As they walk Naruto noted that there seemed to be no consistency with the mist around the Land of Water, they could be walking without being able to see an inch in front of them one moment, only for it to suddenly clear enough to suddenly see hundreds of metres into the distance the next.
Naruto spent most of the first day simply following behind the rest of the group and keeping quiet, this was mainly as he was not sure what he could talk about with people that had spent their whole lives as Outcasts. Naruto coming from a privileged background as he son of Konoha's leader did make it harder to relate to people who have spent their entire lives in constant struggle. Victor even though he had never met any of them before today, seemed to have things in common with the three other Outcasts, and Naruto had listened as they talked about good places to set up camp around the Elemental Nations.
However while he didn't speak to them himself Naruto did take the time to observe each of the adults as they walked, taking note of different things he was sure would be good to remember.
Kyojin the big tattooed man didn't seem to talk much; instead he seemed to much prefer giving short answers or grunts when someone asked him a question. He also had a fire affinity, something that Naruto had learned after Victor asked the giant of a man for a light, to which he had simply grunted before holding out his hand toward the member of the Frankenstein Clan. With a click of his fingers Kyojin's tattoo's around his hands started to glow a soft red colour, before without a sound a small flame sprung to life on the end of his thumb. Which he had then used to light up Victor's cigarette, a nonchalant expression on his face as he did so, and a slight grunt as Victor flamboyantly thanked him.
Shapu however was without a doubt one of the clumsiest people Naruto had ever met or seen before, and seemed unable to go two minutes without tripping on something even if the ground at her feet was perfectly smooth. He had seen her actually walk into a tree at one point when she took off her goggles to clean them; only to draw her bow a moment later and somehow hit a rabbit two hundred meters ahead of them. When they had gotten closer Naruto was surprised to see that the arrow had hit it in the heart and killed it instantly, and he had quickly eaten the Soul as she strung the dead animal onto her belt to eat later.
Then there was Furui.
The first thing that Naruto noticed was that despite him not having any eyes the old man was more sure footed than any of them as they walked, and despite his earlier claims of being old he had been easily able to keep up with the rest of the group as they walked. The sound of both his wooden sandals and the bell at the end of his bo-staff seemed to echo slightly in the mist even over their voices, making it so that there was never a moment of complete silence. Like Naruto the man seemed to be simply listening to the others talking, though he would happily join in the conversation when it was directed at him,
Naruto was also convinced that Furui was the leader of the three Outcasts who had come to meet them, at least based on the way they were all interacting. The other two would continually look to the old man for instructions, and the moment he started speaking everyone else stopped to listen to his words. Even Victor showed the man more respect than Naruto thought his friends capable of.
Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something, but didn't voice it as they walked.
Eventually the sky had started to darken and their visibility was decreased even more as the cold night air brought in more mist, and soon after they were forced to set up camp for the night. They were able to find a fallen tree to set up next to so that it covered their backs both from the cold wind and potential attack, though the moisture in the air was already rotting it away, so how long their shelter would last was debatable.
Because of the mist the group had no need to worry about an enemy spotting their fire, which made the night much more comfortable than it would have been without a fire. How they actually made a fire though Naruto wasn't sure, as he very much doubted that there was a dry branch for miles, and had no wish to try and find any. Luckily one of the others seemed to know what they were doing, and after Shapu had finished setting up the fire with somewhat fry wood, Kyojin had lit it with his thumb again, and before long the small group was sat around the warm fire chatting quietly.
Naruto had sat himself slightly away from the group; not actually needing the warmth from the fire due to his abilities, or really feeling like it was his place to sit with them yet in the first place. However after a few minute of sitting with his back to the tree Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by Furui letting out a loud exaggerated groan as he sat next to him, the bell on the end of his staff giving one more ring as he leaned it against the log.
"You'll get sick sitting over here, you really should move closer to the fire." The old man said, his warm voice carrying over to Naruto.
Naruto was about to give a shrug, but realised that the action would be redundant and let out a sigh instead.
"I don't really feel the cold. I actually prefer it to heat and bright lights actually."
Furui just gave a small nod, humming his understanding. The two fell into silence for several minutes after that, Naruto looking to the older Outcast out of the corner of his eyes as he did so, while Furui just sat quietly with his head tilted to the side slightly.
Naruto watched as Furui pulled out a long smoking pipe from the inside of his robes, taking his time as he filled it with tobacco before also taking out a matchbox and lighting it. After that the old man leaned back and took several deep puffs, quietly blowing out smoke rings as he did so.
Eventually the silence was broken yet again as Furui shifted slightly so he was facing more in Naruto's direction. "So tell me, how much do you know about Outcasts and Rogue Clans? After all, you are one of us now; maybe I can help fill in a few of the blanks for you."
Slightly surprised by the man's generosity, Naruto shifted himself from where he was sitting against the tree, making it so he was facing more towards Furui, licking his lips slightly as he did so.
"Actually not much, I read a book about them but it was only general information and didn't go into anything specific. Victor's been explaining a few things to me though…mostly it was about his own Clan."
Upon hearing that Furui gave a small chuckle, before nodding his head slightly. "Yes, Victor does seem like a very talkative lad. Why don't I start with telling you about those in our little group, I'm sure you are curious?"
"That would be good, thank you."
...
If you're too impatient to wait for updates, the story's already at chapter 96 on P atreon.
p atreon.com/sybife