Run Away

By: Naruto's Mask

NM-chan: Another century, another chapter. I'm sorry, but this one is shorter than usual. Usually I try to type up at least six pages, but this is about four. That's because, once again, I found a beautiful cliffhanger! I know you hate 'em, but I have to do something to make my readers want to read more!

Honestly, the whole 'Naruto's Back' scene wasn't my best. I think it could have been better, but I rewrote it a hundred times! This was the best I got! So, you get what I give you. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and one more thing. If you read my story I Remember then you would know that I'm suddenly unhappy with the SasuNaru pairing, so I will most likely not get them together. Rest assured, you will see the SasuNaru-ness, but it won't be the main, final, concrete pairing. Sorry for those who had their hopes up!

The three genins watched as a tense air suddenly surrounded their sensei and the crowd of people right next to them. Naruto's head was lowered, and the laughter from the group stopped abruptly, making Maya wonder if she said something wrong. She couldn't have, right? All she did was call out her sensei's name.

Naruto took a deep breath and sighed before turning to his team. "Maya, stop pounding Kisshu into a pulp. It's going to be a disadvantage to your teamwork if he's half dead when you take the exam." Yuki's eyes narrowed in concern. Naruto had a false smile plastered on his face, one that none of them had seen since the blond had recovered and first started living in Yamigakure.

"All right." Maya said dropping the green haired boy to the ground. He just stayed there, moaning as the bumps on his head started throbbing.

"Naruto…" A soft voice cut off their conversation and Naruto, whose back was facing the large group, visibly tensed as his name was called. He turned to the group, his smile never leaving his face.

"Hey there you guys. I honestly didn't expect you all to be here. This is…quite a surprise." He said.

"Are you kidding me?" Kiba suddenly said. Naruto flinched as the dog-man walked up to him threateningly, a pissed off expression on his face. "I would never pass up a chance to knock you across the head after the hell you put us through for the past three years! Why did you just up and leave without even saying a word to any of us? Did you really think we're shallow enough to give a damn about the Kyuubi? We're your friends you stupid idiot!" Naruto blinked after the outburst, not having expected that to be what Kiba was mad about.

"Calm down, you troublesome man." Shikamaru sighed.

"What he's trying to say, Naruto…" Ino muttered, glaring at Kiba, who was panting because of his loud yelling fit. "Is that, we missed you. A lot."

"You did?" Naruto asked, truly surprised. He didn't expect this many to care about him. Iruka-sensei and Tsunade-baa-chan, maybe, but he wasn't too sure about everyone else.

"Tch, of course. Without you around, Kiba and your 'pupils' caused mayhem in the village in your place." Shikamaru muttered.

"Pupils?"

"Konohamaru and his little gang."

"Ohhh…" There was an uncomfortable silence, until Naruto felt someone pat the top of his head. He looked up at Kakashi, who had appeared behind him when no one was paying attention.

"We missed you." Was all the masked nin had to say. Then, the blond felt a pair of arms wrap around him and he turned to see Iruka, who was smiling happily at him.

"We missed you a lot." That caused everyone else to come up to him and greet him happily back to the village, with Kiba living up to his speech and whacking Naruto on the top of his head before joining in the peaceful reunion.

"NARUTO-KUN! WE HAVE SEARCHED LONG AND WIDE FOR YOU! YOU'RE APPEARANCE HAS REKINDLED THE FIRES OF YOUTH FOR EVERYONE IN YOUR PRESENCE!!!!!!" Lee cried wrapping an arm around Naruto, causing the peaceful atmosphere to shatter. They heard an unfamiliar giggle, and were all reminded about the three genins that were being left out.

"Naruto-sensei, you have some weird friends." Maya said. Kisshu was laughing his head off at the antics of the Taijutsu master and Yuki was both laughing, and looking relieved that his sensei's false smile was no longer there.

"Uh oh, almost forgot about the exams! You three need to get going now." Naruto said, suddenly remembering the reason they were there in the first place.

"All right, sensei! You know, the moment we leave the exam area, all three of us are going to be official chunins!" Kisshu declared.

"Hell yeah!" Maya said in agreement. Yuki just giggled a bit, knowing something that the two didn't and also knowing the final teasing Naruto was going to give the two before they left for the exams.

"No you won't!" Naruto said, crossing his arms sternly, which caused the two to frown.

"What, don't you have any faith in us, Naruto-sensei?" Maya asked.

"It's got nothing to do with faith, Maya. It's just that, the next time you three leave the area, you're all going to be spending the month preparing for the final part." He said this with a straight face, but the comment made the two face fault.

"Even I knew that, you two." Yuki said poking at Kisshu, whose face was still in the dirt. The Hikaru jumped up with a glare and started chasing the youngest male, who shouted in fear, but was still laughing.

"Maya?" Naruto asked, bending down to the girl's eye level.

"I'll make sure they behave." She gave him a thumbs up and ran after her teammates, fully prepared to remind them who exactly they voted team leader…even if they were threatened to vote for her or suffer bodily harm.

"So that's your team?" Sakura asked, her expression still happy because of the reunion.

"Yeah. A wild bunch, but you gotta love 'em." He said fondly. His head shot up, as if he remembered something, then turned to his friends. "I'm sorry, but there are some things I still need to take care of. I have to go now. Maybe we can finish catching up a little later on today?" He suggested.

"How about over lunch?" Ino asked with a cheerful smile, causing him to tilt his head in confusion. "Well, we need to celebrate! We've been worried sick about you because of the council wanting to label you an S-class missing nin. Now that we know they can't do a thing to you, that is a cause for celebration." She said with a grin.

Naruto smiled at her. "Sure. But that means I need to get going now so I can make sure I don't need to take care of anything during lunch."

"We'll swing by your room at 1, okay?" Sakura called as he walked away hastily.

"Sure thing! My room is 228, got that?" She nodded and he waved goodbye before he started running away. Even after he left, a pleasant feeling was still present within them, but one person noticed something was wrong.

"Sasuke-kun?" Hinata said, turning to the Uchiha in confusion. "Why didn't you say anything to him?"

"Wow, that genjutsu sure was weak." Maya said as she and her team walked up the stairs. They had successfully realized the genjutsu, and were able to sneak past the crowd forming around the false entrance to the exams. That just meant less competition for them.

"Sure, for you and Yuki there, but you know my genjutsu sucks! I was completely fooled!" Kisshu whined.

"Shush! Do you want them to hear us?" Yuki asked quietly. Kisshu was the loudest of all three of them. Apparently it was genetic since the rest of his family was as well.

"I am so excited! What do you think it's going to be like in there?" Maya asked, suddenly feeling giddy.

"Pain and torment, swimming with evil, with no hope of escape except for passing." Kisshu suggested, a serious expression on his face.

"No, you're thinking about the academy." Yuki joked, lightening up the atmosphere enough to calm them all down as they laughed. Their laughter ceased as they found the true entrance to the Chunin exams. Yuki and Maya made sure there wasn't a genjutsu of any sort, and Kisshu checked for traps.

"Well, this is it." Maya sighed. All three of them were suddenly hit with one of the most life-changing events in their shinobi career. Even though graduating from the academy made everyone look at them as if they were adults, they were still children. The lowest rank. Rookies. Becoming a chunin would truly label them as an adult who is ready to face the world. As a chunin, they could get actual jobs. Whether it is at the academy, or working for the Yamikage. They could also aim for even higher positions, but, at the moment, all they had to worry about was becoming a chunin.

"Man, it seemed like only yesterday that we were just a couple of snot-nosed academy students. To think it's only been a year." Kisshu grinned.

"A year of Naruto-sensei trying to make us into a team. Throwing us in the middle of the mountains for a month, making us do these lame D-class mission, not to mention torturing us on our first few weeks." Maya sighed.

"Don't forget him making us read Shakespeare so we could figure out the phrase 'look underneath the underneath'."

"Ugh, don't remind me! That was way too much thinking!" Kisshu whined, making them laugh. Then they slowly stopped when they remembered what they were here for in the first place.

"All right then! We should go now!" Yuki announced, even though a bit nervous.

"Yup…Kisshu, why don't you do the honors?" Maya suggested. The green haired male shrugged and grabbed the handle.

The door opened…

NM-chan: There you go. Once again, I though the whole 'Naruto's Back' scene could have been better. Too bad my brain didn't want to produce something better. STUPID BRAIN!!!! GRAAAR!!!!!

Oh, and I need to ask. Do you want Team Naruto to be the only genin team from Yamigakure at the exams (because it is likely that they're the only ones who qualified for it, having such an awesome teacher and all) or can you people stand a few more OCs? It's gonna be torture for me to come up with one or two more teams with three or six more names, but I live to please. Tell me what you think!

Which means, REVIEW!!!!!!