Chapter 12
Arrival In A Hostile Land

Land Of Lightning
Hagazure Port

Thankfully for Naruto his boat trip was very uneventful after he snuck into one of the cargo crates, he crawled out and spent his time sleeping in the cargo hold and meditating when he was awake, ever since he absorbed the Hyoton and Byakko's Chakra his own Chakra reserves had basically doubled in size so now he was trying to get it back under control.

After the ship docked Naruto got out easily enough and ended up taking in the Land of Lightning, it was far more mountainous than anywhere he had ever seen before and that was not even mentioning the sheer amount of Ninja he saw since arriving.

They were literally everywhere he went, so he had to be extra careful and keep his Chakra near fully suppressed while also looking for some information or at least a map of the area.

"This sucks." He complained after finding an empty alley behind some shops, so he crouched down and ate some ration bars he stole from a shop while the owner was distracted by some kids.

"Ninja everywhere and they all look like they're from the same Clan as well, this port must be their territory." Naruto muttered to himself while thinking about how to get out of the port itself.

There were 3 ways to get out of the port from what he could see, the first was to get back on a ship and try his luck somewhere else, the second was the northern gate which was guarded by Samurai and seemed to be controlled by the Daimyo, the third and final option was the south gate which was guarded by Ninja who also sent out semi-regular patrols into the village itself so Naruto had to keep low and out of sight which was easy since a lot more people in the Land of Lightning had blonde hair like him and of course, he was dressed in civilian clothes that Haku had given him which he was really thankful for now.

'Maybe I should just jump the wall after a patrol passes and take my chances in the wilds, no forests but there has to be a lot of caves in these mountains.' Naruto thought looking up at the looming mountains, half of the port was in the sunlight while the other was shadowed by the huge mountains and thick white clouds.

"Then again." He said looking at said mountains uncertain.

"First! A map!" Naruto slapped his cheeks and brought himself out of the rut he was falling into.

Naruto got up and entered back into the streets proper which were filled with people going about their daily business it seemed that this port was a huge importer as Naruto saw that most of the cargo was in fact huge shipments of rice and wheat and other food-related stuff.

The Land of Lightning was mostly mountains and hills so it made sense that they didn't have much farmland and relied on outside imports in order to feed everyone.

After wandering around aimlessly for about 2 hours eventually, Naruto found a map shop and went straight in. It was filled with rolled up pieces of paper which were maps and there was one huge wooden desk with a small old man behind it, he had thick glasses, bald and was wearing pretty nice clothes.

"Good Morning." Naruto greeted him as the door swung shut behind him.

"Mornin' young man." The shopkeeper greeted back watching him carefully.

"Do you have any maps for the surrounding area?" Naruto asked walking up to the desk.

"Hmmm, well there should be one or two left after those Ninja bought them." He said rubbing his chin and standing up from his comfortable looking seat.

"Follow me." He ordered and walked around the huge desk and began to walk between the shelves of stacked maps.

Naruto followed the old man as he weaved between the shelves with enviable grace, the old man clearly knew his way around his shop and where everything was.

"Aha! Here we are one left, lucky you." He said as he came to a stop in front of one of the shelves and pulled a single piece of paper out.

"The Yotsuki Clan came around a week ago and basically bought all of these maps but this one was returned yesterday by a merchant who didn't need it anymore." He explained walking back to his desk.

"Yotsuki Clan? Are they the Clan who rule this village?" Naruto asked curiously.

"No!" The Old man said forcefully.

"The Lightning Daimyo rules all villages in the Land of Lightning, the Yotsuki are just the biggest Clan he employs." He said to Naruto in a biting tone.

"Oh. Okay, I was just asking since I'm not from here." Naruto said holding his hands up.

"Really, you're a foreigner you don't look like it, you could probably pass for my grandson." The man said taken aback.

"I think my father is from here, I'm here to find him." Naruto lied through his teeth.

"Ah I see, a merchant who likes women, it's a common story that happens." The Old man accepted the lie with an understanding nod.

"So how much?" Naruto asked, now that he was flush with the Kaguya's Ryo he didn't need to be so careful with his money now.

"For this? Well, it's the most recent map drawn by a professional so how about 1,000 Ryo." He said opening the map and revealing the date it was drawn and showing the detail it had.

"500." Naruto said back halving the price.

"Hoh, 980." The shopkeeper said back he seemed impressed at Naruto's offer.

"690." The Haggling began in earnest now.

"950."

"750."

"865."

"795."

"840."

"Done." Naruto pounced on the offer.

"Deal." The Old man said holding out his hand.

"I'll put this in a protector for you. You really are quite the merchant's son." The Old Man said grudgingly impressed by Naruto.

"Thanks." Naruto said as he produced the needed amount.

"Thank you for your patronage." He replied taking the money.

"I hope you find your father." He called as Naruto was just about to leave the store.

"Me too." Naruto said back then he left and shut the door behind him.

"What should I do now?" He asked himself as he held the map in his hand, the protector was made of wood and while it would protect the map from any damage it wouldn't protect it from water.

Then his stomach answered his question by grumbling very loudly. "Food then." He decided patting his stomach.

Naruto wandered around until he found a little tea shop which was serving Takoyaki and Dango, it was out of the way and not very busy which was what he was looking for since he needed to read the map he just bought, it was tucked away in a corner of other restaurants and had a nice wood interior with only a few people sitting down inside.

Naruto found a seat in the corner with his back to the wall and a good view of the entrance and a nearby exit as well which meant it was the perfect place for a Clanless Ninja to sit in a town where this 'Yotsuki Clan' seemed to rule though not completely since the Samurai where around.

Naruto ordered some Dango, takoyaki and some tea as well, he didn't want to eat anything too heavy since he was going to be moving out soon.

While he was waiting for the tea and food he took the map out of the protector and unfurled it on the wooden table, it was just large enough for the entire map which was a bit on the bigger side.

The area he was in was surprisingly open despite all the mountains and hills, he could see that there was a huge road that both the north and south entrance road lead to, it looked like there was a lot of infrastructure in the Land of Lightning that simply did not exist in the other countries since they had a huge road system, Naruto could see that he could end up in around 4 different towns just by following that huge road north or south, the only place he wanted to go of course was further north where the Ninja Clans lived, he knew that this place more than a handful of Kekkei Genkai using Clans and Naruto didn't even know which one he wanted more.

"I guess I just need to head north then." Naruto concluded looking over the map.

There honestly was not many places he could go from this port, he could go south and leave into the Land of Frost or go east to the other side of the country which was just coastlines or he could go north and head deeper into the country.

"That's that." Naruto sighed and rolled up the map and put it back into the protector.

"Hello, here is your tea and food." A waiter said cheerfully placing them on the table.

"Thank you." Naruto said and popped one of the Dango into his mouth.

Naruto ate his Dango and Takoyaki quickly before downing his tea in 2 huge gulps, he paid and even gave a tip before leaving.

'I need to get a move on, I spent too much time in the Land of Water, even if I was injured and drained from the Chimera Jutsu.' Naruto thought to himself as he navigated the streets, ever since he landed in the Land of Lightning he had a bad feeling in his stomach and even worse the atmosphere in the Land of Lightning was really strange as well which just added on top of the bad feeling he had.

'This country is strange.' He complained mentally as he went about gathering the parts for his plan.

He was planning to leave through the north entrance as such he had to blend in and not appear as a Ninja since the Samurai nowadays were trained specifically to spot Ninja which meant Naruto would have to restrain his Chakra and actually disguise himself properly instead of just using the Henge Jutsu like almost all Ninja do.

So Naruto went shopping, he bought a straw hat, winter sandals and a wooden medicine box that he soon filled with medicine he bought from the herbalist.

His disguise was complete at that point, with the hat and sandals on paired with the medicine box he looked just like a child selling his parents medicines, it was a very common thing nowadays to have children go out and sell things on behalf of their parents even with how dangerous it was in this world.

Naruto joined the crowd of people streaming out of the city and he fit in with everyone around him, he could even see kids the same age as him lugging around similar boxes to him though since he was a trained Ninja it was far easier for him to carry a wooden box filled with medicine.

It took a few minutes for him to eventually reach the gate and it was extremely well guarded, Naruto could see around 15 Samurai on each side of the gate and they were all watching the people going past like hawks as officials took stock of the people entering and leaving.

"Next!" The official called and Naruto went forward to meet with the old man.

"Name, Occupation, the reason for leaving?" He asked automatically.

"I'm Nagato, I am selling my parent's medicine." Naruto said easily lying.

The official gave him a once over and then gestured to one of the Samurai. "Please open the box and show it to us." He was not asking it was an order.

"Sure." Naruto replied and did so, he took the box of his back slipping the shoulder straps off and placed it on the ground before opening the metal locks and opening the top to reveal glass vials and herbs ordered neatly inside.

The Samurai approached and checked every vial and herb and after a tense few moments where Naruto was beginning to sweat the Samurai nodded at the official who stamped something down on a paper that he had.

"You're free to go." He said with a dismissive gesture.

"Thanks." Naruto said picking up his box and walking out of the port city.

Naruto stayed on the road following the rest of the normal people using the roads for a while after leaving the city just to be extra careful that the roads right outside weren't being watched by Samurai or Ninja.

After around 30 minutes of walking down the road, he decided that he was far enough out to easily disappear and walked off the road into bushes at the side and then took off in a full sprint across the uneven terrain that surrounded the road.

Naruto smiled feeling the wind in his hair, the air here was colder than in the Land of Water but there was something so liberating about being able to run at full speed with no destination in mind.

Naruto was travelling north when he felt a flare-up of Chakra that could only mean one thing, there was a fight between Ninja going on.

"Hopefully one has a Kekkei Genkai." Naruto muttered as he honed in on the battle.

He came to an outcropping of rocks which overlooked a river valley though the river hardly existed as little more than a small trickle and most of the stone floor was dry except for where the water directly was, it looked like the river was running dry and had turned into a natural trench instead.

It was here that Naruto saw a grown man and woman who looked to be in their 20s with the man having white hair and the woman having blonde though her skin was dark like chocolate, both of them were wearing a strange white uniform that he had never seen before and opposite them was a young-looking blonde haired girl who was wearing far more ragged-looking grey clothes that looked like they were about to rip apart because of how frayed they look.

"It's over, dog of the Yotsuki." The man said with a resigned tone.

"Well it's not like they'll miss her anyway, she's just a shield for the proper members of the Clan, well that and breeding stock when she's older." The woman said nastily with two swords drawn.

"Best to put her out of her misery now." The man agreed and pulled out a kunai.

"Raiton: Jibashi!" The girl did not let them finish their words or even move as she unleashed lightning from her hands which ran up the water right to where they were standing which shocked them badly as she followed up the Jutsu with a barrage of shuriken.

"Bitch!" The woman shouted as she shook the shock off and dodged out of the way of oncoming shuriken.

The man was not so lucky he only barely managed to get out of the way and got hit with a few shurikens in his arm and leg which made him groan in pain as his partner charged forward.

"Sasaki! You're dead bitch!" She called out as she descended on the blonde who was trying to run away.

The dark-skinned Ninja brought both of her blades down intending to slice the other girls' arms off but she seemed to have predicted that and jumped forward and turned in the air so she was facing her attacker.

"Raiton: Thunderbolt!" The girl called again and two balls of lightning formed on both of her hands which shot out at the attacking woman who jumped high into the air as the blonde-haired girl crashed into the ground and skid along the unforgiving rocks

"I got her." Sasaki called as he moved in to get her.

Naruto decided that he wasn't going to watch a girl his own age get killed by two adults and he moved in, he jumped down from his spot overseeing the battle and charged right up behind the male who was limping while running at her and he easily caught up and gave him a vicious heel kick to the side of his head causing him to crumble down.

"I've got you!" The woman called as she descended ready to stab the younger girl who was struggling to stand back up.

"Futon: Reppusho!" Naruto unleashed his own wind Jutsu and knocked the woman off course and she slammed into the stone wall of the dried river they were fighting in.

"Backup!" She was back on her feet instantly and locked onto Naruto with a fierce glare in her amber eyes.

"Hey!" Naruto called with her partner unconscious at her feet, even the girl he saved was looking at him shocked.

"I'll kill you first then the bitch." The woman said dangerously pointing her sword at Naruto.

"Come and try." He taunted and prepared his next Jutsu.

She was far quicker than before and Naruto realised it must have been the rage making her move quicker, and she closed the distance in a blink of an eye and she was right in front of him.

"Hyoton: Hyoken." Naruto whispered as he held out his hand in front right where she was, a blade of ice formed instantly and pierced right through her chest and poked out of her back.

"Saya!" The man roared at seeing her crumple over dead and Naruto just barely turned around in time to block his furious blows, even though he was wounded and concussed he moved quickly and hit hard.

"You Bastard! I'll kill you!" He roared at Naruto who moved back to try and gain distance.

Sasaki charged again but out of nowhere from behind Naruto a lightning enhanced kunai shot past him and hit the man in the throat and he dropped down clutching at his throat.

Naruto dispelled his ice sword with a squeeze and it turned to water, he turned around and saw the blonde-haired girl was sitting up but she was panting heavily and looking at Naruto confused.

"Hey there." He greeted lamely walking over.

"Stop! Who are you?" She demanded answers holding a kunai up with a shaking arm.

"Just a Clanless Ninja wandering the world, I saw you in trouble and wanted to help." Naruto explained himself holding his hands up to show he meant no harm.

"Wha!? Why!?" She repeated though the kunai dipped lower now.

"Because I thought it would be the right thing to do." He said noticing her beautiful blue eyes glaring at him.

"What's your name?" He asked as he closed the distance, he was standing right where her feet were resting.

"Samui." She answered and it seemed like whatever strength she had left was gone now as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed backwards.

"Woah!" Naruto moved in and stopped her head from cracking against the rock and now he was left cradling an unconscious girl in a hostile land.

"Shit! What do I do now?" Naruto asked himself as he took stock of the dead bodies and the fact that the sun was going down and things were getting colder.

Even though Naruto would not know it now, this meeting was one of the most important in his life because of the events to follow and what would happen in the future.

It was another step to a revolution to change the world.

AN:

Here you all are Chapter 12 is done and 13 is on its way, hope you all enjoyed it and are looking forward to what's on the way.

Translation:

Henge Jutsu=Transformation Technique

Raiton: Jibashi=Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder

Raiton: Thunderbolt
I was originally gonna call it Sandaboruto but since a lot of Kumogakure Jutsu have English names I decided to keep them instead.

Futon: Reppusho=Wind Release: Gale Palm

Hyoton: Hyoken=Ice Release: Ice Sword