Okay, for everyone out there reading this, this is my very very first fanfic I've ever made, written on a whim and the sudden urge to write in the middle of the night. It's been looked over and edited and read by someone else before I posted it to make sure it's good, but if you beg to differ, or if you agree, or if you're somewhere in between, let me know in a review! Sits and waits excitedly. By the way, though it is not yet, it will become a NaruHina fanfic in a few chapters. I plan to do one more chapter every week, to be posted Sunday evening. I'll tell you if it will take longer.

Ding! "One more please!" came the familiar bell and voice. Uzumaki Naruto sat at his usual spot in the ramen bar which had mind as well conformed to his rear. Every day he went, same spot, same motion of breaking the chopsticks, same grey and black speckled bowls, same smell, same rituals every day. And he didn't mind it a bit!

A few fidgety minutes later a bowl of pork ramen plopped down in front of him. Not surprisingly, it didn't take much time at all for him to finish it. He needed no justification for his unhealthy diet, his body had never complained and he had always been capable and strong without good food choices, besides the occasional apple or orange Kakashi shoved down his throat. Same food, every day, day after day. Once he was finished draining the bowl he placed it back on the counter and bade farewell to the kind grandfatherly cook and his daughter.

Once he got home he threw off his jumpsuit, took a hot shower, and threw himself on the bed with his favorite nightcap on. He lay on his bed for a few minutes, picking out shapes in the ceiling by moonlight. Most of them he had found on nights before. It was like looking at shapes in clouds, only these shapes didn't roll past and change shape. Always there, every night. He even found one that looked like Sakura. He laughed at his old crush. He remembered that he would even get nervous at that pattern in the ceiling when he still liked her. Now though his heart had become fickle and no longer desired her. He may be rash and stupid, but he was smart enough to stay out of relationships, at least at this age. They just never seemed to work. With this thought in mind, he didn't mind Sakura chasing after Sasuke, he already knew the outcome if they ever did go out. He had warned her a few days before that she shouldn't be looking for boys at this age, but she just pushed him away, muttering something about 'true love' or 'eternal love.' Both seem to come out of girls' mouths a lot.

He pulled the messy covers over himself, like he did every night, and went to sleep, letting his dreams tug him this way and that. This dream, however, was different. In this dream everyone in Konoha had taken on a stiff posture and were without color. The sun shot over his head within one minute, then immediately came up on the other side of the horizon once that minute was over. People would rush by him at the speed addressed by the sun. Everything moved in a blur, like he was caught in a time warp and everything was sped up. After a few repetitions of this, though, he realized that he was watching the same scene over and over again. People would move in the same place at the same time in the same direction they did a minute ago. He could do nothing but sit in the road and watch his fellow villagers rush by, repeating the same thing over and over again.

The alarm clock rang suddenly on his bedside, forcing him awake. He smacked the top of it and shot himself out of bed with the same energy he had every morning. "Time to get going!" he shouted loud enough that his neighbor smacked the wall and gave him a muffled yell, telling him to be quiet. He grabbed his jumpsuit off of the floor, shoveled his eggs and toast down his throat and went off to train with Jiraya. Ever since Tsunade had been instated as the hokage, he had been under Jiraya's wing. Today was just strength building, but Naruto had come to the realization that, even though it was boring, it was an important thing if he wished to become Hokage.

During the training Jiraya picked up on something in Naruto. "What's up?"

"Huh?" asked Naruto in the middle of a push-up, "What do you mean?"

"Well," he said, "You haven't said hardly anything to me today, and you haven't been making your traditional noises you make when putting effort into something. Spill it. What is it?"

"Nothing's wrong," Naruto insisted.

"There is if you won't share it with me. Come on, I'm your teacher, I won't tell anyone."

Naruto finished his last push-up, then climbed a tree up to the highest branches it had. Jiraya followed. He could see that he was looking over at distant hills, his deep blue eyes underplaying an intent look. "Ah," he said, "It's itchy feet you've got."

"What?" Naruto said, his eyes losing that glazed look and breaking its contact with the hills, "I don't have athlete's foot…"

"No, no, no," said Jiraya, "I mean you want to go on the road. See new places."

"I do not!" said Naruto, falling into his old habit of making nearly everything an argument. "I like it here in Konoha! I love the food, the housing, the familiar streets, the people I know…"

"But it's all gotten old to you, hasn't it?"

Naruto fell silent. He recalled the dream he had last night and, after a long pause, recounted it with Jiraya.

"Ah," he said, "I see. Everything's gotten old to you."

Naruto returned his gaze to the hills. As much as the old pervert's suggestion didn't make sense, he knew he was right. He felt his path was so well known, so guided, yet so uninspiring and so unfufilling. He recalled that last night at the ramen bar where he thought he saw the same pattern in the black speckles at the bottom of the bowl he had seen earlie. Even his crush on Sakura had faded and blinked out of existence. It seemed that the comfort of the repetition and the few things he had left to do here were the only things that were keeping him here.

There was a long silence. "What is keeping you here?" asked Jiraya. "It can't be Sakura, it's easy to tell that you've lost interest in her. You can get ramen anywhere. You've already surpassed Sasuke in power. And you never really referred to your apartment as being your home you love. Why are you still here?"

Naruto thought about this for a second, then gazed toward the ground far below. "The things I've yet to do here, things that are still new. I've always wanted to get to know Hinata a little better. There are missions that send me out for days at a time, and I still want to gain the title of Hokage."

Jiraya answered without hesitation. "You can attain the last two things outside of Konoha anyways. In fact, becoming Hokage almost requires it. And as for Hinata, there are plenty of other people out there to meet and get to know."

Naruto had never seen Jiraya take something so seriously before. He wasn't even suggesting him and Hinata as an item. But the scariest part was what he was suggesting. The words 'outside of Konoha' scared him. Was he suggesting that he leave the village? But this was his home. He knew everything here by heart. But at the same time, he knew that this was the reason he had to leave.

"The prospect of traveling is scary," said Jiraya as though he was reading his thoughts. "You never know where you'll sleep, unless you've planned ahead. You never know what you're going to eat for your next meal, sometimes you'll go without one. And you don't recognize anything. Everything is new, and you don't know who anyone is or what anything is. But you'll never be bored except every once in a while you're walking. It helps people grow more often than not. And when you return, you'll appreciate everything you had before more than when you left."

Naruto was obviously too thoughtful to do any more work, and he was exhausted anyways. "Training is over for today," said Jiraya. "I'd spend a little time in the hot springs to help your mind work if I were you." Then he leapt off and walked back towards the village.

Breaking his trance, he decided to take Jiraya's advice. He spent a good long time in the hot spring, until his fingers and toes were pruney. Then, his mind made up, he went home and got to bed early without seeing or talking to anyone.

He woke up about two in the morning by will. Packing the bare minimum, extra clothes, sleeping bag, and food to last him a few days, along with his weapons and jumpsuit on his person, he heaved his backpack on his back and walked down the road to the gate. He had a little while until they opened at sunrise, so he sat on the ground waiting for them to open. He wasn't drowsy at all. He was too nervous. But he knew he had to do this. He didn't know where he was going or how he was going to get there, but he would get there by any means necessary.

Just as he was about to step out of the gates a timid voice rung behind him like a small silver bell. "Naruto-Kun…?" He turned around and saw Hinata watching him in the middle of the road. Her blank white eyes were inquisitive and curious, as well as concerned and frightened. Naruto looked at her with an emotionless stare, which after a moment was replaced with a look of determination depicted with furrowed eyebrows and a strong gaze. Without saying a word he turned and walked out onto the road. Hinata could do nothing but stare as her love walked into the sunrise. It seemed as though he was walking into the depths of the sun itself, bent on conquering it. She watched him until he faded out of view.