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 Three: Beginning steps
Yonzo Province, fifteen years ago, one week later
For the better part of a week he had been keeping himself busied with hunting for food, discovering which plants and berries were or were not poisoned, but most of all weeding the homestead as well as patching up what he could. Throughout the entire week he had no visitors of any sort other than the old man he encountered earlier and again a few days later as he sauntered on by while barely sparing him a glance as the blond waved at him. If there were any other 'visitors,' including hostile ones, then Naruto didn't find them nor detect them in the least on either the road or in the surrounding forest.
With a decent amount of provisions stored away for himself, the roof patched up to the best of his ability and the field itself having been thoroughly weeded it was only a matter of time before he became stir crazy enough to want to risk talking to someone who may very well want to see his head on a stake for different reasons than almost everyone in the Elemental Nations for better or worse.
Yet rather than literally walk up to them and say "hi" he decided to do something he almost never done: plan things out... . A henge would be simple enough. It had to be a custom one however so as to not unwittingly draw attention to himself in the event said person was either famous enough to be noticed or simply well known enough to notice an oddity like being in two places at once, much less finding out later said someone was infamous like himself. That was certifiably phase one of his plan.
Phase two of his plan however gave him pause the more he thought about it... Say he were to go up to them, in disguise no less, what would he say? "Hello! I'm the guy who's living in that abandoned farm down the way!" What happens if that becomes an issue? Would he have to run again? Though he really had no ties to this land the notion alone terrified him... It was hellish onto itself trying to navigate through the Elemental Nations alone with almost every mercenary, bounty hunter and village on the hunt for him. Even then he at least had a map for the most part and some familiarity to boot. Here he had neither of those things, how would he fair in an unknown land with a people that hated him out of principle alone? He could simply keep his mouth shut about it and basically learn as much as he could before going back... 'home'... With luck, if anyone asks, they may think he was simply an exile or a hermit if they ever asked where he came from and where he was staying, provided of course they think he wasn't staying here. If worse comes to worse he could simply leave. If he was lucky in that regard then he could quite possibly make it out without incident and with nothing more serious than a griping lot of villagers as he relocated somewhere else. To another abandoned home perhaps if he stumbled across one? Or would he have to blindly amble about the countryside before realizing her was no longer within the... country? Nation? Out of the 'West' in general at least if he wasn't paying attention.
In the end long before he realized it half a day gone had gone by with nothing but him sitting in the exact same spot doing nothing more than clutch at his own arms right above the elbow in something of a contemplative choke hold. Seeing as he was stuck on "phase two" thanks to what ifs and scenarios of what may happen he relented from his thoughts to work on arduous task of making a henge with base made from scratch.
XVX
Village outskirts, the day after
With his entire afternoon dedicated to bringing about a favorable henge he was ready to meet the villagers so to speak. Yet unfortunately he was still working on the second phase of his plan and thus barely had anything at all other than a few general questions. Stuck as he was he decided to remedy his more current problem, at least in part, by finding the first village he could find and observing them from a distance. To that end he ended up following the path the elderly merchant took in hopes of finding such a village.
What he didn't know however was that the road the man took had been reclaimed by nature at some point; grass had long since covered the dirt road and the forest which surrounded him to begin with had sprouted enough brush for him to follow what he thought was the road. In the end he found a village though. More to his luck he ended up spying on it from the side of a hill basking in the collective shade of the forest which surrounded most of it.
As he observed the village it was obvious that yhere were no walls as far as he could tell. It was a fairly small farming community with its fields plowed yet bearing no obvious crops as of yet. The people were open and friendly, at least towards each other. Going into and out of the village proper were nothing but a pair of dirt roads, one more used than the other as nature slowly reclaimed the other one. Of the village itself it was a motley collection of homes and what appeared to be a storehouse, each building well maintained if not a little bit run down... He couldn't help but frown slightly in confusion as he noticed no power lines; destitute as it was back then even Wave had power lines and electricity, not that they could afford to use it much at the time thanks to Gato and his army of thugs. Was this village on the outskirts of the country? It wasn't unheard of at least for a rural village not to have anything more luxurious than a light bulb back in the Elemental Nations. Then again it also wasn't unheard of for power lines to run underground so not to disturb the scenery.
Regardless, no matter what the case may be he eventually found himself mapping escape routes and was simultaneously looking out for any sign of danger for what may have been an hour... a habit he unfortunately picked up in hopes of improving his ability to survive given his recent experience. For better or worse it certainly saved him from more obvious ambushes and the more dimwitted opportunists, few though there were even when combined. At the utter least it helped him know what to expect as far as terrain went when he managed to take the time to look ahead at what is suppose to be an innocent little town or village... not that it lessened his nerves by any great stretch. Even during his week in seclusion, a vacation of rest considering the previous weeks, he couldn't help but look over his shoulder on occasion whenever he heard a rustle amongst the foliage and trees only to find a bird during the day or at best a badger minding its own business at night.
It was just said rustling that swiftly drew his attention away from the village to the forest behind him. As he turned he discreetly slid the ring of a kunai's pommel into his hand from his 'sleeve' which he sandwiched between his hand and his leg to conceal, hidden from anyone who may have innocently stumbled onto him yet ready if he needed to defend himself.
From the brush came a man looking to be in his early thirties, someone built from a lifetime of physical labor despite being Naruto's own unaltered height. Roughly everything not of his skin was brown, his hair, his mustache, his eyes and even the frayed grass-like sandals on his feet. His semi-worn pants had obviously seen better days as made evident with the patchwork on it. His open vest and the darkened, dirtied shirt just underneath were only a step ahead. Atop his head and keeping his hair at bay was a headband. On both arms, one of which holding an axe with a large blade aloft on his shoulder and the other carrying a bundle of finely chopped wood in the crook of his arm, were a pair of arm bands situated around his wrists. He stared and blinked at Naruto, taking in what he would see as a black haired man just entering his twenties, plainly clothed in brown much like the older man only with a trim of white for his pants, and relatively simple sandals made of 'wood.'
"Did you get lost?" the man suddenly asked.
"I—uh... Well—" Naruto attempted to say something with a nervous laugh when the older man cut him off with a boisterous one of his own.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about! Hell, I and half of the village got lost on that road a couple of times by accident! And certainly more than a few merchants tried taking that old road as some kind of short cut before finding out half of it is missing!" Without missing a beat he walked over, craned his head enough to wedge the handle of the axe between his shoulder and neck so as to free his hand and clapped the disguised shinobi's shoulder. "So what brings you to Yama?"
"Well..." he started only to cut himself off in hesitation. As much as he thought about it he couldn't think of anything believable to use on anyone let alone himself. As such there was only one conversational piece that he could think of that would be reasonable enough to not arouse suspicion was the very one he was reluctant to use, assuming of course he had an insane amount of luck... the only cold comfort he could think of to remedy this was for all he knew the old man had stayed here for a bit at least alluded to Naruto's stay there, compromising his existence already if only to an extent. "... I was wondering about that abandoned little farmstead down the road..."
The older man blinked in confusion as he lowered his hand after retrieving his axe. "Farmstead? What are you—" He halted himself and cupped his chin in thought. "Yeah now that I think about it... yeah, the man who lived there got conscripted or something when I was a kid." He looked up at Naruto with an inquisitive look. "What do you want to know about it?"
"I was wondering if I had to talk to someone in particular here if I wanted to, say, move in," Naruto all but nervously offered, his hand uncomfortably massaging the back of his neck to hide his apprehensive state. Already he could think of how things would end badly for him in the span of the next hour.
The older man perked up a brow. "Really? Kind of isolated isn't it?" He gestured to the village. "If you're wanting to join our little village then I don't think anyone would mind letting ya live with them for a bit. After you get the Village Chief's permission of course," he said with a smile.
The shinobi laughed a bit nervously. "I'd rather not inconvenience anyone like that," Naruto replied.
"Eh, suit yourself then." He hefted the axe along his shoulder and made to descend the hill they were on. "Let's go see the Chief then!"
Blinking in mild confusion Naruto soon followed after the older man. "Uh, thanks!" he all but mumbled. "But I don't want to bother—"
"You're not bothering me kid!" the man laughed just before coming to an almost abrupt halt. He turned to him with a small frown. "By the way, I didn't catch your name there..."
For a split second Naruto panicked in the safety of his own mind which screamed in terror. He didn't stop to think about whether or not to come up with a name! Immediately a part of him wanted to admittedly blurt out his own name and yet he kept quiet; as much as he wanted to believe the old man, for all he knew the lands to the west had at least some ties with the Elemental Nations, unfriendly as they might be... Then again he did go through the effort of making a disguise for a reason. An ounce of safety as the Third used to say.
"Jiraiya," he stated without thinking it through till it was too late. By the time he clenched his teeth in self rebuking frustration the older man closed his eyes as he let out a small but boisterous laugh. "Call me Taro! Sorry for not introducing myself earlier!" Once more the man began to meander down the hill, leaving a solemn Naruto to listlessly follow as he guiltily berated himself for making use of pervy-sage's name on an unthinking whim.
Before long they had reached the village proper where he did his best to hide away his sullen mood, bottling it up for the time being as curious eyes idly swerved to them. More than a few faces were friendly enough to smile and wave at them, as to who those were actually meant for he could only guess. As expected however more than a few were carefully observing him, more often than not with a small frown. Otherwise as for the most part it was nothing but a normal village as he had observed before, the elderly sitting on the occasionally spotted bench, people returning from the fields and milling about or else practicing some other vocation, and children running amok on the streets during one game or another. Yet there was no sign of any sort of modernization; no light bulbs to illuminate the darkened indoors. No glass windows, just wooden frames and coverings for them often in the form of a propped up wooden flap. Evening spying on a passing carter with a bandana acting as a face mask he would willingly wager that there was no plumping as well.
Looking up as soon as he realized they were moving up the gentle slope of a hill he quickly deduced exactly where it was the village chief resided in, the one and only two story house within the village, the second largest building of the village outside of the apparent storehouse; like the others the walls were cracked from age, the roofing tiles weathered. Just before they neared the front door it had slid open, revealing an elderly woman of silvery jaw-length hair who wore brown robes, a headband intricately patterned with blue and white triangles with square dots of the opposite color in each of them keeping her hair at bay much like Taro. In her hands was a thick cane which she used to help herself hobble out of the house. In quiet surprise she looked up at the two of them and observed the obvious stranger of the two. With a courteous bow she greeted them. "I am Fujiko, leader of this village. Or rather deferred to as much since no one has claimed that title just yet. What is it that I may help you with?" she asked with a kind smile.
Naruto flashed her a smile, one he hoped that didn't show any of the anxiety hidden away by it. "I'm Jiraiya," he introduced himself with a slight bow, a semi-conscious twitch of angst held at bay for the time being. "I know this is an odd question but..." he mildly turned in the general direction the faded road and pointed beyond it. "... I was wondering if I would be upsetting anyone here or another nearby village if I lived in that farm down the road?"
She blinked in confusion for a moment as she frowned at him in thought. A second later her eyes widened at an unspoken realization. "I see..." She closed her eyes and drew a small breath. "I'm almost too embarrassed to admit it but I almost completely forgotten about it." She softly sighed as she wearily eyed him. "To answer your question, young man, that if anyone would be upset it would be me, pointless as it is," she admitted. She closed her eyes as she recalled her knowledge of it.
"My last remaining nephew once lived there after my brother died, growing exotic crops in relative peace in hopes of fetching more coin for our village when they were sold. As successful as it was it was unfortunately short lived when he was conscripted to fight a war in the north... No one, not even I had heard any news of him since then." She sighed and regarded him with a thoughtful frown for a moment. "Ever since the new daimyo succeeded his father he has been placing stricter regulations on who would travel and to where; outside of what few traders that are left you would almost find no one traveling the roads anymore, much less living as far out as that farm." She grew quiet and dipped her head. "If they are lucky then anyone other than a merchant would simply be forced back to the village. If not then a much worse fate may befall them."
At 'Jiraiya's' subtle, uncomfortable shifting Taro laughed much like he had before. He even went as far as to set the axe down to slap the teenager on the shoulder. "But for better or worse those bullies at the nearby outpost have been getting fat and lazy! Otherwise they would've found you long ago!" he laughed till it died down with a frown of dour note. "Of course the trade off is that we have to be more wary of bandit attacks than before."
"Indeed, it is," she agreed with a slight nod. "To answer your question you will not have any problems from us if you wish to reside there. However you would be in peril more so out there than here. Say what you will of them but bandits tend to stay away from large numbers of village folk. They would risk the direct ire of the daimyo if so many of his farmers suddenly fell to them."
"I see," he said as he scratched his head in thought, a matching frown on his face as she carefully scrutinized him for reasons unknown. As much as he would've liked to wonder about that he couldn't help but preoccupy himself with his current dilemma. The abandoned farm as it stood gave him relative secrecy and a place to stay to start anew even if it meant he was no longer a shinobi under the strictest of terms. Yet apparently it also meant that he may have to keep an eye out for patrols of soldiers and roaming bandits if he didn't want to be relocated or attacked in general. On the other if he were to take their offer then he would have to keep his guard up almost every minute of the day and even into the night; one severe enough scratch to his henge or the complete lack of concentration afforded by sleep would force him back to his real appearance. Yet since at the most he only cleaned the farmstead it up and performed minor repairs at the cost of only a few of his kunai in trade for some supplies to do so he wasn't exactly burdened to stay either.
Either way it went, would it be better for him to stay, or would he be better off leaving altogether in the end?
Suddenly the older woman tilted her head down, her eyes closed and with a knowing smile. "In any event if you wish for company and to stay for a few nights here then all you need to do is ask. I only ask you don't stay overly long without giving us something of an answer."
He flashed her a smile, one he hoped didn't show the unease he felt as he continued to mull things over. "Thank you for the offer," he said before bowing and departing soon after. With a sigh he began to rub the back of his neck as he traveled down the path from the chief's house.
He was just about to reconsider his options once more in relative seclusion when the panicked shouts of the villagers grabbed his attention, forcing his senses to become alert, looking about in confusion as people ran to and fro whilst he again discreetly had the pommel of a kunai in the palm of his hand. It was only a moment later that the distant thunder of hooves was heard by him as the horses drew closer in a full gallop. It wasn't long after that the rambunctious shouts of men were barely heard over the charging horses whom ran into plain view in the equivalent to the village's square, eight in total wearing ragged samurai armor. They all came to a halt at the storehouse and the men hopped off their horses. All but three of them stormed into the building as the others waved their swords menacingly at the villagers, most of which fleeing out of principle whilst a few returned with pitchforks or any other makeshift weapon they could gather on short notice. Yet as angry as they were they didn't charge the samurai even as their number slowly doubled the entire band of raiders. As Taro joined with the angry mob, speeding past Naruto, his pack of cut wood seemingly forgotten in a scattered heap on the ground in his haste, the shinobi himself found himself frozen after taking one step forward, his mind already awhirl with the variations of worse case scenarios...
As the number of farmers was just about numbering to twenty the rest of the bandits burst out from the storehouse, arms laden with sacks of what he could only guess to be grain judging from how malleable they were upon being thrown onto the horses. Not even a second was wasted as the men themselves jumped onto the horses and charged into the crowd, initially dispersing the villagers who neither wanted to be trampled nor slashed at as the samurai waded through them, buying enough time for the ones still on foot to mount their own horses and join in on the escape as they muscled through the crowd of angry villagers, their escape made all the easier as most were knocked aside by the horses or knocked down from a lucky block of swinging katana. As they quickly gained ground from the villagers they victoriously laughed loud enough to be heard over the dimming thunder that was their retreat.
As for the mob of villagers, those that didn't feebly try to chase after them stood there as if stricken with somber horror. A few of them even collapsed onto their knees and wept. Curious at best, feeling guilty at worse for choking up without warning, Naruto slowly approached Taro from his side as the older man he gazed out at the dwindling figures that were bandits. "No one got hurt did they?"
Listlessly the older man looked to him with what little energy he seemingly had at this point. "No," he stated. "Sadly though I can speak for all of us that we'd rather have dead comrades rather than our already meager harvest stolen."
Naruto couldn't help but let a confused frown slip through his reserved facade. "I'm afraid I don't understand," he carefully said, earning a frown from the older man himself as he fully addressed the shinobi.
"You're definitely not from this country are you?" The moment 'Jiraiya' shook his head the older man heavily side as his spirit seemed to leave him. "I really hate telling this," he grumbled as he dully scratched the back of his head, his eyes closed while doing so.
"As much as we hate it there's a reason we're bullied into staying in our villages," he said. "Apparently the Daimyo of our province made a 'deal' with the Daimyo of the Shiki, one of our more stronger 'neighbors...' one of many honestly. In exchange for peace between our countries then ours is to never have a standing army of samurai and we are to trade them koku by the hundreds, or at least food in general in bountiful amounts. If the Lord or any of his retainers can't get so much as the minimum of our potential yield from any of the villages then they purchase koku from other lands." His eyes opened at last as he scowled at Naruto, though not necessarily at him per se. "Unfortunately they found a good way to mix in their trade with punishment as well. Wakai, one of the northern countries, makes its living in the slave trade. If their tax isn't paid then villagers from the failing villages are taken and sold them to Wakai..." He regarded the crying men who were being pulled up and slowly escorted away by their sullen neighbors. "... while its said they pay generously for anyone sold to them if they're in good health, from what we hear they are willing to pay for young women for a far heftier price, no questions asked." He drearily sighed as what life left in him seemed to have left him. "Regardless, be it money or food given in trade, the Daimyo will get his tribute..."
At the shinobi's stunned silence he turned away and began to listlessly amble towards the village in general. "What they stole may not have not looked like much but we as a community survived solely because of it," he mumbled aloud. Any interest he had in being heard was long since gone. He looked like he wanted a drink, a strong one to demolish his senses and rewrite today by some miracle. Nor was he the only one with this look.
Without a word Naruto left, no one taking great notice or even cared for him doing so, leaving him to his thoughts as he quietly watched what was once a vibrant village now look to be in the throes of a funeral's wake as news quickly of what had just happened spread like wildfire. Men, women and children came together with their families and embraced one another as if it were the last time any of them were going to be seen, more than a few already crying into each other's arms who desperately tried to console them or else looked like apathetic corpses that still drew breath... Looking at them and their darkened eyes, their dead eyes, glazed over and dimmed for what was to come, he couldn't help but wonder if that's what he looked like to everyone else on that day where everything went to hell for him. Even as they embraced their loved ones with what warmth they could muster in the face of a coming tragedy he couldn't help but wonder if he would've found some kind of solace in the arms of others even if they couldn't do a damned thing about his expulsion as a shinobi... Did anyone see him sulking and not even consider lending a hand? Was it even in their power to help him in some fashion to begin with? Would it have made a difference if someone took a minute out of their lives' to help someone trying to accept what life had just dealt them?
... Probably not. Yet it would've been nice anyway. Just like when the real Jiraiya died... The only difference however is that no one was willing to offer a hand when it was needed. Perhaps no one could.
As of right now though he could.
Clenching his hand, he took a moment to stop and look behind him to see if anyone was watching him. Finding none and looking off into the distance where the bandits fled as well as the tree line that followed it, he dashed toward the nearby woods. As soon as he passed the first set of trees and was confident that the shadows provided by the canopy hidden him away he jumped up to the first convenient branch he could find and raced off in the direction where the raiders had fled.
XVX
Forty-three minutes later
Though admittedly it was more along the lines of luck that he found it, he did suspect that if they made camp anywhere then it would be out of sight, away from the one and only road and into the woods where prying eyes wouldn't casually spot them. Still, hidden as it was they weren't even half as cautious as he would've thought. That and it also helped when a veritable army of clones had spread out to find them to begin with.
The camp itself was located in a clearing amongst the forest. What made it peculiar however was the sheer size of the camp, easily undermanned by the eight raiders whom taken to relaxing on bed rolls or whatever entertainment they could scrounge up for themselves by either manning a pot hosted over a freshly started fire or even tending to the horses. If he had to guess then based on the sheer number of tents and rolled up bedrolls left outside then the camp itself was meant for thirty or so bandits. Though it wasn't exactly out in the open, it was obvious to see where they left their hoard of stolen goods, it being out in the open in the midst of several of the haphazardly placed tents, their entrances trained on the collection of treasure chests and scrolls as well as small hand held statues of gold, silver or some other metal, atop them all were the recently stolen sacks of the villager's grains. The overall hoard itself was small, all things considered, yet it was considerable enough to be spotted from the more open areas of the camp including where the bandits currently were.
Glancing about he considered his options: rush in, steal the food and other valuables and flee with his clone army? They certainly wouldn't be able to follow him in the trees even with horses— not only would they lose him but there was virtually no way would they could track him short of climbing onto the tree branches themselves to look for foot prints. On the other hand it was obvious that they were part of a larger group who were most likely out conducting raids as well. In other words other villages were most likely suffering the same predicted fate as Yama at this very moment... and he didn't know where any of them were... The Yama villagers might though. There had to be some line of communication, right? Or at least they had a vague, generational knowledge of where they are, right?
In any case if the camp was attacked before rather than after the others showed up then in all likelihood they either seek vengeance or worse yet decide to move elsewhere and pick up where they left off; taking what they want without a damn about who they left hurting in their wake.
With a grim sigh he sat himself down on the branch which he had long since arrived at to observe the camp below. Though he had resolved to wait out for the rest of the gang to arrive with their spoils he did however wish they would arrive soon. Waiting on or waiting out an enemy was never his thing especially now that he had no reason to "wait out" an enemy. And with luck they would accept a simple clobbering as enough reasoning. If there was anything an outlaw begrudgingly respected then it was a bloody or bloodied show of force, and frankly he'd rather avoid another vengeful bloodbath again if they were anything like those mercenaries... Regardless of how he did it, nothing was ever going to happen till the rest had arrived where he could better judge what he was getting into. If absolutely nothing else, should worse came to worse then he could simply overwhelm them with his clones, using them as a distraction as he and a number of which made off with the stolen goods.
With nothing better to do he ended up watching the bandits below who continued to busy themselves at a relaxed pace. For the most part as they milled about the camp, finding things to do to pass the time as the vibrant blue sky slowly and eventually succumbed to a dusty red-orange as time wore on with no one coming to the camp in the meantime. As agitated as Naruto was he couldn't help but notice that the bandits below were becoming just as irate as he was as they too began to loudly wonder why no one else had shown up as of yet. It was only at the verge of night when they were beginning to set up a campfire when two horses entered the camp, only one of which bearing a rider much like them. Unlike them however he was sporting an arrow sticking out of the back of his shoulder.
Immediately the others flocked to him, asking him questions and attempting to pull him down only for him to refuse. Instead he frantically waved at them, to the horses with his uninjured arm, barely any of which he said to them was legible enough for Naruto to understand in the man's apparent panic. Yet before he deigned to get up and attempt to get closer in hopes of better understanding what it was that made him frantic the men below hurriedly rushed to their horses and mounted them as only one rushed to the pile of loot, grabbing the first gold statue he could find and making off to a horse like the others. In short order they all fled, each ushering their horse into a full gallop into the forest. Not a minute after disappearing completely did their surprised cries shriek through the forest and the distinctive sound of swords clashing clanged throughout the darkened wood. Seeing no reason to stay, Naruto leapt from his spot and dashed through the now abandoned camp in a beeline to the stolen goods. As he drew near he brought his hands together in the shadow clone seal, conjuring forth nine copies, all of whom including himself diving at the sacks and snatching them up. For a brief moment however they hesitated as they considered whether or not to take some of the other stolen baubles. Their collective musings were cut short however as a rider-less horse burst through the camp from the brush in a blind panic, trampling over what it could whilst the battle died down in the forest. Taking it as his cue to leave the shinobi and his clones absconded to the tree tops with the stolen sacks of food, leaving behind the valuables in an off chance that rather than retribution it was a rival band of bandits after their hoard treasure. By the time anyone stepped into the camp he had long disappeared into the forest as night fell with finality.
XVX
Yama, night
Given what had happened hours beforehand it wasn't too surprising that there was no one up to begin with despite it behind night. Even the sheer aura of the village itself made it a borderline ghost town that even the crickets dared not to chirp. For what it was worth however it made reaching the storehouse without being spotted all the easier considering no one wanted to leave their home thanks to both their weariness and depression.
One by one he and his clones had entered the storehouse, each disguised as a precaution as they carefully navigated the dark room filled with a semi-unorganized assortment of boxes and farming tools for spots viable for the reclaimed sacks of their harvest. It wasn't easy however in the dark; thick as they were he and the clones were fairly sure they would risk slicing the bags open by accident in their search for spots for them to be spotted easily where they wouldn't crush a box or rest on an upturned hoe amongst other carelessly abandoned, mildly sharp implements. After finding a spot and planting a sack or two in said spot the clones responsible dispersed, eventually leaving 'Jiraiya' by himself as he wandered throughout the darkness with the last of the bags in his grasp. Given what he could tell from the clone's memories it was fairly safe to say that had managed to scatter the bags throughout the entire room, whether or not they could be seen was a potential issue however given that he had nothing to light the room with. Hefting the bag up he decided to waddle towards the door with the intent to lay the bag against its frame as a more obvious tell that their crop had returned. And without incident he did.
Satisfied that his work was now complete he left the storehouse and meandered into the street where he stopped and looked up, basking in the moonlight with a slight smile before wandering off again. He hadn't gotten more than a few feet into his journey however when a soft snap drew his attention to an alleyway. Curious, on guard, he debated whether or not to have a kunai at the ready as he drew closer at a wary speed should it simply be a villager curious to what he was doing. Long before he reached it however a tanuki slinked out of the darkness with what appeared to be a twig caught in its maw. It glanced at him as it passed by, ultimately slipping into the darkness once more of another alleyway behind him.
Satisfied, he left with a mildly impish grin as he imagined the shock on everyone's faces once morning comes. It wasn't till he had long since left the village in a unhurried run that a small figure crept out of the alleyway from before. It peeked around the corner before looking over to the storehouse to which it soon wandered over to in evident curiosity.
XVX
'Farmstead', morning
Clack-clack-clack!
The blond bolted upright with a kunai in his grasp only to find himself the sole occupant of the entire house. Morning had come, its light creeping in through the cracks in the one window's shutter and the closed paper door that a darkened figure's shadow obscured thanks to the morning sun. Grunting and praying to whatever god that was listening he henged into 'Jiraiya' as quietly as he could, his arms waving frantically about to attempt to dispel the smoke emitted from the act all the faster. It was only when he was satisfied that nothing was out of place that he finally got out of the ragged futon he had successfully haggled from the old man and darted to the door. Upon opening it he couldn't help but be surprised to find Fujiko, the village chief, standing at his doorway.
"Um... good morning?" he said, all the while trying to deduce whether or not he was as secretive as he thought he was last night or if this was simply a matter regarding his stay in the very house he stood in.
"May I come in?" she asked suddenly without much in the way of a preamble. Confused and concerned, he stepped back all the same and motioned toward the inside of the house even as she shuffled herself inside.
"It's been quite some time since I was last here," she muttered to herself in thought as she looked over the spartan room from corner to corner. Looking down she couldn't help but notice the hole in the floor which she had to mindfully step away from. Looking up she couldn't help but scowl at the patching Naruto managed to plant on what was both the roof and ceiling. "I see the years hadn't been particularly kind to this farm during my absence. Or rather not until you arrived that is. I could only imagine what it was like had I visited earlier."
Though her attention wasn't on him he rubbed the back of his neck anyway. "Well there were a lot of weeds," he admitted. She only nodded in return with a small, slightly worn smile hinted with nostalgia.
"I can only imagine... thank you though." She turned to him and fixated the entirety of her attention on him. "Not only for repairing this farmstead as best as you could but for returning our stolen harvest as well."
He couldn't help but freeze a little. "I'm sorry?" he inquired automatically in startled panic without thinking in the slightest. At this she smiled in a knowing fashion, one that held a smug sense to it begot from lifelong experience.
"You are not the first shinobi to have ever set foot in our village before," she explained. Her smile only growing at his expense as he began to sweat on the spot.
"I'm sorry?"
She chuckled softly to herself, her eyes closing for a brief moment while doing so. "You have a great many tells unfortunately," she offered. "While your ignorance could be construed as an immigrant coming into our country, our village in particular is nowhere near close enough to border the territories of the neighboring lands. Even if they were to take to the forests or the mountain and avoided the Daimyo's men altogether their clothes would never be as pristine as the ones you wear now." He glanced down at himself and grimaced much to her evident amusement. "You of course are not a of the Banten shinobi either as they keep to the forests as far from sight as they can for the sake of their very survival. Abandoned as it is that farm is too open for their tastes. Not to mention of course that as of last night my own granddaughter saw you with nine other 'men' enter the storehouse with our stolen harvest. And yet only you left it without the a trace of the others having been there beyond what was returned."
At long last her smile faded into a small, almost serious frown. "With that said most people, even shinobi found in this country and others, have little hope of reclaiming everything that was stolen from us from bandits who were most likely samurai from other lands. In all my years I know only one type of person who could do that and not receive a single scratch in the process. " She closed her eyes once more for a moment of thought before scrutinizing him once more. "You're a shinobi from the eastern lands," she deduced with finality.
"I'm sorry!?" he squeaked before he could restrain himself as the sweating became more dire. Again her smirk returned as she shook her head.
"Don't think us as ungrateful," she remarked. "We're not about to chase you out when you done us a service without asking for anything in return." She frowned. "Or were you hoping to accrue favor with us by doing so?"
Still in shock he couldn't give a proper response as he half eyed the door, again much to her evident amusement.
"Still, in any event we're grateful. As we speak the entire village is trying to scrounge up what they can from the surrounding forests to hold a celebration in your honor and we would like you to attend it."
With a bow she turned and made to leave, stopping and turning around only to a half unintelligible "wait!" was uttered by the disguised shinobi. "Shouldn't you... uh..." He rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to marshal his thoughts. "I thought Easterners..."
As if sensing what he wanted to say she answered him, bowing her head down and closing her eyes in thought. "They have certainly developed and earned their reputation within the warring countries beyond your borders throughout the years," she replied. "Yet the actions of one person doesn't inherently mean they were the will of others. I lived long enough learning that much at least." Smirking, she turned to the door and leisurely shuffled to it. "If it's any consolation you're not the first to have visited our village and helped us when it came to bandits either. I'll see you at the celebration if you choose to come." Without further ado she slipped through the door and closed it behind her, leaving the blond by himself with nothing but his thoughts which slowly organized themselves to soak in what had happened...
Scratching his head he simply stood there as he considered what to do in light of recent events...
Slowly, almost reluctantly he made for the door as well at long last.