Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Naruto : Mugen Kuukan ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Eiko fell backwards when the man swung the sword at her. She stumbled and fell in the pool of blood that belonged to her entire family. Her fear made her heart race so fast, she wasn’t sure what had happened. They had just been eating dinner, celebrating her sixth birthday, when a group of men barged in and started swinging swords and other weapons. Her father fell first, and never got back up, followed by her mother, and siblings. She had hidden under the table when the men entered, shoved under by her mother.

“Stay hidden!” her mothers last words ordered her. She thought that the bad men had left, and so she crawled out of her hiding place to where he mother laid.

She crawled over her parents bodies, not understanding why they wouldn’t get up to save her. She shook the still form of her mother, crying for her to get up. Tears flowed so freely down her face, that she couldn’t see much of what was happening around her. She made her way towards the door, but was halted when one of them grabbed her by her hair, and lifted her off the floor. She kicked and screamed, her cries doing nothing but making them laugh.

“The littlest demon, the blood trait hasn’t even awoken yet. We’ll be home in time for dinner.” one said, as if it was great news.

“Finally, the last of the Mugen Kuukan…” another added. She screamed when she was flung by her hair, and hit the wall hard enough to push the breath from her lungs. She fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Someone began to kick her. She curled up into a ball, trying to protect herself. Her stomach began to burn, and her mouth felt sticky.

Why? Why were they doing this?

“Enough toying, lets finish this!” Another called from the direction of the doorway.

That’s when the pain started. She could feel the floor shake as the man walked towards her. It felt strange, as if she could see it in the vibrations, even though her eyes were closed. Pain crushed her head, and she felt as if her mind was being overpowered. Darkness creeped into the corners of her vision when she opened her eyes, and she could see what seemed like black clouds circling within the room…

Why did it hurt so much? Mommy, why wont you help me?

The man stopped mid step, his eyes wide with horror. She looked to the others, whom all had the same expression on their faces.

“The demon has come to the surface!” the one closest to her yelled. She glared at him. Why did he keep calling her that? He screamed suddenly, as the black clouds seemed to engulf him, and swallow him whole. He disappeared without a trace, leaving a glowing pair of crimson eyes that smoldered like embers behind. It seemed to laugh, the room rumbling, and when she looked to the next intruder, it swarmed around him, and did the same, while he screamed. She covered her ears with her hands to keep from hearing his screams. But she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his terror stricken face.

The third had made it out the door, and ran off screaming. She squeezed her eyes shut, the pain too intense. She called for her mother, but she didn’t come to help her. The cold from outside seeped into the small house, and made her shiver. After a few minutes, the pain ebbed, and she sat up slowly. She looked for the first time at the bloodied bodies of her family, and her heart broke. Why would anyone want to hurt them? Why did they call her a demon? She felt so sleepy, her entire body went limp, and she slowly laid back down on the floor.

Mommy…its so cold…


She reached her small hand towards her mothers still form, her arm shaking from the effort. Her eyes began to blur the harder she fought to keep them open. She was afraid of the monster that waited for her when she closed her eyes. The last thing she remembered was the ember eyes staring at her from within the black mist….



12 years later…


Eiko awoke and sat upright, gasping for breath. The campfire popped, and she flinched. It had been a long, long time since she had that dream…why now of all times? The blood felt like ice in her veins…and her heart hammered in her chest.

She glanced around the quiet campsite, keeping her gaze on the perimeter. The bad dreams always occurred when something bad was going to happen. She kicked out of her blanket, and pulled her shoes on. She tried to catch her breath, and calm herself. That dream always hit her pretty hard. She stood quietly, and made her way into the forest. She could dimly see the light from the hidden leaf village through the trees. She leaned against a large tree, and looked in the direction of Konoha. She was due to report there tomorrow, to Tsunade. The village Hokage.


She’s lived like a wanderer since that day. She could barely remember what it was like to have a home. Sure, she travels from village to village, and stayed at inns now and then, but she had no place to really belong to. And she preferred it that way. Yet, despite her wandering ways, her talents became noticeable by people, and word got to the hidden leaf village, and the Hokage requested to see her. She didn’t know why. She kept her secret well enough, despite the few instances when she relived that horrible night all over again. She glanced over her shoulder to where her camp laid. The fire popped again, and the glowing embers made her shiver. She pushed off the tree, and made her way deeper into the woods.

She always had this natural ability to use ninjustu. It wasn’t anything new to her, but to those who saw her, apparently she had an ability they found interesting enough to send a group to find her and ask her to come to the village to see the Hokage. She never trained a day in her life. Why was she so special?


She hadn’t made it but a few more meters, when the ground beneath her gave way, and she was falling She let out a yelp, the fall catching her of guard. She hit the slope, and fell in a roll that seemed endless. She felt her left side connect harshly with a protruding branch, and she cursed. She focused her chakra into her hand, and grabbed a ranch, halting her fall. She hung for a moment, wondering how in the world such things came to her out of the blue. She barely understood what chakra was…yet she could focus and channel it. She reached out blindly, desperate to catch hold of something to halt her fall…
Gaara glanced up from the small campfire that his siblings and other ninja from the sand village slept soundly by. Sleep was still something he couldn’t get used to, having spent the first fifteen years of his life never sleeping, for fear of Shukaku taking control, he never slept. Even without the one tail inside of him, sleep eluded him still. He would doze on occasion, but a full nights sleep, well, that was something he might never have in his lifetime. The time he had died was the longest his eyes ever rested…

He heard a sharp cry out in the trees. He glanced around at the sleeping forms of everyone, none of them budging. He stood slowly, his legs stiff from sitting too long anyways, and he slowly made his way around them, taking care not to make a sound. He would get an earful from Temari later on for walking off. He knew he shouldn’t act recklessly, he was the Kazekage, but sometimes, being Kazekage was like being a bird in a cage. He planned to travel to the hidden leaf village for the upcoming exams that the genin from his village would participate in, and wanted to spend some time there, and go over a few matters with Tsunade, the current Hokage.

Everyone planned heavily guarded escorts, and the like, but he was used to walking on his own two feet, and he insisted t o travel as he always did, with a small group of strong jounin, and the genin whom would compete. He traveled in his normal day to day attire, rather than the obvious robes of his title. With no sleep, they days were never endless, and this trip was already helping to ease his mind.

He dashed out into the forest once he was cleared of the sleeping group, and hurried off in the direction of the noise he had heard. He had left his gourd back at the campsite, but he felt there was no danger which warranted him needing it. He could make out the faint scent of blood on the cool night air, and he stopped, when he saw a figure hanging from a tree branch, illuminated in the faint moonlight. A young woman, his age, maybe a year or two older. She let go of the branch, and her golden hair fell free of its bonds, and splayed down her back. He noticed her hand clutching her side as well. Judging by the way she was breathing, the wound wasn’t superficial. He glanced back in the direction of his campsite. The faint red glow the campfire was close by.

He stepped forward…


She glanced downwards to see how much further of a drop there was…only to scowl that there was only a few feet down. She let go, and fell the rest of the way down in a crouch. Her hair fell in her face, and she grumbled. After a long fall, she stopped her descent, only to have had two feet left to drop…

She stood slowly, and brushed herself off. Her hand went to her stinging left side. She was bout ready to make her way back up, when she felt a presence behind her. It appeared so suddenly, she never felt it coming until it was right behind her. She spun quickly, her heart racing. Her weapons were back at the campsite. She cursed herself for forgetting them. She looked up at the full moon briefly, before turning back to where she felt the presence. She wasn’t sure where she was, and she knew this forest pretty well…

“Who’s there?.” she spoke up quietly. A shiver ran down her spine, at the thought of the possible people it could be. She never went a week without someone trying to either capture her or kill her. Those Akatsuki goons were relentless. If she wasn’t able to use their own Jutsu’s on them, she’d never manage to get away from them each time. She wished she had at least grabbed a shuriken…

His red hair was the first thing she saw, as he walked out of the shadows, and into the illumination of the full moon above. His pale green eyes, shrouded by black, met hers. He didn’t look like a member of the group, or any of the other ones that gave her constant trouble. He did look familiar somehow. His expression was unreadable. Behind him, she could faintly make out the faint glow of a campfire.


Oh, I didn’t disturb your campsite did I??” she asked. He seemed to glance around the clearing before resting his gaze on her again. Her hand clamped onto her side, when each breath suddenly seemed to hurt a great deal.

“I heard a scream.” he spoke in a soft tone. She blinked.

“Ah, I guess I must have when I first fell,” she said, glancing up to where she had fallen from. She gawked wide eyed at how high it was.

“I fell that far?!”

“Why are you wandering alone in the woods at this time of night?” he asked. She felt like her left side was on fire. She found she couldn’t focus very well. If he was an enemy, she was done for.

“Walking helps me think…and I couldn’t sleep.” she tried to explain.

“Are you heading for Konoha as we are?” he asked, his head tilting to the side slightly. She blinked.

“Yeah, actually, I have an appointment with Tsunade…” she began. Her vision felt a bit blurry. She moved her hand from her wound, and felt the chill of the night air hit her blood soaked skin. The feeling made her stomach turn, and her hand went back to her side. She took a deep breath, only to be rewarded with a stabbing pain.

“You’re injured,” he spoke up. She nodded.

“Yeah, I had an argument with a tree branch on the way down…it won.” she murmured. His baffled expression was amusing, and she would had laughed had her knees not chosen that moment to give out on her. Eiko saw him move quickly as she began to fall, and he caught her by the arm before she even got close to the ground. Now all the pain hit her all at once.

“Now It hurts…”

“You need medical attention,” he murmured quietly in her ear. He looped her right arm over his shoulder, and supported her weight.

“I won’t argue with you there…” she replied groggily.

“I’ll take you to Konoha.” he added.

“How do I know you’re not one of the Akatsuki clowns?” she asked. She looked over, and met his gaze.

“Akatsuki causes you trouble?” he asked, his voice a bit stronger this time.

“Who don’t they give a hard time?”

“I have nothing to do with them.” he said firmly. He held her gaze, unflinching while he spoke. She nodded slowly.

“Alright I believe you. I appreciate your help too, if you hadn’t come along, I might have bled to death.”

“You will if we don’t hurry,” he announced. She felt her eyelids finally fight to fall closed, as her vision went hazy. Either way, her life was in his hands now, whether he was friend or foe. Something told her he meant her no harm, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling he was familiar somehow.

“Out of all the people who’ve tried to kill me or capture me…in the end its death by tree branch…” she mused, before her vision blurred, and she finally lost consciousness.