AN: hi all, as I am aiming for a believably strong Naruto, there will be no forest of death in this chapter. Sorry. Though it would make the perfect place for when he has to re-learn the Rasengan and his elemental affinity. So thanks for the suggestion. Also as it was a public holiday yesterday, Extra Long Chapter whoot!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I just think he's awesome.
Warning: May contain spoilers and/or clichés, if you are bothered or offended by either; why are you reading fanfiction?
'thinking'
"speaking"
jutsu
demon speak
Chapter 3.
Naruto remembered this time as a mixture of overwhelming fear and hunger. Having never stepped foot outside of the orphanage walls before, Konoha proved to be a confusing and dangerous place for the relatively sheltered six year old.
Days spent darting from alleyway to alleyway in search of food was bad enough, but the nights without adequate shelter left him particularly vulnerable. Secure sleeping areas were hard to find and if he found himself in the wrong neighbourhood after dark, he often found himself dodging stray dogs and drunken men intent on causing harm.
Naruto knew that if he was to survive he would need to first find a secure base. Years ago, when he was in the academy, he had found an abandoned training field at the far end of the Nara clan estate.
It was on the other side of the village from the public training grounds so safe enough from surprise visits from other shinobi in search of training space, and had obviously lain abandoned for a number of years as it was overgrown and the training posts half rotted. It was disused primarily as the Nara's were far too lazy to walk that far just to train and was too near the Nara deer preserve for too much noise to be tolerated.
Naruto had used it to practice his kunai throwing when he was ejected from the public training areas. For whatever reason, perhaps because they were too lazy or intelligent to give into hate, the Nara shinobi had always been the most tolerant of Naruto's presence growing up. As such Naruto deemed that the training ground of his childhood would make to perfect base in which to live until he was able to make his situation known to the Hokage.
Not only was it on the relatively safe lands of the Nara Clan estate, but it also had its own water supply in the form of a small stream and a sheltered area in which he could sleep in the form of a small cave in the base of a hill to the rear of the training grounds.
'Perfect' he thought to himself as he stealthily gathered his supplies from the hole he had dug at the base of a tree at the orphanage's back gate. Over the last two weeks Naruto had managed to gather a thin blanket from the laundry as well as a kitchen knife, flint and steel for making fire and a small pot from the kitchen. He had waited till just before his birthday so that the items would not be missed in the chaos caused by the festival preparations.
'Not enough for a comfortable existence, but at least this should help me survive the next two months or so.'
He wrapped his supplies up in the blanket and made his way into the village, making sure to stay in the shadows. Naruto had been thrown out in the early hours of the morning so luckily there were not too many people about, but he still wanted to be careful.
'I can gather food from the forest this time at least instead of eating out of trash cans. Thanks to the survival training we received at the academy I know what's safe to eat and what to avoid.' Naruto thought contentedly, 'I shouldn't get too hungry. I can make a fire with my flint and steel and I have a blanket. All in all it shouldn't be too bad and I can even train at the training grounds.'
Naruto slid into an alley and made his way to the other end, being careful of the rubbish piled around him. He waited for the villager's to pass before darting across the road to another alley. He smiled as he noticed the change in the building quality as he made his way into the clan area of the village. The houses here were much older and of better quality, most hidden behind large fenced areas that held whole estates of clan buildings and training areas.
The Nara estates, he was heading towards, were on the edge of the clan area on the opposite side to the Inuzuka clan and beside the Akimichi clan whose farm lands bordered the Nara deer preserve on one side. The Nara, a clan of shadow technique users, kept deer as their main source of income and as such their estate was the largest and backed onto the surrounding forest.
The training field that Naruto was heading towards was in a forgotten corner of the estate, quite far for a six year old to travel each day into the village but at least it was a safe place to sleep at night. 'And it will help me to build up stamina to travel so far each day,' Naruto affirmed to himself.
When Naruto finally arrived at the training ground he was pleased to find it just as he remembered. The grounds comprised of a large natural clearing perhaps twenty-five metres in diameter with a small stream running through one end and a small hill with a naturally formed cave (or perhaps overhand would be a more appropriate word) at the other end. A large circular area had been cleared and compacted in the centre so that no grass could grow in it and to one side of this there were three training posts imbedded into the ground, one of which had come loose and so tilted drunkenly to the side.
Naruto quickly set about setting his new home to rights. Setting his bundle down he unwrapped his thin blanket and shook out the dirt from when it was buried and hung it over a nearby bush to dry any lingering dampness. Grabbing a fallen branch he made his way over to the overhang and proceeded to sweep out the area of any debris, then cleared the space of any rocks.
Using the rocks he made a small fire pit at the front of the overhang to one side then stood up and dusted his hands in satisfaction. Taking his small kitchen knife he then made his way down to the stream and began to gather armfuls of reeds from the stream bank laying them down in the middle of the training area to dry in the sun. He then repeated the process with the tall grasses growing around the edge of the training area.
By this time Naruto was beginning to feel quite peckish and so decided to see what he could forage up as he searched for firewood. Luckily as it was early autumn, the forest was literally bursting with nuts, berries and edible mushrooms. After gathering enough firewood to last the night Naruto sat himself down in the sun and helped himself to the bounty he had managed to gather.
'If I remember correctly it took quite a while for the old man to hear that I had been thrown out of the orphanage last time, though it might have only felt like a long time because I was so damn scared and hungry all the time,' he mused to himself, 'Either way I'll have to see what I can do to speed up the process as I don't fancy being out here during the winter months even if it is quite pleasant right now.'
After his meal Naruto decided to set up some simple traps to catch game and built a fish trap at one end of the stream knowing that this was the simplest way for him to hunt given his current skill level. By the time he had finished it was late afternoon and time to set up for the night. Gathering the now dry reeds Naruto wove a basic sleeping mat which he then lined with the dry grass toping the whole thing with his blanket folded in half so that he could sleep between the layers.
He then set off to check his traps and forage once again for something to eat. Naruto was in luck, though his traps were empty of any game, he had managed to capture three small fish in his fish trap. Carrying his catch back to camp wrapped in some leaves with the nuts and mushrooms he had also managed to acquire carried in his small pot. Naruto felt quite pleased with himself.
Once back at camp he set about making a fire in his fire pit and making a simple fish and mushroom stew for dinner. Lying contentedly on his bed a few hours later, with a full belly for once in over a year, staring up at the stars, Naruto slid blissfully into a deep sleep.
(Time Skip - one month)
'Waking up to birdsong is quite a nice way to start the day,' Naruto thought contentedly as he stretched in the morning sun just outside his sleeping are. He then headed over to the small stream across the training ground to wash. Naruto had no problem with bathing in the cold water, by the time it was his turn to bath at the orphanage it was often not much warmer than this forest stream after all.
Cold water baths were a norm in Naruto's young life for even when he eventually moved into his apartment the hot water system to his rooms mysteriously broke on the first day and so he had never experienced a hot bath in his youth. He had observed people bathing in hot water at the local public baths but had assumed this to be a luxury reserved for onsens to which he was not welcome to enter. It was not till his first trip outside the village that he had realised that this was not the case.
'I'll have to obtain a couple of large pots to heat water in when I get my apartment,' he thought as he briskly washed his face and chest in the cold, clear water.
He turned bare-chested so that the warm morning sun could dry him and walked to some nearby bushes growing on the edge of the training area that were heavy with ripe berries. If there was ever a good time to be homeless on Konoha it was definitely this time of the year when the forest bushes were ripe and the nights were mild enough that a small fire and a thin blanket were enough to make them comfortable.
"But I still don't want to be out here in a couple of months' time when winter sets in, and if all goes to plan I won't need to." Naruto said to himself as he finished his last berry. Naruto had taken to talking aloud to himself to make sure he still could. After not talking to anyone for over a year he needed to train himself to speak aloud once more and he also had to work through his child like pronunciation as his throat and neck muscles were still week from disuse.
"Right! Time for morning training!" he cheered as he pumped his small fist in the air. Naruto began with some simple stretches before he started to jog around the edge of the training grounds. After completing ten laps he dropped to the ground in the middle of the space and did ten sets of push-ups, sit-ups and leg raises. He then gathered up some small stones from a prearranged pile and threw them at the training posts to begin training his eye and arms for target practice, from various distances and stances for an hour.
This was the training regime Naruto had thought of to help build up his strength and stamina in the first two weeks of his stay in the forest, and was to be completed at least twice a day. Of course it was not as strenuous as his past/future training exercises as it was not as long and did not use weights, but he was physically only six after all.
Even though Naruto wanted to quickly acquire his apartment once more as it would serve as a safe and secure place to train, he did take two weeks to simply be and try and gain as much strength as possible. After awakening that first morning he had realised just how stressed he had been over the past year as he had tried to get stronger all whilst trying not to get noticed and being unable to talk to anyone.
Two weeks of nothing but nature, eating and simple exercise was needed to recharge his mental reserves before he once again was forced to head back into the village.
After finishing his morning physical exercises, Naruto wiped the sweat from his body with his shirt and then settled down with his back against the middle training post to meditate. He closed his eyes and breathed in, taking in the world around him.
He became aware of the trees first, to the breeze ruffling the leaves overhead. Then he became aware of the animals returning to the area after being scared away by his earlier activity. The rabbit to his left at the edge of the field, the birds flying overhead, and the deer further into the forest itself moving along their rambling pathways.
Breathing out he became aware of the life force around him, the Nature Chakra present in everything from the animals to the plants, to even the ground beneath him. It was this Nature Chakra that he had learnt to utilise in his Sage Mode, though he knew it was much too dangerous for him to attempt to manipulate with his underdeveloped six year old chakra network. He did not want to become fossilised.
Though Naruto never underestimated his abilities it had taken many years for him to realise his own limitations. Through his sage training and his experience at the waterfall of truth he had gained a better understanding of himself, his strengths and his weaknesses. The obnoxious over-confidence of his youth had primarily been a product of his youthful ignorance and an unconscious rejection of the limitations placed upon him by others, and was eventually overcome by training and experience.
Naruto breathed in again and turned his focus from the external world to the internal and focused on the warm glow of his own chakra swirling just beneath his skin. After a year of daily chakra meditation Naruto had managed to manipulate his chakra in such a way that it now not only ran smoothly through his chakra network but also constantly saturated his bones, muscles and internal organs, in such a way that it was easily accessible.
He mentally sank down into the glowing energy swirling just beneath his belly button, allowing his mind to become buoyant as it was passively carried throughout his body like a leaf in a stream. His mind flew up along his spine, swirling around his heart and lungs before shooting up into his brain, then flowing down each arm in turn. Then up again and down his sides to his hips and then down each leg, before flowing back into the pool of chakra at his middle.
Once Naruto felt he had a complete grasp of the natural flow of his chakra he slowly began to exert his will upon it. He teased out a tendril of chakra from the main flow and directed it to pool in the palm of his right hand. Bringing his two hands together in a prayer gesture, Naruto began to pass a pulse of chakra between them.
When the flow was stable and a good rhythm had been achieved, Naruto began to slowly separate his hands whilst continuing to toss the chakra pulse from one hand to the next, seeing how far he could separate them before the pulse fizzled out. This physical manifestation of chakra was the product of the last years' worth of chakra meditation. It served as both a chakra control exercise and as a means to expel the excess chakra that already was beginning to build up in his small body.
For twenty minutes Naruto concentrated on tossing his ball of chakra, keeping the flow constant and stable, before he allowed his mind to wander. Manipulating chakra whilst distracted was an important skill for any ninja to learn and practice as it prepared them for armed conflict where a ninja routinely had to do so with much higher levels of chakra and more deadly distractions.
There was just so much that Naruto had to do, though he tried to concentrate only on what he could accomplish right now, he could not help but think of what needed to be accomplished over the coming years. His immediate concern was of course his own survival, him being extremely vulnerable in his current state, only once his housing situation and education was stabilised would Naruto be free to concern himself with the fate of his friends.
'I won't be able to contact Kurama for at least another couple of years, as his chakra system didn't really recover from his sealing until I was eight or so,' mused Naruto, 'Once I gain my apartment I must make sure to visit the old man Hokage as much as possible and try to befriend Sasuke before his family is killed. That shouldn't happen until the first week of the academy so I have a few years at least. But I don't know the exact day it happened and it might be hard to find out.'
Naruto breathed in and his expression became determined as he expelled his chakra pulse into the air and said, "But I will save him. Believe it!"
Standing up Naruto stretched and made ready to head into the village for the day. Over the last two weeks Naruto had made his way through the village, mostly moving through the alleyways, trying to unobtrusively make his presence known. He had scavenged through the village's dumpsters looking for anything useable for his survival and thus hinting at his homeless state.
Konoha had a strict policy against homelessness as it was a security risk. The villagers and shinobi were required to report any such to the proper authorities who would then find housing and gainful employment for the homeless person. There were always jobs in a ninja village such as weapons sharpening or even spare D-ranks, and so no excuse for unemployment which could only lead to temptation from foreign spies.
The reason that Naruto managed to remain homeless for so long last time, was that the villagers knew who he was and enjoyed watching him trying to survive in squalor as it justified their belief that he was just an animal. It also allowed them easy access for when they wanted to release their frustration by throwing rocks and rotten food at him on the pretext of moving him away from their dustbins.
The reason Naruto was unobtrusively making his presence known, was that he was never sure if the Ichiraku's charity had been extended as his homeless status was widely known or if it was because of a momentary whim but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Today, though, his patience should have its reward as it was time to implement his plan and reacquaint himself with his first family, the Ichiraku's, and his first love, Ramen. Naruto's love of ramen was legendary amongst those that knew him and was a product of genetics and the fact that it was the first meal served to him both warm and with genuine kindness.
By moving from alleyway to alleyway, Naruto navigated his way across the village to just behind the Ichiraku ramen stand, which was situated between the main training grounds and the academy. The Ichiraku dumpsters had never been a good source of food as the old man was very careful not to waste supplies and the customers very rarely left anything to be thrown out. But that was not the point of today's raid.
Naruto raised up the lid of the dumpster with a lack of his usual caution, allowing the lid to clang against the back wall of the ramen stand. He leaned half his body into the bin and began to root around as he waited.
"Who's there?" called out the deep, gruff voice of Teuchi Ichiraku from the back doorway. Naruto raised his head and assumed an expression of fright as he looked up to see old man Ichiraku. "What are you doing?" the man asked as he walked towards the dumpster.
Naruto jumped back in seeming panic and whimpered, "I meant no harm, I was only looking for something to eat. I'm sorry." He had turned to dash away when a large hand clamped down on his shoulder causing him to flinch and freeze in place.
"No need for that," said the old man kindly taking in Naruto's small size and ragged clothing. "Come inside, I'll make you something better than what can be found in there." Gently turning the small boy to face him.
"But I have no money," disclaimed Naruto.
"No problem," said the old man as he led Naruto through the backdoor. "I've got plenty of bowls in the back in need of a good scrub in exchange." Naruto smiled as he walked inside already anticipating the first slippery mouthful. His first taste of his true love in over a year.