AN: I've been reading stories on this site for close to a year now. I thought I'd take a crack at writing something. Let me know what you think.
Naruto stood in the Hokage's office, posture tense and wary. The old man hadn't seemed very cheerful when he and Iruka-sensei were found in that clearing. He actually looked a lot older than the young blond had ever remembered seeing him.
He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet as the old man continued to sit and puff away on his pipe with an air of defeat around him. Their eyes met and the aged Hokage released a weary sigh. His eyes softened as he addressed the boy. "Naruto…" He began, only to trail off tiredly. 'I can't believe I have to do this to you. Your life has been hard enough already.' Pushing away the urge to sigh once more, he shook his head and affirmed his resolve. 'No backing out now, I just hope that one day you can forgive me for this.'
He spoke again, this time with a grim acceptance in his tone. "The scroll you took was the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. It contains hundreds of kinjutsus that were considered impractical and unsuitable for use by Konoha shinobi. In the hands of our enemies it exposes all our glaring weaknesses. For example, the kage bunshin technique you learned is in there because most people don't have the chakra capacity or the mental fortitude to make use of the clones in any meaningful way. Any half decent shinobi would be able to deduce exactly how limited we are in terms of average chakra capacity and they'd be able to come up with a slew of offensive strategies that would be catastrophic for us." He saw the boy's eyes widen in alarm and his whole body tense up.
"You know I never meant to do that, jii-chan. Mizuki-teme trick-" The blonde's mouth clicked shut when the Hokage raised his hand for him to stop.
"I know what happened, Naruto, but ignorance of the law is no excuse. Theft of that scroll is regarded as high treason, no matter the circumstances."
"But… but…." the boy protested weakly, the grim acceptance in the Hokage's voice told him wasn't something he could change. "Can't you…..do something, old man? You know….. You're the Hokage…."Naruto trailed off when he saw the pained look on his surrogate grandfather's face. He swallowed loudly and nodded for the man seated across from him to continue.
"Now the usual punishment for treason is death," there was a sharp intake of breath and the boy's eyes widened to saucers and glistened with unshed tears. "But I've been able to limit it to a simple banishment."
The young jinchuuriki's head hung as he he tried to hide the tears falling from his eyes. His fists clenched painfully by his sides. His small shoulders rose as he sucked in a deep breath, visibly restraining himself from yelling at the Hokage. His torso shrunk again as he released the breath through clenched teeth. 'So that's it? My dream to be Hokage, my dream to be acknowledged, all the suffering I went through. Was it all for nothing?' His head snapped back up to face the Hokage, mouth open and ready to protest, but the words died on his lips. 'What exactly would be the point?...I mean... Am I really gonna fight this just so I can be around people who've spent everyday of my life trying to pretend I don't exist? Do I really want to?'
He collected himself and tried to banish these treacherous thoughts trying to tear him away from his dreams, but he couldn't force them out of his head. The fact that he'd been trying to earn some respect and acknowledgement for all his life and it seemed like Konoha would never allow him to catch a break. 'I'm pretty much back at square one.' He then realised that if this was something the Hokage couldn't fix, then the answer wasn't going to be falling into his lap anytime soon. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, held the air in his lungs for a second, and then let out another noisy breath.
When his eyes snapped open, there was a kaleidoscope of emotion in them, but his face morphed into a cold mask. "Will there be anything else, Hokage-sama?" He intoned respectfully. He saw Sarutobi wince at the cold indifference he was treating him with but couldn't be bothered to feel bad about it.
"You will be allowed two hours to pack your things and say any farewells. Then, you will be escorted out of the village by the ANBU." The boy nodded and turned to leave. 'I wish I could let him know I can't help him because of all these ANBU officers here. I can't show a person charged with treason any degree of kindness. Even these two hours I'm giving him are pushing it.' When he was out the door, the Hokage sighed and shook his head. 'Of all my failings, this is the biggest one. That fallen student of mine doesn't even come close.'
Outside the office, Naruto dragged his feet as he walked to his apartment. There was no rush. He didn't have much to pack anyway. As he passed people on the road, their shock at his lack of energy didn't even register to him, lost in his thoughts as he was. 'After all this time, this it it?' He questioned, struggling to make sense of how much his life had changed in the past few hours. His feet guided him through the streets and between people to his home.
After unlocking the door, he pushed the old, wooden thing open, but stood in the entryway taking his last look at the space he had called home for most of his life. He sighed heavily as he trudged inside, not bothering to shut the door behind him. He placed his large, worn satchel on the table and proceeded to stuff his fuuton and a couple of changes of clothes in it. He smiled softly as he slipped in his froggy nightcap. He decided to pack all his cups of ramen into his bag and have his last meal at Ichiraku's instead. Once that was all done, he made sure he had all his kunai and shuriken safely stashed on his weapon pouch and carefully took stock of all his other ninja supplies.
Taking one last look around the small apartment, he spotted his plant sitting on the window sill. He took the time to water it carefully, and then placed it outside, next to his door. He hoped someone might come and pick it up and take care of it, but he didn't really expect that to happen. He locked the door and left the key behind as he adjusted his pack and started making his way to his favorite place in the whole village.
A few minutes later, he was standing atop the Fourth Hokage's head as he looked over the village he had sworn to protect. He watched as people went about their business, oblivious of his gaze. No one seemed to even be affected in the slightest by his absence. It tore at his heart to see his existence so totally ignored. His disappearance seemed to have affected no one. He shook his head and checked the time.
One hour remained until he had to leave.
He decided that he didn't want to spend any more time in the village anyway and started to make his way down to the ramen stand. On his way, he started to think about who would actually be affected by his banishment. 'Ino? Ami and her friends? Nah. They would be glad that their chances to be on a team with the teme would be better. Kiba? Shikamaru? Chouji? Nah. We weren't really friends. We only got together to ditch class. How about the teme? Nope. He probably wouldn't even look up from his brooding long enough to notice. How about that weird blue haired girl? I've never seen her going nuts over Sasuke… But she hasn't exactly tried to talk to me either… I guess she wouldn't be affected either. The old man? Pfft. Yeah right. He's the Hokage. If he wanted me to stay, no one could say anything to him. His word is law. I guess I was wrong about him caring all this time. Well at least I know the Ichirakus will miss me… and so will Iruka-sensei…. At least I think they will. I'm not just another customer or another student to them am I?…. I hope not.'
His heart fell when he realised that he didn't have one person whose response he could be certain about. He was also discouraged because he knew exactly how Sakura-chan would respond. 'She'd be ecstatic that she doesn't have to deal with 'Naruto-baka' anymore.' He wanted to defend her, wanted to say that he knew she'd come to his aid as readily and as passionately as when she chases Sasuke but he couldn't lie to himself anymore. He'd been confident before, feeling that he was making steady progress in the thawing of the villagers' hearts, but today that notion was banished from his mind. He had acknowledged that he needed to stop pretending everything was okay. He needed to look at all the facts and take them as they are, not how he wants them to be.
He shook his head when he noticed that he'd already arrived at the ramen stand. He froze when he remembered that a few nights ago he'd been here, bragging to Iruka-sensei that he'd pass the test. He just knew that the old man would ask him how it went and Ayame would want to know too. He turned into an alley way and made his way to the gate, content to let their last memory of him be a happy one.
He arrived at the gate a few minutes later and saw the Third standing off to the side with a squad of ANBU. 'Has he been waiting here the whole time? No that would be stupid…then how did he…' His eyes widened as he found the answer. 'He had people watching me. And I didn't notice. That's not good…if I'm gonna be on my own, I need to be able to tell when I'm being watched.' He made a mental note to learn something that would always keep him aware of his surroundings.
He didn't spare the village leader another look as he marched toward the gate. He didn't slow his pace at all as he approached the massive opening. He stopped though when he felt he had heard something. He stood still and angled his ear toward the noise, waiting to see if it would repeat itself.
"NARUTO!" Came the desperate shout. He turned around and looked down the main road. He spotted Iruka-sensei sprint-hobbling down the road due to his injuries the previous night. He came to a rest just before Naruto and the boys eyes widened as he realised that he was right. Iruka-sensei would miss him. His running himself ragged when he should be in the hospital proved that he cared for the young blond. He waited patiently for the chunin to catch his breath.
Once the man wasn't panting for air, he got down on one knee and yanked the young blonde into a hug. Naruto stiffened at the unfamiliar contact but proceeded to return the hug. He felt tears threaten to fall when Iruka began speaking. "You know, Naruto, you were my favourite student. You may not have been the smartest, or the most skilled, but you never gave up in all you did. I want to let you know that I'm proud of you. Taking down Mizuki was no easy task, and I don't take back what I said last night, just because Hokage-sama took your hitai ate away. I still consider you an excellent ninja and I can't wait to hear all about your adventures." Naruto choked up and tears flowed freely down his face as he realised that this is what he'd miss the most about the village.
When they ended the hug, Iruka stood back up to produce a pair of scrolls from the pockets on his vest. "Thanks Iruka-sensei." The boy replied tearfully, using his sleeve to wipe his tears away.
"No problem, but I want you to have these," He said holding out the scrolls to him. "I didn't manage to include everything you'll need but I fit in as much as I could find in the little time I had." He smiled when the boy gingerly took the scrolls and nodded his thanks. He reached over and ruffled the jinchuuriki's hair fondly, "Stay safe, Naruto."
The boy nodded and turned to walk away. As he was headed through the gates, he decided to at least part civilly with the old man. He walked up to him and said, "Hey, old man, don't I get a hug from you?" He instantly knew it was the right thing to do when the Hokage chuckled heartily and scooped him up.
The chuckling trailed off however and the man muttered, "Listen Naruto-kun, my old team mate Danzo is probably going to try and capture you as soon as you're clear of the village limits."
"The creepy old guy with the bandages?" He questioned, having been in the Third's office enough times to have crossed paths with the old warhawk.
The old man broke the hug and stood back to his full height, tapping his nose but proceeding to mask it with a scratch. Seeing understanding dawn on the boy, he continued, "Well, Naruto, I'm sorry we have to part like this but for what it's worth, I think you'd have made an excellent Konoha ninja. Do this old man a favour and remember to stay alert." He said, the emphasis on the word almost palpable.
The boy thought back confusedly and wondered what the old man meant but couldn't make heads or tails of the statement. He just decided to think on it later on. "I will, old man." Naruto took a deep breath and proceeded to walk a few steps outside the large gates of Konoha. The road stretched on aimlessly before him, pin straight until the horizon. Tall trees followed along on either side. He stopped and breathed deeply as he took his first breaths on the other side of the massive walls. He exhaled tiredly and his shoulders slumped as he pondered his life so far. He turned around and took one last longing look at his home. 'Tch, former home.' his brain supplied. His posture perked back up when he saw the people standing by the gate.
On the left, the chunin guards looked on dispassionately from their post. Opposite them stood the Third Hokage, one Sarutobi Hiruzen, looking far older than the young blonde had ever seen him. His eyes fell on the man standing next to him. Umino Iruka, his favourite teacher at the tightly in his hands was the hitai ate he had so proudly donned on the boy the night before. His eyes were misted over with tears and his posture spoke volumes of the sadness he was feeling. He tried to brush it off and stand straight when he noticed Naruto's eyes on him but the boy showed no reaction.
A little ways down the street, a small figure hidden behind the corner of a shop went unnoticed. Her tear stained face was set in a mask of firm determination. She had seen him trudging away from the Hokage tower with his ANBU escort and had watched as he packed up what little he had in his apartment. She had cried bitter tears for the injustice against the one she so admired until she had realised that her tears weren't going to bring him back. She had thought about what he would do, and how he would react if he were her, and she knew that he'd never take it lying down. He wouldn't wallow in his pain while someone he cared about was tossed out into the cold. He'd do everything he could to get them back, failing that, he'd find a way to help them in any way he could, before hunkering down and training until he was strong enough to bring them back himself. She decided that she could do no less.
Her tiny fists clenched tightly as she reaffirmed her resolve, her mouth set in a firm line. She felt the scrolls she had only just managed to grab for him shuffle around in her pocket. She breathed deeply and emerged from her hiding place. She saw the way his brows furrowed in confusion when he noticed her. She locked eyes with him and started off towards him. He waited as she approached and all the surrounding people turned to watch. When she was close to him she bit back her urge to hug him and burst into tears, knowing that her resolve to get stronger and his imminent absence was the only thing even keeping her from blacking out at their proximity.
"Naruto-kun," she started, allowing herself to fall back to all the lessons in etiquette a Hyuuga princess has to go through, "I'm here to say thank you." She smiled as she saw his eyebrows wrinkle in confusion, but continued before he could voice it. "All the times things were hard for you, all the times when no one would've held it against you if you had given up, you kept going. You kept trying and never let anyone's words affect you. I admire your confidence and you've inspired me to gain some of my own. For that I'm very grateful. Here," She intoned, holding out a single scroll to him, "to aid you in whatever you decide to do next." She finished, having reverted to all her training as an heiress to help her speak without stuttering.
He stood there in shock for a moment until her words registered, then he reached out and took the offered scroll. "Thank you, Hinata-chan." He offered, his voice almost a whisper. 'I never knew she saw so much. Maybe Iruka-sensei was right after all. I should pay more attention.' He thought.
She nodded and turned on her heel to walk away before her old habits would turn her back into an unconscious wreck. Naruto watched her walk away for a few seconds, trying to think and figure out how he had missed the now obvious signs. He resolved to be more observant in the future. He tucked the scroll into his pocket and turned around again and faced the unknown. There were no words left to be spoken. He remembered the old man's tip about an aged warhawk who would try to capture him as soon as he left the village, so he formed the hand seal for the technique he had learned the night before. A quick burst of chakra later the road and surrounding trees were full of orange clad blondes.
The chunin guards' eyes widened to saucers as they watched the multitudes of blondes dash off into the forest. They broke off in various directions, some taking to the trees and others running along the ground. In moments the area in front of the gates of Konoha were just as silent as they were before.