Disclaimer: I can't think of a witty remark, so I'll just say, I don't own Naruto and/or other affiliated works.
Naruto looked at Mizuki's beaten form, before giving a sheepish grin towards Iruka, "Guess I kinda over did it, eh?"
Iruka gave a small chuckle, "He could use another kick or two, if you ask me."
Naruto gave a small laugh himself, before moving to pick up the forbidden Scroll of Sealing. With his back turned to his teacher, his face became more contemplative, seeming to be deciding something. With a barely perceptible nod to himself, the blond took the large scroll to his scarred teacher, "Maybe you should hold this, you know, so people don't get the wrong idea…" Iruka nodded, taking the large scroll from the small boy as he continued talking, "And since you've got your hands full, I'll check your wound, wouldn't want you to bleed all over, yeah?"
Not letting his teacher react, Naruto was behind him like a flash, tying his orange jacket to the teacher as a makeshift bandage. In a small voice just barely loud enough for him to hear, Naruto spoke, "Thank you, Iruka… for everything; and… I'm sorry." The confused teacher was just about to ask what Naruto meant by that when he felt a sharp pain at his neck and blacked out.
When he woke up later, scroll still in hand and the traitor Mizuki bound to a nearby tree, the ANBU would question him as to the whereabouts of one Uzumaki Naruto.
--
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as he went over the report about Mizuki, Iruka, and Naruto again. He was currently in the middle of an impromptu council, and most of the councilors were arguing about what to do about the "Uzumaki problem" as they deemed it. It seems that even though most of them wanted to be rid of the "demon," as they put it; that he left of his own will was a sticking point.
After a little bit of arguing among the gathered members, Sarutobi finally spoke up, "First of all," the old ninja started, bringing everyone's attention to him, "It would seem that, though Naruto did in fact take the scroll, he was tricked into taking it by his instructor Mizuki, who wished to take the secrets from the Konohagakure. Furthermore, it was thanks to Naruto that Mizuki's plan not only failed, but his treason was uncovered, and he is currently 'entertaining' Ibiki in the cells; add to that, the Scroll of Sealing is once more back in the tower, and is now under heavier guard."
Some of the council members glanced at each other before one spoke up, "But what are we to do about the de— boy?"
"And what is expected for me to do?" The Hokage sighed with an unreadable look for the speaker.
"We need to declare him a missing-nin, send hunter ninja after him."
"I cannot do that, nor will I allow that to be done." Sarutobi told the man, his face becoming stony and blank.
"Why not, he ran away, did he not?"
"True, but he cannot be declared a missing-nin, as he never passed the genin exam. To be considered a renegade ninja, one must first be a ninja." Sarutobi silently thanked any and all deities that the boy didn't pass, as bad as that seemed. "As it is, since he failed, he is no longer even a ninja prospect, a cadet, but rather a civilian, whose actions are beyond the control of this council. Should a civilian wish to leave, they are free to do so."
The speaker seethed, "Even so, we cannot allow him to be turned against us—"
"Has it never occurred to any of you," The Hokage interrupted, "That if he were treated well—or even treated as a normal child—that he wouldn't have wanted to leave in the first place? That his loyalties would have been to Konoha first and foremost? As it is, he has more then legitimate cause to hate this village and the people in it. If he ever does learn to use the fox's power and decides to attack, we'd only have ourselves to blame." With that the Sandaime Hokage stood to leave. "If I see a mission request to go after that boy for reasons of violence, if even hear of it, I will rip it and the client to pieces." Looking each council member in the eye to show just how absolutely serious he was, he left to let them dwell on his promise.
--
Naruto awoke to sunlight on his face, and trees filling his vision. He wasn't sure where he was, after learning he had a demon in his belly, realizing that it was the cause of all his suffering and that no matter what he'd do that he'd always be nothing more then a demon to the people of Konohagakure, he ran. Sure he could trust Iruka, especially after what he'd said last night, and there was no doubt he could trust the old man, and the Ichuraki duo, that was only 4 people to the hundreds in the village.
So he ran.
Probably not the smartest of ideas, but it was the best he could come up with at the time. Of course now he was left with the dilemma of what he was going to do with the rest of his life. He wasn't sure about becoming a ninja for another country, they might know about the demon too; but he didn't really know how to do anything else…
"Hey! Hey! You awake yet?" A strange voice called to Naruto, causing his to actually take notice of his surroundings for the first time. Fairly close by was a fire, being attended by two people the blond had never seen before; of course it was kind of expected that he didn't recognize them, but still.
The speaker had been a boy, maybe a year or two older then Naruto himself, with short, reddish hair, and fairly non-descript, but he seemed to be trying to be easily looked over. The other person was a girl that looked maybe another couple of years older then the boy, but carried an air that said she was far older.
Naruto was on guard in a flash, suspicious of the two people that apparently found him when he was vulnerable. "Who are you? Are you ninjas?"
The two strangers blinked, looked at each other and laughed. After a moment the boy calmed down enough to speak, "Nah, we aren't ninjas." Naruto relaxed a bit at that, but what the boy said next made him even more worried, "We're exorcists."
A/N: Comments and suggestions always welcome, flames are acceptable if you can give actual feedback on what it is I need to do to improve the story, and I don't mean things like, "Make it better!" If anyone would like to Beta read any one of my other stories please let me know.
