KYAH! A plot-bunnie kicked me into writing. Now, at most, this might be only three chapters. It'll have a conclusion, don't worry.

Now, I don't think Naruto would go totally emo if he was cheated on. I think he'd try to deal with it a bit. Yeah whatever.

Dislaimer: I don't own Naruto.

-

-

Chapter 1- Go west, young man

-

He felt a heave at his heart. A hard intake of breath, at a moment where it seemed he wasn't taking any in. A coldness about him that he had never felt before. And a disillusionment that he wished he had never seen.

All in all, to be cheated upon by the love of your life with your best friend hurt more than anything else he had gone through in all his 24 years of life. But it was a reality that he could not (and would not) escape.

They slept so carelessly, without a hindrance between their bodies other than their own skin. It was almost a beautiful sight, in all its melancholy. Naruto didn't think he could look half as good by Sasuke's side as Sakura did. So with a practiced air no one would ever believe could be enacted from his character, he silently closed the door to his old room (for it was decidedly no longer his) with a soft click of the doorknob. He stood there in the hallway for a good five minutes, staring straight ahead at the white door. There really was nothing going through his mind for the entirety of the time. Then he slowly moved back to the living room where he had dropped his backpack that contained probably the first ever "A" he had gotten in any class. College had been good to his weird logic, and he had hoped to share it with Sasuke. That's why he had been late, in order to have everything prepared in the morning. Of course, not to be.

There at that moment, a sudden rush and a decision. He was number one at surprising people anyways (but Sasuke was currently at a close second...) He remembered that they both a long ways ago set aside some money in times of an emergency. Well, Naruto could see no worse an emergency than the one he was currently in. They had left the money in a cute little frog (piggy) bank hidden behind the toilet in the restroom. Again with soft steps he moved towards the restroom, terribly out of his mind and a bubbling of something within him that he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold back for much longer.

He retrieved the frog-bank and took out the money. He refused to count it until he was long gone from the city, but at quick glance he was assured that their was enough for him to buy a ticket out and eat and sleep well for about three weeks if he were to take extravagances. The whole of the money was mostly Sasuke's, but it was a quiet sort of payback for what had been going between him and Sakura. Besides, he wasn't going to take anything away from the house either, just himself. With renewed vigor he walked out of the home, leaving his backpack, his clothes, his ramen, his love, and his life in one decision. (One had already been made before his, though.)

At least the night decided to be kind. It was quite nice to be walking about Tokyo at times like these. The lights made him tingle with excitement and sort of hyper. The multitude of people surrounding him contrasted with the loneliness he felt and drunk cries of either sadness or merriment lent to the momentary touch of humanity he now longer for. Naruto had never so fervently searched for an answer to a problem he had faced. His thought process was simple, everything was possible, so ganbatte! If it were so easy now to repeat those words...

Maybe they were, it had never failed him before. There he stood in front of an old shop with supposed American goods. And with the moderate English he had gained in all his schooling and Sasuke's insistence, he was able to read -

"Go west, young man."

There couldn't have been a clearer answer if God himself stood there beckoning him to read.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

West of Japan was China. That was Naruto's first stop. It was a weird place, a strange mixture of communism and capitalism. Where he stood out like a pimple, but was pointedly ignored. The land was rough and worked by the best people Naruto had ever met. The food was weird, but he learned not to ask what was in it (not that he could, for the life of him, both mandarin and cantonese were hard!) He took a job that payed well enough for his stay there, which by now he settled on staying in each country he visited no more than four months (making that at least three countries every year.) And made a cool friend by the name of Rock Lee, who reminded Naruto of Bruce Lee.

Lee in his quirkiness guided Naruto through China in a way only Lee could. With bouts of joy and good humor and a love for martial arts. Naruto learned a lot of good fighting tips in his company.

Four months passed and Lee waved goodbye with tears in his eyes as Naruto took flight again, to Russia. He almost regretted going there, it was cold as hell! But there was a deep romanticism there that he couldn't ignore, and the hope the people held beside their situation was infectious. He met a girl named Temari in Moscow, and spent most of the time trailing her around, as she was a reporter for the national news network. By some default (and his earlier dalliances in the field of media) he became her camera man, an annoyed her to the best of his abilities. When the camera was off, she spoke of the country with a love that made the endless snow about them enjoyable. He left with a scolding on her part to take better care of himself (he had been sick most of the time there) and the addresses of the homes of her two other brothers in Saudi Arabia, if he ever happened by.

With a reassurance that he would, he left for the middle east. With his connections to Temari, he met Gaara and Kankuro – also reporter themselves – and went cruising around to the most remote places Naruto could ever imagine himself being at. The cultures in the area were stuff he had read about in fiction, and it was all majestic to him. A vast dessert, the ocean, the religion. It became hazy in his mind and he loved it. He spent years there before he crossed Palestine into India.

India reminded him of China, of course, there were many influences that had gone on between both cultures, or so Naruto had read in a history book he had paid half attention to back in high school. He was now nearing twenty-nine and hoping for more stable company. He had hoped to find that in Neji, an up an coming entrepreneur, a breed that was slowly rising in India. But due to a few problems with his cousin, Hinata, he left both his and Neji's friendship at that. He held amicable feelings towards them in the end, and a hell of a lot of hindu teachings when he took his leave for Europe.

Naruto had to admit that Europe bored the hell out of him most of the time. There were cool parts, like running with the bulls in Spain alongside a man named Shikamaru (who didn't do much running and traveled with Naruto for the latter half of his world trip,) the beaches of southern France, historical landmarks and the autobahn in Germany, and a few castles in England. Both he and Shikamaru befriended a group of backpackers in Italy who had spontanously decided to also travel west. Now with Tenten, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, a dog named Akamaru, Shino, and Sai, they went to Africa. They joined a peace organization and went from country to country aiding refugees, the poor, the sick, and the children, while admiring the many faces the land held before them. At some points they saw the pyraminds of Egypt, burgeoning towns, ancient tribes, lions and cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, and an immense amount of mosquitoes. Those were the most annoying.

While in the last leg of their travels through Africa, in South Africa, they flew over the big pond to Brazil. Naruto danced his troubles away with his friends during the many carnivals, and basked in the beached of Rio. They went up to visit the Christo, and admired the voluptuous ladies. They all fell into the spell of soccer, and hated the underdeveloped roads. Sai and Shino stayed behind when it came time to leave, stating they both wished to travel around the amazon. With heartfelt goodbyes, it was north for the now dubbed Naruto crew into central america. They encountered the mysticism behind the puzzling Mayan culture and its current decedents. Since they were running terribly low on cash, their diet consisted of mostly beens, which was apparently abundant everywhere they went.

And tortillas. Their entrance to Mexico from the south took them up the Mayan reverie into Cancun. Naruto, always being one for fun and mischievousness, suggested they visit the mummy's and haunted ruins to the west of the country. What they mostly found was tequila, which was a great beverage to drink and cry your most tragic memories away with. Or so the mariachi suggested. After having Tenten lurch most of her food back for a couple of days thanks to the questionable water they drank, it was again north into what now fifteen amazing years later was Naruto's last planned stop before heading west back to Japan; America. Nearing forty, tired, and finally having his entire life catch up with him since that night in Tokyo with that sign, and Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto only lived in Los Angeles for the alloted four months he allowed himself in any country. Tenten going on with her travels with Kiba and Akamaru and Chouji. Shikamaru and Ino settled in L.A. with Naruto and toured the California valleys while time passed unhindered.

In the time all his friends spent with Naruto, they never really knew why he was so determined to see the world. He had spoken little of Japan and his hometown or his family other than to say that he belonged to wandering with no purpose. Ino had gotten another few tid-bits out of him in Mexico thanks to the tequila, but only surmised that this Sasuke person Naruto cried over and over for had betrayed him. She assumed that "Sasuke" was Naruto's old love, or something to that nature. In any case, Japan held a lot of fearsome prospects for Naruto, she could tell. It irked her as well, for she had only ever seen a happy, funny, excited Naruto. This new emotion flickering in his eyes made her uncomfortable.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto had accumulated a plethora of suitcases and luggage for every little thing he had bought or received or taken from his world trip. In fact, he had left some of his things behind with Shikamaru at his house, promising to come back one day for them. Both he and Ino stood with Naruto at the LAX (Los Angeles Airport) until life called and they had to go to work.

Ino made sure he would call them often, and she'd try to find out what happened with everyone else they had run around with. Shikamaru gave him a "troublesome" and patted his shoulder. They spoke no words and quietly waved what Naruto hoped would be his last farewell. When out of sight, he sat down in an uncomfortable plastic black chair and contemplated his life. What place better than the airport to come to terms with your misgivings? Ruminating about sweet and sour moments, and his now ever wrinkly visage (hey, he was pushing forty) he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, was the last person he'd ever think he'd see again. His old professor, Kakashi.

"I can never forgot your scraggly hair, no matter how old I get, Naruto."

"EHHH! It's you! Kakashi-sensei! What a damn coincidence! What are you doing here?"

"You left abruptly for fifteen years and that's all you have to say? Maa maa sit down, here, I was at a seminar, I'm heading back home to New York, that's were I live now."

"Oh wow, really? How long ago did you move there?"

"About six years ago. But where have you been, eh Naruto?"

"Well, I've been everywhere. I've backpacked the world! My last stop was here, before heading back home..."

"Really? There Naruto, and here my guess was that you had died," he received a punch from his former student, "Eheh, kidding. But when I last saw Sasuke was at a Ramen stand. And he assured me you weren't dead. He had seen you on Tv, he said. You were somewhere in Africa doing god knows what and helping all the people. That was of course, years ago. That kid, he missed you."

"God, Africa was... Sasuke... you know, I'm not gonna go visit him."

"Oh? Pray, what happened? One day your acing my class, the next Sakura is crying over asking for your forgiveness. And Sasuke... whew that kid didn't know what was going on. He was certainly out of it. I'm guessing they both did something they shouldn't have."

Naruto looked down at his sneakers. They were untied, but he liked it that way. It was a symbol of youth for him. He'd never grow up, "Or maybe they did do something they should have done long before I came into their lives."

-

To be continued...

-

The longest chapter I've ever written, I think. Eh, well, please review! If you don't I might think it's all crap and bad and not continue!

REVIEWWWWWW! cries

-Take care