As Naruto leapt through the trees away from the village, he wondered if they would send anyone to chase after him, or if they would be happy to be rid of him and not bother; either way he didn't care. There was only two things that Naruto cared about: His poor girlfriend he had left behind in the village. He missed her already, but he knew they would eventually see each other again; and his vengeance on the leaf village for driving him out and accusing him of something he had no control over. So as far as he was concerned, his old home would pay, dearly. After about an hour of travel through the forest, Naruto came across a clearing, it looked as though there was no one around so he decided this would be a good enough place as any to camp for the night.

The morning after Naruto's departure, Hinata had woken up early, as she lay in her bed all she could think of was Naruto.

'Naruto, I hope you come back soon.'

Deciding it was best to get her mind off it, Hinata got up, took a shower, got dressed and went for a walk around the village until it was time to go train with her team.

While she was on her walk, she ran into a couple of your friends, Sakura and Ino who were walking around chatting. And when they say Hinata they waved her over.

"Hey, Hinata long time no see."

Walking over to them, "Yes, it's good to see you."

Both their faces turn serious, "So Hinata. Did you hear about Naruto?"

Feigning confusion, "No, what happened."

Bursting out loud, "That no good demon, killed my precious Sasuke-kun." Ino yells.

Hearing Ino's insult to Naruto, made her a little mad. She already heard from him the night he left what the village had said happened, but to hear this from the people who were supposed to be his friends, Hinata didn't know what to think.

Turning to Sakura, "Is that the way you feel too Sakura?"

Looking away for a minute, then turning back with tears running down her face. "Yes, I never want to see that bastard again."

Not wanting to hear anymore, Hinata spoke up, a little louder than normal. "What gives you the right to say such things about him? Naruto is, in no way, a demon and how dare you say that about someone who is supposed to be your friend."

"After what he did? Why do you still care so much?"

"Because I love him, and people shouldn't be saying such heinous things about him, after all he's done for this village." After she was finished, Hinata turned away from them and started walking in the other direction, leaving the two girls shocked and a little irritated.

After she was a good distance away from where they were. Hinata was shocked, never had she ever been that bold, let alone enough to argue back to people.

Naruto woke up feeling groggy, remembering what had happened the day before. What was he going to do? He had nowhere to go, but one thing was for certain, he had to find a way to make the Hidden Leaf pay.

After waking up, Naruto packed up his belongings and continued on his way. Walking in no particular direction, Naruto was deep in thought, 'What am I going to do now, I need some help if I'm going to accomplish my new goal, but who?'

Brought out of his thoughts by the sensation of powerful chakra in front of him, he pulled out a kunai and jumped back, looking up in a nearby tree he saw two individuals standing on a high branch, one was fairly tall with black hair, and the other was a lot taller than the first, and had a giant bandaged sword on his back, but the one thing these two had in common was there cloaks: black with red clouds.

"Itachi Uchiha…and Kisame? You two again?"

"Don't be alarmed Naruto, we did not come here to fight you, we just want to talk." Itachi spoke.

"If so, then what do you want with me?" Naruto responded, still on guard.

"We know what happened in the village yesterday, and we know that you abandoned the village."

"Yeah, and what of it? You going to criticize me?"

"No, in fact we come with a proposal."

"A proposal? What is it?"

"You are a rogue ninja with nowhere to go, and we've seen what incredible power you possess. Join us, and take vengeance on the people who wronged you."

Shocked by the surprising turn of events, Naruto thought for a minute.

'This is exactly what I needed to achieve my goal'

"Hehe, alright, I accept your offer.

"Very well Naruto. Come with us."

Following the two rogue ninja, Naruto had a sly grin on his face. 'This is perfect, hehehe.'

After about an hour of silent travel they came upon a steep cliff.

"So, why are we stopping?" Naruto questioned.

"Hold on a minute." Retorted Kisame. As Itachi walked up to the side of the cliff, after performing a few hand signs, a portion of the Cliffside began to crack and crumble away, leaving what looked like the entrance to a hallway.

"This is our hideout, it's here that you'll meet the other members of our organization." Informed Kisame, as he and Naruto followed Itachi inside.

Inside was a long hallway that seemed to go on forever, but when they finally reached the end, it turned into a large, dark room. When they entered Naruto looked around the room for anything but it was too dark to see anything.

"Welcome, Naruto Uzumaki, we have been expecting you." An ominous voice rang out from the darkness.

"W-who's there?"

Torches lighting up the room revealed the presence of a larger group of people. Naruto counted six more people in the room.

"We have all gathered here to welcome you, as our newest member." Spoke itachi walking towards the group. "I am the leader of the Akatsuki, so from now on you receive your orders from me, understood?"

"I understand." Responded Naruto.

"Good, now I'll introduce you, you already know me and Kisame. Deidara:"

A blonde man with his hair in a high ponytail stepped forward, "That's me, don't wear it out, hmm"

"Sasori" A younger looking man with red hair stepped up, "Don't annoy me, or ill add you to my collection."

"Hidan" A man with silver hair and a large triple-bladed scythe came into view, "I must provide more sacrifices for Lord Jashin."

"Kakuzu" A masked man stepped forward. "…"

"Nagato" A skinny man with straight red hair came up. "It is my mission to find true peace."

"And Konan" A woman with blue hair followed suit. "Greetings Naruto Uzumaki."

"For the next two years we will each be helping to train you, and when you are ready, we will begin our work." Instructed Itachi, pulling out a kunai.

"What are you doing?"

"Let me see your headband?"

"What for?" Naruto responded, taking his forehead protector off and handing it to Itachi.

"Hold on." he answered as he put a scratch through his hidden leaf headband.

"There, all of your ties to the hidden leaf have now been severed." Itachi said returning it to Naruto.