Chapter 6 – One Year Later
See disclaimers on prologue.
Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome! BETA NEEDED! This is my first real fanfic so advice is needed and welcome!
NOTE: This is more of a flashback chapter, because I didn't want (and didn't know) how to cover all the new information but don't worry, the plot will advance…
NOTE 2: Go back to Chapter 3 for reference – you will need it
" " – human speech/writing
' ' – human thought
' ' – demon thought
" " – demon speech
One year later…
The Third Hokage took a drag out of his pipe as he looked at the crowd below. In front of him were the parents of the academy's new students. These were going to be the future of this village. As he gave his welcoming speech, his thoughts wandered to a certain blond jinchuuriki's decision about a year ago…
(Flashback)
He was just finishing up his latest batch of paperwork (and cursing its existence) when he heard a knock on his door. Mentally thanking the distraction, he called out for a name. The response brightened his mood a bit.
Into his office entered Naruto. Gesturing to his chair he said "Ah, Naruto-kun, come sit down."
Naruto did so, and both of them sat in silence for a minute. Sarutobi took this time to silently asses the boy in front of him.
He was wearing dark-grey cargo pants, a black t-shirt and on his feet were blue shinobi sandals. Having an idea of the shopkeepers' attitude towards him, the Hokage was surprised that the clothes were in rather good condition. His tell-tale blond hair and whisker marks – a sign of being the Kyuubi's vessel – remained the same, except that his hair was cleaner. Come to think of it, Naruto was rather clean for someone living in an old house with no plumbing or electricity. Maybe a watering hole was nearby and the clothes were acquired through petty theft. Still, it didn't matter. The boy deserved some pleasures after his (admittedly short) harsh time in the village.
The true sign of change however, was seen in Naruto's eyes and posture. Back when the Hokage visited him in the orphanage, he always had this glimmer of relief in his eyes and seemed to shrink on himself, no doubt thanks to the other children's treatment of him. Now however, he sat with a straight back and his eyes held a spark of determination – like he was showing the world that he wasn't afraid anymore.
Blinking from his musings, Sarutobi smiled at Naruto. "So my boy, have you come to a decision?"
Naruto nodded. "Yes, I've decided that I still won't go to the academy and I won't become a ninja. The teachers will most likely try and stop me from learning anything, the other kids' parents still tell them to stay away from me and it'll just give the villagers another excuse to go after me. Besides, like I told you before, why should I protect people that hate me?"
Sarutobi frowned at that declaration. Although a small part of him did expect this finality. 'It would seem that the damage has been done' he thought. He was about to try and pose a counter-argument when Naruto continued to speak.
"But you're right. There's stuff that I do need someone to teach me. So, I was thinking maybe I could have a, a..."
"A tutor?" Naruto nodded in response and added "That doesn't hate me."
The Hokage gazed pensively at Naruto. 'Naruto won't be able to interact with the village nearly as much as I would want, let alone make friends, but maybe there is a good side to this. If he has someone that actually teaches him and get to know him on a personal level, maybe he'll stop being distrustful around people. But who do I pick?'
He continued to think for a moment before addressing his ANBU guard "Fetch me Yugao-san." Seeing Naruto's unspoken question, he reassured him "She is one of my most trusted ninja. She doesn't hate you and she is very knowledgeable in ninjutsu, kenjutsu and taijutsu."
Naruto hummed in response before settling into silence for a few minutes. "Fine Hokage-san, but –"
At that moment, Yugao Uzuki appeared in the room. Sarutobi smiled at her "Yugao-san, thank you for coming." Naruto looked at her before asking "Neko-san?"
He turned to the boy in surprise "How did you know?" Naruto gave him a deadpan look "Her hair." Ah. Well, that was rather obvious.
Naruto continued to speak "It's fine Hokage-san, but as I was going to say, can the lessons be done in a training ground or at her house?" The request surprised him, although he didn't show it. "Why?"
Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but he seemed to be lost in thought. After a few seconds, he replied "I don't think my house is suited for ninja lessons. That and I don't trust anyone to follow her and discover it."
Ah. Well, he should have remembered that the boy was rather mistrustful of others. Seeing as how he had little to no possessions to his name at the moment, the fear of losing a safe place to the villagers seemed rather frightening. Besides, it might help him grow more attached to the village instead of being isolated from it. Also, the house did look rather flimsy "Very well. Yugao-san, could you take Naruto to the ANBU training grounds? There are plenty of facilities there and I shall arrange it so that no one will barge in on you."
The purple-haired woman bowed "Yes, Hokage-sama." She moved to Naruto and they both disappeared with a whoosh.
'I hope this works out well' Sarutobi blinked and looked at his desk "DAMMIT! WHERE DOES IT COME FROM!?" he screamed in outrage at the newest batch of paperwork. Sighing in dismay, he picked up a sheet.
He tilted his head in confusion at the written complaint "A shortage of chalk in the academy?" He mumbled "what the hell does that mean?"
(Flashback end)
'I had hoped that Naruto would change his mind, but it seems that his scars run deep' he thought in sadness. Shaking his head, he finished by announcing "I officially proclaim you Ninja Academy Students! May the Will of Fire burn within you!" Cheers went up from the crowd.
As the new students headed towards the academy building, Sarutobi turned his head to the forest and whispered "I wonder what he's doing now…"
-Obscuro-
In the 'Forest House' as he had dubbed it, the young jinchuuriki was attempting to perform one of the most gruelling tasks he was ever given during his stay here: drawing a perfect circle with no ruler or compass.
SMACK! "OW!" He looked at the floating board in anger only to see the same message: "Again."
Rubbing his red wrist, he took the chalk in his hand and drew on the floor for what seemed like the millionth time. It looked like a perfect circle, but with Obscuro, you couldn't tell. After a few seconds of scrutinizing, the board said "good."
Sighing in relief, Naruto Uzumaki stood up. He had changed quite a bit in the last year. He stood a nice 155 cm, having grown a few centimeters as the time went by. He wore a black ANBU shirt, dark-grey cargo pants with six large pockets, and closed shinobi sandals (no toes). A ninja tool pouch was worn at his hip. He had lost some baby fat and gained some muscle thanks to his training with Yugao-san and Obscuro.
When Yugao was appointed as his tutor, they met up three times a week at a reserved ANBU training ground for several hours. Like the Hokage said, she didn't hate him at all and made an effort to teach him.
Naruto learned from her basic to intermediate taijutsu, and could last against her for a good 10 minutes before getting his ass kicked. She also taught him shurikenjutsu and history, with a few hidden facts as rewards for training. But what Naruto truly thanked her for was for teaching him about chakra and ninjutsu.
Surprised at Naruto's knowledge of chakra and the leaf exercise, she challenged Naruto to perform a Shunshin no Jutsu(Body Flicker Technique) using only a scroll. After reading through it several times, he attempted to perform it only to appear halfway through and crash into the ground.
Apparently Obscuro was right; you can't learn everything by yourself.
After questioning his knowledge of chakra (and silently cussing the villagers), Yugao agreed to train him in chakra and ninjutsu. After a few months, he could use chakra to boost his body, perform the Shunshin, Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique)and the Henge no Jutsu(Transformation Technique), but he couldn't perform the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique) no matter how hard he tried.
Obscuro had fun mocking his pathetic excuse for clones.
After failing to perform the bunshinfor the umpteenth time, Yugao asked a fellow ANBU to check if there was something wrong with his chakra coils. It turned but that there was nothing wrong with them, but thanks to the Kyuubi and (unknowingly to him) his Uzumaki heritage, he simply had an enormous amount of chakra for his age, so his control was very sloppy.
As a result, his genjutsu skills would be mediocre at best.
After asking permission from the Hokage, who understood his situation, Naruto was taught the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Shadow Clone Technique); a jutsu that created solid clones instead of illusions. Unlike the bunshin, he successfully performed the technique after five tries – and created more than a dozen of them. Boy, was that jutsu useful in a fight.
In parallel, Obscuro had taught Naruto much over the past year. While acting as a treasure trove of history and information, and as a useful sparring partner (in shadow-puppet form), the shadow-demon's tutelage of rituals was by far Naruto's favorite part of the past year.
In fact, one memory would forever be etched into the blonde's mind: when he performed his first ever ritual…
(Flashback)
Four months ago…
Naruto was sitting in the library, reading a favorite Latin poem of his, "De crystallo cui aqua inerat" (On a crystal that contained water) by a poet named Claudian. As part of his Latin learning, Obscuro had him read aloud passages from scriptures and literature, then translate them.
"Possedit glacies naturae signa prioris
et fit parte lapis, frigora parte negat.
sollers lusit hiems, imperfectoque rigore
nobilior vivis gemma tumescit aquis."
Taking a deep breath, he translated:
"A piece of ice retains signs of its one-time nature
partly becoming stone, partly rejecting the cold.
Expertly plays the winter, and with rigidity incomplete
the gemstone swells more noble still with living drops of water."
A tapping sound was heard. Looking up, he saw Obscuro's chalk tapping the board, with a message. "Very good. You have improved much with Latin."
Naruto blushed at the praise. "A-ah, thank you. I just really like some of the writings."
The shadow-demon wrote "Understandable. It is a crime not to enjoy such art. Humans may be a lot of bad things, but some of them can create such masterpieces."
He nodded in agreement. "I have decided, after watching your progress, both here and with the female, that the time has come for you to perform your very first ritual."
Naruto gaped in astonishment. "R-really?"
Seeing Obscuro write "yes", Naruto jumped from his seat and cheered. "Yahoo! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou – "
A flick on the forehead silenced him. "As I was going to state, I have decided you shall begin with a simple ritual, one which doesn't require any incantation or stimuli – The Ritual of Clairvoyance (千里眼の儀式, Senrigan no Gishiki)."
Scratching his head in thought, the blond spoke up "Didn't you mention that ritual before?"
"Indeed" Obscuro wrote "in fact, I do believe the ritual circle is in your notebook."
Whipping out his notebook, Naruto confirmed this. Throughout the months, Naruto has filled that notebook with phrases, patterns and symbols all meant for rituals. Of course, due to his paranoia, it was all written in Latin.
"Let us go to the living room. I don't want anything that goes wrong to damage this wonderful room."
Mentally asking where was the concern for him, Naruto went into the living room and started drawing.
Taking a large compass and chalk, he drew a circle the size of a big dinner plate. He then drew the symbol core: Surrounding its center, he drew three smaller circles with the symbols for sight (an eye), target (the kanji for human '人') and mind (a sun with a dot in the center). Finally, he drew the symbol matrix – a pentagram, which was used to affect a person specifically – to connect all of the symbols.
Satisfied with his work, Naruto thought about a target. He then saw two things: a photo of the Hokage in the center of his circle, and candles surrounding it. Looking up he saw the board.
"I thought it would be better if you have a reminder in front of you. You can't use the ritual on photos alone, but they can help. Also, always have a lit environment."
Nodding, the blonde took deep breaths. Placing his hands on the circle's edge and looking at the photo, he began tracing his life-force onto it.
Feeling it move through the circle and pentagram, he pulled the world's aether into the circle. Sensing them connect, Naruto pushed.
The circle lit up in a bluish-white glow. Sparks began spouting from it sizzling the air.
He felt his as though his hands were burning, but Naruto remained still. After a few agonizing seconds, he felt his eyes close, only to see a sight which brought relief to his heart: the Hokage, sitting in his office and…reading from an orange book while seemingly giggling.
Focusing on the vision for a minute, he let his life-force stop flowing and felt the burning sensation halt. Opening his eyes, he saw that the candles were blown out and the air had a burnt smell to it.
He looked to Obscuro's board, only to see it empty. After a few tense seconds, he saw the chalk writing down "Well?"
Naruto immediately nodded. "I saw him. He was in his office reading…I think." Obscuro wrote "Excellent. You have done well. You are free for the rest of day."
Beaming at the praise, he moved to stand up only to feel his legs wobble. 'Must've been more tiring than I thought.' He headed to his room, not seeing the circle being wiped away.
(Flashback end)
Since that day, he had been practicing the Clairvoyance Ritual every two or three days. He had managed to use it without feeling burns within a matter of seconds. Practicing the same ritual multiple times seemed to familiarize it to the life-force.
Along with the Clairvoyance ritual, Naruto managed to learn two non-verbal (no incantation) rituals: The Wood Growth Ritual (成長木製儀式, Seichō Mokusei Gishiki), which could accelerate the growth of a sapling or seed to fruit-bearing levels depending on how much life-force is used, and the Reconstruction Ritual (再建の儀式, Saiken no Gishiki), which could reconstruct any broken object, if all of the parts are present.
Entering his room, Naruto looked to his desk. Thanks to Obscuro's tutelage, he now had stacks of papers covering it, all of them filled with ritual notes. Despite its tiring nature, the sight made Naruto let out a warm smile.
GURGLE!
And a hungry stomach apparently.
"Oi, I'm gonna go out to catch something alright?!" Seeing no reply (and feeling no annoying tendrils), Naruto went to his bed and flipped the covers.
Laying there were two large, sheathed blades. The sheaths were a metallic black, looking rather nondescript. Drawing one of them, Naruto paused to gaze upon its visage.
When Obscuro gave the blades to him six months ago, he said that they were called Krisdaggers. The handle was black, with a curved pommel, and no guard. The blade itself was a bit shorter than Naruto's forearm, shaped in a wavy pattern, along with possessing jagged edges. All in all, a rather unique weapon, as Yugao described it.
In addition to chakra and ninja training, Yugao helped him train with the Kris. After partially lying to her on their origins (he said that he found them in the house), she helped him get used to it by sparring with him with her sword. On the side, Obscuro taught him how to use it properly.
The shadow-demon explained to him that the daggers would be ritual tools in addition to combat tools, since they drew more blood than a sword would.
Grabbing the daggers and using shunshin to get out of the house, Naruto ventured into the forest. After running in a random direction for several minutes, he came across a wild boar.
Smirking, he whipped out the Kris and dashed to the boar's side, running it through before it could squeal.
After stabbing it again to confirm its death, Naruto fished out a scroll from one of his pockets. Opening and placing the dead boar on it, he sent a pulse of chakra and the boar disappeared in a puff of smoke.
After witnessing a group of ANBU one day performing the same thing, the blond asked Yugao about it. Seeing no harm, she told him that they were sealing scrolls that could be used to carry multiple objects at once.
Naruto then told Obscuro about it, when a day later he received from him multiple multi-use sealing scrolls that it took from the village.
Putting the scroll back in his pocket, he dashed off again. He kept going deeper into the forest, occasionally turning left or right. After encountering and hunting several rabbits and small boars, he was about to start heading back when he heard a squeal behind. Turning around, he widened his eyes.
"Wow, that's gotta be the daddy."
The 'daddy' was a rather large wild boar that was taller than Naruto. Its tusks were huge and it had an angry look in its eyes. And it was running towards him.
Cursing, Naruto rolled over to the side and dodged the boar. He dashed towards its rear and stabbed it with a Kris. But to his surprise, the dagger didn't go in very deep and got stuck.
The boar, having noticed Naruto by now, shook his back and threw Naruto onto the ground. Looking up, he saw that one of his daggers was stuck in the boar's back.
"Alright, let's do this." He stood up and dashed again at the boar, only to shunshin to the side and throw a few shuriken that stuck to its side. He whistled to the boar and taunted "Come on, is that all you got?"
Enraged, the boar tried to charge only for Naruto to flicker in front of him and stab it in the forehead. After standing still for a second, the boar fell down.
Sighing in relief, Naruto removed both Kris and the shuriken from the boar before sealing it with the rest of his kills. Smiling in satisfaction, he turned to leave only to realize that in his scuffle with the boar, he had forgotten in which direction he came from.
"Dammit, where do I go?" He asked himself. Looking around, he searched for any landmarks that might give away his location.
He then remembered something: Konoha was in the east. As such, he needed to find out where east was. Looking up at the sky, he saw through the branches that the sun was closer to the horizon in front of him. Therefore, west was behind him.
Turning around, he made a mad dash through the forest, using shunshin every now and then.
A few minutes later, he arrived at a walled neighborhood of the village. Turning left, he started running when he heard cheers and laughter coming from the bordering neighborhood. His curiosity compelling him, he climbed a nearby tree and peeked down.
A celebration of sorts was happening. A group of people - men, women and children, were standing around a young man in an ANBU outfit. In front of the man was presumably his family: A stern-looking man, a warm-eyed woman and a boy who was about his age He narrowed his eyes to get a better look, and he realized that the young man's ponytail was familiar.
"Itachi-san?" Looking around, he saw that the neighborhood was covered with a symbol of a red and white fan – the Uchiha clan's symbol.
Mentally berating himself for not noticing, he jumped from the tree and ran north to the Forest House, unaware that his exit was noticed by several of the people there, including Itachi.
-Obscuro-
If you asked Itachi Uchiha what was his life like, he would probably not answer. But if you were to look into his mind, you would see the equivalent of him saying "My life is twisted."
Considered a prodigy of the Uchiha clan, Itachi awakened his Sharingan at a very young age. He had to uphold the expectations from his clan, most notably his father Fugaku, and to top that off, he recently got promoted to ANBU captain. With talks of a coup from Fugaku against the village, Itachi was inwardly torn.
On one hand he loved his village Konoha, and would do anything to defend it. On the other hand, he loved his family, especially his little brother Sasuke.
Now, he stood in front his family, surrounded by his clansmen, all congratulating him on his promotion. He could feel his father's approving gaze, along with the promise of a talk, and the adoring stares his mother Mikoto and Sasuke sent him.
Just as the celebration (and tension) reached its peak, he and several others heard the rustling of a nearby tree and out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur.
Acting on instinct, he jumped towards it while activating his Sharingan. Lagging behind his chasing clansmen, he recognized the chakra of the figure running towards the woods.
'Naruto Uzumaki? What is he doing here at this hour?' He stopped for a second to see one of the chasers catch the boy by his shirt. Seeing as how things might get ugly, a thought came to him.
'Perhaps I can alleviate some of the tension that's lingering with my father. Besides, I was his guard for a small while, so I am a bit curious as to what he has done recently.'
With his mind made up, he appeared in front of the group and asked "What's going on here?"
-Obscuro-
Naruto ran and was about to turn into the forest, when he felt someone grab him from behind. Turning his head, he saw three (presumably) Uchiha ninja looking at him.
"Hey, what were you doing there?" one of them asked. Naruto was about to reply when another one spoke.
"Hey, isn't he the…you know" The Uchiha holding him leaned to closer. He then nodded. "Yeah, it's him." "What should we do with him?"
Inwardly panicking, Naruto was about to try and free himself when a soft voice called out "What's going on here?"
All of them turned to see Itachi Uchiha walking towards them. He looked at Naruto and smiled.
"Hello Naruto-kun. What are you doing here at this time of evening?" Naruto gulped and responded quickly.
"I-I was just out hunting when I heard people cheering, so I got curious and looked to see why. I wasn't s-s-spying or anything!" Itachi continued to look at him, while Naruto silently pleaded that he would believe him.
After what seemed like half an hour, but in reality a few seconds, Itachi asked the blond a question that completely threw him for a loop.
"Naruto-kun, would you like to eat dinner with me and my family tonight?"
Naruto opened his mouth in surprise and went to decline, but before he could do so Itachi added "It will take time for you to get to your house and prepare whatever you have caught, so this will save you time. I also have a little brother about your age that you could play with."
The ANBU's argument making sense and his hunger and fatigue reaching high levels, Naruto slumped down and conceded.
Itachi just smiled. "Good. Hang on."
Before he could blink, the young Uzumaki found himself back in the neighborhood – compound, he remembered – standing in front of Itachi's family.
"Mother, Father, Sasuke, this is Naruto-kun. I have invited him over for dinner if it's not too much trouble." The three family members stared at Naruto intently, while Naruto himself tried not to shrink under their gazes. What was different was the fact that those looks held no animosity or anger in them, merely…curiosity?
The mother spoke up with a smile "Of course son. In fact, the food is ready now, so why don't you come in?"
Wordlessly, Naruto and Itachi entered the house. It was decent-sized place, with several rooms and a small dining room. It had nothing on the Forest House though.
A few minutes later, the father and Sasuke entered and sat down. The father took a quick look at him before looking at Itachi, while Sasuke sat down next to him while looking up and down, as if though looking for something.
The mother soon entered with plates of sashimi and ramen bowls. She looked to Naruto and asked "What do you want to eat?"
"I'll try some of the ramen, thanks." Smiling, she handed him a bowl of ramen. She then sat down before saying "Itadakimasu!" The rest of the family and Naruto repeated.
Naruto took a slurp of his ramen. Having eaten primarily wild game, berries and stolen food for the past year, the blond was surprised at its taste. He kept slurping and occasionally takin a sashimi from the table.
"So, how is it?" he looked up from his meal to the mother. "It's good, it's good. It's just that I'm more used to cooked rabbit than anything, missus…uh?"
"Oh, didn't Itachi tell you? I'm Mikoto; my husband is Fugaku and the boy sitting next to you is Sasuke." Naruto just let out a small "hello" before resuming his feasting.
After a few minutes of silent eating (and three ramen bowls), Itachi spoke up. "So Naruto, I heard that the Hokage offered you a chance to go to the Academy this year. Are you going?"
Stopping mid-bite, Naruto swallowed before thinking. If he lied, they could easily check if he went. Besides, there was no harm in revealing that information.
"No, I refused." The Uchiha family turned to look at him. "May I ask why?"
Naruto thought for a moment how to word it without potentially insulting them, as Itachi was a loyal ninja "Lack of reason."
Itachi's eyes seemed to glimmer in understanding, while the rest of the family looked confused.
"A lack of reason? What do you mean?" asked Fugaku.
Naruto hesitated. He was about to repeat his statement before seeing Itachi give a small nod. Steeling himself, Naruto responded.
"People become ninjas for a reason. Sometimes it's for money, but most of the time it's for a very specific reason. I just lack that reason." He pointed at Itachi "Itachi-san, you became a ninja to protect your family, right?"
Itachi nodded. "That is the point. I have no family; I can make money some other way, so I don't want to become a ninja."
The family seemed to accept this explanation, while Mikoto just gave him a sad look.
After he filled his stomach, he got up. "Well, it's been nice, but I have to go back. Thank you for the meal though." Itachi also stood up "I can take you there Naruto-kun. It will take less time."
Knowing Obscuro was waiting for him he accepted. They both left the house and dashed into the forest. After a few minutes, they arrived at the house's clearing.
Naruto turned to leave when he heard Itachi speak. "It's not just family that we protect. We protect our friends, our homes and our values. I don't fault you for your way of thinking, but dwell on that Naruto-kun."
The statement echoing in his mind, Naruto dashed to the house. "I'm home!" He looked to see the library door open. Entering, he saw the chalk writing.
"You are late. Did something happen?" Not seeing a reason to inform Obscuro of the evening's incident, Naruto replied "I ate on the way back."
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Obscuro wrote "Very well. Unload your kills at the dining hall and pack your things. We are going on a trip west tomorrow."
Naruto was surprised at this, and he was surprised enough today "A trip? What bought this on?"
"Since you declined to join the Academy and with your unique status, people are going to start asking questions and search for answers. It's best if we lay low for a while and taking a trip will suffice nicely." Seeing the logic in the answer, Naruto nodded.
"We leave at dawn tomorrow. Take your weapons and notebook along with the necessities. All will be explained when we arrive."
Naruto did as Obscuro told him. He unloaded his kills before going up to his room and sealing his clothes, some water, food and a couple of books (notebook included) into scrolls. Satisfied, he washed up and went to bed.
Next morning, he attempted to wake up only to close his eyes. As he was about to fall asleep again, he felt himself being yanked off the bed. Lifting his face from the floor, he glared at an apple that was apparently meant to be his breakfast.
He grabbed his scrolls and daggers before going downstairs while eating the apple. When he arrived, he saw the board.
"You must learn to wake up at the right time. Very well, let us leave. We shall shadow-travel there to minimize travel time." Finishing his apple, a thought came to him.
"What about the house?" "The continuous circle does not require my constant presence to function. No harm shall befall this place." Nodding, Naruto braced himself.
In an instant, he felt Obscuro's shadows wrap around him and drag him down. Opening his eyes, he saw the shadow-demon's horned form holding him by the stomach. Then, it moved.
Having experienced Obscuro's 'shadow world', Naruto was used to the whispering and buffeting shadows. What was new to him was the speed that they were moving and the view. The world seemed to blur in a mass of black and red while his whole body shivered at the speed that they were moving in. Trusting Obscuro however, Naruto didn't panic.
Every now and then they would pop up for Naruto to take a breather and a drink. This happened 3 times. Each time, Naruto took a look and saw the landscape change by a significant amount. Evidently, they were traveling far faster than a ninja could.
After a few hours, they popped up in the middle of wide grasslands. In front of him was Fire Country, with its forests visible on the horizon. He turned around and raised an eyebrow. The plains in front of him lacked trees and stretched out as far as the eye could see which wasn't really far. The reason?
Rain. It was heavily raining, with no end in sight.
Turning to Obscuro, he saw the board with a message "We have arrived. Beyond those rainy plains is what we seek. We shall have to tread by foot here, for I do not know if anything has changed.
But we shall have to be cautious. This is a boundary country with many ninja lurking about. This country even has its own hidden village."
Naruto asked "What's its name?" For some reason, the answer sent a small shiver down his spine.
"Amegakure – the village hidden in the rain"
-Obscuro-
Ta-da! Cliffhanger! What do you think?
Also check out my new story "Mugenjin of Judgement". It's a plot bunny that I had that refused to go away. Any suggestions in how to go with that story are welcome!
Read and review. Review. REEEVIEEEEWWWWW!