Becoming

Part 7

 Naruto observed the trees surrounding Konoha's wall. The occasional owl could be heard, as well as the running of a fox or rabbit or whatever animal it was. The blond was fully alert, and had noticed a ninja pass behind him, but as Naruto had had permission from Tsunade to look around, he'd been left and ignored. But now he was alone under the dark, star filled sky at 3 am, waiting for a sign of someone in the trees.

Sneaking out of the Hyuga's had been hard. With that many ninjas in a house, plus one Sannin, it was a wonder he'd even gotten out. He'd been fully dressed, weapons strapped to his sides, and had even been stopped by a few Hyuga's to ask where he was going. Naruto wasn't even sure himself how he'd gotten out. But he'd gotten out without having to knock anyone out, so he wasn't complaining at all.

The smallest movement of black in the trees caught Naruto's attention. He approached cautiously, leaving the gates of Konoha, and emerged into the covering of trees. The black he'd seen was nowhere to be found. Was it an owl he'd seen? Naruto was about to turn, say maybe he was going crazy or his eyes had gone bad, when he came face to face with another person. His mouth was covered to keep back the yell that would have followed. Naruto scowled at the amusement in the other's eyes and swatted at him while trying to calm his heart. He'd almost been given a heartattack.

"Don't do that again," he growled lowly. The other snickered. Naruto just rolled his eyes knowing that no matter how much he threatened the man, it wouldn't stop him from doing it again if he ever fancied scaring the blond.

"Can't promise I won't, Naru," the man said. Naruto snorted and again tried to hit the other, but this time his hand hit only air.

"Whatever. Come on, let's go do our mission." When Naruto said it, he couldn't help but wish it had been somewhere other than Konoha. Sure, the job had to be done, but it sure would have been nice if it wasn't him. It was especially annoying hiding it from Jiraiya. It hit a little too close to home when doing a Konoha job. He knew the place. He knew the people, had since he was young.

"I've already located it," the other man said. He beckoned Naruto to follow him and soon, the two disappeared into the dark.

 When Naruto awoke, it was to bright light and an annoying sound he couldn't quite place. Talking? No, laughing? Fighting? His eyes flew open and he quickly dressed upon finding the room empty, aside from himself. He launched himself out of the room and came upon the fighting scene. He knew those voices sounded familiar! Sasuke, Sakura, Tsunade, Shikamaru, Neji and Jiraiya were engrossed in an argument Naruto really didn't want to join. Hinata spotted him first and slipped by everyone unnoticed and stood beside him.

"It seems something happened last night. Two Konoha citizens were found dead this morning. Evidence says two people sneaked into the home and tied them up, torturing them before they slashed their necks." Hinata paled saying that, but continued. "Now they're all arguing about whether they should go for the obvious leads or not. It could be a trap. But, not only that. There's been some-debate, I suppose-on whether or not it was..."

She trailed off and Naruto wondered what was wrong. He waited for her to continue, and when she did, he wished she'd kept her mouth shut.

"They're debating on if it could possibly be you, since you went out last night." Hinata looked at the floor. Naruto knew his face must have gone deathly pale. They were going to find out why he'd gone to Konoha in the first place. What he'd done. That wasn't good.