Drifting by AlphaDelta1001

Part 5 - The Beginning of A New Life

Drifting

The Beginning of A New

After managing to haul his ass back onto the dam's main highway Naruto was quickly able to recover the sword dropped by the fallen Crow, the masked samurai he had just managed to defeat in combat, by the skin of his teeth. Sheathing the weapon into its scabbard, which he also found hidden amongst the rubble, the blonde then turned his sights toward the quickest route off of the ruined structure that was once Gato's stronghold and staggered his way down the main road. Clutching at the deep wound across his chest and every other area of considerable bruising and discomfort, Naruto promptly worked out his next point of interest to be the village down in the valley below.

As tolerant as he was towards severe injuries, he still needed to get some proper medical treatment.

Seriously. He had never taken a beating this badly in his life and his head was harder than a cannonball. That samurai was one tough bastard, despite not knowing any ninjutsu or techniques that even required the use of chakra. The guy was just a common thug and vagrant, but with an uncommon skill set. This was definitely a battle the boy was not going to forget anytime soon, and for a couple of good reasons.

One: the whole ordeal had been a whopping reality check. His adventure through this small land and the battles he'd fought showed that there were people outside of Konohagakure that were really powerful in many different ways, as well as cruel, terrifying, merciless, and were just as tough as he was resilient. Naruto came to the realization that if he didn't step up his game from here and started taking things like this a little more seriously; he was going to continue taking a beating on every mission that he went out on.

A little assistance would have been welcome too.

As a result, the jinchuriki vowed that he needed to work even harder to make better use of his skills so that he could avoid a trial like this again in the future.

As for the second issue: that Crow was one of the first people Naruto had actually managed to defeat and kill in a fight. Sure it was an indirect kill, but after his little demolition performance on the dam Naruto was certain that he was responsible for more than the taking of a single life today, and not just his. There were probably people that had still been inside the dam when he destroyed it and, summing up everything that had transpired today, that meant he too was a killer, an assassin...

A shinobi.

Naruto actually chuckled at this.

He was a damn academy student and he was already killing people. Though it would look good on his rep and it eased his conscious knowing that they were all working for the bad guy, it still gave him a funny feeling deep inside.

Anyway, upon resolving to work even harder than before to become stronger and being reunited with his companion Swift flying over from her resting spot to land on his shoulder, Naruto dragged the rest of his wounded hide to the other side of the causeway. Once he made it there and came within sight of the gates that would get him off of the crumbling structure, he was met with a very pleasant surprise.

The sounds of clapping filling his ears had Naruto look up in bewilderment, where from his limp state he saw Tayuya standing in the middle of the road and behind her a whole crowd of villagers. The entire town downstream had all turned out to greet him after hearing the first explosion ring out and, upon seeing the boy's return and his bewildered eyes fall upon them, they welcomed him back with smiles of approval and a hearty applause. The red haired musician joined them with a grin spread across her face as she felt the praise and gratitude from the liberated villagers pour over her head and down onto him.

Naruto looked between each individual cheering him in confusion, seconds before he was suddenly tackled by Tayuya rushing over to him and 'glomping' him in the tightest hug she could muster.