It was late at night when they arrived at the final station.
As they neared the dock, Daisuke eased off, letting the punt glide forward. He dug his bamboo pole into the riverbed, leaning into it to slow their approach. The boat drifted a few more meters than intended, overshooting the dock. Clicking his tongue, Daisuke angled the pole and pushed against the riverbed, nudging the punt backward with slow, deliberate strokes. Once properly aligned, he planted the pole firmly again, steadying the vessel as water gently lapped its sides.
"Alright, kids, here we are! End of the line," Daisuke announced, stretching his back with a hand on his hip. "You're on your own from here."
Naruto hopped off first, stretching his arms over his head. "Thanks for the ride, Daisuke-san!" he said with a grin.
Daisuke chuckled, resting his pole against his shoulder. "No problem, kid. You made it fun." Then, turning to Tayuya, he added, "And you've got real talent with that flute. Keep at it."
Tayuya slowed as she stepped toward the dock, casting a brief glance at the boatman. "…Thanks," she mumbled before looking away.
Naruto offered a hand to help her up. She met his gaze for a second, then scoffed and leapt onto the dock on her own.
Naruto blinked at the rejection but didn't dwell on it. Turning to Kimimaro instead, he extended a hand. Kimimaro took it without hesitation, letting Naruto pull him onto the wooden planks.
Daisuke gave a two-fingered wave. "Take care, kids."
Naruto returned the gesture, and Kimimaro gave a small nod before the three children left the riverbank.
They made their way through the dimly lit streets, passing shuttered shops and empty stalls. The town was quiet, save for the occasional murmur of conversation or the distant meow of a stray cat.
"We should find somewhere to sleep," Kimimaro said.
"Yeah, before Naruto starts snoring in the street," Tayuya added.
"Hey!" Naruto protested, but before he could argue further, a vivid green neon sign caught their attention, glowing above a modest two-story building: Meander Inn.
Without another word, they headed toward it, grateful for the promise of rest.
Lying in bed, Tayuya gazed at Naruto and Kimimaro's sleeping faces on the other mattress. She thought back to the last time they'd had a proper place to sleep—on the night she met them. Back then, she'd gone to bed feeling uneasy in their presence. Now, much as she hated to admit it, being around them made her feel… safe. The realization irritated her. Worse, the words from that teenage girl on the boat echoed in her mind: "The blond's a keeper."
"Ugh."
Scowling, Tayuya turned away from the boys and shut her eyes.
The next morning, the three children set out on the final leg of their journey. After two hours of walking, they reached the Land of Wind. A desert stretched before them, vast and blistering under the cloudless azure sky.
"How the hell did I agree to this?" Tayuya muttered, shoulders slumping.
"We'll need to ration our water," Kimimaro said, frowning.
"Come on, guys! We can do this!" Naruto tried to lift their spirits, but Tayuya and Kimimaro only stared at the boundless sand ahead.
They trudged for an hour along the dusty road, enduring the sting of the sun against their skin. Sweat gathered at their temples, rolling down their cheeks in itchy streaks before they wiped it away. Their lips cracked from the dryness, and their hair clung to their scalps, damp with sweat. The air was hot and unmoving, offering no reprieve.
No wind in the Land of Wind. How ironic.
"How the hell are we supposed to make it to Suna? I'm already melting," Tayuya grumbled, wiping her forehead with her sleeve.
"Naruto, sip your water, don't gulp it," Kimimaro warned.
"Sorry." Naruto quickly capped his bottle, suppressing a sigh.
Two more hours passed. Their pace had slowed, and their legs were growing heavy. Naruto wiped his chest with his shirt and shook the collar to fan himself. He felt his stomach rumble.
"We should eat something. I'm hungry."
"You think I'm not?" Tayuya huffed, adjusting the strap of her bag. "Only idiots waste time stopping in this heat."
Kimimaro reached into his knapsack and pulled out a loquat. "Then we eat as we walk."
"Good idea!" Naruto said, grabbing one from his backpack. He tore away the paper-thin, slightly fuzzy skin with his fingernails and popped it into his mouth. The golden flesh yielded easily under his teeth, tender and bursting with juice. Sweetness flooded his tongue, and a pleased hum escaped him as he chewed.
Tayuya let out a sigh of exasperation and did the same as the boys. "Fine, I'm tired of carrying them anyway."
Naruto spat out the smooth, dark brown seed onto the ground and grabbed another loquat. The egg-shaped fruit nearly slipped from his fingers as he peeled it desperately.
They continued on, eating loquats for lunch as they walked, hoping to shorten their time under the scorching sun. The loquats only offered fleeting comfort—the brief burst of moisture wasn't enough to quench their thirst, and the sugar only sharpened it. Their sweat evaporated quickly in the dry air, leaving behind a crust of salt on their backs.
By the time another four hours had gone by, their feet throbbed, their heads felt leaden, and their water bottles were nearly empty.
"What if we run out of water before we get through this desert?" Naruto asked, his brows knitting together.
"Let's look for trees. If we find any, there might be an oasis nearby," Kimimaro said. "Until then, don't drink the rest of your water."
They squinted against the blinding sunlight, scanning the endless dunes for any sign of vegetation. But the land remained barren—nothing but scattered rocks and the occasional flicker of movement from a lizard or rodent.
Naruto was starting to consider drinking the last bit of water in his bottle when Kurama's voice boomed in his mind.
"Brat, I sense chakra—eleven people. They're stationary, which means they might be near water. Head southwest."
Naruto perked up. "Thanks, ! You're the best!"
Kurama growled. "Don't get the wrong idea, brat. If you die of dehydration, I'm going down with you. I'd rather not end up like that."
Naruto slowed his steps. "Wait… what do you mean 'go down with me'?"
"…Exactly what it sounds like."
Naruto frowned. "So if I drop dead, you—"
"Die, yes," Kurama cut in, tone flat.
Naruto was silent for a moment before he huffed, "Well, that's not happening."
"…Hah?"
"I'm not gonna let you die," Naruto said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We'll both make it out of this, so don't worry about it, 'kay?"
Kurama's scowl faltered. That… wasn't the reaction he'd expected.
Most jinchuriki, upon learning that their tailed beast would die with them, either felt relieved that the so-called monster wouldn't be set free or saw it as further proof that the being inside them was nothing more than a parasite. Some, broken by their pathetic lives, had even considered ending it themselves—grinning at the thought that, for once, they held the power to hurt the tailed beast they blamed for their suffering.
But this human—this overly confident brat—had the audacity to promise he wouldn't let him die. As if he had any say in the matter.
Kurama scoffed, resting his head on his limbs. He hadn't mentioned that his death wouldn't be permanent—that he'd reincarnate after some time. But dying was still dying, and he had no intention of experiencing it again.
"Tch. Don't get ahead of yourself, brat. You're still half-dead in the middle of a desert. Focus on walking."
Naruto grinned. "Got it."
Tayuya groaned. "I'd fucking kill for some water right now."
"Don't worry, I'll find it!" Naruto declared, veering off the road.
"I don't see a tree in that direction," Kimimaro said, confused.
Tayuya rolled her eyes. "I'm 99% sure I'm gonna die in this desert with an idiot leading the way."
Kimimaro and Tayuya followed Naruto for nearly half an hour before palm trees appeared in the distance. They gaped at the sight ahead—then at Naruto—then at each other.
Naruto kept his gaze fixed forward and stayed silent, pretending not to notice their reactions. He hoped they wouldn't ask how he had known to come this way. He didn't want to lie to his friends, but he wasn't ready to tell them the truth either.
"The eleven people are moving on," Kurama noted. "They're heading away from you."
Hearing this, Naruto quickened his steps, moving ahead of his friends.
Finally, they arrived at an oasis—a small pond tucked between patches of scrub and tall, arching date palms. Red dragonflies hovered over the clear, turquoise water. Footprints dotted the surroundings.
"Thank whatever gods there are for whatever you did, shrimp!" Tayuya exclaimed.
Kimimaro stared at Naruto in awe again. "How did you know there's an oasis before you saw the trees?"
But Naruto only cheered and dashed down the sand dune, as if he hadn't heard the question at all.
Kimimaro and Tayuya exchanged puzzled looks before shrugging it off and rushing down after him. They knelt at the edge of the pond and scooped up water with their bare hands.
The first sip was a balm to their chapped lips, cool and soothing as it washed away the rawness. They drained the last drops from their bottles, refilled them with fresh water, and gulped it down in one go. They repeated the motion several times until they were satisfied, finally chasing away the dryness that had lingered in their throats for hours.
After replenishing their bottles one last time, they splashed water onto their faces and limbs, ridding themselves of the saltiness and acidity of sweat. Naruto dunked his head into the pond, resurfacing with a gasp before shaking off water in all directions.
"Ugh! Stop shaking like a wet dog," Tayuya barked, stumbling back before flicking a handful of water at him.
"At least I'm clean now," Naruto retorted smugly, running his fingers through his soaked hair.
"You call that shit clean?" Tayuya shot back.
"Look at these footprints," Kimimaro said quietly, pointing at the sand. "People were here not long ago. They must've drunk from and bathed in this water…"
Tayuya immediately retracted her hands, her face contorted in disgust. "You're telling us this now?"
"Gross!" Naruto yelped, scrambling to his feet.
The children then gathered clusters of fallen dates beneath the palms, their russet skins slightly wrinkled from basking in the sun. They blew grains of sand off them before biting into the soft, sticky flesh.
"Mmm! So sweet!" Naruto mumbled, his cheeks bulging with fruit. "Much sweeter than the loquats."
Tayuya furrowed her brow as she chewed. "We're gonna get thirstier than ever."
"It's fine, we have a whole pond of water…" Kimimaro paused at the glaring from the other two. "…If we really need it," he finished.
Naruto swallowed and stuck out his tongue. "I wasn't thinking about the pond water until you mentioned it. Now it feels like other people's feet were in my mouth."
"You should've just kept your mouth shut about it," Tayuya grumbled.
"Sorry."
With their stomachs finally full, they collected the rest of the dates into their bags. The sun had begun its descent, casting the desert in a hazy, golden glow. As it sank lower, the day's heat vanished, replaced by an encroaching chill.
"What thr fuck is up with him?" Tayuya whispered to Kimimaro as they sat under a palm tree, watching Naruto attempt to catch a dragonfly. "He had no clue where to find water, and then suddenly, he's a damn compass."
"It happened in the Land of Rain too," Kimimaro whispered back, his eyes on the boy whose energy seemed as boundless as the desert itself. "He's just… special, I guess."
"Naruto, we should probably stay here for the night. What do you think?" he called out.
"Okay!" Naruto chirped, dropping his hands from where he had been swiping at a darting red dragonfly.
Once darkness fell, the fiery sky and the ochre desert melded into a pitch-black void, and the temperature plummeted. Shivering, the children huddled together among the shrubs, their thin clothes doing little to keep them warm against the desert night's merciless cold.
"We were burning alive earlier, and now we're freezing to death," Tayuya muttered, rubbing her arms.
Kimimaro exhaled into his cupped hands, too cold to give a response.
The moon emerged, providing just enough light for them to see each other's faces—and a looming shadow in the vicinity.
"Brat, look out!"
Kurama alerted Naruto to a giant creature of an orange-yellow color. As it crawled closer, they could make out a pair of yellow pincers, then an orange tail curved over the back, a red stinger glinting at the telson.
A scorpion.
A giant scorpion.
They shot up to their feet and got into a defensive stance, staring in horror at the monster.
"Oh, come the fuck on! As if the crazy weather isn't enough to deal with!" Tayuya huffed.
"Should we run?" Naruto asked.
The scorpion—larger than a cow—was approaching them on its eight long legs at a terrifying pace, its table-sized pincers clicking hungrily.
"You two run!" Kimimaro ordered.
"What about you?" Naruto glanced at him.
Kimimaro took a step forward. It seemed unlikely that they could all outrun the giant scorpion. He had to fight it to give his friends a chance to escape.
"I'm sorry if you hate me for this, but I hope we survive."
"What do you—?"
Before Naruto could finish his question, Kimimaro charged forward.
"Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"
Bone projectiles shot from Kimimaro's fingertips, striking the scorpion's two median eyes. The creature stopped in its tracks, rearing its fused head and thorax. Kimimaro darted in circles around it, firing at its five pairs of lateral eyes.
Naruto and Tayuya stared, wide-eyed, as he formed a bone sword from his shoulder.
"Dance of the Camellia!" Kimimaro lunged, stabbing the scorpion's abdomen, paralyzing it for a second.
Unfortunately, even without eyesight, scorpions could sense movement from vibrations. The giant scorpion whipped around, trying to grab Kimimaro with its pincers, the sword still lodged in its exoskeleton.
Narrowly dodging the pincer, Kimimaro retreated and summoned another bone sword, but the arachnid slapped it away before he could do anything with it.
"We should help him!" Naruto shouted.
"How?!" Tayuya shouted back.
Kimimaro rolled away from the scorpion's attempt at snapping him. He summoned a third sword and managed to parry several attacks before it was slapped away again. Just when he was about to get caught, Naruto jumped onto the scorpion's back and—aiming for one of the holes Kimimaro had made in its eyes—drove a bone sword into its head. The creature froze, stunned by the strike—then swatted Naruto away with its tail, sending him hurtling through the air and crashing head-first into the sand.
"Naruto!" Tayuya screamed, but Naruto remained motionless on the ground.
Letting out a cry of despair, she lashed out at the scorpion in a blind rage, smacking its segmented legs violently with another sword left on the ground.
"Ughahhh!" Kimimaro fired a volley of drilling bullets, then unleashed a flurry of slashes at the scorpion's pincers with a new sword, but the giant creature tanked every hit with its tough exoskeleton.
Already exhausted from their trek through the desert, the two children soon felt their strength slipping away. Tayuya barely held her own, dodging and blocking the scorpion's ferocious pincers, while Kimimaro's attacks grew sluggish.
"It was nice knowing you, pale-face." Tayuya gritted her teeth. "Guess we're joining shrimp soon…"
"No, he's not dead! He can't be!"
Kimimaro refused to believe they had lost their friend, but he wasn't sure. All he knew was that they were on their last legs.
They fought with every bit of strength they had left, but to no avail. Just as Kimimaro felt his body giving out, a loud roar ripped through the night. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Naruto on all fours, shrouded in a mass of bubbling orange chakra. Snarling, Naruto sprouted a chakra tail and lunged at the scorpion.
With a swipe of his tail, Naruto struck the giant scorpion with such force that it went flying across the oasis. The creature crashed into a palm tree and flipped over, exposing the thinner parts of its armor.
Naruto went in for the attack, his chakra tail smashing the scorpion over and over, hammering it into the ground. Each strike put cracks in its exoskeleton, the fractures splintering further with every impact.
Kimimaro and Tayuya watched, breathless, as Naruto kept pummeling the giant scorpion, the relentless blows shattering its armor and crushing its insides, until it stopped moving altogether.
At last, the monster lay still—lifeless.
Kimimaro and Tayuya hurried to Naruto's side. He was on his elbows and knees, panting heavily, the seething chakra cloak around him already faded.
"Na-Naruto? Are you okay?" Kimimaro asked, wrapping an arm around his back.
Naruto gave a shaky nod.
"You saved us, shrimp! I thought you were…" Tayuya's voice trailed off.
"I thought…" Naruto breathed. "I thought you'd finally… call me by my name."
"Huh?" Tayuya blinked.
Resting his head on the ground, Naruto managed a weak smile.