I Don't Own Naruto!
Rurouni Naruto Chapter 2
Hi no Kuni was a place completely different from Mizu no Kuni, not only was the climate much warmer, the environment was also much dryer. It was a nice change of scenery for Naruto, he had grown accustomed to the often rainstorms and heavy mist, and the sight of blue skies and white clouds was refreshing. In Naruto's opinion, the full canopy of many trees around him were beautiful, and the dancing blossoms of sakura trees only made the scene more enchanting.
There was also the fact that Naruto never had to kill anyone in Hi no Kuni, since he came into the nation all he had met were kind and welcoming people, no one he had met had tried to attack him. It was most likely because of the fact that Hi no Kuni hadn't had war in a few decades, and its people had grown accustomed to the peace of solidarity of their daily lives.
"What a nice day..." muttered Naruto to himself as he continued his way down a road surrounded by miles of farmland.
Naruto had been in Hi no Kuni for a whole month already, and he had visited many tourist villages since then. It was refreshing to see masses of people enjoying themselves rather than being paranoid all the time. In the one month Naruto and tried many food exclusive to the country, and he had to admit that it was some of the best cusine he had had in a while.
A soft breeze blew in Naruto's face and lifted his long ponytail lightly in the air, and it was light his soul was being cleansed by nature. Naruto had not unsheathed his blade in a whole month, and it felt surreal to him. Ever since he received his first blade he had been using it to kill and battle every minute of the day, he had never carried a sheathed blade for longer than a few hours at a time.
"Maybe I will go into town tonight...I want some good sake."
Naruto was wearing his usual battle armor, he didn't have to fight anymore but he still wanted to look like he used to. A black combat suit covered his whole body along with a combat vest for his chest, knee-high boots for his legs, and steel plating for his forearms. His newly acquired Sakabato was strapped securely to his waist...the only difference of the man was the soft smile that was constantly on his face.
The man had noticed that there were many people from all sorts of places running around in Hi no Kuni, and many of them were Shinobi of different villages, so his militaristic get-up was nothing out of the similar. But in odd cases some mothers on the streets would look at him with caution in their eyes, thinking that he might harm their children with his blade.
Naruto paid no attention to the gazes of the worried mothers, but he did take stride in the looks of lust he had been receiving from the many young ladies that he passed by on the streets. Maybe it was the peaceful times but Naruto found that a lot of the woman in Hi no Kuni were beautiful, and they were all increasingly pronounced with the look of happiness in their eyes. Naruto was no stranger to the fairer sex, and he was happy to endulge in carnal activities with many young ladies who were sent his way.
The young man was by no means a player, but seeing that he had been living the majority of his life in battle, he had learned to enjoy every moment of his life. IN his heart the mellowed out Naruto yearned for a lasting relationship with a woman he could love and start a family with, something he had always wanted. Growing up as an orphan had made Naruto want a family more than anything, but because of the civil war the man had given up on his dream. Now that peace had been restored in his life, finding a wife and starting a family would be a good choice.
The problem was that Naruto was traveling as a Rurouni, and until he found a permanent place to stay, it would hard for him to have a lasting relationship with any woman. In the last month Naruto had travelled through half the towns of Hi no Kuni, and he had been scouting out places where he really liked and would be able to stay in. But the towns and villages Naruto visited were mostly tourist places, they were not really good choices.
There was one more place that Naruto absolutely had to visit in Hi no Kuni...the place where his mother supposedly kidnapped him from; Konohagakure no Sato. In the Elemental Nations there was not another village as powerful as Konoha, it was known as the village of the most powerful Shinobi. The current leader of the village is the Yondaime Hokage, a man who is revered as the strongest Kage of his generation. Naruto had fought the Yondaime Mizukage himself and he knew that he was a man with great power, but the Yondaime Hokage was said to be even more powerful than Yagura...
Naruto knew that Konoha would not let him inside its walls if he was going in as the Hitokiri Battousai, but if he just went in as Naruto the Rurouni, he should be fine. The man was only a couple of days of travel away from Konoha, and he was certainly going to visit it. Not only did Naruto want to find out who his mother real was, he also wanted to see how Konoha Shinobi and people acted, he had been constantly hearing about the peaceful and happy populous of Konoha back in Mizu no Kuni, and he had to see it for himself.
The village of Konoha was as lively as ever, under the rule of the Yondaime Hokage the village was peaceful and powerful. Since the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha had become the strongest Shinobi village in the world, and it name spreaded throughout the Elemental Nations as a place of prosperity and peace. The Will of Fire of the Senju Clan ran dominantly in the hearts of the Shinobi of Konoha, and it had done them good.
Hidden in the safe haven of a large forest, many Shinobi in the village train and prosper, and the stability of the village increases. Konoha was a place that had not had war in almost two decades, and its newest generation of Shinobi were able to grow old peacefully as children together with their family. There was no need for them to kill and survive at the mere age of five, they were allowed to enjoy life in a slow pace and see the truth behind the Shinobi World in a series of glimpses.
"Onii-chan!" cried a small girl who was not any older than seven years old. She had short shoulder length hair, with bangs. It was a glossy red that reminded everyone around her of her mother Uzumaki Kushina. She wore her hair in a little ponytail on the right side of her head. She has fair skin and pink/reddish eyes that illuminated the innocence of a small child.
An older red haired boy was behind the girl and he was carrying her bag. "I'm coming Miina-chan, but you don't have to walk so fast..." The boy had short spiky hair and azure blue eyes, he was about eleven years old and was wear a casual hoodie and a pair of blue jeans.
Miina pouted at her brother. "Come on Onii-chan, I want to go to the academy!"
Normally the students of the Konoha Shinobi Academy would start attending the school at about six years old, but if some children were willing to join they could join by the age of four. Namikaze Miina was the daughter of the Yondaime Hokage, and like her parents she was very passionate about Shinobi, and she was allowed by her parents to join the academy.
The girl had been attending the academy for two weeks already, and the girl was very happy there. Most heirs and heiresses of the major clan in Konoha would join the academy as soon as possible, so Miina had made friends with quite a few of them. The Namikaze girl's best friend was Hyuga Hanabi, the second heiress of the Hyuga Clan. Hanabi's mother was the close friend of Miina's own mother, Uzumaki Kushina, and the two mother and daughter would often have play dates with each other.
The older brother sighed and shook his head. "Class doesn't start for another half hour, we have plenty of time." The older child of the Yondaime was named Namikaze Arashi, and he was not as enthusiastic about training as his sister. The boy started the academy when he was six years old, he was more interested in making friends than to training, and because of that he was the most popular student in the academy.
The two siblings of the Namikaze family arrived at the academy and casually walked into the building, the younger one was excited to train again, and the older one was rather hoping to sleep a bit more. The Academy was quite large and was comprised of several buildings which were erected over time. The building could be identified by the tree in front of it which had a swing on it and more so, by the giant sign with the kanji for Fire on it.
The classrooms in the Academy are large and have high ceilings, based on a theory that larger classrooms lead to expansive education, expanding even to the blackboard itself. In front of the blackboard is a podium, situated far from the students' desks and put in a position where the teacher can view everyone at once.
"Arashi-kun!" cried a young girl with platinum blonde hair as she ran towards the boy. "How are you doing?!" The girl's name was Yamanaka Ino, the heiress of the Yamanaka clan and the daughter of the Head of the Interrogation Department of Konoha.
Arashi smiled sheepishly at the girl, not really knowing what to do with one of his biggest fangirls. "Hello Ino-chan...I'm fine, how are you?"
Ino smiled and winked at Arashi. "Great!" chirped the girl as she looked down to see the small red haired girl. "And hello to you too Miina-chan!"
The small girl smiled back at Ino brightly. "Hello Ino-neechan!" The girl looked up at her brother and pointed to the direction of her classroom. "Onii-chan, I'm going to class now!" chirped the little girl as she giggled and ran towards her class as fast as her little feet can carry her. Arashi smiled at his cute sister, she was really a soul that can make everyone smile and happy.
"Yo Arashi!" greeted a boy the same age as Arashi as he walked into the building. He had untamed brown hair and had a little puppy craddled inside his large hoodle. He was Inuzuka Kiba and was the childhood best friend of Arashi.
The Yondaime's son smiled at the sight of his friend, most likely because he could escape an awkward situation with Ino. "Hey Kiba, you're early today too?"
Ino huffed and looked the other way. "Stupid Kiba...always getting in the way!" muttered the girl to herself as she began to walk away.
Kiba chuckled at the sigh of relief of his best friend and walked over to him. "You really need to think of a way to get those girls to back off a little..." said the Inuzuka as he patted his friend's back. "Unless you actually like one of them?..."
Arashi scoffed and gave Kiba a look. "I know they are all nice girls, but I'm afraid I still find them annoying as hell."
"Believe it or not Kiba, not all teenage boys your age act like alpha males all the time." teased someone behind the two boys. Arashi smiled as Kiba growled a little at his older sister, Inuzuka Hana's voice. Looking back the boys saw a beautiful woman in her late teenage years. Hana had long brown hair which she wore in a ponytail with two locks of hair framing her face and, large, black eyes. She also wore a light shade of lipstick and had the traditional fang-like tattoos of the Inuzuka clan on both of her cheeks, in addition to a tattoo on her upper right arm that resembles a flower. Hana was dressed in a standard Chunin uniform, but her vest was unzipped a little to show a little cleavage.
"Hey Hana-san." greeted Arashi.
Hana smirked ad ruffled Arashi's head a little. "Hey Arashi, how are you little man?" Arashi had been like another little brother for Hana as he and Kiba would often hang around each other since they were very young children, and she had basically watched him grow up.
Arashi sighed at what Hana called him. "Just fine, but can you please stop it with the little man stuff!"
The Inuzuka heiress gave out a small laugh. "Sorry, but as long as you are shorter than me you will always be little man." teased the young woman with a kind smile on her face. "Anyway, I will see you both later, I need to get to my class." Hana walked away with a smile on her face, she always loved to make fun of her brother and Arashi, they were still so predictable and it was funny to see their reactions.
Kiba sighed and shook his head. "Why did Hokage-sama get Nee-chan to teach a class here, she is suppose to be the Inuzuka Veternarian." muttered the boy as he turned back to his friend. "Now we have to see her everyday at school and she always makes fun of us."
Arashi shook his head. "I have no idea, but I guess Tou-chan thought Hana-san would be a good teacher...she is one of the strongest members in the Inuzuka Clan." Kiba just sighed again at his words.
Hana had been a Chunin since she was twelve years old, and she was said to be one of the strongest Inuzuka in her clan. The Yondaime had recognized her skills and intended to have her carry out tracking missions of higher difficulty, but maybe it was because Hana didn't have enough experience, most of her missions would end up as faliures. The cause behind them may not have been because of Hana, but it was clear to the Hokage that Hana was not suitable for field mission as she still has a very naive view of the Shinobi World.
It was true that most Konoha Shinobi thrived to get stronger only to protect the ones they loved, but Hana took that to the extreme. She did not believe in killing others if they were incapitated, which became a huge problem because those people would survive and report back to their own villages. The Yondaime saw Hana's point, but killing was in the life of a Shinobi, there was no denying it. If Hana remained adament of not killing in cold blood, then she would not be used as a field Kunoichi.
Despite her slight abnormality, Hana was still a powerful Kunoichi, and being an academy teacher was perfect for her...
Hana walked into her classroom and smiled when she saw that little Miina was already in her seat with a smile on her face. The young Namikaze was one of Hana's favorite students, not only because she was a close family friend, but she was also one of the smartest and brightest student she had in her class. The young girl had always been yearning to learn more about being Kunoichi, and Hana just knew that Miina would one day become a great Kunoichi just like her mother Kushina.
"Good morning Miina-chan!" greeted Hana as she walked over to the girl's seat and sat down next to her.
Miina smiled brightly at her Sensei. "Good morning Sensei-neechan!" chirped the girl as she hugged her surrogate sister around her waist.
Hana smiled and hugged the girl back happily. "Why are you here so early today, there are still twenty minutes until class starts?" asked Hana as she kissed the top of Miina's head.
The girl looked up at her teacher with her big innocent eyes. "You said that you will teach us Shurikenjutsu, I want to learn that so I came early!"
Hana smiled at the girl's innocence and patted her head. "Well then, make sure you listen hard later and have lots of practice!" The teacher and student continued to engage in small talk as other students started to file in. All the while Hana was happily thinking that her students would one day become full fledged Shinobi and Kunoichi of their own. The fulfillment she was feeling at the moment was enormous, she no longer cared if she would not go on any mission again, being an academy teacher was something she could do for the rest of her life...
On the outskirts of the Konoha forest Naruto was slowly walking towards the village. Instead of his normal attire he was dressed in a casual outfit. The man was wearing a blue muscle shirt with black jeans and a black high collared jacket to block the wind. The man had suppressed his chakra down to the minimum so Konoha Shinobi would not be able to pick up his unusually powerful chakra signature as he neared the village.
Naruto had always been good at his chakra control as his Hiten Mitsurugu Ryu needed near perfect chakra control in order to unleash its fullest potential, so his control was as skilled as most top-tier medical Ninja in the lands, and he could suppress his chakra down to the point where he would feel like a civilian to a sensory Ninja.
Naruto had sealed his Sakabato into a small scroll and kept it in his pocket, no matter what he needed his blade to be near him at all times. Old habits die hard and even though he wanted to live his life as an ordinary person he couldn't suppress the swordsman inside him.
"It should just be ahead of here..." muttered the man to himself as he stuck his hands in his pockets and enjoyed the serene route to Konoha. In order to complete his ruse as a civilian Naruto had to restrain himself from showing any abilities that would suggest that he was adept at using chakra. So the usual five minutes that Naruto would've taken to travel through the forest had turned into two hours, but he wasn't complaining, it was a nice change of pace.
Soon the gargantuan gate of Konoha was in view and Naruto marvelled at its size. The gate at Kirigakure was not nearly as big as it had more natural protection, but Konoha's gate was really impressive. Naruto had heard about the Shodai Hokage and his legendary Mokuton Kekkei Genkai, he must have been the one to create such a large wooden gate.
Naruto walked out to the clearing and headed to the registration stand that all visitors needed to report to. There were two guards at the stand wearing Shinobi uniforms and they were checking everyone's ID and passports. Naruto didn't even have to make a fake ID as no one knew the true name of the Hitokiri Battousai, so he would look like was a traveller from Mizu no Kuni.
After a few people passed through the gate it was Naruto's turn and he handed his documents over with a smile on his face. "Here you go!" said the man to the guards at the stand.
The guard was amused at the cheerful man and gave a small chuckle as he looked down at Naruto's documents. "So...Naruto huh, what are you doing in Konoha?"
Naruto gave a causal smiled. "I'm a traveller, just here to see the sights and maybe find a simple job for a while."
The guard saw that Naruto was from Mizu no Kuni. "Oh, I heard that the civil war in Kiri just stopped, is it true?" asked the man with curiosity.
Naruto nodded. "Hai, the rebel army just took over Kirigakure a few months ago!" said the man with an excited tone. "People like me can finally live in peace and have fun travelling around instead hiding in shelters."
The guard chuckled and handed Naruto his documents back. "Well enjoy yourself in Konoha, I hope you find a job here."
The blonde man smiled and nodded. "Thank you..." and with that he walked into the strongest Shinobi village in the Elemental Nations...
Konoha was like how Naruto had imagined it. The streets were paved with many families just walking around enjoying the nice weather, and everyone had smiles on their faces. Naruto's eyes danced around to the many merchants stands from all over the world spreaded out along the streets and they had quite a bit of business, Konoha might be the most multi-cultural village in the world as well. The Battousai had been to several Shinobi villages before and all of them were much more millitaristic than Konoha, in which he barely saw any Shinobi roaming the place.
Naruto looked up and was greeted by the world famous Hokage Monument, a gargantuan carving of the faces of all the Hokage on a large mountain at the edge of the village...
The young man sighed to himself with a small smiled on his face. 'Well I am finally here...lets see if I can actually find out who my father really is...'
The End!
That was the second chapter of Rurouni Naruto, and I hope you all liked it!
I know that there had not been any action thus far, but I assure all of the you that the battles for the Battousai will be coming soon!
I have decided that the pairing for this story is Naruto x Hana. Not much is known about Hana so I tweaked her personality a little to make her a little more compatible with Naruto, I hope you all don't find her too OOC. I promise that her character will be the same as Canon except for the fact that she won't kill in cold blood.
PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! (I NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU ALL THINK)
