Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters

"Normal speech"

"Normal thought"

"Demonic speech/or someone extremely pissed off"

"Demonic thought"

Jutsu/technique


The Paths they took.

Chapter 2:

Face The World Alone


"Haha, thanks for the meal old man!" Naruto gave a mock salute to the man at the ramen bar and slung his heavy pack over his shoulders.

He needed to return to his training now.

Usually people start with tree walking before moving on to the much harder water walking when working on chakra control.

Unfortunately for Uzumaki Naruto, he did not know this. So when he saw a ninja walking on water one day ago he had thrown himself into learning how to do it.

Even when he was sad Naruto know how to put a smile on his face and pretend he was happy, so playing the amazed academy student to ask said ninja how he did it was not so hard.

Suffice to say the brief explanation did very little for him but he felt he was starting to get it. And slowly growing chakra control Naruto was feeling slightly more confident in his abilities then before.

Though only slightly. He needed a sensei but he know that wasn't going to happening.


Konoha


Sarutobi let out a small sigh.

The blonde had shown that he could take care of himself if the broken Hunter-nin that stumbled back into Konoha after encountering him were anything to go by. The fact that he had learned another jutsu from the scroll so easily startled the 'Professor' but he didn't think that his wayward charge would have such an easy time with the other jutsu on the scroll.

Despite his doubts he had learned not to under-estimate the young, soon to be missing-nin of Konoha.

After the graduation day was done Iruka was going after Naruto, maybe he had a better chance at finding the boy.

He already sent a message to Jiraiya hoping one of them will find the boy.

The Sandaime doubted he would be found until he wanted to be now, they couldn't afford to put him in the international bingo book and he didn't have the man power necessary to launch a full scale search over the elemental nations.

At least that's what he told himself, if it were anyone else making the decision the man power might suddenly be available. Then again if it were someone else they might not be telling the council they had five pairs of Hunter-nins constantly searching for him while in reality there was only Iruka and Jiraiya.

He would damn himself to the depths of hell before he allowed a council of bitter fools make him break his promise to the fourth.

He couldn't blame Naruto for his decision and was just glad that he had the scroll.

The world was a hard place for an academy student and this way he could learn his father's techniques in worst case scenario.

He would damn himself to the depths of hell before he allowed the Village hero's only son be killed because a council of bitter fools couldn't see past the demon fox. It broke his heart to do anything but what's best for his village, but after hearing about Naruto's feral features from the only Hunter-nin to have seen the blonde he feared the seal may be slipping.

He didn't want an angry Jinchuuriki ripping his valuable assassin squads apart. No, he'd much rather have an angry Jinchuuriki as far away as possible.

Even if it was Naruto.

Until Jiraiya or Iruka can talk with him and assure him that no one will hurt him.

At the moment Yondaime's legacy could wait, he had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.


Hinata Hyuga had long admired Uzumaki Naruto his determination and sunny attitude had always been something that she looked to as an example, as the kind of person that she wanted to be.

It still surprised her how he has been pulling a lot of pranks on the village, and nobody else seems to notice until he's finishing up or is finished, even though he wears bright orange, in fact, he painted the Hokage Monument in broad daylight with bright colors while wearing his bright orange outfit, and nobody else noticed until he was finishing up.

Iruka sensei brought him back to class after he led a group of Shinobi on a wild goose chase through the village, which should make people suspicious of why he's the 'dead last' of the class.

She personally thought he's been sabotaged to the point where he stopped trying in class by the time they got to Iruka sensei's class.

After being brought in, Naruto used his new jutsu, the 'Oiroke no jutsu', Hinata thought she might be the only person in the class who realizes the power of the technique, which is quite dangerous since most adult male ninja seem to be perverts...

But a few days ago Naruto had failed the exam again. Now what was he going to do?

Hinata didn't understand why the test is always the Bunshin no Jutsu.

She know Neji's teammate Lee can't even use ninjutsu and genjutsu, yet he managed to pass.

She wanted to go comfort Naruto, but before she could get the courage to approach him, Mizuki Sensei came up to talk with him, then Naruto seemed excited about what Mizuki Sensei said to him, could it possibly be another chance to pass?

Maybe it was but since then she hasn't seen him in class. And it didn't look like he was going to show up.

He couldn't become Hokage without being a Ninja first. He trained so hard but it was never enough.

These were thoughts raced through her mind like sand from one's hand.

Maybe after she and her team meet with her sensei she could go and find Naruto.


"So, Introduce yourselves." Kakashi said, after team 7 settled down on the rooftop of the academy.

"What do you want us to say Sensei?" The pink haired fangirl asked.

Kakashi and Sasuke looked at her with bored faces. Sai had that creepy fake smile that looked totally weird on his face.

Kakashi shrugged, leaning back on the railing he sat on. "Not much. Your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future that sort of thing. Since you asked, you will introduce yourself first"

"Could you give us an example Kakashi-Sensei?"

"Hmm..." Kakashi looked up in thought. "I don't see why not. I'm Hatake Kakashi, my likes and dislikes are none of your business. Dreams... I have many hobbies."

Everyone sweat dropped at Kakashi's introduction, all having the same thoughts going through their heads.

'All we learned was his name.'

Kakashi looked back to Sakura. "You can go now pinky"

"Uhhh. My name is Haruno Sakura... I like" she turned to Sasuke and blushed slightly. "Well... My dreams for the future? " she turned and looked at the brooding Uchiha again and her blush deepened. She also squealed slightly, making those with sensitive ears wince slightly. "Hobbies?" Sakura turned back to Sasuke once more and her blush got even darker.

'Oh boy, girls her age are more interested in boys than ninja training.' Thought Kakashi.

Sasuke wasn't listening. He was staring at the sky, fantasising on ways to kill his brother. He had pretty dark and gruesome thoughts for a 12-year old.

Kakashi was staring at Sakura with a bored look.

Sai just smiled. As usual.

"OK you now. In the middle. Pale boy." Kakashi said.

Pale boy, known as Sai looked at Kakashi with that eerie smile. "Hello. My name is Sai. I don't particularly have any likes or dislikes. Same goes with dreams. I do however draw as a hobby."

Simple, short, Straight forward, Kakashi's gaze lingered on Sai for a few more seconds before moving to the last of his team.

"Ok, your turn now." Kakashi said, pointing at Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate many things, but I don't see how that matters as there is almost nothing I like. I don't really have any hobbies either. I don't have a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone." Sasuke declared.

'As I thought.' Kakashi thought.

"Very well, tomorrow we will begin our first exercise as a team on training ground 7." said Kakashi.


The days went good for Naruto. He had learned how to walk on water which helped a lot and left the town to find another cave to hide in and learn more jutsu from the scroll where no one could see him train.

But now there was another problem.

He was hungry again and he was not so lucky in finding some rivers with fish to capture or apples either. And he didn't know what to do. And his money were over to.

How did they ended so fast he didn't know, but a part of him was cursing himself for using all the money to buy only Ramen!

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a traveler, it was a grey-haired man, he had a backpack.

A lot of scenarios went through Naruto's mind.

He wanted to go and ask him if he can give him some food, but Naruto didn't know if it was because he was very hungry or because he know he was going to be rejected. The man didn't lock to friendly.

He was scared of doing this and he was scared of what he needed to do to get the food.

But the need of food was corrupting him already.

Naruto approached the man and pulled out of his pocket a kunai he had from the Hunter-nin's backpack.

Pointed it at the man he said "I... I need food and money" Naruto forced the words out, regretting them instantly. He didn't sound as demanding as he wanted to be.

He sounded so hesitant.

Was it the lack of trust in himself that was mentally affecting him?

Or was he simply not fond at the idea of threatening a defenseless man.

The man turned out not to be so helpless as Naruto thought. He pulled out a knife that had it pointed at Naruto "You think a brat like you can threaten me so easily?" asked the man.

Naruto looked down at the kunai, slightly loosening his grip on it.

Never in his life had he assaulted anyone, but he had to.

He had to survive, conquered by his morals Naruto let go of the kunai and crossed his fingers and said "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"he yelled before six solid Clones emerged in, surrounding the man.

In shock at being surrounded the man dropped his knife. He was for sure not a Shinobi.

Naruto watch with no small amount of satisfaction as his clones beaten the man to unconsciousness.

Shrugging he stepped over to the fallen man and stripped him of everything he deemed useful.

Naruto however, left him some food and money because he did not want the man to starve like him after he woke up.

He needed to run and survive and hope the man will be fine after this.

What had he become? Since when was he robbing people? These were questions forming inside his mind.


After finishing with her team meeting, Hinata went to search for Naruto yet she couldn't find him.

Maybe she could ask Iruka sensei if he know where he was. Yet another question formed in her mind. 'Why? Hadn't Iruka-sensei tried to help Naruto with his clone jutsu?'

Instead, he failed him time and time again, a part of her was angry in Naruto's name because no one else would be.

Or maybe she was angry because she fell like she had failed him…

He was always a boy with a big dream, he was like a sun in a world that can be so cruel, always giving her hope without even realizing it.

And she never managed to do something for him in return.

She couldn't befriend the one person that really needed a friend.

Years wasted because she wasn't brave, confident or assertive enough to make him notice her like he did with others.

Naruto wanted friends yet she couldn't help but to wonder was he perhaps infatuated with the thought of friendship more than the actual friendship itself?

Not for the first time she wondered if Naruto understood what it meant to be a friend and to have one in return.

To her luck she had manage to find Iruka-Sensei.

Today she could see that her teacher was in a hurry, all so focused on something she didn't really know.

Now she could talk to him, yet again her shyness was kicking in again.

No... It was now or never.

If she couldn't bring herself to ask her teacher something how was she going to talk with Naruto.


Iruka had been preparing to go in search of Naruto as a Hunter-nin, if there was someone who could find him even in Konoha it was him.

Iruka was in a way proud of Naruto, in his eyes Naruto was brilliant but lazy. In the academy the boy was always lazy when it came to being concentrated in class, but when he was making his pranks Naruto was actually brilliant with his plans, how didn't he notice until now, Naruto was not book smart but was more of a strategic type.

He didn't want to fail the boy who he had become emotionally attached to, but seeing as Naruto had failed to perform even the simplest jutsu, was forced to decide that Naruto was not quite ready to be a ninja. Frankly, Iruka was beginning to doubt that Naruto would ever be able to graduate. And then THAT event happened.

Now he just finished his work and preparation for the time he will be gone.

In his way of leaving he was a little surprised to encounter Hinata.

So he stopped to talk to her and see how he can guide one of his old students.

"How can I help you Hinata?"

"I was w-wondering if you Sensei have s-seen Naruto-kun" Hinata blurted out, mentally kicking herself for letting the affectionate honorific slip.

Noticing that Iruka was now staring at her in eyes, Hinata's nerves flared up powerfully.

"I haven't seen him since he failed the graduation exam. And the last time I have seen him he was talking with Mizuki Sensei." She finished.

Iruka was a little surprise to know that Hinata wanted to know about Naruto. So he chose carefully his next words as he didn't exactly wanted to tell her that Naruto kind of 'betrayed' the village.

"Naruto has gone through a lot of trouble in life and events…" Iruka said.

"G-Go on." she urged him.

Seeing that she already know about Mizuki maybe it was better if he just told her directly then letting someone else do it. Thought Iruka. "I'm going to be blunt with you, Hinata. Naruto was tricked by Mizuky to stole something for graduation exams. And after some events happened that night Naruto kind of… abandoned Konoha."

With a stutter she said "But he-he wouldn't betray the village like this…"

Although, to say Hinata was 'shocked' was an understatement. Every part of her brain was screaming that what she heard was a lie. But she could understand why he did it.

"I can only guess that Naruto left the village to try to escape the stress of what happened." Explained Iruka.

Hinata's demeanor shifted instantly, but not quite in the way Iruka had expected it to. Her meekness gave way to a look of steely concern and something resembling conviction.

Iruka continued. "I'm a worried that he got himself into a lot more trouble than even before now that he left and a lot of people may even call him a traitor but that is not really true. For example: He may have defaced the Hokage Monument in the past, but more then anything Naruto wants to add his own face to that Monument." The pride could be heard in his voice as he said this.

Hinata was feeling a little better after hearing this she was no longer so worried, after all she know nothing bad could happened to him.

Iruka was a little shocked by this, her face was showing care, it was giving him even more motivation to bring Naruto back.

"So I guess Naruto means a lot more then just a classmate to you, doesn't he?" asked Iruka.

"Am I r-really that obvious?" Hinata asked quietly, earning a short nod from her teacher. Sensing her plummeting mood, Iruka reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

The instructor gave her a sympathetic look as her face burned a little bright red.

"It just that Naruto-Kun works so hard despite how everyone treats him and I couldn't help but to look up to him. And now that he's gone I feel like it was my fault to... Because I never work up the courage to confront him and talk with him. He is my inspiration. And I never got a chance to tell him this…"

"Well what do you think Naruto would have done in this situation." asked Iruka

Thinking a little she said "I believe he would not give up that why... I'm going to become strong like him so I can face him when he returns to the village and support him so he'll be happy to stay in the village" said Hinata with determination in her voice.

Now Iruka had even more motivation to make sure Naruto got back safe. As much as he wanted to continue his conversation with Hinata, he needed to get ready and leave.

And she needed to prepare for her tomorrow test with Kurenai thought Iruka.


Next Day


"You all fail!" Kakashi said. "You have no hope of becoming ninja, quit now and save Konoha and yourselves the trouble"

"WHAT" Sakura screamed. No way, Sasuke-kun would never forgive her.

"I'll give you one more chance to get the bells from me," passing the two bento boxes to Sai and Sasuke he finished "Don't give any to Sakura or you'll automatically fail."

With that the Copy Ninja disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving the Genin hopefuls to eat by themselves.

Pushing the lunch box to Sakura, Sasuke said "Here, eat, we'll all need our strength if we want any chance to get those bells"

Sakura was shocked "What, you heard Kakashi-Sensei, he said" She never got to finish as Sai interrupted, "He's long gone, Sasuke is right."

Hesitantly Sakura started eating. In a swirl of leaves an enraged Kakashi appeared and screamed "You all!" before pausing and finishing in a much quieter, sweeter voice "pass."

All three Genin were dumbfounded 'what but he had said.' Their thoughts were interrupted by Kakashi starting to speak.

"Those that abandon their mission are trash, those that abandon their comrades are worse then trash."

Gesturing towards the Memorial Stone he continued "That's the memorial for Konoha's greatest hero's. The brave ninja who died in the line of duty. All of my best friends names' are on that stone" Kakashi finished quietly.

"Meet here at 8 tomorrow for out first mission" And with that he was gone in a swirl of leaves. Leaving the Genin to their own devices.

"So... Sasuke-kun would you like to go on a date with me?" Sakura asked the aloof Uchiha.

"No," He replied before turning and walking away.

"Why would he go out with you when that Yamanaka girl is so much better looking?" Sai asked the pink haired Kunoichi.

Screaming she launched herself at the ink user leaving Sasuke to look on from a distance thinking 'Oh well, it could be worse, I could have the dobe on my team'.


Being a ninja had it's perks. Being able to beat people up and take their money being one of them. At first the young blonde refused to do it, resigning himself to sleeping in the forest or in caves. Slowly but surely the need for food and a roof over his head conquered his morals. But he still only mugged people that he believed had money to spare.

The fact that they carried more money might have had something to do with this as well.

The shop keepers sold him ninjutsu scrolls if he slipped them a little extra ryo under the table.

That might have had more to do with his infatuation with the place then people. Just a little though.

Despite his best efforts the Nuke-nin couldn't get anyone to sell him scrolls containing actual jutsu, it was quite obvious that he wasn't a native shinobi.

But he did manage to get his hands on a few useful things.

Mainly the three scrolls he had laid out on the forest floor in front of him labelled Chakra Molding for Beginners, Chakra Control for Intermediates and Advanced Chakra Manipulation.

Not the be all end all texts on chakra control by any means, but they gave detailed instructions on how to mold chakra to different parts of your body as well as exercises to increase control.

The last and by far the most interesting scroll detailed how to manipulate chakra so it can be used in jutsu. It also mentioned something called Element Manipulation but didn't go any farther into the subject.

Naruto had poured most of the rest of his impressive chakra reserves into more highly condensed clones to patrol the forests in case there was anyone nearby. That should buy him enough time to give himself and the Forbidden Scroll a reasonable head start.

Naruto was training again alone well not alone and more like with himself using The Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He had some sparring matches with his clones. Thinking it was better to spar with himself it would be a better improvement then just not sparring with anyone.

And as the time pass he had figured out the secret of The Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. The clones retain knowledge and if he trains with them the training speeds up exponentially.

Others Shinobi probably didn't know of this because they could't do as much clones as him.

While his loyal Kage Bunshin continued to read the scrolls on chakra control, Naruto and 25 other clones were walking up and down trees on their hands. While he could create over 800 clones he couldn't create over 25 that could mold chakra well enough to be of use.

Still, getting 25 times the work done had done wonders for his control.

Other clones which couldn't mold chakra were training making the hand seals for a new jutsu from the scroll. They helped a lot to memory the hands seals for the jutsu as Naruto needed a lot of time to memory them.

From what Naruto got from the scroll the name of the jutsu was 'Kokuangyo no Jutsu.'

The user places a hallucinatory darkness on a target's eyesight, causing them to see nothing but black; Tō no Sho likens the sensation to being at the bottom of a deep hole.

Because the target cannot see, they are very vulnerable to attack. Although this handicap is dangerous even to target it is not insurmountable, as the target is able to sense attacks to try to defend himself and smell his attackers in order to stage a counterattack.

This jutsu could help Naruto a lot so he had picked it up with his mind fixed on learning the jutsu before the night was out.


Next Day


Naruto had woken up and eat, after coming out of the cave he closed his eyes a little as he prepared to start another day of training but then he heard some voices close to him.

"There he is. It has to be him."

"What are the chances we'd find him while out on a mission."

"Imagine what reward we could get for him."

Naruto's eyes fluttered open to the sound of voices,

"What the hell" Naruto yelled. 25 feet away from him there were four Konoha Shinobi, all with weapons in hand and self satisfied smirks on their face.

Naruto vaguely recognized one of them as a jonin who came into Academy a few times. Naruto stared at the assembled ninja preparing to fight. To his luck the scroll and backpack were in the cave so will not have to worry about them getting damaged in the fight.

"You don't stand a chance boy, the four of us" One of the Shinobi said gesturing at the three men to his right side

"He is right Naruto-kun, please come back peacefully" The smallest chunnin said, in a low, pleasant voice.

He had expected this, but that didn't make actually seeing it any easier.

There were two option. He had advantage to run away longer then they could chase him but then he will be leaving the scroll and backpack behind… or he will be fighting these men.

Yet could he really win this? They were bigger in rank then him, the chances were very low.

But in that moment he just remembered the jutsu he learned last night. So maybe he had a chance.

This was his chance to find out how good he had become in this time.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" yelled Naruto as he made the hand seals and 8 clones appeared out of smoke and went to attack the four Shinobi.

The four of them quickly defeat the eight clones with their weapons but as they returned their eyes and prepared to go after the original they saw him making another hand seal.

"Kokuangyo no Jutsu!" yelled Naruto.

Suddenly all light seemed to disappear from the area and The four Shinobi found themselves surrounded by complete darkness.

"What is happening!" Yelled one of the Shinobi.

"What is going on!" Yellow another one

"What the Hell did that brat did!" Yelled another one.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" whispered Naruto as he made eight clones again who went to attack the four Shinobi hoping no one of them was a sensory type.

The clones quickly overwhelmed the four Shinobi as their screams could be heard around the forest.

Naruto then released both of the jutsu as this new jutsu sure took a lot of chakra. He know he shouldn't waste his chakra when using these forbidden jutsu as who knows what else he could encounter later and he needed to be ready.

Naruto stepped over to the fallen Shinobi and stripped them of everything he deemed useful.

After this he took his Scroll and backpack now full with food and some Shurikens and Kunai.

Unknown to Naruto the screaming of the Shinobi he had defeat have attracted someone who happens to be nearby.


Naruto was running as he needed to get away before those four Shinobi woke up.

But in his hurry Naruto hit something or someone as it was not a tree.

Seeing it was a man Naruto was ready to yell at him for not watching where he was going even if he was the one who didn't watch the road.

But stopped as he locked at the man it was very big, so making some steps back over Naruto immediately saw a VERY LARGE man, with blue skin? and a similarly large wrapped thingy? on his shoulders. Naruto jumped up into a stance as he assessed this new threat.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" The man started speaking to the air as if there was an audience. "Here I was, trying to pee peacefully, when suddenly I heard people screaming. I come to take a look and it's a shrimp. What are the odds of that?" The blue skinned man grinned.

"This coming from a guy wearing a lame black cloak with red clouds even though he has blue skin?" Naruto spat. "At least I carry my outfit with style."

The man grinned even wider, making him look like a shark. "You've got quite a tongue haven't you, brat?"

Naruto didn't know how to respond to that, so he did what he did best. Insults. "And you've got quite the teeth haven't you, old man?"

The grin disappeared.

"Who are you calling old man?" The Shark Man asked as his hand was already touching the sword behind him.

"Who else is here Ossan?" Naruto grinned.

"Don't make me shut that mouth for you brat." Shark man gestured menacingly.

"Try it, Shark-Ossan." Naruto said as he formed the seals of his jutsu. Instantly, ten more Naruto's appeared beside him, all ready to attack.

The shark man grinned savagely at this. "Kage Bunshin, huh? So you are a ninja." He settled into a relaxed pose. "Come then, let's see what you're made of, you little orange blob."

Naruto and his clones separated in more directions creating a triangular pattern with the man in the middle. One of these clone took Naruto's giant scroll with the backpack and went to hiding while Naruto and his clones attacked the man..

The blue man continued laughing as he was dealing swift kicks to all of them, making them fly in the same direction they were coming from. The clones dispelled, but Naruto crashed into a large tree.

The Shark Man just stood there and laughed. "You'll need a thousand clones to make me get serious, brat."

As he rise up Naruto said annoyed his name "Naruto!"

"Naruto…?" The Shark Man imagined a white slice of cured fish with a pink whirlpool pattern embedded on it.

"My name is Naruto," the boy said with pride. "You want One thousand clones? If that is what it takes to make you acknowledge me, so be it."

Naruto formed the seals again as he looked up into the Shark Man's eyes and the man was surprised at the fire that burned in those blue eyes.


Author Notes (warning: potential spoilers)

Here is the second chapter.

Some of the events happening to Naruto in this chapter are days way ahead then the ones in Konoha.

I hope I write ok all the characters in this chapter.


Forbidden Scroll jutsu contained and which we can speculate are in at the moment:

Kokuangyo no Jutsu:

The user places a hallucinatory darkness on a target's eyesight, causing them to see nothing but black; Tō no Sho likens the sensation to being at the bottom of a deep hole.

Because the target cannot see, they are very vulnerable to attack. Although this handicap is dangerous even to target it is not insurmountable, as the target is able to sense attacks to try to defend himself and smell his attackers in order to stage a counterattack.

In the manga, this technique is performed by Hashirama Senju. In the anime, it is instead performed by Tobirama Senju. In Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3, both are capable of performing the technique.


Naruto's current jutsu at the moment:

Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu

Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu

Kokuangyo no Jutsu (New)

Transformation Technique

Variations: Harem no Jutsu


Jutsu/Technique:

Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Multiple Shadow Clone Technique

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Shadow Clone Technique

Bunshin no Jutsu = Clone Technique

Oiroke no jutsu = Sexy Technique

Kokuangyo no Jutsu = Genjutsu: Infinite Darkness Jutsu

Alternative name:

Kokuangyo no Jutsu = Genjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique