Late at night, on a small boat.
"Splash~~ splash~~"
The endless sound of waves filled the air. The boat rocked back and forth, making it impossible for Shinju to fall asleep. Eventually, he gave up, sat up in the cabin, and walked out onto the deck.
Naruto was already there, leaning quietly against the bow, lost in thought.
Naruto was usually simple and straightforward — whenever he felt down, he'd talk to Shinju about it. It was rare to see him brooding alone like this.
Curious, Shinju walked up behind him and patted his shoulder.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?"
Naruto recognized Shinju's voice immediately and replied without turning around,
"Shinju, war is really cruel. Do you think our friends might end up like that summoner who owned that fish monster… dying on the battlefield?"
Shinju nodded slightly. "It's possible. There's no such thing as a war without casualties."
Naruto sighed. "But… they'd be dying for us."
That line was hard to respond to. It sounded reasonable — but it wasn't quite right.
"Rather than for you and me," Shinju corrected, "they'd be dying for the entire ninja world."
Naruto nodded in quiet agreement.
The night wind was cool, and even Shinju, who had a strong physique, felt a faint chill.
"Go get some sleep. Don't overthink it."
After saying that, Shinju casually pulled out a fishing rod from a sealing scroll.
Naruto stared blankly: --003d_--003d
"You just told me to go to sleep, and now you're fishing?"
Shinju shrugged. "Can't sleep. Might as well kill some time. ┐(´-｀)┌"
Naruto sighed. "Then give me one too..."
And so, the two sat side by side at the bow, occasionally casting their lines into the dark sea.
By the time Naruto started feeling sleepy, dawn was breaking.
"Ha~~"
He yawned and looked back at the small bucket behind him — only two or three tiny fish inside.
Then he turned to Shinju's side...
Shinju's bucket was overflowing. The fish inside were all kinds of sizes and colors, and beside it sat a crab half as tall as a person!
Naruto: (꒪⌓꒪)
They'd both been fishing the same way — how was Shinju's haul so ridiculously huge?!
"What's with that crab?" Naruto asked, baffled.
"Caught it while fishing," Shinju replied casually. "Perfect timing, I'll steam it later! (๑ت๑)"
A while later, the sky was still gray when Shinju reeled in his line and looked up at the thick layers of clouds above.
"A storm's coming."
No sooner had he spoken—
"Whooosh——"
A torrential downpour began, and fierce winds lashed across the sea!
The small boat tossed violently among the waves. The old boatman panicked.
"I checked with the experts before setting out — there wasn't supposed to be a storm today! Judging by this, it won't calm anytime soon... Looks like we'll be late reaching your destination."
Naruto, standing beside him, tried to comfort him. "Weather changes fast at sea. It happens."
But before he could finish speaking, Shinju noticed an enormous wave — dozens of meters high — rolling toward them!
...
Half a day later, Shinju's group found themselves on a small, remote island within the Land of Lightning's waters.
The little wooden boat had been smashed to pieces during the storm. If Shinju hadn't used Wood Release to create a new one mid-storm, the three of them would've sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
After landing, the old boatman wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Thank goodness you two were here... otherwise, we wouldn't have survived."
Naruto frowned. "That storm was insane. I've got no clue where we even ended up. (ー_ー)!!"
Shinju said calmly, "Let's look around first. Looks like someone lives on this island."
He spoke as he began extending his chakra sense, scanning the island from end to end.
Moments later, a surprised grin appeared on his face.
"There's actually chakra signatures — people — in the village! (σ≧︎▽︎≦︎)σ"
"Really?" Naruto exclaimed. "Wait... don't tell me that wave tossed us all the way back to the Land of Fire? Σ(っ °Д °;)っ"
Shinju gave him a deadpan look. "You're overthinking it. (||๐_๐)"
Using his chakra sense as a guide, Shinju soon located a familiar presence — Might Guy and his team, who were currently on a mission on the island.
Seeing seven or eight Konoha ninja gathered together, Shinju tilted his head in confusion.
"Our village usually sends out teams of four. Guy-sensei, what kind of mission are you guys on that needs so many people? (°A°`)"
Guy grinned widely.
"We're gathering medicinal herbs! With the war about to break out, the village's herb reserves are running low, so Hokage-sama told me to bring a larger team. ❛‿˂̵✧"
He squinted playfully.
"But what about you? Didn't Hokage-sama say the jinchūriki were to be hidden away? Don't tell me they hid you two on this herb island? (￢‸￢) ?"
Shinju just shook his head. "It's a long story — I'll explain later."
Naruto chimed in enthusiastically, "So how's the herb gathering going? Need any help?"
Guy nodded. "With war coming, we can never have too many herbs. The more, the better! (⌯︎¤̴̶̷̀ω¤̴̶̷́)✧︎"
Hearing that, Shinju formed hand seals. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh——"
Thousands of clones appeared, spreading out across the island. Within half an hour, they had turned the entire place upside down.
When the boat was finally loaded to the brim with herbs, Shinju waved goodbye.
"Guy-sensei, if that's all, Naruto and I will head out first. (ﾉ∇︎〃 )"
"Wait!" Guy suddenly called out and leaped onto their boat. "You two are key figures in this war! Hokage-sama must've overlooked the fact that no guards were assigned to you. Since my mission's complete, I'll take on that role myself — as your bodyguard! (•̀⌄•́)"
Shinju didn't argue. "Alright then."
Naruto blinked. "But, Guy-sensei, won't people say you're dodging the war by doing this?"
The moment he said it, Naruto regretted it — Guy was the last person in Konoha who'd ever run from a fight.
Sure enough, Guy just laughed heartily.
"No way! My youth never flees from battle! In fact, I'm burning to unleash my power in this war! ୧⍢⃝୨"
"This is just fate — we crossed paths, so I'll go with the flow!"
And with that, the group set off once more.
...
A few hours later, on the boat—
"Urrrghhhh~~"
Might Guy was collapsed on the deck, seasick to the point of looking thinner already.
The old boatman glanced at him in confusion.
Wasn't this mushroom-haired ninja supposed to be their protector?
In this state, could he even fight?
Naruto patted Guy's back, trying to comfort him.
"Guy-sensei, if you're this seasick, maybe Shinju should just teleport you back. It'd be fast."
Guy weakly waved his hand. "No need! I can handle it!"
He was too busy vomiting to notice the tiny turtle quietly crawling past him.