Vision of Truth I: Cat and Fox (Naruto)

Searching for Answers

Chapter 6: Searching for Answers

I battled against my desire for answers when I realized the risks involved in such a pursuit. I really needed to keep to myself and not let others get too close. If I showed too much interest in Naruto, he might get the wrong idea. In any case, it did not matter at the moment. Kotaro seemed to have spooked him, for he avoided talking to me for several days and even neglected our morning training sessions.

I tried to put everything in perspective. This was what I wanted all along. Still, as the weekend arrived, I found myself restless and bored. Out of curiosity more than anything else, I decided to take a visit to the portal to examine it. I had only stepped foot on the base of the mountains when I heard someone behind me.

"Hey, Katsumi, taking a hike?" Naruto said.

I glanced at him but did not stop walking. "I thought you were ignoring me."

Naruto chuckled nervously. "I wasn't doing that. I would have responded if you had talked to me! So, where are we going?"

I frowned. Had he been waiting for me to initiate something? That was a failure of a plan. "I am going to the portal at the top of the mountain."

"Oh! The portal is how you came to this world, right? What are you going to do there?"

I held in a sigh. "You ask too many questions. I just want to look at it."

"Sounds cool! Can I come?"

I looked at him. "It's a little late to say no."

Naruto grinned. "Exactly!"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

Only several seconds of silence passed before he spoke again. "Hokage Rock is really cool, don't you think?"

Did this kid ever stop talking? Well, since he brought it up, I should make the best of it. "Sure. Do you know what happened to the Fourth Hokage?"

"The Fourth Hokage?" Naruto scrunched his eyebrows in concentration. "Oh yeah! He died protecting the village from a demon. That is pretty brave!"

I looked at him with a start. "Demon?"

"Yeah, the Nine Tailed Fox. I don't know much about it, sorry."

That was very... concerning. I had no idea such things existed in this world. I wondered if I could get Kotaro to give me more information, though I doubted it. He never told me anything important. I remained silent until we reached the portal. I took in a sharp breath and approached the swirling ball of energy. "This is it."

"Whoa, so cool!" Naruto ran straight for the sphere and reached out to touch it, his hand passing right through. "Hey, nothing happened."

"That's because it needs my family's shield jutsu to open it... and it can only be done on the summer solstice when when of is is supposed to go to the other world."

Naruto gave me a curious look. "Shield jutsu?"

I hesitated. "It's my family's specialty. I can't do it yet."

"Oh. Maybe I can help!"

"I don't think so." I started back down the mountain. This had been pointless; observing the portal told me nothing. "It doesn't matter anyway. I want nothing to do with the portal."

"But if you learn this jutsu, maybe you can figure out how to free your family from the portal."

"I doubt it. If my grandfather could not find  way to break the curse, what makes you think I can?"

Naruto grinned at me. "He did not have me to help him out."

"I think you just want an excuse to spend time with me."