Note: This is a Naruto-Based Fiction! It does not use any of the characters or locations from the Anime!
Path of a Ninja
Chapter 1 - Travels
INTRO
Three days. It had been three days since they received word of the tragedy, and Joel still couldn't believe it. His father, Toshiro Shinatai, was a former shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Mountains. He had been traveling the country-side when a group of enemy ninja attacked and killed him. Joel was seventeen. Joel had been his fathers greatest pride and joy, a well-known and respected ANBU member in the Village Hidden in the Mountains. His mother still lived in the Village but he refused to see her. Joel knew she was in mourning but the similarities between him and his father would only bring her more grief. In every way he could think of his father had been his friend.
Joel walked down the road with his blade on his back. The countries were at war, Heat, Mountain, Stone, Shore, and Tree. Tree had chosen to remain neutral but it didn't benefit them either way. They were constantly receiving threats from villages about joining sides, due to them being in the middle of the map. Joel sat on a cliff looking down to the trees on the rocky outcrops. The mountain Village was located on a high peak, though it wasn't very cold. When he thought of his father He couldn't come to bear the image in his mind. His smiling father always sent pictures of places he'd been to and things he saw. Joel stood up, reasoning slamming him in the head. He would leave the Village, and he would walk his own path, the path of his father.
PART 1
Joel paced his bags and made his way to the Village gates. It was night and the moon shone in the air. He carried his father's Chokuto on his back, his most prized possession. He didn't want to be seen and luck was in his favor. When a cloud passed over the moon blocking out the light, Joel Shinatai Rionn left the Village Hidden in the Mountains.
Joel walked down the beaten trail resting every few miles. He was heading to "The Pendulum" a landmark near the Shore Village. He knew it was enemy territory, but his father always spoke of it, and it was his dream to go there. As Joel continued to walk, his pack bouncing with every step, the sun soon fell, and Joel slept for the night.
When he woke up he packed his bag and began to walk. It was a few days journey to the Village, but he knew that it wouldn't be easy. After two days time, Joel had arrived.
PART 2
Joel sat in a tree looking at the sky. The moon hung in the air over a calm breeze. "The Pendulum" sat on the hill below him, and it was like nothing he'd ever seen. A river flowed down the hill pushing the contraptions back and forth into each other; when a rock was pushed by the water, it hit the other and made it come back. The never ending cycle showed how effects on change could never stop, like a set of dominoes with no end.
He slowly climbed down the tree and laid himself down on the soft lush grass. He watched the stars twinkle in the night air, the embers of the fire slowly dimming. He would set off for the Snow country in two days, and as he traveled through these landmarks, he hoped to avenge his father.
Joel fell asleep hearing a sizzle from the fire as the last charcoal died out. His eyes were closed and he was curled up on the hillside, under the stars. He was still only seventeen, but that meant nothing to him. He would avenge his Father, and walk his path. As Joel slept that night many other things were happening in the Villages. The Mountain Village had located Joel, and so did every one else.
PART 3
Joel woke up early as the fog rolled in, and he felt out of place. His camp looked like it was raided, and several of his items were strewn across the ground. Joel immediately jumped upwards to look for the predator, but something caught his eye. His camp had been rigged with explosives, and he just tripped a wire.
He had only a second to jump backwards to escape the explosion. His personal effects, scrolls, and weapons were intact, he had placed a Precaution on them. But as for the rest of his temporary "home", the ashes were all that remained.
Joel, now both wary of attack and hungry, began to walk towards a neighboring village. He had no money, no food, and now, no place to sleep. As Joel walked through the old mill town it seemed that this part of the town was abandoned. He began to scavenge what he could as he continued along his path, hoping to find another village. Thats when Joel was attacked.
PART 4
It had happened when he was walking down the dirt road. The town he had traveled to was being used as a hideout for a local gang of thugs. When he passed through they found him in the bounty list and hunted him down. He was walking down the path when suddenly a rope caught his foot and pulled him into a tree.
The gang was well prepared however because he couldn't escape. They had placed jutsus making him unable to cut the rope normally, and he wasn't in a position to focus chakra. It was then that he was saved. A young hunter, no older then fifteen, shot a charged chakra bolt through the wire from his bow. Landing on all fours, Joel looked to his savior. He jumped up, and the gang began to surround him. Charging his hands with energy he began to prepare for a taijutsu attack, but the biggest members of the gang had clubs. Spiked, clubs. He tried to dodge but to no avail. He took a cut to his jaw, and a blow to his side, but he got his chance. Seizing an opening he lunged forward and using his wind-based chakra, he launched them back, and stuck them to a wall. He refused to unnecessarily kill someone.PART 5
His name was Hiroku. He was fifteen and a half, with short brown hair and light green eyes. He carried his treasured bow upon his back, his brown clothes dangling loosely. He smiled and shook Joel's hand, excepting his invitation to join him.
That night Joel sat around the fire, bandages on his side. They had set some protections around the site, they didn't want surprises tomorrow. As Joel and Hiroku watched the flames the boy began to grow curious.
"Whats in the Snow Country?" he asked, a grin creeping onto his face.
Joel pushed the hair out of his face and leaned back onto the grass. "A wind tunnel." he replied. "In the Snow country there is a Volcano, and even though it is dormant, it produces a vast amount of heat. Since it only releases a small amount of heat in one area, and can quickly be cooled by the freezing temperatures. However, the point where the air escapes releases at such a high pressure of air that as the heat rises, you can actually float in the cavern." he paused, "That only my father has been to."
And that was the end of the conversation. Hiroku knew not to pursue it farther for the night, so they put out the fire, and fell asleep.
PART 6
They got up early and packed the camping equipment. They traveled for four days before they arrived in the Land of Snow.
"Its so beautiful!" Hiroku exclaimed, sticking out his tongue.
Joel was about to agree, but then he noticed something. The snow had dark spots, and they were black with soot.
"The Volcano..."
