Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise nor do I make any money off of my work. This is done entirely for fun.
I apologize if there are any spelling errors, grammatical errors, inconsistent plot points or words where they don't belong. I don't have any beta reader so I just have to do my best. If anyone wants to beta read for me, send me a private message. It may take a while for me to respond but I'll get back to you.
This story is almost completely non-cannon. It will have some brushes with some cannon arc and you might hear of some cannon events but expect things to go differently. Characters will also be different from how they act in cannon. You have been warned.
I want to give credit to the story that inspired me to write this story.
N of Kumo by NinjaRiderWriter
It's a great story and if you hadn't read it already you should.
I want to warn everyone that updates will be sporadic. I will try to update at least twice a month if not every week but due to events in my life I may not be able to keep any schedule. Sorry.
I also want to warn everyone that while I have definite events that I want to happen, I have no clear ending in mind. I will do my best to finish this but I may not be able to. That being said, I can definitely see the this lasting for quite some time with the events I have in mind.
Naruto might get super powerful but I will try to keep him from becoming a Gary-su.
Reviews are welcome, they help me become a better writer. That being said this is my first attempt at fan fiction so bear with me.
_A Kumo Ninja_
Naruto was hungry. This was unfortunately not a rare state of being for him. Naruto was usually hungry not because he had a fast metabolism or because he was on a diet, but because it was almost impossible for him to get food in the first place.
Stores and restaurants refused to serve him so he had to find food for himself. This caused another problem in that every time he found food someplace, he could never find food there again.
He had thought that it was just bad luck the first few times it had happened but after a month he had known that someone was doing it deliberately. He did not known who was making sure to clean out anyplace he had found food in but they were entirely to successful. No matter how sneaky he tried to be, if he found food he would never find it there again.
What Naruto did not know was that he was completely correct in his guess. Due to the unusual circumstances around his birth he was hated by large portions of the village. Due to the third Hokage's tenuous protection no one could really harm Naruto.
Instead a group on shinobi followed Naruto around whenever they were off duty and reported places where Naruto found food to civilians who would then clear them out.
More unfortunately for Naruto, they were very successful. Naruto had not eaten in three days, longer than he had ever gone without food before. He had considered just letting himself die but the pain in his stomach had overcome his fledgling suicidal thoughts and had driven him to look for food once more.
Distracted by the hunger he felt, he did not notice when he stumbled out from the alley he had been looking in into the main streets of his village. Naruto did however notice when he walked into someone on the street because he bounced off and landed on the ground.
Wincing Naruto looked up at the woman he had just bumped into and flinched when he noticed the woman was wearing a hitai-ate. A hitai-ate meant the woman was a kunoichi and kunoichi's could give the most painful beatings when provoked.
What Naruto did not see however was that the hitai-ate did not have a leaf emblem to represent Konohagakure. Instead it had a cloud emblem to represent Kumogakure.
The woman Naruto had run into was in fact a kunoichi from Kumogakure, sent as part of an envoy to try to make a more lasting peace between the two villages. The woman was annoyed that someone had run into her and turned to yell at whoever had hit her. When she finished turning however she froze.
Sitting there on the street was a young boy who looked barely old enough to walk. He wore what looked like a bunch of rags tied together in a cruel parody of a kimono. He was covered in bruises and garbage only some of which looked new.
While the life of a shinobi was hard, and the kunoichi had seen and done many things that made the things done to the child seem like a blessing, something about hurt children always tugged on her heart.
The kunoichi crouched down so she was on the same level as the child. She reached out to him but paused as he flinched. After a moment she continued to reach out. She gently turned his face towards hers and frowned at the fear she saw on his face.
"Hey now, there is no need to be afraid. It was just an accident."
Naruto froze in shock. First this woman had not hit him like everyone else would have. Then she had looked at him with an expression of concern, quite unlike the barely concealed fear, anger and disgust he was used to. He had absolutely no idea how to deal with this situation.
"Are you alright? You didn't hurt yourself running into me did you?"
The question caught him off guard. No one ever bothered to ask if he was alright. Unsure what to do with the strange situation, and already weakened from hunger, Naruto did the only thing he still could, he fainted.
The woman watched the expressions flicker across the young boy's face before he fainted and frowned at what she had seen. She glanced around the street to see if anyone would help but noticed that everyone was either ignoring the boy or looked like they wanted to hurt him. Her frown deepening she decided that she couldn't leave the boy there alone.
After another moment of thought she picked up the boy. He was unnaturally light to her even though she had to admit that she had never held a boy of his age before. After another glance at the people around her she decided to bring the boy to the hotel she was staying at. She hoped the team leader and the team medic would know what to do.
_ Scene Break _
Mabui, the kunoichi who had picked up Naruto earlier glanced up as she heard a door open. C, the team medic, looked over at her.
"Well, how is he?"
C frowned as he thought about what he had found.
"Frankly, I'm amazed he is still alive."
Mabui's eyes widened in shock.
"Really, he didn't look that bad to me. Roughed up a lot but not almost dead.
C nodded in agreement.
"You're right. He is only roughed up a lot. On anyone else though he would be near death. The most pressing problem was starvation. It looks like he hadn't eaten in at least two days and only sporadically over the past few months. What he has managed to eat seems to have been garbage and I'm amazed that he doesn't have any diseases considering how he had been living. On top of all that he is malnourished, has three cracked ribs, a sprained ankle, bruising over large parts of his body, and some large if shallow cuts that I'm amazed aren't infected."
Mabui blinked at that. That really did sound very serious, much more serious than what she had thought when she had brought him in.
"Do you know why he is in such good condition?" asked B from behind her. Mabui almost jumped at being sneaked up on but managed to hide her reaction.
C frowned but replied. "Not really. I can say it definitely wasn't medicine or medical chakra. If I had to guess I'd say it's some kind of Kekkei Genkai.
B perked up at that. "Really? A has been telling me to look for Kekkei Genkai that we can add to our village. If he really does have one and he really is treated as poorly as it seems he is we may be able to get him to defect."
Mabui perked up at that. She had felt sorry for him and had been racking her brains to see if there had been any way she could have helped him. This offer was far more than she had been expecting, although a Kekkei Genkai was also more than she had been expecting.
C was also pleased with this turn of events, as a healer he hated seeing anyone in pain, especially children, but also decided to be a voice of reason.
"Well I will have to do more tests to determine if it really is a Kekkei Genkai and not just luck. We also have to talk to him before we can say if he'll defect or not."
B nodded his head at C's words. "I understand. When do you think he'll wake up?"
C frowned in thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not sure how long he would normally rest but sleep isn't really helping him so you can wake him up anytime you want. Just make sure he eats before you question him, I've left some beef broth in there for him."
B nodded and motioned for Mabui to follow him into the bedroom where the boy rested. B turned to Mabui and motioned for her to move to the child's side.
"I'll let you be the one to talk to him because you're the one he remembers." B paused for a moment before continuing. "I know you are looking for a way to help the kid and I even agree with your sentiment so I'll make this offer, if you can get him willing to defect, I'll let him come along Kekkei Genkai or not."
Mabui looked shocked for a moment and B laughed gently. "Am I really such a demon that you look shocked when I do something nice?"
Mabui began to stammer a denial and apology but B waved her away. "I'm just joking. It's no problem. Besides, A did tell me to try to get some people to defect, this just makes it easier for me to do."
Mabui nodded her head and seeing that B was finished reached down to try to wake the child.
Naruto woke in a daze. He was warm and laying on something soft, feelings he had almost forgotten. He shifted slightly, reveling in the softness and warmth he was feeling before he smelled something that was better that softness and warmth. He went to sit up but was stopped by a gentle hand on his chest.
His eyes quickly followed the hand upwards to see the kunoichi he had run into earlier smiling at him. Her most distinguishing feature was long white hair that was held away from her face with the Haiti-ate he had seen before. In her right hand was a bowl of steaming soup which seemed to be giving off the smell he had noticed before.
Sitting behind the woman, near the window of the room he was in, was a large scarred man with dark skin. He was dressed in white, unlike any shinobi he had seen before. Naruto's eyes quickly tracked back to the soup the woman held, dismissing the man as unimportant for now. The woman noticed his gaze and quickly brought the soup down so he could reach it.
"Slowly. You haven't eaten in a while and if you eat to quickly you'll get sick. Don't worry, you will get all you can eat."
Naruto glanced at the woman warily but nodded. He had learned never to turn down free food, even if it was poisoned it wouldn't effect him. Reaching out slowly he took a spoonful of the soup and began to eat. The woman watched him for a moment, checking to see if he was following her instructions before nodding. After a few moments of him eating she began to speak.
"My name is Mabui and I'm a kunoichi of Kumogakure, behind me is B also from Kumogakure. What's your name?"
Naruto froze for a moment, spoon halfway to his mouth. They didn't know who he was. If he told them would they stop being so nice? Then he remembered that they said they were from Kumogakure. They might be different and if he didn't tell them they would probably stop being nice.
After a moment Naruto moved again to take his next sip. After another moment of thinking he decided to reply.
"Naruto Uzumaki. Citizen of Konohagakure I guess, but I want to be a shinobi some day."
Mabui did not react to his name at all. She just smiled at him and began speaking to him again.
"That's good, between you and me, being a shinobi can be really awesome." Left unsaid were all the many times being a shinobi was not awesome, that could come later when it wouldn't do quite so much damage to a child's dreams. "How are you feeling?"
Naruto paused again at this, not because he was afraid to answer but because he was shocked at what his answer was.
"Good. Really good. Better than I have felt in a long time."
Mabui hid her concern at that statement with the ease of long practice.
"Oh? And just how long is that? How old are you?"
Naruto flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and shame but answered any way, after all, these people were nice to him, answering there questions was the least he could do.
"As long as I can remember really, and I'm six years old. My birthday was last month."
Mabui suppressed a frown again. She had thought he was maybe three when she had met him. Being six made the malnutrition and starvation all the more evident.
She saw that he was beginning to get uncomfortable so she switched the topic to something other than him. After a few hours and two more bowls of broth Mabui decided to get a few of the more important questions answered.
"So Naruto, why don't you let us know where your parents are. I'm sure they are getting worried about you and I can send someone to let them know that you're alright."
Naruto looked sad for a moment which answered her question but he confirmed it a moment later.
"Both my parents are dead. I'm an orphan."
Seeing that Naruto was finished speaking she decided to gently push a little. "What about your guardians or the people at the orphanage. You're really young to be on your own for very long."
Naruto looked even more sad but this time his expression was tinged with anger and resentment.
"I have no guardians and the orphanage kicked me out last year. They said they needed the room for kids who had a chance of being adopted." His voice dropped to a whisper that was still easily heard by the shinobi in the room. "Even if they still had two almost empty dormitories and they hadn't gotten any kids in a year."
Behind Mabui, B clenched his hands in anger causing the chair back his hands rested on to grown. Mabui winced at the news despite her best efforts to hold it in. Naruto saw the Kumo shinobi react to his words and cringed in fear. Mabui seeing this motioned for B to calm down.
"I'm sorry Naruto, I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm just angry that anyone could be so cruel to a child. Children are meant to be protected and nurtured whenever possible."
Naruto calmed down at her explanation but continued to look sad. Mabui tried desperately to figure out a way to continue the the conversation naturally so that Naruto didn't figure out that they were looking for information. Luckily for Mabui, C picked that moment to enter the room.
C was an experienced shinobi and could easily read the mood of the room. He realized that the conversation had stalled and decided to start from a new angle.
"Hello young man, my name is C. I am the medic of this team and as you might have guessed I'm the one who has been treating you. Now I've done what I can for now but there are some questions I need answered to make sure that I am not missing anything. Why don't we start with your name?"
Naruto glanced up at the man who claimed to have helped him heal. He was a tall man who appeared to be in his late twenties. He wore baggy, black pants, red and white shin-guards and a sleeveless black shirt. Over his shirt was a white vest that covered his waist and right shoulder. A Kumo Haiti-ate held his blond hair away from his face and finished his outfit.
After another moment Naruto decided that this new man was trustworthy and decided to answer his question.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
C nodded at this information before beginning his questions. "From what I can see the most sever problem you had was starvation. Can you tell me how long it has been since you last had a meal before this one? And what it was you ate too please."
Naruto frowned for a moment but answered anyway.
"Before this soup I hadn't eaten in three days. That's why I bumped into you miss, I was really hungry and I wasn't looking where I was going." Naruto said as an aside to Mabui before finishing answering C's question. "What I ate was some stale bread from trash behind the baker's place. I was lucky, It was only two days old when I found it."
C hid his reaction to that and continued with his questions. "Have you been eating out of the garbage for long? When was the last time you had a meal not out of the garbage? When was the last time where you go three meals a day?"
"I have eaten out of the garbage ever since the orphanage kicked me out a year ago. No stores or restaurants will let me buy anything. Before that I ate what the orphanage gave me but they never gave me three meals, just a bowl of porridge in the morning and sometimes a bowl of rice at night."
C could not believe what he was hearing. Any one else eating like that would be dead from starvation or diseases he had picked up from the garbage. He was tempted to think that the kid was lying to get free food but his years as a medic meant that he could almost always tell when someone lied. Unless this kid had jonin level training on hiding secrets he was telling the truth.
"I also noticed that you had some injuries, some old and some new, care to tell me how you got them and when?"
Naruto frowned for a moment as he tried to figure out which injuries might be considered old.
"I get all my injuries from people beating me up. They know not to go really far but they can usually get away with bruises. If you could still see the bruises I guess the old injuries were from this morning. The new injuries were form some drunk guys in the alley I was in just before I bumped into you."
"What do you mean if we could still see them?"
"I mean that I heal really fast. Bruises are usually gone in a few hours. If you could still see them then that meant it was the beating from this morning and not the one from the previous night."
"Do you get a lot of beatings? Are they usually so brutal?"
"I guess, I usually get a beating three to five times a day. Most people know to stick to bruises and light cuts, anything more or any weapons used makes the animal masked people show up."
C sighed at this information before nodding and doing a medical diagnostic jutsu. After a moment he released the jutsu and addressed Naruto again.
"I don't see anything wrong with you other than the malnutrition and hunger. For now I think you can have some more solid food. B, why don't you help me prepare some food for Naruto."
B nodded and got up. His posture was a little stiff, showing just how angry he was at the information he had heard. B nodded his head and followed C out of the room.
"Well?" B grunted as soon as the door closed. "Is it a kekkei genkai or something else?"
C took a moment to answer, mentally checking his conclusion again to make sure it was sound.
"I'm ninety percent certain he does have a kekkei genkai. If he really is from the Uzumaki clan we even know what kekkei genkai it is."
"Really? What kekkei genkai did the Uzumaki clan have?
"From what I remember of the records we have, the Uzumaki clan kekkei genkai included advanced healing and longer than normal life span. Uzumaki shinobi where strong opponents and I'm sure the Raikage would be pleased to add such a strong kekkei genkai to the village.
B finally smiled for the first time since he had heard just what the child in the next room had endured.
"Alright! Perfect. This means we can take him with very few problems. The people of Kona obviously don't want him and the people of Kumo will be glad to have him."
"Don't get head of yourself. You still need Naruto's cooperation. Despite our best efforts, if he doesn't want to cooperate with us, helping him will be difficult."
B waved of C's concern. "No problem. I'll just let Mabui know that she can keep him and he'll be coming with us in no time."
C shook his head at B's lack of concern but also had to agree that Mabui was very persuasive when she wanted to be. B picked up the bowl rice and salmon that C had prepared for Naruto and reentered the room.
Mabui glanced up as she heard the door open. She saw B entering and hoped that they would be able to help Naruto. Seeing Mabui's look of concern, B smiled at her and nodded his head.
Mabui smiled in return and returned her attention to Naruto. She knew that the smile meant everything was set up on their end, they just needed to convince Naruto to come with them when they left.
B crossed the room and handed the bowl in his hands to Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened at seeing the feast he had been given, and after a quick thank you, began digging in. Mabui smiled at Naruto's enthusiasm before beginning her appeal.
"So Naruto, how do you like Konohagakure?"
Naruto stopped eating for a moment and looked at Mabui as if she was crazy.
"This place? I hate it. Everyone hates me and I have no friends."
"So why don't you leave?"
Naruto continued to look at Mabui as if she was crazy. Why else would she be asking questions with such obvious answers. "Because outside of the village is even more dangerous. Here at least I don't have to deal with bandits."
Mabui nodded in thought for a moment before continuing. "If you could leave Konohagakure but not have to worry about bandits, to a place where you could make friends, a place where you always got enough to eat, a place where you could learn to protect yourself from any harm, would you?"
Naruto started nodding madly before she even finished the question. What kind of question was that, of course he would go to a place where he wasn't hungry or hurt all the time. Just in case she didn't get his message he answered out loud.
"Of course I would go!"
"Well then, It's lucky that I know just such a place."
Naruto's eyes widened and try as he might, he couldn't crush the flicker of hope that appeared in his chest.
"Really?" He whispered, scared to raise his voice in case the noise would cause the offer to disappear. "Where?"
Mabui smiled down at him before replying. "Kumogakure of course. If you came to Kumo there would be no body who would harm you, you would always get enough to eat, you would even be able to make friends."
Naruto's chest felt tight, the small glimmer of hope began to swell making his chest feel like it was going to burst.
"At Kumo you could even learn to be a shinobi, to fulfill that dream of yours."
Naruto could barely contain himself. He wanted to believe that his life could get better. He wanted to crush the desperate hope he had to protect himself from being let down.
"Really?"
"Really, Really." Mabui replied with a kind smile.
It was to much. The feeling in his chest seemed to burst. Tears poured down his face and he wasn't quite sure why they were there. He wanted to accept the offer with his entire body but he couldn't seem to stop crying to answer.
A moment later he was engulfed in another sensation that he knew was unfamiliar with. It was warm and snug against his whole body. He opened his eyes, not remembering when they had closed, to see that Mabui was hugging him. After a moment of shock he lunged forward and began to hug her to, just like all the children he saw hugged there parents.
As she continued hugging him he finally worked up enough control to begin nodding. "I'd like that a lot." he whispered, so softly she might have missed it without shinobi training.
"Well then, that's what we will do."
The two stayed there hugging each other tightly. B just smiled and left the room to give the two some privacy. Seeing C look up he nodded his head in conformation. C smiled and sat back down to his work.
After half an hour Naruto fell asleep, exhausted from the emotions, crying, warmth and full stomach. Mabui left the room to talk about the details of bringing Naruto to Kumo with B and C.
"How's he doing?"
"Alright. He's asleep now. I guess the day just caught up to him. We should be quick though, I want to be in the room with him when he wakes up, so he doesn't freak out."
B smirked at her defensive words but decided to let her slide with no teasing.
"What worries me most is the 'animal masked people'. No doubt those are ANBU. If they decide to intervene there could be problems."
The three were silent for a moment thinking about the problem before C slowly began to think out loud.
"I don't think that will be an issue. He said they only showed up when the beatings got to bad, they didn't stop any of the treatment or help him when he was eating garbage. That means they have orders to protect him but don't actually like him or want to do there job."
Mabui picked up his line of thought when he trailed off.
"That makes sense. No ANBU tried to stop me from taking him into the hotel, its like they don't care what happens to him. I mean, a foreign shinobi taking a kid into a hotel is cause for concern if anyone cared."
C had used the time Mabui was speaking to finish ordering his thoughts and finished with his conclusion.
"That must mean that the ANBU are hoping we get rid of him in some way. They won't interfere unless they are ordered to and they'll probably help us by not informing superiors or lying."
B spoke up with another worry.
"What if their superiors catch them anyway? I want to help the kid but I don't want to start a war if I can help it."
Mabui suddenly smiled as a plan came together in her mind.
"And we won't. We just have to be sneaky about how we do this. But that won't be a problem, shinobi are supposed to be sneaky, right?"
_ Scene Break _
Naruto woke with a start. For a moment he thought that everything that had happened to him was a dream and it almost broke his heart. Then he began to register what he was feeling warm and full, sensations that he had not felt in a long time. After another moment he opened his eyes.
Looking down at him was that woman from before, Mabui. She smiled when she saw he was awake and began to speak softly to him.
"Hey sleepyhead, how do you feel?"
"Good, happy."
"That's good. Do you remember my offer earlier?"
Naruto began to nod before freezing. Did he tell her yes? Was the offer still open if he hadn't? What if they were not willing to help him anymore? Right before he could build himself into a panic, Mabui's voice caused him to calm down.
"Hey, no need to worry. We'll help you get to Kumo. I was just asking because I need to tell you how were going to do it."
Taking a few deep calming breaths, Naruto felt his heart begin to slow down. Then he remembered something she had just said and asked for some clarification.
"What do you mean how we're going to do it? Don't we just leave and go to Kumo?"
"Not really. It is difficult for members of a hidden village to move to a different hidden village, just incase they had any secret information they can give away. Getting permission will take time we don't have so we'll have to be sneaky about it. Just think of it as your first mission as a shinobi, leaving an enemy occupied territory with valuable assets."
"Awesome! My first mission and I'm not even a shinobi yet. I can't wait!" He said excitedly before pausing in embarrassment. "Um. Mabui-Chan? What's an asset?"
Mabui chuckled at his enthusiasm. "An asset can be important information, such as battle plans or tactics or items of value. Basically it's anything that helps you or your side."
"Oh sure. That makes sense. Thanks."
"No problem. Now then listen carefully because this is the plan we're using to get you out of here. The first thing is that we can't let you stay with us at the hotel. If we did it would make it obvious what happened and then someone could try to take you back. Any questions so far?"
"No I understand. If I am near you too often they'll know where to look to find me."
"Right. But we also can't let you live on the street for the next week until we're scheduled to leave so we rented an apartment under an assumed name in a run down part of the city. You can stay there until we leave. Don't worry about food or keeping it safe, we'll supply food and traps so you can live with no worries. I'll draw you a map when you have to go. Any questions?"
"If anyone see's me in the apartment won't that cause problems?"
"Good point. Before you leave C will give you some lessons on disguises. You can leave here as Naruto, run around to confuse anyone following you, put on a disguise and go to the apartment. Just be sure to move around outside of the apartment as Naruto for a little while each day."
"Alright! My first shinobi skill! Don't worry, I'll be the best at sneaking, hiding and disguises, just you wait!"
Mabui smiled at his obvious joy before continuing her instructions.
"Alright, I believe you. Now, we are scheduled to leave at noon on Monday, one week from now. On that Monday I want you to pack up all the supplies you don't use into the big backpack that's in the apartment. You can use the small backpack for whatever you have that want to take with you or think will be useful. Then I want you to leave the village through the south gate at ten. Leave the big backpack in the apartment, C will pick it up. Any questions?"
"What do I do when I leave the village? And what do I do if they don't let me leave?"
"Excellent questions Naruto! Those are the kinds of questions a shinobi needs to ask on missions. With that kind of thinking you'll go far."
"Now, to answer your questions. When you leave the village just walk along the road. I'll be along to pick you up when the shinobi that are sent to watch us leave. That means I'll probably get to you at around one. If they don't let you leave you can hide in an outgoing cart. The guards don't bother to check outgoing carts. Anything else?"
Naruto silently shook his head, still blushing and unable to speak because of the compliment.
"Alright then. You rest in here and I'll send in C to begin teaching you. And because I won't see you again until we meet on the road, I want to say good luck."
Naruto smiled brightly at Mabui as she got up and left the room.
"Thanks Mabui-Chan, I won't let you down. You can count on that."
_ Scene Break _
Naruto hummed happily to himself as he walked down the road. The past week had been amazing for him. He had warm food three times a day, hot showers for as long as he wanted and a soft, safe place to sleep.
The treatment he had to endure whenever he was out on the street had been even worse for him after he had someone treat him kindly but he had tolerated it by thinking about his new life, his first shinobi mission and his thought that it was hilarious how easy it was to fool the villagers of Konoha and had spent his last week pranking as many people as he could.
Naruto had thought it would be difficult to leave the village but it really wasn't. The moment he had told the gate guard he was leaving they let him through. One of the gate guards even gave him two hundred Ryō and a kunai when he promised he wouldn't come back.
But now none of that mattered. He was free from the village. He never had to deal with there hate or abuse ever again. He felt as if he was beginning a new life and in a way he was.
He checked the position of the sun and guessed that it was close to one. He smiled as he realized that he would meet Mabui soon. He had missed her during the week in the apartment but he had followed her instructions exactly.
Naruto heard a rustling from the woods next to the road. He turned, his smile getting brighter as his thoughts became reality. He smile crashed a moment later when three large men walked out of the woods instead of Mabui.
The three men looked quite rough, like some of the poorer drunks in Konoha. They were dressed in simple brown cloths that looked like they had been burlap sacks in their previous lives. What really caught his attention however were the weapons each man held.
The man on the left was the biggest of the three. He had a swollen nose that looked like it had been broken one to many times and carried a large, crude club. The man in the middle was shorter than his companions and looked heavier than the other two combined. To Naruto, he looked a little like a bowling ball with stumpy arms and legs. He carried a spear that was taller than he was. The man on the right's only distinguishing feature was that he was bald. He was armed with what looked like a farmer's kama.
The bald man stepped forward, gave a sinister smile and began to speak.
"Well, well, well. Wha' do we ha' here? Wha' ya doin' walkin' down this ere' road?"
Naruto gulped and tried to figure out what he was going to do. He quickly realized his only real option was to hope Mabui arrived. With that conclusion Naruto tried to stall for time.
"I'm just going to another village. My village didn't like me very much."
The man grinned in what was supposed to be disarming manner but actually just looked sickly.
"Tha's jus' to bad. Now, ya look like a nice enough boy so I'll jus tell it to ya straight. This here road gotsa toll. Tha toll is anytin we want from ya pack. So why don you just put ya pack on tha grounds so we cans take the toll."
Naruto was freaking out. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to stall for very long. He also knew that he couldn't let his pack fall into enemy hands. A good shinobi doesn't lose assets or mission objectives. Finally he decided on a course of action. His heart beat slowed and he felt himself calm down.
A moment later Naruto removed the bag and placed it on the ground. The bald man smiled and motioned for the other two to search the bag. The two men moved closer to his bag. They reached his bag and the bowling ball man kneeled down to open it up.
The man's hand finished undoing the clasp that held the pack shut his hand reached out to grab the material and time froze. Naruto had all the time in the world to think. He wished Mabui was here, thought it was strange that he wasn't feeling nervous, thought that the trees were too green for this time of year and began planning another prank for the next citizen of Kona he met.
Finally the man opened the backpack and time reversed direction. There was a loud Bang and the bowling ball man fell backwards, his hands clutching his eyes.
Naruto rushed forward, pulling the kunai from the pocket he had hidden it in. He lashed out at the man with the broken nose, scoring a long, thin cut down his leg before he reached the downed man.
Putting his entire body into it he struck at the downed man with his kunai, driving it fairly deeply into the back of his leg. Using both hands he was able to pull the kunai back out and turn it towards the man he had hurt before.
The man with the broken nose rushed forward, club raised high. Naruto raised his kunai in a desperate defense. Luckily for Naruto the now thrashing bowling ball man chose that moment to roll over.
The man's sudden movement placed his legs right in the path of the charging man. The man couldn't avoid his partner's legs causing him to trip. The man smashed into Naruto's raised kunai, tearing it from his grip.
Everyone except the bowling ball man froze. Naruto's kunai was embedded to the ring in the mans right eye, his weight driving it deeper than Naruto by himself ever could.
Naruto's mind went had killed an man. It was mostly an accident and the man was a bandit trying to rob him but he had killed a man.
After a moment his shock was broken by a scream from the bald man.
"You kilt Haru! I was jus gona steal ya tings but now I'ma kill ya!"
The bald man rushed at Naruto, kama raised above his head. Naruto glanced around trying to find a weapon. Seeing nothing he could get to and that the man was right in front of him he jumped backwards.
Naruto landed on a root that was coming up from the ground and tripped. The man's kama came down, barely missing his leg. Naruto tried to to scramble backwards but hit the tree the root had come from. The man raised his kama for another strike and Naruto desperately looked for a way to escape.
There was a dull, wet sound of metal cutting into meat and Naruto flinched. A moment later Naruto looked back at his attacker, confused at the lack of pain he was in.
It only took Naruto a single glance to figure out why the man hadn't hit him. In the man's chest, exactly over the location of his heart, was the ring of a kunai.
The bald man stumbled backwards and collapsed. The sound happened again and the bowling ball man stopped moaning. Naruto looked around, hoping that he was finally safe.
He jumped when he felt arms suddenly grab him. He began to struggle but stopped when the person who grabbed him began to speak.
"Calm down. There's no need to struggle. It's just me."
"Mabui?"
"That's right. Are you alright? You're not hurt anywhere are you?"
"No, I'm not hurt. You came just in time."
"That's good."
Naruto suddenly realized that he was shaking. Mabui tightened her grip on Naruto and placed her head on his shoulder.
"I just want to say that I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. I didn't know there would be bandits here, I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to attack people so close to a hidden village."
"I. 's fine. I.I.I'm alright." Naruto froze for a moment as a memory came back to him. "Oh Kami, I just killed a man."
Naruto stumbled away from Mabui and threw up. He began to tear up as all the emotions from what had happened began to come to him all at once. Mabui just walked over and pulled him into her lap.
She held him and began to whisper reassurances in his ear. After ten minutes of him crying he began to calm down. Mabui felt that he would understand her now that he had calmed down a little and worked to calm him down more.
"It's alright. You're doing fine. You're going to be fine."
"But. But. I killed someone. I almost died."
"It's alright. You're alright. You did what you had to to protect yourself and that's all that matters."
Naruto felt himself tear up again and shook his head angrily.
"Why can't I stop crying?! Look at me, some shinobi I'll be when I grow up. My first dangerous situation and I break down."
"Hey now, that's no was to think. You're doing really well. What you're feeling right now is shock, it happens to everyone the first time they kill someone or get into a life threatening situation. It even happened to me."
Naruto continued to cry but nodded his head to show that he was listening.
"In fact, you're doing even better than I was when this happened to me. I was twice as old as you are now and had shinobi training to help me. You must be very brave to be doing so well on your own."
Naruto nodded his head again and managed to stop his tears. He sniffled a little but asked a question that was very important to him.
"I.I'll have to do it again, kill people I mean, or get into fights where I might die if I become a shinobi, won't I?"
Mabui sighed. She had hoped to get him used to that idea when he had more than just his dream of being a shinobi to rely on.
"I won't lie to you. Yes, you will. Being a shinobi is a very dangerous job. Things like this happen all the time. You will face situations where you can die and you will have to kill again."
" do you deal with it?"
"I'll tell you what my father told me when I told him I wanted to be a kunoichi. The life of a shinobi is hard. You will have to face many dangers and death is your constant companion. For me being a shinobi is worth all of those negatives because it lets me fulfill my dream of making the world a better place. In order for you to be a shinobi you need to pick a dream and decide if your dream is worth those negatives."
Naruto raises his head and looked into Mabui's eyes.
"What's your dream that makes all the terrible things worthwhile?"
"I am a kunoichi because I believe that my actions make the world a safer place. Every time I face the dangerous or terrible parts of being a shinobi I remind myself that doing this keeps my loved ones safe. For you, you need to decide why you want to be a shinobi and if your reasons are good enough for you to put up with all the terrible things a shinobi will face. Many people decide that there reasons aren't good enough and that's alright to."
Mabui stopped speaking and began to gently rock Naruto back and forth. She knew that there was nothing else she could say, it was up to him to decide.
Finally, after ten minutes of silence, Naruto spoke up.
"I still want to be a shinobi, even with all the bad things that happen."
Mabui smiled at him.
"Alright. I want you to know that I'll do what I can to help. Now, we've been here for a long time and we need to move. Go get your pack and I'll clean up here."
Naruto nodded with a serious expression on his face and went to get his pack. While he was turned to other way Mabui quickly retrieved the kunai in the dead bodies and dragged them into a pile. After a quick glance at Naruto to check that he wasn't looking, she used a high powered Fire Jutsu to incinerate the bodies.
She turned around and walked over to Naruto, moving quickly so he wouldn't have time to make questions about the bodies. He may have killed someone and decided to be a shinobi but he was still six and she wanted to protect him where she could.
"We have to move really fast do I'm going to carry you. Hop onto my back and hold on tight."
Naruto nodded and climbed onto Mabui's back carefully. He held on but quickly tightened his grip as she took off.
_ Scene Break _
Mabui stopped suddenly on the branch she had just landed on. She glanced back at Naruto who was still clinging to her back.
"Almost there, just a little longer. You're doing great. Do you need me to carry you yet?"
Naruto smiled tiredly at her, hanging onto a kunoichi's back while she's tree jumped for six hours was physically exhausting. That, combined with the emotional exhaustion he was feeling from his first kill, made Naruto very glad he would be able to sleep soon.
"I'm alright Mabui-Chan, I can hold on."
Mabui didn't respond to his words but she did start moving again. True to both their words Naruto was able to hold onto Mabui's back until they reached the camp the team set up.
B looked up as Naruto and Mabui landed next to the fire.
"Hey, what took you guys so long? You should have been here an hour ago, we were just about to go look for you."
C glanced up but decided not to contribute to the conversation.
"Naruto ran into some trouble on the way out of Konoha. It seems that some farmers thought it was a good idea to take up banditry."
C got up and moved over to Naruto.
"Are you alright? Did they hurt you in anyway? Here, let me take a look."
C began a medical jutsu but stopped as Mabui continued with her explanation.
"He's fine. He's just exhausted from holding onto me for so long. They never got to injure him."
B nodded and motioned to a place by the fire.
"Well let him sit down then. We can rest for the night here, we're safe enough."
Mabui nodded and brought Naruto over to the fire. He took of his back pack, accepted a bowl of soup that B handed him, and sat down on the spot that B had indicated. Mabui accepted another bowl and sat next to him.
C returned to the fire and sat across from Naruto.
"I'm sorry that you had to go through that, it took longer than we expected for the Konoha shinobi to leave us alone. I'm just glad that Mabui was able to get to you before anything happened."
Mabui looked up from her soup when she heard her name. She stopped eating for a moment as she turned to Naruto.
"I didn't really."
C gave Mabui a look of confusion.
"What do you mean you didn't really."
"Exactly that. I didn't get there before anything happened. I just arrived in time to stop the last guy."
C blinked in surprise.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"When I got there Naruto had already put down two of the men. I just helped with the last one."
Naruto shuffled uncertainly as B and C turned their gaze towards him.
"Really? what happened?"
"I'm not to sure. I just got there at the end of it."
Mabui looked at Naruto and made a gesture signaling that he should tell the story. Naruto looked uncomfortable but did as Mabui asked.
"I was just heading down the road like you told me to when three men came out and told me they were going to take anything they wanted from my stuff. I couldn't let them have my backpack so I tried to stall until Mabui-Chan could get there."
C looked like he wanted to ask a question but held it back after a quick glare from Mabui.
"They didn't really want to wait so I put my backpack on the ground and waited for my trap to be sprung."
This time Mabui didn't stop C from interrupting the story.
"What trap?"
"The trap in my bag of course. If anyone opened it without pulling the right string to disarm the trap, they would get ground pepper launched into their face."
All three shinobi paused at that. They hadn't even thought that Naruto might decide to trap the backpack.
"How did you learn to do that? And perhaps more importantly why did you set up a trap in the bag?"
"When I lived on the streets I learned sow to do some traps to protect myself from thieves. My traps got better though when I studied the traps you set up around the apartment.I set up the trap because Mabui told be that assets needed to be protected."
Seeing that C was done with his questions for now, Naruto continued with his story.
"One of the men opened the bag and set off the trap so I attacked his partner first. I thought that if I attacked while he was distracted by the trap I could take him out, that would mean that I only had to fight the third guy."
B praised him for his explanation. "Good job! That's excellent planning. Keep thinking like that and you'll go far as a shinobi."
Naruto blushed at the praise and continued a little more enthusiastically than he had been before.
"Well, my plan worked because I did get to hit him. Unfortunately I only cut his leg a little and he was able to keep fighting. I decided to..."
"Whoa! Wait a moment! Did you say cut? How did you cut his leg?"
"With a kunai. I hid it in a pocket so I could use it if I needed it."
"I'm glad you had the kunai with you but where did you get it? I know we didn't give you one and all the traps had a complete set of kunai so you didn't get it from there."
"One of the gate guards gave it to me when I left. He said that if I promised to never return he would give me two hundred Ryō and some shinobi gear. I figured that I could get some free stuff for doing something I was already doing so I accepted."
C looked at Mabui, his confusion clear for her to see. Mabui took pity on C and took over the questions so he could figure out whatever was bothering him.
"That was certainly good thinking. Who knows what would have happened if you didn't have the kunai. Why don't you continue the story."
"Alright. Sure. Uh, where was I? Oh, right! When I didn't really hurt the guy I was aiming for I decided to make sure that the guy who was on the ground wouldn't get back in the fight. I ran over to him and stabbed him in the leg. After that things got really difficult."
"Oh," Mabui gently teased, "and what happened before wasn't difficult?"
"Oh no, it was. But after I stabbed the guy my kunai got covered in blood. It was hard to hold and even harder to pull out. I managed by using both hands."
Naruto's gaze faded out as he relived those last few moments. Mabui regretted her teasing because it only seemed to have brought up bad memories.
"I turned around to see the guy I had hurt running right at me. I panicked and held the kunai up, hoping that he would stop." He paused for a moment, his gaze far away, clearly forgetting about everyone else in the camp. "In the end I got lucky, I guess. His friend on the ground rolled over and tripped him. He fell right on my kunai."
The camp was silent as everyone processed that. B and C both looked at Mabui, the question clear for her to see. She nodded, silently answering their question, causing the two men to grimace. After another moment of silence Naruto snapped back to the present.
With an obviously false cheerful voice Naruto continued his story.
"After that not much happened. I backed away from the third guy, tripped and Mabui saved me."
C wanted to let the whole story go because remembering obviously caused Naruto pain but he had one last question that he needed answered.
"Naruto, if I may ask, why did you fight so hard to keep the backpack? Why didn't you just give it to them and leave?"
"I couldn't give it to them because they were bullies. Over the past year, when I lived on the streets, I ran into many bullies who beat people up to make them give up. I made a promise to my self that I would never give in. No matter what happened I would fight the bullies with everything I had because if I gave anything less than everything I had, I would be breaking my promise, and that's something I'll never do."
For a moment the only sound that filled the camp was the crackling of the fire, each person was lost in there own thoughts.
'That's right. I will never give up. I will fight anyone who uses their strength to hurt people weaker than them. That's my promise.'
'I guess that's the Will of Fire Konohagakure always talks about."
'I wish all shinobi followed such noble ideals.'
'I just hope Naruto can keep his determination when faced with real life.'
Finally Naruto broke the silence. "Besides, Mabui told me that shinobi protected assets so that's what I did."
"Um, Naruto? I think you got my message mixed up. Shinobi do protect assets, and assets are anything that can help you or your village, but when I was talking about assets I meant that you were the asset, not the backpack."
Naruto looked greatly confused. "Then why did you tell me to fill the backpack with whatever I thought would be useful. Doesn't that mean that I should fill the backpack with assets?"
Mabui smiled and answered his question. "Well in a way it does. What you didn't know was that sometimes you have to use assets to protect more important assets. In this case losing the backpack would lose you a few assets but it would have protected you, the more important asset."
Naruto digested this information for a moment but continued to look confused. "Does this mean that you don't want the assets I collected? I spent a lot of time gathering everything that I could that might help Kumogakure."
Mabui decided to humor Naruto if it helped keep him away from the memory of his first kill.
"I didn't say that." She said playfully. "Why don't you show me what you brought."
Naruto smiled happily and dove for his backpack. "Great. I'm really proud that I managed to get all this stuff some of it was really difficult to get."
Naruto reached deep into his bag and pulled out a handful of scrolls. He held out the scrolls so that Mabui could examine them. Mabui blinked in surprise, she had expected him to have games or food or even a favorite piece of clothing. Scrolls were entirely unexpected.
After a moment she took the scroll from his grasp. As she accepted the scrolls from him Naruto looked up at her expectantly, obviously hoping for a happy reaction. Shaking her head at the strangeness of the situation, Mabui opened the first scroll.
She glanced at it, intending to skim it so as not to hurt Naruto's feelings but ended up stoping as she realized what she was actually holding.
After a long moment of staring at the scroll she rolled it up and turned to Naruto. "How did you manage to get jutsu scrolls? Jutsu scrolls are always heavily guarded to keep people from stealing them."
At Mabui's words B turned back to the conversation.
"Wait, what? Those are jutsu scrolls? Are they real?"
"The one I read was. I already knew it so I can say the technique scroll was completely accurate."
Both B and C moved closer to Mabui, taking a scroll from the pile Naruto had given her. After a moment of examining them, they closed the scrolls and turned to Naruto.
"I agree with Mabui. How did you get these? This jutsu is only C rank and fairly well known but it would be guarded heavily anyway."
"Those are only the newest ones. If you want I have some more powerful ones."
Disregarding their questions for a moment Naruto reached deeply into the backpack. He pulled out handful after handful of scrolls causing the watching shinobi's jaws to drop. After a minute and two dozen scrolls Naruto evidently found what he was looking for. With a triumphant yell he pulled an old scroll, yellowed with age, out of the bag and handed it to B.
"That is the most powerful technique I could find."
B opened the scroll and began to read it. His eyes, already wide because of the surprise of the scrolls, widened to the point the Naruto was worried that his eyes would fall out.
"This is a B rank forbidden technique. I've seen it used in the field and I know Konoha is very protective of it. How did you get this?"
While B was reading the scroll that Naruto had handed him Mabui had picked up one of the scrolls that Naruto had tossed aside. As B finished his question she tossed in her own.
"This scroll is a clan technique. I have never even heard of anyone getting managing to steal one of these scrolls. How is this possible?"
B snapped around and took the scroll form Mabui. He glanced over it himself before turning to look at Naruto incredulously. Even if all the other scrolls where D ranks techniques what they had seen so far made this a treasure trove.
Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well when I started going through the trash to find food I noticed that sometimes people would through out scrolls. I ignored them at first because they weren't food. Later, when winter came around, I took them to try burning to keep me warm. I read one before I started burning them and found that they were jutsu scrolls."
B had to shake his head in pure disbelief. This was unbelievable to him.
"I tried to do some but I couldn't so I just hid them for when I became a shinobi. When you told me to bring any assets I had I collected the ones I had and spent the week looking for anymore."
Suddenly B started laughing. C and Mabui quickly followed leaving Naruto very confused. C, seeing Naruto's confusion, began laughing so hard he fell over. Finally, after ten minutes they began to calm down. Seeing that Naruto was still confused, Mabui decided to explain a little.
"I'm sorry Naruto, it's just that jutsu scrolls are so heavily guarded, and clan scrolls even more so, that we weren't expecting this. You surprised us so we laughed."
"Really? It was fairly easy for me to get them. I only had to look in the shinobi apartment trash every few days and a few clan incinerator's the day before they lit them. It was easy for me."
"Trust me, this is really unexpected but welcome. I don't think that there has ever been an intelligence mission that has gotten so much long-term useful information. Even if you just had gotten the clan scroll it would still have been the most successful intelligence gathering mission I have ever heard of."
Naruto frowned for a moment before reaching into the bag again. He withdrew another handful of scrolls and held them out for the shinobi to take.
"But I have dozen's of clan scrolls, they were actually easier to get than the regular scrolls because I didn't have to deal with anyone else looking through the garbage."
His words proved to be to much for the gathered shinobi to take. The innocent way he went about telling them that he had single handedly found a massive security breach and had gotten enough information to win a war was hilarious. For the second time that night the shinobi devolved into helpless laughter while Naruto looked on with confusion.
_ Scene Break _
It had taken a week because they had to slow down Naruto but the group of shinobi had managed to reach the land of lightning. Naruto could barely handle his excitement.
All through out the week the shinobi had been telling him stories and facts about Kumogakure that had caused his anticipation to sky rocket. Finally, after six hours, the group stopped.
B, who had been carrying him, turned to Mabui and handed him off. Free of his burden, B jumped froward and waited for a moment. Another shinobi, dressed almost exactly like C appeared and the two talked for a moment. Finally the new shinobi nodded and gave a signal. Three more shinobi appeared at the first shinobi's side.
B said a few more things to the shinobi, after a moment the four new shinobi took up a diamond shape around the original group of shinobi and they continued their journey.
After another half an hour of traveling the enlarged group of eight came out of the mountain pass they had been traveling in. The four shinobi who had escorted the group in gave a salute and disappeared.
Mabui put Naruto down and pointed to the now visible walls of the hidden village.
"Welcome to Kumogakure, the best hidden village in the world, and your new home."
Naruto looked at the tall walls and felt some new emotion rising in his chest. Naruto smiled. He truly was home.