Freedom - A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter One

| Oh look it's a bird! {^~^}
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Sorry. |

Jiyu didn't know what it was like to starve; at least, not in the way others would be familiar with.

For her, lack of food was detrimental to power, not health. She could survive for months on end without eating, although during that time her body mass would decrease substantially. However, she would not die, for as long as a skilled user of the Kaeru had any kind of mass they could stay alive.

Jiyu had not eaten for several months.

While it bothered her that she could not maintain her preferred form, the form she currently inhabited had its perks. Using it, she could move faster for longer periods of time, allowing her to cover far more distance than before.

She wasn't sure why she needed to get away.

Chichi had told her to run away from the Evil that had opened up the mountain, and of course Chichi was always right, but the other Kaeru shinobi had been battling with It, and she was just as good as most of them regarding the use of the Kekkei Genkai. Why didn't Chichi let her fight too?
Jiyu was very talented. She knew because she'd been told many times before, by Meijin Tsuji and other Kaeru shinobi. But Chichi had always told her that no matter how good she thought she was, she couldn't afford to be slack in her training. So she never was.

Why did Chichi send her away then? Was fighting the Evil not a great form of training her Kekkei Genkai?

Although she didn't understand, she knew that Chichi was the most powerful Kaeru shinobi alive, and he was never wrong in judgement. Jiyu trusted Chichi more than she trusted even Meijin Tsuji, so she didn't question any of his decisions. She just didn't understand this one.

As it was, Chichi had told her that there was a hidden village where she would be 'safe', whatever that meant. She'd asked some travellers and by her estimation she mustn't be too far away from it now. So in favour of haste, Jiyu decided to skip sleep tonight. She wanted access to food before her lack of body mass forced her to take on a smaller form.
She could hold out for six more days before she was forced to change. That thought was enough to keep her going all through the night.

~

As the blood orange sun began to rise steadily from its slumber behind the mountains, a speckled white bird of rather unusual proportions soared over the towering treetops, speeding over the Land of Fire. In the warm light of the waking dawn, its sharp eyes glimpsed a trail of smoke rising slowly in the distance, and soon after a tall, broad wall that enclosed a vast array of buildings of all shapes and sizes came into view. Once she was within thirty metre radius of the village, the bird landed on a high treetop that loomed slightly over the others and scrutinised the shinobi who were dutifully patrolling the top of the wall.

I suppose I could just fly over it, Jiyu thought to herself as she watched the figures moving around, their size seeming negligible compared with the impressive structure of the wall. But then again, they are shinobi. And my form isn't exactly perfect...my wings are a tad too expansive for an osprey...but if I fly at a high altitude, will they really notice?

Having decided her course of action, Jiyu propelled herself from her vantage point on top of the tree and climbed until she was a solid three kilometres from the top of the wall. Surely even the most refined shinobi, if they weren't paying close attention, wouldn't recognise this to be anything other than an ordinary bird passing over their heads.

Well, there was nothing for it now.

Jiyu couldn't help but feel like something was off as she approached the village, but she couldn't tell what. Deciding that she was just being paranoid, she continued until she had flown over the top of the wall surrounding the village.

Immediately she felt the wave of chakra rippling over the village, like a leaf dropping on calm water. Jiyu's eyes widened in realisation. Sensory barrier. Crap.
She mentally cursed herself for being so careless, although she was confident in her 'disguise', as long as she found a safe place to land, and quickly. Scanning the landscape below her, she zeroed in on a forested area and tried to casually flap her way towards it without attracting notice. She could see from the guarded faces of the shinobi patrolling the wall that her unscheduled entry hadn't gone unreported, although she was impressed by how quickly the news of the breach had reached them. The communications system must be really efficient around here, Jiyu noted internally.

As she neared the small forest, Jiyu chose the nearest comfortable-looking tree and landed gracefully, tucking her larger-than-usual wings behind her and burying her head in her soft, rather feathery neck. She'd missed sleep last night, and if it should come to a battle between her and the shinobi of this village, she'd rather have her wits about her, as fighting in this form would prove difficult. Closing her glassy amber eyes, she nestled herself further into the crook of the branch and allowed sleep to take her.

~

Unlike most of the other members of his clan, Shikamaru Nara actually quite enjoyed going on 'deer duty', as some liked to call it. The Nara forest was always quiet since it was, for the most part, privately managed by the clan, and it was a place where he could think without interruptions. The animals had also seemed to take a liking to him and were no more disturbed by his presence than he was by theirs.

As he strolled leisurely along, basking in the golden light of the komorebi (sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees) he stopped abruptly as something white and foreign to the familiar scenery caught his eye. Shikamaru's eyes narrowed suspiciously and he crept slowly towards the strange object, realising upon closer inspection that it was a large white bird with brown speckles flickering all over its feathery coating. It had its head curled into its neck and appeared to be sleeping, its breathing slow and calm. Shikamaru tilted his head in curiousity. He'd never seen a bird with such strange markings before, and he'd surely have known if there was one like this in the forest. His minds eye flashed back to the breach of the village's sensory barrier, and he stared incredulously at the winged creature before him. Could it be...?

Deciding that it was better safe than sorry, Shikamaru carefully backed away from the sleeping animal and, when he had put sufficient distance between them so as not to disturb the sleeping bird, he ran back to inform his father.