An Unknown World

The Jump

My head...

The echo was rippling through my brain still, I couldn't see anything but a rush of colors surrounding me as I tried to pull myself to my knees. What the hell was that?

I had been out for some time; the morning sun had risen while I was unconscious and although I couldn't see much of anything, I could tell that it wasn't dark anymore.

My body seemed just fine aside from a few minor bumps or bruises from the fall out of the trees. My legs felt like rocks weighing me down as I crawled over to the nearest solid object that I could feel out and leaned my head against it trying to regain some control over my body. I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes with the back of my gloved hand. My vision cleared enough that I could see the broken log that I was leaning on, as I lifted my head I could see that whatever had happened brought down quite a few trees in the area, almost as if paper bombs had gone off.

What a time to be alone. I took my time sitting where I was until my mind was clear enough that I could access the damage more thoroughly. That blast wasn't natural. The air was clear with no sign of any explosion other than the downed trees and broken branches. I had to explore the area before heading out again just to be sure I wasn't going to be followed back to Konoha.

I can't be sure of anything right now with my head still feeling fuzzy, but I thought that I could sense someone. As a precaution I pulled my ANBU mask back over my face and threw the hood of my cloak back up, scanning the surrounding area once again before heading out. Everything seemed still, not even a breeze in the air to move the leaves. I was supposed to be surveying the area around the village for any irregularities, I guess you could say I found one.

As I turned to leave, I caught a twitch of movement at the other end of the broken rubble of tree trunks. Could have just been a small animal, but I hadn't seen one in the last hour at least. I stayed still on my branch, shadowed by the leaves above me.

Nothing.

I silently leapt up into a tree at the edge of the forest trying to get a better look. Just beyond a pile of logs was a shadow laying on the ground. It wasn't moving but it was something. I jumped down and sprinted over, keeping my guard up as I did. It was a person; I could sense their faint chakra. I stopped just as I approached the logs and looked over them.

There was a girl, she couldn't be much younger than me, her short pink hair was matted with dirt and her face was pretty rough with a few scrapes and blood along her ear and cheek, she was wearing a cloak almost like mine, but it was white instead of black. No headband in sight, so maybe just a traveler? I had never seen her before and being this close to Konoha I'm suspicious. Could she have possibly done all of this? That didn't seem likely.

I crouched down beside her to get a better look at her injuries. If she had caused whatever that explosion was, I'm sure she wouldn't have purposely put herself in the middle of it. I brushed her hair away from the side of her face lightly and tucked it behind her ear. She had a large gash on her left eyebrow, the source of the blood running down her face. I pulled a piece of cloth from my tool pouch and lightly blotted the blood around the wound, it wasn't bleeding badly anymore but she was going to need medical attention.

Her left eye opened slightly, and a groan escaped her lips. It didn't look like she could see anything, almost how I couldn't when I had woken up. "Hey, can you hear me?" I said quietly, Tilting my head in her view.

She said nothing but let out a hard cough, blood spitting out onto the ground. I took the cloth and wiped her mouth. She was in bad shape, I needed to get her help. I was going to be in huge trouble bringing her back to the village, but I couldn't just let her die here if she was an innocent bystander. "I'm going to pick you up." I said. Hoping she could hear me.