A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for all the reviews that were posted over the past few days and for adding several ideas to a long list of… schemes that I'm planning to use later on. I'd also like to add that there is no definite partner for Naruto as of yet, and that one be decided for a good long while. When we do arrive at the point or near it I'll allow you, the readers to decide from among whatever female characters in the story I think are suitable. And I have no intention of allowing Tsunade or Shizune to be in that grouping. Now let's get on with the next chapter!

Chapter 2: Where to Now?

After a night of mostly peaceful sleep, which was disturbed only a few times by Naruto awaking from either pain in his arm from the medicine Tsunade had given him or one of his many nightmares of being beaten by the Konohagakure villagers, the group of five is now eating a filling breakfast of eggs, bacon, and sausage prepared by Anko.

Naruto was the first to dig into the meal, and his eyes lit up and grew as big as saucers after his first bite. Soon, tears started to flow from his ocean blue eyes while he said, "This is the best meal I've ever had!" Anko was greatly pleased by the fox boy's comment, and even more so when the other members of the group praised her cooking as well.

After breakfast, everyone was amazed to see that Naruto was almost a hundred percent better, with only his fractured arm and now lightly bandaged torso being his only visible signs of anything had ever happened to the boy. It was then, that Anko decided to go wash the fox-boy's tent-like shirt that she had lent him in a nearby stream, so that he would at least be wearing a clean shirt until they found a town where they would be able to buy him new clothing.

When Naruto took off his shirt and handed it to Anko, Hinata and Shizune froze at what they saw. The boy's abdomen, which wasn't covered by bandages, was covered with scar upon scar upon scar. Most were small, only an inch or two long, while one extended clear across the lower half of the boy's belly, almost as if someone had tried to gut the fox-boy. Shizune noticed that this scar only just grazed the bottom of the seal on the boy's stomach, the same seal which kept the Kyuubi locked in Naruto's body. The appearance of many small scars was also present on what could be seen of his back.

Though both of them had treated the young blue-eyed boy, both Tsunade and Anko were both sickened at the sight of so many scars on the body of such a young child. When Anko had treated the boy on the night they left the village, she could have sworn upon seeing all these scars that her hate for the villagers had grown ten-fold. Tsunade was only horrified by the sight and wondered how any living being could cause such pain to someone who was so innocent.

As Anko walked off to clean Naruto's shirt and change into a different outfit, the slug mistress and her apprentice went about packing up camp, while Naruto and Hinata talked.

Sitting side by side, Hinata lightly slid a finger along the boy's largest scar. "A ninja cut me with a sword last month," the fox-boy explained. Hinata's eyes went extremely wide when he said this, and Tsunade and Shizune visible flinched as they continued their work.

The white-eyed girl's eyes soon started to water as she hugged her friend around the next. Mumbled sobs of "I'm sorry," and "I didn't know," escaped the young Hyuuga's lips as she lightly cried for the blonde's suffering.

Not completely understanding what he could do to easy the blue-haired girl's cries, Naruto hugged her back lightly and said, "It's ok Hinata-chan, Hokage-ojiisan was the only one who knew before yesterday; please don't cry." As Hinata's sobs lightened, sobs could be heard from the blonde still wrapped in her arms. Between small sobs, he managed to say, "I'm just happy that one of my precious people is here, and now I have a few more." The white-eyed girl could only guess that Naruto was referring to Tsunade, Shizune, and Anko, but never imagined that he also was referring to Kyuubi.

It was then, that Tsunade walked over towards the two and kneeling down to their eye level, put a light hand on each of their shoulders before asking, "Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan, would you two like it, if Anko-chan and I trained you two to be ninja while we travel around?" Both children's eyes widened almost to the point of bulging at the offer. Naruto had never dreamed of becoming a ninja since he had never been accepted but by a few people, and Hinata though having little aspiration for the part of the job which involved killing, had wanted to be a medic ninja before her father completely rejected her.

The two looked at each other than at the gambling addicted kunoichi next to them and gave her fierce nods of excitement. The small ninja-wannabes then jumped on Tsunade, bowling her over and tightly hugging her; Naruto being careful not to hurt his arm while doing so. From where she was finishing discarding the used firewood amongst the surrounding trees, Shizune giggled lightly.

Moments later, Anko returned with Naruto's cleaned shirt and wearing a pale orange miniskirt and a gray tank top with a black snake head on the front, that showed most of her mid drift. The snake mistress however, was still sporting her tan trench coat. Anko nearly doubled over in laughter as she watched Tsunade trying to wrestle out of Naruto and Hinata's loving death hugs.

Flicking a tear out of the corner of her right eye, the purple-headed kunoichi said, "I'm gonna guess that you told them we'll be training them to be ninja, huh?"

Tsunade sent Anko a chilling death glare before screaming, "Yes, I did, now help get these two off of me!" As soon as she got within an arm's length of the two kids, Naruto released Tsunade and jumped Anko, bowling her over much as he and Hinata had done to the slug mistress. Shizune was now leaning against a tree and holding her side in painful laughter as she watched her sensei and Anko struggle to free themselves from the hugs the two children were inflicting on them.

After about another five minutes of fierce hugs, the small band of three kunoichi and two wannabe shinobi, started moving westward, away from Konohagakure. They walked at a gradual pace, since Naruto wasn't recovered enough to travel long distances and was being carried by Anko, and Hinata was carried on Tsunade's back. As they walked through the dense forest, Tsunade started up a conversation, "There's a small village about ten miles west of us; hopefully we can get more supplies there and some clothes for Hinata-chan and Naruto-kun."

"Yea," Anko replied, "And we can rest there comfortably for the night and plan whether we should head to the Land of Waves or Wind Country." The snake mistress turned her head to look at Naruto, who she was carrying on her back, and ask how he was doing, when she realized he had fallen asleep; his tiny hands firmly gripped her trench coat and a small content small was on his face. She then realized that Hinata was also asleep on Tsunade's back, the same small smile that was on the fox-boy's face was also on hers.

"It would appear that they are both still exhausted from what transpired the other day," the black haired medic said.

"It wouldn't surprise me," the blonde Sannin began, "One was beaten to within an inch of his life and the other had a large percent of her chakra points blocked. I was amazed that Naruto-kun was able to stand and walk around after only resting for little more than a full day."

Anko actually smiled at this before saying, "This brat's got it lucky though, the Kyuubi's probably the main reason why he's able to heal so damn fast. If it weren't for the demon that's sealed inside him, he probably would have died a long time ago." Anko along with two fellow kunoichi now frowned. She then said, "I just don't understand why the Yondaime picked Naruto to be its container."

Tsunade's frown actually grew larger, she stopped suddenly and said, "I can tell you why Anko-chan; there are two reasons actually," the slug mistress now had a very serious look on her face. "First, Naruto was the only child born that day and the Kyuubi couldn't be sealed within someone with a fully developed chakra system. And second," Tsunade paused as a few tears fell down her checks, "He's the son of the Yondaime."

Anko was shocked, more so then she had ever been in her life. She turned and looked at the small boy sleeping on her back and she then realized how much like the Yondaime he really resembled. The same spiky, golden blonde hair, the ocean blue eyes; she even faintly remembered the Yondaime having the same wide, foxy grin as Naruto.

The snake mistress then dropped to her knees, then allowing Naruto to safely slid off her back, before she did something she hadn't done in years: she cried; she cried because in a way, Naruto had been abandoned and cursed by his own father, much as she had been by the snake Sannin, Orochimaru, six years ago. As hot white tears streamed down her face, she asked between heavy sobs, "What … the hell happened … to his mother?"

"She died during the birthing process; at least, that's what I've been told," Tsunade said kneeling down beside Anko; being careful not to drop the young Hyuuga on her back.

The snake mistress then slammed her fist against the ground and spat, "The kid's had no one since the day he was born; I doubt he even knows who his parents are! I can't even remember my parent's faces because of the fucking hebi-teme, but at least I know I had them!" Anko then turned around and gently picked up the small blonde before pulling him into a motherly hug.

Anko stayed like that with Naruto in her arms for what seemed like an eternity, before she finally ceased sobbing and looked at Tsunade and Shizune and said, "Let's get this kid to town and plan our next move."

Kyuubi watched from within the depths of Naruto's mind as this all unfolded. Even he, the very demon sealed by the Yondaime, didn't know or even imagine that Naruto was his son. For four long years, the demon fox had despised the Yondaime, but those feelings, upon learning his container was the son of his sealer, turned into hate; pure, raw hate. "Sacrificing your own kit just to defeat an enemy; not even I would sink that low. That peace-loving village may claim to be morally better than the others, but at its roots, it's more rotten then the foulest demon's heart!" Kyuubi thought. "However, it looks like not all of the roots are rotten; these four females will take care of the Kit; that I can be sure of."

It was slightly after noon, when the small group got to the village and found the inn. Hinata had woken shortly before this when they were just outside the village, while Naruto continued to sleep even after they had gotten into their room.

Even though they had rented the largest room in the inn, it only had three beds and one chair, none of which looked all that comfortable. Anko walked over to one of the beds and set Naruto down lightly so she wouldn't wake him. She smiled at the sleeping boy and lightly brushed a hand along the whisker marks on his left check.

Tsunade walked over towards the snake mistress, who was now lightly brushing the young blonde's hair, and said to her, "Once Naruto-kun wakes up, I'll change his bandages then we can try and find some clothes for him and Hinata-chan at a store in town."

Hinata, who had been standing shyly behind the medic Sannin, looked up at her and asked, "C-can I get clothes th-that are p-pretty and not white or r-robes?" with her usually stutter.

Tsunade smiled at the small, dark blue haired girl, now realizing that as a Hyuuga her choice of clothing was most likely very limited. The blonde kunoichi knelt down and putting a light hand on the small Hyuuga's head, she replied, "Of course Hinata-chan; you can get any clothes you like, as long as we can afford it anyway." The expert medic now realized that she might end up having to go on a small break from gambling now that she was traveling in a larger group that included two young children and rambunctious teenager. She made a mental note of this and not a second later, Naruto began to stir.

As his senses came to him, the fox-boy quickly realized that he was no longer in the forest, nor was he on Anko's back, but on a bed. Not a comfortable bed mind you, but certainly more comfortable then sleeping on the cold ground in a dark alley like the blonde had done since he was kicked out of the orphanage little over a year ago. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Anko staring at him with a small smile on her face and her right hand on his head. "Anko … nee-chan?" he asked in a slight daze.

"You sleep like a damn rock, you know that kid?" the snake mistress asked back jokingly. She was happy when he smiled at her then reached up and hugged her around the neck with his right arm. The purple haired kunoichi still wasn't entirely used to this sort of interaction with people, especially with such a small child, but she admitted to herself that it felt perfectly right with Naruto.

When the blonde released his nee-chan, he asked, "Anko-nee-chan, when are we going out to get new clothes for me and Hinata-chan?" It was clear that Naruto wanted out of the large shirt that Anko had lent him and the tattered shorts which he had been wearing for several weeks now.

Tsunade replied to the fox-boy's question with, "We'll leave right after we get those bandages of yours changed." The slug mistress then removed the boy's shirt and went about removing the bandages on his torso, while the two other kunoichi present began removing the ones on the small blonde's left arm. The medic Sannin wasn't surprised at all when she saw that apart from a few new scars, there wasn't a single trace that the young fox-boy had been beaten barely two days before. After examining his ribs with a medical jutsu, Tsunade was able to confirm that all but one or two of his ribs had completely healed.

Anko and Shizune had just finished removing the bandages around Naruto's arm with causing a little discomfort to Naruto. Where the bone had pierced through the blonde's muscle and skin was now an uneven circular scar that was slightly darker in color then the surrounding skin. The chronic gambler soon examined the bone and found that it was almost completely healed, though it would probably take another good night of sleep before it was perfect. What made Naruto the happiest was that he didn't have to wear any more bandages.

After the fox-boy got his shirt back on, he looked at Tsunade and asked, "Tsunade-sama, why do I heal so fast? Is it because of…" he then looked over at Hinata with some slight discomfort, not wanting the only person his age who had tried to befriend him to run away scared because he had a demon sealed inside him.

The slug mistress saw the worry written on Naruto's face and how he looked at the dark blue haired girl; she simply answered, "Yes Naruto-kun, it's because of that." The busty blonde then thought to herself, "How did he find out about the Kyuubi?! I thought that Sarutobi-sensei made it an S Class law that he and no one else in his generation knew about what really happened to it. I wonder… could the Kyuubi somehow have made contact with Naruto?"

Shizune immediately noticed the distress on her sensei's face as she contemplated the young blonde's question. Out of worry, the black haired medic asked, "Is everything alright, Tsunade-sama?"

Being drawn from her thoughts, Tsunade quickly answered her student, "No, everything's fine Shizune; let's head out and find some clothes for Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan." Both children immediately started jumping with glee and quickly forced the three kunoichi out the door of their room.

After a few hours of shopping, followed by a large dinner at the town's barbeque restaurant, both children had several outfits, including two training outfits. Naruto had picked out several shirts being black, orange, or a fiery red, all having the same giant white fox on the back. All the shorts and pants the fox-boy had picked out were black and had several pockets. His two training outfits were both completely black and had built in kunai holsters in the pants. Hinata had picked out all blue and purple outfits consisting of t-shirts and shorts and pants. Her training outfits were similar to Naruto's with the only differences being their color, a dark blue, and that she had picked out tank tops as opposed to shirts.

When the group arrived back at the inn, the two children immediately crawled into the nearest bed and fell asleep hugging each other in a matter of minutes. "Pretty damn cute," was all Anko said before placing the few bags of clothes near the door and going to sit at the small table in the corner and was quickly joined by Tsunade and Shizune.

"I think we should plan where we're heading tonight, then leave tomorrow morning as early as possible," the medic Sannin suggested.

"Yea, and maybe we can start training Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan tomorrow once we've traveled a bit," the snake mistress added in. "We just need to pick where to go, Wind Country of the Land of Waves."

A/N: Alright people this is where you decide how the story will progress, either our group goes to Wind Country and possibly to Sunagakure for an encounter with the young sand sibs or the Land of Waves to hide out for awhile and train Naruto and Hinata. You have until Friday, June 22 to decide, so get to voting!