A/N's will be at the bottom
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters
Walking into the Hokage Tower Shizune greeted him cheerfully and Naruto had honestly smiled back at her.
"Tsunade-sama is waiting for you, so go ahead on up Naruto" He nodded his head before thanking her and leaving. Without knocking Naruto entered the familiar room in which he knew his Hokage to be waiting.
"Baa-chan?" He called out teasingly. He had to be happy for her. So he would. He smiled knowing she'd be irritated that he called her old again. He expected something would probably be thrown at him like usual. It was okay though. Naruto was ready for something that he already knew would happen.
Tsunade sat staring at him eyes stern and hard. "Don't call me that." Naruto looked surprised. Well it wasn't violent like he expected, but it was new. His heart immediately called out to him telling him it was going to happen again. He was going to be hurt again.
He brushed it off, something was wrong with Tsunade someone he held dearly. He noticed the bottles of sake around her desk. It was odd to Naruto. Shizune was usually better about keeping Tsunade under control than that. "Baa-chan you okay?" He asked.
"I suggest you don't call me that again. There will be consequences if you do not follow my orders." Again her voice held a sternness that he had never heard from her before.
"I am your superior and you will treat me as such. So it will be either Hokage-sama or Tsunade-sama to a genin such as you." Naruto refused to look hurt. Not again. Even when he felt his heart clench he showed no emotion.
She had used the rank card. She had never done that before. She knew damn well to that he didn't deserve to be a genin.
"Hokage-sama" He said curtly. The bite in his voice was evident.
"I want a full explanation on your personal mission to retrieve and almost kill missing-nin Sasuke Uchiha." She said the words as if she had practiced them in front of a mirror.
Trying to find words Naruto spoke, "My explanation?" He said angrily. "My explanation is that I saw a chance to retrieve the teme who is my friend and a vital asset to this village and you wouldn't let me go! So I took the chances Hokage-sama…" He coated the title with venom. "And I brought Sasuke back to you; I brought the sharingan back to Konoha.
"More like you tried to kill him to me genin Uzumaki." Her voice was calm as if she didn't even know why she was wasting her time. It hurt when she used his last name to address him. They were family! Why? Why did everyone he loves want to hurt him?
"I did what I had to do to get him to come back. I never once used unnecessary force. If anything Hokage-sama he tried to kill me" Naruto yelled. What was the point of this? Was there a point in anything he wondered.
"You will watch your tongue or face the consequences do you understand me?" Tsunade yelled with equal force back. By this point Shizune had come up to see what all the noise had been about. Instead she was horrified watching a screaming match between the people she cared for.
"Tsunade-sama…"Shizune had begun.
"Silence Shizune I am Hokage!" Tsunade snapped at her.
Naruto beyond angry retaliated at her, "Funny how you seem to have to remind everyone of that ne Tsunade-sama?" Turning her attention back to the blonde she glared at the boy.
"You disobeyed my orders, you used unnecessary force to bring Sasuke Uchiha back to the village and you almost cost us the sharingan." She continued to list things off. "We then have a statement from Sasuke that when he said he would return you went Kyuubi on his ass—"
"That's a fucking lie!" Naruto roared. Never! Never had that come from the raven's mouth.
"Do not interrupt me Uzumaki! You know the importance of the Sharingan to this village. When I named you successor I thought you would grow and learn under me to become a great Hokage…" She had gotten a distant look in her. Some of the anger had left her. Naruto didn't like the direction this was going.
"But I am beginning to think otherwise. With the damage seen for Sasuke Uchiha and your constant reckless actions the council and I are persuaded to believe you are nowhere fit to be Hokage of this village. We will end all training of such immediately."
No. Naruto felt something shatter inside of him. Into a million pieces you would never be able to repair this break. It just wasn't possible. Nothing about this would ever get better. Everything was gone.
"The council also believes which I am becoming inclined to as well how much you are being influenced by the fox. We will not have people such as you running around this village." People such as me? What am I? Make it stop. Just make it stop.
"Tsunade-sama! This is going way too far!" He heard Shizune call out. He saw Tsunade then flinch away as if she had been slapped by the words.
He thought he saw the sternness that he had never seen in her eyes finally leave. He looked on in a daze. It seemed as if she was trying to come to terms with what she said. Was she wrong? Am I wrong? Is anyone ever even right?
Pain. That's what was right. Being angry. That's what was right. Everything else was wrong. Everything else was wrong because everything else was a lie. The truth was that he was lie.
"I'm sorry." The fox inside his mind mumbled quietly. He held no love for his container, but there was some respect for the boy. Not many could go through what he had and come out like he did.
He knew better than anyone how the boy felt. How much he hurt. How much this shattered him from the inside out.
Tsunade seemed torn at what she had said. "Naruto I-I didn't mean it like that." She was ashamed. Why had she said that? She knew about his hardships about his trials so then why had she said that to the boy she viewed as a son?
"After all I've done for this village. After everything I've done for you people. You bitch…" Naruto said angrier than he had ever been.
"What did you say?" Tsunade asked incredulously. Her eyes narrowed. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Getting up from her chair she walked right in front of the blonde boy so they were eye to eye.
"I said you're a fucking bitch." Naruto growled out. All the warmth in his eyes had left. All the affection in his voice disappeared replaced by an iciness that shocked her.
"You little brat!" Cocking her fist back she was going to knock the living daylights out of Naruto. Maybe they could figure this out later. It would be better later.
Throwing her fist forward she expected to hit him squarely in the face. What she didn't expect though was for him to catch it. His hand wrapped around her fist painfully.
"Not this time…" She stared in shock. Never before had he tried to stop her when she went to hit him. Never in her wildest dreams did she even think Naruto was strong enough to stop her from punching him.
Using his free hand Naruto made his own hand. Cocking it backward he took his own swing at Tsunade. It was with a smile that he said, "Go to fucking hell!" as his fist connected with her face.
Tsunade went flying back crashing into her desk. Her head hurt and her ears were ringing. Her desk lay in ruins underneath her and she had been lucky she hadn't gone flying out the window. Looking back she realized it would have been a very long fall.
Moving her eyes away from what could have been she searched her room only to find Naruto already gone. Shizune lay unconscious next to the door.
Picking herself up she stood in the middle of the carnage. Flaring her chakra she called her Anbu. Neko was the first to arrive. "What the hell have I done?" She asked miserably.
"If you're planning to stop him I suggest you do it quickly." A new voice entered the scene and she recognized it instantly. A white haired man in a red and green gi sat atop the window next to her.
"Jiraiya?"
"Don't make me repeat myself Tsunade. " He said very quietly.
By then the rest of the Anbu had arrived in the room. With a confidence she did not have she managed to speak, "You are to retrieve genin Uzumaki Naruto and bring him back here as soon as possible. I want no harm done to him understood?"
With chorus of nods the Anbu disappeared in seconds after their new target. She was alone with Jiraiya now. Silence reigned.
"What the hell have you done Tsunade?" Jiraiya's voice came out as a whisper. Looking over at him she saw he hadn't even moved from his spot on the window. His tired eyes stared at the spot in where she knew Naruto to have stood.
"How much of it did you see?" She was scared to know. She almost didn't want to know.
"Every fucking second of it." Jiraiya said instantly not having to think about it. He couldn't believe it. He single handedly watched Tsunade decimate his godson with merely words. Words. It had been so simple.
He saw the light leave Naruto's eyes. He had died in that moment. Jiraiya had no doubt about that. And now the blonde was angry. Jiraiya didn't blame him.
"Why?" He asked.
"What do you mean why?" Tsunade couldn't look at Jiraiya. The disappointment on his face was meant solely for her. Never in her life had he looked at her like that.
"Was it for the council? Was it for the village? Was it for the fucking fun of it? Why did you destroy my godson?" Honestly I want to know!" Jiraiya's voice was rising. He was so angry. So very angry.
"I-I don't know" Tsunade answered. Faster than she could even react Jiraiya held her by the shoulders and the look on his face made her regret everything.
"Don't give me that bullshit Tsunade! Tell me why!" He yelled.
Finding her backbone again Tsunade answered. "I couldn't
take it okay? I was getting shit from the council. I was getting shit from civilians; even my own ninja didn't want him! They all said he deserved it! He deserved to be punished." She had started crying at this point.
"He hurt the fucking Uchiha" She mocked their words as if they were in front of her. "He should be banished. He deserved it. All of it! I couldn't take it Jiraiya… I just couldn't take it."
She started hiccupping. She hadn't meant it. She hadn't meant to hurt Naruto. She hadn't meant those hurtful and nasty words. She was just so tired.
"I was so tired Jiraiya. I just wanted it to stop and the only way to do it was to hurt Naruto. And the more they said all those things about him the more I just wanted to believe them to get it done with! That's why." She finished bawling.
Jiraiya's face softened. Releasing his grip on his old teammate she slid to the ground crying. Turning away he looked out the window to the village. He had a foreboding feeling. Nothing felt right.
If he guessed correctly on what Naruto was probably thinking then he knew the gaki was leaving. He was leaving and he wasn't coming back. The sun to Konoha was leaving.
"What the hell have you done hime? Jiraiya said more to himself than anything. He couldn't stay angry at Tsunade. He just couldn't, especially when she was like this and already punishing herself.
Disappointed he was and would be for a long time, but never angry. It didn't help that Jiraiya felt as much of a cause as she did. He could have stepped in. He should have stepped in. Instead he had listened to a toad and just watched.
Flashback
"Pa? Ma? What's going on?" Jiraiya asked confused. He had just been reversed summon to Mount Myoboku.
Pa looked solemn. "A prophecy has been made Jiraiya- boy." Ma wouldn't look at Jiraiya. The older man looked on curiously.
"Are you going to tell me what it is?" He asked.
"It has to do with Naruto-boy" Jiraiya got serious after that. He was very protective of his godson whether the boy knew he was his godson or not.
"What is it?" He asked hesitantly. From previous prophecies he had determined Naruto as the Prophecy Child. He was sure of it. Naruto would be the one to change the world.
"We cannot tell you." Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at that. He was the toad sage rarely was he ever not told anything.
"And why not?"
"Because we are merely to keep you from interfering with it." Jiraiya did not like that one bit. Not at all. If they had to stop him from messing this new prophecy up then he knew it was something he would not like.
"The beginning of the prophecy will take place soon. Very soon. So I will accompany you to Konoha. I will make sure you do not interfere." Pa said with no happiness to it.
"I don't like this Pa."
"Neither do I Jiraiya boy."
End Flashback
It had been from there that they had come back to Konoha. They had gone to see Tsunade to inform her of the new development and found the mess had just begun. Jiraiya had been ready to barge in and make hell, but Pa had stopped him.
Flashback
"It had happened sooner than I expected." The toad said.
"You're joking right? You can't expect me not to fix this! I can stop it now Pa! I can't let this go! I can't let Naruto go!" The elderly toad didn't look at Jiraiya.
"You and Naruto-boy have sacrificed much for this village for peace. This is merely one more trial for the both of you." Pa stated.
"And what if I won't do it huh? What if I don't let Naruto make the sacrifice? Why is it always him?" Jiraiya questioned trying to make sense of this.
He stared through the window watching the scene between Tsunade and Naruto play out. They were screaming now. Shizune had entered into the fray to he noted sadly.
"You will make the right choice Jiraiya boy. This is merely the beginning and Naruto has a long road ahead of him."
"Will he come out of this alive? Will Naruto be able to do this alone? Tell me Pa, promise me that he will be okay."
"I can't do that because I'm not sure. But if he does come out of this alive Jiraiya boy he will not be the same." Pa went home after that. In a poof of smoke he had left Jiraiya to decide the outcome of what was to be.
With creases of frustration he sat behind closed windows. One tear rolled down his face. His fit tightened and he felt his nails dig into his skins. There were so many sacrifices in his life his sensei, Orochimaru, his student, and now his godson? Could he really do this?
"I'm sorry Naruto."
End Flashback
Storm clouds began toppling over the village. When the rain started it was soft and light soon enough though it began pouring. Jiraiya thought maybe Konoha was crying.
Even now he wanted to go bring Naruto back. He wished he had stepped in with all his heart. No stupid prophecy was worth it.
He hoped beyond hope that Anbu caught him. Yet he knew no matter how skilled the Anbu they wouldn't catch Naruto. Not in a billion years. And no matter how much he might want otherwise, he had no intention of helping them.
Naruto ran as fast as he could back to his meager apartment. He only needed a few items and then he would be set. The flow of tears that streamed down his face never stopped though. No matter how many times he furiously swiped them away.
Finally reaching his house he flew up the stairs and slammed the door open. The ratty view of his home came into full view.
'Looks like the villagers already got to my apartment' He thought bitterly. Scribbled across the wall were obscenities and curses over and over. In one place there even seemed to be a hastily and crudely drawn picture of him in flames.
"How quaint" He said sarcastically. Figuring he didn't have all day before Tsunade would start tailing his ass with Anbu he began looking around for the stuff he needed.
Even though the villagers had all but destroyed everything visible within the apartments Naruto had gotten smarter over the years. In little places all over there were hidden compartments of everything he held precious.
Making his way into the room he went over to a corner. Kicking at the wood beneath his feet he waited until one of them popped open revealing a hidden stash of items.
The frog wallet he had cherished as a child was filled to the brim with cash. It would definitely come in handy in the next few days.
Lying next to it were five storage scrolls containing various amounts of weapons he had found over the years. Attaching them to his hips or stuffing them in his pockets he quickly moved on to the next stash.
Going next to his closet he grabbed a bag that wasn't as destroyed as some of the others. Next he made his way over to a section of the wall that had been inscribed with colorful language. He pressed down on a hidden square.
With a pop a piece of the wall fell off. Ignoring it he found his hidden food stocks. Ration bars were tucked neatly away, but Naruto grabbed them by the handful shoving them into his filthy bag.
The next items that had been stored in the very back of the wall pocket he could barely bring himself to touch. Picture frames of him with many different people in Konoha he wasn't sure if he wanted to look at them.
He started to question himself again. Could he bring himself to leave so many people? They were his friends' right?
"Didn't you call the pink haired banshee, the old hag, porn reading teacher, and the snake's boy toy your friends?" Kyuubi asked incredulously.
"Fuck you" Naruto muttered. Did everything have to be a lie though? Were any of his bonds real? Naruto felt his anger grow. Yet with his anger his sorrow grew in equal parts. He wanted to scream and cry at the same time.
He couldn't do that though. He couldn't afford to. At least he couldn't do it yet. Grabbing all of the frames with one hand he threw them all on the bed. He grabbed two of them immediately.
One of them was when he was a kid wearing the Hokage hat next to the Sandaime Hokage. He still held the old man close to heart.
The other one was with Jiraiya. He had been sharing a popsicle with his perverted sensei and it had been one of the best days of his life. He stuffed them both into his bag. He just couldn't get rid of those.
Three more pictures he wouldn't take with him. Laying them out in a line on his bed he stared hard for what seemed like an eternity.
The very first picture was taken when Team 7 had first been formed. Kakashi was there with his eye smile, Sasuke and himself had been glaring at each other with Sakura smiling between the both of us. He flipped it over laying it face down.
"We were never a team from the start." Naruto said aloud coming to the realization of this truth. He let the tears come freely down his face this time. He had wanted them so much to be like a family. He had thought of them as a family and that had been one giant lie.
The second picture he had the urge to burn and rip like a small child in a temper tantrum. Naruto stood smiling with Tsunade and Jiraiya smirking in the background along with Shizune and Tonton.
Looking at one person in particular he felt his heart clench painfully. She had been the final straw. He could take no more after her. He had no words to hold his anger at the person he had taken so close in his heart. Wordlessly he placed the picture face down.
The final picture that lay face up hurt him the most. It was a group picture of what many of the villagers had dubbed the Konoha 12. With the sole exception of Sasuke Team 8, Team 10, Bushy Brow's Team, and Team 7 with the addition of Sai and his weird smile had been there.
Naruto saw himself there in the middle of everyone with a giant smile on his face. They were all supposedly his friends. He thought they were his friends.
"Yet whenever I truly needed you none of you were there for me. I was always alone. I just never knew it." He said solemnly
Naruto had always wished and prayed every day that he could be normal like everyone else. He wanted to have friends, have family and live happily, but he couldn't even get that. Forcing his hands atop the picture he laid it face down.
"It's time for me to move on…" Naruto shakily told himself. He wanted to believe in those words too. He wanted to move one, but he knew in is heart he hadn't taken his words to heart yet.
His heart was still in the picture with his friends around him and for that he hated himself and everyone he thought he knew.
"You need to get going" The Kyuubi said softly in his head. Naruto finally took notice that ever since the fight with Sasuke Kyuubi hadn't been nice, but nicer in a way. At first it had irritated him, but with no one there but Kyuubi he took some comfort from the company.
"I know" he replied. Staring at the three face down pictures one more time Naruto picked up his bag and ran out the door.
Naruto felt as though he should have looked back. Given his old shitty apartment one last look, but he couldn't. He felt that if he did he might not be able to leave it behind.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" Naruto called out under his breath. Noiselessly four clones of Naruto popped up beside him. Looking at each of them he nodded stiffly.
"You know what to do?" He asked. Four nods of affirmation were his response. Each of the clones branched off in a direction. Hopefully that would lead some of the other ninja off his trail for a while.
Watching until all of his clones were out of sight he took off. Pushing all his chakra to his feet he made his way to the exit of his old life.
Gate finally in sight he figured with all the commotion going it wouldn't be too much trouble getting past it especially if the gate guards were Izumo and Kotetsu. He was almost there when he heard his name called out.
"Naruto-nissan!" Konohamaru called out. Moegi and Udon right behind him. "Naruto-niisan please!" Konohamaru pleaded.
Naruto couldn't bring himself to ignore the boy. He stopped in his tracks and turned around to face him. Naruto wondered just how much they had already heard.
"Tell me it isn't true!" Konohamaru begged. Naruto could see the tears that stung in the corners of the boy's eyes. Moegi and Udon didn't look far from tears either.
Naruto looked on at them with indifference. When he left they probably wouldn't ever see them again, there was no reason to leave them thinking anything different.
"Tell you what?"Naruto asked. Konohamaru lashed out at him.
"Tell me that you're not leaving the village! Tell me it isn't true!" Konohamaru started crying, but tried to hide it. "Show me that all those idiots were lying when they said the demon was leaving the village."
Shutting his eyes tight against some unknown enemy he looked at the ground and tried to wipe away his tears.
"Boss you're not gonna leave us are you?" Moegi began hesitantly. Udon wouldn't even face him. Naruto thought it was because Udon already knew. One look at the blonde and you knew. Konohamaru and Moegi had always been a little stubborn though.
"Coarse he's not!" Konohamaru had begun to sob. "It's Naruto-niisan!" He's going to become Hokage!" Naruto thought that his little brother was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Moegi.
Naruto looked at his three students. Whether or not they knew it after today he loved them. He knew for a fact they would all grow into strong shinobi maybe even stronger than him.
Especially Konohamaru. He was going to be a second coming of his grandfather. He would bet on it without a doubt. Naruto only hoped that he would get to live to see it.
"Those pathetic masked shinobi are gaining on our location kit. You will only last so long against them in your current condition." Kyuubi told forebodingly. Naruto nodded and silently thanked the fox for the heads up. It was time for him to go.
"Kono…" Naruto softly chanted. All three of them looked up when he spoke. "Goodbye." The three hadn't even noticed that Naruto had created three kage bunshins behind them. They were still genin after all he guessed.
With a swift chop to the neck all three of them were out. Catching them before they fell the clones sat them down gently before dispelling.
Naruto finished with that once again took off to the gates. He had expected to see Izumo and Kotetsu, but what he got were two unfamiliar chunin sleeping on the job. Naruto took it in stride. It just made things a whole lot much easier.
Flying through the gates of his home village Naruto took to the trees. Against his better judgment he spared one glance back on his old home. One glance was all it took for the pain to come rearing its ugly head back.
The betrayal, the hurt, the pain, but most of all the love he once held for this place. All the emotions burned his heart like fire. If there was one thing he would ever remember it would be how he felt right now.
Maybe it was because of all these emotions that Naruto never noticed the man who stood hidden away in the tree leaves.
"Be safe you stupid little gaki because you have a long path ahead of you." Jiraiya spoke the words hoping that they would somehow guard the boy he viewed as his own grandson. Smiling it hadn't been too hard to figure out where the boy would go after the Hokage Tower.
He had tailed Naruto up until the gates where he had put the unsuspecting chunin guards asleep with a genjutsu.
"I'll keep them off your trail as long as I can." With those final words he began his walk back into the village. He wondered what he'd tell the Anbu looking for Naruto.
Maybe he'd say that he saw him heading towards the hot springs. Seriously who doesn't love the hot springs? Jiraiya grinned lecherously.
Some things just wouldn't change. Looking back at the disappearing form of his apprentice he didn't know how long it would be till he saw him again, but he knew he would see him. One day. He would just have to wait a little while.
It was there though that he promised to himself and to Naruto that until that day when master and student met again he would get stronger. He would be the man ready to take on the world with Naruto if he ever needed him. Jiraiya would never sit and watch destiny rule his family again.
"Naruto I believe in you. You're going to take this world by storm."
A/N - Okay Chapter 4 has been accomplished. Tell me what you think. Cuz your guys reviews have been really motivating me to try and post some new chapters.
Going along with the chapter Tsunade did up end being the last straw for Naruto like you most likely presumed. I thought it was just the final climatic thing to where Naruto no longer believed he had anything left. I also added Jiraiya's little tidbit with the prophecy because I have future plans for that one.
Next chapter will finally start the time-skip. Things are gonna really start rolling and your either going to like it or your not. I'm hoping that you like it. But keep reviewing cause that helps me more than anything else in the world.
Thanks!
NoMan4u