Origami Love

Intro:

[AU] I left the village, looking for truth and trouble. I found her. And then the hell broke loose. [Naruto, Konan, Temari]

AN: Hi there people! A few things before I start. First of all this is AU, so there will be many changes, some more drastic then the other. I'll make Naruto a tad bit stronger and intelligent, though overall he'll remain the same and, of course, there'll be a fair share of romance (maybe some lemons). That's it for now so if you have any questions then shoot away.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I know... The world is weird that way.

Prologue

Sighing tiredly she closed the wooden door with a sad shake of head. Some things never changed and though she enjoyed cutting hair there was no doubt in her old mind that she would one day die out of boredom as a proud owner of a local barber shop.

Nothing more, nothing less.

"Ehm, excuse me? Are you still open?" Grunting, the women turned around and her voice was dry.

"Well, I'm just about to close, dearie."

"Would you mind giving me a haircut... please? I'll even pay you some extra."

"I don't know m'boy... It's been hell of a busy day..." She was old. She deserved some break, and besides, the haircut wouldn't run away.

"Oh... c'mon... Please? I really need to get a cut, you see, I've got this date and-"

A grin formed on her face at the new piece of gossip.

"Date, eh? So young and already going on 'dates' and whatnots! Tell me, how old are you?"

"Fourteen this year."

"Oh, back in my old days it was all different then now but..." The old woman gazed at the blue, hopeful eyes. Oh, who was she kidding?

"I guess I can't stand in the way of true love, eh?"

"Yeah, you're the best bachan!"

"Now, now," she laughed joyfully, "We can't have you calling me that, can we? Haruka-san will have to do. Well, what are you waiting for, get your butt in there."

"Yes, ma'am!" With a salute the boy entered the dusty building. He was definitely an odd-ball, blond hair, blue eyes, whisker marks... The old woman was rather sure that the lad would become quite a ladies man.

"So, how do you want them?" she grabbed the blond locks after he sat down in a dusty chair, facing the mirror.

"Hmm..." the youngster scratched his chin in concentration. A grin spread on the wrinkled face. The lad sure was entertaining. "I was thinking about cutting them a little bit shorter and maybe dyeing them red? What do you think?"

"It would definitely go will with your looks, m'boy."

"My looks?"

"Y'know... The whiskers and all that. Quite a heartbreaker you're gonna to be. Not something I would forget if you'd ask me."

A deadly silence shadowed the barber shop, as the scissors snapped out flocks of hair, one after another.

"Anyway, you're not from around here, eh boy?"

"Nah. Just left Konoha and 'am thinking about doing some traveling, seeing some world."

"Traveling, so young and already traveling. Me? I've never been outside the town. Takes a lot of guts and courage to leave your home behind. Not something an old woman like me would do."

"Yeah," it was a breathless whisper as memories flooded his mind, "it sure takes a lot out of you."

"So... tell me lad, what do yo do for living."

"I'm a ninja."

The old woman chuckled.

"A first ninja I've seen and such a fine boy he is. Not many of those damn shadow crawlers around here, but we sure here a lot of stories, y'know," her tone was a bit more hushed, as if shinobi were watching and hearing her this very moment, "about how they kill people, and how they eat their hearts and all. Fortunately, it's a peaceful town, not many troubles here," the woman frowned at him suspiciously, "You're not staying, eh?"

"Just passing by."

"Good, good. God forbid any of them backstabbers would come here, it's nice and quiet here, we don't need any of their troubles." Clearly the old woman heard a lot of myths and stereotypes about ninja and although her hatred was strong, it was also blind. As if realizing he was one of them she muttered, 'no offense' in a fearful kind of tone.

"None taken."

"Well, aren't you a young lad for a ninja anyway?"

"I started out early."

A few muttered curses followed his answer.

"Those masked weirdos, making children do those horrible things...Hmm... Well, that's you done my dear."

Taking a look at his reflected image, Naruto couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. The new look certainly suited him.

"That'll be 1,500 yen." Haruka-san called out as she went up to the counter, her back facing him.

The blue eyes hardened. Now to the dirty part.

Taking out a kunai, Naruto took a few silent steps and with a soft swing the boy stabbed the old woman in the back. It was unplanned, really, he didn't want to kill her but...

He made a mistake, now he had to face the consequences.

With a sickening splash he stabbed the woman for a second time, just for the appearances sake. The wrinkled face stared at him through the mirror, surprise and pain written in the old eyes.

His face remained impassive.

The mistake of not using henge to conceal some of his more eye-catching features was an expensive one. Walking up to the counter, he stole most of the money, hoping that the police would think it nothing more but a robbery and murder.

Ruthlessness, a voice at the back of his head whispered, is the most convenient of emotions.

Needles to say, the boy agreed.

The news of Uzumaki Naruto leaving Konohagakure no Sato spread like a wildfire.

Of course, the blond jounin, could not possibly leave without a bang and so a large portion of a village was destroyed.

It took a day to extinguish all the fires in Konoha and another week to calm the chaos raised by all the exploding notes and by the time the Hokage figured out that Naruto was missing, the blond teen was probably outside of the fire country, or so Gaara assumed.

It's Uzumaki, he thought, knowing him he'll probably be halfway through the desert.

The Kazekage was fairly confident in the fact that Uzumaki would seek asylum in Sand, if only for a while.

I should send someone to search for him, least he gets himself lost or ambushed by an animal of some kind...

About to call for his secretary, the said woman opened the doors.

"Kazekage-sama, your cousin is here to see you." She bowed respectfully awaiting his answer.

My cousin? But I don't have any relations-

"Yo, Gaara! Long time no see!" Pushing away the secretary and opening the door with a loud smash, red-headed Uzumaki walked into the room, an infectious grin on his sly face,

"Missed me much?"