Chapter 2 is now redone, as always let me know what you guys think, I appreciate any and all feedback from the community.

Despite numerous eBay bids I do not own Naruto.


Chapter 2: Decisions

As Sakura approached her blonde teammate her hand curled into a fist, before loosening once again as she slapped him with all her might which, after being trained by Tsunade for 3 years, was saying something. Said blonde stood in place, shocked by the sudden act of violence.

"Why did you leave for so long? If you hadn't gone on your stupid training trip, we could have gotten Sasuke back by now!" The pinkette once again slapped the blonde, continuing her tirade "He left because of you I just know it! He told me he couldn't get stronger being held back by his friends!"

After a moment Sakura heard her teammate begin to stammer out a reply, ignoring the obvious pain in his voice at this point "B-But Sakura-cha-"

"I don't care what you have to say Naruto, once he hears you've left I know Sasuke will come back! He won't have anyone to hold him back with you gone don't you understand!?" Sakura was still crying as she watched the blonde shinobi walk away dejectedly, his usual goofy grin gone and an air of dejection hanging around his usually happy self.

After a few more minutes Sakura went back to her home, where she cried herself to sleep thinking about her lost teammate and the idiot who had driven him away from her.


Tayuya was aggravated, no scratch that, she was fucking pissed. Here she had infiltrated Konoha, combed nearly half the damn shithole, and still she couldn't find the blonde idiot. After entering through one of the side gates disguised as a civilian, the redhead had proceeded to comb district after district, secretly loathing the difference between the open and bustling Konoha and the cramped claustrophobic tunnelways that made up Oto.

She had gone almost everywhere he could have been before she sweat dropped 'I forgot to check his damn apartment.' After berating herself Tayuya used a map that Orochimaru had given to her and soon found herself in front of what could only be described as the single shittiest apartment complex she had ever laid eyes on.

Forget that the surrounding area was a dump, ignore the obvious lack of care the building had received over the years, and you were still left with nothing more than a low end apartment building that looked like it had been deserted for at least 10 years.

Looking quickly up and down the street, Tayuya noted that most of the buildings along that route were in more or less the same state of disrepair as the apartment complex, and many looked even more deserted. The redhead proceeded across the street and looked at an old board listing the apartment's current residents.

Upon looking at the roster of residents, Tayuya realized that her target was legitimately the only person living here. 'What the actual fuck, why would there only be one person living in an entire building like this...?' After shaking her head in disbelief, Tayuya went to the appropriate floor and tested the door, somewhat surprised to find it unlocked 'This fucker had better be home, or else he's going to experience a slow, painful death damnit.'

As she searched the apartment, Tayuya noted that it was fairly simple. A small bathroom near the entry hallway created a more open feel, despite the small amount of space. The hallway ended in a medium sized living room with a three-seat couch and a small television that didn't look like it had been used in a while. Throughout the living room were several training scrolls, otherwise marring the extremely and somewhat shockingly clean space that was her targets living space.

Continuing her investigation, the Oto nin noted that on the left of the living room was a small kitchen with a stove, a refrigerator, a single sink, and a fold-out table with two chairs. As one of the cabinets was open Tayuya could see it was packed full of ramen and thought 'What the hell, is ramen all he eats?'

To the right was a closed door that she figured led to the master bedroom. Once again she was shocked by the extreme cleanliness that permeated the apartment, at this Tayuya realized that despite his outward personality and the information given by the Uchiha, her target kept his living space extremely clean. As she examined everything the oto nin thought 'He must be in the bedroom, guess I should sneak in through the window so shithead doesn't see me coming.'

With that thought Tayuya walked out onto the small balcony, careful not to knock any of the plants off the railing, and edged her way to the next window, utilizing chakra in her feet so she wouldn't fall off the small ledge that ran the perimeter of the building. However, as she reached the bedroom window Tayuya ran into a new problem, she noticed the blinds were drawn and thought 'Shit this will make things more difficult.'

After weighing her options for a few moments, the teenage kunoichi decided to try the next window over which, thankfully, wasn't obstructed. This window led into the master bath, with a closed door separating it from the bedroom.

After using a kunai to get past the simple lock on the window, Tayuya crawled inside while making sure to remain quiet, the last thing she needed was for the shit stain to catch her because she accidentally knocked something over.

As Tayuya stood up she looked around the bathroom, noticing for the first time that throughout the apartment there was a lack of what she figured was the shit heads favorite color, Orange. Hell she hadn't seen any orange whatsoever since entering the apartment and was wondering if that was just a ruse to make people think he liked the flamboyant color. At this she grinned a little 'It definitely fucking worked if so.'

With that thought Tayuya cracked open the bathroom door and looked around the master bedroom, finally laying eyes on her target. What took her aback however, was the fact that the blonde whose profile described him as 'overly cheerful and vehemently optimistic' was sitting on the bed, looking somber and depressed.


Naruto sat on his bed staring at an old picture that usually sat next to his bed, one of Team 7 taken not long after the bell exercise. 'what did I do to make Sakura-Chan hate me so much? Maybe she's right and I should just disappear, hell maybe Teme would even come back after that...' the blonde chuckled darkly at the thought at the same time remembering a few hours earlier when he had arrived at his apartment.

2 Hours Prior

Naruto touched his cheek numbly as he turned the street to his apartment, for once looking forward to the seclusion that it offered him. Naruto looked up however, when he heard shouting and the sounds of a large crowd.

Standing in front of the apartment complex was a large crowd of mostly civilian villagers, and from what the blonde could see they were not very happy.

"Damn demon, why don't you stay gone next time!" One villager shouted, beginning a cacophony of insults from the others in the crowd as well, much to Naruto's disappointment. 'I guess some things never change..'

The villagers luckily kept their distance this time, however Naruto remembered a time before he graduated the academy, when he wasn't so lucky. However, that didn't stop the villagers from throwing whatever was nearby, from trash to rocks, as the blonde tried to get to his apartment as quickly as possible. Before entering his home, the blonde looked back into the crowd of hate filled eyes, feeling the pure malice the crowd obviously felt for him. 'Maybe it's pointless trying to get their respect.'


Naruto went over the events once more in his head, trying his best to keep his emotions locked up, as always. However, the blonde couldn't stop a few drops falling onto the picture frame.

The leaf Genin quickly brushed the tears away, at the same time he glanced over at the bathroom, having heard an almost imperceptible squeak from the hinges on the door. What he saw was a single large hazel eye staring back at him 'who the hell is that...?'

Next thing he knew the door was flung open and a red blur was rushing at him. After dodging the first swipe of a kunai Naruto spun to the side, grabbing the would be assassin's arm in the process and pinning it behind their back.

Naruto looked at the back of the kunoichi he had caught, noticing her semi familiar red hair as well as the outfit she wore, after a moment he finally decided to ask her "What the hell are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same thing you emo shithead" came the biting reply as the red haired ninja suddenly moved to the side, surprising Naruto with her sudden rush of speed, and proceeded to hit him hard in the stomach. As the blonde doubled over he felt the cold steel of the kunai pressing firmly against his neck.

"Go ahead if you're going to do it then…no need to waste either of our time." Naruto was recalling the events of that night, from the girl he had had a crush on for most of his life slapping him and saying she wished he would leave, to the mob of angry civilians who had been there to 'greet' him as he finally returned home.

Tayuya pulled the blonde up and looked into his cerulean eyes, noticing with a slight shock the amount of pure pain and sadness that was hiding behind that sea of deep, beautiful blue- 'wait what the hell are you thinking, get a hold of your fucking self!'

"Your damn hopeless you know that?" the redhead finally said as she secured his hands in a way that prevented hand signs behind his back.

Naruto just stared at her, not understanding what was happening, then deciding to voice his confusion. "What are you doing?"

Tayuya looked at the blonde with a slightly pissed expression "I'm taking you to Oto, maybe Orochimaru could find a use for you shithead, plus that way I don't have to ruin a perfectly good kunai. Also what the fuck are you staring at?" She had noticed his eyes wandering slightly as she was talking.

The blonde fought to keep his expression completely neutral, only half succeeding. "N-nothing" In reality he had finally remembered who this girl was, recalling the so called Sound 5 from the mission to retrieve Sasuke, and since then the Oto nin had changed considerably.

What he noticed first was that her hair now reached the small of her back, still being covered at the top by the black beanie like headgear she wore. Next Naruto noticed that, while she was still a decent amount shorter than him, the kunoichi whose name he just remembered to be Tayuya, had begun to fill out her Oto outfit. The last thing he noticed was that, while she was still glaring at him, Naruto could see past all the hate in her eyes, and was startled by the similar loneliness that he saw whenever he looked at himself.

When Tayuya spoke next, she made sure that her voice was neutral so she wouldn't give him the wrong impression "Come on, we're leaving this shit hole whether you like it or not." What surprised both ninja was his reply.

"Fine by me, but mark my headband as a rogue and leave it here, that way maybe they won't follow us." Upon saying this Naruto realized that he had stopped caring for Konoha as much a long time ago, and despite saving the village and its people several times, he would never be truly respected here because of the Biju living inside him.

Leaving the now marred headband he had gotten from one of his few precious people on the living room table, Tayuya untied the bonds restraining Naruto with the threat that "If you try to escape I will stick this kunai so far up your ass-" leaving the rest of the threat to his imagination.


Afterwards the two left his apartment, heading towards the village gates as swiftly as possible while also avoiding drawing attention to themselves from the many ninja who were keeping watch over the rooftops of Konoha, instead using the winding streets that led throughout the village. However, on the way out, the two ended up in the Shopping District of the still busting village where they ran into a few of Naruto's friends.

Ino, Ten-Ten, and Hinata were walking through the shopping district, enjoying a late night out after their daily missions. The three kunoichi were somewhat surprised however when they noticed their rambunctious blonde friend walking along with a short redhead. The group moved towards Naruto, calling his name and waving as they hadn't seen him in almost 3 years, except for Hinata who stood back slightly to try to hide the blush adorning her face.

Naruto gulped slightly as the group of ninja approached "Heh.. Hey guys, how's it going?"

Ino grinned slightly, noticing Naruto's nervousness and deciding to have a bit of fun at her fellow blonde's expense "Hey Naruto-kun~ who is this you have with you?"

Said blonde shinobi's mind was going a mile a second as he attempted to come up with a believable excuse, before he suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around his right arm. Looking over, he was surprised to see Tayuya with an extremely innocent blush and, had she not been trying to kill him 10 minutes earlier, he would have believed the cute and shy expression she wore.

"H-hello, Naruto-kun was just treating me to a night out, my names Luna, it's a p-pleasure to meet you all." Tayuya replied in her most timid voice, meanwhile she was internally vomiting at the performance she was being forced to put on. 'This shit head better not get the wrong idea, I do not need a fucking scene right now, especially with all these leaf shinobi around.'

After a moment Tayuya realized that if he wanted to, the blonde ninja could sell her out to his friends and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it, which caused an uncharacteristic spike in fear as she gripped his arm even more tightly and looked up to him.

Naruto understood almost immediately and smiled at his friends with their surprised expressions, also noticing the nails digging savagely into his arm. "Yeah heh, Luna-chan is kind of my date tonight and umm..anyways we should get going."

The blonde Genin quickly took his leave before anyone could Ino or the others could question the pair further, feeling his arm being released as soon as they were well away from the group and then he heard a harsh whisper in his ear. "You tell Anyone about that and I will cut your dick off and feed it to you, got that Naruto-kun?" the amount of venom placed on the last word made it clear she wasn't kidding, so the blonde simply nodded as they quickly exited through one of the gates leading out of the village.

Tayuya called a stop for the night after they covered about half the distance from Konoha to the Rice country, noticing the blonde was starting to show signs of tiring, not to mention her legs had begun giving her trouble after all of the use they had seen that day.

After a few more...inventive threats about what would happen if he tried to escape or tried anything with her, the two laid down across from each other, deciding that for the night a watch wouldn't truly be needed. Naruto lay with his eyes open for a while and, after a few minutes, heard his new travelling companion mumble something.

"What was that Tayuya-chan?" the blonde asked, turning over to face in her direction. Said redhead replied more loudly "I fucking said thank you for not selling me out to your friend…I know you could have. Also call me Tayuya-chan again and I might just change my mind about assassinating you."

The silence between the two ninja after that was almost palpable, but before Naruto fell asleep he found he was wearing a small and completely genuine smile. 'Even my assassins are nicer to me than my teammate…Maybe this wasn't a mistake after all.' With that thought the blonde finally fell asleep.

Across from him, Tayuya was trying to sort through her own feelings about the night so far 'Why didn't I just kill him? Maybe all that time laying around really has softened me up..' The redhead sighed as she continued to mull over the thoughts currently racing inside her head. Finally closing her eyes, Tayuya realized slowly why she hadn't killed the blonde dumbass 'It was his eyes, he looked so damn lonely like some kind of lost damn puppy…I know what that's like.'

Sighing at the finality of the thought, Tayuya went to sleep to the sounds of the forest and the blondes light breathing.


Alright there you have it, chapter 2 has been redone. To all the original readers I did add in a fluff scene as well as some other extras, more just for fun than anything, but I also feel like it adds a more natural flow to the story later on. As always let me know what you guys think, either through PM or via a review.