I do not own Naruto, Dragon Age (minor, not to a degree warranting a crossover status(in my opinion) nor any other element that may arise in this story. I'm fairly sure that has well been established at this point... In any case, this story is for entertainment purposes only. Why else would it be in FanFiction?

Answer me that, I dare you! (Supreme glare (OF DOOM)!)

Of consequences: From it an Empire

Chapter Two: Life, both old and new

Land of Earth, four weeks later, fifteen years ago

By the time he opened his eyes he had already remembered where he was, how he got there and what had happened within four weeks since escaping Konoha. As if to affirm what he already knew despite the worn scowl on his lips which had yet to leave him for the past few days, he looked to the clothing that ended up replacing his tattered garb, the scrapped and chipped kunai he scavenged from the battles that plagued him, both of which coming from his defeated enemies, and the bingo book that ended up the closest thing to literature he ended up carrying with him for company... the Free Lance Bingo Book.

The concept of the bingo book was by no means unique throughout the Elemental Nations; each and every one of the five prime villages dutifully collected what information they could on rogue or, ideally, enemy shinobi with the hopes of eliminating them as a potential threat or, hopefully, collect the bounty associated with the target. Yet the five great villages of the Leaf, Cloud, Sand, Mist and Rock didn't have a monopoly of sorts on the concept of the bingo book, nor on any form of the idea of a village of shinobi. Few countries if any didn't have their own village and even then there was a loose clan of sorts, a congregation of shinobi either on the move for their own survival from rival groups or were on the run from others, most likely the villages they left behind... Even within the very lands hosting the greatest of the villages were such people, other villages and clans so to speak with no ties to the other villages, but due to the heavyset competition provided by their better named cousins few of these independent villages and clans existed within the Lands of Fire, Lightning, Wind, Earth and Water thanks to a severe lack of funding and aggression from other groups.

In the end for all their might none of the great villages had the capacity, the general intelligence or even the diplomatic authority to freely operate in other countries nor the manpower to continuously patrol their own borders. It was for this narrow, diverse graphic left unattended by the preferred villages that the Free Lance Bingo Book was intended for, regardless of the underlying purpose of the bounties associated with it be it to silence others or help eliminate dangerous targets by chance for example. To that end however it was relatively easy to get one's hands on these books, in turn they easily supplemented the bingo books belonging to the Five, updating them even in regards to rogues with bounties... especially large ones. Massive ones even... His own, as he learned, could jumpstart a new shinobi village by itself if the lucky bastards were frugal enough. Make a genin retire in luxury even should he suddenly turn up with the blonde's head held high as a trophy. With that said just about everyone everywhere who could hold a kunai in a fight or else wield a sword had forced him to change what plans he had cobbled together at each turn of the road; each town became a potential battleground for a skirmish amongst bounty hunters, a city an ambush for certain within its walls. It wasn't long that he had lost interest in fleeing to the Land of Waves, Spring, Ogres even for their relative familiarity lest they track him to there; more than enough bounty hunters were willing and able to endanger anyone willing to harbor him and even then he had learned that a smiling face could be just as deadly as an openly wielded knife, leading to more than one ambush in what he thought was a safe but temporary haven for himself and those like him. Even then he couldn't help but suspect what happened to him in Konoha could easily happen in the places he originally wanted refuge in, further discouraging the idea of seeking help from them much to his private shame.

Regardless, at the start of what would turn into the span of four weeks starting since his escape he had inadvertently traveled south, originally towards Wave, only to snake further south, sometimes walking, sometimes outright running through the tree tops, towards the first port available to reach Spring. By the second week he ended up trailing along the edge of the country, near the sea in a winding path in the direction of the Land of Lightning given the roads available. Though he didn't have either desire or reason to go to or come near Kumo in the first place he found himself reluctantly diverted himself towards the direction of the Land of Birds to the west, the Land of Hot Water in the north east soon after and back to the Land of Fire with meaning to after finally crossing the border... by then all the roads, all the pathways and trails began to blur with one another, what signs to give them a sense of meaning such as where they lead to and what dangers lie ahead having lost their meaning to him in the process as one attack after another at irregular rates began to take their toll on his body and mind; on some days it was one attack after another, others as many as one ambush whereas only two within the first two weeks were void of him having to hide at the least from his would-be captors; were it not for the Nine-Tails he suspected he'd die from sleep deprivation at some point, even by proxy by so much as failing to respond to an attack, much less slipping on an abandoned toy on a staircase.

By his third week he made his first kill within his entire conscious life, by accident for what it was worth. A man belonging to a team of mercenary brothers who saw an opportunity... in the days that followed their persistence turned into vengeful bloodlust brought on by the death of their comrade, forcing Naruto to kill off the rest of them as each consecutive death only seemed to enrage them to the brink of insanity...

Then there was the fourth week, the ratty end of which he had awoken to in the outcropping of rock along a ridge in the wastelands that made up the Land of Earth's western border, chasing a rumor that was as much his hope as it was a sense of purpose given he no longer had one. It was said that west of the mapped continent was a land without shinobi, dominated by samurai and daimyo as far as the eye could see that had no interest in their eastern cousins, especially since a desert said to take a week to cross served as a border between the Elemental Nations and themselves. Either way, neither nation or nations... whichever the case was, neither side had much contact with the other. If he had any chance for some semblance of peace then it was there, or at worst some land beyond that he doubtlessly never heard of since he never even knew of to begin with; every map he had seen thus far, old and new, only concerned itself with the Elemental Nations; for all he knew the rest of the world may as well never had existed as far as the Elemental Nations were concerned.

With a groan he sat himself up, reached into a stolen bag and produced a ration's bar for his breakfast as he sullenly eyed the stockpile of canteens he had more recently collected. He did a quick count and sighed as he counted fifteen, hopefully a good enough amount of water for someone as unfamiliar as himself when it came to a desert. With a grunt he hefted himself up, feeding himself as he did so, and bent down to in order to lay one strap after another on his shoulders in a crisscross pattern crossed his chest in an even number for balance sans the additional one to his right. With nothing pressing to warrant his attention he came to walk up the small outcropping of rock to get a better view of the only and hopefully only obstacle between him and a life of peace, or at least one without having to dodge shinobi and bounty hunters from the Elemental Nations at every turn.

XVX

Uzumaki Manor, present

He was startled out of his reminiscence by the familiar brown hand of his wife clapping his shoulder. "Been twenty minutes, my lord."

He rolled his eyes but smiled nevertheless as he turned to face her only to realize halfway through she had somehow stripped him down to his boxers long before she stolen his attention.

"Gah!" he jumped, his hands covering up what he may in unthinking surprise than anything else as she giggled to herself as she approached and opened up a wardrobe.

"It's not like there isn't anything I haven't seen before," she sighed as she began to pull out his more regal, relaxed wear, the sort he'd preferred to wear when he was going out for their humble colors which set people more at ease around him. The only thing clashing with the predominant browns and greens was the was the orange sash for a belt he insisted on wearing with it. The only item more ostentatious than that was the haori he would be constantly nagged to wear that bore the golden symbol of a four part whirlpool on its back and sleeves to remind people who he was... were the samurai, shinobi and already overly cautious advisors who were already far steeped in ancient traditions weren't so 'insistent' in him wearing at least one item of imperial regalia on him outside of battle he'd do away with it as well as anything else of the sort; enough people walked on eggshells around him as it was, the cloaked only made it worse much to his annoyance.

... His eyes narrowed as he came to scowl at her. She grinned back at him in return.

"Why?" he stated more so than asked.

"I figured you'd be less moody this way," she replied as she began to pick out her own wear. A moment later she gave him a teasing grin. "And I know for a fact you're never at your best when you're moody." She winked at him and resumed her perusal of her clothing as well as small ornamental headdresses which one could easily adorn themselves with. As for her husband, he only rolled his eyes despite the small grin on his face as he moved to dress himself.

"You're son is still a little miffed by the way," she nonchalantly added.

"So the cookie bribe didn't work, eh?"

"Caught that did you?" She let out a playfully 'weary' sigh as she planted both hands on her hips, a decorative comb in one hand. "And here I thought I was being clever."

"Yes well save for that cat that hangs out at our porch, he doesn't tend to stay still for very long," he grumbled as he put on a pair of pants. "If it was ramen though I wouldn't have much of a problem with it."

She chuckled softly. "And how is it that ramen is different from cookies now?"

He looked up to give her a serious glare many an elder making a point. "Because ramen is food of the gods!"

It was her turn to roll her eyes, complementing it with a mild shake of her head. "You haven't convinced me what's so great about it twelve years ago and you're not doing it now." Her grin widened at his quieted grumbling as he continue to dress himself in near silent annoyance at his defeat.

"Do you think I should tell him?" he suddenly asked a few minutes into changing into his clothes, the sash fastening both his tucked in kimono shirt and pants in place. "How I became the emperor in the first place I mean."

She shrugged as she picked out a plum kimono and inspected it with a thoughtful frown. "Is this because of what happened earlier?" she asked.

"Sort of." He slipped into his haori one arm at a time. "But really I can't help but worry for him."

She didn't say anything as she stripped herself down to a a black bra and panties so as to dress herself in a kimono. "I suppose one day you'll find yourself giving him this talk. However I imagine it would be a few years from now when his cute little head starts getting to big for his own good. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up chasing fireflies out of boredom as he is now before you even get to halfway through your story," she added with a small chuckle.

"Fair enough," he relented in defeat, causing her to pause in mid wrapping of herself in her formal choice of dress.

"Of course any story could use a little editing here and there," she added. She turned her head and gave him a smile. "Besides, no matter how experienced I get with these kimonos it always takes me a few minutes. Not to mention do my hair."

"And I bet the shadow guards would enjoy a few extra minutes to plan and prepare," she added with a sly smile to match the one he gratefully gave her in return.

XVX

Yonzo Province, Fifteen years ago, night fall

Of the fifteen he had in his possession when he started only four canteens of water were left on his person, the rest either forgotten or outright abandoned along the way in pang of apathy under the sweltering heat. Regardless, he award himself a tired smile lit his face. In no less than seven days he had successfully crossed the desert and into the foreign nation just in time for nightfall. For a moment he simply stopped and basked in the cool breeze which felt alien to him thanks to the heat, watching the trees sway in the night in peace without being on alert for hopefully the flash of hardened steel for once in what felt like years.

Rumble.

Worryingly he looked up to the sky and found the stars which were as plenty as they were on any other night had already been halved along with a portion of the waning moon. Clouds already darkened with rain had drowned out half the sky in a sea of inked black darkness and moved rapidly to swallow up the rest of the night sky, bringing with it the smell of damp earth and the occasional jolt of lightning arcing to and fro within the clouds in the distance.

By the time he took his first step a light torrent of rain began to pelt him as the world became pitch black. A crack of thunder rocking his ear drums but a second later by the time he came to a full sprint to the forest that was before him.

To his luck he encountered no bushes or even low hanging branches to hinder him, leaving but the odd tree trunk he only discovered too late time and again in his rush the only enemy worth mentioning. Before he knew it he ended up traveling up the gentle slope of a hill, still hitting the occasional tree along the way even as he reached the apex of the hill and ran down it in a careful jog as the soil became inconsistent with mud. Despite his mild caution he slipped and slid anyway for a short distance as his other foot came down to find balance, thankfully finding purchase with stable ground in relatively flat terrain not even five feet from the top. Even in the rain he stopped and blew out an unwittingly tensely held breath in recognition for his safety before blindly wandering through the darkness once more at a slower pace, soon coming out into what felt like an open area, a spacious grove perhaps for all he knew.

"Gah!"

One as he learned in a familiar manner that had a wall. And a roof supported by which if the pattering of rain above was correct.

His hand blindly groped the wall as he began to strafe alongside of it. In short order he found a corner and slipped around it, his hand still on the wall and likewise repeated the process of what evidentially was a small dwelling of some kind. In the darkness he found a door, a shoji door which he opened without delay and ducked inside into the blissful cover from the rain. It was a half second however that he considered stepping out again considering he may have very well entered someone's home without permission. But between the rain and cover he decided to risk whatever reponse that would come from him being inside already.

"Hello?" he called out only to wait with nothing but the patter of the rain on the roof and the ground just behind him... he frowned and strained his ears as he thought he heard rain pouring into the room before him. "Is anyone in here?" He took a step forward, his foot bumping against a raised wooden floor which squeaked as he put pressure on it, and on a hunch reached out a hand in the direction of the third source of rain. He grimaced the moment his hand was made wet once more from what was doubtlessly a hole in the roof. Listening carefully, he couldn't help but suspect there was another breached in the roof somewhere in the darkness... "Anybody home?" he asked more quietly than before.

Frowning, he closed the door behind him and fumbled about in the dark for a dry spot. Though most of the abode, shed, whatever it could possibly be was dry for the most part he found shoulder in a corner where he sat himself with what few possessions he had set to his side, a knife in one hand all the while as he settled himself for whatever reprisal he might face come morning.

Clenching the knife out of habit and tying a string to ensure he didn't easily lose it in his sleep as he had in the earlier weeks in the Elemental Nations, he soon drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

XVX

Morning

Had he another change of clothes he would've changed into them after he woke up to the daylight streaming into the room. Yet between the chance of being discovered nude by accident or suffering from the exceptionally rare cold or some other sickness, he chose to remain in his soaked clothing as he ate his breakfast of ration bars and water as he eyed the one room building. The roof, as he suspected, indeed had two holes in it: one near the door where he first came in and the other sitting close to the corner to his right. Other than the entrance where a small gap of a dirt floor was present, most of the abode had a wooden floor save for a rectangular pit in the middle where a rusted pot had fallen from what looked to have once been a stand which collapsed onto the ground. Two of the pit's sides had a post sporting a hole near the top, a placeholder for what used to have been a solid rod of wood which doubtlessly broke under the pot's strain. Aside from the floor and the cooking pit and the wooden floor there was nothing else to be considered luxurious about the room despite the state of disrepair, the dust and the signs of warping underneath the holes, no doubt caused by exposure to the weather such as last night.

At long last he stood up, stretched his legs and made for the door, subsequently stepping out of the house to see what was previously hidden away under the cover of last night's storm. In front of the house was evidentially a road, a dirt one that nature was slowly coming to reclaim. Just before that, between him and the road, sat a yard overrun with wild vegetation from tall grass to shrubs to vines choking what may have been a fence barring casual passage from the road. It wasn't necessarily a yard however, that much he could tell. Perhaps it was meant to be one, yet no matter how he looked at it he couldn't help but think it as something of an unwitting extension of the larger portion of the yard to his right...

Squinting at something in the larger yard to the right he turns and leaves the safety of the abode to march towards something jutting up from the tall grass, covered in vines much like the suspected fence. When he reached it her grabbed it and attempted to yank it free only for the rod-like object to budge at the most. With a grunt he pulled on it once more with greater effort, this time being rewarded with the snapping of vines as he tugged. Taking a deep breath he stopped for a moment only to yank at it once more.

Snap!

"Oof!"

For his efforts he managed to wrench the item free which miraculously didn't snap under the strain, yet he fell back regardless. Taking a moment to assess himself he looked at what was still clutched in his hands, his eye coming to draw itself on the rusty blade of a farming hoe which was caked with damp dirt.

"Huh..." In short order he stood up and turned around, turning full attention on the house as he held the tool at his side. The rooftop was in tatters, many of its shingles having fallen out or else stripped entirely as a handful of stones on the rooftop held what few remained in place. The walls themselves were dirtied, though they probably were far cleaner than they ever been in a long time thanks to the deluge that was last night; surrounding the front and back of the home were disorganized bundles of stones, most likely having slipped off the roof at one point or another.

At movement to his right his sight was drawn to an elderly man in worn clothing. His face from what could be seen of a unkempt beard was as haggard, his hair was slowly turning from gray to white. His garb was simple but worn like him with an obvious bit of stitching around the middle of his chest and elsewhere like his pants legs. His feet however were bare save for a pair of geta digging into the mud of the road, even then they were dirtied from recent travel. In his hands were the hand holds for the arms bearing a small covered cart which stood behind him. Like Naruto his own attention was directed at the only other person nearby. Unlike the blonde the older man seemed to be as tense as he was quizzical, observing, as if trying to divine who Naruto was and why he was there by the way the teenager was simply standing there alone.

Thinking of no better recourse at the moment. Naruto moderately raised his hand in a friendly wave as he gave the older man a reserved smile. "Hey!"

When the older man didn't answer his grin dropped slightly as old fears began to creep up already under the man's unrelenting stare.

"I'm not... intruding, am I?" he asked.

"You're from the lands to the East, are you not?" the man solemnly asked. Naruto, in turn, let loose a slight pent up breath in mild relief.

"Yeah!" he answered. "How can you tell?" he asked both out of curiosity and in hopes of keeping the conversation going.

"You'll find very few people within these lands with hair like yours," he answered solemnly as before, "Even then it would most likely be dyed." He dipped his head and closed his eyes in thought. "That and most carry an air to them only found amongst the nobility and samurai... both those with or without lords to serve." He returned his attention on Naruto. "So why are you here?" he asks.

Naruto's mouth made to answer him yet he cut himself off, a hand scratching the back of his head in nervous thought. "I see," the old man said a moment later as again he dipped his head and closed his eyes. "Whatever your intentions are, whatever you plan to do, heed this: for us those who come from the East bring nothing but trouble in their wake. I myself never heard of an outsider who hadn't sabotaged a prominent merchant, laid waste to an army or slain a warlord of great power... as such I warn you that those from the East are watched very carefully by everyone; a friendly greeting would be very rare in deed for you in these lands." Without looking he began to move, following the road with experience without needing to open them.

"H-Hey!" The older man stopped and turned to Naruto, one eye wearily cracked open as the teenager dashed up to him, hopping the fence as he did so. With the hoe in hand he came to stop to the man's side. "Thanks for the arning," he said with a slight, grateful smile which was worn away by a concerned frown. "But seriously though, was I... intruding here?" He gestured to the house, causing the man to look at it with a thoughtful frown as well. "I mean, does anyone live there...?"

"... No," he answered as he slowly turned away. "No one had lived there since the last son was conscripted for a war some years ago..." He began to saunter away, albeit decrepitly as if his spirit, body and mind were in three different places at once. "As such it's been abandoned and left to ruin, the last son either having died off and no longer cares enough for the plot of land he was born on to at least visit it in what time he has off... I doubt anyone would really care if someone took up residence there at this point."

"I see..." he muttered as the man walked off. Without a word he slowly treaded back to the long since abandoned house by means of the still soaked road and the 'gate,' or rather the gap in the fencing which constituted as such. He came to stand before the simple building and considered what to do given what he was told, minimal as it was. Should he stay? Find out if what the old man said was true about this nation in regard to "outsiders"? Or should he go? Avoid the hassle entirely and set out for another land where such animosity wasn't as likely? Now that he thought about it he wasn't exactly that far from the border at this moment... at least he didn't think so, it was hard to tell considering last night. Still, if he could find this by accident in a rainstorm then so can someone else from the Elemental Nations... if they tracked him to the west at least. And if he were to leave, where to? Where would he even get any supplies short of stealing now that is sole source of resources was gone for the time being? And if he were to stay here, taking the old man's word at face value, who was to say he could even live here without arousing some nearby village's ire just for being a foreigner? Before he knew it he would probably be facing samurai thanks to them if the previous rumors were true, and if he were to beat or worse yet kill them then in all likelihood he would only make things a hell of a lot more difficult for himself. He might even have to flee this country without much of a plan just like he left the Elemental Nations, blindly crossing a country that would probably lynch him as soon as look at him if defeating some lord's samurai in self defense sent the wrong message.

With a sigh he scratched his head and made for the door as he tried to cram his worries into the back of his mind for the moment. It was his first day in this country and he didn't need to stress about the what ifs and what wills. For once in a very long time he was just going to spend the day doing nothing, contemplate nothing... rest up as he avoided thoughts of what to do and whether or not he should do something... or even ponder if he can ultimately survive his situation.

He pulled the door open once more and let his gaze drop to the floor as a flicker of something disappeared into the shadows of the abandoned house after its brief appearance in the morning light. He couldn't help but squint at the spot where it was last seen, coincidentally enough a small knothole he hadn't noticed before which lay underneath the first hole in the roof, right in front of him. With a frown he kneeled down and pressed his hand against the warped boards and with a single experimental push he grimaced at the sound of crunching. A part of him paused out of respect that this wasn't his home, yet given it's abandoned nature he couldn't help but continue by sticking a finger through the hole and pulling at it. A moment later it came free, The board effectively crumbling away in chunks as what was left was placed on the floor as he peered inside the hole he made with a reserved grimace.

He couldn't help but blink in confusion however at what he found.

A flower, a white daisy of all things sat underneath the board, in the darkness brought to light. Reaching out he brushed his fingers along the petals, confirming it was real...

How long had it been there? How did it even survive? Surely just a dab of sunlight from a knothole sized gap and something as fickle as the weather couldn't have sustained it all this time... It just wasn't possible... was it?

He smirked long before he realized it...

Was it not also "impossible" for him to take on Pain and defeat when he attacked when it was reduced to a one-on-one fight? Survive a prophecy of his very demise? To fight and defeat everyone with an ego and a borderline unnatural ability that was or was close to being a kekkei genkai? Neji back at the exams, especially when all he was taught was how to summon, which he was forbidden to use? Hell, jinchuriki or not, he was willing to bet anyone would've died on their own with all the crap he went through back in the Elemental Nations! Even that cynical miser Kakuzu managed to survive since the First shinobi War, granted he essentially and quite literally stole the lives of others in the form of their beating hearts to extend his own life but he survived nevertheless, and as a bounty hunter himself no less! One under the employ of the Akatsuki, but still! If Naruto could survive all that, overcome the odds time and again then what were a few villagers who didn't like him just for coming from a different place? An army of samurai? Lords even? If he had to leave then so be it, but he was going to survive, turn around and laugh at all those who thought they could bring him down and start anew somewhere else!

And though he didn't have a dream to work to now, a goal to aspire too, he was going to start anew with the chance that was given to him now!

With a smile he regarded the flower with a "thank you" before standing up and dashing out the door in all haste. A second later he tore back through to his collection scavenged supplies which he rummaged through like a madman. Grabbing a holster of kunai he rushed back out the door and in no time ran down the road in the direction of the old man with the cart.

XVX

"Hey! Old guy!"

With a marked scowl the older man stopped in his tracks and craned his head to glare at the blond in a disapproving fashion as the younger man came to a stop in a slight pant.

"Sorry to bother you but are you by chance a trader or something?" He pointed at the cart, in turn causing the older man's eyes to narrow in suspicion.

"... Just to warn you, your..." he paused for a moment as if searching for the right word, "paper currency was it?" At Naruto's nod he continued, elaborated even. "We put our faith more in coin than in paper than the East does; "paper money" would have little value here if at all."

At this Naruto grinned slightly and held up the case and produced a kunai from within in what he hoped was a non-threatening manner given the man's lack of reaction. "Would bartering work?" he asked, flipped the knife in his hand and presented the handle to the older man who went back and forth between the sheepishly grinning blond and the weapon.

To his relief the man accepted the knife and undid the tarp of his small wagon.