He felt strange, on the verge of consciousness and unconsciousness. His numb body slowly came back with sensations on the surface. He coughed a few times, his lungs felt like they were on fire, and with each cough it was as if they were brutally torn open.
After the water was expelled from his lungs, he felt a huge burning sensation on the side of his body. Opening his heavy eyes, Naruto gritted his teeth as he forced himself to stand up, getting to his knees on the wet dirt.
The first thing he saw was the entrance to an unfamiliar forest. Everything around him was strange, he was in the middle of nowhere, alone.
A sharp pain made him groan slightly, and he looked at the arrow stuck in his body. As much as he wanted to pull, he couldn't, not yet.
Forcing himself to stand, he checked his body. His sword was still in the sheath on his back, which relieved him a little. His body showed some cuts and bruises in addition to the arrow wound, wounds that he had no idea how he got.
His pockets still had some jewelry in them, necklaces for the most part. But he knew he lost some of the jewelry he had picked up. Not that it made much difference, the rings were still on his fingers, and one of those rings alone was enough for a good deal of money.
He looked around, with no sign of Hans or Konohamaru. If they had stopped in the same place as him, they probably wouldn't have left him there... well, that's what he wanted to think, but being honest with himself, he doubted it. He had been through enough to know that human beings are rotten, and children, especially, are cruel.
A cold wind made his body shiver, and not wanting to freeze to death, Naruto began to walk barefoot through the soft dirt into the forest. The first thing he would do would be to dry his clothes on a fire and warm his body.
As he goes deeper into the forest, he gets a certain amount of dry twigs, but still continues walking. He wanted to at least check his surroundings first. Maybe he could be near a road or something. Unfortunately, the crossbow he had taken from one of the guards was no longer with him, only his sword. Well, if he was lucky enough to find any animals, that would be more than enough for a productive hunt.
After some time, he found himself kneeling in front of a small fire, his chest bare, waiting for his shirt to dry.
His eyes stared intensely into the flames, letting himself be consumed by the mesmerizing dance that seemed to touch his soul with its heat. His mind wandered through all the events that left a mark on him. Scars, traumas, sensations that would certainly take a long time to fade away. That is if they were really going to disappear.
Attack on his camp, fight with bandits more than once, almost abused also more than once, hunger, pain... but his heart was still beating.
Stopping to think, he couldn't imagine a child his age going through what he went through. To have the same strength, or the same endurance, or at least to survive. He was always called a freak... maybe he really was.
He just didn't understand how he got there... at certain moments his body acted on its own... it was as if he was a spectator watching from afar what his own body did. His mind said no to life, but his body said the opposite.
And even after all that, all those scars, he still had no idea what to do. He didn't have something he really wanted or longed for... no one he could spend his days beside.
Hmph... he should start his journey to find something like that soon, then.
A sigh escaped his lips, and Naruto focused his eyes on a movement not too far away.
A bear and its cubs, walking calmly in the opposite direction from where he was standing. The cubs, curious, were running and playing among themselves, with their mother following close behind.
Until her eyes focused on Naruto, and she immediately went on guard. Blue against animalistic brown... as if one was analyzing the other, checking if it was a threat or not.
But after a while, the bear broke eye contact, turning around and walking after its cubs. The animal wouldn't do anything if Naruto didn't, and the boy knew it. He had spent enough time in the forest to understand things he did not understand before.
Animals were much more honest and honorable than humans. Which was intriguing.
Looking away, Naruto picks up his shirt, now dry, and tears it off. Setting the fabric aside, he takes a few deep breaths as he places his hand over the arrow.
His muscles tensed and a muffled groan escaped through his clenched teeth from the pain of pulling out the arrow. Blood began to trickle down the side of his torso, and Naruto hurried to tie the fabric of his shirt around his wound.
His eyes fell on the bloody arrow. One more mark of his survival, one more scar. Not that he really cared, until now, his appearance had only brought him trouble.
Sighing once more, he sat down and stood still for a while, just watching the flames of the fire. He had no destination now. He couldn't go back to that town, and he hadn't gathered enough information to know where to go.
His eyes then focused on his sword... mercenary work was dangerous... but at least it would give him something. Unfortunately, not many people hired children as mercenaries, that being the reason he didn't really try that hard.
-... At least I have money.
He whispered into the wind, lying down and raising both his hands, looking at the rings on his fingers.
What he would do with money... he didn't know either.
After a while, he stood up, put out the fire, took his sword, and continued his walk. He had to get out of that forest, find a road or something. But first, food had priority.
The hours passed, night fell, and he remained content with the boar he managed to hunt, although it was totally coincidental.
Lying down, he let himself be carried away by the starry sky. He did not like to face his surroundings at night, he felt as if the darkness was going to swallow him up. At night, alone, in a forest, it was stuffy and suffocating, although he is used to that feeling.
At least, looking up at the sky he felt freer, less suffocated. He almost felt as if he had a purpose. It was much better than keeping his gaze on the ground and having to deal with all those worries and limitations.
The stars made him feel good, and he didn't know why. But it was a good way to get some sleep, even if only for a few hours, before the nightmares once again haunted him.
He woke up sweaty, his hands were shaking, and his breathing was heavy. His hand immediately fell on his sword, still with the feeling of the lord's tongue on his neck.
His heart was beating so loudly that the silence of the forest allowed him to hear it. Soon, his mind stabilized, and he calmed down.
Looking up at the sky, he could see faint rays of sunlight shining on the horizon. Hmph, he had slept longer than he was used to, it seemed.
Getting up, he looks at the wound on the side of his abdomen, and is not surprised to see that it has almost healed. Advantage of having a strong body.
Picking up his sword, he begins to walk into the forest again, in his continuous attempt to find something that would refer to civilization.
Days, weeks, whatever. Time was no longer something that mattered to him, all that mattered was the day to day events. After he found a narrow dirt road, he walked for a long time accompanied by none other than the demons of the night that haunted his dreams.
His wound had long since healed, and his shirt was unfortunately lost in the forest. His naked torso showed the scars spread across his chest, abdomen and back, something that made the few people he saw in that time not stop to help him.
In the distance, he heard muffled sounds of screaming, and as he got closer, the sounds became more audible, now accompanied by the sound of iron against iron.
A battle. This made the boy roll his eyes. He didn't want to go all the way back the way he came in, and there was no way to avoid that path, since he was walking side by side with a river... maybe he could get around it through the plain.
As he got close enough, he arched an eyebrow when he saw several wagons scattered along the length of the road, literally just a few steps from where he was standing. Dozens of men were fighting each other.
On one side, men in similar clothes, almost a uniform. Cleaner and tidier appearance. On the other, men with dirty and different clothes, a more worn appearance, although they were quite large.
On one side a group, mercenaries perhaps. On the other, thieves, that was clear. The number of men fighting was large, as if a small war was going on in front of him.
He cared little about the conflict itself, what irritated him was the fact that there was no way around it. For a few moments, he even thought about swimming...
- Hey, kid! What the hell are you doing there!? Hide!
He heard one of the men shout, but he remained indifferent. His neutral expression just watched the whole thing, waiting for the battle to be over. Clearly the mercenary group would win, so he had nothing to fear from them kidnapping or killing him at the end of the battle.
However, the man's shout in his direction drew unwanted attention. The thieves probably thought he was along with the group of mercenaries, and Naruto rolled his eyes as he saw two men approaching him.
- Hey, hey!
One of the mercenaries shouted at the bandits, but it was only a futile action.
As soon as the two men approached, Naruto opened his eyes wide and picked up his sword. Leaning his torso to the side while crouching with his left leg, he slashed the man's abdomen, causing his guts to fall out of his body.
Turning his body, Naruto dodges a piercing attack coming from the second bandit, and raising his sword after jumping, he splits the man's head in half.
The mercenary stared at Naruto with wide eyes for some time, in utter surprise and disbelief. The boy, in turn, just put one foot on the bandit's chest and drew his sword while pushing his body forward.
The battle was over, the rest of the bandits fled, and the mercenaries helped the wounded and reunited with their allies.
Naruto, for his part, wiped the blood from his sword and put it back in its sheath, walking among the fallen bodies on the ground as if they were nothing but rocks in his path. Despite his indifferent expression, his guard automatically rose when the mercenary approached.
- You... you're quite good, kid.
he said, staring at Naruto, who just ignored him.
- Are you alone? Where are your parents?
He insisted, walking right up to the boy, who again ignored him.
- Hey, kid, look-
He touched his shoulder softly, which was enough for Naruto to turn away violently and grab his sword.
- Don't touch me!
He almost shouted, staring at the man with burning eyes.
Mercenaries came towards him, but the man stopped them.
- It's all right... we've seen enough reactions like this to know what happened.
He said, looking at the others for a few moments, before turning his gaze back to Naruto. The man had a slightly older face, scars across his arms and face, a tall, strong body despite his age. A man with experience, Naruto realized.
- Look, kid... we're not going to hurt you, okay? My name is mifune, and I assure you we don't want to hurt you.
He slowly raised his hands, and little by little, Naruto lowered his sword, calming himself, although he was still on alert.
Mifune's analytical and experienced eyes ran over the boy's body. Curious, surprised, intrigued by his scars, perhaps.
- Do you have somewhere to go?
Naruto put away his sword, not answering him, though it was obvious the answer was.
-... The next town is five days' ride on horseback from here. Why don't you come with us?
The question attracted the attention of both Naruto and the other mercenaries.
- Mifune-
- It's okay... trust me. I've seen enough similar situations.
Naruto stared at him, his intense eyes, used to swallowing what they saw, this time, were swallowed by the blackness of the older man's gaze.
His mind thought about his options, and in the end came to a conclusion... why not? He didn't know where to start looking for that which would complete him, he might as well continue on the path his father had set for him.
Soon, his eyes became calmer, and Naruto straightened his posture, becoming more relaxed, nodding to Mifune. His instincts didn't alert him to the danger, which was already a good sign
-... Come on, there's room for you at the back.
He nodded, starting to walk toward one of the wagons. Naruto stared at his back for a moment, before following him.
- Mifune. Is it over?
He heard a female voice, but sketched the slightest expression of curiosity.
- Yes, it's over. We will have one more member with us.
He said, making room for Naruto, who looked at the woman for a few moments. She had grayish hair, although she was not old. Skin a little dark, eyes brown.
- Whoa, his hair is golden. Who is this?
She asked, apparently a little surprised and excited by his hair. Naruto had disgusted memories with that sentence.
- Well, him... I just saw the boy slice through two men like they were nothing. He has nowhere to go, no family. He will stay with us until the next town, and who knows, maybe after that, - Mifune turned to him. - You may go up, boy.
He said, and Naruto climbed into the wagon.
His eyes ran over the interior. A few women sat hugging their legs, staring at him curiously, even fearfully. One in particular stared at him, even a little irritated.
- Great, one more mouth to feed.
She said with a bitter tone, but Naruto was more than happy to ignore her, sitting down in a corner well away from her and hugging his sword.
- Temari! Didn't you hear what Mifune said? The boy has ability. If Mifune saw potential in him, it's because he's worth it.
The gray-haired woman said.
- Mifune is getting old. Do you even have money?
she asked, looking at Naruto. The boy stared at her for a while, then threw one of his rings at her, and she caught it still in the air.
-... Is that enough?
he said in a hoarse voice, ignoring the incredulous looks and surprised sighs.
- This... this is a gold ring!
- Look at the size of this diamond.
- Whoa, where did you get it?
The gray-haired woman asked.
-... I stole it from a nobleman.
He answered simply, and she arched her eyebrow.
- You... you're not being chased, are you? Well, we have our own problems-
- He is dead.
He interrupted her, and she stared at him for a while, attentive. It didn't seem to affect her.
Why would it?
-... Anyway. My name is Ryuzetsu.
Despite the lack of a smile...or any expression to show anything, Naruto noticed her friendly tone.
Honestly, he didn't want to talk, especially since there was a chance he wouldn't be with them for long. But, they were not hostile...it was already something.
-... Naruto.
He said low, hugging his sword tighter and staring at the ground, noticing the woman's satisfied expression.