Naruto looked at the town of Carvahall from the top of the spine. It had been two weeks from the last time he had gone into the town. Even though he had not done anything to hurt any of them they treated him as suspect after the display of strength in the black smith's forge. The news spread like wide fire. And it had been decided at Garrow's household that it would be best if Naruto stayed out of the township's eye. Naruto grudgingly agreed but the time was here for him to go and retrieve the bow. He had also been stocking up on pelts and other useable animal parts. He had also helped Brom by sealing all of his books, scrolls, and weapons. He drew a steadying breath and turned away from the falls. It wasn't long now till the trader's that Eragon had mentioned would arrive. They were already late by about a week. So obviously it wasn't like he had all the time in the world to raise money. He figured it was likely that he would eventually be drafted into the conflict to the south. The king versus the varden.
Hm. From what he gathered from the opinions of the rest the villagers the king wasn't worthy to rule a shit processing plant. So if he wound up in this fight he decided it would be against the supposed king of Alagaesia. Naruto walked into the forest he hadn't actually come out since that night except to give Eragon meats to be delivered to Sloan and pelts to be delivered to Morn. He had also brought out goats and sheep to be sold as food, milk, and wool sources. Naruto grinned playfully as he made his way to his camp. He had a large roast slowly cooking over a low fire, and a tent that was basically just an oiled bear fur pulled over a low hanging branch and tacked down with stakes. He was about to sit down when he smelled something different. It was almost human but not quite. And it was close. But where? The wind was blowing in from behind him so...he dove forward knocking an arrow as he went and aimed into the bushes.
"Alright who ever you are come out or I start shooting." He called looking for any sign of movement. He was soon rewarded with the brush parting and a girl stepping out. She was roughly the same height as Naruto which translated to being five feet three. She was tiny though. Every part of her was petite even the bow that she held in her left hand was tiny compared with Naruto's longbow. He gazed down at the weapon. It was a very thin but it seemed to have glowing writing of some kind running the length of the arms. Its glow was a faint blue green of the deep sea. He didn't know what it was about the weapon but he knew it was much better than his own even if it was only half the size.
"Who are you, and why are you spying on me?" Naruto asked without lowering his bow. He received no reply, so he opened his mouth to ask again. She moved! Her bow was coming up and an arrow was getting knocked. Naruto fired his own bow at her, only for her to dodge swiftly to the left and fire her own arrow. Naruto jumped high into the air and back flipped into the tree limb over his head. He then rolled to the right as another arrow whizzed past him. He returned fire and growled as the woman cartwheeled to the right. Naruto leapt out of the tree as another arrow shot towards his leg. He fired his bow towards her as he sailed through the air. She dove forward and shot an arrow at Naruto. Naruto eeped and did a split and past just barely over the arrow. He dropped the bow to the ground and drew the kunai out of his sleeve and rushed forward. She narrowed her eyes and drew another arrow. Naruto rushed forward and spun to his right as the arrow sailed over his shoulder and keep charging forward. He slashed the kunai at the woman only for her to block the attack to the side with here bow. He began stabbing at her rapidly only for her to begin dodging left and right and back.
"Enough!" The woman said jumping back Naruto leapt back and dropped into a ready stance.
"I've seen all I wanted to." She continued with a small smile.
"And your thoughts are?" Naruto said with a frown.
"Well you are obviously very different than all the other men around here." she said picking up the arrows from the ground. Naruto slid the kunai back into its special sheathe in his sleeve and began gathering his own arrows. When they were done Naruto turned to his camp. The woman padded along silently beside him. Naruto looked at her with an arched eyebrow, but said nothing. When the unlikely duo arrived at the camp the first thing Naruto checked the roast which was well done. He pulled it off the fire and looked at the woman.
"Are you going to tell me who you are and why I had to dodge arrows just now?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow.
"I'm she who walks a shadowed path. The huntress of the far reaches. The lone outcast. I am Hergunnr daughter of Grimmr half-paw." she said with flourish. Naruto nodded thoughtfully.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. I have been hated by my village almost since day one. I am the number one unpredictable ninja."
"Ninja?" Hergunnr asked in confusion. "I don't think I've ever heard the term. Or jinchuriki or Kyuubi."
"Ninja's are my homelands brand of warriors, jinchuriki is a word I hate. And kyuubi is a giant nine tailed fox." Naruto said tearing the meat in half and offering one side to her. She accepted and bit into it revealing dainty fangs. Naruto looked at her oddly which caused her to arch an eyebrow in askance. Naruto answered her by smiling at her revealing his own sharpened canines. But whereas his were larger more fox-like, hers were tiny and needle sharp more like a cat. She looked at his teeth in interest and smiled slightly. It was an odd thing to meet someone so like yourself but so different as well. Naruto thought back to his confrontation with Gaara and smiled. He missed his friends. The pang of loneliness he had been feeling since he had arrived grew more prominent. He quickly looked away. He didn't want to show himself with tear filled eyes to someone he had just met.
"Why are you sad?" Hergunnr asked confusion thick in her voice.
"I came her by magic." Naruto explained slowly. "I don't think I can ever go home."
Realization blossomed along her face. She thought back to her own forced exile and decided that Naruto's must be worse still given that he hadn't chosen to leave his home.
"I am sorry about that." Hergunnr said softly. "I chose to leave my home so I can't say what you must be feeling."
"It's ok. I have been studying sealing jutsu so I think I might be able to create a way to go back one day." Naruto said happily, wiping his face on his sleeve. But she could see that he didn't hold out much hope for this outcome. Still she nodded it was an obvious evasion technique but who was she to bring up unpleasant topics for a virtual stranger. She returned to the hunk of meat and was surprised to see Naruto offer her a hunk of bread and a piece of cheese. He took them gently and gave him a questioning look. He merely smiled and sat back down to his own dinner. They stayed like that silently enjoying the others company till Naruto said. "Do you wanna take first watch or would you rather I do it?"
Hergunnr looked at him in confusion, so he elaborated. "I got mobbed by a pack of wolves the other night. They were lean and looked desperate so I bet they are still out there waiting for another opportunity to get me."
"...So sleep in the trees." Hergunnr said like it was obvious to all but him.
Naruto looked like he wanted to beat his head on a wall. He pursed his lips and glared at her before throwing up his hands and saying. "Why didn't I think about that?!"
"No idea." Hergunnr said with a cute bemused look. "But it doesn't matter your idea about leaving a guard is a sound one. I will take first watch and wake you up in four hours." she watched with interest as the blonde boy fell asleep almost as soon as he laid down. She wondered if that had been part of his ninja training. She supposed that being able to just fall asleep was a very useful ability. She kept her ears alert but gazed intently into the flames. She felt it was nice to have somebody in the area that she could talk to. She had on multiple occasions debated on whether or not it was a good idea to talk to the lone human hunter-child. But it had always ended with her not revealing herself to him. She had been watching from a tree limb as the boy had tracked the herd. She had watched with interest when Naruto and the blue dragon's egg appeared. She then spent a while watching Naruto come back into the spine over and over. She had noted with a spark of...something that Naruto wasn't a typical human. He didn't track to hunt. He stalked. He acted like an animal. He would find a scent to follow then he would find the perfect time to strike and then he would sneak in for the kill. His stealth was near perfect and she would occasionally loose him in the woods. He would always seemed to know he was being watched to, if not from where definitely that someone was there.
She decided to go and wake up Naruto and was soon surprised further when he rose sharply and drew his hidden knife when she got within ten feet. He wasn't fully awake but he was intently focused on her until he was. He grinned sheepishly at her and sheathed the blade and got up. He then disappeared into the woods. He returned after a while with an armload of firewood and sat before the fire. She smiled and went to sleep.
Naruto stood before Horst and his forge. Naruto walked into the forge and saw that Horst was working on a plow head. He waited patiently and gazed with awe at the physical display before him. Granted he had seen many displays of much greater physicality, Zabuza wielding his overgrown butchers knife for instance, but it was different for some reason. Naruto guessed it was because he knew that Horst couldn't use chakra. He didn't know, but it was an awe inspiring sight to watch the large man shape the mettle with only heat and his strength.
When Horst was done with the plowhead he looked up to see the blond standing patiently by the door. He nodded to the boy and reached on top of the main beam of the forge and pulled down a leather case and a large quiver of thick arrows. He handed it to Naruto and watched the boy open the case and take out the reddish-brown weapon. For that is what it was. He couldn't say it was for hunting anything around here. It would cause to much damage to whatever it hit to be used to kill.
Naruto looked at the bow with a smile. It was a bronze color and the wood was thick varnished oak. It was beautiful it was also heavy. It had to weigh fifty pounds. He looked at the string to notice that it was actual some form of braided leather. He looked at it with an arched eyebrow and looked to Horst who said.
"Flax bow string just don't cut it with with metal reinforce bows they just snap. So the fletcher in Therinsford has a special way to treat the leather so that he can braid bowstrings from it. Boy was he surprised at the order though."
Naruto nodded he could have guessed that would have happened. He tried to pull the bowstring but couldn't do it. It made him smirk instead of scowl. He simply pushed chakra into his body until he was able to pull it back. He grinned at Horst who was looking at him in deliberation. Naruto realizing that this man was afraid of him put the bow back in its case and walked from the shop. He left Carvahall and made his way to Garrow's farm. He had offered to help with chores after all.