Shippuden

Chapter 2

Goodbye To Konoha

After he had "persuaded" the wallet away from Anko, he quickly reported in back to ANBU headquarters. It had been his last active mission.

In those three years, he had rosen up from ANBU Operative, to ANBU Assassin, to ANBU Special Assassin, ANBU Black Operations Assassin, ANBU Black Operations S-Rank Assassin, ANBU Black Operations Commander and finally to ANBU Black Operations Lieutenant Colonel.

According to many of his colleagues, he could have made it all the way to the top, to ANBU Triple S-Rank Black Operations General Assassin Of The Army, a rank that only two people had ever achieved, but he didn't really want it. He was their top killer and that was enough. He had fulfilled his promise and had been trained as well as could be. He had picked up a series of amazing taijutsu techniques along the way, and even made some of his own. Techniques that would be capable of dealing with entire armies at a time.

He had made friends, he had made enemies, but all in all, it had been a good run, at least in his opinion. His teammates, Neko, Dragon, Inu and Hebi had all gathered up at Teuchi's Ramen Stand to pay for his last dinner in the village, and he was already heading there.

It was a casual dinner, no masks on, no ANBU outfit, just like a normal friend hang-out. Just like they were all needing.

He entered the shack, where Teuchi and Ayame were already waiting with a smile. The rest of his group were all sitting on the benches, looking back at him, also smiling, except for Yamato who was wearing his expressionless face.

"Hey, Naruto! What's it going to be today? Oh don't answer, I bet it's the Great Special Ichiraku Ramen!"- Teuchi greeted him, Naruto laughed.

"You know me better than any other person, Teuchi-san."- he responded before sitting down on his own bench.

"Before anything, Naruto, how did you use the Dokugiri? I thought you couldn't use any jutsu beside the Hiraishin or the Rasengan..."- Yugao asked him. He laughed.

"I can't use any jutsu besides those two, and those two shouldn't even be considered jutsu at all. I merely kept a poison pill under my tongue that I bit and spat. I yelled the technique's name to scare the guy. Apparently, I was successful."- Naruto answered. Yamato facepalmed while Anko and Kakashi laughed.

"That's so Naruto."

Most of the dinner went pretty smoothly, telling jokes, stories and whatnot. Naruto was definitely happy. He was going to leave that night, and a bit of relaxed time with the people he had spent the last three years with was just the thing he needed.

With that time, the five had grown fond of each other, and their personalities had all clicked in with one another's, as if they were one big puzzle and no pieces were missing.

They had gone on assassinations, murder stagings, robberies, search and destroy missions, but even after all of those dark memories, they cherished each other like brethren. Tsunade was right, they were now his brothers and sisters. All different in some way, but all the same too.

Eventually, 11 pm arrived, and Naruto had to go take his bags and leave, so they all decided to give him their farewell present and a little speech.

Yamato stepped forward first and gave him a small bonsai tree.

"You can put it inside a seal and take it out when it needs care until you get a home. The care you have to give it each day will have you spend hours on it, and therefore, remember Konoha. I hope you come back some day, and let me say it's been a pleasure working with you."- Yamato spoke with a big smile on his face, something really rare. He was formal, but it was visible that he had meant what he said. Naruto thanked him warmly and sealed the bonsai tree on a tag, neatly folding it and putting it in his pocket.

Next came Yugao. She and Naruto were rarely together, but when they were, it was like they just clicked together. In a big sister/little brother relationship, and she had always been there for him. She handed the jinchuuriki a white rabbit paw necklace.

"Unlike the ones in those questionable token shops, this one's real. As you know, my summons are rabbits, and the Great Wise Rabbit gave this to me. He told me not to keep it for myself, and not to give it to someone close, but to hand it to someone who really needs all the luck and help in the world."- she told him, watching him put it on.- "I guess that one is you, little brother, good luck in your endeavors."

Naruto thanked her with a kiss on each cheek (no it's not awkward, it's a tradition in my country) and backed off to see Inu, aka Kakashi approach him with a small white blanket rolled around something that seemed to be moving around.

"This little pup, and note that I didn't say puppy, I said pup, has no one that can raise him, or at least, safely. But you are the kid that kept surprising me through all of these years, and am pretty sure you'll be able to deal with it."- he unrolled the blanket to reveal a black-furred little pup that could have been seen as a dog for any normal civilian, but the teeth, eyes, expression and overall attributes gave away that it was indeed a wolf, and not something to mess with.- "My ninken found it when out on a fox hunt. I should also state that they were pretty scared of it. I can tell you that that pup will be a killing machine, and if you treat it well, the most loyal ally you could ever have. Also, it's nameless."

"Thanks a lot Kakashi, I'll take care of it as well as possible. I think I'll call it Raze."- Naruto replied with a smile on his face. Kakashi nodded with an eye-smile. That you will, Naruto, I'm proud of you.

Last, but not least, Anko approached him.

Naruto let his mind wonder over what she would give him. She was Anko, not exactly predictable. She could give him something as formal as a golden watch or something as crazy as a french-kiss session.

What she did give him was something maybe in the middle. She opened her mouth to let a very small white snake get out, crawl down and serpentate through her arm to Naruto's as they shook hands, going into his sleeves and rolling around his arm, keeping its head out.

"That is Sasha, she's the twin snake of my own, Vasha."- Anko rose her right hand to let an identical snake show its head.- "They share a really unique bond, and will tell you in a very specific way if the other's owner is harmed or something else. They will grow with time to become full fledged adults that will roll around your arm like chains and kill with single bites. They become powerful allies. Also, they can perform a very powerful jutsu that requires nothing but a flow of chakra, touching the enemy and themselves to use. Like the Rasengan, you should have no trouble with it."

Naruto was short of words, all of the gifts had been amazing and they all seemed to care about him. He hugged Anko and all of the others before saying his goodbye, telling them to show up at his apartment the next day to get their own gifts. The door would be open.

After that, he headed to his own apartment, which he hadn't used in years, to set up things and get anything he could possibly need. That meant any weapons he might have left behind, supplies, since he had hired someone to keep his apartment stocked and clean in case he wanted to come back, and clothes. Only then did he remember his clothes didn't fit him anymore, so he just took the first too and left the gifts, plus a note on top of a table right in front of the door.

He was about to leave when four shadows appeared behind him. He turned around to see who it was before smirking.

"I'm glad to see you're here too, Tenten, Shino, Hinata and Haku. How did you know I was leaving?"- Naruto greeted with a question.

"The scar burned. Remember how we're all bonded by that?"- Shino replied. Naruto chuckled, he had forgot that particular part.

"We're not going to stop you, Naruto-kun."- Hinata spoke.

"You've got your reasons, you're going to rebuild your clan and your village, and quite frankly..."- Tenten followed.

"...the people don't deserve you here. We've all been told how you were treated. You can go in peace, Naruto-kun."- Haku finished. He smiled.

"If you guys want, you can come with me. My village will be a place of peace, where no one is put aside and mocked, not a bug user, not a kunoichi with weapons, not a missing-nin from Kirigakure with a Bloodline Limit and not a Clan's Heiress who didn't seem to live up to the expectations in the beginning."- at his proposal, all gave it a nice moment of thought. It seemed heaven-like. All had faced their own sad stories.- "No one. Kunoichi will be hailed like male shinobi, Bloodline Limited people will be hailed for their unique abilities, shinobi who use out-of-the-ordinary techniques will be hailed as creative and original and everyone will be pushed the right away to achieve their potential, not by telling them they're lost cases.

Shino had faced discrimination by nearly every child in the village except Naruto when he was young. It was not a popular thing to be a living hive of insects. But to Naruto, he was just like everyone else, and the insects were even kind of cool to him.

Tenten had been mocked for being a petty ninja when it came to jutsu and normal taijutsu. Even after revealing herself as a prodigy with Weapons, their handling and throwing them, she was still made fun of by most people, and not considered a real shinobi. Something that bothered her more than that, was that most discriminated her just because she was a kunoichi. If a male used the same fighting style as her, she betted he'd be thought of as a hero. But Naruto always liked her and even went so far as to ask advice from her in sword and weapon wielding. He respected her as a ninja.

Haku lowered her head. She had been treated like nothing but crap for a long time in her life, hell her own father and neighbors had tried to kill her for something she could not control. But Naruto knew exactly that was like and always treated her like a person. Zabuza said she was his Weapon, but she knew that deep inside, he liked her as his own daughter. Those two were the only things in life for her, and she would follow them to Hell if she had to.

Hinata felt the suffering that it was being hated by your own parent, the ones who are supposed to love you unconditionally, and just because she didn't like violence. After years of brainwashing into thinking she would be a failure forever, she met Naruto. Against the odds, he had beat Sasuke, Kiba, Neji, Gaara, Kimimaro and Sasuke again. He was the one responsible for her self-esteem, and she loved him for it, even if it was just as a sibling.

"Why do you want us there?"- Shino asked, always cunning. Naruto smiled.

"A village isn't a village if it is only inhabited by one person. I need more people, and all of you have special traits that I could really use for several top-ranked spots in my village."- he sincerely answered.- "For example, I'd put you as a head of the tracker and infiltrating team, Haku'd be the head of my own ANBU system, Tenten will have all the resources she needs to become the village's blacksmith and invent her own weapons. She'll also be the Weapons Mistress. Of course, each of you will have people to aid you with your tasks."

"You know, I wanted to say no, but something in me tells me to go. No one but Hinata, Kiba and my family accept me. I might as well just go with you, who's believed in me all along."- Shino was the first one to decide.- "But can I first talk to my family?"

Naruto was about to answer when something absolutely unexpected happened. Tenten was on him, kissing him like a desperate fangirl. Naruto thought he had heard an indignated gasp, but shrugged it off as the girl came to her senses and got off of him, blushing.

"I'm going with you! You've just given me everything I've ever wanted!"- she exclaimed. Naruto didn't really have an answer for her before Haku started talking too.

"I'll follow you to the depths of Hell if needed, Naruto-kun. But may I go and get Zabuza-san before we head off?"

"Naruto-kun, I'm sorry, but even though I'm only as powerful as I am today because of you, I can not leave this village, my home, for you. And if you are leaving it to never come back, I'm sorry, but I must kill you."- Hinata declared, getting into a Jyuuken stance. Naruto bowed his head until his eyes were covered in darkness.

"If you oppose me, you oppose Uzushiogakure. Do you, therefore, consider yourself an Uzushiogakure enemy?"- was his reply. She thought about it for a moment before nodding. Naruto nodded back before disappearing and appearing in front of her, giving her a palm strike to the gut as swiftly as possible.- "Snake Paralyzing Palm!"

A small white snake crawled out from beneath his sleeve and bit Hinata, immediately paralyzing the girl as she fell to the floor before going back into the shirt.

"Let this be an example that I will face down any enemy that Uzushiogakure might have. She'll be able to move in about five hours. Everyone, go announce this to your families. Meet me by the Land of Wave's Great Naruto Bridge tomorrow at mid-day."- with that, they dispersed, leaving Naruto to hide Hinata's still frame.

An hour later, he was walking out of Konoha, easily slipping past the two guard Chuunin who had fallen asleep.

He managed to walk for five minutes before noticing something weird. There was someone tailing him.

"So I guess you're the one that scowled in indignation when Tenten kissed me, huh Anko? Come out, Sasha tells me it's you."- Naruto greeted her. She chuckled and jumped down from a tree to meet him. She always did like how it was harder to get the drop on the kid than on anyone else.- "What are you doing here? You know Hokage-sama has allowed me to leave."

"I'm not here to stop you. I'm here to join you."- she replied. He blinked.

"Fuck no. Stay here, there's no more seal, no more reasons to leave. Plus, I'm already taking four people with me."

"And you're seriously telling me they are enough to build a village? You need me too, I can make a fucking good Interrogator, Torturer or Cell Keeper. And even if I don't, I make a good fucking!"- she argued.- "Besides, they don't care if I don't have the seal anymore. Once a snake slut always a snake slut for them. I just want to get away from here, and if it is by following the guy I've sworn myself and my body to, then that's a big bonus!"

"No."

"Why? Do you have another girl? That Tenten? I don't mind sharing if she doesn't! I like boobs too! Come on, please!"- she asked with lost puppy eyes and Naruto didn't even bother.

"Whatever, follow me then. But this way you don't get your present since I told you to pick it up tomorrow. Do you want Sasha back?"

"No, I stopped by your apartment. As expected, my gift was already there. And thanks, I'll really like it!"- she answered, taking off the black cloak and revealing the black hoodie with a serpent that seemed like it was tied around a white crow on the back and on the front.

Then, they took off.

(And there you go. I'm sorry I haven't published in so long, but I've been kept busy with school and "Naruto the Black Lightning" fic. As always, Favorite/Follow and Review to make me write as fast as good old dumbass Tobi on sugar. In case you're having any doubts, yes I want to make it a Naruto/Anko pairing, but I'm going to add another girl, though I'm not sure why. If you want to see a specific one, please pm me or Review about it! See ya!)