Excerpted from the Konoha Security Zone Field Guide…

Subject: KSZ civilian settlements

Location: See attached tactical map #13

Population: Approx. 10,000 (see Intelligence Section for precise census reports)

Description: Farming, mining, ranching, and cottage-industry

Many express surprise that people choose to live in a place like the KSZ. Unlike most shinobi communities, Konoha informs its citizens of the risks and rewards of residing in its buffer zone, and still they chose to live there. Chief among the dangers are the KSZ itself, and living 'on the wall'; any enemy wishing to harm Konohagakure must first deal with the KSZ. While not 'dangerous', it is still a drawback that all structures and settlements must prioritize security over civilian or aesthetic needs.

First among the rewards are very lucrative financial opportunities. Prices for agricultural goods supplied by the KSZ average nearly triple other civilian sources, and the KSZ is the first source for Konoha's needs. In wartime, much higher rates and a greater demand is commonplace. Second, all economic endeavors in the KSZ have priority on all the latest equipment, research, and even chakra techniques. These state-of-the-art methods permit the civilians in the KSZ to thrive with only minimal government subsidy, for its agricultural yields are higher and reach harvest faster.

The KSZ is one of the most thoroughly surveyed locations in the world. Thus the most mineral-rich areas and fertile land are found and used with minimal disruption. The shinobi arts are applied to civilian technology to minimize the footprint of these undertakings, greatly simplifying their concealment. Even the KSZ forces themselves often have a difficult time finding the towns and villages without knowing precisely where to look.

Needless to say, these rich possibilities combined with Konoha's reputation for protecting civilian as well as shinobi mean that the demand for civilian license to live and work in the KSZ has remained high for years, and holders of these licenses are especially satisfied and hardworking. Many recently established fortunes have roots in the KSZ, and in these peaceful times it is also one of the best places for young shinobi to get real field experience on solo missions...

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"Welcome to Wakaga, Naruto-kun!" Fujita gestured grandly. "Hey! Open up in there! It's me, Shonigawa Fujita! We're early!" he pounded impatiently on the thick door. A tiny slot appeared in the blank and daunting gate. Naruto's shinobi senses caught the glint of a mirror, and his respect for security in the KSZ went up a notch. 'Nice. Use the mirror so no one can stick somethin' in your eye, and you can still see the visitors.'

Aside from military concerns his first impression of Wakaga was disappointing. Then, as he looked he grew curious. But for the roof of a silo he could see no signs of a town beyond the high walls, which were so well camouflaged that he'd almost have to touch Wakaga to know it was there. 'Hardly any sound, either. That doesn't make sense…Fujita-san told me this town has over a hundred and fifty people! But everything's…muffled somehow.' The security of Wakaga itself was not his responsibility, so he'd only skimmed the field guide in that area. 'That section is like an inch thick! Hafta get a shadow clone t'read the damn thing,' he resolved unhappily.

Proper signals were exchanged with a kunoichi on the wall, and the gate sank vertically into the earth. Naruto could feel the movement more than hear it. Within was the forbidding and gloomy sight of a sizeable barbican protecting a smaller gate; the large room was dotted everywhere with rectangles where the walls could be shifted, potentially letting all sorts of unpleasant things inside. After carefully arranging the caravan so it could squeeze into the room, Fujita ordered them to enter, sounding happier though no less noisy than usual. 'Well, we are early. bout time he was happy!'

Once inside the outer gate was whisked back up into place and secured with such ease and silence it might've been made of paper. Naruto and Gamakichi were reduced to sticking to a wall, just to keep their personal space. "Lovely place bro, you should hire their decorator," the toad joked quietly to Naruto. "Oh, right, kichi, this'll go great with the whole interrogation-room funeral parlor theme I got goin'." The two snickered to themselves, grateful to be able to cut up now that Naruto's work was basically complete. His orders stretched between the gate to Wakaga and the Rice Gate of Konoha.

"Ah-hahahaha Fujita-kun, you're early!" a loud, friendly voice exclaimed, booming through one of the holes in the wall towards the inner gate, eliciting grins and chuckles. The interior gate opened, and the last of Naruto's tension flowed away. "Hey, welcome back, guys! You're nearly two hours early! Good t'see ya!" said a man beckoning the caravan in, wearing a rich clothing and a large whistle around his neck. Fujita trotted up and they exchanged feisty handshakes and backslaps. "Naruto-kun, get your ass down here! You gotta meet this guy!" Fujita yelled up at him.

The caravan had already begun trundling into a plaza, nearly fifty meters to a side. Truthfully it was larger than appeared necessary; the many buildings were separated each by a few meters. Loading docks, paddocks, and overflowing water troughs were spaced throughout. Quickly the teamsters guided their carts and wagons to their appropriate places, and relaxed for a moment while tending their animals once they got there. Naruto was still in the barbican, waiting for the last of the caravan to exit.

"Alright, alright! Just a second!" he called back from his position towards the back of the room. "Pst, gimme a hand, kichi?" Naruto whispered to the toad, who nodded and picked up the chuunin and threw him through the air. Naruto aped being out of control, flailing his arms about, but then kipped off the top of a wagon to slow down and land easily on his feet. Ha! Totally stuck the landing! That's the only way to travel! It's not that he had any difficulty running along walls these days, but that wasn't nearly as thrilling as hurtling through the air. Some of the teamsters chuckled at the aerobatic capering, and Naruto strode up to the man with the whistle.

"Yo! Name's Uzumaki Naruto!" and stuck out his hand, just as he had with Fujita earlier that day. The stranger seemed even more surprised than Fujita had been, but his instinct took over and a thick, calloused hand enveloped Naruto's. Geeze, like a mini-Bubun Baika no jutsu! Wonder if he's an Akimichi? Naruto returned the handshake heartily and grinned. "Naruto-kun, this is my friend Hiro-san, he's this year's mayor of Wakaga. He'll be in charge of loading up my caravan for the trip tomorrow. As for me, I'm off the clock! Come find me later, I'll give you the you-know-what," he whispered, his expression an unnerving mixture of greed and perversion.

I knew he wouldn't forget it. Maybe I can disguise myself as some guy named Fujita to get Ero-sennin to sign it. Naruto optimistically ignored his brain pointing out previous times such a trick had failed; as a shinobi spymaster, Jiraiya was as hard to fool with a disguise as one would expect. "Thank you for guiding and protecting our caravan, young m-…errr, shinobi-san," Hiro shifted words awkwardly. Naruto's affability made him seem more his true age than many other young chuunin, and he grinned at the mayor's awkwardness.

"Neh, just 'Naruto's' fine with me, Hiro-san. I don't care," he assured him. 'Long as it's not 'gaki' or 'baka' or something,' he grumbled to himself. 'Eh, at least I earn it from Sakura-chan and Granny,' he grinned to himself. 'If I'm gonna get called names and smacked around, I may as well have it comin'!' This had once been his oft-stated philosophy, but careful field research had led him to conclude that stating his philosophy meant even more insults and assaults; he changed it to his oft-thought philosophy.

He was shaken from his thoughts by a sudden burst of activity. The teamsters were eager to get back to their homes for the evening and get some sleep, so it didn't take long before each wagon was in the appropriate place for loading, and each animal tended for the night by the stable hands. But the flurry of movement didn't stop there. Lines formed up, and quick as a colony of ants at a picnic, things were moved from storage into wagons. Before his eyes, the few goods that the caravan had brought to Wakaga were unloaded and bulging sacks of grain and full barrels were quickly stowed. He had considered letting a few shadow clones pitch in, but as he watched he realized that they weren't just throwing stuff into the wagons wily-nily. By the time his clones learned what went where, the job would be nearly done anyway. "Man, you guys work fast!" It was like watching shinobi train in taijutsu, the efficiency of it anyway.

"Nice of you to say so, Naruto-san," Hiro replied with a grin. The kid was looking and listening everywhere, like a tourist. "Now if you'd like, I'll show you to your quarters?" Naruto shook himself out of his observation and nodded. "Sure, thanks…just a sec, though," he said and then went to speak quietly with the giant toad. The pair slapped hands, and the toad disappeared with a crack and a fountain of smoke. "There we go. Gamakichi wanted to make sure he was home in time for supper," Naruto explained to Hiro, who didn't really understand but had resigned himself to confusion when dealing with ninja.

"Right this way then, please. It's not much, since most guards stay in it for just a night or two, but it's clean and comfortable," Hiro explained as the two strolled into Wakaga. It was eerily empty and quiet, except for the sounds of animals and loading from behind them.

"I guess there ain't anyone who could show me around Wakaga, is there? I mean, I'm just here for the night, but I'd like to know more bout the place. It's a pretty cool looking town," he said hopefully. Naruto was not above flattery, and it was even more effective when it was truthful flattery.

"I'm afraid not, Naruto-san. We keep pretty busy here. Even Shonigawa-sama is hard at work. But we do have another four chuunin stationed here as guards for Wakaga. They work in six-hour shifts, so one of them will is both awake and off-duty or will be soon, most likely. They'd probably know the sort of things you're curious about." Hiro was glancing towards the gate where work was underway while trying not to be rude about it. He wasn't lying about all Wakaga being busy.

'Eh, another shinobi'll know better stuff than Hiro anyway,' Naruto reasoned. "Thanks again, Hiro-san. I look forward to seeing more of Wakaga; maybe we'll see each other again sometime," he waved at the mayor, who replied politely and then jogged back to the loading areas. Naruto ducked into the pillbox and grunted unhappily at the accommodations. Five futons, five footlockers, facilities, a few tables, and futons and hammocks stacked up against a wall should Wakaga ever play host to additional soldiers. Two of the futons were occupied by silently sleeping shinobi. 'Well at least now I get t'stroll around a bit.' Naruto was big on travel, and figured he'd find the off-duty shinobi in short order. Stowing his pack and clipping his new kusarikama under his shoulder—he might have time to train with it—Naruto headed back out of the barracks, shutting the door quietly behind him.

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He stopped by the loading area again for a moment and left a shadow clone there to observe, more for his own curiosity than anything else. 'There's so much food!' As a child of welfare and poverty, he had been captivated by food for all his life. "Do us a favor, eh? Watch what's goin' on, ask questions if you can without bein' a pain," Naruto instructed himself. Since learning of the information-gathering aspect of shadow clones, he made use of them at every opportunity. He considered for a moment creating swarms of them and letting them run all over Wakaga, but unpleasant memories shut that down. "Sure thing boss!" Naruto told himself with a salute.

His next stop was finding the on-duty guard, which wasn't difficult. The kunoichi's patrol took her back past the gate just as Naruto finished instructing his shadow clone. She looked a few years older than him, and quite surprised at the sight of Naruto talking to himself. With a wave and a chakra-boosted jump, Naruto hopped up onto the parapet next to her.

"Hey kunoichi-san, good afternoon!" he said with wide grin. 'And it's getting' better!' he grinned to himself. Women who led physically active and fulfilling lives were all attractive in their own ways to Naruto; this was doubly true of kunoichi. "Name's Uzumaki Naruto!" he offered with a friendly smile. His hand twitched and he would have liked to offer it to shake, but it was not a gesture common among shinobi. For all Naruto craved physical contact-especially with pretty girls-he stuck with a polite bow.

The young woman appraised him briefly, and recognition sparked in her eyes. Her body language and facial expression shifted slightly as she appraised him with a subtle frankness that went completely over his head; all his female and most of his male comrades would have recognized these skillful kunoichi seduction techniques at once. "Hi! Good afternoon, Naruto-san. What can I do for you?" She bowed back politely, and her words were courteously friendly despite her ongoing watchfulness, which Naruto understood and forgave. She was on duty.

'Ha! Uzumaki Flirtation Technique success! Do whatever Ero-sennin doesn't!' he crowed to himself. The technique had three key components: maintain eye contact, speak and appear confident without being arrogant, and be friendly. Because Naruto had created his technique simply to avoid the violent responses Jiraiya often got from women (unless they were 'on the job'), he was unaware of the power of its sincerity. Since he was always sincerely happy to make new friends, his technique was always genuine. It had garnered him the attention of more than a few women, civilian and shinobi alike. He remained almost completely oblivious, though, since what training he'd gotten in noticing feminine wiles he'd ignored, right along with history, spelling, complex mathematics, home economics…

Instead, Naruto's thoughts were of gratitude. 'Good, maybe she doesn't know…' he thought when she did not seem antagonistic. It had been one of the better surprises of his life that civilians and shinobi of Konoha close to his own age were no longer likely to treat him badly. His performance in his first chuunin exam, retrieving the Godaime Hokage, and having a Sannin for a master had really boosted his image; it was usually more than enough to overcome the vaguely worded prejudice some parents and oldsters tried to pass on. 'You really did know what you were talkin' about, Gramps.' Naruto did not like to think of how badly it had hurt to learn of Sandaime's Law; only his deep love for the old man had kept him quiet about it, and of his usual cheer. Over the months and years since he became a shinobi, though, it had become a positive force in his life. He quelled the pang in his heart that still ached whenever he thought of the dead Hokage, and focused his attention on the pretty girl. 'Honorin' the memory of Gramps, that's all!' Naruto kept his perverted giggle strictly to himself.

"Well, a name would be great for starters," Naruto grinned with his usual audacity. She rolled her eyes slightly and punched him lightly on the arm.

"My name's Sakaki Maaya. I'm one of the guards stationed in Wakaga this quarter. Pleased to meet you, Naruto-san," she smiled slightly and bowed back. It was perhaps the best Naruto could expect from an on-duty dedicated kunoichi. "Is there something I can do for you?" she inquired. Her raised eyebrows were asking that same question in a more personal tone: 'I'm reading you right, aren't I?'

'Damn right you are!' Somehow, women always seemed to know when a man was interested. 'But with pervs like Ero-sennin around, their senses must get pretty sharp.' "Well I know you're on duty right now so unfortunately I'll hafta stop botherin' ya in just a sec. But I wanna learn more bout Wakaga and I don't have much time to do it. Mind playin' guide to my tourist? I can update you on the latest news and gossip from Konoha, of course," he offered, his hopefulness evident. He had learned to make his intentions clear when dealing with the fairer sex, or they might not get the message. 'Women can be so dense!' Naruto was truly blessed that women couldn't really read his mind; else he would surely have sported many new bruises from that thought.

"That'd be great! Thanks. I'm off-duty in just half an hour. There's a small inn just inside the gate. It's not much, but they serve better food than field rations. I'll meet you there, Naruto-san," she pointed the building out. Her hand somehow managed to appear delicate and attractive even lacking a manicure, and sporting nicks and calluses. 'Women. They've always got the upper hand!' he groused to himself. The only part of Jiraiya's attitude towards women Naruto embraced was simple appreciation and attraction; his various sexy techniques had mostly been learned too soon to really understand why they were so effective.

"Cool, I'll see you there then, Maaya-san," Naruto smiled again, then hopped back down off the wall and walked towards the inn. Behind him, Maaya looked down at him like a cat with a mouse between its paws. Truthfully she was off duty in a quarter of an hour, but a girl didn't go on a date with the One Man Army of small but growing fame without cleaning up first.

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The inn matched Maaya's description. Small and inexpensive from within and without, it lacked the accoutrements Naruto had come to expect from traveling with Jiraiya over the years. 'Accoutrements I paid for, damnit!' The Toad Sannin was notoriously stingy unless spending Naruto's money. 'Accoutrements' was one of the words he liked to use when wielding high-blown rhetoric to justify his violent thefts. The common room of the inn had a low fire going in the hearth, lending a countrified air that was especially appealing to the city-raised Naruto. Two small tables sat near the fire, and a door leading to the kitchen peeped out from behind a curtain at the front desk. The inn was scrupulously clean; Naruto decided he liked the place.

The bored looking innkeeper sat up with a start a moment after Naruto finished his careful inspection and made himself heard. "Oh! Shinobi-san! I don't recognize you, you must be the guard from the caravan, I presume?" The innkeeper scuttled out from behind the counter and bowed politely to Naruto, who returned the gesture with a disarming smile. "Yeah, that's right, Uzumaki Naruto. We're here early. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. What's to eat?" he asked anxiously, a bit concerned by not smelling anything. Ichiraku had spoiled him; they started the broth pot simmering if he was even in the area.

"Well Naruto-san, with a little time we can actually make just about anything basic your heart --," the innkeeper began with pardonable pride.

"Pork ramen for me, then! And…hmmm…d'you know what Sakaki Maaya-san's favorite food might be?" Naruto was a man who knew what he liked. 'Basics' were an area of food he had thoroughly explored, and ramen remained tops on that list. 'Mmm…wonder how Wakaga's ramen stacks up?' already his mouth was watering; it was one reason he intended to eat some now. It hadn't taken long for him to learn that women were not endeared by a meal-date who approached food like a starving jackal. 'And after all, I'll have seconds later! And it's bound to be cheaper to eat here in the sticks,' he reasoned.

"Ohhh, you know Maaya-chan?" the innkeeper smiled fondly. "You'd never know it to look at her, but she can put away yakitori like nobody's business! Well, that's true of all kunoichi; just like the men they eat fast and furious!" The innkeeper winked at Naruto; he hadn't missed the chuunin's pavlovian response to the discussion of ramen.

"Great! Well then, some pork ramen for me then, with lots of toppings. And I'll have some chicken ramen again in a little over half an hour, plus a double order of yakitori, alright?" Naruto figured a few minutes of small talk would do nicely, followed by more chow. The innkeeper nodded and bustled back into the kitchen, while Naruto reached into a pocket and pulled out a small book and began reading.

When the innkeeper came with his ramen, his face rose hopefully when he saw the book but then fell when he noted it was stamped with classification warnings and was apparently something about the Konoha Security Zone. 'Damn! Thought we had another Icha icha fan on our hands!' Naruto grunted thanks and went about devouring his ramen before the innkeeper could even get back behind the counter, all while reading his book. He dearly wanted to order seconds, but he was here on his own dime.

The innkeeper was startled at Naruto's attentiveness to both reading and eating. Had he known his customer, it would've been less surprising. Eating ramen was as easy as breathing, but reading, that had been a much more difficult thing…

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LEARNING TO READ WITH JIRAIYA!

"Neh, Ero-sennin, what badass techniques will you be teachin' me today?" Naruto began his usual morning pestering the instant Jiraiya woke up. Only a few days out of Konoha, the pair was already deep into the frontiers of Fire Country. No towns, no people, and no distractions meant Jiraiya was Naruto's sole diversion, and the hermit had quickly tired of it, especially at the crack of dawn.

"Damn, brat! I brought you along to make you a better shinobi, not a rooster! Ugh! Show some respect for your teacher and let me sleep in!" the older man groaned, rubbing the crust out of his eyes. Naruto had yet to notice that there was no crust in Jiraiya's eyes at all, and that his teacher's sleepiness was just an act. The Toad Sage had no intention of telling Naruto, though. 'The little putz should be able to tell on his own!'

"I don't respect people who can't even wake up in the morning!" Naruto harrumphed right back at his teacher. He was untroubled by his hypocrisy; Naruto had trouble waking up some mornings himself, and probably would here, if he wasn't so excited. The student then got a sly grin on his face and upended his canteen on his master's shaggy head.

"Ugh! Goddamnit that is it! I've had it! I was gonna wait till I got something more fitting, but you're on my last nerve! Here!" Jiraiya exclaimed, reaching into his pack to hand Naruto two thick books and pencil. It was titled 'Hi no Kuni and the Contemporary World', and the second book was a dense workbook.

"Ehhhh!?!?!" Naruto squawked in outrage. "What the hell is this, you senile old peeping tom?! I'm not in the Academy anymore, take this back!" he demanded rudely, thrusting books and pencil back at his teacher, who turned up his nose at his recalcitrant student.

"I've seen your grades, punk. You were so awful in history class I'd be surprised if you've ever seen this book at all. Even though it was used in your classes!" It was nothing but the truth. Only his astonishing victory over Mizuki, his recovery of a priceless library of Konoha's secrets, and his intuitive skill with unique techniques and tactics were sufficient to overcome his lack in other areas of general and shinobi knowledge. Jiraiya knew, though Naruto did not, that the Sandaime had briefly considered holding Naruto back for yet another term, with a strong focus on book learning. 'Well, no time like the present to make the kid less stupid!' Jiraiya reasoned cheerfully. It was even more fun because he knew his student would hate it. "Your assignment, my ignorant student, is to read this textbook cover to cover and complete the entire workbook. I'll be grading you, so your writing better be legible and your answers correct! Each wrong or illegible answer costs you mo-ney!" he chirped in a singsong voice, deftly snatching Gama-chan from Naruto's pocket.

"Ahhhhh! My wallet! Gama-chan! Ugh, fine you old bastard! But if I'm missing even one coin, you're in for it!" Naruto promised, a threat his teacher knew to take seriously, even though he'd disregard it. The petty vengeances of his student came when least expected, in weird and embarrassing ways. "Hey! Where're you goin', Ero-sennin?" Naruto yelped after his teacher, who was already on the road and walking. Naruto scrambled to get his stuff and catch up.

"What, you didn't think I'd just sit here and wait for you to finish the book did you? We'd be here all summer!" Jiraiya sneered and then laughed. "But that's no excuse for you not to be reading, brat! So get to it!" he thumped Naruto soundly on the head, who would've killed him if looks could do it, and then summoned up a clone, handed the materials to him, and hoisted him up on his shoulders. 'Eh, not bad, kid! Exercising your body and your mind at the same time. You're not as stupid as you act,' he thought with growing fondness. The next day, though, thoughts of fondness were gone as Naruto had managed to build a flimsy litter and actually carry himself reclining while reading. It was a weird and embarrassing sight, until Jiraiya broke it back to matchsticks and ordered Naruto to continue his long-distance weight training while reading…

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The time passed quickly while Naruto reviewed what he had already read of the Field Guide, avoiding the sections about Wakaga specifically. 'Heh, this way I can appear a bit knowledgeable, but still have lots of questions to make the tour last longer!' Naruto was truly a clever fellow. He heard the sounds of the innkeeper cooking again and looked up, knowing soon Maaya would arrive. With one spectacularly bad exception, Konoha shinobi were quite prompt. He worried for a moment that it might've been cooler to have been practicing with his kusarikama, but decided there was too much chance of making an ass of himself to risk it. 'Not that that's ever stopped me before,' he groaned anxiously. This wasn't his first date, but there hadn't been many.

Hearing a step at the door, Naruto glanced up and spied and scented a feminine silhouette in the doorway. He stood up and waved, mostly stifling his eagerness. "Hey, Maaya-san, over here!" he beckoned as he stood. Unseen by him, a faint almost predatory smile crossed the silhouette's face and she waved back. "Hey, Naruto-san, good to see you again," she said as she strode into the room…

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Author's Notes:

First submitted: 1/7/2008

Words: 4,500

Hits: 321 (with 91 chapter 3 hits, which I regard as meaning about 80-90 people have read the whole thing so far)

1 c2, 3 favs, 6 alerts

I'm a bit worried about this chapter. I'm angling into romantic territory, although I'm not at all sure if Maaya will become a recurring character or not. It's new territory for me, and I'm not very confident I wrote this chapter very well. I think I did a decent job on the fight chapter, as well as (with help) the opening chapter where it was basically about Naruto going somewhere, but now that we're in Wakaga, I am concerned.

Thus I cry out to helpful reviewers! Y'all know who you are. Please, give me some pointers, however brutal and negative they may be.

Someone asked me a few days ago just when this story takes place. For now, though obviously it can change later, it takes place a short but no specified time after Kakuzu and Hidan are defeated. I have not decided if canon events after that have happened in my story, or if this story is squeezed in there, or if this overwrites those events and is thus AU.