Naruto: Cautious Ninja

Three days later…

Naruto was suddenly woken from his peaceful slumber by his bedspread coming to an abrupt and shuddering halt. He gave out a yelp of surprise when he was tossed onto his front, coaxing tears of pain from his eyes due to the bad position he landed in. "W-What? What's going on?"

Why he hadn't woken up days earlier from all the noise and rattling surrounding him beforehand was a good question. It could only be assumed that the infrequent rocking of the surface he had been laying on basically kept him relaxed enough to enjoy his pleasant montage of dreams to be asleep for over seventy-two hours. Too bad the 'comforter' he had been lying across hadn't exactly been the ideal surface for his body to be sprawled over, something he came to the full realization of when he sat up and stretched out after his bad landing. The sounds of each of his vertebrae popping back into place one after the other could be heard echoing throughout his dim chamber.

Letting out a yawn, the blonde rubbed his eye and looked around his strange surroundings, "Man… how long was I out?" He blinked in confusion when he saw the stacks of crates and boxes. "Wait a second… this isn't my bedroom."

Figuring he was still dreaming, he pinched himself in an attempt to rouse his mind from its slump. When he opened his eyes again and saw that his world hadn't changed he groaned in annoyance and stood up.

"I guess I must have fallen asleep in the academy's equipment shed again. Damn. What the hell's with all the barrels lying around?" While he was scratching his head, the boy winced when he felt a sharp poke to his cranium and looked up to see a familiar companion perched on the unlit lamp hanging from the ceiling of the low-riding room. "Oh, hey Swift-chan? What's up?"

The bird chirped sharply, directing his attention towards the exit. Listening to her stressful exclamations for the next few seconds as she explained to him their current situation, the blonde blew a raspberry and gave his friend a dismissive wave.

"What? No way. How the hell are we not in the village anymore?" Naruto shook his head, stepping over several bags of flour and reaching for the canvas entrance, all the while laughing the entire way. "That's a funny joke, Swift-chan. If we're not in Konoha anymore, then that would mean I must have fallen asleep in some traveler's carriage. What kind of Shikamaru do you take me fo-" He was cut short when he threw open the drapes of the wagon and found himself staring out at an unknown countryside, covered with fields, small areas of forest, and winding roads stretching out as far as the eye could see. "Oh…"

"Hey!"

Startled, Naruto looked over to see the driver of the wagon pointing at him with an incredulous look on his face.

"What are you doing hiding in the back of my cart, kid? Get out of there!"

Blinking a few times, the blonde meekly raised his hand in a dumbfounded greeting. "Uh, yeah… hi! Umm… could you please tell me where I am? I think I'm lost." The swallow who had accompanied him on his journey perched herself on his shoulder.

The driver scratched his head, "Geez, how long have you been in there? You're in Gurētoribā no Tochi, son." (Land of the Great River)

"Guretoriba? Never heard of it," Naruto looked around while leaning further out the wagon. He could see he was in a hilly area with a lot of farmland and open field. Apparently the man had stopped beside a local food stand on the side of the highway to take a break from his long trip. After quickly taking in his new surroundings, the jinchuriki looked back at the stumped tradesman and addressed him with a new question. "Umm, do you know how far away from Konohagakure we are?"

He saw the man's eyes bug out. "Konohagakure? You're from that village?" The blonde nodded. "I left the Land of Fire three days ago! We're in a country to the far west sitting in between the Land of Wind to the south and the Land of Earth to the north." The man breathed in amazement. "I gotta tell yah kid, you're a long way from home."

Naruto appeared both bewildered and dismayed at that revelation. "Really? Ah crap… why the hell does this always happen to me?" Overcome, he then hopped out of the wagon and took his first steps across a road he'd never set foot on until now. "Oh well. Guess I'd better make the most of this." Looking left and right to check for traffic, the ten-year-old was able to ascertain the direction he had come from and where this man was apparently headed, before deciding to follow the road that the tradesman had been following.

Seeing the youngster head off down the highway the driver suddenly jumped back into life. "Whoa! Hey! You're going the wrong way, kid!"

Stopping for a moment, Naruto glanced back casually at the tradesmen while pointing down the route ahead of him. "There's a village close by, isn't there? That's where you were headed before you stopped."

"Y-Yes…"

"Then that's where I'll go. Thanks, oji-san!" With a kind wave and a smile the jinchuriki turned around and marched on, with his swallow companion riding atop his shoulder.

Betting on his knowledge of public transport, the boy figured he would be able to charter a ride back to his home village from the town and decided to take the lead in this unexpected adventure. Hopefully he would also be able to come across some more locals who could tell him more about this place he had wound up at.

He headed on, leaving a still bewildered looking driver behind who stared worryingly after him.

"Be careful, lad," the tradesman said to himself while stroking his mustache. "The great divide lies over that horizon… and I don't think you'll like what you're going to find there…"

XXX

A couple hours later…

"Whoa… now that is a big-ass trench," Naruto said to himself as he stood at the crest of the hill he'd finally arrived at and looked out over the rolling landscape of valleys and forests towards the great furrow he could see carved into the country. The line dug into the earth was about two kilometers wide and stretched from one vanishing point in the distance to the next; one of the largest natural formations he'd ever seen. He shook his head in amazement as he took it all in from end to end, disappointed that he didn't have a camera with him.

Though some mists toward the north concealed much of the trench, the boy still got a good enough look at the canyon, concluding that this view was by far one of the most amazing sights he'd ever seen.

"I can't wait to tell Iruka-sensei about this when I get home." Scratching his head as he marveled at the landscape, the blonde then looked down at the swallow nesting on his shoulder. "Did you know about this?" The bird merely chirped and ruffled her feathers. "Surprised? Yeah. So am I."

Deciding he'd had enough of taking in the sights at this distance the blonde began marching down the hill to continue on his trek. Spotting a farm house next to some dried up crops closer to the expanse of flats, Naruto instinctively headed there to see if anyone in the area could give him some proper directions to the village he was heading to. Honestly, even though it was a highway he still managed to get himself lost.

He needed a map… and something to eat.

Seriously, he was starving.

Perhaps while he was here he could poke around a little more and soak up some of the culture. He wanted to learn as much about this place so that he could tell Teuchi and Ayame the whole story in detail that was sure to come.

After following the dirt road that branched off of the main highway down to the cottage, Naruto stopped at the front door of the main building and gazed up at it wearily. The place was a little rundown and disused, with the only farm animals in sight being an ox, a cow, a donkey, and a few chickens asleep in their pen. There was a lot more space that would have housed a score of other animals, but they were all vacant. This had the boy wonder what exactly was going on with the owners of this establishment and its diminishing quality.

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