[Recap] "Hey guys. What would you do if I told you we were making progress?" . His teammates furrowed their brows, signaling for him to continue. "Turns out civilization came to us," he finally announced.
What a pleasant surprise. Although it had crossed their minds, team 7 hadn't even begun looking for civilization, yet somehow here it was making its way to them. Surely someone was on their side to be provided with such convenience. It took long enough, but things were finally looking up for them.
As if by instinct, at the mention of the approaching targets, they swiftly put out the fire and cleared all signs of human interference before tree walking to a high branch. More detail would be needed from Naruto after their top priority was resolved; getting everything settled. Once everything below looked natural and they were sure their current position wasn't easily visible, Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto expectantly, waiting for more detail on his previous statement. Naruto, however, had not noticed the expectant looks his comrades were giving him and was digesting what he had just seen.
He first noticed that there was a large group of people – on horses? Horses weren't unknown in the Elemental Nations, however the commonly known ones were that of summons or the Gobi, [Transl. Five Tails] Kokuo, but he was technically a dolphin horse. 'Human sized' horses were especially rare, with the exception of a few being used for methods of travelling, used by certain small villages. It was pretty much unheard of to use horses for travel during era where chakra was enough, however they were in a different dimension with giant 'cannibals' so nothing could be considered too out of the ordinary here. Everything had to be taken into account here, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. The use of horses could determine them to be this dimensions civilians. However, with the lack of chakra to aid them with high speed sprints, it was a possibility that they just used horses to get around quickly. In actuality, they could be part of an army or battalion system; the matching outfits and gear were a clear notion in deducing that much. Considering all the man eating titans, this was probably the best theory. Naruto also took into consideration the way his clones were slain efficiently as if they had been doing this like clockwork. It was impressive how they adapted to their environment and duty to slay their enemies without chakra by using their – waist mechanisms? They weren't as effecient as using chakra, but it was better than-
"NARUTO," a pink haired kunoichi yelled unaware of the sheer volume until both her teammates flinched. The addressed shinobi, snapped out of his musings upon hearing his name and was met with an irritated look from Sasuke and an impatient look from Sakura. "Sorry I zoned out," Naruto laughed sheepishly while rubbing the nape of his neck. This was a common occurrence that left many impatient. He would have to work on that...
"You really have to work on your attention span," Sakura huffed, regaining her composure from the yell she just let out. It had probably been only a minute, but time was essential. Sasuke nodded his head in agreement; irritation still visible on his face. Their situation must have been dire if Sasuke was willing to show this much emotion in such a short amount of time. Naruto and Sakura found it amusing. This time, he noticed the expectant looks both him and Sakura were giving him; this time, he was alert and prepared to share his observations and theories with his comrades.
"Right. So a group of about 200 – 300 people are headed our way on horses. I couldn't exactly tell the exact amount, but they continued down the narrow path as far as my clones could see." His comrades digested this information cautiously. Sure it was nothing compared to the might united shinobi forces, however it was a lot more than expected to find in the middle of a forest - much less a forest infested by man eating titans. "Why would 200 – 300 people just be in the forest" Sasuke mumbled the thought that Sakura had also been thinking. "I was getting to that," Naruto huffed, crossing his arms like a child; Sakura snickered at his antics before recomposing herself. "They may be armed forces. Like a military or something. I thought this made the most sense, since the titans who eat humans so they would probably go for the people in this world too."
Now this is where things got confusing. Team 7 was a new addition to this dimension so they were unsure if these titans were also new additions or if they had been there for years. If it was the former, then they had to brace themselves for the dilemma that civilization had been eaten and the people approaching were the last remaining humans. If it was the latter, perhaps they had built some sort of shelter that allowed humans to thrive safely away from titans – like a gated community. It might have been a selfish though, but if anything they hoped for this reason more for their sake then the sake of these people. A common question was also They also if this supposed army was working to immediately eradicate titans, or if there were working to slowly but surely get rid of them. Although they had just arrived, it was quite obvious that the sheer amount of titans would make the latter difficult.
Naruto split his legs on either side of the branch and leaned back onto the tree before picking up where he left off. "It's also confirmed that chakra doesn't exist here, but they have something else. I had a theory that instead of chakra, all living organisms, including people, in this dimension had the same steam that titans had. The only difference is it's smaller; small enough that they don't have the same abilities that the titans have. After my clones, encountered the people, I was able to deduce that my theory was true."
Again, Naruto's comrades were stunned silent at the thoroughly thought through theory. Sakura felt nothing but content with the new information and her teammates hidden intelligence, while Sasuke continued to realize that he might not be fit for Naruto's role as – leader? Analyst? Of course, while he was becoming aware of this, he wouldn't let himself come to terms with it just yet. Inferior complexes were hindrances, but out of simple pettiness he spat out the first thing that came to mind.
"What does that even matter. I don't see the significance in all these theories you come up with." Surely he saw the significance; he was even impressed, but the words kept flowing out like sound pollution. "I'm sick and tired of you trying to take over everything dobe. I should be leading, not you." Sakura turned to him with a deadpanned expression as the black haired shinobi through a mini tantrum. It began to dawn on her just about how irritating Sasuke could be. She didn't know about Naruto, but she was especially not over his murder attempt on her; though she supposed it was partially fair due to the fact that she also tried to kill him. She was just about fed up with Sasuke and his attitude, which eventually led to her losing feelings for him. She still cared deeply for him, however no longer in that way.
"Why does it even matter? Every piece of information is valuable. We're in a new environment so we have to adapt to make progress. If I remember correctly, you have served no purpose since we arrived here so you have no right to be leader" Sakura challenged, voice firm. Well that was an interesting turn of events. The kunoichi who had so admired Sasuke just snapped at him. Unfortunately for Sasuke, the lovesick puppy that everyone used to know was now a strong and capable kunoichi who didn't take nonsense from anybody. This would be useful in the future for dealing with randoms, however right now; it didn't give Sasuke room to argue back. Thus, he scowled and looked away, livid. Fortunately for Sasuke, she was no longer obsessed with him, meaning he no longer had to worry about a clingy kunoichi. Naruto watched the encounter in awe as she put him in his place. He could only hope that he would never anger her to that point, or worst. Sakura turned back to Naruto with an inviting smile, which shook him to his core, thinking about how quickly she could switch up. He was worried for the incoming people who had to deal with her. "Sorry about that Naruto, you may continue." The named shinobi gulped and obeyed.
"Umm, it's okay Sakura, I'll answer his question. The steam serves its existence of chakra and creates a 'presence' for the organism. So instead of trying to detect chakra, we just have to search for steam. That's actually how I was able to detect that deer earlier." Sasuke simply grumbled something under his breath in acknowledgment. "It'll be a little difficult to adjust to because you have to get used to the feel of the steam, but we should be able to do it!" Sasuke turned back to look at Naruto. Boy was he optimistic. He wondered what it was that made Naruto the way he was. A while back, Naruto had said something about some 'Will of Fire,' but Sasuke always thought it was some cheap crap the old man used to spout to dumb children. However, he had found himself interested in whatever it was a few times. Perhaps that was what Naruto had. Perhaps that's what Itachi had. Perhaps that's what he would have if he acted the way Itachi wanted him to.
"Oh yeah! They people also have these weird mechanisms on their waist that they use to attach themselves to trees, glide in the air, and hold their swords. It's really cool; you guys should've seen it for yourselves!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, waving his hands around. His teammates listened to the detailed descriptions of the 'waist mechanisms' and how cool they were. On second thought, the 'Will of Fire' probably was made up. Naruto could simply just be a knucklehead ninja and Itachi, a special case. Sasuke was just too different from them, therefore he would continue to act accordingly.
When Naruto finished his endless rambling, he began to stand and stretch his back. "They were about 5 kilometers from us at their last position and they were moving at a moderate speed" he looked at them, serious as ever, and continued. "If they continue down the same route they should be here in about 28 – 37 minutes. Should we head the way we came from and meet them halfway, we should encounter them in about 15 – 20 minutes. What's our next course of action?"
There it was; the next important question. They were given the opportunity of interacting with civilization. Depending on how the trio handled this, the full course of their objective would be determined. Therefore, their course of action would have to be handled delicately.
Honestly, it sounded like a riddle, and the Lord knew that Naruto was terrible at those. He was, however, good at coming to conclusions; specifically helping others reach conclusion. His 'talk-no-jutsu' was a definite notion of this. Although Naruto had given Sasuke and Sakura run for their money, this is where he would let the choice lay. Thus, deciding making the decision wasn't his place, he decided to simply influence the decision. He turned to Sakura who was currently fidgeting with her fingers. 'What's the best course of action?' She had called a shot or two, but as of now she didn't consider herself fit to make this decision. Ultimately, it was up to one of her teammates to make. Sakura met Naruto's eyes and shook her head, letting him know her thoughts, to which he nodded; the whole encounter didn't need any words. Due to process of elimination, that left one person. Surprisingly, they hadn't even had to voice their thoughts before Sasuke cleared his throat.
Sasuke was actually more than happy to finally be able to propose something. Especially, after he had been violated by the pink haired kunoichi; though, it did humble him quite a bit. With this proposal, he would have made a great contribution to their self assigned mission. It was now his chance to take the lead. He didn't always need the input of his former teammates.
"It's not a complete plan, but what if we wait for them to get here, but we don't reveal ourselves? We'll still make contact, but we'll have time to observe and deduce how we should interact with them." Surely it was a good plan, Naruto and Sakura both thought so. They were more so surprised as this was the longest he had even spoken to the in a long time. He even contributed without having to be asked. 'Maybe I should've went off on him from the beginning,' Sakura thought mischievously. Maybe they were finally getting through to him. However, the shared thought was, if that was true, surely it wouldn't last long.
All that aside, this plan would also allow them further time to think and further discuss how they should accomplish permeating with the incoming people. From there they would discuss their entire mission; getting home.
On that note, the trio openly discussed and planned how they would tackle the approaching people.
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It was well past the afternoon and heading into the evening, yet the scouts had not found anything. Everything in their power had been down to maximize their probability of finding their target: splitting up, searching a vast area etc. Their new mission was turning out to be counterproductive. If Erwin knew what this search would result to, he'd probably have stuck with the previous mission of this expedition and avoided all this hardship. However, it wasn't only out of optimism that he had ordered the mission change, Erwin felt as though this could not only aid them with their traitor problem, but their findings would bring humanity a better chance of survival. Sure it might have been an idiotic ideology, after all what could have that much power. To be able to eradicate every titan, including the ones threatening the walls, meant something supernatural. He wasn't sure anything like that was out there, but perhaps something more subtle and more believable. Something like a titan shifter loyal to the walls; he was positive enemy titan shifters already existed due to what had happened to Wall Maria. Another theory was that there were survivors outside of the walls. That wouldn't necessarily help them with their titan problem, but it could mean other civilizations were out there.
Yet even though this inquiry was quickly going to nothing, Erwin found himself obsessing over the sheer absurdity of it all. Everything pointed to the existence of another being besides wildlife in this forest. The multiple places steam rose from, the shouts, heck it even looked like someone had been resting in an area, but that may have been from wildlife. So, why was nothing turning up? It definitely felt like someone was playing a trick on him; he didn't like it.
The scout regiment watched their frustrated commander with baited breath after he had called them back from their searches. They had been through hell and back all day, though they were slightly grateful due to the fact that there were minimal casualties due to the mission change. They only hoped that it would stay that way when they ended this pointless mission. "Any luck," their commander finally asked, frustration visible in his voice. The mumbles of denies were good enough answers for Erwin to finally drop the intention, though hesitantly, and forget about the objective all together; much to Levi and Hange's dismay as they truly believed that finding the target could be used to their benefit. Nonetheless, they complied and mounted their horses to prepare for the long journey back from the uneventful expedition. Perhaps they could slay a few titans on the way and call it a mission complete.
...
The scouts rode on closer to the edge of the forest at a moderate pace. While many were relieved with the change of heart from their commander, some were disappointed and still wanted to pursue their target.
Meanwhile, they were unaware of the three stealthy teens overhead. For the entirety of the search, team 7 had been analyzing everything they could about their targets. They had been assigned tasks, by Sasuke, to analyze before getting up close and person, but far enough to not be noticed.
For one, they all noticed that those people looked different. Some features they had weren't commonly seen on people from the Elemental Nations. Only the civilians and ninja in Kumogakure [Transl. Kumogakure: Village hidden in the clouds] looked significantly different due to their darker skin tones; however that was the only difference. The concept of race was foreign to team 7; little did they know it wasn't completely unheard of by the scout regiment. Seeing people that didn't exactly resemble them was abnormal for them, considering they had lived in an environment with similar looking people for 16 and 17 years of their lives.
Speaking of out of the ordinary, Naruto could've sworn he heard them speak in a strange foreign language, but simply assumed it as the wind. However, when his thoughts were voiced to his teammates, Sakura and Sasuke had mentioned they had heard something similar. An inaccuracy heard by three people could no longer be deemed an inaccuracy. Yet, they still convinced themselves that it must be all in their heads. A foreign language could be a possibility, but Naruto didn't want to be versed with another obstacle. What would they even do if there was a language barrier? Even all the time he had spent with Jiraya hadn't taught him anything about languages; all he ever needed to know was Japanese. Actually, now that he thought about it, there were no other languages spoken in the Elemental Nations. A language other than Japanese was unheard of, whereas, other languages were heard of by the people of Wall Rose, but they were long extinct. For now they wouldn't assume the worst and set their plan in motion.
From what Sasuke could tell, the general age group was from 17 to 40, in which Sasuke and Sakura barely fit into. However, everyone knew that the older you were, the less chance you had of being trusted. This is what they planned on taking advantage of. Judging on their current chakra levels, they would be able to create a secure henge [Transl. henge: transformation technique] of their younger selves and maintain it for about a month and a half, three at the most. The only problem is they would have to slowly release it to at least make aging look realistic. If they suddenly transformed from age 12 to age 17, it would cause quite a stir. Of course aging five years in two months would cause some skepticism, what with children not usually aging abnormally fast, but they needed to get things done. If that meant stirring up some suspicion, so be it. It would be mandatory.
Sakura had proposed whether or not they would also henge themselves to look similar to the people; neutral hair colors, similar feature etc. Ultimately, they had decided not to as it would shave off a couple weeks off of the time they would be able to hold the henge, much to Sakura's dismay. Sasuke hadn't much to worry about; his hair was black with a blueish tint which wouldn't be deemed too unusual. Naruto was in the same boat; he had spotted his hair color numerous times in the army. His was much brighter and more towards the yellowish side, but it was still considered blond. Sakura, however, would probably be singled out. Bright pink hair would surely be noteworthy among the scouts who only had neutral hair colors, though they supposed they could pass it off as hair die, if that even existed here.
Going over their plan once more, team 7 prepared for the moment they had been waiting for; making contact.
3,412 Words
Hey readers! This is the longest chapter I've written so far. It's three chapters and a half, so this will serve as this Monday's chapter, next Monday's chapter and maybe the Monday after that. The reason I'm doing this is so that I don't have to go on hiatus. This way I'll have more time to type well thought through, detailed chapters. I also might do this a few times as I don't want this story to be rushed. Thank you for understanding and supporting me!
This is also my favorite chapter because I put so much detail into it. Next chapter, they will 100% be meeting each other. Let me know your favorite part of this chapter and tell me what you'd like me to add to this story. Until next time!