A/N: YAHOOO! I finally managed to get this stinking chapter out! so, sorry that it took so long, but this chapter has been a major pain in the butt for me. first my computer crashes, then my story file is completely deleted and i have to start over, then my computer crashes again, and when i finally get it back up and running i have a lot of projects do for school...not to mention the writer's block i hit...so yeah, this has been as annoying for me as it has been for you. if not more so.
however, on a rather happier note, i have finally reached my goal of 5000 words. i actually had hoped to have it be a little longer, but i decided to move a few scenes back in order to get it out to you guys sooner...
Chapter 4: On the run
"You know, peeping in the bathhouse isn't such a good idea. If those girls found out, you'd be in big trouble." Jiraiya shrugged.
"Know this from experience, huh?" Behind him, Neji snorted.
"Not likely. I'm not a disgusting pervert like you. I've just seen it happen to Naruto a couple of times."
"Oh yeah? Well, if you aren't here to peep, why are you here?"
"I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?"
"Your student, Naruto." Jiraiya turned, raising an eyebrow.
"Whoever said the kid was my student?"
"I know you trained him for the chunin exams." Jiraiya opened his mouth, but stopped when Neji raised his hand. "No, I'm not here to ask you for training. I am perfectly fine with the training I've been getting."
"Ok then, why do you want to talk to me about Naruto?"
"I just wanted to see if you knew he had left the village." Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.
"That all? Couldn't you just ask the mission dispatch area?" Neji shook his head.
"From your answer, I can tell that you don't know." Jiraiya looked at him in confusion. "Naruto didn't leave on a mission. He left permanently. He abandoned Konoha." Jiraiya staggered back as if he had been caught by one of the girls in the bath house and clobbered over the head. He worked his mouth for a full minute before he was actually able to get anything out.
"Th-that's impossible!" He croaked. Neji just laughed. "What the heck is so funny!" Jiraiya snarled back. Neji shook his head while waiting for his laughter to subside.
"Naruto really does defy all concepts of what is possible and what isn't, doesn't he?"
"What the heck is that supposed to mean!"
"You think it's impossible for him to have left, I thought it was impossible for him to beat me, Gaara thought it was impossible for anyone to beat him, and yet Naruto did all of them. He is living proof that nothing is impossible." Jiraiya snorted.
"He's also living proof that people are stupid." he sighed. "I guess I'll have to go drag him back." he muttered.
"Why do you have to do that?" Neji asked.
"Because he's going to get himself killed trying to run like that. And I can't just let him die."
"Why not? You tried to deny he was your student. You must not care too much about him." Jiraiya studied Neji for a second before answering.
"Your sharp, kid. Yeah, I denied he was my student, but only because he isn't. He convinced me to train him for the exams. As for protecting him, your right, I'm not just doing it for him. I owe it too his father...even though I am doing it just to help him as well." Neji blinked.
"You know who Naruto's father is? Why haven't you told him?"
"Because that is an S-rank secret. Once certain conditions have been met, I'll be able to tell him, and he can do with the knowledge whatever he wants. But until then he isn't getting told. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an idiot to find." Jiraiya started to walk off, but was stopped by Neji's hand on his arm.
"You really think you'll be helping him?" he inquired.
"Yeah, I do. What about it?"
"You do realize that Danzo will probably declare you a missing nin if you leave, right?" Jiraiya blinked. "You really think it will help him if they are looking for you too?" Jiraiya opened his mouth, then closed it again, before finally answering.
"Well, I got to do something, don't I?"
"Not necessarily. It might be best to wait for a while, see what happens from all this, and then decide what action to take. After all, it's not like the hunter nins are having an easy time of it." Jiraiya blinked.
"What do you mean, the hunter nins aren't having an easy time? He's a genin, how hard could it be?" Neji smirked.
"Well, for one he brought Iruka with him."Jiraiya's eyes widened.
"Well, that would help explain things." Neji raised an eyebrow, but Jiraiya waved him off.
"What else?" Neji shrugged and continued.
"Second, Naruto has been leaving around two hundred false trails every once in a while. Even their scent is copied. So the hunter nins have to follow every trail."
"What!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "How the crap has he left so many?"
"Probably shadow clones carrying objects that have taken their scent, like bed sheets, clothes, and headbands." Jiraiya whistled.
"That's a lot of shadow clones."
"Yeah, which leads us to the third reason. Naruto and Iruka are constantly on the move, even with Naruto leaving all the false trails. If things keep up like this, Naruto and Iruka might never be found." Jiraiya nodded.
"I can see your point. If I were to leave now, even I might not be able to find them, and I'd be looked for myself." He sighed. "I guess your right. I'll have to wait."
Neji smiled. Nice to know at least one of the Sannin was on their side.
~o~The Village Hidden in the Waves~o~
Iruka landed softly on the other side of the river and slid Naruto off his back, laying him down on the ground and shaking him awake. Naruto yawned, stretched, and then pulled a couple of scrolls out of his bag, unsealing them to reveal what was left of the items they had taken from his home. Iruka tossed Naruto his own scrolls, then left him to his trail laying and walked over to the river. He crouched, formed a few hand seals, and laid his hand on the surface of the river. The water frothed for a moment, then became still. Iruka nodded, stood back up, and returned to Naruto, who had also finished. They lept into the trees and continued on their journey.
~o~The Village Hidden in the Waves~o~
The Anbu landed on the tree and swore. It was gone again. He jumped back a couple of trees, pausing when he picked the scent back up. He turned and studied the area where the scent was going. It was only by complete accident that he saw it. In a fork of a branch in one of the trees were two ramen containers. The Anbu sighed and lept to the spot. Sure enough, there was blood smeared on the lids, holding the shavings of skin that had carried the smell of people but hidden the smell of the blood. The Anbu pulled out a scroll and sealed the containers into it. He then lept away to rejoin with his squad mates who had also hit a dead end.
This was honestly one of the most frustrating missions the Anbu had ever been on. Even when he had completely lost all traces of his prey, they had not been nearly as frustrating as this genin and chunin. Though it had gotten better once they had made it past the first month and the false trails had started to become rare.
Of course, even though they were annoying him to no end, the Anbu had to admit that he did feel some admiration for them as well. When they had started to run low on normal items that already had their scent, they started doing what they had done with the ramen cups. And it was definitely proving effectives. One of his team mates had four separate pairs of sticks for Kami's sake.
Fortunately for the Anbu, it hadn't rained in a long time, meaning the trail was still there. So even though their prey had led them all over Fire Country, up and down hills, and even through a couple of caves, the Anbu were always on their trail.
With a soft thud, the Anbu landed at the divergence point. Most of the Anbu team had returned from their own hunts already. The Anbu settled down to wait for the rest of the team to arrive so that they could divvy up the trails again, or, if an Anbu found the right trail and didn't return, to set out after him.
~o~The Village Hidden in the Waves~o~
Naruto yawned, stretched, and sat up. He felt a grin split his face when he opened his eyes. It hadn't been a dream after all, they had really stopped at a hotel to sleep for the first time in three months. Never before had a room looked so beautiful to the young rouge genin. It was a plain room, with bare, tan walls, two beds, a small table with a lamp on it, and a small writing desk with accompanying chair. He knew that for most of the clans in Konoha that lodgings like this would be pathetic. But it was definitely a step up from sleeping underneath the stars for three months. Especially when it was only on the back of someone who was still running. That was what their life had been like. They had not stopped to sleep once, just kept moving and occasionally hampering ANBU pursuit or switching who was carrying who. All that physical training Iruka had him do before they left had really paid off. Naruto doubted he would have been able to carry Iruka long distances before it.
Naruto jumped out of bed, trying to smooth out his wrinkled clothes. All of his possessions had been used to carry scents, so all he had left was what he was wearing. It was his black t-shirt, a pair of orange shorts, and his sandals. His headband had been one of the first things he had left behind, as a symbol that he had left Konoha for good. He was kinda disappointed that he lost the item that he had worked so hard to get, and his hair falling into his eyes was rather annoying, but when his village was set up he would get a new one, and it would be one that he could design himself. But until then, he really had to do something about his hair.
A quick glance at the other bed revealed that Iruka had already headed out. Figuring that he was downstairs getting breakfast, Naruto grabbed his bag and headed out the door. Sure enough, when he got down to the small cafeteria he found Iruka sitting alone at a round table eating eggs with toast, pancakes, sausage, and bacon. After weeks of having only nutrient bars to eat, supplemented by the occasional herb that Iruka found, the meal looked heavenly. Naruto grabbed his own plate, piled it high, and joined Iruka. He didn't even care that there wasn't any ramen.
Over the course of the meal, Naruto mentioned the problem with his hair. Iruka suggested that he get it cut at a barber's that Iruka had noticed when they had entered town. Naruto headed off to do just that while Iruka went through town to get info on exactly where they were so that they could plan their next move. Over the course of his investigation he learned that they had traveled across the entire width of River Country, and now where right on the border between it and Wind Country. Figuring that Naruto's hair cut would be done soon he headed to the barber's. The sight he found was not expected and could be quite a bit of a problem.
Naruto was standing only a couple feet from a very familiar team from Suna.
~o~The Village Hidden in the Waves~o~
Neji was on a hunt. The conversation that he had had with Jiraiya had assuaged some of his fears that the Sanin would prove to be a danger of some form or another. But it had raised two questions in Neji's mind that wouldn't go away. Who was Naruto's father, why would the Sanin feel like he owed him anything, and why wasn't anybody allowed to know about it? Also, why would Iruka-sensei being with Naruto explain why the ANBU were having a hard time? The man was an amazing teacher, but really only a mediocre warrior. Surely the ANBU would make short work of the man in a fight, wouldn't they?
It was the hunt for the answers to these questions that had led Neji to his current location, the mausoleum of Ninja knowledge, the labyrinth of learning, the Great Library of Konoha. Unfortunately, the section he was in, called Ninja History, was mostly like the graveyard for old scrolls that few people wanted to read. Every time he brushed against something, dust billowed into the air, causing him to sneeze, which led him to bump into more objects on occasion. It was obvious that no one paid much attention to the place, because along with the dust, the section had no real sorting system, and even if it had it wouldn't have matter much since most of the scrolls were scattered in piles on almost every surface as if they had just been tossed in, leaving the shelfs almost completely bare.
Naturally, this made finding anything incredibly difficult.
Neji had been spending most of his time since talking to the great toad sage going through the mess. Any knowledge he could figure out could only help Naruto, after all. Not to mention the occasional jutsu scroll he had run across and hidden in his room until he could send them to Naruto.
He had started off in an area close to the door, first removing all the scrolls that remained on the shelf, then going through them one by one to make sure they held nothing of importance. If they didn't, they got placed on the now empty shelf. If it looked like they contained something interesting he would sneak them out of the library and go over them closely when he was at home. So far he hadn't learned much, but he had found a few scrolls that had information on Danzo.
It wasn't much, just a couple snippets from his genin days. Like he had always wanted to be Hokage, and he had been with the Nidaime Hokage and his squad when the Sandaime got the job. The man had been at odds with the men wearing the hat ever since.
Neji sighed. I'm wasting my time. I haven't found anything really worth while at all, except a few minor jutsu scrolls that don't really have any spectacular techniques on them...maybe I should just stop...wait a second...what is this?
Neji had been casually looking over a random scroll that contained some history about the third shinobi world war. It had looked like it had contained nothing of real importance, but something had caught his eye. It was a small section detailing a series of confrontations. Apparently a force of Iwa nin had pushed Konoha forces back several miles, all the way to a small river. Most of the Konoha force had fallen in battle, and it had seemed like the others would die as well. But then a brand new chunin by the name of Umino Iruka stepped forward and...
~o~The Village Hidden in the Waves~o~
It was a calm, peaceful afternoon. The sun shown brightly down on the world underneath it, and there wasn't more than a very faint breeze. Most trees barely stirred.
The trees on the border between Fire Country and River Country were a different story. They shook heavily, soft thumps coming from them, as a group of Konoha ANBU lept through them in chase of a prey who had passed through several weeks before.
The group was moving at high speed when the trees ended. The river was just a short jump from the trees, and thus a logical place for a ninja to land. Two tracker ninja, a little ways before the rest, did just that.
They didn't get any farther.
Blood suddenly exploded from their feet, as if someone had brutally shoved several kunai into them. The ANBU screamed as their legs buckled, dropping them face-first onto the water. More blood exploded upward from the bodies in the same way it had their feet, killing them instantly. They sank slowly beneath the water as the current pulled them down stream.
The team leader, following almost right behind, swore as he saw what happened. Snagging a tree branch as he dropped past, he swung himself around to safety, hooking a foot around the new recruit that had been beside him. All around the rest of the group was doing the same.
"What the heck just happened?" one of the ANBU demanded. "How the crap did they just die?"
"It must have been Iruka."
"Wha?" the ANBU asked the team leader, shocked. "How could he have done this? He's just an academy instructor!" the team leader shook his head.
"You don't know a lot about what happened to some of our most notable shinobi during the third war, do you?" the ANBU shook his head. "Well, not all of them rose to major prominence like the Yondaime did. In fact, most of them slid back into oblivion, preferring to just get a bit away from the fighting, at least for a while. One of these was actually a really big annoyance to Kumo, I don't remember exactly what he was called. Something to do with water. Anyway, no one else has been able to figure out his trick, but somehow he is able to plant techniques into water and have them stay there until something triggers them, something like a person landing on them. After the war, he decided that he had enough of the fighting and killing. Of course, the assassination teams Kumo kept sending to try to get rid of him probably had something to do with it. But anyway, he decided that he would much rather stay at home and teach at the academy. Dang it, I feel stupid. It's been so long, I completely forgot about his reputation." the rest of the group shook themselves from their shocked stupors when they realized he was done.
"But, I had heard that Iruka wasn't that much of a fighter." one of the ANBU murmured. The leader snorted.
"Not in a head to head fight, no. He doesn't really have many fighting jutsu. But he didn't become a chunin for nothing. He's smart, and he doesn't need to see you to kill you. We'll have to avoid going over the water. Dang it, this is going to take even more time!"
The group once again started launching itself through the trees, but this time they were going out of their way to find a safe path.
~o~The Village Hidden in the Waves~o~
"What exactly is going on here?" Iruka questioned as he appeared near the group, positioning his body so that he could protect both himself and Naruto if the need arose. Everyone's eyes swiveled to him, Naruto's face brightening into a smile while the Suna team studied him without expression.
"Iruka-sensei! It's about time you showed up. I was just talking to Gaara and his team." Iruka's eyebrow went up.
"Isn't this the team that nearly killed you and your team during the chunin exams?" Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but Gaara beat him to it.
"Yes, I did try to kill them. However, the way Naruto fought, and the reasons behind his strength, made me realize that I had made several mistakes. I have tried to change, so as to become as strong as him. Don't worry, we mean you no harm. Though I do have to ask you something." Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head when he heard Gaara complimenting him. Iruka tilted his head and motioned for the Suna nin to go on. "What are you doing here? We heard that Naruto had abandoned Konoha. Is this true? And if so, why?" Naruto's grin faded, and he adjusted his body to a more defensive position as he became more solemn and realized that the people across from him could attack him again. Iruka hesitated for a moment, before answering carefully. He fully realized that the relations between the two groups rested upon his and Naruto's answers. If the Suna didn't like the answer too much they were liable to try to capture them and return them to Konoha.
"Things in Konoha have...changed. The Sandaime Hokage was killed during your attack on the village, and the new Hokage has...changed...several things within Konoha. I don't know his reasons behind wanting to leave, but he convinced me to come with him to help him start a village that would live up to the ideals of the previous Hokage." The Suna team just nodded slightly and turned their attention to Naruto without comment.
"I left the village because I do not trust the new Hokage. It's not just because he doesn't support my own ideals, or the ideals of those I believe in. I don't trust that he would lead the village appropriately. He wasn't in power for long, but already I could see some things that he was doing that could have led the village to ruin in that short time. The main one was that he had the vast majority of the ANBU watching his own ninja. It was obvious that he didn't trust a lot of us. And the way I see it, if a leader doesn't trust most of his fighting force, then he doesn't need to be leading them."
The Suna team tilted their heads, then turned towards each other and held a mini whispered conference. Naruto and Iruka waited anxiously for the team's verdict, knowing full well that their reaction could very well destroy everything that they had hoped to achieve. They could feel the seconds tick by, and the longer it took, the more likely it seemed that their doom was approaching. Everything around them seemed to stand out in clearer focus, as if they were trying to memorize the sight of what might be the last peaceful scene they would be able to see alive. They could see the plain, yet pleasing houses on the street. The possible avenues of escape, and the ones that could at least lessen the damage to the village. They could see the civilians, walking cheerfully about, blissfully unaware that their small, peaceful village could be seconds away from being utterly desolated.
Their attention snapped fully onto the Suna team when they saw them nod and turn back to face their direction. Naruto could feel sweat sliding down his back as Temari stepped forward, talking for the first time.
"We understand your reasons, and support you in your cause. You have our solemn pledge that we will not try to capture you, nor will we give any information that you tell us away to anyone else." Naruto and Iruka both sighed and visibly relaxed.
"So your just going to let us go?" Iruka asked in relief. Kankuro smiled and shook his head.
"Not quite." Iruka raised an eyebrow. "We have noticed a few similar disturbing things in our own government. While a new Kazekage has yet to be elected, a few unsettling characters that would never have even been considered before are now becoming likely candidates. Normally neither that nor the fact that they think of ninja as just tools would bother us, but it goes beyond that." Baki took it up from there.
"Suspicion has been tossed around like a bag of exploding tags. That's not too abnormal, but it's worse now than it had been. Anyone who suggests that the village changes to being less militaristic is suspected of being a traitor. It also seems like Danzo is getting a large amount of influence on the inner workings of Suna. We're not sure just how long we can trust them."
"And what does this have to do with us?" Iruka asked. Gaara turned to him and answered.
"We want to go with you." Iruka staggered back in shock, while Naruto tilted his head in consideration. Iruka turned to watch Naruto. It was his idea, after all, so he figured it should be his decision. Naruto thought about it, mulling the possibilities in his mind and how they could affect his future plans. After a moment he nodded to himself and rose his head to give his answer.
"Perhaps later, but not right now." Gaara opened his mouth to interrupt, but Naruto forestalled him with a hand. "Let me explain. I'm sure that if I had tried, I could have convinced several of me friends in Konoha to leave with me, but I didn't. Why not? Because it was much easier to sneak out of Konoha with just two people instead of more. Including just one more person would have made things more complicated. And while yes, we are out of Konoha, we aren't out of the woods yet. We are still on the run, still being followed, and until we find somewhere to set up and are able to put up some security, it will be much easier for just Iruka and I to travel together than for all six of us too. However, once we do get things set up and ready for you, I would be happy to have you guys come and join me. Just remember, it will be under my conditions." The Suna shinobi reluctantly nodded at this logic. Seeing this, Naruto turned to Baki.
"How high up in the Suna government are you?" Baki raised an eyebrow at the question.
"I am only a Jonin, but I have a good bit of influence in the counsel. Once I am no longer needed as a sensei I will probably become a member of it. Why?"
"I have someone in a good position to give me information on Danzo movements back in Konoha, and I think it would be best if I had someone giving inside information in Suna as well, especially if I'm going to be receiving runaways from there. Would you mind filling that position?" Baki looked surprised, but nodded his head in agreement. "Thank you. Now then, would you happen to know where a good port to the east is?"
~o~The Village Hidden in the Waves~o~
The ANBU had reached the village. It had taken them longer than it should have, because they had to try to avoid the water traps Iruka had put in place. Even then, they had lost several more men, and most of them were hurt to some degree. Not only had there been traps on the rivers, but there had been some in the trees. Like a canteen of water that exploded when an ANBU got too close and flung blades of ice up to ten yards. Their morale was running low, they were hurt and irritable, and they were starting to get tired.
So it was no real surprise that almost everyone was freaking out and wanting to turn back.
They had tracked their preys scents to a village. No big deal, at first. It meant that the prey had slowed down, and weren't as far ahead as they could have been. But then the ANBU had found four other scents, and these left with their prey. It seemed as though they had four new enemies. And with the amount of trouble just two had been giving them, trying to find six might very well kill them.
So the group of ANBU was currently a mile away from the village yelling and screaming at each other for various reasons. The only thing any of them seemed to agree on was that they didn't want to go on.
So of course it was the one thing that they absolutely had to do.
Eventually the leader managed to make them see that they had to go on, and so with a lot of grumbling the group set off again.
~o~The Village Hidden in the Waves~o~
"Thanks for taking us here. Now you should get back to Suna before they start to wonder why you are taking so long." The team from Suna nodded solemnly. They didn't bother to try to convince the two people with whom they were talking to change their minds and take them with them, as they had already tried several times during the trip.
The group was standing at the end of a dock. Tied to the dock was a medium sized boat, prepared and ready to leave. All it needed was its last two passengers.
"Don't forget to contact me when you get settled in." Gaara said, making Naruto smirk and respond, "I won't forget, now stop nagging me and get moving." Turning his back, Naruto walked onto the ship, followed by Iruka. The Suna team watched as the ship set sail, then turned away and left the village, one thought resonating throughout all of their minds.
I hope they make it to Tea safely.
~o~The Village Hidden in the Waves~o~
The ANBU team sighed a collective sigh of relief. Normally, they would be worried, or even angry, that their prey had escaped them, though it had more to do with the punishment that came with it. But they all knew that nothing Danzo could cook up could compare to the hell they had just lived through for the past months. They didn't even bother trying to track the four extra scents. After all, they had not been ordered to track them, and they only led them to a port. The ANBU team just turned around and started the journey home.
A/N: so, the plot thickens, and naruto and iruka finally escape from the ANBU, with a little help. so, what do you guys think of iruka's abilities? this is my way of getting around the fact that iruka seems to be a worthless fighter. i didn't want him to just be able to be a teacher, but it's been made very plain in canon that iruka is not much of a head-on fighter...
anyway, shoutout to DhampyrX2 for inspiring the Neji/Jiraiya scene. how did i do?
so to answer a few questions i recieved:
-rev: You know, given the map showed behind Kushina when she did the flashback about her past, Wave Country could very easily BE Whirlpool Country, which means the ruins of Uzushiogakure could be there for Naruto and Iruka to resurrect.
-rep: according to the map i am using, which has a link on my account page if you want to look at it, Wave and Whirlpool are two different countries. so no Naruto resurrecting old clan village or anything. sorry.
-rev: Hinata isn't a pairing is she?
-rep: Hinata may or may not be a pairing. to see, you'll just have to read on. however, i hope that you do not let the pairings that i have chosen for this story to stop you from reading and enjoying it.