Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Battle Lord Chronicles: Under A Bloody Moon ❯ The Boy ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: Welcome back everyone! There is one thing that I want to make clear: This story is set about seven years after the attack of the Kyuubi, so it is still pre-Naruto storyline. You'll understand why eventually (grins) As a side note, in this story I'll be using the Japanese way of saying names. So, for example, it'd be Urameshi Yusuke instead of Yusuke Urameshi. Well, please read, review, and enjoy! Ja ne!

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Naruto. Kiara is owned by Yusuke'sSister.

 

Claimer: I do own the plot line, the Kuro Tournament, Kristy, Jason, Jessica, Chris, Bashere, and anything else related to them.

 

(1) - I have a picture of what he looks like, outfit and all on my profile. It's under the pics section.

(2) - I also have a picture of this man (I bet most of you can guess who he is (grins)). It too is in my profiles under the pics section.

(3) - I have a picture of a kunai (the weapon, as it'll be mentioned later) if you don't know what they look like. It's in my profiles under the pics section.

(4) "Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai" literally means "Special Assassination and Tactical Squad". It's kind of like S.W.A.T., and yet so different. More details about it will be in the fic.

(5) - "Shinobi" means ninja.

(6) - "Konohagakure no Sato" translates to "Village Hidden in the Leaves" or "Hidden Leaf Village". It's also of referred to as simply Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf) or Konoha (Leaf).

(7) - "Nami no Kuni" means "Land of Waves" and "Hi no Kuni" means "Land of Fire".

(8) - "Kaze no Kuni" means "Land of Wind", "Sunagakure no Sato" means "Village Hidden in the Sand", "Mizu no Kuni" means "Land of Water", "Kirigakure no Sato" means "Village Hidden in the Mist", "Rai no Kuni" mean "Land of Lightning", "Kumogakure no Sato" means "Village Hidden in the Clouds", "Tsuchi no Kuni" means "Land of Earth", and "Iwagakure no Sato" means "Village Hidden in the Stone".

(9) "Jinchuuriki" translates literally to "power of human sacrifices". It's the name for humans who have youkai sealed within them (such as Uzumaki Naruto and Subaku no Gaara).

 

"Talking"

'Thinking'

'Telepathy'

 

Thanks to my beta reader, Anna Jaganshi.

 

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Under A Bloody Moon

 

Chapter 1

The Boy

 

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I let out a sigh as I meandered slowly through the woods. I was completely coherent now, having been...wherever the hell I was...for several hours now. I'd been walking aimlessly for that time but hadn't managed to find an end to the forest, let alone any signs of ningen or youkai life.

 

I sighed a second time and stretched my arms behind my back, only to wince at the motion. The wound across my upper torso was still quite sore, though it was now more than half healed. I'd put some of the salve that that Healer, Yuki, had given me, which was probably helping.

 

Quite suddenly I head the snap of a branch. I froze, narrowing my eyes in the direction that the sound had come from while placing a hand on the hilt of one of my katana. At the same time I expanded my senses to find out what was out there.

 

My shoulders relaxed slightly when I found a ningen signature. I was surprised at the amount of reiki in that signature though; it was massive. This at least proved that there was life around here and also that I most likely wasn't in the Makai.

 

Just a few moments later my senses were proven to be correct when a boy stumbled into view. He was barely standing as it was and as he came into my view he tripped over a tree root and fell to his knees.

 

The boy couldn't have more than thirteen years old. He was clearly of Japanese descent and had dark eyes and long, straight black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. His most defining feature however, were the two strange creases on his face on either side of his nose.

 

His clothes were also quite strange. He wore a sleeveless black shirt, a pair of black pants, and some weird black sandals. Over his shirt he had on what appeared to be thin metal armor with it had straps over his shoulder. There were also metal grieves on his forearms and a katana was strapped to his back.(1)

 

As I began to approach the boy I heard that he was muttering slightly. He looked up at me and I was shocked to see that there were tears in his eyes.

 

"I-I didn't..." the boy stuttered. His eyes were glazed over and I knew that he wasn't really seeing me. "I sw--...I, I swear I didn't..."

 

Before he could finish what he was saying however the boy's eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

 

I frowned worriedly at the boy, who I quite suddenly noticed was splattered with blood, though he had no wounds that I could see. I kneeled down next to him and reached out to touch his shoulder, only to quickly draw back with a gasp.

 

I hadn't noticed it before, but I could feel it quite clearly now: there was a residue of youki around him. My frown deepened. How was that possible? I was almost completely sure that he was a ningen...Bit then, I'd originally though that the Reikai Tentai were all ningens too.

 

Before my thoughts could go any further however, my sensitive ears and senses heard/felt the approach of several other humans. I paused for a moment, attempting to decide what my next course of action would be. In the end I decided that it would be best to err on the side of caution.

 

Gently I lifted the boy into my arms. I noted offhandedly that, due to my enhanced strength, it was almost disturbingly easy. One of the perks of being a youkai I guess. I hoped that the newcomers weren't friends of his that were looking for him, but considering his current state I doubted it.

 

I carried the boy to a shadowed spot beneath a tree and sat down there with him. I then used my abilities--noting with some small amount of shock that I could indeed use them in my current state--to create two shields. The first was a shadow one to hide us and the second was a psychic one to unconsciously stop anyone nearby from wanting to look closer at the shadows.

 

I was just in time. No sooner had I finished setting up the shields than a group of three ningen men appeared, though they weren't quite where I was expecting them to be, like on the ground perhaps. Instead they were on the branches of the trees. I stared wide-eyed up at them. They'd been leaping through the trees? What the heck were they, flying squirrels or something?

 

I pushed my surprise out of my mind and tensed however when the three stopped in the branches of a tree across from me. I had no worries about them hurting me--though their reiki levels were shockingly high, just the boy with me, and the way they moved clearly indicated that they were warriors--but I didn't want to have to kill innocent ningens, especially when I had no idea where I was.

 

The men, I noticed, where dressed almost exactly like the boy, down to the metal armor. The only difference was that these men had wooden masks covering their faces. The masked appeared to be crafted in the likeness of animals and were white with red designs. My eyes narrowed up at them. Weirdoes.

 

What caught my attention however was the tall, lean man that stood at the front of the group. He had spiky silver hair that stood upright, kind of like Hiei's only a bit longer.(2) Silver hair. As far as I knew only youkai could have naturally strange colored hair--something to do with genetics--but as far as I could tell this man was entirely human. What was going on here? Just where was I?

 

"Dammit," one of the other masked men growled. Though he spoke quietly, my enhanced ears easily picked up the words. "We can't let him get away!"

 

My eyes narrowed once more. So they were after the boy I'd found. But why? He was just a kid!

 

The silver haired man sighed. "Let's split up. We'll cover more ground that way." The other two nodded resolutely and leapt away. They had surprising speed for ningens--as fast as some low-class youkai--but were almost slow to my eyes.

 

The silver haired man hesitated for a second as the others left. His eyes swept the area almost suspiciously, but they slid right over my hiding spot, just as they were supposed to. After a moment, he too left.

 

I stayed in my place for several long minutes, waiting until the ningens were out of the range of my senses. Only then did I release the shields and let out a sigh of relief.

 

As I got to my feet I glanced down at the still unconscious boy. He didn't look as though he'd be waking up any time soon.

 

With that though in mind, I set out to create a fire. I might not need it, being immune to the cold and all, but the boy probably would. I gathered up a bunch of fire wood, set it up, and then set in on fire using my abilities. Within a few minutes I had a roaring fire going. The mysterious boy shifted slightly, obviously feeling the warmth, but didn't wake up. Smiling softly, I settled down next to him to wait.

 

I must have sat in front of that fire for hours, just staring at the dancing flames. My mind was going a mile a minute, attempting to figure out the answer to all of my questions--which there really were far too many of. Before I knew it though the sun had already begun to rise and the boy began to wake.

 

I turned to stare at the dark haired boy as he stirred. He awoke slowly at first, coming out of a deep sleep, but then quite suddenly became aware of his surroundings. Eyes widening, he quickly sat up, but then winced and held his head in his hands as if it hurt.

 

As the boy didn't really seem to be aware of my presence I clear my throat to get his attention. Bad move. He reacted instinctively, leaping away and pulling out a strange dagger as he did so(3).

 

"Woah there," I said, raising one eyebrow and holding up my hands in a placating gesture. "It's alright. Calm down."

 

The boy eyed me warily and didn't put down his weapon, but he didn't run away either. It was a start at least.

 

"Who are you?" the boy demanded shortly. "Are you a--" His eyes narrowing further, he cut himself off and took another step back.

 

"I'm Kristy," I said with a grin. When he didn't say anything in reply and just continued to stare at me I repressed a sigh. "And you are?" I prompted.

 

The boy still didn't reply. Annoyed, I stared at him as well. We stayed like that for almost a minute until, finally, he blinked.

 

"Ha!" I shouted triumphantly, pointing a finger at him. "You blinked!"

 

The boy stared at me like I was insane. He didn't move at first, but then finally took a couple of slow steps back. When he began to turn around to run off, I quickly moved in front of him and grabbed his wrist causing him to drop his blade.

 

The boy jerked back, his eyes wide in surprise at my speed. "What--" he started, but I cut him off.

 

"I'm not going to have you just run off," I said in annoyance. "Not after I went through all the trouble of hiding you from those masked weirdoes. Plus...I'm kind of lost..." I couldn't help but sweat drop.

 

The boy froze and stared at me. "Masked--? ....ANBU?! Some ANBU came by?!"

 

I stared blankly at him, not recognizing the term. "...ANBU?"

 

The boy's brow furrowed. "Yes, Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai(4), the--" He stopped suddenly and eyed me in confusion. "Wait, how can you not know...?"

 

"Er, I'm not exactly from around here...Actually, I'm not even sure how I got here." I felt myself sweat dropping again. "Would you mind helping me out a bit by explaining a bit about this area? And for that mater--" My expression grew serious. "--Why do you have a residue of youki hanging around you?"

 

The boy's eyes grew wide once more and I thought I saw panic flash through them. Just moments later his countenance change however and his expression became cold.

 

"How can you tell?" he hissed out. "Exactly who are you anyway? Not just anyone can hide from ANBU. Almost no one can hide from ANBU!"

 

I let out a sigh. "Look, it seems to me that we both have questions, so why don't we sit down and discuss this like civilized beings, hmm?" At the boy's hesitant nod I released his wrist. We both sat down then, though he sat several feet away from me, quite tense. Doubtless the only reason why he didn't flee immediately was because he knew that he wouldn't be able to outrun me.

 

"Now," I said brightly. "Let's start over. I'm Kristy."

 

He hesitated, but finally spoke. "...Uchiha Itachi." He tensed up further, but then became confused when I made no signal that I recognized the name. "You...you really aren't from around here, are you?" he mused. For some reason that thought seemed to make him relax, at least a little bit.

 

"It's a good thing that I ran into you then, isn't it, kid? I was completely lost before."

 

"Well, where are you from then? You're obliviously a fighter, but you don't seem like a shinobi(5)."

 

I couldn't help but laugh. "A shinobi? A ninja? Heh, kid, shinobi haven't existed for--" I suddenly paused, remembering the masked weir-- the ANBU, from earlier. "...You're not joking, are you? Are you shinobi?"

 

The boy, Itachi, furrowed his brow again. "Yes, of course. I'm an ANBU," he admitted.

 

I frowned at him. "If you're one of them, then why are they looking for you like you're some kind of criminal?"

 

Itachi flinched at my words and refused to meet my gaze. "I...It's a long story," he said finally. I would have pressed for more information, but the raw pain I saw pass through his eyes convinced me that now was not the time.

 

"So," I said instead, "Are you from, like a community of shinobi or something?"

 

"I suppose you can call it that," he murmured. "I'm from Konohagakure no Sato(6). It's one of the five great Hidden Villages, though, of course, the majority of its population is civilians."

 

I blinked in surprise. I'd been half joking with the "shinobi community" comment, but it seemed that I actually had hit the nail on the head.

 

"Huh, interesting," I mused aloud. "Are there more villages like that, or just that one?"

 

"There are many. The land is made up of numerous countries and they all have just one Hidden Village, though some, such as Nami no Kuni(7a), have none. Right now we're in Hi no Kuni(7b)."

 

"And Konohagakure no Sato in the 'hidden village' of Hi no Kuni?" I ventured a guess.

 

"Yes."

 

I couldn't help but laugh once again. "Well that's kind of ironic. Fire burns leaves after all, right?"

 

Itachi didn't laugh--hell, I didn't think I'd ever even seen him crack a smile--but instead just shrugged. "That's just how it's always been."

 

I continued to grin. "Well then, what are the other countries? The main ones at least, I mean."

 

"Well," Itachi paused to think. "There's Kaze no Kuni which contains Sunagakure no Sato, Mizu no Kuni which contains Kirigakure no Sato, Rai no Kuni which contains Kumogakure no Sato, and Tsuchi no Kuni which contains Iwagakure no Sato(8). Those are just the five main ruling countries although; there are many more and several more Hidden Villages."

 

I let out another snort of laughter. "See! All the other villages coincide with their countries! How come Konohagakure doesn't?" Itachi opened his mouth to respond, but I just waved him off. "I know, I know; it's just the way it's always been. I get the whole Hidden Village thing now though."

 

Itachi nodded in reply and then frowned, thinking. "How is it that you have no idea even what country you are in? We're in the middle of Hi no Kuni, which is just about in the middle of the continent. Where did you come from?"

 

"Eh, I kind of got...dropped off...here. I'm still not entirely sure exactly how that happened." I paused for a moment, not sure as to whether or not I should continue. Finally I decided that it would be best to test the extent of the knowledge of this world. "I'm from the Makai."

 

Instantly Itachi was on his feet and backing away from me. "I knew that something was off!" he exclaimed. "You're a youkai, aren't you?!"

 

I rolled my eyes. "Oh no, you've caught onto me and discovered my evil plan to eat your intestines," I said sarcastically. I paused then and began to ponder. "Why is it that you always hear about creatures eating people's intestines?" I mused. "Wouldn't that be the last thing that they would eat? I mean, that's where all the shit is."

 

Honestly, I was intrigued by this new piece of information that Itachi had unwittingly given me. In the Ningenkai most people didn't know that youkai existed, let alone that the Makai did or what it was. This only solidified my belief that I was no where near the Makai, the Ningenkai, or the Reikai.

 

My sarcasm actually seemed to calm Itachi down just a bit, although he was still wary. At least he wasn't running away again, though doubtless he wanted to.

 

"Look," I said with a sigh. "Yes, I'm a youkai, but, no, I'm not evil. Or a cannibal for that matter if that's what you're worried about. And yes, even though we're different species I would consider it cannibalism since I was raised as a ningen."

 

"Well forgive me if I haven't exactly had the best experiences concerning youkai," Itachi hissed out.

 

The fact that he'd had any experiences with youkai was worrying, but I didn't comment on that. Instead I said, "Well you first need to understand the differences between low-class and high-class youkai then. Low-class youkai are ruled by their instincts and I agree are capable of little other than violence. High-class youkai, however, are often more intelligent--and sophisticated--than even most ningens. Due to their status, they also don't need to fight as much and are nowhere near as bloodthirsty, if at all."

 

As his fear abated, Itachi looked intrigued. "I...I've never heard about youkai society before."

 

I chuckled lightly. "Then I'll have to tell you more some time," I said with a grin. 'At least as much as I know from what I've been told in the past year...' "But in the mean time, let's get back to the point that I was originally aiming for: Why is there a residue of youki hanging around you when you're so clearly human?"

 

Itachi flinched again. He looked hesitant to answer, but then sighed. "I suppose, if anyone, you'd understand it," he mumbled.

 

I looked at Itachi curiously, wondering what he meant, but said nothing. It seemed that in this situation it'd be best to let him tell me on his own.

 

Itachi took a big breath of air before speaking. "I-it's a long story," he began. "It actually started before I was born. You see, my family is the Uchiha clan, one of the oldest and most powerful shinobi clans of Konohagakure no Sato. However, over time, they've started to become more and more corrupt and power-hungry." I noticed that his voice had begun to turn bitter, but didn't comment on it. "Eventually they came up with a plan to get more power. They'd heard of beings called Jinchuuriki(9). They are humans with youkai sealed within them, giving them the power of both themselves and the youkai."

 

I gasped and my hands flew to my mouth. A youkai sealed into a ningen? How horrible it must be to be imprisoned like that! My thoughts went to my friend Kurama. His situation was similar, except in his case his soul--the soul of Yoko Kurama--had willingly gone into the body of Suiichi in order to survive.

 

Even through my shock however the pieces of the puzzle began to come together. The youki around Itachi, his clan, the Jinchuuriki...

 

"They created their own Jinchuuriki," I murmured softly in realization. "...You."