ShadowRain313: Hey everyone. I want to apologize that these stories were delayed. It was completely unplanned. The house I was staying at didn't have the internet so I couldn't upload the stories. Good news though, when I upload this story, the next one will be out the next day. I'll have it all typed up. And once again, I would like to thank all of you for the reviews. Well, here it is, and sorry for the delay. Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Traveling
Although the events of the night before were still fresh on his mind, Naruto was cheered slightly at the thought of seeing his friends back in Wave Country. He missed Inari greatly. But he was a little worried that Inari might not remember him. After all, it has been three years since Naruto has seen them.
He had finally discarded that blood soaked jumpsuit after he took a cold bath in the stream. The clothes were then burned so the smell wouldn't attract hungry, wild animals. And speaking of starving, Naruto was famished. His last solid meal was the Ramen that Iruka had paid for. So currently, Naruto was searching for some food.
"Man. I'm sooooo hungry," Naruto ranted. "I need some sustenance!" His stomach gave a very loud and painful growl. "Uhh!"
The woods that he was traveling through right now seemed never ending. It might have been because he was walking and not jumping from branch to branch. The reason for this is because he is trying to act like the civilian that he now is. But still, no matter how hard he might try, some things can't be helped. Like that super sensitive nose Naruto has that is smelling fresh peaches up ahead. His mouth started to water and his eyes got all big as he picked up the pace until he was full out sprinting as fast as he could, forgetting the little civilian thing that he told himself.
The peach tree loomed up in the distance and within milliseconds; Naruto was upon it, devouring the delicious, ripe fruit. After eating a dozen or so peaches, his hunger had finally been sated. After being hungry for so long, he almost forgot what it felt like to be full.
"Ow. My stomach hurts. Too much. Uhg!" Groaned Naruto. The peach core fell from his hand and landed on the ground with a thump, next to the other cores.
He lounged lazily up in the tree for a few more minutes, letting his stomach digest the sweet fruit, and then he jumped down from it, grabbed his bag and proceeded down the road, towards Wave Country. At the pace that he was walking, he estimated that it would take about 4 days to reach it. He just hoped that something interesting would happen along the way. And lucky him. Something did.
--------Day 2 of traveling---------
Naruto had just woken up from his short nap when he heard, with his superior hearing, some commotion going on up the road. It didn't sound too pleasant.
Grabbing his bag, he rushed towards the sounds as fast as he believed 'normal' people do, when he finally arrived, he saw a couple of grass ninja holding up a traveling wagon.
On the ground, adjacent to the wagon, were two woman, a man, and two little, twin boys. Their hands were bound behind there backs and they were gagged. Although their feet weren't tied up, they stayed there on the ground, knowing that they couldn't out run or fight trained ninja. The eldest looking woman had a bruised face and a cut lip, while the man looked a little worse for wear. His jaw was black and blue and his nose was probably broken. On his left cheek was a fresh and deep gash that was sure to scar. Most likely made by a shuriken. The other woman looked fine. Her cheek was a bit red. By a slap, guessed Naruto. And finally, the twin boys just looked scared, but he was sure that they were beat up also. Just not to the extent as the man. Just by looking at them, Naruto judged that they were a family traveling somewhere.
There were a total of four ninja present. Two were digging around in the wagon and throwing the contents inside, out of it while another ninja looked through the stuff being thrown out. The last ninja, the leader from the looks of it, was sitting against a tree, directing the other three on what to do and such.
Now, here was Naruto's problem. Not being a ninja anymore, he was trying to decide whether or not he should just walk away. This was the job of a ninja, which he no longer was, but at the same time, he just couldn't leave this defenseless family at the mercy of honor less ninja. Making up his mind, he turned away from the scene and walked in the other direction. It was one of the hardest decisions he had ever made. Running away from a confrontation was not something he would, but this makes the second one he has turned away from. However, before he could walk very far, the reason for all this change of life merged with him once again. Much to his dismay.
What the hell do you think you're doing Kit!
'I thought I told you to go away forever. Leave me now!'
Are you really going to abandon this helpless family?
'It's not my problem. I am not a ninja anymore.'
You can't just give up being a ninja. It's part of who you are. You can pretend you're not but you'll always have the knowledge of a ninja.
'Shut up! I can too!'
No you can't.
'Yes I can!'
If you walk away from this family, you'll abandon more than just my respect, but you'll abandon your pride, honor, dignity and compassion that you hold for others in need. Those are something that any self respecting man has. Ninja or not.
'…………. Just go away…and leave me in peace……'
…..If you walk away…You're no better than those villagers that turned their backs on you.
Naruto immediately halted in his tracks. The Kyuubi's words rang over and over in his ears like a broken record player. His eyes were wide in horror, realization, and eventually, disgust. Disgust with his self for almost walking away. Realizing the Kyuubi was right; he turned back to the scene with renewed vigor, and made himself known.
"Hey! Idiots! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Naruto shouted. The other ninja were immediately on guard, but they just relaxed when they saw a short, blonde boy. Not even worth their time.
"Go away kid. We're busy, so I suggest you hurry back to your mommy unless you want to die." The leader said.
"You're the only ones that are going to be leaving here!"
This caused all of the ninja to laugh out loud. When they finally gained their composure back, they waited for the leader to speak up again. "Oh? And what are you going to do? Tell your mommy?"
"No. This." In one swift movement, Naruto dropped his bag and pulled a shuriken from the pouch on his leg, and launched it at the leader who easily deflected it, but as soon as his kunai touched Naruto's, the wound up paper bomb activated, blowing up in his face. The other three ninja launched into attack. But Naruto was ready.
"Kage Bushin!" Hundreds of Naruto clones appeared and swarmed them. Each clone preformed different types of attacks. After a few minutes of pummeling, the three lackeys were unconscious, but Naruto was on guard when he noticed the leader was missing. He retracted his clones and looked for the hidden ninja.
The ground rumbled a split second before the leader burst out of it, right behind Naruto, and he had a kunai ready. But that split second of ground shaking was all that Naruto needed and as the leader was coming up, Naruto preformed a substitution jutsu, so when the ninja buried the kunai in his back, there was a 'pop' as 'Naruto' turned into a log.
"Where did he go!"
"Look up!" As soon as the grass ninja looked up, Naruto had already charged up his Rasengan, and struck him head on. Literally. Although Naruto didn't put all of his strength in it. It was plenty enough to knock him unconscious.
Making sure that they wouldn't wake up, Naruto then tied up all of the Grass ninja to a tree. He then walked over to the family and proceeded to remove the ties and gags. When he was finished removing all of them, the family jumped all over Naruto.
"Thank you so much! I don't know where we would be without you!" The mother gushed.
"My hero!" Shouted the daughter.
"That was so cool! Thanks mister!" The twins said in unison.
"Calm down you guys. Let the man breathe." The father said, facing his family. He then turned towards Naruto. "Thank you good sir. Might I ask your name?"
"My name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."
He looked a little confused for a second before going on. "Nice to meet you, Naruto. This here is my wife, Akuri, my daughter, Mimori, the boy on the left is Sudjiro and the one on the right is Zenoku. And my name is Sanosuke Shinamori. Please, tell me, is there any way that we can repay you?" The man now known as Sanosuke said.
"Don't worry about it." Naruto said.
"But Naruto-san, you helped us so much! There must be something?" Akuri asked.
"Believe it or not, but you guys actually helped me more than I helped you."
"How is that?" Asked Sanosuke.
"It may sound weird, but you guys helped me rediscover myself and bring me out of the hole I had buried myself in." Naruto replied sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. His eyes were squinted shut as he smiled. "So thanks." He could tell that he had confused them, but they brushed it off.
"Well, at least let us make you a big lunch." Mimori said.
"That is a wonderful idea dear." Agreed Akuri.
"Well…."
"Please?" The twins begged. Naruto smiled at how cute they looked.
"Ok. That would be great."
"Yeah!" Shouted Sudjiro and Zenoku.
Naruto helped pick up their stuff, even after Akuri and Sanosuke told him that he shouldn't, but he had insisted, and then they headed down the road for a little, until they reached a small creek.
The woman went around, preparing lunch while the boys ran off to play. Sanosuke started to set up camp. Naruto guessed that they would camp there tonight. So Naruto then decided to help Sanosuke set up, even at his protests. Sanosuke finally realized that Naruto was stubborn and did what he wanted.
After a few minutes, Mimori and Akuri had finished making lunch. It was quite a spread to. There was some fish, rice, miso soup, and salad. It looked wonderful. Even though Naruto had eaten god knows how many peaches the day before, he suddenly found that he was hungry again. Right before they began to eat, Sudjiro and Zenoku appeared from the woods and sat down to eat with them.
While eating, Naruto took the time to study them. Sanosuke was a tall, middle aged man, like 40. He had long black hair that he kept tied up at the nape of his neck with a hair tie and his eyes were a soft hazel color. His cheek was red and swollen right now, from the gash. His skin was tanned, suggesting he worked in the sun a lot, and his hands looked weathered.
Akuri was of average height and average weight. She had dark green hair that she held up in a twist with some decorative sticks. She had crimson eyes and full lips. She was probably in her middle 30's.
Mimori was very average looking. She had short black hair that framed her face and she also has bangs. She has brown eyes and a slim face but she did have her mother's lips. She looked around the age of 18 or 19.
Even though Sudjiro and Zenoku were twins, they had different hair. Sudjiro had spiky black hair while Zenoku had short and messy green hair, but they both had crimson eyes. Zenoku had a small scar on his forehead, but other than that, they're the same. They were short and thin but they still had their baby fat. They looked around the age of 8 or 9.
"So Naruto-san," Naruto looked over at Sanosuke, "you're a ninja? Where is your headband?" he inquired.
"Oh, um, I am not a ninja anymore. M-my village exiled me for something I didn't do. So now I am a civilian." Naruto replied. His mood had just gone down several notches. Sanosuke noticed and apologized right away.
"Don't worry about it."
"So where are you heading then?" Mimori asked.
"Oh, I am going to Wave Country. I have some friends there that I haven't seen in a while."
"No way! That's where we are from! We were on our way back when we got ambushed by those ninja." Mimori replied excitedly. Naruto was taken back at the coincidence.
"How do you know people from Wave?" Akuri asked.
"Oh, well, when I was a ninja, my team and I had a mission in Wave. We were supposed to guard a bridge builder named Tazuna from a mob, and we ended up fighting a couple of mercenaries named Zabuza and Haku. Anyway, while there I met a boy named Inari and his family, so I am going to go see them."
When he finished telling them his reason, Sanosuke had choked on his food and Akuri almost spit out her tea. Mimori, Sudjiro and Zenoku just looked shocked.
"I knew you and your name sounded familiar! You're 'the' Naruto Uzumaki!" Sanosuke all but shouted.
"Cool!" screamed the twins.
"'The?'" Questioned Naruto.
"Yes, you're famous in Wave. It's all thanks to you the bridge was built."
"Well, my team too."
"Yes, but Inari-san said that it was you who inspired him and in turn, he was the one who inspired us to fight back. So you see? You're the main hero." Akuri interjected.
"Wow. I didn't know I was famous." Naruto said.
"Well you are, and there is even a statue of you and your team by the bridge on the Wave side." Mimori added. She was looking at Naruto as if he was a hero. Well, technically, he was. Sudjiro and Zenoku's eyes were big and filled with stars. They looked like they just received a great, big, new toy. Sanosuke clapped his hands together, drawing their attention. He had a big smile on his face.
"I have a splendid idea. Why don't you travel with us Naruto-san? I mean, we are all going to Wave, and it's still 4 days away. What do you say?"
"Yeah! Come on! We can play together and I can show you my collection!" Zenoku said.
"No one wants to see those Zen. But you should come! I can show you some cool games and the best places to go swimming at!" Sudjiro agreed.
"I don'-"Naruto started but was cut off by the twins.
"Please?" They begged. Man, Naruto was starting to hate those cute faces. He just couldn't say no.
"Ok. Thank you." Naruto said.
"Yeah!"
"This is wonderful!" Akuri said happily.
Through out the rest of lunch, Naruto answered all of the questions they had and he asked a few occasionally also. The more they talked, the more Naruto began to like them. It seemed that all of the people of Wave were nice.
Once lunch was over, they washed the dishes and then decided not to stay there that night, so they packed up camp again, and headed off to Wave with their new traveling companion and hero.
---------------------Konoha------------------
Tsunade felt like she was going to cry. No matter how much she argued, the council wouldn't take back their decision.
"But you know that it wasn't his fault that they were hurt! He sav-"she tries but was cut off.
"Our decision is final Hokage-sama. Since Naruto has left Konoha, he is now a missing ninja. Regardless of the fact that he left his headband behind. He never officially resigned so therefore, he is a missing ninja. With the Kyuubi inside of him and the knowledge of the forbidden jutsu from the Sacred Scroll, we have decided to rate him as and A class missing ninja. Especially since the bodies of those Rock ninja were completely torn apart. The capture and/or death of Naruto Uzumaki must be handled with care, or the lives of those hunting him may be forfeited." One of the council members said. The others agreed.
Tsunade turned around, looking out the window so they couldn't see just how much their decision affected her. When she had composed herself enough to face them, she turned back around.
"Alright then." She sighed dejectedly.
"And now about this assembly you have scheduled, we be-"Another council member began but this time, Tsunade cut him off.
"No. The assembly will go on as I planned. The some of villagers broke the Fourth's Law. I will not let that go passed me without a form of punishment."
"But-"
"No. Now my decision is final." Tsunade turned from them and walked towards the doors that led out of the council room. Right before she left the room she turned back to them. "This meeting is adjourned. Good day to you all." She then left the room, and headed towards her office to prepare for the assembly. This was to commence in one day.
------------------------------------------With Naruto---------------------------------------------------
The stars shimmered overhead brightly as Naruto stared up at them. It was a little cold out right now, so Naruto pulled the borrowed blanket closer around his body. The Shinamori family was asleep inside their wagon right now. They didn't want Naruto to sleep outside, but Naruto wanted to. He always felt at peace when he was out doors. But he couldn't seem to enjoy himself at the moment because something was bugging him.
He walked over to a tree and sat at the base of it, with his back to the trunk. He had one leg stretched out in front of him and the other bent with his arm resting on it. His other arm lied limply at his side. After getting comfortable, he let his head hang forward and then he closed his eyes.
'Kyuubi?'
…….What?
'I'm sorry. It's not your fault that I was exiled……..Ok in a way it still is, but it wasn't by your choice and I definitely know that it wasn't your choice to be sealed inside of me. So again. I'm sorry.'
…………
'One question though. Why did you help me out back there?'
……Because you were being pathetic.
Naruto scowled angrily at this.
You are a great ninja and have the potential to be greater. As a being of great power myself, I can't bear to watch something with power waste away before my eyes.
'You think I am strong? And that I can be stronger?'
Yes I do. In a way. Being exiled could even make you stronger. Since no one is going to look down on you anymore, you won't spend your time pulling pranks instead of training, and now, no one can hold you back.
'Yeah! You're right!'
I know I am.
Naruto snorted at this. 'Arrogant Kitsune.'
Damn straight.
Naruto chuckled at this.
Oh and also…….. I don't want a weak vessel to be my carrier. If you die, I die, and I'm not ready to die just yet.
'I knew there was something in it for you!'
………
'Kyuubi?'
…………
'Fine! Be that way……..Goodnight.' Naruto then curled up where he was on the ground and drifted off to sleep. His spirits had risen greatly from the day before. Right before he was asleep, Kyuubi's voice whispered across his mind.
Goodnight Kit
-------------------------------------------------------End------------------------------------------------
ShadowRain313: Well, Kyuubi's back. I was going to hold off on when he came back but I think it fit in good were it is. And I tried to make this chapter longer for some of those that asked. Review please. Thanks.
Chapter 6: Welcome Back to Wave