As Midnight Draws Near

An Epic Journey Begins!

   It was early in the morning, nearly 2am, and the brilliance of the sun could just barely be seen over the horizon. Naruto had just woken up, sore and stiff and still not fully recovered from his previous battle with the infamous Kazumi. His heart still in pain after what happened, he slid out of bed and stood up. He could hear the cracking in his bones and yet he still pushed forward, knowing what he had to do. It wasn't long before he jumped out the window heading straight for the Hokage Tower.

(Meanwhile)
   "Shizune! Bring me some more tea, I want to finish this paperwork so I can at least get a few hours of sleep!" Tsunade shouted. " Yes ma'am, right away ma'am," Shizune replied with fear in her voice. Tsunade already had a scary temper but adding that onto her being grumpy with no sleep would be horrifying. Shizune scurried out of the room to carry out her orders from her precious master and Hokage.
   A few moments later Naruto hopped in through the open window next to Tsunade's desk, sending away some of the paperwork on the Hokage's desk. "Oops, sorry Baa chan," Naruto chuckled. "Naruto!!! What are you doing here, you should be in bed!! You still need time to recover you gaki!!" Tsunade angrily huffed. "Uhh..about that..." It was then that Naruto had explained to this amazing Hokage, whom he considered family, about what happened and what he wanted to do.
   After a little while of convincing, "Well, Naruto, you make a good point. I hereby,  as Hokage, grant you to leave the village as long as you need to, whenever you're ready." Tsunade sighed. "Thanks Baa chan! I'll leave immediately." Naruto said excitedly. "Stop calling me that! Anyways you just make sure you make it back safely. I'm gonna miss not having you around here gaki." Tsunade smirked. And with that Naruto was off, off to start a new journey by himself. He went back to his apartment to grab a few things that he knew he would need for the trip, but he tried to pack lightly and keep things to a bare minimum. Naruto decided to take a quick shower one last time before he left the village. He knew it might be a while before he could get a hot shower so he enjoyed this one before leaving. After getting out of the shower and drying off he put some bandages on and wrapped his arms, legs and feet, and his ribs. Instead of putting on his standard orange jump suit he slipped on some standard black Jonin pants and a Black Jonin shirt with standard black shinobi sandals. He also added a waki on his back because he planned on training how to use it, along with adding his ninja pouch. After getting his backpack on he started walking towards the door and stoped to notice something. His ninja headband was laying on his desk along with a picture of Team 7. Naruto walked back to the picture and picked it up. He gazed intently on the picture as if to say goodbye, then set it back down on the desk and walked out the door, leaving his headband on his desk back in his apartment. Naruto made his way straight to the gate of the village jumping on the rooftops, trying to avoid detection from anyone that would possibly be up at that hour.
   Naruto was about to reach the gates when he saw a shadowed figure leap in front of him. "So, you're leaving huh," the shadowed figure said walking towards Naruto. Although he couldn't see who it was, he recognized the voice immediately, "Yeah, I'm going on a training journey...Sasuke!" The black haired Uchiha prodigy stepped out of the shadows with an almost devil looking smirk. "No matter how much you train, you'll never beat me!" Sasuke laughed and Naruto grit his teeth. "Whatever Teme, I have my reasons, so get outta my way!" Naruto angrily expressed. They both stared at each other intently and then laughed. Although they were rivals they had also become very good friends to. "Don't take too long Baka, I want to fight you when you get back" Sasuke said with a huge grin on his face. Naruto leaped over him, "You can count on it" Naruto said before leaping away.
   Within a minute's time Naruto made it to the village gates. " Oh, Naruto, you scared me for a second. What are you doing here this early?" The gatekeeper had asked. "Oh hey Kotetsu! I'm off on a journey, Baa chan gave me permision to leave the village." Naruto said, handing over the papers. "Do you know how long you'll be gone," Izumo blurted out. "No, I don't. I'll be back soon though, that's a promise on my nin do, my ninja way!" Naruto exclaimed happily as he headed off. "Man, I'm sure gonna miss that kid." Izumo said, slightly sad. "Yeah, wait! Wait, I just realized he wasn't wearing his hitiate!"
   Naruto was darting off excited to start his new journey, although he still felt sad about what happened between him and Ino. But that was enough of that, he knew he had a long and tough journey ahead of him. Thankfully he prepared well and would be ready for most thing that would come his way, or so he thought.

A/N: Alright!!! Well here's another chapter for all of you who read my story! Thanks for reading and please leave a comment whether it be ideas or what not and try to keep it nice please!!! So far I've been laying the groundwork and trying to set up the story, I'll be coming out with the next chapter soon!!