Chapter Three

"Hmm, you're rather silent, Naru-kun."

"…"

"Oh, so you've given up fighting me? Smart boy."

"I hate you."

"Shh, you shouldn't say such things Naru-kun."

"Ngh, n-no. I hate you. I ha-ngh ah!"

"Doesn't it feel good Naru-kun? I'm enjoying myself."

"I hate you. I hate you. I hate you!"

"If you hate me so much, how come you won't tell your mommy?"

"M-mommy…she won't…"

"She won't believe you will she?"

"…"

"Guess I'm right, and you are my prize, Naru-kun!"

"N-no! Ngguh!"

"So Naruto-san,"

Naruto looked up from the meal he was having with Tazuna's family and focused on Mikoto. "What is the reason you wish to go to Uzu no Kuni, if you don't mind me asking." Tazuna was curious as well with Naruto giving a thoughtful frown.

"I don't really know myself honestly," Naruto told her. "I just feel drawn there. The ruins you speak of belonged to the clan of my mother, the Uzumaki. I guess, I'm hoping to find something there that will give me more insight on them, I guess." Naruto shrugged with the two adults humming.

It's been two days since Naruto had shown up on their doorstep offering his help. Tazuna was in fact very thankful for the aid, as he was taken by surprise how efficent and quickly Naruto worked. He often used his ninjutsu, a shadow clone jutsu, he had called it to multiply in numbers and give more effort to the bridge being built. Hell they were now ahead of schedule!

It also helped that Naruto got along with everyone, somehow giving them the hope they had lost after Kaiza's death. Not only did he spend time helping with the bridge, but the town as well. Helping whoever needed help, which was making him quite popular rather fast, and it's only been two days! The young man was a delight to have, a bit quiet, but very inspiring, educated and kind. The only one who didn't seem to be warming up to him, was Inari, which was understandable.

"You know Naruto-san," Tazuna spoke up. "You said and showed you are trained in the shinobi arts, what village did you come from?" he wondered with Naruto giving a thoughtful expression. He was debating if he should share or not, but in the end decided it wouldn't hurt.

"I came from Konoha," Naruto answered. "I had just graduated the academy before I left."

"Why'd you leave?" Tsunami wondered. "Don't you have any family?"

"I do, my parents and by brother and sister," Naruto said with a small smile. "I left because…I just felt the need too," Naruto frowned in small thought. "There are some things I need to do on my own and figure out myself, and I feel that including my family would only bring heartache and pain." He then gave a hum as he sipped his tea. "They are no doubt looking for me."

"You don't want them to find you?"

"No. Not yet at least," he sighed as he sat back. "My mother is very…protective so to speak," Tsunami noticed how his eyes lowered and there was a flash of pain there which made her frown deeply. "She is probably the one looking for me, and if she found me there is nothing I could say that will make her understand. She will try and convince me but…" he then gave a shake of his head. "I can't be convinced. Not this time,"

"Do you ever plan on going back home?"

"Of course. When I'm ready," Naruto smiled before he stood up. "Excuse me," he bowed lightly. After putting his plate in the sink, he left the room.

He needed some air.

"I don't get this!"

Kushina shared in Tsume's annoyance due to the fact they were currently lost. How were they lost? Well… "How does this kid have eight different scents all going in different directions?!" Tsume demanded as she and Kuromaru looked around. "Can't even tell which one is the real one,"

"Splitting up isn't a very good option," Yoshino grumbled with crossed arms as she was trying to think of the best plan. "I'm starting to believe that Naruto really did leave on his own accord," she mentioned. That was something Kushina did not want to hear, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

"Do we know which one is the strongest?" Mikoto wondered with Tsume and Kuromaru sniffing around. It's been two days since they set out to find Naruto, and they had been given a good trail until they entered a clearing and there was eight different paths that had his scent. It was as if Naruto had literally been leading them by the nose. "Whichever is strongest should be the direction he headed in, no?"

"That's the issue." Tsume growled, huffing. "I can't tell which one is strongest, they all have the same strength which makes me believe that none of them are the real path. One leads to Tanzaku town, another leads to the Final Valley, another leads to Wave country, and there are others that don't seem really important. One of them is even Hi no Kuni port," Tsume explained.

"It doesn't help that these scents are getting weaker and weaker by the minute," Kuromaru added in. "There is nothing much we can do besides take an educated guess and go one way or take each trail."

"Taking each trail will only waste time," Yugao muttered in response. "We need to take an educated guess, but how do we even assess that?"

"Minato set up this team specifically because we all know Naruto pretty well," Yoshino spoke, beginning to use her head. "Tsume you trained him how to properly work together with animals of all kinds, to form a connection," Yoshino started with Tsume nodding. "Yugao, you helped him with his Kenjutsu training during academy hours and give him a feel how Anbu works," Yugao nodded as well. "Mikoto, you are his god aunt so naturally you spent quite a bit of time with him. Kushina is his mother which is obvious, and Shikaku and I aided him with shinobi tactics and such," Yoshino finished. As she began pacing around.

"Naruto isn't dumb, far from it. If he truly did leave on his own, that means he's been planning this for some time, giving him enough time to put several plans in place and analyze what he should, if he did not want to be found," Yoshino spoke aloud with the rest of them listening closely. "There is probably a high chance he knew Minato would set up a rather strong squad to find him. Not to fight him, but to reason with him," Yoshino continued, continuing her pacing.

"He knew there would be a tracker as well as someone with intellect. He also knew his mother would be sent along, which makes three for sure that he could plan for," Yoshino hummed. "Hence why we are stuck right now, stumped and frustrated," she then paused and gazed at the ground before giving a small smirk. "We have to calm down and think about Naruto, each path that has been laid out and why he would choose such."

The rest of the squad began to understand and Tsume spoke, "There are eight paths. Tanzaku town, Hi no Kuni port, Nami no Kuni, Final Valley, Fire Temple, Kawa no kuni, the Capital, and Tenchi bridge." Hearing all of this made them frown in thought.

"Why would he go to any of these places?" Yugao muttered in thought. "If he wanted to get away, then Hi no Kuni port as well as Final valley would make sense." The others glanced to her in agreement. "He could by a boat at the port and set sail, or he could cross the border entering Ta no Kuni. Even Nami no kuni would do the same purpose,"

"Yeah," Mikoto nodded in agreement. "Tanzaku town wouldn't be a place he'd actually go too, neither would the Capital. If he's trying to get away, going to places within Hi no Kuni or places allied with Konoha wouldn't be smart because we could reach him," Mikoto reasoned, causing Yoshino to nod in agreement.

"Tenchi bridge is on the way to Kusagakure, not to mention not very far from Tsuchi no Kuni," Kushina grumbled in thought. Naruto wouldn't go there, it would mean potential conflict due to who he is related too. Though he could handle himself he probably prefer not to fight as it would draw attention to himself. "That leaves the Valley, the Port and Nami no Kuni."

"They are the only reasonable options left, though we have to figure out what is connected with each place that would make him choose," Yoshino spoke. "I personally don't believe he would choose Nami no Kuni. There is no other place close by to that place, plus it's a small country. Sure if he wanted to hide out there he could, but he could still be reached," Yoshino explained which caused the others to nod in agreement.

"So Nami no Kuni is out of the running, which only leaves the Port and the valley," Tsume listed. "The port could take him anywhere really, and if he left by boat then he is out of our reach because we don't know where he would go," Tsume muttered which made Kushina scowl. She did not want to think of that. The thought of her son being further out of reach from her was…heartbreaking. Didn't mean she would give up though.

"We should split up," Yugao suggested, earning raised eye brows from her team. "We have narrowed down the paths to two. Some of us go to the port, ask around while the others including Tsume go to the Valley and catch any trace of Naruto,"

"It is a plausible idea," Kuromaru supported. "Besides we've wasted enough time discussing all of this. Any more time and the further he gets away." Kushina agreed with him, giving a nod, deciding she would go to the valley with Tsume. Once the split was decided, the kunoichi took off.

None of them took notice of the small bird sitting in the tree watching them the whole time.

"Do you mind if I sit?"

Inari blinked as he looked to see Naruto standing beside him as he sat on the porch. The boy gave a shrug and Naruto sat down beside him, gazing at the moon. The two were comfortably silent for a little bit before Naruto decided to speak, "Your mom told me about what happened to your dad." Inari's body tensed and he balled up his fists. "Now I get why you're afraid of Gato."

"You don't get anything," Inari huffed, causing Naruto to glance at him. The blond remained silent for a little bit before he gave a small smile.

"He was your hero." Inari turned to Naruto with a somewhat surprised expression. "He was your hero, and Gato took him away from you. He made you believe that heroes don't exist. He took away your hope," Naruto frowned. Naruto then gave a small smile, "Heroes exist Inari," Naruto told him which caused the boy to glare. "You may not believe me, and it's okay that you don't. But they do, and I'm going to show you they do," Naruto smiled as he stood with a determined smirk. "Because I'm going to save this place so you can have hope again that things will get better,"

"How can you be so sure things get better huh?! You don't know what its like! Having to struggle or knowing how hard life can be!" Inari yelled at him though Naruto had a thoughtful expression. "Heroes don't exist in this stupid world! They can't always save you!"

"You're right," Naruto agreed quietly as he gazed at the moon. "They can't always save you. Sometimes you have to save yourself, by being your own hero," Naruto closed his eyes as he slowly shook his head. "And sometimes, you have to be a hero for others, even if they don't know it. Life is hard, but there is always someone whose had it harder." Naruto shrugged as he opened his eyes to look at Inari.

"I grew up with my parents, a brother and sister. They love me and would do anything for me, but…I had to save myself at a young age, and I had to save them. In a different twist my life was hard, hell it still is," Naruto chuckled humorlessly. "But I have hope, knowing it will get better, maybe some day, easier. Till then, I'm going to keep fighting, keep believing," Naruto then gave a silly grin to Inari. "I won't give up, until I know that those I care about, are safe." With that said, Naruto turned and left, leaving Inari to his thoughts.

As he walked away, the blond stopped as a small bird flew towards him and perched itself on his finger. It chirped quite a bit and Naruto hummed quietly to himself. "Thank you," he bowed his head and the bird gave a cheerful chirp before flying away. As it left Naruto thought about what he was told. A squad of Konoha ninja were searching for him however they completely skipped over his true location for the time being. Knowing his mother, once she felt she ran out of options, she would take steps back to give herself options to explore.

He had a week at best before she came to Wave country. He would hope that the bridge would be done by then and he would be half way to Uzu no Kuni. He hummed to himself as he headed back inside the house.

He would need to think of a plan.

"I can't believe this,"

"It has to do with something bigger," Yoshino grumbled as she and her group were walking around town of Wave country. It's been maybe a week since they had come to the decision of going to the Valley and the port, only to find out that he had been at neither. Thus Kushina had decided to go to each path at full speed, with the rest of them following, looking for her son.

Wave country and the Fire temple were the only places left they had yet to look, and Kushina chose Wave country. So here they were, strolling down the street of the rather…vibrant town? As they looked around, they saw what looked to be people celebrating as the vibe they were giving off was happiness. They really wondered why so they had decided to ask a local what the celebration was about. They were then told that Gato and his goons had been slaughtered and the Great Naruto Bridge had finished being built.

Thus why Tsume and Yoshino were a bit ticked off. Kushina demanded where Naruto was and she was told he was probably still on the bridge with Tazuna, putting on some finishing touches. Once she got the direction of the bridge, Kushina bolted there as fast as she could with Mikoto right behind her. It took them a couple of minutes to reach the bridge and upon doing so, Kushina couldn't help see a gasp upon seeing her son standing in the middle of the bridge, seemingly waiting for them. "Naruto…"

"Kaa-san," Naruto greeted with a nod. Nothing held Kushina back from running towards her son and pulling him into a hug which he didn't return right away. He said nothing as she fussed over him, planting kisses over him and telling him how worried she was. "Why are you here, Kaa-san?"

Kushina blinked, looking confused as she looked at him. "Why am I here? I'm here for you baka! Why'd you leave home?" she demanded looking at him and he gazed at her in silence. "Naruto! Answer me, please?" Kushina requested with a worried expression.

"I can't." Naruto told her with a shrug. "Just know that I'm not going home," he expressed which made her narrow her eyes at him. "I love you Kaa-san, I do. But this is something I have to do on my own. I was hoping to be long gone before you ever came here,"

"Naruto, sweetie. You aren't making any sense," Kushian sighed. "What do you mean you have to do this on your own? Do what? Because right now, everyone else is worried sick about you. I'm worried about you! You just up and leave with no explanation, purely nothing like you vanished in thin air,"

"That was the idea. Like it is now," Naruto kissed her cheek before he disappeared in a puff of smoke which made her eyes wide as she looked around but then noticed something, there was no one to be found. Mikoto who had been behind her was gone as well, there was no one besides her. Its then when everything clicked to her.

"That little asshole!"

She was in a Genjutsu.

Naruto's brow twitched as he received news from his clone and he made a sign, releasing the Genjutsu. He had set it up right before he left, causing it to trigger as soon as the Konoha's squad chakra signatures stepped foot in town. Everyone was caught in the genjutsu, minutes feeling like hours to them as they stood there in a daze. Not even Mikoto's sharingan could break it until it was too late.

By the time they would even begin looking for him again, he would be…

"We arrived sir," he heard and looked to the boat driver who gave him a smile. Naruto gave a small smirk as he stood up and looked towards the docks they were approaching which looked quite worn and old from non-use.

"Welcome to Uzu no Kuni."