Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Nothing's Shadow ❯ Chapter 1

Yoshi: Well, well… The Naruto game rocks my socks, not like I expected any different. Oi! Duckbutt!! *snaps fingers imperiously*

Sasuke: What did you call me?!? And what do you want?

Yoshi: Disclaimers. Now. Be a good Duckbutt.

Sasuke: WHAT????? Why me? All I want to do is kill Itachi!

Yoshi: *glares* Disclaimers.

Sasuke: 0.0 Meep! Okay, okay… Naruto and any other copyrighted materials that may be in here do not belong to Yoshi. *mumbles* …and hopefully never will.

Neji: 62-hit combo! *pokes Sasuke with combo*

Sasuke: 62-hit? I thought it was 64!

Neji: I left the two behind your eyes! *pokes out Sasuke's eyes and throws them away* eww… nasty Sasuke germs

Sasuke: x.x ow……

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Chapter 1: Seven Years Later

Kage, as always, got there first. Never once had she ever been there second, and once again she was noticed last. People always exclaimed, “Kage! You ARE here!” They all made bets on the day she wouldn't show. She snorted. Yeah, like that would ever happen.

Once they noticed she was there, the others always began to torment the oldest member of the class. The year before, he had been in a class with 28 people, one above the normal set of 9 teams, three per team. He had actually offered to stay behind, to let others have a chance.

He was a strange boy, with lank, almost black hair that was actually a fading gray. His eyes were what probably scared everyone the most. His pupils were crescent moons, and the irises a light, pastel green that left no doubt that people weren't seeing things.

“Hey, Sut! That your girlfriend?” one of the boys asked, putting a special emphasis on `girlfriend' as he pointed at Kage. She sighed. How many times were these beings going to pester the poor guy? The girl fixed a glare on the offending youth. He swiftly backed off, but looked at Sut to see if there was any reaction.

There was none. Sut didn't even look up, his eyes seemingly captivated by a blue rubber ball he was bouncing on the table.

“Gray Suterusu, hang back and silent annoyance.” The new voice was a familiar one. Zessen sauntered up, arms crossed and trademark smile all there.

“Gray Zessen, never one to talk and very bad imitator.” The soft mocking tone came from Suterusu, who actually looked up and met Zessen's eyes with a sardonic grin.

Kage listened to this in silence, knowing that, as soon they were done with the glaring fest, they would come to her for advice. She took the small moment she had to study the younger of the two. She could plainly see why most of the girls had fallen, or were falling, for him. Zessen had a swimmer's body, streamlined and muscular. Two locks of chocolate brown hair framed his face in loose waves, the longest part of his hair. His eyes, with the same pupils as Sut, were an ice blue, almost white.

Just as she predicted, Zessen and Suterusu came over to ask for her advice on whom was `cooler' than whom. Today, however, was her birthday and she wasn't up to such things.

Kage opened her eyes and fixed them with one look, turning it first on Zessen, who looked honestly interested, then Suterusu, who had a look of total indifference on his face. They both paled. In her experience, most people did. Her eyes, Kankuro had said one day, were a liquid amber color, which made it nearly impossible to tell where her pupil ended, and where the iris began.

She shook her head, and returned to looking out the open window. The 12-year-old didn't have the patience for this. Then she remembered. She turned 13 today.

“Umm, Kage? Are you going to decide?” That was Zessen. His voice, normally loud anyway, seemed louder than usual. Twisting so she could get a better look at him, Kage noticed that everyone was silent. Her eyes betrayed none of her surprise.

Sut noticed the way she moved and shrugged. It was obvious he knew what was coming. The older boy began to walk back to his desk-- attracting the attention of everyone in the room.

“Chickening out, Sut?” was the most common question asked.

She sighed. This had gone WAY too far. “He's not being chicken, he's being smart,” She murmured in her soft, husky voice. Zessen motioned for everyone to be quiet. She didn't talk much and everyone wanted to hear what she said.

“Have you ever realized that you're being incredibly silly?” Kage asked Suterusu, who just shrugged and gestured for her to continue, already at the other side of the room. All she did was frown, though nobody could notice.

“I don't have the patience to deal with your petty rivalries, Zessen.” This time, everyone could hear the slight overtone of annoyance. “He does love you, you know. He just….” She stopped suddenly.

Sut had placed a finger on her lips, his eyes full of wicked humor. Calmly, she raised one eyebrow. He jerked his head towards his brother. She raised both eyebrows with interest as Zessen sputtered.

“Jealous, Zes? That's hardly becoming.” Sut's jeering comment probably stung, and stung hard, because Zessen turned VERY red. Kage was getting tired of this. She bit down lightly on his finger, warning him to remove the appendage before it became permanently detached.

He looked over, pleading with her to let him have his fun. She grabbed his wrist and answered that by sending him hurtling towards the indignant brunette. Suterusu disappeared in midair and didn't reappear.

“Thank you, Kage.” Sut's voice was a ghostly whisper and she could almost hear him smile. There seemed to be a cloud of black light in front of her.

~But… Light can't be black… can it?~ She pondered this as the cloud swept to Zessen. Almost reflexively, he sidestepped Sut's pole; he always had one; as it careened towards him.

“Good try, oniisan.” Zessen smirked and went to sit down as the teacher came in the door, five minutes late as always. Today was no different than usual, but why did it feel so important?

“Today we are starting the graduation exams,” the teacher had a whining tone to his voice, like he was begging them to listen; She paid no attention to him.

“Let's take attendance now. We wouldn't want anybody to be late, now would we?” He gave a nervous laugh that quickly died away when nobody laughed along, “Let's see now…. Gray Suterusu is absent?”

Everyone gave a murmur of surprise. They all thought he had sat down. Even Zessen raised his eyebrows. Kage looked across the street and saw the same cloud. She focused on it. A flash of pale green eyes filling with tears was all the prompting she needed to jump out of the second story window. The girl gave a tight grin as she heard startled swearing coming from Zessen. As soon as she hit the ground, Kage gave chase.

She wove through the crowd, trying to keep an eye on the black haze. It bolted into a secluded alley; Darting between people, she finally reached the same place. Skidding to a halt, she reached out a sympathetic hand. Suterusu had collapsed and his shoulders shook.

“Goddamn…. Why?” he berated himself as tears streamed unchecked down his cheeks. “Why does everyone notice him? Never me… Always him as the center of attention…”

“Sut…” She looked behind her, puzzled. A concentrated globe of a strange ethereal gray was moving towards them. “Zessen's coming.” Somehow she knew exactly what that glow was.

He sniffed and wiped his eyes. “You won't tell?” His eyes were very captivating. Such a beautiful shade of green, she thought. Then she smiled.

“Friends don't tell.”

“I'm your… friend, Kage?” Suterusu wanted to be reassured. It had been plain that he had friends in last year's students, but he stayed behind willingly. I'm probably his first friend here, Kage realized.

As Zessen raced in behind them, she nodded with a smaller smile. “C'mon, Sut. Don't leave Zessen gloating over you again,” her voice soft as she spoke.

“Oy! Sut! You okay?” The brown haired boy came up behind the two.

Sut looked up impassively and swung his leg behind his brother's knee, causing him to fall. Zessen let out a string of curses that he probably wasn't supposed to know.

“Tut! Tut! Such language! And you kiss our MOTHER with that mouth!” Sut waved his finger reprovingly at his sibling.

“Like you're one to talk.”

“Actually, I'll have you know that I am one to talk.” He grinned, “I'm older than you are.”

Kage calmly grabbed both of them by the ear and began to drag them out of the alley. Sut, in some impossible way, managed to place his hand on the back of her neck and on Zessen's forehead and warped. As she was surrounded by glittering black flame, she somehow knew exactly how he did what he did. Sut could warp and become `invisible' for a time. But the cloak could be penetrated by eye skills, like his and Zessen's.

I'm not supposed to know this! This is HIS ability! Not even the SHARINGAN EYE could copy this! She thought franticly. Was this the thing that made today feel so…different?

The trio reappeared in their classroom to find that all of their classmates and the teacher were looking out the window, waiting for them to walk back.

Silly humans… That was a mind-voice. She felt like she knew it from before, but she couldn't remember from where. Kage looked around the room, trying to find out where it came from. She shrugged and moved to her seat as Zessen and Sut sat down at their desks trying to look completely innocent.

“You're in my seat,” was all she had to say in order to get almost half the class to very nearly fall out the window. Some actually did fall. She muttered about the stupidity that she was surrounded in and sat down.

“Well, let's get on with the test, shall we?” the teacher sniveled, reminding her of several disgusting lowlifes that she only wanted to half-remember, “Take your time on the written portion. Once everyone's done with that, we'll get started with the technique testing. Please, begin.”

As usual, it sounds more like a request than a command, doesn't it? This time, the voice's comment seemed to be directed to her. Kage shrugged slightly and got to work on the test.

Ten minutes later she set down the pencil and stretched out some small kinks she had gotten. Glancing around, the young girl noticed that she was the second done. Sut was first, as the test was the same as it had been the year before. After five more minutes, everyone was done, moaning quietly about how EASY that test had been.

“Alright now, lets get the rest of the test done and over with okay?” The teacher laughed nervously and called for the first person, “Atuke Jamel”

In a few minutes, Jamel came back in with a proud smile on his face and a Suna headband in his hand. And so they went on down the list.

And then, “Gray Suterusu.” The oldest boy seemed outwardly calm, but Kage knew enough about straight-faced people to realize that he was nervous.

She caught him at the doorway, “Sut…” One hand came out to rest on his arm. She was startled to find him trembling, “Good luck, Sut.” She told him quietly. “You can do this. I know you can.”

Sut smiled weakly at her and nodded his thanks. She stood at the door watching him move like liquid to the testing room.

“He'll be fine.” Zessen had come to stand beside her.

“I know.” ~I think he's nervous because he offered to stay back before this test, so he doesn't know what to expect.~ She looked over at Zessen, shocked to find him quivering as well, “You'll do fine too, Zes.”

He looked over at her, plainly surprised. Clearing his throat apprehensively, he began to talk again, “You'll be going last, won't you? I mean, nobody knows your REAL last name…”

She shortly nodded. Why did he have to bring that up? The girl wondered about that and decided that it was because he was anxious to get the test done. The door opening caught her attention. Sut came out looking considerably more relived. He raised his hand at the same time Zessen did and tagged him.

“Your turn for the torture.” He said.

Zessen was extremely sarcastic as he replied. “Oh, Thanks.”

When Suterusu walked in the room, all eyes scanned his body for any signs of a headband. When nobody found one, everybody grinned. Gray Suterusu hadn't passed.

“I always knew you weren't THAT good,” Jamel taunted.

“I never knew you were that bad at genjutsu.” Sut returned with no expression as he carefully inspected his fingernails.

Zessen took that moment to reenter the room. One hand held a headband, but there was already one tied behind the two locks of hair.

“Here, your color is back in.” He tossed the extra metal band that was sewn onto a piece of black fabric to Sut, who caught it and fixed it around his left thigh. The metal stood out, but the cloth disappeared into the same shade of black that colored his pant legs.

“What's genjutsu got to do with this?” Jamel muttered, clearly confused.

Sut sighed, “I saw your test scores, okay? You made a VERY low score in genjutsu.”

Jamel paled, “You know my test scores?”

Sut rolled his eyes, “Uh, yeah, duh. It wasn't that hard to figure out.”

Finally her name was called. She walked to the door and two hands stopped her, one on each shoulder. Kage turned around to get a thumbs-up from Sut and a good-luck charm from Zes, that he probably created on the spot

“You'll do fine, don't worry.” They said at the same time. The Grays both grinned at each other for having the same thought and went to sit down.

Kage took a deep breath and walked to the next door classroom.

Yoshi: God, I LOVE cliffhangers! Stay tuned to find out what happens next! Which one of the two girls is this? Is it even ONE of the two girls? Who knows? I DO! But I ain't telling' till the next chapter!

Gaara: *pulls on Y's hair* When do I come in?

Itachi: …Never… *mutters* I r angry…umm…. Who came up with that?

Yoshi & Gaara: Came up with what?

Itachi: Nothing you should know about.

Everyone expect Itachi: *sweatdrop* umm… okay?