Wow, I was shocked by how quickly people told me to continue on with this, Favorited and Followed! Thank you!

Now then, if you want anyone to accompany Naruto out in the wild, besides one that I've already decided, tell me! Except Sakura, because I've already said she can't do that, due to her not having enough chakra, and just being a bit of a bitch to Naruto. I also don't know if I could drag Hinata in, because of her strict family and everything.

I tried to include all of the Genin in a speaking role, but some of them were pushed to the sidelines a little, like Hinata,but it wasn't intentional, I just couldn't find a lot of good spaces to get her to speak.

I also made it so that on the same day the Genin pass the test, they get their leaders and teams.

Chapter 2

Iruka had just finished sending those who had failed the test home, and was about to drill the new Genin about their new status before telling them who their team leaders were. He was mid-sentence when an ANBU strolled in and turned to the Genin, interrupting Iruka as he spoke. "These are the Genin, correct?"

"Yes," Iruka answered, confused. "What about it?"

"Uzumaki Naruto has run away, and is suspected to be in the forest outside the village, and for their first mission, they are to seek him out and bring him back. Assigning teams can wait until tomorrow. This is to be treated as a C-rank mission. Should no one find him by nightfall, all available clan members are to be sent in," the ANBU recited the mission. "Go, Genin," he told them, and after a moment of confusion most of them left, and a few others gathered around to strategize. The ANBU turned to Iruka. "Umino-san, all who are willing to assist in finding Uzumaki are to join in. Please help us." With that, he left the room.

Iruka, slightly stunned at the turn of events, approached the Genin to hear their thoughts on the matter. The group consisted of Shino, Kiba and Akamaru, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru. Iruka suspected that Shikamaru remained in the room simply because he was too lazy to move, and was likely to require one of the other teens to drag him out.

"Do any of us know Naruto enough to be sent on this mission? I mean, he could be anywhere in the forest, even back in the village, and we just haven't noticed." Ino asked.

"I think it's because we were in the same class as him, they think we might know him somewhat well psychologically," Shino said.

"They probably think we're closer to him than any of the villagers," Shikamaru commented.

"Considering how they treat him, I'm not surprised by their thinking," Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah, but we never really did anything to make him feel welcome here either," Sakura pointed out.

"You're making me feel horrible at how we treated him," Kiba said. Akamaru whimpered at his partner's sadness.

"It's true though. None of us did anything really nice to him," Choji whispered sadly.

"Poor Naruto-kun," Hinata muttered. "Failing again must have been the final straw."

Apparently feeling motivated for once, Shikamaru lifted his head of the desk, where it had been resting. Everyone looked at him in surprise. Ignoring them, he said, "OK, we first need to know what he's planning. Is he going to live out in the forest, or planning on running away to another village?"

"I have a good feeling that he'd run to another village," Hinata said. "He's had to deal with the whole village's abuse this whole time. Why would he want to stay here?"

"I agree," Kiba said. "Frankly, if he had been suffering this whole time, I'm surprised that he was bothered enough to stay and not run away with a traveling merchant or someone."

"Yes, but we have to remember that Naruto doesn't have any money," Sakura said. "And getting to another village without someone to take you and/or you lack a map, you are probably going to get killed."

"Yes, but also remember that he's stupid enough to try it," Ino reminded her.

"This is getting us nowhere fast," Shikamaru groaned.

"That's true, but rushing in blindly is just as bad, and we'll probably end up with even worse results," Choji said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Iruka was impressed. When told to get find someone, they stopped and thought out what was going on, and what the person might do, based on their knowledge of them, instead of running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

"Sitting here isn't going to get us anywhere, especially if we can't figure out what'd he do," Ino sighed. "I say we go out there and get Kiba and Akamaru to follow his trail as far as possible. They have great noses, right?"

Kiba smirked in pride as he said, "Yep, Akamaru and I can find him, no problem!"

With no other good plan popping up, the group left, Iruka following, interested in what they planned to do. While he technically should've gone out on his own search, he decided to follow the 8 of them to ensure their safety and see how they worked in the field.

Outside, Kiba managed to pick up Naruto's scent by the south gate. "Found him," Kiba announced while Akamaru barked happily. They started to follow the trail until it split in multiple directions. "Apparently he knew that he would be tracked. It splits off in at least three directions, and there might be more down the road."

"How'd he do that?" Choji asked.

"If one suspects that a dog or someone with an incredible sense of smell is going to follow them, they can head one way for a while, and then turn back and go another way. Rinse and repeat, and soon enough you've successfully confused the animal or person, and they won't know which way is correct until they've hit a dead end," Shikamaru explained.

"There are three paths in front of us," Kiba said. "One for me, and another for Akamaru. The last one will have to be saved for later, unless one of you guys can somehow enhance your senses."

"I can take control of one of the local wildlife to take the third trail," Ino offered.

"Great, go for it," Kiba said. "Ok, while she finds an animal with a good sniffer, let's divide into groups."

Iruka took the moment to step in. "Because you're going to be divided tomorrow anyway, I'll tell you your teams now. Kiba, you're with Hinata and Shino. Sakura and Sasuke, your other team member went off by himself, so I'll accompany you two and Akamaru. And finally, Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino are in a group."

Everyone shrugged and went down their trails, agreeing to throw a special kunai in the air, provided by Iruka, which would explode and display the number of the trail they're on should they find Naruto or run into danger. Why he happened to have such a tool on him confused all of the Genin, but they didn't choose to question it. Meanwhile Choji and Shikamaru waited for Ino. After a minute, they both figured something was wrong and ran in the direction she went.

It didn't take long to find her limp body or the fox she had taken over. It was staring blankly into space, twitching a little, but otherwise not moving. "Hey," Shikamaru said, lightly poking it. When it didn't move, he turned to Choji. "Think it's talking to her?"

"I thought only strong-willed humans could talk to her once she's hijacked their body," Choji said. Shikamaru nodded, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, in a minute into the past, Ino had just taken over a fox. 'This'll work nicely,' she thought to herself.

Before she could even take a step, though, a deep, rumbling voice called out, 'Who are you?' And suddenly the fox's body froze as the fox attempted to regain control of its body.

And then a third voice came into the mix. 'Kurama, what's going on? I can't move my body?'

'Naruto?' Ino thought as she recognized the voice.

'It appears that this little pest has somehow taken over your body, kit,' 'Kurama' responded.

'Can we bring them by your cage to talk to them?' The third voice that was suspected to be Naruto asked.

'I don't know, can we?' 'Kurama' joked. When Naruto didn't respond, he added, 'Yes, we can, kit, give me a second to pull them in.'

A force suddenly pulled her into an area that was in depressingly bad shape. Before she could figure out where she was, she spied what appeared to be a giant cage, and behind it, an equally giant 9-tailed fox that was staring at her with interest.

Surprised, Ino let out a shriek and started to back up, tripping over a part of the floor that had cracked and was protruding upwards, landing with a small 'splash' as she landed in the ankle-deep water.

"Calm down!" Naruto's voice rang throughout the area as he ran to her, appearing from nowhere in front of the cage keeping the fox away from her. He looked down at her. "Don't worry, he won't bite. Actually, he can't."

"Wha…?" Was all that could come out of Ino's mouth as she tried to figure out what just happened.

"What, you can't figure out what's going on?" Naruto smiled and crouched so he could be at eye level with her. "You're inside my mindscape."

Ino looked around. "It's in pretty pathetic shape then."

Naruto shrugged, standing back up and offering his hand to her. "I try to ignore it."

"This isn't something you should ignore," Ino told him, taking his hand and returning to her feet.

"I've already told him. He didn't listen," the fox said.

"I can tell," Ino muttered, trying to remain calm. "So, why do you have a giant fox in a cage in your mind?"

Naruto glanced back at the fox. "That's Kurama, the Kyuubi no Kitsune that almost destroyed the village. He was sealed away inside me about 10 minutes after I was born."

"Why do you say that like it's a regular occurrence?" Ino asked as she attempted to process the information.

"Well, I've only known he was there for about three days, but I'm used to him by now. I don't see a need to act like he's the most amazing thing ever every time I see him," Naruto explained.

"Right… Anyway, why'd you run away? The whole village is on the lookout for you. All of us Genin were sent out to search for you before we were even assigned our teams."

"Sorry," Naruto apologized. "I just couldn't take it anymore. You know, like how everyone treated me in the village. They would glare, occasionally even slap me, and just the downright hated me for something I had no control over. And Kurama offered to teach me a transformation technique that would allow me to live outside of the village. How could I refuse?"

"You do realize you're giving up ramen for this, right?" Ino asked, aware of his love for the food.

"Yes, I do," Naruto confirmed. "Like I said, I couldn't take it anymore. Giving up ramen is a small price to pay for my freedom."

"So you took the form of a fox and ran away after failing again, huh? Well, that's one way to deal with your problems. Probably not the best way, but whatever floats your boat, I guess. But you have to return to the village. Should night fall, and you aren't found, all clan members will be out looking for you, and I can guarantee, with 10 Inuzukas on your tail, you are going to be caught."

Naruto thought for a second. "But I want to be out here. It was my decision to run to a place where no one will see me as something I'm not!"

"Obviously you don't see the irony in your own words, kit," Kurama chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"You're saying you want people to stop seeing you as something you aren't, and to accomplish this, you're taking the form of a fox, which is something you aren't," Ino explained.

"Oh, didn't think about it like that," Naruto said.

"Clearly," the other two said in unison.

"Naruto, maybe you should return," Kurama advised. "Talk to the Hokage about it. You may be able to reach a compromise."

Naruto sighed, but then nodded. "Fine," he muttered.

"Good. Now can you let me out of your mind so I can get out of your body?" Ino requested.

Naruto nodded and let her out. His body, as Shikamaru and Choji watched, jerked as she resumed control.

"Finally," Shikamaru groaned. "We were starting to worry."

Ino returned to her body. "Sorry guys. Apparently, though, Naruto was right here all this time."

The two looked at her like she was crazy, and then looked at the fox, who was waiting patiently for them to move or address him.

"Hey, Naruto, can't you change back into a human now?" Ino asked him.

The fox nodded and transformed back into Naruto.

"Huh, you aren't crazy," Shikamaru said, earning a punch on the shoulder.

"Come on, let's get the others," Choji said, pulling out the kunai Iruka gifted him. He threw it in the air, watching its effects.

"Let's get back to the gate," Shikamaru said, walking away with the others following.

The other Genin were quite surprised, and a little miffed, upon learning that Naruto had been 20 feet away from them the whole time.

"Dumbass!" Sakura yelled, smacking him over the head.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, rubbing his sore head.

"To be fair, you kind of deserved it for running off like that. I'm surprised I didn't do that myself," Ino said.

"I guess I have to thank Kurama for saving me from getting smacked twice then," Naruto groaned.

"Kurama? Isn't that your imaginary friend that you were talking to earlier?" Sakura asked.

Ino raised an eyebrow at Naruto. He took notice of this and asked, "What was I supposed to say?"

"Good point," she replied.

"What are you two muttering about?" Sasuke asked with a bored tone.

"Nothing that concerns you," Naruto said.

"Naruto," Iruka said, bringing the boy's attention to his teacher. "Why'd you run away?" It was at that moment that Naruto finally snapped, utterly pissed that no one saw their own crimes against him.

"All of you people treat me like utter shit!" Naruto accused them, deciding to be blunt about it. He looked around at everyone's faces, and found that they seemed to have realized that a while ago, and now just looked ashamed of themselves. "Shikamaru and Choji are the people that I could even come close to considering friends, but even then, they still treat me like shit a good chuck of the time!" He turned to Iruka. "I'm failing my classes, even whenever I give an honest effort, and you do nothing but yell at me for fucking up! Even when I'm trying my damnedest to do the best that I can possibly do!" In response, Iruka turned his attention to the ground in shame.

Tears started to gather in his eyes as he turned his attention to the village in general, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Villagers hit me, gang up on me, and every single ninja that should be on the lookout for stupid shit like that ignore it as though it was nothing more than a pitiful argument!" At this point, a crowd started to gather to hear what the boy had to say. "You all hate me; despise me for a creature that is stuck inside of me!" Naruto slapped a hand over the seal on his stomach as the tears finally started to fall down his face. "And he isn't even bad! I've met him, and he is a kinder individual than all of you dumbasses could ever hope to be! He is more of family to me than this whole FUCKING village, and I've only known him for three FUCKING DAYS!"

In a quieter voice, he said, "I ran away because I'm living in a cage like an animal in a zoo, with a bunch of bullies poking me just to infuriate me and see how long it will take for me to snap." Suddenly reminded why he ran away to begin with, he turned and fled.

"Shit!" Ino yelled.

"After him, dammit!" Sasuke yelled.

Most of the Genin, and the crowd that had gathered for that matter, were too stunned at the boy's accusations to move. And so Ino, Sasuke, Shino, and, at Akamaru's urging, Kiba ran after him.

"Shino, use your bugs to slow him down!" Kiba yelled.

Shino nodded and sent half of his colony over to grab him. The bugs managed to lift him in the air, but he was struggling, and the tiny insects obviously couldn't hold him much longer. They dropped him and he took a second to transform into his fox form. Sasuke took the opportunity to throw kunai to slow him down enough so they could catch up to him. Shino's bugs caught up again and dragged him into the air just long enough for Ino to transfer her mind back into his body.

"Let me go, dammit!" Naruto yelled, dragging her back into his mind.

"Naruto, you have every right to be upset. But running is only going to make things worse," Ino told him to try to calm him down.

"NO! I'm not going back," Naruto yelled.

Turning to the Kyuubi for support, Ino asked, "You agree, right, Kurama?"

Kurama nodded. "Something tells me that it won't help you if I agree, but yes, I do agree."

"Kurama!" Naruto yelled, annoyed that his friend would take her side.

"Told you," Kurama said with a shrug. "Looks like this is on you." With that, he curled up and blocked out the two teens that were yelling at him.

"Some help he is," Ino muttered sarcastically. "Anyway, whether you like it or not, you're going to return to the village. Your body is frozen in place. One of the boys probably picked you up and is returning right now."

"I told you, I don't want to return!" Naruto yelled.

"You don't have a choice!" Deciding that this conversation was getting them nowhere fast, she said, "Alright. How about this? I will help you reach a compromise with the Hokage so that you can live outside the village, so long as you come back without complaints or trying to run away again, OK?"

Naruto thought for a second before getting in. "Deal," he muttered.

"Alright," Ino let out a sigh of relief. "Now let me out of your mind." Naruto complied, and she left Naruto's body. She awakened to find her body slung over Kiba's shoulder. He noticed that she had returned to her body and put her down.

Sasuke was holding Naruto under his arm as though he was a piece of property that he didn't quite care about. When Naruto awakened, he struggled a little, but Sasuke didn't let him go. "You can let him go," Ino told him. "I've reached an agreement with him, he won't run away again."

"If he does, then you'll be the one looking for him," Sasuke told her as he let Naruto drop.

Naruto scrambled over to Ino, seemingly as a way of avoiding Sasuke's glare, and also to make sure she held her end of the bargain. Upon entering the village, he transformed back into a human and proceeded to grab Ino's wrist and drag her all the way to the Hokage.

Tell me if I made any mistakes!

By the way, can you tell me if Naruto's reasons for hating the village seemed valid enough?

Thanks to CressidaRene for telling me I should put some detail into why he was tired of the village and such. Hoped that satisfied you! I also went back to the first chapter and changed Naruto's dialogue for when he found out about his abnormal chakra reserves. I think it seems a little more... peppy. As for your last question about why they wanted to keep him in the village, that's more the Hokage saying that he can't be lost, everyone else really couldn't give two shits because 'He's a demon in human form!' and the like. And yes, they should have treated him better.