I do not own Naruto.
Please Read and Review
Someone broke the thirds law and now young Naruto has been chased out of his village. he now needs a new home maybe he'll find it and love in Forget-Me-Not Valley.
Blonde Hair Under a Harvest Moon
Chapter 1
Life Left Behind
It was a night that Naruto dreaded every year, a night that always made the normally happy blonde depressed and reclusive. The night of the 10th of October, his birthday and the anniversary of the Defeat of the Kyuubi at the hands of the Forth Hokage. It was days like this that he was thankful for the Thirds Law. The law had allowed for Naruto to at least be seen as a human to the younger generation and gave him a better chance at living a normal life. As he stared out of his window, looking at the center of the village full of festival lights and music. He remembered the night when he first found out about his prisoner and how he yelled at old man Hokage for keeping the secret from him.
"How could you do this to me I have a right to now what happened to me" yelled a young Naruto at the old man who took a puff from his pipe.
"Naruto you need to understand that I did it for your protection and also to give you a better chance at a happy life." said The Third Hokage.
"By lying to me, by making me ask myself everyday why I was looked at the way a was, why ANBU always stand on buildings near my house as if I might do something and why everything I own is destroyed on my birthday instead of getting presents." yelled Naruto as tears fell on his cheeks.
The old man sighed he knew that Naruto had a point but he felt he was still right and needed to explain his actions to the young newly instated shinobi .
"Naruto I did what I did because that seal was made to allow you to access the foxes chakra when you turn 13 which is a few weeks from now, but if you knew about the fox. you might have tried to force it out early which would've resulted in you being overloaded with the foxes malice and hate thus turning you into what everyone calls you a monster. And I would be damned if I would let that happen and if I had to hide things from you and lye to you and lose your trust it was a small price to pay." said a sad Hokage.
Naruto looked at the sad eyes of the old man. They told him that the old man didn't want to do what he did. The old man had done those things knowing that in the end the boy he looked at like a grandson might very well hate him. As he looked in those eyes he knew that he could not stay mad at the old man. The old man did what he did to prevent Naruto from becoming a monster and thus making sure he would spend his life as Naruto Uzamaki not the Kyuubi reborn.
"I'm still not happy that you hid it from me old man, but I know you did it to help me and if you say that I would've became a monster if I knew. Then I'll believe you what you did was in my best interest and I'm grateful for it. now can I leave I'm a little tired." said Naruto as he let out a loud yawn.
"one more thing before you leave Naruto. When you were born I had a law instated and that law states that no one is to speak of your tenant at anytime. I did it to make sure the kids you grew up with would see you as a human being, not something to be feared. someday you might be able to talk about it but I would wait a long time before you do such a thing. For I fear if they find out too early your chances at a happy life in this village will disappear. So keep this secret to yourself ok" said the serious Hokage.
Naruto looked at the man and merely nodded. He now knew that he would keep his mouth shut probably for the majority of his life and as he left the office he felt a shiver go up his spine as he thought of the consequences if the secret of his tenant ever got out to his generation.
Even now on his seventeenth birthday he still feels that shiver. It was true that since his training trip with Jiraiya he had not dealt with vandalism in his apartment but this would be the first October 10th he spent inside the village walls since he turned 13 and the he was nervous. He did not worry about his possessions those can be taken back or replaced without a big problem. but his biggest fear was some drunk would scream the secret to the whole village and words could not be taken back as easily. he still wasn't sure that if his generation was ready for his secret to be revealed.
As 10:00 pm came the fire works would go off symbolizing the moment when the Forth defeated the Fox. Instead of watching colorfully lit sky he climbed into bed hoping that at 2 in the mourning he would not have to jump out of a firebombed apartment.
Across the village stood two Chuunin that were not celebrating at the festival. They were on a mission but not under the orders of the Hokage. This was a self declared mission. A mission that will be able to make sure the truth was said to those who did not know it. They sat and looked at their watches waiting for 10:00 pm and the fireworks display
"are you sure that everything is in place" said one chuunin
"yes the notes will fall from the sky thanks to the fireworks and the genjutsu placed on the ones around town will dispel at precisely 10:00 according to that missing nin." said the second.
"it's a good thing we hired him it will take days for any higher ups to get it cleaned up and by that time everyone will know." replied the first
"yeah I thought the missing nin might be lying about the genjutsu but none of the Hyugas or genjutsu specialist have noticed and soon the demon will be seen for what it is." said the second.
The two then sat back and waited for the fireworks and the mission to begin.
The center of the village was bustling as a large crowd waited patently for the large display in the sky to begin. In this crowd many members of the Konoha 12 waited and enjoyed the celebrations.
"I heard that the display is going to be very big this year with special fireworks that take shapes of the Forth and the Kyuubi fighting." said Ino.
"yeah I can't wait, the fireworks display is always my favorite part of the festival" replied Sakura.
"The foods my favorite" said Chouji
"that's a surprise, hey what's your favorite part Hinata" said Kiba
"I like the play where they reenact the fight between the Forth and Kyuubi." said Hinata
"yeah I enjoy it as well, does anyone know how many more minutes before the fireworks?" asked Neji
"9:59 just a minute until the display starts" said Tenten.
The group of shinobi looked up to the night sky waiting for the giant display. Soon their patience was rewarded as the display began. Crimson explosions in the shape of a fox and golden sparks in the shape of the forth illuminated the sky. Then to the amazement of the crowd flyers started to fall from the sky. Gasp could be heard from all over the crowd which confused the members of the Konoha 12.
"what's going on" said Ino
"I don't know but those flyers must have some big news or something let me snag one." said Tenten
She then threw a senbon needle up and impaled one of the flyers and pulled back on a connected wire, bringing the flyer to her hand. The group gathered around to read the flyer and went wide eyed "To those that were to young to remember the attack of the evil fox, your village has been lying to you. The forth did not kill the fowl beast he was only able to slow it down by turning it into a human form. For the last seventeen years the thing known as Naruto Uzamaki has lived here waiting to finish what it started. It is the beast reincarnate and we need to finish what the forth started tonight before it is to late. Simply ask anyone old enough to have seen and remember the attack and they can confirm this. Tonight we kill the beast." the Konoha 12 were shocked and angry that they had been in harms way without any knowledge of it.
"the thing that killed my father was placed on my team how could the Hokage do this to us." said Sakura.
"I bet you he's the reason that Sasuke left" said Ino
"I'm an orphan because of him" said Tenten.
Everyone started agreeing each other. All of them had lost someone or something valuable to the fox and they were all wreathed with anger. They then saw a mob forming and stopped it saying it would be better if they got the first punch in and weaken it since they could trick the fox who thought it had their trust and quickly shot off to Naruto's apartment.
Naruto was sudden jolted from his sleep hearing a knock on his door. expecting a mob to bust in he got into a defensive position but only to hear the knocking continue. He walked up to the door and looked through the eyehole to see his pink haired teammate. The blonde then opened the door to greet his long time friend.
"Hey Sakura-chan what are you doing here." asked Naruto
"You killed my father you bastard" yelled Sakura as she threw a chakra infused punch with all of her might at Naruto.
Naruto had no time to react to the punch and was sent through the outside wall of his apartment and fell down to the alley below. As he tried to get up he started to cough up blood.
"that wasn't a "you are annoying me punch" she was really trying to kill me" thought Naruto
He then heard the sound of shrunken whizzing towards him. He quickly jumped out of the way of the projectiles unfortunately thanks to the Sakura's punch he was too slow to avoid all the projectiles. After have some imbed themselves on his back he looked up to see Tenten with hate in her eyes. the same hate that he saw on the villagers faces over the years. He then took off running not knowing what to do. He had to get out of there something was terribly wrong. He found a small alley to hide in as he tried to figure out what was happening. As he caught his breath he looked up and saw a flyer plastered onto the side of the building. He looked at the flyer reading what it said. He then knew why his friends attacked him and that he was in deep trouble. He quickly ran all of his options threw his head.
"I have to get out of here or I'm dead." he thought
He then heard the sounds of a mob coming towards him, he knew one thing, he had to get out of the village. He pumped chakra into his legs and ran towards the village gate. The injures caused by Sakura and Tenten were slowing him down and every step he took it seemed that the mob made two and were slowly catching up. As he made it to the gate he tripped and fell to the ground he knew that it was all over. He sighed and closed his eyes waiting for the crowd to finally catch him. But a voice soft but strong called to him.
"Naruto get up, please you have to." said the voice
Naruto opened his eyes and saw seven figures standing there between him and the crowd. He then looked at the one that had spoken the words and saw it was Tsunade along with Shizune, the Jonin Instructors, Iruka, and Anko.
"Baa-chan" said a surprised Naruto.
"right on the money kiddo" said Tsunade
" I'm sorry we didn't get to you first. none of us were at the festival since it promotes violence to our favorite knuckleheaded ninja so we only just got word and we're here to help." said Kakashi nonchalantly.
"You can't take that whole mob by yourselves." said Naruto
"We don't plan to, just run as fast as you can and find a safe place to hide while we stall them, but I don't think the damage can be repaired Naruto this will probably be the last time you can set foot in the village, I'm so sorry." said Tsunade tears creping into her eyes
"You have nothing to be sorry about Baa-chan there was nothing we could do." said a sad Naruto.
"Fine but run now I don't what you to hear what I'm going to say to get them not to chase you. I'm afraid that you might be hurt by it even if it is just a lye. now go." said Tsunade.
Naruto was helped up by Iruka and he ran into the forest outside the gate disappearing into the darkness. The group turned around to face the crowd who was now in eyesight. Only Tsunade still looked into the forest wiping away her tears.
"Goodbye and sorry my grandson, be good and healthy wherever you go" she whispered to herself
"Show time Hokage-sama" said Anko
The crowd led by some of the Konoha 12 made to the gates and were more than angry that the Hokage had let the demon brat go.
"what is the meaning of this Hokage-sama how could you let the demon go" yelled Hinata which surprised the Sensei's and Tsunade.
Tsunade steeled her reserve and turned around and punched the ground with all of her might creating a huge crater and cracking the ground beneath the crowds feet.
"YOU IDIOTS DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" yelled Tsunade sending shivers down the spines of the crowd as they froze.
"but how can you justify keeping that demon alive." yelled a villager
"who said I would want to keep it alive. Do you know what would happen if you had killed it with conventional methods." said Tsunade coldly
"it would die what are you getting at." said Kiba
"no it wouldn't have died if you had stabbed it. you would have released the seal bringing the Kyuubi back to it's original form." said Tsunade.
The crowd instantly went pale and gasps and whispers were heard through out the crowd.
"It is true. The Third set up the law so less people would attack it and lower the chances of it being released. The group of shinobi in front of you are a special task force that has been studying a way to permanently deal with the demon. They were about a year or two away from developing a seal that would've done the job but now that it's gone you've made it more difficult to finish the job and increased the possibility that the demon will be released before a seal can be made. This task force is responsible for the demon now and any attacks on it with out my consent is considered an act that endangers Konoha and the perpetrators will be punished by death. Now disperse I want the streets empty for the rest of the night now leave." said the Hokage with confidence and power appropriate to her position.
The crowd quickly dispersed and soon the bustling village resembled a ghost town only the occasional stray cat and dog wandered the streets. After everyone had left the six shinobi that stood by Tsunade let out a breath of relief. Her entourage didn't know what the Hokage had planed to stop the mob and were surprised at what she said. They then understood why she didn't want Naruto to hear those words but it seemed that the planed had worked and would prevent anyone from attacking the boy.
"good plan Hokage-sama it seems that you have given Naruto a good chance to get away." said Iruka
"no it wasn't a good plan." said Tsunade as tears started to fall from her eyes.
"What do you mean you just got everyone to not hunt down or even kill Naruto how is that not a good thing." said Asuma.
Tsunade then broke down into a full blown bawl something none but Shizune had ever seen. She hadn't cried this hard since her lover Dan died on the battle field.
"I had to say those horrible things about him, I called him a demon, a monster, I said IT instead of him. What would he think if he heard that. I hope he didn't hear, he would feel even more betrayed if he did." said Tsunade in between gasp of air as she cried.
The group knew that the boy meant everything to the women and the act she just did probably hurt her very much. Most of them had heard her talk about the boy. How she was proud to be one of his precious people if not the most precious. They soon tried to comfort the women who sobbed away.
"you had to do what was right to protect him, no matter how convincing your argument for him not being a demon he still would've been hunted. Now they won't touch him for fear of something that won't happen." said Shizune.
The blonde Hokage centered herself and her tears slowed to a like trickle and stood up.
"I know it's still hard, he's my little ball of sunshine and I don't know when I'll get to see him again. I want who ever is responsible for those flyers found and brought to interrogation but reserve them for me handle. I'm calling it a night but before I turn in." she said as she turned around to face the shinobi with a sadistic eyes
"you are to bring in the Konoha 12 to my office tomorrow I want to have a nice discussion with them." she said in an uncharacteristic sweet voice.
The group shuddered they knew full well the young shinobi were in a world of hurt tomorrow. They all then dispersed to get sleep and pray for Naruto wherever he ends up.
Naruto kept running through the canopy of the forest hoping that the plan Tsunade had would work. The pain of his wounds had receded but mostly due to the adrenaline pumping through his veins. But he was now experiencing pain of a different type, a type that no amount of adrenaline would numb. All of the memories with his former friends was now broken and replaced with their actions of the evening. Soon the adrenaline rush subsided and he felt full blown agony. His strength left his body and as his hit the ground he allowed himself to cry in agony both physically and emotionally. He knew his dream was dead he would never become Hokage he would never get respect or love he was now cursed to a life of loneliness.
Somewhere else in that very forest walked a man with long spiky white hair giggling excessively as he wrote words down on a little notebook. The man was none other than Jiraiya the frog sennin and he was now finishing his grand masterpiece in the Icha Icha Paradise series.
"this is going to be the best work I've ever made" he said to no one in particular
He then put the note book back into one of his pockets and as he did he patted a scroll in an adjacent pocket. It was Naruto's 17th birthday present. A scroll that contained a note from the boys father and the instructions and notes on all of the mans techniques. Jiraiya had promised his former pupil to give the note and techniques to the boy on his 17th birthday and even though it was a day late he thought it would be better since he wouldn't have the festival looming over the head of the boy depressing him. Suddenly he heard a loud cry of pain that sounded very familiar. He quickly changes direction and ran strait to the source of the sound. As he made it to a clearing his eyes went wide with horror as he saw his student laying on the ground in nothing but his boxers a shrunken sticking out of his back and a pool of blood underneath him. He quickly ran over to boy and started removing the shrunken.
"Naruto what happened" said Jiraiya his eyes full of concern.
Naruto looked up and saw the face of his perverted sensei and now sensing a shoulder to cry on he let everything out.
"Ero-sennin the law was broken and everyone found out. Everyone including my friends attacked me, now I'm all alone again, I've lost everything I've ever worked for." said Naruto as tears fell like a torrent from his eyes.
Jiraiya went over and hugged the boy trying his best to comfort him. Soon after the boy stopped crying Jiraiya started to dress his wounds. the entire time Naruto was quiet and still. This struck a heartstring saddening Jiraiya seeing his bright and happy student so depressed. After having his wounds dressed and receiving an outfit matching his sensei's Naruto broke the silence.
"what do I do now" said Naruto softly almost in a whisper voice.
"I don't know kid why don't you go to sleep, you've had a hell of a night. I'll try thinking up something ok." said Jiraiya.
Naruto nodded meekly and made his way to a sleeping bag. After the boy had drifted to sleep Jiraiya sat underneath a tree on the opposite side of the campsite with a map trying to figure out safe place for the boy. Quickly the map had a large number of X's on it as he eliminated different places to hide the boy. Suna, wave, snow, bird and flower were out due to how they couldn't help the boy if Akatsuki or Konoha found out he resided there. The other major ninja villages would try to use him as weapon against Konoha. It seemed that the entire ninja world had it out for the boy. He didn't know what to do and so in a fit of frustration he slammed his hand down on the map and gritted his teeth. As he removed his hand from the map he saw a penciled in line and dot in the northern mountains an area he hadn't visited in nearly ten years. As he looked at the markings a grin came on his face. And quickly he took out a sealing scroll.
"I hope I still have it" he said to himself.
He then unsealed a large bag that had "gifts from villages I've saved" on it and he quickly searched the bag throwing out a wide array of items ranging from weapons to nude pictures of grateful women. Finally he found the object he was searching for. He picked up a small dusty scroll with the words Forget-Me-Not Valley Deed. He then resealed the rest of the objects and pocketed the scroll and looked at the boy.
"It might be a different life then a ninja but I know that the people will welcome you with open arms and maybe you'll find happiness there" said Jiraiya as he looked at the boy and went to sleep. a long journey awaited the two and they would need to leave early the next mourning.