A Long Road Ch 11
A Naruto Fan Fiction
I do not own Naruto
Ch 11: Winter & The City
Fresh snow coated the surface of the ground. The weather had finally taken a turn for the worse and even with the fire burning strongly in the cave Naruto still needed an extra layer of clothing. Sitting by the blaze helped to warm the boy but the compromise was having to tolerate the thick smoke. It collected heavily at the tall roof of the under ground space and a small opening Naruto couldn't see let it out somewhere.
"Time to go!" Deus called outside the cave. Naruto closed his jacket and got to his feet. Leaving the warmth of the fire he shivered, it must have been at least negative fifteen outside if he had to guess. Walking out into the light of the day he took a look at the tall cliff that housed them. The smoke from the fire could not be seen from where he was; wherever it let out didn't matter. He turned to Deus who was wearing his normal long black trench coat, over his shoulder he carried a large pack that had seen better days. "So what is it like there?" Naruto asked excited. "Like any major city's I suppose. Busy, dirty, corrupt politically, most of the stuff you would expect." "Then why are we going if its so shity?" Deus looked at Naruto thoughtfully. "I have taught you all that I can this way, with just the two of us. But if you want to get some experience you need to fight against someone with your level of talent, someone who won't hold back because they might hurt you." Naruto grinned at that; his confidence in his own abilities was unquestioned in his mind. In fact Deus was also confident in him as well; from what he knew Naruto had been above average in his country, but he had been extremely adept in the fighting styles of this one. Deus started to walk into the forest, and Naruto followed.
….
Noise flooded his ears; it was so loud he could hardly hear himself think. The roar of the endless current of people washed over him and it did not show any sign of letting up. This was a larger city then Naruto had ever seen in his life, and even if he didn't like to admit it, for some reason that he could only describe as pride, it was much bigger then the leaf.
Naruto stuck close to Deus for fear of being swept away, not that it was much of a problem. For some reason people seemed to avoid them, it was like a bubble that went unseen but kept the crowd at bay. They traveled to a district that was littered with blacksmiths on every street corner. This was where people went to buy weapons and fight for money; or so Deus explained. They came to a mid sized arena surrounded by rows upon rows of ever-elevated seats. It could have fit around a thousand people, maybe more. They walked into the opening and headed to a podium with a long line of people, each looked like they could kill a person just by looking at them. A much younger person ranging from 13 to 17 by the look of them accompanied each these menacing figures.
Deus walked to the back of the line and when the hulking man just in front of them turned to see who was behind him a look of disgust appeared in a flash. The man moved aside to let them pass, a guarding hand in front of his young companion to shield her from some evil that may try to do harm. "Thank you." Deus said. The rest of the line went like that until they got to the front. Muttering's of "The demons" whispered behind them. Maybe it was Deus's eyes that scared them Naruto reasoned.
At the front of the line they were once again greeted with the look of disgust. "Competition?" the old man spoke in a tone that suggested he couldn't be bothered. "Hand to hand." "Ok. Go to the left entrance and wait. The matches will start in three hours."
They made there way to a small room with one other door. "This is as far as I go with you Naruto." He pulled out some clothing and handed it to him. "Ill be watching from the stands but what comes next is all up to you. Now put than on and go through that door when you are ready." As Deus took his leave Naruto stood in silence. He looked at the clothing his master had left to him. The gloves were fingerless but reached up past his wrist and mid way to his elbow; the back of his arm was covered in metal beads and his knuckles were both covered with one metal plate for each. His short sleeve shirt had armored shoulders and a thick leather under weave. His pants were much the same with metal knee caps.
The nervousness griped his chest as he went to leave. What would happen if he failed? The disappointment of his master was something that he feared more then broken bones. He took serial deep breaths and told himself he would need to win. He pushed open the door.
…..
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