Somewhere Other Than Here

Danzo

"It's ripped" Shikamaru stated, seeing the letter and scroll abruptly end when it started to talk about Sasuke.

"Don't tell me-" Sakura said, biting her nails to relieve the never ending increase of stress and anxiety in her body and mind.

"He beat us to it" Neji said, rolling the scroll, sighing in disappointment.

"Now what?" Choji asked as everyone looked down. No one dared to speak after the letter told them Naruto never saw them as friends.

"There is no clues to his location but thankfully, seems he left on his own and not kidnapped by someone-" Shikamaru stated, rubbing his chin with closed eyes until he was cut off.

"You think he is dumb enough to say that?! Knowing we would find that scroll!" Hinata screamed, still being held back by Rock Lee.

"Hinata calm down-" Neji tried to speak.

"Don't tell me to calm down! Get off of me, I'm leaving!"

"Hinata please" Sakura tried to call out for her but Hinata was already running down the stairs and running straight to her house, tears falling out of her eyes like a waterfall. A waterfall of regret.

"I'll talk to her, everyone else should report to Miss Hokage about Sasuke and Naruto's letter" Neji said, his voice a disappointing but understanding sigh as he looked down to see Hinata running in the street.

"Yeah we will. Alright, Choji, Ino and I will go see Miss Hokage but Kiba, Rock Lee, Shino and Sakura, I want you guys to go look at the entrance and try finding a lead to Sasuke's and Naruto's location. Alright?" Shikamaru ordered, letting out a tired sigh as he pocketed the scroll.

Everyone nodded slowly as they all went their separate ways.

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Sakura, Rock Lee, Shino and Kiba all ran over to the gate of the village.

"Alright, I'll start looking for a scent-" Kiba went to stated until he stopped himself seeing Tenten sitting on the bench outside of the gate. Holding a black blanket and shirt in her hands.

"Tenten?" Sakura called out, remembering what Tsunade told them about her.

Tenten silently turned her face towards them to then go back and look down at the blanket and shirt.

"Everything alright Tenten?" Kiba asked, walking over to her and sitting next to her.

She slightly chuckled as she clenched the blanket.

"Did you hear what happened-" Shino tried to ask.

"Yeah, I heard. I was the last one to saw him" she stated, finally speaking. Everyone was shocked.

"You saw him?" Sakura asked. "Where did he go?"

"Why would I tell you? One of them..." She said, standing up, whispering the last part as she started leaving.

"Tenten where are you going?" Kiba, standing and walking next to her, secretly letting Akamaru smell her blanket.

Tenten didn't answer as she walked away, leaving everyone to stare at her and asked themselves what just happened.

"We got a scent, let's go!" Kiba said, dropping Akamaru down as he started sniffing around him and locating where Naruto went next. Everyone nodded as Akamaru and everyone else began to run.

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"Miss Hokage?" Shikamaru asked, knocking on the door.

"Come in" answered Tsunade, putting more files on top of the already high tower of files.

"Hello Miss Hokage" Ino and Choji said as Shikamaru pulled out the scroll and placed it on her desk.

"What is this?"

"Naruto parting words. We found it in his room" Shikamaru stated.

Tsunade unscrolled it and began to read it. She soon reached the end, seeing the rest missing.

"What happened here?"

"Seems like Sasuke found it before us and ripped that part. My guess is that it states where Naruto is or going to."

"That damn idiot...Where are the others?"

"I sent them to look for clues at the gate and try to find where they both went."

"Good thinking Shikamaru, you three can go now-" Tsunade spoked, being interrupted as she was opening her drawer to put the scroll in.

"Go where?" Said Tenten, holding the black blanket and shirt in separate hands, as she walked inside the office not bothering to look at Shikamaru, Ino and Choji.

"Tenten, good to see you are doing fine. We have some news for you. Naruto-"

"Left. Yeah I know. I was the last one to saw him" she answered coldly, implying something as she spoke.

"Oh. Well-"

"Which makes me think how you knew about it" she finally stated, everyone in the room tensing up at her statement.

"Well uh...I...." Tsunade tried to speak but kept on stuttering. Her throat dried up and her tongue froze.

"You were spying on him, weren't you? Scared to lose your precious weapon-"

"Tenten!" Ino screamed, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards her. She went to slap her but Shikamaru caught her hand. He went to speak but was cut off by Tsunade standing up and smashing her fist down on her desk. It split in two in a instant, the force even cracking the floor and shaking the room.

"Don't you dare accuse me of such things!-"

"So tell me how you knew!"

Tsunade lifted her fist up from the damaged desk. She lifted her fist and looked at it. She slowly removed the splinters that stabbed her knuckles, some making her bleed. She didn't care. She fell down on her chair and covered her face with her hands.

"The elders told me to do it. And they told Hiruzen to do the same. Every village does this to their Jinchuriki. But-" She shakenly began to speak, her tears rolling down her cheeks and hands and falling on the broken table. Everyone stopped talking and listened.

"Naruto.....If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here. I wanted to help. I even wanted to adopt him and take him in, give him a better life but they didn't let me. You don't understand how much power the elders have. Sometimes they have more power than me. And if I even dare to go against them, they can kick me and replace me with Him."

"Who's him?"

"Danzo. The rules stated- the rules stated-" She began to break down in sobs as she tried to speak and finish her sentence.

"The rules stated no one was supposed to know who the Jinchuriki was but He told everyone. Everyone but the children but that didn't stop the parents from telling their kids to not talk to him. Danzo told everyone, Hiruzen couldn't do anything about but give him some sort of protection. A small apartment but nothing more. And now....."

Tsunade began to fully cry. Ino slowly walked towards her and rubbed her back, comforting the great female Hokage. Shikamaru looked down and clicked his tongue in anger towards the elders. Choji sat down and tried to calm himself down.

And Tenten, clenching her black blanket and shirt even tighter, stormed out of the office. She ran and ran and kept on running somewhere.

Somewhere other than here.