Disclaimer: Me + Naruto Lawsuit
Hello! From The Edge of the World
Chapitre 1: A Traveler Negotiates
"What the hell Tsunade-ba-chan?!" screamed an infuriated Naruto, who was now on the verge of dismantling the entirety of the Hokage's Office. Tsunade didn't flinch however, as she was quite used to the boy's temper tantrums.
"You heard me quite clearly Naruto," she spoke in a clear and calm voice. "There have been no recent missions requested that require a ninja of your skill. The high ranking missions have already been entrusted to the elder jonin, and the genin are taking care of the lower missions."
"This can't be possible, you've gotta give me something to do?" pleaded the blond. "What am I supposed to do with a day off?!"
"I suggest you shut your mouth and appreciate it," said Tsunade, who now stood up out of her seat and gave her grandson the evil eye, which froze him in place.
"As a shinobi, to be able to spend a day without fighting, missions, training, is a day to be cherished Naruto. The stronger you become, the fewer and fewer days of true peace you will have. You're still so young, so shut your mouth, get out of my office, and try to do something enjoyable."
Naruto scowled at this, for he knew that the conversation was now over. He turned himself around, and left the office, slamming the door to signify his discontent. Tsunade simply shook her head.
'What in the world can I do with that boy?' she thought briefly before sitting herself down to yet another mountain of paperwork...
And so without anything in the world to do, Naruto scoured the streets of Konoha. Sure, he could train, but he had just done a whole month of intense training. What would be left to polish? He didn't have anything important coming up either, no deadlines or appointments to keep for a long time.
But then the benefits of being open started to show themselves. Naruto looked down the road to see none other than Kiba Inuzuka coming at him from the opposite directions.
"Oi! Kiba," called Naruto. The Inuzuka looked to find the Uzumaki he had just learned about.
He was confused yesterday, as Naruto left the room before anyone could speak with him. After he had time to think about it though, Kiba could see how Naruto would want to leave before anything bad happened.
But Kiba didn't have a grudge against the man. Sure, he was a jackass, and Naruto had picked a fight with Kiba on more than one occasion, but he was a decent person. For the Inuzuka, ones actions were all the proof one needed about a person's ethics. It was the opinion of at least Kiba, that Naruto had proven himself time after time.
"Hey Naruto," greeted the beastman, "having no missions sucks eh?"
"Tell me about it," said Naruto. "And training would be redundant. What are you doing?"
"I was going over to the creek. The other guys are meeting me there to just hang out. You want to come?" asked Kiba.
"Is it okay?" asked Naruto. He wanted to be polite about the situation, seeing as he didn't get an invite.
"'Course it is," said Kiba, smacking Naruto on the back. "You are one of us guys, ain't ya?"
With their course decided for the day, the two men walked a ways outside the village, where one would find the various training grounds and meeting sites. Further still they walked, into the more dense areas of the forest, until coming to a small clearing with a stretch of water running through it.
It was there they found the other young men already partaking in the natural bounty. Shikamaru and Chouji were sitting underneath the shade of one of the many healthy trees. While Shikamaru was content to lay on the grass and stare up into the sky, Chouji had brought a sack full of snack items, and was eagerly eating away at a bag of kettle chips.
Shino was near the stream, to the surprise of the others. They naturally didn't think of the Aburame having any resident incests that liked to be near water. For most bugs, water was a hazard to be respected, not taunted. Shino however, did have a few insects inside him that could live on or in the water. A water spider could be seen dancing along the edge of the water, and if one cared too, they would find a few water bugs a little bit below the water's surface.
The last person of this merry bunch was their antithesis: Uchiha Sasuke. Somehow, by unknown means, Kiba and others managed to persuade the prodigy to spend time with his teammates today. Sasuke was sitting on the cool grass, leaning against the bark of a tree. He had his eyes, as if taking a nap, but everyone knew the wiser. Sasuke immediately 'awoke' at the presence of Kiba and Naruto.
"Hey guys," greeted Kiba with a wave. Naruto chose to remain silent. He was being cautious, which was quite against his nature.
His former teammate Sasuke caught on to this immediately. "You feeling okay?" he asked the blond.
"I'm fine!" blurted out Naruto, almost too quickly. Sasuke looked at him for a minute, but then decided not to push the issue. It wasn't any of his business anyways.
Naruto decided to soak his feet in the stream; so he quickly walked to the water's edge, took off his shoes and socks, and let his feet dip slowly into the cool liquid.
"Is this how you guys usually hang out?" asked Naruto. This was the first time he ever did anything like this.
"It is when your job requires you to kill people," said Shikamaru in his trademark tone. "Being wound up all the time is bad for your health."
"Yeah," said Chouji, as clearly as he could while stuffing his face. "Besides, this is how we keep in touch with everyone. We only get to do this once every two months or so, and that's if things are going well."
Naruto made a sound of understanding, and just took in the scenery. The cool water on his feet was starting to relax him, and he almost could fall asleep at any minute.
However, one of his friends decided to talk to him about yesterday.
"Naruto, why do you continue to serve the village?"
Naruto shot his eyes open, and turned to see Shino Aburame looking at him through his coke-bottle frames.
Naruto just stared at Shino for a while. The problem with trying to read a guy so hidden in clothing is that you can never truly know their intentions. What was Shino looking for? Could he want to understand him? What about the opposite side of thinking, and Shino was looking to coax a plot of vengeance out of the Uzumaki?
"I've fought for one goal my entire life, and that's to become a Hokage," said Naruto. "I guess after a while, that's the only way I knew how to live my life."
"You could've ran away," said Kiba. "I'm sure if you tried another ninja village they would take you in."
"I doubt he could do that without a whole ANBU squadron after him," interjected Shikamaru. "Missing ninja are frowned upon, no matter what the village may think of them."
"Do you ever...think about vengeance?" asked Sasuke, to which the group looked at him with a collective sense of caution.
"I've thought about it, why do you ask?" countered Naruto. "Its not like you care what happens to any of us anyways."
In a flash, Sasuke had appeared next to Naruto, and proceeded to grab the young man by the collar of his shirt. Kiba and Chouji began to instinctively prepare for a fight, but Naruto held up his hand to keep them at bay.
"Now why do you say something like that?" asked Sasuke, quite calmly considering his actions.
"You've been avoiding me Sasuke," explained Naruto. "Even after I helped you defeat Itachi; even after I helped you get reinstated with the village; and even after I defended you when the others wanted to make sure you didn't betray us again, you've just kept yourself away from me. So tell me Sasuke, what else am I supposed to think?"
At this, Sasuke released Naruto, and turned his back to him. A barely audible noise escaped his lips.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled.
"Say what?!" said Naruto. No one in Konoha ever got an apology from an Uchiha, ever.
"I'm sorry," said Sasuke a little louder. He turned to the Uzumaki, looking him dead in the eye.
"When I was still chasing after Itachi, I thought it best to never get close to anyone. I was to have no friends, no family, and no mercy. I felt that best so that my brother could not incur another massacre on myself. With him gone, I guess I don't know how to change my behavior that much yet."
"Also, I need to apologize for my transgressions Naruto."
"What? First you apologize, which never happens, and now you need to do it again?! What for?"
"Before yesterday, I took you for another ignorant fool. I placed you in with all the other people and friends who tried to say they understood my position. Obviously, you knew my situation better than I will ever know, and for that, I'm sorry."
This was the most shocking moment all the guys had ever seen. Sasuke was a no-nonsense kind of person, but they never took him to be one to apologize for his mistakes. And it was true, they never gave him a shot like that in the beginning, it was Naruto who convinced them to let the Uchiha prove himself once again.
"Quite a bunch of friends you have their lad. You sure you wouldn't call them your enemies?"
All six shinobi turned their attention to the new presence. A figure approached them from a distance via the forest.
He appeared to be short, but he was also hunched over so that affected his stature. The man was wearing a large fedora hat, which specks of dust and dirt fell off of from time to time. A large tarp covered the stranger from head to toe, which too was covered in a fine layer of dirt. He was assumed to be an elderly gentleman, given that in his right hand he was holding a cane to help support himself.
However, his age was meaningless to the six young men. At this moment, Naruto and the others were too busy berating themselves mentally for not even noticing the old man. To be able to conceal oneself from six elite shinobi, one had to be either incredibly lucky, or incredibly dangerous.
"Who are you and what do you want?" asked Sasuke, or rather demanded at this point.
"Such hostility, you'll give yourself an early grave being so tense young man," joked the stranger. "But if you need to call me something, you can call me Ren."
"And what brings you here Ren?" interjected Naruto.
"I'm just a traveler is all," dismissed the elder. "I stumbled upon your little group just as that one with the red eyes looked to give you a beating."
"Well, we're obviously fine now," said Sasuke, "so we would appreciate it if you left us now, please."
"Now now," said Ren, waving his hand to the Uchiha. "I'll leave just as soon as I get an eyeful of that Jinchuriki over there."
The clearing was deathly silent at this remark. How could he tell what Naruto was?
"Look here old man," said Naruto as he started to advance on Ren.
"Easy there," said Ren. "I mean no harm to you or your village. Its just that a Jinchuriki like yourself is just the type of person I'm looking for."
"How did you know I was one?"
"Look at yourself lad," said Ren, motioning at the man. "It doesn't take a genius to notice your whiskers and your feral eyes."
Naruto stood there for a moment, but then relaxed and smirked at the elder man.
"Okay, you got my attention old man, so what did you want with me?" he asked.
"Let me ask ya a question my boy," started Ren. "What would you say if I told ya that you could get rid of that pesky beast?"
"I'd say you're trying to get me killed, seeing as I die if anyone tried to get rid of Kyuubi," snorted Naruto.
"Ah, but I know of a way to exorcise the beast, without harming its host," childed Ren.
"What are you going on about?" quirked the blond.
"This is what I'm talking about," said Ren, and he reached into his tarp. Minutes later, a old, musty scroll emerged from the unknown folds.
"This is something I just happened to run across," the elder explained.
"Who just goes around dropping scrolls?" interjected Shikamaru. "You should tell us how you 'ran across' that scroll."
"Yer a smart one, aren't ya?" chuckled Ren. "But you're right. It was during one my many travels to the far reaches of the globe. I walked through this little village that was recently attacked my some marauders and the like. Not a soul left alive, or so I thought until I was grabbed by a hand."
"And what happened with that?" asked Kiba, getting into the story the traveler was weaving.
"Well, it was a villager, who had a rather nasty wound. I couldn't do anything for the bastard, seeing as I don't know anything about medicine. And this guy seemed to know he was going to die as well, so he handed me this scroll. The man would pass away soon afterwards."
"And you just stood there and did nothing?!" exclaimed Kiba in disgust.
"I already said the man was dying and I couldn't help him," remarked Ren.
"Anyways, a bit afterwards I stop to read this scroll, and it talk of a holy place. Apparently, whoever goes there and makes a wish, will have it granted without consequences."
"Ok, now you're just yanking his chain you geezer," interrupted Saskue. "You're not believing a word of this, are you Naruto?"
Naruto however, did not answer Sasuke's question. He had a look on him that was actually mulling over taking the old man's offer.
"And what would you get out of all this Ren?" Naruto asked. "You don't seem the type to do this out of the goodness of your heart."
"Ah, my price. Good of ya to think ahead of me lad," complimented Ren. "I wouldn't ask for much. What I would want, is for you to tell me about your journey there once you return."
"You just want a story out of me?"
"I'm a novelist by trade. Its just something I do to make a bit of money. All I ask is the rights to your story. Of course, I wouldn't be much of a novelist if I didn't acknowledge your part in it."
"Why don't you go yourself old man?" asked Shikamaru.
"One, I'm too old. And two, there has been no record of anyone ever going to this place and coming back alive," said Ren.
"I knew there was a catch," said Shikamaru.
"Naruto, don't listen to this crackpot, ok?" pleaded Kiba with his friend. "There's no proof that this place even exists, right?"
"And before yesterday, you wouldn't believe that Kyuubi was sealed rather than killed, right Kiba?" retorted Naruto. "I believe this guy. However, I need sometime to think this over."
"Ah, of course," said Ren. "I'll in the village for a few days, so you can come find me when you come to a decision. Until then, try to think it over lad."
With that, Ren walked out of the clearing, towards the direction of Konoha.
"Naruto, what are you thinking?" exclaimed Kiba, with their unexpected guest now gone.
"I'm thinking that I need to go now guys," answered Naruto. "Thanks for the invite Kiba, but I gotta go see somebody now."
Naruto waved to his friends, and then went back towards the village. However, he didn't immediately head towards his destination. Part of the reason was he wasn't sure how to go about thinking this situation out, much less talking about it with someone else.
The other reason was waiting at his home. Naruto wanted to get home and get something to eat for himself, but was in store for another surprise.
As he walked down the street where his house was, he heard noises that sounded like an argument. The man looked forward to see a gathering of three people. The two men he didn't recognize off the top of his head, but the young woman was none other than Yamanaka Ino.
"Well well well," snickered one of the men. "We almost never see anyone as pretty as you in these parts. You lost lady?"
The beach blond scoffed as she rolled her eyes at the slobs in front of her. "I'm not lost, I'm here to see someone. Now if you don't mind-"
"Hold on a second there!" said the second man, who now grabbed Ino by the forearm forcefully.
"That's no way to treat a lady guys."
The three turned around to see their guest, Naruto, start to walk up to them.
"Beat it fox-boy," said anonymous thug number one. "You don't want us to get rough."
"You guys must be drunk," chuckled Naruto. "You talking to me like I'm still five years old."
"Well, you still can't do anything about this, so butt out," remarked the man, and turned to his prey.
Suddenly, the two men felt something wrap around their necks. It was cold, and it clanged like metal. They soon saw a kama-like blade wrapped around each of them. The handles were pitch black, and were made from wood that was smoothed and varnished. The blades themselves were sunk into the wood, and then secured into place by several screws, which were placed by a master's hand. The blades were cut into a specific shape, and looked like a roaring fire rising from the ground. These many jagged points and curves only served to increase the weapon's potential to rip and tear flesh.
The thugs followed the length of chain behind them to see Naruto holding a section of it.
"Is this supposed to scare us you burk?" taunted the second thug. "You know damn well its against the law to attack fellow villagers."
"Your right," said Naruto. "Absolutely right on that part. However, I'm not going to attack you, just retrieve my weapon."
"Huh?"
"And the best way to do that is like this," stated Naruto.
He then forcefully tugged on his length of chain, pulling the two thugs towards him. However, due to the position they were in, and the laws of physics, the two slammed their heads together, instantly knocking them out.
As Naruto gathered his Spiral Hell from the two unconscious brutes in front of him, Ino walked over, and placed a hand over each of their foreheads.
"What are you doing?" asked Naruto.
"Erasing their short-term memory for the last ten minutes," answered Ino. "When they wake up, they won't remember a thing."
"Good thinking," complimented the man. "So what brings you here Ino? This isn't a safe neighborhood.""I noticed," she said. "How do you live in such a place?"
"I got used to it, and I was forced to learn very quickly how to survive," answered the Uzumaki.
"Well, there was something I wanted to say to you Naruto," said Ino.
"I'm listening," said Naruto, "but first, do you want to come over to my house?"
Ino shook her head. "Thanks, but I'll only be a minute," she replied.
Ino took a breath, and then bowed to Naruto, which caught the boy completely off guard.
"I'm so sorry for everything I ever did to you," stated the kunoichi. "I know there is no way for me to atone for my cruelty in the past, but I want to say that I'm truly, truly sorry Naruto."
The young woman kept herself down, hearing nothing but the silence of the street the two were upon.
It was after a minute that she got an answer from Naruto.
"It that all that's bugging you?" Naruto said with a small chuckle.
"Huh?!" Ino nearly shouted. "That's it?! Don't you want to shout at me, or even hit me?!"
Naruto shook his head. "I decided a long, long, long time ago something," he explained. "I decided that if people were willing to be my friend, even after knowing about Kyuubi, then I would consider the slate clean."
"So Ino," said Naruto, extending his hand. "Are you willing to still be my friend?"
After a moment of processing what just transpired, Ino quickly and eagerly took Naruto's hand.
"Of course!" she said with a relieve smile.
"Then there's nothing to forgive," replied Naruto. "Well, I'm heading home, see you later!"
"Goodbye!" said Ino, waving to the boy as he entered his house, and then left herself.
It was evening, and one Hinata Hyuga, heard someone shuffling towards her house. She had walked to the kitchen to find something for herself to eat, when she heard a noise at her front door. Hinata opened it up to find Naruto there, trying to fight off two other members of the Hyuga clan.
"What is going on here!" she stated, gathering the attention of all three.
"Miss Hinata," spoke one of the clan members, "this boy was trying to sneak into the compound."
"What are you talking about?" protested Naruto. "I just wanted to come over and see someone."
"Release him, and go back to your posts please," spoke Hinata, to which the two guards obeyed immediately.
"What brings you here Naruto-kun?" she asked in a sweeter tone of voice than before.
"Thanks Hinata," greeted Naruto. "I was hoping that Neji was around here somewhere?"
"Neji?" repeated Hinata. "Usually he's back with his family at the branch house at this hour."
"Will I have to deal with more of your dad's hired goons?" joked Naruto. Hinata giggled at that remark.
"No, I'll make sure they leave you alone. I'm sure you know the way from here."
"Ok, thanks a lot again Hinata!" chirped Naruto, before heading for the branch house.
After a bit of walking, Naruto was fortunate to find Neji on the front porch of his house, looking upwards at the night sky. His pale eyes shone and twinkled in the moonlight.
"Nice night for stargazing, isn't it?" greeted Naruto, in a casual way. Neji turned to his abrupt visitor.
"Naruto, what brings you here to see me?" he asked his friend, before offering Naruto a seat next to him on the porch. Naruto accepted the Hyuga's offer, and sat down on the cool wooden porch floor..
"I wanted to talk with you, is all," stated Naruto.
"Oh really?" said Neji, not buying his friend's story. "That's certainly unusual for you. I've never seen you really outside of our duties as shinobi."
"Not buying it Neji?"
"Not for a minute."
"Well," said Naruto, "its like this Neji..."
And so, Naruto told Neji about his run in with Kiba, and how he got invited to join him and the others at the creek. He talked and joked a bit about the scene he created with Sasuke, and his sudden apology, even getting a small chuckle from Neji because of it. Naruto explained the old man named Ren, and how he offered Naruto a change to destroy Kyuubi for good. Neji never interrupted Naruto, and waited until the blond boy was finished with his tale.
"There's just one thing I don't get Naruto," pondered Neji. "Why did you want to talk to me about this?"
"Because I think that if anyone can understand what I'm going through, its you," explained Naruto.
"You'll have to explain this to me Naruto, I'm not following you."
"I'm just worried about what this will do to me, assuming that I take Ren up on his offer."
"Neji, have you ever wondered how you would've turned out if you weren't branded with the Cursed Seal?"
"Not really, considering I had no choice in the manner," replied Neji, a pained expression flashing across his face for a moment.
"Well, if I may hypothesize," Naruto asked, to which Neji nodded. "I think you never would have become as determined and hard-working as you are now. With the seal placed on you, and with you father's death, you were driven to show up all those snobs that run the Main Branch. You would have never learned those Main Branch techniques, and you would have never made Jonin before the rest of us."
"Hm," muttered Neji, who now had his eyes closed. He could almost imagine the person he would have been if not for his tragic past. It was quite enlightening to have someone guess about your possible outcomes.
"You see now what I'm worried about?" asked Naruto. "I keep thinking that if Kyuubi is gone, then so is a part of myself. What if I change after Kyuubi is gone? What if that change isn't for the better?"
"You are forgetting one important factor though in your analogy Naruto," commented Neji.
"What's that?" asked Naruto, looking for his friend's advice.
"Naruto, you're an adult now. As an adult, you have already been forged into the person you are by your childhood. Unless something or someone comes into your life that drastically changes your world, I doubt you'll ever change, with or without Kyuubi."
"But Kyuubi is fused inside me. He is a part of my body. Heck, I can die if someone tries to pull him out of me," interjected Naruto.
"He will only influence you if you choose to let him do that Naruto. Tell me, are you going to let that happen?" pointed out Neji.
"I see your point," conceded Naruto. "And you know what? I think you helped me make my decision for me."
"Glad I could help then," said Neji, a small smirk on his face.
With his mind cleared, and with some good counsel Naruto gave his regards to Neji and took off for his house.
The morning afterwards Naruto made use of his shinobi training and quickly tracked down Ren. When he accepted Ren's offer, the man only offered a smirk, and the scroll he promised upon Naruto's agreement. Naruto quickly made plans to prepare an expedition to wherever this scroll took him. So he went to see Tsunade.
While Tsunade was a bit skeptical as always, the constant confidence and nagging from Naruto was enough to convince her to let the boy go. A victorious smile was on Naruto's face as he left the Hokage's office. The Hokage in question immediately took out an 'emergency' bottle of sake she kept under her desk, and helped her self to a cup of the sauce. Hopefully, she thought, that Naruto was going out on a suicide mission.
Then an idea came to her, yes, this might very well be a suicide mission...
As Naruto showed his credentials to the gate guards, he took one last look at the village. The boy had made it a requirement of himself every time he was to leave Konoha. He wanted to make sure that the vision of this village never left his thoughts. After a minute of burning the image into his brain, he set outside the gates, and into the vast forest before him.
Naruto had walked a mile into the forest after a good ten minutes or so. Given his shinobi skill, he could easily sprint the whole trip, but decided against it. On a serious note, he never could be sure what trouble could rear its ugly head while he was on this journey. To be an exhausted shinobi was to be a dead one. On a lighter note, Naruto considered this trip a sort of vacation for himself. Tsunade had permitted the blond knucklehead to take as much time as he needed to finish the trip safely and successfully.
"Its not nice to leave your team behind Naruto."
A sudden voice speaking to him caused Naruto to stop in his tracks. He slowly turned around, and saw Sakura smirking at him, a knapsack strapped over her shoulder.
"Sakura?" he pondered. "You mean I'm not going alone on this trip."
"It's no longer a trip," spoke a voice, and this time Naruto turned to his front to see Tenten.
"What's that mean?"
"It means that the Hokage has deemed this an S-rank mission," said Kiba, who immediately emerged from the lush forest.
"And she immediately recruited all available shinobi to assist you," spoke Shikamaru, who walked up behind Sakura.
"How many of you guys are coming then?" asked Naruto.
"All of us," said Sasuke, who was behind Shikamaru. Naruto looked behind to Uchiha to see that Ino, Shino, Hinata, Lee, Chouji, and Neji gathering with the group.
"You guys," said Naruto. "But...why?"
"Why?" exclaimed Lee. "Because we could never just let one of our comrades walk off on a very perilous mission all by himself!"
"He's right Naruto," spoke Sakura. "The village will be fine without the twelve of us for a while. All the other chunin and the new genin can handle most of the mission requests. And Kakashi and the others can handle any high-level missions we get."
"You guys..." said Naruto, his head hung low. It soon shot up in a smile. "Well, lets get moving then! We've got a lot of ground to cover, and who knows what will happen along the way!"
"Right!" shouted the other eleven in unison, and they all started down the forest path. Naruto stayed behind, for he allowed a single tear to trickle down his face.
"Thank you...everyone," he whispered to himself, before running to catch up to his friends...
Yes, he knew now. He truly had friends...
Footnotes:
(1)
Some people might not have liked the light I shone Ino and the others in, but that was the intention of the scenario. I wanted a heart-wrenching, cruel depiction. Someone reviewed and said they were absolutely appalled at Ino's father, and that made me glad. I got the reaction I wanted.
"Thank You!" To the Following:
The Rogue Stallion
Ryu no sendo tenshi
Seiryu Suzaku Byakko GenbuKPAAF