twenty-five
“I’m sorry, Hokage-sama.”
Hiruzen felt every single year of his long lifetime. He was too old for this.
“You are confident he is headed towards the Land of Water?” he clarified.
“I am, Hokage-sama,” Kakashi confirmed.
The jounin looked rough. Had it not been stated in the man’s report, Hiruzen would have known this mission had gone sideways. Kakashi was one of his most capable jounin and the man had survived the worst missions in ANBU for ten years; it took a lot to take the man off guard. The presence of Momochi Zabuza had been an unforeseen complication and he would be speaking to the mission assignment division about performing due diligence when assigning ranks to missions in the future.
“I see,” he sat back into his chair. “I sent the ANBU the moment your summon reported in so we should find him quickly.”
Hiruzen wished he could say he had not seen this coming. Naruto had been unhappy in the village for a long time and he was ashamed to say he had been a contributing factor in that. He was not sure what to do with the boy. He had provided a home and provisions after the fiasco at the orphanage in his early years and he had tried to check in with the boy when he could. He knew the villagers had treated him less than favourably and he had not managed to keep the secret of the Kyūbi well enough to protect Naruto, but no one would dare to try and outright hurt the boy. He just had so much anger and Hiruzen had not known what to do. Forcing the boy to socialise angered him, and separating him was not fair to him either. He could not make Naruto understand that Hiruzen was just trying to look out for him, as his parents would have wanted.
Gai had a wonderful influence on him and Hiruzen regretted splitting the pair up. It did not change the fact that Naruto still required a team to take the exams but perhaps in hindsight there were other, better options that would not have driven the boy to these extremes. Regardless, that did not give Naruto the right to become a missing-nin and Hiruzen could not give him special treatment. The Kyūbi would guarantee he kept his life but out-of-village missions would no long be an option, considering his flight risk status. Danzō was sure to have strong opinions about what would happen to the boy from here on out.
“I will head out to join them, Hokage-sama.”
“You will not,” Hiruzen disagreed. “You will go to the hospital to heal and allow the ANBU to do their jobs.”
“Hokage-sama, I am one of the best trackers in the village. I should be out there looking for him.”
He rarely ever heard Kakashi speak with such emotion in his voice. He was sure the man had to be feeling guilty but Hiruzen could not allow him to leave in such a condition. The village could not afford to lose the Copy Nin. Kakashi’s feelings on Minato and Kushina were clouding his judgement.
“One of,” Hiruzen nodded. “Not the only. Leave this to the team, Kakashi-kun. You brought your genin back safely and completed the mission. That is your duty as a jounin-sensei.”
Although he supposed that Naruto was technically the one to complete the mission. Kakashi seemed to think it was a distraction but Hiruzen could not help but feel there was more to this. Naruto killed Gatō and liberated the Land of Waves behind the backs of his teammates when he did not have to. The boy never did anything without a reason, but what that could be escaped him.
Kakashi slumped.
“Yes, Hokage-sama.”
“Go to the hospital, Kakashi-kun. Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan, I am sorry this has happened. This will not affect your standing nor your career paths. We will handle this situation as quickly and painlessly as possible.”
“Will…” Sakura hesitantly spoke up. “When Naruto comes back, will he come back to our team?”
“I am afraid it is too early to say,” Hiruzen said not unkindly. “We will need to bring Naruto home first and then the Council will meet to decide.”
She nodded, her gaze dropping sullenly to the floor. Sasuke remained silent, continuing to look out of the window and refusing to meet the eyes of anyone in the room. From what Hiruzen knew, Naruto was not a team player nor did he get along with anyone his own age. He was a bit surprised about how affected his teammates were; perhaps they had grown closer than they had thought? Kakashi had reported when the team first formed that Naruto and Sasuke had known each other beforehand but he also had not reported a drastic change in Naruto’s attitude towards people his own age. There was also the scenario that his teammates thought they were closer than Naruto did; he could see that happening.
“Go home, Team Seven,” he dismissed. “You will be informed of any updates when they arrive.”
The three bowed and shuffled out of the room, a depressing cloud following them. He wondered if Naruto had considered the effect of his leaving on the team. Likely not. He was not the most sensitive to the feelings of others.
He sighed heavily, too tired to even reach for his pipe. He really was too old for this but there was one more thing he had to do. He leaned forward, dragging a parchment over to begin drafting a letter. Jiraiya needed to know his godson had defected and become a missing nin. His former student was sure to take it hard, especially with what happened with Orochimaru and his guilt and grief over losing Minato too soon but he had to know. Having one more set of eyes looking for the boy before the worst happened could not hurt and Jiraiya would be invested in bring back the boy safely. Once he did, he could have a word with him about the mantle of Hokage; it was time for Hiruzen to retire.
One thing Naruto could say since landing on the next island was that the place lived up to its name as the Land of Water. He had always thought that the country had earned its name due to the fact it was a collection of islands surround by the sea for as far as the eye could see but there was just as much water inland. During his journey through the biggest island towards the capital, which was not on the coast like he thought, he had passed numerous lakes and that wasn’t even taking into consideration the weather.
He knew it would be different, coming from the Land of Fire but he did feel like he would never be warm or dry again. The mist that settled on the land never seemed to budge, only interrupted by the occasional shower. There were rivers from the sea that led into the capital and there were a bunch of boats that acted as transport but walking was free. He’d also been trapped on boats since he’d left the Land of Waves so it was nice to stretch his legs even if everything was damp. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought to steal a jacket from Tazuna’s when he had pilfered the hat but he would have to find one when he reached the capital.
The foot traffic around him was beginning to pick up and he finally saw walls start to rise in the horizon. He adjusted the pack on his shoulders and picked up the pace. It wasn’t long before he reached the gates, shortly being waved in by the guards after he waved the letter from his ‘grandfather’. He took his first step into the capital of the Land of Water and grinned.
It looked to be bigger than Konoha but that could be because of the structure of the place. Wide canals ran through the village instead of roads and many small boats were floating gently along. There were small paths than ran alongside these canals but that mainly seemed to be for stalls and colourful shop fronts. There were many more people on the small gondolas than there were walking along the edge. It was a shame he couldn’t use his water-walking here but it was a small price to pay for the anonymity. As he walked further in, down one of the paths he took in the sights. It was so different to Konoha; it was amazing. He could get on board with hanging around here until he figured out his next steps. If it was as big as he was imagining anyway; he would need to explore and see if it would work.
Konoha would be able to track him to the Land of Water, that was a guarantee, but they couldn’t move freely inside their cities and villages. The Land of Water and Land of Fire were not allies, only tolerating each other and their respective shinobi villages just avoided each other after the civil war in the Land of Water. As long as he kept his head down, acted like an ordinary civilian and updated his disguise, they shouldn’t be able to find him here. He didn’t like that he wouldn’t be able to train but it was just temporary until the heat died down. He wouldn’t lose all his skills in a few weeks and he would just train that much harder when he got the chance.
He could imagine Sasuke’s disapproving face at the plan and Naruto knew that it wasn’t something he would have been happy about if he was back in Konoha. The oppressive weight on his shoulders was gone now though and so was the burning fury in his gut; he still wanted to train and become strong enough that no one would ever be able to force him to do anything he didn’t want to do but the desperation behind it was gone. It felt like the weights around his ankles had been taken off and he could float away.
He kind of wished Sasuke was here to share in this feeling but he had different goals that leaving Konoha couldn’t help and Naruto could respect that. He would see him again and they could test how much they’d gotten stronger while they were apart.
Gai-sensei’s face briefly appeared in his thoughts and Naruto shoved it away. He didn’t want to think about his teacher. He knew he’d betrayed the man by doing this. He knew he was a disappointment of a student. Gai-sensei must hate him now. Naruto had abandoned the village his teacher loved and left a black mark on the jounin’s record.
He couldn’t regret it though; no amount of guilt would have been able to stop him. Gai-sensei may hate him now but they wouldn’t see each other again. Gai-sensei would heal and forget about him and he had his team to focus on anyway. Naruto would just not think about it and it would eventually get easier. He would be able to think about Gai-sensei without this churning in his gut.
He took a breath of the fresh, damp air, a grin slowly appearing on his face as he successfully shoved the darker thoughts away. He could definitely make this work. He hadn’t done all of this just so he could be dragged back to Konoha so he was going to make the most of it. He was free.
Sasuke threw another punch at the log, ignoring the sting on his knuckles. Kakashi-sensei hadn’t been cleared for duty yet since they’d come back to Konoha a few days ago and he had no desire to train with Sakura. The only person he wanted to train with was running around another country with no regard for Sasuke. He couldn’t really hold it against Naruto but it still fucking sucked. Konoha sucked a lot more without him than he’d anticipated and a tiny part of him wondered about what would have happened if he’d agreed to go with him. Not that he would have, standing by his point that a life on the run would be worse for his training than staying with the teachers and library of scrolls in Konoha but still. He’d seen the dobe at least once a week for years, going on daily for the last year, and now he was gone.
Sasuke had taken the opportunity to train. He had to get stronger if he wanted to take down Itachi and losing his training partner was not a reason to slack off. He was going to accomplish his goals with or without Naruto. The next time he saw the dobe he would show him how much stronger he’d become without him and smash his face into the ground. The thought helped.
The worst thing about all of this was Sasuke was no longer eligible for the Chunin Exams. He had asked Kakashi-sensei about it but they had to be a three-man team and his teacher refused to pull in another genin with everything that was going on. So Sasuke was going to be held back as a genin for at least another six months, which was such bullshit. He remembered Naruto’s rants about being held back but Sasuke hadn’t actually thought that would ever happen to him. He was more than strong enough to pass the shitty exams and the fact that they were one teammate down was the only thing stopping them was infuriating.
Naruto could seriously go fuck himself. He had told Sasuke that Konoha would hold him back and shove hurdles in his path, but the dobe was the one fucking doing that by ditching them. He could understand why he’d left and he would have never tried to stop him but he couldn’t quite convince himself that it was the best option available to them. Understand the reason why didn’t make it any easier to accept; it hadn’t felt so hard back in the Land of Waves.
It was so ironic that everyone else had wanted the blond gone but things were worse without him.
“You look like you’re training hard.”
Sasuke whirled around at the unexpected voice. He’d chosen the most isolated training ground on purpose, unwilling to deal with anyone else right now.
The guy was a few years older than him, with grey hair tied up into a ponytail and his hitai-ate covering his forehead. Sunlight reflected off the large round glasses on his face and dark eyes watched him. He was dressed a black turtleneck, in the standard shinobi uniform and sandal with no vest; must be a genin.
Sasuke turned back to his training stump, figuring the guy would get the message.
“Missing your teammate?”
The question hit a little too hard for Sasuke and he spun, growling.
“I wouldn’t miss that asshole.” He wasn’t missing Naruto. He was pissed at him for leaving and he would shove the difference in their strength down his throat when they next saw each other, but he didn’t miss him. “What do you even want?”
The guy raised his hands, palms up.
“I’m just wondering how you’re holding up.” The guy said. “You can’t take the Chunin Exams, right?”
Sasuke’s mood soured further.
“Who the fuck even are you?” he snapped.
“My apologies,” the genin lowered his hands. “Yakushi Kabuto, fellow genin. It’s nice to meet you, Sasuke-kun.”
Sasuke glared at him.
“I just thought it was a shame that you can’t advance within the village. You don’t deserve to be held back like that.”
What was his point? Sasuke knew he could ace these exams but it didn’t matter; Kakashi-sensei would never let them enter now. That had nothing to do with this guy though.
“Konoha struggles to see what’s right in front of them, don’t you think?”
Sasuke remained silent.
“I understand you have a goal, Sasuke-kun?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Of course,” the slimeball smiled. “I was just wondering how you were going to accomplish it in the village. I mean, your sensei is injured and occupied with your missing teammate and the girl is hardly on your level. I just wonder who you would be looking to for the kind of training you need.”
This guy wondered about a lot; Sasuke didn’t like it. There was an agenda here and Sasuke didn’t appreciate the fact that this guy thought Sasuke was too stupid to understand it. Yakushi’s words held merit, saying everything Sasuke himself had been thinking about but that didn’t mean it would allow this guy to manipulate him.
“Get to the point or get lost,” Sasuke growled. “You want something and I’m not interested, I don’t need anything from the likes of you.”
“Ah, I’m sorry, Sasuke-kun,” the guy continued smiling but there was something empty about it. “I would never think that I could help you. You are too strong for that. I was thinking more along the lines of finding another teacher for you, one stronger than Hatake Kakashi that would focus on you and you alone.”
That sounded…like a trap. There was no way there just happened to be a strong teacher just waiting to train Sasuke.
“I’m done here,” Sasuke reached down to grab his stuff and started to make his way out of the training ground.
“Just think about it!” Yakushi called behind him but Sasuke ignored him.
He didn’t need Yakushi and he didn’t need Naruto. He would defeat Itachi on his own.
Neji followed his teammates down the street, easily dodging the villagers around them. The Chunin Exams were so close he could taste them and he was ready for anything they had to throw at him. His time as Gai-sensei’s student had been well spent and even his teammates would be hard to beat now. His Gentle Fist had come in leaps and bounds and he could beat anyone even close to his age when he was training in the clan and Lee had yet to beat him either.
His mood soured. There was one genin who could beat him and Neji hated it. He tried to avoid thinking about Naruto since their mutually beneficial training arrangement blew up in their faces. It was entirely the fault of the blond and Neji stood by that opinion. Luckily he hadn’t seen him around the village since their last argument so it was easy to put the Uzumaki out of his mind. He was able to use the jutsu the other genin taught him with no problems, although he was still keeping it a secret from the rest of his team.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!”
He raised an eyebrow at the girl who had walked into Lee. She was a bit shorter than Tenten, with long pink hair held out of her face by a hitai-ate. She wore a deep red battle dress to her knees, open at the side to reveal black biker shorts with a kunai pouch on her right thigh. Soft green eyes were trained on Lee as she stammered another apology. Neji would have expected better situational awareness from a kunoichi in training.
“It is okay!” Lee grinned widely in a mimic of Gai-sensei. “You are the most beautiful flower I have ever had the fortune to lay eyes on! Go out with me! I will protect you until the day I die!”
Neji resisted the urge to face palm. This was not the time for this; the Chunin Exams started tomorrow. They didn’t need any distractions.
“Oh,” the green eyes widened. “I…I can’t. I’m sorry, I…have a lot going on right now.”
Lee wilted and Neji rolled his eyes.
“You’re Naruto’s teammate, right?” Tenten spoke up. “I’ve seen you around the village with him on D-ranks.”
Tears formed in the girl’s eyes. Neji could only assume that sort of reaction came hand-in-hand with being on a team with Naruto.
“Yeah,” she nodded, the tears clearing up as she blinked. “Haruno Sakura. You are…?”
“Hagane Tenten,” Tenten smiled. “This is Rock Lee and Hyūga Neji.”
“Nice to meet you,” Haruno answered with a smile of her own but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You know Naruto?”
“Unfortunately,” Neji finally spoke, crossing his arms. It was drowned out by Lee’s reply.
“Naruto-senpai is a most Youthful shinobi and I can only strive to follow his wonderful example!”
Neji eyebrow twitched.
“Senpai?” Haruno frowned.
“He was Gai-sensei’s student first,” Tenten explained. “Lee has taken to calling him ‘Senpai’ since he is our senior in terms of experience.”
“Oh,” Sakura replied. “I had no idea. He’s never said anything.”
“Naruto is not a man of wasted words,” Lee grinned. “He is a man of action!”
“I don’t really know anything about him. It’s not like he would ever share anything with me anyway,” Haruno’s voice was flat. “I mean, I knew he was a genin for a few years before we became a team but I guess I didn’t really think about it.”
“Are you going to the Chunin Exams tomorrow?” Neji cut in again.
It was a dumb question but Neji couldn’t help but ask, just to be sure. There was no way Naruto was missing this. Neji had heard the whining enough times to know how much he wanted to sit these exams to progress in his career and as much as he hated to admit it, Naruto could easily pass. He could have been chunin a while ago if he’d been allowed to sit the exams when he’d first wanted to. He had a team now so there should be nothing in his way, but he had been held back for so long he was now their problem. Naruto was the only one that could provide difficulty from Konoha and the blond was petty enough that Neji did not want to take any risks. Naruto would stomp on all of them to become chunin without thinking twice. The fact he and Neji were still pissed at each other just made him that much more unpredictable.
Haruno shook her head and Neji narrowed his eyes. There was no way Naruto would allow another Chunin Exam to slip through his fingers. He would not put it past him to drag two corpses as his teammates just to sit the exam.
“What happened?” he demanded, stepping forward.
“I…”
“Tell me where Naruto is now.”
This was unacceptable. The blond had the emotional stability of a two-year-old but he was damn strong. He had not a single doubt that Naruto would be one of the strongest in the village one day, even if he burned every bridge to get there. He may not want to associate with him anymore, but Naruto was the one to snap Neji out of fate’s grasp and that still meant something to him. The girl wouldn’t look him in the eye.
“I can’t tell you.”
“What do you mean? Is he okay?” Tenten asked, worried about the wrong thing.
Naruto wouldn’t let anything hold him back except himself so whatever happened was self-inflicted. What could prompt this response? The only thing that he could think of was…he wouldn’t…
“Has Naruto become a missing nin?” he took another step closer, forcing the kunoichi to look him in the eye. “Just nod.”
She hesitated but she eventually gave a short nod and something churned in Neji’s gut. He ignored the reaction of his teammates as he ran through what he knew about Naruto. It made sense; the bastard absolutely would. Now that he thought about it, he was surprised that Naruto hadn’t tried to leave earlier. He made it no secret that he hated living in Konoha.
Neji didn’t know why he was so thrown. It did make sense and it wasn’t like he and Naruto were on talking terms. They hadn’t seen each other since that argument in the side street. Neji had no intentions of seeking him out and he had no plans to patch things up with him. It shouldn’t matter that he’d left the village; it didn’t actually change anything in Neji’s life. Naruto hadn’t been a part of his life in weeks.
But it did. It did change things and Neji didn’t know how to feel about that.
“Does Gai-sensei know?”
Neji looked at Tenten. He didn’t even think of that. He had to know, right? There was no way that hadn’t told him.
“I don’t know.” Sakura shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“I am sure Naruto has a good reason,” said Lee, but he was missing the cheerfulness from a moment ago. “Naruto is an incredible shinobi who works hard than anyone I know. He must have a good reason.”
Neji personally thought Lee was lying to himself but that wasn’t his problem right now. They didn’t have time for this right now. They had the Chunin Exams tomorrow and Neji refused to let Naruto get in their way. It was good riddance. They were better off without him. It was one less obstacle.
Lee was not the only one lying to himself.
“The Kyūbi jinchūriki is not in the village.”
“Where is he?”
“He did not return from their last mission.”
“So we have to go hunt the brat down then.”
“It appears so. It seems they suspect he was heading for the Land of Water.”
“I guess we’re visiting my homeland then.”