Across mountains of rock, Naruto traveled. The path to the Hidden Stone Village was long, and Naruto didn't dare to use chakra in case of alerting Anbu to his presence. So, he had to walk the long path. There were a few good things, and that was Naruto followed a singular river that lead to the Land of Earth, meaning he had water and food from animals that drank out of it. Naruto also had a lot of free time, and managed to create another jutsu. Scorch Release: Desert Sun.

The harsh climate of Avte served as inspiration for his jutsu, where he essentially created a mini sun above his head that burned the environment nearby. However, thanks to a coating in scorch chakra and his heat resistance, Naruto didn't get scorched by it. The radius would expand depending on chakra put into it, and Naruto could safely say that the technique was B Rank. Maybe even A Rank if he perfects it.

But, eventually, he found the river lead through an especially tall mountain, which on the other side was the Hidden Stone Village. Naruto went to the base of the mountain and started to circle around it, wanting to find an entrance. With luck, he shouldn't be noticed by Anbu and his fake passport from the border patrol should allow him access. And he thought he saw it right up ahead.

Naruto walked into the main path to the city, being halted by ninja dropping in front of him. "Verification" their voice was cold and sharp, leaving Naruto uneasy that their hands were grasping for a weapon. Naruto handed them his passport, and they looked him over. A few seconds went by as Naruto fidgeted from the silence. "Approved, you have entry in the Hidden Stone Village." They disappeared right after and Naruto went inside the mountain, arriving out of an underpass and seeing the whole village.

It was a collection of stone bubbles that served as buildings, each contained windows, lights, and everything of the sort. The streets were packed with people, everyone walking around slightly frantic, like they were in a rush. The people of Stone tended to be paranoid and tense, or at least that's what he heard from rumors. That's why the Stone Village had some of the best Interrogators and information dealers amongst the Elemental Nations. It also made him wary of where to step, making him fit right into the crowd.

Naruto surfed through the crowd and eventually found a shop for shinobi gear. It had the picture of a kunai on the door outlined in red and the Hidden Stone symbol on the other side of the door. He entered and a bell at the top rung, alerting his entry. The shop was rather empty, only a few other customers. He looked around, seeing racks of shinobi equipment, from scrolls, to weapons, to clothing, even to certain poisonous plants for sale. He ended up buying a few empty scrolls, multiple batches of shuriken and kunai, paper bombs, smoke bombs, and a bottle of liquid poison. He also grabbed a few handbooks on chakra control and shinobi arts, so he could fulfil his knowledge more.

The man at the counter looked at him sharply, his eyes piercing Naruto's brain for info. Then he smiled and tallied up the items, making Naruto relax a little. Thanks to his little adventures in the mining company, he earned quite a bit of money, plenty enough for the price of equipment. He left the store feeling a bit better, the atmosphere the man radiated was nice and soothing.

When he left, the cashier's smile broke instantly and he sent a messenger hawk to the Tsuchikage. He walked in the back of the shop and wrote another name down, Naruto. His name was surrounded by other names, some crossed out, other not. Above the little board read "Possible Foreign Spies or Shinobi." Naruto had been spotted.

Naruto walks outside and begins to wander the streets. He wonders if he can find a hotel to spend the night, as the ground became uncomfortable after awhile of sleeping on it. He would much prefer a comfy bed. Naruto kept exploring the city, and he eventually found a hotel and paid for a room. The lady at the desk looked very friendly and welcoming, a nice change from the frantic pace of the city.

However, secretly, the woman made Anbu hand signs to alert the other tenants and workers of a new possible spy listed. Before Naruto even got to his room, it was bugged with seals and had hourly surveillance. They weren't risking security, even for a child. Naruto had no idea any of this was happening as he but his bag down and hopped on the bead, sinking into it. It felt nice and relaxing, and eventually, he fell asleep.

Naruto woke up around midnight, hearing a knock on his door. Naruto jolted awake, silently, and grabbed a kunai and slung it behind his arm, poised to strike. He walked slowly to the door and looked through, to see a man wearing what looked like red samurai armor and a facemask. He opened the door and the man looked up, "May I come in. Sorry to disturb you so late, but I need to talk with you."

Naruto was hesitant, but seeing the man with a shinobi headband, he relented and let him inside. He couldn't refuse the man without looking suspicious. "Come in shinobi-san, Sorry for the mess." He made his voice sound tired and drowsy. The man did a few hand signs and the room glowed, the bugs and seals disabled. Naruto looked shocked at this, but the man quickly silenced him with a look.

"Alright, kid, cut the crap. I sense the demonic chakra inside you, which beast do you hold." Naruto's eyes widened unimaginably. He was genuinely shocked that a man knew he was a Jinchuriki, but he needed to know. He was going to lie, but the man flexed his chakra a tiny bit, letting Naruto know he was serious. "I am the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi. I mean no harm to the village, I am just passing by. I wasn't planning to stay here any more than a day. I'll be on my way." Naruto went to pack his things but was stopped by the man who sat him back down.

"Look kid, I'm not telling the old man about this, as far as he knows you weren't here. I sensed the chakra inside you because I am also a Jinchuriki, of the 5 tails. I just wanted to talk to someone like me." The man rubbed the back of his neck a bit after that last statement.

Naruto sat back down and leaned back, another like him. Yamomoto explained the system of Jinchuriki to him, and how each major village had at least one, but Naruto didn't think he would ever meet someone like him. The man cut the silence, "My name is Han, and you are Naruto, right. The one presumed dead?"

"Wait, I'm presumed dead?!" He said this a bit loud, but quieted down after a glare from Han. "Don't you read the news, Konaha has been a wreck since you "died". Rumor has it you were killed by fellow shinobi, but another stated you were killed by your classmates."

"No, I was attacked by 20 or so kids and the Kyubi influence took over, making me do bad things to them. I left shortly after and ran away. I didn't know they thought I had died, I feel guilty now." Han laughed a bit.

"I wish I could just leave like you, kid. I don't like life as a shinobi, I never wanted to be one. But I was forced to and now I have no influence or power in my life, I just follow orders. Count yourself lucky kid, you could have ended up like me." He pointed to himself to emphasize.

"Do they treat you bad here?" Naruto was dying to know if it was just his home that treated him like trash. "Yeah, I've heard every Jinchuriki gets the same treatment. It's a curse, really. It gets really fucking annoying after awhile, especially when I am just trying to eat at a café." Naruto empathized with Han about this, the pains of being scorned for existing.

"Naruto, my advice is you leave tonight. They bugged your room, meaning they are suspicious of you. You don't want to accidentally get caught now. If you leave before they send any Silver Anbu after you, you should be able to leave this country alive." Naruto nodded to this and sealed up his things. "Thanks for the talk, Han. I hope I meet you again someday." "You too, Naruto"

Han left the apartment followed closely by Naruto, who now was heading toward the exit to the Stone Village. He popped a soldier pill in his mouth to ward off of sleep and give him a boost of energy and kept going, he needed to leave today. As he walked in the city, he saw passing Shinobi watching his every move, and he became more and more uneasy.

Some Shinobi reached their hands for weapons, but didn't pull them out. Others hid in shadows and trees, their eyes tracking his every movement. Naruto couldn't take anymore of this, he needed to leave fast. Naruto did a basic body flicker, which got him to the other side of the village walls. While there, he did and signs and activated his scorch body. Naruto then began to claw through the ground, burrowing like a mole. Eventually, he reached the other side of the wall. The only reason he wasn't being actively stabbed was because a scorch clone was body flickering around the town, using a supply of chakra from Naruto. The shinobi were busy chasing it.

When Naruto got out, he saw a chunin land in front of him with his tanto drawn. "Hand yourself over, kid, or I'll have to kill you." Naruto responded with hand signs, which the ninja followed with his own. "Scorch Release: One Fiery Eye." "Earth Release: Mud Wall." The ball of fire clashed with the mud wall, eventually breaking it and forcing the ninja to jump away. Naruto didn't give him any time and dashed at him. Once he got close, he threw a left hook, that was easily blocked by the chunin.

The chunin rolled forward and did an overhead kick that made Naruto block, making his body shutter from impact. The chunin quickly let his leg down after the scorch body started to sizzle it, but Naruto grabbed it. He dug his fingers into the man's skin, eliciting a cry of pain from him. The man then did a replacement with a rock and appeared several meters back. He ran through more hand signs, and Naruto did a few as well.

"Earth Release: Mud Tsunami" "Scorch Release: Exploding Scorch Shockwave" The two waves of elements collided, fighting for dominance. Naruto let out another pulse of scorch chakra, and eventually his technique overran the chunin's and burned his body. The man jumped back and clutched his burned chest. But Naruto didn't give him time to let up, instead he was going to use his new technique.

"Scorch Release: Desert Sun" A sun the size of a small house formed above Naruto and started to fry the surroundings, eventually turning the man in front of him into a mummified corpse. Naruto canceled the technique and panted a bit, that was nerve wracking. He needed to leave before Anbu detected the chakra usage. He paid silent respect to the shinobi he killed and left in a hurry. He found an empty path and ran along side it. His pace evened and he thought that he had lost the Anbu trailing him.

After a few hours of running, 5 figures drop down in front of him. Naruto looks at them and gasps, they were Anbu. Their masks were blank, meaning they weren't traditional Anbu. "Danzo-sama requests you back at Konaha immediately. Come willingly or by force." Just as things began to devolve, another batch of 5 Anbu dropped behind Naruto. "Foreign Anbu aren't allowed inside Land of Earth borders. Hand over yourselves, or we have permission to kill you."

Naruto now was standing in between an Anbu skirmish, one he didn't care to see. Naruto breathed deeply and did several hand sings, channeling chakra all through his body like a current. The chakra almost sparked with intensity, like electricity, and it made him feel light as air. His perception increased juristically, where he could see the kunai moving in mid air in slow motion, some heading for him, others heading for each side. "Afterimage Flicker"

Naruto quickly channeled insane amounts of chakra to his legs and dashed off into the distance, running hundreds of miles in seconds. After he was far enough away, he ducked into a cave and collapsed, all the muscles in his legs were torn and his bones may be broken. He hadn't mastered King's technique yet, he needed training. He also pushed it to limits it shouldn't be pushed to, but at least he was alive.

Naruto laid back down, using a whole soldier pill of energy at that one moment. At least Naruto was certain he was out of Land of Earth borders, in an in-between land between that and his next destination. Around him was wooden pillars, indicating an abandoned mineshaft. His next destination was a popular tourist destination, but a place where he could fully master his scorch release. It was none other than the Land of Steam, to the Village Hidden in the Steam.

Elsewhere

A figure in dark clothes could be seen dashing through forest at a quick pace, like he was running from something. The figure wore a blue shirt and black pants with black sandals, adorning black hair and eyes. He looked around Naruto's age and wore the Uchiha Clam symbol on his back proudly. It was Sasuke Uchiha.

Right now, Sasuke was running from the Leaf Village. After the decline of the Hidden Leaf, Sasuke no longer wanted part in the failing village, with it's weak minded people. He finally found someone who could make him strong. The man promised power and to take his eyes to the next level, to train him to be the strongest Uchiha. It was a man dressed in full black clothes and red clouds, wearing an orange spiral mask. Sasuke was hesitant, until the man revealed his true name, Madara Uchiha. Now, Sasuke knew this was the only way to get stronger, and he accepted it. With this man, he could finally find his brother, and kill Itachi once and for all.

...

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