Kirigakure --> Konoha

It was a pretty nice day considering what was about to take place. A young woman, in her late twenties with brown hair, was driving a horse-drawn cart towards the village hidden in the leaves where she intends to take refuge. However a group of twelve or so men stood in the way of the cart; Blocking the path. They all appeared to be in their early thirties and seemed to be shinobi from Kirigakure and were in fact a part of a small time infamous organisation of thieves that preyed upon merchants that travelled to and from Kirigakure. The driver was well aware of their evil intentions but she was desperate to get out of the village....

This was one of the very reasons that Hope's mother wanted to flee the village well that and the death of his father. One of the shinobi spoke in a clear voice, which snapped Hope's mother out of her trance. "So what's a pretty little lady like yourself doing in a place like this?" It clearly took her by surprise and slowing the horse down to a stop, Hope's mother gazed up at the man and said nothing. This infuriated him."HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME!!!" he roared at her. To the surprise of the other shinobi in the large group, the shinobi unsheathed his sword and began to charge over towards the cart to strike down the defenceless woman. With little input from who seems to be the leader of the group the shinobi stopped his attack and paused to recompose himself. "tsk..you made me lose my cool then. If it weren't for our leader here....." The shinobi paused to glance back at the leader of the group, who showing no emotion stared back from under the cover of the hood that seemed to conceal his identity even during the day, it was unnerving. Turning back to face the woman, the driver of the cart he carried on talking. "You may have been killed there and then, in that single strike. Why couldn't you have answered my question really? After all I was only trying to be nice. I'll make it worth your while you know." The man was now sitting next to the Hope's mother and was getting cosy and TOO touchy.

With the thought of being gang-raped by twelve consuming her mind, panic set in. Sheer panic. Sweat began to appear on her brow, she wanted to wipe it away with her sleeve but she didn't dare take her eyes off of the man next to her. Sensing the woman's fear, one of the members of the group tried to get the man who at this point was close enough for the woman to take note of his appearance, He had electric blue hair which complimented his blue eyes but interestingly he had black eyebrows which looked really out of the place but overall she noticed that he was in fact quite handsome, to leave her alone. "Bakiri! Leave the woman alone and get back to business for god sake. Don't make me come out there!". The man how was revealed to be known as Bakiri seemed to be nervous and he began to edge away from the woman.

Whilst walking back to the group of shinobi, Bakiri, carried on talking as if nothing happened. (Still addressing Hope's mother) Then we would have raided your cart and stolen all of the cargo. Although I am wondering what you're be hiding back there that could actually be beneficial for us...ow wait, Did I forget to mention the fact that we are thieves?" the man calmly explained. Even though Hope's mother knew of the organisation and its adventures there was only one section of the man's whole speech that was important well to her at least..."what you're be hiding back there..." It echoed throughout her mind and panic set in once again as she realised that her son; Hope, who was sleeping in the back of the cart was now in danger....

She stood up, dropping the horses' reigns and putting her arms outwards in an attempt to block them from the rest of the cart and subsequently, her son. Beginning to plead with the men they seemed to take a revitalised interest in her cargo. Two men from the group, both taller than Hope's mother flickered over and shoved the woman out of the way. Putting the safety of her only child above all else she pleaded with them to leave her be. "Please! Don't do this. I'll give you whatever you want just please leave me alone. ". One of the pair looked over towards the leader who nodded and then they searched the cart. "NO PLEASE! I beg of you. NOOOOOOOO" She watched in horror as they slowly began to empty some of the contents of the cart onto the floor and eventually pulled off the sheet that was concealing the cart's cargo and unbeknown to them, Hope.

The funny thing is, well in Hope's opinion is that he has always been a light sleeper and he'd been awaken for quite a while deciding on the best course of action. So his mother's overreaction was only making things worse for them and now he'd probably have to go save her... If your wondering where Hope is then I'll tell you. Whilst hearing the men discuss raiding the cart, Hope slipped out of the cart whilst being careful not to disrupt the sheet and hide underneath the cart.

Whilst clinging to the underside of the cart, Hope focuses on keeping his chakra down to a less detectable level. He began to wonder about all the different combat strategies that were lodged into his brain; When his father used to come back 'work' he used to leave all sorts of things all over the place like jutsu scrolls and ones that went over different combat strategies. Since he learnt Hidden Mist jutsu, Hope has been a pretty effective shinobi. Based on the fact that he couldn't out manoeuvre higher ranked shinobi, he would use this jutsu to cover the area in mist and then silently approach them from whatever position suited him or the situation. Well all of that changed when his father was killed on an S-ranked mission, his second one as well. He was so confident after the first one going so well that he got careless... All of the painful memories brought a tear to Hope's right eye. Time to forget all of that Hope. You need to focus on saving your mother.

Concentrating his chakra, and making a few handsigns, a thick light blue/white coloured mist began to cover the area, like some really bad low-budget horror movie, making it hard to see. You could barely see your hand in front of your face with effort and that's how Hope liked to operate. Hidden within the mist.

Now that the jutsu was set it was time to set the spur of the moment rescue plan into action.

Letting go off the cart, Hope fell to the ground in a noisy hump. It was with enough force to knock the wind out of him but he quickly recovered. Rolling over onto his stomach and then moving into a crouched position he peered out from under the cart and into the thick mist to see if he could see anything. The fact that he couldn't brought a smile to his face. Hope started noiselessly patting the underside of the cart so that he feel around the base so he could find the back of the cart. Once he'd done that, Hope used the cover of the mist to emerge from underneath the cart with caution and recover his pouch. He wrapped the gauss around his left leg and attached the pouch to it. Slipping his hand underneath the latch and inside, Hope slide his finger through the hole of a Kunai and yanked it out. Now armed and ready Hope ventured out into the mist. Into the unseen.

Whilst sensing their chakra and listening out for the confused voices of the group of shinobi, Hope stealthily weaved past them and over towards his mother. After realising that she was ok, he let out a sigh of relief. She opened her mouth to start talking but Hope but his finger to his mouth in order to tell her to be quiet. Fearing the skills of the shinobi he didn't dare explain what was going on to his mother while they were out in the open like this. Now if I can just make it back to the cart everything should be fine. Picking his mother up, Hope ran as stealthily as he could whilst carrying her back to the safety of the cart.

One there he decided to explain to her what was going on but on in a whispering form. "Mom. Before you start fussing, I'm fine I got out before they approached the cart..." She was overjoyed and hug him, getting all choked up and teary-eyed "Ow my baby's safe". This is what Hope hated when she started fussing over his safety it had gotten worse since he passed the Chuunin exam in Kirigakure and after the death of his father. "Look Mom, you've been fussing over my safety alot since Dad...died and I get it. I do. I know you don't want to lose me and I can't promise that you won't based on the fact that I am a shinobi. Just like Dad..." Hope stopped talking because his mother started crying. "...Mom I'm sorry but I have to do this. You have to be safe". And with that Hope left her alone hidden underneath the cart and went off to face the shinobi.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep the up the hidden mist jutsu for much longer, Hope decided to copy the techniques of Zabuza and attempted to perform the Silent killing technique. Hope disappeared from view using the body flicker technique to silently appear behind the two shinobi that had approached the cart. Raising his Kunai into the air, he mercilessly slit their throats and disappeared before their bodies hit the floor....After all he wasn't just defending himself but as well as his mother.

Hope flickered out of view as the mist cleared. A mixture of confused, shocked and frightened voices filled the air as the members of the group took note of the two shinobi that lay on the floor in a steadily growing pool of blood. Their necks were cleanly cut by the boy's Kunai. Their blood poured out of the bodies as if it were trying to escape the confines of its host body. The blood spread out seemingly trying to reach across the ground and consume it whilst sinking into the soil; Staining it a deep red colour. One of the group took a hesitant step towards the two bodies but instantly became generally scared of what would happen to him if he went over to investigate.

A handful of smoke bombs detonated at the same as they exploded on impact with the ground. Purple smoke erupted from them creating a huge column of smoke. It was quiet as the members of the group silenced themselves although the sound of someone breathing angrily and deeply 'broke' the eerie silence. Hope jumped out from behind the smokescreen and threw Kunai before he landed on the ground, hoping to catch them off guard. It seemed to have worked as they all donned a shocked face, which turned into a worried expression as Hope created a handsign which caused the exploding tags that were attached to the kunai to explode. After the dust had settled Hope analysed the remains of the shinobi and seriously began to doubt their abilities. He walked over towards the closest crater and peered into, out and around the crater looking for all of the shinobi. Not knowing if he got all of them he decided to count the body parts...

"Uh. This is taking to long....maybe It'll be easier to count the heads" he exclaimed whilst scanning the area once again. Walking around, he counted the number of heads or bits of heads to establish whether they were all dead or not. "1..... 2...... 3.. 4.. 5.... 6..... 7... 8.... 9...Wow all of this just from three kunai and three exploding tags. What where they academy students? Sheesh." Taking a moment to catch his breath Hope sat on the dismembered torso of one of the shinobi. He yelled towards his mom, "It's all over ...now". She cautiously appeared from underneath the cart and began running over towards Hope with a big smile drawn across her face. Without noticing the carnage around her, she tripped over the body of a shinobi and fell towards the ground like an angel falling from grace. A scream erupted from her mouth as she realised that she was now lying in a field of human remains and her white dress was now stained red.

After she calmed down, she got up and walked over towards Hope. She put her hand on his left shoulder and he looked up at her studying her face. It was a face of beauty and one of concern. She was concerned about the mental and physical health of her son as he, even though he didn't even notice, was himself covered in blood. Using a clean section of her dress she wiped the blood off of Hope's face. Squatting so that she was at his eye level she asked something that was really important; to her. "Are you ok, Hunny bun?" without waiting for an answer she continued with more rhetorical questions, "....Hope. Did you do all of this?". Hope avoided her gaze, he looked around and then stared into the eyes of a newly-deceased shinobi. "....I guess I did."

....A strong gust of wind picked up and shot past where Hope was sitting, it carried on passed him and encircled his mother. As it began to slow down he realised what the supernatural wind was. Or rather who he was. In a desperate act to protect his mother, Hope charged over towards the shinobi, who had now stopped behind the boys mother and confidently held a Katana to her throat.

Picking up a single-edged Sword from off of one of the fallen Shinobi, He pointed the sword in the shinobi's direction as he got into a fighting stance. He was ready to engage the enemy but decided to talk to him in order to distract him from what he was doing and cause him to mess up.

He spoke in a clear voice, being careful not to show the panic in his voice. "You are the leader aren't you?" The man shifted his weight slightly but didn't answer. "Tell me. What kind of shinobi......NO what kind of leader abandons his men in the middle of an attack from enemy shinobi and then returns only to attack a defenceless woman and not extract revenge for their deaths. If that is what you're here for?" Again the man shifted his weight as if he was about to strike. "You know that your going to have to talk at some point, right?"

Hmph. The only sound that escaped the dry cracked lips of the attacking shinobi.

Hope watched as the muscles tensed in the man's right arm. Knowing what he was about to next, Hope rushed into action eagerly trying to prevent the inevitable. There was just too much a distance between them that he had literally split seconds to cover. A small gulf in it's own right. The boy watched with horror as his world was torn apart. Blood gushed out of the new wound as the blade slide through the woman's flesh like a knife through butter. The shinobi discarded her dying body as if it was nothing; just trash.

Knowing that there wasn't time to waste, he charged over towards the Shinobi with the sword raised high into the air. A battle cry erupted from deep within his lungs, one full of Anger, Fear, and hatred. The two engaged in a sword fight. They exchanged blows at high speed. Sparks flew into the air, generated by the blades coming into contact with each other. Hope tried every trick in the book. Even using kicking the man when he could, considering the fact that Hope was using the sword with two hands due to its incredible weight....After a while Hope seemed to be gaining the upper hand, he was alot faster than the man but his strikes were wild; uncontrolled and unpractised. He would lose due to inexperience in the long run unless he was lucky....

A ripping sound rattled round Hope's brain as the man's sword teared from his attire and sliced it's way into Hope's shoulder. It was soon followed by a sharp biting pain. A smile glimmered across the man's face and he squealed with glee; Knowing that he was winning. He spoke in a sadistic high-pitched voice that expressed his happiness, "You see my boy. I may be the leader of the group that you soo.....mercilessly cut down to size. Nonetheless you caused me a great inconvenience boy. Do you know how long it took to find and recruit those men? Such fool hardy behaviour will always be punished. This world lives on the principles of an eye for an eye. I lost my men. You lost your mother. It's all fair game boy. What you should consider is the fact that my men can be replace....." He left what he was saying there Knowing that he had got his message across. After giving Hope a few minutes to think about it, he began his emotional barrage again.

"If you two were travelling alone then you were running from something weren't you? Was it your father?" Noticing Hope's change in expression he continued, "I see. He's dead. Well then I shall remove you from this world. All in due time of course. Let me feel your pain. Let me feed on your depression. your loneliness. Now boy make this fun for me.......run away!"

Hope's ocean blue chakra became visible and seemed to be rising upwards from his body in a slowly condensing-liquid fashion. With the sword in hand, He exploded with rage and charged towards the man. "NEEEEVVVVVEEEERRRR" He screamed through his teeth with such force that it hurt his throat. Surprisingly enough this brought a smile the man's face. What Hope didn't know was what the shinobi loved more than enjoying the thrill of chasing his emotionally distraught opponents was the opponents that thought they could win by blindly throwing their weapons around.

"Die. You bastard!" Using the sword, Hope took a swing at the man only to see him duck underneath the blade and counter with a kick to the boys abdomen. Coughing up a bit of blood, Hope refused to give up. He attacked from every direction that he could think of. From the sides, from the ground below, from the air above and even the space behind the man. It was hopeless. He knew that he couldn't win but he had to carry on fighting. For his mother!

"That's right Boy. Show me your pain. Let me feed on it until all that is left of your soul is complete an utter despair!" Enjoying the battle, the man started retaliating less often and just letting Hope endlessly attack him. The boy swung the sword at him wildly. At times the blade connected and at others the shinobi seemed to deflect it at the last minute.

After about an hour of non-stop attacks, Hope was seriously feeling the strain on his muscles and the weight of the sword seemed to have increased since when he first picked it up. Due to the time gap in Hope's recent attacks, the man was starting to grow bored with his new playmate and swiped at him with the long darkened Katana. It connected. Hope was thrown onto his back and all seemed to be lost. The shinobi spoke in a clear voice, this time with his voice full of grief, "Comeon boy. Get up. I'm sure that you have more emotion for me to feed on....Get Up. really do you WANT TO DIE?"

The words echoed throughout Hope's mind, "do you WANT TO DIE?", it made him relive a memory....

Hope's father once said the very same thing to him before his death. He was giving him general shinobi lessons, going over; strategies, weapons, chakra and the basics of jutsu. Hope was home-schooled for a while due to the fact that his father generally believed that if he started hope off at an earlier age then usual then he could grow even stronger than the average shinobi and graduate from the Kirigakure academy at an even younger age.

However in the one particular lesson, Hope's father was attempting to teach him the Water Style: Water Whip Jutsu but it wasn't going very well. He knew the basis of the jutsu but for some reason it just wasn't all snapping together. Beginning to get upset, Hope slumped down to the ground taking a breather. "Hope. Son. You have to grasp this jutsu. You have to grow stronger, become stronger than me. You have to surpass me and everyone else; Shinobi in the village, the academy and our ancestors.". Hope looked up at his fathers' face, taking all the words in. "Father, I'm trying. I really am....".

After a few attempts at the jutsu and after a few long hours, Hope still hadn't been able to successfully pull it off. "DO you want to die? Hope. If you don't have the necessary skills or the ability to overcome any situation then it could result in your death or the death of your team mates. Hope do you think that you could handle a situation like that when you can't even pull off a basic suiton jutsu. Now focus! You can do this. You have the blood of the Nidaime Hokage flowing through your veins.". Feeling the effects of his fathers pep talk, Hope attempted to pull off the jutsu once again. Making a few handsigns (Rat → Dog → Ox) a rope made from chakra-infused water ensnared hope's father. It wrapped around his torso albeit rather loosely. "Again." Trying to get used to manipulating and controlling his chakra in this way Hope attempted to use the jutsu again. A water whip wrapped around his father yet again. Hope waited to see what his father would say as a reaction to the new rope tied around him. Hopefully it was good enough. "Again but with this time add more pressure to the trap. Aside from that though your doing well.".

This time Hope flicked his wrist with alot more force. This caused a water whip to wrap around the man's body and constrict his movement. He seemed moderately pleased. "Very good Hope. Keep this up and you'll be a great shinobi someday." With a smile on his face, Hope decided to go back to his room and sleep it off.......