Naruto Uzumaki pushed his chest off of the ground, ignoring the immense pain in his chest. He looked up to see Sasuke standing over him. A triumphant smirk on his face. He started laughing as Naruto tried and failed to stand up.
"Do you know your place now?" asked Sasuke, a cold glint in his eyes. "You and I, we aren't the same. Your special, I'll give you that. But I'm more special." The Uchiha said, echoing his words from moments before.
A sudden noise from the forest made the two genin look back towards the direction they had come from. Naruto saw the lone kunoichi of the Sound Four; Tayuya, crawling out of the forest. Judging by the trail of blood she left as she crawled towards them, Naruto could tell that bother her legs were broken; rather badly as well.
"S-sasuke-sama…" she choked out as blood trickled out of her mouth. "Please, help me… Orochimaru-sama will reward you for helping me."
Sasuke walked over to the injured red head and looked down at her for a second. Time seemed to slow down for Naruto; he watched in horror as Sasuke kick the girl in the side repeatedly. She cried out in pain each time. When Sasuske finally stopped, she laid there, whimpering.
"Orochimaru doesn't need any weak scum like you. You're better off dying right here," said Sasuke as he turned around and disappeared into the trees on the other side of the Valley of the End.
Naruto slowly pulled himself off of the ground, groaning as he felt two of his broken ribs twisting inside him. He slowly stumbled over to Tayuya and knelt next to the injured girl. He looked down at her and a pang of anger flitted through his heart. Tayuya's eyes stared into space, not seeing anything in particular. Blood ran freely from her crushed legs and mouth. If it wasn't for the rain, Naruto would have noticed the tears flowing from her eyes.
As Naruto looked closer at Tayuya he saw himself reflected in her eyes. They were the eyes of someone who had no one else to turn to. They were the eyes of someone who had been alone in the world from the very beginning. In her eyes Naruto saw pain, anger, sadness but even deeper than that was desperation; the desperation that came from wanting someone, anyone to be with. It was loneliness.
"Why… why can't others just accept us for who we are?" wondered Naruto sadly.
"Because it's who people are kid. I've been around for awhile. The one thing that most humans have in common is that they hate that which they do not understand," Said Kyuubi from within Naruto.
Naruto sat motionless as the rain beat gently down on the two motionless ninja. After a couple of minutes Naruto stood up and started to untie the Hitai-ate around his head.
"What are you doing kid?" asked the Kyuubi, wondering if his host had finally gone insane.
"I failed to bring Sasuke back. Until I do, I don't deserve to be a ninja of the Leaf," said Naruto quietly.
Naruto went over to a nearby tree and started carving a message into the bark. After he finished, Naruto stabbed the cloth of his hitai-ate into the tree with his kunai.
"You're not going back?" asked The Kyuubi in surprise.
"Not until I get Sasuke, or I feel I've redeemed myself," replied Naruto.
"That will take a long time kid," said the Kyuubi.
Naruto scooped up Tayuya bridal style and took one last look at his hitai-ate before running in the opposite direction of Konoha.
"I will return."
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"Please don't let me be too late," thought Kakashi as he made his way through the forest as fast as he could.
"His scent's fading Kakashi!" yelled his summon, Pakkun.
As Kakashi entered the Valley of the End from Konoha's side he knew he was too late. He saw blood being washed away on the ground and two Konoha hitai-ate.
"I've failed again, Obito…" thought Kakashi sadly as he recognized Sasuke's hitai-ate on the ground. The Leaf symbol had a large slash across it. Kakashi turned and saw Naruto's hitai-ate nailed to a tree with a kunai. As he neared the tree, he saw a message carved into the tree. As kakashi read the message, a single tear fell from his uncovered eye.
Kakashi-sensei,
I know you'll be the first one to find this. Thank you for everything you done for me this past year. It was an honor to have studied under you. Please give my thanks to Iruka-sensei as well. The two of you were like the father I never had. Thank you. I failed to bring Sasuke back this time but I will continue to try. I will not return to Konoha until I have Sasuke or I feel I have redeemed myself. Until that day, I am no longer a shinobi of Konoha.
Until we meet again,
Naruto Namikaze
Kakashi leaned against the tree as the tears flowed freely from his eyes. Despite what others said, he was a failure. He had failed everyone in his life. He had failed his own father, Obito, Rin,and now he had failed his own students.
"Kakashi… we should go. Tsunade will want to know about this," said Pakkun as he eyed his broken master.
"Yes… of course… I forgot," said Kakashi as he quickly took both hitai-ate and created a copy of Naruto's message in a waterproof scroll.
With one last look at the clearing Kakashi turned around and headed back towards Konoha. One question echoed within the Jounin's head.
"How did Naruto know his real last name?"
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"Where are you going to go kid? You have no money, no base of operations, and that girl will not last long unless she receives medical attention," said the Kyuubi.
"Hang on," said Naruto as he landed and gently set the unconscious Tayuya nest to him. "This should be the spot."
Naruto felt around in the ground before he found a metal handle. He brushed the grass aside and found himself staring at a large metal trapdoor. He pulled it open to see a ladder going down he gently wrapped Tayuya's arms around his neck as he slid down into the hole and closed the trapdoor over his head.
"How did you find out about this place?" asked the Kyuubi curiously.
"Remember when I snuck into the Third's house to get that scroll for Mizuki?" asked Naruto.
"Yeah."
"While I was searching for it I also found letter on the old man's desk," said Naruto as he snapped his fingers, torches lit up and every ten feet or so, illuminating the corridor.
"So? I still don't see how that matters," said the Kyuubi.
"So, it happened to be the Last Will and Testament of the Yondaime… My father," said Naruto.
"So… this is your ancestral vault?" growled the Kyuubi as he deduced where they were.
"Yeah, The Third was suppose to bring me here on my sixteenth birthday, but since Orochimaru killed him, and I burned the letter no one else is going to be showing up," said Naruto.
Naruto turned and entered a door on his left as he snapped his fingers again, more torches lit up. The room was spacious and surprisingly clean for the amount of time it had been abandoned. There were two beds at one end of the room, a door to a bathroom a kitchen that Naruto had been stockpiling with food, a wardrobe and chest near the beds, and most importantly a cabinet filled with medicines.
Naruto set Tayuya down on one of the beds before he bit his thumb and drew blood.
"Hey Kyuubi, lend me some of your chakra will you? I still don't have enough control over the summoning jutsu," said Naruto. He heard the Kyuubi grunt in acknowledgement as he felt power surge through him.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu," called Naruto as he pressed his hand against the floor. In a poof of smoke an orange toad wearing a light blue vest and about Naruto's size appeared.
"I am Gamasaku, the greatest medical toad of Myobokuzan," said Gamasaku as he looked around at his new surroundings. "Why have I been summoned?"
"Gamasaku, please. She's been injured and--" said Naruto before Gamasaku shoved him out of the way and took a look at his new patient.
"Hmm…. Three broken ribs, severe internal hemorrhaging, legs broken in at least four different places. This will not be easy. I trust you have some medicine and surgical devices?" saked Gamasaku as he turned to look at Naruto.
"Over there, in that cabinet," said Naruto as he pointed towards the cabinet.
Gamasaku moved over to the cabinet, opened it up and started pulling medicine and surgical tools out of the cabinet.
"Very good, this has all I require and more. Now leave. I must have total concentration while I operate," said Gamasaku as he pulled on surgical gloves and a facemask.
"How long will it take?" asked Naruto as he started towards the door.
"Six to eight hours at most. I know my medicine boy, she's in capable hands," said Gamasaku as he shut the door behind Naruto.
Naruto turned and continued to walk down the corridor passing numerous rooms as he finally stopped at the door he had been looking for. With a shaking hand, he turned the doorknob and walked into his father's room.
"It smells like him," commented Kyuubi as they entered.
Naruto ignored the Fox Demon as he saw a letter addressed to him laying on an oak desk in the room. The scroll read:
Naruto,
If you are reading this then it means, I'm dead and the Kyuubi's been sealed inside you. I'm sorry I had to seal him inside you and you have every reason to be angry at me, but I did it because I know you would be able to control him. I wish I would have been able to see you grow up. I wonder if you've taken after me or Kushina? In my chest is your inheritance. The first box will open for you but the second and third ones will not open until you are ready.
With all my love,
Minato Namikaze
Naruto found that he had tears flowing out of his eyes as he read the letter. After he had managed to get himself to stop crying, he walked over to the chest that was sitting in the corner of the room he opened it and saw that there were three boxes inside of it. As his father had said, the first two boxes opened up while the third one stayed shut no matter what he tried to do.
The first box contained the battle attire of the Yondaime. Inside was the long cloak he had been famed for wearing. Naruto could tell that it was still too long for him to wear but he would grow into it in a couple of years. The second box contained a scroll Naruto opened it up but was disappointed when he read through it and realized the scroll was about Rasengan.
"I've already learned that one, why would my father give me something I've already learned?" thought Naruto.
"Because it isn't complete," said the Kyuubi, annoyed.
"What?"
"I read the scroll like you did. It's obvious to me that the Rasengan is a half completed jutsu, and if you can't figure the rest out yourself then I won't help you," said the Kyuubi as he cut off the connection between Naruto and himself.
Naruto frowned as he took the three boxes and his father's letter with him as he closed the door behind him. He walked down the corridor until he reached a door with a sign on it that marked it as the training room. He entered the room and saw that the entire room seemed to have been constructed with bamboo. Naruto entered and dropped his pack to the ground as he walked to the center of the room. He created fifty clones that all looked at him, waiting for his command.
Naruto closed his eyes as he concentrated on his chakra. He immersed himself in the ebb and flow of the energy. He felt his breathing calm as he drew upon the energy inside of himself. Almost as if through a haze he felt his clones mirror his actions. The Kyuubi watched from behind his seal. It was surprised at what Naruto was doing. Usually the brat was so hyperactive and full of energy it was almost a miracle to see him calming down and actually attempting to… wait. What was the brat doing?
Naruto concentrated as he started to slowly form handseals. The Kyuubi stared in amazement. His host was actually trying to develop new jutsu…
"Rat for shadow, Tiger for power, Snake for stability, Ox for lightning, and finally Rabbit for direction!" said Naruto as he formed the handsigns and channeled his chakra into his right hand. Naruto looked down at his hand satisfied with the results of his work. However, the jutsu was continuously draining him of sever amounts of chakra, not wanting to die from chakra exhaustion Naruto canceled the technique before it could kill him. He looked around and saw that his clones were also having trouble controlling the jutsu. Some of them had already disappeared from the chakra drain.
"Ok… so maybe I should put Snake before Tiger to ensure that I won't die from exhaustion."
After five hours Naruto was panting as he fell backwards onto the ground and admired the success of his new jutsu. He had managed to blast a hole straight through the wall of the training room and it was taking much longer for the room to regenerate its wall than normal.
"Impressive brat, but I sense that toad of yours is done with the operation. You shouldn't keep him waiting," said the Kyuubi with a malicious grin.
Naruto gathered his belongings and made his way back to the room he had left Gamasaku and Tayuya in. As he gently opened the door he saw Gamasaku in the bathroom washing blood off of his; for lack of a better word, hands.
"Is she alright?" asked Naruto as he shut the door behind him.
"She'll be fine. It will take time for her legs and ribs to heal but she'll live. Now I must go, although I would ask you summon me again in a week to let me check up on how she's doing," said Gamasaku as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Naruto sighed as he went over the wardrobe and pulled out some clean clothes for himself. He slung them over his shoulder as he went to take a shower.
Naruto closed his eyes as he felt the warm water wash over him. It soothed the aches and pains he had collected over the course of the day and it helped to clear his mind.
"Kami, what should I do?" asked Naruto as he stared up at the ceiling of the bathroom as the water gently beat down on him. He couldn't leave Tayuya behind but if he stayed any longer he was sure that his teacher or someone would discover where he was.
"Isn't it obvious? Get stronger. You're weak right now. Don't even try to deny it brat. You have gotten lucky up till now. In the future you will die if you don't get stronger," said the Kyuubi angrily.
"Damn this is troublesome…" muttered Naruto as he pulled on the clean clothes he had brought with him and walked out of the bathroom.
As soon as Naruto walked out of the bathroom he felt a huge killing intent coming at him from all sides. He turned to the bed and saw that Tayuya was gone. He grunted as the mere pressure of the intent was forcing him into a defensive position.
Naruto quickly formed the handsigns for the new jutsu he had created. Rat, Snake, Tiger, Ox and Rabbit. As he did he felt the killing intent materialize behind him. As he tried to turn around the cold steel of a kunai touched his neck.
"Get rid of that jutsu, whatever it is," said a feminine voice. Naruto quickly obliged when he felt the kunai start to dig into his neck.
"Where are we?" asked the voice again.
"It's Tayuya, right? We're in my family's ancestral vault," said Naruto.
"Why the fuck did you bring me here you bastard?" asked the voice in a dangerous voice as the kunai tightened around Naruto's throat.
"You were going to die. Your wounds needed healing. I brought you to the only safe location I knew," replied Naruto as cold sweat ran down his face. Naruto relaxed as he felt the kunai on his neck move away.
As he turned around Tayuya dropped the kunai, it fell to the floor with a dull thunk as she fell towards him. Naruto barely caught her when he realized she was shivering violently. He pressed a hand to her forehead and felt her burning up.
"Damn!" yelled Naruto as he picked her up and quickly put her back down on the bed. He turned around and ran to the medicine cabinet as he started to shift through it, trying to find some medicine for a fever.
"Damn… Why does this always happen?" thought Naruto as he continued to look for some medicine.
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Tayuya opened her eyes for the first time since she had threatened Naruto's life. She turned and saw that the kid was sitting next to her bed asleep. His head was propped up on his chin as it rolled slightly. She looked down and realized that the kid must have splinted both of her legs and he had even set out a pitcher of water for her on the bedside table.
She couldn't help but wonder why he was helping her. He had been her enemy just days before and now he was trying to save her life. It made no sense at all. It wasn't something a ninja would do, but then again the kid hardly looked like a ninja anyways.
"Oi, dumb ass wake up," called Tayuya as she shook him. When Naruto just mumbled and swatted her hand away Tayuya shook her head. "I can't believe this kid's a ninja…"
"Dumb ass… wake the fuck up!" yelled Tayuya as she punched Naruto in the gut sending him toppling backwards over the chair he was sitting on.
Naruto groaned as he stood up, rubbing his stomach. "What the hell was that for?" yelled Naruto angrily.
"You didn't wake up when I yelled so I woke you up my way," said Tayuya nonchalantly.
"Still you didn't have to punch me…" muttered a disgruntled Naruto as he stumbled towards the bed.
"Why didn't you kill me?" asked Tayuya quietly breaking the silence between them.
"I don't enjoy killing people," said Naruto as he looked away.
"Liar. I can tell when people are lying to me. Now tell me the real reason you shithead," said Tayuya forcefully as she forced Naruto to look into her eyes.
"You're… like me," Naruto finally said after a moment of hesitation.
"What the fuck are you saying?" growled Tayuya as she shoved him backwards.
"I mean I know what you've gone thorugh. All the hatred, the anger from knowing no cares about you. The sadness that makes us wonder why we're even alive. The desperation to find someplace where we belong, and the loneliness that comes from having to watch other people's happiness from afar," said Naruto as he attempted a weak smile and failed. After he finished Naruto got up, walked over to the kitchen, and pulled a rice cooker from one of the cabinets.
Tayuya stared at Naruto in disbelief as she realized that this kid understood exactly how she felt. To her it seemed like meeting a long lost family member that you thought had died. Here; in front of her, was someone who had been through the same hell she had been through and had survived.
"You're going to turn me over to the Leaf soon aren't you?" asked Tayuya as Naruto wordlessly started cooking some rice.
"Nope!" said Naruto cheerfully as he cracked an egg into a pan and started whistling.
"What?" asked Tayuya in shock. "You're not going to turn me; one of Orochimaru's personal bodyguards, over to the Leaf when we just tried to destroy your village?"
"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just handed you over to the Leaf to get interrogated and executed. Also, I'm not with the Leaf anymore so it doesn't matter to me," said Naruto as he pointed to his uncovered forehead.
"What the hell happened while I was asleep?" asked Tayuya completely shocked that the kid who was determinedly chasing after a traitor to his village and suddenly followed suit.
"I never said I wasn't going back. I just said I wasn't going back until I have Sasuke or I've redeemed myself for failing to bring him back," said Naruto as he brought tayuya a bowl of rice, some fruit, and a poached egg on a tray. "You should eat, you'll need to get your strength back."
"Then what are you going to do with me?" asked Tayuya as she started to devour the food the kid had set before her.
"Well," said Naruto as he sat down next to her with his own tray of food. "I'm going to wander for a bit, try to get stronger and then hunt down Sasuke. You can do whatever you want after your injuries heal."
"So you're just going to let me go?" asked Tayuya in surprise.
"Well I mean you'll probably want to go back to Orochi--"
"Fuck no!" yelled Tayuya as Naruto jumped and sent his tray crashing to the ground. Swearing under his breath Naruto bent down to clean up the mess. "No way in hell I'm going back to that bastard. Not after the way he abandoned me."
"So where are you going to go? No offense, but if you're like me I don't think you have anywhere to go other than Otogakure," said Naruto as he brought the tray back up.
Naruto watched, as Tayuya suddenly seemed to withdraw into herself. Her eyes glazed over and she stopped eating. After a moment she spoke up, "I'm going to go with you. You saved my life and I'm going to pay you back for it."
"Well, we should get going soon," said Naruto as he washed their bowls after breakfast. "If you're coming with me then we need to get away from Konoha as fast as possible."
"What about my legs? I can't walk," said Tayuya as she pointed to her broken legs.
"Gamasaku splinted them and I made crutches for you last night," said Naruto as he motioned towards two wooden crutches he had propped up against the door.
"You have my stuff?"
"Most of it was destroyed, I managed to salvage some metals shards that came from your flute but its beyond repair," said Naruto.
"In that case I'm ready when you are dumb ass," said Tayuya.
"I'll get my stuff, meet me at the trapdoor," said Naruto as he started pulling things together and packing clothes and other items. He tooke the three boxes that his father had left him and he also packed some medicine just in case. He had taken some kunai and shuriken to replenish his stock. After he had finished he slung his pack over his back and grabbed a scroll that his father had sealed cash into and slid that into his pack as well.
"Took you long enough," said an impatient Tayuya, tapping her foot.
"Alright, get on my back," said Naruto.
"The fuck you--"
"You can't climb with your legs, I'll have to carry you out," said an exasperated Naruto.
After they had both made it out of the Namikaze vault, Naruto shut the trapdoor and covered it with grass again.
"I'm surprised no one's found it yet," said Naruto as he started to walk away.
"Hey! Shithead slow down! I'm crippled damn it!" yelled Tayuya as she chucked a rock at Naruto's head.
"Ow! Alright I'll slow down, geez just don't chuck anymore rocks at me," said naruto as he rubbed the back of his head.
"So now that we're both drifters where are you headed dumb ass?" asked Tayuya after they had started walking.
"Land of Waves. I've got some friends there that might let us crash with them for awhile," said Naruto as he hefted his pack.
As they reached the Valley of the End Naruto turned around and looked back towards Konoha.
"I will return. That's a promise, so wait for me guys."
Tayuya noticed Naruto looking back at his former village and quietly whispered, "You'll go back someday."
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"He can't have gotten far Kakashi," said Tsunade as she stared down at her desk. Kakashi had just told her the worst possible news.
"I tried to track him but Pakkun lost his trail in the forest. Surprisingly the trail was in the direction of Konoha when it abruptly ended," said Kakashi as he eyed the Hokage.
"He must be somewhere near Konoha then. He's probably staying hidden and trying to recover from whatever wounds Sasuke gave him before he leaves. We still have a chance to catch him," said Tsunade. "Kakashi, I want you to take Shino and Hinata and try to find Naruto. They're the best tracker types I can give you on short notice."
"Hai, Tsunade-sama," said Kakashi as he left the room.
"Please don't have left yet Naruto," thought Tsunade as she stared out the window of her office.
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""So shithead, you said that we were similar. Care to explain?" said Tayuya as Naruto winced from her swearing. He had quickly found out that Tayuya was not someone you wanted to anger. He made the mistake once and he was still nursing the bruises.
"Back in Konoha when I was just a kid, everyone shunned me for some reason. At that time, I didn't know why everyone hated me. It didn't make sense to me back then," said Naruto as he started to tell Tayuya about himself.
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"I've picked up his scent Kakashi-sensei," said Shino quietly as Kakashi and the rest of the group quickly followed Shino.
They raced through the forest towards the vault of the Namikaze family. Hinata had her Byakugan active as she scanned the area for anyone's chakra.
"How much farther Shino?" asked Kakashi as he had lifted his hitai-ate and exposed his Sharingan.
"One hundred kilometers."
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"I was a complete failure of a ninja when I was in the academy. I spent most of my time pulling pranks on the villagers instead of actually studying," said Naruto, a small grin appeared on his face as he reminisced about some of the best pranks he had pulled.
Tayuya snorted at his statement. The kid was definitely telling the truth on that one, he had almost no taijutsu or genjutsu capabilities and his ninjutsu wasn't that much better from what she had seen. He seemed to get by with a combination of luck, stamina, and determination. A combination that usually got you killed very quickly. It was a miracle he was still alive.
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"50 kilometers, we're closing in."
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"After I failed to graduate a chuunin; Mizuki, convinced me to steal a scroll from the Hokage, he said if I learned the jutsu inside I would be able to become a genin. I was an idiot and agreed to do it," said Naruto as he mentally berated himself for having been so idiotic.
Tayuya's mouth dropped when he said this.
"The kid stole from the fucking Hokage and he's still alive? What the fuck goes on in that shithole?"
"After I had gotten the scroll I only managed to learn one of the jutsus' inside before Mizuki found me. He demanded that I give him the scroll, when I resisted he attacked. I would have died if Iruka-sensei hadn't saved me."
"Iruka?"
"Another chuunin. He was one of the few people that didn't treat me like an outcast. He was like a father to me. Anyways, because of that incident I found out why people hated me. Mizuki told me the reason just to spite Iruka."
"Why were you hated shithead?"
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"We're here Kakashi-sensei," said Shino.
Kakashi glanced around the clearing with his Sharingan until he realized that the entire clearing was covered in a double layer genjutsu.
"There's a double layer genjutsu here. It would normally take a lot of time to dispel but I've got the Sharingan," said Kakashi as he forcefully dispelled the genjutsu around them. He looked down and saw a trapdoor hidden underneath grass.
"Please still be here Naruto."
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"It's cause I have the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside me. I'm the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki," said Naruto quietly as he looked at Tayuya's face for her reaction.
Tayuya could see Naruto's fear of rejection. She could see that he thought she would be afraid of him. She would shun him. She would be like everyone else who feared and hated and persecuted him. Stupid kid.
"Are you fuckin' kidding me? That's the reason they hate you? They hate you because of something you couldn't control? What the fucks wrong with those bastards?" said Tayuya, anger flaring in her eyes.
"You don't hate me? You're not afraid I'll suddenly go insane and kill everyone?" asked Naruto in complete surprise.
"Why would I be dumb ass? It's like you said I know how it feels to be hated and persecuted because of who I am I would rather cut my hand off before I did the same thing to another person," said Tayuya as she glared at him.
They walked on in silence and Tayuya was sure she heard Naruto whisper, "Thank you."
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"He was definitely here recently but… he's gone," said Hinata as she used her Byakugan to scout out the Namikaze vault.
"Well, we better get back to Konoha and report---"
"Kakashi-sensei, my bugs have picked up a new trail. It's fresh."
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"I found out another secret about myself when I was stealing the scroll from the Hokage's house," said Naruto as he flashed Tayuya a brilliant smile. He was thankful that the person he was going to be traveling with for awhile wasn't afraid of him just because of who he was.
"Oh yeah? Even more shocking than finding out you've got the king of demons sealed inside you?" said Tayuya dryly. She was kind of glad she had decided to go with the kid, not that she'd ever tell him. He made for an interesting conversation topic if nothing else.
"I'm the son of Konoha's Yellow Flash," said Naruto simply.
This made Tayuya stumble and she would have fallen face first into the ground if Naruto hadn't caught her. After she had regained her footing, she looked away so that the kid wouldn't notice that she was blushing furiously. Back in the Sound, no one would have helped her, they would have let her fall to the ground and then just laughed. The simple act made her realize just how nice Naruto was and how much he cared for his friends.
After she had managed to get the color out of her face she turned around, cuffed Naruto in the back of the head, and told him to keep walking.
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"We can't follow him anymore," said Kakashi as the trail had lead them straight back to the Valley of the End. "He's crossed Konoha's borders if we go we could incite war."
"We should head back," said Shino quietly, though not quiet enough to hide the disappointment in his voice.
Kakashi slammed a fist into a tree as Hinata gave a small yelp of surprise. It wasn't fair. He had been given a glimmer of hope and it had been so cruelly torn away.
"My apologies… let head back."
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Naruto and Tayuya had been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't noticed the bandits sneaking up from behind them. As Naruto felt a surge of killing intent from behind them he grabbed Tayuya, ignored her death threats, and dived to the side as three arrows whizzed right past they had just been standing.
"I don't know how you managed to dodge that brat, but your still going to die," said the bandit leader with a bloodthirsty grin on his face. "Men, kill the brat. The girl could entertain us tonight."
Tayuya caught the hidden meaning and snarled at the laughing bandits. She turned to look at Naruto and saw that he was already forming handsigns.
Naruto had also caught the double meaning and he felt hatred rise up inside him. He didn't know why but he really, really wanted to break these guys. He formed the handsigns for the jutsu he had develop and laughed as he saw fear flit across the faces of the bandits.
"Myou Raiton: Ryuujin Yari," said Naruto as the felt the jutu take form. (Black Lightning: Dragon God Spear)
After he had finished forming the handseals Naruto saw a long black spear slowly appear in his right hand. The spear head was in the shape of a dragon and the eyes glowed red. The entire spear was made out of solidified black lighting. He swung the spear around a couple of times before he turned his attention to the bandits.
The fight was over before it had begun. Naruto had spun around and chucked the spear at the leader of the bandits, impaling him through the chest. Before the other bandits could react Naruto had jumped onto the leader and yanked the spear out. He then proceed to spin the spear around him in a circular motion as he cut off various body parts. The rest of the bandits ran screaming as they saw Naruto cut down more than five men in a couple seconds.
Tayuya stared in amazement as she watched Naruto complete rip the bandits apart. While he moved faster than what most normal people could see, she could follow it with some difficulty. She had been doubting the kid when he had told her he was the Yellow Flash's son but now she could see the resemblance between them. The way they were annoyingly cheerful one moment and a deadly force to be reckoned with the next. As he turned back to her smiling as if nothing had happened and they continued walking she had only one thought.
"Thank Kami I'm on his side."