Naruto 1. A Whole New World

OKAY!!! Soooo... I haven't written anything (damn writer's block) in such a long time that I almost forgot how to use my imagination. And then this muse swept out of heaven and bought the real estate known as my brain, so this is all I've been able to think of... But let's cut the crap and get to the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but if Kishimoto-sensei ever put it up on Ebay...

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Thokthokthokthok… 

The light, almost soundless steps followed in the shadow's wake. The beats drummed at her heart, willing her to run, run, run ever faster.

Fatigue pounded her head, but not from lack of energy, though she had never felt so tired before. 'I so need some serious yoga, like crazy,' she thought grimly.

When her pace slowed a fraction, she shook her head, and redoubled her speed. It would not do to have mid-afternoon tea when pursuit was only five miles away screaming for her blood.

But no, she was emotionally tired; tired of running, tired of the acts she left behind, spurred only by an inferno of rage. The tendrils of air that curled around her cheeks murmured, 'Slow down, rest your weary mind, leave your thoughts behind…'

'_FOCUS, BAKA!!!_'

She checked the large chakra signal, the Village Hidden in the Clouds, which she knew lay somewhere with five miles' radius, and reconfirmed its distance.

'_Three miles, okay, double back, loop, ambush from west, head back, and approach from west._' Time to make good her great escape.

* * *

Three hours and many silenced screams later, a heavily cloaked shadow whirled to a stop in front of the gates of Konohagakure. The two gate guards, Kotetsu and Izumo, snapped to attention, and stared down at the newcomer. 

'Doesn't look good,' Izumo muttered, 'just signal if you need the alarm sounded.' Without another word, he leaped off the wall and into the small booth standing near the double wooden gates, and, tensed, nodded to Kotetsu.

With a smirk, Kotetsu leaned on the wall and flashed the newcomer a smirk. 'What's your business in Konoha, stranger?'

A peal of roaring banshee-like laughter hit his ears not a second later, and he recoiled in surprise. The black hood was thrown back, and a mocking voice rang out from the edge of the forest.

'Are you flirting with me? What kind of guard are you?'

Kotetsu examined the young woman with interest. Hair that was probably slightly longer than shoulder length was tied up in a messy bun, throwing her pointed face into sharp relief against the sunlight. What drew him was her eyes; a sparkling, mischievous brown that nevertheless held endless depths and something else…

'You didn't answer the question,' Kotetsu bantered back. 'But I assure you, my intentions are pure and innocent.'

Another laugh. 'Pure my ass. Okay, sorry,' she said, grinning. 'But can you just let the frisking slide once? I'm in something of a hurry to deliver a few messages to the Hokage.'

'And, pray tell, what would they be?'

'Oh, this and that regarding the pending conflict between Stone and Cloud; that, and a few scrolls,' she said vaguely, and whisked aside her cloak to reveal a compact messenger bag with the seal of Iwagakure imprinted on the brown fabric.

Forming a small hand sign, Kotetsu was down beside the Iwa nin in the blink of an eye. 'I'll have to pat you down now, just to make sure you aren't one of those crazy kamikaze nin that seem to be popping up more and more.'

She sighed as she lifted her arms. 'Pure you say…'

'Assuredly.'

Kotetsu, upon finishing, straightened. He had assumed she was one of the Iwa nin, but upon body searching, no shuriken holsters, kunai pouches and only five scrolls not including those in the messenger bag forced him to take back his assumptions. He frowned. Just who was she?

Scratching the back of his head, he signaled to the other nin on the battlements, and said, 'You're free to go in, I guess.'

She dropped her arms to her sides, and gave him a sunny smile that he decidedly liked. 'Thanks a bunch.' Tapping her chin, she added, 'Oh yeah, what's your name? I might just decide to visit you during my vacation. I got leave to stay here awhile, you know.'

'Just ask for Kotetsu of the gates. You?'

She started to stride through the open gates and beyond, when calling back, 'Maybe later!' And then she disappeared in a cloud of dust.

When Kotetsu finally returned to the bamboo gate booth, he said wistfully to Izumo, 'You know, I think I'm starting to like mysterious girls.'

* * *

When she had finally disappeared around corner, she let out the small breath she had been holding in. In all truths, the guard hadn't worried her any, but she had probably left too strong an impression on him. Not good. If she was to survive in alien surroundings as a missing-nin, then it was best to remain nameless and faceless. 

Missing nin… She stared up at the sky, completely ignoring the strange stares that others were giving her cloaked self. It sounded strange, like the discordant noise that her feet and gravel made whenever she stumbled. The two simple words labeled her a marked woman with a ticking life span, an outsider no matter what she was or where she went. Her brisk pace slowed, her sandals scuffing and whirling up mini dervishes. It would take some getting used to, but…

'I'M FREEEE!!! HAHAHAHA!!! FREEEE!!!' Everyone within a ten meter radius of the victory-dancing woman shot two feet in the air and smashed into the nearest vendor or jumping person.

'KYAHAHAHAHA!!! FREEEE!!!' The victory dance was augmented with wildly waving arms, the extremely hyper dancer apparently oblivious to the large amount of death glares shot at her.

When she finally calmed down enough to eke out a meek 'sorry', a large hand swept out of nowhere and snapped onto her shoulder. 'What do you think you're doing?'

'Eh?' She neatly spun on a dime, and nearly keeled back when she found two very annoyed snow-white eyes piercing through her. The street was suddenly very quiet. Taking a slight step backwards, she cocked her head inquisitively. He was one of the most handsome men she had ever met, with long, cocoa-chocolate dark hair and a toned physique that showed even under his loose tunic.

'_And the eyes, of course, the lovely, beautiful eyes that have sucked out my soul and rendered it incomprehensible to anything but said beauty…_' she thought dreamily staring off into space.

'Are you listening, baka?' He was also very annoyed. But still good looking. Quickly pasting a smile on her face, the Iwa nin said sheepishly, 'Ah, sorry for the disturbance. I'm just a messenger from Iwagakure, heh heh. Just got rid of someone…annoying recently. It, um, didn't quite sink in until now.'

Neji arched a fine eyebrow. She wasn't suspicious or lying, and the headband and messenger bag told him the rest. However, his guard didn't relax a fraction.

'It doesn't matter. Go, and do not loose control in such a fashion again.' He turned his back to her and walked away, and as if on some invisible signal, the street was alive again, moving and noisy. The messenger herself bounded away towards the Hokage Tower. But he swore he saw out of the corner of his eye that she stuck her tongue out at him.

As he languidly wended his way to the training fields, he thought about the very strange encounter. On first sight, he had almost mistaken her for Tenten, but the sharp angles and a single messy bun had proven differently. And her eyes…he stopped his slow walking.

'_Strange eyes, eerie eyes,_' he shook his head. He was already late as it was, and though Tenten never really gave him a hard time (probably because he had never been late), irate girls were hard to reconcile (not that he ever tried).

Neji broke into an elegant, loping run towards Training Field #16. It would not do to have his training session cut short by a stupid Naruto-like Iwa nin…

* * *

Her feet, though hurriedly rushing her in the direction of the looming Hokage tower, was entirely disconnected to her brain, which was still racing in Neji's direction. 

It wasn't just his looks, it was his demeanor, the proud stature that was usually reserved for nobility and the calm, confident way he spoke. It drew her like a bee to a full-petaled flower.

_'GAH! I'm a freaking missing-nin, for God's sake,_' she chided herself, almost charging over three Konoha nin strolling out of the Tower's front doors. She added aloud, 'Plus, I'll probably never see him again.'

Climbing rapidly up several levels of staircase, she finally skidded to a stop in front of Shizune, who had just exited the Hokage's chambers. The startled assistant stared at her quizzically, wondering what in the seven hells would have driven this complete stranger so quickly to the Hokage. '_Guard on_,' she thought, settling into a defensive stance. The ANBU guarding the doors stiffened.

'Do you have an appointment with Lady Tsunade?' she asked, polite nonetheless.

'Ah, come on, I don't bite. Just a messenger from Iwagakure for Lady Tsunade regarding the state of affairs of Stone and Cloud. And some scrolls, mmhm.'

Shizune once-overed her. Everything measured up, and she had heard of rumblings between the two foreign shinobi villages. Still, that smile was slightly too disarming to be genuine… A minute of silence passed, and Shizune straightened, and motioned to the ANBU guards to let her in.

'Sorry, but since the attack on Konoha years ago, we have to be doubly careful,' she said, and rounded the corner.

The stranger let out a small sigh, but regained her composure a second later. With a, 'cheers, boys,' to the ANBU, she entered the Hokage chambers, and shut the door behind her.

* * *

To get things straight: this is not going to be KotetsuOC, but seriously, those minor characters need some loving . Don't worry, he's going to play a part before the end, or a few. It's going to be NejiOC, 'kay? If any of my dear reviewers (yes, I know you're just DYING to press the pretty pale blue button) have any suggestions, please tell me! And if it isn't clearly implied, REIVEW!!! Criticism fine, flames will be used to burn my homework. 

P.S.: Not to sound desperate, BUT I NEED A BETA, so if anyone can help me out, just leave it your review, and I'll contact you! Ja!


	2. Hands of a Hokage and Missing Nin

Wow... second chapter already. I'm usually slow, but then again, a month couldn't be called short, now, eh? Oh God, I babble so damn much... YOU MUST ALL HATE ME!!! DON'T HATE ME T.T

Disclaimer: Do we have to do this? I assume that you've already read the first chapter, mm?

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'Well, what news does the Tsuchikage have for me?' Tsunade didn't look up from her paperwork, gesturing for her to come in properly. Said nin gave her a little nod and acquiesced, saying as she went, 'Lady Hokage, the late Tsuchikage sends his greetings, asks after your health and all that formality.'

Tsunade's head whipped up; her eyes were bugging almost comically out of her head. The hand that had been covertly hiding her saké bottle froze. 'Late?' she said disbelievingly.

She instantly sat up straighter in her leather swivel chair, her back stiffening. Tight-lipped, she replied, 'I offer my condolences to you and Iwa. But did you catch the perpetrator?'

The young-twenties woman gave her something of a dry smile, and her cloak rustled slightly. 'I caught word of this when I was on the road, so I don't know any of the specifics, but the least I could do for the dearly departed (Tsunade noted the dripping sarcasm) was complete the last mission he gave me.'

The Godaime Hokage leaned back, and surveyed the impassive face of the Iwa nin. Not a minute ago she was all sunshine and smiles with Shizune (her loud voice carried), and now she was, for lack of a better phrase, a blank sheet of paper.

_'No remorse whatsoever. Strange,'_ Tsunade thought, and groaned inwardly. The paperwork and the recent news were definitely messing with her head. Aloud, she muttered, 'Go on.'

'As you probably know from numerous spying forays, the villages Stone and Cloud are, to say the least, not on neutral terms. About one week before his death, a family of three civilians from Stone,' the young woman seemed to grind out that part, 'were tortured and murdered. Directly after that, the Tsuchikage began making preparations for war, and planned the declaration to be on, ironically, his death day. In his place, he sent me to ask Konohagakure to aid his cause, namely destroying Cloud.'

Silence.

Tsunade heaved a great sigh, closing her eyes. 'That's not the only reason why you're here, is it? What type of ninjutsu are you using to soundproof the room?' Reopening her amber eyes to stare into two slightly surprised chocolate ones, she said, 'The guard's auras should have spiked after you oh-so-calmly broke the news. That and you seem to hate the late Tsuchikage. What's your game?'

The air seemed to thicken sickeningly with Tsunade's words, cloying the once bright room with the shadows of suspicion. Tsunade watched her press her lips together.

A small smile twitched onto the Iwa nin's face. 'My name is Higure Kajiya, I'm twenty years old, Jonin-class, and hate spiders. Oh, and I'm a newly minted missing-nin, that good?'

The silence was even heavier than before, and this time, Tsunade knew that there was now a line Higure had irreversibly crossed.

Tsunade kept her face impassive, inching her hand towards the silent emergency button beneath her desk, and as she did, said levelly, 'Is that all? Frankly, I expected worse.'

Higure paused at first, then suddenly laughed and laughed till she was doubled over. Straightening, she said between gasps, 'Lady Hokage, you're as open as a book. Just stop the hand for now, mmhm? Seriously, just listen to my proposal first.'

All traces of smiling were gone now. 'I have something precious of Konoha's.'

Tsunade bit the insides of her cheeks. So she had a bargaining chip. 'What do you have that might be precious of ours? Last I looked; all the treasures of Konoha were locked up somewhere safe.'

Higure paused, and finally said, 'Well, I know for a fact that these are genuine because none of our, erm, Iwa's own intelligence have been able to open them yet, and the seals were made with Konohan chakra,' she shrugged, 'but whatever. I digress. I promise that if you let me explain, I'll show you what I mean.'

'…Say and say it fast.'

'Ummm… can I sit down? This is going to take a while,' Higure chuckled lightly. Tsunade sweatdropped. She definitely felt a headache looming.

'There's one behind you, Kajiya-san.' She decided to add, 'And keep your hands out of your cloak. Anything suspicious and I'm not going to hesitate.'

Higure plopped down unceremoniously, fingering the carved armrests. 'Stop it; you're making my blood boil.' Noting Tsunade's more-than-aggravated face, she frantically waved her hands. 'Kidding, my bad.'

Taking a deep breath, she began. 'Teimondo no Jutsu establishes a chakra link between the caster and target, and lets the user control the amount of speech heard by everyone else. 'Nough said? But that's not what you want to know.' Higure's voice darkened slightly with the last sentence.

Tsunade found herself leaning forward ever so slightly. Whatever said next could potentially set off something akin to the domino effect. She could just see it: Stone demanding the missing-nin back, and Cloud finding out and warning them not to, and Konoha caught in midst of a potentially fatal crossfire. They hadn't even fully healed from the Sound/Sand attack yet, and as per usual she wanted nothing more than to slam her head into the desk a good few times.

Higure's lips twitched, and then said offhandedly, '…I, ahem, killed the Kazekage. The reasons I would rather keep to myself,', but the stress of grinding teeth on 'reasons' was evident.

Tsunade did not take note of anything but the first four words. Shock raced up and down her spine. She shot up abruptly, her chair clattering violently to the floor. Her senses vaguely detected the ANBU stiffening, but everything else was drowned by the numbing sensations the word brought. Her eyes stared aimlessly, her mouth agape. This woman, no, girl, who was calmly inspecting her cuticles, who had been joking with Shizune not three minutes ago, had killed a Kage.

Out of the blue, Higure was speaking again. 'Chill, you'll get wrinkles. I'm not as strong as a Kage…yet. I killed him when he was still groggy with sleep and an herb mix I slipped into his evening tea. So in effect he was at half-power, maybe three quarters. And besides, I don't think you should croak. You don't seem like half the asshole he was.'

Tsunade's head dropped into her cupped hands. Dragging her finger pads over her skin, she silently prayed to all the gods above to save her remaining brain cells.

'Shosuke! Ozuki!' Higure stiffened, and rose quickly into a defensive position.

'So I take your answer is a no?' she hissed, raising a palm.

The two ANBU, upon sensing her intensely negative aura, reappeared in front of their Hokage, faceless bloodlust radiating through their masks.

Tsunade slammed her hands onto her desk; she could feel the entire situation slipping out of her control, like water through scrabbling palms. 'Enough! There is no reason for a confrontation!'

When Higure was about to interrupt, she cut in again. 'You two,' she clearly enunciated, and pointed at the two ANBU blocking the irate Iwa nin, 'please lead Kajiya-san to two guest rooms. Kajiya-san, you will meet me here at ten a.m. sharp tomorrow.'

Though Tsunade doubted if she herself have the will to be conscious before noon.

Her lamentations were once again broken through by Higure, who was at the door already, the two tense ANBU flanking her sides. She offered the suffering Hokage a small smile, and murmured, 'I didn't want to make your life hard. Seriously. But you know…' cue wistful smile, 'It's not like I have nine lives.'

Then she sailed out the door, followed closely by Shosuke and Ozuki.

All Tsunade wanted was a couple dozen bottles of sake.

* * *

The rude awakening that shattered Tsunade's drunken unconsciousness came in the form of loud knocks on her door. Or rather, earthquake-inducing, hundred decibel smashes that were making the wooden door bend like paper. At least it wasn't broken yet. Yet. 

Tsunade managed to grit out through her hangover, 'Come in,' and then sank once more onto the heap of papers cushioning her head. Was it ten a.m. already?

Higure made a 'tsk'-ing sound, and sat herself on Tsunade's mahogany desk. 'You look terrible.' Rummaging through her messenger bag, she extracted a small flask filled to the brim with a pale blue liquid, and handed to a twitching Hokage. 'Hangover elixir, made by one of the best potioneers in Iwa. It works every single time, seriously.'

Tsunade stared at her with bleary eyes. 'It could be poisoned for all I know.'

'You're the medic, not me. Besides, didn't we straighten this out yesterday? I meant it, really, when I said I'm not trying to cause trouble.'

The Godaime Hokage laconically checked the potion's aura and chakra, and upon assuring herself that it wasn't a badly disguised plot, downed it all in one gulp. In one fluid motion, Higure hopped off again, and positioned herself in front of Tsunade's desk.

'Well,' she said breezily, 'now that that's out of the picture, can we get on to the important stuff? If you say no, then at least do it before nighttime, because it only makes getting out harder. And I don't like the room, too big for my tastes.'

Unfortunately, dealing with her, alcohol or no, would be just as hard. She was just impossible. Very much so. Alcohol made her think in snippets instead of sentences.

'Your terms, tell me.' At this, Higure's face turned from happy-go-lucky to one that bespoke of shock, relief and total disbelief at the same time. When she had finally recovered her vocal cords, she slowly asked Tsunade, 'I don't believe I'm actually saying this, but BEG PARDON???'

Her only response was, 'Just do it.'

'To stay in Konoha, to have free passage to all the public areas of Konoha, including training fields, and, um, yeah.' She shrugged. 'I don't want much, and I could swear a jutsu-bound oath if you want. Whatever.'

Tsunade turned the words over in her mind. They were amazingly simple, and she didn't even ask for protection from Iwa. She kneaded her temples, just as her mind twisted around the given facts about this Higure. At face value, she was naïve, idealistic, carefree but burdened, and none too squeamish about intentional murder.

'_Well,'_ she thought gloomily, _'It was a start.'_ But the nukenin's motives were still as clear as a murky lake.

'What are the treasures?'

Higure's eyes lit up. 'You're seriously accepting my offer? Really, seriously? Did you get knocked up last night?' She genuinely laughed (no, cackled, Tsunade thought), 'You believe me. Wow…'

Growl. 'Do you want me to or not?'

The overly excited young woman backed up a few proverbial steps. 'The entire History of Konohagakure, the first quarter of the Hyuuga Secrets, scrolls three to five and fifteen to nineteen of the Uchiha Secrets, and the first of the Leaf Forbidden Jutsu Scrolls.'

As the scroll count grew, Tsunade's shock rose with it. When Higure finally reached the end, she could only lean back, pray for sake, and splutter, 'H-how did you get…'

'My filthy little hands on them?' Higure supplied, her grin widening. 'Remember the burning of the treasure storerooms from the time of the Konoha-Iwa war? It wasn't accidental like your ANBU stupidly assumed. Rock ANBU made off with a pretty penny that night, mmhm… and then I made off with said pennies.'

Not for the first time, Tsunade found herself cursing the irreversible choice that had landed her the position of Hokage. Why, oh _why_ hadn't she been content with wandering around? With nothing but sake and Shizune as companions?

_'Think!'_ the other side of her exhorted, '_you have responsibility as Godaime Hokage!_' Pretending to study the papers below her, she quickly ran through her options. If she booted Higure out the front door, who knew what secrets (and scrolls) she could accidentally give away to foreign countries?

Seeing as she was good enough to take care of the Tsuchikage and still have enough strength to escape from what would probably be a squadron of ANBU in addition to high-tailing it to Konoha, locking her up would do no good either.

Ignoring Higure's impatient foot-tapping, she pondered her last option. Of all of them, it was the least appealing, but the most viable and workable. If she stayed in a nearby apartment building under constant guard, at least there would be warning enough if she tried to break out. Konoha would also recover time-old scrolls and secrets that had been long missed.

Higure's annoyed voice cut into her thoughts. 'Have you reached your decision yet, Lady Hokage? Perhaps we can seal the deal before I deem it necessary to wear spectacles, mm?

Tsunade crossed her legs and looked up. She almost laughed at the sight of Higure sucking in her cheeks as though she had eaten a lemon. Impatience, she added to her mental list of the traits of this girl. Really, what kind of shinobi was she?

She stood up, and stretched out a night's worth of spine cramps, and turned to face the half-wall height windows, fingers drumming a steady beat on the sill. Her thoughts strayed unconsciously to all the people of Konoha. Would they, and how would they, be affected by her decision?

She knew the wisest decision would be to take the situation to the Konoha council, but… She glanced at Higure. Calculating, but honest brown eyes stared back at her. The council would surely tell her to say yes, take the scrolls, and secretly murder her. The last thought, along with the whole idea repulsed her, and she made her choice.

_'How many lives would I doom?'_ she thought, gazing off into the distant sun.

'Your quarters will be at an apartment building close to here, you'll have access to all public areas, though under constant guard of five ANBU,' Tsunade murmured, tapping the glass, 'That is, if you swear a jutsu-bound oath of identity secrecy and proper conduct.'

Upon Higure's rapid nod, she seated herself heavily and said, 'Good, then. Everything will be arranged immediately.' Her tone deepened with seriousness, 'If you ever try to escape or harm Konoha, I will have to forcibly restrain you, jail you, and perhaps order your execution. I will also deny that I had any dealings whatsoever with you, and you must do the same, got it?'

Higure's front teeth chomped down on her lips, as she took on a thoughtful expression. If everything was as the Hokage said, there would be no need to escape. She let out a small sigh. _'Maybe a wish doesn't just have to stay a wish…'_

'Done,' she said without any preamble. Tsunade lifted a blonde eyebrow. That was just too easy. But then again, a bright, sunny smile had appeared on her face, and she was waltzing towards the gawping Hokage.

'Ohmigod, thank you sooo much! You'd be such a good friend,' she cried, chibi-faced. Tsunade sweatdropped. Chibi face? She stopped just short of her, and offered a hand.

Face straight, she said, 'Let's seal the deal.'

Tsunade stared at the outstretched palm, and back into her face. 'Very well.'

The hands of a Hokage and a missing nin met a resounding 'smat'.

* * *

So it's going a bit slow. Whatever, because in the chapter, Neji comes in! YAYNESS!!! Speaking of coming in, reviews seem to be coming in uber-slowly. In fact, there are none.. I'M BEGGING YOU!!!

All the Naruto characters: Sorry, she doesn't beg very often, so it's quite U-G-L-Y when she does. (Naruto- Dattebayo!)


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Naruto, Romance