Chapter 2: Wrong Person at the Right Time

 

         Currently you were bored out of your mind. You hadn’t heard any commotion for the past few hours, so you’ve just been at your ‘house’, waiting and keeping a lookout for the ‘detectives’ as you now like to call them. Thankfully there was no sign of them thus far. You were also waiting for the Chunin exam travelers to arrive, but you never got a sense or scent of new people and food yet, and it was annoying you to no ends. How long does it take you guys to travel here? It’s already 4:00 in the afternoon! Sheesh!!

        A loud growl from your stomach got your attention, so you decided to get up and find some food, despite there being no travelers yet. Your stomach wouldn’t necessarily bother you too much than you were already used to or hinder you, but with people on the look out for you, you had to be careful that you were completely quiet at all costs. You walked down your target alleys, but there was nothing to steal, so you tried looking for the four that were trying to find you, and they seemed to be doing normal things. Shikamaru was lazily walking around the main streets; Choji was, not surprisingly, eating; Ino was tending her flower shop; and Naruto… was horribly trying to not act like he was sneaking around. Naruto, you have got to be the worst person at stealth I’ve ever seen. Even though none of what they were doing, even Naruto, was alarming, you still remained vigilant.

        Just as you stopped following Naruto into a building by the front gates, you saw the most miraculous sight you had ever seen. There stood travelers, lots of them, with big heavy packs on their backs. All kinds of different people from different villages were entering the Leaf Village, some in groups and some alone. They all had food on them, and you were literally drooling at the sight and smell of it all. These Chunin exams are AWESOME!! You realized were getting a little too excited, and tried to calm yourself down. You would target one of the groups later, in a less populated area of course, so you walked back down your target alley to waited.

 

        Concealed and walking along on the roofs, you passed a group of three sand ninja walking to the right of the roofs you were on. Grass lay a little over to the sides of the path they walked, there was nothing much else but a small tree or two. There was no one else in sight. Perfect. 

      There were two boys and one girl. One boy had black pajama looking clothing on with his hood, which had two black ear tufts on it, up over his head. A sand forehead protector was stitched on the forehead of the cloth. He also had weird purple markings on his face and lip, and you could faintly make out some dark brown hair on the sides of his head. Something was wrapped in white on his back, and, because of your enhanced eyesight, you saw chakra strings connecting whatever it was and the boy, which you assumed meant that he was a puppet master. 

        The girl had spiky sandy hair that was put up in four ponytails in the order of a square. She had teal eyes and wore a light purple colored garment that extended halfway down her thighs. She wore fishnet over her shoulders, right leg, and left thigh with a scarlet sash around her waist. She had her sand forehead protector tied around her neck, and she carried a large black object that looked like a giant folded up fan. She was clearly a wind user. 

        The last one, the other boy, who seemed to be the leader, unnerved you just the slightest. He reeked of blood, and a dark aura around him. There was also something else there, almost like another presence, that you couldn’t recognize, which sent a few shivers down your spine. He had straight spiky red hair, no eyebrows, a candy red kanji symbol that read ‘love’ above his left eye on the left side of his forehead, and thick black eyeliner around both of his eyes. Wait, that’s not eyeliner. It’s not black enough, it’s actually more purple than anything. Then… are those are bags around his eyes?! When was the last time he slept!? But, he seems perfectly awake. Hmm… this may actually be interesting. He wore a black body suit with an open neck t-shirt and black leggings, and fishnet where the sleeves of his t-shirt ended about where his biceps were. A long white cloth was wrapped across his right shoulder and down to his left hip to his left leg. He also wore a big leather band from his left shoulder to his right hip, where his forehead protector was wrapped. He carried a gourd on his back as well that smelled of sand and… blood. That must be his weapon. 

        The boy with the purple markings was carrying a backpack around his arm, and you smelled food coming from there. You figured that it would hold you for at least one week if you rationed it right. You were about to make your move, but the red head glanced your way, and you immediately jumped off to the side of the house not facing the sand genin and pressed your back up against the wall, hoping he didn’t actually see you. Damn! They’re probably going to be more cautious now. He must be pretty powerful for a genin to sense me like that. It seems I underestimated them. 

        You sensed the group stop exactly where you were hiding, making your whole body tense. After a few minutes of staying still and hearing inaudible whispering you heard  footsteps moving away. You popped your head above the roof enough so you could see if they all left. They were indeed were moving ahead of you, but it wasn’t too far ahead. Although you would have to strike soon, otherwise they would disappear into a crowd, and you would lose your meal. You hopped onto the roof and as fast as you could, jumped down, and went for the back pack. Only, you never reached it. 

       You found yourself tightly wrapped in something rough and grainy. Sand. You didn’t bother to struggle, as you were brought inches away from the red head who saw you earlier. You glared at him and made a snarling face, as he seemed to study you with a blank, unmoving and scowling expression. You cocked your head slightly while still keeping your glare, inviting him to make a move.

        The sand suddenly tightened more, but instead of showing pain, you smirked. You had already thought of a plan. You released your hidden blades, the metal against metal clinging reverberating off the walls,, and you sent your chakra through them and into the sand. You had another ability of yours besides using the shadows. This one let you control the elements around you if you infused chakra into them, including sand.

        Due to your restricted movements, you could only move the sand so much so that you could raise your arms, which was all you needed. You spun around so that the sand dispersed, and as you flew backwards you retracted your blades so you could land properly. You landed in a three legged crouch a good ten feet away from the red head, using your left fingers to scrape the ground to stop yourself from flying back anymore. Your left hand was outstretched in front of you, fingers still embedded into the ground, and your right hand was pulled back with your fingers outstretched like an animal’s claws, ready to attack. You slowly looked up at the red head, and you glanced from your left where the brunette was to the right where the blonde was, noticing that all three of them now surrounded you.

        You smirked while glancing at the blonde again, who looked like she was going attack first. You knew this was going to be a breeze, literally, since all you had to do was send chakra to the air and deflect her wind back at her. And that’s exactly what you did. As she pulled out her fan and attacked, you formed an x-shape with your arms and released your blades once more. You swiftly turned and deflected the wind attack back at the blonde, surprising her as she was hit with her own attack.

        The brown haired boy had, meanwhile, snuck chakra strings behind you, but you not once neglected to forget him. He was the real target after all, since he had the backpack full of food at his side. Turning around, you immediately saw the chakra strings trying to snake around you. You severed them with one cut from your blades, and ran towards the brunette, preparing to stun him. However, before you could reach him a wave of sand stopped your advance, and you jumped back to doge it. You dodged more incoming sand bashes and deflected another of the blonde’s wind attacks, all the while circling back around to your target without any of them even realizing. Thankfully from all the sand and wind attacks, a cloud of those two elements created a shield of fog that prevented them from seeing you. With this to your advantage, you swiped at the brunette boy, fazing him, and cut the bag where the food was. You took as much as you could hide without any of them seeing you, which was unfortunately less than you wanted. 

        As the cloud of wind and picked up sand disappeared, you stopped your movements and smirked, having succeeded in obtaining your target. Once they all saw you still form, they stopped as well, waiting for your next move that would never come. You closed your eyes and turned around, casually walking away as if nothing had happened between you and the trio. You could feel their confused glares on you as you strolled over to a turn into an alleyway. You turned around, facing them, and tilted your satisfied smile towards the group. 

        “Gaara?” You heard the blonde whisper in a worrying voice. Gaara, huh? Nice name red head. I’ll remember it. Immediately after, Gaara’s sand flew at you once more, and you dashed through the alleyway out of the three’s sight. You were a little surprised that you still had to lead the sand on a wild goose chase to finally lose it, and you only did so when you were close to your ‘home’. He must have good tracking skills. I hope that won’t be a problem in the future.

        Despite all the trouble you had just gone through, that was the most fun you had in ages. You should probably feel worried that they clearly saw your face and now had huge lead to tracking you down or reporting you, but you didn’t care at the moment. You sat down on your blanket, tired from the rush and thrill of fighting in a long time, and began eating your newly acquired meal with glee. You mentally noted to now avoid those three, since they had seen you and your abilities and could potentially try and track you down. At least it was fun. You laid down to rest, the first time you’ve done so in a while, and closed your eyes in piece, ignoring the fact that this new ‘Gaara’ person was not so easily forgiving as you thought, or the feeling that something was off.

 
Gaara POV

        Who. Was. She. She manipulated and escaped my sand, deflected Temari’s fan attack as if it was nothing, and located and severed Kankuro’s chakra strings instantly, which should all be nearly impossible. She took on all three of us at once as if it was barely worth a sweat, all with weapons I’ve never even seen before. Why did she stop the fight after attacking Kankuro the second time and leave with that little annoying satisfied grin on her face? What did she do, and what did she want? My sand couldn’t even track her anymore. She disappeared into that dark alleyway as if she were the shadows themselves. 

        When I saw her glare, her eyes held so much meaning. They were intriguing, nearly intoxicating. There wasn’t just anger, annoyance, or a little surprise, which was the illusion she tried to portray. They held something so much deeper, something that no one has probably ever seen before, hidden from the rest of mankind. It looks like we’ll be doing some research on this girl.

        “Gaara.” My gaze directed to Kankuro, who now stood over the supply bag. “It’s ripped, and there’s food missing.” When, and how did she? I didn’t even see her do it. Why would she take just the food and nothing else, and how did she know where it was to begin with? The cut is exactly where the food was, she was specifically aiming for that spot.

        “What are we gonna do Gaara?” Temari asked me.

        “We’re leaving.”

        “But Gaara? Are we really gonna let her get away like that? I mean-“

        “I said, move.” I was going to figure out who she was, no matter what.

 
Your POV

        You had been sitting and relaxing for a few hours, when you started getting thirsty. You reached for a water bottle that you hid under your box, only to feel cold air and dirt. Where’s the water!? You searched all around the area, but you couldn’t find anything. There was only one explanation; someone had been at your ‘house’ while you were away fighting Gaara and his squad, and they took the water bottles without you knowing. You didn’t hear or see any evidence of anyone being there when you returned hours ago. Someone was here while I was fighting those three! If I hadn’t been busy, and I came straight ‘home’, would I have been caught by whoever was here? Getting spotted by the trio may have actually helped you, something you never expected. Although, someone knows where you ‘live’ now.

        You don’t want to move your ‘house’ just yet since you didn’t know who was after you or how much they knew. I’ve been watching my back for everyone these days. I guess it’ll die down if I be more careful. But then again… I need to figure out who it was that discovered my ‘house’. All you could do was keep a sharp eye out for anyone who went snooping around.

        You decided that the best thing to do was to see if anyone was talking about you in the village. Plus, if someone had really discovered your ‘house’, then they’ll come back, so you had to avoid your ‘house’ more often or they’ll catch you too. Right now, you still needed to see if anyone was looking for you, so with that in mind, you made your way down your talking alley a second time that day, and soon the voices started. One conversation eventually caught your attention, and you stopped and began to eavesdrop.

        “Boy, I wouldn’t go lookin’ for trouble now, with those kinds of questions comin’ out of yer mouth.” It sounded like an old man’s. Possible thief?

        “I want answers.” This voice sounded like an older boy’s, not much older than you.

        “Don’t blame me if these answers get ya killed then.” This is really starting to get serious. What answers does this kid want? “What ya ‘ave described to me, we call ‘er… the Shadow Fox.” He whispered the name. He’s asking about me? Was this boy the one who was at my ‘house’? He doesn’t sound familiar to me though. Ugh! He might not even be from the Leaf what with all these travelers around. Dammit! “She’s a master thief, who steals just food and drink. Strikes only a few days a week now. She is said to be like a shadow with the strength and cunnin’ of a fox, which is where she gets the name from. She’s so fast, that no one’s e’er seen ‘er face, just a barely visible black figure of a short girl.” Seriously? Short? Asshole.

        “Is that it? Nothing else? Not even why she steals the food in the first place?”

        “No one knows boy. But there’s somethin’ else though. There are tales of ‘ow she is the night protector of the village, because she stops other thieves from stealing precious valuables whenever they attack others.”

        “Sounds like she’s just trying to get rid of the competition.”

        “The thing is, she doesn’t take anythin’ from the victims. She strikes from out of nowhere, and where no one can see her, and knocks the thieves out, always leaving a note in the dirt just sayin’ greedy thief in front of ’em.”

        “Still sounds like she’s trying to stop people from coming after her for these ‘good deeds’.”

        “Boy, I ‘onestly don’t know myself. All I know is that you’ve gotta be on guard of yer food if you don’t want anythin’ stolen. Oh! Wait, there’s still somethin’ else that just might help with the ‘problem’, but you didn’t hear it from me.” Help? You gulped.

        “Just tell me what it is old man!”

        “SSHHH!! Not so loud, boy.” Being quiet isn’t gonna help you now.

        “Just spit it out.”

        “Someone told me that lately, the amount of food in the village has been decreasin’ ’cause of issues outside of the village. I ‘eard that the Shadow Fox ‘as been gettin’ desperate lately, so she’s been strikin’ more people and bein’ more careless.” It was silent for a few moments, not even you had moved, you couldn’t. What the old man said was true.

        “Thanks. That’s perfect.” 

        “Watch yer back boy. She could be anywhere in this village, even in plain sight. Apparently, that’s ‘ow she knows what everything that happens in this village.” You smirked. You don’t know how right you are. Only, you weren’t in plain sight.

        “I’ll keep that in mind.” You went to try and peek your head up over the roof to see who was asking about you, but a nearby voice prevented you from doing so. You quickly hid behind the wall of a house, and waited for the voice’s owner to appear. It was Shikamaru, who seemed to be talking to himself.

        “Hope this shortcut is worth it. If you lied to me I swear Naruto. Ugh, I need a snack first. I can’t deal with his antics on an empty stomach. Maybe I’ll go to Ichiraku’s for some ramen when I meet him. Wait, I forgot I had this in my pocket.” He pulled out an apple and took a big, very noisy bite out of it, which was clearly to draw attention to him. It had to be the most pathetic attempt to try and capture you that you’ve ever seen. Looks like I’m not the only one that’s desperate. Although, I’ve heard this kid is pretty smart, a genius in fact, he couldn’t be doing something this stupid. He may have something else up his sleeve. Suddenly, a realization popped into your head, and you now understood his game. He’s trying to lead me back to my ‘house’!

        You snuck your way around the village and back to your ‘house’, making sure to purposefully take longer detours. It took you about an hour, but you finally arrived about a good distance away from your ‘house’, and stood deathly still. You tried to sense a presence nearby, and luckily, there were none. Your plan must’ve worked. Heh. Losers. Just in case there was even a remote chance of a trap, you walked around the village some more, cautious and wary of the people on the streets.

        Half an hour later you were walking down a small alleyway, when you felt a senbon needle embed itself into your shoulder. Immediately you removed it to see that some of your blood was on it. For once, you started to panic. You quickly chucked the needle a garbage can and dashed away, not wanting to remain any longer in case someone was there.

        You didn’t stop running until you reached your ‘home’, when you finally realized that no one was following you. You didn’t even notice that it was night until now, as you could now see the black sky littered with gold speckled stars and the bright full moon. Now you were definitely safe, since no one could find you at night. The shadows were everywhere, making you invisible because of your ‘special ability’. Unfortunately, it was now time to sleep, something you dreaded. You only ever dreamed of nightmares about your memories, the things that drove you into the lifestyle you lived now in the first place. You slowly made your way to your blanket and laid down, wrapping yourself up as best as you could, and curled into a fetal position. You slowly drifted off to sleep, admiring how the moonlight glowed bright tonight.

 
Gaara POV

        I sensed the blood. She had walked into one of our traps, and her blood was near. This ‘Shadow Fox’ girl Kankuro found out about, will pay for stealing from me. I stopped suddenly, stopping my siblings with me. I knew they were looking at me expectantly, almost as equally excited as I was. We all wanted to catch this so-called ‘master thief’. After all, we already saw her face, something apparently no one else has seen but us. I followed the direction from where the blood was coming from, which lead me to one of the smaller alleyways we had set a trap in.

        There it was, a senbon needle with her blood. I could smell the intoxicating red liquid so clearly. It had to be hers, I haven’t seen anyone else go through these dark passages at all besides us. It was over by a garbage can, probably a weak attempt to mask the scent. As I expected, she must’ve run out of here for fear of being caught. Little did she know that this simple rash mistake, would be her demise.

        I released my sand to wrap around the needle, and when it did, I wanted bloodshed. I could smell her blood more clearly. It smelled powerful, just as I predicted it would. Now I could track her down with her blood now mixed in my sand. I knew exactly where she was, and I turned my head in the direction she was in. It’s about time we paid the Shadow Fox… a little nightly visit.