"Normal Speech"
'Normal thoughts'
"Great speech"
'Great thoughts'
special/flashback
[electronic]
~locations and transitions~
No Beta Reader
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Legend of Zelda
Reviews corner
Dragon and Sword Master: yeah, I'm going to add a translation bit on some of the Gerudo terminologies when they appear in the story. Glad you think it is doing so well.
JuanKui: when I played the game, there was a bit that said that Ganondorf met with the Great Deku tree but it was never shown. So I chose to bring that scene to life. I will not say anything about where the bijuu are. You will just have to wait to see them. The journey is about to begin and I hope you look forward to it.
Dasgun: I don't know how to respond to "0.0". No idea what that would even mean
Shadow9Kitsune: I just might do that. Using the appearance of Twilight princess Zelda with the behavior of Breath of the wild. Honestly, I put the voting not for the look but for the personality. Don't get me wrong, I like the design of Twilight princess but she doesn't really have a personality. She just has some lines and helps you at the end fight. Skyward sword and Breath of the wild have the more notable personalities. Anyway, Zelda has a bigger role in this and you will see it when it comes up.
FenreldStormblade: XP
Jajur von Hohenzollern: there is no way I could not bring in Midna. She is one of my favorite companions so I HAVE to bring her in.
YeagerMeister31: Well, here is more. Hope you like it
Chapter 5: Tour
"Where am I?"
Darkness was all he could see. It was like the light of the world was just….gone. He had a feeling that the sun was out, that the blue sky was just above him, that the grass under his feet was vast. Yet….. He couldn't see any of it. But it wasn't just that that made him feel uneasy. It was what he could hear as well.
The scattering sound seemed to be the only thing that could be heard no matter how far he walked. He couldn't hear the sound of birds, he couldn't hear the sound of the wind, he couldn't hear his footsteps on the wet grass under his feet, he couldn't even hear the sound of his breathing.
He continued to walk as he felt that he needed to arrive at his destination but with how little he could see, he wasn't sure if he was actually getting any closer.
'But where am I going?'
He continued to walk for what felt like hours, yet he was sure it hadn't even been minutes. Time didn't seem to travel right.
He suddenly stopped walking, yet still, nothing was visible except for the small patch of wet grass five feet in diameter around him.
It was then that the following thunder crash was followed by the sound of clopping.
He looked around to try and find where it was coming from. "Hello? Is someone there?"
The clopping was getting closer but he still couldn't see anything. The clopping soon began to echo all around him, so much so that it almost hurt his ears.
Then silence
It was even more unnerving now that the sound of the rain was gone. He then saw something in the darkness. It was shapeless and almost seemed darker than the dark itself. It was like the spot was warping with something sinister, something that he felt was looking right back at him. He felt sweat run down his neck as he took a step back. He didn't know who it was or what it was but he knew that he didn't want to be in the presence of it.
Suddenly, fire lit up all around him and he covered his face from the heat. He peaked between his arms to see what the figure was now that there was a light source, yet he still couldn't see it. It was like the darkness was consuming the light from the fire, keeping it all in the shadows.
He then heard running coming from behind him and he turned to see who it was. But as he turned, the ones running swooshed past him, towards the evil figure. He only caught a flash of something as they ran past.
A flash of orange, green, pink, and yellow.
"No, wait! STOP!"
Then nothing but the evil was left
"WAH!" He threw off his covers as he awoke from his nightmare. "What was going on? Where was I and who was that figure in the darkness?" he wiped his face free of the sweat that he got from the night and got off his bed. He stood up and looked around to see that he was in his home. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself.
"Hey, Link!"
Link jumped at the shout before he walked out the door to see Saria waving him down.
"Hurry up! We need to meet Naruto soon!"
Link then remembered what they were doing today and nodded back. "Give me a minute!" He ran back into his house so he could get cleaned up from the sweat and into a new change of clothes.
"Do you know where you're going, Naruto?" Saria asked as she jumped down from a fallen-over tree.
Naruto popped his head from behind a tree and deadpanned at her. "I've done this path so many times that I could do it blindfolded."
Saria looked up and shook her head but with a fond smile before she looked behind her. "Link, how you doing?"
Link hopped up to the top of the log and flipped over Saria, before landing on his feet and arms in the air. "Ta-da!"
Naruto and Saria smiled at Link before clapping.
Saria smiled before she moved up to him. She then put her hands on his shoulders and spun him around before pushing him forward. "Now, enough showing off, and let's get going."
Link stumbled at the pushing but was able to stay on his feet.
Naruto stood there as he watched Saria push Link past him. He smiled as Saria kept going and waited for it.
After Saria made it ten feet away from Naruto, she paused and looked back at Naruto with an embarrassed smile and a flush of pink on her cheeks. "Um…which way?"
Naruto fell to the ground laughing as Link chuckled.
Saria puffed out her cheeks, crossed her arms, and turned her head with a huff.
After a minute, Naruto got up, letting out a few more chuckles. "I'm surprised you hadn't asked your fairy to show you the way. You send her out to get me every time I'm late for something."
Saria sighed before she shook her head. "She won't tell me."
It was then that Saria's fairy came out from her tunic. "Naruto is your guide today. And he knows the village better than I do. I just know the way from the forest entrance to his apartment."
Saria blinked as her fairy seemed a bit…. Frantic. Like she was worried about something. But if it was something important, her fairy would tell her. She nodded towards her fairy as she also had to agree with what she said. Saria only ever sent her fairy to get Naruto, not explore.
Naruto also thought that it was weird how Saria's fairy was really pushy about it but he didn't put much thought into it. 'Maybe she just really wants Saria to see the village?' He turned back in the direction they were heading but paused as he heard something in the forest. Looking off past the trees, he narrowed his eyes to see if there was anything there. He didn't know why but something felt off about the forest. Not seeing anything he shook off the feeling and smiled as he moved to stand next to the two Kokiri denizens before he gestured for them to follow. "Come on, we still have some travel left."
Naruto was glad that The Great Deku Tree gave his permission to allow Saria and Link to join him on this. In fact, the Tree almost seemed…. Insistent about it.
The three continued to walk through the forest for another thirty minutes as Link and Saria followed Naruto.
Naruto then smiled as he jumped over a boulder before stopping at a metal fence. "Well, guys, we're here."
Link and Saria walked forward and had to cover their eyes as the bright sun pierced through the tree leaves. Once they opened their eyes, they saw the village that surrounded the forest their own little village was hidden within.
Naruto looked back with his village behind him. "Welcome to Konoha, the Village Hidden in the leaves."
Link walked up to Naruto and playfully shoved him. "You planned that introduction to it, didn't you? With the whole village behind you, the sun shining and all that."
Naruto gave a cheeky smile as he rubbed the back of his head. "Heh heh, maybe."
Saria smiled at the antics of her friend. She walked forward and looked at the village they had never seen before. "It's… huge." She compared her own village to Naruto's and there was no comparison. Despite how big her village was and how magic had allowed it to remain within the Lost woods, Naruto's village looked so much bigger.
Naruto nodded as he grabbed Saria by the arm before doing the same with Link and threw his arms around their shoulders and smiled. "Well, here we are and now I get to show you my home."
Saria's fairy came out from her tunic and spun around the three. "Well, let's go. There are a lot of things to see!"
Naruto looked up at the Fairy and smiled. "She's right, let's go!" he began to drag the two towards the village.
Saria and Link continued to look around them as they walked the village streets. Their entire lives they haven't seen any other type of being that lived in the lands. They had heard stories of the Goron, Zora, Hylians, Ruto, Gerudo, humans, and even some of the more mysterious people, like Twili, and Deku shrubs, but this was the first time they could see at least some of them. Naruto was the only human they have seen but he wasn't that much different from them, the only difference was his clothing and ear shapes.
But now they are seeing humans, Hylians and they could have sworn they saw a Goron and Scrub.
The two kept asking questions about some of the things that they saw and Naruto was answering as best he could. He couldn't go into full details about some things since he was still just a kid and he didn't know the full details, but they seemed satisfied with what he gave them so he didn't feel so bad.
After walking into the market district, the two then noticed something that caught their eye, some products on display, and they pressed their faces to the window to get as close a look as they could.
Naruto could not help but find this amusing as he had never seen them act like this before. Though, he was sure that anyone would act like this if they have never seen these. 'Stuff we take for granted can be seen as a treasure to others.' One thing that he noticed, and that Link and Saria didn't notice, were the looks of displeasure that some of the civilians had towards the Kokori kids. When Saria and Link weren't looking, he would move in between the people's glares and them while giving his own glare. A clear show that they were not to be messed with while he was around.
He got a few different reactions from the people when he did this.
There were looks of fear since they still remember when Naruto went on his pranking sprees. There were horror stories of when he went after certain people that insulted something he liked.
Like one man who insulted Ichiraku Ramen. Said man became a loyal customer after that and Teuchi and Ayame were grateful for his patronage.
It didn't even take long to get the man to do this. Only two weeks of non-stop pranks and a week after just causing things to fall off the shelf and the random flier for the restaurant placed here and there. The man was almost vibrating in fear when he walked into the establishment after that last week.
Moral of the story? Don't insult anything Naruto likes in his presence if you want to keep your sanity
"Hey, Naruto?"
Naruto turned around when he heard Link's voice. To see him and Saria looking at another window.
Link was pointing at some of the items on display and asked. "Are these the ninja tools you told us about? They look like what you described before."
Saria eyed the weapons that were laid out while also trying to figure out what the letters said. The labels weren't in the Hylian language. She didn't know the language used, which was odd since the most common language used was the Hylian Alphabet. "Hey, Naruto, can you read this?"
Naruto looked at Saria and walked up beside her to see what she meant. He narrowed his eyes as he nodded. "Yeah, it's the secondary language of chakra users. Iruka once talked about it during one of his lectures. They made it a long time ago during the war between magic and chakra users, before the royal family was established. The chakra users wanted a set of writing that the Magic users wouldn't be able to decipher so they made this writing for messages to be sent out to other camps. The issue was that during the war, there were chakra users that joined magic users and were able to decipher the writing, so in the end, it became pointless. Now it is rarely used at all since villages, towns, stables, and other places have both magic and chakra users."
Saria nodded before looking back. "Should we not be here then? I mean if they are using it, maybe they won't like us being here."
Naruto looked past Link's and Saria's shoulders into the shop and saw the owner glaring at them. He must have noticed their ears if he was looking at them hatefully and using the secondary language for his shop. He nodded as he gestured for them to follow. "Maybe we should get going. There is more to see around the village."
The other two nodded and followed Naruto further into the streets.
Naruto made a mental note of informing the Hokage about this store and the clear disrespect the man had for magic users….. He also mentally marked this store to be the target of his next pranking exploits.
….. A month-long punishment should be enough.
*sniff sniff* "this way."
Naruto and Saria could only deadpan at Link as he was sniffing the air and leading them somewhere.
Saria could only shake her head as she still didn't understand how Link could find food when he was hungry, and it only seemed to be when he is hungry. Any other time, he is like any normal Kokiri, but when he is hungry, he has a nose for anything edible. And she had no idea how he did it.
Naruto was the same as Saria about this. But he just chalked it up to one of Link's quirks. And he didn't feel the need to stop Link from leading them since he knew where Link was going. There is no way he wouldn't know.
Link turned the corner and pointed ahead. "There!"
Saria and Naruto moved to stand next to Link and saw what he was pointing at.
Saria finally caught the scent that she was sure Link was following. She had to admit that the aroma was very tantalizing. The very smell was making her stomach rumble and she blushed as it was loud enough to be heard.
Link and Naruto chuckled at Saria's blushing face before they made their way to where Link was leading them.
"Hey, Ayame! Teuchi! We got some newcomers here!"
Out from the back, the two Ramen chefs came out and smiled at the sight of their favorite customer. But they were surprised to see his companions. At first, they just assumed that they were other Hylian children but they had never seen their style of clothing.
Ayame looked back to Naruto. "Hello, Naruto, who are your friends?"
Naruto gestured to the two with him. "These are my friends from the Kokiri village." he gestured to the male. "This is Link….." he then gestured to the female. "And this is Saria."
Ayame's eyes grew a bit wider. "Wow, they are from the village hidden in the forest of death. I never thought that any of them would come out of the forest."
Naruto nodded as he wrapped his arms around the two's shoulders. "Well, I wanted to show them my home since I have been going to theirs for so long." He then moved them to the counter seats and they jumped up to sit down.
Naruto was glad that he remained silent during this little side trip. They had walked by several restaurants and food stalls as Link followed his nose. And he did know why.
Ichiraku Ramen had a method of bringing in customers. They had a vent that allowed the smell of their food to be sent out into the street behind the stand, and into the air. It allowed the passerby to catch a whiff of it and if they have any sort of hunger, they would want to have their food. The power of the smell at times drowned out the smell from other restaurants. It was most likely the reason that Link walked past everything else and came here.
Naruto always said the Ichiraku duo were evil geniuses for their little tactic. Not that he minded
Naruto smiled at Ayame as he figured that he should order for the other two. "Link will have the Chicken ramen with an extra helping of chicken, and Saria will have the Miso. For me, I'll have the beef ramen."
Ayame smiled before nodding. "Coming right up." She then moved back to the kitchen to give the order to her dad so they could make the meal.
Saria, who was sitting on Naruto's right, looked at him. "You know this place?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I come here all the time. It's one of my favorite places to eat."
Saria turned her gaze past Naruto and onto Link. "Did you two plan this?"
Link shook his head rapidly and brought his hands up in surrender. "No, I had no idea about this place!"
Naruto chuckled as he patted Saria on the shoulder. "He's telling the truth, it was just a coincidence that he came here while walking past other restaurants."
Link turned his torso to look out of the stand to see if he could find the other ones he skipped.
After another few minutes, Ayame came carrying a tray with the bowls. She placed Link's, Saria's, and then Naruto's.
One thing Saria noticed was that Naruto was using two sticks while they were using utensils. She thought about it till she remembered that many of the chakra users use chopsticks, while Hylian-type magic users use utensils.
Link had already begun to eat his meal and could not help but find it tasty.
Saria saw that Naruto was eating with just as much gusto and she almost thought that they were trying to see who would finish first. She shook her head with a soft smile at the antics of her boys. She chose to eat at a slower pace. 'This is really good.'
The trio moved from the streets to the more nature-focused areas.
It was as they were enjoying the scenic view that they heard some grunting and clanging. Curious, they went to see what it was. They pushed away a bush to come across a fight scene.
Link and Saria were worried about what the fight was for but Naruto patted their shoulders as he smiled at them.
Naruto gestured his head to the fighters and spoke. "It isn't a real fight. They are sparring, fighting practice."
Link tilted his head before asking. "Do you know who they are?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, they are my classmates, Ino and Sakura."
Said classmates were so focused on their spar that they didn't realize they gained an audience.
Sakura was on the offensive as she gave a flurry of swings at Ino who was deflecting the sword with her kunai.
Now, many would think that the sword would win out against the kunai, however, kunai are made to be durable so they can handle the sign of a sword the size of a full-grown man. But whether the user of the kunai can handle the force is the deciding factor.
Ino dropped to a knee slide to dodge the horizontal slash at her. She brought up her kunai and swiped at Sakura's leg, but due to it being a last-second action, she missed the joints of the armor and only hit the armor itself. Kicking up to her feet, she turned around and brought the kunai up to deflect Sakura's sword. Once Sakura was open, she sent a kick into the Hylian's side, thankful that Sakura never wore a full set of armor.
The force of the kick caused Sakura to skid away as she gripped her side. She winced at the pain but had to refocus as she brought her sword up to deflect the shuriken that Ino threw at her. She moved forward through the barrage of projectiles Ino kept sending her way while using her sword and bracers to deflect the weapons and dodged when she had to. Once she was close enough, she deflected one more kunai with her left bracer and moved her arm with the deflection before throwing a punch at Ino.
Ino berated herself as the fist connected to her face and knocked her off her feet. She rolled on the ground and would have charged at Sakura but the pinkette wasn't done.
Sakura gripped the hilt of her sword with two hands and brought it over her head before bringing it down on Ino.
Ino didn't have time to move so she forced herself to her feet and brought her kunai up.
Sakura's blade met with Ino's kunai as she used all her strength trying to push the kunai down but Ino was not making it easy. She shifted her feet before kicking Ino's leg back, causing the blonde to take a knee.
Ino gritted her teeth as she kept Sakura's sword from slicing her up. She knew she was in a bad spot but she had an idea of getting out of this. She had to use both hands on the kunai to keep Sakura at bay but she moved her left hand to palm the kunai blade before she tilted it and let the sword slide to Ino's left. With the pinkette off balance, she swung the kunai at her opponent's head but was surprised by what Sakura did next.
Sakura saw that with her off-balanced position, Ino would be able to strike her. So what she decided to do was move with the off-balance pose and kicked off the ground while the tip of her sword was in the dirt. And as such, she lifted herself off the ground and held herself upside down in the air by her sword. Seeing the shock on Ino's face, she smirked before twirling on her sword so her back was to Ino and dropping while bringing her leg down on the Yamanaka into an ax kick.
Ino rolled to avoid the kick. Once she was in a crouch, she twirled to her left, while bringing her kunai into a reversed grip stab.
Sakura's center of gravity was low as she had her leg extended from her kick. Seeing the move Ino was doing, she had to counter. With the sword still in the dirt but in her right hand, and Ino to her left, she shifted her torso and pulled the sword out of the ground, and swung it.
Link and Saria were wide-eyed at the sight and almost turned away at this last attack from both of them.
Ino had her kunai pointed at Sakura's eye, close to piercing it.
Sakura had her sword at Ino's neck, close enough to draw blood.
Both sweating and trying to steady their breathing as they kept eye contact.
After a few seconds, they smiled and got out of their uncomfortable position.
Ino used her arm to wipe away the sweat from her forehead. "I guess it's another draw."
Sakura gripped her right shoulder as she shook her head. "No, you win this one. I didn't put as much strength in that last swing so the best that would have come out of it would be a cut neck. Not sure if it would have been deep enough to be considered lethal. While you had your kunai aimed at my eye, which would have finished me off. Not only that, my shoulder is dislocated, so I would have been a target after the fight." She looked at her right arm which hung loosely at her side while still holding the sword. She flinched in pain as she felt Ino grip her shoulder.
"Grit your teeth, this is going to hurt." Seeing Sakura nod, she focused on the shoulder and tightened her grip before…
"Rrrggghhh." Sakura groaned in pain as her arm was placed back into position. She rotated her arm as she nodded to her friend. "Thanks, Ino." She then sheathed her sword.
"That was an intense spar, you two."
Both Hylian knight and kunoichi turned to where the voice came from to see Naruto walking up to them with two others.
Ino waved to them. "Hey, Naruto, what are you doing here?"
Naruto gestured to the two with him and spoke. "I'm giving them a tour of our village since they had only heard stories about it. This is Link and Saria"
The two Kokiri children waved respectively at the two sparring girls before the female of the duo walked up.
Saria moved to Ino and took the blonde's hand. "Are you ok?"
Ino looked at her palm and saw it bleeding. "Oh, that must have been when I palmed my kunai."
Sakura winced at the sight before she looked at her shoulder to see that there was a bloody handprint on her pauldron.
Saria reached into a pouch she had on her hip before taking out a piece of cloth, a roll of bandages, and a vial of some green substance. "Let me take care of that." She wiped away the blood to get it as clean as possible before she uncorked the vail and reached in with two fingers to take some of the contents out. She then applied it to the cut.
Ino shivered since the stuff felt gooey but she wasn't going to say something rude.
Sakura walked up to them and asked. "What is that? I've never seen any healing item like that before."
Saria smiled as she continued what she was doing. "It is a salve that, from what Naruto has told me, is only made in Kokiri village. Since the materials to make it can only be found in the lost woods."
Ino looked up at the green-haired girl. "Wait, you're from Kokiri village?!" her gaze kept going back and forth between Saria and Link."
Sakura was just as shocked as she moved to Link and leaned in. "Wow, I thought you would look different from Hylians, like little people made of wood and leaves like the Deku tribe, but you look just like us Hylians."
Link leaned away at the sudden closeness from the girl. "Uh… " he wasn't sure why the girl was so close but he was sure he was blushing.
Saria took her eyes off Ino's hand to look over her shoulder at Link and chuckled at it. Using the connection that she had with her fairy, she brought her out, which got a startled gasp from Ino which got Sakura's attention who became awed by the sight of a fairy. "This is one of the things that distinguishes us from Hylians"
Sakura's eyes followed the fairy as she flew around Saria's head. "Wow, never thought I would see one."
Link sighed in relief now that Sakura wasn't so close. He moved to stand next to Naruto but he got curious about something the pink-haired girls said. "Uh, what kind of stories did you hear about us?"
Sakura was brought out of her awe at the sight of the fairy and she shook her head before thinking about what she knew. "I heard that the ones that live under the protection of the Great Deku tree were little people that never left the forest. That they live as part of the forest itself and never come out. Forest folk…. Or something like that."
Saria finished wrapping Ino's hand before she put her stuff back into her pouch. Getting thanks from Ino, She moved to Link's side and mouthed out. "Little people?"
Link shrugged as he had no idea why they were considered little people.
Naruto imagined what Sakura had told them and could not help but think that the description she gave was cute and weird. He chuckled as he imagined Link and Saria as tiny wood creatures with leaves over their face and them hopping around to get anywhere. "Well, sorry if that ruins your idea of what they looked like, and sorry for dropping in on your sparring."
Sakura shook her head. "No, it's fine. We were finished with it anyway." she moved to a pack she had leaning on one of the trees before stopping and looking at Naruto. "Mind if we join you? We didn't have anything planned after this."
Ino turned to Sakura as she put her hands on her hips. "Who says? How do you know I didn't have anything to do after this?"
Sakura turned her body to give Ino a cheeky smirk.
Ino met the smirk with a glare before she huffed and crossed her arms. "Alright, fine, I didn't have anything planned."
The others laughed while Ino pouted.
Naruto looked to Saria and Link before asking. "Well, it's up to you guys."
Link and Saria looked at each other before shrugging and Link answering. "Sure, it's fine."
Sakura picked up her satchel before smiling at them. "Oh, by the way, I'm Sakura Haruno."
Ino stood next to Sakura. "And I'm Ino Yamanaka."
"I'm Link." Said boy smiled
"I'm Saria." Saria gave a small wave as her fairy flew around her head. "And this is my fairy."
"Hi."
Ino tilted her head as she asked. "Doesn't your fairy have a name?"
Mentioned fairy glowed brighter as if angry. "Of course I have a name!"
Saria gave a soft smile at her fairy as she held our hands, letting the fairy land in them. She brought the fairy close as she looked at Ino. "All personal fairies have a name but they don't tell anyone other than their partner. It's something precious to them."
Ino brought her hands up in surrender. "Sorry."
Sakura tightened her satchel before looking at the others. "Ok, well I have to head to the academy to pick up and drop off this sword. I borrowed it from the academy since my last personal sword shattered a few days ago."
Naruto looked shocked at the news. "Woah, what happened?"
Sakura blinked at the shock before she softly chuckled. "Oh, nothing bad. It was just a simple iron sword that I got from my savings of rupees. It lasted a few years so I can say it was a good sword but it makes sense that it would break at some point."
Link was impressed that a sword lasted so long. He may have pretended he had a sword when he was playing with his friends but he never held one, but he did know that a sword can break after so much use. "Are you going to get a new one?"
Sakura nodded as the group began to make their way toward the academy, already silently agreeing to her request. "At some point, but I don't have the rupees for it. I wanna get a good sword and I'm thinking of personalizing it. Something that suits me."
Ino brought her hand up as she gave a suggestion. "What about ryo? You can exchange any ryo you have for rupees and that can help in paying for it."
Sakura shook her head. "My family doesn't have any ryo. All the money we get are in rupees and even if we had any, I don't think it would help since I did say I want to get a personal sword. And those are not cheap."
Naruto chuckled as he pointed to the other male blonde. "Link actually pretends he knows how to use a sword. Maybe I should give him a personal sword….one made out of wood, like a stick. Oh wait, you already have a stick."
"Hey!"
The girls of the group laughed as they watched Link chase after Naruto while they still made their way toward the academy.
~Academy~
The group made it to their destination and walked through the practice field toward a storage building that held the weapons for practice.
The group had been having casual conversations, with occasional questions about Konoha, which the Konoha residents gladly answered. Saria did find it amusing that Ino had more knowledge about the shops and clothing, both fashionably and practically.
Naruto made a comment about her having a future as a shop owner selling clothes and nagging at the customers for their shabby choices, then as a kunoichi working for either the royal family as a sheikah or as a soldier for Konoha.
That earned him a bonk on the head from the said female blonde.
Saria looked at Sakura as she asked. "Why don't you use a shield? I heard that Hylian knights use shields along with their swords."
Sakura shook her head as she answered. "It's more of a choice. I could use a shield but I choose not to. I don't like how it feels and it throws me off sometimes."
Saria looked perplexed as she wasn't sure how it would throw her off. But she never used any sort of weapon apart from the slingshot, so she had no clue.
"What are you kids doing here?"
Everyone jumped at the sudden voice and they turned around to see Mizuki walking towards them.
Naruto frowned at the sight of the man. You didn't need a dojutsu to see the man's distaste for any magic users, and Naruto would be damned if he did anything to his friends.
Ino smiled at the teacher and waited for the man to make it to them before she answered. "Me and Sakura were having sparring practice and we came here to return the sword she was given for it. Once we're done, we are joining Naruto and his friends from Kokiri village on a tour of Konoha."
Mizuki looked at the two in green and smiled at them. "Well, this is a nice surprise. I never thought those that take refuge in our forest would come out."
Naruto stepped forward so that the others would be behind him. He looked up at the man as he retorted. "Well, actually, they were here before Konoha was even built, so they aren't taking refuge. We just set ourselves as their neighbors on their land."
The two stared into each other's eyes as if daring for something to be said. After a few tense seconds, for them, the man looked at the two visitors. "I hope you are enjoying your stay here."
Saria and Link both smiled and nodded to the man with Link speaking up. "Yeah, Naruto has shown us around most of the village and it's amazing."
Mizuki nodded as he looked back to Naruto. "Oh, I'm sure. Naruto really has a love for magic users."
Naruto could hear the sneering tone and his glare was growing darker as the man spoke but he was not going to snap at him, no matter how much he wanted to. Not in front of his closest friends. Choosing to meet the man mask-to-mask, he plastered on a smile. "Well, I have been going to the Kokiri village for years now and I made a lot of close friends."
Mizuki nodded. "Yes, you have told us some time ago." he then looked to the others. "Well, don't let me take up your time. I hope you have an enjoyable time in our village."
The Kokiri children nodded as they both said at the same time. "We will."
Mizuki waved at them before turning around and heading into the main building. Once his back was turned to them, his smile dropped and became a look of sheer hatred. 'To bring those refugees here! That little shit.' He really didn't like the idea that Naruto brought in some magic users and as he walked into the building, he tried to think of a way to get rid of them. Permanently.
After they left the academy, they continued the tour, now moving through the compounds.
"So, hang on, the Hyugas can see through things?" was Link's incredulous question.
They were at the moment walking through the Hyuga compound with the shinobi-in-training explaining about the clan and their specialty.
Ino nodded. "Yeah, each clan in Konoha has a specialty and each has something about them that can tell you which clan they are in."
Saria looked to Ino and asked. "So, how can you tell if one is from the Hyuga clan?"
"Well…"
"Oh, good afternoon, everyone."
The tourist group looked ahead to see Hinata walking in their direction with Hanabi by her side.
Hinata made it to the group and bowed to them with Hanabi noticing what her sister was doing and followed suit a second later.
The group waited for them to stand up straight again before they waved their greeting.
Naruto then spoke. "Hey, Hinata, Hanabi, what are you two doing?"
Hinata smiled at the boy before answering. "I was sent out on an errand and Hanabi decided to come with me."
Said sister was now staring at Saria as if ignoring the rest of the group. Or rather, she was staring at the fairy that was flying around the green-haired girl's head.
"Hanabi?"
Hanabi's body began to shake as her eyes never left the fairy. This caused the rest of the group to grow worried as they had never seen the second Hyuga princess act like this.
Naruto, not having problems doing things, walked up to the girl's left and knelt down so his face was right next to hers. He narrowed his eyes at her before he brought up a hand. With an extended finger, he moved it to her cheek, like he was ready to poke a bear. Once his finger squished into the girl's cheeks, he had to jump back as the girl squealed.
Everyone was startled by it and jumped back before Hanabi began to run around Saria, chasing the fairy with the biggest smile on her face.
Saria became stiff as Hanabi began to run in a circle around her, chasing her fairy,
The rest of the group just watched as the girl chased the fairy, laughing as she did so.
Naruto, who was now standing to Hinata's left, leaned in and whispered. "Have you ever seen her like this?"
Hinata shook her head. "This is the first time I've seen Hanabi so happy."
After another fifteen minutes, Hanabi finally caught the fairy and was hugging her as if she was a new plush.
Saria's ears twitched as she watched her fairy be snuggled by another but she wasn't going to deny the younger girl from this.
Saria's fairy had tried to get out of the young Hyuga's grasp but after several failed attempts, she gave up.
Hinata smiled at the sight but she knew that Hanabi would have to let the fairy go since she was Saria's partner. "Ok, Hanabi, I think you should give the fairy back."
Hanabi seemed to come out of her bliss-like state as her eyes shot open and looked to her sister. Feeling her cheeks burn brightly, she let go of the fairy.
The fairy then flew back to Saria and hid in her tunic. She peeked out to see that the girl wasn't chasing her again but she ducked back down.
The group chuckled at the sight of the fairy running from a little girl.
Once they stopped, Naruto looked at Hinata. "Didn't you have something to do?"
Hinata covered her mouth in shock as she realized that she was late. "Oh, Kami, you're right! I really should get going."
"Don't bother."
Everyone looked to where the new voice came from and saw Sasuke walking towards them with something under his arm.
Sasuke looked the group over before his eyes stopped on Hinata. He walked up to her and stared into her eyes before he brought the thing from under his arm and held it up to her. "You were taking so long that my mother started to worry. She sent me out to find and give this to you."
Hinata took the book and nodded her thanks to him. "Did your mother find it useful?"
Sasuke nodded. "She thought it was interesting how some of the results tasted just like Hylian ones."
Naruto poked his head over the book and looked at the title. "'A chakra's taste: a guidebook on making delicious meals'. A cookbook?"
Sasuke shoved Naruto's head away as he nodded. "Yeah, my mom asked for it and Hitomi let her borrow it."
Naruto smirked as he crossed his arms. "Oh, your dad must have been angry."
Sasuke scoffed. "He may not like it but it's not like he can do anything. He can grumble all he wants but my mom is the one that makes the meals and if anything, Itachi can just put him under house arrest for a day."
The group sans Link and Saria burst out laughing at the thought of Itachi grounding his own father.
Link and Saria only shrugged at each other as they had no idea what was so funny.
Able to catch his breath, Naruto saw the confused look on their faces and chose to explain things. "Well…pfft… Erhrm, Sasuke's family, *snicker* is from the Uchiha clan and Hinata's family is from the Hyuga clan. For as long as anyone can remember, the two clans have had a rivalry about who has the best dojutsu. Their special abilities have to do with their eyes."
Sasuke gained a cocky smirk and opened his mouth to say something but was stopped when he felt an impact on his stomach. "Hrgh!" He looked down to see Hanabi glaring up at him. 'Not again.' He took a step back to avoid the kick Hanabi sent when she jumped up. He brought his hands up to deflect the palm strikes the girl was sending his way.
Ino shook her head with a sigh. "There they go again."
Sasuke backstepped and shifted his torso to let the psalm move past him.
Sakura patted Ino on the shoulder as she gave a knowing smirk. "You know this happens every time they meet."
Sasuke slapped Hanabi's wrist to the side before he twirled his body and gently pushed her in the back, causing her to lose her balance.
Saria looked at the two and asked. "Why is Hanabi attacking him? It looks like she is trying to really harm him, unlike when you two were fighting."
Hanabi turned and did a double palm strike which Sasuke avoided by jump-flipping over her
Hinata sighed in defeat as she was the one to answer. "Some time ago, we had a sparring session with just our class. I was pitted against Sasuke and I lost. When I told Hanabi, she was so mad that now, every time the two are in close proximity, she attacks him without warning." she gestured to the fighting two as Sasuke was easily blocking all of Hanabi's attacks
Link scratched his head as he pointed at them. "So why doesn't anyone stop them?"
Sasuke swerved to Hanabi's right and moved behind her. Once he did, he had to duck under her spinning roundhouse.
"Because Father thinks it is a good show at how superior the Uchiha are to the Hyuga while lord Hiashi thinks it is good practice for Hanabi to improve."
The watchers all screamed at another new voice and turned around to see a man who looked a bit like Sasuke.
Naruto smiled as he walked up to the man. "Hey, Itachi, are you here to get Sasuke?"
Itachi nodded. "I had a feeling this would happen so I came after him."
Once everyone gave their greeting, sans the fighting two, Saria felt compelled to ask something.
"so, I know that Naruto told us that your clans are rivals because they want to prove their 'dotsu'?"
"Dojutsu." Itachi corrected
Saria nodded. "Right, is better than the other. But what are they?"
Itachi looked the girl over and made the connection that these were some of the Kokiri children and it would make sense that they wouldn't know about it. He thought for a second before looking at Hinata. "Would you care to join me in a demonstration?"
Hinata nodded "of course." She brought her hands into a hand sign and called out. "Byakugan!"
Itachi closed his eyes before shooting them open. "Sharingan!"
Link and Saria jumped at the change in the eyes of the two.
Itachi gestured to Hinata as he explained. "The Hyuga clan are known for their ability: The Byakugan which has the ability to see the energy source of their opponent and see through objects." He then gestured to his own eyes. "While my clan is known for the use of its own: the Sharingan, which has the ability to predict and mimic the moves of our opponents. There is more to watch but I don't want to bore you with an extended lecture." He then looked over the kids to look at Sasuke. "Sasuke! We should be getting back!"
Sasuke turned his head to the side to look towards Itachi, which Hanabi took advantage of, and he felt her palm strike his face. But with how she didn't have that much strength yet, all that happened was her hand pressing against his face. He shifted his eyes at her to see the smirk on her face before she dropped to the ground. He rubbed his cheek as it still hurt a bit.
Before she could strike him again, she was suddenly picked up from behind and thrown onto the shoulder of someone. She looked down to see orange and knew who it was. "Put me down, Naruto! I'm not done with him!"
Naruto chuckled as she felt her hit his back. "Yes, you are. He has to go back to his compound and you and Hinata are finished with your errand. He turned around and began to walk back to the group. He could still feel Hanabi trying to get out of his grasp so he used his trump card. "If you stop, I'll convince Hinata to buy you a pack of Banana cream pudding." He smirked as she instantly stopped.
"Twelve pack?"
Naruto chuckled. "Sure."
Hanabi slumped in defeat as she loved the desert and if Naruto said he would convince Hinata, he would convince her. She looked up at Sasuke who was only a few steps behind and she narrowed her eyes at him.
Sasuke only smirked which he knew would irritate her.
Naruto put Hanabi down next to Hinata and ruffled the younger girl's hair, which got a pout out of her. "She showed us a good fight between herself and the Uchiha. I think she deserves a treat for getting a hit on him."
Hinata narrowed her eyes on him in suspicion. All he did in response was mouth the word "twelve".
Hinata sighed as she should have known that her sister gave up too easily. She looked down at her sister, who was giving her a bright smile. "Let's get you some Banana pudding."
Hanabi squealed and hugged her sister before jumping off and hugging Naruto.
Naruto chuckled as he patted her head.
Once Hanabi was done, she jumped off and began to tug her sister in the direction of a shop that sold her pudding. "Come on, come on!"
"Ok, ok, Hanabi1" Hinata laughed at the insistence of her sister.
Itachi smiled at the sight before he moved to be next to Sasuke. "Well, we should go as well, little brother."
Sasuke nodded as he raised a hand as a goodbye. They then disappeared in a shunshin.
Link and Saria were surprised once more at the sight. Naruto smiled at them before he palmed a fist. "Oh right." he reached into his pocket and pulled out his rupee pouch. "Hey, Hinata!" He called out to her and without waiting for a response, he threw his pouch at her.
Hinata didn't even look back as she brought her hand up and caught the pouch from over her shoulder.
Link and Saria were impressed by the distance before Link asked. "What about the rest of your money?"
Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. I have stupid luck when looking for rupees. I can find more later on." He then began to walk in another direction. "Come on, there is more to see."
Sakura, Ino, Link, and Saria moved to catch up with the boy
"How much longer is it?!"
"We're almost there, I told you that you shouldn't have bought all that food, Link."
Saria smiled as she had a sense of deja vu from this. "I think we need a better way of carrying all the food we get. We always seem to end up like this."
The group was walking single file up a path through a forest with Naruto in the lead, with Link, Saria, Sakura, and Ino following respectively.
Sakura, who was carrying her own set of food in her arms, looked ahead at Saria. "You've done this before?"
Saria looked over her shoulder and nodded. "When we go spend time with the Great Deku tree, we usually get some snacks from the shop and make our way to him before we have a picnic around his roots."
Ino gained a curious look as she asked. "What's the Great Deku tree like?"
Link paused to readjust his food stack before giving his answer. "He is like a guardian. A caretaker that will sit and listen to anything you have to say. He also teaches us all some of what he knows."
Saria picked up from here. "He makes you feel safe. He will make you feel better if you are feeling down. He has a way of making you smile no matter what."
Naruto nodded in agreement. "He is like the Grandpa to all the Kokiri. He watches and protects them and his presence is felt throughout their home."
Sakura softly smiled at the sound of the Great tree. "I would like to meet him one day."
Naruto looked over his shoulder with a bright smile. "Maybe one day I'll ask him if I can bring you."
The group continued the walk till they pushed passed a few bushes and made it to a clearing.
Naruto looked back to say. "We're here."
The others looked around at the sight.
Ino nodded as she liked the spot. "It's nice, but why did we have to walk so much to get here?"
Naruto gave a foxy smile. "You guys still don't know where we are?" seeing them shake their heads, he gestured with his head to follow him and he brought them further into the clearing. He led them to the edge.
As the others followed, their eyes widened as they saw what Naruto wanted to show them. Once they stood at the edge, they saw the entirety of Konoha. From the market district to residential. From the Forest of Death to the Academy. And they weren't sure, but they think they could see the top of the Great Deku tree.
Sakura then realized where they were. "Wait, are we at the top of the Hokage Monument?"
Naruto let out a bark of laughter. "Took you long enough."
Sakura blushed with her ears beginning to wiggle from embarrassment. "Shut up!" She wanted to smack that teasing smirk off his face but her arms were full, with a large blanket with some other foodstuffs on top of it. Seeing him still chuckling caused her to puff out her cheeks in a cute pout with her ears wiggling a bit harder.
They all stood there to look out to the village and smiled at the sight of their home. A soft breeze flew by them and they each closed their eyes as they took a slow breath to take in the fresh air.
After a few minutes, they set up their little picnic, which ranged from sweets, finger foods, and some small ready-to-eat meals.
When the chance was given, Sakura hit Naruto on the top of his head for causing her embarrassment.
Despite how the hit hurt a bit, Naruto chuckled as Sakura was still blushing when she did it.
They all sat down on the blanket and began their picnic. They talked about themselves and what they planned for the future.
Link and Saria were surprised that Sakura was half Hylian as they assumed that she was full. But they listened to what she had planned for the future.
Sakura had thoughts about joining the Royal army. She figured that she got this goal because of how her father was a retired shinobi who put all he had for his village. She felt she could do the same thing but for the royal family. It is why she pushes herself in her swordsmanship. She wasn't sure what her magic aptitude was as they never had it checked so she figured she should focus on what she knew.
Ino wanted to become a kunoichi of Konoha and protect her home. But that was more of a starting point as she really wanted to start a family with some handsome guy that will love and cherish her. Once she had a family, she might retire as a kunoichi and run a flower shop as her mother did. She was very fond of gardening so she wouldn't mind a job like that later on.
Naruto, surprisingly, didn't have a goal. Sure his father was the Hokage and he had a lot of respect for the man, and he was given the suggestion that he might do well being a Hokage sometime in the future, but it just didn't seem to really appeal to him. He feels that becoming a shinobi will allow him to help others and that was just fine with him. He didn't have the drive to join the royal family army, the sheikah, or any high rank in the shinobi forces. Some people had said that he was just going with the motions and he couldn't argue it. But he was fine with this.
Link and Saria told them that they didn't have goals either. But with how the Kokiri are, it shouldn't be surprising. They didn't feel the need to set a goal for themselves since Kokiri don't age. The children that are living in Kokiri village are even older than the oldest ones living in the village. They had lived as kids the entire time so they had no real need to make goals.
Sakura and Ino were surprised to hear this as they had no idea that the Kokiri children are older than them even though they look the same age as them.
Ino felt the need to ask what they did during their free time if they didn't have any goals.
Link was the best forager in the village as he knew how to get a good amount of food and materials. He was usually asked to find materials for the village. He was also the most athletic as he enjoyed jumping around the forest.
Saria was considered the older sister of the village. She looked after all of the other children and they came to her if they had any problems. She is also the most musically talented one and had the best eye for detail.
Sakura swallowed the snack she had before asking. "What do you do for music?" She had no idea what they had for music so she was curious.
Saria smiled as she reached into her tunic and pulled out her Ocarina. "I use this."
Sakura and Ino looked at the instrument and wondered what it sounded like.
Saria, seeing the interest in the girls' eyes, smiled as she brought it up to her lips. Once her lips were on it, her fairy came out and began to bounce in rhythm.
~Play "Lost Woods (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time): OST Remastered" ~
Naruto and Link smiled as they closed their eyes to enjoy the music.
Sakura and Ino did the same but felt a little more serene.
Saria got into her music as she played her song for her friends. After finishing one set of it, she then picked up the tempo a tad.
Ino opened her eyes and felt compelled to move. She got to her feet and grabbed Sakura's and Naruto's wrists and pulled them up. "Come on!"
Naruto and Sakura were confused with the male of the two asked. "What is it?"
Ino just smiled. "Just come."
Naruto saw the smile and felt it wouldn't hurt. Before he was taken away, he grabbed Link's wrist and brought him with them. "You're coming with us."
"Wait what?"
Ino pulled her hostages more, let go of Sakura's wrist, and tugged Naruto more, causing him to let Link's arm go. She pulled him a bit more before she grabbed his other hand and began to spin.
"Woah, Ino!"
Ino still didn't drop her smile. "Come on, Naruto! Dance with me."
Naruto was spun around by his wrists before being let go into a twirl. Smiling at the fun this could be, he moved back to be in front of Ino and the two danced to the music
Link and Sakura were left on their own and watched as the two. After a second, Sakura smiled and gently shoulder-bumped Link. "Want to join them?"
Link was stunned by this but figured that there would be no harm in it. He nodded as they followed the two other blondes' lead.
The four danced to Saria's song while she continued to play with a bit of an upbeat tempo.
At random intervals, the group switched partners, with Link dancing with Ino and Naruto dancing with Sakura, before switching to Link dancing with Naruto and Sakura dancing with Ino.
Saria's fairy began to twirl around a duo before moving to the other duo. At some point, when she spun around one of them, they would switch partners with it looking like the fairy was guiding them.
Saria, with her eyes still closed, got up and walked toward them as she continued to play. She kept walking till she was almost in the middle of the dancing four as they began to dance around her with the fairy adding a sparkling atmosphere around them.
They continued for a few more minutes, till Saria came to the end of the song, and as if on cue, the dancers tripped and all fell on top of the green-haired girl, causing a squeal of surprise.
~End music~
They ended up in a pile before they all burst out laughing. They untangled themselves from the pile they made and laid there on the ground as they tried to catch their breath.
Sakura was the first to speak. "That was fun."
Naruto chuckled. "Blame Ino, she was the one that started this."
Ino tilted her head up to look at the top of Naruto's. "Hey, don't blame me, blame Saria for playing her music."
Saria turned her head to the right to look at Ino. "I only played my music because we came here for a picnic. You can blame Naruto for bringing us here."
"Ain't my fault Link suddenly felt hungry after walking around the village for a couple of hours."
Link frowned as he retorted. "Hey, I may have gotten hungry but Sakura was the one that suggested a picnic."
They remained silent before they got into another fit of laughter.
Naruto pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked up to the sky to see the sun was getting low. "I think we should get you guys back home."
Link and Saria nodded as they got up from the ground with Sakura and Ino following suit. They began to pack up the picnic, with Link suggesting that they store the garbage in the blanket as if it was a sack. They had a bit more fun by tossing garbage at each other's heads.
Link picked up the sack as he thought himself the reason for the picnic.
Naruto, Sakura, and Ino picked up the remaining food since there wasn't much of it left.
Naruto thought about how they should do this and decided. "I think we should head to your home first Sakura and then Ino."
Ino looked at Naruto and asked. "Why don't we see Saria and Link home first since they are visitors?"
Naruto shook his head. "Because their village is hidden within the Forest of death. And I'm pretty sure that your parents would kill me if they find out I brought you there."
Ino tapped her foot as she gave him a suspicious look. "Then how come you get to go?" It took Ino a split second to realize her mistake and she was too late to take it back.
"... because no one is at home to get on my case." was Naruto's soft reply."
Ino bit her lip at how stupid her question was. Despite it not fully connecting to the heart of the matter, it did derive from Naruto bringing up the concern of their parents, something Naruto didn't have. "Naruto, I'm sorry."
Naruto shook his head. "Nah, it's fine. You didn't mean anything by it. But we should get going."
The group nodded and began to make their way back to the path that led down the monument.
Yet after they took a few steps, Ino stopped and narrowed her eyes at the forest.
The rest of the group noticed this and looked at her with Sakura asking. "Ino, what is it?"
Ino dropped the food in her arms and pulled out a kunai as she got into a fighting stance.
This caused Naruto and Sakura to get ready as well, with both bringing up their fists.
Link and Saria grew concerned at the action with Link gaining a serious look. "Naruto, what's wrong?"
Naruto looked to Ino for an answer.
Ino's eyes shifted through the trees as she answered. "I sense a couple of chakra signatures coming our way… and I have a bad feeling about it."
Naruto immediately knew that they were in trouble.
It was found out, early on, that Ino was a natural sensor. She could sense the chakra signatures of those a small distance away. She had practiced improving the range of her senses. It allowed her to advance in the tracking section of the academy curriculum.
And right now, since they were in an area that Naruto had told them was usually barren, the fact that there are several signatures coming their way was a big red flag.
Naruto also felt that something was about to happen since he had seen the scowls on some of the villagers' faces when he gave a tour to his friends. He knew that the people that gave those looks were just petty and had some weird hatred for magic users.
Despite the fact that the shinobi villages work for and along with the Royal family. Which are Hylian.
Though Naruto had learned that a lot of chakra users didn't like the fact that they worked under the Royal family. They felt that Chakra users should be the ones in charge. 'Stupid idiots.'
They all saw who it was when a group came out of the forest.
Sakura was shocked as she saw one of the ones in the front. "Mizuki-Sensei? What are you doing here?"
Naruto shouldn't be surprised. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if Mizuki was the one that gathered all these other idiots. He even recognized the owner of the shop they stopped by because Saria and Link were looking through the window.
Mizuki gave a cruel smirk as he pulled out a kunai. "Oh, I just heard there was a pest problem and felt it was my duty to get rid of it. But it turns out that there was a bonus that came with it."
Sakura and Ino quirked an eyebrow each but Naruto rolled his eyes instead.
Naruto eyed all of the villagers and saw them sneering at Link, Saria, and even Sakura. He moved to stand between them and Saria and Link. This got him the scowls of the villagers but he didn't give a damn. 'Damn it, I don't have any kunai on me! Oh, well, Mizuki is the only one that is the real threat since the rest of these guys are just civilians.'
True to Naruto's observation, Mizuki was the only shinobi in the group, of what looked to be fifteen or so civilians. And despite how early they are in their shinobi training, not even genin yet, Naruto had confidence in beating them. The issue was Mizuki. The man was a chunin who had experience in the field.
Sakura asked the man. "What sort of 'pest problem'?" She didn't like the look on the man's face and tensed her muscles as she knew a fight was going to start.
One of the villagers shouted out. "You damn Magic users are a plague in our village! You don't belong anywhere near us!"
Link narrowed his eyes as he stepped in front of Saria who was looking at all of the villagers in stunned silence.
Ino scoffed at the shout. "There have been magic users in the village ever since the founding of Konoha. Even the Kokiri village was here before Konoha was even an idea. And yet you guys are acting like chakra users were here first. You're acting like a bunch of idiotic dumbasses."
Naruto stepped forward. "Do you really think that you can get away with whatever it is you plan on doing?"
Mizuki cackled before giving a response. "Oh, I don't think we have to worry. You gave us this chance by coming to a secluded area. No one comes here at any time. So even if we leave you here, no one will know."
Naruto groaned as he mentally kicked himself for bringing them up here. He looked over his shoulder and spoke. "Stay back, this is going to get ugly."
As if on cue, one of the villagers charged in, which caused the rest of them to do the same.
Ino and Sakura looked at each other and nodded. They ran to meet the charge, with Naruto waiting a few seconds before he followed.
Ino made a beeline to a charging fat man that had a rolling pin. She dropped into a slide and went under his lifted right foot. The man was confused about the action and turned around to see where she went but was rewarded with a kick to the back of the head from Sakura. The man fell unconscious from the kick as Sakura kicked off the man's shoulder to the side to bring another kick to a more lean male.
Naruto jumped at another charging male and brought his feet up onto the man's chest. He smirked before backflipping and bringing his foot into the man's chin. Once touched down, he ducked under a punch before bringing an uppercut to his attacker's chin. He spun around and threw a punch at another's stomach, hard enough to cause the man to double over. Naruto jumped up and brought the back of his fist into another.
Ino used her kunai to block the bat of one of them before she shifted the kunai to allow the force of the bat to cause the attacker to stumble forward. She slammed the back of her kunai at the back of his neck before she shifted her foot under the bat and kicked it into the air. "Sakura!"
Sakura delivered three punches to a man's stomach, chest, and head, before turning to where she heard Ino and saw the flying bat. She somersaulted back to avoid a punch aimed at her and while in the air, she grabbed the bat and landed in a stance reminiscent of her sword's stance. "This thing is way lighter than my sword and the weight is off but it will do." She charged ahead and swerved to the side before striking the legs of two of her opponents. Once they were down, she swung her bat at their heads to knock them out.
Naruto was surrounded by five of them as they figured they could overwhelm him. 'Great, they like me.' He eyed them to look for an opening but didn't have a chance as they jumped him.
*ffwit*
*CRACK*
Suddenly two of them were hit in the side of the head by something while the other three were stunned.
Naruto took this chance to jump in the air and kick each of them in the head, hard enough to knock them out. Once he was on the ground, he looked to where the shots came from and saw Link holding his slingshot and Saria with one arm extended while the other held a bunch of Deku nuts. He smiled at them and gave them a thumbs up.
Link smirked as he looked at Saria. "Nice aim."
Saria gave a smile as she responded. "Nice shot."
They looked back at the fight and decided to give them some cover.
Link shot at one of the legs of Sakura's opponents, causing him to buckle and allowing her to knock him out.
Saria grabbed another nut and aimed at a group behind Ino. her fairy came out and with her help, she locked on to them and threw, stunning them and alerting Ino to the ones behind her. Ino swiftly knocked them out before going after another.
Naruto jumped up, grabbed the head of a man, and gave a hard headbutt. Dropping to the ground, he was about to go after someone else but he realized something. 'Where's Mizuki?!' he turned around to look toward Link and Saria and saw Mizuki sneaking up on them. "Look out!"
The two looked behind them to see the manic smile of the man before they jumped away, opposite of each other to avoid the kunai swipe.
Link rolled on the ground and looked up to see Mizuki charging at Saria. "No!" he got to his feet and ran towards them to stop the man.
Naruto did the same but was grabbed from behind by another. "Let go!" he brought his fist up over his shoulder and hit the man in the stomach, causing the man to let him go before he slammed his fist in his face.
Link ran towards Saria to save her from the man. He saw Mizuki lift up his kunai to strike at the girl who was on the ground and just acted. He bent down and picked up something to help.
Saria closed her eyes as she saw the kunai coming down on her. She waited for any sort of pain but nothing came. She opened her eyes to see Link standing at the man's side and blocking the kunai with the rolling pin the man at the start had.
Link glared up at Mizuki before he tugged the rolling pin, causing the kunai which was stuck in it to be freed from the man's, and spun around bringing the rolling pin into Mizuki's face.
Naruto made it to them and jumped up, giving Mizuki two kicks to the face.
Link then swiped at Mizuki's leg, hitting the man's feet from under him. Naruto, while still in the air, spun his body and kicked the also airborne Mizuki in the stomach with all his strength, causing the man to roll a good fifty feet away.
Once Mizuki stopped rolling, he got to his feet and sneered at the kids. "You little shits are Dead!" he pulled out another kunai and charged at them with clear madness in his eyes.
Naruto grabbed the kunai that was still in the rolling pin and tugged it out before he and Link stood at the ready.
But Mizuki was suddenly wrapped around by a group of snakes that hissed in his face.
The remaining villagers that were still conscious were also suddenly wrapped in wire, causing Sakura and Ino to wonder what happened
Naruto smiled as he knew who had arrived. "What took you so long, Anko?"
"You know the hero arrives at the last second."
Landing in the clearing was Anko Mitarashi with a group of Anbu and the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. They looked at the kids with Hiruzen asking. "Are you all alright?"
Link helped Saria off the ground and nodded to the old man.
Ino and Sakura looked each other over with Ino asking about Sakura's shoulder while Ino's hand began to bleed again.
Naruto sighed as this whole thing was a terrible way to end the day for his friends.
"Let go of me, you snake bitch!"
Everyone looked to Mizuki who seemed to no longer care about the snakes poised to bite him and was struggling to get out of them.
Hiruzen walked up to the man as he unleashed a focused blast of Ki at him. Seeing the man stop his squirming, Hiruzen spoke. "Chunin Mizuki, for the crime of instigating an attack on two honored guests to our village and the attack on three of its residents, do not expect to see tomorrow." he worded the last part as he did not want to cause concern in the children. Specifically, the Kokiri visitors.
Hiruzen glared at the old man and was about to say something till the snakes wrapped tighter on him to the point you could almost hear his ribs crack.
Anko gave a cheeky smirk as she wagged her finger as if he was a naughty child. "Ah ah ah, don't say anything. Might be bad for our poor innocent ears." She emphasized her point as she flicked her pointy ears.
This caught the attention of Ino and Sakura as they just then noticed the ears. Both of them were wondering how that was possible since they were pretty sure that she had used a jutsu.
Naruto moved to stand next to Anko before looking up at her. "Alright, Anko, stop it."
Anko looked down at Naruto with a teasing look. "Stop what, gaki?"
Naruto just deadpanned at her before leaping up and grabbing her ears.
Sakura and Saria squeaked in shock as they saw him do that, both gaining blushes on their faces.
Naruto landed on the ground and opened his hands to show…. Pointy ears.
"Aw, Gaki, ruining my fun."
The children, sans Naruto, face faulted.
Anko chuckled at the sight before grabbing the ears and putting them in her pocket.
Naruto smirked back at Anko before moving back to his friends.
Hiruzen chuckled before looking back at Mizuki. "Take them all to the I-&-T Department. They have an appointment with Ibiki and the new Sheika graduates. And I'm sure the Sheika would love to try the new things they learned on people so willing to volunteer. He watched as his Anbu took them all away before he looked to the kids once again. He walked up to them before giving a small bow to the Kokiri children. "I must apologize for what some of my citizens did to you during this visit. I knew of the animosity they had but I did not believe that they would try something like this to those under the Great Deku tree's protection."
Saria placid a hand over her chest as her heart was still beating fast. She took a deep breath to calm it before speaking. "You do not need to apologize. And I am sure that the Great Deku tree will not blame you for this."
"Regardless, I will meet with him as soon as I can to apologize."
Naruto walked up to Hiruzen as he asked. "What is going to happen to Mizuki and the other idiots?"
Hiruzen looked at the boy before speaking. "They will be dealt with once their punishment is over."
Naruto sighed as he felt a bit petty against the teacher since he still remembers how hard the man went against him and Sakura. He wanted to give out his own form of punishment but he couldn't think of anything that would fit the crime.
Hiruzen however, did have an idea. Something that he was sure could be considered cruel. But with how these people acted around the Kokiri children, he could only imagine the backlash that would come if they did it to visitors from Hyrule. But that is for another time. He looked at Naruto and spoke in a softer voice. "I think it is time you took them home, Naruto. Let us handle the problems here."
Naruto nodded before moving to his friends. "I think this marks the end of your tour. Sorry it didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked."
Saria smiled as she patted his shoulder. "It's fine, apart from this last…event, we had fun. Right, Link?"
Link nodded as he rolled his arm since it felt strained from what he did earlier.
Naruto gave a small sigh of relief before looking at Sakura and Ino. "Let's still go with what I said earlier."
Sakura shook her head. "No, let's just get them home first." she pointed at Link and Saria. "We won't go into the Forest of Death with you but we can at least go as far as the gate."
Ino nodded as she stood next to Sakura.
Naruto looked at the two and saw that they wouldn't be swayed from this decision. Sighing in defeat, he nodded and they began to make their way back down from the top of the monument.
Hiruzen then scowled as he looked back at the opening. "I will have to do some more investigating to make sure this does not happen again. Inu!"
Dropping into a crouch next to the elder leader. "Lord Hokage?"
"Shadow the children and make sure nothing happens to them. We have a good relation with the Great Deku Tree and I will not have it broken because of the actions of the few!"
Ino nodded. "Yes, Lod Hokage." the Anbu then disappeared in a shunshin.
~gates to the Forest of Death~
The journey to the gates was uneventful but Naruto didn't let his guard down. But they made it.
Sakura and Ino felt nervous at the sight of the forest as there was an ominous feeling to it. Their eyes darted back and forth as if something would pop up out of nowhere.
Naruto turned to look at the two girls and spoke. "Well, this is where we part."
This shook them out of their wariness with Sakura stepping forward toward Link and Saria. "Well, it was nice meeting you two."
The two nodded with Link stepping forward to meet the girl. "It was nice to meet you, too. Both of you."
Ino moved to join Sakura with Saria joining Link.
Ino put a hand on her hip as she smiled at the Kokiri girl. "Thanks for that little musical."
Saria smiled softly. "It's my favorite thing to do. Glad I could share it."
They gave their goodbyes before Naruto began to lead them into the Forest of death and into the Lost woods.
Sakura and Ino chose to wait for a minute before they left
Naruto guided the duo back to Kokiri village as they made small talk about what they liked about the village.
Saria and Link smiled at the memory of all the things they saw and some of the small souvenirs that Saria had in her pouch. They weren't much but it was nice to get something.
Naruto, though, felt that something about the forest was off. Like they were being watched or that something was hidden within the trees. He kept looking at the darkness of the trees but saw nothing. But it was then that he noticed something. The usual haze that was seen in the lost woods, seemed more….dreary. This did not help his nerves. He looked at the ones behind him and saw that they were enjoying themselves so he chose not to say anything. But he is not letting his guard down. Not until they are safe.
Thankfully, they made it to the bridge that led into the village and Naruto let out a breath of relief as his foot hit the wooden planks. He looked at his friend and smiled to hide his worry. "Well, I hope you liked the village for the most part."
Saria nodded. "We did, Naruto. Thank you for bringing us there." She hugged him before she grabbed Link's arm and brought him in. She hugged her boys as she just felt like it.
Once they broke the hug, the two Kokiri children moved to head to their home and waved goodbye to Naruto.
Naruto waved back before they were no longer visible. Once he was alone, he turned back and began to make his way back home. 'Well, at least they liked it. No thanks to those idiots of the village. Wonder what the old man plans to do with them." Figuring that they would be punished no matter what, he shrugged as it didn't concern him.
~Hours later~
Standing in the forest was the group that attacked the children but looked worse for wear.
Behind them was a team of Anbu, Ibiki, Anko, and the Hokage.
It came to the disappointment to Ibiki that the citizens broke so easily and all gave the same response. Mizuki spoke to them and told them that they had the chance to get rid of some of the magic users without any backlash. They tried to make themselves look innocent but it was clear that they didn't even need that much convincing. They let their prejudice against magic users influence their actions and with that, they could not be trusted to not do it again.
Mizuki, who looked like he was beaten badly, turned to glare at the shinobi. "What do you expect this to do?"
Hiruzen looked from under his hat and spoke in a dark tone. "Walk into the Woods. That is all."
"And what kind of shit is that?"
Anko was chewing on a wooden stick before pulling it out of her mouth. "It's either this, or we kill you all right here and now."
One of the civilians looked between them and the forest. "So we just walk in? And then what."
Anko gave a sadistic smirk as she put the stick back in her mouth and her hands in her pockets. "See how long you can survive." She then shrugged dismissively. "Or whatever happens to you. Frankly, we don't really know what happens to those that get lost in there. Just what was told to us."
"And what is that?"
Ibiki moved forward and shoved the man forward. "You'll find out. Now walk!"
This caused them to start walking into the Lost woods.
Mizuki mentally scoffed and just told himself that he would just find his way back and get out of the village. He sneered over his shoulder at them as he walked with the others. He would leave them in the forest and go with whatever superstitious bullshit that they believed in. After a few minutes, he stopped and looked behind him to see that the Konoha dogs were no longer visible. "Well, I don't need to stick around any of you shit stains anymore." he looked back forward, expecting to see the others look at him in shock. But there was no one there. "Did those shits go ahead or head back to squeal and beg for their lives?" He chose to wait a few minutes, thinking that the Konoha dogs would be gone, and headed back the way he came. He didn't care about the others so he wasn't going to help them.
After a few minutes of walking in the direction he came from, he still didn't see any sign of the forest entrance. "What the hell?!" He was sure that he was walking in the direction the Hokage was but he knew it shouldn't take this long to get back. "Where the fuck are they?!" he continued to walk in one direction but so far, all he saw was more forest. He thought about what the problem might have been, he thought it might be a genjutsu and brought his hands into a hand sign. "Kai!" he waited for the sign of a genjutsu dropping but so far nothing. "KAI!" Still nothing. "What the hell?!" He looked around as something in the pit of his stomach was telling him he was in trouble. "Where are you!" His voice echoed through the forest. "HEY!" Feeling some panic, he began to move quickly through the forest. He kept shouting for anyone to come out. But he never got a response.
*clack clack clack clack*
Mizuki heard clacking coming from around him which caused his panic to spike. He began to move away from the sound but it seemed to get closer to him the more he moved. He began to run, deeper into the forest but not getting any further from the clacking. He tripped on a root and shuffled away from the tree. It seemed to also get darker the more he moved but he had no idea what else to do. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" He got to his feet and ran.
Deeper into the Woods.
Deeper into the darkness.
The more and more he moved, the more Lost he became.
End of chapter
Changed the cover art once again and lowered the rating to T since…. Well, there is nothing M-rated in this.
Sorry for the long wait but I got this chapter out.
When I made the dancing scene, I couldn't help but imagine something like a cowboy hoedown.
I got to one of the parts I was looking forward to, getting rid of Mizuki. I really don't like him and I always try to get rid of him. So I had this happen. Originally, I was going to have Naruto suggest the Lost woods as punishment but I felt it would be a bit too cruel for him to suggest
I'm going to be expanding the world so it is bigger for some events that I have planned later on, but still have several of the locations remaining where I originally planned. I believe I asked this before but I'll ask it again. If you have any locations you want me to add, let me know cause I can probably work it in, but if I can't, I'll let you know.
I think that should be enough set-up chapters, right? This fic isn't as popular as I thought it would be since I was hoping that it would have reached 100 favs by now. But I'll get there…. Eventually, especially since this is going to be a very long fic. HERE ME, FEN! I'LL BEAT YOU EVENTUALLY! Anyway, if you are interested, my fellow author Fenreldstormblade has his own Naruto Zelda fic, which is much different from mine. So check it out when you can.
The next chapter will have things moving along as I think we have spent enough time world-building.
And I'll come back to fix any errors I find when I reread this
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