Finishing and Leaving
Land of Whirlpools
Uzumaki Clan Village
Naruto smiled obnoxiously at the ancient man seated within the strange machine which kept the white-haired man alive.
"So I managed to learn it after all." He boasted still smiling.
"Indeed you have, though your smug attitude is unbecoming." Hiruko chided the blonde boy.
"Well I mean I did manage to get it done in under a month." Naruto said proudly.
"Barely." Hiruko corrected him.
Naruto's smile slipped when he heard that, and began to look a bit more bashful.
"Listen Naruto, I do not have much time left now even with my life support," Hiruko explained his voice sounding old and weak.
"My body was never strong and even with this advanced life support machinery created by the White Snake, my body won't even last to the end of the month." Hiruko explained, it seemed that the only part of his body that he could move is his mouth.
"White Snake?" Naruto questioned.
"Naruto, my final warning is this; You must only use the Chimera Jutsu when you're in a safe place where you are unlikely to be attacked, even if your body is strong and resilient not even you are above the agony of the merging process and you Will (Bold) be left defenceless afterwards." Hiruko warned his voice getting weaker and weaker as he went on.
"You are dying." Naruto seemed shocked by such an obvious fact his face losing any trace of his earlier arrogance and peppy attitude.
"Of course I am, a weak old man like myself should have not even lived to see 40 yet here I am 51 years of age; most Ninja before the Great War barely got to 30 and even with the War occurring that only added 10 more years and from what I've gleaned from the outside world that is steadily dropping back down to 30." Hiruko ranted with his weakening voice, seemingly disgusted at the world he lived in.
"I hate this world and I hate the logic that rules it; the strong survive and the weak perish it is disgusting." He spat out as the last flames of anger left him.
Naruto just stared at the weakly coughing man, he was only 50 but looked to be over 100 years old, with deep wrinkles on his very pale skin not to mention his thin skeletal body making him look much older than he is.
"Remember my advice Naruto, go into this world and take the Kekkei Genkai you wish, be free do not be tied down by such petty things like the Clan, go free into the world and experience it yourself instead of just listening to bitter old men." Hiruko advised.
"Like you." He replied sardonically.
"Exactly." Hiruko agreed almost smiling.
"This world needs a new path, Ninja Clans fighting and killing each other for uncaring Daimyo is self-destructive and will lead to the death of all Ninja, not just individual Clans." he exposed as passionately as a dying man could.
"Go boy, see this world with your own eyes and make your own decisions, be no man or lord's puppet." Hiruko commanded.
"I'll stay with you until the end, you've taught me a lot, heh even Arashi said that I've improved a lot over the past few weeks." Naruto said resolutely.
"All from your work and determination, I simply showed you the method it was you who applied it." Hiruko muttered modestly his voice weakening, even more, his breath coming out sluggishly and his lungs sounding like ancient paper.
"Thank you." Sincere words were spoken in the silence by a man who lived a hard angry life.
Naruto did not say anything more and instead just sat next to Hiruko and held his thin weak hand.
It did not take long for Hiruko to pass only about 25 minutes passed, Naruto sat holding his hand feeling his pulse get slower and slower, his breath becoming more and more shallow with each passing second but then there was a short slow exhale and Naruto felt Hiruko's pulse stop and watched as his eyes closed and his body went completely limp.
"Goodbye Hiruko, Thank you for teaching me." Naruto finally spoke up.
Naruto lay the old hand gently over his still chest, he looked over the lab that he had spent the last month coming to day after day to be taught by the caustic old man who had rejected the world he was born into.
"Time to get rid of this place." He muttered walking over to a large Fuinjutsu array that was on the floor behind the giant machine that had kept Hiruko alive for all these years.
Hiruko had told him about it towards the end of their time training together and Naruto learned the Chimera Jutsu, a Fuinjutsu he created to wipe this place out and bury everything related to himself and the Chimera Jutsu, Hiruko claimed that such a Jutsu would allow for a person to take Kekkei Genkai would spark an even greater war than the first one, the ability to steal a Clan's most important and treasured resource would not be tolerated by Clans with Kekkei Genkai and would be coveted by Clans without them.
Naruto walked into the centre of the seal and went through a short Hand-Seal sequence, "Activate Self-Destruction Seal." He chanted as he fed Chakra into it causing a soft blue glow to overtake the darkroom. The seal began to spread outwards like lots of snakes across the floor and even went up the walls and across the ceiling, the blue glow got brighter and more solid until the entire room was glowing blue.
Naruto turned to face another hallway different from the one he first came in a back entrance that he used instead of the cave which Hiruko sealed back up after Naruto's initial discovery.
Naruto ran at full sprint, the Fuinjutsu had a 10-second delay before full activation whereupon it would tear the entire lab apart and bury it with earth, completely erasing Hiruko's existence from his Clan.
As Naruto ran full speed down the blank corridor, the rumbling began violently and echoed down the hall, Naruto could hear everything collapsing behind him rock crashing against rock and it was getting closer to him, Hiruko had created a very strong and effective Fuinjutsu it was literally ripping the entire area apart and putting it back together to drive the lab deep underground beneath the bedrock of the island.
It took around 5 minutes for Naruto to get out, he saw the ladder at the end and lept up it like a monkey driving upwards like an animal, The collapse was almost finished as Naruto escaped from being crushed.
Naruto emerged from under a hidden steel plate pushing it up and off the top of the ladder exit, He realised that he was now in the northern area of the island, it was more mountainous than the rest of the island and far more sparse.
He was high up on a rocky outcrop near the single mountain that was on the island, he could see the village from here, especially the red spire where Shingen and Nagato were probably debating over Clan policy and he could even see Ninja hopping over roofs and into the trees no doubt due to the minor earthquake that he just caused destroying the lab.
Luckily Hiruko had taught him a Clone Jutsu so he could be in two different places at once, there wouldn't be a repeat of the time when he first met Hiruko, he wouldn't get caught and interrogated again.
He took in a deep breath of fresh sea air and let out a hearty exhale.
"Tomorrow." He said aloud to no one but the winds.
Uzumaki Clan Village
Naruto snuck easily back into the village and where his Clone was doing his usual village chores, it was still strange to Naruto to see a copy of himself acting perfectly as himself.
He honed in on his clone who was setting up various traps on the outskirts of the village outside the walls, this was the most basic grunt work for all the younger Ninja in the Clan, a basic test of trust and independent thought and initiative.
"Anything to report?" He asked himself.
"No, Arashi has asked for us to train with him tomorrow, a test of Taijutsu skill to see if we can go on missions outside the village." His clone reported in a bored manner.
Naruto nodded then drew a kunai and nicked his finger with it and held it out towards the Clone, "Well let's see for me then." He told the clone who nodded and grabbed the finger.
The Clone lost all colour and became pure red like blood and began to flow into the wound, it only took a few seconds and Naruto shut his eyes once the clone was fully absorbed back into himself, he sifted through the memories of the clone and nodded when he found what he wanted.
The Blood Clone Jutsu was one of the other few original Jutsu that Hiruko had taught to Naruto, the Blood Clone was based on the Senju Clan's Shadow Clone Jutsu but with a blood medium rather than splitting Chakra evenly. It involved creating a wound then taking blood from the body and shaping it with Chakra and of course, giving the Clone its Chakra supply so it could take more than a single hit and of course, it would give memories to the user when it was brought back into the body. It was not a nice Jutsu but it was a very useful one, especially for Naruto who needed to be in two places at once.
"Well, I think that means I have to move up my plans then." Naruto said to himself opening his bright blue eyes and looking around at the green forest.
Naruto knew deep down that since meeting Hiruko he couldn't stay on the islands and be a normal Ninja for the Clan, there are no Kekkei Genkai on the island and most importantly he wanted to see the world with his own eyes and make his own choice regarding how he lived rather than be at the beck and call of whoever is the Clan Leader.
"I'll say goodbye tonight and leave at dawn." Naruto decided with a nod.
Later That Day
Uzumaki Chinami's Home
Naruto made it home easily, walking through the village to Chinami's small homely tower, Karin was already home and sitting at the table waiting for dinner, he could hear Aunt Chinami in the kitchen finishing up whatever she was cooking, Uncle Kai was still out on his mission, Naruto had heard that it was an assassination of some bandit lord on the continent in the war-torn Land of Fire.
It was a quick dinner, Chinami had made some Beef Ramen as a celebration of Naruto becoming a full Ninja of the Clan, which a month ago was not even being considered. Naruto's training under Hiruko had made him far better than he used to be, to the rest of the Clan it would be that he'd matured and properly dedicated himself to training which was only half true.
It was a quick and mostly quiet dinner Chinami cheerfully plopping bowls of Ramen in front of him, Karin and one for herself, the conversation was basic stuff between the three of them, like how was your day, have you done anything important or interesting etc. Naruto only kept half his attention on it and only answered when needed, he could see that Karin had noticed something with him and was staring at him while pretending she wasn't.
Naruto smiled at Chinami as she picked up his empty ramen bowl, "Thanks Auntie." He said cheerfully to her.
"You're welcome Naruto-Kun." Chinami responded smiling at the blonde boy.
"What's got you so cheerful?" Karin questioned suspiciously, eyes peeking over her maroon rimmed glasses.
"Well, I become a proper Ninja tomorrow after Arashi's test." Naruto responded to her suspicion with a sunny smile and simple answer.
"Tch how the hell did you even get good enough to pass, last month you were just barely scratching by." Karin spat out angrily, her voice however was low so Chinami did not hear it.
"I wouldn't worry about it, especially after tomorrow." Naruto told her candidly.
"Why? What are you planning?" Karin was now extremely suspicious of him, staring right into his eyes trying to find something.
"We've all gotta go grow up sometime." Naruto gave a non-answer, smiling sadly at Karin who seemed taken aback by what he said.
"Goodnight see you tomorrow." Naruto said to her still with a sad smile on his face, he knew it would be the last time.
Naruto stood up nodded at Karin then left the room, it was after all going to be the last time he would be seeing her, he didn't want to leave on bad terms with what was left of his Mum's family.
That Night
Naruto looked over his full backpack, he had stuffed it with as many supplies as he possibly could fit in the moderately sized backpack, mostly food and clothes he decided to keep his Ninja Tools on hand in the pouches strapped to his thighs rather than put them away where he might not be able to get to them in time.
"Looks good." He whispered nodding.
Naruto shut the backpack and flung it over both shoulders and tightened the straps so it would stay pressed tight to his body, he wouldn't want it loose and getting caught on a branch while he was making his way off the island.
Naruto felt excited and terrified this is going to be the most important decision of his entire life, leaving a Clan was no small thing and most who attempted it ended up marked for death by their Clan then hunted down and killed, Naruto hoped since he was so young and in the Uzumaki Clan's eyes untalented so he hoped that he'd be left alone or at least ignored since in their eyes he was no good anyway.
"Time to go." Naruto said and his eyes hardened.
Naruto opened his window quietly and leapt out into the night, it would only take him around 4 minutes to get out of the village from there he planned to run across the water to one of the outpost islands where he'd stop and rest before swimming to the mainland since the Sensor-Nin would not be able to detect him when he applied a Chakra Suppression Seal but that would come at the cost of him not being able to use Chakra so he had to get to the mainland the old fashioned way, luckily for him swimming was one of the first things taught to a child of the Uzumaki Clan along with Water and Whirlpool Walking.
Everything had been going well, Naruto had gotten out of the village easily with almost everybody being asleep or busy with other things, Naruto had gone to the part of the forest which he had to trap earlier that day since he knew where every trap was, it was child's play for him to get out. But not like he would learn in the future no plan would ever go perfectly and he felt someone approaching him at high speed so he used his contingency and came to a stop as whoever it was coming up behind him.
"What the hell are you doing Naruto!?" Karin's familiar voice screeched as she came to a stop behind him, Naruto turned to face her. She has dressed in her sleeping clothes and her hair is a mess and her glasses were askew on her face.
"Leaving." He replied simply.
"Do you even know what that means, you're going to get marked for death and killed." Karin near screamed as she approached him angrily.
"I know but I need to go out and see the world for myself." Naruto answered her smiling sadly.
"This is stupid, come home now and I'll forget about this." Karin threatened him angrily.
"No Karin, I'm an outsider here." Naruto started talking more harshly now.
"I want to see the world with my own eyes, I want to explore and meet people without having to fight and kill because the Clan commands it, I want to be free but most of all I want to make the choice that my teacher couldn't make." He explained to her.
"What." Karin was just confused now, this was not the Naruto she was used to, the dunce who barrelled into anything he did like a bull.
"You're my family but I don't think my place is here." He told her which added to her emotional turmoil.
Karin felt a Chakra behind her and spun around but it was too late and a hand struck out and chopped the back of her neck, Karin's confusion had dulled her Sensory ability just enough for Naruto's Clone to get close and knock her out.
"I am sorry Karin but this is my choice." He told the unconscious girl as his clone put her against a tree gently, pulling out a cloak and covering her with it.
Naruto's Clone came over to him and was reabsorbed quickly in a small nick he had made earlier.
"Got to move." He said in a breath as he took off running at full speed, he had wasted precious minutes talking to Karin instead of just knocking her out right away.
Land of Whirlpool
Outer Island
Naruto with his increased speed had straight-up covered the distance in half the time had planned originally but as he got to the last outpost island he had slowed right down, too much movement at night was sure to catch someone's eye so he had to slowly walk across the water feeling his Chakra drain and then get on the island and begin to sneak through, but this was his last stop before the worst part of the journey swimming across the sea to the coast of the Land of Fire.
He had found a cosy little cave on the edge of the island so he decided to take his break there and sat down pushing off his heavy backpack with a sigh.
"Never realised how hard this was." He complained to himself sitting down on a rock, "I need some energy." He muttered with heavy eyes.
He pulled out two soldier pills and swallowed them which would encourage Chakra's recovery so he would recover more stamina, Naruto also had some nutrient bars and water to fill his stomach. He ate quickly and quietly munching down on 2 bars and drinking an entire bottle of water.
"Dawn is in about 2 hours." Naruto muttered looking at the sky, "I'll apply the Chakra Suppression Seal now have a quick nap then start the swim." He planned aloud.
Naruto pulled a scroll, ink and a brush out from his backpack, he put them out gently but quick, he unfurled the scroll which held the diagram for the Chakra Suppression Seal, then uncorked the ink bottle. He rolled up the sleeve of his left arm and exposed his forearm.
"Let's get started." he muttered and dipped the brush gently in the ink.
The process of copying the seal was a slow one but it was necessary to not make a mistake and accidentality kill or cripple himself in the process, it took around 20 minutes for Naruto to paint the seal on his arm but when he finished and went over it with a critical eye there was no mistake made within the seal so it would work perfectly.
Once he was finished with his careful work he activated the seal and felt his Chakra become inaccessible, once he confirmed the seal worked he put all of his Fuinjutsu tools away and lay down using his backpack as a pillow.
Ninjas are trained from a young age to be able to effectively control their sleep habits it was a needed basic skill since being attacked while sleeping was one of the most occurring situations in the Ninja World as such all Ninja needed to be able to wake up on the spot and even control how long they slept for.
Naruto would only sleep for around 1 hour 40 minutes, he needed to be up and ready to move by dawn when security is at its weakest, the night sentries would be tired from their shift and the morning shift replacing them would only be half-awake due to just waking up. Dawn is the best time to attack or infiltrate especially since no one expects it, this was one of Hiruko's first lessons to Naruto and how he managed to get out of the Land of Whirlpools and back in without anyone noticing.
Naruto shut his eyes and fell asleep quickly, he would not move until it was time to make his escape from the Uzumaki controlled Land of Whirlpools.
Hiruko had taught Naruto much more than just the Chimera Jutsu most of it was just simple but efficient Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu along with coaching his Taijutsu to something acceptable rather than terrible, it was a hard month but Naruto thought it was completely worth it because the results are undeniable to him. Naruto had improved so much under Hiruko's careful and calculated guidance only ever being introduced to new things when he finished working on one part of his training which had been done to avoid overwhelming him with new concepts or things he had to learn to even attempt to learn a high-level Jutsu like the Chimera Jutsu. The blood sweat and tears he let out would be worth it in the end, the Chimera Jutsu would make him one of the strongest Ninjas in the world.
Dawn
Naruto's eyes snapped open and he awoke instantly, the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon bringing light into the world, Naruto stood up and slung his backpack over and tightened it to his body. He took off quickly jumping into the trees and making a beeline to the opposite shore from where he arrived from.
Naruto had to slow down once he got close to the outpost tower that was manned by a team comprising of two Suiton users and a Sensor-Nin, this was the reason for the Chakra Suppression Seal was the best way to get past the sensitive Sensors he needed to suppress his Chakra completely so his signature was simply undetectable.
Naruto lay down and began to crawl across the ground in the undergrowth of the plant life, this was the easy part of making his way past them during a shift change both teams would be tired and concentrating on each other rather than keeping an eye out for someone trying to get out rather than enemies trying to get in.
The Outpost was a simple wooden tower decorated in greenery to help it blend in with the surrounding trees, he heard the swooshes of air as the replacement day team made their way to the tower.
"Morning Kaneshi." A male voice greeted from above Naruto.
"Good Morning Narizo." Another male voice replied.
Naruto kept low and kept going crawling across the ground like a worm, he kept his senses sharp as he heard the pleasant conversation going on between both teams above him, it would be the worst outcome if he got caught here. Naruto had no doubt that he would probably be dragged back to the village in chains and probably executed.
"Anything interesting happens?" The conversation went on above him.
"No, a quiet night today, thankfully." The back and forth was boring and normal.
Naruto made his way past the tower and the conversation got quieter and quieter the further he got away from them, he was able to speed up moving quickly across the ground like a small animal now. Eventually, he reached the point where he was out of range of the Ninja in the tower so he could get up from crawling across the ground and began to run again.
It was not long before the forest gave way to the beach and most importantly to Naruto the sea, this was the final stretch to his escape and long and arduous swim to the coast of the Land of Fire.
Naruto prepared quickly popping another soldier pill for more stamina and taking a very deep breath, he would have to swim underwater for a while until he got out of range of the binoculars of the sentry team then he could swim normally to the finish.
Naruto ran and dived into the water and quickly got a good pace and went under, he estimated a good 10 minutes of swimming underwater before he could surface and swim normally. Naruto considered himself lucky since most Uzumaki Ninja are trained in holding their breath and underwater tactics and swimming since it is one of the best ambush methods that the island-dwelling Clan have.
It was a slog and near the 10-minute mark Naruto could feel his lungs begin to burn from the lack of new oxygen, he would have to surface soon or risk drowning. Eventually, Naruto felt safe enough to surface and he did taking huge gulps of air in, he treads water for a few seconds to get his breath back before continuing.
Naruto sped up his swimming now moving at a very fast speed, Ninja could easily outswim almost anyone due to their Chakra enhanced physiology and the training they underwent from a young age.
Naruto's swim was an uneventful one, the Uzumaki Clan did not get attacked much anymore since they drowned entire contingents of enemy Clans during the Great War all those years ago, many regarded attacking the Land of Whirlpools as a stupid and wasteful endeavour. It would be better to wait for when Uzumaki Clan members came onto the mainland where they lost their advantage.
He swam for what felt like hours but eventually, he could see land on the horizon Naruto felt a burst of energy and he sped up. The end was in sight now just a few more minutes and he would be on dry land as free as the wind, to go wherever he wished.
It did not take long for him to reach the shore he pulled himself from the water and crawled onto the surf of the beach, the swim was more tiring than he thought and Naruto pretty much-collapsed face down on the beach, using what little energy he had left he managed to use his arm to push so he could lie on his back.
"I never noticed but the sky looks so beautiful." Naruto muttered deliriously, he is exhausted and dehydrated from the long swim he had to take, the sun was reaching high in the sky now it had taken hours taking a toll on his young body even with the rest he had.
"I'm free." He said louder with a drunken grin on his face.
This would be the start of his journey; the outcast of the Uzumaki Clan the boy was entrusted with Uzumaki Hiruko's life work. It would be here on the shores of the Land of Fire that the legend would begin, the life of Naruto The Chimera who would become a legendary founder far greater than those who came before him.
But for now, he was a boy who needed sleep, food and most importantly water otherwise he'd probably end up dying from dehydration due to his zealous nature overtaking his common sense.
AN:
Chapter 2 is done, this was okay to write but I had trouble hitting the 5000-word count that I would set myself and did not reach it but it was going to happen eventually, gonna punch this into LibreOffice and edit it. I don't know when this will be published so hope you enjoy it whenever I decide to release it.
EDIT: Looks like Two Years Not Wasted is gonna win the poll I set up so I think this will be put on the back burner for a while.