"No." The statement was blunt, to the point. Naruto didn't mince words when he talked with most shinobi. "My picture is not to be taken."
"Look kid, you want a license? Then you have to have one of these," the photographer, already haggard looking with his thick black beard and slumping stature, began waving a small white card around in the air. "with YOUR picture on it!"
"No."
"Goddammit kid! You know what! Take it up with the Hokage! I give." The man folded his arms and gave a look just daring Naruto to take his advice.
The blond slowly rose from the seat at which he had been perched, refusing to have a photo taken, and slipped his hands down to his sides. The wind whipped through his hair as he calmly made his way to the stairs leading down from the rooftop. The bearded man screeched at him.
"Where the hell do you think you're going!"
"Gone," Naruto quipped back quietly, "you mean where have I gone."
"Damn bastard child! Check your fing grammar and go to hell!" The man proceeded to remove a kunai from his pouch, twirling it around hid index finger. "I can be the one to send you! Why the hell did I get stuck taking your picture!" The man stopped twirling his kunai, catching it between his two forefingers. "You're lucky your under protection, I'd get hung if I hurt you."
"Oh please, as if you could. I could tell from the beginning this would happen," Naruto turned, blue eyes smirking, "you weren't worth it."
The photographer snapped, dashing over to the blond gennin and pressing the kunai up against the soft neck flesh. "Oh how I wish-"
"What," snipped the blond, "afraid? I've already told you, you can't hurt me, because I'm not here."
"Sure as hell, you're right here! You want to die so much, let me obligate!"
The man's kunai tore through the boy's neck, spilling blood all over his hands. The man grinned in triumph. "Damn demon got what he deserved."
The blond keeled over, dropping to the ground with a shocked look on his face…
Then promptly disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"I can't see why you are so adamant about not having a picture on your registry, Naruto. Every nin has one."
"It's my trade," the boy answered quietly, his eyes cast downwards as he sat on a stool in front of the Sandaime Hokage. "My path has been chosen, and to say any one face is mine would be a lie I'm not willing to tell."
"To say…what do you mean?"
"I'm not Naruto anymore, Hokage-sama, I'm not anybody. I'm not just somebody either. From the moment I became a shinobi, I became nobody. To be somebody would be a hindrance, it would hold me back."
"Hmm…are you sure?" the Hokage looked doubtful, "It is a sad path to follow, being nobody. Most attempt it simply because they have no choice, they are already lost."
Naruto smiled sadly, bringing his eyes up slowly to stare up at the Hokage, "I've been gone a long time now, Hokage-sama. So long I've forgotten where I left my life line-"
YAAAAAAA!
The door leading to the Hokage's office burst open, revealing a young child, dressed in a yellow shirt and wearing a long blue woolen scarf, waving a kunai menacingly as he dashed towards the Hokage.
Naruto blinked and vanished, reappearing in front of the boy, his body tense and arm poised to smack the boy upside the head. However, right as he was about to swing…
The boy tripped on his scarf, smashing to the floor at Naruto's feet. The blond was anything but amused as the brown haired child picked himself up, grumbling about cheating old men using tricky bodyguards.
"Who tripped me?" The child yelled out, causing Naruto to wince.
So loud, he thought.
The child looked up, glaring at he blond gennin. "Bet it was you, you jerk! And I finally caught the old man off guard too!"
"Stupid brat," Naruto muttered, already feeling the effects of a headache approaching, as he trudged back over to his stool.
"Young master!" a voice cried in panic, giving Naruto a reason to glance behind him again. Wheezing from exertion, a middle age man with dark hair and a pair of tinted glasses stumbled into the room.
"…Good morning, does everybody want a chance to barge in on my talk with the Hokage? At least have the balls to get an appointment."
The man gasped, instantly alert, and quickly looked to the young boy. "Young master, what are you doing in a room with this…creature," he spat the word out, obviously substituting it for a more appropriate but less proper word in front of both the Hokage and the brat.
"Who," started Naruto slowly, raising his eyes for the first time to stare at the man in sunglasses, "the hell are you?"
"I am Ebisu, master tutor!" the man claimed proudly. "I teach the best, and right now the best is the Hokage's grandson, this," he pointed casually at the brat, "fine boy here."
"That brat," said Naruto slowly, "interrupted my hearing with the Hokage."
"Then good on him, you don't deserve a hearing anyways, with what you've probably done!"
"Yeah," squeaked the child, strutting up to the still completely passive Naruto, "whatcha going to do about it?"
Moving slowly, yet deliberately, the blond shinobi reached forwards and grasped the end of the long scarf the boy wore round around his neck. He wouldn't, thought the Hokage's grandson, taking an involuntary step back, he's just going to back off, just like all the others---
With a quick yank of the scarf, the boy stumbled forwards, his face meeting Naruto's fist halfway. The boy flew back a good foot, watching what seemed to be fireflies wink at him.
He…hit…me…Ebisu gaped at the blatant display. "Young MASTER!" He rushed forwards to check the boy, dropping to his knees next to the prone figure. He then glared at Naruto. "You can't just do that to the Hokage's grandson!"
"He could be the mother of the Hokage for all I care. Those who deserve it should receive punishment for their actions." The still expressionless nin made his way across the wooden flooring, around the two on the ground, and stood next to the doorway. "I apologize for the hasty departure, Hokage-sama, but I am due to my training fields. May I schedule another meeting to conclude our discussion?"
"It shouldn't be necessary, Naruto," responded the third kindly, giving a soft smile to the departing teen. "Do as you wish."
Bowing his head, Naruto turned and walked quickly from the room.
Naruto exited the Hokage's tower quickly, moving at a rate of somebody with something in mind, seemingly absorbed in whatever it happened to be. His eyes half closed, the blond gennin held his arms close to his body while he moved through the crowds of villagers, ducking and weaving with such an ease and practiced art, he seemed to do it without thinking.
It was a very short span of time before sight of him was lost in the sea of people trading, conversing, and, in some cases, fighting. He traveled unnoticed by the villagers, keeping his distance from any major social areas.
Not long after Naruto, another figure exited the tower, the Hokage's grandson, running as fast as his short legs could carry him. The boy moved quickly to the middle of the crowd, perching himself on one of the many villager's packs to see over their heads.
"Where is he?" the boy muttered to himself as he scanned the faces of the villagers surrounding him.
"Where is who?" the brunette grandson jumped in surprise.
He had been sitting on Naruto's pack!
"Ne, brat, what do you want?" The boy had lead him deep into the Konoha forest, straight to a small clearing surrounded by a multitude of small shrubs. A brief breeze flew through, rustling throughout the brush, almost like the sound of the surf on the beach.
Naruto closed his eyes as he felt the wind, listening contently to the leaves beating against one another. The simple sounds of the forest, completely reassuring in its ability to, even in silence, produce a wonderful sound. Without it…
"Oi! My name isn't brat!"
The blonde gennin sighed, running his hand smoothly through his hair. "Of course it isn't, but I don't know your name."
"My name," announced the boy, standing in full height and looking Naruto in the eye, "is Konohamaru, and don't you forget it!"
"Why not?"
"Wah!"
With a gaze of total seriousness, Naruto rolled his eyes to the heavens for an instant before returning them to the boy. "I forget names all the time, why should I remember yours?"
"Because…because I'm the Hokage's grandson!"
"Really? That changes nothing. There is no point for you to have a name. Right now, with no purpose, you're just 'O Honorable Grandson of the Third Hokage'. You can't honestly say," he continued after seeing how the boy flinched away from the title, "that you like it."
"…my grandfather, the Hokage, gave me my name so it wouldn't be forgotten."
"Hmm?"
"Konoha-maru, simple to remember, ne? It has the name of the village in it. Easy to say, but they…the villagers never use it…nobody uses it…I'm always just the grandson…never the important one…"
"But why?"
Konohamaru's eyes flashed up for an instant, a tiny tear droplets flying outwards. "I…"
He averted his eyes, "I don't know…"
"You haven't given them a reason. They have no reason to remember your name." Naruto looked square at the boy, sky blue eyes meeting dark brown, opposite yet the same. "If all you are to yourself is the grandson, then what else could you be the everybody else? You aren't special. You don't stand out."
"But…how-"
"How can you fix it? It's simple enough. Do you have a dream? You need to follow it, like a bee to nectar. Find a purpose and stand by it, no matter what it may be. Give yourself a reason to move, a reason to get out of the Third's shadow. Give everyone a reason to remember you."
"I…I want to be Hokage…like my grandfather…someone powerful…someone respected and remembered…"
Naruto smirked for a second before his face returned to being emotionless. "A lofty goal, what kind of Hokage?"
"Hmm?"
"You said you wanted to be strong, to be respected, ne? But what other traits would you have? Would you be kind or cruel, shady or truthful? Would you kill for the position, or take leave if it wasn't meant for you?"
Seeing the boy's confusion, Naruto strolled slowly to one of the quivering bushes surrounding them. It shook violently, although the wind had stopped. He knelt near to it, carefully extending his hand.
In a flash, a red blur of fur snapped out and buried fangs into the blonds open hand.
A fox…
Naruto grimaced, but didn't retract his hand as the fox ground its teeth deeper into the wound. "Just scared," he whispered, almost fondly. "He's scared of me…" He stared down at the fox, penetratingly constant. It was small, young, as well as a rare shade of dark red. The fox opened its eyes to stare back.
…
A moment passed as the two stared, almost like they were sizing each other up.
Slowly the fox released its hold on the gennin's hand, gaze still unwavering. Slowly it lowered it eyes to the bite wound. Then, as if to show remorse, it dragged its tongue over the marks, cleaning away the blood.
Konohamaru watched in wonder as the fox then jumped up and climbed the length of exposed arm to his shoulder, wrapping itself around the blue-eyed boy's neck. "Quite an affectionate one." Naruto remarked. He then turned back to Konohamaru, who was looking at him with something akin to astonishment in his eyes.
"This," Naruto started, "is probably like what achieving Hokage will be like. Pain is unavoidable, though through strength you can overcome it. However, strength isn't everything. Patience, will, trust…all of these are essential. Without them, you are just like any other shinobi out there. You aren't special. Consider all of those nameless shinobi you will meet, never knowing their names. You don't need to; it would be a waste of time to learn every enemy's name.
However, most have gone through everything you have. Their own academy, other missions, fights, training…so what separates you from the others? That is what you need to learn to be remembered. Learn what it is that makes you different. Learn what makes you special.
There are no shortcuts to this. Nobody can teach you everything, sometimes you just have to learn yourself…" With that, Naruto looked to the clouds and took a leap, vanishing in a burst of speed.
Sarutobi chuckled as he watched Ebisu enter the clearing soon after Naruto left. Konohamaru seemed to have acknowledged the boy's meaning, as Naruto did have a point.
"So…" the Third puffed, blowing a trail of smoke from his pipe and leaning back from his crystal ball, its view now cloudy. "You aren't as far gone as you would like us to believe, are you…
…Naruto?"
"Damn fox," Naruto mumbled as he unlocked the door to his ramshackle apartment, "shouldn't you leave already?"
As if to answer his question, said fox around is shoulders scrambled down and trotted into the apartment.
"…go ahead, make yourself at home…stupid animal…"
In contrast to his words, however, Naruto wore a tired smile. He entered the room after his chibi-sized Kitsune, closing the door behind him.
From the Desk of Tyr'll
It may be off subject, but I have to wonder why I call this section, From the 'Desk' of Tyr'll. I never write any of this on a desk. Its always written on my computer…
Ah well…
Sorry for how long it took, as well as the length, somewhat. I though this would be a good place to stop for now, and as for the time it took…
Blame this huge ass project for English I have to do. Still doing it in fact.
Look forward to the next chapter, in which I break out of the cannon events some. So far it's been some events that I felt had to happen cannonly, but next comes a less normal branch of the story.
Next comes Time to Travel, Mission to Weed Country!