[HOLD] Plain Sight

Chapter 4: The Village

∞6:59 am∞

In the end, Naruto resorted to tying a blindfold over his eye sockets. It was painful at first, due to the pressure that was being asserted onto the fresh wounds, but it had become neutral once again after a few seconds.

Now, the only thing he had to figure out was a way to get to the Academy, whether it be on time or extremely late, it didn't matter. His class didn't start until eight, so he had some time to think about a safe route.

Currently, he was sitting at his table, consuming what tasted like an energy bar. He didn't even know he had any of those. He could be eating a bar of soap for all he knew. Nonetheless, this thought didn't stop him from eating it.

The blindfold was still over his eyes as he didn't feel like reapplying it again if he took it off. He was going to prevent himself from taking it off more than he thought necessary.

On a normal day, it takes me about thirty minutes to get to school. Well, that's when I run and actually try to get there on time... He thought.

Wait... Maybe I should just go. If I sit here, I'll never get there. With that, Naruto carefully stood up from his chair and found his way to whatever he usually brought with him to school.

Once he felt he had everything, he made his way to his door, making sure to grab his keys before he opened the door. He opened it, almost expecting the sun's rays to beat down on him like they always did when he left his apartment. Almost. He realized the situation once more and anticipated it.

He gave himself a reassuring thought and took a deep breath. The day would be difficult, he knew that for sure, but he would have to stay positive, that's how he was, always thinking positive.

"I can do this," he muttered to himself in a steady mantra. He carefully walked out of the safety of his apartment and walked the normal path he did to get away from his apartment building. He couldn't mess this up under any circumstances, there were stairs to go down and he could end up getting even more injured than he already was if he lost his footing.

Naruto kept walking, he had found the railing of the apartment hallway-like balcony and used that for leverage. Every time he took a step he made sure to check what would be his move, making sure the stairs weren't there already to make him plunge down them.

He walked on cautiously, until, he felt the dropoff to the stairs. He gasped slightly at the suddenness of their appearance, he didn't know he was that close to the stairs already. Again, he took a deep breath and then started his trek down the stairs, carefully taking it step by step. The railing provided good enough leverage for whenever he stumbled a little and was there to help him stay in place.

After about five minutes of struggle, he had scaled the stairs. He was a little tired from all of the concentration, but he kept on. Now, it was time for the trickier part, the village. The academy was about a mile from his apartment and not to mention the people that would most likely question him or something of that general nature.

He figured the journey would be a hassle if he took the long way around to keep away from the villagers. It would prove to be smarter if he went the quick way through with the occasional question of a villager. He had his excuse ready and wasn't afraid of being exposed as of yet.

Continuing on, Naruto started to the general direction of the village—silently praying that he wouldn't run into anything on his way. The first ten minutes of steady walking through the village—the quick way, might I remind you—went by smoothly. He could feel a couple villager's eyes on him but he received no questions about it, to which he was greatly appreciative of.