Naruto:A New Path

Return to Konoha

Murmurs were heard all throughout Konoha. Many villagers glanced at the group of ninja walking through the village. There were mixed emotions and different rumors going around. Some people were glad to see that Naruto was okay and wondered if it had been Jiraiya and Tsunade who had protected the blond from Itachi. Other villagers couldn't care less about Naruto and wondered why Tsunade had come back to the village, they were happy, regardless, since it meant that their village would be a lot more safe with the presence of a legendary ninja.
"I thought we were going to the hospital," Naruto said with a small frown on his face. They had only arrived to the village a few minutes ago and he planned on going to the hospital before anything else. Some of his friends were still hurt from the Chunin Exams.
"We will," Tsunade responded with a nod, "But we have to report to the Hokage first since I can't just walk into a hospital and start treating its patients as if I own the place."
Naruto crossed his arms and huffed. "I guess you're right," he responded with a smile making its way to his face, "Besides, I have to tell the old man how good I did on my first mission as a Chunin."
"You did have my help," Jiraiya said with a smirk on his face, "I doubt that you would have been successful if it hadn't been for me."
Naruto simply crossed his arms and looked away, knowing his master was right. He looked around the street and found that they were subjects to many stares of curiosity. It was a little weird that he wasn't getting any hateful looks but he assumed it was because of who was with him. He looked at his companions and grinned slightly, they were legendary ninja that everyone loved and respected and he knew that they didn't get strong for any selfish needs. It had been a dream of his to be acknowledged but it wasn't until a few days ago that he fully comprehended that it was a rather selfish dream. That dream had changed into something more meaningful that wouldn't change with any amount of time.
"We're here," Tsunade said with a small smile, finding it a little nostalgic to be standing before the Hokage's office. It looked exactly the same since she had left the village.
"Let's go," Jiraiya said as the four ninja entered the building. The receptionist gave them a quick glance before her eyes widened and gave a quick bow.
"Who's she bowing to, Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked his master.
Jiraiya sighed and shook his head, his student was really clueless at times. "Don't worry about it for now Naruto. Let's go see the Hokage," the sage gave a nod to the receptionist before ascending the stairs of the building.
After a few minutes the group was standing before the door that led to the Hokage's office. Shizune walked ahead of the group since she knew that none of them would show any level of politeness, and knocked on the door.
"Enter," came the Third's voice from his office.
Shizune sighed in relief, and looked at her companions. They were unusually quiet but she was happy that they were behaving, sometimes she felt as if she was the only responsible one on the group. She opened the door to the room and entered with a polite smile on her face.
"Hey old man!" Naruto and Jiraiya said right after entering the room. Shizune sighed, knowing that nothing would ever change those two.
Sarutobi smiled. "I take it your mission was a success?" Receiving a grin from Naruto, the Third nodded and gave Tsunade a smile, "It's good to see you again Tsunade."
"I never thought I would say this but it's good to be back," she responded with a smile.
The Third nodded with a smile on his face before taking out a couple of scrolls. "I've already prepared the documents that will let you become the head of the medical team," he explained with his pipe on his mouth, "It will only take a few days but you're welcome to work in the hospital whenever you want."
"I'll keep that in mind," Tsunade said with a smile.
"Now I need to speak to Jiraiya alone, I hope you don't mind," Sarutobi stated in a polite tone.
Naruto grinned at the Hokage. "Don't worry about it old man," he responded with a smile on his face, "Granny Tsunade and I have to go to the hospital anyway."
Tsunade growled at the nickname but didn't voice her opinion on the matter. "We'll be leaving now," she stated before giving a last look to Sarutobi, "It was good to see you again sensei."
The Third nodded with a smile as he watched the three ninja leave his office. He turned to Jiraiya who had a look of seriousness on his face. "I take it you have a lead on them?" Sarutobi asked.
Jiraiya nodded. "I'll probably be gone a little longer than I first thought," the sage explained as he crossed his arms, "I think that I'll be gone about two months at most but as soon as I get back I'm taking Naruto with me."
"Very well," the Third said with a nod. He let out a little smoke from his pipe and gave Jiraiya a serious look, "What happened to Naruto during the mission? He seems a little different than usual."
"He had to kill on this mission," Jiraiya responded, "He's dealing with it the same way Minato did but I'm sure he'll come around soon."
Naruto walked through the hospital with a frown. Tsunade had gone to meet some of the supervisors of the hospital with Shizune in tow. He had been okay with that since Tsunade had to take care of priorities first. After that he decided to visit Sasuke but on the way there he ran into Asuma. The Jonin didn't have much time to talk since he apparently had a mission but managed to tell Naruto that Kakashi was in the hospital. The blond had done a little digging around and found out that Kakashi had been left in that state by none other than Itachi.
Naruto arrived in front of Sasuke's room and gritted his teeth. Itachi hadn't only hurt Kakashi but Sasuke too and to add salt to the wound, it had happened right in front of him. The blond still needed more training. He wouldn't be able to protect his friends against people like Itachi if he was in his current level and he had to fix that.
The blond opened the door to find the room filled with most of the 'rookie nine.' Sasuke was unconscious in a bed, Sakura sat next to him with worry on her eyes, Choji ate ships near the door, Kiba leaned against a wall with an impassive look on his face, Shino stood in a corner with his gaze going around the room and finally Ino sat near Sakura.
"Hey," Naruto muttered in surprise at seeing so many people on the room.
Ino quickly turned around, hearing the familiar voice, and smiled. "Naruto!" she exclaimed as she went over to him and pulled him into a hug, "You've been gone too long!"
There was a collective, 'Quiet!' from the group in the room, making Ino break the hug and glare at them.
"What's your problem?" Ino asked with a frown.
"We're in a hospital," Shino responded, "Therefore we need to be quiet as a courtesy to the patients."
Ino had the decency to blush. "I already knew that," she said in a much quiet voice, "I just didn't expect Naruto to arrive so suddenly."
Kiba smirked. "Leave her alone Shino. She was just glad to see her boyfriend again," he teased with Akamaru barking in agreement.
Ino blushed a crimson red and glared at Kiba. "What did you say, mutt?" she growled through gritted teeth. The two broke into an argument that soon involved most of the people in the room, even the quiet Shino had been dragged into the heated argument.
Naruto watched the exchange with a small grin on his face. His friends were really one of a kind. The blond shook his head and sat in an empty chair near Ino, trying to stay out of the argument. Any other day he would have loved to annoy Kiba but he felt a little tired today, it had been a really long mission after all.
"Quiet!" commanded a voice from the door. The group turned around to see Tsunade standing before them with a disapproving gaze, "There's no excuse for being so loud in a hospital."
Naruto grinned at Tsunade. "Are you done healing Kakashi-sensei?" he asked, receiving a nod from Tsunade, "Wow! That was fast Granny Tsunade."
Tsunade twitched at the nickname but dismissed it for now, she had someone to heal at the moment. "Give me some room," she said as she walked towards Sasuke's sleeping form. Ino and Naruto moved out of the way while Sakura stayed glued to her spot, "I said move."
Sakura quickly moved away after hearing the commanding voice of Tsunade. The legendary medic quickly got to work and looked over Sasuke and found that he didn't need much. His body showed no sign of damage and the only problem was his mind being in shock. She simply used her medical jutsu around Sasuke's body before applying pressure on his head.
"There," Tsunade said as she moved away from the Uchiha, "That should do it. He'll wake up soon."
As soon as she said those words Sasuke began to stir before opening his eyes. Tears of joy fell from Sakura's eyes as she went over to the Uchiha and cried on his arm. Naruto could see the discomfort on Sasuke's eyes but didn't mention it since it would probably hurt Sakura. Everyone went around Sasuke's bed asking him questions about how he had gotten hurt and how he felt, though Shino just stood near the bed without saying a word.
Tsunade walked to Naruto and gave him a small smile. "He'll be fine now," she explained with her arms crossed, looking at the happy group of Genin around Sasuke, "Shouldn't you be with them?"
Naruto shook his head. "I have some stuff to do," he answered, "Thank you for healing him."
"It's what I do," Tsunade responded.
"What do you plan on doing now Kakashi?" Gai asked. He had arrived before Tsunade and had witnessed how the legendary medic healed his rival. Kakashi had been quiet ever since he woke up and that only meant that he was in deep thought.
"Nothing as of now," Kakashi responded in a serious tone, "If the Akatsuki have members like Itachi then I'll have to get stronger."
Gai nodded at his rival. "Training to protect your students is always youthful," he raised a thumb at Kakashi with a smile on his face.
"Right now Jiraiya is doing all he can to gather information but we already know how terrible they can be," Kakashi explained.
"What do you mean?' Gai asked with confusion written on his face.
"Think about it," Kakashi began, "If Itachi is part of the Akatsuki then that means that whoever the leader is, he or she has to be in a whole other level than him. Worst case scenario, they're even stronger than the three Sanin."
"Then I will train even harder than before! I will also protect everyone from the Akatsuki and if I can't, I'll do a thousand push-ups with a boulder on my back using only one hand!" Gai declared with a smile on his face before pointing at Kakashi, "I will challenge you even more than before and we'll become a lot stronger in no time."
Kakashi sweat dropped, 'Just what did I get myself thrown into?'
Naruto sat on top of the Hokage Monument with a frown on his face. The blond was a little upset at being ignored by everyone in the hospital room but he dismissed it for now. They had been happy to have Sasuke back and it was obvious that they would want to talk to him. He didn't really blame his friends for it.
The blond was in fact a little surprised with himself at the moment. Back in the hospital, after witnessing Sakura cry for Sasuke, he half-expected himself to be saddened about it but now that he thought about it, he didn't really feel anything after witnessing it, he assumed that his crush for the pink-haired kunoichi was gone. Naruto sighed as he gazed at the village, he felt tired from his long mission, not physically tired but mentally. The things he had done weighed heavily on him since he still somewhat regretted killing those Sound ninja, he felt as if it hand't been completely necessary to kill them.
"There you are," came a sweet voice behind him. Naruto turned around and his eyes widened when he saw Ino walking over to him with a smile on her face.
"What are you doing here all alone?" Ino asked as she took a seat next to the blond.
Naruto turned his gaze to the village and sighed. "I guess I just didn't feel like being around so many people," he admitted with a little regret on his voice, "I'd rather take it easy for now."
Ino looked at Naruto in sadness. His eyes had changed, the sparkle of innocence and mischief was gone, replaced with regret and pain. "What happened on your mission?" she asked in concern.
"I don't want to talk about it," Naruto muttered with his gaze never leaving the village.
"Naruto…" Ino sighed out in sadness.
Naruto gave Ino a quick glance before turning back to the village. "Why don't you go visit Sasuke?" he asked a little harsher than he intended. The blond ran a hand through his hair and gave Ino a small smile, "I'll be alright on my own."
Ino shook her head. "You're more important than him," she whispered loud enough for Naruto to hear. The blond's eyes widened and he looked at Ino in surprise, "Something happened on your mission, something that is hurting you. Didn't I tell you that I would help you with your pain? That was a promise I made myself that day. I promised that no matter what happened, I would always be there for you."
Naruto smiled at Ino with some tears forming on his eyes, the feeling of regret was coming back to him. He rested his back on the ground, watching the clouds floating up above. "Something did happen," the blond admitted, "I had to do something I always hoped to avoid."
Ino took hold of Naruto's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "What happened?" she asked in concern, hoping to know what was hurting her friend, "You'll feel better if you tell me."
"I had to kill," Naruto said in a cold voice. Ino looked at Naruto in shock, she had never seen the blond as someone who would take a life but they were ninja. Ninja were supposed to kill, for all she knew everyone of her friends had probably killed before.
"We're ninja Naruto. It's what we do," she responded with sadness on her voice.
Naruto nodded. "I know that," he said with a frown, "I kept telling myself that. Even before it happened I knew that I would end up killing someone at some point but it wasn't until I killed that something inside of me snapped. I had killed a Sound ninja and it had been incredibly easy, he had no time to even see me before I took his life."
Ino only listened. Naruto was emptying his heart from the guilt he felt and she could only be there for him at the moment. She would let him spill every single emotion he had oppressed from the mission and would help him get through this.
"I felt like a murderer," Naruto said through gritted teeth, "There was a time when I was actually looking forward to it. I felt strong, like nothing could hurt me but when I caught wind of what I was thinking, I felt like a murderer, no better than the people I was killing."
"But that isn't really you," Ino argued with tears welling up in her eyes, "You just said that you regretted ever thinking that. That means that you're still you. Asuma-sensei once told us that it was hard to take a life but that it was even harder to go back to being your normal self."
Naruto thought over Ino's word carefully. She was right, he wasn't a mindless murderer since he felt bad about having done it. He knew that he would always hate killing but knew that it was in order to maintain peace. The only thing he hoped for was to have Ino there to help him get through it.
"You're right," Naruto responded with a smile, "I know I'm still not back to normal but i promise that I'll try."
Ino smiled back before standing up and offering her hand to Naruto. "Come on, let's go out!" she ordered with a smile, "And you better drop that gloomy attitude of yours or I won't take you with me."
Naruto's mouth slowly turned into a grin before taking Ino's hand and standing back up. "You got it," he responded with a smile before scratching the back of his head, "Do you mind going to Ichiraku's with me? I haven't really had ramen for a while."
"Fine," Ino said with a small smile, "We'll eat there since we're celebrating your return to the village."
"Let's go," Naruto said with a toothy grin. With that the two left the monument. Naruto was feeling much better thanks to Ino while she was glad to have the blond beginning to be his normal self. She was also glad to spend more time with him, it had been a while since they had last seen each other and the two were glad to be going out together again.
Ibiki walked through the hallways of the Hokage's office building. He was making his way to the Hokage's office since he had some information on Sound. Kakashi had captured the two Sound ninja brothers, Ukon and Sakon, and he had finally made them crack. It hadn't been easy since Orochimaru had probably taught them how to keep their mouth shut but he had finally done it.
Ibiki knocked on the door of the Hokage's office with a paper on hand. "Enter," came the voice of the elderly man. Ibiki entered the door to see Sarutobi going through a rather large amount of paperwork, "What brings you here Ibiki?"
"Lord Hokage," Ibiki said with a light bow before handing the Hokage the paper he had had on hand, "That is a report on what we got out of the two Sound prisoners. They told us some of the locations of Orochimaru's bases but they are only a few."
"What else?" The Third asked while skimming through the report.
"It appears that the two brothers were part of what Orochimaru called 'The Sound Four.' Ukon and Sakon were given control of one base and many smaller ones though they have no idea of the locations of any other bases even though they know there's more," Ibiki explained, "I've taken the liberty of displaying the bases where Orochimaru most likely is."
The Third nodded in understanding. This was very important information that would need his immediate attention. He had to send teams to the bases fast since it had been almost a month since Orochimaru's attack and he didn't want the trail to get cold. The bad thing was that many Jonin were out on missions and he couldn't spare many Chunin. He went over ideas on his head and decided to send Jonins with Chunin subordinates to the bases were Orochimaru most likely was while sending Chunins with Genin squads to the less dangerous bases.
"Thank you for the information Ibiki, you may leave," the Third said with a nod, dismissing the scarred Jonin. Ibiki gave a light bow before leaving the office, leaving the Third to think of who to send.
Sarutobi went over teams on his head. As of now, he only had Gai and Kurenai on the village with a limited amount of Chunin since most of them were still reconstructing the village. Gai could go with a Chunin squad with Kurenai doing the same by the next day. That would only leave the Chunin teams. He decided on assigning a few Chunin teams for the task and would summon them to his office for the details. The teams would all leave by the next day, they had no time to lose.
"Gross Naruto!" Ino exclaimed as she watched as Naruto gulped ramen down his throat with gusto.
The blond grinned as he set a bowl down on the stall. "That hit the spot," Naruto declared with a satisfied smile. He turned to Ino and flashed her a grin, "Don't complain Ino, you like ramen just as much as I do."
Ino huffed and crossed her arms. "But I still eat decently," she explained, "You just gulp it down and get it all over your mouth and clothes."
Naruto sighed knowing that when he argued with Ino, she would always have the last word. "Fine I'll watch how I eat from now on, happy?" the blond said with a frown on his face.
"Very," Ino said with a smile on her face, clearly happy about making Naruto see his mistakes, "Let's get going, we still have time to look around before it gets dark."
Naruto nodded and set his money on the stall. "Thanks for the food Ayame, tell Teuchi to get better soon!" The blond said as he turned to leave.
"Will do!" came Ayame's voice from inside Ichiraku's.
The two blonds left the ramen stand to walk around the village for a little while longer. The sun was already starting to set which meant they had about an hour until Ino had to go back home. Naruto would usually walk her home before leaving for his apartment since she had once told him that it was what a gentleman should do.
"What's a messenger bird doing here?" Ino asked Naruto. The blond turned towards the sky to see a bird flying towards them with a letter on its beak.
The bird landed on Naruto's shoulder and moved the letter up and down, motioning the blond to take the letter. The blond took the letter in hand and the bird flew off before disappearing in the distance. He then opened the letter and began to read its contents.
Ino watched Naruto read and got a worried look on her face when she saw him frown. "What's wrong?" she asked, "Don't tell me you already have a new mission?"
Naruto smiled sadly and put the letter away. "I'm afraid so," he muttered with a sigh, "There's some of the Sound's bases that need to be dealt with. I assume I have to go to one of those bases but there's not many details here except for the teams and tasks."
Ino frowned. It wasn't fair that Naruto just got back and they were already taking him away from her. He hadn't even been on the village for a full day and he was already asked to leave. "Fine," she muttered a little sadly, "Just be careful Naruto."
"Don't worry about it Ino," Naruto said with a smile but it faltered when he noticed that Ino was still a little down, "How about this? We'll make a bet. I will do anything you want if I don't see you for more than two days and you will treat me to ramen if we get to spend a lot more time together in the next few days."
Ino thought over the bet and smiled, knowing that she would easily win. "Deal," she said with an exited grin, "You're going to lose Naruto."
"We'll see about that," Naruto said, "I have to go to the Hokage's now, sorry I won't walk you home."
"Don't worry about it," Ino responded with a tint of pink on her cheeks, "Promise me you'll be careful."
"I promise," Naruto said with a smile before leaping away from the ground and running to the Hokage's office.
Ino watched the blond leave with a smile. She found herself having growing feelings for him and was starting to realize what they really were. If she won the bet then she would have Naruto take her on a date, she blushed at the idea but hoped that it would come true. With that the kunoichi made her way home, now having an understanding of her feelings for the whiskered blond.
Naruto entered the Hokage's office to see a few Chunin he didn't know along a bored looking Shikamaru. The blond stood next to the lazy genius and watched as the Hokage took out a few scrolls.
"Now that everybody is here," the Hokage began, making Naruto hang his head in shame for being the last one to the office, he only hoped not to end up like Kakashi, "I assume you want to know why I chose you for the mission. Most of you have had experience in the many missions you have gone through. I also chose Shikamaru Nara for the mission since his I.Q. is very high and will be needed for this mission. Naruto Uzumaki was chosen since he already has experience on when it comes to Orochimaru's bases."
"On this mission you are to search for anything that talks about the Cursed Seal of Heaven," Sarutobi continued with a serious expression on his face, "You are to deal with any enemy ninja as you see fit and destroy the base once you have the information you need. You will be heading out with your assigned teams in the morning, a letter has been sent out to them so that they can meet you tomorrow morning at the gate. Understood?"
"Understood," the Chunins responded.
The next morning Ino walked to the Konoha gates with a frown on her face. She had gotten a last minute mission and would be leaving very early. What annoyed her of this was that she wouldn't get to see Naruto off. At least it meant that she had won the bet.
She saw the gates coming closer and saw a group of Chunin standing near a group of Genin as if getting ready to leave. Ino saw Choji in the group and walked over to him, noticing that every other Genin there had looks of confusion on their faces.
"What's going on here?" Ino asked in confusion.
"There were a bunch of us called here but they didn't give anyone much information. I saw Shikamaru earlier but he left before I could talk to him. I guess that's what happens when we get last minute missions," Choji sighed out as he took out a bag of chips and began to eat.
A few minutes passed and most of the Chunin and Genin had left the village already. The last groups were preparing to leave and Ino saw another Genin she was familiar with. Neji, the ninja that had fought Naruto on the Chunin Exams, was standing a little away from everyone with a calm look on his face.
Ino frowned when she saw the last of the Chunins and Genins leave the gates. "What's taking our squad leader so long?" she asked in an annoyed tone.
"Don't know," Choji responded, "But it looks like Neji is in our team since he hasn't left yet."
"Looks like it," Ino muttered with an annoyed look. Not only was her squad leader taking forever but she now had to spend time with Neji, the guy with the superiority complex.
"Sorry I'm late but I had to go over some things with the Hokage," came a familiar voice from behind the Genin.
"N-Naruto?" Ino gasped out in disbelief.
"I'll be your squad leader for this mission," Naruto said with a smile on his face, making the Genin gape at him.
Neji walked over to Naruto and smirked. "I can't believe they allowed you to be a Chunin," he said with a smug look.
"What?" Naruto asked in a threatening tone.
Neji scoffed before breaking into a smirk, "It was just a joke."
"WHAT!" Naruto, Ino and Choji yelled at the same time with shock on their faces.
"S-shut up!" Neji snapped with an embarrassed blush on his face, "I was only trying to lighten the mood."
Naruto eyed Neji carefully before breaking into a grin. "Nice to see you've changed a little. We don't have much time to lose soo let's get going, we'll be heading West until I tell you to change direction," the blond said with in a serious tone.
The group of ninja leapt away from the village and started to make their way to the base. As they jumped trees, Naruto moved next to Ino and gave her a grin. "Looks like I win our bet!" he said in a cheerful tone, "You better get your wallet ready!"
"Shut up," Ino said with an angry blush on her face.