BEFORE WE BEGIN!

Hey, everyone! This is Autobot Guardian and my good friend, 1000anime!

To start things off, Autobot Guardian only just recently started to watch the Naruto series, so most of the stuff that is based off of canon has been checked by 1000anime, who has been AWESOME with helping write this story! Also, just so we don't have to repeat ourselves, we don't. Own. Naruto.

…. But we wish we did.

Anyway, we only own the OCs, the stuff that's not in canon, and the weirdness that comes straight out of AG's head. Luckily, I have my friend to help me tone down the weirdness that is just entirely not possible… but trust me, it's gonna get weirder after about chapter 15 or so. And especially after the 20th chapter or so… I don't really know when the really weird stuff starts, because we didn't number these chapters in the original document.

Also, a little warning, we ARE going to change the main point of view at some parts, since the imagination doesn't always like the same viewpoint over and over again. And also, for those who have read Autobot Guardian's stories before, you probably know what happens to her favorites, and you better pray for both Kakashi and Shikamaru.

Anyway, please enjoy Falling Leaves, and PLEASE leave reviews! Are we crazy? Is it just purely funny? Are there any parts that you guys don't really like that much? Please let us know!

ENJOY THE STORY!

FOUND

A white-haired young woman looked around, poking her head out of her house at night, and slowly crept outside, watching for anyone who might spot her. She had been very curious about the borders of their lands, and she had heard from the scouts of the Uma and Washi tribes of their family that there had been battles recently between the other lands.

'I wonder if I'll find anyone out there… I hope I don't run into anyone hostile… but I want to see the moon…' she thought to herself, as she slipped through the mist of the village like a white shadow, soon reaching the forest.

When she reached the creek that ran through the forest, she waded into it until the water came up over her ankles, tilting her head back to look up at the full moon and the stars. It was beautiful, and the forest around her was so quiet…

Then, she felt some unusual ripples in the water over her skin, and she looked around for the source… and saw a man floating down the creek. His silver hair seemed to shine in the moonlight, and he was face-up, blood running down the left side of his face.

"A warrior…" she said softly, hiking up the skirt of her pure white robes to wade out to the man, wondering if he was alive or not. Most likely not. "I wonder what side he was on…"

The man was clothed in darker colors, and had a mask over most of his face and a torn headband that hung loosely over his forehead. The mask had a slice through it, and it prevented her from seeing what his entire face looked like.

After tying her skirt up so she could use both hands, the young woman gently wrapped her arms around the man's chest under his shoulders and pulled him over to the riverbank, laying him down on the grass under one of the trees. She placed two of her fingers against the pulse point in his neck, and her eyes widened.

"He's alive…" she whispered in wonder, then started to check the man's injuries, not caring about the red that was starting to stain her long white sleeves, moving his headband aside to get a better view of the injury to his face as well. There was a large gash across his chest, and she found a kunai stuck in his right side, which she immediately removed. She also found a senbon needle in his left leg, and removed that as well. Then, she heard him moan softly, and she took in a soft breath in shock, going to lean over him and look at his face. "Sir? Can you hear me?"

His eyes, one a dark slate gray and the other red with three tomoe around the pupil, opened up slightly, and he gazed up at her with an uncomprehending gaze, disoriented and confused. Then, softly, he heard him say, "Wh-who…?"

"Shhh… I'm Aoi Hakucho… I want to help you, just relax…" she said soothingly to him, putting a gentle hand on the side of his face as she spoke. "You're going to be alright…"

The man said nothing, his eyes closing once more, and Aoi looked around to try to find some way to bring him back to her village. Suddenly, the sound of twigs snapping caused her to look up sharply, and she saw a heavyset man with a large sword and a scar across his face enter the small clearing near the creek, a grin on his face.

"Just step away from the Copy-Ninja, missy," he said, his dark eyes glittering with malice, "I'll finish him off soon enough…"

Aoi's ice-blue eyes narrowed, as she moved to stand between this newcomer and the man she had pulled from the creek, her skirt still tied up so that it hung just above her knees, a little longer on the left side.

"Who are you?! What do you want with this man?!" she demanded, and he laughed, laughed, at her!

"He's from Leaf Village; my nation's enemies. Now, I say again, step aside, and I will deal with him swiftly," the swordsman said, bringing his sword down off of his back, but Aoi went into a defensive position, reaching into her large sleeves and pulling out a pair of large, folded shurikens, unfolding them in front of herself with her arms crossed.

"If you want this man… you'll have to go through me," she said, and he chuckled darkly.

"Suit yourself."

He charged, faster than she had expected, and swung his sword, which she barely blocked with the shuriken in her right hand, and she swung at him with the shuriken in her left, but he quickly jumped away, readying his sword again. When he swung, she was too slow to fully stop it. The blade cut shallowly into her right shoulder, and she let out a cry of pain and fury, swinging at him with the shuriken in her left hand, but he jumped away once more, smirking.

"Give up, girlie. I'd hate to have to leave more scars on such a beauty…" he said, and she glared at him.

"And leave a man to die? Fat chance," she spat at him, and he laughed at her, but the laugh was cut off by a cry of pain, as a kunai came out of nowhere and stabbed into his left shoulder! "What the-"

"Aoi, are you alright?" Aoi looked at the new arrival in shock, recognizing him as one of the Tora tribe in her village. He was a few years older than herself at twenty-one years old, standing at about six feet tall, and he wore a black leather tunic and knee-length leggings, his arms and legs covered by a tiger hide. His hair was black with some white streaks, and his eyes were a fiery amber color.

"Takeshi! How did you-" she started to ask, and he gave her a feral grin.

"The Washi clan told me you had snuck out, and they sent me to make sure you were safe. Didn't expect to find you had made a friend," he said jokingly, pulling out six more kunai from pouches on his hips.

"Yeah, well, he's not a very good friend," she said, smirking while holding her injured shoulder. She backed up to kneel next to the man she had pulled from the creek, as Takeshi got between her and the man attacking them.

"New guy or not, you're not going to stop me from finishing that Copy-Ninja off!" the sword-wielding ninja bellowed, and Takeshi glanced behind him to see Aoi now kneeling next to the unconscious man, and then looked back at the attacker.

"If Aoi wants to keep him safe, then I will help her." he stated, crossing his arms in front of him with the kunai held between his fingers, "And our people don't like trespassers."

With that, the Tiger-Ninja lunged at the swordsman, and within a few minutes, the attacker lay dead on the ground, kunai sticking out of his chest, back, and skull. Takeshi turned back to Aoi, and knelt down with her next to the unconscious man with silver hair.

"Who is this?"

"I… I don't know…" she admitted, as she gently peeled the soaked fabric of the man's shirt aside to look at the chest injury, "I found him in the creek… I just… I couldn't leave him to die…"

To her surprise, he smiled at her, putting a hand on her uninjured shoulder. "I understand… Come, I'll help you get him back to the village for medical treatment."

"Thank you…" the two of them picked the man up together, and carried him through the forest towards their hidden village…

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When Aoi and Takeshi arrived with the injured man to their village, the sun was beginning to rise as they were met by a man who looked a lot like the young woman, but his eyes were pale silver instead of ice blue that held behind them wisdom far past his forty-eight years.

His gaze was first met by his daughter and the Tiger-like man, but quickly followed to the unconscious ninja between them. "Aoi, Takeshi, what have you done!? You brought an outsider into our home! You know what will happen to him when the elders hear about this-"

"Father, I want to help this man," the white-haired woman said, her ice-blue eyes pleading as she supported the silver-haired man's shoulders, "I found him in the creek, severely wounded… Please, Father… at least let me tend to his wounds until he can properly meet the Five Elders…" Her shoulders were tense as silence was held between the parent and child; Takeshi standing by in respect of their conversation as the members of the village present stood still as they awaited their leader's final say in the matter.

"Very well… but the man will stay in a separate housing from the rest of our village. I can tell from his attire he is a Shinobi; they are by far the deadliest breed known to our clan…"

"Father… when he woke briefly after I found him… he did nothing. He… he seemed to trust me, Father…" Aoi looked down at the unconscious man, her ice-blue eyes shining with unshed tears. "He willingly put his life in the hands of a stranger…"

The older man motioned for another two men to take the ninja's body from Aoi's support to a shed that was currently not being used for food storage. "That's probably because of how much blood he lost, Aoi… the fact he did nothing in the state he's currently in is no surprise. What would truly be a miracle would be if he did not tell a soul about this place; Shinobi answer to a higher power, and to lie to their superior is crime punishable by death.. Especially in times of war like they are now."

"At least give him a chance, Father…" Aoi pleaded, as she watched the man's body be escorted to a shed near the edge of the village, "You never know until you try…"

Seeing how his daughter would not drop the subject, a deep sigh left his lips as he nodded. "Very well… He will be given that chance when he goes before the Elders. For now, he will be able to regain the strength he lost-" His words were interrupted as his eyes narrowed on the arm Aoi was holding, a shallow stain of red that stood stark from her white clothes. "And I will see to that myself… Shallow though that may be, wounds like that can still get infected if not treated immediately."

"Father, the man I saved did not do this…" she said, glancing at her injured shoulder, "It was another man who sought to kill him. I was already determined to keep the man alive; I defended him. Takeshi finished him off; his body is near the creek."

"Good riddance then. His body shall be left for the vultures to pick apart…"

"Father!" Aoi gasped, her eyes wide in shock. "Did you forget that you taught me that the deceased, no matter who they may be, should be treated with respect?!"

"Then whoever he is allied with can take his body back with them. Where one spider web lies, the spider is undoubtedly close by…"

"And if he was alone?"

"Huh… you are too much like your mother, you know that? If no one has come to take his body by tomorrow's moon, then I'll send a message to Katsuo Tora for his clan to retrieve his body and bury it somewhere. That way they can pick through his belongings if anything is of value."

"Well… he had a rather large sword…" Aoi said offhandedly, tapping one finger against her chin.

"Then the Tiger tribe will have a good harvest… their tribe is the most battle-thirsty people I have ever met…" And with that, the Swan tribal leader ushered his daughter to their home as the sun rose above them, unknowingly triggering a sequence of events that would later affect their lives as they knew it...