Drifting by AlphaDelta1001

Part 34 - Over the Edge

Drifting

Over the Edge

Back down at the base of the waterfall, Naruto, Fu and Shibuki had just finished cleaning up the shores at the bottom of the cascading falls. Due to the fact that several rivers fed into the great landmark, it meant that a lot of refuse and discarded material took the same route through the region, and came to stop at the same lake the converged streams plummeted into. As this was a place of great importance and was also a significant part of the ecosystem surrounding the hidden village, it was up to the community's ever vigil population to keep an eye on the quality of their water and to take good care of the area surrounding the landmark as best as they could.

Owing to the nature and location of the hidden village, the villagers had learned to be extra careful when venturing outside of the protection of their home. As this was essentially their front porch, it came as no surprise to the newcomer to the area that both the children and its shinobi knew this place incredibly well.

But shinobi, villages, politics and process were nowhere in the minds of the two jinchuriki Naruto and Fu, as the pair sat before the kids that had come out to greet them and caught up on the months that'd passed since they'd last met. Taking turns in telling stories, it was this time the kunoichi's role as an audience member to sit quietly and to hang onto every word spoken to her by her fellow jinchuriki, as he went on raving about the exams and the exhausting stages that had involved both him and the other nations participating.

There was no way she was going to argue that it'd been an invigorating and hair-raising experience for the blonde haired wanderer. As she listened to his tales of excitement and adventure, the green haired girl wished more and more that she'd been a part of these trials as well.

The children sitting in front of them as well were also enchanted.

"S-So the second stage of the exams was a race across a valley that was sitting right on top of a volcano?" the young boy with the spiky brown hair asked, his eyes reflecting his interest and awe.

"Oh yeah," Naruto replied cheerfully, wiping a hand across his forehead protector at the mere memory of the stage. "The entire course was lying on top of a volcanic area. There was lava right underneath the surface of the crust and it caused everything up above it to burn and boil. The trees that grew there had to adapt to the new conditions in order to survive, producing a thick liquid inside of them to keep them cool that became highly corrosive when exposed to the air. Even the pools of water meant to keep the valley cool were acidic."

"How did you survive, Naruto-san?" the little girl sitting beside the boy asked, looking inquisitively towards the blonde haired Jonin.

The jinchuriki grinned enthusiastically, "We had to go up high where the ground and air wasn't poisonous. By climbing to the upper levels, we were able to avoid the deadly acid pools and were also able to find enough food that was safe enough to eat. Water too."

"Did other people do that? Or were you and your teammates the only ones that did?"

Scratching his head, Naruto tilted his head thoughtfully as he contemplated the events that took place then, "Well... I'm not too sure about everybody else, but the Kumogakure team that you saw in the finals did the same thing that our team did. Since it was so dangerous in the lowlands and there were so many other squads running around, they also went up to the high grounds to find shelter. Their squad was seriously tough, and the blonde haired kunoichi with them was really smart."

It was this that had the little girl's expression brighten up. "Samui. Right?"

"That's right," Naruto nodded.