Chapter 25:

The Winds of Time: Part 2

A sharp noise came from an alarm nearby. It was the kind of noise you anticipate, but still can't help but jump when it comes. Big blue letters on the digital clock read 5:00 a.m.

"Wow...three hours go by quickly." Naruto glared at the clock with hate, loathing its speed, wondering why it just couldn't slow down for him, just once.

Naruto has been up since midnight. In this time he was packing, planing his path, and writing letters for people living in the village.

He was wearing the only pair of clothing he didn't pack; Naruto never did possess many clothes. He wore pants that were mostly black except at the bottom, where the pants end, there was a very thick white stripe. Today he wasn't wearing his orange jacket; that would've clashed terribly with his pants. So instead, he wore a white hood jacket with a big pocket at the front where is stomach faces and the jacket had no sleeves. A long sleeve black shirt with a yellow line that ran down the sleeves was concealed under the jacket in exception to the sleeves. As usual, he wore his cloud head band with the kunai holster at the side of his left leg. Last of all, Naruto had slipped on some thick shoes on and some black gloves to keep his feet and hands in check.

The climate in the Cloud village this time of year is very cold, and Naruto is fully dressed to keep warm. He was tired, but Naruto understood that if he didn't get this done now, he wouldn't be able to later.

By now, his eyes were weak, his mind was fragile, and his spirit was wrecked. However, Naruto continued to smile and remembered the words of a strange ally: "The best way to deal with difficult situations is by smiling, even if you aren't really happy."

Now that he sealed away his necessities in scrolls, Naruto stowed the said scrolls in his backpack and found that he still had some extra room for any other small things he might want to take with him.

A few trinkets in his room had sentimental value to Naruto, so taking them, once again, he made another scroll and sealed them inside. Now all that was left in his house was the furniture, lights, some of the kitchen and work tools, and a couple of worthless items that he couldn't possibly take.

The room seemed void of any life, and the void sent a shiver down Naruto's spine. The cold silence and ambiance wasn't helping him feel better.

The room suddenly changed, but just as quick as it morphed, it reverted to it's original state. Gasping, Naruto saw that if this room was more filthy and if the pipe that sneakily crept on the ceiling was leaking, his room would look exactly like those in the catacombs of his mind.

The blond sighed, the thought of once again running away crossed his mind. By now he should be accustomed to these emotional breakouts, but Naruto knew, no matter how strong he was physically, his mental sanity had its limits of abuse.

As his emotions almost got the best of him, he slammed a high cabinet near him shut, causing it to shake, and a picture from the top slowly fell to the floor upside down.

Naruto was hesitant to pick up the picture, he does not remember where it came from or why it is up there...unless, it is...

Turning the picture around, it was the group photo of team seven.

Naruto chuckled evilly, not recalling when he packed this photo before he left Konoha, "Somebody up high is trying to piss me off..."

'Oh it could have been a happy team. There was only one thing that didn't fit in this picture...'

Taking a kunai from the pouch at his side, Naruto stabbed the head of somebody in the picture...and pinned the photo to the table...an innocent boy with cute whisker marks on his cheeks was now missing.

"...me."

'Sasuke seeked power and jutsu, Kakashi desired a powerful and talented student, and Sakura wished to become a decent ninja and earn the love of her crush...everything had fit fine there...except the blond dope that stuck out like a nail and messed everything up. He got in the way of his teacher, side tracked his friend, and just plain annoyed all three of them, especially one certain pink haired girl. I am the real burden...'

'Friends...' Ripping the picture that was still pinned on the table, Naruto pulled it off the desk and saw that he was now gone completely from the picture, the kunai remained stuck in the table.

"are the same as everybody else...two-faced and self-centered"

Then, like always, almost a reflex, Saira popped into his head. , 'No, not everyone.' Another question ran through his mind, and in sequence, more followed.

"If I had stayed any longer regardless of Akatsuki...would I have had another experience like Konoha? Would Saira have just forgotten me or forsaken me? Would Anya and Vincen forget about me once they move on? Would I become once again the tool for others to get to the next best thing? Would I have been happy...?"

Now, a bitter sweet smile ran across Naruto's face: "All the more reason to go...this time it is different...I can leave now...and leave with happy memories..."

Tossing the torn picture of team seven in the trash can, Naruto said, "Now I can leave them behind...so that happy memories...will be all that I have left."

It was now late in the morning, close to eleven, and Naruto by now had finished all his preparations. At the moment, Naruto was in a hurry to get to Saira's apartment.

His course was set. At 2 a.m. next day Naruto intends on wearing his ANBU uniform, and asking for permission to pass through the main gate, claiming to be under specific orders of the Raikage. Now in these days, nobody will deny his request to go beyond the village gate.

On the small chance any guard bugs him to keep track of his movements or calls over more security, Naruto will have a clone take his place, and when the gate opens, Naruto will use a genjutsu to follow the clone out unnoticed. This is also so that if they take custody of his clone, while they are preoccupied with the dummy, Naruto will make a stealthy escape.

Every other strategy Naruto might have invented would have been likely impossible. The council recently has tripled the defense and security around the village perimeter. Something as simple as "jumping over to get to the other side" was thrown out the window.

At around 5:30 earlier that day, Naruto had took a compass and calculated his path and elapsed time from the village to his desired point of rest. He was going to have to run at least a day and a half straight. The perilous and dark mountain would provide him perfect cover. Also, with his skills at scaling rough terrain, Naruto could cross more territory than an average man could.

He once again thought over his destination, it wasn't quite difficult figuring it out as he did process of elimination, which devoured more than 95 percent of the map. 'Heh, sneaking some files from the Raikage was quite helpful...'

Country of Hail and the Village hidden in the Valley.

Naruto had done his research. After some selective study, looking over foreign Bingo Books, and reading over numerous mission reports out of the village, Naruto learned that the Akatsuki's next base is either located in the ice caps of the Hail Village or vast inside a canyon in the Village hidden in the Valley. They'll be moving soon, and Naruto intends to intercept them.

Because of his current location, it would be easier to go to the Hail Country. If they weren't there when he arrived, Naruto will play the waiting game, monitoring the area.

Luckily for Naruto, he is living in the Cloud village, very close to the north geographical pole. Although close, Naruto will need to need board a vessel.

Specifically, a boat. A sea separates the Cloud Village from the Hail, it would take a little less than a week to reach solid land. The boat in question though needs to be built for rough waters, have exquisite maneuvering, and a sturdy front, for taking anchor along the ice. The sea is known for bearing storms all year long.

Because of the climate, Naruto, along the way, will need to purchase some warmer clothing and some other necessities. Perhaps pawn some of his old packed clothes for others. Naruto doesn't believe he'll reside too long in the chilling land, but the future favors the prepared.

Naruto didn't give it a second thought though once he realized that if he were to take that trip from Konoha, he would be about 2 weeks traveling. There is a huge swamp and desert that with some careful mapping, Naruto had made a path allowing him to dodge the worst. The downside, of course, is that there will be more people along the route. He was used to taking chances though, and he doesn't really have his options open. From there on, he'll just let the wind guide him. There is plenty of it where he is going.

Releasing a quick, bitter sweet laugh, Naruto looked back to the time he spent running from the Leaf to the Cloud.

'It only took me 3 days...the land was pretty smooth until I had to climb that mountain...and without Kyuubi's directions I probably would have taken double the time, and lose myself along the way. Now I'll be a couple of days jumping off of cliffs and out at sea puking my guts out, and in the end, I'll be carrying around and ice cube for an ass once I reach my destination...terrific.'

Eventually, the blonde came to a halt and started to climb some stairs nearby. It was a quick short cut to Saira's place. Tha path was rough, but there was less people passing by, Naruto wanted to breathe his own air.

He never really used this short-cut, for he enjoyed walking among the people who lived by Saira. Over time, they grew accustomed to her. It actually seems as though since Naruto came, they from then on started to accept Saira.

Naruto sighed, wondering if they'd be so nice if they knew who he really was. They looked up to him, especially the children. Many called him a good role model, other than his eating habits. When he was off the job, he'd constantly be seen helping others around.

Maybe they thought, that if somebody as nice as him could love Saira, then she is not as bad as everyone thought she was. They knew she had some demon outbreaks when she was a child, but understood that those were not under her will.

Helping others is a reward in itself. As time passed by, Naruto considered creating another nindo to join with his first few: "I'll never go back on my word and I'll never give up."

A pain crawled up his spine...never give up...was he giving up now? Leaving the village?

No, it's too late to consider those things...but looking back on a couple of words he himself said to a sensei more than 2 years ago, in his head, he thought that would make a great ninja way. Now, however, wasn't the best time to start a new nindo...well...at least not yet.

Exiting the confines of his mind, Naruto jumped and turned on his ankle in embarrassment realizing that he had passed Saira's home just now and didn't realize it.

Picking up the pace, Naruto reached the door and tapped it softly four times, taking a pause between the third and fourth tap. It was his own way of knocking to identify Saira that it is him at the door.

It only took two seconds for the door to fly open. Saira initially shed a smile and blush for Naruto, who in return smiled. Usually he would shed a great grin, but this time, the thought of that being her last smile destroyed the moment. She then quickly embraced him tightly around his neck.

"Hiya! How are you?"

Naruto returned the affection with his own hug and replied, "I'm fine, I slept well. How about you, are you feeling ok this morning?"

Grinning like an idiot, Saira said, "Mhm, now that you are here."

She wasn't making it any easier for him, every word she spoke made it closer to unbearable for Naruto to leave. Naruto let out a smile, trying not to worry her by not replying.

"So, shall we get going then?" said Saira as she grasped Naruto's hand tightly.

Nodding, the two set off to the park, where they were going to spend the afternoon with Anya. Vincen wasn't going to make it to the park, he apparently had to be somewhere.

Naruto seemed distraught, and remained silent for far too long on the way. So after about 3 minutes, Saira wondered if the same thing that bothered him yesterday was lingering in his mind today.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?"

He didn't answer, Saira shoved her shoulder against his, and his expression was that of somebody just waking up. Saira was right.

"Naruto are you Ok?!"

"I'm fine Saira...I just am thinking of what is going on that we haven't recieved any missions in a while." Saira knew that couldn't be the deal, Naruto lately has been looking forward to a break, so why would he be questioning?

"Don't worry about it! Be happy! We get to spend time together!"

Jumping in front of him and gripping both of his hands, Saira gazed into Naruto's blue orbs.

Naruto's expression was foreign to Saira. He looked at her hands strangely, as though he was wincing. He seemed in pain.

"Saira...I'm..."

"What is wrong? What is going on with you, I'm worried..."

Naruto let go of her hands. His voice was like ice. As though a whisper, Naruto's voice was weak, he was on the verge of crying, "Saira...I...can we...talk tomorrow?"

Saira's intuition kicked in, she knew, he won't be around for long.

"Come with me."

Saira pulled him into an alley and out of sight, she needed his full attention.

Once his back was against a wall, Saira rested her hands on his shoulders and stepped closer to him.

"Please...I love you...what is wrong?!"

Naruto remained silent, and kept his gaze fixed on the floor, he couldn't bear to look at Saira directly.

Saira shook his shoulders, causing his head to bob around, still no reaction.

"What is going on?!" Tears now flowed freely from Saira's eyes.

Naruto began shaking, as though he was very cold.

"What is going on?! Why do you insist on not telling me?! I can help! I can help! Just tell me! Don't-"

His head rose abruptly, interrupting Saira, his bright blue eyes were no longer the solid shade of ocean blue. Now they were like ice, almost white, and they pierced Saira's spirit, accompanied with the caustic words that escaped his mouth. No more crying.

"It doesn't concern you, do yourself a favor and leave me."

She couldn't.

"No..." Her tears stopped flowing, there was no emotion that could comprehend or adjust to the situation.

Naruto turned his head to the side.

"No!"

Before he could move another inch, Saira placed her hands on his face, and moved it so that he faced her. As his head moved right up, Saira could see his stunned face. His eyes were wide open, his hair was a mess, and his mouth was slightly open, as though trying to say something. He only let out a single sound before Saira silenced him with her lips.

"I couldn't do that if I tried...I love you. Also, back when you were new here, you didn't even know me...but you were with me, you cared about me, you helped me...you loved me...and helped me find happiness, even if you were to bring harm to yourself...now please, let me help you..."

Naruto choked back the words he couldn't say, 'It's not that I don't love you...I just don't want you to get hurt...'

Softly grabbing her wrist, Naruto relinquished her hand from his face and returned it the the side of her body where it hung empty, "Understand, I don't need your help."

Naruto didn't even spare her a glance, turning to the side, he began to walk away.

He felt her footsteps, she was going to follow him. To avoid this, he quickly set up a genjutsu.

Before she could take another step, Naruto faded with the wind that blew through that dark alley.

Naruto wanted to get far away, so he decided to do something off schedule. Taking a left, he continued straight down the road, and disappeared into the crowd of people. In the distance was the tallest, most detailed, and coincidentally Naruto's second favorite place in the entire village.

Naruto can think in the library.

Upon entering, Naruto received a friendly "Hello" from the librarian. So many visits made Naruto a well known character amongst the employees. Every week he would come once or twice to check out a book or eat a snack at the nearby cafe. His lifestyle, compared to that in Konoha, dramatically changed. Of course, he still took trips to the local ramen stand now and again. Old habits die hard, and the lure of ramen could only grow stronger for Naruto.

The library was calming to say the least, people were quiet, and one could get lost in their own imagination. Passing through the hallway, Naruto signed in on a paper and showed an identification card to a ninja, allowing him passage into the grand room, where many scrolls on jutsu, mythology, mathematics, and science were kept.

The colossal room always gave an impact on Naruto, no matter how many times he would visit.

This library had a dome ceiling, on which, was an amazing mosaic of the first Raikage who founded the Cloud village and by his side were two gods; the god of wind and the god of lightning. The green and blue wind designs were made of pure emeralds and sapphires. The lightning bolts that crashed in the scenery were solid gold. Every different colored stone in the mosaic was of a different precious mineral. Around the outer line of the dome was a white strip symbolizing a scroll that had ancient writing which told the story of how the Cloud village was formed by a great hurricane that bent and shaped the mountains. The ceiling stretched about 60 feet into the air and the rest of the room was held up with great marble pillars. As the greatest and biggest library in the village, there was always a place where Naruto could be alone and think.

Looking back to the day Naruto signed the Tiger Summon scroll, this room may look more interesting and be way larger than that of the Hokage's scroll room, but not nearly as comprehensive in terms of literature and ninjutsu.

Just here to kill time, Naruto decided to skim the book shelves in high hopes of finding something interesting to read. So he went to his favorite section: History. It was the smallest branch of the library, despite its size, and Naruto has read most of the books there. So he was running his fingers gently and horizontally across the spines of the books, mumbling to himself as he identified the books he has read from the ones he hasn't. Then, he found something that he had never seen before. An unusual book that was small compared to the other books. Then again, size doesn't matter, rather, the material that is in the book.

It was small and worn out. His view point gave him a sight of the pages, which were bright yellow, a clear sign of decay, but strangely, there was no dust, in fact, it looked like somebody has checked it out recently. The title on the spine was also hard to read. Naruto wanted a better look.

Bending down ever so slightly, Naruto placed the tips of his index and middle finger on the top of the book. Using his thumb, he popped it out of place saying to himself, "Ok, I'll bite."

But before he could look at the title, on the other side of the shelf, through the gap he had just created by removing the book, Naruto saw none other than...

"Hey Naruto, are you ok? You look pale." a voice with a very optimistic tone paired with a smile that could kill was none other than Wolf.

"Oh. Hello Vincen. I'm...I'm fine."

That was all, Naruto wasn't exactly in a talking mood. A deep silence filled the void making the two feel very uncomfortable, especially with a book shelf between them.

Not wanting to make the situation awkward like the day before, Vincen shrugged and said, "If you say so...hey, can you help me find a book? It is titled: "The First Generation: A Predetermined Fate".

Naruto felt funny as something came over him, like he knew where it was. He looked at the current book in his hand, and turning to page one, Naruto read the very same title out loud and then laughed like he hasn't in a long time.

Realizing the book was in his hands, Vincen joined Naruto in the merry laughter until they received a death glare from the librarian.

Quickly silencing the two of them, Vincen said in a soft and quite voice, "That was quick! Thanks!"

The two ninjas took a seat side-by-side at a small round table nearby. A nice beige lamp and some chocolate crackers were set at the center of the table, so Vincen decided to take one.

As he started to open the book, Naruto asked, "I was actually thinking of reading that book for a while, what is it about?"

Vincen felt guilty for taking the book from Naruto, especially after Naruto was about to rent it, "I am not done, but this book has 3 generations of history in here. It speaks about how the past of our ancestors is affecting us today."

"Is that so?" Intrigued, Naruto asked, "Is the information in here limited to the Cloud village?"

Vincen smiled, "No, not at all, this book may be small, but it also has information on other villages like the 5 main Kage-governed villages and a couple of smaller outlying countries."

"Where are you in the book currently?" Moving his seat closer, Naruto checked the inside of the book.

"Well it is organized like this: It starts with the Cloud village and the smaller countries around such as the Valley and Cliff. Next, there is the Rock village and the Mountain and Cave countries. Afterwards comes the Sand village with the country at the Coast. I've recently finished reading about the Leaf village and a lot of the smaller regions in the perimeter. Right now I am reading up on the Mist's smaller countries."

Now Naruto just had to read the book as his ears flicked up a bit. It could actually prove useful later.

"I am almost done. Lucky for me I was able to understand everything, they make it easier for the reader to follow time."

"How is that?"

"The author wanted everything to link up, so the reader could make connections as to why some events took place and how it affected other countries. It is also in chronological order of course."

Getting off of his chair, Naruto confronted Vincen, "Well you can go ahead and read that book, I am just here killing time."

Naruto turned around, but then bouncing back up, Naruto assumed his previous position, facing Vincen, and said, "Wait a minute...weren't you going to be at the park with Saira and Anya?"

Vincen smirked and said, "Yeah, but my mission was canceled, now I could ask you the same question."

Sighing, Naruto murmured, "Yeah well fine...I'm just going to watch a documentary or find another book. Lets just hang out here for a while..."

Naruto yawned, it was now the late afternoon and he had just finished watching a movie on the history of Raikages. It was nice that T.V. could easily take one's mind out of reality. Naruto ejected the disk from the player and returned it to the shelf where they held all of the movies.

As Naruto returned to the spot he once was with Vincen, he saw him turn a page and asked, "Still not done? The print is thin as hell..."

Vincen sighed, his butt was falling asleep, "Time for the next chapter, I was almost done with this one anyway before I continued reading...it was on the Seven Swordsman of the Mist."

"Wow...be sure to lend me that book when you are done with it..."

"Yeah, I'll tell the librarian to hold it for you when I'm done so nobody else checks it out."

"Than- ... ..."

Silence fell upon the two.

"What's wrong Naruto?"

I won't be here for it... "Nothing Vincen! I'm fine!"

Vincen began to read the title of the next chapter out loud: "The Former Village of the Whir-"

Suddenly, an alarm rang through the library. Naruto and Vincen covered their ears. Panic grew in the room as many people dropped their books and began conversing. Naruto could hear so many voices it was hard to concentrate on just one.

On a microphone, the head librarian said in a dreadful and fast-paced tone, "Everybody please evacuate the premisis immediately! Cooperate with us! All adults are urged to gather at the town center within the next 10 minutes! Ninja are to also meet at the center in uniform and Black Ops are to head to the H.Q. ASAP. Mothers and their children should head to the emergency shelter after they gather at the ninja academy and are escorted by security ANBU and jonin instructors!"

Naruto's world collapsed. Time seemed to shift pace, everything began to lag, and the detailed room became nothing but a blur. All of the noises combined, creating nothing but confusion and a strange slur. 'Why here...why now...of all times...'

Trying to absorb the many different obscure visuals, Naruto almost fainted until Vincen's words broke through oblivion and he shook Naruto by the shoulders.

"Hurry!! Lets go!"

A.N.: I'm sorry this chapter is a little short, and maybe a bit boring to some, but I decided that I had to hurry up. Originally, this chapter was close to 9 thousand words (not over, close to) and I had a goal of updating by Friday, so I cut the chapter at a certain scene and I am saving the rest for later. But don't worry, I'll have the next chapter up and out really soon! I didn't just throw out the rest of the chapter, it is saved away. I hope you enjoyed it.

However, I have to say that by next chapter, we'll be back in current time. So the Naruto and Sasuke fight is next. Flashback chapters are not in any order, rather, they are scattered around the story, so that way the pieces will link up when ready.

Thanks for reading! I'm back in the saddle, school is almost over! So that means more time for typing my fanfiction!

P.S.: The usual, if you find any grammatical mistakes or just anything that sounds funny, please inform me. I might have missed some things.