Legend:

DISCLAIMER: Not so sure I want Naruto anymore…Kishimoto is killing off my favourite characters one by one. Maybe I'll start up my own manga with the same basic plotline… Nah. Stick to fanfics, where I can resurrect, kill, matchmake, and otherwise play god with Kishi's creations. So yeah…the point of this is that I don't own Naruto. Sic your lawyers after someone who's trying to profit.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Exams are over and I can finally return to writing.

A/N: I lied last chapter. I said this chapter would be the time-skip. It isn't. A big thank-you to Vilkath, whose comments inspired part of this chapter, also Shigyakuteki Hyousha and General Blackout for the corrections they made.

"Speaking"

Thoughts / Speaking to inner demon

Sealed demon speaking / Inner personality

"Jutsu"

Chapter 4: Emigration

"Well well well, if it isn't the Kyuubi brat. In multiple, no less."

Naruto's head snapped around he almost got whiplash. Watching his clones train were four Konoha ANBU, two men and two women. Luckily they hadn't seen the original Naruto yet, but it was only a matter of time before they realized that all the cloned in front of them had far less chakra than he did. Escape was going to be difficult; they were only twenty metres from his position. If he moved, they would be all over him.

One of the clones was smart enough to take initiative. "What do you want from me?"

It was impossible to see their faces, but Naruto would have wagered everything he had that the four were smirking.

The one with the Boar mask spoke. Naruto assumed he was the leader. "While you were in Konoha you were protected. Now that you've left, there is nothing stopping Lord Danzo from eliminating a threat to the village."

Danzo…hmm. The name sounds familiar. Where do I – the council! Damn them.

The outspoken clone answered. "Great. More people after my head. Can't you fools see I'm not the fox?"

Hare mask answered. "Surely you don't expect us to believe that a little boy could restrain the power of the strongest tailed demon?"

The clone glared. "Maybe not, but you should have more faith in the Yondaime's seal. I haven't attacked the village, no matter how horribly I was treated."

Snake seemed pissed by this. "You were just biding your time until you were powerful enough to attack again!"

"Really? Kyuubi didn't have any problems the first time around until the Yondaime sealed him away. Why the hell would he wait?"

Somewhere deep in Naruto's mind, an otherworldly being let out a dark chuckle.

The clone continued. "I've never done anything to hurt Konoha. Everything I do is to protect my village! Why is everyone so blind!"

"Enough of your lies, brat! Time to die!"

The four Hunter-nin surged forward, scything their way through clones. Naruto couldn't really blame his copies; they'd been training for some time and had no chance to rest. He couldn't help but be impressed by the ease with which the ANBU broke through every attempt at defence and struck down each foe; if they weren't trying to kill him, he might have asked them for pointers.

Suddenly there was a huge roaring sound. Naruto turned to see one of his clones directing a massive dragon formed from water. The aquatic shape raced towards his four assailants; three of them dodged it but a fourth, the man with the Snake mask, was held in place by no less than six clones. Before the man could Kawarimi out of the situation he was struck by the dragon, which then raced skyward. Once it reached a suitable altitude, the beast began to dive, still holding the nin in its jaws. The two crashed through a tree into the ground. The man didn't get up.

Maybe escape isn't impossible; there are still a few hundred clones left, so if I can knock out the other three like I did that one…wait…is that…blood?

Upon further inspection, Naruto realized what had happened. When his dragon had crashed through the tree, one of the branches had been angled directly towards Snake. He had been impaled through the left side of his chest; that was why he wasn't getting up.

The remaining three ANBU stared at their fallen comrade, while the clones watched them warily.

The woman with the Hare mask finally spoke. "You demon…you claim to serve Konoha, yet you kill her ninja! You will pay!"

The outspoken clone – also the one who used the Suiton jutsu – replied angrily. "You're trying to kill me! Why the fuck should I lie down and let you do it? This is a fight that you started; if it isn't going the way you wanted, it's your own fucking fault!"

Hare let out a scream of rage. "DIE, you demon!"

She shot forward, kunai in hand, and stabbed the clone with such ferocity that her arm went completely through him before he dissipated.

She spun around. "Which one of you is the real one? Where are you, demon!"

Her gaze passed over his hiding place, continued – then snapped back. Oh shit. The distinctive poof of shunshin told him she had vanished.

"Hello, demon. Thought your clones could do the dirty work for you?"

Naruto slowly turned around. Sure enough, Hare was standing right behind him, her mask dangling from one hand, a kunai in the other. She was in her mid-twenties, and would have been pretty but for the rage marring her face.

His mind was working frantically. He had very little energy left to fight; making the clones had taken a sizable chunk of his chakra, and he'd been training in the Snapper style for the past four hours. Escape was almost impossible; even if by some miracle he could get past her, the three remaining ANBU would have little trouble hunting him down.

She spoke, crushing any hope he had of finding a way out. "Hope you enjoyed your last seconds of life, demon. Say hello to the shinigami for me."

The kunai came towards him, and Naruto's eyes winced shut. Supposedly, people had memories of their lives race through their minds before they died; instead, Naruto could only think of what he had wanted to do. He wasn't going to be able to kill Orochimaru for his sins, both against Konoha and against a boy he had once thought of as a friend. He would never find out why Itachi had killed his entire clan. He wouldn't be able to keep his promise to Hinata. He would never see old man Ichiraku or Ayame again. He…wondered why he wasn't dead yet.

Naruto opened his eyes slowly to find a look of shock on the Hare ANBU's face. Her arm was raised, ready to stab him with the kunai, but she wasn't moving. Suddenly, her entire torso shifted sideways slightly; only by an inch, if that. They both looked at her waist, Naruto with apprehension, Hare with utter horror.

She screamed, not with rage this time, but with pain, as her top half fell off her bottom half, to fall with her face not far from his. He watched as her eyes glazed over. He couldn't tear his sight away from her; live and well one second, and the next, lying in two pieces, dead.

A loud yell startled him enough to make him turn around. Jiraiya! Sure enough, the Toad Sannin was fighting the Boar ANBU; the remaining member of the squad, a Rat, was down with a hole in her chest 

from a Rasengan. It didn't last long; Jiraiya punched the man in the face, and followed it up with a kick the stomach that launched the man into a tree. He crumpled and didn't move.

Naruto winced; from the look in Jiraiya's eyes when the Sannin turned to face him, this wasn't going to be pretty.

"What the hell were you thinking? If you knew they were going to send someone after you, why would you stop so close to Konoha?!"

"I thought it would be ok! Back in the Academy Mizuki-sensei told me that missing-nin aren't followed for two weeks, to make sure that they're really missing and not just off doing something!"

"And you believed him? Baka! He tried to kill you! Does that tell you nothing?"

"Well…but, why would he lie about that?"

"Oh, let's see…maybe so that if you did leave – like you have – you would do something stupid, like stop only a couple hours from Konoha, so people could track you down and try to kill you – like they did."

"Well – but – I – how come – but…" Naruto's stutters trailed off. The young ninja hung his head. "You're right, Jiraiya-sensei. I should've figured it out. I shouldn't have been so short-sighted…everyone here was just so…nice. I knew I needed to move on, but I always thought, 'there's still lots of time before anyone gets sent after me; I can stay another day' and then now, I've been here for four days and I get attacked…it's all my fault…"

Jiraiya's face softened. "I won't lie to you, kid, it's partially your fault…but if the citizens of Konoha weren't so stubborn and ignorant, you would never have had to leave in the first place."

"I still should've –"

"Naruto. What's done is done. Agonizing about the past won't change anything."

"…You're right, Jiraiya-sensei."

"Of course I am. So gaki, where to next?"

"We're getting the hell out of here."

"See? That is what you do; learn from the past, don't live in it. Now, there's a remote plateau on the far side of Kaze no Kuni…"

Tsunade looked at the girl in front of her incredulously. "You're sure you don't want to train with me?"

Hinata nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama. Anko-sensei and Kurenai-sensei have agreed to teach me their styles of combat, and Neji-nii-san (1) is helping me with Jyuken and my Byakugan."

"Well…it's your choice."

Tsunade watched as Hinata disappeared out the door. This was unprecedented; she got letters every week from aspiring kunoichi asking for the privilege of training with one of the most legendary kunoichi of them all…and yet when offered that privilege, the young Hyuuga turned her down. I need a drink…maybe Shizune hasn't found the stash in the bookshelf?

Before she could check, though, Tsunade was interrupted by a downcast girl with pink hair.

The Hokage glared. "What the hell do you want?"

"I…came to apologize."

"Really. Who put you up to this?"

"I came on my own!"

Hmm…

"So, what are you sorry for?"

"I never knew what Naruto went through…and I was horrible to him…"

She's learning…

short time skip – one month in the future

"Ok, kid, it's time to figure out if you have any chakra affinities."

"So I know which kinds of elemental ninjutsu I'll be best at, right?"

Damn, I like the new Naruto…barely have to explain anything. "That's right. Ok, take this special piece of paper and channel some of your chakra into it. The paper will be destroyed; how it gets destroyed tells me what element you have. You can still use jutsus from other elements, of course, but using normal chakra instead of elemental chakra means that you have to use a lot more energy to get the same results."

"Sounds great, sensei. Gimme that paper." Naruto snatched the item in question from Jiraiya's hands, oblivious to his sensei rolling his eyes. When he put a little chakra into the paper, it immediately jumped away from his hands and proceeded to violently rip itself into small pieces.

Jiraiya picked up a couple of the larger pieces. "Well, it's obvious you've got a wind element; damn strong one too. What's a bit of a surprise is that you have a secondary element."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly. "Really? What is it? How can you tell?"

Jiraiya passed him the largest fragment.

"It's kinda damp…which is weird, because we're on the edge of a desert."

"You have a weak water element; explains why you had such an easy time with those water jutsus before I found you."

"Before you found me? Who had to lure you out using orioke no jutsu? Stupid Ero-sennin…always thinking with your other head."

Jiraiya looked ready to strangle the boy in front of him.

"Dammed brat…"

"Careful, Jiraiya-sensei, you still don't know where I put your notes…"

"…You fight dirty, you know that, right?"

Naruto ignored this. "So, a water element too, huh? Cool."

"A weak one. I can help you a fair bit with your water element, but I'm a little lacking when it comes to wind…"

"That's fine."

"…It is?"

"Well, we're near Suna anyway, and I wouldn't mind giving Gaara a visit…"

"Exactly what does this have to do with your wind element."

"Gaara has a sister. Take three guesses what her specialty is."

"Not bad, kid. To Sunagakure, then."

Gaara had been having a strange day. He had woken his siblings up early, like usual (he was always the first up – one possible upside of not being able to sleep) and they had headed into the Tower to meet up with Baki. The moment he stepped through the door, though, he was whisked up to the top floor and informed that he would be taking over his late father's position as the Godaime Kazekage. The rest of the morning consisted of listening to some old woman drone on about the responsibilities of the Kazekage…not that it wasn't important, but he knew he had to take care of his village and his newfound 

precious people without some diatribe delivered by a pompous elder who enjoyed the sound of her own voice. They had stopped to get a quick lunch and then she had launched back into it, this time joined by a man equally old; their relationship was never made clear, but Gaara assumed they were siblings from their interactions. This continued on until the evening, at which point he had been hauled out to the village centre and proclaimed to be the fifth Kazekage. Everyone seemed to want some sort of speech from him, but that wasn't really his thing…so he told Kankuro to do it for him.

And now, lying on his back awake like he did every night, he was startled, to say the least, when the reason for his newfound care for others appeared in his window.

"Hey Gaara. Heard you're the new Kazekage."

The sand jinchuuriki stared at the blonde, who was still sitting on the window ledge. "What are you doing here?"

Said blonde laughed ruefully and scratched the back of his head with one hand. "Well…I need a couple of favours."

"Anything."

"Ok, first the easy one; I just found out that I have a strong wind element. Could you get your sister to teach me how to use it?"

"I do not see that being a problem. The two of you can start tomorrow."

"Great!"

"The other thing?"

Naruto's smile shrivelled, leaving a face devoid of emotion. "Can I stay here in Suna for a while? I mean, you're the Kazekage, right? Could you let me live in Suna, and not tell anyone from Konoha where I am?"

This was not what Gaara was expecting. Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's number one knuckleheaded ninja had abandoned Konoha. "I suppose…provided you tell me why you left Konoha."

Naruto grimaced. "It's a long story…"

Gaara was not the kind of person who got surprised easily, and even when he was, it never showed. Right now, though, he was shocked. The tale of woe Naruto had painted was far more gruesome than his own. There were very few attempts on Gaara's life, and those few always resulted in the annihilation of the would-be assassins. Naruto, during his time in Konoha, had been stabbed, beaten, poisoned, captured and placed in a cage, held without food, mentally and emotionally crushed far past the breaking point of any normal person…the list went on, each torture worse than the last. The real kicker was how Naruto had done nothing to deserve any sort of suffering. Always, he was open and helpful, 

doing his utmost to gain mere acceptance from a pack of prejudiced idiots. If Gaara had been in Naruto's circumstances he would have killed the lot of them without any remorse, yet the Kyuubi jinchuuriki never stopped trying. The fact that they would treat his friend, his first real friend, this way was enough to send him on a rampage. He would have left for Konoha already had Naruto insisted he do nothing.

"What do you intend to do now, Naruto?"

"I thought about that a lot…when I first left, I wanted to get strong enough to prove them wrong. But will that change anything? Orochimaru is strong; Uchiha Itachi is strong; Kyuubi is strong. They aren't respected; they're feared, and for good reason." He stood up, stretched, and sat back down. "I want to live in Wind Country. They aren't as prejudiced here; hell I overheard a couple of civilian girls talking about how 'hot' you are."

Gaara felt something strange…his face felt warmer than usual. How very odd. Others spoke of 'fever' but he had never been sick a day in his life.

"Gaara…are you blushing?"

Immediately following this comment, his face felt even warmer. "Of course not. You were saying?"

"I want to live in Kaze no Kuni…there's this great spot a few hours from Sunagakure; Jiraiya-sensei is already there, setting up. I can live in peace."

"Naruto, you cannot live out in the wild. There are several available houses in Suna. You yourself stated that we demon containers can find some semblance of acceptance. You will live here as a ninja of Suna."

"Gaara, I can't live in town. It would only be a matter of time before Konoha finds out that I'm here."

"You have friends there, including the Hokage herself. Live here to free yourself from the daily torture, but do not disappear off the face of the earth."

Naruto looked at him, and Gaara saw both rage and pain in his eyes. "I can't! You heard what happened! ANBU were sent to kill me. Only baa-cha…" he stopped "…only Hokage-sama can order the ANBU to assassinate. Even the council can't do it. There's only a few people in Konoha that I can trust."

"…Very well. What will you do, in your new wilderness home?"

"Jiraiya-sensei is going to be training me."

"In the ninja arts, I assume."

"Yes…I have given up on being Hokage, but I still intend to be the most powerful shinobi ever. I will never be accepted in Konoha…but I'll be damned if they won't respect my strength."

"Since you're not working for Konoha any more…can I offer you a position as a Suna shinobi?"

Naruto's eyes lit up, but then he hesitated. Correctly interpreting the reason for the hesitation, Gaara pulled two objects out from a drawer. The first was a Suna hitai-ate, and the second was a customized hunter-nin mask. Instead of one of the normal animals in red and black on a white background, this mask was black, and depicted the skull of a wolf (2) baring its teeth in red. "Take these. You will not be known as Uzumaki Naruto, missing-nin from Konoha; instead you will be Subaku no Takeshi (3) and a member of the Kazekage's family."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks Gaara. Takeshi huh? Kinda catchy."

"I am glad you approve."

"So when do I start my genin duties?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Your skills are chuunin level, easily. The vest will be delivered to you; I don't have any here at the moment. As for duties…for now, you are on a training trip of indefinite length, and your monthly pay will be adjusted accordingly. If any missions come up that I feel would suit you, a messenger will summon you."

"Thank you, Gaara. You're probably the only other person I know who could understand how much this means to me."

For the first time in a long while, Gaara smiled.

Three Konoha kunoichi were standing in a training field just outside their village. A young woman with red eyes looked on as another about the same age lectured a girl with blue hair and pale, pupil-less eyes.

"No, no, no! Dammit, I thought you Hyuugas were supposed to have excellent chakra control."

"Umm…it's not that, Anko-sensei…I just can't go any higher."

"You can't do better than this little runt?"

Sitting in the palm of the Hyuuga's hand was a baby snake; judging by its size, it was at most a week old.

"The Kuchiyose technique needs a lot of chakra, but…that's really the best you can do?"

"…Gomen, Anko-sensei…the clan never had much use for large chakra bases so I never really worked on building mine up."

Before Anko could launch into another rant on the foibles of the Hyuuga clan, Kurenai stepped in.

"It's not your fault, Hinata…so we just need to increase your chakra base."

The girl's pale eyes shone with determination. "Hai."

"Remember the tree climbing exercise? What I want you to do is stand on the side of this tree until you start feeling tired. When you do, let me know…this will measure your base chakra."

Hinata promptly walked halfway up the side of the indicated tree, and stopped. It was only a few minutes before she started to feel weary.

When she told Kurenai this, the older woman was shocked. Hinata's chakra levels were only slightly higher than those of Gai's student Lee…and yet she still managed to use her Byakugan and Jyuken for extended periods of time. This is unprecedented…and everyone thought that Neji the most exciting thing happening to the clan in over a decade. Somehow, Hinata manages to use far less chakra than her techniques supposedly require. If she had the base chakra of an average chuunin…she would be able to fight far longer than her cousin. If she could lower chakra usage on non-Hyuuga-specific skills…Hinata, I think helping you get stronger just became a lot more exciting.

Meanwhile, in Hokage Tower, a certain genjutsu-covered Hokage had just made a decision.

"Fine, Sakura, I will take you as my apprentice, and I will teach you about medical ninjutsu."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama!"

"On one condition. If I hear a single negative comment about Uzumaki Naruto, I will personally kick your ass from here to Kumo."

"That…won't be a problem, Tsunade-sam – Tsunade-sensei. I was talking with some of the others…I never knew how much he did for us."

"And to think you were on his team…"

The moment Sakura left the office, a dragon-masked ANBU appeared in front of the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade didn't give him a chance to speak. "Have you found any sign of Naruto?"

He wordlessly passed her the bloodstained and broken masks of the four ANBU she had sent to bring Naruto back. The feel of his chakra residue was still tangible on one of the masks. He then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

How the hell did you kill ANBU, Naruto? More importantly, why? Why did you kill them? Do you hate Konoha that much? Do you have no faith in my ability to protect you from the council?

Tsunade knew the procedures. Had it been anyone else, she would have added them to the Bingo Book as an A-Rank missing-nin (4) and posted a bounty. She knew Naruto, though, and was certain that he had a reason for his actions.

Now I have to try to prevent the council from ordering his assassination…why is life never easy where that kid is involved?

Naruto stood outside his new home. In front of him stood a solid cliff wall. He walked towards the rock...and then went through the rock.

Gaara had supplied one of Suna's best genjutsu experts. The man had woven a complex triple-layered illusion on the mouth of the cave, and with a little help from Jiraiya and his talent with seals, it was permanent. Inside the cave, one could forget that they were in the wilderness entirely. During the two days he had spent in Sunagakure, Jiraiya, along with a few toads and a brigade of Naruto clones had turned the dusty tunnel into something that felt like home. There was no plumbing – the stream nearby had to do – but electricity was provided by the genjutsu-covered solar panels. There were separate rooms for a kitchen, living area, and sleeping quarters. It was also furnished far more nicely than his apartment back in Konoha. All in all, Naruto was quite pleased to call this place home.

"Hey kid, you get everything taken care of?"

Naruto smiled. "You are now talking to Subaku no Takeshi, chuunin of Sunagakure and cousin of the Kazekage. I start training with Temari tomorrow morning."

He eyed his sensei sternly. "And no, you are not allowed to perve her, because if she doesn't kill you, Gaara will, and I will beat the pulp out of whatever he leaves behind.

The toad hermit grumbled, and then acquiesced.

"So, we still have a few hours until sunset. Time for you to make good on your promise and teach me some kickass techniques."

Jiraiya gave Naruto a rather unpleasant grin. "I'll meet you outside, brat. Bring your blades; you're going to need them if you plan on surviving."

Naruto laughed, scooped up his katana, tanto and weapons pouch, and left the cave. After all, no pain, no gain…

(1) After his defeat in the chuunin exams at Naruto's hands, Neji warms up to Hinata and they now regard each other as siblings.

(2) Yes, it's a wolf mask…what with the fox designs on his clothing and sword, anything more would give his identity away far too easily.

(3) Takeshi literally translates to 'warrior.'

(4) Naruto isn't an A-Rank shinobi yet without the Kyuubi's power backing him, but Tsunade believes that he managed to take down an ANBU team (composed of 4 jounin-level ninja) by himself.

And that is chapter four! Sorry about the long wait for an update…school basically killed any spare time I would have had. Ended up getting top marks on all of my finals but math though.

To all Hinata fans: yes, I realize that she had only a cameo appearance in this chapter. This was for two reasons. Firstly, the main character in this fic is Naruto, so a greater percentage of the material will be either from his perspective, or about him. Secondly, the only thing of any importance in Hinata's life right now is her training. Some of the skills she will be learning are from canon Anko and Kurenai…but she will also be training with other, non-canon techniques and I don't want to give much away just yet. So far, she's got academy jutsus, Byakugan, Jyuken, and a fledgling Kuchiyose. So don't despair; there will be much more of her in the chapters to come.

To all lovers of Sakura bashing: yes, I gave her Tsunade, as well as some level of forgiveness. So far, she has been physically tormented; first by Hinata, then by her friends, who will eventually accept her again, if not with the same level of trust. Next, I get to break her emotionally. What fun!

The poll on Sasuke is still open; feel free to vote via review, or by using the link on my profile.

Next chapter: Everyone will be seven years older (Naruto and his graduating class will be 19, Neji, Lee and Tenten will be 20, Kankuro 21, Temari 22, etc). Same reasons as posted last time.

Now that you've read, please review! I need feedback to keep the creativity flowing, both because I get great suggestions from people, and because it shows people want me to keep writing. So, little gray button, bottom left of the screen. Thanks!