Naruto :I will survive

Everywhere he looked, darkness reigned. The only sounds were the sound of wind and rain. Everything he touched was pierced by a freezing cold. The sense of security that this human settlement initially inspired was gradually eroded by the onslaught of darkness and the howling wind. The impenetrable darkness was always frightening, and the silent village seemed to be shrouded in an ominous aura.

Kano walked slowly along the wall, touching it with his hand. When his palm came across the smooth, cold surface of the glass window, he froze. There was not a speck of dust on the glass, but that didn't mean anything.

A dirty little hand felt for a crack in the darkness and tried to pry it open. To his surprise, the window was unlocked. However, given the deserted nature of the place, that was not surprising.

Opening the window, he realized with annoyance that in his current state it was impossible to get in through it. Therefore, he had to continue along the wall, where he soon found the front door.

As night fell, the rain intensified. Even the specially extended roof overhang could not cope with such a downpour. The water flowing down the drainpipes made a loud noise. And the place under the canopy where Kano had previously taken shelter was now completely wet.

BAM! - a deafening clap of thunder was heard. For a moment, a bright flash of lightning cut through the sky, illuminating everything around. Although it only lasted a few seconds, Kano managed to make out a house. It was an ordinary dwelling with simple furniture.

Taking advantage of the lightning flashes, Kano closed the window he had opened, then found a box of matches and some paper. He used a wooden stool and some wooden kitchen utensils as fuel for the fire.

He knew it was unwise to start a fire in such a strange and unknown place, but he had no choice. If he didn't start a fire, he simply wouldn't survive the night.

The fire brought long-awaited warmth, and the fear retreated a little. By the light of the fire, Kano examined the house. He did not find any food, but all the kitchen utensils were in place. Thanks to this, he boiled a pot of water. In addition, he noticed that the furniture in the house was not covered in dust and was in disarray. This meant that someone had lived here recently, but for some reason they had quickly left the house.

"Where am I?" Kano asked himself, looking at the fire.

Why is he here? What is this place? Will he be able to return?

These questions, like thousands of needles, pricked his brain.

If it weren't for his difficult childhood, he might not have been able to even stand up after waking up. Although, it wasn't just his willpower, but also because his emaciated body wasn't as weak as he thought.

Exhausted physically and mentally, Kano fell asleep by the fire. When he woke up, it was already dawn, but the rain did not stop.

He felt hungry and weak. If he didn't find food, he would die of hunger sooner or later. He found something like a raincoat in the house, put it on and went out into the rain. There were no people here, so he didn't hesitate to go into houses, although he searched several houses and still didn't find any food.

Despair began to overcome him.

"Why did people leave so quickly without leaving any food?" Kano wondered as he walked down the street. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two iron garbage cans on the corner. He stopped and walked resolutely towards them.

"Maybe here..." he muttered, lifting the lid of one of the bins and tipping it onto the ground. The stench immediately enveloped him, but he didn't even wince. Crouching down, he calmly began to dig through the rotting waste.

A few hundred meters away, around the corner, two people stopped - a man and a woman. The woman was young and beautiful, with golden hair and brown eyes. She had a forehead protector with a leaf on it. Despite her beauty, the young woman was dressed in armor, which gave her a stern look.

The man was also dressed in armor, but over it he wore a green cloak. He had long black hair that contrasted sharply with his pale face. The most striking thing was his golden vertical pupils and the pale shadows that ran from his eyes to his nose, giving him an ominously cold expression.

The two were Orochimaru and Tsunade, returning to the village after the war ended.

"Another war orphan?" Orochimaru said coldly, looking at Kano's back. He then took out a black kunai from his tool bag.

"Living is so painful... It's better to die," he said indifferently, taking a step forward with a kunai in his hand.

"Orochimaru, he's just a child who can't even control his chakra," Tsunade said, frowning and placing her hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Ha," Orochimaru chuckled coldly, looking at her and replied, "So what?"

He shrugged, freeing himself from her hand.

Seeing Orochimaru's unyielding nature, Tsunade's frown deepened, but she did not stop him any further. She had seen too much death, her hands were stained with blood, and her heart had gradually hardened. After all, this was not the Land of Fire or Konoha…

Kano didn't yet know that a few hundred meters behind him, someone was slowly approaching with a kunai in hand, intending to kill him. At that moment, he silently looked at the small yellow-brown dog in front of him. Apparently, this intruder was also hungry and therefore did not look friendly. The low growl coming from its mouth seemed to claim ownership of the trash scattered on the ground.

"It was a long time ago... I was the same back then, fighting for scraps that ordinary people threw away without even thinking," Kano whispered.

He picked up a stone from the ground and stared at the little dog in silence. There was no anger or pity in his gaze, only calm.

Seeing the stone in Kano's hand, the dog felt threatened, but hunger did not allow it to retreat. If it were not for Kano knocking over the garbage can, it would not have had a chance to find anything edible. Therefore, its growling became louder and more furious.

"I'm sorry," Kano said quietly.

The dog's weak, menacing yapping made no impression on him. He did not pick up the stone to chase it away. He preferred fresh meat to the scraps in the garbage can. Without hesitation, he threw the stone at the dog.

The difference in size determined the outcome from the start. In just a few seconds, accompanied by a pitiful yelp, the small dog was beaten to death.

Pulling his fallen hood up, Kano brushed the raindrops from his face and bent down to pick up the dog's body. He then headed back to the house. Since he had fire, he didn't want to eat raw meat.

Orochimaru, who had stopped nearby, watched all of this.

"Hehehe, interesting…" he muttered, putting the kunai back into his tool bag. He watched Kano's retreating figure, a glimmer of curiosity igniting in his eyes. He expected the boy to simply chase the dog away or share the food he had found with it, but it didn't hesitate to turn it into its own meal.

"If this child is a ninja… then such behavior should not be surprising. And one more detail: the stone he used to kill the dog is still in his hand. This indicates that the appearance of the dog made him feel threatened, and the stone that became a weapon remained in his hand even after it had served its purpose. After all, before this, he did not have any weapon."

"It feels like… he suddenly became aware of his surroundings and instantly matured," Orochimaru thought. He had a fleeting thought about bringing the child to the village, but he quickly discarded it.

"Even though the war is over, the situation is still tense. For whatever reason, bringing a stranger into the village will be problematic, even if it's just a defenseless child."

"However..." Orochimaru stood in the rain, his cold snake-like gaze never leaving Kano: "This child, if I can't take him with me, then I can only kill him."

"Orochimaru," a voice was heard. Tsunade also saw what happened and was visibly shocked. Moreover, she felt a subtle killing intent coming from Orochimaru.

Kano, heading towards the house, suddenly felt someone's unkind gaze on him. A chill ran down his spine, he turned sharply and looked in the direction from which the gaze came.

"Who's there?" he whispered.

Having seen the man, Kano first relaxed, but then immediately tensed up, demonstrating his wariness with his whole appearance. The man's angry look immediately made him add the stranger to the list of enemies.