Hey guys this ones a little bit longer. sorry if it seems rushed. if it hadn't been so it would have been a really really short chapter. well, read review and enjoy. loves.

So I'm leaving. The village that is. I just can't take it anymore. Call me selfish I don't care. If he wants me, he'll wait for me to come back. I told Baa-chan I wanted to leave and she suggested I take on an 'extended mission' basically she told me to travel and write her letters about it, classified as reports. She agreed not to tell anyone where I was going or what I was doing. So basically I'm taking a useful vacation. All expenses paid of course. She says I can be gone as long as I want, I'm betting around three or four months, not too long, just long enough to let the dust settle. Just long enough to see where we still stand when I get back.

Its not him I want to leave, believe me, I'll miss him. I just have to get away from what he's doing. It's the only way I can see to ease any tension. I really should tell him, but I'm not going to. I've only told two people I'm leaving, Baa-chan and Iruka. Iruka suggested I tell Kakashi, seeing as he knows about us, but that he respects my wishes and won't tell him for me. I don't want to tell Kakashi because I want him to realize I'm not waiting around forever for him. Maybe he'll make up his mind whether he wants me or not. I leave within the day. I leave in the cover of night, nobody will see me leave and nobody will probably care one way or another. So with Iruka's blessing and Tsunade's seal of approval I packed and left the only place I'd called home and the only people I'd called friends.

I just started walking. I walked away from konoha swiftly and steadily, I walked until I collapsed and set up my camp. I did this for a few days and found myself traveling through Suna. I decided to stop and say hello and stock up on more supplies. After, I started walking again. I also started doing a small amount of workouts to stay in shape. Every day he was in every though, every letter asked about him every day was lonlier without him but I made myself endure. I told myself it would be better this way in the end.

Tsunade sent me replies to my letters, keeping me informed in the going ons in the village. She never mentioned the silver haired jonin. Perhaps I didn't want her too. It always disappointed me when I didn't hear about him though. But one day as I unfolded her letter a piece of paper fluttered to the ground. I set the letter aside and picked it up. Two words were written on it in simple handwriting. No name was needed to know who it was from. Miss You. It probably took all he had just to get her to send the scrap of paper with the letter. I'm glad he did.

So weeks went by in my self proclaimed banishment, weeks melded into months and the days flew by. I traveled to many new villages and cities. I met many new people. New people who didn't know me, who didn't know my past or look down upon me, new people who accepted me as one of their own. Fan clubs took root and I was ecstatic that for once it was I who was in the spotlight. And this spotlight was not one of judgment, but of adoration. Getting showered with gifts from pretty girls and being invited to play games with the other boys or being able to impress somebody with your ninja skills, these small things make the biggest difference. I really wondered what I had missed all my years of life.

I traveled so long a year came and left and another was closing in fast. I still had that scrap of paper folded up neatly and stuffed in my pocket. I couldn't wait to get back to him, but I wasn't done. Not yet. I wasn't done feeling accepted and loved. I wasn't done finding new ways to impress people; I wasn't done being showered with hand sewn clothing. I wasn't done being a normal person. I craved the attention I was receiving I had never felt anything like it before. Pure acceptance for who you are, not what's inside you. I loved all of the small villages and the big cities. So many new things to look at, I stuffed bags full of souvenirs to take back with me. Soon my second year closed in and I was ready to go home.

I packed all of my stuff and headed back to konoha. It was a long trip and it took me almost a month just to get back. Armed with bagfuls of souvenirs and dressed in my newest outfit I walked through the gates of the leaf village. The first place I visited was Tsunade. She made me sit and tell her everything. Even anything I'd already told her. I showed her and told her about each souvenir and the new cloths and new tricks I'd learned. I told her about the friends and the places and she listened eagerly until I was out of things to tell her. By this time the sun was starting to set. She handed me some money with a smile and told me to go buy me some ramen for dinner. I readily headed down to the ramen bar. I passed friends along the way each saying we'd have to get together later and catch up. Each giving me a small smile and going about their business.

Iruka found me walking towards my dinner and accompanied me. He made me repeat my stories until he had to leave. He bid me farewell with a wave and a smile and a promise to continue when he wasn't so busy. At least he'd made an effort I thought. There was still one certain person I hadn't seen yet. I continued to eat slowly and enjoy being home when I heard the soft footfalls of someone entering the ramen bar and the creek of the bench next to me as someone sat down.

I was pretty sure I knew who it was. My heart thudded in my chest and butterflies did back flips in my stomach. I set my chopsticks down as my hands trembled. It was quiet for quite a while. The silence was deafening and the air was oppressive and hard to breath. But the tense stillness was broken with one softly spoken word.

"Naruto"