Naruto : The System Files

Chapter no.78 In the Shadows We Serve

For a second, a buried part of the blond's mind considered removing his headband and fleeing back to his rundown apartment. Sleep was a sacred thing after all. The fleeting thought was gone before Naruto could realize he had even had it.

The ANBU and Naruto navigated the labyrinthine layout of Konoha in the direction of the Hokage Monument. The hidden village was built in the large, forested valley of the Naka river, a valley that was delimited by rocky plateaux of ochre color. Konoha was backed against one of those plateaux and the cliff sported the sculpted faces of all four Hokage. Hopefully, many more hieratic visages would be carved from the rock and add to the splendor of what civilians and ninjas alike called the "Hokage Monument."

The two lone figure kept walking for fifteen minutes at the same fast pace and they found themselves before the cliff in front of a narrow staircase that slithered all the way up the plateau. Naruto was familiar with the stairs, having used the many steps several times in his twelve years of life, be it for a prank or simply to daydream on the Fourth's head.

The ANBU began to ascend the stairs and Naruto followed. The blond knew where one casern of the corps was located; he had executed one of his best prank there (ANBU in clown masks were hilarious and weirdly threatening) but they were not going there. Which was logical if the test had anything to do with demonstrating tai- and ninjutsu. They would need some kind of training ground.

They were midway through the climb when the ANBU took a turn and started following a small trail that went along the cliff. Toward one of the little shacks built directly on the rocky side of the plateau. Naruto felt excitement bubble within his chest and replace his anxiety; he had never been to one of those shacks, they were always closed. As in, there was no outside door to access whatever was inside.

The two stopped in front of the shack, built under the chin of the Nidaime's head. The ANBU sped through hand-signs too fast for Naruto to see and in front of the amazed blond's eyes, a seal shone for a second before a door appeared in the wall. A fuinjutsu to seal the entrance so completely, uninvited people could not even see it. Naruto grinned as his mind tried to visualize how such a seal could work before the eagle-masked man called him.

"Enter, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto started and silently berated himself for being distracted at such a moment. The blond took a deep breath. His momentary fuinjutsu-induced trance had calmed his nerves a little so the boy entered the cabin before anxiety or panic could surge back again.

The inside of the cabin was small, empty, and overall disappointing. The blond whirled around when the door behind him closed. The only source of light was the meager light of a shy dawn filtering through two little windows. In other words, it was as dark as the darkest night.

The blond waited a few moments for either someone to come or his eyes to adapt. His vision started to get clearer and clearer, using the barest light to make out basically nothing. The cabin was an empty rectangle, with two tiny windows offering a view over Konoha and the back wall plunged into darkness.

Naruto gulped and his mind started to work out strange forms in the shadows. His ears were keenly aware of the heavy, muffled silence that reigned king and his own breathing sounded like a forge's bellow. There wasn't even one insect singing, only deafening quiet. The blond wondered if he was the victim of one very elaborate and completely unfair prank. He had not deserved that!

"Anyone here?" Naruto asked suddenly, his voice dying quickly in the darkness.

Doing his best to ignore his rising nerves, the boy turned around and away from the back wall and his eyes searched the windows. Tiptoeing to get a better view, the blond did his best to look at Konoha. Sprawled before him was the still sleeping city, some rare lights popping up here and there; probably bakers and such profession that required to wake early.