So, instead on working on the next chapter of Shades of Darkness, my
muse decided it was time to write a Naruto fanfic. This is the result.
Any and all C&C is always welcome; Chapter 1 will follow this prelude
shortly.
One Hundred Days
A Naruto Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack
Prelude: The Night Before
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Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, strange though that may seem.
Instead it is Kishimoto Masashi's creation. However, the text of this
fanfic is mine, and may not be used without permission. Also, monkeys.
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A small rock struck Haruno Sakura's bedroom window. The noise
it made was slight enough that even the lightest sleeper might merely
have rolled over in bed, never waking. Unless said person happened to
be a trained ninja, that was. One of the many lessons that was drilled
into the trainees at the ninja academy was that one was most vulnerable
when sleeping. Better to wake at the slightest hint of a threat and
suffer through many false alarms than to miss a single true attack and
never wake again.
Haruno Sakura had taken all her lessons to heart as best she
could. Even here, in her home near the very heart of the Hidden Village
of the Leaf, surrounded by hundreds of protectors, she slept lighter
than any untrained person could and still call it sleep. By the time
the last faint echo of the rock's impact had faded, several pillows,
positioned in a fair approximation of Sakura's shape, had replaced her
in bed. Sakura herself was perched above the window, glued to the
ceiling by her chakra. The kunai she kept on her nightstand was
clenched in her teeth, and she waited patiently for any sign of
attackers.
After several long moments, when Sakura almost felt it was safe
to return to sleep, a large figure landed on her windowsill. Instantly
snapping to full alertness, she moved her kunai to her hand, adjusting
the chakra flow in her other limbs to compensate. The figure outside
tested the window and found it locked. It laid a hand on the smooth
glass, and Sakura felt a brief chakra pulse. With a click that sounded
loud to her straining ears, the simple lock opened, and moments later
the window followed.
As the man outside climbed through, Sakura tensed. At precisely
the right time, she dropped from her perch, perfectly positioned to grab
the intruder and place her blade at his throat. All this accuracy,
however, did not avail her. Faster than she could see, the man reacted,
sending the kunai flying to impale itself with a thud in the door to her
room and reversing her hold before it could begin. She flailed
ineffectively in the air for a few seconds, before realizing that she
knew the man holding her.
Two impulses warred briefly in her mind, and the stronger
quickly asserted itself. "Wha... what the hell are you doing sneaking
into my room, you perv-"
Jiraiya, the famous Toad Hermit, clasped a hand over the young
girl's mouth, muffling her cry. "Hush. Don't cause a mess, Sakura-
chan," he whispered. "I'm not supposed to be here."
"No, really," Sakura muttered through the older ninja's hand.
"Listen, Sakura-chan. You want to -"
The door to the room flung open, bouncing back slightly as the
hilt of Sakura's weapon hit the wall. "Sakura, I heard something, are
you all... who the hell are you?!"
Jiraiya released his captive, scratching the back of his head.
"Your mother?" he asked as he looked at the young woman who stood in the
door, taking in her dark hair.
Sakura nodded.
"You must get your hair from your father," Jiraiya muttered
quietly to himself as he walked forward. He let out a nervous chuckle.
"Um... you see, Haruno-san, this all is sort of a big misunderstan -
Sleep!" As Jiraiya placed his hand on the woman's shoulder, she
collapsed slowly to the ground. As she began to snore, Jiraiya turned
back to the young kunoichi. "Sorry," he said. "Put her back in bed,
and she should think it was just a dream."
"Doesn't one of the legendary Sannin have better things to do
than break into a young woman's bedroom?" Sakura asked irritably.
"That's a little low even for you."
"I thought you were asleep," Jiraiya said. "And I needed to
wake you."
"I had no idea who you were! You could have been an assassin!"
Jiraiya blinked. "You get a lot of those here?"
"Um... not really." Against her will, Sakura giggled
embarrassedly.
Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "In any case, what I came here to say
was this. You want to be at the west gate in ten minutes."
"Why?" Sakura demanded.
"Trust me." Jiraiya grinned lecherously. "You might want to
get dressed first, though."
"You... you pervert!" Sakura growled, reaching down for a pillow
and hurling it at the legendary ninja. Jiraiya didn't dodge, letting
the improvised missile hit him in the face.
He waved. "Bye," he said as he vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Shadow Replication?" Sakura asked curiously. "What's going
on?" She glanced down at her mother's still form, and with a quiet
groan lifted her unconscious parent with one arm and left the room.
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"Damn old pervert," Naruto muttered as he packed hurriedly.
"Can't even take the time to show me a single technique for weeks, and
then tells me we have to leave in the middle of the night!" He hurled a
crumbled-up shirt into the nearly-full pack that laid opened on his
unmade bed. "Couldn't he give me any warning? And nights are for
sleeping, too! It's not fair!" Naruto nodded at his own irrefutable
logic.
"Let's see," he said as he began to ruffle through the pack.
"Changes of clothes, technique scrolls, spare equipment, dirty underwear
- what's that doing in there?" The offending clothing was thrown to one
side, to land precariously on a doorknob. "Toothbrush!"
Naruto raced into his bathroom, returning seconds later with
that item, shoving it into the pack. "Let's see, what else do I need?"
A sneaky look appeared on his face. "That old pervert is evil, so..."
He grinned, and raced out of the room once more.
When he returned, his arms were full with packages of instant
ramen. "It's lucky I just went shopping! Now I won't have to worry
about him keeping me away from ramen!" Naruto's mouth watered as he
began to stuff the pack even fuller. "Maybe I should make one now." He
shook his head. "No, I must be strong! I've got to save the ramen for
later!"
Still, seconds later he was back in his filthy kitchen,
shoveling down ramen at a speed that any who had never seen him eat
before might have called impossible. As he was polishing off his third
package, his eyes widened as he happened to glance at his clock. "I'm
gonna be late!"
He leapt up from the table, leaving several mouthfuls of ramen
still in the bowl - something that those who had seen Naruto eat might
have called impossible. He ran back into his bedroom and struggled
briefly to force his over-full pack to close. After throwing out one
set of clothing - he could always wash more often, but who knew when
more ramen would be available? - he was able to succeed in this task.
Throwing the pack on his back, he moved with a speed no lessened by the
additional weight, pausing only to turn out the lights before slamming
the front door behind him.
He hesitated again after jumping up to the roof of the adjacent
building, turning back and gazing his home and at the Hidden Village
that surrounded it. He jumped again, to a higher roof, and spun about.
The village was dark, only a handful of widely scattered lights still
lit. In his mind's eye, though, he could see it all, as it spread out
below Hokage Mountain in the light of day. He had left the village
before, and each time there had been a chance he would not return,
though at first he'd not realized it. This time was different. It
could be over a year before they returned, Jiraiya had said. Maybe they
would journey for all three years, until... it was best not to think of
that.
Naruto took one last, long look as the village he had lived all
his life in, seeking to imprint the image in his mind for all time. He
gathered in a deep breath, then exhaled. "All right!" he said, "Let's
go!" He jumped again, carrying him over to the next roof. After all
the angry pursuers he had evaded in his younger years, he knew the
rooftops of the Village of the Leaf better than he knew the streets.
Never pausing to check his position, he moved from to roof to roof along
the fastest route to the west gate.
A familiar presence appeared by his side. Jiraiya. The two
ninja exchanged no words. The older man matched Naruto's pace jump for
jump, and in less than a minute they had arrived at the western gate out
of the Leaf. Unusually for this time of night, it was opened.
Unusually for any time, there were no guards in evidence. A female
figure leaned against one of the massive wooden doors, tapping her foot
impatiently.
"You're late, Jiraiya," she said without looking up.
"Old lady Tsunade!" Naruto exclaimed.
The Fifth Hokage's eyebrow twitched, but all she said was, "You
didn't think I wouldn't see you off, did you?"
"Sorry, Tsunade," Jiraiya said. "I had some last-minute
business to take care of."
"Do I want to know?" she asked.
Jiraiya let out a weak chuckle. "Probably not."
Naruto snorted. "Pervert."
"You two had better move quickly," Tsunade said. "I was only
able to arrange for the guard schedules to have a small hole, or it
would be noticed."
"Thanks," Jiraiya said as he glanced back down the dark street
that lead to the gate. "Come on, boy," he said as he turned back and
headed through the open doors. A moment later Naruto followed.
Both of them stopped at the sound of footsteps running up the
street to the gate. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto breathed. "What's she doing
here?"
The other member of Team Seven stopped just inside the gate,
doubling over and breathing heavily. "Naruto?"
Tsunade glared at Jiraiya. "Your last-minute business?" He
nodded.
Sakura straightened suddenly at hearing her voice, finally
noticing her presence. "Hokage-sama!"
"At least someone gives me respect around here," Tsunade
muttered. She raised her voice. "Nobody was to know about this,
Jiraiya."
The male Sannin rolled his eyes. "She deserves a chance to say
goodbye, Tsunade. And it's hardly likely she's a spy for Akatsuki or
Orochimaru."
The Fifth Hokage sighed. "I guess you're right."
"You're leaving? Tonight?" Sakura asked.
Naruto nodded. "Um... Sakura-chan?" he said, ruffling through
his pockets.
"Yes?"
"I think I might've forgotten to lock my door. Could you check
it?" Naruto asked sheepishly.
"Of course."
Naruto tossed her a single key, which Sakura easily caught and
slipped into a pocket of her own. The two looked at each other for a
moment, then Naruto spoke again. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'm still
going to keep my pr-"
"Naruto," Sakura said, stopping him in mid-word. She stepped
forward again, and gathered her teammate into an awkward embrace.
"Sakura-chan..."
"Just," Sakura began, stumbling over the word. "Just come back,
Naruto. I couldn't stand it if you both -"
"I will," Naruto interrupted. "It's a..." Promise. He couldn't
bring himself to say that word, not with the unkept vow that hung
between them. "I'll try," he finished weakly.
Sakura released him. She rubbed at her eyes, struggling not to
cry. "Thank you." She stepped back inside the gates. "Goodbye."
Naruto cleared his throat. "Goodbye."
"Jiraiya," Tsunade said after a moment.
"Yes?"
"Bring him back," the Hokage said. "If you come back without
him, I'll make you wish Orochimaru had you."
Jiraiya just nodded. He laid a hand on Naruto. "Come on, boy."
With no further words, the two vanished into the forest that surrounded
the Hidden Village of the Leaf.
A moment later, Tsunade shut the massive wooden gates behind
them with two flicks of her finger.
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Jiraiya moved through the trees even quicker than he had moved
across the rooftops of the village, and Naruto followed one branch
behind. Again, they did not speak as they traveled. Once, Jiraiya
changed direction so quickly that Naruto jumped one tree further along
his former path before realizing it. After that Naruto dropped back
another branch to give himself more time to react.
Once they had placed half a mile between them and the gate, they
stopped on a thick branch that overhung a large clearing. "That should
do it," Jiraiya said with a chuckle. "It's been a while since I've run
like that."
Naruto snorted. "So where are we going, pervert?"
"I've told you not to call me that," Jiraiya said.
Naruto only let out another snort in reply.
Jiraiya shook his head sadly, then jumped several times until he
was perched on top of the tree, several stories above the ground. From
here he could easily see the clear night sky, and he gazed at it for
several moments. "Only a sliver of moon tonight," he whispered to
himself. "That's good."
"Hey!" Naruto called from below. "Whatcha waitin' for?"
"Patience," Jiraiya said as he leapt down in a single jump to
stand beside Naruto once more, "is a virtue for a ninja." Not that
there was much chance of convincing Naruto of that just by saying so, he
knew. If it was possible at all, it would take many repetitions and
more than a few object lessons. "This way," he said, and with that he
leapt to another tree.
They traveled as before for several minutes, the trees growing
taller and thicker as they headed deeper into the forest. Soon their
progress slowed as they were forced to continually dodge inconveniently
placed branches, and Naruto felt it safe to speed up briefly until he
was once again only a single jump behind the other ninja. Memories
briefly assaulted him of the last time he had moved through the trees
like this, that desperate race to the borders of the Fire Country.
"Sasuke," he whispered.
Jiraiya glanced back at Naruto, and paused briefly. "Something
wrong?"
"N- I gotta use the bathroom," Naruto said, a shake of a head
turning into an awkward nod.
Jiraiya buried his face in one hand and groaned. "I see I've
got a lot of work to do." He sighed. "Go ahead and do it fast, and
catch up." With that he vanished, leaping ahead.
Naruto jumped down to the forest floor. He turned to face the
tree trunk and began to whistle as he did his business. When he was
done, he zipped up and turned back around. His eyes widened and he
froze as a shadow detached itself from the tree above and dropped to
stand behind him.
"Stupid kid," a harsh, male voice said as the shadow grabbed him
and placed a kunai at his throat. "I thought this was going to be
tough." There was a burst of smoke, and the man's eyes widened as he
realized that all he held was a conveniently shaped and sized piece of
deadwood. "Replacement Technique?!"
Another figure dropped from the treetops, casually disarming the
man and wresting his arms back behind him. The man struggled a moment,
then relaxed as he realized that he could not wrench his arms free from
his opponent's strong grasp.
Jiraiya's other hand brought the attacker's own blade up to his
throat. "Good work, Naruto," he said as his pupil emerged from behind
another tree. The young ninja smiled at the praise.
The attacker's gaze narrowed. "You were on to me. Damn it."
"I suspected someone was following us since we stopped for the
first time, " Jiraiya said, "but I wasn't certain until Naruto pointed
you out."
Naruto chuckled, and the attacker sighed. "Damn it," he
repeated.
"You're a pretty good tracker, to follow us like that," Jiraiya
said.
The attacker laughed weakly. "You're pretty good, old man, but
the boy's louder than a running battle."
Naruto growled, but Jiraiya ignored him. "Care to tell us who
hired you?"
The man shrugged his shoulders as best he could. "You going to
let me live?"
"Sure."
"A young man. Black hair, dark eyes. Wore a black and red
cloak, offered a decent amount for the boy or information about his
destination. Told us the target'd be leaving the Hidden Village
sometime soon." The man shrugged again. "Not great money, but now that
the Leaf are starting to recover from the war there's not as much work
going around for independent mercenaries."
Jiraiya grimaced. He knew who the description sounded like, but
even without accounting for transformation techniques there were a lot
of people with dark hair and eyes, and anyone could wear a black and red
cloak. It would be like Orochimaru to try and pin the blame on his
rivals.
"He want the boy dead or alive?" Jiraiya asked.
"Either." The man paused. "A little bit bigger reward for
alive."
"How many others?"
"A couple dozen."
"Along the way to Sand?"
"A few, I guess. We don't exactly work together. Unless we're
paid to, of course."
"Thank you for your cooperation," Jiraiya said, hurling the man
into the closest tree trunk. As the attacker slumped to the ground
unconscious, Jiraiya leapt up to a low-hanging branch. "Come on,
Naruto. We've got a long way to go tonight."
They headed west for several minutes before Jiraiya abruptly
changed direction once again. "The Sand are the way we were going,
aren't they?" Naruto asked.
"Yes," Jiraiya answered.
"Aren't we going there?"
"No."
"But you said -"
"When he wakes up that man will tell whoever hired him that
we're headed to the Wind Country and the Village of Sand," Jiraiya said.
"That's the last way we want to go. We're going north."
"To the Rice Field Country?" Rice Field lay to the north, and
it was home to the Hidden Village of Sound - and Orochimaru.
"Of course not," Jiraiya answered, irritated. "I'm trying to
keep you away from Orochimaru, you idiot. We'll go through one of the
other small nations and head for the Earth or Lightning Country. They
aren't allies like Wind is, but I've got some friends there."
"That's a long way," Naruto said with a frown.
"Yes it is," Jiraiya said. "Now be quiet. I want to put more
distance between us and the village, and I don't want you leading more
enemies to us."
Naruto grumbled briefly, but he complied, and the two ninja sped
silently through the night.
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Author's Random Ramblings
1) Yes, it's not the most original idea for a story, but I like to hope
that it'll be a good implementation of that idea. At the very least, it
should beat the current fillers in the anime for amusement value.
2) For the purposes of this story, canon is the anime through the end
of the Rice Field Country filler arc - episode 141, I believe - and
nothing else. Since I'm not reading the manga scanlations, I don't know
enough to make things match up perfectly with the current story if I
were inclined to.
3) Given the state of Naruto fanfiction, it is probably worth
mentioning that, so far as this story has a pairing, the characters in
question won't be seeing each other again until the end of the story.
4) Thanks go to Ryan Hupp and Rebecca Nowack for prereading this
prelude.
Draft Started: July 18, 2005
Draft Finished: July 23, 2005
Draft Released: October 30, 2005
Final Released: