Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form. This upcoming story however, I do own.

Thanks to all those that reviewed and voted on which new forte Naruto should have. I was kind of surprised with the poll results but nevertheless, I have a story line made up for it.

Now I forgot to mention something about Amarante in the last chapter. She is around 12-13 years old, not 7-8 as one reviewer put it (though that was my fault). I also forgot to describe her from Naruto's point of view. She will be described in the next chapter.

Till then, enjoy this chapter. We're going back to Konoha for this one.

55555555555555555555555555555

Konohagakure No Sato, Hi No Kuni

3 weeks after Naruto's banishment (one week after Naruto arrives in Oni No Kuni)

Another day had started in Konoha. The entire village was just awakening from a slumber not plagued by bad memories of the Kyubi attack (this for the older generation).

However, in the Hokage's office, one person was already awake. Tsunade Senju sat at her desk, deep in thought. Normally, there would be a pile of paperwork strewn across said desk, but the only thing on the desk was a bottle of empty sake. This would've been a cause of concern for Shizune and Sakura, but this had been going on ever since Naruto was banished.

As she sat, Tsunade was wondering the same thing that had been plaguing her for the last week. The whereabouts of her adopted son, one Uzumaki Naruto. So far, no words have reached her from the many rescue teams that she sent out.

Flashback 1 week ago

Tsunade clasped her hands together, getting a headache by the minute. Assembled before her were Kakashi, Kurenai, Maito Gai and their respective teams. She had called them for an S-rank meeting.

Tsunade unclasped her hands. "I have called you here for a very important information. Please remain quiet until I have told you what has happened."

Tsunade began. "One week ago, a council meeting had been in session. This meeting was kept secret to the rest of Konoha and its ninja. You may have recognized that Naruto is not here, nor has he been seen for the past week."

All the people present nodded.

Tsunade continued. "That is because during that meeting, it was decided by council majority (both ninja and civilian) that Naruto would be banished because of his unleashing of the Kyubi during the Pein invasion."

The chunin present all gasped while the jounin present all sighed. This was just like the council (mostly Danzo) to treat Naruto. Even after he had risked his life and his many limbs to save them, the council still decided that he was a liability and banished him. A new question that came into the minds of all those present; what would the repercussions be now that Naruto was gone?

Tsunade spoke again, interrupting their thoughts. "However, I have called you three today to mount a rescue operation. You are to retrieve Naruto from wherever he went and bring him back here."

Now all the shinobi present went wide-eyed. Kurenai spoke first. "But Hokage-sama, wouldn't that go against the decision from the council?"

"Yes, Tsunade replied, completely oblivious to the fact that she had been interrupted. But damn the council and damn their decisions. I don't care what they say. But since I already used my yearly veto, I couldn't veto the decision by the council and something tells me they knew it to."

Gay spoke next. "So what are we going to do if we find Naruto, Hokage?"

"Bring him back here, she replied. Shizune and I will do our best to change his appearance and give him fake documents. The council can't say anything to that."

Kakashi then spoke. "So where would you like us to search?"

"Kakashi's team will search in the vicinity around Sunagakure and its villages. Gai, your team will head to Nami No Kuni and ask around. Kurenai will head to Tori No Kuni and ask around there. You all must report in one weeks' time."

All nodded their heads.

Tsunade turned around in her chair, so that her back was facing the shinobi. With one word that would change the lives of so many, she said "dismissed."

Flashback ends

Tsunade pinched her nose. So far, only Gai's team and Kurenai's team had reported back. Each one had said that Naruto had not gone their nor was he seen or even heard from ever since both villages last saw him.

'Where are you, nii-san?' Tsunade kept wondering this ever since the reports came back in. it was hard for Tsunade to admit, but she missed the young knucklehead more then anything right now, Sitting up straight in her chair, Tsunade put on her Hokage voice.

"Enter."

The door opened, revealing Haruno Sakura. The second apprentice of the slug queen had grown quite nicely (that is, in training) in the 3 weeks since Naruto was banished. Oddly enough, Sakura was one of the few ninja who did not know of Naruto's banishment, the other being the ANBU ninjas and the current group of genin.

Tsunade was mildly surprised to see her apprentice. As far as Tsunade knew, Sakura was not scheduled for any appointments with her nor was today a training day. Keeping a straight face, Tsunade decided to amuse herself for a couple of minutes.

"Sakura, shouldn't you be at the hospital?"

"Shizune gave me the day off for today, replied Sakura. I was kind of wondering where Naruto was, Tsunade-sensei."

Tsunade sighed. How did she know that Sakura would ask that question? Konohamaru had asked that question the first day that Naruto was banished. Luckily, the Third Hokage's grandson was dumb enough to be convinced that Naruto had gone out on a mission and would be returning soon. Unfortunately, that same excuse would not work on Sakura multiple times. Sooner or later, Sakura would ask why she wasn't sent along with Naruto to these missions. Tsunade needed a better excuse this time.

"Naruto has…gone on vacation Sakura." Once Tsunade had said that, she immediately smacked herself in the face. 'No one in their right mind would believe that lie. Damnit, I knew I should've not drunken sake last night.'

Of course, Sakura picked it up easily. "Sensei, you know me better then that. You know I'm smarter. So where is Naruto?"

'Guess I got to let the cat out of the bag sooner or later. Now I know what Tora feels like every single day.'

Before Tsunade had a chance to answer, there was another knock on the door. Praying to Kami for getting her out of answering Sakura, Tsunade spoke in the direction of the door.

"You may enter."

The door opened, revealing Kakashi, Chouji, Shikamaru and Ino. Each one looked a little under the weather, but Tsunade as expecting that. After all, it took 3 days to get from Konoha to Suna and three days to get back from Suna to Konoha. So in reality, the team had one good day of rest.

What do you have to report?"

Normally, the other two teams had verbally told of their reports, but since Sakura was not made aware of Naruto's banishment, it posed a problem if Kakashi were to tell Tsunade. Fortunately, Gaara had more things to say other then if Naruto was there, so he decided to write it out on a scroll, which Kakashi handed to Tsunade.

"Thank you Kakashi. As of right now, you and your team have a day of R&R. you are to report to the Tower tomorrow morning with Teams Kurenai and Gai. Dismissed."

With a bow, Kakashi disappeared, leaving Tsunade with 4 chunin in her office. Seeing that there was more to be said, Tsunade turned to Shikamaru.

"Was there something else that was not in the report, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Other then the fact that this was a troublesome mission, everything is in the report, Hokage."

Tsunade nodded her head. "Then I'll say it again. Your team is dismissed and don't forget about the meeting tomorrow."

Shikamaru nodded and left. Chouji, eating a bag of chips, left with Shikamaru. Ino, however, stayed behind with Sakura and Tsunade. Tsunade noticed this and was wondering why.

"Hokage-sama, may I talk to Sakura for a little bit?" Ino asked.

"Why would you want to talk to Sakura, Ino?" Tsunade wondered.

Ino shrugged. "Just to catch up."

Tsunade sighed. "Fine then go. I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about."

Both of them turned to the door and started waking. While Sakura had her face forward, Ino turned her head back to Tsunade and mouthed some words.

To the naked eye, it looked like a couple of words stringed together. But Tsunade got the message. Ino had just mouthed, 'should I tell her?'

Tsunade nodded her head. Ino gave a thumbs up and walked out. Tsunade then reached into her secret drawer and picked out another bottle of sake. 'This is going to be one long day,' she thought. Kami would have agreed with her.

"So Ino, how was your mission, Sakura asked. Where exactly did you guys go?"

"Kakashi and our team went to Suna, Ino replied. Things are pretty much normal there ever since the Akatsuki attack."

Sakura nodded, but Ino could tell that Sakura had a lot more questions then that one. It surprised her that Sakura hadn't asked if she knew where Naruto was right off the bat.

"So Ino, do you know where Naruto is?"

And there went the question.

Ino sighed. "Before I tell you, let's go get some breakfast. I'm sure there is something around here that does serve breakfast."

"Ok." Sakura was now getting worried. It wasn't like Ino to try and stall for time. Normally, Ino would blurt everything and anything, even if it was not all that important. Just shaking her head, Sakura followed Ino into a small restaurant.

After they had sat down and placed their orders, there was an uncomfortable silence at the table. Seeing that Ino would not start, Sakura decided to break the ice.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind Ino, she said. Penny for your thoughts?"

Ino shrugged. "Yeah give me some time. I have a lot to discuss with you."

"So I'm surprised that Kakashi is your new sensei, Sakura stated. I thought you guys would be able to handle yourselves."

Ino shook her head. "Even Shikamaru knew that once Kakashi volunteered to be our sensei for the two immortal Akatsuki, Tsunade would put him on our team since you need a jounin instructor. Course, Kakashi just sits and reads his book while we train."

"Must suck pretty bad that you have the lazy jounin as your sensei," Sakura pointed out.

Ino giggled. "most of the times it does, but he explained that since we were chunin and actually did really well, he had nothing to teach us, next to making us stamina freaks like Naruto."

Once Ino had said that, the atmosphere of the conversation went from sunny to cloudy. Both of the ladies there knew what would happen. Only one knew of the outcome of the upcoming conversation.

"Ino, Sakura started. Do you know where Naruto is?"

"Not exactly," Ino replied.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean not exactly?"

Ino put her elbows on the table. "If I tell you this, you have to promise that you won't speak of this to anyone else."

"Ino why would I…"

Ino help up her hand. "Promise me Sakura."

Sakura nodded her head. "I promise Ino."

"Alright strap yourself in. this going to take awhile." Right when Ino finished, the food arrived. Ino had just gotten six slices of toast and some jelly. Sakura, for whatever reason that escaped Ino, had ordered ramen. As they were eating, Ino started.

"What exactly has Lady Tsunade told you about Naruto?"

"She said that she had sent Naruto on some missions," Sakura replied.

Ino was a little confused. "This didn't surprise you?"

"Well at first it did, but I knew that Naruto could take care of himself." Sakura realized how much she was played. 'I thought I was smarter then this.'

"Well anyway, Ino continued, it's more then just him being sent on missions."

"What are you talking about, Ino-pig?"

"Naruto was banished three weeks ago, Sakura."

Sakura, who was about to take another couple of noodles from her ramen, immediately stopped. 'Naruto…banished?' Sakura could not wrap her mind around the concept. It was like a bad nightmare that came into her life. Sakura gulped and looked at Ino.

"You…can't be serious right? I mean, that sounds absolutely ridiculous after what Naruto went through."

Ino put her hands on her face. "That's what I thought to. It actually took a lot of convincing from Lady Tsunade to finally make me see that Naruto was gone. But look Forehead, what I'm saying is that the reason why you haven't seen Naruto is because Naruto is not in the Leaf anymore."

Sakura was still shaking her head. "This is some joke right? Some kind of elaborate joke that you and the entire village cooked up because I had been so bad to Naruto early in his life? Is that it? Well listen here, I'm not buying any of this B.S."

Ino sighed again. Why did this have to be so difficult? Ino had an idea that Sakura would take it hard, but she never imagined it would be this hard. She was outright denying that Naruto was gone, even though Sakura herself had not seen Naruto for the weeks since Pein's invasion. Finishing the last of her toast, Ino stood up and paid for her breakfast.

"Well if you don't believe me, you can ask Lady Tsunade. It's nice to see you again, Forehead and take care." With those words, Ino went out of the restaurant, leaving Sakura to her thoughts.

As Ino's words hit home, Sakura knew that some of it was true, but her irrational mind was screaming at her that it was all still a joke, that Naruto was still in the Leaf, probably at some secret training ground that she was not aware of. 'There is only one way that I can find out for real. I have to look at that scroll that Kakashi-sensei gave to Lady Tsunade.' With that in mind, Sakura paid for her stuff and left a very nice tip for the waitress.

Midnight, Hokage's office

Tsunade had gotten her paperwork finished and decided to go home for the evening. 'It's going to be nice to sleep on my bed and not on a desk, Tsunade thought. Before I go, I got to get something.' She reached into her secret stash and got out another bottle of sake. With a smile and a shut of the lights, Tsunade shushined out of her office.

Little did Tsunade know, there was another person inside the office. Had Tsunade been more cautious, she would've activated the traps in the office. But once again, in her haste to sleep on a bed, Tsunade had forgotten all those things.

Sakura stepped out from the bookcase, patting herself on the back that she had learned the invisibility jutsu from Jiraya before he had died.

'Alright, I have to find that scroll. Then I can find out if Ino was lying or not.' Sakura first started out at the Hokage's desk, since that was the most obvious place to put said scroll. But after searching for several minutes, she stepped back frustrated. 'Okay maybe not,' Sakura thought. The bookcase was her next option, but that proved to be fruitless as well. Exasperated and on the verge of punching through walls, Sakura then searched around the room. After yielding no results, she tapped her foot on the floor, only to find out that there was a hollow spot. Peeling back the wood, she found the scroll along with about ninety pounds of sake bottles and jugs. 'Now I see how she gets all her sake, Sakura thought.' Putting the piece of wood back, she opened the scroll and read its contents.

To the Godaime Hokage,

It was a surprise to see some of your ninja at my gates. After Kakashi had explained, I can understand why you want this back. However, I am deeply sorry to inform you that Naruto is not here nor has he been spotted near any of the villages around Suna. However, a rumor has been floating around that Naruto was heading toward the south, possibly to Haru No Kuni. I'll inform you of any change in developments.

Garra, The Godaime Kazekage

P.S.: tell the councilors that they are a bunch of idiots.

Sakura dropped the scroll and covered her mouth. As she laid her back against the desk, images of her and Naruto started to come up. All the times that she had hit him and belittled him came back full force, making Sakura start to cry.

'Oh Naruto, she thought. Why? Why did this have to happen to you?' as she continued to cry, she finally figured out that she needed Naruto, that she needed the strong supporting shoulder that Naruto gave to her.

It was known that the words that were never said hurt more then the words that were said.

Phew. That was nice of me, ending the chapter with a cliché.

Anyway, read and review and once again, thanks to all who did vote and who at least read the last chapter.

P.S.: the poll from chapter 2 will end at the next chapter's end.

Ciao and see you next time on 'It's More Then Just A Promise.'

Tori No Kuni-Land of Birds