Wasting Dark (Book 1) [ON HOLD]

[Prologue]

"In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love—they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

-Harry Lime, The Third Man

One early morning, when it was still dark, and the light of day was only just begining to brighten the black sky, outside the great oak doors of Hidden Leaf Village, a girl stumbled from some bushes, and stood in front of the gate.

She didn't know how she had ended up here.

She didn't know where she was.

Hell, she didn't even know who she was.

All that was in her mind, was that she had to deliver a message to Kakashi; a man whom she did not know; and that he was situated in this area. Limping up to the doors, taking her bruised body to lean against the hard, cold wood, she lifted a shaking hand, and gave three solid knocks.

There was a silence that seemed to steal away her air, as she fought for breath.

Then, a low voice from the other side whispered, "Who's there?"

"I don't know," the girl replied truthfully enough.

"What do you mean?" Asked the voice, sounding confused.

"I don't know who I am," the girl clarified, slightly annoyed, "but I do know that I have to speak to someone here."

There was an earsplitting pause. All of a sudden, the door creaked open, revealing a man in armour, looking suspiciously out of the gate. His eyes widened when he saw the state of the girl.

Burnt all over, cuts littering her arms that would surely leave scars, a slouched figure, smouldering a little, and clutching her left arm, which was almost certainly dislocated.

She was wearing mostly navy blue items of clothing, with black combat boots, with muddy hair that bristled. Her eyes were an icy, almost electric, blue, that caught the sun in unexplainable angles.

But what was the most interesting, was that a headband was fasted to her forehead, signifying her status as a trainee ninja. And upon it, was the symbol of a wiped out Village, known as the Village Hidden in the Dark.

The man yelled for support, and within a couple of seconds, or perhaps minutes, the girl felt herself being dragged into the town by two stout guards. She would have struggled, but she was completely drained, out of touch.

"Somebody get Kakashi!" Came a yell that caught the girl's fading attention. Kakashi? Hadn't she heard that somewhere?... Yes! That was the man she was to tell him the message!

In a desperate attempt to complete the only mission she remembered, she tried to free herself from the guards, whilst saying, "I need to talk to him! I need to talk to Kakashi!"

No one paid any mind to her. The girl was humiliatingly dragged through the village, her twisted ankle preventing her from walking properly.

What was she doing? Did she know? No, she didn't.

Ah, it's a wonderful life.

A painful tug on her sore arm pulled her from her thoughts, and extracted a yell from her. The guard let go in surprise, and the girl used this to pull away from the other man, and tried desperately to rush forwards, yelling, "I need to speak with Kakashi!"

She didn't get far, and fell to her feet a couple of metres away, with a dull thud. She cursed, a couple of angry tears slipping from her eyes. She heard someone kneel in front of her, and she lifted her head tiredly, to see the person she had been looking for.

"You want to speak to me?" Asked the teacher calmly.

"Yes," she murmured, the inexplicable lull of exhaustion tugging at her, "I need to tell you..." she struggled silently for words. Kakashi waited patiently. "We were wrong," the girl finally uttered, "you were wrong."

"What?" Kakashi questioned, confused.

"I don't know," the girl slurred, her eyelids slipping shut. "But someone's coming. And... and... and they have..." she took a moment to cough. "They have... a... weapon."

The girl finally lost conscious, missing the completely shocked expression on Kakashi's face.