RE: All That�s Old Is New Again
As some of you might know, I was sick all last week, causing me to cancel my usual birthday updating spree. But now I'm feeling a bit better, so let's see what I can come up with.
#1
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Naruto ducked through the streets, carefully keeping track of what streets he was taking. After he lost his pursuers, he was going to have to retrace his steps, he knew, and then find the Hospital—which, he realized, he wasn’t completely sure on the location of.
He’d just have to manage, he supposed. Hospitals tended to be pretty distinctive, so while it would waste some time, as long as he went in the general direction Sasuke had been guiding him in, he’d probably be able to find it eventually. Without having to carry Sasuke, he would be able to move a lot faster, so if he could ditch the people that were following him, he’d probably be able to get there in time to complete the test, too.
If being the keyword.
He panted as quietly as he could, pausing for a moment on the corner of a building as he tried to take in the streets below as quickly as possible. In his time, he’d have known these streets like the back of his hand; he’d never have had to pause, not even for even a second. There would have been no second guessing, no hesitation, nothing; instead, he would have led these losers on a chase that would have lasted until he got bored of them following him and not a damn second more. He’d have known every street, hiding spot, short cut, back alley, and store and they would have lost him the moment he wanted to get away. He’d spent years running through his Konoha, as an energetic kid, as a prankster, and as a ninja, and he most definitely would never have been worried about being cornered in his own city, especially not by these punks.
And yet, here he was. Worried about getting lost in his own home. There was no helping it--the streets were different. The buildings were different. The landmarks were different. Everything was different and he…didn’t know where he was and barely knew where he was going. He was being hunted down in what was—what shouldn’t have been, but was—unfamiliar territory.
It was things like that—painful things that struck him randomly but all the way to the core—that nailed home that he was truly a fish out of water.
Is this why Sasuke had memorized those maps? Had his friend wandered the streets, only to realize their home was changed, from the skylines to the dirt roads? Had he pored over maps so that he wouldn’t feel lost in the city he’d fought and bleed for? If he had, Naruto could empathize. Right now, he wanted a map to pore over himself. After this was over, he knew he was going to wander this city aimlessly for days or weeks until it felt familiar again. He didn’t want to get lost; not here.
But there was no avoiding the truth; in this time, this place he called his home…they probably knew it better than he did. He could pass it off as being a result of being a six year old in this time period, but he knew the truth and it hurt.
But unfamiliar territory or not, he had a job to do and people depending on him. If losing them the old fashioned way wouldn’t work, he’d just have to try a different approach. And if there was anything—anything—that he refused to give up, no matter the location or the time period, it was his position as number one when it came to surprising people.
The question was, then, what were they least expecting?
Naruto’s eyes narrowed as he glanced around, taking in what he had to work with, an idea coming to him. That corner? Visible from too many sides; they’d see it coming. Those buildings? They would hide him from sight if his pursuers came from the right, but would they? All of them? Unlikely, especially if they working together; it would make more sense for them to attack him from multiple directions and they’d probably see that. Besides which, for all that it would hide him from their sights, it would interfere with his ability to watch them, too—and knowing exactly where your target was located and being able to respond to any changes was something vital in pretty much any strategy.
No, what he needed was a position wherein he could see them, but they couldn’t see him. In his time, he could have named twenty such places off the top of his head in the middle of Konoha alone, but here, he’d have to guess and hope he’d be lucky.
Then…some place that would force his pursuers to gather in one place would be ideal. A place with only one way in or out…one of the shops? It could work…if they weren’t willing to kick down any doors or break through any walls. Hell, if any of them knew Katon jutsu, willingly entering a small, confined place could be a huge, huge mistake.
But doing that would damage the shops for sure and possibly endanger the civilians. They wouldn’t do that, even if they could. Would they? He really wished he’d gotten Jiraiya’s memories—they might have some more information on the guys he was competing with. As it was, he had no information on them or how they would normally behave.
But…he would bet that they wouldn’t do it. They may be Genin, but they were Genin of Konohagakure and this was their village—if they’d start destroying shops and endangering civilians over a test, he’d beat the crap out of them.
Besides which, he’d bet they wouldn’t make Chunin if they did stuff like that.
