Overview:

No one. You have no one, and no one ever knew, or wants to know, you. You’re a lonely, starving, and homeless girl barely clinging to life in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. You survive by stealing any food and drink you can at almost any cost, and you’re a master of stealing. But what happens when you underestimate and steal from the wrong person, and you get caught for the first time in your life? You must now pay the consequences of your crimes, but with what? More pain and torture, or something else that’s just as bad?  

Disclaimer: don’t own any pictures unless I say I do, and I don’t own Naruto or its characters or the original plot (those all belong to Masashi Kishimoto)

WARNING: Cussing throughout story, not too excessive but still

 

Chapter 1: Master Thief

 

 

        The smell. The sweet intoxicating scent of life wafted through the air, drawing any hungry gaze towards it. The filling aroma was currently coming from around the corner of a house, closer and closer to where it will be delivered. Or should be delivered.

        It was exactly ten seconds away from its destination. Right on time. You stood atop a roof of a random house you could care less about near where the target would soon arrive, (H/L) (H/C) hair flowing through a slight breeze that blew across your form. The scent was approaching more and more. Come on. Just a little closer… NOW!!

        The target was here. You jumped off the roof swiftly yet silently, and gracefully tackled the box of delicious cooked ramen noodles out of the delivery person’s hands. You held the food to your chest like it was your very life, which it was, and disappeared around a corner close to where you were. You ran straight to your ‘home’, a corner of a wall of stairs that led up to another housing area, with an old small blanket and a small box as your only utilities.

        This is how you lived everyday of your life. You stole to survive on a daily basis, always leaving your ‘victims’ dazed and confused so as they wouldn’t know what happened to them or what you had done. You were a master thief who has never been caught before, not even the ANBU black ops could track you down, and you planned to keep it that way. This was how it had always been since you could remember, which was when you were seven years old.

        You had no real home, friends, family, or anyone that would even glance your way without a look of disgust or hate. Those people cut you so deep that you always woke up from the nightmares reminiscing on your horrible and wretched life, crying, with no one to help or comfort you. And no one ever will.

        You’ve never had contact with people, so there was no need to even speak, but you weren’t mute, and you could read and write as well. The only one who had actual contact with you was the 3rd Hokage, who you just called Old Man, one time at the age of eight. He was the only one to show some kind of generosity in your life. He gave you hope of one day having a life just like any other, and he gave you your most valuable weapons and treasure, your hidden blades, metal bracers that are around your wrist and lower arm at all times. If forced out, secret blades, inches longer than your middle finger, will slide down and be locked in place, allowing you to attack with an extension of your arms. An unusual weapon for a ninja of this time, but Old Man told you that assassin ninja of long ago had used, and that you had the potential to master them.

        It took you many years of secret practice behind the academy the other children attend to use and master your ancient weapon. You also practiced ninja training there too, because you are, in fact, a ninja. Since you didn’t, and couldn’t, attend the academy, you would stand outside a window of a certain teacher, apparently named Iruka, everyday. You had heightened senses due to your rather harsh life, which included hearing, so you were able to listen and see different lessons he taught to the children. You may have even considered yourself equal to the students who had graduated about a few weeks or a month ago, who have now become exceptional genin. Now that they’ve graduated, you don’t need to stand outside of the academy anymore since there was nothing more to learn, which disappointed you some. It was the one thing you did to pass the time, plus it was always fun to watch them be normal, or as normal as possible, kids. Even on days where they only took a test, they were still funny to watch. You even got to know the names and some of the traits of the students.

        Getting your thoughts together, you sat down and began to slowly, and with much self control, eat the warm ramen noodles. All that you needed to do was to get a drink to wash the food down later, and your ‘meal’ will be done. Suddenly you heard and sensed a certain presence, easily identifying a petty thief that was about to strike. Not like you, of course. A thief that stole for money out of greed, and not need. Although tired and a little exhausted from hunger and thirst, you went to deal with the problem.

        Just because you were a thief yourself, didn’t mean that you didn’t have a heart. Although very rare, petty thieves were a nuisance, and you swore to help those victims of pitiful want, even if they were the same people who had tormented you long ago.

        You reached a darkened alleyway, and there stood a brunette man trying to steal a blonde woman’s froggy pouch purse. How cliché. You rushed into the alley and separated the man’s hand away from the woman almost inhumanly fast. You knocked him out and immediately pushed the woman out of the alleyway and into the clear street among the crowd while she was still in a state of confusion. Then you tied up the man while he was still dazed as well and left a note in the dirt that read: Greedy Thief. You left quickly to avoid being seen. You could’ve easily stolen that woman’s money, but you had a good heart. It wasn’t right to take what others earned, or seemingly earned, because of something petty. It  was your Thief’s Honor, as you liked to call it.

        As a bonus, along the way back you found some bottles of water left unattended in the mini alley right next to a restaurant, Ichiraku’s. Jackpot!! Food and drink were becoming more scarce to steal lately, meaning you’ve been growing more desperate, so much so in fact that you were about to steal something that was close plain sight. To find a whole pack of water bottles was the biggest miracle out there, and you were not going pass on the opportunity. You reached a hand down to the waters.

        “HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING? THAT’S NOT YOURS!!” A high pitched boy’s voice yelled, stopping you in your tracks. No one had ever caught you before. You looked up to see an angry spiky haired blonde with a blue genin band around his forehead. It was that Naruto kid who had the Nine Tailed Fox sealed inside of him. You had seen him being picked on by everyone else, just like you, and had always wanted to talk to him, but you had always too shy and scared of getting hurt again. Fat chance of that ever happening now. Only hesitating for a second longer, you snatched the waters and sprinted into the maze of alleys. “HEY!! COME BACK HERE!!” You glanced quickly over your shoulder to see Naruto on your tail, and you in turn increased your speed.

        He seemed like an enraged bull charging at its target, with the temper of one too. “SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!!” You heard him yell his signature move. You knew this jutsu well. After all, you had mastered it as well. Exactly how many clones did he just summon? The next thing you knew, there were Narutos everywhere, zipping overhead from the rooftops all over the place in hot pursuit of you. It was like a Naruto air strike. Is he seriously this mad about me stealing water bottles? You stopped as you reached a dark corner of a house and turned around so that your back now faced the street. You had a special ability of blending in with the shadows that no one could see past. You just had to be patient, and wait for him to calm down and give up.

        Suddenly, you felt a grip on your shoulder that turned you around, and was met with punch to your left cheek. You were pushed back a little by the impact towards the wall, giving Naruto a clear view of your face. You stood there, stunned, with a visibly shocked expression, and Naruto also seemed to be surprised that he just punched someone like you: a skinny and probably weak-looking girl that was around his age, only wearing raggedy clothes consisting of a baggy t-shirt and shorts. Truth-be-told, the punch didn’t affect you that much, because even though you seemed scrawny from your lifestyle, you were very strong due to the many hours spent training. It was the fact that he actually saw which caught you off guard. No one could ever find you once you blended in with the dark, at least, no one was supposed to.

        You felt something warm run down your nose and lips. You raised your left hand up to feel it, then held it out in front of your face, where you saw your blood staining your (S/C) skin. A few more seconds passed, and you smirked. This was turning out to be pretty fun. You realized that you would have to use your most valuable weapons, for once on something other than an inanimate object. You dropped the bottles, raised your hands, and snapped your hands and arms down, forcing the hidden blades out. The sound of metal scraping metal ringed as the blades were revealed. You made fists, crossed your arms, and swiped both blades at his cheeks. You purposefully missed so he would only be stunned and not harmed in any way. You only wanted to make it so he wouldn’t be able to follow you, you had no desire to hurt him. Your plan worked, as he backed away and froze out of shock, and you seized the opportunity to grab some of the waters and flee.

        Naruto didn’t follow you as you arrived back at your ‘home’. You settled down on the old blanket, and finally began to eat your ‘meal’. The noodles were a little cold now, but beggars can’t be choosers, although you weren’t necessarily a beggar. Though, it didn’t bother you too much. This had been your whole life, except getting caught by Naruto concerned you. He was not supposed to see you, your special ability with darkness shouldn’t have allowed it. You had no idea what went wrong, but unfortunately, you could do nothing to change it or what had happened, and continued eating.

        After you finished your ‘meal’, you decided to walk around the village to gather any information about anything. You hid the spare water bottles under the blanket, making it look less suspicious as possible. It was a precaution in case someone happened to pass by while you were out, since. You enjoyed hearing news and gossip, it passed the time, especially since there was no more academy to go to. You had even labeled specific alleyways for such activities. You walked away into your main gossip alleyway, and started listening by tilting your head up to better hear any conversation that was happening. Not too much later, voices came into play.

        “Did you hear, Choji? The Chunin exams are here! People from all the different villages are coming today!” Oh geez, it was Ino. She was someone that sounded bratty and too uptight, to say, for your tastes, along with that Sakura girl too. You usually avoided listening to Ino, but these Chunin exams peaked your curiosity, so you kept your ears pinned on her voice.

        “I know! I heard! I can’t wait to talk about it, after we get some more chips and maybe lunch-“

        “WE JUST HAD LUNCH! THERE’S NO WAY YOU CAN STILL BE THAT HUNGRY! Shikamaru, help me out here!” This is exactly what you meant.

        “Ino, calm down. If Choji’s hungry, Choji’s hungry. We can’t help that.”

        “HMPH!”

        “Anyway, these Chunin exams sound like a total drag, and now we have to deal with more idiots in this village that are probably as worked up as Naruto. I hope we don’t have to meet them or anything. That would be worse than a drag.”

        “Shoosh Shikamaru. It’ll be fun!! We get to meet all KINDS of different people now!” This actually sounds good. You could easily pickpocket these people for food and they definitely wouldn’t even know it. The people of the Leaf Village were on their best guard now because of your past stealings, which is part of the reason it’s become harder to steal. Now that new people are coming, you can have a little fun, and have a feast. Travelers have to have food somewhere on their backs from the journey here. This is just too good. Today will be so much fun!

        You smirked at the thought of a major raid, but it was quickly wiped off your face as you heard Naruto’s screaming voice, thankfully not running towards you, but to Ino’s squad.

        “Guys! Guys! You’ll never believe what just happened to me!”

        “Let me guess, you pranked Sasuke again?”

        “If you touched him so help me Naruto!” That was another thing you hated about Ino, and Sakura as well. They were the most annoying fan girls of Sasuke Uchiha ever. You’ve seen the boy before and couldn’t see why they fell for him. Rude, a snarky attitude, and acting like he’s the best at everything, honestly. But, you knew why he was like this, you knew of the Uchiha incident like everyone else, especially since you had seen a glimpse of it, and you couldn’t help but feel sympathy towards him too.

        “WAIT! NO! NO! I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO SASUKE! DON’T HURT ME!”

        “This is such a drag. What do you want, Naruto?”

        “I almost caught someone stealing water bottles!” Shit.

        “Almost, caught?” Choji questioned.

        “She got away.”

        “NARUTO YOU IDIOT!” You heard a loud clomp, which made you giggle. Ino must have hit Naruto pretty hard. I heard it from here!

        “OW! I’M SORRY I’M SORRY!”

        “She? It was a girl.” Shikamaru suddenly questioned. He seemed to be a little sexist from what you had heard before, but really? This? There was actually a weird tone in his voice, like a detector that was solving a case, and that made you anxious. This is not good.

        “Yeah, but that wasn’t the strangest part. She looked like our age, and she was SUPER fast and quick and, and-“

        “Calm down Naruto. What did she look like?” Does Shikamaru know who I am? Does he know what I look like? Have I made more mistakes than I realized? Oh no.

        “She was shorter than me by a little bit, had (S/C) skin, (H/L) (H/C) hair, and she had (E/C) eyes. And she could blend easily with shadows. It was AWESOME! I could barely even SEE her when I was chasing her, except when she stopped at a corner of a house right by us. I didn’t know she was a girl or that she was our age, so I kinda punched her in the face, but that’s when I could really see her face. She was super skinny, and was super dirty and super old clothes on. Oh, and when she saw blood on her hand she smirked, and I was so scared. She had these things on her arms and she raised them up like this, and these two blade thingies came out! She came at me with them so damn fast, and then she ran away… But there was something strange about her attack.” 

        “Which was?”

        “It seemed like she didn’t want to hit, like she missed on purpose.” I can’t believe he noticed that! How? There may actually be something wrong with me after all! This is not good. It was silent for a few moments.

        “Naruto.” Shikamaru finally answered.

        “Yeah?…”

        “You just did something right for once.”

        “I did- HEY WAIT A MINUTE! WHO SAYS I DID STUFF WRONG BEFORE?”

        “Just shut up and let me explain. Do you realize who you saw earlier, Naruto?”

        “No…”

        “You have just seen, and no less punched, the Shadow Fox.” You heard Choji and Ino gasp, but more so Choji. What the hell- Shadow Fox? I have a name then? Huh, I kinda like it, sounds cool. Wait, that means someone’s seen me before! Oh no no no no no this is not good! I need to find out what people know about me.

        “Who’s the Shadow Fox?”

        “I’ll explain this one.” It was Choji this time, and his tone sounded so dark and angry. It was weird, it wasn’t his style. “She is the most despicable, stealthiest, and worst master thief out there. She’s been stealing food in our village for a long time now. She moves like a fox, and strikes like a shadow. It’s rumored that she was born from the night itself, that she was descended from a great and powerful fox entity. She can use a powerful weapon from a time long forgotten, a time when assassins roamed the streets unseen, called the hidden blades, which Naruto just proved after he described those weapons. She’s also rumored to be a force of good as well. She supposedly takes care of the little thievery around here, as people have claimed. They don’t know for sure, though, but what the victims described as their savior matches the Shadow Fox perfectly.” What the- how did I become a freaking urban legend!? What the shit! I’m a high rank thief, not some super hero or villain! “Honestly, I don’t believe that she helps anyone. I despise her. No one should steal food like that, for any reason!” Wow, someone else hates me now. Great. I do it to survive, asshole. Don’t judge until you know the whole story, which obviously you don’t. And I don’t think the ‘night sky’ gave birth to me, nor am I descended from a fox. Or, I don’t think so. I’m human I’m pretty sure. 

        “Not many people have seen her, let alone get close enough to attack.” Ino added.

        “Wait, what are these hidden blade things?”

        “Those are the weapons you saw her use. The bracer has a blade underneath it that when forced, it slides out and acts as an extension of the arms. It was used by assassins who existed long ago, because no one could see the blades hidden in the bracers, that is, until you became a victim.” Shikamaru explained.

        “Oh.” Was all Naruto said.

        “If what you say is true Naruto, then you just helped out a lot.” Shikamaru butt-in before Choji could continue his demeaning speech about you

        “But, I didn’t catch her.”

        “That’s true, but at least you saw her, and since you’re not supposed to, like Choji said, that means she is in a weakened state, or a mere fraud. It’s the perfect time to catch her.” NO! I’m not a fraud and you shouldn’t try and capture me! You wanted to scream out your frustrations, but you had to keep silent.
        
        “What are we waiting for! We have to tell the Hokage then!” Ino shouted. You were panicking now. If they reported you, what if the Hokage hated you and took your precious weapons away?

        “No. She’ll be alerted to that and possibly move her base. We need to catch her through stealth and through her own game, so she still thinks that she has the upper hand. We just need to be on the lookout from now on. We’ll discuss a better plan later. If somehow any of you see her, follow her and see where she goes. We will catch her one way or another, and Naruto.”

        “Yeah?”

        “Don’t be a drag and mess this up.”

        “HEY I WON’T MESS THE PL-“

        “SSHHH! This is what I mean by mess it up. She could hear your loud mouth a mile away, like everybody else does. Just keep quiet and stick to the current plan. Keep it only between us, don’t tell anyone about this, got it everyone?” Shikamaru whisper yelled.

        “Yes.” All of them whispered in unison. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, probably to split up and search ‘secretively’ for you. You smirked. If only they knew that you were listening the entire time. You would have to keep an eye out for those four, in case they go snooping around where they shouldn’t. 

        You decided to just keep walking down your talking alleyway and continue to listen for more information concerning the Chunin exam travelers, as well as if anyone else could provide more information of what people knew about you. You only received disappointment, only hearing the same stuff as before. You decided to go back to your ‘home’ in case anyone  accidentally found it by now. Thank heavens you had special reserves to help with those situations, and luckily you’ve never used them, and hopefully you never will.

        You turned around and headed back down your talking alley, not realizing that something was about to change your life forever, and it just arrived at the front gate.

*Meanwhile*

Unknown POV

        “We’ve finally arrived at this stupid village. I can’t wait to get this over with.”

        “Yeah, I can’t wait to deal with the brats that live here.” I sensed something faint.

        “Shut up.” 

        “Oh sorry sorry! I didn’t mean deal with deal with, just, you know…”

        “I said, shut up.” There was something different in the air, but what was it? It feels like something is inside this village that’s… interesting. There better be some entertainment here then.

        “We’re sorry, we just-“

        “I told you to shut up for a reason.” They looked at me in confusion. Of course they don’t know. “I sense something in here. Something… different.”

        “Something fun?” I hope so.

        “Just get inside.” I’ll figure out what it is… eventually. 

        I pushed these thoughts aside as we passed the front gate and entered the Leaf Village.
        (A/N: Hello everyone! If you’re from Quotev welcome back I guess? XD It’s been forever since I’ve been able to write again since my Quotev was disabled! Anyways, I’m re-uploading everything on here but I’m taking the time to edit everything before I post it again ((which is gonna take forever but I actually have time this week)). If I’m able to get another Quotev account I’ll let everybody here know and these stories will be back on there then as well. Yes I still want to go back to Quotev even though everything, including my stories and favorites… there were so many O_O, was deleted because hey, I got attached and I still love Quotev. By the way, if my account wasn’t disabled in October my Quoteversary was on January 19th!! ((That means I’ve been on Quotev for a whole year 😀 )) So with that, I’ll see y’all laters ^-^)