Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fullmetal Alchemist. If you want to own one of them then I have devised a theory, simply run headfirst into your nearest brick wall at full speed repeatedly and repeat the process until you get enough brain damage that you can fool yourself into believing that you own them. Apparently it feels good, if you can ignore the massive brain and spinal trauma this will more than likely give you, but hey, no pain no gain.

Chapter 35: On The Road… Again.

(Three Weeks After Departure From Konohagakure)

Jiraiya and Naruto had exited the border of Hi no Kuni and had eventually come to a major intersection of roads. For the majority of the time Jiraiya had been trying to divert the attention of Naruto, who was curious seeing as how he remembered Jiraiya's words in his apartment about important information. Fortunately for the white-haired man who wasn't too fond of awkward explanations, distractions often came up to divert his attention.

Jiraiya had to hold him off just long enough for the first part of his training to begin. As they reached the point in the road that broke off in several different directions Jiraiya grinned as he knew the first part had begun, "Okay gaki, time for the first part of your training."

Naruto grinned up at the massive man, "Finally! You haven't taught me a damn thing since we left, all I've been doing is going over my notes and experimenting to make my alchemy stronger, I could have done that back in Konoha."

Jiraiya sweat-dropped as Naruto started to bounce around, "So ero-sennin, what are you going to teach me? The swamp thing? Or maybe the needle thing with your hair, that was pretty cool."

Jiraiya fished in his vest and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper, "I'm going to teach you a very important skill that all powerful shinobi must have, the skill of survival."

Naruto squinted his eyes, "Say what? Survival? I can do that already, we learned that back in the academy."

Jiraiya shook his head with a smirk, "But not like this, your first task will be to survive in the open field for… what's a good period of time? …Six months."

Naruto gave Jiraiya a dry look, "Could you repeat that… because I think my brain just stroked off for a second. Did you just say that you would be leaving me alone for half-a-fucking year?"

Jiraiya grinned, "Yep, go anywhere you want, do whatever you want, I don't care. Just survive for six months and wherever you are I'll find you, I guarantee it. After the time is over I can find you in two weeks or less."

Naruto growled, "What does leaving me on my own have to do with training!" Jiraiya took on a scholarly pose, "Kid you can't have people teaching you all the time, no one is going to be watching your back all the time. You know how to work in a group, well now you need to learn how to depend on number one, yourself."

Jiraiya knelt down and put a hand on Naruto, "You have to know how to pass country borders, how to move in hostile environments, how to keep yourself fed and housed on long missions and engagements, this is very important so we're doing this first… I also don't want to be looking for you for two months after we need to be back in Konoha so we're doing this first."

Naruto whined but a glare from Jiraiya silenced him, "This is two-fold, you need to do this and I need to go meet up with my spy network contacts. When we travel after this I'll introduce you to them so maybe they can be your contacts one day." Naruto still looked angry as Jiraiya tried placating him, "Hey my original plan was to just give you the introduction to simply make a giant Rasengan."

Naruto snorted, "That's kind of stupid. So do I stay in Hi no Kuni or can I leave?"

Jiraiya grinned at the boy, "That's the thing, you can go wherever you want, anywhere. I would actually prefer it if you left Hi no Kuni, go somewhere new, learn the landscape of the elemental nations."

Naruto shot him a smug grin, "Are you sure you want me to ero-sennin? The further away from Hi no Kuni I get the more likely my natural awesome charms are to woo some female. If I leave then consider my side of the bet won."

Jiraiya returned his look, "Well then get moving brat… and don't follow me."

Naruto shrugged, "I don't care which way I go." Naruto pulled out his hitae-ate and put it over his eyes, "You pick which way I go ero-sennin, I won't look until I'm an hour down the road so be crafty with it."

Jiraiya spun Naruto in a circle several times before sending him down a random road. Jiraiya yelled out as the blinded blonde jinchuuriki stumbled down the highway, "Watch your back gaki, I'll be keeping tabs on you, you'd better not die or Tsunade will kill you!"

A dot on the horizon, Naruto yelled back, "Fuck you ero-sennin, I'm going to kick you in your scrote for this crap when I see you again!"

Jiraiya chuckled to himself as he turned down another path, "He'll be fine, six months… What could he possibly get into in six months?"

Jiraiya has seemingly forgotten rule number one of dealing with anything involving Naruto Uzumaki; Murphy's Law is absolute.

XxX

(Some… random place in the middle of the ocean, off the coast of Mizu no Kuni. 2 weeks later.)

Naruto, in an effort to expand his horizons decided that he would see Mizu no Kuni, the island nation. He had chosen this place first on his forced excursion because… he didn't know. His gut told him to head towards Mizu no Kuni first, and when a random attitude should prevail Naruto always followed his gut.

And so Naruto caught a barge heading from a coastal town in Hi no Kuni and had spent the last three days crossing the ocean to make it to the main island of Mizu no Kuni. As the sight of land came into view Naruto couldn't have been happier, being on a boat for three days, sick as a dog, was not Naruto's idea of excitement and a productive use of his time. As the barge landed Naruto leapt off of the deck of the ship and landed on the pier, almost kissing the planks in relief.

Naruto got over his bout with the seas and headed far inland, 'I wonder if I should head to Kiri? As long as I hide my headband I should be okay right? And even if I had it on Kiri doesn't have any grandstanding issues with Konoha do they?'

Naruto pondered this as he walked further and further into the main island of the country. Naruto took note of the differences between Mizu no Kuni and Hi no Kuni; instead of trees and sun Mizu no Kuni was pretty dreary. It had trees yes, but the further in he went the more the clouds would cast in front of the sun, eventually patches of fog would be seen over a lot of the landscape, and the further in he went the harder it was to navigate the forests that he found himself in.

Naruto had eventually been walking around in the woods for two days and had taken a rest at a fallen tree, "Okay, so I guess 'Village Hidden in the Mist' is a good name for this place…" Naruto whipped out the map Jiraiya gave him before a sigh left his mouth, "A whole lot of good this will do after I got lost, *sigh* I'm an idiot."

Naruto heard crashing sounds off in the distance and stood as he prepared for a fight. Naruto pinpointed the sounds and ran off to investigate.

XxX

An orange-haired boy with glasses sat hiding in the mist checking the wounds across his torso. A decent length gash across his chest was bleeding down his body. The boy grimaced as he kept his search up for assailants.

As his eyes darted through the misty forest he thought frantically, 'Why did she send me out here with that squad? I'm not fit to lead anyone! I'm going to die in this forest!'

The boy felt a cold twinge on his shoulder as he jumped and turned to see a blonde with a confused expression holding out his right arm, "Whoa! Hey calm down, what's going on around here? It reeks of blood."

The boy pulled him to the ground, "My entire squad was wiped out by anti-blood limit forces, we never had a chance."

Naruto lifted and eye-brow in confusion, "Wait, Kiri is still on that anti-blood limit kick?"

The boy nodded before he noticed the metal arm, "Is that a kekkei genkai?"

Naruto looked at his arm, "Um, no. It's just auto-mail, a prosthetic limb only kicked up to the max."

Naruto looked at his wounds, 'Haku-chan said this crap was going on back when she was a kid. They still do this?' Naruto picked him up by his arm and steadied him, "Hey let's get you out of here alright? You're looking pretty beat up. Where's your base at?"

The boy was hesitant to answer until it dawned on Naruto, 'Of course he doesn't trust me, he's at war with a genocidal force. I wouldn't trust me either.' Naruto held out his hands in a placating manner, "Hey I'm not even from this country, I'm from Konoha."

Naruto pulled his hitae-ate out for proof as the boy looked confused, "What is a Konoha ninja doing all the way out here?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I'm kind of on a long trip, I was just passing through and would you believe your luck when I stumbled across you." Naruto heard rustling in the distance, "Kid we've got to get moving, your enemies are on our heels."

The orange-haired boy looked conflicted for a moment before relenting, 'Whatever, I'm going to die anyway, and if this guy does attack the base then he can't win alone.' He sighed and pointed in a direction as Naruto took off after picking him up fireman's style.

XxX

The boy calmed after seeing familiar landmarks, "We're getting close to the hideout."

Naruto looked over his shoulder and cursed, "Can you make it the rest of the way alone?" The orange-haired boy nodded as Naruto stopped to let him stand, "Get to your hideout, I'll fight these guys off, we can't lead them to your group. I'll try to stop them here."

The boy looked upset, "Why are you doing this? I don't even know your name."

Naruto looked ahead in the direction of the pursuers, "Because I want to, I think it's the right thing to do… and my name is Naruto Uzumaki. Now get out of here."

The boy smiled and ran off towards his base as Naruto sighed, "'Because it's the right thing to do.' I'm so dumb, this isn't my fight."

Four Kiri ninja landed in front of him as one with his hitae-ate on a bandana spoke up, "We trade in one pipsqueak for another? Are runts like you all that those stupid rebels can come with these days?"

Another bald one spoke up, "Let's just step on this little pest and keep searching."

A tick mark appeared on Naruto's head, "Oh yeah, now it's my fight."

They took notice of the auto-mail arm, "Look at that kid's arm! He has a new metal kekkai genkai! Take him out now!"

Naruto grunted, "It's not a damn-!" A barrage of kunai and shuriken flew at him before he could finish his statement as he began bouncing around the forest floor dodging projectiles.

Naruto made several Kage Bunshin and spread them out along the trees amid the battlefield along with himself. Naruto surrounded the Kiri ninja with his clones while staying hidden as they searched for any sign of him, "That damn brat! Find him and kill him now!"

CLAP

The Kiri nin all jumped out of the way as an assortment of wooden spears came soaring from the forest. The bandana one, seemingly the leader growled, "Where are you you little shit?"

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu)!"

The leader dodged as did two others, but one was caught in the attack and was smashed through multiple trees before crashing to a halt against one of the trees. The man's chest was caved in as he wheezed and spit blood from his mouth before slumping over, dead.

The bald man went wide-eyed at the sight, "The little freak just killed Takeshi!"

The bandana-wearing man bit his fist, "Shut up and calm down, he's just one kid, don't cluster up! Find him and kill him now!"

"You can try." Naruto's voice rang out from many different areas in the trees, "Leave now and I won't have to kill the rest of you."

One of the underlings got brash, "It's still three on one kid! You and the rest of the demon spawn bloodline users need to die! Our country is better off without you!"

Naruto's chuckles echoed through the forest, "I'm not from Kiri, I'm just passing through."

The bald ninja shouted back out, "Then why are you here? What could you possibly want with us?"

"Honestly… nothing. But you tried to kill a guy fighting against prejudiced pricks like you. What kind of man would I be to let him just die? …That and you fuckers called me short, I'm a kid, I still have to hit my growth spurt you bastards."

CLAP

Two large earth hands came from the ground and tried to crush the three ninja who were together, but they all moved and leapt into the trees.

The underling ninja found himself surrounded by half a dozen of Naruto's clones and was dog-piled before they all shouted 'boom' and detonated Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion).

The remaining Kiri ninja ended up engaging masses of Kage Bunshin in the trees, one after another. The bald Kiri nin yelled in anger, "How many stupid clones do we have to cut through before we get the real one?"

"I'm not as easy to beat as a Bunshin."

The bald ninja ducked as Naruto slashed at the back of his head with his blade arm. The man kicked him back and pulled out a kunai to begin engaging him up close, "So the real one finally shows himself."

Naruto was pushed back by the larger man and blocked a strike from him before pushing him back himself, "You should have been grateful to keep fighting clones… they're not even a fraction of my own power."

Naruto pushed close enough to headbutt the man across the face, breaking his nose. Naruto stepped back as the man swung wildly, "You little fucking brat! I'll rip your throat out!"

Naruto kept out of his range as he kept swinging, "Not fighting like that you aren't."

Naruto was suddenly lashed across the back by the bandana ninja, cutting through his clothing and drawing blood. Naruto shouted in pain before turning around to face his newly arrived enemy who had a satisfied smirk on his face, "You've been doing very well for a brat. But the game is over, you die here."

Naruto sharply inhaled as the uncomfortable wound on his back began to bleed, "Oh man, what the hell was that! That fucking hurt!"

The bandana wearing ninja grinned as he snapped a whip made of water around himself, "Kid when you get good enough to manipulate elemental chakra like me, there isn't a whole lot that you can't form with your element."

Naruto deadpanned a look, "A water element in Kirikagure… wow… how original. You are unique sir."

The man didn't take too kindly to that, "Are you mocking me kid?"

Naruto replied sarcastically, "No of course not. I mean that must be a very rare element to have in a country named for WATER."

Naruto dodged an attack from behind from the bald man, "Gedo let's waste this punk already, he broke my nose!"

Naruto faced both men and stared them down, 'That guy better have gotten away, this isn't my problem but they're making it my problem. When this is over I'm getting the hell out of Mizu no Kuni I swear to Kami.'

Naruto flexed his fingers in anticipation, "And then there were two… You know you can still leave me alone, I don't even want to be in this country."

The bandana ninja, identified as Gedo chuckled, "Yeah you're pretty good, but we're chunin in Kiri's extermination squads, hunting down solo ninja like you is our job."

Naruto flipped them both off, "Well exterminate this…"

And that's a wrap, as you can see Naruto will be having a little whirlwing journey for a short while. Why you may ask? Well as far as I know all Jiraiya did during the 2 ½ years he trained Naruto was teach him Odama Rasengan, and how to tap into the Kyuubi's chakra better. Well in this story Naruto can already use the Kyuubi's chakra decently and he can form Rasengan one handed already. I just figured my way made sense and left the door open for some creative shenanigans.

There is a point to the survival arc, a good one, but it won't be very clear for a while which is what I want after all. Final exam week is on deck, I will have a shitload more free time after this so whoopdee-deezer.

Apologies for the short chapter, that isn't my style, but I didn't want the whole thing in one chapter so… yeah.

Time to write my final exam paper, Kenchi out.

Drop the kid a review and let me know what you're feeling it's all good.