The Eighth Swordsman

Chapter 1

Mei Terumi was not having a good day as she ran through a forest in the Fire County near Konoha. In fact it was shaping up to be one of the worst in her short life.

The day had started off nicely enough. She and her team had just finished a standard C rank escort mission they had been assigned by the administrator in the Mizukage Tower. She and her team were joking around and laughing as they went about their mission, she could remember the bright smiles and sparkling eyes on their faces though now those eyes had glazed over and their smiles were now horrible grimaces showing the pain of their deaths.

They had left after a quick breakfast and were making good time when they were struck by an ambush of missing nin from Iwa. Kasumi was the first to fall, as a kunai lodged into her skull, with the other Chunin of her squad, Shinji putting a fearsome fight before falling victim to a well placed shuriken. Pretty soon it was just her and her Jonin commander fighting back to back against nine missing nin. They actually doing pretty well until her commander was mortally wounded when one of the eight remaining missing nin slipped inside his guard and stabbed him through the heart with a katana. The maneuver however cost the rogue nin his life as exploding tags all over the fallen Jonin's body went off, providing Mei with the distraction needed to make good on her escape.

And now here she was, half an hour later darting through the trees, heavily fatigued from her desperate flight and the battle beforehand. She could hear the voices of the enemy shinobi catching up to her. She continued running, knowing being caught meant a fate worse than death and every kunoichi's worst nightmare.

A branch caught her foot and she let one word fall from her lips as she plummeted to the forest floor below and then into blissful unconsciousness. "Fuck"

She awoke to the sounds of men laughing and upon remembering her current situation started to struggle against the ropes binding her. The sound of her struggles caught the attention of the seven remaining missing nin sitting by a fire bathing everything in the dark forest in orange light.

"Aw look at the cute little thing, how did she know I like it when they struggle" the apparent leader of them said, a lecherous grin working its way on to his face.

Mei froze at his words and tears started to fill her eyes as the reality of her situation gripped her. She was about to be raped. She remained frozen as their hands started to grab at her clothing, tearing apart the blue dress she wore and then the mesh armor underneath it, leaving her in nothing more than her bra and panties though they would soon be gone as well. Tears were falling from her eyes as their hands roughly groped her breasts through her bra.

One of the rogue shinobi noticed the tears and grinned. "Relax little girl and just enjoy the ride like I know you will you tight little slut". She then felt her panties being removed and heard the sound of a zipper being pulled down. She lost all hope of rescue as she closed her eyes tight to try and brace herself for the coming pain. Only to hear a voice rip through silence of the dark forest lit only by a crescent moon in the sky.

"GETSUGA TENSHO".

She opened her eyes as she saw the man about to enter her be cleaved in half by a crescent moon shaped arc of black, rimmed red chakra, the lecherous grin on his face still in the process of turning into a look of shock. The other six missing nin jumped back, looking around for this new threat. Suddenly a shadow fell over her and she looked up to see a tall, black haired man holding a sword in a defensive stance in front of her. He was dressed in a red short sleeved coat with black flames decorating the bottom, black combats adorned with red flames, a red t-shirt that had black flames decorating it, black combat boots and a black gauntlet with a red seal etched into it, protecting his left forearm and hand. The sword in his right hand was a daito. It was single edged with a black, four feet long blade, a crossguard in the shaped of the kanji for full and a few broken chain links hanging from the black, foot long hilt, which had a red diamond pattern. He then turned to Mei and kneeled down, taking off his sage coat and laying it over her body, covering her modesty after she had pulled up her panties.

"A-arigatou" she said blushing while looking up into his handsome face. He had red slitted eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek. Kawaii she inwardly squealed when she saw them.

"Happy to help" he said in a warm tone before turning back around to face the six would be rapists.

"Get out of the way asshole and maybe you can have a go with her after we're done or else we'll just kill you and then fuck her right over your dead body".

"Or I could kick all your ass's in an extremely violent, not to mention badass fashion" he replied with a cocky grin.

"Oh yeah and how are you gonna do that" the one on the right shouted.

"Like so" the crimson-eyed swordsman replied with a savage grin as he disappeared, reappearing behind the jackass with his blade finishing it's deadly arc as it separated the rogue nin's head from his body. The next rouge shinobi came in with an overhead slash which our dark hero easily batted to the side, leaving his opponent's guard wide open which he happily took advantage of with a quick thrust of his daito, piercing the man's stomach before ripping the blade out, an action which led to the man's stomach being torn open as his intestines fell on the forest floor. He then ducked underneath a boulder sent his way courtesy of another one of his opponents and replied in kind, holding his arm out as the seals on his gauntlet glowing brightly before a ball of red fire was launched from the seal on his palm at an alarming speed. The four shinobi tried to dodge but two were too slow as the fireball exploded against them and were consumed by the flames, leaving only ash behind as the fire disapated.

"Earth Style: Rock Gauntlet" the shinobi nearest to him shouted as he ran forward with his rock encased fist. He simply ducked and spun, his blade parallel to the ground as his opponent's fist sailed over his head. He rose back up out of his spin and stood as the top half of his enemy's body fell down while the bottom half kept running before joining it's other half on the ground, revealing the cut that severed him at the waist.

"And then there was one" the swordsman remarked, looking over at the remaining shinobi. "But not for long" he added as an afterthought and then disappeared. The rogue shinobi, not wanting to end up like his partners tried to run, only to be cleaved in half by the arc of chakra that claimed his leader, launched from the swordsman's blade.

With his enemies defeated the swordsman went back over to Mei. He then stopped in front of her and laid his blade down on the ground.

"Miss, can I come closer? I need to make sure you don't have any serious injuries that can't wait for the hospital" he asked. Mei hesitated and seeing this, the swordsman thought of a possible solution and spoke up.

"If you want to Miss you can hold onto my sword in case you feel like I'm doing anything inappropriate. Does that sound all right to you?" he asked and upon seeing her nod, handed her the blade. She then removed the blanket and the swordsman took in her features. She had long auburn hair that lay pooled around her that must have reached down to her ankles in a herringbone pattern with a bang covering one eye while leaving the other emerald orb exposed. She had pale, smooth skin, and he could see her bra straining against the sizable bust they contained, double D's guessed. He also took notice of her luscious curves and firm, round ass which, combined with her bust gave her the fabled "hour-glass figure" so many looked for. All in all she was a goddess in human form.

"Beautiful" he breathed out, unaware he said it out loud. Mei however was and blushed crimson once more. He shook his head and encased his hands in the green glow of medical chakra as he moved them over her body to perform the diagnostic jutsu.

"You have a sprained ankle but nothing serious apart from that so I'll have to carry you to the nearest hospital, is that all right?" he asked as he ended the jutsu and began bandaging her wounds and making a splint from a nearby branch.

"Yeah, and it's Mei" she said, tired of being called "Miss".

"Pardon" he asked.

"My name is Mei, Mei Terumi not Miss." she repeated drowsily, the fatigue from her fight and flight, starting to get to her.

"Shining Beauty eh, well it accurate if nothing else. Anyway Mei-san, it's a nice to meet you though I wish it could have been under more pleasant circumstances. Now come on, we need to get you to the hospital" he said and scooped her up into his arms bridal style, ignoring her blush and started jumping through the trees towards Konoha.

Mei yawned, feeling sleepy and loving how warm and safe his arms made her feel while blushing at how muscular his chest and arms felt through his clothes. He noticed this and told her to rest while he got her to a hospital. Mei nodded and fell asleep, snuggling into his chest as she did so. He smiled at this and continued onwards, intent on reaching the hospital before she woke up.

AN: This is the first chapter of The Eighth Swordsman and my first story over and done with. This story will updated rarely as life is kinda hectic at the moment though I will be able to update frequently by July. Any way all reviews and criticisms are welcome provided they are constructive and not flames that will be used to cook glorious, glorious bacon for my enjoyment.

Edited: 13 June 2013