Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Rating T (I guess)

A/N: Angst, angst, angst… aaand… more angst. That's not how I want to write my stories, damnit! That's the reason why this chapter got bogged down for so long. Sorry for the wait. Huge thanks to NarutoSPsyren, Electric Claw and Writer's Apprentice for reviewing. It means a lot.

This story is now officially an AU.

Author's advice: Word of caution. All is not as it seems.

O-O-O

Chapter 2 – The sword named "Heart", part 2

O-O-O

Previously on "EXILED"

"Sakura-chan… you can no longer touch me." His voice was as heavy as the grave. "Everything I touch now, it is burning…" 'Even the ground beneath my feet…' When he looked her in the eyes, she did not look away. No one did.

"Sakura-chan… What happened to me?"

O-O-O

Full five days passed since that day, and even now, no one was any closer to finding a proper answer to that question than they were back then. Much to the people's dismay, Naruto had secluded himself in a small temporary tent near the large section of the still standing defensive wall that once encompassed the hellscape that once bore the name of Konohagakure no sato. He would rarely exit it, and even then, remain outside no longer that few minutes. The constant visits of Konoha's shinobi, though he knew were filled with nothing but best intentions, he started to find tiring.

"Don't beat yourself too hard, Naruto." Kakashi once said when he showed up again. "You didn't fight to save a bunch of houses, but the people. We can always rebuild the village, but remember this," he said with a smile, as he put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, in spite the sting of pain such an act triggered – Naruto's body had become less touchable to a considerable factor, during those days, "we can't bring back those that lose their lives."

Naruto said nothing, as he stared at the ground. Kakashi continued talking.

"I know what you must be feeling right now… You're asking yourself why so many had to die, right? Well then ask yourself this – how many would have died if you hadn't fought? How many would be condemned to a fate far worse than death, should you had surrendered yourself instead?"

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto muttered faintly, not even looking up.

Kakashi ruffled his student's hair, "Cheer up." He stood up and moved to leave, but stopped at the tent's entrance. "You got a lifetime of peace ahead of you." With a wink he added: "Face it with a smile."

But as he left, Naruto returned to staring at his hands, with that horrified look on his face.

"I'm not sure there will be any peace for me, Kakashi-sensei…"

O-O-O

"Well… that was productive." Kakashi noted sarcastically as he walked in Tsunade's tent.

"How is he doing?" Tsunade asked, as she laid on her makeshift bed inside one of many temporary tents the people of Konoha put up for those who had nowhere to go. Beneath the sheaths that went up all the way up to her waist, her legs were thoroughly bandaged; the horrific burns beneath were already sanitized and treated by herself, along with the aid of both Sakura and Shizune. Because of all the foreign diplomats of the neighboring towns that encompassed Konoha that arrived to show their support, Tsunade was still wearing her Hokage mantle over her shoulders, with the traditional Hokage hat resting on top of her head.

"Not good, Tsunade-sama." Kakashi replied, as he sat down on the chair next to her bed. "Everything seems to point towards a deep state of trauma, like he's blaming himself over what had happened."

"Post traumatic stress disorder?"

"Seems like it. Tsunade-sama, if I may…?"

"What is it?"

The look on Kakashi's face, even through the mask, betrayed the discomfort he felt.

"Tsunade-sama, I know this may sound insensitive, but don't you find the fact that he only started to act like this now to be strange, when there were some far more traumatic experiences in his life?"

"Maybe this was just the final drop?" Tsunade theorized. She herself was not generally specialized in this area. She did have several ANBU trainers who dealt with the subject more, but almost all ANBU trainers of all classes were with Naruto, helping him improve in various skills when Madara attacked. Currently, to ask for the help of most of them would require performing a séance.

"Maybe… There are also the strange phenomena of his skin and left eye."

Tsunade bit her lip.

"Okay. The eye is clearly the Kyuubi's, even though I still don't understand how exactly this is possible. It's safe to assume the heat his skin is releasing is also related to the bijū. I ordered Sakura and Shizune to try and cool him down with ice… that didn't work. Whatever it is, it's not harming his body, at least for the moment." She scratched the corner of her brow. "Sadly, the leading expert on the bijū was captured by Uchiha Madara, and is presumed dead." She was, of course, referring to Killer Bee, Naruto's mentor and friend from during the war. Bee was the one who thought Naruto all about the Kyuubi and how to take control of the bijū's power. They fought side by side against the relentless swarms of zetsu and revived shinobi alike. Even though Bee's rimes kept Naruto awake at night, and Naruto's rimes gave Bee nightmares, they managed to form a bond of friendship and trust, the strength of which unlike many she had seen in her years.

"If we could suppress it somehow… but no, Yamato is still unaccounted for." She shook her head – just like so many others, Yamato's fate was still unconfirmed. For all they knew, he could be a prisoner somewhere, but he could just as likely be dead, killed by his captors once he was of no further use to them.

"So that's it, then." Kakashi said in half-whisper, as he faced away from her. Even though she could not see his face, Tsunade knew that he blamed himself. For her, it was not hard to understand why the masked shinobi would blame himself – after all, she was in the exact same position – she blamed herself for all that has happened since war's end.

Kakashi was the first to break the uncomfortable silence that had fallen upon them.

"And what about that other… issue? Why would you do something like that out of the blue?"

"Kakashi, please." She frowned as she crossed her arms. "My two councilors have been nagging me about it for quite some time now."

"And this will fix it?" he said giving her the look. "Hokage-sama, forgive me but, have you been drinking?" In reply, Tsunade smirked.

"Yes, but that's beside the point."

Kakashi obviously didn't agree.

"With all due respect, making such a move at a time like this…"

Without responding immediately, Tsunade slowly leaned back into the pillows, trying to calm herself down.

"But how will he interpret-… how will the whole village interpret it?" Kakashi continued to oppose her. "Such a decision-!"

"Is mine to make." Tsunade interrupted him. "I am still your Hokage." She said, anger seeping into her voice. "While the village is in crisis, my word is law!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

O-O-O

Naruto strolled down the makeshift street. For all he knew, he could have been walking on top of someone's home. On top of someone who was in that home when it all came down.

'And all because I screwed up…' he inwardly mussed. In truth, he walked on one of many shallow trenches smashed into existence when the Kyuubi's massive tails slammed into the ground, pulverizing everything beneath them. To the sides of these trenches, people who lost everything had raised their tents, courtesy of the Land of Waves, something both Naruto and the rest of Konoha were very thankful of.

Some of the people he noticed outside were the few who managed to escape the maelstrom of destruction unscathed. Some genin, academy students and their chunin teachers. Most however, were the numerous civilians that were evacuated away from the combat zone. And it was those people that troubled Naruto the most.

'How am I going to explain to them why they no longer have a place to live?' Every now and then, whispers would slip though: 'why can't he just leave' they asked when they saw him, believing to be out of earshot.

He stopped walking at the edge of a large, shallow paw-shaped hole and stared at the ground, sighing. But, the very moment he closed his eyes, something big hit him flat in the face, knocking him of his feet. Naruto tried to get up, only to feel someone's heavy hand land on his shoulder.

"Yo, Naruto!" He heard the voice of a friend. "What's with that pathetic face?"

Naruto rubbed his face. "Ouch." He opened his eyes. "Hey, Chōji." His eyes widened at the sight of his friends physique – it happened all the time. "I don't think I'll ever get used to your new look, slim." He teased his formally 'big-boned' friend.

"Only until the situation in the village improves." Chōji explained seriously.

"Forced diet?"

"Don't remind me." He replied folding his hands. For some reason, that sight made Naruto break into laughter. Seconds later, after he made an insulted face, Chōji joined him. The sound of their combined laughter echoed throughout the tent town, making the people around give them awkward looks.

"Done moping?"

"Yeah." Naruto said with his old grin back in place. "Guess I'm all moped-out! Let's see if we can find something to eat!" Hearing this, Chōji smiled.

"Think we'll actually find something worth sinking our teeth in?" This triggered another burst of laughter from his blond friend. "Hey, I'm serious! No salads!"

Even though Chōji realized Naruto faked at least some of it, he took comfort in the thought that somewhere deep inside that thick skull, his cheerful friend was still there.

O-O-O

Two hours later, he was back in his own small tent, sitting on the ground in a meditative position, pulling into himself as much senjutsu chakra as he could bear, to the point that even his near perfect control over it began to sway to its immense volume. It threatened to overwhelm him at any moment, but…

'There's no way I'm just rolling over and giving up!'

There had to be a way for him to get himself back to normal, and he had serious suspicions that that bloody furball knew a thing or two about what Naruto's body was going through.

'Come on, you stupid fox! Where the hell are you?' But no matter how much he tried to focus on the beast's presence, all he received was an echo of himself.

"Damn it!" He shouted, unable to suppress his anger any longer. A second later, his sage mode disappeared. He stretched out his legs and lied back on the ground. "Damn." He whispered faintly. "I need help." He glanced over to his shinobi backpack. Or at least he thought it was his – since he used to have had one just like it. His few surviving possessions were already packed inside. A spare outfit, three pairs of clean underwear, a blank sealing scroll he wasn't sure what to fill with, a spare set of kunai and a tinny piece of leather tied to string that held the fragments of Tsunade's necklace. He looked around his tent for a few seconds, just in case there was something he didn't want to leave behind. Now that he finally considered it, the decision to leave came unbelievably easy. No good-byes, no explanations. Just slip out the back. Slip through the cracks. Maybe, one day if his luck held, he would return. Maybe, one day, they would forgive him for leaving like that… for running away like a coward he was, instead of facing the world head-on. But all that would have to wait for a long time. First, he'd get himself fixed. Then he'd keep his promise and bring his friend home. Sasuke. But not only him. Yamato was out there, and Killer Bee too. And others… so many others. He'd find them, if they were still alive. Avenge them had they perished. Folded on his desk, he saw a map showing the shinobi nations. He unfolded it, and sat at the table to see where he might go. Kaminari no Kuni, the Land of Lightning, seemed like the obvious choice, since Kumo shinobi had the most experience with the bijū and the jinchuuriki. A slight detour through the Kaze no Kuni, Land of Wind would hurt though. Once he had settled on the route, there was only one more thing he'd have to do – he needed to get going. And that was not as easy as it may have seemed.

He waited until dark, put the backpack on and stepped out into the cover of the night, leaving just a single message on the table, on one item no one could ever overlook.

O-O-O

(Not long after)

This was not happening.

Not now. Not when everything finally clicked into place! Haruno Sakura frantically ran towards Tsunade's tent. In one hand, she clutched the note she found on the table. Tears rushed to her eyes as she glanced at it for a second – a single sentence written on the back of the old team seven photograph.

"Keep this safe for me, Sakura-chan."

Stupid, stupid, STUPID idiot! Her other hand she held on her chest, desperately holding onto the piece of black cloth… Naruto's Hitai-ate. She had to get to Tsunade right away. In her mind, she remembered the talk she had with her shishō just before she went to see Naruto.

(Flashback)

"Are you serious?" She didn't believe it. "Tsunade-shishō, are you absolutely certain you want to do this?" When Tsunade nodded, Sakura frowned. "Do you think he'll like it?"

(End flashback)

"It wasn't supposed to be like this! Damnit!" Tomorrow was supposed to be a special day. His special day. One more quick turn, and she burst into Tsunade's tent, startling her shishō and Shizune, as well as Kakashi who was with them at the moment, helping them with the plans for tomorrow. Shizune immediately got up and ran to her.

"What happened Sakura? Why are you crying?"

"He's gone Shizune!" she showed them the forehead protector and the note. Kakashi got up to his feet.

"He couldn't have gone far. There are three roads that lead away from Konoha. I'll take north. Go!" He immediately disappeared.

Shizune nodded."East", and shunshin-ed away.

"Sakura." The pink haired kunoichi turned towards her shishō. "Take me with you." Tsunade pleaded. Sakura quickly got to her and lifted her of the ground – Tsunade seemed as light as a feather in her chakra-strengthened hands.

"West gate, then."

O-O-O

Naruto was standing some twenty meters from the west gate when he heard the sound of something being thrown at him. He turned back instantly, but the light object was flying at near supersonic speed, and it's wide shape smacked him flat across the face, knocking him down on his butt.

"Ow." One he peeled the object from his face, however, he was stunned to see the Hokage hat in his hands.

"Take it you sonuvabitch! It's yours now!" That was Tsunade's voice. And she sounded pissed. As in – really, really pissed. Really, really, really pissed. Naruto gulped in fear as his eyes met hers and Sakura's accusing looks. The pink haired kunoichi was standing, carrying Konoha's Hokage on her back. "What were you thinking you stupid kid? Is this how you want to be remembered Naruto?" Tsunade yelled at him. "As a nukenin? !"

"Baa-chan…"

"Don't you 'baa-chan' me now, Naruto! How dare you do this? ! After everything!"

"I can explain this—"

"How…" he heard Sakura half-whisper while wiping the tears away. "How can you explain this? We were going to make you Hokage, damnit!" Naruto's eyes went wide, and his mouth made into an 'o'. He looked away and stared at the ground. When he looked back up, his eyes were full of resolve.

"What good is a Hokage who can't save himself or his friends?" His lips moved into a small smile, then into a full foxy grin that has become so iconic to everyone that knew him. "I'll fix this. And bring back all of our friends who are still lost. That's a promise of a lifetime."

"Naruto…" Sakura called his name pleadingly, "…if this is still about Sasuke, I already told you I'm over him, so—"

"This has nothing to do with you, Sakura-chan." At that point, Tsunade shook her head. He couldn't possibly understand what his actions meant. What everyone will interpret them as. They'll say he finally snapped. That he ran away because he couldn't deal with it. Gratitude of the ordinary people for his actions would fade way soon after. They'd soon remember him for destroying Konoha. As a monster. She couldn't have that.

"Naruto, do you even have any idea of the repercussions this will lead to?"

"Err… you'd have to call me an exile?"
"Worse. You'd destroy everything you built over the years. Can't you see? They'll lose sight of your humanity, just like when you were a kid!"

"I can live with that, for the moment. I'll just add that to my to-fix list."

"Well, I'm glad you're taking this so lightly, because the new Hokage will most likely have to send assassins after you, and put a huge bounty on your head! Everywhere you go people would try to kill you!"

"I think I can handle myse—wait, a new whatnow?"

Tsunade took a deep breath. This could be it. Her next words would ether convince Naruto to stay, or drive him away. She just felt it, and knew it would be true.

"Yes. A new Hokage. They will have to elect a new one, since the old one just resigned twenty minutes ago, and she's not taking back the job." Naruto got back up on his feet, and silently stared at the Hokage hat in his arms. Slowly, he lifted it and placed it on top of his head. When he looked up, he was smiling with the broadest smile Tsunade has ever seen on his face.

"Y'now, I wonder just how much I look like my dad right now." And with that, he took it off. "Hey, baa-chan? Can I cast my vote?"

The two women looked at him, not sure what he meant. Naruto tossed the hat up into the air, and caught it with one hand. Without saying a word, he tossed the hat into Sakura's arms. "Bye!"

In a flash of Shunshin, he was gone. Sakura looked down at the hat, and her eyes went wide as dinner plates as realization finally dawned on her. She looked at Tsunade, seemed to be equally stunned by Naruto's actions. Then the former Hokage smiled.

"Damn that kid. But I think I can make it happen."

"Shishō… will he be okay? He seemed confident, but, wasn't his chakra network damaged?" She sounded as she was about to panic. "He could be defenseless for all we know, and we just let him go!"

"That kid's never defenseless. Even if his chakra network is damaged, he still has one weapon no man could defeat."

"What's that?"

Tsunade smiled warmly. "His heart." And then her smile turned a bit more sadistic. She moved her head closer to Sakura's, and whispered to her. "So, how are we to act upon this, Hokage-sama?" She moved her head just in time to see the pink haired kunoichi opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water.

O-O-O

END of second chapter

A/N: Sorry for the super long wait. Like I said in the introduction, angst I cannot do (and I suck at it too). Once I kicked it out, everything went perfect.

Translation section:

Konohagakure no sato – Village Hidden in the Leaves

Senjutsu – Sage Techniques

Kaminari no Kuni – Land of Lightning

Kaze no Kuni – Land of Wind

Kumo (shinobi) – Cloud shinobi

Bijū – Tailed Beast

Jinchuuriki – Lit. power of human sacrifice; Jinchuuriki serve as containers for the Bijū

Shishō – Honorific for teacher, mentor

Nukenin – Missing ninja

Shunshin – Body Flicker

That's it from me for now. Reviews are highly appreciated, as always.(No, really! I mean it. Review.)

See ya!

~KuroiTori-sama