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Wanderlust by Daisukekun

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Chapter notes: Oi oi oi.. Major rewrite.. I'm happy about it.. Only cause someone pointed out that I started to not pick up the pace. ^^' Though most of this is the same, it's still a bit edited. And don't mind the LONG prologue.. >.> Basically... when I wrote the first 3 and a half chapters of the story originally, I didn't realize that they WERE all the prologue... And well I needed to keep most of this. If there are things still not related, just tell me in a review and I'll start to hack and slash at my prologue.

Note: I don't own Naruto or any characters in the series. Also.. on word, this prologue was 11 pages. O.o' So yeah, if you guys see anything that doesn't directly relate to the progress.. PLEASE TELL ME! (I'm not good with spotting irrelevant data.. ^^") Itallics mean either thoughts or flashbacks. (AND THE TWO THAT ARE IN THERE DO HAVE RELLEVANCE... That I know)
As the wind crept up on him, he shivered slightly, still continuing his pace through the dark woods. Night had already come upon them, and he knew that was what his visitor wanted. Long, blonde locks danced with the wind, as the crimson tips shined in the moonlight through the treetops. Dropping his usual formal attire, he had decided to just dress up like he did during his last days of a Jounin.

'Why did you want to meet here, hun?' That question continued to assault his mind, as he adjusted his crimson jacket, trying to get comfortable. One foot stopped as he heard the rustle of leaves to the side of him, totally ready for anything at this moment.

"Naruto..." Her voice was shaky, with her feet slowly taking her into his sight. "I'm glad you came..." Naruto could see that she was distressed, hell she wouldn't have asked him to come into the forest if she wasn't.

Trying a comforting smile towards her, the blonde rubbed the back of his neck, pushing up some of his longer hair in the back. "Sakura-chan... what's up?"

Still nervous, Sakura went to brush her hair behind her ears, but found that she didn't have her silky pink hair there. It was just braided in the back, making her feel even more uncomfortable. Slender hands pulled the braid over to her front, as she began to play with it, wanting something to do with her fingers. "Naruto-kun..." Hanging her head low, she couldn't seem to find the voice that she needed. Even though she had practiced and practiced the whole speech in her head, looking at him now, she lost it; she lost everything.

Seeing that she was still very uncomfortable, Naruto blinked for a moment, before he moved one of his tanned hands to brush along her cheek. "Sakura-chan... why'd you call me here.. after a year?" His eyes seemed to entrance her just a bit, the three swirling colors that made them up twirled around more.

"A year..?" Closing her eyes, she sighed. "To think.. it's been a year already..." 'Damnit Sakura.. just tell him!' She continued to tell herself that, as her hand moved Naruto's away. The other hand fished around in her jacket, before she found what she was looking for.

Pulling it out, she produced her hitae-ate, holding it out to Naruto. His tanned hands grasped around it, as he stared confusingly at Sakura. "Sakura-chan.. what is this?"

"Naruto-san... I... I am asking that I leave from Konohagakure, and relinquish my ninja status as a Leaf Nin." As she spoke, her eyes softened, letting the sadness held back within them creep out. "I.. have found myself with a following.. since I left with Tsunade. Missing nins from all the countries, to which I've helped. I didn't care if they were enemies or allies, they needed help." Clearing her throat, she stared at Naruto. "So... I am going to stay with them, and keep them together."

The blonde could only stare at her, as the hitae-ate dropped from his shaking hands, his distressed countenance could be seen clearly. "S-Sakura-chan..." But before he could totally break down into tears, his head hung low, long blonde locks hiding his eyes.

"I.. have only one thing to say about that." His voice was cold, something that he learned from Sasuke long ago. "How can I believe that if you go with these missing nins, that you won't reveal secrets of Konohagakure? You are and were a vital part of the village, and you do know my weaknesses as well as most of the high-ranking officers of ANBU. So.. how will I know that you aren't going to be a trait--"

A slap echoed through the forest, as Sakura glared at Naruto, her hand still hovering near his face. His vision now fixated on a different part, just staring in awe at what she did. "Naruto! How dare you think that I will become a traitor towards Konohagakure! I'm just separating myself from the village... so that I can lead these nins."

Naruto began to chuckle lightly, before he stared back at her, a smile staying on his face. "That's.. the Sakura-chan I know." He laughed a bit more, before putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know you wouldn't become a threat to Konohagakure, I just..I just wanted to see your old self instead of this nervous woman that was before me."

"Oh you..." She shook a fist at him, still glaring, before her mood lightened. "Naruto..." Shaking her head, she chuckled a bit. "Well now that that is out of the way... I'm going to request something else, that my village and Konohagakure be allies, for I hold no grudge against the village, and wish to have aid."

His eyes twinkled a bit before he nodded. "Well, I don't know..." Tapping a finger to his lips, he made it look like he was thinking, before he laughed again. Bending down to pick up the hitae-ate, he took out a kunai. "I believe that can be arranged, Sakura-chan."

"Naruto.. what are you doing?"

Naruto could only smile at her, as he etched an 'X' to the right of the Leaf symbol. "I'm sealing the contract... The mark of the Rokudaime Hokage." Holding it out towards her, he placed it in her hands, smiling again. "Keep it, think of it as a contract... and a memento of our old Genin days."

She could only blush, before her fingers closed over it. "Arigato... Naruto-kun." She sighed a bit, feeling relieved that he took this all well. 'It is Naruto after all... Why wouldn't he?' "So.. What has been up since you became the Rokudaime?" Her voice was stronger than before, as she stared into his eyes, seeing them still twinkle.

"Well..." He rubbed the back of his head. "A lot... Aside from the multiple attempts at my life, cause you know its a two for one deal now, a tailed-beast AND a Hokage all rolled in one, a lot of our old gang has become the strongest nins in Konohagakure." Walking over to a tree, he leaned against it, feeling relieved that she was relieved.

Taking this opportunity to relax as well, Sakura moved to a stump and sat down, listening to her former teammate. "Really?"

Naruto nodded to her. "But before I go into details... How has Tsunade been?"

Her eyes flashed a moment, as she stared at him. "Well after she had to give her position to you 'cause of her gambling debts, she took me away to teach me more. But, after a while, she just gave me a scroll and told me to teach myself, and she just sort of disappeared... I assumed she went back to Konohagakure." Wavering a bit, she let her concern come over her voice. "She didn't, did she?"

"Um..." He started. "No.. she didn't... Where would she have gone?" Realizing that the thought would only worry Sakura more, he decided to try and comfort her. "She's probably with the Raikage..."

"Raikage?"

Laughing a bit, he stared at her. "You haven't heard all the rumors surrounding the Legendary Sannin have you? When we heard about them first.. there were only three... But now.. there’s seven." He chuckled. "And one of them became the Raikage... Jiraiya."


"Jiraiya? The Raikage?" She started to laugh with him. "How the hell did he manage that?"

Naruto smirked. "With the help of the fourth Sannin... our former sensei, Kakashi."

She blinked. "Kakashi's a Sannin? Let me guess... I heard about me being called a Sannin, but I didn't believe it, but I'm thinking the last three Sannin is Team 7, right?"

"Hai..." Naruto couldn't supress the grin. "But Kakashi became a Sannin after doing the impossible. He united the quarreling hidden villages of the Earth and Lightning Countries, and instated, well forced, Jiraiya to become the Raikage to help ease the transition of fighting into peace."

"Seriously though... Are they just calling any one a Sannin now a days?" She smirked at him. "I mean.. Kakashi?"

The blonde chuckled again. "Well.. you probably haven't seen him recently. But damn is he powerful. Hell, he still trumps me in power." Another fox grin crossed his face. "And yet I still surpass Jiraiya, as you do Tsunade..." His voice drifted away for a moment, as the thought of their third teammate came back.

"What's up Naruto?" She asked concerned about him.

"Sasuke..." He sighed. "He truly is deserving of the title, you know..."

"Oh..." Silence followed a bit afterwards, before Naruto spoke up again.

"Have you heard of the rumors of the missing nins revolting?" He hoped it wasn't a touchy subject.

Shaking her head, she blinked at him. "Why? What's going on with it?"

Taking in a deep breath, Naruto stared at her with worried eyes. "There have been reports that the villages have been attacked by renegade missing nins."

"That's normal..."

"Not in the waves they do it in. Sakura.. this is all too elaborate to be just a coincidence. The other kages and myself have started to worry about it... And then there's..." Cutting himself off, he realized that he was starting to reveal a bit too much.

Standing back up again, she walked over to Naruto, seeing how distressed he was. 'This... this isn't the same Naruto I knew... No.. He's too serious.. Too.. mature..' "Naruto... what else?"

Closing his eyes, he breathed in again. "...There's the recent sightings of Sasuke near the borders of Konohagakure...."

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Yeah... I've even seen him..." His eyes opened again, showing his distant gazing.

She placed her hand no his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "You did..?" She was stunned at it, as was he. "What.. happened?"

Moving one of his tanned hands onto her shoulder, he frowned. "He proved my theory of everything being orchestrated... He told me that there was a person who wanted to destroy the five countries, and rebuild on them.. and that he was apart of the person's army to go against the nations."

"My god..." Her other hand covered her mouth, as she stared at him. Sakura couldn't believe what Naruto had just told her, nor could she believe Sasuke's still defection. "Wait.. wasn't Sasuke-kun with Orochimaru?"

"He was... then a few years ago he broke away from the man... I don't think he wishes his brother dead anymore either. In his eyes, I saw a lust for more than just one death.. I saw multiple deaths."

Sakura sighed and fell forward into Naruto's stomach, his hands wrapping around her unconsciously. "But.. why?"

"I don't know, Sakura-chan.. I don't know..." He sighed and just held her close. "But I don't want you to worry about it, there are other things that you should be concerned with."

She didn't respond to him, as she just stayed in his grasp, breathing in and out slowly.

He gaze stared off towards the woods behind her. "I know what can get your mind off of this all... I want to take you to Konohagakure for one last night out.. and we can talk about what everyone's been up to..."

Looking up at Naruto, she couldn't help but smile. Here was the Naruto that she had been a friend with so long ago, and yet he had matured so much. He became a greater man than she ever could imagine. "Really? But.. isn't like the majority of the town closed at night?"

Naruto looked down towards Sakura's teal eyes, smiling. "When you're with the Hokage, you find out that there is never anything closed, Sakura-chan." A smirked crossed his lips, as he leaned his face towards hers, seeing the stunned look that she had. Lips brushed lips, Naruto closing his eyes as he kissed Sakura.

A slight slap knocked him away, as Sakura took on the angry look again, letting him know he did wrong once more. "NARUTO!" She screamed. "HOW DARE YO--"

"Calm down Sakura.. I had a once in a life time opportunity and I took it."

"Next time.. ask!" She snarled back at him, though slightly amused by the situation.

He laughed, as his arms kept her close still. "Hold on tight, Sakura-chan.. Because I'm going to get us to the village in no time."

"Huh?" Sakura was confused as to what the blonde meant, but as his grasp tightened, she felt the wind around them start to speed up. "NARUTO!?" She screamed, as he winked out from the forest.

Her eyes had closed, afraid of whatever was happening, but his chuckling had drawn her out of him. "Sakura.. we're here.." He cooed slightly.

Sakura stared around, looking in awe at the fact that they weren't in the middle of the woods anymore, but at the gate to Konohagakure. "Naruto..? How?"

"I'll tell you over some ramen, ok?" He smiled, before walking a bit, letting his hold on her end. "Come on.. let's have some ramen!"

'That's the Naruto I know...' She chuckled at the thought, before she ran to catch up with him, slowing down to stay at a steady pace with the changed Naruto.

His swirling eyes focused on the sky, watching the stars twinkle and shine. 'This may all be a trivial wish, but let it happen. Let everything go through... For one last time...'

"What are you thinkin' 'bout, Naruto-kun?" Her voice was quiet, as to not disturb the peaceful whispers of the wind. Teal eyes scanned his new body, finally seeing it in the total moonlight. He had grown just a bit taller since she had last seen him, and his hair had grown as well. The jacket he wore wasn't standard of a Hokage, but that of what he used to wear when they went on missions as Jounins, though they were never paired up together.

The only thing that struck her hard was the symbol on the back of his jacket. Even rippled by his walking, she could make out what it was, the Kyuubi's seal. "And... what happened to you?"

His head rocked over to her for a moment, as a grin still stayed there. "As I said, I'll talk about it when we get to Ichiraku's, but before then, just enjoy the moonlight above us." Naruto's swirling eyes stared back up at the stars, as he just smiled, enjoying this moment as if it was his last.

Pushing away thoughts of everything else, his eyes transfixed themselves on the stand they were closing in on. Naruto's feet pushed faster, wanting to at least get some ramen before he'd have to explain everything to Sakura. "Oi oi.. Hurry up, Sakura-chan." He hollered back, as he jogged to the stand, leaving Sakura just dumbfounded.

"Dobe..." She muttered, as she ran towards him, finding herself next to the Hokage, standing by a stool.

"Oi.. old man.. You there?"

A woman moved the flap from the back, and stood in front of them. "You know, my pops is sleeping, Hokage-sama." She giggled slightly, before putting the towel she had been using to dry her hands on the counter. "So.. where ya been, you know business has been kinda low since you stopped coming here daily."

Naruto laughed nervously, smiling at her. "Well ya know being the Hokage and all is busy work, not like I thought it would be." Even with his eyes slightly squinted, he couldn't hold back the shimmer within them, of tears he forced back. "Oi.. can we have two bowls of Miso Ramen?"

"Sure, Hokage-sama... Though you will have to pay this time." She giggled as she made her way towards the pot. "Not like the last time you came here."

Nodding to her, Naruto looked over to Sakura, who had situated herself on a stool. "So.. What do you want to know first, Sakura-chan?"

A multitude of thoughts strained her mind, each one wanting to come out all at the same time, but one stood out more. "Why... why do you look so different, Naruto-kun?"

He looked over at the woman who helped run Ichiraku's with her father, and saw that she was over the boiling pot, having the water drown out his voice just enough. "You haven't sensed it, have you?"

"Sensed what?"

"The change in me..." He smiled at her. "Of all people, I'd thought you would have sensed the difference in my chakra by now." Opening his eyes widely at her, he moved one of his tanned hands over to it, so that she could see what he was talking about. "I've merged with the Kyuubi, Sakura.. And because of that I have developed differences. One being in my eyes, they are constantly swirling like the Sharingan, but they don't possess anything of power, or at least anything that I can figure out as of yet."

He relaxed his eyes, and chuckled. "So you see, I'm no longer a body with a demon and a human inside of it, I am perfectly a youkai."

Sakura stared at him even more, looking up and down his frame, nodding to him silently. "You.. merged with the Kyuubi? H-How?" Her eyes went wide, as she covered her mouth, something else clicking inside of her head. "The... demon Sannin.. you're.. him aren't you..."

Nodding solemnly, Naruto sighed. "Yeah... That rumor started to get around about the time I had to deal with Orochimaru three months ago. And how did it happen? Thank Kabuto and the other Sound nins for it. They almost killed the Kyuubi and me; the only way we even survived was by using an attack that started to shatter our seals. Houseki... That attack was born of us split, and began to merge us together."

Holding up his right hand, he stared at it in awe. "Funny how things turn out, ne?"

"Here's your order of ramen, Hokage-sama."

Naruto laughed. "How many times have I told you guys, you can just call me Naruto." He smiled at the woman, before holding a bowl over to Sakura. "Anyways.. have some Ramen, enjoy tonight." 'As if there was no tomorrow Sakura... As if there was no tomorrow.'

She nodded, before moving the bowl in front of her. Sakura's glance was at Naruto for a few moments, until he broke his chopsticks. "Itadekimasu!" The blonde giggled a bit, as he looked back at her.

"Itadekimasu, Naruto-kun." Splitting her own chopsticks, she began to eat the ramen in front of her slowly. Occasionally, she looked over at her friend, noticing that he was taking slow and meticulous bites, as if trying to prolong this.

'Tonight... It all begins tonight.' His hands moved slowly and surely, taking the noodles into his mouth with such dignity, that Sakura had started to doubt that this was the same Naruto that she was friends with. Those eyes gazed off into nothingness, thinking back and forth of the multitude of the events that were happening.

After a few more moments of silence, Naruto placed his chopsticks down into the bowl, though it still contained ramen in it. "Sakura-chan... finish up soon." He said distantly, before placing some money on the counter. "We.. we need to go to one place to talk privately."

Sticking his hands into his pockets, he began to walk out into the street, not even waiting for Sakura to finish her last few bites. She hurried next to him, confused and concerned about why he was acting differently. "Naruto-kun..."

"Save it for when we get there... The walls.. they have ears..." His eyes stared at the dirt road beneath his feet, as he walked seemingly by heart. She quieted down, figuring that he would reveal it in due time, her own strides staying a little bit behind Naruto.

"Oi oi oi..." Naruto mumbled underneath is breath, his feet turning around the corner sharply, as if i was an old daily habit he had done millions of times before. The dirt within his gaze was familiar, the smell was familiar; everything was just as it was when he last went into this part of the village. "We're almost there..."

Her teal eyes looked around the street, trying to get a sense of where they were going, though she kept quiet so that she wouldn't have to worry about Naruto going away from her, not on her last night in Konohagakure.

"We're here." Naruto stopped, as his hands pushed open the wooden door in front of him. "A place where no one would suspect we would be." A slight distant chuckle escaped his lips, as he stepped into the familiar building.

"Your.. old apartment?" She questioned quietly, staying a step behind him, only noticing that he was on the bed when her eyes went to try and find him. She watched him nod, and sighed to herself. Her own feet brought her to the bed, before she sat down on it, staring at the open door in front of her. "What is it, Naruto?"

His eyes closed, as he breathed in sharply. "I have a proposition for you, to which you have two choices. I am going on one last mission, with four other ninjas from this village without telling anyone, and I want you to come along." A smile crossed his face, as he opened those twirling eyes. "Either you can come with me, and I'll have arrangements made for your village to be taken care of, or you can stay here near Konohagakure, and take over as temporary Hokage until I get back along with leading your own village."

Sakura blinked at the blonde next to her, wondering when he had started to make demands like that. "Naruto...?"

"I guess.. it's not fair to ask you to go on a mission.. you haven't been briefed about, ne?" Laying back on the bed, he traced the designs in the wood on the ceiling. "My team and I will be going to the Lightning Country to find Jiraiya, to find the location of Kakashi-sannin. When we do find the general area, there would be two teams made from us, one to find Kakashi, the other to talk to the missing nins and such around the country, trying to find out information that would help us." He blinked for a moment, before laughing. "Kakashi-sannin would know how to help us with this all..."

Still staring at the blonde, Sakura ran through the ideas in her head, realizing that even though there was a third option, that was out of the question for Konohagakure would just trample over the missing nins. "I'll.. go with you." She muttered. "Just.. tell me who's coming."

Peering over at her, he smirked. "Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru and Shino." Closing his eyes again, he laughed.

"Oi.. I should tell you their abilities as of now. Hinata and Neji have become stronger with their Byakugan, even able to do a double team jutsu together, as well as more advanced ones. Hinata is one of the top assassins in ANBU, and Neji is a teacher at the academy." Yawning a bit, he stretched out.

"Then there's Shikamaru, who has become one of my best Jounins in the village. Real good sport too. He's begun to learn how to use his shadow techniques to a new level, even creating shadows in places with no light." He laughed. "And Shino, he's one of the ANBU captains, with his own summons now. His bug attacks are constantly being reworked, and well he's managed to surprise me and his clan with his ability to create new techniques." Cracking his neck, he looked over at Sakura. "So.. that's what we will have with our... teams."

Sakura quirked an eyebrow before she leaned over to Naruto. "Don't you think it's kind of stupid to go out with just six people, let alone without giving this knowledge to your citizens?"

He chuckled again, smiling at her. "Well, some things are best done in secret. Less is more, as well as less means less chance of getting caught." Winking at her, he laughed again. "Oh, and I already had preparations in order for your village."

Punching Naruto jokingly in his shoulder, she laughed. "When did you get a brain, Naruto?" He smirked at her. "And when did you plan all of this?"

"When I first became a Hokage, Sakura-chan. I planned on us going on one last mission."

She blinked at him again. "But how'd you--"

"Our luck, Sakura, our luck.. It just seems that things never come out the way they seem." He laughed.

"You're.. really a better leader than I thought you would be." She sighed a bit, before falling backwards on the bed. "A better leader than I could ever be."

Shaking his head, Naruto laughed again. "I didn't plan on it 'coz I'm a leader, I planned on it 'coz I just wanted to. It helped me... wish for something..." His eyes started to dim down, as he let himself relinquish the sadness. "Ever since a year ago.. nothing's... been the same, Sakura-chan... Nothing.. was the same."

"What are you babbling about, Naruto?"

"Nothing... Just nothing.." He forced it back again, before forcing out a fake chuckle. "Though, I'd enjoy this all while you can, we leave at the end of this week."

"WHAT?!"

Naruto nodded, as he sat up. "Yeah, that gives you four days to get ready and all that. And choose two missing nins to go with us, ones that would preferably know the Earth and Lightning countries."

"Naruto..."

"Shh.." He whispered as he stood up. Turning around to bow to her, he leaned over and kissed her hand. "Sakura-chan, enjoy your last night in Konohagakure, ok?"

"N-Naruto..." She stuttered, taking in the respect that he was giving. "W-Where are you going?"

"To relive those days I miss truly. To relive those dreams I once had." He chuckled, walking out the door. Raising a hand up into the air, he waved, before disappearing in a gust of wind. "You can stay at the Tower tonight, Sakura" His voice echoed inside of his old apartment, "I've already informed the guards you'd be by." Another light chuckled echoed before the wind drowned it out.




Appearing upon the five Hokage's heads, Naruto stared out at the moonlit sky, knowing it would be another six hours until sunrise. "Tell me, what do we have to live for?" He laughed a bit to himself. "When we have accomplished everything?"

His calm swirling eyes showed sadness as they stared out at the starry sky, seeing how much had changed within the past few years. No longer was he the reckless Genin, or the goofy Chuunin. Hell he wasn't even the bold Jounin; he was just the Hokage. His strength had surpassed everyone's in the village, and it showed. Even he could feel the new power he had aquired from the merge.

But as the wind crept by making his crimson tipped blonde locks dance, he realized something. That nothing was going to go back to then. Time had slipped between his fingers; the sands had blown away within the changing gusts. His friends had moved on, hell even Sakura had gone her separate way.

All of that began to make his gut swirl, the realization that he was no longer a kid began to set it, as he saw that this was no longer those foolish A-Rank missions, this was an S-Class mission that meant life or death for not only just his team, but for his country and the other countries. For the first time in his life, he felt guilty for bringing Sakura back into this, for bringing everyone back into this mess.

"My.. foolish.. dream.." Knees shook violently, as another gust blew by, bringing the smell of blood to his nose. Usually the smell didn't affect him, but this time it was different. The smell messed with his stomach, swirling it around even more than before. "What.. have I done?" His eyes closed slowly, as sleep began to creep in, those numerous nights he stayed up planning this all had finally caught up with him. Wavering back and forth, his body fell forward, drifting downward off the cliff.




"NARUTO!" The blonde blinked out of his daze as he stared at the fuming pink-haired woman before him. He yawned at her, before stretching.

"What is it Sakura-chan?"

A slam of her fist woke him up suddenly, as she turned him around to see the Sound nins ganging up on them. "THATS WHAT!!"

"Oh shit.." He muttered as he pushed his hands down towards his kunai pack, slipping both of them in shakingly to grab a pair of kunai. "SAKURA!" He shouted, looking behind the pink-haired woman, seeing the fact that there were two Sound nin there. "WATCH OUT!" Pulling his hands out, he thrusted the kunai by her head, connecting to both of the nins, making his teammate blink at him.

"YOU IDIOT!" She screamed at him, before running past the blonde to connect with another Sound nin. "DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN! OR I WILL KILL YOU, NARUTO!"

He gulped and nodded, pulling out another kunai. 'I'm suppose to be a damn Chuunin.. why am I scared?' He muttered to himself, realizing that he shouldn't be afraid at his level. "Seal of the Eight Stars!" Moving the kunai around quickly between his fingers, he molded his chakra towards it, before thrusting the kunai towards another Sound nin, watching as the blue chakra held the man down with just one blade.

She shook her head at Naruto, sighing silently to herself. "What an idiot... wasting chakra like that.."

"Well I'm sorry..." He snorted back, looking around a bit. But as he did, he felt a hand slam into the back of his neck, his eyes bulging a bit before they settled behind his eyelids. "Wha.." He muttered out.

"Leave them..." The voice, he knew the voice, but from who? Those thoughts left him as the swirling blackness took over.





He could hear the sound of the tides, rushing in and out. But if he remembered correctly, he was on top of the Hokage Cliff. Naruto tried to open up his eyes, but they felt to heavy to even move. Even shifting his body seemed hard to do.

"Don't move." It was the same voice as before, and it still seemed familiar. "You're hurt pretty badly, Naruto..."

'They know my name?' "W-Who are you?" His voice croaked, as he moved a bit more, feeling the dull pain in his back and chest. "A-And w-what happ-ppened..."

"I said don't move, idiot." The voice snorted at him, before he felt his body being positioned again into the uncomfortable but medical practiced way. "And who I am.. isn't important now... You fell off the cliff, idiot.. Whatever you were doing there was beyond me, but being Hokage, you should have been able to not get yourself hurt."

'Who the hell is this?' Naruto could only let out a groan as he tried to open his eyes again, still feeling the weight on them. "W-Why can't I open my eyes?"

A sigh crossed his ears, as he felt breathing on his face. "Because.. Your body is weak." The sound of the waves rolled over all the other sounds, drowning out Naruto's thoughts, making him drift back into his black haze.




Those words continued to ring through to him in the darkness. Echoing around him, like ripples in a stream. Feeling himself falling just a bit, Naruto began to wonder how he could be falling in the darkness, or even how he could be moving from his injuries.

Yet, just as the falling started, he felt his feet touch the ground softly, making him stand up on nothing. The words still rang around, but now it seemed that when they did echo, they would cause a small ripple around him. "I'm weak?" He laughed a bit, "I began to wish, and within those wishes, I saw that I was weak..."

'That's not true.' Another voice came through, making Naruto look over his shoulder. 'Wishes come true in one way or another, and most aren't made from weak people.' Blinking at the figure that started to appear behidn him, Naruto felt his anger rising. Who was this to tell him that what he believed wasn't right?

"What do you know about it?" Naruto couldn't hold back the daggers in his voice. "It's not like you know what I wanted.."

The now present man chuckled at Naruto, though his back was to him, though his ruffled blonde hair shined brightly in the darkness. 'You still have a lot to learn, Uzumaki.' He just stood there, facing away from Naruto, staring into the unending darkness. 'So much vigor and strength, yet the lack of knowledge is what holds you back.'

"HOW DARE YOU! I'M THE HOKAGE!" Blinking just once, Naruto found himself behind the much larger blonde man, though his hands wouldn't move.

Shaking his head, the man just smirked, before looking back at Naruto, his eyes just as blue as Naruto's was. 'You still are that Genin, always wishing for that harder mission, Uzumaki.' Nervousness started to crawl up Naruto's spine as he listened to the other blonde. 'And though you strive for that wish, you won't figure out the meaning of them all.'

Blinking again, he found himself again away from the older blonde. "Them all?"

The man chuckled again. 'You will find out... though you won't be happy then. It's true, you don't know what you have, till you lose it, Uzumaki.' That grin never left the man's face, as he turned back towards the darkness once more. 'Houseki ni kuromizu... The jewel amidst the black waters.' He chuckled once more, the man started to move away from Naruto, his body phasing in and out further and further away. 'You still don't understand what even the Kyuubi tried to show you.'

"WAIT!" Finding the ability to move his arms again, he grabbed towards teh man. "COME BACK!"

'I can't, Uzumaki... It's your road now, take it as you please.' With that, the man faded away, leaving Naruto alone in his darkness once more.

Falling to his knees, Naruto felt defeated. Even in the darkness with the crashing waves he was outsmarted. Once again, he could hear the chatter of people around him, ignoring him while they went on their way. "Don't leave..."

But the roaring of the waves brought him back again, along with the feeling of being moved away from the waves. Just as the darkness almost blinked out, Naruto found himself back within the black haze, stunned to what was going on.




Naruto groaned out once more, feeling himself drawn out of his sleep by the sudden feeling of falling again. "Hello?" He managed to get out in a slightly less raspy voice. "Are you still there?"

"Hai, Naruto..." The voice seemed distant though, as if the person who had it, were currently in their own world.

His eye seemed to lighten just a little bit, letting him see the light blue fuzzy sky above him. "Ugh.. where am I?"

"Back near the Hokage Cliff…"

"I thought that there were waves nearby…"

A grunt escaped from the person's lips. "There were waves. I took you away from here for a little while, idiot.”

Groaning again, Naruto began to push his body up, feeling less pain than before. Finally resting on his elbows, he tried to stare at the person who had brought him here and apparently had taken care of him and his injuries.

Through blurry eyes, he started to notice that the voice came from a man; the overall countenance Naruto couldn't put a total finger on it. "Oi.. do I look as terrible as I feel?"

"Hai.." He could see the man staring at him, as he tried to blink out the fuzziness of the image, starting to focus on the man.

"...!!!..." Stunned beyond belief, Naruto fell a bit backwards onto his back, eliciting him to wince. "Why the hell did you help me?"

A sickened grin crossed the man's face, as he waited for the blonde to acknowledge him. "Why do you ask?"

"BECAUSE Itachi.. you want my demon, and yet, I don't see myself in any cave or anything like that, so what the hell is up?"

Itachi could only laugh at the blonde's attempt at anger even amidst his pain. "You remind me so much of my dimwitted brother, you know... As for helping you.. Thank my brother for that... He said to keep a watch on you.. so I did..."

Trying to make sense of the situation, Naruto just laid there, staring up at the sky above him and at the clouds that passed by. They always seemed so peaceful within their constantly changing currents, slipping by unscathed even by time itself. 'Oi.. What the hell is going on...' "Why would Sasuke tell you to watch over me.. and why the hell aren't you two at each other's throats?"

"Petty squabbles, Naruto.. And he wanted to keep you alive, Naruto. So that he could face you one last time." Itachi could only laugh a bit. "Guess you should know. Akatsuki has broken up, we pretty much disbanded after the incident with Sound and Sand. So.. consider me a rogue nin just wandering around minding his own business."

"I still don't trust you..."

Itachi laughed. "And if I wanted you dead, don't you think I had all the opportunity to do that, and yet you are still living and breathing at this moment, ne?"

Shaking his head, Naruto could only sight, here he was in the hands of one of Konohagakure's S-Class missing nins, and yet the dude didn't want to hurt him. "...Did anyone see you?"

"No..."

Silence followed, as Naruto tried to make sense of everything. Earlier he had been talking with Sakura about what they were going to do, and now he was just laying here, apparently injured just a small bit from a fall.

"I know of your plan, Naruto." His eyes flashed. "I know about everything." Naruto's calm countenance changed to being worried about what Itachi knew. "And that was why I was asked by Sasuke to look after you.." He chucked, almost mocking the blonde, as he straightened himself, cracking his neck and back in the process.

Closing his eyes, Naruto sighed. "I see.. I guess that everything can't be a secret, now can it?"

"Don't be so foolish, Naruto. Be careful what you wish for."

Within the darkness again, Naruto could feel himself being entranced by the waves once more, comforting him, consoling him. And yet, in that light haze of clarity and calmness, only one thing could be heard.

"Don't be so foolish, Naruto. Be careful what you wish for."
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