Hello minna-san! Yep, updating again already... hahaha
Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine. If it was, than I wouldn't be here writing fanfics write now...
-----------------------------
DragonCC: I think most writers tend to show Naruto as "normal." Ahahha for most the ficcies, I read, he comes back as calm as ever... I'm still not sure how he's really going to wind up... im just brainstorming as I go! thank you for the review tho!
Chibified kitsunes: the chunin exam... hmmmmm I don't know..... I'm not really completely sure if I want to have him start off in the chuunin exam... but it'd be easier because I don't think I want to rewrite the part about Haku and Zabuza... I'll prob wind up writing mah own lil missions... whoa! Got off the subject... hahah and of course hes going to be in team 7 wouldn't have it any other way! Hahaha thanks for reviewing and I hope you like this chappie!
Snakedynasty: what do you mean by a ship? Hahah thanks for reviewing!
Licht Sieger: hahaha good to know im not the only paranoid one here! thanks for reviewing!
Someone: hmmmmmm you'll just have to read ahead and find out! (I'm so dumb! This totally makes it obvious! xX) enjoy the ficcie!
CanalVorfeed1: heheheh! So glad ya like it. and as for the rasengan thing, he hasn't been taught it... I don't plan on making him like a crazyass- jounin-level-overqualified genin... well, maybe a lil more overqualified but not too much thanks for your advice!
Ryugura: thanks for the advice! I'll try to keep it in mind... but hehehe its hard to try to relate the ninja stuff to real life so I'll try to make his personality as real as possible, but of course, still sticking to the rudiments of the original Naruto character
Chibi and Chan: =b you got lucky. I don't really like yaoi either... hahaha well I don't like it in Naruto... it just doesn't make sense in Naruto... I mean kakashi and iruka don't match in my own personal opinion
Kaiser Ryu: Hmmm... I'm not sure yet... we'll just have to see as we go... hahah I'm not sure myself where this ficcie is headed, but trust me: if its not as original as I can make it I'd rewrite the whole thing over again. Hahaha! Hope my ficcie satisfies ur taste and thanks for the review
I also want to thank:
Death Phoenix Hinanaru Gopu Night-Owl123 Inu-chan 613 JONATHAN sHIM Angl Wolfgirl13 Falcon-Rider RubyMoon 17 Yum Ilovenaruhina Ramen Fox Box Stunlee200
------------------------------
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
[ A/N : authors notes ]
Flashback
------- Change of setting or time lapse
::Point of View::
------------------------------
Previously...
Jiraiya took a glance at Naruto while the Raikage continued talking. The blonde looked bored and uncomfortable in the palace.
"... great having you, the legendary senin of Konoha and your apprentice, here with us. We are thankful that you could do the missions for us."
"Hai. It was no problem. Well we best be leaving. Goodbye!" Jiraiya said as Naruto and he bowed and headed out.
On they way out Jiraiya said, "Quiet as usual, eh Naruto?"
"..."
"Heh. Well I've got some news for you! We're going back to Konoha!"
--------------------------
Chapter 3 No Such Thing As Home
Naruto blinked. A light breeze blew by and shuffled the sand and leaves on the floor. Once in a while, a few passing villagers of Hidden Cloud turned to look but they were passed on as just visiting shinobi.
"...."
Jaraiya grinned widely and turned to look at Naruto.
"Well? Aren't you happy?"
"...."
Then, it hit him like a wave. He was going back to Konoha.
His first home.
Where it had all begun.
Konoha...
Where peace was the very essence of the village.
Konoha...
Where the villagers sneered at him and called him names. The village where their indigenous people would ignore him and avoid all contact, whatsoever.
Where he would be alone and hated, for being a monster, whatever they meant by that. [A/N: In this fanfic, he doesn't know yet okay? That is, he has no clue whatsoever that Kyuubi resides within him!!]
'I'm going back to Konoha,' Naruto thought, still shocked. At this point, Jiraiya began to get a little worried. They had been standing outside the administrative building's steps for five minutes. Naruto's expression was blank and the blonde hadn't said anything.
"Naruto? You there?" he asked as he waved a hand frantically in front of the blonde's face. Jiraiya frowned.
"Konoha..." Naruto mumbled. "Konoha," he repeated except this time, louder.
"Konoha!" His eyes widened as he finally registered what Jiraiya had said. "NO! NO WAY IN THIS LIFETIME I AM EVER RETURNING TO THAT DUMP!"
Immediately, he turned and in the blink of an eye, he was off, running down the steps and heading out of Hidden Cloud's gates into the forest.
"Naru-" Jiraiya started "-to... Sigh... that baka... I guess he still hasn't completely healed from his childhood."
Closing his eyes, he began to shake his head and frown. Then he began to head off towards the direction Naruto ran off to.
--------------------------------
All was still and quiescent in the small clearing in the forest. Except for a few animal calls and rustling, that is. Then, the sound of running footsteps came.
Naruto ran into the clearing and stopped there, breathing heavily from the running. He walked over into the shade of a tall tree and sank down into it, closing his eyes and clearing his mind.
'Go back to Konoha? How could he even ask something like that? That baka Ero-sennin!'
He frowned as memories that he had suppressed came back and reopened the not yet sealed wound the villagers of Konoha gave him in his heart.
::Flashback::
Naruto was walking down the road on his way back from the Hokage's office. Every few weeks or so, the Hokage would call Naruto to him to check up on him and provide him with his allowance to buy his necessities. It was the a little after noon and the sun was blazing in the sky, crushing everyone with its heat and light. The streets of Konoha were crowded as villagers haggled shopkeepers for their weekly essentials and some miscellaneous items.
Naruto, while walking at a fast pace to avoid colliding with anyone, looked up and straight to the sun's rays. He closed his eyes tightly to make the glare go away and while doing so, ran into one of the villagers.
"Ugh! Oh, I'm so-" started the villager. She looked down and saw Naruto, dusting himself off and her eyes widened. "OH MY GOD!!!!! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER!" she shrieked. "DON'T TOUCH ME!!"
People from the crowd began to turn to see what was going on.
Naruto's eyes held fear as he walked up and started to apologize.
"No!!! Get AWAY! GET AWAY, GET AWAY!!!"
A circle began to gather as villagers watched the woman's reaction to the demon-child.
"Miss, is he giving you a problem?" one in the crowd spoke. "Hey! Get away from her!" "YeaH! What do you think you're doing running into people?!" More and more people in the crowd started to yell and verbally attack the young blonde. He didn't know what to say. His eyes were wide open and he bit his lip as tears began to form in his eyes.
"You monster! You took away my father!"
"You killed my son!"
"It's your fault my parents are dead!"
Naruto walked backwards as the crowd pushed forward, treating the child with the utmost animosity possible. They hated him. Abhored him. Despised him. He fell and stumbled to get up. The crowd continued to push forward.
"MONSTER!"
"DEMON-CHILD!"
"MURDERER!!!"
He got up as quickly as possible and turned to run for his life. Tears ran down his cheeks and he was unable to stop them. He could still hear the shouts and the names. He could still feel the hatred they had toward him. And he couldn't take it. He ran and ran until he got into his apartment. Then, he just fell to his knees and started sobbing, alone. Just how he was meant to be.
::End Flashback::
It seemed as if he were still running away from his past. The bellows scorned him in his mind. The blonde pulled his knees closer towards himself and blinked away the tears that were forming.
'Why am I a monster? What did I ever do wrong?' he kept asking himself. Suddenly, he whipped his head up and saw Jiraiya standing there.
"..."
"..."
'This kid... I feel so bad for him, but there's no other way. He's going to have to go back either by choice or kicking and screaming. Or else he's never going to be truly happy,' the sennin thought.
"Naruto, you're going to have to return someday. You can't run away from Konoha forever."
"I can try, can't I?" Naruto answered, harshly.
"Not if I have something to say about it! Naruto, Konoha is your home! It is your birthplace, childhood hopes and dreams," Jiraiya said, adding in his thoughts, 'It was the dream of your father, Yondaime, for you to take over his rule one day.'
"I won't go back," he said, firmly.
"Too bad. You don't have a choice."
Jiraiya took out some rope and in a flash, Naruto was tied up.
"Let me go, Ero-sennin!" he said struggling.
"No. You're coming back with me. If you don't do it willingly, in the name of Hokage-sama, you will be dragged back squirming," Jiraiya said as he reached into his sack and pulled out some tape to tape Naruto's mouth shut.
'That ought to keep the trip nice and quiet.'
"You'll thank me for this, Naruto. Konoha women are the finest of the countries!"
He picked up Naruto and started to reminisce his memories of Konoha orally to the blonde.
And this was the beginning of the long trek back to Konoha.
---------------------------------------------
One week later...
Jiraiya looked up at the tall, wooden Konoha gates.
"This is it! We've finally arrived!" he said, ebulliently. He then looked down at Naruto to see his tied-up form sleeping.
'Must've struggled until he fell asleep. That stubborn baka...'
He marched up to the gate and until the guards stopped him.
"Name and purpose of visit, please."
There was a moment of silence.
"Name?! You don't recognize my handsome face?! I am the great Jiraiya! One of the great Legendary Sennin! How can you not know who I am?!" cried Jiraiya dramatically.
The guards' eyes widened. One spoke up, frantically.
"J-Jiraiya-sama! We apologize for this blunder. Please, forgive us! We haven't seen you for five or six years around here."
Jiraiya scowled and replied, "Just let me pass you morons."
"Y-Yes, Jiraiya-sama!"
Jiraiya picked up Naruto's tied-up form and his bags and proceeded onward into the village. The guards looked at the body skeptically.
"What a strange man..."
--------------------------------
The Hokage sat at his desk writing up some contracts. The day had been uneventful for him, so far. But things always turned up and today would be no different. It was usually, in moments when he wondered if anything interesting would occur, that something interesting did occur.
The Third looked at the contract he held in his hand, checking over the terms and conditions. The contract was written in a neat hand, with the Fire Country's emblem on the top. He picked up a quill and dipped it in ink before he signed it on the bottem.
"Sigh. Two hundred eighty-five down, four hundred thirty-three more to go," said the old man to no one in particular.
The Third suddenly looked up, sensing someone with a large amount of chakra coming towards his office.
'From the balcony!'
He began to move his hands to a jutsu and finished just when two figures burst in the room through the balcony doors.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
He took a deep breath and puffed out a burst of fire that came out through his mouth. The flame scorched the two figures and once finished, they were smothered black.
"Senile old man! What was that for?!" the taller figure cried.
The Hokage squinted and looked at the figure before recognizing him.
"... Is that you, Jiraiya?" he asked.
There, he was, without a doubt, with his white hair tinged black from the fire and his gray robes. He still had that strange headband on him as well.
"Age must be making you blind! What do you think you're doing that jutsu on your old student?"
"You came through my window! Only fools and assassins don't use the front door."
"Pssh! I don't have time for doors," Jiraiya said. He glanced around the room.
'This place hasn't changed much,' he noted. Everything was still in place as he last remembered it. There was his sensei's desk, the bookshelves, and all the old scrolls lying around. He noticed a few new pictures on the wall, maybe one or two new pieces of furniture, but otherwise everything was there.
Sandaime noticed his old student hadn't changed as well. He was still the boisterous, arrogant idiot he was when he was a child. He then looked over to his old students side where he saw the body tied up in rope.
"Who is that?" the older man asked, pointing to the body with blonde hair.
"mmM-mMph!" cried the body.
"Oh, him. I forgot he was here. Hahahaha..." said Jiraiya. He picked up the body and positioned it upright. Using a kunai, he cut through the rope. The boy glared at Jiraiya, doggedly. If looks could kill, this one could murder a crowd. The blonde, blue-eyed boy then tore off the duct tape that prevented him from speaking.
"You stinking idiot! I can't believe you kept me tied up for that long!" he cried. He turned to look at the Hokage. The Hokage stared back.
'Those lines on his face... Can it be?' the Hokage thought.
He then turned to Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, who is that? Is he Naruto?" the old man asked.
Naruto frowned.
'I knew they would forget about me,' he thought.
Jiraiya chuckled and responded, "Yep, that's the brat."
The Third smiled and nodded.
"Anyways, what brings you to Konoha? It's been six years, if I am not wrong."
"I just thought it was about time I brought him back here. I'm gonna leave him here for a while. Besides, I've got to do some research elsewhere. Wanted to put all my time into finishing the rest of my new book. So I need someone to watch the brat for a while 'cause I can't train him."
The reactions he received from the two were completely different.
One shouted indifferently: "YOU'RE LEAVING ME HERE!? YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!!"
The other: "Oh, I see."
"Glad you understand! Well, I've got some research to do," said Jiraiya, enthusiastically.
"I wonder if any new bathhouses were built," he mumbled to himself, as he jumped off the balcony and in a puff of smoke, he vanquished.
"Noo!!! Ero-sennin! You can't go!!" cried Naruto, rather desperately.
Sandaime just smiled and waved goodbye.
Naruto, then, sat down and dramatically sobbed. "ERO-SENNIN!"
The Hokage sweat-dropped.
"Well, Naruto, as the Hokage of Konoha, I'm glad to be the first to welcome you home."
Naruto got up silently. His eyes were shaded over so one couldn't see the pain in his eyes.
"Home?" he said solemnly. "Konoha is not my home. To me, there is no such thing as home. Stop trying to be cheerful and nice. You all hate me. You were glad I was gone. The villagers probably were celebrating the day I left crying, 'Finally! That monster left!' But how am I a monster?! How? HOW?!"
"Calm down, Naruto. How about I treat you to some ramen? You used to love it when you were a child."
Naruto looked at the Third. He hadn't changed much. He was still old, with the same traditional attire of a Hokage. Tears began to form in his eyes.
"I don't understand. How come it seems you're the only one who treats me like a person here? You were the only one who was nice to me as a kid. Why? Why?!" Naruto cried as he broke into sobs.
The old man smiled.
"Come, I'll explain it to you when we get to Ichiraku. You still like ramen right?"
Naruto's sobs came to a stop. He hesitated a bit before looking up and smiling, surprised the old man had remembered.
"Are you kidding me? I could never get over that stuff," he replied.
TBC
----------------------------------
A/N: Gosh that took a few days... Sorry minna-san, I had homework and skoo... plus this SAT class that im takin isn't helping me to finish this chapter...
I hoped you all enjoyed the chapter and please R&R!
Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine. If it was, than I wouldn't be here writing fanfics write now...
-----------------------------
DragonCC: I think most writers tend to show Naruto as "normal." Ahahha for most the ficcies, I read, he comes back as calm as ever... I'm still not sure how he's really going to wind up... im just brainstorming as I go! thank you for the review tho!
Chibified kitsunes: the chunin exam... hmmmmm I don't know..... I'm not really completely sure if I want to have him start off in the chuunin exam... but it'd be easier because I don't think I want to rewrite the part about Haku and Zabuza... I'll prob wind up writing mah own lil missions... whoa! Got off the subject... hahah and of course hes going to be in team 7 wouldn't have it any other way! Hahaha thanks for reviewing and I hope you like this chappie!
Snakedynasty: what do you mean by a ship? Hahah thanks for reviewing!
Licht Sieger: hahaha good to know im not the only paranoid one here! thanks for reviewing!
Someone: hmmmmmm you'll just have to read ahead and find out! (I'm so dumb! This totally makes it obvious! xX) enjoy the ficcie!
CanalVorfeed1: heheheh! So glad ya like it. and as for the rasengan thing, he hasn't been taught it... I don't plan on making him like a crazyass- jounin-level-overqualified genin... well, maybe a lil more overqualified but not too much thanks for your advice!
Ryugura: thanks for the advice! I'll try to keep it in mind... but hehehe its hard to try to relate the ninja stuff to real life so I'll try to make his personality as real as possible, but of course, still sticking to the rudiments of the original Naruto character
Chibi and Chan: =b you got lucky. I don't really like yaoi either... hahaha well I don't like it in Naruto... it just doesn't make sense in Naruto... I mean kakashi and iruka don't match in my own personal opinion
Kaiser Ryu: Hmmm... I'm not sure yet... we'll just have to see as we go... hahah I'm not sure myself where this ficcie is headed, but trust me: if its not as original as I can make it I'd rewrite the whole thing over again. Hahaha! Hope my ficcie satisfies ur taste and thanks for the review
I also want to thank:
Death Phoenix Hinanaru Gopu Night-Owl123 Inu-chan 613 JONATHAN sHIM Angl Wolfgirl13 Falcon-Rider RubyMoon 17 Yum Ilovenaruhina Ramen Fox Box Stunlee200
------------------------------
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
[ A/N : authors notes ]
Flashback
------- Change of setting or time lapse
::Point of View::
------------------------------
Previously...
Jiraiya took a glance at Naruto while the Raikage continued talking. The blonde looked bored and uncomfortable in the palace.
"... great having you, the legendary senin of Konoha and your apprentice, here with us. We are thankful that you could do the missions for us."
"Hai. It was no problem. Well we best be leaving. Goodbye!" Jiraiya said as Naruto and he bowed and headed out.
On they way out Jiraiya said, "Quiet as usual, eh Naruto?"
"..."
"Heh. Well I've got some news for you! We're going back to Konoha!"
--------------------------
Chapter 3 No Such Thing As Home
Naruto blinked. A light breeze blew by and shuffled the sand and leaves on the floor. Once in a while, a few passing villagers of Hidden Cloud turned to look but they were passed on as just visiting shinobi.
"...."
Jaraiya grinned widely and turned to look at Naruto.
"Well? Aren't you happy?"
"...."
Then, it hit him like a wave. He was going back to Konoha.
His first home.
Where it had all begun.
Konoha...
Where peace was the very essence of the village.
Konoha...
Where the villagers sneered at him and called him names. The village where their indigenous people would ignore him and avoid all contact, whatsoever.
Where he would be alone and hated, for being a monster, whatever they meant by that. [A/N: In this fanfic, he doesn't know yet okay? That is, he has no clue whatsoever that Kyuubi resides within him!!]
'I'm going back to Konoha,' Naruto thought, still shocked. At this point, Jiraiya began to get a little worried. They had been standing outside the administrative building's steps for five minutes. Naruto's expression was blank and the blonde hadn't said anything.
"Naruto? You there?" he asked as he waved a hand frantically in front of the blonde's face. Jiraiya frowned.
"Konoha..." Naruto mumbled. "Konoha," he repeated except this time, louder.
"Konoha!" His eyes widened as he finally registered what Jiraiya had said. "NO! NO WAY IN THIS LIFETIME I AM EVER RETURNING TO THAT DUMP!"
Immediately, he turned and in the blink of an eye, he was off, running down the steps and heading out of Hidden Cloud's gates into the forest.
"Naru-" Jiraiya started "-to... Sigh... that baka... I guess he still hasn't completely healed from his childhood."
Closing his eyes, he began to shake his head and frown. Then he began to head off towards the direction Naruto ran off to.
--------------------------------
All was still and quiescent in the small clearing in the forest. Except for a few animal calls and rustling, that is. Then, the sound of running footsteps came.
Naruto ran into the clearing and stopped there, breathing heavily from the running. He walked over into the shade of a tall tree and sank down into it, closing his eyes and clearing his mind.
'Go back to Konoha? How could he even ask something like that? That baka Ero-sennin!'
He frowned as memories that he had suppressed came back and reopened the not yet sealed wound the villagers of Konoha gave him in his heart.
::Flashback::
Naruto was walking down the road on his way back from the Hokage's office. Every few weeks or so, the Hokage would call Naruto to him to check up on him and provide him with his allowance to buy his necessities. It was the a little after noon and the sun was blazing in the sky, crushing everyone with its heat and light. The streets of Konoha were crowded as villagers haggled shopkeepers for their weekly essentials and some miscellaneous items.
Naruto, while walking at a fast pace to avoid colliding with anyone, looked up and straight to the sun's rays. He closed his eyes tightly to make the glare go away and while doing so, ran into one of the villagers.
"Ugh! Oh, I'm so-" started the villager. She looked down and saw Naruto, dusting himself off and her eyes widened. "OH MY GOD!!!!! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER!" she shrieked. "DON'T TOUCH ME!!"
People from the crowd began to turn to see what was going on.
Naruto's eyes held fear as he walked up and started to apologize.
"No!!! Get AWAY! GET AWAY, GET AWAY!!!"
A circle began to gather as villagers watched the woman's reaction to the demon-child.
"Miss, is he giving you a problem?" one in the crowd spoke. "Hey! Get away from her!" "YeaH! What do you think you're doing running into people?!" More and more people in the crowd started to yell and verbally attack the young blonde. He didn't know what to say. His eyes were wide open and he bit his lip as tears began to form in his eyes.
"You monster! You took away my father!"
"You killed my son!"
"It's your fault my parents are dead!"
Naruto walked backwards as the crowd pushed forward, treating the child with the utmost animosity possible. They hated him. Abhored him. Despised him. He fell and stumbled to get up. The crowd continued to push forward.
"MONSTER!"
"DEMON-CHILD!"
"MURDERER!!!"
He got up as quickly as possible and turned to run for his life. Tears ran down his cheeks and he was unable to stop them. He could still hear the shouts and the names. He could still feel the hatred they had toward him. And he couldn't take it. He ran and ran until he got into his apartment. Then, he just fell to his knees and started sobbing, alone. Just how he was meant to be.
::End Flashback::
It seemed as if he were still running away from his past. The bellows scorned him in his mind. The blonde pulled his knees closer towards himself and blinked away the tears that were forming.
'Why am I a monster? What did I ever do wrong?' he kept asking himself. Suddenly, he whipped his head up and saw Jiraiya standing there.
"..."
"..."
'This kid... I feel so bad for him, but there's no other way. He's going to have to go back either by choice or kicking and screaming. Or else he's never going to be truly happy,' the sennin thought.
"Naruto, you're going to have to return someday. You can't run away from Konoha forever."
"I can try, can't I?" Naruto answered, harshly.
"Not if I have something to say about it! Naruto, Konoha is your home! It is your birthplace, childhood hopes and dreams," Jiraiya said, adding in his thoughts, 'It was the dream of your father, Yondaime, for you to take over his rule one day.'
"I won't go back," he said, firmly.
"Too bad. You don't have a choice."
Jiraiya took out some rope and in a flash, Naruto was tied up.
"Let me go, Ero-sennin!" he said struggling.
"No. You're coming back with me. If you don't do it willingly, in the name of Hokage-sama, you will be dragged back squirming," Jiraiya said as he reached into his sack and pulled out some tape to tape Naruto's mouth shut.
'That ought to keep the trip nice and quiet.'
"You'll thank me for this, Naruto. Konoha women are the finest of the countries!"
He picked up Naruto and started to reminisce his memories of Konoha orally to the blonde.
And this was the beginning of the long trek back to Konoha.
---------------------------------------------
One week later...
Jiraiya looked up at the tall, wooden Konoha gates.
"This is it! We've finally arrived!" he said, ebulliently. He then looked down at Naruto to see his tied-up form sleeping.
'Must've struggled until he fell asleep. That stubborn baka...'
He marched up to the gate and until the guards stopped him.
"Name and purpose of visit, please."
There was a moment of silence.
"Name?! You don't recognize my handsome face?! I am the great Jiraiya! One of the great Legendary Sennin! How can you not know who I am?!" cried Jiraiya dramatically.
The guards' eyes widened. One spoke up, frantically.
"J-Jiraiya-sama! We apologize for this blunder. Please, forgive us! We haven't seen you for five or six years around here."
Jiraiya scowled and replied, "Just let me pass you morons."
"Y-Yes, Jiraiya-sama!"
Jiraiya picked up Naruto's tied-up form and his bags and proceeded onward into the village. The guards looked at the body skeptically.
"What a strange man..."
--------------------------------
The Hokage sat at his desk writing up some contracts. The day had been uneventful for him, so far. But things always turned up and today would be no different. It was usually, in moments when he wondered if anything interesting would occur, that something interesting did occur.
The Third looked at the contract he held in his hand, checking over the terms and conditions. The contract was written in a neat hand, with the Fire Country's emblem on the top. He picked up a quill and dipped it in ink before he signed it on the bottem.
"Sigh. Two hundred eighty-five down, four hundred thirty-three more to go," said the old man to no one in particular.
The Third suddenly looked up, sensing someone with a large amount of chakra coming towards his office.
'From the balcony!'
He began to move his hands to a jutsu and finished just when two figures burst in the room through the balcony doors.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
He took a deep breath and puffed out a burst of fire that came out through his mouth. The flame scorched the two figures and once finished, they were smothered black.
"Senile old man! What was that for?!" the taller figure cried.
The Hokage squinted and looked at the figure before recognizing him.
"... Is that you, Jiraiya?" he asked.
There, he was, without a doubt, with his white hair tinged black from the fire and his gray robes. He still had that strange headband on him as well.
"Age must be making you blind! What do you think you're doing that jutsu on your old student?"
"You came through my window! Only fools and assassins don't use the front door."
"Pssh! I don't have time for doors," Jiraiya said. He glanced around the room.
'This place hasn't changed much,' he noted. Everything was still in place as he last remembered it. There was his sensei's desk, the bookshelves, and all the old scrolls lying around. He noticed a few new pictures on the wall, maybe one or two new pieces of furniture, but otherwise everything was there.
Sandaime noticed his old student hadn't changed as well. He was still the boisterous, arrogant idiot he was when he was a child. He then looked over to his old students side where he saw the body tied up in rope.
"Who is that?" the older man asked, pointing to the body with blonde hair.
"mmM-mMph!" cried the body.
"Oh, him. I forgot he was here. Hahahaha..." said Jiraiya. He picked up the body and positioned it upright. Using a kunai, he cut through the rope. The boy glared at Jiraiya, doggedly. If looks could kill, this one could murder a crowd. The blonde, blue-eyed boy then tore off the duct tape that prevented him from speaking.
"You stinking idiot! I can't believe you kept me tied up for that long!" he cried. He turned to look at the Hokage. The Hokage stared back.
'Those lines on his face... Can it be?' the Hokage thought.
He then turned to Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, who is that? Is he Naruto?" the old man asked.
Naruto frowned.
'I knew they would forget about me,' he thought.
Jiraiya chuckled and responded, "Yep, that's the brat."
The Third smiled and nodded.
"Anyways, what brings you to Konoha? It's been six years, if I am not wrong."
"I just thought it was about time I brought him back here. I'm gonna leave him here for a while. Besides, I've got to do some research elsewhere. Wanted to put all my time into finishing the rest of my new book. So I need someone to watch the brat for a while 'cause I can't train him."
The reactions he received from the two were completely different.
One shouted indifferently: "YOU'RE LEAVING ME HERE!? YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!!"
The other: "Oh, I see."
"Glad you understand! Well, I've got some research to do," said Jiraiya, enthusiastically.
"I wonder if any new bathhouses were built," he mumbled to himself, as he jumped off the balcony and in a puff of smoke, he vanquished.
"Noo!!! Ero-sennin! You can't go!!" cried Naruto, rather desperately.
Sandaime just smiled and waved goodbye.
Naruto, then, sat down and dramatically sobbed. "ERO-SENNIN!"
The Hokage sweat-dropped.
"Well, Naruto, as the Hokage of Konoha, I'm glad to be the first to welcome you home."
Naruto got up silently. His eyes were shaded over so one couldn't see the pain in his eyes.
"Home?" he said solemnly. "Konoha is not my home. To me, there is no such thing as home. Stop trying to be cheerful and nice. You all hate me. You were glad I was gone. The villagers probably were celebrating the day I left crying, 'Finally! That monster left!' But how am I a monster?! How? HOW?!"
"Calm down, Naruto. How about I treat you to some ramen? You used to love it when you were a child."
Naruto looked at the Third. He hadn't changed much. He was still old, with the same traditional attire of a Hokage. Tears began to form in his eyes.
"I don't understand. How come it seems you're the only one who treats me like a person here? You were the only one who was nice to me as a kid. Why? Why?!" Naruto cried as he broke into sobs.
The old man smiled.
"Come, I'll explain it to you when we get to Ichiraku. You still like ramen right?"
Naruto's sobs came to a stop. He hesitated a bit before looking up and smiling, surprised the old man had remembered.
"Are you kidding me? I could never get over that stuff," he replied.
TBC
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A/N: Gosh that took a few days... Sorry minna-san, I had homework and skoo... plus this SAT class that im takin isn't helping me to finish this chapter...
I hoped you all enjoyed the chapter and please R&R!