The Unwanted Uzumaki

The Village Hidden in the...

Two Days Later

Naruto, Ryu and Kamera; followed by their Celestial Spirits made their way down the path that would take them from the library and towards their destination where Naruto will work to bring peace to the village that has called for aid from the Fire Daimyo. As they were walking, Naruto took a moment to glance back at those that were following him which only made the fact that Sanos had chosen to stay behind more evident. Though Naruto knew that his first partner was safe and sound, and most likely still watching over the area where the Celestial Spirit that they helped create would sprout from; Naruto still missed the Wolf Spirit dearly. 

To help get his mind of missing Sanos, Naruto decided to take this opportunity to examine the two newest Celestial Spirits that were now a part of their group since this has been the first time that he had gotten to see them out of their human forms. The knowledge that he would gather here would allow him to complete their entries within his Celestial Bestiary. 

Deciding to examine Cerapius first, Naruto searched through his companions until he spotted the creature.  Cerapius was currently shifted into their animal form which seemed to be a small black house cat which made Naruto assume that in their Celestial Form, Cerapius would also appear as a cat of sorts. Since there was currently no need for Cerapius to shift into this form, Naruto knew that he would have to wait longer before he would be able to discover it. 

Since he has found out all that he could about Cerapius, Naruto turned his attention towards Lupoda who was also walking in her animal form. Just like the previous spirit, Lupoda's animal form was that of a feline though she was quite bigger than the house cat that Cerapius transforms into. The animal that was currently walking side by side with Kamera was none other than a panther and though Lupoda's form looked strikingly similar to what the animal would look like; the brown splotches of fur around the paws of the form made it clear that this form held a being with great power. 

Just like with Cerapius, Naruto was going to have to wait before he was able to find out the Celestial Form or magical abilities of this spirit and as such he decided that he had gained all he would be able to at the moment and moved on to another task that would help keep his mind off Sanos's absence. 

"Ryu, do you happen to know that name of this village that we are going to?" Naruto inquired the Mage that was currently riding atop Phabius who was in his animal form. 

The moment that Naruto's voice made contact with his ears, Ryu was turning towards the blond Mage. "My father told me the name of the village months ago and if I am recalling it correctly, I believe that it is known as Honegakure." Ryu replied as his eyes stared directly at Naruto and if the creature that he was riding on was only a horse; this may have proved a mistake though since Phabius had a sentient mind, the Celestial Spirit could ensure that he and his Mage weren't brought off course. 

Upon hearing the name of their destination, Naruto was slightly taken aback though he was able to control himself before he allowed his disgust at the name get the better of him. "They named their village after bones? Who in their right mind would have come up with that?" Naruto called out as he and his group continued down the path that they were on. 

Hearing how his friend was speaking about the villages name, Ryu gave out a little chuckle before responding back though once his words escaped into the world; he took on a more serious expression. "The envoys who came to visit my father when they were requesting aid informed him that they named the village after an ancient battle that took place where they built their village and have left thousands of Ninja dead and even to this day many of the bodies were never recovered; hence the name The Village Hidden in the Bones." Ryu explained.

Now that he learned the reason for the name of their destination, the disgust that he felt for the village was now turned inward to himself. "I still need to learn to keep my mind open!" Naruto growled to himself as he scolded himself for the disgust that he had shown an entire village just for hearing the name that they used to remember the ancient souls that have been lost throughout the centuries.

Ryu could see that Naruto was scolding himself even if the blond Mage didn't speak his words out loud and since he had made the same mistake that Naruto did; Ryu wanted to put the other male's mind at ease. "Don't beat yourself up too much Naruto. Both my father and myself made the same mistake and if the Fire Daimyo was able to do it then we shouldn't expect someone our age not too either." Ryu explained before turning away from Naruto to keep watch out ahead of them. 

*

"Today is the day!" Hikaru told himself as he strode across the field that he and all his other classmates were in while they were taking their lunch. Though this isn't the first time that Hikaru had said this in the last two days, he made a promise to himself that he wouldn't fail in the assignment that Doctor Shizune had given him. 

With his food in hand, Hikaru headed straight towards the chubby male that was sitting alongside a much skinner one. Even though Hikaru had never spoken to them, he knew who they were since they both descended from great Ninja Clans within the village and since he was the current Hokage's son; Hikaru assumed that they would also know who he was. The chubbier boy was known as Choji Akimichi while the skinnier one was known as Shikamaru Nara and though Hikaru would like to befriend both of them, he was at least hoping to succeed with one of them. 

As Hikaru got closer to the two males, he could see that Shikamaru's eyes glanced his way and though he didn't call out to him; Hikaru was able to see his mouth move which told him that he was most likely warning Choji that they should both run away before they had to interact with him. 

This caused Hikaru to start doubting himself which almost made him flee though before he could do so, a voice called out to him. "Hikaru! Come and join us for lunch, we don't have long before we will be imprisoned in the classroom once more!" a young male voice called out. 

Since Hikaru was planning on fleeing, he was currently not looking towards the two males though since he was familiar with both of their voices; he knew that it was Choji's. Even though he was thankful that they had invited him over to them, Hikaru now felt as if he had no choice but to join them which caused him to feel as if he was trapped. Knowing that this was something that he had to push through, Hikaru straightened himself back up and made his way towards the two boys that he hoped he would be able to befriend. 

*

After walking for hours, Naruto and his team began to feel exhausted and due to this they decided that they would take a break which is why they were currently camped on the side of the road. "I am spending way to long studying within the library and not enough time training my body! I walked farther than this when I fled from the Leaf Village..." Naruto groaned within his mind as he dropped his back to the ground.

"It makes sense that you no longer have the same stamina that you would have had when you were still training to become a Ninja. Mages and Ninja both have a different set of core strengths and endurance isn't a necessary when you are able to teleport yourself where ever you please once you place your sigil." Kurama replied once he was woken by Naruto hollering inside of his mind.

Though Naruto wasn't too fond of his stamina fading, he knew that what Kurama said made sense. "I know that you are right Kurama, but I am still thinking that I should work on my stamina to a certain degree. If I get winded in a battle, it could mean the death of myself or those I care about." Naruto responded as he pushed himself back to his feet since he believed that he had rested long enough. Once he was on his feet, Naruto called out to those that were also lounging around on the ground. "Everyone, we have rested long enough. It is time that we got back on the road since we have a job to do." Naruto informed his companions before gathering his belongings and heading back to the main portion of the path that they were taking. 

Authors Notes: To anyone who read this last chapter, I would like to thank you! Also, I am not a Japanese speaker and as such the translation for the original village could be wrong though since I got the name off a generator; I am hoping that it isn't though I like the name regardless of what it translates into. As always please review and comment and I will see you next time!