Disclaimer: You know the drill.

"talking"

'thoughts'

emphasis

written text

Kyuubi or Summon Boss

Back with a Vengance

Ch. 2

Tsunade was stunned. Of all the things she thought Naruto would say, she never expected that.

"N-nauto, what are you saying?"

"Precisely what I just said; I'm going to leave the Leaf, with or without your permission."

"What would make you want such a thing?" the Hokage responded.

"Do you want a list? Alright, let's see. Several times a lynch mob has formed on my birthday, of all days, to kill me; I can count the number of people who want me in this village on both hands with fingers to spare; The extreme majority of the village curses the ground I step on and go out of their way not to step anyplace I have. Shall I go on?"

Tsunade slumped her shoulders. "Naruto, something like what you are suggesting takes a great deal of time. I can see you first thing tomorrow, could we talk about this then?"

Naruto paused for a moment. "Very well. First thing tomorrow."

Before the slug sannin could reply, her receptionist called.

"Hokage-sama, she's waiting for you when you wish to see her." She said over the new intercom system.

"Is there anything else you wish to discuss, Naruto"? Tsunade asked.

"Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow."

"Very well." Tsunade turned to the intercom, "Send her in," she turned back to Naruto, "I've taken the liberty of getting you a new place to live, as you were thrown out of your apartment last year. She'll be taking you to your new place."

Sakura walked into the room, and smiled warmly. "It's been a while, Naruto."

Naruto fixed Tsunade with a look, before turning to his former teammate. "Let's go. I'll see you tomorrow, Hokage-sama."

"Go on ahead, Naruto. There are a few things I need to speak with Tsunade about." said Jiraya. Naruto nodded and walked out the door.

After the door clicked shut, Tsunade looked about to cry. "What happened to my little brother?"

"I told you he changed, Tsunade. He's grown up, and to tell you the truth, I wouldn't be too keen to stay in a place that cursed my existence for as long as I could remember, either."

Tsunade got up and walked to the window. "Do you think I can convince him to stay?"

"I don't know, Tsunade-hime, I don't know."

Sakura was excited to have Naruto back. She tried to strike up a conversation with her teammate. "So, are you excited to be home after all this time?" She got no response.

"A lot of people missed you, you know." Again, no response.

"You never did explain your appearance, Naruto. You trying to look like Kakashi-sensei?" Still no answer.

"Dammit, Naruto! Answer me! Say something!"

"Haruno-san, for the past 10 hours, I have been running back here. What I want most right now is a hot meal, a long bath, and a soft bed. Unless you're taking me someplace where I can get one of those three, I really have no desire to speak with you."

Sakura stopped in her tracks. "You really feel that way?"

Naruto turned to her. "You've given me no reason to feel any other way." He turned away from her and kept on walking.

Sakura hurried to catch up with him, thinking about the party she set up at his new home. There was no way he could be like that with all his friends there to welcome him home.

After fifteen more minutes of walking, they arrived in front of Naruto's new house. It wasn't as grand as the Uchiha manor, it was more like a modest upper-income family home; room enough for the central family and a few members of the extended family.

"This is it, Naruto. Home, sweet home."

"Alright, Haruno-san. Thanks for showing me here. See you tomorrow."

"W-Wait, Naruto. Don't you need help getting settled in?"

Naruto rolled his eye. "If you're that desperate for someone to talk to, I suppose you could come in."

Inner-Sakura was celebrating at how the plan was all coming together. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he saw everyone there.

Opening the door, they both walked in. Taking their shoes off, the former teammates walked into the darkened living room. Noticing that the room was dark, Naruto unsheathed his ninjato before creeping into the room. It was quiet, too quiet.

"SURPRISE! Welcome home, Naruto!" cheered the Rookie 9, Lee, Neji, and TenTen.

Naruto stared, not moving a muscle. After a moment had passed; he stood up, sheathed his sword, and walked out of the room. Everyone was speechless, Sakura more than anyone. She grabbed his arm and spun him around.

"Where are you going, Naruto?"

"To a hotel."

"W-Why? We all went to a lot of trouble for this."

"You wasted your time." was all he said before roof hopping into town.

Sakura, momentarily stunned, went after him followed by the rest of the gathering. They found him at Ichiraku's ramen stand fifteen minutes later, finishing off his second bowl of noodles. "NARUTO! That was very rude!"

"I didn't ask you to go through anything. Especially for me."

"You didn't need to ask. We're your friends. We're supposed to do these kinds of things for you."

At this, Naruto turned around, and glared at her. "You're not my friend. At best, you're a teammate, if anything. When we were on a 'team' as you call it, it was 'Sasuke this' and 'Sasuke that' and if I ever succeeded at anything, it was 'Stop showing off Naruto!' When Sasuke left, you volunteered to go with him. That's one act of treason, Sakura. Now ask yourself, 'Are we friends?' I want you to stop for a moment, and use what's behind that huge forehead of yours and think about that before you address me so casually, Haruno-san."

He turned away from her and ordered another bowl of ramen. Everyone stood behind him, stock still, shaken at the cold, even tone he had used to tear into her. After that, only TenTen had any courage to speak to him.

"Um, Uzumaki-san?"

"Yes, TenTen-san?"

"Um, Hinata-chan has something she wants to say to you."

Naruto turned to look Hinata. "Yes? What is it?"

"N-Naruto-kun, I, um, I-I-I l-love you." Naruto looked at her expectantly.

"I-I said that I l-love you, N-Naruto-kun." He made a gesture, motioning for her to continue.

"Is that it? Is that all you have to say?" he said. Hinata was stunned.

"Oh, now I get it. This is where you pour your heart out to me, I become a warm and happy person, and we both live happily ever after, right?"

Hinata slowly nodded.

"It's not going to work like that, Hyuuga-san. You're not my type, and those eyes of yours creep me out." He said turning back to his newly delivered bowl of ramen. Hinata turned and ran out of the eatery, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. Seeing this, Ino and TenTen ran after the crying girl, but not before Ino turned to Naruto.

"You are a first-class asshole, Naruto. I hope you die a cold, lonely death." she said before running after Hinata.

"Whatever." was his reply. He had two more bowls before turning back to the onlookers still there.

"You do realize I don't want to speak to, or see any of you, right?"

They all looked incredibly saddened at this, and slowly filtered away, each lost in their own thoughts. Naruto paid for his food and left to find a hotel. Finding one around sunset, he paid for one person, for one night. In his room, he took a long shower before changing for bed and slept until the following day, the current days events ensuring it would be a long and deep slumber.

AN: Here it is, chapter 2. Only less than 4 days since the last one was released. Yes, Naruto has his reasons for acting the way he does, and hopefully they will be revealed soon.