Read and review...and can someone please tell me how long it took Naruto to train at mount Myoboku?
In Suna...
The door to the Kazekage's office opened as a figure stepped out of it's gloomy interior.
"Naruto, it's the only way", the Kazekage said as his friend stepped out of the office but pausing long enough to hear those words.
"Yeah, i know", he whispered before closing the door quietly. A deep breath escaped his lips as he brushed a little trail of dirt on the formal clothing he'd been provided with. To the blond, his life had just gotten a little more complicated. He let his hand snake into his pocket to stroke the small scroll hidden in the warmth of the clothing. Another sigh escaped his lips as he moved, walking calmly until he was finally out of the Kazekage's building. He let his gaze rise to the night sky wondering why people had always been happy to just gaze at it. It was just starless...but had some strange sense of warmth to it. A warmth that seemed to radiate onto the village. His eyes fell back to the street as people walked around...families...friends.
'Do you know your fate?', a voice deep within Naruto's mind rumbled like an earthquake. With a groan, the boy knew that the seal wasn't as perfect as he thought.
'You bring nothing but misfortune.', the voice rumbled again causing Naruto to wince slightly from the slight pain. He continued walking, not wanting to listen to the Kyubi's voice.
'Everyone who you involve dies'. His footstep stopped.
'Look around at their happiness...'.
The blond looked around...a young woman blushing as she walked hand in hand with a man...a woman carrying her daughter who yawned and snuggled into her mother arms...an old man chasing after a young boy who was yelling something about being the Kazekage.
'...pathetic fools, not knowing the promise of sorrow and pain you bring to drown them in their own blood. Do you really wish them pain and death?'.
Naruto's breath was now a bit strained as he breathed faster, trying not to let the pain overwhelm him.
'Your parent left you...Tsunade left you...your friends abandoned you...and then that Jiraiya left too.'.
A shudder coursed through Naruto's body, pleasing the nine tails more because his plan was working. He'd be patient and soon freedom would be his to taste.
'No one will be safe from the darkness which follows you', and with that, the voice vanished with a slight rumble.
An obviously shaken Naruto begun walking ...he needed to go somewhere...somewhere he could think...he'd talk to Hinata later. And with that, the young jinchuriki vanished onto the rooftops and moved with the night breeze trying not to pay attention to the pain deep within his heart. Tears formed at the corner of his eyes but with a strong will, he pushed them back. He wasn't going to be weak...at least not until he found out why his sensei and mentor had wanted him to go that way.
"I won't disappoint you, i won't", he whispered to the dusty wind, hoping it would carry it to the other world. He moved faster with the breeze knowing that he truly felt that what the Kyubi said was true. He needed to be alone.
Hinata sat calmly on her bed with her eyes glued to her feet. She'd been sitting there waiting for a certain someone to arrive but no one did...at least not yet. She closed her eyes, trying to clean up the emptiness she felt within. She'd been sitting there waiting since sunset and now she was sure that hours had already passed away yet she still held a small strand of hope that he would be there. She still believed that-
*Knock*knock*knock*
Quickly standing up, she rushed to the door and opened it, a big smile on her face but faded back when she saw Temari looking at her with half closed eyes. The wind user looked thoroughly exhausted from a full day of mission after mission.
"Hey, came to inform you that am going out again for an emergency something with Gaara. Be back in a few hours", the Suna kunoichi said and begun walking away not hearing the Hyuga's reply. As soon as she exited her apartment, Hinata stepped back into her room and fell onto the bed and looked at the ceiling. Maybe dreaming of this had been a bad idea, she thought as she slowly begun to drift into a hurtful sleep until she heard a knock...except this one came from the-
"Naruto-kun", she whispered as she walked over and allowed the blond to slip in.
"Hey, sorry i was late and all...had some thinking to do", the blond said, trying to smile as he slipped inside.
"Ohh...it's...it's nothing", Hinata said blushing as another spark of hope blossomed in her heart. She stood looking at the blond wondering if they'd be going out anytime soon.
"Uhhh, Hinata, can we sit. I've got something to tell you", Naruto said as he sat on the edge of the bed, causing Hinata to do the same whilst blushing as some unclean thoughts floated in her mind.
"Where do i begin? I guess i should start by saying that Suna isn't the right place to stay. I wouldn't like the problems which follows me to reach it's boarders.", the boy said as he tried to keep his eyes on the window.
"The truth is that i don't want anyone to fall into my pain...no one", and with that, he drew his eyes to look at Hinata.
"Tomorrow am leaving Suna".
Hinata nodded a little as she took it all in. Though saddened by what he said, Hinata forced a sincere smile onto her face.
"o...ok, so where do we go from here?", she asked also looking away, shy to meet the blond's eyes.
""I can't tell you that...because you're not coming with me".
For a second, Hinata wasn't sure what she had just heard. Her mind was just blank as if she had just lost her memory.
"Wh...what?", she asked as her mind finally registered what Naruto said. She was still doubtful whether she'd heard him correctly.
"You can't come along with me.", the blond stated bluntly. Naruto, with a sigh stood up and faced the window not wanting to look at Hinata. He didn't want to feel any sadness for her...after all, she had never been one of his closest friends, right?
"Hinata, Gaara could provide you with a chance to stay in Suna if you want. He could even get you back into Konoha under a lie which the council would surely believe", Naruto said in more of a whisper. For a second, he thought he might be alone in the room.
"B...but, wh...what are you going to do?", Hinata almost whispered out too as she fought back her tears. She'd always been taught that tears made a person weak.
Naruto's mouth was shut, he didn't want to speak, he didn't want to worsen or make anything too hard.
"I...i can't go...back", Hinata said looking at her feet, not bothering to look at Naruto's back.
"You can't come with me...it's...it's not safe".
For the first time in the moment, Hinata looked to Naruto's back with a mixture of both fear and sadness in her eyes.
"...i...i can't...i can't let you take that risk", the blond said, not bothering to turn. All his life, from birth till now, nothing had gone his way.
"Hinata, from the day i was born no one wanted me. My parent left me to become a jinchuriki, to be hated and despised. Then i found friends who walked away and ruined my life. I got a person who i could see as an older sister or even an aunt and still managed to loose her. Finally, the man who saw me for me and made me know how strong i was died...by what was in me. All for my sake...", Naruto whispered as he walked closer to the opened window, hiding his face from Hinata, not wanting the world to see his weakness.
"...people get hurt.", he added in a clearer voice as a cold night breeze swept in, drawing a slight shiver.
"B...but Naruto-kun, i can-", Hinata paused as she realized what he was saying: he didn't want her getting hurt.
"Hinata, you're not one of my closest friends, yet what you did for me is something am grateful for, that's why i can't allow you to-".
"No".
This time it was Naruto's turn to be surprised. He hadn't expected Hinata to say something so confidently.
"Right now, you've changed. I've always followed your belief that having someone to protect always made one strong. Isn't that true, Naruto-kun?", the Hyuga said drawing on confidence she never knew existed in her. When Naruto failed to speak, she continued.
"I've never given up on anything...neither will i give up on...you", she said through deep breaths causing a smile to caress it's way onto Naruto's face and she didn't need her byakugan to see that.
"Well, in that case, I'll see you tomorrow, i promise.", the blond said and lept out the window, leaving a surprised Hinata alone. She wasn't completely aware of the smile on her face. The only thing she cared about was that Naruto wasn't going to leave and the promise he had given her was a proof of it. With a sense of happiness, Hinata sat on her bed. The conversation they'd had was worth a date, she thought as she lay on her bed.
"I'll be there for you, Naruto-kun..i promise too", she whispered as sleep begun to usher her through the breeze from the window. She was happy.
In Konoha...
Kakashi sat on the roof of his apartment with his book closed by his side: a rather strange sight since the said jonin never went a free second without reading his book. The reason for this attitude was because he wasn't sure of something. Not sure if the situation with Naruto was truly what everyone thought. These thoughts had been with him from the moment he'd seen the figure vanish from the moment he'd seen the figure vanish before the Kyubi's miniature form went on a rampage. Jiraiya's death although the work of a Kyubi influenced Naruto, was seen as the work of a simple hate filled Naruto. A few had even gone to the extent of creating lies about how they saw Naruto viciously attack and kill the sanin, fallacy, falsehood and he knew it. And then there was the case with the Hyuga clan. They'd been angered by the fact that Hinata had vanished and now finding out that she had flee to Suna with Naruto and under the protection of the Kazekage...well, they wanted full out war.
Truthfully speaking, Konoha was in turmoil, not like that of the first Kyubi attack but at least close to it. The economy was gradually falling due to the huge budget made on replacing destroyed social amenities plus housing and slight compensation to the villagers who had been thrown below the poverty line. From what Kakashi knew, the rebuilding of the village though slow should have been a lot slower. He knew Konoha had some money enough to go through projects but the pace proved that a richer external force was at hand and that made the sharingan user rather nervous. With a breath, he was gone from his position, replaced by a few leaves.
"Ok, lets begin...", Neji spoke calmly in the shadows with others around him.
"...from what he know,Hinata is with Naruto. We know well what he's made out of and what kind of person he is. All of you know how Hinata felt for Naruto so we'll have to bring her back at all cost because her emotions are above her own control.", the Hyuga branch member added with folded arms.
"But they're in Suna and the Hokage informed us that the Anbu team sent to retrieve them had been brutally defeated and left to limp their way back. The last thing they said was that the Kazekage said the two were under his care. so what do we do?", Ino said as she sat beside her long time pink haired friend.
"I'll tell you what we do, we sneak in and get Hinata and beat the crap out of the traitor, Naruto", Kiba almost shouted in anger but was instantly calmled by Chouji.
"That won't be possible. Suna has hidden sensors like Konoha too, only perfect espionage experts can sneak in and out...", Shino spoke behind his glasses without any sign of emotions.
"...plus the only person of that caliber is already dead.", the bug user added with still no hint of emotions.
"So what do we do?", Sakura asked causing everyone to look to Shikamaru who kept muttering something like "troublesome troublesome".
"Almost every aspect we can take in any plan will bring consequences due to the existence of several variables in this".
Everyone except Neji and Shino looked at him as if he were mad. The Nara sighed.
"I mean if we try to do almost anything, we could get ourselves or the village in trouble due to out affiliation.", the Nara said, keeping the fact that the whole issue was troublesome out of his explanation.
"Then what do you expect us to do?", Kiba shouted with his arms folded and Akamaru barking in agreement beside him. Again, everyone looked at the Nara genius again hoping he would again have a plan but this time it was something else who spoke.
"What if we just go in Suna in the name of just speaking to Hinata", Tenten said but immediately looked away when she realized everyone there was giving her a funny look.
"That might be a strangely good idea", Neji spoke, keeping his eyes on the full moon over them.
"we go into Suna in the name of diplomacy and manage to get Hinata out.", he concluded. Everyone else nodded their agreement to the plan yet one Nara genius remained quiet. He knew instinctively that there was till several variables against the mission they'd willed upon themselves.
"First, we make the idea known to the Hokage. This is really going to be troublesome.".
In Suna...
Naruto slowly walked through the night street of Suna, his mind blank of the shinobi who were patrolling the village. He gripped the strap of the bag he wore tightly just to make sure that he was there, alive and doing what he thought he was. The smooth ache of the of the strap's roughness in his palm made him certain that everything was real, everything was true.
"So".
Naruto paused and looked to his left to see a figure of a red haired guy walk out of the darkness of an alley. Still as stealthy as ever.
"Came to see me off?", Naruto spoke, taking his sight off his friend and putting it on the road ahead.
"Not really, just came to make sure you know what you're doing.", the Kazekage said as he crossed his arms and fell into strides with Naruto.
"Yeah, me too. It's what he would have wanted.", the blond said, a small smile creeping on his face as the "he" he was talking about came in mind. The two stopped.
"Guess i've got to go now.", Naruto said , still keeping his eyes on the desert ahead.
"What about the Hyuga girl? What are you going to do about how she feels about you?".
For the answer to the question, Naruto looked at Gaara with utter confusion, displaying the traits of his old self.
"What are you talking about?", he asked totally oblivious of what Gaara was trying to tell him. Even he didn't know the girl that much but he could see how she felt towards the blond knucklehead.
"Just what should i do about her?".
"I don't know. Just tell her am sorry and any other thing you can cook up to get her reinstated in Konoha.", he said, this time turning to face Gaara with his hand stretched out. The Kazekage willingly took it and shook.
"Just make sure to hurry it up", Gaara said as he flashed his rather rare half smile. With a nod, Naruto vanished as he leaped upon roofs until he was soon on foot in the desert around Suna. After a few minutes, he stopped and took out a scroll and laid it down. He bit his thumb to draw some blood and made a seal before slamming his palms on the scroll.
Before he could react, he found himself standing in a middle of what looked like a park with frog statues and smoke clearing around him. Was this where he was meant to come through the use of the scroll? Was this where his sensei had planned for him to learn?
"Welcome..."
The blond spun around at the sound of a croaked voice only to look at a figure standing on one of the statues.
"...to Mount Myoboku", the old frog said with a smile
Well, this is the end...now review and can someone please tell me how long it took Naruto to train to become a sage?