Naruto walked quickly through the center of the village. The smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air and enticed him to slow down and stop for a while, but the jingle of the last three coins in his pocket kept him walking.
His stomach growled at him, and he pulled his jacket shut a little bit tighter.
"Hush" he growled back. "Almost there."
The cold air stung his cheeks and he just knew his ears and the tip of his nose were a bright pink. He kept his eyes firmly planted ahead of him. He couldn't afford distractions today. It was a big day.
The people around him were in a hurry of their own. The end was near. The war that had plagued the villages for years was drawing to a close, and while to most it was a reason for celebration, he knew that for him, for his people, it was anything but.
You see, its only the winners in a war that can celebrate its ending. The victors write history on the backs of the losers. They started teaching that to Naruto at the academy a few months ago, when the tide of war had shifted.
"Remember who we are" Iruka sensei had said with a strained smile. He had smiled so widely that his eyes were almost shut, but Sakura who had been sitting in the front row later told everyone she could see the tears in the corners of his eyes regardless.
"Remember what you are. Don't let anyone tell you different." Iruka sensei had said.
The children had blinked at him and nodded their heads.
The memory chilled Naruto to his bone. Iruka Sensei had been sent to the front lines a few weeks later. He hadn't returned.
Naruto said a silent prayer for his old teacher as he ran up the stairs to his apartment.
He swung the door open and took in the warmth of his home. In here, it was easier to forget what was happening. Not easy. But easier. He breathed a sigh of relief and ran his hand through his tangled blonde hair, pushing it out of his face.
Naruto considered going to take a shower. His stomach growled in protest, demanding to be heard.
"Fine, fine, you've waited long enough" he said to his stomach as he made his way to his kitchen, daintily stepping around the piles of empty milk cartons and crumpled papers that were around his floor.
Naruto had been an orphan even before the war had started. Living alone for so long had taught Naruto to make conversation when he could. Otherwise he would go days on end without hearing the sound of his own voice, let alone anyone else's.
He finished eating and showering, all the while avoiding the package that waited for him on the coffee table that had not been there when he had left this morning. Naruto knew that the package would be waiting for him, but he wanted a few more moments before he approached it.
However, all the procrastination in the world could not delay the inevitable. Time had a nasty habit of flying by when you wanted it to stop.
Finally, with shaking hands, he lifted it and placed it in his lap. For a second he looked at his hands. They were small and soft. Still a little chubby. He was after all only 12.
In a brief moment of self-awareness he thought "such hands should not be holding such things" but he pushed the thought aside.
He opened the box carefully. There were no identifying markers on the outside. Only his initials, neatly printed on the bottom corner of the box.
He emptied the box gently. It was extremely uncharacteristic of him to do anything slowly and gently. These words were not often associated with Naruto, but fear has a way of making you do things you don't want to.
He pulled out a box of kunai knives, sharp and deadly. Not like the blunted ones they gave them at the academy or the rubber ones they sold to children at the toy store. They were heavy in his hands.
He pulled out a compass, black and shiny. He tapped the side of it to watch the arrow inside shake.
Next, there was a small medicinal kit. And lastly, he pulled out a black jacket.
He held it up to examine it closely. It had no identifiable design on it but it was made of a thick, durable material. Naruto did not have many nice things, but even he knew that it would not have been cheap.
He pulled it on. It was a little big for him, but he had hopes that in the next few months he would have a growth spurt.
It was all so…cool. Naruto squeezed the jacket a little closer to himself.
Lastly, he pulled out a piece of parchment paper.
"Follow the compass, and head East. Hide under the shadow of trees. Tread carefully. Tread lightly. Arrive silently. Leave tonight. The Will of Fire lies within you. Your training starts now."
Naruto felt another chill run down his spine despite the fact that he was in his warm apartment.
The war was wrong. The winners of the war were wrong. This much he knew for certain. And now Naruto had decided to join the efforts to make things right.
Until this moment, he had been an academy student. He was still a few months from graduation. He played tag with his friends, and because he had no one to tell him otherwise, he ate dessert for dinner.
But the war had stolen lives and his childhood was just going to be another casualty. All things considered; it wasn't that bad. At least he was still breathing. And he had the chance to do the right thing.
Naruto looked over at his window. The sun would set soon. He didn't have much time. He shook off his apprehension.
He was after all Naruto Uzumaki, and fear could only be allowed to settle in his skin for so long.
He picked up his small rucksack, and carefully placed the food rations he had in it. There would be no more ramen and milk. He placed a small blanket for sleeping with in there, and the medicinal kit that had been sent to him. He strapped his kunai knives into the pouch that hung off his back pocket and he put in a few paper bombs that he had stolen from the weapons shop a few days back.
Naruto pulled on the black jacket, that had sleeves that were just a little too long and turned to look at himself in the mirror.
The jackets sleeves hung past his hands. The orange shirt he wore underneath stood out too brightly. He zipped the jacket shut. He wasn't leaving home without a little piece of it with him, and the orange shirt was just that. He had loved orange since he could remember. You can't ignore orange.
The sun had started setting as Naruto finished getting dressed. He took a deep breath and looked around his apartment one more time.
It was messy and small, but it was everything he had. Everything that people were trying to take away from him. Not if he could help it.
With a small fire in his heart and a grin on his face Naruto closed the door, and ran down the stairs, skipping a few. He set out for the East Gate of the village.
It was finally his time to help. It was his time to show off what he could do. He would win glory and praise. He would win acknowledgment and he would save the village. The lost lives would not have died in vain.
"I'll make it better Iruka Sensei" he whispered to himself as he approached the East Gate.
The sun had disappeared by the time he got to the gate and the moon had taken his place. It was a full moon and Naruto could see that for once, the gate guards were not present. The rebellion must have deeper ties to the village than Naruto had realized.
That was the only way a gate would be left unguarded at night.
The thought comforted Naruto.
With a grin and a skip in his step, Naruto stepped out of the village. He looked back for a second, but then remembered the note that had come with his package. "Hide under the shadow of the trees. Tread Carefully. Tread lightly."
"This isn't a game Naruto" he chastised himself. He hid himself under the cover of the trees and pulled out the compass. He looked at the little arrow and followed its directions. He set out in the darkness.
The night air was cold, but the determination in his gut warmed him up regardless. He was going to make things better.
