4 Chapter 3(Rewrite)

Naruto travelled through the woods avoiding people as much as possible. He knew that until he was out of Konoha's influence, he couldn't risk meeting someone and them finding out who he was and reporting it. He had figured out that the strange images that flashed through his mind accompanied by the raging migraines were memories. But he didn't know for certain whose memories they belonged to. He also had a suspicion that they were somehow related to the future.

But why did he suddenly start having them? That was the biggest question he had. Thankfully they provided him with some help occasionally. Afterall, he'd learned and mastered how to mold his chakra to his feet so he could climb up trees and walls as well as stand on water thanks to them. Though it had risked his life in the process as well. Which made them his number one priority, he couldn't do anything risky if he had to worry about suddenly falling over from the pain of the migraines.

If he found himself in a fight, those migraines would be the death of him. Naruto smacked his cheeks trying to clear his head of those thoughts. He had to focus on his next actions. But what should he do? Naruto honestly didn't know what to do, he had no direction, and no guide. The only thing he had were those memories, and they were vague and obscure at best. Maybe he could trigger them? But how could he do that? Did he have to do a specific action? So far, the memories would come and go at random.

Naruto stopped moving and sat down onto the ground, he figured that he would be okay for a little while. He was far enough away from Konoha that no body would accidentally find him. He folded his arms and closed his eyes as he tried to concentrate. He felt that if he could figure out how to trigger the memories, then he could also figure out how to avoid them as well. Naruto was silent for awhile, his eyes closed and his breathing calm. The wind blew through the forest causing the leaves to dance in the air among the branches of the trees. He furrowed his brows as he concentrated harder.

"Argh DAMMIT!!! Nothing's happening!!" Naruto shouted as he scratched his head.

It seemed that just silently sitting and concentrating wasn't enough to trigger a memory flash. So he still had no idea about what to do. He thought back to the time he told Iruka that he was going to leave and figure things out. He sounded so cool and mysterious when he did that, now he felt like he could die from embarrassment. Wait a second, Naruto thought, it wasn't him that told Iruka that, it was his clone. Naruto quickly got up and put his hands together.

He created another clone right in front of him.

"Alright me, go over there until I can't see you anymore then release the jutsu!!" Naruto commanded.

"Alright, leave it to me!!" Clone Naruto replied.

Then Naruto waited as he watched the clone go off into the distance until he couldn't see the clone anymore. After waiting several minutes his eyes widened as he gained the experience of the clone. So I can use clones to learn things without personally being there! Naruto thought in amazement. Naruto got up and placed his hands together creating four more clones.

"Alright we'll all pick a direction and follow it until we see something interesting, when you do, release the jutsu to let the others know!!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

The othet clones nodded in agreement and each one picked a different direction to run into.

...

A group of konoha shinobi stopped moving.

"What is it Pakkun?" Kakashi asked.

"The scent splits up from here i five different directions. Looks like the kid's smarter than we thought and noticed us tracking him." Pakkun replied.

"Hmmm, five directions, and according to the information provided by Iruka, Naruto's learned the shadow clone technique. Which means each clone will be an identical replica of the original, and if he's figured out the secret of the technique, he'll know where we are if we catch a clone instead of the original." Kakashi said softly to himself.

He thought back to the words of the Third Hokage when he ordered him and the others to track down Naruto.

...

"Naruto must be brought back to the village as quickly and quietly as possible. No one must learn about what he is and that he's left the village." Sarutobi instructed.

"Danzo especially must not find out, Kakashi, this is a top secret mission that must be handled with extreme care. Therefore you will be in charge of this mission"

Kakashi nodded his head, his expression serious as he understood the severity of the situation.

"I shall he assigning you these four along with you to carry out this mission. Come in!" Sarutobi said.

"For this mission you will be working with Shikaku, Guy, Asuma, and for the fourth member-" Sarutobi began.

Behind the three jonin, a fourth person stepped up wearing the attire of an Anbu member. The Anbu member wore a mask resembling a cat with green and red markings on it.

"A member of my own personal Anbu will be working with you." Sarutobi finished.

"You must complete this mission with haste, and so you must leave immediately. Dismissed." Sarutobi commanded.

"Yes sir!" The five shinobis exclaimed before they all rushed out of the building.

Kakashi cut his thumb and quickly summoned Pakkun as they made their way to Naruto's apartment room.

"We need to catch him quickly Pakkun." Kakashi told.

"Understood." Pakkun replied.

Pakkun quickly picked up Naruto's scent and the group immediately left the village to give chase.

...

"Shikaku, what do you think?" Kakashi asked.

Shikaku looked at the different directions that Pakkun had pointed out.

"Unfortunately, Naruto was known throughout the village as a prankster and to those who know the truth about him as the vessel of the Nine-Tails. So no one really associated with him, and therefore, there really isn't anyone we could ask to get a read on the type of person Naruto is." Shikaku began.

"So the safest bet would be to split up since there are five of us here. We remain in radio contact and we hold off on catching Naruto until all of us have visual on each one." Shikaku continued.

"That way, once we catch our respective target, it wouldn't matter if one was a clone or not. Kakashi, can you summon your other hounds, one for each of us." Shikaku finished.

Kakashi nodded and cut his thumb to perform the summoning technique. Four more ninja hounds appeared and each one paired up with one of the jonin while Pakkun remained with Kakashi.

"Let's move out!" Kakashi said.

The group split off from each other each one following after Naruto's scent.

...

Naruto continued running through the forest at moderate pace. He had no idea that anyone was tracking him and was just enjoying the view as he went. However, he noticed something in the distance and quickly went over to check it out. As he got closer, he saw that it was a small caravan of people. They were traveling away from Konoha so Naruto decided that it'd be okay to get a closer look.

He came out of the woods and took a step toward the caravan. Just as Naruto was about to speak, two men dropped to the ground with a kunai sticking out of their heads.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!!!" A girl screamed.

The caravan was instantly in a panic as several more people dropped to the ground dead. Naruto rushed over to the two fallen men and was overwhelmed when he saw their lifeless expressions. Fear wrapped his heart in a vice like grip and he froze for a moment. This was death, this was the harsh reality of the world, and it was a slap in the face as Naruto finally understood the horrors that awaited him if he became a shinobi.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhh" A man screamed as he charged toward Naruto with a katana in hand.

Naruto looked at the man and stared in shock when suddenly his head burst open in pain. The migraine came back and a series of flashing images passed through his mind. Naruto's body began moving instinctively as the man got closer. He swung the blade down and Naruto grabbed the man's wrist and twisted, then he turned his body and bent over pulling the man with him and throwing him over his shoulder. Naruto grabbed the handle of the katana as it spun in mid air and deflected several kunai that were thrown at him.

He placed his hands together and summoned several clones and each one began taking out the attackers one by one. After everything settled down, Naruto had his clones tie up the attackers in a group.

"Thank you young man, you've saved all of our lives from those bandits." An old voice spoke.

Naruto looked over and saw an old man walking toward him along with two other people. A young adult man and a girl close to Naruto's age.

"Nah, it was nothing, I still didn't react fast enough." Naruto replied as he scratched his head, he glanced over at the dead bodies and his mood dampened.

Luckily, the memories came when they did or things would've been really different. The pain from the migraine had snapped him out of his fear and the memories showed him scenes from a fight against someone, he didn't know who. But he was teamed up with someone else and they took turns using a sword that his partner used as they fought against the unknown enemy. Which lead him to gain the ability to effectively use the katana from the bandit. Would the memories always trigger when he needed then too? Is that what's causing them? Naruto wondered, maybe if he put himself in more situations where he needed the information or ability from these memories, he'd understand more about why they were happening. But he had to be careful too, otherwise the pain from the migraine might be too much for him to bear.

"Don't burden yourself with those you couldn't save. Even though their passing is sad, you were able to save the rest of us." The old man responded.

Naruto looked up at the man and stared at him for awhile. This was the first time besides Iruka-sensei that anyone had looked at him with kind eyes. Maybe it was because they didn't know what he was, but he still enjoyed the feeling. The feeling that someone didn't hate him because of his existence. Just as he was about to reply, Naruto's eyes widened as his other clones dispersed and their experiences returned to him. The shinobi of Konoha were tracking him.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto looked over toward the direction of the voice. It was a man wearing a mask over his face and he had a tattoo on his shoulder.

"Eh?" Naruto uttered.

"I'm bringing you back to the village." The Anbu member spoke.

Naruto grit his teeth in frustration, he remembered the strange memory of the prison. He knew that if he went back, they'd imprison him for sure. Not only that, but the villagers despised his very existence.

"No, I'm not going back!!" Naruto yelled back in response.

"Then you leave me no choice, I'm bringing you back by force." The Anbu replied as he took a step forward.

"That's not going to happen!" The old man said stepping inbetween Naruto and the Anbu.

"Old man....." Naruto murmured as he stared at the elderly man.

"This boy saved our lives, and we're not going to let you take him somewhere he doesn't want to go." The old man spoke.

"That's right!!"

"Yeah!"

"Leave him alone!!"

The remaining members of the caravan all gathered together and stood inbetween Naruto and the Anbu.

The Anbu was quiet as he looked at the situation. Man, what a headache, why couldn't they just settle things peacefully? He thought.

"Fine, then I apologize in advance for being rough." The Anbu spoke as he clasped his hands together.

"Go, young man, we'll hold him off here for as long as possible!!" The old man shouted.

Naruto nodded and began running off, as he ran he placed his hands together and summoned several more clones. Each clone going off into a different direction, while one hid themself and watched the situation unfold between the Anbu and the caravan.

The Anbu watched as the angry mob charged toward him while Naruto was getting away. I'll never hear the end of it from Kakashi at the rate things are going! He thought. Suddenly, from behind him Naruto jumped out and swung a katana at him.

Eh? I thought Naruto was escaping? The Anbu stared in surprise, then he instinctively dodged the blade and quickly restrained Naruto.

"That's enough, under the orders of The Third Hokage, I'm bringing you back to the village Uzumaki Naruto!" The Anbu spoke.

"Heheh, in your dreams!!" Naruto replied, then he turned into smoke.

"Eh?" The Anbu muttered as he looked at the empty space in front of him.

"But he was right here! How? No. The Shadow Clone technique." The Anbu muttered.

He then realized that he'd just been duped by Naruto and when he looked up, he didn't see any trace of him or his clones. He, an Anbu ninja apart of the Third Hokage's direct control was duped by a brat that hadn't even passed the academy. Kakashi would never let him hear the end of it. If he could, he'd be crying tears of blood at the shame he felt.

"THIS ISN'T OVER UZUMAKI NARUTO!!!!" The Anbu shouted toward the sky.

Author's Note: A little shorter than the other two, but this is the start of Naruto's descent into becoming a wanted shinobi. I think it'll be interesting to see how Naruto tries to do the right thing and help others while being on the run, and how Konoha will develop without his presence. After all, Sasuke no longer has Naruto as a rival, which might not give him the drive to pursue Orochimaru. At least, I think Naruto was part of why Sasuke made his decision, seeing Naruto get so much stronger so quickly drove him to seek power as quickly as possible. But if there's no one to challenge and push him, would he make the same decisions? Also, Itachi won't go to Konoha since Naruto isn't there, so Sasuke won't meet his brother when he did. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you guys think in the comments below. Peace! ✌

To be continued

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