26 [26] Camp

Chapter 26: Camp

—--

Orochimaru and his team travelled for quite a while. So much so, that it was already dark — the night was coming, alerting them to its presence.

He turned around, noticing this and looked at the trio — all of them were tired after constant travelling. It had been a few hours of constant sprinting and walking which also took a mental toll. They weren't used to this, unlike Orochimaru.

"We're going to set up camp here," he said.

"Since we've taken a deviation from the original route. Akio, search for some animals and check if the meat is contaminated. Bring it back and we will eat."

He gave all of them different roles. To gather wood, food and other stuff.

All of them had a relieved expressions — they were all hungry, thirsty and tired. Finally, it came time for a proper meal and sleep.

"Get used to this. In the coming times, you will need to have no luxury," he carried on, seeing their state.

He was not wrong. They will have to live like this for months, and there was no use complaining when their life was on the line.

To his instructions, all of them had gone to search for an animal with their senses on full alert.

Akio walked through the forest, searching for something proper to eat. His mouth was drooling at this point as he had just been surviving on food pills. Yes, they filled you up but there was no gratification like a real meal. He just wanted to roast some meat right now.

Back in Konoha, he lived in privileged luxury; he couldn't lie. His financial situation was great, he ate the best dishes and had a relatively stable life compared to others.

From a bad situation, his life was now completely different. When he thought about this, it was weird.

Now, he felt a bit gloomy at the days ahead of just surviving on such things like this and in addition — living in constant fear. This was a shinobi's life.

A squeal sounded out in the distance, alerting him. He walked closer with stealth to not be aware — whatever animal it was — of its presence.

As he got closer, Akio hid behind a tree and slowly peeked with one eye. He saw what it was… a boar.

Immediately, his hidden hunger welled up as he backed out of a kunai. He had read a lot about hunting from many books and it was useful for now. Even the survival books were handy.

With the kunai in his hand, he sent chakra in his right arm's pathways — and with precision — threw it straight at the boar.

A loud thud was heard and when he walked out, saw the kunai lodged in its neck… a precise throw indeed.

Using his strength, he slumped the boar around his shoulder and carried it back to the camp. Where he saw Orochimaru, making a fire. Since they took a different route, this was a less risky but longer travel area.

Their mentor decided to take it easy on them for the first time. They will slowly get used to this after all.

"Hmm… some nice boar meat. Enjoy this properly tonight. Something tells me, it will be your last time… in a long time," he slyly said.

The fire was lit up, using a simple jutsu and time passed as they ate and conversed.

Before they knew it, night had already fallen… three people slept on rotation while one person looked out for something.

You could never be too careful.

—--

The next day came…

They carried on travelling but this time it was a much shorter distance — by a few hours.

Their journey consisted of multiple terrains, the last being a barren land.

As they walked — in the distance — two guards were stationed. Now closer, Orochimaru said a code to which they let him in.

"This is one of the outposts of Konoha, a special code is needed to enter which you will learn soon," he explained as they sprinted ahead, jumping from tree to tree.

"From here, we are going to the camp. There could be enemies but there's a low chance since they could always slip through but this is rare."

Orochimaru explained everything to the trio.

How did things work… what they will do etc.

After he finished the explanation, Akio asked, "The battlefield you talked about? Where is it?"

Orochimaru's ears perked up at his question.

He replied, "Quite a distance from here, nearing the almost border far west. We will go there soon."

He learnt the geography of this area. The place he was in now was one of the outposts of Konoha and further was the camp. There were a lot of these stationed throughout the land.

Depending on your missions, is where you would get stationed. Although, for now, because of Akio's skill level, he will most likely take lower-ranked missions.

After the constant revising of this information, trying to derive more… The team had finally arrived.

The thousands of tents stationed were not hidden from their eyes.

"This will be your place of stay for the time being," Orochimaru said, seeing their expressions.

"We have already got tents reserved… you can go explore if you want. Here are the numbers, search for it."

He handed each one of them a piece of paper, signifying their tent. Immediately, they all went and started searching for it because of this long journey — they were tired and wanted a rest.

As he walked past the many shinobi… adults and children alike —- suddenly — he saw a familiar figure.

A kid with blonde hair…

'Minato Namikaze. A coincidence meeting him at this moment.'

At the same time, Minato also locked eyes with him and was a bit surprised before waving at him. They both walked closer to each other… both of them smiling.

Although, Akio was inwardly tired and really couldn't be bothered interacting with anyone at this moment.

He just wanted to go in his tent and have a nice laydown and rest. But even that was too much.

"Yo, Akio," Minato fist-bumped him. "I never knew you'd be coming here. A bit early don't you think?"

Akio merely nodded. "Yeah, I got an early graduation as usual. So now I have to fight in this war, and contribute to Konoha."

All said was a blatant lie.

Minato eerily smiled. "Yeah… this war."

They caught up and exchanged some words — however — Akio felt something amiss. He felt as though Minato felt different from the previous one.

A sudden gloomy vibe was around him and his years of experience suggested something had happened.

Even his demeanour was a bit fake, including his smile. But it wasn't his business to pry so he just asked questions about stuff.

"I'm looking for my tent, could you help me?" He asked.

Minato gave a thumbs up. "Yeah sure… of course. What's the letter and number?"

He gave the paper from Orochimaru to him and he glanced at it.

"C-346," he muttered.

He looked around for a few seconds before his gaze stopped. "Follow me, I know where it is. This confused me as well for the first time."

"The trick is to walk through the lanes going down rather than side to side," he explained whilst showing Akio around.

It was like he was giving him a mini-tour.

As they walked, they made more small talk which annoyed Akio a bit more.

"--- So yeah. That's about it. By the way, where are your teammates?"

Akio replied, "They're finding their own tent, so I decided to go on my own. I'm a bit tired from the journey."

"Where're your teammates?"

At his question, Minato flinched a bit…

'Sigh. Why did I have to ask?' Inwardly he berated himself for asking. He could tell what had happened.

Minato just slumped his shoulders as he walked, reminiscing about something.

"W-well.. you know. We were in a sticky situation and… stuff happened — and then before I knew it — they were…" he stuttered as he said this. He couldn't form a single word.

'Wow, his teammate's death had really gotten to his head this far.'

Akio was just silent, giving some fake looks of sympathy to Minato… inwardly — well it was war… stuff happens — people die. He felt a bit of pity since this kid was only ten and had experienced this.

Akio was just tired… he really couldn't be bothered.

He was a bit insensitive to Minato's musing, although he still comforted him.

"Woah… damn man — sorry that happened." He patted his shoulder.

Minato beamed a smile at this and said, "It's been a few weeks now since it happened. I'm slowly getting over it."

Minato's situation wasn't rare. Actually… This happened a lot.

Every kid in this war suffered some kind of loss. It either tempered their resolve or caused unhealable scars for the rest of their time, affecting them.

It all depended on your character.

Unlike these kids, Akio had lived for more than twenty years so he had an advantage…

A few minutes passed and they were now standing in front of a tent. Opposite his tent, he saw Tsume and Arise, waving at him. Their gestures looked tiresome too.

"So, here it is. Your tent. I got to go now anyways so see you around," Minato said.

After exchanging pleasantries, Akio was now left alone…

The first thing he did was immediately lay down and wear some more comfortable clothes…

He's had a long two days...

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A/N: My g's --- Unfortunately I have caught a cold or flu, I don't know. This has been going on for days but it has been getting worse... very... actually. Yesterday it peaked so I don't know if there will be a chap tommorow; I barely have the energy to go to the toilet, that's the levels.

Anyways pray for ya boy to get well soon.

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Hope you enjoyed the chap, if not, tell me why.