I DON'T OWN NARUTO, IT BELONGS TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO

I started this story almost five years ago and in a moment of boredom I decided to read it again. I noticed that five years ago my writing skills were almost no good, and I'll be polishing the prologue and chap 1. Then I'll try to finish the second chapter I wrote so long ago.

Yes. I'm back in the game.

Enjoy

"Normal speech"

'Characters thinking'

ABSENT

Prologue

"How did it go?" Tsunade asked the pink-haired woman that entered through the door of her big office. With sorrowful eyes, she watched Sakura approach one of the visitor's chairs in front of her desk and slump on it. It took a moment for the seventeen year old kunoichi to raise her eyes to meet hers. They told her everything she needed to know.

"Haven't seen him like this since Iruka." Replied Sakura with a deep sigh.

Tsunade lowered her gaze and threw a side-glance at the file report on top of her desk. It described with great detail the seek-and-destroy mission team 8 had been sent to complete; successful on finding the missing ninjas they were looking for, but disastrous on losing a member of Konoha's best.

'Hyuuga Hinata.' The Hokage read to herself, shying away from the attached photograph of the Hyuuga beauty, trying to look serious in the picture but not being able to hide the gentle nature her eyes revealed.

The Haruno was too busy recalling Naruto's pain-contracted face when she told him the terrible news to notice Tsunade's own sadness. "Please go." He had said in such a cracked voice Sakura could barely understand him. He had turned away from her and waited for his teammate to leave his apartment.

Sakura had just taken a few steps away from his door when she jumped in fright at hearing Naruto's heart-crushing shouts of grief through the walls. They brought tears to her eyes.

"I'm worried about him, Tsunade-sama." She confessed as a fresh set of tears began flowing down her face.

"We all are." Tsunade confessed to her pupil, drinking sake from her cup and realizing it wasn't enough. The older woman took out a brand new bottle and drank directly from it.

"Sensei… He came yesterday to me." Said the young lady in a fragile voice and a heavy heart. "He told me he was going to confess to her once she returned. After so long they'd finally…" Sakura started sobbing as her hands covered her face.

Naruto and Hinata had grown so close you would think they were a couple, but it frustrated their friends to no end that they didn't have the guts to tell each other how they felt.

Tsunade spun slowly on her chair to face the window and her view of Konohagakure. Although she couldn't see it from her spot, the Hokage knew exactly where Naruto's apartment was. Ever since she met the loud blond he was always facing terrible circumstances, be it on the battlefield or back at home.

'Why is life always so hard on you?'

He fell to his knees heavily on top of the hard wood, in the middle of his half destroyed apartment. His rampage had died down, but not because he was out of breath, but because he was out of heart.

He had turned his bed upside down, with punch-holes through his mattress. Pieces of his dining chairs could be found scattered everywhere. Not a single lamp was left unscathed. The dying light of the evening sun could be seen through the holes and gashes that adorned his walls. Broken glass was everywhere, and Naruto dully noted the wind coming in from his broken windows and caressing the open wounds on his knuckles and arms.

His head was hanging low, facing the dirty and blood-stained floor. He was staring blankly at it, while his silent tears created a small pool under his knees. 'She's gone like the rest.'

The Sandaime, whom Naruto had considered as a grandfather, first one to embrace him without fear of the nine-tailed fox and to treat him like a real kid. Killed by Orochimaru.

Jiraiya, his cheerful and perverted sensei, one of the few adults that recognized him as a human being, killed by Pain, leader of Akatsuki.

Iruka, the only sensei he thought of like a big brother, and Kakashi, his other perverted sensei who had the most patience with him. Both killed during the Third Great Ninja War.

Sasuke, his best friend and utmost enemy, lost his mind to darkness. The young blond had killed him with his own two hands when he had tried to kill Sakura in front of him and threatened the village. He thought he would go mad with guilt, but someone helped him get through all of it.

"Hin…" He whispered as he sobbed quietly.

Hinata. The girl that had a special smile for him, the one who was always there for him, the young lady that would always greet his arrival from a mission with a shy hug, and the woman he just recently realized he loved.

He turned to look at the place where the only photograph of him and Hinata he owned laid on the floor. 'I was too late.' He chastised himself for the umpteenth time. Once again, his heart was filling with pain. Feeling the beginning of another episode, Naruto gritted his teeth. But the pain was bigger than the rage this time, and the Uzumaki felt strength leaving his body.

"I can't stand being here without you."

Two events happened the next day that changed the Godaime's mood on an extreme level. The first one was through a messenger that came all the way from Waterfall country to announce the following: Hyuuga Hinata was found in critical condition approximately five miles west of her assumed place of death, spotted by a fisherman and his son on the riverside. She was immediately taken to the nursery of the small town where they could stabilize her condition, but was still on a delicate state.

Tsunade wasted no time. A minute after hearing the news, she sent a medical team towards her location, but kept Sakura so she could inform first Naruto and then the Hyuuga clan herself the great news.

She was waiting anxiously for Kurenai so she could break the news to her friend, but just half an hour after sending for Naruto, Sakura came bursting through her double doors.

"He's gone!" she announced out of breath.

"What do you mean?" the Godaime asked in alarm, although judging from Sakura's alarmed state, she could already guessed what it was.

"He didn't answered the door when I knocked so I got worried and broke in. His apartment is destroyed and he was nowhere to be seen." Sakura said hurriedly. Her eyes were desperate.

"Maybe he went outside." She suggested, trying to calm her student and herself from the terrible feeling that was arising on her stomach. Sakura shook her head forcefully.

"I found this in his apartment. Look." She said, taking out Naruto's hitai-ite along with the necklace Tsunade herself had given Naruto so many years ago. The girl put them on the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade stared at the items like she'd never seen them before. Then panic struck her.

"KOTETSU! IWASE!" she roared. Two puffs of smoke appeared behind Sakura in an instant.

"Hokage-sama." They said in unison, kneeling before the Hokage and bowing their heads.

"Summon every shinobi available to the Hokage's tower roof immediately!" A vein popped on her neck as she spoke.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." They, again, said in unison and disappeared.

"Sakura, contact the Inuzuka family. They will help us follow Naruto's trail." The girl didn't lose time and, without a word, leapt through the open window and onto the village.

The Hokage was left alone in her office, the fear still leaking through her every pore. Glancing almost fearfully at the offending items discarded on top of her desk. She took the shiny but worn headband on one hand and her grandfather's necklace in the other. It could be her imagination but she swore she felt them still radiating Naruto's body warmth.

"Naruto…"

Shinobi shot in every direction through the forest that surrounded Konoha. Barking dogs the size of lions leapt from branch to branch as they attempted to find a hint of the blond's scent. The villagers that got to witness the shinobi in action turned on their feet and went directly back to their homes, fearing they might be under attack.

Kiba's dog, Akamaru, was the first one to pick up Naruto's scent. He and his owner were really close to Naruto, so they knew his aroma by heart. They found it trailing north, but it was too faint; signalizing the blond had left the village probably nine hours ago, leaving no chance to the shinobi to catch on with him now.

Even though the odds were almost non-existent, Tsunade pushed them to go further away from the village. She wasn't going to let Naruto go.

Reports arrived in the form of memos, birds and bugs, reading that there was no sign of Naruto on the town nearest to Konoha, nor the second nearest, nor the third, nor the fourth…

Tsunade could understand the blond's pain. She knew he would be left feeling alone, but she knew there were still lots of people that cared for him, even if he didn't noticed sometimes.

His loyal friends stood out as they were the one who lead most of the tracking groups, unwilling to let down Naruto or the Hokage, pushing their teams and their legs. They knew just how easy it would be to bring him back if they could tell him that Hinata was alive and on her way back to him.

But catching up to him was not as easy. Teams started coming back after ten hours of pursuing. The first ones to enter the gates were ninjas who undoubtedly hated the blond still. The Hokage confronted them as soon as she saw them. Her eyes narrowed a she had to hear how they argued that it was better for the Village's safety that the demon boy was gone. The Hokage let them finished their traitorous words and then suspended them from active duty for three months. She left but not without promising that if they said one more word against Naruto, they'd be exiled from Konoha.

Four more hours passed by, and more ninja were coming back home, tiredly saying that Naruto was already out of range. Tsunade was mad, but she didn't punish them, as the Hokage herself started thinking about the possibility of not getting the whiskered young man back. Her fears became reality when, eighteen hours later, Naruto's nearest friends returned wearing faces of defeat. Lee and the kunoichi were sobbing while Neji told Tsunade with a heavy heart how they got to the border of Grass country. That's as far as they could go without violating the treaty they had with their neighbor.

It was like reviving Sasuke's flight. Sakura fell to her teacher's arms as she wailed openly in front of her friends. Now both of her teammates had fled the Village and she couldn't do anything this time for Naruto.

When Sasuke escaped, the Konoha shinobi actually had the opportunity to reach him. This time there was never a chance. Naruto had perfected almost every shinobi aspect and the whiskered teen wouldn't be found if he didn't want to.

They all cried. Even Tenten swore she saw Neji wipe his hand across his eyes. Then they all started begging Tsunade she asked Grass permission to allow a search party on its territory.

Of course the Hokage agreed, as she had already sent the documents before they all came back.

After being dismissed by Tsunade, Konoha's finest went to bed hoping they would have better luck tomorrow, but deep down they all knew Naruto wouldn't be sighted unless he wanted to.

What would they tell Hinata once she arrived?

Thanks for reading.

Remember to review folks.

Paty