Run Away

By: Naruto's Mask

NM-chan: I...have...100 REVIEWS!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY!!! WHOOPIE! YAHOO! -NM-chan does the happy dance-

-ahem- As you can see, I am so excited that I have 100 reviews, and it wouldn't have happened without all of you! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! This chapter is dedicated to all of my reviewers, but mostly to lucky 100, Clemen! I hope it won't be long until I get 200, but that's just me hoping.

So, about the chapter. It isn't as focused on Team Naruto as I wanted it to be, but that's because I remembered that they're supposed to meet up with Naruto's old friends, so I put some focus on that. I would have made this longer, but, ah, the beauty of cliffhangers. Don't you just love 'em?

One more thing before you read. How would you guys think about me making a side story about the adventures of Naruto's team? I mean, something had to happen to build up the relationship between the four. So, what do you think? There is a downside to it, however. It may take time off of Run Away chapter making. So, if you guys don't mind waiting twice as long as usual, I could do it!

But, other than that, ON TO THE STORY!!!

Maya didn't want to wake up, she honestly didn't. She just had a bad feeling that, if she got out of bed, she was going to have one hell of a headache. As her lucid mind registered that thought, she wondered why she felt that would happen.

"Kisshu, don't do that, you're going to burn the inn down!"

"Ack! Someone get a fire extinguisher!"

Oh…that's why.

"All right, Maya, it's time to get up! Today's the day of the exams, come on!" The unbelievably perky voice of her sensei said as her room was opened. She knew he just did it to irritate them awake since no one else in their team was such a morning person.

"Five more minutes." She whined.

"You know, there's a pond not to far from here. I can always toss you into it if you need help getting awake." He said thoughtfully. She could just hear the grin in his voice.

"DAMN IT, SENSEI, YOU ARE WAY TOO HAPPY IN THE MORNINGS!" She finally snapped, jerking up and tossing a pillow at his head. In all honesty, he could have dodged it, but Naruto laughed as the pillow smacked his face and Maya just glared at him.

"You better come on over before Kisshu burns our food. He and Yuki are arguing about it now." He said.

"Yeah, I heard, and I'm sure that everyone in the Fire Country heard it too. Now, come on, Naruto-sensei, I wanna sleep!" Maya whined burying her face in a second pillow.

"Ah, well, I suppose you'll just have to live with the other two teams constantly teasing you on how you didn't come to the exams because you were afraid to embarrass yourself in front of everyone there." The blond said, taking a jab at her pride. She suddenly jerked up and glared at the wall.

"Oh no, no way in hell am I going to let those jerks poke fun at me!" She cried jumping up. "KISSHU! YUKI! LET'S GO! WE'VE GOT AN EXAM TO PASS!" She cried running out of the room. Naruto sweatdropped and grabbed her arm before she went bounding down the stairs.

"You, uh, may want to change first." He pointed out. Maya blinked and then looked down at her white spaghetti-strap shirt and hot pink pants that had little bunny faces dotting it.

"Er, right. But as soon as I'm done, we're going to the exams!" She announced loudly before running back into her room and locking it shut.

"Naru-chan, did you tell her that the exams are two hours away?" Kyo asked poking his head out of their own room.

"Why take the pressure off? This is the most active I've ever seen her in the morning." Naruto said with a laugh. Then he noticed something in the air and he sniffed around.

"Kisshu! What the hell are you doing to our food?!"

"I wonder how it's possible for someone to burn food they didn't even cook. You were just supposed to warm it up, Kisshu!" Yuki said a while after they had gotten everything cleaned up. Kisshu had his eyes closed with his hands behind his neck.

"Come on, can you drop it already? I said I was sorry. And you know stoves hate me! I can't even boil water!" He said defensively.

"You idiot! The reason you suck so much at cooking is because you don't know how to follow directions! Naruto-sensei told you to watch the food and take it off the heat when it boils. Not up the heat and wait for it to catch on fire!" Maya snapped, whacking her teammate across the head.

"Itai!"

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose, trying unsuccessfully to decrease the growing headache his team was giving him. He was so sure Kisshu wouldn't burn the food with Yuki keeping an extra set of eyes on him. Unfortunately, the green haired male managed to increase the heat when Yuki took his eyes off for a second and then distracted the poor boy by starting an argument that lasted quite a while. They didn't realize the condition of the food until smoke started filling the room.

Never again, Naruto. Next time, you watch the food yourself. And never let Kisshu go near a kitchen ever again. He thought with a heavy sigh. This was the second time already Kisshu let their food burn.

"You three remembered your registration forms, right?" He asked them as they neared the site.

"Hai, sensei." The three chorused. As they walked, Naruto saw the exam site. Curiously enough, there was a bit of a crowd gathering at the enterance.

"Is that the place, Naruto-sensei?" Yuki asked curiously. The blond male nodded and Kisshu grinned before bopping Yuki on the head.

"I'll bet I can beat you there, pipsqueak!" He teased before taking off.

"Hey, Kisshu, that's not fair!" Yuki protested and ran after Kisshu. The green-haired male ran faster, and, in the process, he rammed into Maya.

"You idiot! I'm going to kill you for that!" She snapped.

Here we go again. Naruto thought watching them go. He smiled fondly before walking after them. He watched Maya finally catch up to Kisshu, giving him a few well-deserved knocks to the head in the process. As he neared, his eyes widened when he realized who exactly were standing outside the exam site.

Oh shi-

"Naruto-sensei! Hurry up!" Maya called.

"Hinata-sama, you should slow down." Neji said as he walked down the street with his cousin. They were nearing the meeting place where nearly everyone they knew, and were friendly with, were waiting for an old friend that none of them have seen in three years.

Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who affected all their lives one way or another. Neji noticed the gradual changes that he knew were due to the blonde's influence. The greatest change that he had noticed was in his own cousin, Hinata. She had become more confident with herself and was becoming a strong and very respected konouchi. The elders of their clan had no more doubts that she was to be the next clan head.

He remembered how happy she was when she ran up to him, telling him that she just spoke with a man that knew Naruto, and confirmed that the blond man was in the village. They had known before hand, of course, when Sakura and Ino told them, but she just had to make sure. It's been a while since Neji had seen her smile like that.

"But, Neji-nii-san, we might miss him." She argued, worry evident on her face at the thought of missing the earliest chance to see her childhood crush. Although she still cared deeply for the blond man, she didn't have the same crush as she did all those years ago.

"Hey there, you two! It's about time!" A loud voice cried as they neared the site for the Chunin exams. The two Hyuugas turned to the voice, and noticed a large group that consisted of the original Rookie Nine, plus his own team and minus Naruto, of course, their senseis, Iruka, and Shizune. Neji suspected Tsunade couldn't come because she may currently be in an argument with the council concerning Naruto.

"Good morning, Kiba-kun." Hinata said politely while Neji glared at the other male. Considering he was the closest thing she had to an older brother, he seemed to receive the 'older brother protective instincts'. Neji knew very well that Kiba was trying to win his cousin's heart after they found out she wasn't in love with Naruto anymore.

"He hasn't come by yet, so you don't have to worry." Ino said, noticing the worried look on Hinata's face. They Hyuuga heiress smiled happily at the news.

"Thank you." She said.

"Does anyone know when Naruto-kun is going to arrive?" Lee asked impatiently.

"Who knows? The exams don't start for a while now, so it could be a while." Tenten answered.

"Do not, worry, Lee! It is obvious Naruto-kun is testing our loyalty to him! We shall wait until the end of time until he arrives!" Gai announced loudly, drawing a sigh from his two ex-students.

"Gai-sensei, you're a genius! I would have never guessed Naruto-kun would put us under such a test! I will wait no matter how long it takes him to arrive. If I give up before then, I shall run around the village one million times!" the young clone announced.

"You would think they would have grown out of this already." Kurenai sighed shaking her head.

"Gai is a grown man and he still hasn't grown out of it. Do you really think Lee isn't going to do the same?" Kakashi said, still reading his book.

"Look who's talking. You still haven't grown out of that." Sakura replied, crossing her arms and pointing to the book. You could hear Kakashi snicker and she was sure he was smirking under that mask.

"Ah, but this is for adult entertainment. Only those who have grown can read this sort of thing." He said, his visible eye curled upward.

"It's trash." Sasuke said behind him. There was some laughter at the gray haired teacher's expense before things became silent again.

"Hey…" Sakura said, breaking the silence after a few minutes. "Do you think…that Naruto will come back if we ask him?" The air became noticeably tense after the question was asked, because it was on everyone else's mind as well.

"He probably will." Shikamaru finally answered, "But will it really be in his best interest? Think about it, the only reason he's physically safe at the moment is because he is the sensei to a team of exam participants. Should he give that up and swear himself to this village again, do you really think he'll be safe from the village's wrath?"

"He's got a point there." Choji said between bites of food after the explanation was over.

"Yeah, so what else is new?" Ino sighed. As things became silenced again, Sasuke lost himself in his own thoughts.

If he's part of Yami now, does that mean he'll leave once the exams are finished? What if he doesn't come back again? He growled and clenched his fists. Would he really leave after knowing how hard we worked to find him?

"Man, look at those kids. Someone really should put a leash on them." Ino said, breaking the Uchiha out of his thoughts.

"You idiot! I'm going to kill you for that!" a red haired girl shouted at a boy with strange, green hair. Behind them was another boy, except with black hair. All three of them had on the hitai-ate for Yamigakure.

Kiba couldn't help but snicker as the girl caught up with the green haired boy and started pounding the life out of him. "You go girl!" He cheered, bringing some laughter to break the tense atmosphere.

"That must be their sensei over there." Hinata pointed to a blond figure. They couldn't really see their face, but they didn't need the man's face to realize who he was.

"Naruto-sensei! Hurry up!"

NM-chan: Review people! I can't wait for number 200. Ah, and do give your opinion about the side story idea. Please?