This is my first Naruto fic. Just a heads-up. There's a long author's note at the bottom, if you care to read it.
Dawn broke over Konohagakure no Sato, illuminating the five faces of the Hokage Monument and the lone spot of yellow that could be found atop the Yondaime's head. Uzumaki Naruto, proud shinobi of Konoha and the jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi, had been sitting in his favorite spot since early that morning when he had woken up with a foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach. He'd quickly climbed to this familiar spot in an effort to calm himself down with the sight of his beloved village, completely rebuilt after Pein's devastating attack several days ago.
By the time he had assured himself of the village's peace, the sun was beginning to rise, so he settled himself on his idol and father's head to enjoy the sight he knew was coming. It had been almost three and a half years since he could just sit and enjoy the colors, after all. The horizon was lightening, pinks and oranges slowly replacing the purples and indigos, while Naruto silently watched the wonder that was the sunrise.
Had any one of Naruto's more recent acquaintances come across him, they would have been surprised that the hyperactive, knuckle-headed blonde could stay still for long enough to even see the sun rise. For his closer friends though, this would have been one of the first places they would have checked if they needed him and hadn't found him at his apartment this early in the day. But then, his closer friends knew him better, knew to look underneath the underneath, as Hatake Kakashi would say, and had made the effort to meet the real Naruto; to not just befriend the hyperactive, cheerful, stubborn, loud, annoying mask, but to dig deeper to find the guarded, intelligent, wary, quiet, observant face hidden by the mask and the villagers' treatment; to then make sure that he could be comfortable dropping the mask in their presence, should he wish to. Few chose to make that effort-few even knew that was an option—and so, the mask remained, fooling almost everyone and forcing Naruto to take the name of the "dobe" and "dead last."
Though he was gaining many friends that would fall into the first category, the second had only increased by a few members. The recently deceased Gama Sannin, Jiraiya, and the former Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had been a part of that second group and Naruto had mourned their passing as Team 10 had Asuma's. After all, very few people went through the effort to know the true Naruto, so he treasured those that did.
The barest flicker of chakra behind him caused him to pull out a kunai and tense, though he recognized the chakra of one of his close friends. He'd had to watch his own back, since he was four years old and that was a habit he retained when he dropped his mask. Turning his head to the side, he caught sight of the cat mask and returned to looking over the village with a nod of acknowledgement, replacing the kunai into his weapons pouch. The ANBU stood silently, taking in the view for a few seconds before giving Naruto the message.
"The council has requested your presence immediately."
Naruto continued gazing out to the training fields, trying to capture the peace and stillness of the moment, before sighing and standing up. Grimacing at the council's order, he stretched and yawned, taking one last glance at the view as he turned away, face falling into a scowl.
"Alright. Let's go see what the old geezers want."
With a burst of chakra, the two shinobi disappeared, leaving the monument empty and silent. A leaf fell, riding the wind off the monument and vanishing into the distance beyond the gates.
In front of the entrance to the council chambers, two shinobi stood, waiting for the council to summon one of them in. One had dark clothing, white armor, and a cat mask. The other had messy, bright, sun-kissed blonde hair and deep, pure blue eyes. This one wore a black jacket with orange stripes along the sleeves and orange pants. While the first one stood completely still, the second fidgeted, tossing a kunai up and down, up and down.
"Weren't they the ones who wanted to see me immediately?" Naruto grumbled, still annoyed that they had called him so early. The ANBU didn't respond.
Several minutes later, the blonde was ready to smash the door down and demand they tell him what they wanted, when a nondescript Chuunin finally called him in. Naruto hitched his mask on, wiping the frustrated expression off his face and pasting a bright smile in its place.
"All right, finally! Maybe they're gonna make me a Chuunin for saving the village. Hehe, see ya later, Neko-nee-chan," Naruto exclaimed, hurrying into the room. The cat could only look after him, saying nothing and hoping that everything would be alright.
He ambled into the room with his hands behind his head and a huge smile on his face. "Hi Oji-sans, Obaa-sans! What's this all about? Am I gonna be a Chuunin now? I was great, wasn't I?" He scanned the members in the room, recognizing that they were all civilians, and the foreboding feeling that had woken him that morning increased, settling in his stomach and seeping into his veins. His smile dimmed, his arms dropping to his sides as he asked, "Where're the others? Jiji's teammates and the other shinobi?"
"Uzumaki Naruto," one of the civilian heads began, keeping to the shadows to protect himself, "you have been called here to receive your sentence. Remain silent unless spoken to." He could almost hear the sneer on the civilian's face.
With a sinking feeling, Naruto realized that he didn't recognize any of the council members, meaning they had only heard of him as the demon fox, the monster, the evil that the Sandaime had refused to kill. He knew he wouldn't like whatever came next.
"Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha shinobi and jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, you have been declared dangerous by this council, based on evidence from the most recent invasion and previous reports. You almost released the Kyuubi during the invasion of the Akasuki member, Pein, correct?"
"Yes," he said, knowing that he was forcing himself into a corner and helpless to prevent it. Everyone had seen that; there would be no point in lying about it.
Another council member continued, "And it was because Akatsuki was looking for you that this Pein came in the first place, correct?"
Seeing no way to get out of answering the question, Naruto replied, "Yes, but—"
A third council member cut him off, speaking over him. "And because you lived here, Uchiha Sasuke encountered the nuke-nin Uchiha Itachi, which resulted in Uchiha Sasuke's later defection?"
Outraged, he yelped, "How could you pin that on me? Sasuke-teme's the one—"
"Answer the question, Uzumaki." Naruto could almost see the self-satisfied smile on the council members' faces.
Gritting his teeth in anger, he growled out, "I suppose so."
"Then, by your own admission, Konoha would be safer without you here." The blonde's jaw dropped, as he registered what the unnamed council member said and replayed the conversation of the last few minutes. He cursed under his breath when he found it true and braced himself for the only sentence that could possibly follow.
"Uzumaki Naruto, you are no longer a shinobi of Konoha. You are hereby banished from Konohagakure. Should you step foot in Konoha from the moment you next leave the gates, you will be detained and executed. You will have two hours to gather your things and leave before we will make you leave. Turn in your hitai-ate at the gate."
Even though he knew it was coming, Naruto still felt the sentence as a blow to the stomach. Leave? Leave Konoha? And never come back? Leave the only home he'd ever known, even if it hated and despised him? It hurt, hurt in a way he didn't know could be possible. Was this how Sasuke felt when his clan was almost wiped out? And his hitai-ate! The one he had personally earned from Iruka-sensei, the one he'd used to protect Baa-san, the one he'd worn when he fought Sasuke; they wanted him to give it back? He mentally snarled. Fuck them. He hadn't let Zabuza take it and he wouldn't let these stupid, old bastards take it from him.
He blanked his face, bowing to the council before turning to leave. A last-minute order made him pause and face them again. "You are not to tell anyone of this. Though you are banished, as long as you are within the gates, you remain under our jurisdiction. No one is to know or we will spread the word that you are the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox and that through you, it still lives."
With a stiff nod, he spun on his heel, leaving through the door and slamming it childishly behind him. Out of sight of the civilian council, Naruto spread out his senses, searching for any chakra signatures near him. Finding none, he dropped his mask, the blank expression morphing into a furiously stormy face as he dwelled on his sentence. He didn't realize that he had been releasing killing intent until the cat appeared in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, Naruto recognized the signals that the cat was giving him and closed his eyes to try to calm down.
Focus on breathing.
In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.
Sealing all the anger into another part of his mind, he prepared himself to visit all of his friends one last time.
Two hours and about seventy bowls of ramen later, almost four full teams of Konoha shinobi stood at the gate to send off one of their own. Naruto smiled and laughed with a happiness he didn't feel, but he'd done this before; there were very few people who could see that it was false.
"Bye, Naruto!"
"Return soon."
"Don't die."
"Take care."
"I'll come back as soon as I can, guys." He waved, cheerfully. "See ya around."
Naruto turned and walked through the gate, his friends watching him leave. His former sensei, Hatake Kakashi, walked alongside him, reading his orange book. Naruto glanced at him, waiting for his sensei to speak, knowing that the silver-haired man would only talk when he was ready.
"You're not coming back." Naruto grinned and shook his head.
"I can't tell you, Kakashi-sensei. I've been told that I can't tell anyone about it." He looked around, spreading his senses as Kakashi did too, only feeling his friends and the gate keepers. Lowering his voice, he commented, "But tell Inu-nii-san that I don't even know if I'll be allowed to return. This could be the last time I see anyone in Konoha for the rest of my life. I'll miss him." Naruto looked back at his friends, waiting at the gate. "And them. A lot." He turned back to the front. "You should go back, Kakashi-sensei. They need you there."
The jounin gave the blonde a measuring look, eye unreadable as Naruto matched him look for look. Kakashi reluctantly gave in and turned to go.
"Take care of yourself, Naruto, and I'll take care of them. As much as I can." He smiled behind his mask, his visible eye curving into an upside-down u.
A small, genuine smile appeared on the blonde's face, lighting up his eyes. "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei." He hesitated, smile shrinking. "I'll try to visit."
"Alright." Kakashi waved lazily as Naruto took off through the trees, heading east. The silver-haired jounin watched another of his students leave, feeling as though Team 7 was more broken than it was when Sasuke left. Somehow, he knew that the next time he saw Naruto, things would be very different.
The next day…
A crowd of civilians and shinobi were gathered in front of the civilian council. They had been summoned by the council because the council had an announcement to make concerning a very prominent shinobi that would concern the entire village. As the head of the civilian council appeared before the crowd, they quieted down, curious about this pronouncement.
"With the Godaime Hokage in a coma and the Rokudaime Hokage at the meeting, we have been able to get something done, something that we think will be cause of great celebration for the citizens of Konoha," he began, smug and confident. The crowd whispered among themselves, some speculating about what the civilians had done, others completely clueless. Looking around self-assuredly, he continued, "The demon brat, who has plagued us for sixteen years, has been banished. He is not to return to Konoha under pain of death."
The head of the civilian council expected the crowd to be ecstatic, cheering and celebrating the absence of the monster. He thought the civilians, at least, would congratulate the council for taking advantage of the Hokages' absense to get rid of the fiend. What he didn't expect was the absolute shock that fell over the mass of people as they figured out who exactly had been banished. He never anticipated that shock becoming anger on Naruto's behalf. He never thought the denizens would become furious at him for sending the evil being away, beginning to shout abuse and toss harsh glares his way. Scanning the crowd, he saw that even the civilians were defending the fox brat. Completely bewildered, he did nothing as the crowd surged towards him, intent on making him recall Naruto.
As the shinobi halfheartedly tried to restrain the mob, a group of shinobi was huddled together some distance away, discussing Naruto. All of the Konoha Twelve, with the exception of Naruto and Sasuke, and their senseis were frantically trying to put together a plan to track him down.
"Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, if you want to find him, we'd better go soon, before we lose his trail," Kakashi said, completely serious.
"Alright."
"Troublesome."
"We'll bring him back in no time. How hard could it be to find him anyway?" Akamaru barked in agreement.
Turning to look at Kiba, Kakashi replied, "You'd be surprised."
Kiba was confused, as were many of the others. "What do you mean?"
"You'll see." came the response.
With that, the four blurred and took off, heading for the gate and the forest beyond.
There you go. The prologue to Returning Home.
First, I'd like to know if I should continue this. I've had this idea for a while, but I didn't know if I should post it.
Second, I don't have a beta. Just so you all know. I'm not really asking for one either, but I'd appreciate any constructive criticism given about the characters and writing.
Third, I will try to actually get this story written through, if I continue it. I am winging it as I go, but I have a general outline about things I want to do near the beginning. After that, I'm not so sure what'll happen, but I'll try to keep writing.
I think that's it. Thanks for reading and leave a review, if you want me to continue.
Originally posted: February 5, 2011
Edited and reuploaded: February 19, 2011