The Path Of a Hunternin

The path to greatness

Immediately after leaving the Hokage's Office, Naruto went to the only place he knew he could be alone and think about the major turn of events in his life. Everything he ever fought for, becoming the sacrifice of the village by going against the village' s enemies or even luring them away from the village, was all tossed aside by his girlfriend's plan and Tsunade's narrow-minded thinking.

What was that the Sandaime Hokage always taught? The needs of many overcome the needs of a few. As a follower of the Third Hokage, Tsunade should know this better than anyone and yet, here she is doing something like this, preventing the Kyuubi container from leaving the village and in time, surely, luring those who seek harm against the Leaf. As the blond looked at the village from above the Yondaime's head, he was at loss of what to do about this new situation. On one side, he kind of understood Hana's selfish desire to be with her boyfriend as the blond often considered meeting on more occasions with the Inuzuka, however she of all people should have known how much he suffered after Asuma's death at the hands of Akatsuki.

And on a further account, she would also know how much he would suffer by knowing that he was the sole reason why Akatsuki came in and destroyed everything in their path just for the sole desire to have the power of all the tailed demons.

"You could very well use my power and vanish without anyone knowing about it, but I guess you have your morals and by doing such, you would be considered the very being you're sworn to hunt so passionately; a missing-nin" – Said Kyuubi, which earned a nod from Naruto as he too considered the greater good of simply escaping and take on the enemies by himself, outside the village walls.

"Not to mention having to worry about the forces Tsunade will definitely send after me should I do so. I don't have any other choice; I just hope that if Akatsuki chooses to hunt me here, then they'll do it once I'm already set to go to Iwa for the Chuunin exams; otherwise I fear that any type of battle would cause some serious damage to the village's structure and possibly some lives would be wasted because of it. Listen, how much time is needed for my chakra to return to its normal pace; I'll have to train more if we're to be prepared for those black robe bastards" – Thought Naruto, before hearing a snicker from the fox, which actually sound more like an evil laughter if Naruto wasn't so accustomed to the sound.

"Just another day and you will be able to use it freely. Normally, it wouldn't be due to a whole week more, but seeing as we are in a kind of hurry, well at least you are, I've taken preparations to decrease the time needed to normalize your chakra" – Explained Kyuubi, earning a nod from Naruto.

Immediately cutting off his link with the fox, Naruto returned to Konoha gazing for some time while wondering about what would happen now that he was prohibited from leaving the village by the Hokage. Surely, he would need to address his commander and he knew the man wouldn't take it so well, probably as far as going over to the Hokage and demand some explanation. Suddenly, his sharp senses alerted him of steps reaching his location, before he relaxed upon sensing three others similar presences and only one person would walk around with three dogs.

"I thought I'd meet you here Naruto-kun, may I join you?" – Asked Hana, before seeing the blond nod while caressing one of her dogs. After seeing, Hana got to look down at her home with stars in her eyes. The sight was something else entirely, however when she was about to comment about it, she immediately sensed that something was bothering him greatly. It wasn't until he talked, that she felt her heart ache a bit.

"I know it was you who talked to the Hokage about me staying in Konoha, Hana-chan" – Said Naruto, before hearing a sigh from the woman he hold dear in his heart, perhaps it was because of this feeling, that he didn't yell, shout or even demand any sort of explanation. However, by getting caught, he could see it had an effect on her once cheerful behavior. "Don't be sad like this Hana-chan; remembering your smile at the end of the day is what saves me from becoming a cold blooded murderer as my job demands of me. The problem, though, is that you very well know that my presence here can attract those who seek the fox and for that, they would destroy everything…everything" – Explained Naruto, earning a nod from Hana as she was now fearing that her boyfriend didn't like the thought of spending more time with her as she initially hoped he would be.