"I hate trains," Naruto complained as he led Gohan down an open field. He really did hate how long and boring train ride could be. As he continued walking down the dirt road path, Naruto glanced at Gohan and asked, "By the way, Gohan, what are you still doing here?"

"Um…" Gohan awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he wondered how he could answer that question without sounding rude. "Well… You didn't put me down until we were in the train after it pulled off."

"Oh, right," Naruto awkwardly scratched his whiskered marked right cheek as he recalled jumping on top of the train as it pulled off. "But why didn't you go back to Hajimeni after the train stop?"

"Actually, I didn't really live in Hajimeni. I was just passing by"

"Really? What's a kid like you doing wandering around by yourself?"

"Um…" Gohan once again found himself wondering how he could answer that question. Despite giving it thought, all he could answer was with, "Wandering around?"

Naruto shot the monkey-tailed child a confused look. "…You don't know what you're doing do you?"

"Not really… I'm just wandering alone…" a sorrowful look planted itself on Gohan's face.

"Okay…" an awkward silence penetrated their conversation prompting Naruto to pull out the map that Smok gave him in an attempt to avoid it.

The moment he opened it, the young, human-looking kitsune found himself completely lost.

"Uh…" no matter how he looked at it, Naruto could not understand what he was looking at. "Maybe I should have paid more attention to what Iruka sensei was saying during our map reading lessons." I didn't know it was so hard."

"What's hard?" Gohan asked.

"This map," Naruto wasted no time in presenting the map to him. "Other than the marks Smok made, I have no idea what I'm looking at."

Gohan's eyes scoured over the map. "It looks like the closest thing you're looking for is in a place called the Forest of Spirits."

"Wait, you can read this?" Naruto's eyes widened with amazement.

"Mm-hmm," Gohan nodded. "It's actually pretty easy to read."

"Great. Think you can lead me there?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be a good idea?"

"Didn't the girl that saved us back in Hajimeni say that it was really dangerous to try to find those shards you're looking for?"

Naruto thought back to the encounter Gohan referred to. The visage of the girl who helped them was burned into his memory. "She was a really creepy girl, but she did help us. That said… Come on, how would she know how dangerous finding those shards is?"

"But… Doesn't her having one of the shards you were looking for kind of lend credence her claim?" Gohan pointed out.

"Uh… I guess you got a point there…" Naruto acknowledged. "Still, this probably the least dangerous thing I can do anyway if that makes you feel better. So will you help me?"

"Um…" An unsure look crossed Gohan's face as he glanced down at the map then back to Naruto. His heart was full of doubt and fear, but he also couldn't find it in him to refuse Naruto's request. Coinciding with the fact that he had no direction in life at the moment, Gohan answered with a slightly mumbled "Sure."

"Alright! Lead the way, Gohan!" Naruto declared.

A worried Gohan continued to walk down the dirt path as Naruto eagerly followed.

"We should probably stop by at least one of the towns on the way," he advised.

"Yeah, that's one of the first travelling tips I learned at the Ninja Academy," Naruto replied. "It was actually one of the classes I stayed awake in."

As the two continued to walk down their path they suddenly felt a small, brief tremor. Not too long after the first, they felt another, stronger one. Seconds later, another one struck with enough force to briefly lift them off the ground.

"What's with all the earthquakes?" Naruto wondered aloud in an annoyed tone.

Suddenly, the two felt a constant hot wind roughly brush against their backs. It was at that moment when the two felt sharp chills shoot down their spines.

"Gohan…?" Naruto fearfully muttered.

"Yeah…?" Gohan winced.

"Do hot, steamy and nasty smelling winds happen with earthquakes that get stronger as it gets closer to you?"

"Not any in recorded history."

The children slowly turned around, their heart beats increasing in intensity with every step they took. Once they finished their 180 degree rotation, the two found themselves staring into the eyes of a 20 foot tall Tyrannosaurus Rex. Naruto could only stare at the large carnivorous beast in front of them in disbelief as Gohan started to tear up.

The dinosaur let out a roar so massive that it nearly blew them away. The children screamed in terror as they turned and ran.

"What the heck is a dinosaur doing here?!" Naruto exclaimed.

The two continued to run and run in as the dinosaur continued to chase them. Though they were successful in barely keeping ahead of the beast, the constant shaking of the earth beneath them caused Naruto and Gohan to tumble over each other.

With its prey disoriented, the T-Rex opened its mouth as wide as it could and lunged at the children. It chomped down and proceeded to slowly chew its catch. As it savored its meal, the beast soon realized that it tasted no meat between its sharp teeth. It wasted no time in spitting out the dirt in its mouth and began to search for its prey, unaware that they were currently a top its back.

"How'd we get up here?" that curiosity was enough to push back the fear in Naruto's heart. Looking to his side, he found Gohan cowering next to him while the scared child's hand tightly squeezing his shirt. "Gohan…?"

The dinosaurs head quickly turned around and it glared at the children. Fear quickly returned to Naruto as he grabbed hold of Gohan. He quickly jumped off the dinosaur as it thrashed about, but before they could hit the ground; the two were struck by the dinosaur's tail, sending them flying over the horizon.

They flew through the air for what seemed like forever before finally crashing into the ground like meteors from the stars.

"I'm starting to get why most dinosaurs are gone…" Naruto grumbled.

"Mm-hmm…" Gohan nodded his head in agreement.

The two continued their journey along the dirt road until the sun began to set. Deciding to turn in for the night, the gathered some wood and started a campfire.

Later that night…

"Hey, Gohan, are herbs food?" Naruto asked as he dug around his backpack.

"Yes, but I don't think they're very filling," Gohan answered.

Naruto pulled out one of the herbs in his bag, his face contorting with disgust as he waved it in front of his face. "We gotta find some actual food when we find a town."

The young human looking kitsune laid spread across the ground and sighed. As he gazed upon the bright stars splintered across the sky, he started to recall the dinosaur chase from earlier. "Hey, Gohan, you sure you can't fight?"

"Yeah. I really doubt I have it in me to fight…" Gohan answered.

Naruto quickly shot him a curious look, confusing the monkey-tailed boy. "Then how'd you survive on your own?"

"Mainly by avoiding trouble and a lot of luck," he answered.

Naruto's eyes examined Gohan from head to toe.

"I'm pretty sure there's more to that luck part…" he thought.

"What about you, Naruto? How come you're wandering around alone?" Gohan queried.

"Uh…" the young Uzumaki quickly rolled away his questioner and stretched his limbs. "Reasons."

"But aren't you're parents worried?"

"Don't really have to worry about that."

An awkward silence penetrated their conversation, ending it before another question could be asked. Eventually the two drifted off into the comfort of sleep in their cobbled together campsite, unaware that they were being watched nor were they aware that the shards in Naruto's backpack were glowing ever so slightly.

"Look at what he did!"

"You'll pay for this!"

"Stop doing this!"

"Hey! Stop causing trouble!"

A mischievous laugh broke through Naruto's lips as he finished painting on the Hokage Stone Faces.

"Shut up, you morons! None of you would be able to do something like this! But I can! I'm incredible!" he boasted.

Naruto continued to laugh at the onlookers until he heard, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DURING CLASS TIME?! GET DOWN HERE YOU MORON!"

"Oh crap! Iruka Sensei!" Naruto shouted as he sat up. The child clutched his chest as he took a moment to regain his senses. "W-What was that…?"

"Aaahhh!"

Naruto quickly turned towards the direction of that sudden scream. It sounded very familiar.

"Gohan?" he quickly jumped on his feet and followed his companion's screams until he eventually found Gohan encased in a transparent pink liquid. "What the heck is that?"

Suddenly, the liquid changed its shape into that of a girl with bunny ears and larger than normal breast.

"Oh, a slime girl…" Naruto said, unable to hide his disinterest.

"I'm not a slime! I'm a rabbit!" the slime cried.

"A bunny slime?"

"I'm a rabbit!"

Naruto blankly stared at the Bunny Slime in front of him. Despite having Gohan in her grasp, he just could not see her as a threat.

"So… what are you doing with, Gohan?" he asked.

"I'm hop, hopping! I'm going to make him slop!" she boasted.

"Don't think I want to know what that means," Naruto thought before charging at the slime and driving his right foot into her face. Delivering an attack with such force sent the Bunny Slime flying as her grip on Gohan was forcibly removed.

"You okay, Gohan?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Gohan thanked.

"Waahh…" the Bunny Slime cried as the foot shaped mark Naruto left on her slowly disappeared. "That really hurt."

"That was kinda the point," Naruto said. "Did you really think I wasn't going to attack you after you tried to make Gohan slop?"

"What does that mean?" Gohan wondered aloud.

"We probably don't want to know," Naruto assured him before turning his attention back to the humanoid slime. "As for you… What's with the whole rabbit thing?"

"I'm a rabbit…" she weakly answered.

"You're a girl made out of slime."

"I'm a rabbit!"

"You're a slime girl with bunny ears."

"I hop around like a rabbit!" the Bunny Slime argued as she hopped in front of them.

"Anyone can hop around like a rabbit," Naruto said.

"I got rabbit ears," she said, emphasizing the pink bunny ears that sat atop her head.

"Made out of slime," Naruto added.

"My name's even Bunni!" she cried.

"What does that prove?" Naruto shot her a confused look as he asked this. "Plus, I can see through you like I can see through slime."

Such a cold look caused the slime to shrink back in defeat. "Hop Hop… I'm not a liar… I really am a rabbit…"

A disbelieving sigh escaped the child's lips as Gohan approached the tearful slime.

"I believe you. Here…" the monkey-tailed child handed the Bunny Slime a carrot with a warm smile.

"Yay!" the slime girl happily accepted the gift and started munching on the carrot. "See, rabbits love carrots."

"They do," Gohan happily agreed.

Watching this only confused Naruto more than already was.

"Gohan, you do know she's a pink slime girl with bunny ears right?" he questioned.

"Yes, but if she says she's a rabbit, then we should respect that," Gohan whispered.

"You're really nice to someone who was just trying to make you slop," Naruto noted.

After finishing the carrot she was given, Bunni happily hopped to Gohan.

"You're nice, monkey-tailed boy," she said. "Hop, Hop! Here, take this!"

Bunni raised her hand over Gohan's. Soon a glob of slime slowly drooped from her body and fell into Gohan's hand.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's a Slime Core. It's a sign of friendship between slimes," Bunni answered. "Well, time to Hop, Hop to the another slimes carrot field."

With that declaration, Bunni happily hopped into the distance.

"This has been a weird day," Naruto said as he led Gohan back to their campsite.