This is the new version of Naruto: Hunter x Hunter Chronicles. For anyone that read the old version of my story and wish to understand the reason behind my absence in this account, I suggest that you go the last author note of the original version to understand what happened.
Uzumaki Naru was definitely in trouble.
This was not the kind of trouble, where she could easily fix her problem. Not the kind of problem that involved her batting her eyelashes and pretending to be cute. No, those problems would mean that there was someone that she had to pretend to apologize. Oh yes, her trouble right now was that she had no clue on where she was.
If she had to blame someone for her trouble then it would have to be Sasuke.
He was the whole damn reason for her mess. Well, she was to blame too…but he was the one that charged with the Chidori. Of course, it was just natural for her to retaliate with the Rasengan. Now she could forgive for trying to kill her, after all she nearly tried to kill him too, but he sent her to a whole different place. Well, he had to be the reason that she was in this mess.
Bastard could have warned me that his attack would do this to me.
Naru took a deep breath, ran her hand through her hair and stared blankly at the lush green trees that surrounded her. Strange animals crawled out from the burrows of the tree, their eyes lingered on her before they began to move away from her. I'm really certain that I'm not in Konoha anymore. Those were definitely not animals that she would find in Konoha.
But if she wasn't in Konoha then where the hell was she?
Shaking her head, Naru pushed herself up and eyed the strange plants that surrounded her. It didn't matter where she was. She had to go back home. If she didn't find a way back home then Tsunade and the others might believe that she died. She couldn't let them think that she was dead. They would never forgive her if they found out that she was alive.
So her first plan should be to find a way back home, show Tsunade and Sakura that she was fine before searching for Sasuke. Oh, he is going to wish that he killed me by the time I find him. A punch to his stomach wasn't going to be enough. The rasengan was too good for him at this point…and would actually kill him.
"I'm going to break every bone in his body and then have the Old Hag heal him before repeating the process again," she snarled under her breath.
A savory and smoky filled scent tickled her nose and Naru groaned when her stomach howled for food. I will get some food soon. She patted her stomach and paused when the image of the forest was replaced with the one of her teammates. Sakura had a bright smile on her face, green eyes filled amusement and veiled annoyance, while Sasuke rolled his eyes.
The image faded and grief began to settle in.
He left us. He left me.
It repeated and repeated like a constant echo in a dark cave. Tears began to form behind her eyes and she swore under her breath. Pathetic. It was pathetic for her to cry over what happened. So what if it felt like the world around her was on the verge of collapsing? She could build herself back up, get stronger and then try again.
She took a deep breath and began to walk in the direction of the scent. There should be a nearby town. A place where she could get a map and just ask people about a way back to the village. But what if there is no way back? The plants around her were unfamiliar. The animals weren't anything like she had seen and…
No, she shouldn't think of that possibility.
I'll go back home and then I will bring Sasuke back.
The decision was firm yet she failed to bring him back home. He managed to send her to a different place entirely, managed to nearly kill her and what did that make her? Weak. At this current stage, she didn't have the strength to bring him back to Konoha. What would be best for everyone was that she tried to get stronger.
Maybe, she should summon the toads and ask them to tell Jiraiya that she needed more training. That she was in a whole different place. It would be the smart thing to do, she thought. But it would be admitting out loud that she failed to bring Sasuke back. That…they nearly tried to kill each other.
No, she wasn't ready to confess about her own sin or her own weakness to Ero-Sennin.
With that decision, Naru looked down from her vintage point and stared blankly at the small seaside town. If she was going to go back home then she had to find the way back by herself. When she could do that or when she was ready to admit out loud about her failure to herself, only then would she try and summon Gamakichi.
Only then would she be ready to face the music and hear the inevitable scolding from the people around her.
She inhaled and heard the crack in her ribs before making the first steps in what could be the first steps of her journey back home.
(In the back of her mind, she found the irony of her situation because she had always had a recurring thought of running away from Konoha. That she had a suitcase already packed for the one day that she would actually have the courage to run away from home).
As each hour passed, the weariness inside of Naru grew as she took in sights that could never be found in her home. There wasn't a single thing familiar to her. Well that wasn't completely true. There were some plants that she could recognize from the Forest of Death but other than that, nothing seemed familiar to her.
She stopped in her tracks and stared at the huge, towering signboard. Whale Island. Naru frowned and glanced at the empty streets in front of her. Was this place deserted? No, she could hear the hustle and bustle as well as orders being thrown in the distance. Maybe, it would be better for her to find the source of that noise.
Nodding, Naru dragged her feet to the source of that noise. The salty, sea breeze clogged her nostrils alongside the scent of freshly-caught fish. It made sense. When she first saw this small town over that cliff, there had been an ocean right behind it. It would make sense for this place to be a port.
"Did you see? Gon caught the Master of the Swamp."
That was a reoccurring whisper among the residents of this port town and Naru wondered why it was a big deal that this person caught it. It doesn't matter if I think about it. She hummed, nodded and then frowned at the crowds of people, who seemed to be circling around something.
Curiosity stirred inside of her and Naru began to weasel her way through the crowd, occasionally pushing the adult to the side to get a better look of what caught their attention. The whispers grew louder and she noticed that some of the adults were staring at a frozen orange-haired woman.
"Gon really did it," one of the man whispered in awe. His eyes stared at a grinning dark-haired boy, who seemed to be around her age, and then to what had to be the biggest fish that she had ever seen it. "He caught the Master of the Swamp."
The man, beside her, pushed his own jaw back up and shook his head. "I've been fishing in this island for the last ten years and not once did I think I was ever going to see this."
Wait, they are crowding like this because a kid my age caught one big-ass fish? She scratched her head and shifted her eyes to the gathered men. Most of them seemed intent on looking at the boy while a few of them were just content to try and touch the huge fish.
Gon pulled something out from his pocket. It looks like an application form, Naru noted. Maybe it was the backlash from fighting with Sasuke but she couldn't exactly make out what was on the form. The words were just too tiny for her eyes to make out.
"I caught the Master of the Swamp like I promise," he declared with a grin and he turned to face the frozen orange-haired woman. "Now it's your turn to keep your promise, Mito-san!"
Why does she look so unhappy about the whole thing? Naru cocked her head and stared at the quivering woman, who eyed the form like she wanted to rip it apart. No words were spoken between the boy and the woman, though there were distinct chatter forming all around her.
"Mito-san, you should just accept what happened," one of the older gentleman advised as he offered a warm smile to the beaming boy. "You should let him do the exam."
A younger gentleman nodded. "I'm sure Gon will be a very good Hunter."
Hunter? Like hunting animals and stuff? That was a normal job so why would the woman be so deadest against the boy doing this exam. She scratched her neck and shifted her eyes to the other females in the crowd. Most of them seemed to have a look of pity and understanding directed to the woman.
"Aren't you going to keep your promise, Mito-san?" Gon asked, disappointed. "You taught me me that we should always keep our promises."
Mito winced. She released a shaky breath and nodded. The dark-haired boy's expression shifted from disappointment to complete, utter joy as the orange-haired woman snatched the form from his hand. Naru only watched with blank eyes as the boy and the woman walked away from the crowd.
The crowd began to disperse and Naru jolted as realization struck upon her like lightning. What was she doing standing around? She needed to start her journey back home, not marvel over some dead fish. With that decision, she jogged towards the nearest fisherman.
Hopefully, he would have some idea of how she could go back home.
Courage formed in the pits of her stomach as she reached her hand out to the man. Naru tugged on his sleeve, waited for a second, and then repeated the action until the man noticed her. If God really does exist then I pray that this guy knows how I can go back to Konoha. It would suck if she couldn't find a way back home.
"Can I help you?" the man asked, swirling his head in her direction. He blinked and inspected her for the longest time before his tanned cheeks turned pale. "What happened to you? You look like someone attack you? Your jacket has blood!"
His loud cries sliced through the air and Naru tried to keep her expression blank as the crowds of people turned to look at her. All of them gawked at her jacket and she had no choice but to look at her jacket. Yup, there was the dried blood stain from the Chidori attack or was it Sasuke's own blood?
Hmm it was on the location of where Sasuke struck her, so it had to be from the Chidori attack but she couldn't just tell a civilian about what happened.
"I fought a large ass animal and survived," she lied because that was the only thing she could do. The 12-year-old girl pointed to the blood stain on her jacket. "And this is the animal's blood on my jacket, not my blood."
The man relaxed his shoulders and the residents turned away from her, almost disappointed that there was no cool story behind the blood on her jacket. I'll probably need to find a natural way to get rid of the blood stains. She wrinkled her nose and scowled as the man continued to stare at her.
If she had to take a lesson from her battle with Sasuke then it was for her to also carry money with her.
"Yeah, that would make sense," the man agreed but there was almost a hint of doubt in his tone. "A person wouldn't be able to survive an attack to the heart."
"The human is right!" The Kyuubi grumbled and the girl could almost picture the fox baring his teeth at her. "Pull another stupid stunt like this and I'll let you die."
She ignored the beast's grumbles and stared at the fisherman. How did she go about questioning him about going home? Should she be blunt? Or should she do the whole sweet, innocent kid act? I mean I don't have to keep hiding the other aspects of my personality anymore. The people here would have no reason to be scared if she showed that she had some brains.
"Do you know of a way for a person to get to Hi no Kuni?" she asked with a frown.
The man blinked and scrunched his eyebrows together as he tapped his finger against his fishing rod. "Well I would tell ya but I don't know any countries or cities called Hi no Kuni."
For a brief moment, her mind went blank. No, it just exploded from the knowledge that this fisherman didn't even know Hi no Kuni. It is one of five most powerful countries! How can he not know it? Her heart pounded against her chest and she bobbed her head at the man, offering him a quiet word of gratitude.
But he was only one man and maybe there was someone in this town that knew how she could go back to Konoha.
Going back to Konoha might be more difficult than I thought.
For the sake of her sanity and even for the safety of Sasuke's bones, she hoped that she found a hint on how to get back home or else her teammate might lose the opportunity to have kids.
~X~
It had been three days.
Three, long days in an island that seemed to be filled with people that had no idea on how she get back home. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that she wasn't making enough money to get a hotel. Oh no, she had to sleep against the hard, huge tree branches in the forest and kill any animal that threatened to gobble her up.
It wouldn't be so bad if she had someone with her. If there was a person with her, then they could take shifts and she wouldn't have to feel some form of pity for killing an animal.
If I wasn't saving money up to get a decent place to sleep then I would just only eat them. But money was important, more important than ever, and she wouldn't survive long in this place if she had no money. After all, she was a growing girl and there was just no telling how long before she outgrew her clothes.
"Gon is really leaving, huh? He is really going to follow in his father's footsteps and become a hunter."
Naru stopped walking and slowly turned around to face the group of men, who stood outside of the restaurant. It never escaped her notice that people were in awe over the boy's decision to become a Hunter. They acted like it was a big deal, like it worried them and that made her frown.
If I'm going to live here then I need to understand what are Hunters and why they keep making a big deal over that kid becoming one. She looked up at the clear skies and then to the boats docked on the port. A Hunter couldn't be a more dangerous job than being a shinobi. At worst, they had to worry about animals.
"Hey, Old Man!" she called out, waving her hand at the group of men. They twitched and scowled but made no attempt to walk away from her. She slid her hands into her pocket and skipped towards the group. "Can you guys explain why everyone makes a big deal about Gon becoming a Hunter? He is only going to be hunting animals, right?"
One of the men frowned and knelt down till he was at eye level with her. "Girl, don't you know what are Hunters?"
"Would I be asking if I knew?"
Her question hovered in the air and the group of men looked almost aghast by her lack of knowledge. Their jaws dropped a centimeter as the birds chirped in the background. She cocked her head, tapping her foot against the pavement and just waited for at least one of these men to answer her.
If they didn't answer in the next ten minutes then she would just ask another person.
"Hunters don't just hunt for animals," another man finally answered once he finally processed her question. "From my understanding through my own travels, Hunters dedicate themselves to the protection of knowledge, people and nature. I know that there are hunters that travel the world to hunt for rare cuisines, and hunters that searches for plants."
Naru frowned and eyed them. "So they can hunt for information?"
"That's possible," he agreed.
Another man eyed her and warned. "If you're thinking about becoming a hunter then you need to know that these exams are difficult. I heard from a couple of people that people can die in these exams."
Death. Just the knowledge brought a chill down her spine but not because it scared her. No, the idea that there was something that she could do while she tried to find a way back home. Excitement bubbled up inside of her and Naru smiled brightly at the group of men as more questions formed in her mind.
"If these exams are so life-threatening then why do people take it?" she asked.
One of the men scoffed. "No idea! I like the idea of living so you should ask one of these guys."
The other males exchanged glances and thinned their lips before darting their eyes around the empty street. They motioned for her to come closer and reluctantly, she moved closer to the group of men. Why must they be so secretive about the whole thing? It wasn't like she had parents that would care about this.
Besides, she did the Chunin Exams and survived.
"If you get a Hunter License then you will have free access to most of the public services," they explained in a low tone. Naru's eyes widened as the men bobbed their heads. "You can kill without facing a major legal consequence and I heard you can get access to guarded information. Besides, it's an easy way to find a job."
Now you are just giving me more reasons to become a Hunter. She licked her lips and looked down at her hands. If there was guarded information then was there a chance for her to go back to Konoha? And if she could find a way back then she would just have one fancy license that allowed her to work overseas.
Yup the more she thought about it, the more the benefits appealed to her.
"So how do I sign up for the Hunter Exams?"
If she was going to find a way back home then she was going to make some money on the way.
A/N: I would love to hear your thoughts on this rewritten version.
