A/N: New Title-ish. A sequel of sorts is now up. I may do a proper sequel to this at some point due to requests.

Today was a good day, Sakura decided, as she walked through the streets with her grocery shopping hanging from her hands. With Tsunade on an emergency trip to visit the Kazekage over some important diplomatic event that concerned the two villages the young woman had the day completely free of training,

She'd spent most the morning with Ino in town, window shopping for a new dress for her upcoming birthday (Only four months away!). It had taken a while to find something that didn't completely clash with her hair. While having pink hair had been nice during the princess stage of her childhood, it was a nightmare shopping for.

At lunch she met with Naruto for ramen - his choice, unsurprisingly. After lunch she had spent some time with her mother, which with all her duties as a ninja of Konoha had been a while since they had last done so. Sakura found it increasingly awkward around her parents. They were civilians, they weren't like her anymore, and the divide between them kept on growing. She tried to forget that they hadn't looked at her the same way since she killed Sasori.

She finally left to go to the shops, picking up something to eat. Now, as she was walking back, she took in the unusual amount of people heading in the other direction to herself, faster paced than normal, talking in low voices with each other.

She ignored it at first, guessing that some famous actor must have passed through the gates, when she caught a few strands of one of the conversations.

"… can't believe he actually … Uzumaki Naruto …."

"… -ting for the chance …"

"…. with Hokage-same gone …"

Her heart seemed to freeze a little once she heard her best friend's name, only to grow colder at the next couple of pieces of the conversation she caught. What had someone done to him with Tsunade gone?

Spotting a couple walking the same way as everyone else, one of which seemed particularly animated as she spoke to her friend, and thus probably had a better idea of what was going on that most, Sakura marched over, standing in front of the pair.

"Excuse me?" she asked, looking quickly from the man to the brunette woman, "You couldn't tell me what is going on could you?"

The woman smiled, all too happy to spread the gossip. "It's that Uzumaki kid. Apparently with Hokage-sama gone the council have taken matters into their own hands."

"What do you mean?"

"Danzo-sama managed to convince them that he was too dangerous to have in the village with so many S-class criminals after him. He's being banished as we speak."

Pure and utter denial ran through her. They couldn't do that. It wasn't possible. Tsunade would never allow it. But … Tsunade was gone and therefore matters of security went directly to the council. If Naruto was considered a security risk then it was possible ("No! It can't be! Shannaro!") that he could be banished within the lines of the law.

She didn't wait for the woman to finish her explanation]. Sakura had already dropped her shopping, the food spilling out onto the street as she ran towards the village gate.

There was already a large crowd gathered, Danzo's voice explaining the reasons for Naruto's banishment from Konoha somehow making it across the noise.

Sakura barely took in how Naruto was no longer to be allowed within thirty miles of Konoha, how he had to be outside that distance by the end of the day, how the banishment also meant he was not allowed to communicate with Leaf-nin, and how the penalty of not complying to those rules was death.

She shoved her way to the front of the crowd, ignoring the cries of outrage when she used her superhuman strength against those who would not move, even if they were civilian. Several people were shouting at the council who stood before Naruto (Kiba being physically restrained by a couple of Anbu), Shikamaru was listing off logical sound reasons why it'd be detrimental to banish Naruto, and even Hyuga Hiashi looked uncomfortable with the decision.

It was Naruto that drew Sakura's attention though. He stood, clad in his usual orange, as if it were just any other day of the week, smiling amiably as he told people it was okay.

He had that stupid mask back on again. Only this time she wasn't the only one that wasn't fooled by it. She doubted anyone was. His eyes were dead.

She'd never hated anyone as much as she hated Danzo in that moment.

"You can't do this!" Her voice carried over the crowd as she pushed her way out of it to stand by Naruto's side, glaring down the council with righteous fury. "Tsunade-sama would never have allowed this."

"Whilst the Hokage is away it is not only the council's right but also its responsibility to keep this village safe," Koharu replied calmly. "And Uzumaki's prolonged stay here only puts the village in danger from Akatsuki."

"Naruto's a danger to Konoha! He -"

"It's okay, Sakura-chan." Naruto's quiet voice easily cut over hers. "Arigato for trying to help." He still had that fake smile on his face but it was just a little more genuine. He hugged her once before turning. "I'll miss you."

Then he ran, through the gates and away from the village. She turned to the council in outrage. "How could you? He didn't deserve any of that? Naruto has protected this village with everything he has, he stopped Gaara back when Sound was attacking, and is the probably the very reason why we have such a strong alliance with Sand right now. And you just banished him! You had no right! Especially you Danzo! You aren't even on the council. They shouldn't be listening to you at all!"

"You forget your place when speaking to your superior," Homura said evenly.

Sakura's fist clenched, her teeth gritted, before she burst angrily. "Screw this! That man," she said gesturing at Danzo, "is not my superior!" Then she spat at his feet.

The Anbu on guard, as well as the crowd, tensed as she pulled kunai with the practiced ease of a trained ninja from one of her pockets. They followed its arc as she raised it up only to pause on surprise as she gauged a thin, horizontal line across the leaf emblem on her forehead protector.

"Hey Naruto, wait for me!" It was pointless shouting, since Naruto had already disappeared at a speed only ninja could possess through the trees.

"Oi, forehead," Ino shouted, getting the now missing-nin's attention. "Don't think I'll just stand here and watch whilst you get all the chances at finding Sasuke-kun." The blonde had her own kunai in her hand, scraping it across the metal plate.

Sakura looked at her in surprise.

Ino grinned and Sakura knew what she was truly saying. 'I've got your back. I have both of your backs.'

Beside the blonde girl, Choji also scraped a scratch into his forehead protector. There was no way that he was just going to let her chase after the Uchiha on her own.

Shikamaru sighed, marking his protector too. "Troublesome."

"Those who break the rules are trash," Kakashi said, watching the scene with a smile below his mask, "but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. I'm proud of you Sakura." Then he too took a kunai and slashed the metal leaf emblem, still smiling.

'I'd bet you'd love this, someone finally showing the council whose boss, Obito.'

Yamato marked his forehead protector in his defection. It wasn't like he could just let the boy go off on his own, not when he was the only one who could reverse the Kyuubi transformation. Yet, he had the feeling, he would have done it Kyuubi or not.

Hinata watched them with wide eyes. They were all standing with Naruto. He had looked so sad and alone and betrayed. Everyone who knew him, met him, spoke to him knew how much the village meant to him. How could they just banish him from his home like that?

She was surprised to see that her hands were shaking in anger. She had never been so angry before. The same anger gave her the same confidence that, with only a quick glance at her father in the crowds on the other side, she scratched out her own protector.

Beside her, the sound that was becoming all too familiar of metal against metal, made her look up.

"Neji-onii-san?"

"It would be difficult to protect you, Hinata-sama, if I am not there with you."

She couldn't help but smile. Her thoughts were cut short by Neji's team-mate's sudden exclamation.

"Yosh! What a youthful display of loyalty. I shall prove myself as loyal if not I shall run around Konoha 200 times and if I can't do that then I shall do 1000 push-ups with one finger with a boulder on my back."

As Lee marked his forehead protector and Neji glared at the teen in annoyance, TenTen sighed. "I guess if I don't come with them, they'll end up killing each other."

"Hinata," Kiba whined, appearing at her side with Akamaru and Shino, "Were you thinking of leaving without us?"

The pale eyed girl took in the marks of treachery to the village and their loyalty to Naruto and their other friends. "You too?"

Shino gave a curt, silent nod.

Nearby their jounin instructors exchanged a short glance at one another. While their students had come a long way since their genin days they weren't quite ready to go off alone in the world quite yet. Also, like Lee, Gai wasn't about to let his rival beat him in a display of loyalty.

Across the crowd Inoichi watched his daughter with an odd mix of sadness, pride, and regret, his too friends beside him. Shikaku was the first to make a move. He marked his forehead protector that had gone unmarred for years. "This is rather troublesome but not as troublesome as listening to my wife if I don't look after Shikamaru."

Chou winced at the same time as Inoichi at the thought of their respective wives' reactions if they learnt their husband let their child go off into the world as a missing-nin without someone there to protect them.

The blonde man marked his protector along with Choza. "If I'm not there who knows what kind of trouble Ino will get herself into."

Iruka smiled at the sight of so many people ready and willing to leave the village out of loyalty to the people close to Naruto and their friends, his protector already marked from the moment Sakura took the initiative.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see many of the students he had just passed following his lead.

"It wouldn't be fair if I became Hokage and Boss didn't get a chance," Konohamaru remarked. The grandson of the third Hokage had long since marked the small rectangle of metal he had worked so hard to earn with a horizontal slash. "How will I know if I'm a better ninja than him if its not a fair fight."

Udon and Moegi had grinned when joining him in showing their defection from the village. Behind the threesome Ebisu let out a rather disgruntled groan as he realised that Sarutobi would be rather disappointed in him if he did not defect from his home village. Not only did Konohamaru need protecting but Naruto did not deserve the treatment he was getting from the council.

He looked up as one of the jounin he was familiar with was shouting rather loudly.

"What are you doing, Anko?"

The purple haired woman cackled. "That kid will be going after the Uchiha now there's nobody to tell him not to. The Uchiha is with Orochimaru, if I go with him then I'll finally be able to have a go at that snake bastard." There was an insane gleam in her eyes and the jounin knew that he could not argue.

"Eh?" Anko exclaimed as he took out his kunai. "What are you doing?"

The jounin shrugged. "Maybe it was time someone took pity on that kid. He has just lost his home after all."

The murmuring in the crowd grey louder and louder with every ninja that marked the metal protector, while Danzo's scowl became deeper at the sight, until the noise was suddenly silenced by the sound of shattering porcelain that seemed to echo around the entrance to Konoha.

The bandaged man looked down at the broken Anbu mask at his feet, before lifting his gaze to the smiling face of one of his best Root operatives and the mark in his forehead protector.

"Screw you."

There was silence.

Sai took in the expression on the man's face. Before frowning in confusion. "Was that not the correct thing to say. I read in a book it was one of the more common ways of showing 'sticking it to The Man'."

Sakura, who had been watching the growing support for Naruto, as even ninjas that she was certain the boy had never encountered before defected for him, suddenly began to laugh. "I couldn't have put it better myself."

Tsunade was going to be mad when she got back and discovered half her village gone. But not as mad as she'd be when she discovered the reason.

Naruto didn't cry as he left. Crying never helped with anything. He wanted to. It would be so easy to just sit down, give up, and cry the night away. He wouldn't though. He'd been through worse. He couldn't name anything off the top of his head but nothing would come to him.

He knew he'd cry about it eventually, whether he wanted to or not, but he wouldn't cry anywhere near where he was. He wouldn't let anybody Danzo sent to make sure he did leave have the pleasure of knowing he cried.

He ran the first mile, rushing through the trees until he couldn't see the village anymore. It was better that way. Part of him wanted to stay and linger by his home that he was never allowed to set his sights on again but the rest of him told him to do it quickly, get it over with, so that he didn't have to feel his heart slowly breaking at the sight.

He'd locked the Kyuubi, once more the root of all his problems, away in the back of his mind. The demon had been laughing at him, taunting his misfortune. With the fox gone he walked in silence for the next few miles. He felt unbearably alone. He'd forgotten how hard it was. He hadn't realised how much his friends had come to soften that pain in the few years that he had them.

There was no sign of human life, like roads or paths, when he heard his name being called out.

Turning he saw pink hair, green eyes, and a relieved expression before Sakura ploughed into him.

"I was beginning to think took the wrong direction."

"W-what are you doing here?"

"Idiot," she said, softly hitting him on the head, "You'd think we'd just let you go off alone?"

It was only then Naruto noted the deep scar on her forehead protector. "You defected? For me?"

Sakura smiled.

"W-wait! What did you mean by 'we'?"

The medic-nin nodded over her shoulder, directing his attention. Appearing behind them was Kakashi, Sai, Iruka, everyone he knew and many he didn't. There were so many people. There had to be more than half of Konoha's ninjas there. All of them bearing a horizontal slash across their meal leaf emblem.

All of them were there, supporting him. All of them had left the village, following him. And all of them had smiles on their faces, accepting him.

Naruto looked at the crowd, trying to hide the tears in his eyes. He'd longed for this moment for so long. Of course he had never imagined it occurring in this way but he'd always imagined what it would feel like to be accepted and acknowledged as somebody imported, needed, and wanted.

"I think," he said, trying to hide his embarrassment of the overwhelming emotions, "that someone needs to update the Bingo Book."

Laughter rang out. Naruto's heart swelled. They were laughing with him this time, not at him.

With him.