Betrayed and Banished: Chapter 8
"So I was told to report to you, Fujiko. Something about a mission?" Naruto asked as he walked towards the young woman. They had been camping on the outskirts of a small town for a few days and would be doing so for at least a few more. Hiro had sent out different groups of men with different tasks as the rest of the group took a breather from the nomadic life.
"That's true. You've got your stuff with you?" She asked, eyes roaming over his body.
"Yeah, I've got all my stuff. Can you tell me what I'm supposed to do?"
"Not yet, walk with me." she replied, before stalking off towards the outer edge of the camp, the furthest part from the town. She nodded towards two other men, who shot upright and joined them. As they left the camp, Fujiko went off-road and the others followed her. Only when they reached the woods, she started to talk again.
"A few weeks ago, one of the local lords got into an altercation with another lord. Neither wanted to apologize so it escalated into a cold war. There are ruins of an old shrine on one of the lord's lands. It's rumoured to hold ancient treasures, but the lord is afraid of taking them out. Normally it's guarded, but Hiro suspects the guards have been pulled back because of the conflict. We're supposed to go and explore the shrine, acquiring anything worthwhile. Understood?"
The two other men gave affirmative grunts, but Naruto had more questions as he barraged Fujiko with his inquiries
"Huh, why me? How far is it? For how long are we gonna be away?"
Fujiko sighed and started to reply.
"It's two days going, so we're gone for at least a week. We've got a month's time to rejoin the group while they continue travelling, if something were to happen. And I've picked you because you need to start doing your part. This will probably be an easy mission, so a perfect introduction to earning your bread. Now, I will be the team leader. If I tell you to jump you don't even ask how high, I expect you to jump immediately. Tetsu and Harunobu will join us." Fujiko said, pointing to the two men as she named them. They looked like the average ronin, clothes patched again and again, while used but cared-for weapons dangled on their hips.
"Now follow me, we've got a long way ahead of us."
Naruto almost walked into Fujiko's arm as she signaled them to stop. It was the second day of their little expedition and they had been marching from sunrise, Fujiko leading them into a pace that many civilians would call "murderous". Yet for the four, it was a simple effort.
Fujiko spoke first.
"I think that's it." She said, pointing to three walls and half a roof on the top of the next hill, a traditional Torii entrance bleached of its red-painted color. The weathered walls that remained standing only showed parts of the brightly painted murals that once decorated the walls of the shrine.
"Looks like nobody's there." Tetsu remarked. "Yet we should remain vigilant. Any idea on how to handle this, boss?"
"We'll circle the shrine once at about the same distance we are now. Look for any tracks of someone recently arriving or leaving or simply being in the area. Afterwards we'll take a closer look."
Her subordinates, including Naruto, nodded as they began their reconnaissance.
As they circled the ruins, they soon came across a disused gravel pathway. Fujiko lifted her hand, ordering the others to stop for a moment. Then she spoke up.
"Naruto, what would you do now?"
Surprised by the question, Naruto thought for a moment.
"If anyone comes to check on the shrine, they'll probably come from this direction. So we'd better add some tripwire that warns us if someone is coming."
"Indeed. Do you know how to set a tripwire?"
"Yeah we learned that in the Academy."
"Good. Set one and Harunobu will evaluate how you did. Tetsu and I will continue our reconnaissance and we'll move to the shrine afterwards. Come to us if you see us at the shrine."
With those words, Fujiko left, Tetsu trailing in her wake. As Naruto looked at Harunobu, the bulky man gave a shrug and motioned for Naruto to begin. Pulling out a roll of ninja wire, Naruto wound it between a pair of trees that flanked the path. Nimble fingers made quick work of the knots and ties and soon an almost invisible wire hung over the path, connected to a bag of stones that would drop on a hollow log when it was tripped.
Harunobu, who had been watching the blonde work in silence, looked over the contraption in appraisal. He spoke the first words Naruto had ever heard him say.
"Good. Fujiko and Tetsu are waiting for us."
With those words, he turned around and left, walking towards the shrine.
As Haronobu had said, the others were indeed waiting on the two. Standing in front of what had once been a door but now just were the remains of a rotting wooden frame and rusty hinges. Beyond that, treasures awaited the young adventurer.
"So, we're here mostly for treasure and rare artifacts. Keeping the current state of the shrine in mind, I doubt there will be anything else that is worth our while. Tea or incense has rotted away like the wood, I doubt offerings have recently been made. Should you find a bottle of vintage sake, then I'm sure we can all agree that we won't tell Hiro we found it. Understood?"
Before they could reply, Fujiko turned on her heel and marched inside of the shrine. The other two followed before Naruto finally decided to follow his temporary boss as well.
As he walked into the shrine he felt a wave of calm coming over him. The late afternoon sun was casting its rays through the many holes in the building, while vines dangled from the rafters and roof while dripping water. In the distance, birds were chirping as the smell of moss hit Naruto's nostrils.
Tetsu had immediately broken off to the left, a locked chest piqued his interest as he tried to force the lock with his knife. Haronobu was just wandering around, his eyes roaming over the art while Fujiko walked towards the altar. Naruto, not knowing what to do, decided to walk up to her. As Fujiko saw him approaching, she motioned for him to help her.
"Almost all of these smaller shrines have some spot where treasures are buried to please the spirit of the shrine. Often it's under the altar. Be a good boy and help me move it?"
Naruto did as he was told, and together they moved the altar from its spot with a bit of effort. Fujiko immediately sank to a knee and traced a finger around the edge of a large, rectangular stone. Naruto could hear a soft Bingo whispered under her breath. Pulling out a long, slender blade, she slipped it into the seam and cleaned out years of dirt and grime. A bit of moving around and soon the littlest of motion was noticeable in the stone.
Naruto stood and watched as Fujiko's experienced fingers somehow found purchase along the edge of the stone and tilted the entire slab upwards like a trapdoor. Underneath, darkness loomed.
"Huh, it's bigger than I expected." Seeing the confusion on Naruto's face, Fujiko explained. "Most of these shrines have a rather small space for a few treasures. But this is unexpectedly large. It kind of looks like a whole room." She said, as her face pulled into a frown.
"And is that a bad thing?" Naruto asked.
"Depends. A bigger room means more treasure, if there is any, but it can also have some nasty surprises." Seeing the question look in the young teens eyes, Fujiko continued. "Someone could be buried there, or a minor evil spirit could be sealed here, the shrine acting as either a memorial or a ritual space to strengthen the seal every so often. Of course, it could be both."
Moving the stone further away, Fujiko pulled out a spool of ninja wire. Tying it around the stone, she lifted the entire thing up and threw it through the hole in the wall, making sure that the stone would not suddenly slide away. Then she threw the rest of the ninja wire down into the gaping abyss.
She grabbed it and let herself rappel down into the underground room. Channeling a bit of fire chakra to her thumb, Fujiko turned it into a substitute torch.
"Coming?" She called out to Naruto, who still was watching her prepare for a dive into possible catacombs. It took a few moments for Naruto, but soon he replied, calling out.
"Yeah I'm coming, give me a moment!"
Grabbing the ninja wire, the blonde too slid down into the underground room. As he slowly descended, his eyes roamed over the room and all that the light of Fujiko's chakra torch revealed.
One side of the room glittered, gems and gold reflecting the light in the otherwise dark room. And then he turned around, and a fear gripped his heart. A granite coffin stood on the other side, seals carefully engraved into every surface. Fujiko stood right next to it, enthralled but careful enough to not touch it.
"What is it?" Naruto asked, shocking Fujiko out of her reverie.
"I think it's the coffin of a very strong but evil warlord, who the people feared would return from the dead and take his revenge. See these seals? I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure they look like some sort of chakra restraints."
Naruto stepped closer and tried to decipher the seals.
"I doubt it's a dead dude inside of there. It looks more like some sealing experiment. Honestly it is kind of interesting. I recognize the chakra, and there are the lines that lock it up. Hmmm I can see what you mean with chakra restraints but it doesn't look like any I've seen. It looks a lot like restraints yeah, but it has no aspect for restraining will. And a coffin for a dead guy would at least have something to honor Death. This is something different"
Looking up from his reverie, he saw Fujiko staring at him, her eyes wide in confusion.
"How do you know all that stuff? I'm good with seals and I barely understand what it is all about."
A slightly awkward grin crept on Naruto's face as he scratched the back of his head.
"I'm an Uzumaki, you know. Mom and dad taught me and my sister ever since I could read."
With those words, Naruto suddenly recalled all that he had left behind and his smile disappeared, enthusiastic eyes growing dim with sadness. Fujiko moved closer and threw an arm around him, giving him a hesitant shoulder pat and searching for words that might comfort the blond she grew fond of.
"If they were here, I'm sure they would be proud of you recognizing these seals so quickly."
"But I don't!" Naruto almost shouted. "I recognize some parts but the whole thing is just weird. It's like someone tried restraining chakra from air. Only living things have chakra."
"Well then, why don't you copy this seal to a scroll and research it later? I'm sure I can hoist the treasures back there all on my own. And that's an order." With a last pat on the shoulder, Fujiko turned around and started filling a bag with all kinds of coins, jewels and other precious goods.
Naruto simply focused on the granite mystery in front of him.
It had grown dark and yet they were not finished. Against one of the outside walls they had put up a few tents, while a small fire crackled inside of their midst while Harunobu tried to make a stew from some ration bars, spices and a rabbit he had caught. The rest was discussing their gains.
"That chest took me ages to get open, and it had nothing good inside of it. Just some moldy robes and prayer scrolls." Tetsu lamented as he looked through the bags Fujiko had already moved out of the underground room.
"The treasure vault had some nice goods. I think Hiro will be happy with what we've got. Sadly, there are no special artifacts. We discovered a seal, but I don't think it's that special." Fujiko replied.
"I would not be so certain of that." Naruto interjected. As the others looked up, the blonde continued. "The granite coffin has some interesting seals. I think it is drawing chakra from the people who visit the shrine and it does something with it."
Tetsu and Harunobu looked like they did not understand what he meant at all, while confusion was evident on Fujiko's face.
"So what do you want to do with it?" Fujiko asked.
"Me?" Naruto replied, slightly confused.
"Yeah you. You clearly know more about seals than me, so I defer to you in this case." Fujiko said.
It took a few moments for Naruto to mull over it. He had thought he would have to do with simply the scroll he had copied the seals on to study it in his spare time, but Fujiko had essentially given him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted.
"I think we should open the coffin tomorrow. After we've taken the rest of the treasure of course."
The conversation fell silent after that. Even Harunobu handing out portions of his stew did not restart it with a different subject. In silence they all sat and ate, staring at the small fire. Finally, Fujiko stood up and spoke.
"I'll think about it and tomorrow I'll give you my answer if we do it or not. Now, off to bed. Tetsu, you have the first watch, Harunobu the second and me the last. Understood?"
A series of nods was her answer as she searched and found her bedroll. Crawling in it, Fujiko went to sleep. Soon after, Naruto and Harunobu did as well.
Naruto woke up to the feeling of someone nudging his leg with his or her foot. Looking up, he saw someone who looked like Fujiko in the dawn's early light. Blinking the bleariness out of his eyes, he spoke up.
"Fujiko?"
"The one and only!" She replied with a grin. "I've decided: you can open the coffin but only after we've stripped the shrine of anything valuable and packed everything so we can leave in a hurry if something goes wrong. Understood?"
"Sure thing, boss."
With those words, Naruto stood up and moved to do his work. Grabbing a few of the empty bags, he moved towards the hole he had climbed down the previous day and started to help Tetsu with filling the bags with riches. When another bag was filled, he lifted it as far as he could above his head where Harunobu would reach down from the hole and grab it. He would bring it outside to Fujiko who was cleaning up their camping site.
It took a while, but soon all the gold and gems and jewels were gone from their underground hiding place. As Fujiko looked upon the neatly stacked bags filled with precious stuff, the backpacks with their gear, she decided it was finally time.
"Tetsu!" She shouted down the hole. "Help Naruto with opening the coffin!"
Both man and boy moved to the side and pushed. Slowly but surely, the granite top started to slide off, before reaching over half and crashing down to the ground with an echoing bang. Looking into the coffin, Naruto was disappointed. There were more of the seals, all arranged around a single, hollowed out "cup" in the middle of the coffin. In the middle laid a dirty, impure pale green gemstone.
"That's it?" Tetsu asked.
"Yeah. I don't know what I expected to be honest." Naruto replied, a sheepish look on his face. "These seals are also interesting so I'll copy them. The stone on the other hand does not look very interesting."
As Naruto started to copy the many seals inscribed on the inside of the coffin, Tetsu clambered up, to the outside.
It did not take long for the blonde to finish and as he was rolling up his scrolls in preparation to leave, a single thought flicked across his mind.
It's not like that gem weighs a ton.
Reaching out, he grabbed the small crystal, about the size of a chicken's egg that someone had cut lengthwise. Putting the crystal away, he moved to grab the ninja wire and started pulling himself up.
As he returned to the surface, he saw his three partners in crime standing, their gear and loot already packed. His backpack and the share of the loot he had to carry stood in front of them. Returning the slab that closed off the treasure room, he gave the shrine one last look before stuffing away his scrolls in his backpack, grabbing all his stuff and moving out.
And then, the tripwire went off, the dull droning of the stones falling on the hollow tree trunk echoing through the clearing. Someone was there.
AN: Chapter 8 (first fresh chapter of June 2021). I hope you've enjoyed it!