I Do not own Naruto, If I did I wouldn't bother writing Fan Fiction.

A Price for Peace

Chapter 3: Keep Moving

Several weeks had passed since Naruto's supposed death at the hands of Sasuke Uchiha. His body had been moved after the first night so the medics could perform and autopsy and give a definitive cause of death. However in place of Naruto's body Gaara had constructed a sand statue of the blond and shinobi were still constantly coming up to pay their respects leaving Hatai-ate following the lead of Kakashi Hatake, or other symbols of respect. Naruto had saved many lives with the help of Kurama and many wanted to show their appreciation, for them this was the least they could do.

Little did they know the same boy they were mourning as a fallen hero was currently not only alive but having a heated discussion with his inner beast. "I'm telling you everyone will be at the Headquarters until all the Kage are recovered from their fight with that Edo Tensei Madara. We are far from anyone I should be able to use a little chakra to help me get to a populated village, I'm running out of food I only have four packets of ramen left!" the boy thought out loud, while there was nobody around Naruto didn't mind talking to his partner as if he was sitting beside him.

'I keep telling you that it will not only be the Alliance ninja on the lookout for stray shinobi. Lesser villages will see this as a chance to strengthen themselves, if your plan fails and the great shinobi villages do not come together as you hope then the world will descend into another war for power. No more jinchuuriki gives the smaller villages less to fear. It would not surprise me if they target one of the great nations in an attempt to seize power.' Kurama reasoned.

"But why does that matter? We can defeat anyone that we come across." Naruto whined in frustration, the last few weeks had been the hardest he'd had since before he was a Genin.

'Naruto don't be a fool! You might be strong but that doesn't mean you are invincible. Although with my help we are pretty damn close.' Kurama said finishing with a confident smirk. 'You agreed that this was the best way now stop acting like a broken record and keep walking, we can't be far from the Land of Earth now, once we're there we should be able to find a faster way to travel. And just think of what would happen if you drew on my chakra, a decent sensory ninja could still find us as we are if they were looking hard enough and drawing on my chakra would be like lighting a come and get me signal.' The fox continued.

"Gah I think I liked you better when you were tying to ruin all my plans." Naruto pouted knowing that the Bijuu was right. Deciding to once more give up on arguing to the ever present voice of reason in his head Naruto continued to run at what was the pace of an average civilian or a very slow Genin.

'You know, I enjoyed that too. Let's do it again some time.' Kyuubi chuckled, causing Naruto to fall over in shock that the great Kyuubi actually made a joke.

(Meanwhile)

Unknown to Kurama and Naruto there was indeed a very talented sensory tracker on their trail although for the last few weeks all leeds they had followed had come up empty. "This is the last village in the area, if he didn't stop here then he would have run out of food." a Hooded ninja spoke taking out a map that had several points marked with red pins indicating villages that had no signs of Naruto's presence.

"Still nothing!" the hooded ninja sighed in frustration as they moved through the village. "Maybe I should just give up." the figure said coming to a halt removing the hood to reveal a kunoichi with dark blood red hair that was well groomed on one side and rather messy on the other. She had a pair of glasses over ruby red eyes. "No I can't give up, if I give up I'm doomed! I'm the last member of the Akatsuki after all. If anyone finds me I'm dead, that's why I need to find Naruto. If I can convince him to forgive me then, he can tell everyone and I can live a normal life." she decided with confidence.

Her confidence was short lived however as a new stumbling block occurred. "But he faked his own death, what am I supposed to tell people, Your hero forgave me and I never meant any harm in the first place, I was just led along by Sasuke-kun? Ah even I don't believe that one." she yelled in frustration rubbing a hand through the messy side of her hair in frustration. "This is all ruining my plan, I wanted to find Naruto before he fought with Sasuke-kun to help him, then I would have been considered an ally rather than an escaped prisoner of war!"

Little did the Kunoichi know there were several pairs of eyes watching her. And she was in for quite a shock when a young boy around six walked out from a dark allyway. "You sure do talk to yourself a lot lady." the boy said, he was short and had messy brown hair that ran down to his shoulders as though it hadn't been cut in months and he wore dark blue shorts and a red top that had a Yin Yang symbol on the back.

Karin jumped, drawing a kunai and completely astounded that she had let someone sneak up on her. At the sight of the kunai the kid yelped and a middle aged woman and man ran out from a different hiding location and covered their son, a look of terror on their faces. "We're sorry, please forgive our son Kunoichi-sama.' the woman begged. She had long brown hair the same color as her sons and dark green eyes that were almost black, her husband had black spiky hair and a scraggy beard to match, both parents wore brown tops and pants that helped them blend in with the buildings and remain hidden.

"Um I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you, I'm just not used to being startled like that. Please call me Karin." the red haired kunoichi said breathing out a sigh of relief that they were only civilians.

"Well Karin, I am Uzimo, and my wife's name is Kara, this is our son Uzika. We would feel a little more comfortable if you would put the knife away." the husband said slowly.

'Knife? Oh, the Kunai. These two mustn't have had much contact with shinobi in their life.' Karin realized returning the blade to it's pouch. "There we go, better?"

"Much" Uzimo nodded finally standing along with his wife.

"What bring's you out here Karin? Its been days since one of your ninja scouting teams came this way." Kara questioned still slightly shaken up at the sight of the kunoichi drawing her blade.

"I'm looking for someone." Karin answered. "But I think the trails gone cold." she admitted.

"Ah that is always the risk in war, it's a horrible thing, that only takes lives long before their time. Who are you looking for? A loved one?" Uzimo asked.

"No nothing like that, I am just searching for someone that can save my life." Karin admitted.

"Save your life? You don't look sick." the young boy said with a puzzled look on his face.

"And fortunately I am not, but you see awhile back I did some things for a man that I thought I loved. Looking back at them now I am not very proud of what I have done, and because of that should the wrong people find me I will be killed." Karin admitted sadly.

Once more the parents became rather suspicious of the kunoichi but they took her remorse as genuine and knew that love made people do crazy things. "Love makes fools of us all dear, but how can finding this person help you?" Kara queried.

"Well the thing is, the person I am looking for is considered a great hero now, one word from him and I can be spared, the thing is I have no idea where he is, this was my last hope." Karin sighed lowering her head.

"A few people have come through here, we stayed behind when the rest of the village fled so anyone who has come into town I have watched. I'm a great sneaker, so I have been watching them hoping to see some cool ninja stuff, most people have been really boring though." the small boy admitted.

A glimmer of hope, Karin raised her head and looked at the boy expectantly. "I'm looking for a boy around my age with spiky blond hair, and blue eyes, he would have three thin whisker like marks on each cheek." she said trying to recall the blond she met the day Sasuke had almost killed her.

"Oh yeah I saw him! He talked to himself a lot as well, but he was even weirder. He kept asking questions then acting like he was given an answer. It was like he was talking to someone that wasn't even there. I wanted to yell at him for breaking into several of the stores but Kaa-san stopped me." Uzika replied with a smile.

"You did!? Did he say anything about where he was going?" Karin asked urgently. 'Please know something!'

"Um I think he said something about the Land of Earth and some mountains, I was distracted because he did this awesome thing where he created copies of himself and sent them around the village to collect equipment." the boy said eagerly happy that he was able to help.

Karin's eyes widened she had a lead, and a good one, if she could get close enough to him there was no hiding a chakra like Naruto's from her. "How long ago was he here?" she asked wanting to gauge how far behind she was.

"He was here about two weeks ago give or take a day or two." Kara answered for her son who was busy trying to count the days on his hands.

Karin nodded. "Thank you I have to go. Please don't tell anyone that you saw me." she said and just like that she was gone her hood back up and sprinting at full speed through the village. 'Two weeks I am pretty far behind, but he can't be moving too fast otherwise I would have picked up on a chakra trail. That said I need to hurry, this is my only hope of leading a normal life without looking over my shoulder constantly in fear.'

(Land of Lightning)

The joint shinobi task force headquarters had been growing steadily over the past few days more and more wounded were still arriving alone with the dead, bodies were slowly being separated in order to be returned to their respective villages and all names were taken down in plans of a memorial that would be raised in the Land of Iron to commemorate the fallen. All of this meant that the medic ninja were still far more busy than all the others put together. Some more so than others. Shizune and Sakura who were left in charge of the field hospital as Tsunade's apprentices were constantly running from one bed to another helping out and instructing other medics of their duty.

Sakura had not slept in days. Every time she closed her eyes all she saw was the scene of Gaara leading the funeral procession and the lifeless corpses of Naruto and Sasuke. She had wanted to do the Autopsy personally but Shizune denied her request saying that they were both emotionally compromised which meant that mistakes could be made. In the end they left the Autopsy to medics from Suna and Kumo. The report was fairly straight forward, Sasuke was killed by a jutsu of high destructive power that ruptured several organs and rearranged them at the same time. For Sakura that only meant one thing, Rasengan. And Naruto had been killed by a blade traveling through his heart and lungs causing almost instant death. 'They both said it, on the river that day when I failed to kill Sasuke-kun, if they fought again they would both die. This is my fault, why did I have to be so weak!' the pink haired medic thought as tears threatened to fall from her face once more.

"You know Naruto wouldn't want to see you crying." a lazy almost bored voice travelled across the tent. Sakura turned to see Shikamaru enter the tent a cigarette in his mouth but not lit.

"I can't help it, If I had been stronger than Naruto wouldn't have died." Sakura wept.

Shikamaru sighed folding his arms behind his head as he walked into the room. "Maybe, but then maybe Naruto needed Sasuke, they each became stronger to prove they were better than the other. If you had killed him then Naruto may have died in the war anyway or maybe when he was fighting Kyuubi for control of its charka. It's to troublesome to say." Shikamaru sighed.

"So you're saying the fact they are both dead is a good thing?" Sakura spat.

"Hardly, Naruto was one of my best friends. But look at it this way, it was Naruto's choice to fight Sasuke alone, and he knew the most likely outcome was that they would both die. In spite of that he went out and did what he thought was right, and if that means that he died then I respect him all the more for it." Shikamaru said.

"If? What do you mean If he died? You have seen the body." Sakura said her eyes red from the tears.

Shikamaru shrugged. "It just seems rather weird that Naruto would be killed by a sword. From what I had seen there was no way Kyuubi would let Naruto die like that. But maybe I'm wrong, it's far too troublesome to argue with a dead body." he sighed pausing for a moment to light up his smoke.

"Well what's the alternative? Naruto has abandoned Konoha?" Sakura scoffed knowing Naruto far too well to ever think he would do something like that.

"It's possible, Naruto is not a dumb as most people tend to believe, he always had a way to win no matter the odds and then always seemed to bring people closer together. His death is no exception, representatives from each of the villages are coming together in hopes of extending the alliance in Naruto's honor. If he thought his death could bring happiness to the world he may have welcomed it, faking his death and going on the run. At least that is what I choose to believe, maybe I am just in denial." Shikamaru said before walking past Sakura who stood stunned and heading to check on Choji who was suffering from chakra exhaustion but was otherwise healthy in comparison to many occupants of Sakura's medical tent.

Sakura stood unmoving for a few moments, Shikamaru had always been the smartest person she knew but what he was saying was absurd, there were no signs of a trail leading away from the sight that Naruto and Sasuke had been found and only two bodies. Shaking off the lazy genius's theory she decided that she would go see the last person to talk to Naruto alive, her sensei.

Kakashi had been allowed to leave the medical tents and was currently in command of the Konoha shinobi as acting Hokage. This was not all that difficult as a job but Kakashi was not overly fond of receiving constant updates from shinobi doing mundane missions or making small decisions that he really didn't care about, like where the Inuzuka would keep their dogs as they were not allowed in the shinobi tents.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled to get the Copycat ninja's attention.

Kakashi turned giving his best eye smile at the same time. "Yo." he said with a small wave as Sakura came to a halt in front of the temporary Hokage. "Is there any news on Tsunade-sama's condition?" he asked becoming quite serious.

Sakura's face dropped and she shook her head. "No she's still in a coma, the length of time she needed to use her Creation Rebirth Seal for such a long time against the Edo Tensei Madara that we can't say for sure if she will ever wake up." she admitted sadly.

"I see, I was hoping she would be awake before the Daimyo from each country get here for official peace talks. The Kage's are all required to attend, which has some of the villages in a strife. Oonoki, and A, didn't survive the war and they need a new Tsuchikage and Raikage." Kakashi sighed shaking his head. The three eldest Kage would not be available to take part in any peace talks and that would mean that Mei and Gaara were the longest serving Kage, fortunately Mifune from the Land of Iron was in perfect health and willing to oversee the discussions in hopes that the great nations could come to an agreement.

"I heard that the Hachibi Jinchuuriki was selected as the next Raikage." Sakura said.

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Yes he was. He is a promising choice, he shares Naruto's desire to see peace in this world. But Iwa have yet to decide on a Tsuchikage, Oonoki was in charge longer than most of them had been alive so I believe that they will wait for their Daimyo to have the last word, I just hope who ever is put in charge won't be difficult to work with if I am stuck as Hokage." he said chuckling lightly at the end while hoping silently that Tsunade would wake up and save him from a life of responsibility that he did not want anymore.

"Actually Sensei I wanted to talk to you about Naruto. I was just talking to Shikamaru and he said some things that have me thinking." Sakura admitted looking at her feet to avoid the look of sadness she knew would have crossed her sensei's face.

"What did he say?" Kakashi asked calmly. He did not mind talking about Naruto, he was sad he had lost his pupil but he was also so proud of the boy for everything he achieved, against all the adversity he had come across. In Kakashi's eyes Naruto had accomplished more than he ever would, he finally understood why Jiraiya thought of himself as a failure. Both of their failures seemed so large when compared to successes.

"He said that Naruto's death didn't make any sense, Kyuubi would have stopped him dying from a sword wound. And then I thought about it, when Naruto fought Orochimaru he attempted to kill him with that sword of his, Kusanagi, but it couldn't pierce Kyuubi's chakra cloak." Sakura paused for a moment making sure she stayed strong. "Then he questioned if Naruto didn't let himself be killed, or even fake his death."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes Sakura that is possible." he admitted. He took a moment to gauge his last remaining pupil before continuing. "Naruto has always tried to keep every promise he has made. He has made some rather big ones, but always done his best to bring them about. He saved Konoha and my life when he was fighting Pe- I mean Nagato by promising to bring peace to the world. His death was the answer, he left to fight Sasuke not only knowing that he might die but ready to embrace it. If things did not go as planned, he could have found a way to fake his death, and flee." he reasoned although he did not believe it to be true.

"But then we should look for him!" Sakura shouted, startling some nearby Kiri shinobi.

Kakashi shook his head, "This was Naruto's choice, if he is dead then I am wiling to accept that. But if he is alive I will happily welcome him back should he ever decide to return. He thought this was how he could bring peace to the world and if he is right then who am I to mess with his plan." he said calmly.

Sakura found this rather hard to accept. For her it sounded as though Kakashi was giving up on Naruto and letting him get away. "And what if that Baka is wrong?"

"Then it is up to us to make sure he isn't." it was not Kakashi's voice that answered the pink haired kunoichi, but that of Gaara.

"Kazekage-sama! I didn't see you there." Sakura admitted with a small bow.

"That is an interesting theory you have, one that I would welcome. However just like Kakashi I agree that Naruto should be left alone, alive or dead he has done his duty for the Elemental Nations and now deserves a rest." Gaara said.

"Kazekage-sama it is good to see you again." Kakashi said, happy that Gaara had come to his aid.

"I believe if I am not mistaken you are Hokage now, we share a rank of equal importance. Also please call me Gaara." the Kazekage said kindly, yet in his constant monotone. "Anyway if you would excuse us Sakura I have things to discuss with the acting hokage." he finished.

Sakura nodded and turned to leave still not sure about what to think. She had seen Naruto's body with her own eyes, but then again she had seen many things over the last few weeks that defied logic. 'Naruto if you are alive I am going to kill you myself for this!'

(Two Days Later)

Naruto had officially run out of food the night before, fortunately he had the skills to set a trap and caught himself some food. Still the wild rabbit he had captured did not have a lot of meat on its bones. "Kami I would sell a tail worth of your chakra for a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen." the blond wailed as he followed an abandoned road, he had entered the Land of Earth earlier that day but had yet to come across even a small town.

'That's Ironic because I would sell a tail worth of my chakra for you to stop complaining all the time.' Kyuubi replied.

"Sure, but that would only solve your problem, if I had ramen we would both be happy." Naruto pouted before laughing along with his Bijuu. They walked a bit further in quiet before something caught his eye, a tall red tower poking up above the trees in the distance. After another minute a second could be seen. "Sweet Kami it's a village." Naruto practically shouted picking up the pace as much as he could without giving away any ninja training.

The blond jinchuuriki arrived at a small closed gate, outside two village guards stood in battle armor. Slowing down to a walk Naruto began to wonder if this wasn't a bad idea, he had no identification papers. "Hold it." one of the guards said forcing Naruto to come to a halt. "State your business here, the Land of Earth is currently at war."

Naruto had to think quickly, not his best trait. 'Tell them you're a refugee from one of the countries effected by the war.' Kurama quickly suggested, knowing Naruto's weakness for coming up with a lie on the spot.

"I'm a refugee from the border of the Land of Sound, I have been coming to the Land of Earth to stay with some relatives until I can get back on my feet." Naruto declared.

One of the other guards leaned in and whispered something to the man that Naruto guessed was in charge. "Very will as a refugee I'll allow you to enter, but you need to enter your name down on this form and pay one thousand Ryo." the leader of the guards declared.

'This is a scam. I bet I don't need to pay anything, you can see it painted all over their faces.' Naruto thought angrily.

'I know, but pehaps you should simply pay them, if you need more money later you can summon one of the toads to help you out.' Kurama interjected to prevent Naruto from giving himself away.

"That almost cleans me out, but I need to get in to find passage north to my relatives." Naruto lied handing the money over to the man in charge. He then picked up a pen for and scribbled a fake name before entering into the village.

The fist thing Naruto noticed was that the people seemed to be few and far between and the ones that were out and about moved about as quickly as they could manage. 'They must be afraid that the war will come this way.' Naruto reasoned.

'Maybe. I am sure that most of the countries involved have been given word that the war is over. But it is possible that a small village such as this one would not have received any news from the war as of yet.' Kurama suggested.

'So what's the plan then?' Naruto asked.

'In and out as quickly as we can. Go buy some supplies just in case we have to walk. Then check out all the local caravans, and pay one for transport north.' the Kyuubi answered calmly.

Naruto nodded and went to work determined to get as much supplies as he could realistically carry without drawing attention to himself. The prices were very expensive, but Naruto didn't complain, he had just guessed that they were doing their best in a time of uncertainty and knew that being a village close to the border of the Land of Earth had a high likelihood of being attacked should the war have come this way.

Wasting no time Naruto found a large general store to resupply his food. Much to the ire of Kurama Naruto insisted on a large quantity of ramen the large fox would have tried to force Naruto to buy some more food that would have been substantially better for the blond but figured that once they made it over the mountains at the top of the Land of Earth he may never eat his precious noodle broth again. Once the food was collected Naruto was ready to leave, the longer he stayed in one spot the more likely it would be that he was discovered by some Iwa ninja, maybe returning home from the war.

It was quite fortunate that the people were more than helpful in this regard an elderly woman directed Naruto towards an area of the town where she knew a group of traveling business men heading north were gathered. "Excuse me, I was wondering how far north this caravan is traveling?" Naruto asked a tall bald man once he arrived at the place he had been directed.

The bald man turned around and cast a doubtful eye over the blond. "We travel as far north as we feel is necessary to sell our wears." he said firmly.

Naruto nodded. "In that case, could I barter passage north on your caravan? I am willing to both pay for the ride and work if needed. I'm far stronger than I look believe it."

"Why do you want to go north anyway?" the balm man asked contemplating Naruto's request.

"I'm heading north to stay with some relatives, my home was destroyed in the war." Naruto lied quite convincingly.

"Show me the money, five hundred Ryo and I will take you as far as I go." the caravan owner said.

Naruto pulled out half and handed it to the man. "Half now and Half when we part ways." the blond said not wanting to be tricked by the man.

The bald man laughed a hearty laugh and patted Naruto on the shoulder. "You're a businessman I see, I like that. The names Asahi."

"Uh Ruto Ikaze" Naruto replied using the fake name he placed on the gate guards form.

"Well then Ruto, get to work and help me pack, the sooner we leave the sooner you get to where your going and I get payed." Asahi declared clapping Naruto on the back with surprising strength.

End Chapter!

I keep meaning to put this story on the back burner yet I keep writing, be thankful I don't get much sleep lol. Just kidding.