Chapter 4

I continued traveling all night but by the time the sun started rising I was exhausted. I had been up since dawn yesterday and I needed to rest, so I peeled of the road and looked for a camping area.

I found a nice little place to nap that wasn't visible from the road and just collapsed right then and there. I had never felt so exhausted in my life. I felt like all of my emotions were wrung out and empty and my brain was turned to mush, so I didn't even think of preparing some food or water for myself.

I slept for most of the day but awoke with enough light that I could go hunting and gathering for my dinner, or breakfast I guess, and refill my water bottle.

Both were harder than normal that day because I tried to find water and prey with my chakra sense.

As I honed my chakra sense I had started to feel a faint warm buzzing, for lack of a better word, coming from every natural thing. I still wasn't sure if I was just imagining the feeling but I when tried to stretch my senses to feel the warm buzzing in more detail I wasn't disappointed.

When I concentrated very, very hard I started to feel slight variations in the warm buzzing, which was probably actually nature chakra.

Some bits were warmer and some buzzed and moved faster, it was always specific to what the nature chakra belonged to, but even with the different feelings coming off the chakra it was extremely hard to tell what was what.

This was because, unlike human chakra, natural chakra was exchanged and moved throughout the natural world constantly making everything connected and buzzing. I tried once to close my eyes and walk around but ended up just walking into things and tripping every five seconds. When everything was faintly buzzing, even the air, it was hard to tell what was solid and what was just a brief tendril of chakra.

Perhaps it was the combination of a dreamy brain and a new outlook on life, but when I woke up and stretched my senses to double check for intruders, I had a passing thought that made a lot of sense: Even if I couldn't see everything with my chakra sense well enough to navigate with my eyes closed, I could still sense things and walk with my eyes open.

Duh.

I felt like such an idiot. Maybe I couldn't sense everything in the natural world so clearly I didn't need sight, but there was no rule that I needed to have my eyes closed when I sensed chakra.

Closing my eyes was a reflex, but I fought against it and tried to feel and see at the same time.

I couldn't do it. My chakra sense was weak and flickering when I kept my eyes open.

Sitting there, still drowsy from my nap, I frowned in annoyance.

Sure, maybe I was getting ahead of myself by thinking I could improve so quickly but it didn't make failure any less frustrating. I didn't expect to be able to differentiate between different types of plants just yet but I wanted to be able to find water, which felt particularly cold and fast fluid, and an animal, which always felt particularly warm and solid.

While I worked I tried my best to keep my eyes open and sense, determined to improve, so it took me much longer than normal to get my water and a meager handful or two of edible plants. I had been so distracted that I had lost my prey 3 times and had tripped twice, so by the time I returned to home base I was pissed.

The food could last me for about one meal, maybe one and a snack if I made it into a broth, but wouldn't taste very good without any meat to thicken it.

Sighing I got to work again, starting a fire and heating up my metal bowl that I also used as a frying pan, pot and plate when camping and, while the bowl got hot, started chopping up my roots and herbs with my seax knife. I loved my seax knife, it was large and sturdy, with a simple wood handle and could be used for any project, so after I finished chopping I carefully cleaned it and sheathed it. Then I put my chopped wild garlic, herbs and a little bit of water into the pan and left it to cook for a moment or two, carful to leave my water bottle close to the fire so it would heat up. Then the roots went in and I tried to cook them completely without burning them, which was considerably harder when you couldn't turn down the heat like on a stove, and added a lot of now warm water to make the broth when I saw the edges turn from "nicely browned" to "suspiciously dark".

Hopefully it wasn't too burned.

I left it to stew for a good half an hour while I got more water and washed my hands and face, but even with all that time stewing the broth was weak, tasteless and bitter, while the chunks of plants were no better.

I really should have gotten some dried fish or meat back at the village as emergency food, it was stupid of me to think I could find enough food every day.

Well, I'll learn from my mistake. Each day I'll gather as much food as possible and preserve it in case there is a day when food is scarce. If I manage to get any meat or fish I should dry it… but I didn't know how to do that.

Next on the to do list: find a bookstore or meat shop at a nearby town and find out how to dry meat.

I made sure not to finish all the soup so that I could eat some for my "lunch" tonight. My bowl had a handy little cap you could put on it too, so it really was an all-purpose tool like my seax knife.

As I packed up, I started to plan ahead. Traveling at night, though an accident at first, was probably best for me. There would be less people to run into and I would be moving when it was cold instead of sleeping.

Oh, another note to self: Get warmer sweater and a blanket. The nights were cold in late autumn and would only get colder this winter.

The problem with traveling at night was that I couldn't deviate from the road, unless I wanted to get lost or run into things in the dark, so I couldn't walk directly to my destination. Instead I'd have to follow all the twists and turns of the road, but in the end it was a small price to pay.

After three months of living on the road I was a pro at hunting and survival.

I had a small, carefully wrapped and preserved stash of meat and fish, a small sac of rice and a larger container of dried fruit and nuts for emergencies plus a nice assortment of herbs for flavor. I had also gotten another pot from a dump, so that I could make more complicated meals. The handle had fallen off but the pot worked fine after a good scrubbing.

My chakra sense had improved in a lot of ways too. My maximum range was huge now, at least 3 or 4 kilometers around me were included now, and I could sense people, with my eyes open, from up to half a kilometer away without even trying. My nature chakra sense wasn't quite as improved, but with eyes closed and steady concentration I could sense animals and water now, though I'd have to stop along the way and re-sense their position sometimes since I couldn't do it with my eyes open. Sadly my range for natural chakra was much smaller too: barely a quarter kilometer in every direction. Still, my range and details were improving, albeit slowly.

My clothes, though fine for running around my city, weren't suitable for living on the road and had been changed. Now I wore a warm canvas and fleece vest with a hoodie underneath to keep my warm in the winter. I also had a nice, dark blue beanie and a new pair of pants that, while still baggy, fit me much better than my previous pair. I didn't have to change my shoes, as the still fit, and kept my hands and legs bandaged for both protection and warmth.

I had actually gotten most of these clothes completely legally too, from a myriad of people. I got my sweater and pants from a generous young mother as payment for weeding her garden.

She was sweet and oddly naïve, despite being a single mother so young, so I didn't want to take from her, nor did I want to accept the things out of charity. Instead I offered to help carry her bags home and then to weed her garden, but she then proceeded to give me the clothes, some lunch and a little money too. I stuck around for a week after that, taking care of her and her young son in exchange for food and a couple little bits of pocket money. I fixed her roof and cleaned her house, anything she needed. By the end of the week she looked much less wrung out but I could see her start to question who I was and what a child, so mature yet so young, was doing there. So, after a final payment of a tuna sandwich I was off again.

On the road I ran into an absentminded and clumsy vet who was on his way to treat a dog a few towns over. I offered him some rare herbs that I'd found a couple nights ago and he gave me the vest that he had tried to give to his son, who thought the having a matching canvas vest with his father was "too nerdy". Can't say that I disagreed with the son, matching parents and children are just weird. I traveled with him to his destination, and was rewarded with some money and another pair of pants (which he also had a matching pair for, the weirdo) for helping him along the way.

I used the money from those two to buy me a blanket and some changes of undergarments (easily forgotten but very much needed) and still had some left over.

So only the beanie was stolen, but I took from a spoiled brat who knocked over my takoyaki without saying sorry so it felt more like justice than stealing.

Even after three months of travel, however, I over looked a big problem that was currently staring me in the face: Konoha.

Yes, I know that I was headed in the direction from the beginning but I just assumed I could detour around it. Here's the problem though: all the roads in the area lead to Konoha and there are no roads that go around the city. It reminds me of the TGV railways in France, in my old world, with all of the railways going through Paris.

Leaning against a tree with my map, I tried to find a possible solution.

Now, I could always cut through the forest in between, but that was ninja territory. As I stretched my chakra sense I could already feel dozens of ninja stationed in the area and running through the treetops. Going through the forest would no doubt mean running into a ninja, and what could I say when they asked me what I was doing? No, that wouldn't work.

I could always turn back, and take the long, long way around, but it would take me months to get around. Not to mention I had already passed by a lot of people and ninja already, even while traveling at night, and one of them could notice my odd behavior and stop me. Someone, a civilian I think from their chakra size, already asked me what I was doing a couple nights ago when they saw me walking at night. I made up some excuse about stargazing and they let me go, but since then I'd already had to change my schedule to traveling during the day in the hopes of blending in. That had, unfortunately, made me cross paths with a lot of people recently, many of whom would notice if me again simply because a lone child traveling was memorable.

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and it was all my fault. I got lazy and overconfident; I should have been thinking ahead more.

In the end, I guess I'd have to walk to Konoha, walk around its walls to get to the other side.

Doing some quick mental math, I figured it would take me a full day to do that going at the pace I was, or a little less than that if I jogged. Jogging would probably be best, so that I could put as much distance between me and the village by the time the sun set and, if anyone asked, I could say that I was running an errand for my grandpa or something.

I packaged up my map and strapped my shoulder bag down tight so that it didn't smack against my back as I ran and took off in a light jog.

No one looked twice when I jogged by them, so I was feeling much calmer by the time I reached the village. The concentration of chakra signatures, many much larger than back in any of the cities I'd seen, was a bit intimidating and confusing but as no one spared me a second glance I forced myself to relax.

That was a mistake.

Maybe if I'd been paying a bit more attention I would have noticed the familiar chakra signature headed my way before he was almost on top of me and come up with a better plan than Avert your eyes, act normal, act normal, act normal, act normal…

But I didn't.

So I jogged by Yamanaka Inoichi and his daughter.

I almost got by them without them noticing, but when I saw Inoichi's head follow my jogging form I knew I was screwed.

I forced back the urge to run faster, that would only draw more attention to myself, and prayed that he didn't remember me.

Then I heard him say, "Oh, is that you Akira-chan?"

Oh balls.

Nope nope nope, not going to respond.

I kept jogging, head still down, like I didn't recognize the name and still not speeding up.

"Akira-chan? Hey, Akira!" He called out again as I got farther away.

Ok, seems like he's pretty sure it's me. Next plan of action? RUN FOR IT!

I bolted out of there as fast as my legs would take me, which while fast for a child my age was nothing compared to a full grown man, and a ninja at that.

I heard him tell Ino to wait there and a few seconds later I was jerked backwards by the strap of my shoulder bag and held up, like a kitten my the scruff of their neck.

"Let go of me, you Pedo!" I screeched, hoping to shock and embarrass Inoichi into dropping me.

"How am I a pedophile? I'm not even touching you," He shot back.

Damn.

I growled and tried to swing my leg into his face but he just pulled me out of reach, but that wasn't my goal. I undid the latch on my shoulder bag and dropped, using the momentum of the swing to send me rolling away and bolted again. I may have lost a lot of stuff by leaving my bag, but the alternative was much worse.

Now I was much lighter and ran even faster than before, but still it was no match for Inoichi's speed. If I'd thought about it a little more, that would have been obvious but I wasn't thinking; I was panicking.

He scooped me up again, this time grabbing me and holding me up my waist. I swung around, kicked and scratched but his grip didn't falter. I could twist and bend freely but his hands were firmly holding me in place.

"Let. Me. Go," I hissed out.

"No. Why are you running? What are you doing here?" He asked, looking me sternly in the eyes.

"That's none of your goddamn business," I spat.

He plowed on regardless, "Why did you get so far away from home? Where are your aunt and uncle?"

"Fuck off."

That seemed to shock him a bit. He frowned and said, "A young lady shouldn't use that kind of language."

I snorted at that and gave him my signature creepy smirk, "I ain't no lady, old man."

He seemed to decide to ignore that, and repeated his question.

"Where are your aunt and uncle?"

"Who knows, who cares," I shot back, still trying to scratch my way out of his grip.

"Did you run away?"

"Screw off already."

"Why did you run away?"

"Does it look like I'm going to answer your questions? Take the hint, man," I finally hissed.

He just looked at me thoughtfully for a moment before nodding and saying, "OK, looks like you're coming with me."

"WHAT?" I screeched, "No way, Jose! Don't you dare –" aaand he threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Great. He grabbed Ino's hand, and held my feet down with the hand still holding my shoulder bag.

"Put me down! This is harassment– no, kidnapping! I'll sue you for unnecessary manhandling!"

He seemed to be ignoring me though as we walked through the gates of the village. I saw Izumo and Kotetsu staring at me and yelled out, "Oi, you just gonna let him do this?"

They did. As did all the villagers we passed by.

I tried hitting as smacking Inoichi's back with my little fists, but it was like hitting a brick wall: My fists hurt and he wall was completely unaffected.

"Who gave you the right to do this, huh? No one. You've got no right to drag me around like a rag doll!"

No effect. I fell limp against his back, sulking.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" I muttered, voice coming out more dejected than I intended.

I stayed silent after that.

I'll admit that I was stuck.

...For now.

Because I was getting out of here, next chance I got. Lets see who gets the last laugh, Inoichi.

Ino looked back at me a few times, her round innocent eyes and face nervous as she peaked back at me. I just ignored her at first, but when she nearly tripped a couple times from not paying attention I locked eyes with her and said, "Eyes front, Princess," which caused her to squeak and scuttle forward in fear. I smirked at that. I was back and terrifying weak minds and children.

Maybe not the best pastime, but hey, I'll work with what I got.