Time to Leave, The Start of a Destiny!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!

"speaking"

'thinking'

"Jutsu"

"Tailed Beast Speak"

NaruxMei

BLOODLINE WARNING: Naruto uses Lava and Boil Release in this story. He has three elements in total because of his blood limit, Fire, Water, and Earth.

PERSONALITY WARNING: Naruto is going to be different in this, I always hated his 'go-lucky, happy, thick-headed' attitude so he will be a bit more serious in this fiction. Sorry if that isn't what you wanted :(.

NON-CANON AGE WARNING: Last warning, Naruto is 14 and Mei is 26. I felt that having their ages a little closer might help, and their cosmetic looks won't be hindered or changed because of the slight age change anyway. They will still look and act (relatively) the same.

"I refuse." Naruto announced to a slack-jawed Jiraiya.

"What..what do you mean you 'refuse'?!"

"I'm not going training with you, I have other things to do." Naruto explained to the Sage, he refused to go on the two year training trip.

He had other things to do then waste his time with this pervert, he had to learn how to control it, he had to learn how to harness it. If he could do that, then he would make his mother, the Uzumaki clan, and the lost Whirlpool country proud, and he would do it.

"How can you have better things to do than train with The Toad Sage of Konoha!?" Naruto shrugged, this guy could get on someone's nerves.

"I said no, goodbye Jiraiya." Naruto jumped off the roof of the Hokage building, leaving behind a shocked toad man.

Naruto ran through the streets and saw the looks of disgust and hatred that most villagers directed at him. He ignored them, as far as he was concerned, Konoha was dead to him. They never did anything for him, even when he tried so hard to earn their respect, all they did was spit on him.

'Not for much longer though..'

Naruto arrived home and got out of the orange jumpsuit that had begun to make him cringe at the very sight of it. Sure, he liked orange and all, but not a full jumpsuit of it, he needed something else, luckily he already found something. Naruto walked into his bedroom and looked around, everything seemed so plain, so normal. He smirked, looks could always be deceiving.

From the door, he walked to the center of the room and knelt down to what appeared to be just another wooden plank in the floorboard. He cut his finger and pressed it onto the wood, it lit up the darkened room for a few seconds before an unlatching sound could be heard and Naruto moved the plank out of the way. Inside of the small opening was a box, or a bunch of smaller boxes that Naruto had only looked at a few times before, but today, he would look through each.

He reached down and picked each of them out one at a time, in a way he felt like a kid getting christmas presents. The only thing he had actually opened before was the letter on top of the first box, and Naruto thought to reread it before beginning. The letter was worn from age, but it held the definite Uzumaki seal, the seal of his mother's clan. He opened the letter again and read each word slowly and carefully, making sure he understood what his mother was telling him before delving any deeper into his clan's past.

'Naruto, if you are reading this message, then I am dead. We asked the Third if he would give you this apartment specifically when you could live on your own, so I know that you will find this letter someday. I am your mother, Uzumaki Kushina, and I have some things to tell you that will affect your future and possibly change your outlook on a few things.

First, you hold the Kyuubi inside of you, you are it's jailer, it's keeper. You are a hero Naruto, no matter what anyone tells you, it is because of you that Konoha still stands today. I have disagreed with your father on whether to seal him inside of you or not, but in the end, it was too late for any other choice. I also disagreed with the Third when he said that you should never be told of the Kyuubi, for how can you stop him if you don't know he exists? I love you Naruto, and so does your father, we know that you are not the demon and that you never will be.

My clan, our clan, the Uzumaki's are an old clan of Whirlpool country, a small but powerful country indeed. The Uzumaki were the village leaders and most if not all of the citizens were from a branch family of our own. Branch families still held their original family name, but took up the Uzumaki lineage as we we were often at war with Kirigakure for land rights, and I grew up in the conflict.

Our people have a strong bloodline, one that awakens near adolescence, it will give you power that many have never seen, but you must learn to control it.

Kiri took in many refugees when our country was disbanded, if you wish to learn from a true Uzumaki, look there first. Be warned though, if you find a branch family member, they might not take kindly to a 'pureblood' such as yourself Naruto. While we never openly discriminated against them, many of the original Uzumaki held disdain for the lower families, seeing them as 'pretenders'.

Only true Uzumaki awaken our bloodline, and rarely would it have been able to be taught to lower families. Look for someone that has the common traits of an Uzumaki or can use our bloodline, then and only then will you find a fellow survivor. Most of our clan's women had red hair like my own, and the men generally had brown or red hair as well. I doubt appearances will be helpful so look out for people who use our bloodline, the Lava and Boil release. You will know Naruto, I believe in you.

I left for Konoha looking for peace and I found it along with your father. He can be a baka but I still love him, and I always will.

Naruto, I'm going to finish this letter now, I hope you can read all of it, I had to write fast. The doctors tell me it won't be long now, but I had to finish this one last message to you. No matter what happens Naruto, I know that you will us proud, whether it be in Konoha or elsewhere. I left a few parting gifts as did your father, you should find them in the boxes. Good luck Naruto-kun, I know that you will become the greatest shinobi.'

Naruto read through the message with a sad smile on his face, knowing that this was his mother's final goodbye to him. His father was unable to write anything to him, but he understood the position the man was in. He set the letter down and opened the first box, slowly to surprise himself. He was utterly shocked at what he found.

He took out the first thing in the container and examined it closely, it was a ninja headband. The peculiar thing was that it did not hold the Konoha symbol, instead it held the Uzumaki swirl and the fabric was red.

'Must have been my mother's, she was a kunoichi of the Whirlpool village.'

It held what must have been Kushina's battle outfit, a red robe-like uniform that would cover only her torso, their appeared to be pink short shorts there as well (Fuka's uniform from Shippuden Filler Arc). Naruto blushed at the thought of a woman in this uniform and quickly set it aside, neatly folded as to not disturb it too much. He found a note on the uniform and read it.

'Naruto-kun, this was my Whirlpool kunoichi outfit. It is a bit provocative but it got the job done, maybe you can find a nice little Uzumaki girl and give this as a present of the old times.'

Naruto blushed at the thought of finding another Uzumaki, especially a girl no less. He set the note down and grabbed what appeared to be another set of clothes, but he was unprepared for what they could be. They were a set of clothes for him apparently, since they were too small to be his mother's.

The shirt was a long sleeved shirt that was almost entirely black except for the Uzumaki swirl that covered his abs and on the top back as well. The pants were black in color and reached down to his ankles and the ninja sandals were a red color.

'My mom's clan must have really liked the color red.'

Naruto put on all of the clothes and even placed the Uzugakure headband on his forehead, they were all very form fitting. He looked in the mirror and saw what could very well be the look of an Uzu genin. Naruto found a note at the bottom of the small clothing box and pulled it out to read.

'Naruto, this is the male Uzumaki clan uniform, all the genin boys would wear this. Girl uniforms were just smaller versions of what my outfit looks like, Uzugakure enjoyed having a uniformed shinobi force. I didn't understand it either, did make us look pretty professional though.'

Naruto thought about the new look as he observed himself. It didn't have any orange, but it was an old uniform of Uzugakure, and the colors were not all bad. He could get used to wearing it, and he especially liked the headband.

"Time for the next box."

Naruto picked up a small box and found himself face to face with five medium sized scrolls in it. Each one had kanji writing on it and intricate art designs to denote it's contents. The first had 'Lava' written on it and had a design of flames all over it. The second contained 'Boil' and had water and mist drawn on. Below these two scrolls, there was the final three scrolls that were lined up with each other in a specific order, 'Fire' was between the the two blood line elements while 'Water' was beneath the 'Boil' and 'Earth' was beneath 'Lava'. There was another note from his mother describing the contents of the box.

'Naruto, our bloodline allows you to use three nature elements in different combination to create two rare elements most have never even heard of before. Your first step should be to learn about the three basic elements that you have an affinity to, Earth, Fire, and Water.

Upon understanding how to manipulate each of these elements, your bloodline will allow you to mold the chakra simultaneously to create Lava or Boil. Fire and Earth are combined for Lava and Water and Fire are combined for Boil, you will notice that Fire is integral to know because you need it for both of the special elements.'

Naruto smiled, this was the Uzumaki heritage, the defining factor of why the Uzumaki clan was unique. Naruto knew that he had to continue this line, and he refused to take up his father's name because of his devotion to Whirlpool. He did not hate his father, but he knew the Namikaze clan was no more and he would only gain enemies if he was to become the last 'Namikaze', so he would stay Uzumaki and make a difference, and he promised to make both parents proud.

Naruto placed the scroll box near the clothing and grabbed the next box and it was somewhat heavy. Naruto opened it to find a plain scroll with 'Namikaze' written on it, it also held a neatly stacked pile of three-pronged kunai, confusing Naruto.

'What kind of kunai are these?'

Naruto found a note in different hand writing, it must have been from his father.

'Hey Naruto! Your mother told me we're making like a time capsule or something for you so I put in my favorite jutsu so you can use them someday! In the scroll it contains instructions for the Hiraishin and the Rasengan, two jutsu I'm very well known for. The Rasengan hasn't gotten completed yet, but I know you can finish it if I don't! The three-pronged kunai are used in conjunction with the Hiraishin, read more from the scroll. See ya later Naruto!'

'Well dad was excited.'

Naruto picked up one of the kunai and played with it in his fingers, testing it's weight and how it felt in his hand. He immediately noticed the seal on the grip of the kunai and guessed that was a piece of the Hiraishin technique. He smiled upon placing the kunai back on the stack, figuring that he could effectively wield them with practice.

Then Naruto came to the final box and opened it to find money, and lots of it. The ryo coins were all stacked and wrapped neatly and Naruto counted tens of thousands easily, he also noticed a few books off to the side, probably journals from his parents.

'I suppose this is my inheritance..thanks mom and dad!'

Naruto had decided that he would not stay in Konoha for much longer, and he knew that it was impossible for him to bring along all the money, so he came up with a great plan. It was very short and simple checklist.

1. RAMEN!

2. MORE RAMEN!

3. RAMEN CUPS!

4. important ninja stuff. :(

With the newly created list in mind, Naruto placed enough money inside Gama-chan to stuff the frog's face in. He then placed all the boxes back inside the sealed space for protection, looters could come by while he was gone and he refused to lose his last connection to his parents.

He also made sure to grab one of the three-pronged kunai since his father had only given him 10 of them. He decided to spend some of the inheritance on getting more of the special kunai made, minus the seal; Naruto would have to create and draw that on his own.

Before he walked out the door, Naruto face palmed himself for his own stupidity. He had almost forgot to replace his Uzu forehead protector with his Konoha one, and that would be a little too difficult to explain. Finally, Naruto left his apartment and headed straight for the Shinobi Weapon store and walked inside, avoiding the occasional glare or whispered threat he received. The shopkeeper noticed Naruto walk in and smiled at the boy as did Naruto to him, there was a few people who understood Naruto and this man was one of them.

"Naruto-san! What can I do for you today?" Naruto walked up to the vendor and discreetly handed the man his special kunai and whispered into his ear.

"I need 40 of these kunai made as soon as possible, the Hokage's order. She wants me to begin learning to use a new weapon and I asked for this, the weapon of my idol the Yondaime Hokage. Think you can do that sir?"

The man at first looked at Naruto with genuine surprise and disbelief when he first saw the weapon but he understood the situation after Naruto's explanation (lie). Naruto paid for all the kunai in advance and left a bewildered shop owner behind.

"Ramen time!"

Naruto left the ramen booth feeling a little lighter in his pockets but a lot heavier in his stomach, and he patted it for good measure. He had easily wolfed down a couple dozen bowls of Ramen before taking a five minute break and continuing again. Naruto made sure that he bought some of the new 'Ichiraku Ramen Cups!' that the old man had created, it contained Ichiraku-made ramen in on-the-go cups.

He returned home and once again switched his forehead protector back to the Uzu symbol. He went over all the hidden boxes contents once again and smiled when he found nothing missing, out of place, or damaged. He walked to his bed and lied down after another trying day, wondering if tomorrow he would leave this place, the village he once called home. The place he declared that he would become Hokage of, and that dream had slipped away and had been replaced by a goal, almost like the Uchiha.

Naruto's goal was to bring Whirlpool back to it's former glory, and have the Uzumaki come alive again into one of the strongest clans of the Shinobi Continent. He still played his mother's writing over and over in his head, the writing about 'a nice little Uzumaki girl'. He wondered if he really could find another Uzumaki in Kiri or anywhere really, maybe he could travel to the old Uzugakure ruins, maybe it had already been rebuilt.

Naruto's thoughts continued to drift on about beautiful red heads and how he would look in a Kage hat until he fell into a deep sleep. Elsewhere, there was a couple of love birds talking about him and his sudden rejection in Jiraiya's training.

Hokage Tower

"I just don't get it Tsunade, the gaki seemed receptive enough in my previous training. Why wouldn't he want to go on this training trip with me now?" Jiraiya complained to the busty blond Hokage as she sat annoyed by the pervert's tirade.

"I don't know Jiraiya, maybe he just didn't want to be around your perverted ass for two years! I know I wouldn't.." Tsunade mumbled the last part, but Jiraiya still picked it up and scowled at his old teammate.

"But Tsunade-hime.." Tsunade just held up a hand for quiet.

"Jiraiya..You can't force the boy to go train with you. I'll admit he has acted somewhat different the past month or so, but maybe he has decided to follow his own footsteps instead of walking over others. You can keep trying, but I won't force the poor boy, and you shouldn't either. His mother was just as stubborn, and we all know how difficult it was to convince her about anything."

Jiraiya cringed at the thought of an annoyed Kushina, he could still recognize and count all of her inflicted bruises.

"I suppose you're right Tsunade, I can't force him. But what about Akatsuki, we can't just leave him defenseless! If I can't train him, how will he become strong enough to fight them?" Tsunade sighed and got up from her chair, she turned to look out the window.

'Akatsuki, they always have to make things complicated.'

"We will just have to see, Naruto may surprise us and start training on his own. He obviously had some reason to not go with you, so we will wait exactly one month and see how his progress comes."

Jiraiya walked over and joined Tsunade in looking out over Konoha, both contemplating the blond genin and his future. Tsunade turned to Jiraiya with apprehension in her eyes and a frown, and he looked back to her confusedly.

"Do you..think we should tell Naruto about his parents?" Jiraiya went wide eyed in surprise but quickly schooled his features to a serious face he used very rarely.

"No, he isn't ready to understand yet, he won't understand why it was kept from him. He must mature first, then maybe he can accept the truth." Tsunade continued to look at him and then looked down to the ground in regret and shame.

"I hate lying to him, he deserves to know." Jiraiya frowned and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Tsunade, he will come to find out in time. For now, we must believe in his father's wishes and the Third's decree and hope that they were right, I believe in their decision."

Tsunade shrugged off his hand and went back to her desk. She held a frown as she took out a sake bottle and filled a single cup, making Jiraiya frown. He watched as she drank the alcohol slowly and set the cup back down, thinking about something. Finally she answered him quietly, and she did so with regret drenching her voice.

"I'm not so sure I believe it anymore Jiraiya.."

Two days later

"Here you are Naruto-san, forty kunai as per the Hokage's order. I hope you use them well, I'm sure the Yondaime would be proud to see his weapon used by another strong shinobi."

Naruto smirked at the weapon maker, oh he was proud all right.

"You flatter me with your praise, I don't plan on letting him or anyone else down. I'm going to train and become powerful, it is my dream to become Hokage ya know?"

Naruto faked the speech and gave a smile to the man before walking out with a small box filled with dangerous weapons, he hummed a small tune as he walked back home to finalize his preparations in leaving Konoha.

He had already packed his essentials into a large scroll and had placed all the family inheritance into the same large scroll he had prepared to carry on his back. He had asked tenten where to find one since she often used scrolls for sealing things, and she had pointed him in the direction of her father's store. He had given Naruto a large sized scroll that felt as light as a feather, surely some other seal or jutsu, scroll paper couldn't be that light.

All of his remaining cash and family scrolls had been sealed away, including more than half his kunai. Naruto would keep five three-pronged kunai in his waist pouch, the rest would be sealed away for later use. He also had garnered together most of his survival equipment into the large scroll as well and had each object group sealed away from each other on the large scroll, along with labels that made it easy to remember where he had placed things.

He decided that he would leave tonight and head straight for Kiri, possibly booking himself a ship for the Uzugakure ruins, he figured that it would be a tourist attraction by now.

'Not for long though, it will be returned to it's rightful owners.'

He had prepared a small goodbye note that would be delivered straight to the Hokage directly after he left the village. He had no doubt that Konoha would come after him, but he was confident that he would be able to outrun the search party if he left quickly enough.

Jiraiya though, he would be a real problem; if he somehow found out that Naruto was leaving, he could easily track him down. But Naruto already had a full proof plan to stop the old pervert, he just needed Jiraiya to stop by tonight and it would be done.

Eventually there was a knock on the door and Naruto smirked, the trap was set. He quickly snagged the scroll and placed it to hang off his back, then he placed his hands into his iconic hand sign and whispered his jutsu's name.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu."

He ordered the clone to stay in the room and not come out until he gave the signal, and with that, Naruto left his bedroom to answer the door. He walked up and looked through the peephole and confirmed the old hermit had arrived before he opened the door and allowed him in.

"Hey kid, I hear you said that you might consider the training?" Jiraiya asked, glad the boy finally came around. Naruto hid a smirk and nodded, motioning the man to sit down on his couch.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it. Hey I was going to plan on trying to cook something for tonight while we talk about the 2-year trip. Do you mind if I step out for awhile to get some ingredients, I left someone to keep you company?" Naruto fake pleaded and Jiraiya's eyes went from narrowed suspicion to genuine surprise.

"Sure Naruto, but who's going to keep me company?" Naruto did smirk at that and called for the clone to come out. Jiraiya turned towards Naruto's door and instantly got a nosebleed and started scribbling down notes on his 'research' paper.

Naruto's clone came out of the bedroom with nothing but a small bikini covering 'her' modest parts, and she winked to Naruto and he winked back. Naruto's clone sat down next to Jiraiya and gave him the cute eye treatment that practically knocked him out from blood loss.

"Alright I'll be back soon Jiraiya, Naruko-chan!" 'Naruko' looked to Naruto and waved goodbye and blew a kiss for luck. The clone knew her bosses plan, and she also knew her own part in it.

'Act cute and distract the pervert while Naruto-kun escapes.'

She looked to the man in question and found him pleasantly knocked out from her chosen outfit and smirked. It looked like Naruto would get a clean getaway.

Midnight, Konoha Front Gate

Naruto stalked through the surrounding foliage until he came upon his prize, the gate to leave Konoha. He immediately took note of the one guard at the guard post and thought out his options to escape. He figured that the man could be tricked by a shadow clone transformation, but then he noticed Konohamaru wandering the streets; what the hell was he doing out this late.

Naruto didn't know, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He moved to Konohamaru and engaged the small boy in a quick conversation before he recruited him for a job.

"Hey Konohamaru, what are you doing out this late all alone?" Konohamaru gasped a bit when Naruto whispered into his ear from behind since he was caught by total surprise. He looked at his 'leader' and shrugged.

"I don't know, couldn't sleep I guess." Naruto raised an eyebrow but otherwise just nodded at the explanation.

He quickly created a shadow clone and had it transform into a cat. Konohamaru watched in wonder as Naruto did some cool jutsu and wondered when he would be able to do that. He tapped his young charge on the shoulder and got his attention.

"Hey Konohamaru, want to help me with a prank?" Konohamaru looked at him with a confused expression before it morphed to a big grin, he loved pranking people!

"Sure boss, what do ya need?" Naruto smiled, too easy.

"I need you to go up to the gate guard over there.." Naruto pointed to the man in the distance. "and ask him for your help in catching my clone here. Just pretend it's your cat and lead him on a wide goose chase to the other side of town, pull the 'Honorable-grandson' card if he doesn't bite okay?"

Konohamaru went over the plan and smirked and he nodded his assent to Naruto.

"Wait Naruto, what will you be doing while he is distracted?" Naruto frowned a bit at this, reminded once again that not some of the people he was going to leave behind made him hurt. He set a hand on his young protege's shoulder and gave him a smile that was just enough to hold back tears.

"I'm gonna prepare something special for him when he gets back, keep him distracted for as long as you can!" Konohamaru nodded and started to walk in the guard's direction but was stopped again by Naruto.

"Hey Konohamaru?" The boy turned around only to enter a friendly hug by Naruto, one that helped him cope with leaving. The boy was confused but returned the gesture anyway.

"Yeah boss?" Naruto looked down at the boy and asked him to close his eyes for a second. The boy looked at him suspiciously but did so anyway.

Naruto used his nimble fingers and quickly substituted the boy's goggles with Naruto's own Leaf headband, a token to remember him by. The boy still had his eyes closed as Naruto whispered some parting words that struck many chords in his aching heart.

"Continue to get strong Konohamaru, I have every belief that you will make the old man proud..you already made me proud since the day I met you. Good luck, I hope to see you again.."

Naruto disappeared to a nearby tree and watched the boy open his eyes and felt his forehead and looked to find Naruto's headband and he wore a melancholy expression, as if he understood Naruto was really leaving. The young boy looked around for him until he wore a sad smile and let a few tears go, making Naruto finally let loose his own share of sadness.

"Goodbye..Naruto-niichan."

The boy ran up to the guard and caught the man's attention perfectly, leading the man off towards Naruto's already running clone. The blond took one last look at Konoha before he started running down the dirt road in the direction of Kiri, hoping that he could return one day.

'Goodbye..Konoha.'

Tsunade sat at her desk the following morning of Naruto's escape, she still had yet to receive his letter. Shizune was due to bring her any nightly mail that the Hokage might have received and she was sipping some green tea in preparation for more paperwork.

"Ah. Nothing calms you more than green tea." Tsunade smiled at that thought and continued smiling even when Shizune entered with the single piece of mail and handed it to her.

"Lady Tsunade, this was received from Naruto a little before midnight according to the desk clerk." Tsunade looked up at her and down to the letter, curious that the boy would send a message to her when he could just visit.

"Huh, wonder what the kid wants?" Tsunade opened the letter and began to read with Shizune watching her carefully.

Tsunade's face went from shock, to disbelief, and finally to unbridled anguish as she let loose heavy tears and began to sob. She pushed herself out of her chair and went straight to the window, leaving Shizune wondering what the hell was wrong, what did Naruto do? Tsunade's cry of anguish resonated throughout the village, reaching even the ears of a dozing Jiraiya.

"NARUTO!"

Jiraiya looked to see Naruko still in her place on the couch, playing with her nails until she heard the grieving cry and knew that was her cue to leave.

"Oh..looks like it's time to leave. See ya pervert!" and with a puff of smoke, the attractive temptress was gone.

Jiraiya stared at the spot she was once in and found his mind wandering. Where was Naruto? How long had he been out? What did Naruko do while he was asleep and why did he miss it?!

Then he finally remembered what made him woke up, Tsunade's cry for Naruto. Deciding that something was seriously wrong, he bolted out of the apartment's window and headed straight for the Hokage office. What he found disturbed him greatly.

He found a utterly wrecked Tsunade sobbing on the floor with an equally saddened Shizune trying futilely to comfort the Hokage. Neither seemed to pay attention to the man as he examined the room and looked for threats, but was unable to find any. Jiraiya looked more closely and saw Tsunade holding something in her palm, a necklace? A locket?

Upon looking closer, his face went to utter disbelief and great sadness as he pieced together the clues.

"Oh god no.." Jiraiya whispered and looked one more time at the necklace, it was Naruto's necklace. The same one that was gifted to him by Tsunade, the same one that tethered the two together, a bond that was unbreakable. It was one of the many bonds that Naruto had broken in his leave from the village.

Jiraiya went to the desk and picked up the discarded letter and did his best to read the smudged writing, no doubt from Tsunade's tears.

'Tsunade-baachan, if you are reading this, then I have already left the village. I can never tell you how sorry I am for leaving, but I came to this decision as a last resort.

I discovered my heritage left behind for me about a month ago, and since then I have been deciding how to handle the many changes that it has caused. I hold no anger towards any of you, only the people who hate and misunderstand me that reside in this village have earned my animosity.

I have left for lands unknown to learn and master my bloodline that my mother has left for me, please do not follow for I do not wish to come back now, maybe someday but not now.

I have returned your necklace to you, because I feel that because I came to this decision of leaving the village, I broke our pact, our promise. I'm no longer fit to wear that necklace, and I can never be strong enough, but I hope that I can make you and everyone back at Konoha proud, just like I'm going to make my parents proud too.

Goodbye baachan,

Thanks for everything

"You are..worthy..Naruto! How could you..just leave..Konoha..HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME!?" Tsunade sobbed and Shizune was still no better off, remembering how kind the boy was, how could he just leave?

Jiraiya looked out the window after dropping the letter like it was acid and thought about the predicament.

'Naruto..why?'

"Jiraiya.." The man looked down to Tsunade and saw her gripping his shirt on her knees, practically begging him. His eyes widened and he took the woman's hands into his own, trying his best to comfort the heartbroken Hokage.

"Jiraiya..bring Naruto back! Please! I can't..I just can't declare him a..a..missing-nin! I'll resign before I do! Bring Naruto back!" Jiraiya turned serious and nodded, hopping and leaning on the window, he looked over his shoulder.

"I will, Tsunade...I promise."

And with that, the man was gone in a swirl of leaves, leaving Tsunade to get herself together and begin her day. A day without a blond gaki, a day without any annoyances or problems, a day that she wasn't insulted about her age..a day without her little Naruto.

One Week Later

"Woah..so this is Kirigakure? This is where Haku and Zabuza were from, right?" Naruto quietly whispered to himself in wonder as he got off the boat and entered the harbor of the hidden village's home island.

He saw the mountains off in the distance, and he figured that was the village's natural barrier to the outer part of the island he was on. He saw his path and readjusted his scroll on his back before he started walking, a hopeful smile on his face.

"Kirigakure, here I come!"