DISOWNER: I don't claim Naruto.

Chapter 3 - Departure

Tsunade rubbed her temples, but the headache wouldn't go away. 'Great. How am
I going to explain this one?'

It was the day before their scheduled departure, and Tsunade spent most of it
collecting clues about Naruto's exact lineage. The boy was a Kazama, that much
was obvious. Not only was his appearance a dead giveaway, it was also clear to
anyone who knew the Kazamas' unique traits that the Fourth would not have
dared to use a child outside his clan for the seal. However, nobody knew just
who his parents really were.

Not anymore, that is.

Tsunade stared at the Third's secret journal. It made sense that the Third
would have known, she supposed, but it had been an enigma to her why he would
keep it secret. Foolishly had she assumed that Naruto could have been spared
his suffering had the village known his connection to the Fourth. Now that she
knew, however, she understood.

She put the strongest seal she knew on the scroll and pocketed it. As she set
out to pay a certain white-eyed clan a little night-time visit, there was only
one thought on her mind.

'The Hyuuga must never discover this.'

Next morning, an upset young girl was seen just outside her home. To the
casual observer she would have appeared deep in thought. In truth, that had
become all but impossible to her.

The last three days, after she came back to part of her senses, had been
Haruno Sakura's personal hell. Her former friends would not even talk to her
anymore, and deep inside she agreed with them. Had she really done that to
Naruto? She could not believe what a horrible person she had become. But her
heart was torn to pieces when she realized Sasuke wouldn't ever come back, who
could blame her, right? And Naruto was the one who...no, she knew she couldn't
really blame him for that. The pain in his eyes was too obvious, though the
hadn't thought about that then. But the baka could handle a little abuse,
could't he? He had never complained in the past...

"He wasn't half-dead then, was he?" Inner Sakura taunted. "Look at you,
little drama queen, acting as if you're the only one suffering. You disgust
me."

Sakura flinched. She knew her inner self was right, but she didn't want to
accept it. It was times like these when she cursed her family for their
independent subconcious minds - Inner Sakura spoke of the things she wanted
to forget, told her what she wanted to deny, and explained what she wanted to
misunderstand. There was, as the saying goes, no rest for the wicked, and this
was all the more true for a Haruno.

"You know what? I've lost all hope for you. Just do the world a favor and kill
yourself."

Unable to shut out the voice in her head, Sakura drifted further into the
Abyss. What happened next should seal her fate.

"Alright," Jiraiya said, unfolding the map on the table, "if I know Naruto,
he will seek out a friendly place to regroup and plan. Fortunately for us,"
his sad tone betraying the meaning of the words, "there aren't too many of
those for him. In fact, he has only ever been outside the village on three
missions. Two of them were too hectic to make friends, so there's only one
place he could go: Wave Country. He went there on his first C-Rank mission. I
trust you know the details, Tsunade? Tsunade?"

The woman was thrown out of her daze. "What do you mean C-Rank? There's only
one mission to the Wave in his file, and that's an A-Rank."

"That's the one. From what Naruto told me, their client lied about the real
danger for lack of money. Seriously, I'd have ditched him the moment I
noticed, but you know how headstrong he is...anyway, I think we..."

He was interrupted by a barely audible yelp from an incredibly pale former
Hyuuga heiress. Conflicting emotions of worry and awe struggled for dominance
over her expression, making it look akin to a child in a candy store who's just
been handed a letter with the results of her diabetes examination.

"Na-Naruto-kun ha-has b-been on a-an A-A-A-Rank m-mission?" She nearly fainted
from the thought. "B-b-but g-g-genin...N-Naruto-kun..." She knew it was
foolish to be worry about him over a mission that happened so long ago, but
she couldn't help herself.

Seeing her distress, Tsunade attempted to calm the girl. "It's alright,
Hinata-san. Naruto is a lot tougher than people give him credit for. Don't you
remember the Sound invasion? If he can beat Gaara into a pulp all by himself,
a little A-Rank mission is nothing, right?"

But Hinata had already spaced out. Tsunade shrugged, then continued her
conversation with Jiraiya. "So...the Wave, huh? Well, if we're lucky. He might
even run into Shizune there, but..."

Jiraiya looked at her quizzically. "Shizune is in the Wave?"

Tsunade nodded. "I sent her and Kakashi there the day after Naruto and the
others came back. They're building an outpost there to watch the Sound, since
Orochimaru is now the greatest threat to us...to Konoha." She took a deep
breath, wondering how long it would take her to drop the recently reacquired
habit to refer to Konoha as 'us', then continued. "Anyway, I don't think he
went there. Naruto may have played the idiot in Konoha, but he is smart enough
to know..." She glanced at Hinata, not wanting to tell her the whole story
just yet, "...he needs to be stronger." The look in Jiraiya's eyes told her he
understood. "If he went to the Wave, his only source of power would be...that,
and I highly doubt he wants to rely on it unless he has to. There's another
place where he has a friend, one who shares his unique condition."

Jiraiya's eyes widened in understanding. "You can't mean..."

"Suna. He doesn't know he's a missing-nin, so he won't realize how dangerous
it is. We have to move quickly, Jiraiya. If he's going there, we must find him
before he arrives. If we're lucky, he went to the Wave, and perhaps even ran
into Shizune there; but for once, I'm unwilling to gamble."

A quarter of an hour later, the two Sannin had settled on a plan. Seeing that
Hinata was still spacing out, Tsunade shook her shoulder. "Hinata-san? Jeez,
can you believe this girl, Jiraiya? And all that trouble over an old mission."
Her gentle look, however, spoke otherwise. It was good to see someone other
than herself or Jiraiya care, even if this girl took it to extremes.

Unbeknownst to Tsunade, Hinata was already deep in her own thoughts. Over the
years, her admiration for him had sunk into the very core of her personality.
Before she knew it, she had become a voyeur, watching his life like a Nougaku
play, striving to one day play a part in it. But only men had a place on the
Nougaku stage, didn't they? And now he had grown so fast, too fast for her to
ever catch up and lend him real assistance. In the end, she knew, she would
have to resign herself to her place in the audience, always supporting him
from the shadows, but nothing more. And yet...a desperate hope that this might
not be so drove her to take part in this very endeavour. As long as she could
only catch a glimpse of her beloved Naruto-kun again, she did not care how
utterly foolish, even after the news her father broke to her the day before
they left, it was. After all, her family had taught her time and time again
how foolish and weak she was. By now, she was used to it, or so she kept
telling herself.

The feeling of a hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. "...ta-san?
Jeez, can you believe this girl, Jiraiya? All that trouble over an old
mission." The words felt like daggers driven into her heart. She had vowed to
change, for his sake, and here she was, useless once more. The familiar feeling
of despair threatened to envelop her again, but then she caught Tsunade's
smile. "Ah, good you're back, Hinata. Alright, here's the plan: We've come up
with two places Naruto's likely to go:" She pointed out two places on the map,
"One, Wave Country. Two, the Hidden Sand Village. He's made a friend there,
I'll tell you about it later. Jiraiya believes he's in the Wave, but I
disagree, so we'll split up. And because there's no way I'll let you go with
the pervert there," She ignored Jiraiya's dejected look and continued, "You're
coming with me to the Wave."

Hinata looked puzzled, so Tsunade explained. "I can't go to Suna right now.
Whoever the new Kazekage will be, it's highly probable that he will try to
regain Konoha's favor. What do you think they would do if they caught a Hokage
missing-nin and the heiress to the Hyuuga clan trespassing on their territory?
Sending Jiraiya is risky enough, but it would be even riskier to let Naruto go
there alone."

"It's a good thing, too," Jiraiya spoke up. "I have access to a vast
information network, so I'll be fine alone, but Tsunade may need your Byakugan
to track him when you get to the Wave. We're counting on you, got it?"

Hinata's face brightened. "H-Hai, Jiraiya-sama!"

The old man gloated, satisfied that someone would finally pay him the proper
respect. He thought for a moment, then bit his thumb, ran through a few
handseals and slammed his hand to the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" In a cloud
of smoke, the contract-holding toad appeared. "One more thing before we go.
Ukegama, this is Hyuuga Hinata, Hinata, likewise. I trust you heard of
summoning animals?" Hinata took a moment to decrease her heartbeat to a
bearable rhythm, then nodded her head yes. "This is the same contract Naruto
signed almost two months ago." He smirked inwardly, fully aware how unfair it
was to bring this up. No way would she refuse now. "I'm giving you a choice,
Hinata. Be aware that a summoning contract is a great responsibility, and the
first you sign will also be the only one. The reason I bring this up is for
communication." He ran through the seals again, this time summoning a
considerably smaller toad.

"Yo." Gamakichi greeted. "Ah, Ero-Sennin! How've you been? Naruto says hi,
although that was two weeks ago..." He looked around. "Tsunade-baba is here
also?" He ignored the murderous glare Tsunade shot him and looked at Hinata.
"Who's the pretty girl?"

Hinata instantly blushed like a tomato, and Jiraiya's grin nearly consumed his
ears. "Hi Gamakichi. How's the old man doing?" He didn't wait for an answer.
"This pretty young lady" - Hinata hit an even deeper shade of red - "is Hyuuga
Hinata. She may be the next toad summoner."

"Hinata-chan? That's cool, Naruto said he liked her." Hinata fainted, and
Gamakichi looked puzzled. "He also said she was a bit weird...I guess he knows
her better than he thought he did. Will she be alright? Maybe she doesn't like
toads..."

Jiraiya laughed heartily, not catching Tsunade's pained expression. "No, I
don't think that's the problem. Anyway, I didn't call you out here to play."
Suddenly sullen, he said: "Naruto has left Konoha, and not under the best of
circumstances. Tsunade and I have abandoned the village to help him - you
know about his enemies, and that he will need our help. Unfortunately, we
don't know where he is, so I need yours."

Gamakichi understood. "You want me to be a messenger." Jiraiya nodded. "No
sweat, Ero-Sennin. The kid saved my life, after all. He's a good friend. So,
what do you want me to tell him?"

Jiraiya explained the plan, agreed with Gamakichi to summon him once a day to
check for messages, and dismissed the toad. Half an hour later, Hinata woke up
and signed the toad contract. Then they left, but not before Tsunade and
Jiraiya activated their little 'surprise' for Konoha.

In various well-hidden places all over Konoha, jutsu scrolls were set off,
throwing the town into disarray. The village and academy librares were burnt
down by a great number of firetoads, while the Hokage library was devastated
by slug acid. In the Hyuuga mansion, an elaborate genjutsu was dispelt,
revealing empty shelves, and on the Haruno house, ten-feet letters spelling
"UCHIHA WHORE" in a sickly green appeared.

When the news had gotten around, the remaining Rookie Six and Team Gai reacted
in different ways. Those who took part in the Sasuke retrieval mission
silently agreed that Konoha, and especially Sakura deserved a little payback,
even though Rock Lee spent the rest of the day shouting that you SHOULD NOT
TAKE THE FLAMES OF YOUTH SO LITERALLY!! Fortunately for them, Neji and Chouji
were not expected to wake up for another week at least, so they didn't have to
witness the disturbing spectacle.

Shino had only just returned from his mission, and was filled in on the story
by his teacher, Yuuhi Kurenai. He did not break his stoic appearance, but his
kikai bugs were in noticeable unrest for the remainder of the day.

Kiba, for once, was brooding in silence. It was a sight that slightly worried
Shikamaru, but he was too lazy to do anything about it. For that matter, he
was annoyed that he couldn't piece together the puzzle of Naruto's exile. He
was stuck, and what's worse, with a feeling that the answer was just outside
his grasp. What secret could Naruto possibly have that would cause the people
of the village to try and lynch the hero that saved all their asses from a
rampaging demon, and the council to exile him? The idea that Naruto caused the
Uchiha to defect was ludicrous. Even if Naruto had tried, the Uchiha was way
too stubborn to listen to the 'dead-last'. They were hiding something, and
he'd be damned if he didn't find out. Soon.

"Hey, Kiba?"

"Hm?" Kiba had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since he heard Tsunade,
Jiraiya and Hinata left the village, presumably in pursuit of Naruto (The note
they left on the Hokage's desk, telling the village, in rather graphic terms,
to...um...make love to themselves was unambiguous). Shikamaru had a sneaking
suspicion why that might be so, but if he was right, it would be too
troublesome to bring it up.

"Nothing."

Tenten was devastated by Tsunade's departure. She had lost her role model, and
did not know Naruto well enough to understand her reasons. Sure, the guy was
powerful, and on occasion she noticed people treating him unfairly, but she
didn't think much of it. After all, Naruto had been a troublemaker for many
years, what did he expect? Surely, the council would not exile him without a
good reason...right?

Ino was furious. She had just finished smashing the furniture in her room
when her father came in to stop her from wreaking more havoc around the
house. Personally, she didn't care much about Naruto or Jiraiya, but Tsunade
had been a shining example for all kunoichi of Konoha, and she had silently
set her sight on Hinata as her next project. 'Yeah, right. We all saw how the
last one turned out.' she thought to herself. The whole ordeal had tipped
Sakura over the edge of insanity, and she had been admitted to the mental ward
of the hospital earlier that day. Ino was just mad everything around her fell
apart, so she needed to vent some steam. Once she calmed down, she would visit
Chouji in the hospital, and then seek out Shikamaru. He might be a lazy bum,
but a smart one, and she had found that talking to him solved a great many
problems. Yes, she would let him sort it out, and things would look different
afterwards.

Naruto, meanwhile, sat in his hotel room, bored. It was his second day in
Sabakuhashi, and as far as he was concerned, it was just as bland as the
endless nothingness that spread out behind it. To make matters worse, he was
stuck here for another three days until the next caravan to Suna left. There
wasn't even a ramen stand in this kami-forsaken town, for crying out loud!

All he had to keep him company was a small desert-fox he had picked up shortly
after he arrived. For some reason...well, for obvious reasons, now that he
thought about it, the normally shy, small creature appeared to be comfortable
around him. He absent-mindedly stroked it between the ears and mused, 'The
little fellow is nice, but I sure wish I had someone to talk to...wait a
second!' He mentally slapped himself, why didn't he think of this sooner?

Three seconds later, Naruto was out of the door, leaving behind a dumbfounded
fox. Five minutes later he had acquired some treats and was back in his hotel
room, grinning at it. "Want some company, little buddy?" He went through the
hand seals and said "Kuchiyose no Jutsu," summoning Gamakichi. Or so he
planned. Naruto felt himself slipping a bit, blaming the kitsune's powers, and
wondering if the jutsu would work at all.

What he got, however, was nothing like he expected.

Author's notes:

MUAHAHAHAHAHA! Cliffhanger no Jutsu!

Okaaay...since I had to rework the first three chapters, most of the author's
notes that were here previously are now obsolete. Here's the gist of it:

- story is not classified as romance
- Hinata would want Naruto, duh. But I cannot picture Naruto entering a
relationship as he is now, so don't expect anything soon.
- definitely no yaoi
- will not write 'instant-uber-powerful-naruto' story
- kitsune powers will be based on what I (think I) know about japanese lore on
that topic
- since I can't well expect everyone to know about said lore, I'll explain my
reasoning behind parts that affect it in AN after the chapter it comes up in
- Iruka doesn't strike me as missing-nin type, hence not tagging along

Now to the japanese terms. Not much in this chapter:

- Nougaku: A form of japanese theater, traditionally played by only male
actors (in modern times, that doesn't exactly hold true, but in my
Narutoverse it does). Nou plays typically concern mythology, and
the main actor usually wears a mask.

- Ukegama: Made from ukeoi (contract) and gama (toad), ie "contract toad"