Thank you very much to Subzerodx for following my story! I hope you will enjoy the rest of it! And thank you for your advice MrGoodyTwoShoes, I did not know that using dashes was considered chat script. I also read your profile and will take your advices into consideration. If you have any other advices, please do not hesitate. I hope you will continue reading my story.
Chapter 2: Home away from home
Kakashi looked up from his book as he sensed familiar chakras approaching. Soon Kurenai, Asuma, Gai, Baki, and Tsunade appeared.
"I'm guessing you are here to see them off," he said.
Tsunade did not replied, instead looked at the village gate. Her apprentice was leaving her. She knew that she needed this, all of them did. Both the young kunoichis, who will be able to find their true strengths, and the children, who will be safer away from the village for the time being. With the Akastuki and Orochimaru lurking around Konoha for new followers, keeping children with such strong heritages hidden away would prevent them from attracting unwanted attention.
"Actually no, we are here to make sure the area is safe," explained Kurenai. "As much as I would like to see them off, I think it will make only things harder for everyone. The only thing we can do is secure the way up to the city of Nagoko. And you? Are you here to see them off?"
"No. I'm just here to make sure that none of the boys finds themselves here when they leave," answered the silver haired man. "I will leave as soon as they arrive."
"I will stay with you", said Baki, "just in case Gaara-sama or Kankuro come here."
The four leaf ninjas swiftly left for the forest in search of any intruders leaving Kakashi and Baki standing by the gate.
"Do you know why they are leaving?" asked the sand ninja.
"Not sure exactly," answered the Sharingan bearer. "Sakura told me that she needed to leave, that she wanted to get stronger. But she can do that here too. I feel there is something else that she was not saying."
"It is also what both Temari and Matsuri told me. But they seemed also sad and concerned, like they had something else on their mind."
"They are leaving their homes for at least a couple of years. I would be sad too, no matter how determined."
"I know, but I can't help the feeling that they are hiding something from us."
"Whatever it is, I trust that Sakura has a good reason for not saying anything and that she will let us know when the time is right. Have faith in them, they are our students after all."
"You are right."
They stood in silence for another half an hour until they sensed the presence of the kunoichis heading for the gate and quickly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
The girls arrived at the gate a few minutes after leaving Sakura and Ino's house. Their hearts heavy in their chests, they looked one last time at the village and sprinted to the forest in direction to their first stop, Nagoko.
Naruto knew something was wrong even before he entered the Hokage's office. Assembling the whole Konoha 12 was rather unusual and seeing that Gaara and Kankuro had also been called only reinforced his feelings. For once he entered quietly, looking around the room for clues about their presence in the office so early in the morning. He frowned as he noticed that Hinata and the girls were not here.
"Teme, you know where the girls are? It's not like them to be late to a meeting," he asked the Uchiha.
"Don't know," answered the ninja.
"I went to Tenten's house this morning, but she was not there," said Lee. "I thought our youthful flower would already be here."
"I did not see Temari or Matsuri this morning either," said Kankuro.
"Neji, did you see Hinata before you left?" asked Kiba.
"No," answered the Hyuuga.
The boys fell in silence, suddenly hoping that whatever this meeting was about, it had nothing to do with the girls and that they were simply late. As they sensed familiar chakras approaching they relaxed, thinking that the girls had finally arrived, but tensed when they recognized their senseis' presences instead of the kunoichis'.
The door opened and Tsunade entered accompanied by Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, and Baki. She could feel the tension in the room, like they already knew and that they were daring her to say it to their faces. She slowly sat at her desk and took a deep breath.
"I have thought of many ways to announce it to you but I could not find any that will lessen the shock. Therefore I will be straightforward. Earlier this morning, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga, Ino Yamanaka, Tenten Michio, Temari Subaku, and Matsuri Hansa left the village."
Shock was written over the faces of the young ninjas. A few seconds passed until shouts fused from all over the place.
"You've got to be kidding baa-chan! Why the hell would they have left?" shouted Naruto.
"I agree with Dickless, I see no reason why Ugly would leave," added Sai.
"Yeah, I saw Hinata just yesterday for training and she did not say anything about leaving!" said Kiba.
"If it is some kind of payback for last time Baki, it is not funny!" exclaimed Kankuro.
"Why would our youthful flower be gone Gai –sensei?" cried Lee.
"With all due respect, Tsunade-sama, it has to be some kind of mistake," said Neji. "I saw Tenten yesterday afternoon and Hinata in the evening and they did not…"
"I know you are confused and shocked, but it is the truth, they have come to me and your senseis a week ago and ask to leave the village for a few years for training," cut Tsunade. "Although I can see that not all of you are surprised," she continued looking at Shikamaru, Choji, and Gaara.
The rest of the boys looked at them. Indeed Shikamaru and Gaara looked lost in thoughts while Choji had let go of his chips, a sad but not surprised expression on his face.
"Shikamaru and I had noticed that Ino was acting strange, like she was preparing something but would not tell us what. And Sakura was acting the same whenever she and Ino thought they were alone," Choji explained. "Over the past few weeks, it looked like all the kunoichis had joined them, but we did not know they were preparing to…"
"Why did not you say anything?" shouted Kiba. "We could have done something! Anything!"
"Really?" interrupted Shikamaru. "Could we really have done something? We all know that they are quite stubborn when they want to; I doubt that we could have changed their mind. Furthermore, like Choji said, we did not know they were planning on leaving; with the anniversary of the creation of the teams coming soon, we thought they were planning a surprise party or something since they had talked about it before."
"Anyway," continued Tsunade, "it is their decisions. You are not to try to find them until they come back, is that clear? You are dismissed."
The boys silently left the room and soon after their senseis followed. No doubt were they going to be assaulted by their students looking for more answers. Only Gaara remained in the office, his eyes fixed on the Hokage.
"I knew Temari and Matsuri had not been themselves for the past few weeks; they always looked concerned, sad, or lost in thoughts," said Gaara, speaking for the first time since he entered the room. "But I never thought that they would leave without saying anything. I know you know why."
"I told you; they wanted to be stronger, not just in body but also in their mind and heart."
"How long?"
"Three years, maybe more. It is up to them."
"Is there anything that we can do?"
"Have faith in them and train to get stronger. Our enemy is getting stronger, we cannot let him win. When the girls come back, they will fight by our side once again, but until this day, we must do what we can without them."
"It will be hard."
"I know. We all know. But they do not. They need time to find the strength in their body and mind. Would you tell that to the boys?"
"I will."
With that the young Kazekage left the room. Tsunade sighed; it had gone better than she thought. It would be hard for the boys, but she knew that they would respect the girls' decisions. Still she will have the senseis guard the gates for some time just to make sure none of them disobey her orders.
It had been a month since the kunoichis left the village. During the trip, they had discovered that Hinata was indeed caring Naruto's child and, with the six of them being pregnant, were extremely careful and been traveling slower. Ino was in her 10th week, Tenten and Temari, their 8th, Matsuri and Sakura, their 6th, and Hinata her 5th. Soon enough they arrived at a small village in the south of Taki no Kuni where Tsunade's friend, Tokiko, was leaving. The village was rather big, although not enough to be called a city, so finding work would not be too hard. Furthermore, the forests and mountains surrounding the village were very good training grounds, they thought as they accompanied the old woman to their new house. She had prepared a place for the soon to be twelve of them to stay a little outside of the village. The house was an old manor that had been abandoned when the family left the village to go to the city. When Tokiko had heard of the situation from her longtime friend, she had immediately agreed to help and had renovated the manor. She knew it would provide the young women with the space they will need to both raise their children and train. She had also promised herself she would be here for them if they needed. 'And why not come back to Konoha when they do,' she added to herself as she looked at the young kunoichis.
Sakura looked around approvingly. While she had not known what to expect from the village and the house at first, she was more than satisfied now. The girls looked pleased too. It was a good place. Not as good as Konoha, but then again, nothing can beat home. But for now, she felt that this place could be their home away from home.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't hesitate to review!