Leaving - Part 2

Somewhere along the borders of a certain village….

(Whoosh)

(Whoosh)

Two figures landed on the edge of a mountain that presented a picturesque view of the landscape ahead for a few kilometers.

"Hm…" Orochimaru took a moment to observe the view of the landscape.

"The Hidden Grass…" Jiraiya murmured as he also observed the view.

*sh!*

"Hm?" Jiraiya's eyes widened upon seeing Orochimaru's hand right in front of him.

"The Hozuki Castle," Orochimaru said as he pointed towards the horizon.

Jiraiya's eyes traced the direction Orochimaru's fingers were pointing at, to the nearly infinite horizon line near which Jiraiya spotted a grey shady looking building/land. As he continued to observe, he could slowly make out the outlines before finally matching the image with what he had once seen a long time ago.

"Let's go," Jiraiya commanded, following which the two continued their journey.

_________________________

Hidden Leaf - Ichiraku Ramen

"Here's your Tonkatsu ramen!" Old man Teuchi said as he placed a bowl in front of Naruto.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto announced, breaking apart the chopsticks.

*slurp*

*slurp*

"Ah~, Delicious as always," Naruto said.

"Happy to hear that," Old man Teuchi replied from the kitchen.

…

Outside the shop…

Three figures walked by,

"Hm?"

"What is it Konohamaru?" Udon asked seeing Konohamaru stopping in front of Ichiraku ramen shop.

Konohamaru's view was mostly blocked by the banners covering up the top part of the shop entrance, however, that didn't stop him from spotting the legs that were hanging by a certain stool in the shop.

"This outfit!" Konohamaru exclaimed.

…

"BOSS!"

"AHHh!!!" Naruto shouted almost tipping his ramen bowl from the shock.

"Don't scare me by creeping up from behind when I'm having my ramen, idiot, That freaks me out ya know!" Naruto shouted.

"Ah, Sorry! BOSS!," Konohamaru apologized immediately.

"…"

"And, what are you doing here," Naruto pouted as he went back to having his ramen.

"I hear y'all are going to Hidden Sand. eh…"

"It's pretty cool," Konohamaru said.

"Yeah," Udon and Moegi nodded together.

"What about it?" Naruto asked nonchalantly.

"Nothin, it's just that we all from the academy are not allowed to leave the village… Otherwise, we would be cheering for the boss after all, eh" Konohamaru said.

"Oh, so you kids wanted to cheer for Naruto?" Teuchi asked from the kitchen.

"Mhm!"

"The boss is cool after all," Udon answered.

"Hahaha, indeed Naruto is cool," Teuchi laughed from the kitchen.

"You don't have to compliment me that way ya know," Naruto said in a shy voice.

"Look at the boss getting all shy, we know you like compliments, eh…" Konohamaru said as he bumped Naruto's back.

"hehe," Naruto continued to eat his ramen.

"…"

"Say, Old Man Teuchi," Naruto called out.

"Huh?" Teuchi turned around.

"Where's Big sis, Ayame?" Naruto asked.

"Oh Ayame, She said she wanted to go to the Hidden Sand, to get the shop more recognition. So she went there to set up a temporary stall so she could support the Hidden Leaf there and cheer you guys as well," Teuchi said.

"WHAT?"

"You mean, I can get Ichiraku ramen there too?" Naruto asked.

"Yup," Teuchi nodded, swiftly transferring the handmade noodle from a boiler.

"OH YEAH!, That's great to hear, ya know!"

"Haha," Naruto was really happy.

…

Soon Naruto was done with the ramen.

"Thanks for the meal, old man," Naruto said as he dropped the change on the table.

"Say, Boss, shouldn't you be on your way to the Hidden Sand?" Konohamaru asked.

"Hehe, we got a ride, so we all gonna leave tomorrow," Naruto said.

"Oh…"

"So how's Boss's wife doing?" Konohamaru asked.

"Eh?" Naruto was shocked.

"Wife...?" Naruto asked slowly.

"Won't you marry your girlfriend in the future, eh?" Konohamaru asked.

"In the future…. Haha…hah.. Eh? Girlfriend?" Naruto asked with a shocked expression.

"Yeah, The one from the Hyūga clan, umm… her name… Ah! It's Hyūga Hinata, isn't it?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto was totally surprised and shocked at the same time…

("How could he…") Naruto was thinking to himself until his gaze landed on Moegi.

"Hm?" Naruto was confused seeing Moegi glaring daggers at Konohamaru, however, he quickly shook his head trying to focus his attention back to Konohamaru.

"Where did you hear that from?" Naruto asked.

"Eh? I discovered it myself after hearing from Uncle Asuma," Konohamaru said.

"Asuma-sensei?" Naruto was confused.

"How about you tell him what you did after?" Moegi suggested in anger which was not that visible in her tone.

Konohamaru didn't bother to look at Moegi, so he continued by taking her suggestion…

"Boss, You were so cool making girls fall for you by just talking, Especially that girl… So with me as your rival, I shouldn't fall behind…" Konohamaru explained, making Naruto frown a bit.

"So I decided to make, Boss's Wife's sister my girlfriend!" Konohamaru declared, leaving Naruto slack-jawed.

("He what…")

"But I gotta say, boss, that girl is tough… She said she would consider becoming my girlfriend if I'm able to defeat her…" Konohamaru explained dejectedly.

("Hanabi is a top genius in the clan ya know,") Naruto thought, however, he was suddenly reminded back to the time Konohamaru asked him for a favor…

"Boss, That new move you taught me, it didn't work at all!, I had to come up with a new move on the spot…" Konohamaru said.

"A new move?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, the move that boss taught me, I learned it with Ebisu-sensei's help, but it didn't work against that girl, So I kinda came up with my own move… and… Well, I was this close to defeating her…" Konohamaru said with an aggrieved expression while also displaying a gesture of pinching with his two fingers showing how close he was to beating Hanabi.

Naruto was trembling, in realizing that he had somehow involved himself in this mess. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

("I need to find where Hinata is right now before this goes out of control…") Naruto thought…

"Hmm?" Naruto was surprised.

"What happened Boss?" Konohamaru asked.

"I gotta go Konohamaru, We'll talk later," Naruto said.

< Flying Thunder God! >

(Whoosh!)

Naruto vanished.

"Where'd he go?" Udon asked.

…

"Haah…."

"Haah…."

"Haah…."

"Oh, if it isn't Mr.Ta…" Before Kakashi could say a word, he was interrupted by the figure.

"KAKASHI,"

*cough* *cough* "We need your help, The island, Hajime and Arata are…"

(Whoosh!)

"Hm?" Hiruzen and the others were surprised.

"Naruto!" Tazuna called out.

"Old man," Naruto responded.

"Naruto, the island is under attack,"