Chapter One: Imperial Orders are Troublesome

Two long years.

Two long, grueling and tiring years training under the Ero-Sennin. And it was finally coming to an end.

Not that Uzumaki Naruto was mad about the training. It had made him stronger for sure, and there was a part of him that did truely enjoy spending time with his godfather. But then again, there were things he most definitely did not enjoy, like having to clamber up cliffs one handed…or getting chased out of town because your sensei peeped at the local magistrates wife…

Shaking his head at the memory, Naruto looked back at Jiraiya with a smirk, only to be caught off guard by the serious look on his master's face. The Sannin was obviously focused on something ahead of them, causing the younger shinobi to look that way as well. What he saw was somewhat of a surprise to both members of the party.

"Baa-chan! Kakashi-sensei! Iruka-sensei! What are you three doing out here?" The young knucklehead called out as he ran towards the waiting group, before himself coming to a sudden stop. There was something wrong here, a dark aura of pain and sadness that emanated from the group.

Iruka was the most obvious, he couldn't even bring himself to look at his former student, his fists and jaw clenching tightly. Tsunade was wearing the large Hokage hat, and had it tilted to cover her whole face. Only Kakashi seemed to be normal, but even he was oddly serious for Kakashi. After a long term of tense silence, it was Jiriaya that broke the quiet. "Hime…why do I have a feeling you didn't come to see us on a whim…."

The Fifth Hokage gave a deep sigh before lifting her head, wiping away tears as she was forced to shift into a professional mode. "Naruto, I have something to tell you…Do you remember the council uproar after you brought Sasuke home?"

With a dry chuckle, Naruto nodded. That whole circus would be burned into his mind for a while. By some small miracle he had managed to best his teammate in the Valley of the End, dragging the cursed and beaten Uchiha home. The council nearly went to war over this, the civilian side enraged that 'the demon' had nearly killed 'the last loyal Uchiha'. However the shinobi portion, mainly made of heads of the various clans, saw Sasuke as a traitor and found Naruto's reactions to be well within the bounds of the mission. "Yeah, what about it Baa-chan?"

With another sigh, Tsunade reached into her robe and pulled out a letter. "Apparently someone wasn't happy with the result and went around us, all the way to the Damiyo. Even went as far as to blame me for 'letting a demon wander the countryside.'" She could barely contain the venom in her tongue and she handed the letter to Jiraya, who snagged it and read it, his face becoming redder the longer he did.

"I don't believe this…banishment from the entire Fire Nation?" The Toad Sage angrily growled. For a moment he thought this was just some terrible joke, but the spymaster knew from experience that the seal and writing on this decree were real. Jiraya felt like he had been punched in the stomach, and he couldn't even resist when his young student snagged the letter to read on his own.

"Baa-chan is getting banished?" Naruto cried out in shock, his eyes wide in a mix of panic and anger. Watching his reaction drew a chuckle from the Hokage. Even after all this time away, there were some things about him that didn't change, wouldn't ever change. "No Naruto, I'm not being banished, you are."

The air among the group became thick as the tension grew. Naruto's eyes stayed wide, his body frozen in complete shock. Banishment was something he had never considered as a possibility for anything. After all, how are you supposed to become a Kage if you aren't even allowed in the nation the village is located in? Further realizations crept into his view as reality set in: He wasn't just going to lose out on his dream, he was losing everyone he had grown close to, to the friends he had finally gained after all those years of loneliness, his teammates, Sakura….

A firm yet kind hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality, and the young shinobi looked up to see Kakashi standing next to him. Looking back down, Naruto saw his hands shaking, his nails already starting to grow into the pointed claws that signaled the Fox's power creeping out. But would anyone blame him for losing it after he found out he had just lost everything? No, he couldn't, he wouldn't…this was exactly what they had always said about him, that he was a demon, a monster…and above all Uzumaki Naruto was stubborn. He was not going to give them the satisfaction, he was not going to let them win. Taking a deep breath, he quickly dropped down into the meditative stance Jiraya had taught him, forcing his body to stop and to slow down his ragged breathing.

Watching his student regain control with a careful eye, Jiraya spoke to his former teammate. "I'm assuming there is something else, otherwise you would have just told us this when we got back to Kohona…"

As calm as she could, Tsunade folded the letter back up and put it away, forcing herself to look away from Naruto. "You are exactly right Jiraya, that is when I will be telling you this, and officially giving the order. It's a good thing you haven't come back to the village yet, now isn't it?"

Hearing the words, Naruto's eyes snapped open. He wasn't the sharpest kunai in the scabbard, but between Kakashi's teachings of "looking underneath the underneath" and the teachings Jiraya had given him in regards to one day possibly taking over as Kohona's Spymaster, even he could see what Tsunade had done here. She had given them a warning, and bought them time. Suddenly the rest of her entourage made sense: his sensei Kakashi, the closest thing he had to a father figure in Iruka….they had come to say goodbye.

A sly smirk grew across Naruto's face as he slowly stood up. His hands were still shaking as he stepped towards Tsunade and wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hug. "Guess I'm not going to be taking that hat from you after all Baa-chan. You better do a good job then." He said playfully, trying to deflect the sadness building in his chest as Tsunade returned the embrace.

The two distant relatives held eachother quietly for a few long moments before slowly breaking apart. With a deep sigh, Naruto reached his hand behind his back to undo the necklace Tsunade had given him before she raised her hand. "No, keep it. Consider it your inheritance from an ancestor." She stated slyly, leaving a confused look on the youngest shinobi's face.

Shaking his head, Naruto then turned to Iruka, who by this point had completely lost his composure and was sobbing into his sleeve. With a chuckle, Naruto went to offer his former teacher a handshake, only to be pulled into a bonecrushing embrace. "Don't worry Iruka-sensei, I'll be fine. After all, you taught me didn't you?"

"Yes, but you were a terrible student." Iruka laughed through his tears before slowly pulling himself back. "But you are right, you'll be more than fine. I know one day in the future I'll be hearing your name alongside some impossible deed. Here…" With a shaking hand, the teacher handed a scroll he pulled from his vest to his former student. "It's a storage scroll with some ramen from Ichiraku. There's only so many, so don't eat it all in one sitting…but thanks to the scroll it should stay fresh and hot until you actually pull it out."

Holding the gifted scroll to his chest, Naruto then turned to his squad leader Kakashi. "I guess this is goodbye then…"

"Yeah, looks that way." The masked ninja replied, scratching the side of his face. "This is going to get real awkward in a few months when they send me out to try and find you. After all, those who break the rules are trash…"

"But those who abandon their friends are worse than trash." Naruto finished, extending his fist out towards his teacher with a smirk. Chuckling, Kakashi returned the fistbump before rustling his young pupil's hair.

And with that, the three from Kohona disappeared into the wind with nothing more than a rustling of leaves in their wake. It was as unceremonial as it was sudden, no doubt caused by the secrecy of their being here in the first place. With a deep sigh, Naruto removed his hitte and stared at it for a while, his reflection warped in the dull metal.