DISOWNER: I don't claim Naruto.

Chapter 2 - Fateful Encounters

Naruto had looked back. As much as he now wished he hadn't, he had. Despite
all its shortcomings, and despite the cruelties he had endured there,
cruelties he had only recently learned were not normal, he still called Konoha
his home. He would have to change that, and fast. And he would have to find a
new dream, preferrably one that might come true this time. Disrespect he could
handle. Loneliness, while painful, he was used to. But nothing could prepare
him for the pain of a shattered dream. He vowed not to repeat that mistake.
Ever.

Had his former peers seen him now, they would have had the impression that a
part of the blond had died, and that he still grieved for it. In a way this
was true, he supposed. Naruto was by no standards a master of emotional
disguise, but there was one mask he had honed to the point where it almost
took a life of its own. Naruto had always tried to be the cheerful loudmouth
that got everyone's attention, and that most people found hard to take
serious, let alone hate, once they got to know him. But alas, that mask now
lay shattered at the gates of his home village, where he had discarded it.
After all, what good is a mask if there is noone to see you wear it?

'Sasuke...'

Two days after he was, quite literally, thrown out of Konoha, he arrived at a
small town near the border of Grass Country. He had thought about visiting
Tazuna-san in Wave Country, but considering that Wave Country did not have a
hidden village of its own, combined with the close proximity to the Country of
Rice Fields, where the Hidden Sound lay, he dismissed that idea. Hence, he was
now on his way to the one non-leaf shinobi whose friendship he had gained,
during the chuunin exam and the mission four days prior - Gaara of the
Desert in Suna. He did not exactly know the status Gaara held there, but he
decided to burn that particular bridge once he crossed it. If Suna failed, he
could still make his way to the Wave.

Right now, however, he had different things to think about, like how he would
make his way through Grass Country without fighting grass nins. Unfortunately,
his information on the Grass was rather limited. All he could muster was that
they were at peace, though not in alliance, with Konoha, and he guessed that
they were probably on bad terms with the sound, seeing that Orochimaru
slaughtered a grass genin team during the chuunin exam. And also, seeing that
the Grass Village was placed directly between Leaf and Sand, he guessed they
would not want to be on bad terms with either of them. It would be a gamble,
but probably worth the risk. Leaving what was possibly the worst ramen bar he
had ever encountered, Naruto searched the town for a blacksmith, preferrably
a...clandestine one. After roughly two hours, he finally found one in a
backstreet alley. From the looks of it, this particular blacksmith was neither
very reliable, nor were his goods of high quality, but that did not matter for
Naruto's plan. So long as it looked right on first glance, it would work
perfectly. Besides, the blacksmith would probably be eager for any commission
he could get, and thus ask no uncomfortable questions.

Sure enough, an hour later Naruto walked away with a brand-new, slashed Sound
hitai-ate in his posession. Another half an hour, and he had replaced his
dirty orange jumpsuit with a less noticeable attire, as one would expect from
a missing-nin on the run from the powerful Orochimaru. Black pants and shirt,
grey vest, as well as a black facemask to hide the whisker marks, just in case
someone had heard of them before.

He had put it off for as long as he dared, but he knew he'd eventually have to
face it. Akatsuki was still after him, and as much as he hated to admit it,
ever since his run-in with Itachi and Kisame, he knew he couldn't hold up a
candle to them. Yet. He needed help, and now that he was all alone, there was
only one he could ask for it.

Naruto found himself in the familiar sewer of his mindscape. It seemed even
more decayed than the last time, days before the Sound/Sand invasion a month
and a half ago. Not paying any attention to that, not wanting to pay any
attention to that, he made his way to the Cage. "Furball."

"Child. I would ask what brings you here, but I already know. I hope you don't
think I will be cheap."

Naruto sighed. "Listen, stupid fox, I hold all the cards here. I die, you die.
It's as simple as that. And unless I get what I came here for, I will die.
If you know what brought me here, you must also know that I'm not sure I care
anymore."

The fox chuckled. "You've got guts, child, I'll give you that. But don't lie
to me, I know when you do. If you really didn't care, you would not be here.
It seems your little...slip-up made you lose your wits as well as your glee.
Surely you have a proposal that would benefit us both?"

Naruto flinched when Kyuubi mentioned the 'slip-up'. "I didn't want that," he
whispered. The fox sure knew how to put salt on a wound, but he had no time to
beat himself up now. With great effort, he calmed himself down, and answered,
in a stronger voice, "I don't know much about seals, so I don't have anything
to offer just yet. Let me get this straight, I don't trust you. I will never
unseal you and your powers together. However..." This was it, the moment of
truth. "This may just be a wild idea, but hear me out. I am on my way to the
Sand right now. Seeing Gaara, I don't know how well they know seals, but it's
a hidden village nonetheless. I am willing to study seals there, and I hope to
find a way to unseal your soul without your powers. You might have a body of
your own in a few years." He paused. "We could make a trip to Snow Country. I
hear the snow foxes become quite large."

The fox pondered this. Sure, it wouldn't be the same as before, but anything
would be better than a cage in a smelly sewer, wouldn't it? He thought about
the possibilities. True enough, the boy was in danger, and subsequently, so
was he. He did not like it, but for now, there was little choice. He decided
to throw the boy a little bone. For now.

"Hmmm. It's tempting." No, he really didn't like this. "Alright, kid. For the
moment, my powers are yours. Be aware, if I am not satisfied with your
progress, I will reconsider." The demon smirked. "Know, however, that just
having my powers will not be enough against those you fear. Prove yourself to
me, and I will show you how to use them."

Naruto nodded, then took his leave. He was glad to get out - he was not sure
how much of Kyuubi's mental abuse he could handle right now. The death of his
surrogate brother, one-sided as that relation may have been, was still fresh
on his mind, and the fox certainly knew how to play on his guilt.

Kyuubi wandered around in his cage for a while longer. He pondered the boy's
proposal, and his previous exploits. Truth be told, Naruto had proven his
worth long ago. No ordinary human, and not even most of the lesser demons,
could withstand the abuse he had endured and come out reasonably sane, and
defeating Shukaku, even sealed, with as little power as he had chosen to give
him, was no small feat. The only problem was that his personality was
not...demonic enough. Kyuubi smirked once more. In time, that might be changed,
courtesy to the people of the Hidden Leaf. Maybe, just maybe, there was a good
side to this damnable seal after all.

At the end of the next day, Naruto came close to the border between the
countries of Grass and Wind. In fact, he was only a few hundred meters from
Wind Country when he chanced upon a border patrol of Grass nins.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

...guess it was time to see if the bluff worked. Naruto raised his hands in a
familiar handseal, summoning a kage bunshin to meet the patrol. "Yo." From the
looks of it, the patrol consisted of a newly formed genin team. Three children
around his age, two boys and a girl, and an older woman that seemed to carry a
lot of experience, probably a Jounin. Naruto frowned. The genins he could
handle...probably. He remembered that he himself was only a genin. A jounin,
however...even with the deal he struck with the Kyuubi, he would rather not
chance it.

The woman glared at him. Naruto's clone sighed. 'So much for the Grass being
friendly to Sound missing-nins...' He composed himself. "Look, I don't want to
cause you or your students any trouble. I'm on my way out of your country, so
why don't you guys just forget I was here and nobody gets hurt?"

The woman's glare grew colder. "You're of the Sound. Kiku, Naoki, Takeshi,
hide yourselves. I'll take care of this." Hearing no response, she turned
around, to find her students bound by a kage bunshin each, with a kunai to
the throat.

The original bunshin spoke again. "Calm down already. Sheesh, I said I don't
want trouble. I can imagine you're angry at the sound, and" He pointed at his
slashed hitai-ate, "so am I. Why do you think I ran away from that hell-hole?
Now, lower your weapon, let me go, and as soon as I crossed the border, I'll
release your students. No hard feelings, ok?" He smiled under the mask, and
put a hand behind his head. "Look, I don't want to hurt them, but if you force
my hand, I will. In the Sound, that would probably not hinder you, but I'm
hoping that the Grass treats their shinobi better than that. Now, what do you
say?"

Blue eyes pierced green ones for a minute, then the woman lowered her kunai.
"Fine. You're free to go. But if you hurt them," her gaze turned steel, "I
will hunt you down!"

"No need to worry, I'm not exactly interested in making enemies of the Grass.
They will be released in a few minutes." With that, the clone ran into the
woods, to be dispelt soon after.

Naruto took a deep breath. 'Looks like I got out of this one.' He then resumed
his way to Wind Country at top speed.

About 15 minutes later, the clones restraining the grass genins poofed out of
existence. "Sayuri-sensei!" Sayuri just stood there, lost in her own thoughts.
'Kage Bunshin? That's a leaf technique! How did he...' Her students pulled her
out of it. "Sayuri-sensei? You spaced out there for a minute...is everything
alright?" Kiku looked worried, so Sayuri composed herself. "Yeah, it's alright
now. You guys aren't hurt, are you?" Kuki shook her head. It was evident the
mysterious sound missing-nin gave them a good scare, though. 'Kage Bunshin,
huh? Hell if I know what to make of this. Kusakage-sama will know.'

Shortly after the encounter, Naruto finally found himself on Wind territory.
When he was about a mile from the border, he dispelt the clones, removed the
fake hitai-ate, and made for the next town.

Sabakuhashi was, unsurprisingly, a small town just outside the desert
surrounding Suna. Naruto peered at the seemingly endless dunes that lay
between him and his destination. Suna truly was what its name implied - a
village hidden in the sand. Lots and lots of sand. Naruto cursed under his
breath, this would make reaching Suna all the more difficult. Going alone was
out of the question, so he decided to scout the city for help.

Notes:

- I know that only the five large villages have Kages in Canon Naruto. That
is, in a way, also true in this story. Here, most hidden villages pride
themselves enough to call their leader Kage, even though the other countries
may not acknowledge him as such. In essence, they behave like the Star
Village from that particularily bad filler arc. This is decided on a village
to village basis, though, so don't come crying if I introduce a modest
village for a change, or one that doesn't have a supreme leader or...well,
there are many possibilities, and I'm not sure which of them, if any, I will
explore here.

- My Japanese is far from good, so I may be mistaken on some of the terms. If
I am, please tell me so. Anyway, I will explain the terms I made up at the
end of each chapter. So here we go:

- Sabakuhashi: End of the desert