(Author's Notes: This story is in the first person view of Naruto. I think it's a nice change from your run of the mill fanfic. This is a romance...but not yet...not yet...Enjoy!)
Travels and Journeys
I made my way quietly into the darkness of the Sarutobi's office, I merely glanced at the wise man; his face seemed to seethe from the anger of my actions, especially stealing the Bunshin scroll as well as almost killing one of our shinobi. I hung my head low, trying my best to hide my eyes with my hair. I fought back the tears that were threatening to slide down my face, it felt so tempting; but I promised myself that I definitely would not in front of the face of Hokage, no one would see the great Naruto cry, ever. With my head held low, I scanned the room. The pitch black of the outside sent a small chill up my spine, the moon was completely gone now. As far as I could tell, it was only the Sandaime and myself I didn't know what was in store for me, but I felt that whatever it was, I deserved it.
"Naruto..." Sarutobi quietly spoke up, breaking the sheer silence that bore heavily in the room.
I peered up at the old man, my eyes locked with his momentarily. The same flame I saw earlier as the two shinobi had escorted me earlier was gone. All I could was avert my eyes as my mind began to pace through what had just happened tonight, all the events replaying in my mind. The new information that I was forced into listening by Mizuki-sensei, trying to break my spirits; trying his best to get me to give him the scroll of Bunshin. I shook my head, clearing out the ethereal cobwebs in my mind. I looked back up at the Hokage, whose face was calm and seemed to be burdened.
"Forgive me for what happened tonight. I did not know that Mizuki had any intention of becoming more powerful through treachery through his own brotherhood of shinobi. Things haven't been going your way as of recent, have they, Naruto?" The old man spoke with a friendly tone and a half-smile.
I looked at him; I couldn't exactly believe what I was hearing. I thought I was going to get ripped into two for taking the forbidden scroll, but all he could was apologize for everything else that happened. I was, for the first time I could remember in my life, speechless. I remember him smiling before he walked around his desk and put a hand on my shoulder, he lowered himself slightly to bring him more to my height.
"The people of this town, you must forgive them too. They are foolish and can only remember the destruction and death that the Nine Tails demon created when he was set loose upon our village. I've also come to understand that you were unable to pass the test..." The Hokage spoke with the same small smile on his face, his last words trailed off as he suddenly realized the Leaf Protector donning my brow.
I tried foolishly to peer up at the head protector myself, but obviously I couldn't see anything, I only smiled realizing what he looked at and adjusted it with my right hand and smiled as best I could.
"I did pass. Iruka-sensei passed me when I used my newest technique, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Hokage sweatdropped and put a fist before his mouth and cleared his throat audibly.
"So I see, well that doesn't change anything. I'm sending you away to train for the future."
I looked at him and scratched my head with curiosity. Things just weren't adding up, and why exactly was I getting sent away, and why was I just thinking this stuff up?
"What do you mean, 'send me away to train for the future'? What does the future hold for me, do you know?"
The third Hokage only laughed a small laugh and shook his head. "No, unfortunately I do not Naruto. But I predict great things in your future, but you must be strong to overcome what lies ahead." His voice seemed to project some sort of seriousness that spread like a horrible virus.
I felt my spirits instantly lifted as if by angels from above, I pumped my fist into the air and then pointed at the old man standing in front of me with a haughty smile on my face.
"Yes, I am destined to be Hokage! I will return and take your job!"
Hokage sweatdropped yet again and shook his head. "I have yet to even tell you of your training..."
I scratched the back my head and laughed nervously, here I was jumping the gun yet again, but who the hell cared? Hokage looked towards the open window at the other end of the room. From the darkness a figure stepped out of the window frame, he was rather tall, much taller than the Hokage. He had white hair and a weird kanji symbol on his forehead protector, if you could call it that. He had red tattoos streaming down from his eyes that ended jaggedly, he looked down at me then over at Hokage who gave him a slight nod.
"So you're Naruto, hmm?" The man spoke up in a deep voice as he placed his hands on his hips and looked me over.
"Ero-sennin."
The two of them looked at one another, Hokage giving the other man a rather evil look. He smiled nervously and waved his hands quickly in front of him, quickly defending himself verbally. The two turned their attention back to myself again, I felt under the spotlight while my mind wrestled with the reasoning behind why exactly I just suddenly called him that. I kept my face as straight as I could as he lifted an eyebrow.
"What makes you think I'm a pervert kid?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "You just seem like one, Ero-sennin."
He growled and plowed his fist into the middle of the top of my head. He looked over at the Hokage and shook his head.
"This kid is going to need more help than I can give him, Sarutobi-san." He said with a half-way angry tone.
I looked up at him, what did he just call the Hokage? I looked over at the old man standing in front of us; he lit his pipe and walked back around behind his desk.
"Deal with it Jiraiya. He'll be your pupil for a long time." He spoke, puffing out a smooth cloud of smoke from his mouth, eyeing the pipe carefully.
He looked down at me with a sad look on his face and gave me a half-hearted smile, which automatically sent several messages screaming, 'this doesn't look good'.
"Naruto...You'll always be apart of this village. But for now, I release you into Jiraiya's custody. He will teach you everything you will ever need to know and more. Listen well and obey him as you would me."
I looked up at the man that was standing next to me, Jiraiya, the name sounded so familiar but I wasn't quite sure why. I looked at the Hokage, whose eyes appeared somewhat glassy, but perhaps that was just my eyes playing tricks on me.
"Why must I go with Ero-sennin? How can he teach me anything but being a pervert?!"
I yelled in frustration, I was being tossed aside again. I was never wanted anywhere, by anyone. Hokage heaved a sigh and stared right through me.
"Naruto, Jiraiya is one of the legendary sennin. I personally trained him, he is one of the only shinobi that I could ever trust with your life let alone be left without worry with you under his protection and guidance."
I looked up at Jiraiya, the name still didn't quite ring a bell, but I didn't listen well in class. So of course I wouldn't know, but if the Hokage trusted him this much, I might as well give it a shot. I turned my attention back towards the old man standing in front of us, taking another drag from his pipe. I smiled as best I could in such a situation and gave him thumbs up.
"I will do my best old man. I will come back here and become Hokage!"
It seemed my small proclamation struck a chord in the Hokage as he smiled what seemed to be his normal gentle smile as he exchanged a quick look with Jiraiya and then looked back towards me.
"We shall see, Naruto."
Before I could even get a word in, Jiraiya took a step forward and turned towards me; looking down on me with his hands on his hips. "Gather your things quickly, we leave within the hour."
This immediately made me frown inadvertently; I was leaving the village behind so quickly, what was I to do? My thoughts plaguing me greatly, I quickly retreated out the window and down onto the street below where it was a mad dash towards my lonely apartment to gather my things. I remember staring at the door for what seemed like forever, my experiences here alone were enough to clasp itself around my heart. I slowly drew the key from my pocket and unlocked the door, swinging it open silently. The moon had decided to make itself apparent again as its twilight danced through my window and laid across the length of my room through the window. My memory continued to bombard me as I gathered my things into a small backpack.
The school experiences were fun, very fun. None of them knew what I was, or really had a problem with me. Recollecting, I remembered several times that; Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, including myself got into trouble several times for either not paying attention, slacking off, or just horsing around. I laughed lightly to myself as I remembered Iruka-sensei's face one particular occasion. He definitely couldn't have gotten any angrier, but I definitely didn't find out by running out the door with Kiba. Those days were fun, and then the realization hit me as I closed my door behind me. Those days were fun, but they were over. I doubt that I would ever see any of my classmates again. I gazed up at the sky, the moon's shine attracting my full attention, but for some reason I felt the eyes of another upon me. I quickly looked around to see a girl watching me from her window on the second floor. I had remembered her face somewhere before, then the name hit me like a sack of rice. Hinata Hyugga, she was the pale-eyed girl from class. I smiled and waved foolishly up at her, I couldn't quite tell but it seemed like her face got red all of a sudden, I didn't pay much mind as I didn't speak out and continued on. Not stopping until I reached the office of Hokage once again. Jiraiya was talking quietly with the old man while he sat in his respectful seat behind the desk. Jiraiya peered back at me and looked back at Hokage for only a moment before turning back to me.
"It took you long enough. I could have had a troop of shinobi packed up and moved about before you packed that small bag of yours. Now let's go before sunlight catches up with us. Good bye, Sarutobi." Jiraiya gave him a slight bow, which only was rewarded by a small nod by Hokage.
I smiled and waved towards the old man for what I thought would be the last time.
"Goodbye old man, I will be back!"
The respectful old man gave me the same courteous nod and watched as we left via his window. Jiraiya dashed from rooftop to rooftop, only leaving me a meager margin of error unless I wanted to get left behind. As we reached the edge of the village, we broke away from leaping and landing onto the main road that led away from the village about 10 meters away from the actual entrance itself. He waited for me for only a few seconds with his hands on his hips as I landed to the ground, my breathing only slightly labored.
"Put your headband away, you won't be needing that for quite a while."
I uselessly tried to gaze up at my hidden leaf forehead protector. I had only received this wonderful present from Iruka-sensei just a few hours prior for finally proving myself that I could be a ninja when it was immediately taken away from me. I already began hating the journey already, I untied the band and folded it and neatly placed it inside my small bag. I gazed back at the village as the sun threatened to peak itself over the horizon. I turned back around to see that Jiraiya had already begun walking away from me, my mind blurted out random orders, I accepted the first one through and made a mad dash to catch up to him. He glanced at me momentarily and chuckled to himself as I glared at him hatefully.
"You'll get used to me, boy. Now we have much ground to cover before we rest tonight." He informed me as we walked along, his attention fixated on the road ahead of us.
Suddenly what he said clicked in my head several times before it set in, I yelled and pointed at him aghast.
"What?! Tonight?! You mean I can't sleep until TONIGHT?!"
He gazed down at me and shook his head, sweatdropping slightly. "Are you deaf too, kid? Yes, we won't be resting until we reach the furthest town and night falls."
I growled and muttered several unpleasant things underneath my breath, crossing my arms defiantly as we continued up the road.
"Well at least tell me when the training starts..."
He didn't bother looking at me, he merely replied, "After we rest tonight, you're training will start."
I grinned from ear to ear and pumped my fist several times in the air.
"Yeah! And you will teach me all the cool ninjutsu and all that other really cool stuff!"
He nodded wearily releasing a deep sigh of exhaustion, he looked up towards the sky and shook his head. After a few moments he looked down at me, "Yes, I'll teach you what you're ready to learn. Agreed?"
I wasn't quite sure if this was a dirty trick or if perhaps he was actually being sincere. I looked him with the best inquisitive look I could have given him. I nodded with a smile on my face, which seemed contagious since he smiled soon after I had.
"Then it's settled. Now shut up so I can think now."
I glared at him and crossed my arms again, claming up. This was definitely going to be a LONG trip.
End of Chapter One
(Author's Notes: What did ya think? Reviews are much appreciated!! Plz leave flames to a minimum. I havent published any of my fanfics ever so I decided to do so now..other than have just my close friends read them. Want to pre-read and help me fix the kinks?? Email me at DemonicEngel6553 at hotmail !)