Ch. 22 Putting the Hood Back On

Without any sort of farewell, Don woke up early that morning and left. This was the second time he could be seen as deserting his village. He put on his black hooded cloak and left the village behind him and didn't look back. He was once again the Shadow of Suna; he was The Outcast Ninja once again.

All he had with him was his basic ninja gear and all that he had learned over the past month. He walked silently through the forest alone and payed no attention to any of his friends, his only focus was on his destination.

He headed North West; Don looked around at his environment. As he saw a gradual change in the landscape as the terrain became rougher and rougher, as well as less trees showing up. By now he had been walking all day and he had little to eat, he found a spot on a nearby stream and set up camp. He made a hand sign and summoned Bernatello.

"What's up Don?" he asked. Don looked at him though his hood, "We are about another full day's travel, as we get closer to our destination, and we are getting more and more into dangerous territory. I'm going to need you to keep watch for me tonight." Bernatello nodded and watched as Don crawled into his sleeping bag that he had packed.

Bernatello stayed on high alert, when he was hungry for a midnight snack he just jumped in the river and got a fish. Don had conveniently pick out this spot for him, he knew that Bernatello would get hungry and, well, bears do like fish, so what better a place to set up camp than by a stream, plus there was fresh water at their disposal.

"I see you have your dark mysterious hood back on Don." His father said. "Yeah, it helps throwing off the people around me, it did work two years ago at the chunin exams, heck, I scared all of Konaha, I just don't want to be bothered by people when I travel." Don replied. "Well, you may draw some attention to yourself but if you also draw some intimidation with you then you shouldn't be bothered." His father smiled.

"Dad?" Don asked and looked up at his dad. "Yes?" he replied in a curious tone, "what is it?" "You never told me we could perform that powerful of a jutsu, it's time you told me the secret to unlocking it." He smirked. Don's father smirked back, "So, you went through those scrolls. I suppose you were bound to find that jutsu eventually and want to use it. However son, I can't tell you the secret to unlocking it."

Don looked up at his father, "Are you serious? Why the hell not?" His father smiled at him, "The key to using it varies per user, and how you manage to unlock its secrets is up to you." Don sighed, "That sucks, such a powerful technique just sitting there, and no specific way to unlock its secrets and unleash its power."

"Well listen to yourself, that's exactly why it is so hard to even figure out let alone to even perform it, it's so powerful that only a true wood element ninja could use it. It took me oh; up around the time you were born for me to unlock its secret to using it. Not everyone in our line of wood element ninja was able to figure out its secrets, only a few who have learned about it actually were able to perform it. Knowing your cleverness, you will figure it out."

Don woke up to Bernatello shaking him awake, "It's the first crack of dawn, time for you to eat and get going." Don hazily got up and ate a small bit of his rations he packed for his trip and resumed heading towards his destination.

Don walked on and watched as the Sun seemed to race him to the horizon. However that race would have to hold, it was noon and Don's stomach began to growl. He spotted a nearby town up ahead. He realized he was in his dark cloak so he took it off and stuffed it into his bag and entered the town. He found himself a nice little restaurant. He found himself a seat and looked at the menu.

A waitress came up to him, "What would you like to have this afternoon?" Don pondered for a little bit. He finally chose a selection off the menu and the waitress scurried off to fill his order. She came back with a glass filled with lemon aid. It was a short time and Don's food was served to him. He ate and then left the restaurant with money on the table.

Once he got a good unnoticeable distance from the town, he put his cloak back on. He began his walking once again.

He noticed that his terrain had mainly turned mountainous with the exception with clumps of forest here and there. He soon reached a ravine and looked down into it. There was a shallow stream about a few hundred meters down.

Don hopped down and began to follow the small stream. Eventually he made it to the mouth of a large cave and he made his way inside. Don stood in the middle of the main area when a dark but humble voice called out to him. "What might a mysterious stranger be doing here, are you lost?" Don said nothing but only stood there. Then five ninja in black cloaks with red clouds appeared before Don.