Chapter 2 on the road east
Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto or Legend Of The Seeker
Naruto woke up with a start and wondered about the unfamiliar place he was in, as he remembered he got exited and hurriedly dressed, his breakfast was brought to him by the old man.
'boy I know you didn't ask for breakfast but a growing boy needs his food' chuckling Naruto wondered if the man knew he was a bit above the five century mark, how he would react.
Thanking the man Naruto donned his sage cloak and noticed if he were to spend years here he'll need to blend in. after breakfast Naruto sealed the big scroll in his shoulder and carried his leather pack, as he left the inn Sam wondered where he left his big scroll.
Inquiries about a tailors shop brought Naruto to the 'fishers shop' where he bought three changes of clothes. Exiting the shop Naruto now wore a navy blue shirt and black trousers and admitted to his self he didn't look half bad. Naruto headed east with a band of traders who were headed to a place they called Hartland. It was a two day journey and they stayed the night at a town along the way. Arriving in Hartland Naruto noticed it wasn't as large as the fishing town he just left next he noticed the large expanse of wood at the eastern edge of the small town. Asking about the wood revealed it was called the Hartland wood and was a bad place, smiling Naruto promised himself to make his home in the woods. Arriving at the town proper Naruto said his good bye to the trader and headed to an inn.
That night Naruto woke up to the faint sound of a howling he had never heard wondering if it was the heart hounds he heard about Naruto dressed in his stealth mode dress which was just a modified anbu uniform with the Kakashi mask and black covering for his hair. Dropping out the window Naruto made his way into the wood toward where he heard the howling came from. Happy to be back in the woods Naruto stood watching the trees as he remembered the woods of Konoha, another howl brought him out of his reverie and he hurried towards the sound, it was the sight of a big man loaded with weapons fighting three wolf like creature that greeted him, surprised at the amount of weapons bristling on the man Naruto moved into the shadows to observe the fight.
Chase's day has just gone from good to worse, his wife had just given birth to their third child and he had been very happy, the other wardens had to drag him out before he agreed to go on his nightly boundary patrol, he had been night dreaming about what to name the child when he heard the howling not far from him, he had tried to remain silent and get upwind from them but remembered the heart hounds heard the beating of a person's heart so he had prepared for battle, un slinging the battle ax from his back he palmed a knife in his left hand.
The first hound came jumping out of the bush at him, he had sidestepped and swept his ax in a curve aiming for the neck, the hound had twisted in midair making the ax tear open its inside, it dropped heavily to the ground and jerked a bit before laying still. Grim faced he faced five other hounds as they came out of the surrounding forest and circled him, growling a hound came at his left flank, throwing his knife he had watched it sink into the fore head of the hound, it had dropped dead on the spot, two hounds came at him one on his right flank and the other facing him, he had stayed low to the ground and hefted his ax as the one on the right reached him first, it had split its head open and he had rolled away from the one coming at him.
the one that missed him and the other two had resumed circling him, trying to calm himself he palmed another knife and faced them, all three came at him at once, the first one came from his front while another jumped at him from behind, the last one came from his right flank, he threw his knife towards the one coming at him and ran towards his left flank creating some distance between them, his knife was embedded in the chest of the hound, it move some shaky steps before collapsing, he tried to see if he could escape by moving backward but the hounds had growled at him and resumed stalking him.
grimacing he held his axe out as both hounds came at him, suddenly the wolf at the back yelped and hit the floor, he didn't have time to see what happened to it as the last one jumped at him , it landed upon him and they both rolled trying to get the upper hand, the hound nicked at him and tore open his left arm which he used to block his face, cringing he dropped the axe and took another knife from his belt, using his injured arm, he held the jaw of the hound away from him as it raked his thigh with its claws, with his right hand he stabbed at the throat of the hound, gurgling on its blood the hound dropped onto him.
pushing at it he stood up and took stock of himself, his left thigh had a long gash in it and his left arm also, sighing he looked upon the wolf which had fallen on its own and noticed the root tangled in its fore feet, moving towards it he picked his axe and cut off the head. limping home he had wondered why the hounds moved farther from the boundary.
Naruto was impressed with the fighting skill of the man and couldn't help but be amazed at how he handled himself for a civilian, he took note of the man and made sure to get acquitted with him.