RUN AWAY AND NEVER RETURN
"Naruto... what have you done?" The voice was like a smooth knife cutting through the tense, now night, air.
He didn't know how long he had lay there with the body of his father, having wrapped Minato's arm around him quite some time ago so he could snuggle into his chest and preserve what little warmth the large body had left.
The blond boy glanced up to see his 'Uncle' standing there staring down at him with a look of almost disgust.
"I -- It was an accident."
"Accident?"
"T -- They came and t -- tried to save me, it was an accident... I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
Orochimaru leaned forward and pulled the boy gently from his dead father's arms and wrapped his own snake-like arms around him. Naruto buried his head into the green vest and began crying again.
"Of course you didn't, no one... ever means for these things to happen." The taller man gently pushed the boy away a little and bent to his height so he could wipe away the boy's tears when he noticed something that had not been there before this day. Three marks on each cheek looking a lot like whiskers.
"But the Hokage is dead. If it weren't for you he'd still be alive." Orochimaru stood to his full height, because of the darkness Naruto didn't notice the evil glare the long haired sanin had shot his father's body, nor the three ninja that were behind him in the trees.
"What would your friends think? The village?" Orochimaru asked as if pondering a negative outcome.
"What am I going to do?"
"Run."
"Run?"
"Yes, run away and never return."
Naruto didn't need to be told a third time, he quickly turned and began sprinting his way into the night, had he looked back even once he would have seen the sound ninja make their appearance from behind their master.
"Kill him."
Naruto ran as fast as his legs would carry him when he head a loud laugh that was all to familiar to him. Why now, why now did they have to come and make his life harder than it already was?
"Hehe come back 'ere kid!" Dosu screamed after him.
"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto yelled and suddenly there were about thirty different Naruto's all making their way to different places.
"What the --" Kabuto started when he was tripped by a Naruto who smirked at him before it disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Find the original." Kimimaro ordered as he sliced his way through the horde of orange jackets and blond hair.
"Why don't you find the original you albino freak! We're all kinda busy 'ere!" Dosu screamed as he was swamped by clones of Naruto, Kabuto looked around desperately looking for the original, if the child got away Orochimaru would have their heads.
"Stop arguing and find him!" Kabuto roared as he stabbed another clone in the head.
Naruto however was letting his clones do the work while he made a mad dash through the midnight air to the borderlands of the land of fire. He couldn't help but run his parent's last moments over and over in his head. There was so much he could have done to to prevent it and yet he had done nothing, stood frozen to the spot like a frightened kitten.
The boy was so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed how many clones he had actually produced and how fast he was actually running. He was a lot stronger yet he didn't even realise it.
"This is stupid how the hell could we lose him!?" Dosu roared.
The sound ninja were standing in the small clearing looking around everywhere in the darkness for hints of orange or blond, but alas the kid was gone.
"Lord Orochimaru will not be happy about this." Kimimaro stated the obvious causing Kabuto to glare at him, of course he wouldn't be happy about it!
"We could just not tell 'im." Dosu suggested.
"What do you mean? We have to tell him!"
"Well if we do you know he's gonna kill us right?"
"We can't lie to Lord Orochimaru!"
"Stop bein' such a square, Kabuto! The kid's gone and if he comes back we'll kill 'im."
Kabuto sat and thought for a moment, Dosu was actually making logical sense for once. It was true if they told Orochimaru that they had failed their mission he would kill all three... well there was a possibility he wouldn't kill Kimimaro but he would kill Dosu and himself for sure.
"Let's head back to the village." Kabuto finally said and Dosu smirked.
"This is unwise." Kimimaro said.
"Who cares what you think." Was Dosu's reply before they made their way back to the leaf village.
Keep running, just keep running.
That was all that was going through Naruto's head, run and don't stop for anything. He had no idea where he was going, he had never been this far away from the village before and he found the further away he got, the less trees and greenery there was until eventually it all turned to dead desert.
He walked through it for two days, the head was unbearable. He clutched his father's shinobi headband to his chest as if it were his only life preserve. The heat however eventually got to him and he found his already blurry vision beginning to fade to darkness and he collapsed in the sand.
