Chapter 26: An Unusual Child
( — 0.0.0.0.0 — )
Naruto, accompanied by Mikasa, walked along peacefully, while a column of steam rose in the distance, slowly fading into the clouds.
The path was surrounded by vast fields and gentle hills, while a light breeze stirred the grass on either side of the trail. The sound of their footsteps blended with the whisper of the wind, accompanying them along the way.
As they approached Wall Sina, they had climbed down from the Titan to continue on foot toward the district entrance, whose silhouette was beginning to emerge on the horizon.
After a short walk, the two children arrived at the district entrance, where the enormous gate stood before them, guarded by several soldiers who carefully watched those entering and leaving.
However, as soon as they approached, two guards stepped forward, blocking their way.
"Stop!" one of them exclaimed, looking at the two children with some suspicion. "Where do you think you're going?"
The other guard turned his gaze toward them, pausing for a moment to examine their clothes before looking around, as if expecting to find an adult accompanying them.
"Where are your parents? And where are you coming from?" he asked, his tone slightly more serious.
Naruto tilted his head a little, observing them curiously, while Mikasa remained silently by his side.
It seemed that entering the district wouldn't be as easy as it had been with the previous two.
Mikasa took a small step forward, raising her gaze toward the guards.
"We're from a nearby village," she replied briefly, trying to remain calm.
The soldiers exchanged a glance before turning their attention back to the two children.
"A nearby village?" one of them repeated, frowning. "And what are two kids like you doing traveling alone?"
Mikasa fell silent for a moment, unsure of exactly how to respond, while her fingers tightened slightly around the fabric of her clothes.
Beside her, Naruto observed the situation with an almost carefree calm, as if the entire conversation were nothing more than an interesting distraction.
"We need to get inside," Mikasa added, offering no further explanation.
The guard sighed, clearly unconvinced, and looked them up and down once more.
"We can't just let anyone in without knowing who they are. So you'd better explain yourselves a little more."
Mikasa lowered her gaze slightly, remaining silent in response to the guard's insistence.
She didn't seem willing to offer any further explanations, especially when she didn't even know how to answer those questions without raising suspicion.
"We got lost," she finally muttered, pressing her lips together slightly.
The two soldiers exchanged another glance. Although the answer didn't seem to convince them entirely, the young age of both children made it difficult for them to interrogate them too harshly.
"And where's the rest of your family?" one of them asked.
Mikasa didn't answer immediately.
Meanwhile, Naruto tilted his head slightly, observing the man with a curious expression. There was something interesting about the way adults seemed to complicate things with so many questions, even when the answer they were looking for could be rather simple.
"Do we really need to answer all that just to get inside?" Naruto asked, his innocent tone contrasting with the calmness of his voice.
The guard looked at him, surprised by the question.
"Of course you do, boy. We can't let two children enter without knowing where they're coming from."
Naruto blinked a couple of times, as if considering those words.
Beside him, Mikasa turned her head slightly to look at him, wondering what he was about to say.
And, for the first time since they had arrived, both soldiers focused their attention entirely on the little Uzumaki.
"Then what happens to children who don't have anyone to vouch for them?" Naruto asked, tilting his head slightly.
The guard opened his mouth, but it took him a few seconds to respond, apparently bewildered by the question.
"That's beside the point. Rules exist for a reason."
"I see."
Naruto didn't press the issue. He simply watched the man for a few moments, as if he had just discovered something rather curious about the way that world worked.
Mikasa, meanwhile, gently tugged on Naruto's sleeve, drawing his attention.
"Naruto..."
Her voice was barely a whisper, but it was enough to make him turn his head toward her.
The girl said nothing more, although her expression made it clear that she would rather avoid any trouble with the soldiers.
Naruto glanced at her briefly before turning his attention back to the guards.
"All right. If we can't go in, we can go somewhere else."
His answer caught both men by surprise. There was no reproach in his voice, nor was there any sign of concern. The boy simply seemed willing to leave, as if entering that district were just one option among many.
"Wait!" one of the guards exclaimed, frowning. "We never said you couldn't go in."
Naruto stopped and looked back at him.
"Then can we go through?"
The soldier sighed, bringing a hand to his forehead.
"First, you'll have to come with us. There's someone who needs to ask you a few questions before we can let you in."
Mikasa looked at the guards, then at Naruto, and finally nodded silently. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed curious about how things had turned out.
( --- 0.0.0.0.0 --- )
A little while later, the two children were inside a small building near the district entrance.
The place appeared to serve as an office for the soldiers responsible for supervising access, with several desks, shelves filled with documents, and a couple of windows through which the afternoon light streamed.
Seated in front of a desk, Naruto and Mikasa waited while a middle-aged man reviewed some papers, accompanied by one of the guards who had stopped them earlier.
Or, at least, that was what they were supposed to be doing.
Mikasa sat with her back straight, her hands resting on her lap, and her gaze fixed on the man in front of them, trying to pay attention to every word.
Naruto, on the other hand, seemed to have lost interest in the situation quite some time ago.
His gaze wandered around the room, stopping on whatever caught his attention, from a quill on the desk to the tiny cracks in the wooden walls.
He even leaned slightly to one side to see what was behind a bookshelf, as if finding something interesting there were far more important than the conversation that was about to begin.
The man looked up from his documents.
"All right, let's start over. I want both of you to tell me your names, where you're from, and why you're traveling alone."
Mikasa opened her mouth to answer, but Naruto beat her to it.
"Naruto."
The man waited a few seconds, apparently expecting him to continue.
However, the boy had already returned to examining a small ink stain on the desk.
"Naruto what?" the man asked, frowning slightly.
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"All right. And where are you from, Naruto Uzumaki?"
"Outside."
The silence that followed was rather uncomfortable.
The guard by the door blinked, while the man behind the desk stared at the little blond, as if trying to decide whether he had just received a genuine answer or whether the boy was simply making fun of him.
Mikasa, meanwhile, slowly turned her head toward Naruto.
Please don't start...
"I mean, what village or city are you from?" the man clarified, trying to remain patient.
Naruto looked at him again.
"I'm not from any."
"What do you mean, you're not from any?"
"Because we're just passing through."
The man frowned, setting his quill down on the desk.
"Passing through? And where exactly are you supposed to be going?"
Naruto shrugged slightly.
"We've been through Wall Maria and Wall Rose. Now we want to take a look at what's inside this one, and then we'll leave."
His answer prompted the man to exchange a glance with the guard.
It wasn't common to encounter two children who claimed to have traveled such a distance on their own, much less one who spoke about it with such indifference.
"Wait a moment. Are you telling me that the two of you traveled from Wall Maria, crossed Wall Rose, and made it all the way here without any adult accompanying you?"
"Yes."
"And you expect me to believe that?"
Naruto tilted his head slightly.
"Why should I care whether you believe me or not?"
The guard by the door immediately frowned.
"Boy, watch your tone when speaking to your superiors!"
Naruto slowly turned his gaze toward him.
For a moment, his expression remained completely calm, though his eyes lingered on the man with a curiosity that was difficult to interpret.
"Superiors? Does that mean you're stronger than me?"
The guard was taken aback by the question.
"This isn't about strength! It's about respect!"
"Oh."
Naruto lost interest and turned his attention back to the objects on the desk.
"Then I'm not interested."
Mikasa felt her shoulders tense.
'Please don't do that...'
It wasn't that she feared the soldiers might hurt them. After everything she had witnessed during their journey, the possibility of those men posing a real threat to Naruto seemed almost ridiculous.
What worried her was precisely the opposite.
She still remembered how carefree Naruto could be, even in situations that would have made anyone else nervous. And although she didn't fully understand the limits of his abilities, she had seen enough to know that it was best not to push him too far.
If those men actually managed to irritate him, the consequences could be far worse than they imagined.
And the most unsettling part was that Naruto didn't even seem to be trying to provoke them.
He simply saw no reason to take a conversation he considered unnecessary seriously.
The man behind the desk took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure.
"Listen, boy. I don't know what kind of games you're used to playing, but things don't work that way here. We can't allow two children to enter and leave the district without knowing who they are or where they come from."
Naruto looked at him again.
"But I've already told you. We just want to see the district. Then we'll leave."
"And I'm telling you it's not that simple!"
"Then why do you keep asking the same thing?"
The man opened his mouth, but couldn't come up with an immediate answer.
Mikasa lowered her gaze slightly, pressing her fingers together on her lap.
'Should I tell him to be quiet? No... if I do, he'll probably wonder why. And if these men keep insisting...'
The girl glanced sideways at the blond once more.
Naruto was examining the small white sun-shaped mark on his own palm, seemingly oblivious to the growing frustration of the adults.
Or, at least, that's how it appeared.
"Fine," the man finally said, closing the folder in front of him. "If you're really just passing through, it shouldn't be difficult to verify that. But you'll have to answer a few more questions and explain how you managed to get here."
Naruto let out a small sigh.
"How complicated."
The guard gritted his teeth.
"That's enough! Stop acting as if all of this is such a nuisance!"
Naruto slowly raised his head.
This time, he didn't answer immediately.
He simply watched the man for a few seconds, his expression so calm that it was difficult to tell what he was thinking. Yet, despite that calm gaze, flashes of light darted across his eyes so quickly that no one noticed them.
Mikasa held her breath.
'Don't irritate him any further...'
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence, while the guard seemed to be realizing that there was something strange about the way the boy was looking at him.
Finally, Naruto leaned back in his chair again.
"All right. Ask whatever you want."
The man blinked, surprised by the sudden change.
"Really?"
"Yes. But if we're going to spend the rest of the day here, I at least hope you have something interesting to tell me about this place."
Mikasa closed her eyes for a moment.
She didn't know whether to feel relieved that Naruto had stopped arguing or worried because he had just turned an interrogation into a conversation he seemed ready to abandon at any moment.
And judging by the expression on the man's face, he wasn't quite sure what to make of the boy either.
In the end, he decided that arguing with a child who seemed incapable of taking anything seriously wouldn't get him anywhere.
After exchanging a few words with the guard, he allowed them to enter the district, though not without first warning them to avoid causing any trouble.
Naruto barely paid attention to his final words.
Once outside the building, the blond stretched his arms slightly, as if he had just left a particularly boring meeting.
"Finally. I thought we'd never finish."
Mikasa glanced at him.
"Naruto, you should try to get along better with people."
"Why?"
The girl opened her mouth, but ended up closing it again.
Where was she even supposed to begin explaining that to him?
In the end, she simply sighed and continued walking beside him.
As they made their way through the district's streets, Naruto turned his gaze toward the buildings, the market stalls, and the people moving from place to place. Everything seemed to spark a much more genuine curiosity in him than the conversation they had just endured.
Mikasa, meanwhile, couldn't help taking one last look at the building they had left behind.
She was still worried about how close those men had come to losing their patience.
Although, now that she thought about it, perhaps she should be more worried about what would happen if Naruto ever lost his.
The girl turned her gaze back toward the blond, who had already stopped in front of a food stall, looking with obvious interest at the items on display.
"What is that?" Naruto asked, pointing at one of the foods.
Mikasa blinked.
And, for some reason, that simple question managed to reassure her more than anything else.
At least for now, it seemed there wouldn't be any more trouble.
Or so she hoped.
( — 0.0.0.0.0 — )