HELLO. This is a side project I have been working on while I was writing Secret of a Fox. I hope ye enjoy. This story is going to be updated slower than my other story.

Kind of a rough first chapter but don't let that stop you from seeing future chapters.

"Normal voice"

'normal thinking'

"Demon/Jutsu"

'Demon thinking'

I do not own Naruto.

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Naruto sighed as he looked around the forest area he was resting in. His chest screamed at him as the wound he received was slowly healing itself. Naruto gritted his teeth as he slowly kept making his way forward, passing a sign that said 'welcome to Kusa no Kuni'

Naruto painted and breathed heavy as he slowly stood up. A gaping hole in his chest started to slowly close.

He stumbled over to the body of his black haired friend. His muscles started to burn as Naruto picked up the Uchiha but he was determined to finish his mission.

Naruto walked slowly, before sensing the presence of two people jumping down from the trees. Naruto smiled sadly at the two ninja sent to apprehend him. "Of course they sent you two. Why wouldn't they" he said dryly looking at the forms of Iruka Umino and Kakashi Hatake.

He moved slowly, the wound nearly closed but leaving a very red scar near his heart. With the duck haired Uchiha on his shoulders, he entered the gates of Konoha, and even saw a pink haired girl waiting on a bench. She jumped up when she saw them. Naruto smiled, he did it. But why was there rage in her eyes?

Kakashi stood in his lazy manner and gave Naruto an eye smile. "Well of course. What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't check up on my student. You weren't even at the hospital long enough to have visitors you know." He said while Iruka looked sad.

"We've been told to bring you back to the village Naruto. They are only giving you one chance to return freely or you'll be branded a missing nin" he said holding on to a leaf headband, the very same one he gave Naruto when he beat Mizuki. "But I wanted to hear why you left"

SMACK!

Naruto was on the ground, his cheek stinging from where Sakura had slapped him and was proceeding to yell at him for 'nearly killing' her precious Uchiha. It was the last words that landed the hardest blow. "Just get away from here you stupid demon" she screamed before heading towards the hospital with Sasuke

Naruto's face went blank, his heart shattered. He sighed but picked himself up. He needed to get his injuries checked out. The hole in his chest now completely closed but left nothing to the imagination on what had happened.

It seemed news traveled fast, as he walked he noticed the usual glares and whispers were worse. They were even throwing comments his way. He was a block away from the hospital when he was stopped by an Anbu.

"You're needed by the council. Come with me" he said as they vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"You wanna know why I left? I left because it doesn't matter what I do. I will never be anything more than an annoyance to the village" Naruto spat out with venom. "Well I'm done. I want nothing more to do with that village."

Kakashi looked away, regret in his eyes. Iruka nodded sadly, knowing the harsh reality the boy was facing. "But what about your friends? They'll miss you. I'll miss you." Iruka said.

"You will learn your place boy!" The bandaged figure of Danzo said. "Nearly killing the Uchiha, the amount of raw demonic chakra sensed at the battle site?! One more toe out of line will see you killed. Probably when we extract the fox and place it in someone else. Do you understand me boy?" He snarled. "You are alive only because the Fourth hokage made a very good seal. Nothing more"

Naruto nodded blankly as he walked out of an office building. He walked towards the hospital but shook his head. 'why bother. They've never healed me before without direct order from the Hokage' he thought to himself as he walked back to his apartment.

He walked inside and saw that it had been vandalized again. He growled. Enough was enough. He quickly made 6 shadow clones. Five went out the window while the last one started to help him pack.

"I sent out clones to say goodbye to those that I needed to. Everyone else can live without me." He said. Iruka grew frustrated.

"Konohamaru came to me crying before Tsuande called. Was that part of you plan" he shouted clenching on to the head band.

Konohamaru walked down the street wondering what was going on. He saw ninja running around quietly but quickly. He saw his favorite walking towards him. The young boy noticed that Naruto wasn't wearing his headband.

"Yo Naruto-nii-san. What's going on. Everyone seems a bit rushed." He said. The older ninja rolled his eyes and brought Konohamaru to a corner.

"So am I buddy. Look I got a gift for you okay? Close your eyes" he said. The young Sarutobi was confused but did as he was told.

Naruto quickly replaced his goggles with a Leaf headband and knelt down to his ears. "I'm going away Konohamaru. Just know that I believe in you and there are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage. You have to work hard" he said softly before hugging the younger boy, "hopefully I will get to see you in the future."

The words seemed to clickin Konohamaru's mind. "Wait" he said and when he opened his eyes Naruto was gone. He quickly took off the head band and gasped when he saw it. Beside the leaf symbol Naruto had drawn a swirl.

The young ninjas eyes started to water and he ran off. He didn't make it far as he bumped into Iruka.

Naruto shook his head, "Of course not. I merely wanted to leave him with encouraging words. I never meant for him to cry." Naruto said. Kakashi decided to intervene.

"And what about Tsuande? She was a blubbering mess. Shizune was the one who briefed us on our mission." He said with his hands in his pocket. Naruto looked away with regret, a feeling of emptiness from the missing weight around his neck.

"I'm done Tsunade-baa-chan. No more. No longer" he said holding the necklace he won from her in his hands.

Tsunade widened her eyes. "What are you talking about Naruto?" She noticed that he wasn't wearing a headband.

"It means I quit. I'm leaving this village. It means I can no longer wear this. I'm technically breaking our pact after all" he said, placing the necklace on the desk. Tsuande looked angry at first but noticed the seriousness in his eyes.

"And you think I'll just let you leave?" She said with an even voice. Naruto scoffed.

"Of course not. But I guess a wake up call made me smarter. I'm not even in the village anymore." he said as he poofed away. Tsunade eyes widened again before she started to break down. "SHIZUNE" She screamed.

"I didn't want to hurt her feelings." Naruto said softly. "But I'm not going back." He said firmly.

Iruka shook his head. "There's nothing we can say is there?" Naruto smiled sadly. He saw one more figure land on the ground. She had purple hair and wore very revealing clothes with a trench coat. On her back was a large scroll.

Hebi-chan" he said. Anko Mitarashi smiled when she saw the blonde.

"So they finally done it eh Foxy-kun. You're finally leaving?" She said sadly. Naruto nodded. She sighed but tossed Naruto a scroll. "Its from Tsunade. She wrote it out after she sent those two. You have my word it's not trapped."

"As if you would ever be that mean to me" he said unrolling the scroll.

'To Naruto

By order of Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure

You are hereby removed from the ranks of Konohagakure. You are to report to Suna and join their ranks. A messenger will be sent ahead. With Anko is something that is rightfully yours. Your inheritance. I will not divulge in the letters but just know this was everything they wanted to give to you. All the monetary stuff is safely secured.

Stay alive brat.

Tsunade Senju. A caring godmother. '

Naruto nearly dropped the letter. His inheritance? He looked at the giant scroll that Anko was carrying. That was his? "Here Naruto" the snake mistress said, handing Naruto the scroll.

Kakashi smiled as he handed Naruto a scroll as well. "I figured you weren't coming back. I was gonna give this to you. The Fourth Hokage made it with my father. I don't use it anymore. Maybe you can put it to good use" he said. Iruka gave Naruto a hug.

"Stay safe Naruto. Please? Even if you don't become Hokage then at least become a strong ninja." Iruka said.

"Alright. I'm gonna become strong. Just watch me. I'm heading to Suna" he said. Kakashi took out a map and handed it to Naruto.

"Here. Avoid Ame if you can. Go through Kusa and take the route through Tsuchi no Kuni into Tsume no Kuni. Then from there it's a straight shot into Kaze no Kuni and Sunagakure." He said tracing out Naruto's path. Naruto nodded.

The three watched Naruto walk off, soon disappearing over the hill. Anko sighed. "It's gonna be real quiet with him gone." Kakashi nodded

"Indeed. Now I need to go back. No doubt the council is going to order me to keep an eye on Sasuke." He said as he jumped into the trees and dashed off. Iruka looked at Anko with a raised eyebrow.

"Foxy-kun? Hebi-chan? You know Naruto?" He asked as they started to walk back. Anko laughed.

"Yeah. When ever the villagers got real bad when he was a child he ran into the forest. You know how the villagers treat me so I already spend most of my time there." She said. "He was a nice kid so I let him stay in my house if he needed to. The forest kept most people away so it was a safe zone for him."

Iruka smiled. "At least he knew he could be safe. It's a shame what the villagers did. I should go tell the Ichiraku crew as well. They'll want to know why Naruto disappeared." The snake mistress shook her head.

"I'll never know how he can eat so much ramen." She said. This time Iruka laughed.

"Ichiraku Ramen stand was one of the only places where Naruto could go to eat. Teuchi and Ayame have always treated Naruto right. Half the time he goes Teuchi doesn't make him pay. They're like family to Naruto" he said. Anko nodded, understanding the connection. "It's very similar to that Dango stand you frequent you know."

"Of course. Now let's pick up the pace. I want Dango." She said as she started running. Iruka sighed but sped off after them after he gave one last look to the direction Naruto was in.

Speaking of said blonde he stopped for a second to eat a soldier pill. 'hey fox. How are the repairs coming along.'

''Well enough. It's been slow because you nearly exhausted all of your chakra in the fight with the Uchiha'' a deep voice replied. ''The soldier pill you took should help replenish some of my chakra too which should make the process go by faster. But you should rest soon. You've been up for nearly 48 hours.''

Naruto nodded. He could feel the exhaustion starting to set. It was the reason he took the chakra pill. The scar on his chest was still throbbing which was stopping him from going any faster leat he reopen the wound from over exertion. He took a look at his map.

'If I keep this pace then I should be able to reach the village of Tea before sundown. Right in the center of Kusa. What do you think?'

The voice growled. "It doesn't matter to me. But the sooner you rest the quicker I can heal you. So hurry up." Naruto nodded and set off with his destination in mind.

His mind went back to when he met the fox in chunin exams after that snake bastard hit him with that strange seal. According to the fox it was that seal that weakened his own, which allowed the two to talk in his mind.

(Near Naruto, two hours later)

Kurotsuchi cursed as she dodged another hail of Kunai. The black haired chunin couldn't believe her luck. Seriously, she was just on a regular diplomatic messenger mission.

'Oh yeah Kuro, all you have to do is take a messenger to the Wind Daimyo, wait for his reply, then return back to Iwa and jiji-sama. Why wouldn't there be a group of A ranked missing nin traveling through the area. And of course their leader would be a rapist. WHY WOULDN'T HE BE' she shouted to herself she went through hand signs and slammed her hand on the ground. "Earth style: mud river flow" she said as she started to spit out a flow of mud. She went through a couple more hand signs. "Earth style: mud dragon bombs."

Out of the mud rose a dragon that shot out five gobs of mud with deadly force. They hit four of the seven ninjas chasing her. The biggest one grinned as he forced her into taijutsu lock.

"I like my women fierce. The fierce ones are the best ones to break." He said as he forced Kurotsuchi back. Said Iwa ninja was about to make a move when a kunai embedded itself into her leg.

She growled as she went to one knee. The three ninja started to surround her. She made a hand sign but the mercenary leader caught it and broke her hands. Kurotsuchi couldn't help herself, she screamed.

"Looks like it's time to ." he said. "Watch my back. I'm going first he said as he started to take his shirt off.

(With Naruto)

Naruto could tell his chest was better already but the fox told him not to push it. 'We're about thirty minutes from this village. I guess I don't have to rush.'

"You better not rush. Do you know how badly that asshole damaged you. You're lucky that all you're getting is a scar." The voice boomed. Naruto agreed.

'I'm not complaining, besides, I hear ladies like a man with scars.' He retorted. The conversation was cut off when Naruto heard a feminine scream near him. 'What the hell? Can you tell where that came from fox?,

"Hold on. Yes. To the left. I can sense four figures. Follow my directions" he said as Naruto started to run. He cursed at the pain but he decided to bear it. He didn't like the sound of that scream.

Kurotsuchi growled as the bandit leader tied her hands. "Im gonna kill you, all of you. You bastard!" She yelled before the mercenary backhanded her hard enough to disorientate her.

"Shut it bitch. I'm gonna enjoy my time with you" he said as he caressed her face. Kurotsuchi felt the fingers near her mouth and quickly bit down as hard as she could.

"Hey you stupid bitch let go" he said before taking a blunt Kunai and bashing her on the side of her head, knocking her out. "Oh well. Now she can't put up a fight" he said with glee as he took her flask jacket off and sliced her shirt down the middle, revealing a simple black bra.

Before the mercenary could do anything else his instincts kicked in as he jumped away from the unconscious girl. Just in time as a hail of kunai sailed right where he was standing.

He saw a blond haired ninja standing in front of the girl. He looked young. "So another kiddy who thinks he can play ninja and save a damsel in distress. Well to bad for you cause we gonna kill you dead brat". The red headed mercenary said.

Naruto took a stance and observed his surroundings. "He's right Naruto. The one in the middle has enough chakra to be a jonin. The other two have a little less. In your current state you're screwed. You better have a plan." the fox said.

'I do. Can I borrow your chakra I only need a tails worth' Naruto asked. He felt his chakra boost almost immediately. "I don't think you'll be killing me today. And you won't be touching the girl." He said firmly.

"You have balls kid. I'll give you that. What's your name? Wait, where are my manners. I am Tsubaki Ryoma, A ranked missing nin from Suna" Tsubaki said introducing himself.

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." He said. Tsubaki furrowed his eyebrows before shaking his head.

"Well then Uzumaki Naruto, pray and tell, how are you gonna fight all three of us, protect the girl, and keep yourself from being more injured than you already are?" Tsubaki asked taking a stance as he felt Naruto's chakra skyrocket. Said blond had a mischievous smirk.

"Who said I was gonna fight you?" Naruto said before crossing his fingers. "Massive Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu" he shouted as the entire area was filled with clones.

Tsubaki widened his eyes as a sea of orange filled his vision. All the clones looked at the three before sticking out their tongues. "Catch us if you can" they all chorused before they all took off.

Tsubaki growled. "After him. He's hoping to hide himself in all of his clones."

One of the other mercenaries seemed hesitant. "Sir, there's no way to tell where he went. How are we supposed to find him?"

Tsubaki thought for a moment. "They probably went to Tea."

"If you want to boss we could probably wait for them. Tea doesn't have any medical ninja. So the girl is going to be wounded. If we wait for them to leave we could ambush them."

Tsubaki thought a little longer before shaking his head. "No. Pointless. I'll just grab another traveler. Lets go" he said as he walked off

(With Naruto)

As soon as he made the clones he took off towards Tea with the girl in his arms. He could feel his body protesting against him and it was only thanks to the Kyuubi chakra that he was still moving. He winced as the clones started to dispel. He sighed and slowed down when he saw that Tsubaki wasn't following them.

He saw the village gate ahead and steeled his nerves as he continued moving forward. One of the village citizens saw them and quickly ran over.

"Oh my Kami, are you alright? Tobias come over here quick." The man shouted. Naruto saw out of the corner of his eye's a big man rushing over. "Here let Tobias take the girl. Lean on me. Shite" he said. Naruto had given the girl over and promptly fell forward, also unconscious.

(Later)

Naruto woke up with a groan. His entire body felt like it had gone through bushy brow-sensei's training again. 'Oy, fox what happened'

"Well let's see. You had been up for almost 50 hours straight, near total chakra exhaustion with a severely wounded chest, forced yourself to use my chakra to help save girl and reopened said chest wound. When you hit Tea village and the girl was safe the adrenaline left and you crashed" Kyuubi said. "You've been out for about 12 hours. You appear to be in a modern hospital. No one here as any chakra over a genin. So it's likely that Tea isn't a ninja village"

Naruto nodded as he sat up. He saw he was at least on the second floor based on what he saw outside the window. He heard some shuffling and the door knob turned. A rather tall man wearing scrubs walked in.

"Hello sir. My name is Suzuki Mei. I will be your nurse today and Doctor Tyler will be here in a moment. I'd like to ask you a few questions. First what's the last thing you remember?" Suzuki asked.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows as he focused. "I saw that girl in the woods. She was surrounded by bandits and I rescued her. I took her here. I ran into someone and then passed out." Suzuki nodded and wrote down some notes.

"Okay what's your name? And are you affiliated to any village. Also be aware that anything you tell me will be held in confidence." He said.

Naruto nodded. He noticed all of his stuff was in a corner of the room with the giant scroll. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Former Ninja of Konohagakure. I'm currently being reassigned to Suna though I haven't been inducted into their ninka corp yet." Suzuki hummed a small tune as he wrote some more notes.

"Do you know the Iwa ninja you saved? Our hospital policy is that we don't go through your belongings." He explained. Naruto nodded understanding.

"No, I do not. I just heard her screaming in the woods and went and saved her. Is she okay?" He asked. Suzuki nodded

"She's sustained multiple injuries. Both hands are broken, multiple fractures throughout her body, her left leg has a deep laceration. She'll be on crutches for at least a month if she lets it heal naturally. Less time if she can reach her village and see a medic ninja." He said as he stood up. "Okay mister Uzumaki, Doctor Tyler will be in soon."

Naruto watched him leave. 'Any damage I need to be alerted to fox?'

"Besides your scar being very agitated and your body being sore, not really. Seeing as you passed out I was able to heal you faster." He said.

Naruto nodded as he got out of the hospital bed and started to change into his clothes. He put on his black shirt and orange pants. He looked at his orange jumper before he decided to seal it away. He opened up the big scroll and saw an empty sealing space. He also noticed that the scroll was mostly full which shocked him. He strapped it onto his back as he picked up his loyal gamma-chan. He smiled as he saw it was still full.

He had just put his sandals on when a man entered the room. He was wearing a wbite coat and some black glasses. His eyes were a soft green and his hair was brown.

"Hello Mister Uzumaki. Nurse Suzuki, filled me in. I wanted to let you know you that your injuries were minimal. You seem to have a chest injury that's very agitated and some of your muscles were stretched. But besides that you have a clean bill of health." He said flipping through the notes. "You can leave whenever you are ready but. I would like to ask you a favor."

Naruto looked at the man. "Will you stay until the Iwa kunoichi wakes up? I feel having another ninja and the one that saved her will keep her at ease."

Naruto nodded his head, he didn't mind. "Whats her condition?"

"She's still unconscious, and looks to be staying that way through the rest of the day. If you follow me, I'll show you her room." He said. Naruto nodded again and followed him down a hallway. He opened the door and Naruto saw the girl resting. Tyler nodded and left.

"Shadow Clone jutsu" he said as two clones appeared. "Go grab some food. And you go grab me a new outfit. Black colors." He order as the two clones left.

Naruto sat the large scroll on his back beside him as he sat down beside the bed. He unrolled the scroll and unsealed the first item. It was a note.

He looked at the sleeping girl and then to her stuff sitting in a pile in the corner. On the very top was a wallet. He knew it was an invasion of privacy technically but he picked up the wallet and looked for an ID.

"So her name is Kurotsuchi. Iwa Chunin." He said as he went back to his seat and looked at the note.

"Hey son. If you're reading this then you've been deemed strong enough to know. I hope you don't hate me for sealing the Kyuubi in you. I want you to know that me and your mother love you very much. I need to go now, the fox is rampaging. I believe in you son."

Naruto nearly dropped the note. 'My father is the Fourth Hokage'

"Well it makes sense." The fox said back. "You'll probably find that the scroll will have the rest of their things in it"

Naruto smiled. "At least I know who my parents are."

(6 hours later)

Naruto had pulled out his father's journals and were reading them. He was surprised at what his clones brought back. He was now wearing black muscle shirt and some black cargo pants. He also now had some black gloves with metal backings.

When Kurotsuchi started to come to the first thing she noticed was the pounding in her head. The second thing she noticed was the smell. She knew she was in a hospital. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that the sun was going down. She turned her head and saw a blond boy reading from a small notebook. And then saw her stuff in a corner.

She made a noise and the blond haired kid snapped towards her and she was surprised by the amount of worry in his eyes. "What happened?" She asked. Naruto noticed her voice was hoarse and he handed her a cup of water.

"You were being attacked by some mercenaries. I couldn't beat them so I made a distraction and took you here. Here is Tea village, center of Kusa by the way." Naruto said. Kurotsuchi furrowed her eyebrows.

She was sent to Kaze no Kuni. She ran into the group at Tsume no Kuni. And she fled to Kusa no Kuni. "Thank you sir. My name is Kurotsuchi. I'm a ninja from Iwa. And you are?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, former ninja of Konohagakure." He said with a smile. Kurotsuchi narrowed her eyes.

"Why did a leaf ninja help a stone kunoichi?" She asked. Naruto scoffed at her tone.

"We may have been warring countries at one point but that doesn't mean we are enemies right now. Besides, I couldn't let a pretty girl like you be raped when I could stop it." Naruto said with a grin. The stone ninja rolled her eyes. They both turned to the door as Doctor Tyler walked in.

"Ah. I see you're awake. My name is Doctor Tyler. If you haven't figured out yet, you are in Tea Village Medical Hospital. Your friend over here brought you in a dire state, not that his was any better. How are you feeling?" He asked

"My head is pounding and I can barely feel my hands. Besides that I am fine." She said noticing her hands were in casts.

"As expected, I'll have Suzuki come in and give you some pain killers. Now, I am gonna ask you questions. If you would like your friend to step out anything you tell me will be held in confidence." He said. Kurotsuchi thought about it for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. She sas trained not to reveal secrets anyways.

"Okay then, what is your name and affiliated village?" He asked

"My name is Kurotsuchi, a chunin from Iwa" she said.

"Do have anyone we can contact? Traveling in your condition can be dangerous, unless your friend here will travel with you." He asked. Kurotsuchi nodded.

"If you can contact the Tsuchikage. He's my grandfather." She said. Naruto nearly fell over.

'The girl I just saved is the worst enemy my father ever fought?!' He screamed in his head

Doctor Tyler frowned, "I'm sorry. We don't have any messenger birds that can travel that far. We aren't a ninja village I'm afraid. Your hands are in position to be healed properly. You can leave after I do one last check up." He said "you would just have to change the bandage around the hands every five hours. Or if you want you can stay."

Kurotsuchi thought about it for a moment before she looked at Naruto. "Would you mind traveling with me? From here to Iwa is about a weeks travel. If we stick to the main roads then it should be safe. I can have jiji-sama pay you for escorting me. Think of it like a mission."

Naruto thought about it before shrugging his shoulders. "Sure why not. I can make a detour." He said.

Doctor Tyler nodded. "Okay then. I'll give you some of the medicine you'll need. If you need supplies then there is a general store near the hospital." He said as he left the room.

"So an escorting mission? You barely know me" he said. Kurotsuchi nodded.

"You didn't know me, yet you not only saved me but you did it while needing medical attention yourself. Plus I need to return to Iwa as fast possible." She said holding one of her bandaged hands up. "And I can't really travel fast on my own in this condition."

"Fair point. Can't get any better protection than a jinchuriki." He said, not thinking about as he walked out of the room.

Kurotsuchi nodded, happy to have a traveling companion. It took her a moment but then Naruto's words registered in her head.

"WAIT WHAT?!" She screeched, caught completely off guard.

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SO. I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Kurotsuchi is injured and Naruto is heading to Iwa, all the while learning more about his parents.

Tsubaki is my own OC that i wrote out a while ago and I'm so happy that I can use this in a story.

I hope you like the beginning, I don't think I've ever seen a fanfic do repeated flashbacks like that.

Leave a review if you liked. I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can.

ploytoid signing off. Ja ne.