I read in a book you are supposed to smile while giving bad news to lessen the impact, Digi does not own Naruto, do you feel better?
Sage
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow, Learn as if you were to live forever" – Mahatma Ghandi
Kawa no Kuni was a large country, at least in comparison to the other so called 'minor' countries. While its economical income couldn't compare to its neighbour Konoha, it was by no means poor. With a border spanning between the lengths of Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni it had exponentially prospered as an outcome of the peace between the two hidden villages. Trade routes through the country were developed and places like Takumi village and the now officially decommissioned Tanigakure became popular tourist hotspots.
Its main export was lumber, similar to that of Hi no Kuni except where they provided bulk and quantity, Kawa no Kuni provided professionalism and quality. Expansive lumber farms of rare and sought after trees spanned the length of the country. Taking advantage of the exhaustive river system that ran through the land the lumber farms were able to float their cargo all the way to the port towns in the south of the country to be shipped off all around the elemental nations.
Naruto stood by one such river, watching with idle interest as large barges filled to the brim with enormous logs of various colour and shape floated by. Despite the hidden village of the country being officially disbanded in favour of services from wither Konoha or Suna, there were many guilds of mercenaries operating in the land. Most of the time they were contracted with protecting the barges from attack; however it rarely came to that; one barge of wood, no matter how rare, was fairly worthless to the average bandit.
Naruto had been following the river for about an hour since leaving the women he had rescued to go back to their village. It was still raining heavily causing the river to swell slightly; there was little chance of it breaking its banks though, most were reinforced against that kind of thing. Kawa no Kuni was a fairly flat land with only a few valleys towards the south of the region. The rivers that had their sources in Iwa's mountains by that point were lazy and meandering; there wasn't a single rapid or waterfall in the entire county.
Floods used to be a fairly common occurrence which was why many villages still bore the protection measures against such events such as walls and special irrigation systems. However the last Daimyo, in an attempt to bolster the countries economical situation had put a plan into action where every river in the country had been converted into a sort of semi-canal. It had nearly bankrupted the country but the rewards were well worth it; no longer having to pay so much for flood protection the people were freer to spend money on other things, contributing the economy more.
Of course Naruto didn't know any of this as he lazily made his way along the bank of the river, his hood up to ward off the rain. Every so often he would pause, an amused smile on his face before continuing on, the soft sound of raindrops and the lap of the river against its banks accompanying his walk.
"Were you ever going to work up the courage to come out?" Naruto almost chuckled as he heard a startled 'eep' from somewhere behind him, well, two trees behind him to be exact. He turned as a young girl sheepishly poked her head out from behind the large oak, a blush on her cheeks for getting caught.
"How long did you know?" Naruto jest gave a small smile as he leaned against his staff, surprising the girl when it didn't sink even an inch into the rain-softened ground.
"What? That you were following me ever since the bandit camp?" The girl hung her head a little, in retrospect she should have probably figured it would be hard to sneak up on somebody capable of taking down an entire bandit camp without a single casualty.
"I-I didn't mean to be sneaky or anything, I was just nervous." Naruto merely maintained his small smile.
"Why didn't you go back to the village with the others?" Suddenly he recognised the girl, she was the one who rallied the others back in the camp. She had long flowing purple hair that was free to flow down her back in a wave and vibrant turquoise eyes. On her body was the tattered remains of what was once probably a rather pretty dress that was now covered in tears and dirt that was gradually being washed off by the rain. .
"I uh, well." She began to nervously wring her hands before looking up with a hopeful expression. "I want to learn how to do what you can." Naruto blinked in surprise before frowning as he noted the occasional shiver run across the girl's body. He was wrapped up in his cloak so he didn't notice but thanks to the rain it had become rather cold.
"Here." He removed his long billowing cloak, allowing the girl to see the monk robes he wore underneath, before holding it out to her. Immediately his hair was flattened against his head and his clothes began to soak but he quickly circulated fire Chakra through his body for warmth. The girl just looked hesitantly at the cloak before accepting it with a gracious smile.
"Thank you; I'm Shizuku by the way." Naruto cocked a brow; it was a fairly unusual name, especially for a girl.
"Naruto, that's a strange name." The girl blushed again as she pulled the large cloak over her considerably smaller frame.
"Yeah, it was given to me by the lady who ran the orphanage." She looked up and saw Naruto's sympathetic look which only seemed to redden her blush. "I don't know what happened to my parents but I was found as a child unconscious in front of the village; I don't remember anything before then." Naruto gave her an understanding smile as he moved closer, bringing the both of them underneath the protection of a large bough.
"I was an orphan too, I ran away from my village when I was young." He paused for a moment looking like he was going to say more but thought better of it. "I was found a few days later by my Sempai Chiriku and lived in the Fire temple ever since." Shizuku finally seemed to notice the boy's staff and robes as her eyes widened in understanding.
"So you're really a monk?" Naruto nodded once and the girl slumped slightly against the tree. "Wow, I thought you must be a ninja or something from the way you took down those bandits." She looked at him incredulously for a moment, her long purple hair splaying across her face as it moved with the momentum of her head. "Aren't monks just supposed to go about preaching and praying or something?" Naruto gave a short laugh as he sat down on the wet ground, he was wet anyway so a bit more wouldn't hurt.
"I get that a lot. Monks and Shinobi both develop the use of Chakra within their bodies however the difference lays in their goals. Shinobi train purely to fight or to aid in fighting so they can complete their missions and get paid. Monks train to use Chakra so they can better understand themselves, however this requires both mental and physical training; learning Taijutsu is the easiest way to go about this." Shizuku nodded dumbly, only really following half of that.
"But the way you took down those bandits..." Naruto stood up, quickly walking up the tree they were next to which was amazing enough as it was. He proceeded to rip a rather large branch from the tree with obvious ease before dropping back down with no visible injury.
"Understanding Chakra and learning to mould it gives one certain advantages like enhanced strength and speed but it is only a by-product of our training. In a fight with a trained ninja the monk will more often than not come out the worse for it." Shizuku looked down, disappointed by that slightly; Naruto caught that as he sat back down, this time the girl joined him.
"But why do you wish to learn what I can do?" The blonde was mildly surprised when he saw a look of intense determination flash across the girl's teal eyes. Her fists clenched slightly as she looked off into the trees, obviously thinking deeply about something.
"I felt so hopeless, lying there in that tent, unable to help or do anything. I had to watch as girls were dragged off, to only be abused for the sick pleasure of those men; I wanted so desperately to help, to do something other than just lie there hopelessly. Then you came along, framed by the light in the flap of the tent, you looked so..." She suddenly trailed off as a large blush once again flooded her face forcing her to look away before coughing. "You seemed so strong and powerful." She turned back to face him "I want to be like that too, so I never have to watch on powerlessly again as people are hurt." She was greeted by a warm smile from the blonde.
"That is a very good reason to seek power, but what then? What will you do when you have that power?" The girl looked at him confused as the blonde sighed, a contemplative look replacing his usual serene smile. "My master once told me that some of the worst people in the world do what they do out of love." Again he only received a look of confusion. "If you loved somebody so intently you would give your life for them only to watch them die in front of you, naturally you would seek revenge. The road to damnation is paved with more than good intentions but the bones of people one steps over in their warped quest." He blinked as he looked around, the warm smile returning to his face as soon as he realised it was gone.
"Sorry, guess I got a little carried away there." Shizuku just looked at him with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open a little almost comically.
"Are all monks like you?" Naruto chuckled at that, a grin stretching over his face.
"There's nobody like me." The girl blinked before a similar smile began to spread over her own features.
"So will you do it?" The blonde raised an eyebrow causing the girl to sigh. "Will you teach me how to be stronger?" Naruto chuckled as he nodded understandingly; he seemed pensive for a moment as he slowly got to his feet. There was a long moment of silence as he stared at the end of his staff, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
"No." Shizuku nearly fell over at that before a looking down sadly.
"I understand." She turned to go, shrugging off the cloak only to feel a hand on her shoulder preventing her. Turning with confusion she saw Naruto standing there with a half smile, his other hand extended towards her.
"I can't teach you how to be stronger, that is something you must figure out yourself; but as my master told me four years ago, I can give you the told to find that answer." Naruto had never felt wiser in his life, he almost felt like Chukaku when he gave one of his sagely lectures. Of course the mood was completely ruined when Shizuku suddenly launched herself forward, wrapping her arms tightly around the blonde in a warm hug.
"Thank you! I promise you won't regret this, I'll be the best student ever!" Naruto smiled warmly as he began to walk again, Shizuku scrambling to follow him. "So does this make me like your apprentice now?" Naruto chuckled lightly as he walked, Shakujou jingling melodiously for a moment as he turned to look at his new travelling companion.
"I suppose so."
"Alright, the first thing you need to learn about Chakra is that you cannot control it." Naruto's new 'student' stared at him incredulously for a moment. They had stopped off for the night somewhere in the north of the country, not too far from the border between Kawa and Ame no Kuni. They sat in a clearing, a small fire burning between them to dry them off. The rain hadn't stopped but the small clearing acted like a natural shelter, keeping them dry for the most part.
"What do you mean, don't ninja use it to do all their cool Jutsu and stuff?" Naruto just chuckled, running a hand through his damp hair before replacing them in front of the fire to keep warm. Using fire Chakra was handy but doing it consistently throughout the day became tiring, even to somebody like Naruto.
"It is true Shinobi use Chakra to perform Ninjutsu however they do not control the Chakra running through their body, they merely guide it, or at least the most successful do. You have to imagine it like water; you can try to pick it up all you like but it will just run through your fingers eventually, instead you make channels for the water and allow it to flow naturally. The only part a Shinobi actively plays is moulding the Chakra itself from their Physical and Spiritual energies." At this point Shizuku had her head tilted to the side like a lost puppy causing Naruto to sigh with a small smile.
"Come here." The girl blinked but complied anyway, walking around the campfire to stand in front of Naruto. The blonde surprised her however when he gently pressed his palm against her stomach, causing an intense blush to break out across her face.
"W-What are you-?" Shizuku suddenly stopped as she felt a warmth suddenly enter her body through the contact like a liquid spreading throughout her form. She suddenly felt incredibly strong and her senses were heightened to levels she wouldn't have believed before. As suddenly as it had happened it was gone, Naruto pulling his hand away much to the girl's disappointment.
"That was Chakra." Naruto's words didn't seem to reach the girl, she had a lopsided grin on her face and was swaying slightly.
"Can you do that again?" Naruto chuckled slightly as he patted the spot on the log next to him, the girl sitting down without hesitance.
"I don't need to, soon you'll be able to do that yourself. I might have lied just a bit; you can control Chakra to an extent but not in the way you would think. Naturally there is always Chakra flowing in our bodies, through special pathways just for that purpose. In most people these routes are underdeveloped so not much is flowing; in Ninja they work for years in order to develop these pathways so they can perform their techniques. What I just did was guide some of my own Chakra through your Chakra network, opening them up slightly and encouraging your own core to begin producing more. This will start a chain reaction of sort so that if you continue to train your pathways will continue to expand."
Naruto looked over only to see Shizuku with her head tilted forward, her eyes slowly closing. He just smiled as he led her carefully over to where he had unsealed his sleeping mat. He lay down a few metres away on the ground, not minding the soft earth as a bed; he had certainly slept on worse. He figured it was better she slept now, loosening ones pathways manually was an uncomfortable process but this way she would sleep through it. He looked over one more time at the sheet of purple hair poking out from underneath the blanket; he had gained some company if nothing else.
"So where are we headed then?" The two were walking through thick forests again having woken some time after the sun had rose. Well, Shizuku had, Naruto had been awake the moment the sun peaked through the trees, preparing breakfast before meditating until his new companion awoke. It was a novel experience having to explain to the girl what meditation was and what it did. She had attempted it however briefly but found it to be boring; it was like seeing a glimpse of himself in the past.
"Wherever out feet take us I suppose." The violette stared at the blonde for a moment before shaking her head with a sigh.
"Is everything you say going to be a riddle?" Her response was a warm smile which only increased the volume of her groan.
"Well if we went via the elemental cycle I started in Hi no Kuni before travelling to Kaze no Kuni so the next logical destination would be Kaminari no Kuni." If anything the girl's disbelief only increased as she stared at her companion in horror.
"Are you kidding? The land of lightning is on the other side of the continent!" Naruto just shrugged with that same calming, yet unbelievably irritating smile.
"Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and must be taken one step at a time." Again Shizuku just blinked before hanging her head down, an invisible rain cloud hanging over her head.
"You're impossible." Of course while the raincloud over her head was imaginary, the ones in the sky were very much real. As far as Naruto could tell it hadn't stopped raining all night and had continued to do so into the morning. Naruto just chuckled at her response as they continued to walk in silence, only the jingle of his staff breaking the quiet.
"Where would you suggest we go then?" Shizuku gave a small laugh of her own, her emotions doing a complete one eighty as she motioned to her tattered clothing.
"A town preferably, If I'm going to be travelling all the way to Kaminari no Kuni then I'll need some new clothes." Naruto gave a small conceding nod, pleasantly surprised at how quickly the girl's disposition had taken a turn for the better. It was something he had noticed about the girl, no matter what happened she seemed to bounce back within moments to what appeared to be her usual upbeat attitude.
Pretty soon they did reach a town, one that straddled the edge of the border with Ame no Kuni. Thankfully it was not as downtrodden as the last one Naruto passed through; people were going about their normal days without a care. Not much attention was given to a travelling monk and the young girl with him and Naruto liked it better that way. He normally wouldn't mind any attention he might attract because he was at least confident in his skills. However now there was somebody with him he couldn't be so sure; he felt protective of Shizuku.
Due to the inherent radar all women naturally possessed it didn't take all that long for the girl to fin d a clothes shop. Naruto gave her some money out of the small amount he had saved over his time in Suna and left her to get what she needed. He wasn't sure why but he felt as though if he went inside he would end up regretting it. However as soon as the girl came back out he instantly knew he should have gone in with her.
"What are you wearing?" Naruto blinked in surprise once as his head tilted to the side in surprise. Shizuku had emerged from the shop with what very well appeared to be a Miko outfit, complete with the clean white Kimono top tucked into a traditional red Hakama. She also had decided to take a leaf out of Naruto's book, buying comfortable strap-up sandals with white socks unlike the open-toed style favoured by Ninja. Her hair was now tied back by a light ribbon the same colour as her eyes, drawing it into a long ponytail. Honesty Naruto wouldn't have been surprised if there had been a sword on her back, thankfully there wasn't.
"What, you don't like it? I figured if I'm travelling with a monk I should look the part." Naruto just rubbed his forehead, unsure of whether to be flattered by the girl's commitment of just irritated.
"You're mistaking me for a priest again." Shizuku just blinked in confusion, almost melting away Naruto's irritation with how cute the action was.
"I am?" That was the final straw; Shizuku tilted her head to the side slightly with wide blinking eyes, her pony-tail falling with it. Naruto somehow knew she knew exactly what she was doing bt it was too damn cute so he didn't find it in him to care.
"It's fine, as long as you bought something else then-" The monk blanched as Shizuku produced three more sets of the exact same outfit from behind her. His head fell forward in defeat while Shizuku had that same innocent smile on her face. "Come on then, I'll show you how to seal those away in scrolls." Shizuku's face lit up at the mention of learning something; on their walk they had talked a lot about what Naruto would teach her; or at least Shizuku had excitedly speculated while Naruto watched on in amusement.
They began to move on, grabbing something to eat while they were in the town before moving on to the border. Naruto was wary at this point, Ame no Kuni was very mysterious as of late, Chiriku had even warned him about passing through there. The borders were apparently heavily watched and Amegakure itself was supposed to be impossible to enter at the moment. People speculated there was some kind of internal strife going on like a civil war which was surprising. The leader of Ame, Hanzo of the Salamander, was said to have defeated all three of Konoha's Sannin at the same time.
However despite all of this it took surprisingly little effort to get into the country itself. It turns out all kinds of holy men were pretty much ignored as they travelled from country to country, considered harmless by most. Even if a monk of priest had power or skill they were pacifists by nature so posed no direct danger to anybody. There was also the fact that Ame was secure in the knowledge Amegakure had never been invaded before outside of war.
It continued to rain as they travelled so they had to find a cave some way off from the main road before they could make camp. Naruto quickly made a fire and soon the two were drying themselves off; Shizuku was also admiring her new look in a nearby puddle but that wasn't relevant. The atmosphere was surprisingly quiet considering how talkative Shizuku normally was; after they had dried off she sat at the mouth of the cave just staring out into the rain. Naruto joined her after a while, sitting next to her and peering out into the sheets of falling water.
"It's been raining pretty heavily for a while now hasn't it?" The blonde blinked when he noticed his companion's head droop slightly, an air of depression settling over her. He had only tried to make conversation yet Shizuku seemed to withdraw upon herself as he said it.
"It's my fault." He looked over only to be surprised when he saw Shizuku with tears bristling in the corners of her eyes. Naruto may have been a monk but he was still a guy and there are only a few reactions when a boy is faced with a crying girl.
"Woah, hey hey, it's not your fault!" he began to wave his hands in front of himself for reasons he couldn't quite fathom on a conscious level. "Hey, it's raining so what? We're in Ame no Kuni so what do you expect?" In response Shizuku just tucked her legs up against her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face in her new Hakama leggings.
"It's not that; everywhere I go the rain always seems to follow me; it's how I got my name. For as long as I can remember whenever I am outside it would always rain. The other kids would stay away from me, saying I was cursed or just bad luck, now I've brought that on you, I'm sorry." She withdrew on herself even further, listing to the individual sounds of raindrops falling on the ground outside. She didn't flinch when she felt a warm hand rest on her shoulder, she didn't even look up.
"You know, a very wise old man once told me that the rain helps us see just how insignificant our own problems are. When you can walk outside as water falls from the sky, mingling with your tears to the point where they become indistinguishable, you realise that right at that very moment you might not be the only person in the world crying and you just might not be able to see them." Shizuku looked up slowly from her knees, timidly turning her gaze towards Naruto; however the blonde wasn't looking at her, he was staring out of the cave into the rain.
Suddenly he stood up and walked outside, completely uncaring of the water drenching his body. Lightning flashed briefly behind him, framing his body with light for a single second. He turned with a beaming smile, his hand outstretched in Shizuku's direction, gesturing for her to join him. Tentatively she stood and ventured out into the rain, her steps growing more confident as she reached the blonde. He took her hand, smiling all the while as he looked up at the overcast sky.
"I'll make you a promise Shizuku as my first apprentice; as long as I'm with you, you will never have to hide your tears in the rain again." With that he raised a single hand, his eyes opening, giving Shizuku her first ever glimpse of the Rinnegan. She felt a sudden surge of unexplained energy through the contact between their hands.
"Shinra Tensei." Suddenly, just like that, the rain stopped; it wasn't so much that it stopped falling entirely but above the two of them the water was suspended in the air like it was being held back by some great invisible hand. Shizuku could only watch in wonder at the physics-defying event taking place above her as Naruto defied nature to stop the rain falling. She looked back around only to find herself looking directly into Naruto's steely purple eyes.
Suddenly Naruto's technique gave out and the rain began to fall again, succinctly drenching them both from all the held back water. Quickly hurrying back into the cave the two began to laugh at the situation before settling down next to the fire to once again dry off. However every couple of moments or so Shizuku would cast a glance Naruto's way, trying to explain what she had felt out there, looking into his eyes.
"So the rain has really always followed you?" Shizuku looked up to see Naruto looking at her, his eyes once again narrowed as they usually were and only a small smile adoring his features. Shizuku just nodded while Naruto became thoughtful, he looked at her again, opening his eyes slightly wider to once again reveal his Doujutsu, staring t her as if he could see right through her. For a moment his eyes narrowed in confusion before they went back to normal.
"Your eyes, I've never seen anything like them." Naruto chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. Shizuku was glad for moments like that, they humanised the otherwise mysterious monk she had latched herself onto.
"Yeah, I guess you could say they're unique." Upon Shizuku's look of interest the blonde sighed before opening his eyes completely, abandoning his usual narrowed look for now.
"I have a bloodline of sorts that manifests in my eyes as a Doujutsu known as the Rinnegan, it allows me to do thing that others can't." Shizuku just stared at him strangely before her eyes widened in understanding as she looked out at the rain. "Yes, the technique you saw me use was one of the six paths my eyes grant be access to, the Deva path, which grants me limited control over gravity." At this point Shizuku was staring at him with wide, gleaming eyes; she had known ninja were capable of amazing feats... but to be able to control one of the fundamental forces of the universe?
"What are the other paths?" Naruto sighed with a small smile.
"You've actually seen me use another, the Preta path, it allows me control over how Chakra moves, so I can absorb it or direct it into objects or people. It was how I begun to get your pathways to open up manually. Other than that I'm not sure, there isn't a lot of information available to help me find out." Shizuku nodded in understanding before frowning.
"Then how do you know there are six paths?" Naruto grinned as he instinctively reached for his Shakujou, taking comfort in the feel of the firm staff.
"The monks at the temple I lived in showed me some books about a man called the Sage of the Six Paths, he too was said to have possessed the Rinnegan, but so little is known about him because he lived hundreds of years ago. I don't know if I will ever unlock all the abilities of the Rinnegan but they seem to manifest at points where I am in need or desperate." He shrugged, returning to his more nonchalant demeanour. "But enough delaying, it's about time we worked on your Chakra control." Shizuku's groan echoed around the small cave.
It was still raining and Naruto had begun to take Shizuku's story seriously, then again he couldn't be sure if it had more to do with them being in Ame no Kuni. It had been a long and rather exhausting journey through the country, mostly due to the fact they had avoided any villages or towns they had encountered. After the first one they learned that Ame was currently embroiled in a rather vicious civil war. Nobody said it outright but the signs were all there.
Even in that one town people had been driven into factions; there were the loyalists to Hanzo of the Salamander. These people were either terrified of the man and his followers or genuinely believed the leader of Ame was right for the country. It was true that after the Third Shinobi war Ame had been left in a state of poverty and disrepair; ever since then Hanzo had worked to restore the country to what it had once been.
The there were the rebels, they were much harder to spot, for obvious reasons, but their presence was no less noticeable. Propaganda posters littered the walls, many covered in the same red cloud decal that seemed to be a symbol for the rebellion. It was hushed as much as possible by the loyalists; they tore down any posters in sight and brought any suspected rebel in for questioning. These were the people who believed either Hanzo wasn't a good leader or he wasn't doing things fast enough.
That wasn't what made Naruto cautious; it was seeing a certain woman that had down that. They had been walking down the street in the first town they came across after buying some provisions when a woman walked past them. She had been wearing a black cloak with red clouds adorning it, a blatant sign of the rebellion; and yet nobody did anything. People went out of their way to avoid the blue hair woman and Naruto knew why. She practically radiated power, at least in comparison to the surrounding people. Even under Naruto's Rinnegan eye he could get nothing, like with Gaara a thin layer of Chakra covered her entire body, making anything else difficult to discern.
After that the two had avoided any major villages or towns, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of the brewing civil unrest. Naruto would have gladly offered his help but people who got mixed up in wars were targeted. When those targeted people couldn't be hurt they began to go after people close to them. Naruto had made a promise to Shizuku that he had no intention of breaking, he would protect her. So they quickly made their way north through the impoverished country.
Naruto was relieved to finally see the border to Kusa no Kuni.