Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto as it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Living life:

Over the past few weeks Naruto has been travelling with the caravaneers from town to town and has learned a few things already. First off, never agree to let Suta choose your outfit for you because it will take a year and a half for her to decide on a single article of clothing, let alone the whole outfit. He also learned that she happened to be a pretty good jeweler as well, on top of being a seamstress. That aside, she also taught him a few things about fashion for when he grew up to pick his own clothes, as well as some basics for fixing tears in clothes, stating that soon enough he will probably start working in the caravan with the rest of them, so he should know a little of everything. He took that to heart and soon afterwards began asking the others for help learning.

While with Taiyo he learned that Taiyo mainly helped with the money managing and the more paperwork side of the caravan. Apparently, he finds standing around all day to tedious and just prefers to stare at the papers and crunch numbers. From what Naruto heard from everyone, that's extremely unusual, considering that he prefers paperwork over anything, but Naruto couldn't seem to find the problem. That was shown when, one day, they found Naruto and Taiyo sitting besides each other, working through stacks of paperwork at a quick but relaxed pass, and what surprised everyone was that Naruto seemed content while he was working.

Though it was Mira that he found the most interesting. When Taiyo called her an inventor, he wasn't kidding. She was constantly tinkering around with anything she could get her hands on, and was always running around trying to find new pieces of technology to improve on their trades. Many times she took Naruto with her and her little sprees, and he even managed to find her some little gadgets that she immediately took apart in the hopes of improving it. After trial and error Naruto too managed to take apart a small toaster and put it back together, and saw the enjoyment in what Mira did. Though, that wasn't the only thing he learned from her. Once on their travels, a wagon wheel was getting a bit loose, so Mira went over and fixed it up, and though it was a fairly simple job, it was then that Naruto realized that everyone did in fact do something for the caravan.

A large portion of his time was also spent with Tsuyoi, who he later found out that his last name was Shin. It was with Tsuyoi that he saw how the caravaneers interact with their customers, how they changed their personality ever so slightly to accommodate the person in front of them, and how they subtly nudged someone towards a certain item, and even when they haggled for prices with the person. Slowly but surely Naruto saw that what they did wasn't just a simple job, it was an art, a lifestyle, and with a start he realized that he was being brought into that. For some reason that made him happier than he had ever been in a long time.

Along with those four, he worked with everyone in the caravan. On his escapades he met quite a few interesting figures among everyone. It turns out that they have an extremely burly and quite eccentric blacksmith named Kiwamete Usui. He makes a lot of the spare parts that they need, as well as some tools and even a few weapons that they sell and use. Usui also happened to have a twin brother named Atsui. Atsui happened to be an extremely thin and calm carpenter, and, even though their personalities are the complete opposite, works amazingly in conjunction with his brother. However, the most interesting person would have to be the slightly mysterious Kamen, and when asked he told Naruto that he was just Kamen, no surname. Kamen could only be called the most eccentric and outgoing person in the caravan. Naruto never really figured out what Kamen did, and all he got when he asked was that Kamen was a master of all trades, and he ended that with a rambunctious laugh that made Naruto unsure if he was being serious or not. There were others in the caravan that Naruto worked with and learned from, though none of them stood out as much as those three.

This brings us to Naruto right now, laying in the back of one of the wagons and staring up at the night sky. They had just packed up and left a small village near the northern edge of Hi no Kuni and were now continuing their way upwards. He was told they were heading towards Yu no Kuni since many people went there year round for the hotsprings, thus it would be the ideal location to sell some of their merchandise. But that wasn't what was on Naruto's mind at that moment. What he was thinking of was much more personal to him.

'It's… It's been a few weeks since I left… It feels like a dream… It really does feel like a dream… If it is a dream, I never want to wake up… What… What did I live for before… What did I do with my life? Why was I alive? Why… Why am I still alive? I just… No matter what changes, I can't get rid of this feeling. This feeling that my life… That my life isn't worth anything… Why… I'm happy now, there are people that care for me, so why…? Why do I feel that my life isn't worth living? What am I supposed to do? I don't know how to deal with this! There are no books for this, there is no one that knows the answer! How am I supposed to know why my life isn't worth living? How am I suppose to fix this! How is anyone supposed to fix this! Why am I this worthless? No, I can't think like that… But it's true! I can't do anything… But… Maybe… Maybe I can find the answer… Maybe I can found out what you do when your life isn't worth living… Dying isn't the answer, I know it. If… If I can be happy even though my life is worthless, then surely, others can to. Yes… That's what. I gotta find the truth. I have to find the answer. If not for myself, then for others, I have to figure out the truth!'

He thought while smiling slightly to himself as his thoughts turned from the darker areas back to a happier topic.

'I bet I can find the truth out there in the world. I'm sure if I see the whole world I can figure it out. Oh, I wonder what's out there for me to see. What is there out in the world. What mysteries lie waiting for someone to stumble on them, what treasures are hidden, what secrets kept in the folds of history. I wonder...'

With that final thought, he closed his eyes and began drifting off to sleep, unknowing that tonight was what truly put him on his destined path. The path that he chose for himself, one that was unique to him alone.

A few days later they had arrived at Yi nu Kuni and they began making their way towards the former Yugakure, now known as Ikusa o Wasureta Sato. On their way there they stopped at a few towns along the way, and while they were there Naruto managed to find out some information about where they were heading. He found that Ikusa o Wasureta Sato was formerly Yugakure, but that they decided that they didn't want to be a hidden nation anymore and instead transformed into a tourist spot. That kept him thinking until they finally arrived in Yugakure, where he immediately set off to find a bookstore, or anywhere he could find scrolls or books.

As he searched around, he came across an old looking store aptly named Hon To Sukuroru. Taking the name for what it's worth, Naruto headed inside, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was filled with books and scrolls from wall to wall. As he looked around he saw an old bespectacled man dressed in a traditional black kimono reading through a scroll. After finishing his examination of the old man, the blonde started to look around, unsure of what exactly he was looking for.

"Can I help you young man?"

Blinking, the boy turned around to see the old man looking at him questioningly.

"I… I'm not sure. I don't really know what I'm looking for…"

"So, you came to a bookstore not knowing what exactly you wanted to get."

"I… Uh… Yes… I… I like reading and learning in general so… I don't really have anything specific in mind…"

"Hm... "

The old man began to look at the child over his glasses appraisingly. For some reason Naruto felt as if the man was judging him for something that he wouldn't understand, and stood completely still, staring at the storekeeper in confusion.

"Tell me boy, what's your name?"

"Uh… Naruto… Uzumaki Naruto…"

Blinking once then nodding to himself the man began to hum as his eyes skimmed the shelves around him.

"Chishiki Rusui. I think I have a few things that might catch your interest."

As the man got out of his seat, he stopped and looked at Naruto once more.

"Tell me boy, how much are you willing to spend?"

Halted at the sudden question, the boy blinked and rummaged around for his wallet and began to quickly count how much money he had on him.

"Uh, I have about 15000 yen saved up… I'm willing to spend pretty much all of it."

"Hm hm hm… Alright boy, I think I have some things for you."

Rusui then began to rummage through the books and scrolls behind the counter, pulling out two scrolls and placing them on the counter. He then went to the left wall of the store and systematically pulled out five different scrolls and six books. Shuffling over to the right wall, he pulled out three scrolls and two books. After gathering the eight scrolls and eight books, he placed them onto the counter next to the two scrolls he put there before hand. Looking at everything, he seemed to be in deep thought, before bending down and rummaging for something under the counter. What he pulled out was a larger than average scroll and a thick book. As he place them onto the counter, he pulled out colored strings from the underneath the counter and began wrapping them around the scrolls as he spoke to Naruto.

"Alright boy, here is what I'm willing to sell you for your 15000 yen. The scroll with the red string is the basics for gardening. The scroll with the yellow string is instructions on surviving in the wild. The blue string is in depth theory of chakra. The green string is human anatomy. The brown string is the history of weapons. The gray string is the basics on a few martial arts styles, as well as information on them and a few references if you wish to learn more. The white string is on herbs and their uses. The black string is myths, legends, and mysteries. The pink string is a guide to first aid. The purple string is on music and instruments. And the large scroll is a scroll of my personal knowledge. I'll let you find out what's inside of it yourself."

To say Naruto was dumbfound would be a complete understatement. As he began to regain his bearings he started to sputter out a response.

"B-B-But! There is no way that all that is worth only 15000 yen, and that's not counting the books. Why would you give that much to me? I can't pay for all of this!"

"Shut yer trap boy. No one comes by this old shack anymore, and all these books and scrolls are just gathering dust. Everyone is here for the hot springs, and the brothels, and the gambling. It'd be a waste to just let these books crumble into dust, never to be read. Besides, you remind me of myself when I was younger. Always looking to learn, always ready to find more, an insatiable thirst for knowledge. I would be disgracing myself if I didn't help you along your path to knowledge."

As Rusui finished talking, he pushed the scrolls towards Naruto and then began pointing at the pile of books he had gathered.

"Three of the books I got you are various novels that I think you would enjoy. There is a book on herbs, medicine, and poisons. Another book on music theory as well as some basics for how to learn a few instruments. There is also a book on chakra theory and applications of chakra in unconventional ways. Also there is a book on science in there. Along with that there is a book on advanced math. Finally the big book is an in depth book on the history of the Elemental Nations."

Blinking again as Rusui pushed the books towards Naruto as well, he started to sputter once more.

"Chishiki-san, I-... I can't take these! There is no way that 15000 yen could pay for eleven scrolls and nine books!"

"Naruto boy didn't I just explain this to ya? Get it through your head, if you don't take them, then no one will. 'Sides, I'm an old man, I don't need money. I've lived my life, and now I spend the rest of my days manning this shop."

"Still… I have to repay you somehow… The money I have right now just isn't enough! Maybe I could come by la-."

He was interrupted as Rusui let out a deep sigh and sunk into his seat behind the counter.

"Alright boy, if you insist on repaying me I have something you could do. Well, two things actually. How long are you staying at Yugakure?"

Blinking for what seems like the millionth time in five minutes, Naruto began to recall the date in which the caravan was leaving.

"Uh, my caravan leaves in a week. Why?"

"Hm. For the next week, you will come to this store and help me out. You see, I'm an old man and I can't do as much as I could as when I was younger. I need a fresh pair of legs to help me out."

"I can do that. I'm sure Shurui-san wouldn't mind. But wait, what was the second thing?"

"Ah, the second one is a bit easier, and a bit harder. You see, I need you to promise me something?"

"Promise you something?"

"Yes boy. I need you to promise me that one day you are going to come back to this little old store and take the rest of these books and scrolls off my hands. And you need to do this before I die so you can tell me what you thought of the scrolls and books I gave you, and so you can tell me all about the other kinds of books and scrolls you found on your travels, you got that boy?"

Stunned Naruto could only nod his head as Rusui began to put the items in a bag for the blonde.

"Good, now take your stuff and hurry off. I'm sure you have other things to do today."

Nodding again and bowing towards Rusui, Naruto pulled out his wallet and deposited the money on the counter, then picked up the bag and began to hurry out the door. As he was leaving, he stopped and turned towards the old man that had returned to reading. He bowed one more time.

"Thank you so much Rusui-san!"

With that he turned and rushed back to the caravaneers to tell them of today's events, leaving behind a smiling old man.

AN: You've did it. You crazy bastards have did it. I'm slowly catching up to my older stories in stats. Not only that, but the amount of reviews I got in the time period from which I updated last were so many that you just forced me to making another chapter to appease you. In fact, I WANT to churn out chapters for you guys right now. Thank you for the motivation, it really does give a great feeling in my heart.

About Naruto's little monologue, while a bit out of character, this is caused by the neglect that occurred for pretty much most of his life, and came up due to him doing nothing but thinking. That's pretty much it.

Oh, speaking of character, while yes Naruto should naturally be more gloomy and such, and trust me there will be fazes where he turns a bit more serious, that won't happen for a while. Right now he is in a good situation, so he is happier and has begun to open up to others, so that is why. It's only natural that he act this way, but yes, there will be the angst that was promised in the genre. But it will be well written, good angst. Hopefully. Onto the next topic.

With Naruto's interaction with Rusui, 15000 yen is about 150 dollars following the conversion system that I'm using for this story, which you can find in the first chapter. To be clear, the amount of books that he got, as well as their contents would most likely cost more than the amount that Naruto paid with. Once again, this happens as a sign of goodwill from an old man who has seen much and is a good judge of character, on top of the fact that, as stated before, Naruto reminds Rusui of himself when he was younger. I'm using the Universal Law of Convenience.

A bit of terminology:

Universal Law of Convenience - When you just so happen to find that one thing or that one situation or that one button that just so happens to fix all your problems or gives you the answer or helps you out the way you truly needed it. That is what I call this plot device that is used in literally everything. Except the way I used it is sorta plausible.

Hon To Sukuroru - Books and Scrolls

Ikusa o Wasureta Sato - Village that has forgotten wars

So, don't expect a chapter again tomorrow, as I'll be traveling so I won't really be able to work on it. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter though. It turns out that after the tedious first few chapters, these chapters just flow out of my mind.

Anyway, time for reviews.

Midcore: Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Apedreitor: Thanks for all the compliments, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the others.

Kronus96: Well, I gotta be honest with you in a lot of things. I usually don't update as fast as I am now, though I am trying to do so, so let's just pray that this becomes a habit of mine. Also thank you for the compliments about my logic. I honestly don't like the beating thing without proper reasons behind it, and I too usually quit reading the story at that point simply because it's been done before, and done much better as well. So when I was adding it in my story, I knew I had to make sure that it was as realistic as one can make it in a fic like mine. And I have to thank you, and everyone else, for motivating me to churn out chapters, but more so I have to thank you all for holding conversations like these with me where you share your ideals and feelings about the story. I believe it makes a better story that way.

About Yobi, I never planned on making him that dark, but I suppose it worked out. Looking into it, he is as human as you can get really. Contradictory to a point that can be called revolting by almost everyone, even though they probably have done the same thing in a different situation before. What I'm talking about is how people ignore what they don't want to deal with, and are needlessly cold and aggressive towards those whom they dislike. This is only amplified by the fact that, y'know, giant ruthless chakra construct with a soul inside little child's body, meaning it's time to let out all the pent up anger. Truthfully, I would think that, if I was in the Naruto world, I would either be Yobi, or the complete opposite of him. Really it depends on the situation. For the Akatsuki, yes they are going to have trouble finding him, especially because he will be travelling the world for pretty much the rest of his life. And yes Konoha, especially Hiruzen and Jiraiya are not going to enjoy this little scenario. I'm planning on writing a Konoha point of view chapter that takes place in snapshots over time in a few chapters, just to show what was going down there after he left. Also thank you, I'm glad that you liked this chapter, and that my previous annoying as hell and tedious chapters actually fit in the story for you. I like tying things together, and I suppose I did my job, or for you at least. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

thor94: Thank you for coming back to this story and for the review and I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter. About the villages reaction, look forward to that in a few chapters, as I'm planning on writing one about the village alone. Hiruzen and the council will be in an uproar for a while, though they are going to attempt to fix this. The keyword is attempt, anywho, more on this in the Konoha chapter. Also no, they will NOT add him in the bingo book. Frankly that is a really really really stupid idea, and one I really don't like seeing in a story unless it's extremely well played. Let me explain why.

Basically, what they are doing is placing a bounty on a child. Now, normally, if he was a genius or prodigy who graduated early, got tired of the village, decided he was going to go off on his own, then sure, that is fine and great. But, while he is smart, he isn't Itachi, or at least, he never got the chances that Itachi got, thus he is behind where he could have been in comparison. Thus, that leaves you with a fairly defenceless child, roaming the nation, and you just put a bounty on him. Best case scenario, someone captures him and returns him to you for the bounty. Not gonna happen. Worst case scenario, he is captured and used as a weapon for another nation, or worse, captured by Akatsuki early and trapped until the time in which they need to extract the Kyuubi with him. Also, if on the off chance that someone that isn't completely blind looks at him, then looks at Minato, then remembers the fact that BIJUU CANNOT BE KILLED, then takes one last look at Naruto and compares his age and date of birth to the supposed 'death' of Kurama via Minato who died in the process, then I'm pretty sure they are going to connect at least a few dots. That's even worse, and something that Konoha would want to avoid at all costs. So, logically speaking, they would try using their own ninjas to discreetly search for Naruto on their missions, but let's be real here. While many of the ninjas understand that Naruto is simply the vessel, that doesn't change the fact that he is the easiest available scapegoat, and thus, they don't give a damn either way. So they wouldn't even try searching. Anyway yeah, that is pretty much why.

About meeting Kurama and going to Uzushio, well I have no set plans for going to Uzushio, though he'll go through a pirate faze or something, but on Kurama, I know that it will happen later on in his journey. He may even realize the truth about himself before he even meets Kurama so who knows. Anyway, thanks for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Prince Sky: Thanks for the compliments and I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Onto pairings, while I absolutely adore Naruto/Hinata and I am a fan of a well written Naruto/Samui, I am not sure about them being pairing, for I do not know where this story is heading and if it would be feasible to make them get together. Remember that Naruto won't want to return to Konoha for fear of being made to stay, though this is a fear based on the fact that they would want to ruin his life further instead of the fact that he is a military asset that Konoha really needs, so Hinata would be tough until really later on. Samui would also be tough, since I don't really think a ninja would bother with a little caravan merchant, if that is what he still is at the time, and begins a relationship with him of all things. While possible, it still needs some thought, and even still I don't have any plans for pairings yet. I wish to stabilize the story a bit, and then I'll begin with such things.

Onto the freelance ninja part, I don't think that would occur. He has the most basic of ninja training, and thus, he would need to learn more of the arts from someone else, or possibly scrolls. The problem is, villages wouldn't really let any substantial scrolls out of their custody, and twice over for any of their ninjas. That leaves nuke-nins and that is a whole nother can of worms. But worry not, he will be able to defend himself, not to the level in which he will step up to Akatsuki and promptly serve them their own asses on a diamond encrusted gold platter, but enough to deal with the pseudo-everyday dangers that he would face. I don't think I'll have him get to that huge power boost for a looooong time. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for your review.

Elder Sibling: It's great to see you here again, and thank you so much for the review and compliments. And yeah, even though it is slightly improbable that someone such as Shurui would be leading the caravan, it is extremely possible, so I went with my desire to build up a happier life for Naruto, and boom, there we go. Also, a small tidbit, Shurui roughly translates to kind, so I'm just tossing that out there. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and thanks for the review.

Fghjkjhgf: Thanks for the review, and I understand that my chapters tend to be on the shorter side. It's just hard to write a lot of this story in a single chapter at the moment, though I tend to attempt to at least keep the chapters even in length. Hopefully this chapter will be up to your expectations. Thanks again for the review, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Lalabu963: You are correct, for your reason and the ones I stated above. Anyway, thank you for your review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.