A/N: So I know that it's pretty weird to do a reading story when my story isn't done and it isn't that popular. But I was trying to think of a way to show the relationship between Naru and her teammates before the whole dimension thing without doing countless flashbacks, and so this idea popped into my mind. Most of the reactions are cracked and shouldn't be taken seriously. This story is mostly for laughs too, so you shouldn't take it too seriously.
"What the hell just happened?" Naru groaned, rubbing the back of her head. She really didn't know what happened. One moment, she had been trying to get her teammates to eat ramen with her, and the next thing she knew she found herself sprawled on the ground. No, she recalled a cloak figure tapping on their shoulders and saying something weird to her.
From beside her, Sakura groaned and rubbed her own butt. "I think the better question is where are we?"
"No clue," Sasuke grunted as he pushed himself up from the ground. "But it seems like Team 10 is here."
Naru blinked and jerked her head at him. Her dark-haired teammate scowled and pointed to the fallen members who were also sprawled on the floor. Shikamaru sat right on top of Ino while Choji munched on his chips as if their situation was normal. She shook her head and darted her eyes to Kakashi.
Her teacher seemed intent on analyzing the strange room that they were enclosed in. Naru frowned and tilted her head as the man tapped against the walls, which had clouds and even the monument of the Hokage painted on it. Something was definitely odd about this place because who would paint the Hokage Monument? And why were there no doors?
"This room isn't actually real," Kakashi-sensei informed them.
Shikamaru eyed the walls. "I tried to break it, but this isn't genjutsu."
"If it isn't genjutsu, then what the hell is it?" Ino demanded. The Yamanaka Heiress looked ready to beat someone up if that balled-up fist told her anything and Naru exchanged glances with her other teammates. Both of her teammates offered her frowns and scratched their heads.
"You will figure out the answer of that question very soon," an unfamiliar voice called out. Naru blinked and jumped up when she saw a cloaked figure standing them. Even though she couldn't see his face, she did know from the little glimpses that the man had pale skin. The cloak shifted a little bit to reveal faint blond hair and the man quickly pulled the hood down.
She pulled out a kunai and patiently asked. "Why don't you tell us right now?"
"It won't be fun if I just tell you everything," he replied. "And put down the kunai. I've no intentions of harming any of you because if I did, then you would've been dead in the first second that you got here."
Sakura frowned. "Sir, why did you bring us here? And how?"
"Because I was pretty bored with my current job, and my little brother wanted to know if I could do this," he answered, taking a seat on the couch. He leaned back on the couch and kicked his feet on the table before releasing another sigh. "This can either be seen as entertainment or teach all of you a valuable lesson. It's up to you."
Kakashi frowned and narrowed his single eye on the young man. "What would you do to us if we don't read the book?"
"You're pretty much stuck here if you don't read the book," the man replied as if it wasn't a big deal. Naru trembled and the young man jumped onto his feet. "Finishing the book is the only way that you can get out of here. If you don't complete the book, then you pretty much lose half of your lifespan."
"You can't possibly do that! It's theoretically impossible," Shikamaru argued.
Sakura bobbed her head and scowled. "What gives you the right to do this?"
Naru bobbed. She had to agree with Shikamaru and Sakura about this, but a drop of hesitance began to tickle in. There probably wouldn't be any hesitance if her teacher didn't jerk his head at the man. He knows how that could be possible, she thought and she balled her hands at Kakashi. But the silver-haired man made no attempt to explain things to them.
"And what rights do you have to judge people based on their appearance and grades? What rights do people have to judge on what is right and what is wrong?" he retorted. There were no words spoken between them as everyone processed what the man had just said. "Life isn't fair, Sakura. You need to get used to the idea, and it isn't like I'm telling you to kill someone. You just have to read a book."
Sakura smiled, but Naru knew her teammate well enough to know that the girl wanted to murder the boy. She shook her head and made her way to the middle of the room, where a single book sat. She picked up the book and held it up in the air. "So, what's this book about?"
"It's your possible future," the man replied.
Choji frowned. "Possible future?"
"Well from my calculations, the six of you have just finished the Chunin Exams, haven't you?" The man enquired. They nodded and the cloaked figure placed his hand on the ground. He turned his head around and focused his attention on them. "There are certain events that haven't taken place yet, but those events are what caused the book."
The 12-year-old girl blinked and tilted her head to the side. "The Search? What am I searching for?"
"Will it be fun if I just tell you the answer?" he retorted. "But I can tell you that you'll meet interesting people when you do this journey. If things don't change or if you enjoy your possible future, then you'll still meet them. These people will affect you in different ways."
Now I'm curious to know what the hell is going on? She darted her eyes to her friends. Sakura gazed at the book with eyes burning with curiosity while Sasuke offered her a raised eyebrow. Naru shrugged her shoulders and looked at the members of Team 10. They eyed the book in her hand with frowns and then bobbed their heads.
"We can't risk the chance that you are actually serious about the whole lifespan thing," Shikamaru sighed, and he took the book from her hands. He looked at the title and then to the crouched man. "By the way, you haven't told us what is your name."
"For now, you can call me Raiden," he chuckled and waved his hand around the couches. "I don't think you want to read this book while standing up, so please sit down. And by the way as you read this book, you'll see the footage of the actual scene and…some other scenes that weren't included in the book."
With those words, everyone took their seats on the couch and Raiden disappeared without a trace.
"Why can't I be the first one to read the chapter?" Ino demanded.
Naru grinned. "Because I beat you in rock-paper-scissors, Ino! You should really change your habit when it comes to rock-paper-scissors."
The platinum-blond haired girl folded her arms against her chest and looked at the book with longing. Of course she is eager to read the book! This is the purest form of gossip for her. Naru released a sigh and ignored the raised eyebrows of Shikamaru and Choji. Right, they only witnessed the prank-loving side of her and not the serious side.
Uzumaki Naru was definitely in trouble.
This was not the kind of trouble, where she could easily fix her problem. Not the kind of problem that involved her batting her eyelashes and pretending to be cute. No, those problems would mean that there was someone that she had to pretend to apologize. Oh yes, her trouble right now was that she had no clue on where she was.
There was a picture of her on the screen. She laid on the forest ground with her orange jacket slightly torn up and drenched with what could only be described as dried stains of blood. Naru frowned and exchanged glances with her teammates. Sakura trembled and leaned closer to her while Sasuke balled his hands into a fist.
"What the hell happened to you?" Ino demanded. "What kind of fight were you in?"
She grimaced. "Well, it kinda looks like one of the worst fights that I have ever been in."
If she had to blame someone for her trouble then it would have to be Sasuke.
"What did he do this time?" Kakashi asked, dropping his head.
Naru eyed her teacher. "Let me continue and we'll find out what the bastard did this time."
He was the whole damn reason for her mess. Well, she was to blame too…but he was the one that charged with the Chidori. Of course, it was just natural for her to retaliate with the Rasengan. Now she could forgive for trying to kill her, after all she nearly tried to kill him too, but he sent her to a whole different place. Well, he had to be the reason that she was in this mess.
There was a long pause of silence as everyone took in what happened. Naru gripped her book and turned her head around to Sasuke. Her male teammate turned green and clutched his stomach as if he was ready to hurl. Sakura paled and darted her eyes between them as if she wasn't certain about whether to smack her cheeks or deny what happened.
"He wouldn't do this," Sakura denied. "Naru, you know Sasuke and you know that he wouldn't h—"
"I know," she declared. Her heart clenched just a little bit with fear and Naru took several deep breaths to calm down her trembling heart. "This isn't our reality, remember? This hasn't happened yet, but we might need to keep him no excuse to use the Chidori against me."
Sasuke opened his mouth. "Naru, I'm not—"
"We're going to pretend for the rest of the story that you went insane," she commented. "This is the only way I can continue to read this story without arguing with you about the Chidori, and how reckless your actions are."
Bastard could have warned me that his attack would do this to me.
Naru took a deep breath, ran her hand through her hair and stared blankly at the lush green trees that surrounded her. Strange animals crawled out from the burrows of the tree, their eyes lingered on her before they began to move away from her. I'm really certain that I'm not in Konoha anymore. Those were definitely not animals that she would find in Konoha.
"And how would you know what animals to find?" Choji asked.
Naru shrugged. "Animals seem to love me, and they always seemed to follow me around."
No way in hell was she going to tell them that she lived in the forest for a few years. They would ask more questions, and she wasn't in the mood to answers all their questions. It was bad enough that they had to find out about the beast inside of her. Now, if they knew about her upbringing, then they would have more questions.
"Animals really do love Naru," Sakura confirmed. "It's only that cat that seems to hate her."
She scowled. "Tora hates everyone."
But if she wasn't in Konoha then where the hell was she?
Shaking her head, Naru pushed herself up and eyed the strange plants that surrounded her. It didn't matter where she was. She had to go back home. If she didn't find a way back home then Tsunade and the others might believe that she died. She couldn't let them think that she was dead. They would never forgive her if they found out that she was alive.
"If you did the whole dead card while being alive, then I won't forgive you," Sakura grumbled, scowling. Naru shrugged her shoulders while Ino darted her eyes between them. "It's bad enough that I thought Sasuke-kun was dead during the Wave Mission. If you did the same thing, then it'll feel like a reoccurring theme."
She shrugged. "For it to be a reoccurring theme, then we need you or Kakashi-sensei to go through this."
"…Kakashi-sensei did make us believe that he died on that mission, didn't he?" Sakura reminded her.
Damn, her teammate had a point.
So her first plan should be to find a way back home, show Tsunade and Sakura that she was fine before searching for Sasuke. Oh, he is going to wish that he killed me by the time I find him. A punch to his stomach wasn't going to be enough. The rasengan was too good for him at this point…and would actually kill him.
"I'm going to break every bone in his body and then have the Old Hag heal him before repeating the process again," she snarled under her breath.
"I think that's enough reason not to shove the Chidori up her chest," Shikamaru said dryly. Sasuke bobbed his head and inched farther away from his female teammate. "Seriously, what were you thinking when you pulled that stunt on her? Have you forgotten how scary Naru can be when she is furious?"
"Said girl is sitting right here," she reminded him with a tight smile on her face. "And said girl can control her temper. The only reason I unleash my temper is when I'm either dealing with morons or someone did something to deserve a punch in the gut."
A savory and smoky filled scent tickled her nose and Naru groaned when her stomach howled for food. I will get some food soon. She patted her stomach and paused when the image of the forest was replaced with the one of her teammates. Sakura had a bright smile on her face, green eyes filled amusement and veiled annoyance, while Sasuke rolled his eyes.
The image faded and grief began to settle in.
He left us. He left me.
"And here everyone thought that you two can't stand each other," Choji commented with a laugh. Naru swirled her head at her round friend and the boy raised his hands up in the air. "The two of you are always arguing, and the two of you have insulting nicknames for each other."
She pulled the inner corner of her cheek to the side. "It doesn't mean I hate Sasuke."
"I didn't think you were that sentimental," Ino commented with a tilt to her head. "You always had that tough front going for you."
I'm not going to say a single thing about that. Naru huffed and looked down at the book before looking at the image of her possible self. Her future self was really going through a lot. A whole different world from the world that she knew. Sasuke tried to kill her, which was a huge problem by itself.
It repeated and repeated like a constant echo in a dark cave. Tears began to form behind her eyes and she swore under her breath. Pathetic. It was pathetic for her to cry over what happened. So what if it felt like the world around her was on the verge of collapsing? She could build herself back up, get stronger and then try again.
"That sounds like the Naru we know," Kakashi said, relaxing his shoulders. Naru raised her eyebrows at her teacher, and the silver-haired man raised his hands up. "Sasuke just tried to kill you. If it was anyone else in your situation, they would be moping about what happened."
She dropped her shoulders. "Yeah, you're right about that."
She took a deep breath and began to walk in the direction of the scent. There should be a nearby town. A place where she could get a map and just ask people about a way back to the village. But what if there is no way back? The plants around her were unfamiliar. The animals weren't anything like she had seen and…
No, she shouldn't think of that possibility.
I'll go back home and then I will bring Sasuke back.
"After all that happened, you're still thinking of bringing me back home?" Sasuke demanded, turning his head at her. His black eyes grew to the size of plates and the older boy placed his hand on top of her forehead. "No, you aren't sick."
"I could've told you that and do you really think one murder attempt would be enough to stop me?"
He stared at her. "We need to get a Medic-Nin and see if you have been dropped as a baby."
Once the whole reading thing was over, she was going to send him to the hospital for that stupid comment. She was perfectly sane, and she was going to bring him back because he made a stupid mistake. He doesn't even realize what his actions would do to him in the future! Well, if the book didn't explain it, then she was going to paint a picture for him.
The decision was firm yet she failed to bring him back home. He managed to send her to a different place entirely, managed to nearly kill her and what did that make her? Weak. At this current stage, she didn't have the strength to bring him back to Konoha. What would be best for everyone was that she tried to get stronger.
"Or you know give up," Shikamaru suggested with a frown. "I've to agree with Sasuke: are you serious about bringing him back in the future?"
Naru sighed. "If I don't bring him back, then he's going to be hunted down, Shikamaru. Do you really think I'm going to allow my teammate to be hunted down like a dog?"
Everyone exchanged glances and darted their eyes to Sasuke. The dark-haired boy dropped his shoulders and couldn't meet their gaze, choosing instead to focus his attention on the screen. Naru observed her teammate for a couple before she darted her eyes down to the novel in her hand.
For the sake of everyone, she was just going to continue the story.
Maybe, she should summon the toads and ask them to tell Jiraiya that she needed more training. That she was in a whole different place. It would be the smart thing to do, she thought. But it would be admitting out loud that she failed to bring Sasuke back. That…they nearly tried to kill each other.
No, she wasn't ready to confess about her own sin or her own weakness to Ero-Sennin.
"Why not?" Choji asked, scratching his head. "I don't think Jiraiya will judge you for losing to Sasuke."
She looked down at the book and steadied her arms. "He'll probably convince me that I shouldn't go after him. There will be a lot of people that will be against my future self's plans."
"Who would be against it?" Sakura demanded.
The council. She could already picture the reminder that Danzo would give her about her role in the village, and the current danger that she was in. There was no chance in hell that she was going to tell everyone in the room that she was just like Gaara or that the council favored her because of the beast inside of her stomach.
With that decision, Naru looked down from her vintage point and stared blankly at the small seaside town. If she was going to go back home then she had to find the way back by herself. When she could do that or when she was ready to admit out loud about her failure to herself, only then would she try and summon Gamakichi.
Only then would she be ready to face the music and hear the inevitable scolding from the people around her.
She inhaled and heard the crack in her ribs before making the first steps in what could be the first steps of her journey back home.
Naru hesitated when she read the next couple of lines.
(In the back of her mind, she found the irony of her situation because she had always had a recurring thought of running away from Konoha. That she had a suitcase already packed for the one day that she would actually have the courage to run away from home).
"Wait a second, you want to run away from Konoha?" Sakura cried, turning her head to her. The pink-haired girl quivered and balled her hands into a fist while everyone else looked at her with shock. "But why? You have Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei and me. You've got Hinata so why would you want to run away?"
Naru shrugged her shoulders and ignored the curious eyes of her teammates and former classmates. "I've you guys now but what about during the Academy? I didn't have anyone and there was nothing that tied me down to the village. If I ran away, then I could be free and find people that accepted me for who I am. You got parents while Sasuke had the admiration of everyone in the village…what do I have?"
It was such a depressing thing to say but if it got her teammate to understand, then she would say it again and again.
As each hour passed, the weariness inside of Naru grew as she took in sights that could never be found in her home. There wasn't a single thing familiar to her. Well that wasn't completely true. There were some plants that she could recognize from the Forest of Death but other than that, nothing seemed familiar to her.
She stopped in her tracks and stared at the huge, towering signboard. Whale Island. Naru frowned and glanced at the empty streets in front of her. Was this place deserted? No, she could hear the hustle and bustle as well as orders being thrown in the distance. Maybe, it would be better for her to find the source of that noise.
"Do you think it's called Whale Island because the island looks like a whale?" Choji asked. The moment the male asked that question, the screen zoomed out from the scene and revealed that the island did indeed look like a whale.
Naru bobbed her head. "That answered your question."
Nodding, Naru dragged her feet to the source of that noise. The salty, sea breeze clogged her nostrils alongside the scent of freshly-caught fish. It made sense. When she first saw this small town over that cliff, there had been an ocean right behind it. It would make sense for this place to be a port.
"Did you see? Gon caught the Master of the Swamp."
"What is the Master of the Swamp?" Sakura asked, furrowing her eyebrows together. She looked at Naru before darting her eyes to Sasuke and Kakashi. Both males shrugged their shoulders.
That was a reoccurring whisper among the residents of this port town and Naru wondered why it was a big deal that this person caught it. It doesn't matter if I think about it. She hummed, nodded and then frowned at the crowds of people, who seemed to be circling around something.
Curiosity stirred inside of her and Naru began to weasel her way through the crowd, occasionally pushing the adult to the side to get a better look of what caught their attention. The whispers grew louder and she noticed that some of the adults were staring at a frozen orange-haired woman.
"Gon really did it," one of the man whispered in awe. His eyes stared at a grinning dark-haired boy, who seemed to be around her age, and then to what had to be the biggest fish that she had ever seen it. "He caught the Master of the Swamp."
"How tasty do you think that fish might be?" Choji asked. Some drool dribbled down the side of his face, and Naru inspected the fish on the screen. From appearance alone, she wouldn't think that it looked good but anything could taste good if they knew how to cook it. She bobbed her head.
Ino wrinkled her nose. "Is food all you think about? Aren't you curious about how a civilian can even capture that fish?"
"He must be unnaturally strong like Naru," Shikamaru suggested.
The man, beside her, pushed his own jaw back up and shook his head. "I've been fishing in this island for the last ten years and not once did I think I was ever going to see this."
Wait, they are crowding like this because a kid my age caught one big-ass fish? She scratched her head and shifted her eyes to the gathered men. Most of them seemed intent on looking at the boy while a few of them were just content to try and touch the huge fish.
"It's just a fish," Sasuke grumbled.
Naru grinned. "You're still upset over the fact that you couldn't be quick when it came to capturing those fishes?"
He scowled and turned his head away from her. Oh yeah, he's still grumpy over the fact that he needed me to capture those fishes, Naru thought. She chuckled and shook her head before she glanced down at her next couple of lines. It didn't seem depressing and that was great. The whole depressing thing wasn't her.
The whole being moody thing was Sasuke's thing, not her.
Gon pulled something out from his pocket. It looks like an application form, Naru noted. Maybe it was the backlash from fighting with Sasuke but she couldn't exactly make out what was on the form. The words were just too tiny for her eyes to make out.
"I caught the Master of the Swamp like I promise," he declared with a grin and he turned to face the frozen orange-haired woman. "Now it's your turn to keep your promise, Mito-san!"
"Do you think that Mito-san might be his guardian?" Choji asked.
She hummed. "Let me continue reading and we shall see what's going on."
Why does she look so unhappy about the whole thing? Naru cocked her head and stared at the quivering woman, who eyed the form like she wanted to rip it apart. No words were spoken between the boy and the woman, though there were distinct chatter forming all around her.
"Mito-san, you should just accept what happened," one of the older gentleman advised as he offered a warm smile to the beaming boy. "You should let him do the exam."
A younger gentleman nodded. "I'm sure Gon will be a very good Hunter."
"Wait, what the hell is a Hunter?" Naru asked, turning her head around to look at her teammates and former classmates. This was probably the first time that she had ever heard of that term. No, I think I remember hearing that term before. But where? Where did she hear it? She definitely heard that term before.
Kakashi sighed and adjusted his Hitai-ate. "Hunters, in this context, aren't those Hunters that hunt animals. These Hunters can hunt just about anything. They dedicate themselves to the protection of knowledge, people and nature."
"Kakashi-sensei, how do you know this?" Sakura asked, blinking.
The silver-haired man sighed and looked at the screen with a troubled eye. "The Fourth Hokage took the exam and passed."
"How come—"
"We can ask questions later," Naru interrupted, waving her hand at the book. "Let me continue on!"
Hunter? Like hunting animals and stuff? That was a normal job so why would the woman be so deadest against the boy doing this exam. She scratched her neck and shifted her eyes to the other females in the crowd. Most of them seemed to have a look of pity and understanding directed to the woman.
"Aren't you going to keep your promise, Mito-san?" Gon asked, disappointed. "You taught me that we should always keep our promises."
"Sadly, I wish Kakashi-sensei will keep his promise," Naru grumbled. "He still hasn't kept his bargain about our training."
Sasuke and Sakura bobbed their heads in agreement.
Mito winced. She released a shaky breath and nodded. The dark-haired boy's expression shifted from disappointment to complete, utter joy as the orange-haired woman snatched the form from his hand. Naru only watched with blank eyes as the boy and the woman walked away from the crowd.
The crowd began to disperse and Naru jolted as realization struck upon her like lightning. What was she doing standing around? She needed to start her journey back home, not marvel over some dead fish. With that decision, she jogged towards the nearest fisherman.
Hopefully, he would have some idea of how she could go back home.
"What would you do if he doesn't have a way?" Shikamaru asked, folding his arms against his chest.
She considered the question and bobbed her head. "Well, I'll think of a way back home."
Courage formed in the pits of her stomach as she reached her hand out to the man. Naru tugged on his sleeve, waited for a second, and then repeated the action until the man noticed her. If God really does exist then I pray that this guy knows how I can go back to Konoha. It would suck if she couldn't find a way back home.
"Can I help you?" the man asked, swirling his head in her direction. He blinked and inspected her for the longest time before his tanned cheeks turned pale. "What happened to you? You look like someone attack you? Your jacket has blood!"
"You aren't going to tell him that our teammate lost his mind and tried to kill you, are you?" Sakura asked.
Naru blinked. "And have him call me insane? No way."
His loud cries sliced through the air and Naru tried to keep her expression blank as the crowds of people turned to look at her. All of them gawked at her jacket and she had no choice but to look at her jacket. Yup, there was the dried blood stain from the Chidori attack or was it Sasuke's own blood?
Hmm it was on the location of where Sasuke struck her, so it had to be from the Chidori attack but she couldn't just tell a civilian about what happened.
"I fought a large ass animal and survived," she lied because that was the only thing she could do. The 12-year-old girl pointed to the blood stain on her jacket. "And this is the animal's blood on my jacket, not my blood."
"Sounds more believable than the whole teammate tried to kill me story," Choji said, bobbing his head. He looked at her for a brief second before offering her a frown. "But do you think they will actually believe that lie when you don't have a weapon on you?"
Naru hummed. "A boy just captured a huge fish, so I think my story will make sense to them. It would've been weirder if they saw the blood and didn't make a single comment about it."
The man relaxed his shoulders and the residents turned away from her, almost disappointed that there was no cool story behind the blood on her jacket. I'll probably need to find a natural way to get rid of the blood stains. She wrinkled her nose and scowled as the man continued to stare at her.
If she had to take a lesson from her battle with Sasuke then it was for her to also carry money with her.
"Yeah, that would make sense," the man agreed but there was almost a hint of doubt in his tone. "A person wouldn't be able to survive an attack to the heart."
Sakura eyed her. "Not even a normal shinobi could survive the attack."
"I'm a special girl," she answered, ignoring the suspicious look of her teammate. She paused when she read the next line and opened her mouth to skip the line, only to find that a wave of pain washed over her. Her insides began to burn as if someone found a way to burned her insides.
Damn it, the man made it difficult for her to lie.
"The human is right!" The Kyuubi grumbled and the girl could almost picture the fox baring his teeth at her. "Pull another stupid stunt like this and I'll let you die."
"Naru, when you say the Kyuubi, are we—"
"I'm going to cut the long story short so that you and the others don't bombard me with questions," Naru said, holding her hands up to the people inside the room. They blinked and she glared at the book. "Whatever story you learn in the Academy or from your parents about that night is a lie. The Kyuubi can't be killed, so the Fourth Hokage had the smart idea of sealing the Kyuubi inside of me. So I'm a jinchuuriki like Gaara…except I've my sanity."
Sakura stared at her. "You just talk like that it isn't a big deal! Shouldn't we talk about this? Were you ever going to tell us? I've got so many questions to ask! And how can you be so calm about this?"
"Because it isn't a big deal and we don't need to talk about it," she answered as her teammates and former classmates gawked at her. Naru maintained a blank expression and looked down at her book. "And there's no reason for me to tell you guys this because I want to be treated like a normal person. Now…we can talk about this when we take a break."
She ignored the beast's grumbles and stared at the fisherman. How did she go about questioning him about going home? Should she be blunt? Or should she do the whole sweet, innocent kid act? I mean I don't have to keep hiding the other aspects of my personality anymore. The people here would have no reason to be scared if she showed that she had some brains.
"Are you saying that you've been wearing a mask?" Shikamaru asked, frowning.
She shook her head. "I've been holding back the other aspects of my personality because no one likes to know that they are arguing with someone that has a brain. Besides, the whole innocent kid act? It keeps the civilians happy because they don't have to worry about the Kyuubi killing them."
"Who the hell knows about the Kyuubi?" Sakura demanded.
"Every adult in the village."
Sakura's smile widened and her bright green eyes darkened with annoyance. I've a feeling that she is going to scream at me once we're done with book, Naru thought. She inched closer to Sasuke and the dark-haired boy regarded their annoyed classmate with lips pressed into a thin line.
"Do you know of a way for a person to get to Hi no Kuni?" she asked with a frown.
The man blinked and scrunched his eyebrows together as he tapped his finger against his fishing rod. "Well I would tell ya but I don't know any countries or cities called Hi no Kuni."
For a brief moment, her mind went blank. No, it just exploded from the knowledge that this fisherman didn't even know Hi no Kuni. It is one of five most powerful countries! How can he not know it? Her heart pounded against her chest and she bobbed her head at the man, offering him a quiet word of gratitude.
"It seems like you're really screwed," Ino commented.
Naru grunted. "Knowing me, I'm probably plotting of a way to make sure that Sasuke can't have kids."
But he was only one man and maybe there was someone in this town that knew how she could go back to Konoha.
Going back to Konoha might be more difficult than I thought.
For the sake of her sanity and even for the safety of Sasuke's bones, she hoped that she found a hint on how to get back home or else her teammate might lose the opportunity to have kids.
She allowed the words to hover in the air. The air grew thick with tension as everyone avoided looking at Sasuke, who inched farther away from her. If her teammate truly wished to have any chance of children, then he better pray to God that her future self found a way back home or, else she would go through with that oath.
"Sakura will kill you if you actually go through with that threat," Kakashi said, breaking the silence between them. He eyed the squirming Sasuke before offering her a frown.
Naru shrugged her shoulders and eyed the pink-haired girl. Her teammate looked torn between bobbing her head with Kakashi-sensei's assessment or throttling Sasuke for putting their team in this position. If it was her, she would choose the former because Sasuke did hurt her.
It had been three days.
Three, long days in an island that seemed to be filled with people that had no idea on how she get back home. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that she wasn't making enough money to get a hotel. Oh no, she had to sleep against the hard, huge tree branches in the forest and kill any animal that threatened to gobble her up.
"Sounds like hell," Ino shuddered and offered her a look of pity. "No wonder your future self doesn't look like she had any sleep! Your situation is a nightmare."
Actually, it would have been better if she reverted back to living in the forest again. If she hadn't been convinced to live in the apartment, then she probably would have found it easier to sleep in the forest. This was the problem of when people got so used to having a nice roof over their head.
Of course, Naru knew better than to say that to the girl.
It wouldn't be so bad if she had someone with her. If there was a person with her, then they could take shifts and she wouldn't have to feel some form of pity for killing an animal.
If I wasn't saving money up to get a decent place to sleep then I would just only eat them. But money was important, more important than ever, and she wouldn't survive long in this place if she had no money. After all, she was a growing girl and there was just no telling how long before she outgrew her clothes.
"Gon is really leaving, huh? He is really going to follow in his father's footsteps and become a hunter."
"That Gon kid must be really popular in that place," Choji commented. He rubbed the back of his neck and eyed the screen with a curious smile playing on his lips. "They keep talking about him like he is some kind of celebrity."
Kakashi sighed. "He did capture a big fish."
Naru stopped walking and slowly turned around to face the group of men, who stood outside of the restaurant. It never escaped her notice that people were in awe over the boy's decision to become a Hunter. They acted like it was a big deal, like it worried them and that made her frown.
If I'm going to live here then I need to understand what are Hunters and why they keep making a big deal over that kid becoming one. She looked up at the clear skies and then to the boats docked on the port. A Hunter couldn't be a more dangerous job than being a shinobi. At worst, they had to worry about animals.
"From what I heard from Ging?" Kakashi grimaced and shook his head. "It can just be just as dangerous as our job."
I heard that name before. She pulled her bottom lip and eyed her teacher for a brief moment before darting her eyes to the others. Her teammates narrowed their eyes at the silver-haired man while the members of Team 10 exchanged frowns amongst themselves. It seemed like everyone wanted to know what was going on.
"So, who is Ging?" Naru asked, deciding to vocalize the question that was on everyone's mind.
The silver-haired man looked away from her. "He was one of the Fourth Hokage's friends. They took the exams together and kept in touch until the death of the Fourth Hokage."
"Hey, Old Man!" she called out, waving her hand at the group of men. They twitched and scowled but made no attempt to walk away from her. She slid her hands into her pocket and skipped towards the group. "Can you guys explain why everyone makes a big deal about Gon becoming a Hunter? He is only going to be hunting animals, right?"
One of the men frowned and knelt down till he was at eye level with her. "Girl, don't you know what are Hunters?"
"Would I be asking if I knew?"
"Not even Kiba would ask such an obvious question," Sakura commented with a frown. Everyone turned around to look at the pink-haired girl and they raised their eyebrows at her. "Naru can be really smart when she wants to be. If it wasn't for her, there would have been a few times when we could have died."
They accepted her response, and Sasuke gestured for Naru to continue with the story.
Her question hovered in the air and the group of men looked almost aghast by her lack of knowledge. Their jaws dropped a centimeter as the birds chirped in the background. She cocked her head, tapping her foot against the pavement and just waited for at least one of these men to answer her.
If they didn't answer in the next ten minutes then she would just ask another person.
"Hunters don't just hunt for animals," another man finally answered once he finally processed her question. "From my understanding through my own travels, Hunters dedicate themselves to the protection of knowledge, people and nature. I know that there are hunters that travel the world to hunt for rare cuisines, and hunters that searches for plants."
Naru frowned and eyed them. "So they can hunt for information?"
"You're thinking about becoming a Hunter, aren't you?" Sasuke accused her.
She shrugged. "If I became a Hunter in that future, then you only have yourself to blame! How else am I going to find a way back home? If those guys don't have information, then I need to find someone that knows how I can get back home."
"That's possible," he agreed.
Another man eyed her and warned. "If you're thinking about becoming a hunter then you need to know that these exams are difficult. I heard from a couple of people that people can die in these exams."
Death. Just the knowledge brought a chill down her spine but not because it scared her. No, the idea that there was something that she could do while she tried to find a way back home. Excitement bubbled up inside of her and Naru smiled brightly at the group of men as more questions formed in her mind.
"I'm starting to think that someone dropped you as a baby," Sakura declared, looking at her like she was insane. "What part of you nearly dying, don't you get? I rather you don't come back, then for you to go through an exam that can get you killed."
She shook her head and offered her another shrug. "It can't be any worse than the Chunin Exams."
"You just jinxed it," Sasuke said flatly. "You said the same thing for the Chunin Exams, and do you remember what happened?"
That was one time.
"If these exams are so life-threatening then why do people take it?" she asked.
One of the men scoffed. "No idea! I like the idea of living so you should ask one of these guys."
The other males exchanged glances and thinned their lips before darting their eyes around the empty street. They motioned for her to come closer and reluctantly, she moved closer to the group of men. Why must they be so secretive about the whole thing? It wasn't like she had parents that would care about this.
Besides, she did the Chunin Exams and survived.
"Are you always going to compare every exam to the Chunin Exams?" Ino asked, dropping her shoulders. The girl scowled and offered her a look of disbelief as if she couldn't believe for one moment that this would be her line of thought. "Can we not compare every exam to the one exam that wasn't normal?"
She shrugged. "It's my scale of how dangerous an exam can be since none of the other exams had the Snake Sannin after my teammate. Besides, Suna invaded us and there were quite a few times when I nearly died. When you look at it in that perspective, how can I not make any comparison?"
"She has a point," Shikamaru agreed.
"If you get a Hunter License then you will have free access to most of the public services," they explained in a low tone. Naru's eyes widened as the men bobbed their heads. "You can kill without facing a major legal consequence and I heard you can get access to guarded information. Besides, it's an easy way to find a job."
"Wait a second, you can get away with murder?" Sakura cried, turning green at the thought. "I get the idea when it comes to work, but doesn't this encourage psychopaths to take the exam?"
Naru nodded. "There should be something to stop a serial killer from taking the exam."
Now you are just giving me more reasons to become a Hunter. She licked her lips and looked down at her hands. If there was guarded information then was there a chance for her to go back to Konoha? And if she could find a way back then she would just have one fancy license that allowed her to work overseas.
Yup the more she thought about it, the more the benefits appealed to her.
Kakashi looked faintly amused. "Was it the information part that appealed to you? Or the part that you can get money?"
"…You know I'm a practical girl," she muttered, ignoring the looks of disbelief thrown her way. Naru leaned farther back into the couch and turned her head away from the others. "The moment I heard I could get money from the job, I was going to take it. Besides, I'm sure that the council and the Old Hag will pay me more because of it."
"They would," Kakashi agreed.
"So how do I sign up for the Hunter Exams?"
If she was going to find a way back home then she was going to make some money on the way.
"Why do I've a feeling that you aren't actually going to make any money in the end of this?" Ino asked, grabbing the book from Naru's hand. She flipped to the next page and eyed her with suspicion.
The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki shrugged her shoulders. "Because my luck is never that good?"
"We can only read and see what will happen next."
A/N: Don't expect the updates for this story to be frequent because I'll update The Search more often. I do hope that you enjoyed the interactions between the characters. If you enjoyed this in some way, then please do let me know. Constructive criticism will be appreciated.