Disclaimer: I own nothing but my oc. Also I want to apologize to the readers who were waiting patiently for the next chapter of this story. My other story "Solar Dragon Slayer" had most of my attention. But now, I will get back to writing. On to the story!!!
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The first thing Ayame became aware of was that her aches and pains had greatly diminished. It actually felt like she'd be able to sit up without hissing in pain. Next she registered that she was warm. She could heard birds chirping and feel the sun's rays on her face. So it had to be day.
Finally, she stirred and opened her eyes slowly. She found herself in a very comfortable white bed in some kind of room. Looking around, she saw that the room's ceiling was crisscrossed by a bunch of sliver tracks. To her left was a white curtain that hung from the aforementioned tracks, while to her right she saw a square shaped window where light coming from the sun was shone. A small stand for personal effects sat in right next to the bed.
"Where am I?" she wondered aloud.
She never expected an answer.
"You're in Konoha Hospital." The young girl whirled at the sound of the voice and saw a lanky man with only a single visible eye walk through the curtain. The rest of his face was hidden beneath a headband with a metal plate that had a stylized leaf etched into it. He also had a green flack vest on over a black body suit. He also had pouches that clearly had weapons inside. He also appeared to be reading some orange book.
"Who...Who are you?" Ayame asked feeling a little more alert now that her brain was processing again, though she had a feeling she had seen the strange man before.
"I'm Kakashi Hatake" the man answered still not looking up from his book for a minute before turning his single eye to the girl and gave her a closed eye smile. "And I must say, it's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Ayame of the Light Village."
Ayame's eyes widened in shock at the man's sudden knowledge of her name and village. How did he know her? And what did he want?
"H-How do you know my name and village?" she asked aloud, her voice on edge with a hint of fear and anger.
Kakashi looked at her for a moment before replying, "Well to answer the second part of your question, you had the Hikari clan's symbol on the back of your jacket which allowed me to see you were from the Light Village. And for the first part, It was my mission to retrieve you and bring you here for your protection, but it seemed they got to you before I could."
"They...?" Ayame wondered, when her mind suddenly remembered the people who chased after in the woods. The same people who were responsible for the invasion of her village. Because of them, she had lost everything and everyone she held dear to her in one night. Her eyes suddenly became moist from the tears that threatened to fall as she also recalled the bloody screams of the villagers and the blood stains that were almost on every wall.
Shaking her head to prevent the flashback from surfacing, Ayame quickly wiped her eyes with her hand to stop any tears from falling. She then subconsciously took a hand under her jacket to fiddle with two necklaces she wore around her neck. One she had crafted her self and the other she gotten when she was younger, as well as the only reminder of her parents.
Looking back over at Kakashi, she spoke, "Umm Kakashi, was it?"
Kakashi nodded, "Yes."
"You said I was in Konoha Hospital....Does that mean I'm in Konohagakure?" Ayame asked in curiosity.
Kakashi turned a page into his book, before looking up again, "Indeed it does. Also known as the Leaf Village, and I also like to inform you that you have been in the hospital for nearly two days, though your wounds weren't too serious."
Ayame's eyes widened slightly again. She had been unconscious for two days? She then looked down at her body and noticed most of the wounds she had gotten were already healed and didn't have any bandages. Her mind then flashbacked to what happened when she was running from that group of ninja. They had caught her and pinned her down, and tried to use some jutsu on her. However, before they could, two figure arrived and saved her, as well as taking down the group right before she passed out. The last thing was able to see was a glimpse of black hair and sliver hair.....
Ayame looked over at Kakashi and saw he had sliver hair, meaning he must have been of the people who rescued her. Wanting to know for sure, she asked, "Kakashi? Two nights ago, when I was being held down by those ninja, were you one of the Leaf ninja that saved me?"
Kakashi nodded, "Yes, I was. The other one with me was Might Guy, but he couldn't stay to see you wake up." before closing his book and slipping it into his back pouch.
"Thank you" Ayame muttered softly, meaning every word. If it wasn't for Kakashi and this "Might Guy" person, she would have ended up captured and and probably would have horrible thing done to her. She very grateful for them showing up when they did.
"Don't mention it" Kakashi waved her off, "Now that you're awake and seem fine, I have to take you meet with Lord Third."
"Lord Third?" Ayame asked tilting her head.
"The Hokage of the village" Kakashi replied, "He set up a meeting with you to discuss some things once you woke up. If you're ready, we'll head over to the Hokage Mansion now."
Thinking it over a few minutes, Ayame replied, "Okay, let's go." She hopped out of the bed and noticed her boots on the floor near her. She slipped them on and followed Kakashi who already making his way out the door. After a quick check-up from a nurse who stopped them, the two walked out the door and strode off down the street heading for the Hokage's mansion.
As the pair continued on their way, Ayame looked around in amazement as she saw all the new faces and all the new sights of Konoha. She couldn't believe her eyes, she had always heard about the Leaf Village, but to see it in person was different. The streets were busy lined with shops and people giving those shops business. But what really caught her attention was the ridge that towered over the entire village that had four faces craved into it. Each of them was the size of a house and were elegantly shaped. Kakashi looked to where Ayame was staring.
"That would be the Hokage Monument" he said causing the girl's eyes to shine in wonder. "Every Hokage has had their faces up there, from the First to the Fourth."
Confusion crossed the young princess' face, "Wait, didn't you say we were going to see Lord Third? What about the Fourth?" she asked looking up at the man, though she thought for sure she saw a hint of sadness on his face before he covered it up.
"The Fourth had sacrificed himself to stop a demon fox from destroying the village 12 years ago" Kakashi stated causing Ayame to cover her mouth in shock.
"I-I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up" she said looking down at the ground, mentally berating herself for even asking a dumb question. Kakashi just shrugged, "Don't worry about it. You were just curious, so I answered."
Ayame nodded her head, 'But still...' she thought before she began to notice people looking at her with questionable gazes while others were whispering to each other not knowing Ayame could hear them.
"Who is that girl? I've never seen her before..." a woman's voice whispered.
"I don't know, she must be new around here..." another woman whispered.
"Well, I heard she is from the Light Village. As well as the only survivor of the the village's sudden invasion 2 night ago. Poor thing....." a third woman whispered.
Ayame's face saddened at the mention of the attack on her village and the possibility that no one else survived it. She then saw some of the villagers giving her looks of pity, though she wished they didn't. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't know Kakashi had stopped walking until he spoke up, "We're here."
Ayame shook her head to clear her mind and stopped walking too. She looked up and saw they were standing in front of a large red building with the kanji for "Fire" painted on the roof of the building.
'This is the Hokage's Mansion?....It's huge....' she thought to herself.
"Let's go" Kakashi said before heading towards the entrance with Ayame right behind him. The two were waved through by the two ninja at the entrance who were dressed like Kakashi with black bodysuits and green vests.
The mansion was alive with activity, shinobi constantly entering and leaving, some with exhausted looks on their faces, others with excitement, boredom, or trepidation. Inside there was a massive room with a long table at one end and three or four other ninja seated behind it, clearly the ones handing out missions. One of them saw Ayame and Kakashi and stood up.
"Kakashi, Lord Hokage is waiting for you upstairs. He'll see you as soon as you get there."
Kakashi nodded and placed a hand on Ayame's shoulder, guiding the girl up a spiraling flight of stairs and past several doors. Finally the stairs ended and they exited into the open air. The half-saiyan could see that they were about halfway up the tower and still had some ways to go. The two headed up a flight of stairs that wrapped around the outside of the tower and gave an unobstructed view of the four heads of the Hokage Monument before taking them back inside and down a hall lined with ink paintings and a lush carpet. At the end were two more masked ANBU who nodded to Kakashi as if they knew him and stepped out of the way them to get to the door. Standing in front of it, Kakashi knocked.
"Enter" a deep elderly voice called from the other side.
Inside was a room with wrap around windows that showed the monument through them and just in front of them was a finely-crafted desk with stacks of paper on it and a grizzled old man seated in the large chair behind it. The doors closed shut and the old man looked up and smiled kindly.
"Ah, Kakashi. I see you've done as I asked."
Kakashi nodded and the elder man turned his attention to Ayame who looked back with a nervous look. This was her first time meeting a Kage face to face like this so she didn't know what to say, even if he was giving off a grandfatherly type of aura. She could also see that he had on a wide triangular hat that was solid red except for a little diamond shaped patch of white on it on which the symbol for fire was clearly visible. Cloth fell from the underside and hid his ears. The man was swathed in red robes held closed with a white sash and there was a white haori over the red robes.
"So, this must be Princess Ayame of the Light Village. I am Hirzuen Sarutobi, The Third Hokage and it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh, t-thank you, Lord Third. It's nice to meet you as well..." Ayame stuttered as she bowed her head slightly.
The Hokage chuckled at the girl, "No need to be so formal, young one. The Leaf and Light villages have always been great allies to one another. Also, I like to say it's nice to see you're safe and sound after what had happened. I'm glad Kakashi and Guy got to you when they did."
Ayame spoke up in surprise, "Huh? Does that mean you were the one who sent them to retrive me?"
Sarutobi nodded, "Indeed. I was told by a reliable source that a invasion was going to take place at your village and was requested to bring you here for your safety as the ninja who had attacked you were after your Zekkugan."
Ayame was a bit shocked about that. Someone knew about the invasion and requested that she would be sent to Konoha? Not to mention they knew about her kekkai genkai .She didn't know who the person was, but she really wanted to thank them for what they did.
"Excuse me, Lord Third?" She asked politely gaining the elder's attention "Do you think you could tell me who gave you that information?"
Sarutobi gave her a warm smile, "Don't worry, my dear. You will meet them soon. Now, as you probably have already been informed, I had Kakashi bring you here to discuss some things."
Ayame nodded, "Yes sir. Kakashi had told me back at the hospital."
Sarutobi then turned serious, "Good. Now on to important matters, Firstly, I would like to say that I'm deeply and truly sorry for what had happened two nights ago."
"It's okay, really...." Ayame said with a sad look in her green eyes.
"Secondly, I would like to know what do you plan to do now that you're here" Sarutobi stated.
"Huh? What do I plan to do?" Ayame asked. She really didn't think that much about that. The only thing she was told to do was to go to Konoha and not much else. She honestly didn't plan that far ahead. "Honestly, I don't know. Since my village was attacked, I'm not sure what to do..." She replied truthfully.
Sarutobi and Kakashi who was still there gave the young girl sympathy looks, before Sarutobi spoke up, "In that case, how would you like to stay here in the Leaf and become a ninja?"
Ayame looked up at the Hokage in shock. Did he just offer her a chance to stay in Konoha? "R-Really, Lord Third? I wouldn't want to to be a bother...." She said still in shock.
Saurtobi gave a hearty laugh, "Nonsense, Konoha is big enough. One more person won't make a difference. Like I said, the Leaf and the Light have always been great friends with one another for many years, so the least we could do is allow the Princess of the Light Village a chance to stay here. So, what do you say, child?"
"Well, it does sound really great, but what if the ninja who attacked my village try to do the same to Konoha to get me? I don't want anyone else getting killed or hurt because of that" Ayame said looking down at her feet. She had already lost her village over something she possessed, she didn't want another village to go through the same thing.
Sarutobi studied the young girl for a moment, she was only around 12 years of age and whatever she saw during the invasion 2 nights ago must have really troubled her a bit. "Don't fret, young Princess. If that were to happened, the Leaf would do whatever it takes to protect you and the village. For that is why everyone here carries the Will of Fire" he said in sage like manner. "As long as you're here, no harm will come to you."
Ayame looked surprised for a minute before thinking it all over. On one hand, if she stayed in the Leaf, she would be safe, experience new things, and possibly fulfill her longtime dream. On the other hand, she didn't a single person there and could be considered a stranger among some of the villagers. She wondered if she would make any friends as well. She had met many kids her own age back at her village, but they never really felt like friends and wouldn't treat her like a normal person due to her Princess status. Would that all change if she remained in Konoha?
Coming to a decision, Ayame looked up at the Hokage with a smile, "Then if it's okay with you Lord Third, I would love to stay in the Leaf." Maybe now, she would be treated like a equal than someone with a special title.
Sarutobi and Kakashi smiled at the girl's answered, though Ayame couldn't see Kakashi because of his mask. "Of course, dear one. We would love to have you here, which brings me to another issue..." he began causing the girl to look at him curiously, "We must keep your "Princess" status a secret. If word got out about you being from the Light village, I fear many would try to come after you."
Ayame felt a shiver go done her spine at that. She didn't want more people coming after her, so she quickly nodded her head, "I understand sir. Actually, I wouldn't mind keeping it a secret. While I'm here, I would like nothing more than being treated like a normal girl instead."
Sarutobi smiled, "Well said" as he then began to write something down, "Now then, Kakashi. I would like to escort young Ayame to this apartment." He then handed Kakashi the piece of paper he wrote on.
Kakashi looked at the what was written before he looked up at the Third and nodded, "Of course, sir." Before heading towards the door.
"Thank you, Lord Third, I really appreciate this" Ayame bowed before following after the sliver-haired man.
"You're welcome, young one." Sarutobi said with a smile. "And also, I will have you attend the Academy. There are kids of your age in there. Is that fine with you?"
Ayame nodded. "Yes sir. I would like that very much."
The Hokaage then nodded as well. "Glad to hear. You may leave now."
Ayame bowed her head and then walked out with Kakashi. After that, Sarutobi sat back in his seat and spoke out, "You may enter."
As if one cue, a cloaked and masked ninja suddenly appeared in the room with barley a whisper in the room. He got up from his crouching position and turned to face the Hokage. "You called, Lord Hokage?"
Sarutobi nodded, "I did. I'm sure you know why."
"I would imagine it had something to do with the Princess of the Hikari clan being here."
"You imagine correctly," Sarutobi replied. "Your mission is to help Kakashi watch over the girl, but in secret. That is your primary objective, Ghost. I'll tell you the same thing I told Kakashi. Her status of the Light village is to be kept a secret. If word got out about her, it could lead to many enemies coming after her."
"Orders received and understood, Lord Third."
"Good. You may now go on your other mission" The Hokage nodded.
"Yes sir" with that, the anbu disappeared without a trace that he was even there.
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On the streets of Konoha...
As Ayame was being escorted to her new apartment by Kakashi, she began to look around more at the various things she saw in the village with a sudden spring in her step. She couldn't believe she was accepted into the village. At first, she didn't how to react to the realization of being in a different village from hers.
Everything seemed so new to her, that she wanted to explore a bit. Kakashi looked noticed the girl's expression, as she looked left and right with wonder. He couldn't help but smile a bit at her antics.
Ayame started when a shinobi dropped out of the sky from out of nowhere and vaulted back into the air, landing on the power lines and running off ahead of them.
Kakashi saw her stunned expression and the person who'd caused it. He grinned, the expression hidden beneath his mask. "Watch him," the jounin said, making Ayame break his gaze from the other shinobi to look at him. "He's gonna get busted here in a minute."
Ayame watched and, sure enough, almost as soon as the word left Kakashi's mouth, a cloaked and masked ninja popped out of thin air. The first shinobi skidded to a stop on the lines and looked sheepish. Words were exchanged between the two and the masked ninja reached into his cloak and withdrew a small sheet of yellow paper and handed it to the disgruntled-looking shinobi who pocketed it and dropped off the line, heading away on rooftops instead. The masked shinobi watched him go then made a hand sign and disappeared in a burst of smoke.
"ANBU," Kakashi said with a little laugh at Ayame's expression. "The Special Forces for Konohagakure. One of their secondary duties also happens to be doing some minor police work." His eye darkened. "They're good at what they do. Don't cross them and you'll be fine."
Ayame nodded with a little grin. Unless she was very much mistaken, that shinobi had just gotten a ticket. Finally the duo arrived at at the vacant apartment that Ayame would be staying in.
As Kakashi opened the door, Ayame's eyes sparkled. "Wow, it's so pretty!" The girl exclaimed.
"Lord Third arranged for you to have this apartment while you were in the hospital." Kakashi stated.
"I love it." Ayame said with a smile, looking all around the room. There was a neat and clean living room with a comfortable sofa. The kitchen has two chairs for cooking, and it had a refrigerator, oven, and much more appliances. The bedroom was quite large and it had a two cabinets and a desk.
"Great." Kakashi said, before heading towards the door. "Well, see you tomorrow. "Give me a call if you need anything."
"Ok." Ayame said, then turned back to him. "Um, Kakashi?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks again." Ayame told him with a bow.
Kakashi waved his hand with a closed eye smile. "No problem, see ya." With that, he closed the door.
After the jounin left, Ayame then placed her bag on top of the desk and put her clothes and other things inside of the cabinet. She soon walked over to her aqua blue bed and laid on it, pulling out two small necklaces from under her jacket. One was sliver and had a little crystal dangling from it. The other one was also sliver, but had had her village's crest hanging on it.
She got the first one from from her grandmother. The other one she had gotten from her older brother. He gave her the necklace almost three years ago before he had to leave for another village. He wasn't there during the invasion. She wondered where he could've gone and was he okay.
"I wondered if I'll ever see him again..." She murmured before falling asleep
There you have it! A new chapter for this. I'm soooooo sorry it took so long to get to this, but I was focused on my other stories. I'll try to get back to this one as quickly as I can. Until then, see ya!!!