Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do own all of the characters I introduce and the storyline of this fanfic.

Thanks again for the reviews. I'll answer some questions/comments that were raised.
Disgrunted: Kage = shadow and bunshin = replication, clone, copy. I don't see the problem in calling it Shadow Replication. It's really just preference and I prefer using the English name so I don't make stupid mistakes.
Inferno-Dragonz: It's up to you to decide if Naruto's hot. It's not really relevant to the story so I haven't thought about it.

I'll answer a lot of questions in the next couple of chapters. Some interesting stuff is going to happen. I might even get a cliffhanger in, hehe.

"text" speech
'text' thoughts
«text» voice in mind
------- change of scene.
FLASHBACK

Naruto was breathing heavy. He had just finished his training for the day.
"That's enough for the day, you can rest," his teacher said.
Naruto had left Konoha 6 months ago with this strange man who called himself Hannoki. The man had taught him many things. Naruto's taijutsu had improved a lot because of the physical training and the increasingly heavy weights that were on both his arms and legs. He also learned genjutsu. Although he wasn't very good at performing it, he was capable of detecting and dispelling most genjutsu, even higher level ones. Something was bothering Naruto, though. His teacher had taught him the basics of most ninjutsu, but he knew very little higher level techniques.
They had only run into trouble once when they were spotted by Leaf ninja. Hannoki had been able to stop them long enough for the two of them to escape, but Naruto had been clearly recognized. They had to travel a couple of days to make sure they were safe.

"Naruto, there's something I need to tell you,"Hannoki interrupted they boy's thoughts.
Naruto sat down next to his teacher. "What is it, Sensei?"
"I already told you that the symbol on your forehead will provide you with power. Now I will tell you the entire story."
Naruto listened carefully
"Around the same time Konoha was founded, a man discovered he had an incurable disease. The man had a son that he loved very much. Before he passed away, the man wanted to teach his son everything he knew. Time, however, was limited and he knew he wouldn't be able to teach his son everything. That's why the man worked on a technique that would allow him to seal all his knowledge into his son.
The man succeeded and his son became a very strong ninja. The son didn't want to let any of the knowledge his father had given him to go to waste. So he searched for someone who was worthy of receiving the seal his father invented. This became a sort of tradition and I am the fourth person who was granted the seal. Now, I have chosen you as the next in line. Once you have received the final stage of the seal, you will posses all of the knowledge the previous had, including my own."
Naruto had been listening to the story in awe.
"Now that you know the origin of this seal, I have something to ask of you. Once you have received the complete seal, you must seek someone who is worthy of the seal. You cannot let this secret technique go to waste of fall into the wrong hands."
Naruto nodded. "I will do everything in my power to find a proper successor and keep this technique a secret."
"Good, I knew I had chosen someone whom I could trust. You probably realize the reason I wasn't teaching you many ninjutsu yet."
"Because I would know them anyway once I receive the complete seal?"
"Almost correct. There is still once step before the third and final step."
"And what does this second step do exactly?" Naruto asked a little suspicious.
"It will open a two-way communication channel between the two of us. It not only allows us to talk to each other without saying anything, but it also allows me to teach you a new technique in seconds."
"Kind of like the sharingan?"
"That's a good way of seeing it. It also has the same weaknesses, though. Your body still has to be able to keep up with what you are trying to do."
"So that's why we've been doing so much taijutsu?"
"You're getting sharp, kid." Hannoki's face suddenly turned very serious. "Naruto, now that you know all this, do you willingly accept the second stage of this seal?"
"Of course. After what you just told me, I can't wait to receive it!" Naruto said very enthusiastically.
"Very well then." Hannoki started performing a complex series of hand seals. When he finished, he crossed his hands and laid his palm onto Naruto's forehead. The triangle that was already there started glowing and inside of it a new one started forming.
Naruto felt a burning sensation on his forehead as the second stage was completed.
«Now, how do you feel?» a voice asked Naruto in his head.
"What is this?" Naruto said
«This is the communication I was talking about,» the voice continued.
"So this is you, Sensei?"
«Yes. It's very convenient. It works no matter how far we are away. Why don't you try it too? Just think that you are saying something to me, but don't speak it out loud.»
Naruto tried what his teacher told him. «So, eh, like this?»
«Exactly. Let me explain this some more. The seals are in contact with each other and allow our brainwaves to communicate. It was the creators second attempt at the seal.»
«So why did he continue, this would allow him to teach his son everything pretty fast.»
«He still thought it was too slow, so he made the third and final stage to instantly transfer everything. The second stage will do just fine for now, though.»
«When will I receive the complete seal then?»
«You will when the time is right, there is no need for you to have such power yet. I'll tell you of some more things you can do. I already told you two forms of communication, but there is more you can do. If both of us concentrate, one of us can see, hear and feel the same things as the other.»
Naruto couldn't hide his amazement. «Wow, that's pretty cool.»
«I haven't tried this myself, but it should even be possible to take over the other person's body completely.»
Naruto shivered while he looked at his teacher with a strange look in his eyes.
«Don't worry, kid. It will only work if both of us concentrate. I can't just take over without you being able to anything about it.»
Naruto wasn't entirely at ease yet, but he knew he could trust Hannoki. «Hey, let's test this thing. Could you teach me something cool?»
«Eager, aren't we. Let's see, how about Wind Barrier?»
Naruto had only seen his teacher perform it twice, but he suddenly knew exactly how it was done. Naruto concentrated and the needed hand seals showed up in his head. "Wow, this is cool!" he said out loud. He proceeded to form the seals extremely fast. Part of his training had been speeding them up as much as possible. "Wind Barrier!" A heavy wind started developing around Naruto, forming a shield against non-existent attacks.
"Very good, it worked flawlessly. Your training has paid off, you need pretty good chakra control and stamina to be able to perform this."
"So can you teach me some more cool techniques?"
"Don't forget the challenge I gave you. You still have to come up with a creative use."
Naruto sighed. "I knew there was a catch somewhere." He then though for a moment.

"I got something, how about this." Naruto laid a couple of kunai around him and did the technique. The kunai flew away, hitting nearby trees.
All the training they had been doing for the past couple of months showed off. Naruto didn't only improve physically, but he had also become smarter. The old Naruto would have dived head first into a situation, whilst the "new" Naruto first looked at the situation and took a calculated decision.
Heavy clouds had been forming while the two were practicing.
«Looks like the weather is about to turn. Let's hope we can stay dry for a while»
Hannoki hadn't spoken the words yet before the clouds burst open and rain started pouring down.
"Damn, we don't have any shelter. We need to take a risk and head for the nearby village. Let's take a run for it!"
Naruto didn't take long to grab his things and run towards the village they had passed a couple of days ago.

They arrived totally soaked at the inn. A small puddle was forming at their feet as they took off their cloaks and put them away. They walked towards the manager to book a room. It was then that Naruto noticed someone sitting at the bar. A Leaf ninja. Or was a Leaf ninja. The forehead protector had a cut in the middle, indicating the person was a missing-nin. But that wasn't what struck Naruto.

"Hinata?!"

Hinata had been sitting in the inn for a while. She had been looking for Naruto for the past couple of months, but without any result. 'Is he even still in Grass? He could have traveled to another country after he was discovered by the Leaf ninjas.' She noticed two persons dressed in black cloaks entered the inn, not paying any attention to them.
"Hinata?!" a voice exclaimed.
She jerked her head up, finding herself looking into a pair of blue eyes, belonging to a boy with blond hair. Her heart started to race "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto realized what he had done: he had revealed himself to a Leaf ninja. He remembered the night he left Konoha clearly. All of his friends were there, laughing at him. 'Hinata, she...she wasn't there!' Now matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember seeing her face amongst the crowd. "Hinata-chan, what are you doing here? And why is your forehead protector cut?"
"Naruto-kun, that's a long story. I'll tell it to you, but I have to ask you something first."
Naruto looked at her and nodded.
"Why did you leave Konoha?"
Naruto sighed. "You weren't there, you couldn't understand..."
"I know it has something to do with Itachi."
Something suddenly switched in Naruto's brain. 'That night...' other memories started floating into his mind. 'I was chasing Sasuke.' It was like a cloud of fog was disappearing from his head. 'Then there was Itachi. After that, everything turned black.' "Itachi, that bastard!" he said in realization.
"Tsunade-sama said he used some sort of genjutsu..."
"He tricked me into thinking that everyone chased me out of Konoha. That's why I went away."
Hinata looked over Naruto's shoulder at the man that was with him. "Then, who is this man who's with you?"
"He helped me, trained me. I don't know where I would've ended up without him."
She was still a little suspicious of the man, but Naruto seemed to trust him completely.
"Hinata-chan, you have an answer to your question. Now, tell me your story."
Hinata took a deep breath and started talking.

FLASHBACK
(A/N: Hinata doesn't tell everything that is in this flashback, just her POV)

Tsunade was sitting in her office. She was worried, they hadn't received much information regarding Naruto. The little she did know was very disturbing. Naruto had been sighted with a man dressed in black. Although the boy was apparently named Totei and the man Hannoki, they had clear indication that the boy was Naruto.
That wasn't the problem though. The boy had helped some kids who were being attacked. That was clearly not something Itachi wouldn't have allowed. Furthermore, Naruto hadn't made any attempts at running, although the man had done all the talking. 'Argh, what's going on?! What is Itachi doing with the boy…'
She didn't have time to think about that, because a messenger stormed into her office. "Hokage-sama, pardon the intrusion, but I have word that several ANBU have fought with Itachi near the Eastern border."
Tsunade's eyes widened. "But that's not possible, he has been seen a couple of days ago in the Grass country. Even he can't travel that fast."
"It's true. He used his Sharingan, so we are positive it was him."
"Did you see any sign of the boy?"
"No, he wasn't with him."
"Alright, can you gather the ninjas? We need to have a meeting."
"I will see to it, Hokage-sama"

Tsunade motioned for everyone to be silent. "We are currently in a very uncertain situation. I have strong reason to believe Itachi does not have Naruto. We need to find out who is with Naruto and what his purpose is." She paused for a while.

"For that purpose, I'm assembling a team that will travel to the Grass country to find out about Naruto and the man that is with him. There have been no known sighs of hostility, but we must remain alert. I will now announce the people how are in this special team." Tsunade said the names a several people, a total of eight.

"Your mission is to collect information and to try to bring Naruto back to this village alive." She stressed the last word a little. "You may use force if needed. Please report back as often as possible. This meeting is adjourned." All ninjas left the meeting hall.

Hinata was punching a log furiously. Tsunade had canceled all searches for Naruto after the special team had returned. Naruto had engaged the team, while clearly informing them he had no intention of letting them take him. It was only afterwards that Hannoki helped the boy to fend of the Leaf ninja. The eight Leaf shinobi were left behind with relative ease. They reported back to the Hokage as soon as possible.

It was she who ordered all people to stop searching for Naruto. "It's clear he doesn't want to return to Konoha. We have no reason to believe that the man who is with him has bad intentions either."

That wasn't the only reason why she was mad though. Hinata punched the log again. She had been asking Tsunade for the cause of Naruto's departure, but she wouldn't tell her anything. Hinata felt that she knew something, but wasn't telling her.
'If they don't tell me, then I'll find out myself.' She made a decision, she would leave Konoha to search for Naruto. Hinata knew he was in the Grass country, so she had somewhere to look for the boy.

END FLASHBACK

Naruto had been listening to Hinata's story. "You can't really blame them for stopping to search for me. We took care of those ninjas pretty good." A small smile appear under his mask.
"Naruto-kun, there's a reason I'm here. I've come to take you back to Konoha."
Naruto sighed. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan, but I'm not ready to return yet."
"But whatever happened was because of Itachi's genjutsu."
"I know, but I have now found something I want to work for. I can't just abandon my teacher now."
"I can't return empty handed. All of this will have been for nothing."
"I understand what you gave up when you left Konoha. I also gave up something, but I will lose even more if I quit now."
"If you're not coming with me, than I'm staying with you."
"Eh?" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.
Hannoki finally stood up and spoke. "Guess I have a new student than. Nice to meet you Hinata, my name is Hannoki."
It was Hinata's turn to be surprised. She started blushing, her shyness wasn't gone yet.
«Sensei, don't tell her about the Kyubi. She doesn't know and has no need to know either,» Naruto warned his teacher.
«I won't, don't worry. » "First of all I have some rules before you are allowed to receive my training..."

'Whoever this girl is, she's had a big impact on the kid. He seemed very sad before, but he almost seems joyful now. It's a weird sight. I should make the best of this, I never would have hoped for two students. Judging from her eyes, the girl's a Hyuga, this could be very interesting.' He looked at Naruto and Hinata talking.
"Hinata-chan, there is something I wanted to ask, though. Why did you come to look for me?" Naruto asked.
Hinata turned bright red. "W-Well, I-I eh...". She couldn't speak the words, yet.
Hannoki laughed inwardly. 'The boy may have mentally improved, but he's as dense as ever about women...'

Author's Notes:
I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it came out without much trouble. There is a reason why Tsunade gave up the search after the last team returned, but I won't tell it yet :p.

These were actually two chapters at first, but for certain reasons I had two chapters to put up at once. I decided it would be easier to make it a single large chapter.

Anyway, the next chapter will most likely start after another time jump. I want to keep their improvements a surprise for a while. Please review, I do take comments into account during my writing!