be some form of peace for their country.
Mere days after he left, the church was burned to the ground by Rebels who were searching for a Kiri outpost in the area. Saki had run as fast as she could, and had survived for a few days by herself before a brutish man had captured her, taking her to the small brothel hidden in the islands surrounding Mist country.
"Saki, answer your betters! Dumb ****!" A voice barked out, and Saki felt her hair roughly pulled before she was thrown to the ground. She forced her self to get up enough to kneel at the foot of the man. "Y-yes, Master." She said, putting as much respect into the tone as possible.
The large man grabbed her hair and forced her up to her feet, looking approvingly at her body. "Shut up, Saki. Just cause ya might grow into a fine woman ain't gonna keen shit when ya can't keep ya mouth shut or pay attention to your hubby." He shook her head by the hair again, forcing her to nod. "Lucky for you, I have these fine gentlemen who are willing to take you off my hands, and they don't play nice, so you better remember everything I taught you, understand?"
Saki nodded her heard, and the man shook her head again. "Answer me!" He yelled in her face.
"Yes, Master." She replied, as the mans face curled up in a pleasant grin. He darkly chuckled, pushing Saki forward so she bumped into another man, who wrapped his arm tightly around her. "I ain't your Master anymore, Saki...meet your hubby." He laughed, clutching a large sack of ryo in one hand, and holding the rear end of a teenage girl in extremely scantily clad clothing. Saki watching them go, before being dragged out by the two men, her new buyers.
Saki was held roughly by one of the men, while the other began floating about the low price they had managed to buy her for. Saki kept quiet, unwilling to anger the men that now owned her. She walked along with them, occasionally stumbling from the fast pace they were walking, thinking of her brother all the while.
As if the Universe had heard her thoughts, Saki could make out the back of a figure far in front of them. Unfortunately, so could the men holding her. One of them narrowed his eyes in an attempt to get a better look at the stranger. "Who the hell is that?" He asked aloud.
His partner answered him. "Dunno...but it looks like he's carrying a halberd."
Saki's heart fluttered as she heard that. It had to be her brother, searching for her. She could remember the Halberd he carried on his back well...Saki yelled as loud as her lungs could allow. "Aniki! Help me, Aniki!"
The figure paused in his tracks, his featured still hidden by the natural mist of Water Country. He turned his head slightly, and Saki smiled. "Aniki! Over here, Aniki!"
Getting over their shock at Saki yelling, one of the men forced her against a tree. "Shut up, you dumb brat!" He yelled, holding a Kunai to her throat. Saki screamed for her Aniki to help her once more. "ANIKI!"
Several things happened at once.
The Kunai was quickly drawn over Saki's throat, a brilliant display of blood filling the air. A serpentine sword flew through the heads of the two men. Saki's body fell to the ground.
Her vision was fading as he blood flowed freely from her neck, and before it went dark, she saw a spiky haired figure stand over her.
Naruto silently walked on the mist filled path of Water country, Banryu as always slung over his back. A map was clutched in his hand, the boy trying to determine whether he was on the right island or if his map was upside down.
Naruto was searching for Kirigakure, wanting to see the infamous 'Bloody Mist' and home of the Seven Swordsmen. He figured that a village like that could have some interesting techniques he could incorporate in his own style. While it had been two weeks since his fight with Gaara, Naruto's skill with Jakotsutō was the same as always, having hit an impasse until he increased his reflexes enough to track the whirling path of the snake sword. Banryu was the same as ever, Killing Intent rolling off it constantly.
"Aniki! Help me, Aniki!"
The sudden shout of a girls voice brutally forced him back to reality, his old on the map weakening as he froze in place, lightly turning his head back.
"Aniki! Over here, Aniki!" The voice again. Naruto focused his eyes, seeing a man slam a young girl against a tree. 'N-...Natsuki?' He wondered, a light throb filling his head as Banryu began beating, as if it were a heart.
"ANIKI!"
The shout, filled with fear, forced Naruto to act as he withdrew Jakotsutō, letting the blade fly through the air, straight through the heads of he two men as a Kunai was drawn upward, and Naruto began running as he knew what must've happened.
He kicked aside the bodies of the two men, peering down as the light seemed to begin leaving the eyes of the young girl. Naruto knelt down, focusing healing chakra to his hands as he placed them on the extremely bloody throat, forcing the veins to reconnect, taking away his hands only when her breathing finally stabilized and no blood was continuing to gush out.
Naruto grimaced at the sight of the large, rough scar on the young girls throat, a testament to the fact he should've been practicing in something other than his swords. It was only pure luck that he had read the basics of the medical techniques described in the writing of Suikotsu.
He leaned against the tree, waiting for only a few minutes before the girls eyes opened, her silver hair falling from her face as she slowly leaned forward from off the ground, into a more manageable sitting position. She looked at Naruto in both gratitude and what seemed like a touch of disappointment. She opened her mouth to thank him, only to feel a ragged pain in her throat, a mere rasp of a sound coming out.
Recognizing the fear in her eyes, Naruto frowned. "Sorry. I couldn't heal your vocal chords. If you want them fixed, you'll need to meet a real doctor." The girl seemed to shrink back in acceptance, seemingly fine with her lot in life.
Naruto sighed, and patted her gently on the head. "Look, do you have family around here?"
A shake of the head.
"Alright...anyone willing to take you in?"
Saki thought back to the man who had owned her, forcing to work in the brothel. He'd most likely be ecstatic to gain her back without needing to pay a refund. But Saki did not want to go back there...So she answered with another shake of her head.
Naruto frowned, and shifted uneasily. He was in Kiri for the sole purpose of training in his swordsmanship, but he could hardly leave a young girl alone by herself. Feeling a small pang from Banryu, he placed a small smile across his face. "I see...fine. I'll drop you off in the next town, okay? My name is Naruto Namikaze."
Saki smiled up at him, and began writing in the dirt with her finger. Naruto looked curiously at her as she finished.
Naruto patted her head again, trying to emulate Jiraiya when dealing with small children. "That's a great name...shall we go, Saki-chan?"
Saki nodded happily, glad that she was no longer alone.
A presence came into being behind him, and turning around Naruto was quite shocked to see Gaara, fully healed. It seems that Chiyo wasn't kidding about Gaara healing fast. Though considering the boys status as the container of the Ichibi, Naruto wasn't too surprised.
Naruto instinctively threw his hand in front of him, grabbing hold of a large sake gourd. Naruto looked at Gaara questioningly, but the Suna native was already walking away. "Thank you, Gaara!" Naruto shouted, tying the new gourd to his waist. Gaara paused briefly, his back still facing the blond. After a few seconds of brief consideration, he turned his head to look at Naruto.
"I loved only myself, and fought only for myself...and yet you defeated me. I want to know how...but I don't think you know the answer yet, either." Gaara looked as if he had more to say, but he continued walking. "The gourd is high quality...use it."
Naruto smiled, and began making his way out of the village, glad that he had finally proven his training. And so, the Rebel and The Jinchuuriki went on their separate ways, their parting on good terms.
A shame their next meeting wouldn't be as friendly.
Saki was whistling happily through the gap in her teeth (said gap given to her by a particularly drunk brute of a man) as she swept the floor of the brothel quite decently, considering her age.
She was a small, petite girl, barely over the age of seven. Her silver, nearly white hair reached to her shoulders, except for a small bang of hair which was blue, currently covering her dark hazel eyes. She was wearing a mans t-shirt and what may once have been a pair of shorts, though her clothes were far too ravaged to appear as anything other than mere rags. She was barely seven years old, but her face was sporting a moderate bruise on her right eye. Despite the obvious abuse handed to her nearly every waking moment of her existence, she still had the inner glow of childhood within her eyes.
She was an orphan, like most of the girls who were forced to work at the shady brothel. Due to Kirigakure's demands for more shinobi to assist against the so-called 'Bloodline Rebellion', the poorer female population of Kirigakure was now being forced to avoid abortions of any sort. With ruthless Shinobi, angry at the continuing war and needing a quick release prowling around the slums, it was dangerously easy for any woman to become an unwilling companion in bed for the night. Or in the alley, if there was no time.
Unfortunately, the Mizugake did not consider the fact that the poor in Kirigakure could barely feed themselves, let alone any unwanted children. Dozens of children were being placed in the state Orphanages, which rapidly became filled to the brim with orphans who were angry at everything and everyone. Most were secretly carted away to be used in hidden experiments; others, to be sent on the front lines filled with explosives in hope of drawing out any rebels.
Those orphans dumped within the gutter, however, became prime candidates for the Mizukage'a ANBU.
Saki had been lucky enough to have been placed in the orphanage with her older brother, who was born to her family when they still had some money, before the Rebellion started. He would tell her stories of a simpler time, where there was no constant fighting, when he was just an eight year old boy and she was just an infant. But the Rebellion was hard on her parents, and the siblings were forced into an orphanage together.
They had escaped a few years later though, much to her delight. When she finally saw a clear sky, she could hardly believe something so beautiful had been kept from her for years. Her brother had left her in a small town with a kind church, telling her to behave while he went to help Kirigakure finish the Rebels so there could be some form of peace for their country.
Mere days after he left, the church was burned to the ground by Rebels who were searching for a Kiri outpost in the area. Saki had run as fast as she could, and had survived for a few days by herself before a brutish man had captured her, taking her to the small brothel hidden in the islands surrounding Mist country.
"Saki, answer your betters! Dumb ****!" A voice barked out, and Saki felt her hair roughly pulled before she was thrown to the ground. She forced her self to get up enough to kneel at the foot of the man. "Y-yes, Master." She said, putting as much respect into the tone as possible.
The large man grabbed her hair and forced her up to her feet, looking approvingly at her body. "Shut up, Saki. Just cause ya might grow into a fine woman ain't gonna keen shit when ya can't keep ya mouth shut or pay attention to your hubby." He shook her head by the hair again, forcing her to nod. "Lucky for you, I have these fine gentlemen who are willing to take you off my hands, and they don't play nice, so you better remember everything I taught you, understand?"
Saki nodded her heard, and the man shook her head again. "Answer me!" He yelled in her face.
"Yes, Master." She replied, as the mans face curled up in a pleasant grin. He darkly chuckled, pushing Saki forward so she bumped into another man, who wrapped his arm tightly around her. "I ain't your Master anymore, Saki...meet your hubby." He laughed, clutching a large sack of ryo in one hand, and holding the rear end of a teenage girl in extremely scantily clad clothing. Saki watching them go, before being dragged out by the two men, her new buyers.
Saki was held roughly by one of the men, while the other began floating about the low price they had managed to buy her for. Saki kept quiet, unwilling to anger the men that now owned her. She walked along with them, occasionally stumbling from the fast pace they were walking, thinking of her brother all the while.
As if the Universe had heard her thoughts, Saki could make out the back of a figure far in front of them. Unfortunately, so could the men holding her. One of them narrowed his eyes in an attempt to get a better look at the stranger. "Who the hell is that?" He asked aloud.
His partner answered him. "Dunno...but it looks like he's carrying a halberd."
Saki's heart fluttered as she heard that. It had to be her brother, searching for her. She could remember the Halberd he carried on his back well...Saki yelled as loud as her lungs could allow. "Aniki! Help me, Aniki!"
The figure paused in his tracks, his featured still hidden by the natural mist of Water Country. He turned his head slightly, and Saki smiled. "Aniki! Over here, Aniki!"
Getting over their shock at Saki yelling, one of the men forced her against a tree. "Shut up, you dumb brat!" He yelled, holding a Kunai to her throat. Saki screamed for her Aniki to help her once more. "ANIKI!"
Several things happened at once.
The Kunai was quickly drawn over Saki's throat, a brilliant display of blood filling the air. A serpentine sword flew through the heads of the two men. Saki's body fell to the ground.
Her vision was fading as he blood flowed freely from her neck, and before it went dark, she saw a spiky haired figure stand over her.
Naruto silently walked on the mist filled path of Water country, Banryu as always slung over his back. A map was clutched in his hand, the boy trying to determine whether he was on the right island or if his map was upside down.
Naruto was searching for Kirigakure, wanting to see the infamous 'Bloody Mist' and home of the Seven Swordsmen. He figured that a village like that could have some interesting techniques he could incorporate in his own style. While it had been two weeks since his fight with Gaara, Naruto's skill with Jakotsutō was the same as always, having hit an impasse until he increased his reflexes enough to track the whirling path of the snake sword. Banryu was the same as ever, Killing Intent rolling off it constantly.
"Aniki! Help me, Aniki!"
The sudden shout of a girls voice brutally forced him back to reality, his old on the map weakening as he froze in place, lightly turning his head back.
"Aniki! Over here, Aniki!" The voice again. Naruto focused his eyes, seeing a man slam a young girl against a tree. 'N-...Natsuki?' He wondered, a light throb filling his head as Banryu began beating, as if it were a heart.
"ANIKI!"
The shout, filled with fear, forced Naruto to act as he withdrew Jakotsutō, letting the blade fly through the air, straight through the heads of he two men as a Kunai was drawn upward, and Naruto began running as he knew what must've happened.
He kicked aside the bodies of the two men, peering down as the light seemed to begin leaving the eyes of the young girl. Naruto knelt down, focusing healing chakra to his hands as he placed them on the extremely bloody throat, forcing the veins to reconnect, taking away his hands only when her breathing finally stabilized and no blood was continuing to gush out.
Naruto grimaced at the sight of the large, rough scar on the young girls throat, a testament to the fact he should've been practicing in something other than his swords. It was only pure luck that he had read the basics of the medical techniques described in the writing of Suikotsu.
He leaned against the tree, waiting for only a few minutes before the girls eyes opened, her silver hair falling from her face as she slowly leaned forward from off the ground, into a more manageable sitting position. She looked at Naruto in both gratitude and what seemed like a touch of disappointment. She opened her mouth to thank him, only to feel a ragged pain in her throat, a mere rasp of a sound coming out.
Recognizing the fear in her eyes, Naruto frowned. "Sorry. I couldn't heal your vocal chords. If you want them fixed, you'll need to meet a real doctor." The girl seemed to shrink back in acceptance, seemingly fine with her lot in life.
Naruto sighed, and patted her gently on the head. "Look, do you have family around here?"
A shake of the head.
"Alright...anyone willing to take you in?"
Saki thought back to the man who had owned her, forcing to work in the brothel. He'd most likely be ecstatic to gain her back without needing to pay a refund. But Saki did not want to go back there...So she answered with another shake of her head.
Naruto frowned, and shifted uneasily. He was in Kiri for the sole purpose of training in his swordsmanship, but he could hardly leave a young girl alone by herself. Feeling a small pang from Banryu, he placed a small smile across his face. "I see...fine. I'll drop you off in the next town, okay? My name is Naruto Namikaze."
Saki smiled up at him, and began writing in the dirt with her finger. Naruto looked curiously at her as she finished.
My name is Saki Yunoshima
.Naruto patted her head again, trying to emulate Jiraiya when dealing with small children. "That's a great name...shall we go, Saki-chan?"
Saki nodded happily, glad that she was no longer alone.