Far From Home

This song seems to work out well here considering the character at times and the way the song goes. I've always wanted to write a fan fic like this for this show and I think this seems to work better than others that I have in mind (And there are a lot of songs that I wanna try and tie in with this show). Plus I'm not the best of writers and I've never came around to writing a fic so here goes nothing.

This is my FIRST EVER fan fiction, so be please no flames and but any constructive criticism is welcomed. Depending on how well this is received I may have a go at writing a few more fics like this or a proper fan fiction, depending on the response here.

Song-Far From Home by Five Finger Death Punch

I do NOT own Naruto or the lyrics to this song T.T. Slightly alternate timeline, set after the Chunin Exams but before Itachi's attack and the Tsunade retrieval Arc. So please read, review and (hopefully) enjoy

It was a Saturday, and the Rookie 9 had all met up outside the Hokage Tower after returning from various missions.

"Man, that was something I do NOT wanna go through again!" exclaimed Naruto, as Sakura and Sasuke nodded their heads in agreement. They had just returned from a B rank to protect a Diplomat to the border of Lightning Country and they had been attacked by several Bandits on the journey, as well a few Nuke-Nin from Kumo. They safely escorted the diplomat back, but the mission had left Team 7 feeling drained.

"Awww!" moaned Kiba. "You guys are so lucky. We got a boring C rank to guard some Contractor and we didn't even get into a single fight!" behind him, he didn't notice Shino and Hinata slowly shaking their heads in disagreement, while Naruto gave him an incredulous look, as if to ask "WTF is wrong you?"

"Troublesome," sighed Shikamaru. "We had to help guard a nearby village while they worked on their security. We had a couple of small skirmishes, but that's it." Naruto merely gave team 10 an envious look.

Neji's team had returned from an A-rank bodyguard mission the day before the others. Since the death of the 3rd Hokage, all of the Genin had been on back-to-back missions so as to maintain an image of strength for the village and they were all starting to look worse for wear. Fortunately they had just been given a couple of nights off before helping to assist with the reconstruction of the village after the invasion from the Sand and Sound forces during the finals of the Chunin exams.

"We all need to relax, since we just got back from missions," said Ino. "How about we all meet up at that new club that opened up last week, The Music Box? I heard that they have some live acts that are really good."

While most of the other Genin nodded in agreement, Naruto, Kiba and Choji suddenly looked slightly nervous.

"What's up with you guys?" asked Sakura, who noticed their attitude changes nearly instantly.

"N-nothing Sakura," replied Naruto. "It's just that me, Kiba and Choji have a few things to sort out before we meet you guys up tonight." Behind Naruto, Choji and Kiba were rapidly nodding their heads in agreement.

"Riiigghhht," said Ino, not entirely believing them after noticing their reactions. "Anyway, lets all meet up there at about 8. Plenty of time to get ready. See you guys later." With that she headed off with the others not far behind. All except Naruto, Choji and Kiba, who didn't notice Ino and Sakura hiding nearby. They were curious as to what the others were hiding and wanted to know.

"Great," muttered Naruto. "I was nervous enough about this as it is but now the others are gonna be there! That is not what I wanted." Choji nodded his head in agreement while Kiba was ranting about how bad his luck was lately.

"I'll let Bushy Brows and Neji know about it and get them to meet us up at the usual place half 7," continued Naruto. "I'll see you guys there ok?"

Choji and Kiba agreed, bade their goodbyes and headed off home, while Naruto went off in search of Lee and Neji. As soon as they left, Ino and Sakura and emerged from their hiding places, both wearing confused looks.

"What has that knucklehead got to be nervous about?" asked Sakura, who was now REALLY curious about what the boys were hiding.

"Beats me," replied Ino, "But they didn't start getting nervous until I mentioned the…" She suddenly drifted off as a look of realisation dawned on her face.

"What is it Ino?" asked Sakura, who noticed the look and wanted to know what she'd thought of.

"I think they're playing the Music Box," answered Ino. "It's the only thing that could explain how nervous they looked after I mentioned the place."
"WHAT!" shouted Sakura. "There's no way those guys are playing there! I didn't even know any of them could play an instrument!"

Both of them then gained evil looks and started grinning like the Devil himself.

"Wait till we tell the others," sniggered Ino. "After tonight those guys are in for a world of hell if they screw up." She started chuckling along with Sakura. With that, they both headed off to tell the others and get ready for the night.

All the other Genin met up at the bar that Ino had mentioned, now they were all aware about Naruto and the others performing and they were all set to heckle them off stage if they got bored. To their surprise, TenTen also arrived, saying that she wanted to see the others perform since she'd seen them practice once, but hadn't heard or seen Naruto so she was curious as to how he was involved with this. They immediately bombarded her with questions about it, but she merely told them to wait and see.

They quickly got themselves inside and got seats near the stage, where they saw their Sensei's sitting nearby. Kakashi noticed them and eye smiled, giving them a brief wave before turning his attention back to the stage, where the manager had just appeared.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Music Box," he greeted warmly. "Tonight we have a new act and I ask you not to judge them by their appearance as they do not wish to be recognised. However, I have heard them practice and they are an act that I would enjoy seeing regularly. So without further ado, I give you tonight's act, The Warriors!"

The crowd applauded lightly as the manager stepped off the stage and the curtains parted revealing the band and the other Genin had confused looks on their faces. The person manning the drums was wearing a Turtle mask (Lee), the bassist wore an Owl mask (Neji) and the 2 guitarists wore a Dog mask (Kiba) and a Bear mask (Choji), while the vocalist wore what looked like a Fox mask (Naruto) and they all wore similar outfits to the villages ANBU Black Ops.

The other Genin guessed that the one in the fox mask was Naruto, since they knew about the fox after Team 7's mission in Wave Country. That and they recognised his Cerulean eyes nearly instantly through the mask. It didn't take them long to figure out who was who either and merely waited for the song to start, thinking that they would be able to have a laugh at the people on stage.

As the welcoming applause died down, Kiba started off with a melodic guitar intro, telling the crowd that this would be a relaxed song. Before Ino and Sakura could even begin heckling them, Naruto started singing and the voice they heard shoved any upcoming insults right back down their throats.

Another day in this Carnival of Souls

Another night settles in as quickly as it goes

The memories of shadows, ink on the page,

And I can't seem to find my way home.

And it's almost like,

Your heavens trying everything,

Your heavens trying everything to keep me out.

The other Genin sat there with their mouths open in shock, except for TenTen who knew what to expect. That didn't mean that she wasn't impressed by what she was hearing and Naruto's voice was more impressive than she thought it would be. Even Sasuke, who seemed to do nothing but brood in his spare time was amazed at what he was hearing. The Jonin sensei's were equally impressed, while the rest of the crowd seem more subdued after hearing the first verse. But it looked like they were enjoying the song.

With that, Lee, Choji and Neji started up, changing the pace of the song and Naruto carried on in the same tone only it started to get more powerful as the verse went on.

All the places I've been and Things I've seen

A million stories that made up a million shattered dreams

The faces of people,

I'll never see again,

And I can't seem to find my way home.

Cause it's almost like

Your heavens trying everything to break me down.

Cause it's almost like

Your heaven's trying everything to keep me out.

By now the entire club was silent as Kiba launched into the solo while the Choji backed him up on guitar and Neji played the Bass. Lee was playing the drums like a pro and if you could see under the masks, you would see massive grins on all of their faces while Naruto nods his head to the music before launching into the chorus one last time.

Cause it's almost like

Your heavens trying everything to break me down.

Cause it's almost like

Your heavens trying everything

Your Heavens trying everything to break me down.

To break me down

To break me down

To break me down.

Your heavens trying everything

Your heavens trying everything to break me

Down.

As they final notes faded out, they bowed to the crowd, who immediately gave them a standing ovation as they started to leave the stage. The other Genin were cheering-even Sasuke-and their senseis also cheered. The noise from the crowd was so loud, that no one could even here Gai ranting about the strength of the bands "Flames of Youth," something the others were very grateful for.

While some were cheering for an encore, the manager walked back onto the stage and heard the crowd's cheers and requests for an encore.

"Sorry folks," shouted the manager so that the crowd could hear him. Luckily, the crowd calmed down so that they could hear him.

"Unfortunately, these are just sticking to playing the one track every few nights when they can as they still have a bit of stage fright about them," continued the manager. While some of the crowd booed at this response, most of the others nodded their heads in agreement. Sakura and Ino, meanwhile, looked a little bit sheepish, as they felt slightly responsible for any nervousness the boys on stage may have felt.

"However, they will still play here when they can and I will make sure to get dates for when they are here," finished the manager. With this most of the crowd cheered and when the manager left the stage, went off to have some more drinks and carry on with what they wanted. The other Genin and their senseis left the club and went round to the backstage entrance to try and meet Naruto and the others before they sneaked off home.

They didn't have to wait long. 5 minutes later, Naruto walked out the door, quickly followed by Lee, Kiba, Choji and Neji. They looked a little surprised by seeing their team mates waiting for them.

"Why did you bakas never say anything about this!" shouted Sakura, who was annoyed that they knew nothing about this.

"Well what would your general response have been?" questioned Naruto. "You would have laughed at me and then tried to make me look like an idiot." Sakura hung her head in response, as Naruto was telling the truth about this.

"Besides which," continued Neji, "None of you ever asked us if we did." Shikamaru merely shrugged his shoulders at this statement while the Jonin merely nodded their heads in agreement.

"We're just surprised that you can sing like that dobe," said Sasuke with a smirk on his face.

"Whatever teme, your just jealous," replied Naruto, who was now grinning like the happy idiot that everyone knew.

"S-s-so when are you guys playing again N-Naruto-Kun?" asked Hinata, who was still in a slight state of awe over the fact that her crush had such a good singing voice.

"May not be for a while," replied Naruto. "When I was out looking for Lee and Neji, Ero-Sennin found me and told me that I'm going with him for a couple of weeks to try and find someone." When noticing the confused expressions on their faces, he said, "His real names Jiraiya. I call him Ero-Sennin mainly because he's a pervert." While the other Genin merely "Oh"ed at his explanation, Kakashi and the other Jonin's eyes widened slightly when they realised that he was talking about one of the legendary Sanin, although Kurenai wore a slight smirk at the nickname that Naruto had given him, as she was not a big fan of perverts.

"Anyway I better head off," said Kiba. "My Mom wanted me back soon as we were done and if I'm late, then I'll be wishing I was back on those back-to-back missions. See ya' later" The others nodded and bade him goodbye as he headed back home.

"I'd better leave to," said Naruto. "I gotta make sure all my stuff is packed ready for tomorrow, cause Ero-Sennin wants to be heading out early. See you guys when I get back." With that, he started heading back to his apartment. The others quickly said goodnight to each other and began heading back to their homes.

"Do you think Naruto will figure out why he's going with Jiraiya, or why he's even training him?" Asuma asked Kakashi, who assumed a thinking pose.

"I hope not," replied Kakashi, surprising the other Jonin. When noticing the looks on their faces, he explained: "If Naruto finds out about his connection between the 4th, Jiraiya and himself he will more than likely get very pissed off about how this was kept from him all his life and who knows what he'd end up doing. Besides, this'll keep him busy and you know how much he enjoys learning new jutsu, so odds are he'll be happy as long as he gets something to do. I'm just curious about who he's looking for. I wonder…" Kakashi trailed off before looking at the others and saying, "Well I'd better head back, I've got a lot of things to sort out tomorrow and something tells me I'll need all the rest I can get."

The others nodded in agreement before saying their goodbyes and heading home, not knowing how they would go through hell the next day.

Early next morning, a light mist was settling in as 2 figures stood outside the Hidden Leaf Village, looking down at the village and the damage that had been caused during the invasion. Both wore straw travelling hats and large black cloaks decorated with red clouds.

"So this is the Hidden leaf Village," said the taller of the 2, who had what a looked like a large sword wrapped in bandages on his back. "You must feel something after returning home after so long."

"No, I don't," replied the other in a Monotone voice, who raised his head to look at his former home, revealing red eyes with 3 tomoe in each eye. The eyes of the Sharingan.

Itachi Uchiha had returned home.

And there you have it. My first ever fan fiction. Again no flames please but constructive criticism is welcomed as I enjoyed writing this and will try and use any tips given to improve any future fics that I may write.

So please, review and thank you for reading this.