Welcome to a story about Naruto and Co. Have fun reading and don't forget to send me a million dollars, I mean, a review. [But you could send me a million dollars =) ]
Wild Child or Wicked Woman?
"..." - Words
Italics - Thoughts
Italicized Bold - Instinct
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any songs featured in his story. I do, however, own my new character in here and I do own that short poem also included in here.
Can't stop, and I can't stop
Gotta keep moving or I'll lose my mind
Oh, rockin' down the highway
Oh, rockin' down the highway
Oh, rockin' down the highway
Oh, rockin' down the highway
- The Doobie Brothers; Rockin' Down The Highway
Driving down the highway,
Roaring like a banshee,
Breaking the innocence of others,
Shedding tears from their mothers,
That's what I'm meant to do...
That's all I'm meant to do...
'Cause that's all that I know to do....
- Me aka Nisha
There she was, driving down some random highway. Okay, so it wasn't a highway; it was more like a small paved road; a sorry excuse for a highway. But the sign had said "Highway Route Konoha" so she had taken it. It had been the first sign she'd seen in hours. She was tired, so very, very tired, but she had to keep driving. So, down that poor excuse of a highway she would go, at least, until she found somewhere decent to hang up her coat and fall asleep before she started her journey again. Which was what she needed. She had a vague recollection about the city of Konoha and hoped that she would see the city soon. Then she would go to sleep in a nice cozy bed in a tiny little hotel/motel type place.
Seeing how she hadn't seen a speck of civilization for four hours... it didn't seem very likely that she would be getting any rest that night.
So she concentrated on the surroundings, but one can only do that for so long. Sure, the trees were spectacular; some of them had to be hundreds of years old, if not thousands. They were huge and stood tall and proud, like kings to their majestic forest and they blocked any cold winds from hitting her. And the leaves that fluttered down from them had been just enchanting when she had started to ride past them. The loose dirt at the side of the road had seemed very rustic and quaint when she had first noticed it. And the emptiness of the road had been to die for! She hadn't seen anyone in ages; there had been no one else's noisy motor to listen to nor was there any waiting in line.
But now... the trees, which had seemed so spectacular a few hours ago, were deemed frightfully eerie by her mind. They were so tall that they created weird shadows on the road ahead of her and Kami knew who could have been hiding in their branches, watching her, waiting for her to lower her guard. Then there was the fact that since there was a bloody HUGE forest next to her, there must have been tons of birds and animals around. And not the kind you saw in a Disney movie.
Just whose big idea was it to build a road through a forest? The second she found out, she was going to kick their ass. Or she would forget about it and move on.
The fact that the trees blocked out the wind had been nice, but now, the night was getting hot and there was no wind to cool her down. Not that there was much of her skin out in the open; her motorcycle outfit (a pair of tough leather pants that covered her boots and a leather jacket paired with matching black leather gloves) and her helmet covered her completely. The only thing out in the open of hers was her hair, which was pulled back and braided into a ponytail to keep it out of her way, but that didn't really count and her hair had fallen out of the braid already. The wind wasn't stirring and that was starting to make her uncomfortably warm.
The leaves that had fluttered elegantly down in front of her now seemed to arrogantly try to throw her off her tracks and blur her vision; twice, she had stopped, thinking that she was going to hit an animal, when really, it had just been a swirling mass of leaves on their journey to the ground.
And the ground! Urgh! The leaves had mashed themselves together with the loose dirt and the light rain that had fallen a few hours ago had created some kind of weird mushy mud. It was gross and slimy and seemed to have the same consistency of vomit, though she didn't and wasn't going to test out her theory. The stupid potholes in the road were hidden by the gross slush and that caused her to slide her bike around quite a few times when she unknowingly rode through them.
At that point, she had thanked the gods for the lack of cars and other vehicles on the road. But then she came quickly to realize that maybe the lack of cars was more of a hindrance than a blessing. The lack of cars was more than slightly disconcerting.
Why isn't there anyone else on this road?
It was possible that the road's horrible conditions were forewarned to the townspeople and so they didn't use the road... but what about the other people, who, like herself, had seen the turnoff for Route Konoha and had taken it? Maybe she had been stupid when she had seen that turnoff. Urgh... maybe there had been other things written on that sign and she had just hadn't paid attention.
She checked her watch; 11:21 pm. Urgh... She had to sleep, but there was nowhere around her that she felt that she would be safe. The woods did not look inviting at all. It was much safer to just keep driving, tired or not. She was not going to be a victim tonight. She had been driving for at least twelve hours. Damn she was tired... she hadn't had a decent night's sleep in days. She wanted to sleep so badly. She had only slept for a few hours the day before and none the day before that. Oh the wonders of insomnia. She tried to keep her mind off of her fatigue by thinking random thoughts.
La dee daa... dee daaa.... Oh, gees, that tree looks just like Itachi-kun!
True that, true that. I am so not sleepy right now, that it's funny.
It is so funny! Oh goodness...
I am alive...
She took her time while blinking, opening slowly, shutting quickly.
I am alive...
Her eyes started to close.
I am alive...
She opened her eyes and realized that she was going to hit a tree.
But not for long!
Eyes widening, she jerked the bike tightly to the left and just barely kept herself from hitting a tree.
URGH... Okay... note to self: Pay attention while driving.
The adrenaline rush from her near death had her excited. She drove for about five minutes in silence before started to hum to herself.
Another note to self: Map out which roads you're going to take next time.
Another note to self: You are tired.
SLEEP.
I can't... I can't sleep. SING A SONG.
A random song started flowing from her lips, any bloody random song she could think of.
"Hey, what's happening?
I'm feeling glad,
I got sunshine in a bag,
I'm useless, but not for long..." Her breath hitched.
That was Itachi's song...
That it was.
WEIRD. That stupid cow; I wonder where he is. D'you think he misses me?
Maybe? I don't know; he's a weirdo. You should pull over.
I know, I know... but I have to stay awake.
I am awake...
I am awake...
I am...
Seeing a parking lot?
A large parking lot zoomed into her sight. Her mind crowed with happiness; a rather obtuse and ugly building was situated at the side of the parking lot. She hoped it was a motel or something. She needed to rest, and she needed to rest badly. Not only did her butt ache from being seated on her motorcycle for so long, but so did her lower back and her shoulders from all that time she had spent hunched over. Urgh... people were not meant to balance huge, hulking machines between their legs for hours at a time.
She zoomed into the parking lot, but not before noticing some movement on the roof. There seemed to be someone up there. One of the people, she was sure that there were two, was very easy to see, the other was much harder to notice. If the first person wasn't being such a loser and flapping his or her arms about and screaming at the second person, she doubted that she would have noticed the second person and that bothered her; bothered her a lot.
She moved closer to the building, taking her machine to the wall before parking. There were some lights on around the building. They were small, placed at odd intervals, and fluorescent; they did little to light the parkade, but they were lights nonetheless. There were no other cars in the parking lot. Which was odd... very odd. The parking lot was huge; it must have been built at a time of a thriving economy or some other crap like that. She wondered why it was empty. Much to her chagrin, the building was boarded up and empty. It didn't seem to have been occupied in ages. URGH... She had found yet another thing to piss her off. She wondered if the people on the roof would know anything about a place to stay. They would, wouldn't they? She decided to give it a shot.
"EH!" she screamed, after taking off her helmet. "You up there! Can ya hear me?" She looked up at the side of the building, waiting for some kind of a reply.
"Nani?" A head popped up over the side of the building. "Who're you? How'd you get there?" asked the person. He had to be kid, no older than seventeen, tops. He had blonde hair, short and choppy; it made her laugh. His eyes were blue, like the sea and reminded her of... things. His face was relatively unscarred except for... whisker marks? No, they had to be scars on his face; three on each cheek... very unusual. His choice of clothing left something to be desired for: he wore an orange jumpsuit top.
Urgh... orange. Oh well, he was cute, and was that a Konoha forehead protector that he wore? Maybe he could help her out.
"I'm me. Can ya do me a favour? D'you know where the nearest hotel is?"
The boy looked over his shoulder, back at the building. She had known there was someone else with him. A silver haired male came over to the edge of the building. He wore a dark blue outfit, she couldn't really make it out; the lighting was too poor for that. His face was almost entirely hidden from view, which was odd. She felt rather naked without her helmet, but was happy that she had worn a turtleneck that day; it was rolled up and covered the lower half of her face. She wondered if they could tell that she was a girl. She saw an orange book in his hands and... realized that it was a volume Icha Icha Paradise, a dirty manga that she read every once in a while when she was bored.
Dirty thoughts ran through her head... Ew...I've interrupted two lovers! I should be ashamed of myself. Urgh... I should leave them to their "voyeuristic" rituals. I can just imagine how they came to having sex on top of a building...
Blonde-haired Ninja: Gee, I'm bored and horny; let's do something fun tonight! -Stereotypical Girly Giggle-
Silver-haired Ninja: What a good idea!
Blonde-haired Ninja: But whatever are we to do? I am so innocent and naïve!
Silver-haired Ninja: Well, my, innocent Blonde-haired Ninja, I was just reading Icha Icha Paradise...
Blonde-haired Ninja: Oh that dirty, dirty manga! -Giggle-
Silver-haired Ninja: -Chuckle- That's right! And what a dirty, dirty manga it is! -Chuckle-
Blonde-haired Ninja: -Stereotypical Girly Giggle-
Silver-haired Ninja: Let us go make love atop a large abandoned building!
Blonde-haired Ninja: Oh, how voyeuristic!
Silver-haired Ninja: Oh, I know, I know! Quick, let us be off! We have much voyeuristic shagging to do!
Blonde-haired Ninja: -Yet more incessant stereotypical girly giggles-
Silver-haired Ninja: You do know that your giggling turns me on, right?
Blond-haired Ninja: -Stereotypical Girly Giggle- Oh my!
Oh, well, who am I to interfere with their dirty lovemaking?
She waved at them and smiled through her turtleneck. "That's okay, never mind me. You two lovebirds go on doing whatever you were doing. Don't mind me!" She gave them a wave. "I just want to check my tire pressure and I'll be off!" She moved to rummage through her duffel bag that she had strapped behind her, but an indignant squeak hit her ears.
Now why did that seem familiar?
"I... I am not g-g-gay!" sputtered the blonde-haired youth.
Oops, I guess I embarrassed him.
She rubbed the back of her hand with an arm and giggled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you." The blonde-haired youth frowned at her while the silver-haired male (or at least, she thought it was a male, it was so hard to see in this light, or rather, lack of) stared off indifferently at his dirty manga. She wondered what part he was at.
"Just keep doing whatever you were doing, I won't tell a soul, promise!" She watched as her words hit the whisker-scarred youth. She wondered if his whiskers were really scar marks from a bad episode with shaving. Comprehension dawned on his face. He really was kind of cute.
"I'm not gay!" He turned to the silver-haired male and shoved him, causing him to fall slightly off balance.
"Naruto, I was at the good part!" he said, indignantly, dusting off his shirt, while continuing to read.
Naruto? Ah, so he has a name. She wondered briefly why his name was so familiar for a bit before her memories hit her. Uzumaki Naruto, the male child with the Nine Tails Fox Demon sealed within him. Urgh, she should have known that the second she had seen him. Lack of sleep was no good for her. She was totally off the ball. But... still, that was quite interesting.... She hadn't known that demons could be gay. Maybe the demon was a girl?
"She just called you gay, you pervert Kakashi!"
Kakashi?
Immediately bright red signs started to attack her within the confines of her mind. Hatake Kakashi; Infamous Copy Ninja of Konoha; The Man of A Thousand Jutsus; Carrier of the Sharingan; Legendary fighter; Elite Jounin; oh, the titles that he held were endless.
Information bombarded her brain, it was as if someone had hit the release button and had just let loose with everything, irrelevant or not. Good friend of Obito, now deceased; teacher of gennin wishing to become chuunin; passed only one group; Team Seven's leader, the team who he passed; owns a small pot plant with the words "Mr. Ukki" engraved into the pot; wears a mask; reads dirty mangas....
Urgh... her head hurt with all the information. One message was clear though, and it stood out in her mind's eye in bright red; a message that had come straight from the mouth of Itachi-kun himself: If you see him... run and never look back.
"WHAT?" Kakashi seemed to have realized that his masculinity or some other part of his male chauvinistic side had been injured. "Who called me gay?"
"She did!" said Naruto, pointing rudely at the female whose eyes were wide in shock.
Oh, why, oh, why didn't I recognize them on sight? See, this was why she should have taken a rest before this. Oh well... at least she knew that she was really close to Konoha.
"What makes you think I'm gay?" asked Kakashi, leaning over the edge of the building.
Well... you're up here with another guy, in a secluded area and... Why did he ask something like that? He was trying to get her attention off of him. She realized that he must have done a quick Kage Bunshin or something like that when she realized that he was right next to her and still on the rooftop.
"And just who are you?" he asked, tilting his head at her. "You look vaguely familiar. Perhaps we should discuss my sexuality over tea?" His hand landed on her shoulder and she tensed immediately. This little charade of his was kind of scary. She wanted to run, she needed to run. She wondered where he was trying to take her with this, but she didn't want to stick around to find out. But she was mesmerized by the touch of his hand to her shoulder; she wondered what was going on, why couldn't she move, why couldn't she breathe? Oh, Kami-sama, why couldn't she BREATHE?
"Kakashi you dumb-ass pervert! She called you gay! She didn't say she wanted to go out with you!" bellowed Naruto from the rooftop, effectively knocking her out of her trance.
She pulled a kunai out from inside her jacket and slammed it through the center of the double's chest; he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. She jammed her helmet onto her head and yelled over her shoulder, "I've got to go! Nice meeting you! Have fun SHAGGIN'!" She stepped on the accelerator and hauled her ass out of there.
Suddenly she was aware of the creepy silence of the road. It was quiet... too quiet. She hoped that... She pushed her thoughts away and tried to concentrate on her driving. She didn't want to die; at least, not yet.
She was driving like a maniac (the only way she knew how) but now she was a possessed maniac, sure that death was on her tail, and in a way, it was. She had to find Konoha, had to find the main authority figure, had to get there before Kakashi did and ruined her chance at... at... she wasn't sure what at, but she figured he would ruin any chance of hers for anything. He was a bad man, that Kakashi, a bad man.
After looking over her shoulder a few times over the next five minutes, she felt that she had left the dangerous Copy Ninja of Konoha behind her, though she wasn't quite sure. She wondered why it had been so easy to stab him, so easy to get away. She felt uneasy now, something was gnawing at her gut; it was instinct, instinct and a bit of magic. It told her to keep going no matter what.
Not even if I hit someone?
Even then, keep going! Though, you won't hit anyone tonight so you have nothing to worry about...
And she believed her instinct, there was no reason not to, it had always been right before... and besides, Itachi-kun had said to listen to it, so she did. She kept at a reckless pace, pushing both herself and the motorcycle to the edge of exhaustion and beyond. She kept going at about sixty miles an hour; not as fast as she would have liked, but both she and her bike were tired and she had only so much gas left over. She thanked the gods for her low gasoline-burning engine and cursed them for making the road so long.
Her motorcycle wobbled between her legs and she shut her eyes for a second. She had to keep going, had to reach the authority figure of Konoha, the Hokage, as soon as possible. Urgh... She opened her eyes... and gasped.
In front of her, dead straight in front of her, no more than three miles, was Konoha. She had seen pictures of the city, pictures of the high walls and the guards, and the lights, oh the lights, the lights that twinkled so merrily, but no picture had readied her for the sight that was before her now. It was simply breathtaking. She couldn't believe that it was real; it was almost too perfect.
And that was when she decided that it was all genjutsu, a trick of her mind; no city could be that beautiful. She was ready to ram her bike straight through the stupid illusion when she saw him. That damned Copy Ninja was standing just outside the city gates and she was getting closer to him with every passing second. And he wasn't in very good shape... Oh no, that was an understatement. He was battered and bruised, his shirt was missing, showing that there was a large spike going in through his stomach and probably exiting his back. Dried blood caked his arms in dark dirty red/black patches, depending on the amount of clouds covering the moon, and rivulets of fresh blood marked new trails as he stood deliberately in front of her, ignoring the raging machine coming at him at sixty miles an hour.
Years ago, she would have stopped. Years ago she would have said no to her instinct and stopped to help the man. Years ago she would have vomited without mercy at the sight before her. Years ago she would have been aghast at the horror in front of her. Years ago, she never would have known that it was genjutsu being used against her. Years ago... she had been such a different person. She wondered when it had all changed. When Itachi had come into her life? Yes, probably then
She watched as the Copy Ninja stood still in front of her looking pitiful and remorseful. He just called to her inner femininity, the side of her that hated to see anyone, anything, get hurt. He called, but got no answer. That part of her had been stabbed down, stabbed down viciously and it would not rise for a long time; and if it ever did decide to give a shot at standing up again, (which she doubted, which she sincerely, sincerely doubted,) she would shoot it down.
She drove straight at Copy Ninja Kakashi of Konoha (The Man of A Thousand Jutsus) and wondered for a brief moment if he really thought that she was that stupid. She smiled when she heard the resounding thunk of his body being run over by her motorcycle and wondered when she had come to feel joy in others stupidity and underestimation of her. She zoomed through the genjutsu and smiled as she came out the through the genjutsu unharmed. She saw the path swerve sharply to the left. She kept going straight and went through that genjutsu as well. She had learned early that if you caught the big stuff, then you might miss out on the little stuff, so she paid careful attention to everything along her path. She wondered if the lack of many traps was just his underestimation of her abilities of if he had something else planned.
The road was getting smoother and smoother, if she was right, then she was fast approaching the city. Perhaps she could get to the Hokage before he realized that she had zoomed right past his little traps.
She could... see the walls...
She started pressing the accelerator harder, and when the bike started to cough, she sent a small wave of chakra into the engine; not too much chakra, she just wanted to give it a little kick-start, keep it going fast. She didn't do it all the time; she just did it when she needed a little help. It was her baby, that motorcycle, and she loved it. She hoped the ninja wouldn't decide to take out his anger on it when he got to her. She knew that he would get to her. She wasn't nearly as strong as he was; she knew that Itachi-kun was, but not she. She wasn't that strong. And it irked her.
She kept going and got to the giant double gates. There were guards; of course, there were always guards outside of the cities. She balanced the cycle between her legs and, fighting fatigue, she did a few quick hand seals and stuck the three guards that she could see (and the two that she couldn't) into full body binds. Then, working quickly, she threw a blast of chakra at the wooden door and made a hole. Her fatigue shone through her work and she saw that her hole in the door was large and globular. URGH...
She zoomed through the streets, headed for the centre of the city. It wasn't that hard, there was a huge street leading right to it. She headed straight, but her bike kept turning and twisting; she couldn't quite keep her balance.
Keep going...
Yeah, yeah, y-y-yawn!
She could see the palace or tower or whatever they called it, looming up ahead of her. She got as close as she could before she saw a bunch of guards doing guard duty. URGH... She got as close as she could to the entrance to the building and slammed on the brakes to her bike. Propping it up, she grabbed her duffel from behind her and started marching forward, straight towards the guards.
If you wish to get in... act like you belong. Itachi-kun's voice rang through her mind. There were so many things that he had taught her, so many things that she knew, so many things that haunted her. She shook herself mentally and kept going.
However, tonight wasn't her night; it never did seem to be her night. It never seemed to be her morning either.
"Halt!" said one of the chuunins in front of her. He had to be a chuunin, right?
She gave him a reproachful look through her helmet, even though he couldn't see it, before beginning her charade. "Do you want these important documents to be late on arriving to the Hokage? Those idiots at the gate have already delayed me enough! Do you want to be in trouble too?"
"No, but I need you to remove your helmet, please." Yep, this was a chuunin; no self-respecting jounin could be intimidated by a stranger, and especially a stranger who hid their face.
"Fine," she said, annoyed, "but when Hokage-sama hears about this, it's your ass that's going to fry, not mine."
She grabbed her helmet and yanked it off. The men around her gasped at what they saw.
Damn it... I hate being pretty.
And she was pretty, there was no egotism in her statement, it was merely the truth. Her hair was pulled back, and she had an intense bout of Helmet Hair (one of the worst worst-case-hair-scenarios for females) but she was still very attractive. She pulled her turtleneck down before the guard asked her to. Her lips were pink, bright pink, all that blood rushing to her head had helped with that. Her fatigue caused her eyes to be lowered, seemingly seductively, but in all actuality: she just wanted to go to sleep... really, really badly. Her eyes themselves were dark green orbs, swirling with a multitude of shades; they were able to see this because of the excellent lighting around the Hokage's facility. Her hair was a deep brown and, when open, fell halfway down her back in smooth waves. She could just imagine what they were thinking about her complexion, probably some dumb crap about it being as smooth as porcelain but as white as china or something weird and poetic like that. It creeped her out, really, it just really creeped her out to have her face compared to dishes.
Stupid beauty.
Itachi's voice, unbidden, as always, started to sound between her ears. "Boon because it makes men look at you and want you for themselves and a curse because it does."
"Damn straight old man," she had said, as she always did to him. "Damn straight."
He had circled her, circled her and then spun her in a circle. "So what are you to me?" His red Sharingan eyes searched hers, looking deep into them as though he could see the answer within their vibrant depths. "Are you my boon or my curse?"
"Can't I be both?"
URGH... She was losing her concentration. She must have been way more tired than she had thought she had been if she was already having flashbacks about Itachi.
"May I go now?" she asked, snapping the drooling idiots in front of her out of their reveries. Honestly, she didn't think she was that good-looking. Gees, what was wrong with people?
She stormed into the building; she knew her way around, she didn't need a guide. She knew the layout of the building as well as she knew the back of her hand. Itachi-kun had made her memorize countless things and layouts of all the facilities of the heads of the cities and countries had been some of the numerous things she had memorized for him.
She waltzed up and down numerous staircases before arriving at the Hokage's office. She ignored the female screaming at her that the Hokage was busy with a meeting even as she felt the female's sharp nails pierce her skin. She just kicked her in the knees and made her fall down. Damn it, she felt like lying down. Life wasn't fair.
She burst through the door and wondered why the Hokage would be in a meeting at 12:00 in the morning. Then she realized who the Hokage could have been in a meeting with. She wished she had had more sleep the night before.
Before she could run back out the door, she caught sight of the Hokage sitting in front of her, her face a mask of surprise. Gees, there's someone who's definitely using an illusion jutsu to look younger. Either that or she stole that immortality crap from Orochimaru.
She threw her bag and helmet to the floor and put her hands in the air just as Kakashi came by and threw himself at her. He grabbed her around the waist and held her wrists above her head so that she was standing in front of the Hokage.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Hokage-sama," she said. "I would bow, but I'm being held up at the moment."
Tsunade gave the female in front of her a weird look. "Ah... so you are the female who questioned Kakashi's sexuality. I've been wondering about it too." She looked to Kakashi. "So... what are you? Gay?"
Kakashi's one eyeball stared at the Hokage in disbelief. Then he puffed himself up and said, "I, Tsunade-sama, am one hundred percent straight."
The female he was holding broke in with her sleepy voice, adding to the conversation, "Didn't look like that tonight."
"EH? What do you mean it didn't look like it?" he twirled the female in front of him so that she was facing him. His eye was narrowed and he seemed to be waiting for an answer.
"Well..." she began. "It seems more than a wee bit fruity when you see two males on the top of a dark and desolate building standing rather close to each other while one of them is reading a manga full of porn in a secluded area while no one else is around in the middle of the night." She gave him an odd look and then surprised them all, including herself. She bounced up on the balls of her feet and somehow twisted out of Kakashi's grip. She jumped up and, using Kakashi's chest as a springboard, landed somewhere in front of a chair that was sitting in front of Tsunade.
She bowed as low as the desk in front of her would allow. "Ohayo gozaimasu, again, Hokage-sama," she said. "I am really, really tired." The Hokage started to say something, but the stranger raised her hand. "I am a refugee, I need your help... I'd let you ask any questions you want, but I have to sleep now." Her head fell to her chest as she stood in there, but then came back up, her eyes closed, and her right arm came up as well. "My name is Jiya."
And with that proclamation, she then fell promptly and neatly into the seat behind her, her head lolling about the way a doll's head with a neck of string would.
Meh... the end. =) Review if you want more chapters... =)