Chapter 014

Naruto knew where to go when he was in trouble, he knew how to make makeshift homes, he knew how to hide, how to run, how to swing, how to climb, how to use his feet as hands, basically anything a wild animal could do. This also explained his extraordinary fighting sense, incredible high level of timing, speed and body strength.

Believe it. He had built up A LOT of body strength over the years hanging with the monkeys.

But he didn't use it as excess. All he required were outlets, one of the many being the serene practice of digging through the brush and finding the most delicious items of forest grub he could get his hands on.

Yup. When not gorging on ramen back home, he was trying to make his own, which was always great.

Weaving himself a bag from long grass, leaves and vines, Naruto began a long walkabout of the thickest part of the woods. Scurrying up trees, digging through bushes, searching crevasses, he left no stone unturned in his search for the best things the natural world could provide. Within half an hour he was able to grab a whole sack full of stuff, even some rare goodies he was sure would sell for a good price back home. But he wasn't interested in money. All he wanted was a distraction and a way to cool off from his displeasing lesson back at school. The almost secondary natural act of scavenging made him forget all about his troubles in the village and brought a smile to his face.

However, while he was picking mushrooms from a wide clearing and humming a pleasant tune, the blonde suddenly noticed further up the hillside something out of place. Depositing what he had in his hands into his basket, he left it on the ground where it was and went over to the area in question to check out.

What Naruto found up the path was a ruined patch of land scarred from what could only be described as an intense battle. There were craters punched all over the place, chunks blasted out of trees, gashes and scars carved into the land and wood, and scorch marks burned here and there. There was also traces of blood; never a good sign.

Perplexed, the jinchuriki ran a hand over a particularly large scar in a tree before noticing some weapons deposited across the clearing.

"A fight… between enemy shinobi?" Naruto wondered, before spotting something else higher up above him.

It was hidden conspicuously so that only a shinobi would notice, but it was clearly there. The sun pretty much silhouetted it. Up in a bird's nest a couple stories above the ground, the blonde spotted a kunai sticking out from the twigs, refracting the sun's rays when it tried to pass through it and cast a shadow across the area. Naruto quickly hopped up to the canopy and carefully pulled the blade out, making sure the eggs were okay before jumping back down.

"That's an odd place to put something." It was an odd knife, not like any of Konoha's weapons, with a slight curve to its blade and an extra prong protruding from the cutting edge, ideal for shaving through enemies. He also noticed there was a piece of paper tied around the handle. It wasn't a paper bomb or anything like that. That much was made clear to him when he didn't pick up any specific markings or powders, or that it was big enough to be an explosive. It didn't detonate on contact either.

This was something else.

Before he could make heads-or-tails with what had gone on around here though, Naruto suddenly detected a disturbance on the wind and crouched low in the center of the clearing. His instincts kick starting at the sound of approaching danger, his gaze hardened and he placed a hand on the floor so that he could get a bead on the infiltrators.

The vibrations gave him all the Intel he needed. "There's someone here. No… three people?"

The instant he realized this, two shadows suddenly dropped down from the treetops on either side of him at a distance. The individuals then rushed at him from his left and right, attempting to blindside the boy with their speed and get him in a simultaneous attack on the first move.

Already aware of their presence, Naruto pocketed the knife, sprang to his feet and dashed at the one coming from his right. He met the attacker halfway who made to jump at him and strike from up high, but the blonde anticipated this move and slid under, slamming both hands into their lower and upper body and tossing them over when they failed to react to a counter. The act of throwing said attacker sent the person hurling into the other, who was also jumping to attack but ended up having their partner crash into them.

The impact sent both of them flying back, but they quickly recovered and separated, back-flipping before landing in crouched stances. The moment they landed they dashed in and attacked simultaneously. A surprised Naruto started ducking and weaving as they assaulted him one after the other, aiming to bring him down with low and high blows, punches and kicks. "Whoa! Yikes! Hey… w-what… geez!" The jinchuriki danced between them, using swaying and evasive maneuvers he had previously used against Sasuke to avoid the duel fighters before allowing them to fly passed him and fall back. He too leapt away in a hasty retreat, hands hanging at his sides as he locked his best hostile glare onto them.

The two masked attackers put distance between them and their target, one taking up position behind the other, with the individual up front on their feet and glaring across at the boy.

"This is no ordinary brat!" the head attacker exclaimed, before both of them drew their swords from their backs. The blades flashed under the sun, alerting Naruto to the change in the fight's nature as well as an increase in danger.

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