Disclaimer: The Naruto Universe is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. I wonder if he ever wishes he was living in it.

Day 1

Naruto

As the sun passed over the surrounding forests of Konoha, Uzumaki Naruto tried to distract himself by looking at the way the light shone through the leaves and branches, a beautiful sight really. It didn't work in the slightest; his mind was abuzz with thoughts and confusion. Mostly confusion.

He'd heard what Tsunade had said shortly after nearly breaking his door down.

Council.

Banishment.

Bastards.

The words came so thick and fast, and before he'd even had time to react, Tsunade was pressing him to pack his stuff and leave. His was so distracted by the news and her rage that he knocked over some milk, out-of-date as per usual. He even almost forgot the photo of Team 7, now hidden away safely in his pocket.

The stunned mood that had been with him ever since leaving his apartment was now replaced by his usual erratic self, as the full realization of what had happened struck.

"This is STUPID! I never got to say goodbye to anyone! Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Ero-sennin..."

He grunted and clenched his fists. There were plenty more names on that list but remembering any more threatened to bring tears to his eyes and rage to his heart.

"I informed Kakashi of what was happening before I left the Tower, he left immediately to find Sakura. The others will know by the end of the day I'm sure."

Tsunade didn't even look at him while answering, her eyes were locked on the path ahead.

"That's not the point! I never got to say goodbye!" he yelled again to the back of her head.

"Naruto-kun, please..." Shizune swiveled her head round, sweat beads were forming from the effort of pulling the cart. "This is a terrible time for all of us. Tsunade-sama left the village for you. Let her think things out." Her expression was an unhealthy mix of fatigue and anxiety. Looked like she wasn't taking this much better than he was.

Making another noise more like a wheeze than a grunt, Naruto clenched his face up. What good was thinking in silence going to do? That was not going to get him back to Konoha.

"IDIOTS! They had no right to kick me out! Why don't we just go back there and kick their heads in-"

"If you don't shut up for five minutes then you'll regret it, Brat! I told you back at the gates that I will explain the details once we get to Otafuku City." This time she did look round, and she had that white-hot fury look in her eyes that promised eternal pain on anyone that crossed her. "If you want to head back and try your luck, fine! Just know that the guards will do everything to stop you getting past the walls. The Council will have made sure of that."

Admitting defeat (for now), Naruto folded his arms and screwed his eyes shut, muttering a colourful word under his breath. How could they banish him? Why was he being forced to leave his home? Sure, it hadn't been an easy ride all these years, in fact he'd been downright miserable for parts of his childhood. Nasty memories of beatings, verbal abuse and God knows how many dirty stares aimed his way filled his mind. It hadn't been everybody, but everywhere he went he seemed to attract disgust from his fellow villagers. For years, only Teuchi of Ramen Ichiraku, his daughter Ayame and the old man Hokage himself seemed to show Naruto any genuine affection. He would be lying to himself if he tried to deny at some points wondering if another town or ninja village would make him happier, but those were only on particularly dark days. His fists clenched up tighter, and somewhere deep down as if in his soul, a low rumble growled.

But it wasn't always like that! Things were getting better!

That was for sure. His determination at the Academy caught the eye of Iruka, the man who put him on his first steps to becoming a true ninja. With that came Team 7 - Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke. And the other genin who had graduated with him. All had acknowledged him in their own ways. He had been sure with more time he could've changed the minds of more of the villagers. Maybe even all of them eventually!

And then Sasuke-teme had to go and ruin everything by leaving to join that freak Orochimaru!

Sakura was still not quite looking at him in the same way since he'd promised and failed to return Sasuke home, despite her promising to assist him next time. Well looked like that plan had been blown right out the water along with all his other dreams. Konoha may have been an extremely difficult place to grow up in, but...

It was my home. My only home. The only one I knew. And they've finally got rid of me - the village pariah. Now what...?

He didn't want to think about when he would be able to see his friends again. When he would next see Sakura's beautiful face break out into a smile. When he would be able to train his three unofficial "students" again. Naruto was touched they'd managed to make it to the gate and wave him off, even from a distance he could tell they hadn't been happy about it.

Thinking about Konohamaru reminded him of their shared and most important dream. To become Hokage. How was he supposed to do that in a village that he couldn't even step in? His whole life had been spent dedicated to that, and now it was further away than ever, a shattered dream in pieces lying around his feet.

"Damn it all!" he cursed. Thinking things over wasn't going to help, but then not like he'd been any good at that anyway.

He looked over to his left, across the cart at the fourth member of their weird party. Yet another piece of the mysterious puzzle, one if anything he was even less sure of solving. Just what in the hell was Hyuuga Hinata doing leaving the village with them!?

Hinata

Hyuuga Hinata sensed being watched, ironic really coming from a user of the all-seeing Byakugan. Catching Naruto's face facing hers out of the corner of her eye, she looked down at the floor, her cheeks already burning up.

Naruto-kun...

Why was he watching her? Surely he had enough on his mind already, his frequent outbursts were proof of that. Even though he was displaying pretty much all of the behaviours that were big no-no's in the book of Hyuuga etiquette, Hinata could not and would not blame him for that. His entire world had been pulled out from underneath him. She'd rather him be facing the wrath of the Hyuuga elders for stepping out of line in her household than be here, walking away from everything he knew.

This is so unfair to him.

She still couldn't believe the reason given for his banishment, nor quite how she'd ended up in this position leaving with him. The last six hours or so had been such a blur. She looked up and saw that Naruto had gone back to scowling and kicking the cart every minute or so. The more she noticed that furious look on his face, the less she remembered the bright smiles that had captured her heart. And so she turned away and recalled the events of the day that had led up to this, to distract herself.

It had begun all so innocently. She had woken up on another bright and beautiful day looking forward to training with Neji. She was so close to mastering a jutsu of her very own - Protection of the Eight Trigrams, Sixty-Four Palms, a technique that provided defensive protection rivalling anything else her family was capable of doing. Ever since the Chuunin Exams, her father had been once again checking up slowly on her training, having previously declared her useless, and that move was a perfect chance to show him just how far she'd improved. Her heart had skipped a beat when she then considered the news from her teammate Shino the previous day, where he'd talked about a possible mission to locate a rare bug of some kind. A bug that would aid in the search for Uchiha Sasuke. Any mission involving 'that' guy would surely grab the attention of Naruto. Imagine having the chance to show him her skills on a mission, the one who cheered her on against Neji, and broken him out of his rigid and bullying demeanour. The thought had made her positively giddy.

Over breakfast with Father and Hanabi, he'd informed them of a clan meeting taking place before lunch. Well that was nothing new, there'd been one only recently the day after Sasuke had defected, and to approve Neji's involvement in the retrieval team.

"Ano...Father...is this to t-talk about Uchiha Sakuke again?" she'd asked.

It had been bad enough at the Academy where Sasuke had always been the centre of attention among her few female friends. To get the same thing from her clan was downright annoying. Or troublesome if she'd wanted to impersonate Shikamaru like Ino often did.

"No. Though his actions have led to what I will be discussing." he'd replied, his eyes narrowing.

She was always familiar with that look, so she'd returned to staring at her bowl. Impatience was not a typical Hyuuga trait but this was as close as she'd ever remembered her father being like it; obviously whatever the news was, he was eager to share it.

An hour and a half later, all the Hyuuga that were present in Konoha had assembled inside the main hall, main house on one side, branch house on the other. As always, Hanabi sat closest to Father as his designated (but not completely official) heir, while Hinata was further down, next to Ko. Before Father had started speaking, she'd glanced over at Neji sat opposite, still sporting a few bandages from injuries delivered by the Sound ninja. She'd hoped he was still feeling well enough to continue their training. His change in attitude towards her since the Exams had been small, but so unlikely in itself that it had been remarkable. There was no longer the subtle burning hatred in those eyes. Noticing her look, he'd nodded in acknowledgement.

"I will now commence this clan meeting to discuss the decision taken yesterday by the Konoha Council." called out her father.

Though Hinata knew her own clan's politics down to a tee, she was less familiar of those that governed the whole of Konoha. She knew the Council's two elders would meet up informally, sometimes with Danzo, the bandaged ninja who was rarely seen and often rumoured to be neck-deep in secret ANBU business. The really big decisions though involved bringing in the heads of the major clans, plus the representatives of various civilian businesses, though she didn't know which. This must've been a huge judgement to result in a clan meeting.

"As all of you are most likely aware, the last of the Uchiha's escaped the village last week. Similarly, we have all recognised my nephew Neji's role as part of the retrieval team, and his honour in defeating one of the sound-nin."

Murmured approvals and nods came from some members of the branch house. Neji himself had remained emotionless.

"However, Uchiha Sasuke still escaped thanks to the failure of Uzumaki Naruto. The elders convened the Council after the team returned to discuss what should be done with him. His defeat has led to Konoha to lose one of our founding clans and has brought an irreversible stain on our village's honour. We the Council have debated this latest transgression in a long list of troublemaking and harassment of our citizens and ninja both. This genin has overstepped his mark for the last time, and a majority vote was given for a punishment put forth by Danzo-san. Naruto will be banished from Konoha forthwith and from today has three days to leave. If he is stupid enough to stay, or try to return, Konoha will respond with lethal force."

Whatever swift joy Hinata had felt upon hearing 'that' name and been swiftly and repeatedly crushed by her father's words. And then came the final stinger: banished. She couldn't describe what she had felt during those following moments, but it was like having lived in a deep cave for years, and watching your last precious candle be snuffed out.

"This may seem like an inconsequential reason to bring you all here today, but I was informed that this decision may cause issues with the Hokage. We invoked a forgotten law set down by the Shodaime and the authority of the Daimyo to overrule her. Considering her previous dealings with the boy, this will make her particularly irritable for the time being, but she will eventually see the sense of the Council. I also warn you to be on your guard against those of the clans Nara, Aburame, Inuzaka and Akimichi, as the heads of those clans voted against the decision."

She didn't remember much else from that meeting, her mind had shut down as if in self defence. If any of her fellow Hyuuga had been outraged or delighted by the news, none showed it. As Ko walked her to her room some time later, her thought processes had still not recovered. Maybe that was why instead of simply dressing in battle gear for training with Neji, she also packed up bedding, clothes and her minimal battle gear in her rucksack. Maybe it was also why when she found Neji in the courtyard, she lied to him about an urgent mission request for Team 8. And maybe it was why when she passed through the Hyuuga gates, she thought it would be a fine thing to not see her household again for a thousand years.

Of course that defiant mental state hadn't lasted long; her senses began returning as she half-ran to the main street. What was she doing? Had she honestly thought she was going to leave with Naruto? Had Neji even believed her lie? Maybe he'd been too distracted by the news aswell to notice.

She'd stopped in the middle of the street, flanked by shoppers, not even knowing where she was going. She would've dropped to her knees in desperation right there and then, had a faint sound not unlike an explosive tag going off erupted from the direction of the main gate. Activating Byakugan, she'd noticed three chakra signatures from that area and heading for the gate: one huge and flaring, one unremarkable and the other...his. She'd ran for the gate, concerned that Naruto was already in dire trouble.

She'd reached the threesome just as they were approaching the gate-house. She'd been shocked to see the Hokage herself was the one accompanying Naruto, along with her black-haired companion whose name she didn't know. That was also the case of the gatekeeper with the weird bandage across his face, who had intercepted them. As Hinata approached, she'd caught the last stands of conversation.

"...need...paperwork...I can't just let you through Lady Hokage. The kid is supposed to leave without escort."

"You have officially five seconds to move Hagane before all that's left of you is a bloodstain on my finger. Go back to drinking with Kamizuki in your little shack, now, and let us pass."

Either those words, some look on the Hokage's face or a combination of the two had caused the impressive effects of the colour draining entirely from his face and puddles of sweat forming at his feet, all in under five seconds.

"Hai...Hokage-sama!" Scratch that. The time he took to scuttle back into the hut was even more impressive.

"Tch...okay then, let's get...who the hell are you?"

It had taken Hinata a few seconds to register that the Hokage had turned to face Naruto and had seen her standing mere metres away.

"Ah...ano...I..um..."

"Tsunade-sama," spoke up her companion. "That is one of the Hyuuga heiresses. Most likely Hinata going by her age."

"Ha...hai!" she'd nodded furiously. The Hokage gave her a quizzical look.

"Okay then, but what are you doing...oh no. No no no..." she'd repeated as her eyes noticed the backpack. "I already have one kid to deal with, I'm not taking another!"

"Ano...my father..."

"Your...wait...Hiashi is your father right? And you can use the Byakugan?"

"Hai...and hai..."

An idea must've formed at the back of her mind for her attitude to change so suddenly.

"This could give us some real leverage! Shizune, if we're holding Hiashi's daughter, that gives us a foothold on the Council."

"Tsunade-sama...we can't just take this girl from her family!"

"We didn't take her. She approached us, right kid?"

Hinata forced her to nod, despite feeling she was now in a mess she wanted desperately out of.

"Alright then Hi-Na-Ta. You're with us. We're moving out!"

"But...b-but..." escaped from the lips of Hinata and Shizune, colour draining from their faces.

"No but's! Hokage's orders!"

And so the group of four had passed under the gate and started on the forested road. Hinata's first thought as an escapee was realising how quiet Naruto had been through all that. In fact, he hadn't done anything at all except stare into empty space. That had lasted another twenty minutes until finally yelling at Tsunade...

And back to the present. Naruto still looked furious. Tsunade was still in thought. That little pig was still sniffing around the cart innocently. And she was thinking how similarly she felt now to how she felt after leaving her household.

What have I done...I am in so much trouble...

She looked across the cart again. It wasn't entirely a disaster.

At least I'm with Naruto-kun.

Tsunade

Far down in Senju Tsuande's mind, gears and cogs were clicking and turning, forming a number of devious ideas that could turn this unlikely situation into her advantage. Gambling came easy to her, and she was not about to waste this opportunity. Fate had delivered her a sweet card indeed.

I have his eldest daughter. The heir to Kohona's most influential clan. Let's see them try anything else now!

No, the day hadn't gone entirely to plan, and maybe - maybe - she shouldn't have been quite so violent with that shopkeeper who had accidentally blocked their way with his cart. Still, at least their quick exit have probably prevented them having to fight their way out of Konoha.

She had known something was up that morning when the two elders had entered her office, when she'd noticed they were wearing body armour underneath their clothes. Obviously they'd expected the meeting would quickly go south. How nice of them to delay informing her of the decision from the night before to ensure they got the Daiymo's approval in time. But she'd surprised them. Not only had she not threatened them with grievous bodily harm, but she'd also managed to limit herself to one cry of fury, before picking up the hat of office and simply walking out, taking Shizune with her. They'd probably expected she would head to one of the training grounds to level a tree - or fifty - to calm herself down. Ha! How wrong they'd been. Instead, she had marched straight to the lower sealed quarters of the Hokage's Tower, dispelled the seal on the door (as only she as Hokage and few others could do), and removed from that room a number of scrolls, including the forbidden Scroll of Seals. Then, casting a simple genjutsu to make it appear as if they were carrying nothing, they'd simply walked out. How embarrassingly easy that had been. So much for security.

They'd split up briefly after that - Shizune to collect all their belongings and a cart to carry it all in, while she had used her privileges to collect a sizable amount of ryo from the treasury. Her eyes almost sparkled knowing how much she had gotten away with. Her pre-Hokage debts seemed like minor quibbles in comparison.

Think of all the poker tournaments and casinos I could hit with all that...no no...bad Tsunade! New priorities now!

Even as Shizune had returned she attempted to convince her not to carry out this course of action, but she'd simply shot her a look that said rather clearly she was not to be swayed. Shizune - as was her way - had sighed and accepted the inevitable.

Naruto had proven surprisingly easy to get out of the village, despite his delayed reaction coming through now.

"Oi Granny..."

Something about that village was rotten to it's core. She knew going back there to try and fix things was a bad idea. Naruto had only convinced her by winning a stupid bet, and now look where he was. If that's how Konoha treats its heroes, and a kid she had grown to adore, she wanted no part of it.

Their loss. This hero is mine now.

"Granny!"

"Ugh...what now?"

"Why is Hinata with us?"

She looked around again. The girl in question stared at the floor.

Tch...so obvious. And yet I bet he hasn't noticed at all.

True to form, Naruto held a puzzled expression.

"If you had listened earlier, you'd know. But you'll get to hear everything soon enough. Listen Naruto, I need you to treat this like a mission. One I'm setting you right now, to not lose your cool and focus on our goal, which is?"

"To...to get to Otafuku City...?"

"Bingo. One step at a time."

"You got it Granny."

He didn't sound convinced, but it was better than the panic from before. Naruto loved missions and putting him in that mindset now could only help. She looked over at Shizune, more tired than ever.

Hmm...maybe I should offer to pull that cart for awhil-

The setting sun had already dipped behind the trees, but a new source of light caught Tsunade's eyes. The steady glow of civilization.

"Aha!"

"What is it Tsunade-sama?"

They all turned a corner in the winding road, and there it was. Shizune practically dropped dead from relief.

"Otafuku City. We're here!"

TBC

Author Notes:

Poor poor Hinata, having to serve as Miss Exposition for most of this chapter. Most of it's out of the way now though.

I'm back again. What will your updating schedule be like?

Great...well erm, as the next month or so is packed with Uni stuff, don't expect another chapter til at least mid-May. After that, who knows. I might aim for 2 a month. I can't help being a slow writer, procrastinator at heart n'all.

Any responses to reviews?

Yes actually. I don't think a couple of my reviewers read the author notes in the Prologue properly (they're now in my profile aswell). Hinata is going with them as it's a key rule of the challenge. And no this will likely not be a harem story because I do not dare to attempt to write one. Too complicated and beyond my skills methinks.

And as a final note, I'm inclined to hear from people about how to incorporate Sasuke into a story like this. He's a fascinating character to explore and I'd like to hear you lot's ideas. Keep those general reviews coming too. ^^

Next chapter: The Stunned Leaf!