Author's Note:
I suppose I should warn you right now, I was not satisfied with many aspects of the original story by Masashi Kishimoto, so I'll make MANY alterations, some small, some large, to the lore, characters, and more within my retelling of Naruto. Consider it AU if that bothers you. I mean, it is anyway, so there's that.
Chasing the Eternal Dawn 1: Betrayal
Slowly Naruto and Sasuke made their way up the steps toward the roof, the battleground where they'd finally settle their rivalry once and for all. It was bright out that day, with only a few puffy white clouds floating against a backdrop of cool blue. The hospital staff had finished one of their endless rounds of laundry, and dozens of racks had been put out for all of it to dry in the soft afternoon breeze.
The two genin, still only kids, didn't pay the tranquil setting a single moment's attention.
Naruto was trembling with anticipation, terrified, but also excited, at the thought of fighting Sasuke, heir to the Uchiha and a prodigy in his own right. Sasuke could barely keep himself in the moment, his eyes losing and regaining focus constantly, the image in front of him blurring between the present and scenes from his memories with every blink. Itachi had insulted him the last time they met, worse than even the night he killed their whole clan. He hardly even acknowledged Sasuke, directing his baleful red gaze down upon Naruto instead.
They stood several paces away from each other, eyeing each other, waiting for the other to move. Naruto scoffed, and Sasuke raised a brow in annoyance.
"What's so funny?"
"I'm not laughing 'cuz it's funny," the blond replied with a smirk. "I'm just psyched. 'cuz I know that today is the day when I finally beat you."
"What did you say?" The mere suggestion of being defeated by a no-name failure like Naruto was appalling to the Uchiha. "Don't talk nonsense, you inept loser!"
Naruto didn't take Sasuke's bait, his smirk only growing wider.
"I won't be such a loser after I win today, will I?"
As the boys continued their verbal sparring Sakura came up the steps and stopped at the entrance, looking from Sasuke to Naruto and back. Something was wrong. She could feel it. Neither of her teammates seemed in the mood to simply test their skills. Their expressions were intense, like the grimaces that appeared on their faces right before battling a particularly dangerous opponent. Except this time their opponent was each other.
Somehow Sakura could tell - could sense it - Team Seven was about to shatter apart forever.
"Let's just do this," Sasuke demanded, falling into a combat stance.
Naruto didn't move.
"Put on your headband and we will. I'll wait."
Sasuke couldn't help but be taken aback by the blond's words. How could he be so concerned about something so inconsequential at a time like this?
"Not to worry. I don't need that thing."
"Just do it," Naruto growled, refusing to let Sasuke have his way. "C'mon!"
Sasuke was unsure how to respond for a moment, but quickly recovered his composure. Naruto was acting like a fool, as always, so, the Uchiha decided, he'd treat him like one. With a cruel grin he made a fist and stuck a thumb out to point toward himself.
"There's no reason to put it on, 'cause you won't be able to make a scratch on my forehead."
"That's not the point!"
Naruto wasn't worried about hurting his friend - Sasuke could take care of himself. What he did care about was honour and respect. By refusing to wear the headband of the Leaf, Sasuke was tacitly implying that they weren't comrades in service of their shared village. He was saying that Naruto didn't deserve to be treated seriously.
It was the worst insult Sasuke could have possibly uttered.
"There you go, acting all high and mighty again!" Sasuke spat once Naruto was done lecturing him about the symbolism of wearing headbands during a fight. "You don't honestly believe that we're equals?"
To his utter disgust, Sasuke listened as Naruto spouted off some drivel about never considering himself inferior to him; to HIM! To think, the guy who couldn't even make a standard clone for his genin exam could be compared to the great Sasuke Uchiha! It was infuriating! It was disgraceful! And in a moment of blind fury, Sasuke snarled out the first words that came to mind.
"You're a complete embarrassment! You were the worst student at the academy and you're still the worst now, and yet you still act like you deserve my respect for some reason? It's no surprise the whole village treats you like the idiot, loudmouth, knuckleheaded monster that you are!"
Sasuke wasn't sure what he expected Naruto to do after that - maybe yell at him and charge, or give a thumbs up and say 'Believe it!' - but it certainly wasn't to go slack, his face contorting into a look of pain and betrayal that surprised the sharingan-wielder enough to drop out of his ready stance. Naruto didn't reply, instead letting his jaw hang and his lips quiver. Sasuke could see with his sharingan the muscles around his friend's eyes tighten in disbelief.
"Well, Naruto?" he taunted. "Are we going to fight, or not?"
Naruto didn't move. He seemed to be confused, lost, as if trapped in a genjutsu. Then, without warning, he turned on his heel and began to walk away.
"HEY!" Sasuke took a step forward and shouted, trying to get Naruto's attention, but it was no use.
Sakura could hardly believe her eyes, and she ran forward to her hyperactive teammate.
"Naruto, hey..." She walked alongside him and reached out to pat him on the shoulder, or embrace him in a hug - she had no idea what she was doing, only that she couldn't go through with it. Naruto's gaze was directed squarely on the floor, his body moving as if in a trance. She felt like she couldn't touch him, give him reassurance that everything was okay. No matter how close Naruto was, Sakura never felt like he was more distant. "You know, you're coming up to the edge of the roof, right?"
Naruto didn't respond. He just kept walking, slowly, lazily, wobbling with each step until he got to the fence to keep people from falling off the building. He hopped just once, up and over, and plummeted to the ground maybe fifty meters below, landing on his feet before continuing forward once more.
It was no surprise he was able to survive the drop without a scratch to show for it. He was a ninja, after all, and even if his training was far from complete, he was still capable of incredible feats that mere civilians couldn't even hope to replicate.
Sakura watched Naruto go, walking through the village in a stupor, words failing her and her body resisting the screaming from her brain to go and chase after him. It was only once she could not longer see him, blending in with the crowds of villagers on their way about the town before evening could set in, that Sakura turned around to see her other teammate, Sasuke still where he was before, his brow furrowed in dull confusion above slowly rotating sharingan eyes.
"Well!?" she demanded suddenly, surprising even herself by yelling at her beloved Sasuke. She surprised herself further when she locked her fists against her hips and marched over to the boy, getting in his face and scowling. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself!?"
"I don't..." Sasuke found himself unable to process what was going on. Naruto had walked off in a sulk and now Sakura was chastising him like she was his mother. It was so backwards he could hardly believe it was all real. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't you get it!? You hurt Naruto's feelings! You really hurt his feelings!"
Sasuke frowned and crossed his arms, deactivating his sharingan and looking away.
"It's his own fault for getting upset. Why should I care if he can't handle the truth?"
"Sasuke..." Sakura whispered, drawing the boy's attention again just in time to see her fist collide with his face.
He tumbled to the floor in pain, though to be honest it didn't hurt that much compared to some of the things he'd been through. More than anything, he was simply dumbfounded that Sakura had hit him. The girl was always so cutesy around him, he never thought in all the time they knew each other that she'd ever actually stand up to him in any meaningful way.
"Why should you care?" the girl echoed, mocking his earlier refusal to admit wrongdoing. "You should care because he's your teammate! He's your friend, Sasuke, and you're his! Naruto would die for you, and you don't even care if you make him sad!?"
The pain from her earlier blow finally receded enough for Sasuke to think straight and he sat up, glaring at the pinkette, his black eyes meeting her own green ones.
It was at that moment there was a burst of smoke nearby and Kakashi appeared, disappointment evident in his expression, even with the mask and only one eye visible.
"Alright, you two," he began, stepping over to the genin, "what's going on here?"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura turned to her teacher and pointed down at Sasuke, glowering up at her. "Sasuke said some really hurtful things to Naruto! I've never seen him so shaken up!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"It was nothing he didn't already know. It's the same thing everyone else in the village says about him when they don't think anyone's watching."
"Oh...?" Kakashi raised a brow. "And just what did you say to Naruto, Sasuke?"
"I said he was a loser."
"Anything else?"
"What's the big deal, anyway?" Sasuke finally stood up and brushed himself off, noting with a huff that Sakura was still glaring at him. "Why are you ganging up on me about something so trivial!?"
Kakashi sighed. This was not an ideal situation. For one of the few times in his life he wished he could have arrived earlier and maybe sorted this quarrel out as soon as it started, but as it was now he'd have to play counseller to a trio of angry preteens.
"And where is Naruto now?"
Sakura answered.
"He left, Kakashi-sensei. I don't know where he was going."
Now, that was definitely unlike him, Kakashi thought. Naruto was never the kind of guy to quietly dismiss himself, and if what Sakura said was true, then Sasuke's words had to have been particularly vile.
"Right..." Kakashi shook his head and crossed his arms. "I'm going to go have a chat with Naruto. Sakura-" he looked her in the eye, "-go home. Sasuke-" he looked the boy in the eye, "-go back to your hospital bed and let your body rest."
Kakashi had intended on saying hello to his students and having a friendly reunion after their mission in the Land of Tea, but now that was ruined and he had to be the adult of the team. It was funny, with this, he actually understood what Shikamaru meant when he called things 'a drag'.
Without wasting another second, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke as quickly and easily as he'd first appeared, leaving Sakura and Sasuke along together once more. There was silence between them for only a moment before Sakura huffed in frustration at her teammate.
"You should be ashamed of yourself! Naruto's annoying and all, but that doesn't mean you should treat him like he's less than you. You should apologize."
Sasuke didn't reply at first, somehow finding it difficult to speak or look at Sakura directly. This was not the response she expected.
"Listen to me!" The pinkette grabbed the Uchiha by the collar and pulled him close so he couldn't look away. "You are going to apologize to Naruto the next chance you get, do you hear me!?"
Sasuke couldn't believe what was happening. This was all too absurd. He hesitated, hoping maybe she'd let him go if he just stayed silent long enough, but when Sakura didn't release her iron grip on his shirt he sighed and nodded.
"Alright," he began reluctantly, finally relenting to Sakura's demands, "I'll apologize."
UUUUUUUUU
Naruto sat on his bedside lost in thought. After leaving the hospital he'd shambled in a daze back to his home, kicking his sandals off once he was through the door and plopping down to think.
Sasuke had called him a monster. The words had hit him harder than Zabuza's fists during Team Seven's first real mission in the Land of Waves. He had no idea Sasuke felt that way about him. True, he'd been harsh before and constantly called him names, but Naruto was used to all that, and thought he could see past the words to grasp what Sasuke really meant. He was pretty proud of himself for that, actually. It made him feel like a true ninja, looking underneath the underneath.
But this...
Despite his show of hostility toward Sasuke, Naruto had respected him - had held him as an ideal warrior and a model of how he wanted to be some day. He'd wanted to be as strong as Sasuke, and to be as precise and cunning as Sasuke. He wanted the girls to flock to him like Sasuke. He wanted to be fearless in the face of danger, wanted to have an endless supply of tricks and jutsus like Sasuke. He was sour to be around most times, but Naruto revered him all the same. It was why he was so desperate to fight him at the hospital - to earn his recognition and approval as a worthy rival - and perhaps that was also why Naruto felt so betrayed.
To Naruto, Sasuke was more than a mere comrade, he was a hero in the making unlike any other he'd ever seen. And yet the Uchiha had called him a monster just like any other villager in the Leaf. So he knew about the Nine-Tails...
Was this how Gaara had felt - when Gaara lost Yashamaru, had learned his uncle's true opinion of him? When the one person he needed the approval of the most declared his hatred for Gaara it broke him, turned him into a monster in human flesh that killed just to feel alive himself. His whole worldview had fallen apart in an instant.
But while Naruto came into Gaara's life to offer him a hand, to help pull him from the pit of despair he'd found himself in, Naruto wondered just who was going to help him now that he was in the same position.
He sat still on his bed, his mind racing for a solution, some reason to forget about the whole incident at the hospital and go see his team like nothing ever happened. He just needed someone to reassure him...
"Naruto."
Naruto had left his window open to get some fresh air in the house, and he looked over to find Kakashi crouching on the sill, watching him carefully.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei," he greeted quietly, none of his usual enthusiasm in his tone.
Kakashi stepped off the ledge and into Naruto's home, not speaking as he approached his bedstand and picked up the frame containing a photo of Team Seven. Sakura was smiling, ignoring Naruto and Sasuke as they glared at each other, and from behind them Kakashi was grinning cheerfully behind his mask, his hands ruffling the boys' hair.
"Are you okay, Naruto?" Kakashi wondered, looking up from the picture, still held in his hand. In reply Naruto cocked his head to the side, as if unsure how to answer, then nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just tired."
"Ah yes, from your mission in the Land of Tea? I'd heard about that. I'm sorry I wasn't available to go along."
Kakashi studied Naruto's reaction, though making sure not to seem too interested, thankful for the mask that obscured his face. The boy didn't seem alright. For starters, he wasn't jumping and running and generally just fidgeting like he usually was, the orange-clad bundle of energy hardly staying still for long. Instead he sat on his bed, arms resting on his thighs and his head hanging low. There was no cheer in his voice and he made a minimal effort to respond as Kakashi tried to make small talk.
Since Naruto wasn't interested in talking, Kakashi took the lead and continued, putting a firmness into his tone like he imagined parents sounded when they caught their child misbehaving.
"Do you know why I asked you how you were doing?" Again, no reply from Naruto and not so much as a twitch. "Sakura tells me you and Sasuke had a little argument back at the hospital."
Still nothing from Naruto. It was starting to get unnerving. Kakashi had the sudden urge to pull up his headband and reveal his sharingan, the mystical red eye allowing him to pick up on slight differences that were hidden from plain sight: The rise and fall of Naruto's chest as he breathed - was it regular, or was it deliberate? Naruto's eyes - were they calm, or were they twitching with sadness or fury? Naruto was normally pretty easy to read, but for once, just what was going on inside the boy's head was a complete mystery to Kakashi. But even so, he didn't dare make a move; using the sharingan would no doubt escalate the situation and give Naruto the wrong impression about what was going on, so Kakashi fought the urge back and stood still.
"I just wanted to make sure you knew Sasuke didn't mean it," he continued finally, putting the picture of his team back down and looking straight down at Naruto. "Sometimes we say things in the heat of the moment that we regret."
For some reason Kakashi had expected Naruto to cheer up after that, but he still didn't move, seemingly lost in thought. Whatever Sasuke had said it must have been beyond awful to put the genin in front of him in a such a sullen mood, and the longer he observed, the more sure Kakashi was that he knew exactly what words had been uttered.
One last time Kakashi verbally prodded at Naruto, hoping this time he'd get some kind of reaction.
"Sasuke should get out of the hospital and be ready for training by tomorrow. I have to get going on another mission before then, but I'm going to have him apologize to you when you all assemble for training in the morning."
After a tense moment of silence Naruto finally answered, his tone low and sour.
"Don't bother..."
Kakashi raised a questioning brow, but before he could say anything Naruto's head shot up, a cheerful grin plastered across his face.
"You said Sasuke didn't mean it," the boy chirped, no trace of his former melancholy to be found, "so what does he have to apologize for?"
At this, the silver-haired jonin blinked. Once. Twice. Then he chuckled, his initial surprise giving way to genuine relief. He clapped Naruto's back then leaned in to ruffle his hair, smiling so wide it could be seen behind the fabric of his mask.
"You know, Naruto," he said warmly, "you're really something."
"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei."
"I still expect you to meet with the rest of Team Seven for training though. Be there bright and early."
Naruto joined in on his sensei's laughter and smirked.
"Maybe we'll actually get something done since we won't be waiting for you!"
Kakashi laughed again, louder this time, completely sure his work was done and a potential crisis was averted. Naruto really reminded him of Minato when he joked around like that.
With a small salute to signal his goodbye, Kakashi stepped toward the window and disappeared into a puff of smoke, smiling as broadly as could be. Naruto's own smile didn't fade as his sensei made his leave, and he flopped onto his back, stretching his arms out across his bed and letting out a long, relaxed breath.
He lay there for some time in an easy silence before sitting up once more, moving to take off his coat and throw himself to the floor, pushing himself up and down.
Hours passed as Naruto exercised, training his body in silence and solitude, maintaining a constant flow of chakra to every extremity to sharpen his control. He stopped a few times to get a drink and cook up some instant ramen, but the bulk of the afternoon, drifting into evening and eventually night, was spent training.
It was only once the sun had set and the stars loomed high, casting their light through his open window, that Naruto finally set about going to bed. He showered and brushed his teeth, then took off his headband, setting it reverently down upon his bedtable right beside his photo of Team Seven.
With a yawn, he stretched his arms and got into bed, smiling pleasantly as he shut his eyes and slowly drifted off.
NNNNNNN
Naruto's eyes shot open and he threw off his blankets. It was still night, just before the very darkest hour when the clouds hung low, sponging up the light of the moon, and the young ninja flew into action. He grabbed his pack and emptied everything out of it, a few trinkets, scrolls, a shuriken or two, and more, then scurried to his kitchen cupboards and began stuffing the bag with everything he could lay his hands on. In one swift motion he would pluck a packet of ramen and fling it down into his pack, then he'd be on to the next item: More ramen, bottles of water, cans of preserved goods, more ramen, and so on.
When he was done pillaging his kitchen Naruto switched his focus, almost as fluid as if he were dancing, descending upon his caches of ninja tools, placing several kunai and shuriken into his leg pouch and strapping it on, then scooping up the rest of it and dropping it onto his dining table. He pulled a blank scroll, a brush, and a bottle of ink from one disorganized pile on the floor and set them down, quickly drawing out a series of symbols and shuffling the remaining tools onto it.
He wasn't a seal expert - far from it - but beside making explosive tags, storage was among the easiest and flexible seals a ninja would learn in his hopefully long career. Naruto had seen it used to exceptional effect by Tenten during her fight against Temari, and, he presumed, against any other opponent, her Twin Rising Dragon technique would have been quite a terror to contend with.
He made a few handsigns and with a puff of smoke the assembled items disappeared, the ink on the scroll twisting and changing to indicate what was sealed inside.
Without a second look Naruto tossed the scroll in his bag and moved on.
Next he searched through a pile of clothes on the floor and pulled out a fresh orange jumpsuit, giving a short, approving look before repeating the sealing process, using another blank scroll found among the heaps of items around his apartment.
Lastly Naruto grabbed his toothbrush and threw it into his bag with everything else, then put on the orange coat he'd worn earlier that day.
Not sparing another look, he pulled the straps of his bag over his shoulders and adjusted to the weight, then turned to leap out his still-open window. Something caught his eye before he could, however. The last rays of moonlight, before the clouds could swallow them up until dawn, glinted off something in Naruto's apartment, and he paused to glance at his bedtable.
His headband. A chunk of metal with the symbol of the Leaf engraved upon it, stitched against a simple blue band of cloth.
Naruto hesitated, if only for a moment, caught between the need for haste and the desire to linger a little longer. He stared longingly at his headband, that one item marking him as a full ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village, that had been with him during good times and bad, when he defeated Haku in the Land of Waves and when he was defeated by Orochimaru in the Forest of Death.
There was no time left for indecision. Naruto took several long strides over and snatched his headband, stuffing it into a pocket then reatreating through the window, not so much as noticing when the movement rocked the bedtable and caused the pictureframe of Team Seven to wobble and flop over.
NNNNNNN
Naruto moved with speed and silence through the town under the cover of darkness on his way toward the village gates. Hardly a soul else was out at this hour, and after the joint attack by the Sound and the Sand, security was at an all-time low, allowing him to steal through the streets unseen.
'Liars!' he thought to himself, somehow managing to keep his mouth shut in the meantime. 'Do they really hate me so much!? Do they really think I'm so stupid that I can't see through it all?'
He still couldn't believe Sasuke had called him a monster, that single word striking him harder since it came from him than it ever had from anyone else in his entire life. It was true, he'd said it in a moment of anger, but in his anger, Naruto could tell, Sasuke blurted out his true feelings - the feelings he normally was able to keep hidden behind his usual cold exterior. And then Kakashi tried to tell him that wasn't so! The jonin probably hated him too, but just like everyone else didn't want to say it. Or couldn't.
Naruto knew better. He'd seen it in Sasuke's eyes.
At first he hadn't been able to think, shock dulling his mind to the point of complete inactivity. Then he tried to deny what had happened - the wind was pretty loud on the hospital rooftop, so maybe he was just hearing things...? But he just couldn't do it. He knew what Sasuke said and there was no point in trying to ignore it.
Then he tried to delude himself that it wasn't true, that Sasuke didn't mean it, just as Kakashi later asserted. But no matter how Naruto tried to convince himself, he simply couldn't. Sasuke's eyes on that rooftop had held an anger - an utter disgust - that Naruto knew well. His eyes, though shining with the chilling glory of the sharingan, were the same as the villagers when they insulted him - as if he weren't even deserving of Sasuke's contempt.
Naruto really thought he was beginning to change people's attitutudes towards him. After becoming a genin he'd started going on missions and making a name for himself as the single most unpredictable ninja in the village. He'd fought with the terrible Zabuza Momochi and lived to tell the tale. He made it through every round of the hellish Chunin Exams. Someday he would be Hokage and everyone would love and respect him.
But now he knew that was a lie.
Nothing he'd done had made a difference. The villagers still whispered behind his back, but he didn't mind that so much. But Sasuke... Sasuke was the only one, he figured, who could understand him. Sure, Sasuke had a family and lost it whereas Naruto never had one, but the feeling of emptiness they shared was similar enough, and no one else their age had experienced anything even close to their lonliness. They were made brothers the second Sasuke lost everything and fell to Naruto's level.
And yet, Sasuke still rejected him.
"Hm!" Naruto grunted derisively, thinking back on Kakashi's words when he tried to reassure him that everything was alright. "I'll bet he regrets what he said. Now I know what he really thinks and he can't laugh at me behind my back anymore!"
Up until this point everything made sense to Naruto. Everything in the world was orderly and balanced. Team Seven were the good guys of their own little story and always stuck together and always beat the odds. Now that was all thrown into question. With Sasuke's one little reference to the Nine-Tailed Fox within him, Naruto found himself wondering if there ever was such a thing as a bond of friendship between himself and his teammates in the first place. With one look into those hateful red eyes Naruto could see the truth that he'd somehow been blind to for so long: Sasuke was not his friend, and probably never had been.
And if Sasuke, the one person he felt closest to, really thought so little of him, then, Naruto figured, there was no way the others he'd met and befriended since becoming a ninja could truly care for him as he once believed. Kakashi hated him; that's why he left to train Sasuke instead of him before the Chunin Exam Finals. Sakura refused him every time he tried to tell her that he liked her, the Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade both thought he was an annoyance... Jiraiya only taught him jutsus so he'd go away, allowing him more time to do research for his stupid books!
Iruka...
Naruto wasn't sure about Iruka, but it hardly mattered anymore. Iruka was the only one who knew what Naruto was, a vessal for the Nine-Tails, but still didn't care, even going as far as to take a potentially lethal blow from Mizuki's shuriken, that night feeling so distant now. It would be hard leaving him, the scarred man as close to a father as Naruto had ever had, but ultimately, because Iruka cared - genuinely cared - he'd also understand why Naruto had to go.
The village gates loomed high in front of Naruto, and he looked them up and down apprehensively.
He considered others he'd met, and whose lives he'd changed: Idate, Inari, Tazuna, Neji... They had no idea about the Nine-Tails being sealed within him, and, he imagined, as soon as they found out, they'd turn on him, all the life lessons he'd beat into them with his fists being abandoned on the spot. If even Sasuke thought of him as a freak after all this time, what hope was there that the others wouldn't reject him too? Waiting for his heart to break, again and again as those he called friends found out his secret, wasn't worth it. He'd break those bonds now before they grew too strong - before they could be broken by someone else and hurt him twice as much.
As he stood in silence, his eyes tracing the shape of the gates in front of him, taking in every detail and memorizing it, Naruto's thoughts briefly turned to Gaara, and he nodded to himself. Yes, Gaara could be considered the truest friend he'd ever made. Only Gaara fully understood what it meant to be hated by everyone and treated like a monster. Not even Sasuke, so fawned over by the rest of the village and especially, most frustratingly, by Sakura as well, could claim that level of isolation, and, Naruto thought, it was a shame that they were born so far apart.
But as with Iruka, just because Gaara could be considered a true friend didn't help Naruto in the slightest at the moment, and it didn't dissuade him from his choice either.
Naruto took a step forward, hands grasping the straps of his pack tightly, trembling at the magnitude of what he was about to do. He was about to leave the Leaf Village. He was going to leave and be classified as a rogue ninja. He'd never be Hokage. But then, that had never been an option anyway, had it? He could grow to be a ninja legend just like the Fourth, but if no one respected him then he'd never be chosen as Tsunade's successor anyway, so it was a pointless endeavor. And though at times Naruto had fought on, even when it was indeed pointless to struggle, right now he somehow seemed to lack the energy for it.
Steeling himself, Naruto leapt up atop the gates and gazed down at the world below and outside the Leaf - the world that would be his freedom from the harsh looks and hushed words that accompanied his every day in the village. Where would he go? He spent only a moment to think before coming to his conclusion.
Then, finally, Naruto leapt down, leaving the village behind him, not sparing so much as a single glance back as he departed forever.
NNNNNNN