Noctis Eternum
Chapter Fourteen: Interlude The River Trail
Author Notes: Hello everyone. I have recently taken to making my chapters shorter so I can put more of them out often. I am conflicted between deciding if a 3.5k chapter length like chapter 12 or a 2.5k chapter length like last chapter is best. Is everyone satisfied with the chapter length these past two chapters? I would appreciate some feedback from everyone on this.
III = Interlude/ character perspective switch.
Bold text = Inner voice/ something important speaking.
There will be no crossovers, or characters from other shows.
The ship quietly drifted through Gonkoka River. Naruto turned the Captains wheel every now and then as the ship carried along through the boundary between Rice and Fire Country. It had been a few days since leaving Teki town and the journey had been very mundane.
Shuujin and Fu were playing a game of Shoji on the main deck. The girls laughed and exchanged stories of their childhood. Naruto smiled warmly thinking about how much an impact Shuujin's existence had on Fu ever since they picked up the diminutive girl. Fu's tan complexion had taken a more healthy flush and the dark circles under her eyes that had been there since the Daimyo disaster had all but disappeared.
Down below Shuujin laughed at something Fu said. Shuujin herself appeared relaxed and happy. He remembered first meeting her the girl had been on edge and anxious, which one could understand given her isolated life and the circumstances of their meeting. Now however Shuujin had become just as much a part of their little gang as the rest of them.
That wasn't to say their other members had been idle.
Konan was sitting lax in her lounge chair playing a game of poker with Kushimaru. The infamous nin had taken Naruto up on his offer to ferry him to the next city for his concert. The man had seemed a tad enamored with Konan and the two had quickly hit it off, often joking and sharing sake over a game of shoji or poker.
Naruto stifled a yawn, "How close are we to Safiron City? He called out to the bluenette Sitting on the main deck below him. The woman checked a stack of maps off to her side, "We should arrive in roughly two days if we take it slow and avoid the Konoha and Kumogakure patrols."
"Hm" Naruto rubbed his chin. Dark clouds gathered on the horizon and the wind had picked up, "A storm is brewing."
Konan put down her deck and looked at the sky with a squint, "It looks a fair distance off. We might be able to make it inland and drop anchor before the waters get rough."
Naruto nodded, "That is good. It should be smooth sailing from here on out."
