Chapter Four

He wandered for days, through the forests, sands, marshes. Every now and then he would stop to rest and eat. But no more time was wasted. Naruto searched every village not directly in contact with ninja villages. But there were no definite descriptions of the men who had attacked. The boy was practically trailing behind a ghost. Frustration continued to build up inside.

Lying on the floor of the abandoned home, Naruto stared at the molded brown ceiling. Slamming a fist down on the floor he sighed and rolled onto his side. "How the hell am I going to do this?" There were no traces, no descriptions, no nothing. The only way to find them would be to… To what?

Sadly there was no chance of going back to Konoha to retrieve his things. His clothes were covered in layers of muck, grime, and other disgusting things that were best left unidentified. Naruto had no money to buy food so he was forced to hunt down small game and cook them over a fire. But could he continue to hunt every day? What about in the winter when there are only so few animals left to consume?

"Damn it, damn it, damn it." He chanted low under his breath when footsteps from downstairs forced him to sit up. He raised a kunai. Slowly and quietly getting up, he slid his back next to the open door. His breathing quieted down.

The footsteps came closer and closer to the entryway when Naruto jumped the intruder and held the blade to the struggling person's throat. "Who are you? And why are you here? This place is abandoned. No one should be living here."

The captive wheezed out, "Get off me, you're the person who should be threatened right now. You're invading my hideout. Didn't you see the sign on the front door?" Being held down beneath him was a boy around his age, fifteen or sixteen with dark blue hair and a pair of angry looking equally dark blue eyes.

Naruto got off him but never looked away. "In case you didn't notice, there was no front door." It's true, it had been ripped off and taken somewhere else because no matter how hard he looked, there was no door anywhere on the property fitting the front. "But I'm sorry."

Blue hair sneered but didn't make a move to leave the room or attack. "I guess I'm sorry too since I didn't notice the door off. Guess that's why you didn't know anything."

The two sat there for a little longer staring each other down in silence that could be cut with a knife and eaten. A bird chirped outside the window tapping the windows that were somehow still intact. "Can you get that for me?"

Naruto gave him a look. "What?"

"Can you let the bird in?" The guy stared at him as if Naruto were an idiot for not understanding what he asked for. So Naruto did just that, opening the window with a grunt and allowing the tiny sparrow inside. The bird landed on the floor and with a puff of smoke, was replaced by a girl with long brown hair reaching to just above her waist. Green eyes that reminded him so much of Sakura looked back at him.

"Who's he, Nobuo?"

Nobuo replied, "A stranger." Blunt and to the point was his best point. "But he seems alright. So there's no need to be so suspicious, Suzume."

Naruto exchanged glances with the girl before saying hello.

Suzume took in a deep breath and exhaled. "Who are you?"

Debating whether or not to reveal who he really is in fear that Konoha may have filed a bingo target on his head, Naruto answered, "Tsutomu."

"You're lying." They scolded in unsion. Neither Nobuo or Suzume trusted the blonde. He looked powerful, someone with a secret no less on the way he avoided answering something as simple as his name. "Now tell us the truth or else things aren't going to go well for you."

Grimacing, "Naruto….Naruto Uzumaki."

Nobuo looked shocked. "You mean the dude that is currently wanted by Konoha and the Sand Village too? That Naruto is you? Man, you look a lot scarier on those posters."

The blonde nodded, feeling a little scrutinized by a certain bird girl. "Alright then, you can stay around a little longer than I guess."

"What?" Nobuo and Naruto were caught off guard.

Suzume smacked Nobuo on the back of his head. "Can't you see the poor guy's being hunted down by his own village? We have to give him help, don't be so cold Nobuo." Nobuo in turn pouted and voiced his opinion of this being a very bad idea. "Pay no attention to him, he may act tough but he really isn't."

"Hey! I am tough!"

Rolling her eyes, Suzume kindly smiled at Naruto. "Are you hungry? We have some food if you want some."

"Sure… Thanks."

"No problem, you're our guest." She reached down to the floor boards and lifted one that looked like it was secure but it popped out easily. There was a load of food down there, especially cup ramen. Naruto stared at it and felt he start to drool, his stomach agreeing with the excitement of seeing ramen after all this time of hiding. Suzume laughed lightly. "I'll heat some water then. I'll be right back and until then, Nobuo." He looked up at the sound of his name from drawing something on a piece of paper. "Play nice, okay?"

A begrudging "yes" was the satisfying answer she got before walking downstairs, probably to heat up the water in a kettle Naruto had seen previously. Once again there was an awkward silence hanging over the two strangers.

Nobuo, staying true to his word for Suzume, asked, "Why does your village want you anyways?"

Naruto sighed, a long one that carried with it a heavy weight. "I got framed." Nobuo didn't interrupt. "The Hokage and her attendant were attacked by some mysterious group and obviously one of them was disguised as me. They attempted to kill them both."

"Attempted?"

"Yeah, they didn't get to finish the job. All that came out of it was they are now in a coma and no one knows when they'll wake up. Somehow those guys did something to their mind… Something hard to reverse.

Nobuo tilted his head back and leaned it against the wall. "Why do they think it's you though? It doesn't make any sense. You sound and look innocent to me."

Naruto smiled at the compliment. "Thanks, I am innocent. But no one back in Konoha believes me. It's because I was the last one to see either of them right before the attack and because I know how to perform the shadow clone jutsu. Apparently, I made a shodw clone of myself and left it behind while I went home, than the clone let in the rest of the attackers and you know how the rest went."

"One more question though, one that I've been curious about for a lot longer than this wanted thing."

"What?"

Nobuo looked right into his eyes, serious. He sat up straight, "Are you really the Jinchuriki of the kyuubi?"

Suzume returned back upstairs with a hot kettle, boiling water popping inside. Naruto handed her the ramen cup and she poured into it. When she realized how weird the atmosphere was in the room, that's when her eyes went from Nobuo to Naruto and back to nobuo. "What did you do this time, Nobuo? Did you insult Naruto?"

Nobuo looked shocked at the accusation. "No, we actually had a decent conversation, thank you very much. God, stop being such a mother."

Ignoring his last complaint, Suzume bent down and looked at Naruto. "Are you okay? Want me to beat some sense in Nobuo for you. I know it wouldn't seem right for you to do it but just one word and I will have your back." He smiled at that.

"Thanks but really, he didn't do anything wrong." Naruto defended Nobuo, seeing him pouting behind Suzume's back. ""We were just having a talk and I guess we hit a sensitive topic for the both of us."

She immediately knew what it was. Having heard the rumors concerning a Jinchuriki in Konoha who guarded the Nine Tailed Fox, it became obvious to her who the Jinchuriki was. Naruto had a certain aura about him, something gently and bright but there was another energy that sizzled beneath the surface. Energy filled with that of darkness and evil. "You're him, aren't you?" Suzume only wanted to confirm it. He could only nod, too afraid of her reaction to the breaking news. But the only thing there was the same old kind smile.

"Don't worry, I don't hate you and I don't judge you." Standing up and stretching a bit, "That is all the past, a past you had no control over. Plus, you weren't even involved in those incidents."

A stray tear trailed down Naruto's face. Nobuo started to panic at the sight. "See! Look what you did Suzume! You made him cry!" Panicking, he pulled out a worn out rag. Holding it out for Naruto to take, "Here, wipe your face there's snot coming down." His voice held sincerity and care.

Taking the rag and blowing his nose, Naruto gave Nobuo back the rag. "Thanks."

Nobuo with a faltering smile took the rag from his one hand with the other using the thumb and forefinger. "You… you welcome. Just… Please don't snot again." Then the two boys laughed. Suzume joined in not long after. The fun carried off into the night and throughout the next couple of days.

A gently kick hit Naruto in the back as an annoying voice woke him from his peaceful dream. "Oi, wake up. Come on, Naruto. We've got to get moving." Nobuo had been trying to wake up the idiot for five minutes. The thing is that he won't wake up and Suzume wasn't around to help him. "Geez."

Naruto smiled in his sleep, enjoying the torture he was giving his new found friend. "Done yet, Nobuo? I can keep this up all day." A clicking of the tongue was the only reply to the question. Laughing, he sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Alright, alright, calm down. I'm getting up. Relax, would you."

Rolling his eyes, Nobuo leaned against the wall with arms crossed, patiently waiting for Naruto to get on his feet. The three of them were travelling together now, wanting to help clear Naruto and bring his name to justice. According to local rumors, the Hokage was still out cold but her attendant had confirmed that the person she saw attacking Lady Tsunade was indeed Naruto.

"Where's Suzume?" Naruto cut off Nobuo from his train of thought. "Is she out somewhere or something?"

Nobuo, realizing that Naruto was asking him a question, looked at him. "Huh? Oh, yeah. She's out making sure that the coast is clear for us to get moving. Your posters are now all over the place and people are realizing who you are at every town you passed to get here." And realizing how distressed his blonde companion looked, Nobuo added, "But no one here has realized who you are quite yet. Most of the ninja villages don't bother to check places so far out from them like here. We still have time to get away."

Relief allowed Naruto's tense shoulders to relax. "Good. I don't want this to be any harder than it already is."

"You can say that twice."

"Okay, I don't wan-"

"I didn't mean it for real, idiot!"

Suzume came back, relaying the information and the trio headed off in the direction of the east. None of them really knew where they were at, especially Naruto. He had felt that he was going around in circles before finding this place and the two residents.

Stopping every now and again, they never stayed long in one place. Sometimes they would spend nights under the star filled sky up in the trees or in any abandoned building big enough to house the three until morning. It wasn't until Suzume once again changed to a sparrow and took off into town that news reached her animal ears. Apparently, the man that had been found unconscious in the office along with Lady Tsunade and Shizune had been questioned.

Right before he exploded from some fail switch jutsu, he revealed that he was a part of some renegade ninja group looking to rebuild on the ashes of the old, the Black Phoenix organization. Now they had a lead.

"Don't worry Naruto, you're just one step away from getting those guys." Suzume thought to herself as she flew away, triumphant.

When she arrived though, the two were arguing with each other. She sighed internally. There was no end to these two. Every time she took her eyes off them, they were just at each other like a cat and dog. "Alright boys. Play time is over. So be quiet or else, you won't get this important information that makes a big difference in this mission." That shut them up immediately. "Thought so."

"Tell us already, Suzume." Naruto said, Nobuo standing next to him with an equally intense look in his eyes. "What did you find out?"

Suzume nodded, "I found out the name. It makes it pretty easy to find the guys." They nodded. "The Black Phoenix. Have either one of you heard of them?"

Nobuo shook his head. "Sounds like a new organization if even Konoha don't know about them. But where would we even find them?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "That's the only problem left. Sure they want to destroy the structure we have now in the shinobi world and we know their names, but their location is still unknown. Apparently, before anymore information could be taken out of the guy they had, he just exploded. A fail switch must have been placed on him to keep him from talking."

"That means we are dealing with people who actually know what they're doing… Mostly know what they are doing actually." Naruto started to pace back and forth. "Alright, we have to find a way to locate them. It's important. Who knows what else they'll do now that they are getting some recognition for what they did. You know how bad guys are."

Nobuo smirked. "Yeah, give them a little bit of props for what they did and they suddenly get an ego boost the size of the ocean."