Manga/Anime: Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto/Studio Pierrot
Words: 1 916
Publish: 09/16/2020
Summary: Naruto is a slave working in the mines for the Uchiha. His life is as gloomy and dull as the underground tunnels he spends his days in. However, an opportunity to buy his freedom is given to him. Little does he know he is about to discover the fantastic beings who live in the forest.

He's an idiot.

He knew the other slaves always talked to him when they had something nasty in mind. Yet, every time they approached him and asked him if he wanted to eat with them, he agreed.

And today wasn't the exception.

He was about to eat alone when he heard footsteps coming his way. He had looked up, afraid it was the older coming to beat him or steal his meagre meal. That's why he was surprised to see the smirks of his roommates.

"Hey Uzumaki. You up for picking gekka bijin in the forest tonight or not?" Sai challenged him.

Naruto knew that Epiphyllum Oxypetalum were rare white flowers which bloomed only at night and at some point during the year.

He also knew it was forbidden to get out of the village without being allowed to. So, venturing alone into the forest was the worst thing to do.

"And why would I do that, eh?"

"Because it's worth a fortune."

His body reacted quicker than his mind.

"Ok, I'm in!"

He was an idiot.

He heavily sighed. He was starting to regret his bravery from earlier.

Small and frail for an eighteen year-old, he always reminded himself too late that not all animals in the forest were nice. Some were deadly. Most of them were nocturnal by the way.

He shivered at the thought and tightened his hands around his torch.

He could barely see the path he was lighting because of all the plants. The cold wind pierced his bones. He would jump at every noise. He rubbed his shoulders regularly, thinking he had felt a bug. His footsteps were tentatives in case he would step on a snake. He was a sweating mess.

And the howler monkeys' scream almost seemed to be mocking laughter. 'Look at this little guy venturing alone on our territory even though he's ready to pee in his trousers.' they seemed to say.

Tch, Naruto ignored them.

Anyway, there was no reason for him to panic right now, he encouraged himself. He wasn't really far away from the village. He could still hear the river stream on his left. As long as he kept walking in this direction, he knew where he was.

Moreover, he just had to look up to see the stars if, for random reasons, he had changed his route. He noticed the moon was really big tonight. It was perfect to pick these flowers called 'Beauty under the Moon'.

It motivated him to walk faster.

If he wanted to have a taste of what was freedom, he couldn't come back empty-handed. To prevent this scenario, he would have to be brave enough to survive the forest, sneak into Obito's garden, steal a flower and leave without a scratch.

He gained confidence in himself when he saw light. He was the first of the group to have reached the guardian's cabin.

Uchiha Obito-san was the protector of Konoha village where the biggest coal mine of the Fire Country was. He was said to be an expert in human torture.

Hidden behind a bush, Naruto swallowed. He had never seen Obito and he had no particular desire to meet him. So, he switched off his torch and skirted the cabin.

He had read in a book - one he had stolen from the master's library - that Epiphyllum Oxypetalum didn't like to have the sunlight directly on them. So, they grew in the shade of trees.

And the only trees close to the cabin were located at the back.

It's on his legs trembling with fear and anticipation that he reached the entrance of the floral garden.

Nice!

Walking now on all fours in order to not be seen from the house, all his body was tense, ready to run off if needed, when he pushed the gate open.

Suddenly, he heard a few clangs of pots and pans on the other side of the wall he was leaning on. He stopped and instinctively cupped his month to prevent his scream of surprise from getting out.

It's only when the beating of his pounding heart slowed down that he dared move. The more he made progress, the less his nostrils were tickled by the swamp's smell. Instead, a sweet perfume and a feeric view left me speechless.

Under his fingers, the grass was lush and the soil fertile. The air was heavily humide. Fireflies - he found them really big - were dancing, producing effects of light in the thick darkness of the night. Noise in the trees' leaves made him understand he wasn't the only living being out.

Frogs sang. A badger looked at him in the eye before continuing his search for food. Bats flew back and forth above him. Aye-ayes were stealing fruits from the trees in the orchard next to him. Raptors and nocturnal predators weren't looking away from their prey, but it wasn't him.

It's with surprise he noticed his presence didn't seem to bother them. As if he was invisible. Or rather, as if he was part of their environment.

So he took advantage of the situation to study the epiphyllum oxypetalum with amazed eyes.

It was fascinating to look at these flowers hanging on their green stems, similar to leaves. The pale ray of the moon which had pierced the defence of the trees reflected on their petals, giving them a pearly sheen. He let his fingers find out about their texture. They were so fragile he did his best to be careful as he picked one.

To think that the sad undergrounds of the Earth could help create something this beautiful was hard to believe for a miner.

Suddenly, a firefly landed on one petal, illuminating the scars on his cheeks. It was so close to him his blue eyes slid on it. He froze, rubbed his eye and looked better.

It wasn't a firefly! It was... A person?

"What are you doing here, kid?"

This time, Naruto failed to not express his surprise. Horrified, he looked around him but nobody was here.

Did he imagine the voice?

In any case, his yell had caught the guardian's attention. Holding his breath, Naruto rushed back behind his bush.

Behind the leaves, he saw a very tall and disfigured man with a shotgun in his hands. Naruto blanched. He heard him say something about a fox back for eating his poultry.

Without questioning it, he gathered his belongings and ran as far away as possible. It's only when a good distance was between him and the cabin that he leaned against a tree to catch his breath.

He was hot. His head was spinning fast. His legs hurt. A stitch in his side made him grimace but at least, he had the flower. Out-of-breath, he looked at it. A smile stretched his lips.

He did it!

He stretched his arms up and allowed himself to let out a bust of laughter. Not only did he survive the forest but he also saw Obito. He was already seeing himself sell the flower and buy his freedom by throwing his money to the Uchihas' faces.

His chest filled with pride, he turned on his heels, walking towards the village while comfortably whistling.

But a branch cracked on his right. He stopped, his throat suddenly dry. Hearing silence, a wave of heat overwhelmed him, all reasoning left his brain and sweat slid along his spine. Despite his effort to stay calm, each limb of his body was shaking and his heart threatened him to bust out of his chest, ready to run for its life and to leave Naruto dead on the humid ground.

Slowly but surely, he aimed the unsteady light of his torch towards the noise. Unfortunately, the ferns were so dense he could see a thing.

Until red eyes pierced the darkness and his soul.

Fear squeezed his stomach so much he let out a weird noise. The mix of a scream, a stutter and a whine. Without having second thoughts, he ran towards the village.

Breath broken, his lungs were on fire. Tears rolling down his cheeks, his eyes burnt but he didn't stop. The hair on the nape of his neck standing on end, his ears were ringing so much he could hear if he was followed.

And where was the river?

He looked around him until his foot got caught in a thick root.

A new cry got free from his lips and Naruto rolled several time on the ground. Fortunately, he stopped at some point and landed heavily on his stomach.

Stunned, he succeeded at perceiving the river next to him. At least, he wasn't lost. But now, it was his whole body which was hurting. Arms shaking, he sat up.

His gaze then fell on the flower he was holding. Opening his fist, his heart squeezed when he saw the flower in a pitiful state. It had been completely crushed by his fall. He then shoved it in his pocket and tried to stand up. But his right knee buckled underneath him. On top of a soon-to-be bruise, an opened wound hurt him greatly.

He cursed under his breath.

There he was now with a flower which didn't look like one and a wound much more deep than what it seemed.

Mad at himself, he dragged himself to the bank of the river. To not attract piranhas towards him, Naruto cupped water to pour it on his wound. He swallowed back the tears at the stining pain.

Well it was more tears of disappointment.

All of this for nothing!

He picked up a stone and was about to throw it in the water to get rid of his frustration when a sliver gleam caught his attention. Pushing on his arms to stand up, Naruto glanced over the big rocks.

For the second time tonight, he found himself speechless.

A woman was bathing a few meters away from him!

He had trouble seeing her face because of the dark. He could only make out her sensual moves. But something, maybe jewelry, was shining on her curvy body. She was humming and Naruto swore the water was dancing in rhythm. Her hands started to wash her hair and he watched her, completely hypnotised at the sight of her neck. After a while, she wrung them and set them free.

They were really, really long. They reached her lower back, Naruto noticed as he blushed.

What he was doing was wrong! He knew. But his eyes didn't want to look away even though his heart had completely stopped beating.

Suddenly, she drove in the water, freeing Naruto from his observation. He gasped and tiptoed to have a better angle to watch the water.

Wasn't she afraid of the things underwater? He panicked. What if she had been attacked by an aquatic animal!

As soon as he saw her back from under the surface, he took the opportunity of the situation to warn her of the potential danger.

"Hey!"

She turned around and he saw two beautiful pearls. His gusts twished. His breath got stuck in his throat. But his jaw dropped with surprise right after.

Was he seeing scales on her chest?

"A-Are you alriiiiiii...!" His foot on the rock slipped, making him lose balance. Tonight was definitely not his night. His butt landed on the water with a lourd and hard splash.

When he opened his eyes again, there was nobody.

He was such an idiot!

This chapter was ready for days but the internet decided to go down on me. Fortunately, it had been fix.