Naruto placed one foot in front of the other and tried to settle his labored breathing. He didn't want to stop. His legs ached, his chest hurt, and his eyes were starting to get a little blurry with sleep.
But still he walked.
Every few minutes he would stop to check his compass to orient himself. It was hard to tell what way you were going in a maze of trees. He had never been very attentive in class, but he was grateful for the day Iruka Sensei had taken all the students outside to do a scouting exercise.
He remembered that day vividly. They were so much younger then. So much happier. It was at the very start of the war. Back then, Konoha felt protected from the mires of war, and although the radios often carried news of the battlefield, Naruto's little world had remained, for the most part, untouched.
"Gather around everyone!" He remembered Iruka Sensei saying. "Today, we are going to learn about scouting. Most of the time Shinobi are in unchartered territory. It is important to always be able to know where you are and how to get to where you are going!"
A group of small children stood in the middle of a large field, crowding around their teacher. The sound of giggles and chatter echoed. The children were standing on one of Naruto's favorite training grounds, only a mile or so away from the Academy. The walk over had been pleasant. Naruto loved the days they got out of the classroom. It was one of his only chances to get to talk to his classmates in an organic way.
Naruto had stood on the outskirts of the group, and while he could distantly hear Iruka Sensei's voice, he was too entranced by everything else. The breeze was blowing the clouds through the clear sky, and the blades of grass near his feet swayed with them. It tickled. There were some flowers near his feet too. Tiny little white ones. He stared as they danced with the blades of grass. It looked synchronized.
"Naruto!" Iruka Sensei's voice broke him out of his trance. "I'm sure you were paying attention, so why don't you go first!"
Naruto smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Sure thing."
Naruto looked around for any pointers as to what he was supposed to be doing. Ino Yamanaka, a blonde girl with a pretty face scowled at him. Useless.
His eyes scanned the crowd a little more. He saw a small girl with dark hair standing a bit farther away from the others and gesturing to the compasses that had been passed out to them before they had headed out that day.
'Thanks Hinata' he thought to himself and smiled at her. She blushed and looked away, pushing herself deeper into her jacket.
He pulled out his own compass and turned back to Iruka Sensei.
"What am I finding Sensei? The wind made it hard for me to hear." Naruto grinned at his teacher, hoping to charm him over. There were a few chuckles in the crowd. The validation made Naruto's grin grow a little wider.
Iruka Sensei placed his hands on his hips. "Naruto, soon there will come a time when excuses won't help you. There will come a time when you'll have to listen and pay attention to the things around you. Distractions are a privilege that shinobi cannot afford!"
Naruto's heart sank and he looked off to the side, annoyed and ashamed. "Yeah, yeah, I know."
He hadn't meant to get distracted, but the feeling of warm sun on the nape of his neck had that effect on him.
Iruka Sensei turned to the entire class. The normally gentle teacher had a stern expression. "There are things happening right now outside of our control. Our neighboring nations argue that Konoha is too powerful to be allowed to exist. The Fire Country scares these people. They don't want us to exist the way we do now. They blame us for their failures."
Iruka leaned down and picked up a fallen leaf. He held it up for everyone to see. "One leaf, by itself is not a threat to anyone. It is harmless. Small. But when you look at a tree, you do not see the individual leaves, you only see a tree. A strong powerful tree."
He looked around to make sure the students were appreciating what he was trying to say. Perhaps riddles and analogies weren't the most effective way to convey a message to a bunch of school age children. Iruka changed his approach.
"When it comes down to it, and I hope it never does, every single one of you will have to do your part. They are scared of us. Of you. But they are only scared of you when you are united. Your lives depend on whether their fears are true. Our existence depends on your joint efforts! Do you understand?"
The students nodded at him, but with blank faces. He tried a little harder.
"When you're out in the field and one of you is anything but perfect, all of you may fail your mission or lose your life. Konoha's strength lies with your own." Iruka Sensei's voice had taken a new passion. He was scared for these kids.
As he looked over all of them, he realized that perhaps he had infected them with his own fear.
Iruka Sensei let out a sigh. The guilt settled in his stomach.
He hadn't meant to scare the kids, and he supposed his cryptic analogies weren't helping them much, but he didn't know how else to explain something he didn't completely understand himself.
The fact was that everyone had been talking about this war, but it was mainly done in hushed tones in the dark corridors of the Hokage's office. It seemed like most of the soldiers didn't even fully understand what it was that they were fighting for.
He looked over at Naruto who still refused to meet his eyes. The guilt festered a little deeper. He knew Naruto hadn't meant any harm. He knew how hard the kid had it.
"East, Naruto. I want you to identify what way is East. " Iruka said gently. He turned back to the class. "If Naruto can identify East, we can take the rest of the day off playing Ninja and the Hunter in the field."
Naruto perked up immediately at the chance of redemption. He looked at his compass and pointed.
"That way!" Naruto said to himself as he tried to put the compass back in his rucksack. He had forgotten to check his compass in a little bit, and he had strayed from his path a little. The exhaustion had started to take a significant toll.
The moon had followed him at first and lit his path, but soon he was so far under the thick trees that he found himself squinting into the darkness for every step he took. He had better night vision than most people for some reason, but even he was struggling.
He cursed himself for not having the foresight to bring a flashlight.
Eventually, Naruto decided that this was a fruitless effort. He could barely see, and he could barely walk. His fiery determination had blindly fueled him at first, but he was starting to realize he didn't even realize where he was headed. The note had only told him to go East. But there were a million places in the East!
The realization sucked the last of his willpower out of him. He needed rest.
Naruto found a corner by the trees and dropped his rucksack on the soft earth. His limbs felt as though they were made of lead.
He was cold now. Cold and hungry and tired. He rubbed his eyes and picked up a few sticks around him and grabbed the flint from his rucksack. As he worked away at his tiny fire, Naruto sent up a silent thank you to Iruka Sensei for all his lessons.
The man had been one of the few adults in Naruto's life who had given Naruto the time of day and Naruto would remain eternally grateful to him.
Finally, Naruto sat on the blanket he had laid out and pulled out a few rations. They were measly rice balls. The salty filling of meat inside him had dried a little and the rice itself didn't taste fresh, but to a hungry stomach, the complaints of a mouth are insignificant. He took a bite and willed himself to swallow.
His eyes felt heavy and the fire in front of him started to blur. He slipped into darkness curled around his small fire on his thin blanket, resting his head on his hands. For a second, Naruto wondered if he was doing the right thing before sleep took a hold of him.
The sound of cracking branches woke him up abruptly. For a second he wasn't sure if he was sleeping, but the cracking continued. It sounded like stomping, and it was right in front of his face. Through his sleep ridden eyes, Naruto could make out a pair of thick legs stomping out his fire. He tried blinking the sleep out of his eyes and sat up in high alert.
Naruto wanted to scream at them, to let them know that he was awake and that he was a threat, but his parched throat only croaked. If words wouldn't work, action would. Naruto reached for a kunai from the pouch that hung off his belt.
As the hand behind his back wrapped around the cool handle of the Kunai, another hand grabbed his wrist.
"Wha-"
"Shut up Naruto!" a voice hissed back at him. It came from the person holding his wrist. He knew that voice. He knew that voice very well.
"You're going to get us all killed!" another voice whispered angrily. It was the person who had been stomping out his fire.
"Choji? Shikamaru?" Naruto's racing heart calmed itself. These were familiar faces.
"Not now" Shikamaru whispered back, pulling Naruto to his feet.
Choji had already started collecting Naruto's haphazardly thrown rucksack and packing his blanket.
"Get up, we have to go. The smell of a fire can travel for miles if you have a good enough nose." Shikamaru whispered to Naruto, still holding his wrist and pulling him off the blanket that Choji was trying to quickly fold and put back in Naruto's rucksack.
Shikamaru pointed in a direction and Choji nodded. The two boys took off in a run, dragging the still dazed Naruto behind them.
The three boys ran until Naruto's lungs burned. Eventually, Shikamaru broke off from the group and the other two boys followed wordlessly. Shikamaru had led them into a dark cave. Naruto stood near the entrance catching his breath, but Choji and Shikamaru fell into action.
Choji pulled their blankets from their rucksacks and made a comfortable sitting area. Shikamaru went around the entrance of the cave placing kunai knives attached by thin invisible strings around the entrance.
Booby Traps.
Naruto stood in silence for a moment watching them, hearing only their labored breathing echoing off the cool walls of the small cave.
He knew the two boys fairly well from the academy, but only as distant acquaintances. They were kind enough to him, and some of the only people who included him in the games they played, but the two were joint at the hip.
Shikamaru was lazy he knew. The two of them always ended up at the bottom of the class together. Choji was hungry. Constantly. But he was friendly and gentle. Naruto was quite fond of them, but now was not the time for fondness.
His confusion had only festered as they ran. He had so many questions it felt like they were all racing to his mouth to see which one would get out first.
Finally, Choji gestured to the spot next to him. Naruto walked over without hesitation and sat down.
"So, have you guys taken a vow of silence or…" Naruto started sheepishly. The silence was starting to suffocate him.
Shikamaru scoffed. Naruto was undeterred.
"What are you guys doing out here? Were you on a mission?" Naruto prodded.
"What missions do they give academy students Naruto?" Shikamaru replied, spinning a kunai on his finger lazily. "We're here for the same reason you are."
The air grew steely for a second. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Naruto took in his classmates appearance for the first time. They both wore the same black jacket as him. They didn't seem to fit any of them properly either.
For a fleeting moment, Naruto thought that if they were really as important to the war effort as the man that had told him about the rebel camp had said, they should have taken the time to tailor the jackets for them. Why else did Naruto have to fill out the thick packet with all his information?
Naruto shook the thought off and turned his attention to the other two boys. Now wasn't the time.
His normally laid back classmates wore expressions of ice.
He hadn't realized how many people would be a part of this.
"So then you're going-" Naruto started again.
"Yes." Choji's reply was short. The normally jovial boy was skittish. His eyes were bouncing around the cave constantly.
"How about I talk and you listen. I bet I can answer all your questions without us having to go back and forth like this. It'll be faster that way." Shikamaru suggested as he drove another kunai into the ground by the entrance of the cave.
He finished placing his kunai and took a spot on the other side of Naruto. Now that he was sitting closer to Naruto, Naruto could fully appreciate the exhaustion on his classmate's face. The usual calm Nara had worry lines forming around his mouth and a furrowed brow.
Naruto would normally have protested at being talked to like that, but something about Shikamaru's face made him reconsider. Instead, he nodded quietly.
"Choji and I, we are heading towards the rebel camp, same as you. Our parents…they're away right now…They're fighting in Sunagakure last we heard from them." Shikamaru started. His words came out haltingly. He was trying to pick the right words to say what he wanted to say.
"We found you because of your fire." Choji chimed in. He could sense that the normally articulate Shikamaru was struggling to find the right words.
"Honestly Naruto! Lighting a fire in the middle of a dark forest? What were you thinking? Didn't the note warn you?" Shikamaru was not the type to berate anyone, but clearly he was taking this situation extremely seriously.
Naruto bit his lip. To be honest, he wasn't thinking about the note when he made his fire. He was just tired and sleepy and cold. However, he would never admit his lack of thought to anyone else.
Instead, Naruto retorted with "The note didn't mention anything about fire…" He knew it was a foolish response the second it left his mouth, but he had said it and so he would defiantly stand by it.
Shikamaru blinked at him for a second. Naruto blinked back.
"Naruto, the note said to tread lightly, and to do it at night. Clearly, it was warning you not to draw any attention to yourself."
"I know that!" Naruto said back in a raised voice. Choji hit him over the top of the head.
"Shush idiot! You'll get us killed!"
Naruto paled at that. "Killed? By who?"
"If there is a rebel camp, then don't you think that there are people that the rebel camp is…rebelling against?" Shikamaru asked slowly.
"Well…yeah." Naruto looked off to the side as he answered.
Shikamaru looked at Naruto thoughtfully for a second before he asked "Naruto…what do you know about the rebellion?"
Naruto turned back to Shikamaru. There was a fire in his eyes and a look of grim determination on his face.
"I know that the rebellion is how I am going to save everyone. It is how I am going to make sure the war ends and ends the right way. I am going to make everything better, and no one will ever have to suffer or die like that again." Naruto clenched his fist. "I will make sure of it!"
Shikamaru softened slightly at Naruto's determination and naivete.
"Okay, so you know nothing. Then let me start from the start."
Shikamaru walked outside the cave for a brief second after cautiously peaking outside. He daintily stepped over his own traps and picked up a branch and came back to sit down.
"I'm going to assume you weren't paying attention during our international politics lectures" Shikamaru started "so let me begin with some basics."
He drew a little map on the dirt floor of the cave with his stick in front of the boys.
He pointed to a large land mass.
"This is Fire Country. The Fire country is where we live. It is the nation with the largest economy due in large part to its fertile land, adaptable environment, and high levels of import and export… and of course its large shinobi village."
Shikamaru drew a circle within the heart of the fire country and drew the Konoha symbol on it.
He then pointed to the surrounding land masses. They were further away and were made of differing sizes.
"These are the other countries. Wind Country, with the Sand Village, Earth Country, with the Rock Village, Lightning Country with the Cloud Village, and Water Country with the Mist Village.
Shikamaru drew in the symbols.
"The other countries, namely Wind, suffer from draughts, famine, and rampant poverty. It's…it's just not a good place to live I've heard. In fact, most places aren't as good to live as Fire Country."
Shikamaru looked up to make sure Naruto was still paying attention. Shikamaru was slightly surprised to find that he was, so he continued on.
"A few years back…the tailed beasts attacked the villages, you remember learning about that don't you Naruto?"
Naruto nodded enthusiastically. It was one of the cooler things they had learned about in the academy. One of the few things that had caught his attention and stayed with them.
"There were talks that someone had to release the tailed beasts. Someone had to have set them on the villages. The Daimyo's in the Wind Country, they believed it was Konoha shinobi that did it."
"That's crazy! Why would we do that? We were attacked by the Kyuubi too!" Naruto exclaimed.
He covered the back of his head before Choji could hit him for being loud again. Naruto was a faster learner than people gave him credit for.
"They claim it was a decoy. It was a ruse. They believed that Fire Country was growing far too big for its britches. A shinobi village serves as protection for a country, but they also serve as a source of income. All the missions we do, the majority of the revenue goes to the government. Our stipend is measly compared to how expensive our missions are. The Wind Daimyo's are of the belief that we set the tailed beasts on the other villages for two reasons. First, to significantly damage their own shinobi forces, and second, as a show of strength. If Konoha released the tailed beasts, they would basically be guaranteeing their own land a time of great prosperity."
"That doesn't make sense! So what if we are the strongest? We lost men too!"
"A casualty for a greater good." Shikamaru replied shortly. "The Wind convinced the Earth and Lightning Countries, and they moved to diminish Konoha's forces. The Fire Country was not going to take that laying down. War broke out."
Naruto looked at Shikamaru awestruck. How did he know so much? He knew Shikamaru was smart enough. He always seemed to come up with great strategies during the games they played, and no one on his team ever lost.
Naruto supposed all those times Shikamaru sat in class with his head on his desk, he was simply feigning sleep. He must have been listening quite intently.
Shikamaru must have read his mind. "I learned a lot of this from eavesdropping on my father." Shikamaru said getting up, dusting the dirt off his pants. "He is a strategist in the war effort."
"The rumors say we are months away from losing the war. When that happens, the Wind and Earth Countries will break the Konoha shinobi forces down. They will put a cap on how many shinobi we can have. On the type of techniques they can be taught. They say it will be for international peace. Without strong shinobi, there can't be anymore large wars."
Naruto's heart had started racing again and there was a knot in his stomach. If he was being truthful, he hadn't really thought to educate himself on the war and its reasoning. He just knew that there was a war and that he was going to make sure it ended in the right way.
"The rebel camp is the back up plan. Its hidden away from enemy eyes. It's a training camp. They will train us to be shinobi there, and they will train us to be spies. Even if Konoha loses this war, it will not lose its will of fire. We will work out of the shadows."
Shikamaru was standing by the edge of the cave again, peering outside.
Naruto felt frozen in his seat.
Next to him, Choji who had been listening silently had unwrapped a rice ball and began to chew quietly.
Naruto closed his eyes for a second. He imagined his village. It hadn't been the kindest to him, but it had been home. He could smell the old man's ramen when he envisioned Ichiraku Ramen. He could remember the faint smell of Iruka Sensei's after shave the last time he had given the boy a hug before he left to join the front lines. He could remember the sweet smell of grass that clung to his sweaty body when he got home from a long day of running around the fields at the academy.
He would not let them take these things away from him.
Naruto got to his feet, a grin forming on his face. It felt a little forced at first he had to admit, but soon it flourished naturally.
He walked over to Shikamaru and threw a hand over his shoulder.
"Then what are we waiting for. Let's go! We have work to do and a shinobi village to save!"
Shikamaru sighed. His explanation had done nothing to quell Naruto's optimism. He admired that about the blonde boy. Personally, when Shikamaru had pieced everything together, the entire situation had felt overwhelming and discouraging.
He looked at the boy next to him. With golden hair, bright eyes and a brilliant smile, Naruto really was one of a kind. Something about him was…Shikamaru struggled to find the word, but he brushed it off.
Instead, he hoped that maybe a little bit of Naruto's bright smile would rub off on him.
"The sun is starting to rise. It will be easier this way. There's no need for the compasses anymore." Shikamaru said shaking off Naruto's hand but returning a small smirk in return.
"No compasses?" Choji asked. Evidently, he had finished eating and had also risen. He had also started to pack the blankets.
Naruto looked at the two boys and wondered how they always seemed to communicate so wordlessly. He was envious of it.
Shikamaru pointed out of the cave towards the horizon. The sky had turned a deep purple, and the faintest glimpses of sunrise could be seen peaking over the Shinji Mountain Range. Naruto took in a breath as he followed Shikamaru's finger. The view was breathtaking.
"The sun rises in the East. We can follow it." Shikamaru said turning back to the other boys. He started taking off his jacket, and he tied it around his waist.
"Take off your jackets and put them in your rucksacks." He instructed. "If we are travelling by daylight, we need to look like what we are…children. We'll look less suspicious if we aren't wearing a uniform. "
"The base is on the Shinji Mountain, right there by the sun. I am sure if we walk near the Eastern Path there will be some clues for us on how to find it. " Shikamaru slung his own rucksack over his shoulder and looked back out of the cave.
Naruto's stomach flooded with excitement as he slipped off his jacket and stuffed it in his bag.
He felt much better taking this journey with other people. Choji walked over to him and thrust a water cannister in front of him.
Naruto hadn't realized how thirsty he had been the entire time until there was something to quench his thirst in front of him. His dry throat ached and cried.
Naruto couldn't even thank Choji before he greedily pressed the cool metal to his lips. The water felt heavenly as it coated his parched throat.
Naruto hadn't remembered to pack his own water either. He chastised himself as he handed the water back to Choji, who took it wordlessly.
"Choji, Naruto, let's go. Remember, we're village kids, just messing around."
Shikamaru dug his hands into his pocket and took a more relaxed pose. He sauntered out into the open air, with Choji and Naruto right behind him.
To anyone, they looked like carefree kids. But if you looked just a little bit closer, you'd notice how the boy in the front gritted his teeth. You would see how the bigger boy was breathing heavy because of exertion but because of the concentrated deep breaths he was taking to calm himself. And if you looked very closely, you would notice that the blonde boy in the back had the smallest smile on his face.
He was just grateful he wasn't doing this alone anymore.
AN: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for making it so far. I just wanted to make a few notes: First, I'm sure you have noticed that this is an AU. Because of that, I had to make this a slower chapter in terms of action. It needed to be done so I could explain what is happening in this redone Universe. I promise you, there is a lot of action and character development coming up! Second, I would like to just explain that if the characters seem a little OOC, its because I am writing them as children. One of my favorite parts of the Naruto series was watching the children grow up and mature. For that reason, Naruto is a little thoughtless, and the characters just don't seem entirely like themselves. Don't worry, I will be adding to that. Third, I would really implore you to do me a big big big favor and review this story. I really appreciate any constructive criticism you have, and I am writing this story for all of you, so if there is something I can do with my writing to make it a more pleasant experience for you, please let me know!
Thank you all again! Ja ne!
