Prologue
He stood there, peering into the gates. Curiosity had brought him here many times along his path home from the Academy, and today was another such day. Several large houses stood in range of sight, but what lie beyond that, who knew? The signs around this estate indicated that he should beware: "Entrance forbidden." "Keep out." "No trespassing." He had started to notice over the years that people walked past this stretch of road nervously, not stopping or looking in that direction. One man, however, was sometimes seen passing into or out of the gate. At least, he was fairly sure that it was the same man each time. Excepting that, the land was left alone.
Peering in…the boy took a step forward. He couldn't stop himself from wondering, "Just what could be back there?" Looking in both directions, the road seemed empty. So he walked through the gates.
Now inside, he wandered between complex rows of large houses. The place looked rather like just another street in the heart of the village. Sunshine created shadows in the walkways between buildings, but showed an open, warm, green landscape. Over small fields, in and out of spaces between these grand homes, the academy boy weaved and roamed. What had he discovered? Another lost village? Where had all the people gone, and why was this land forbidden? It appeared to be a lovely place to live…
Movement flashed by in the corner of his vision. He kept walking down the grassy lane, but again he saw a human figure zip out of one house and into another. The figure appeared several more times. Suddenly, he realized he had forgotten about the odd man who sometimes walked to this abandoned estate. "That must be him," he thought, "right? But then what does the man do here? Is he curious, like I am? Is he a thief of some sort? Or is there some other reason?" Zipping by again, he noticed it was definitely a ninja, an adult. The boy started to wonder whether he'd put himself in danger this time, and came over another gentle hill. Then, he spotted something a short distance away. The ninja figure stood on the porch of one house, and was staring straight at him. Dark-haired, with deep-colored cloak tied at the waist, he stood in the shade, but his eyes glowed unmistakably. Two red glowing eyes held him to the spot. "What is he going to do? Does he mean me harm?" Somehow, the boy understood that this stare was a warning from the unknown ninja: Stay away.
In the next moment, he found himself standing in the center of Konoha's busy marketplace, with people chatting and moving about, shops and carts on both sides of the street. He felt tired, as if just waking up from a dream. "How did I get here?" Maybe he'd been sleepwalking or something. The last thing he remembered had been exploring the abandoned estate, then just opening his eyes… Had it just been a dream?
When he finally arrived home, he had to think of how to explain that he was 45 minutes late; had fallen asleep on the way here, sleepwalked the wrong direction, and then had to walk home a second time. "Good going," he told himself.
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This is, indeed, my first story on here, and I really don't write fiction much at all. So I worry that the story may not flow as well as it could... but anyway, go ahead and comment if the need strikes you. :)
I am starting this story because I have always wanted to read one with this theme, but have never found one. So, I'm going to try it myself, I guess. Sometimes, I like to keep surprises in my story, but some may be more obvious than others.