Naruto stories

The Wandering Ninja

I knew within two months of traveling with Ero-sannin that I wasn't going to be learning much, at least from him. Anything he taught me I had to force out of him. I didn't understand didn't he want me to be here? As my godfather shouldn't he be trying just a bit more? I decided that if he didn't teach me something useful of his own free will in the next month I would leave a clone behind and travel by myself. Over the years I had accumulated quite a collection of scrolls, some from the trash that clans threw out, some from the library, and some I had found in old abandoned houses around Konoha that I had taken refuge in when I was kicked out of my apartments. I was never able to really study them before because of the anbu and root agents always watching me. I swear it's like they think I was just going to snap and kill everyone. I should have never become a ninja but it was the only career path I could take inside the village.
Another month had passed an Jiraiya did nothing but go from brothel to brothel and gambling hall to gambling hall.
While Naruto didn't necessarily like the brothels the women were nice and liked to teach him stuff, like how to make drinks and how to get information from people through seduction techniques. They had even allowed him to practice on them. The key was subtlety something that he at first wasn't the best at. One of the women Clara was the designated seamstress for their current brothel and she was appalled by his clothes. She had made him a whole new wardrobe in many different styles that the girls had deemed incredibly sexy.
Now the gambling halls that was a place he did like but only because he had ridiculously good luck, that and the Toad Sage kept stealing all his money. After the first night he made over 3 million ryo and had outed three people cheating. The managers thanked him and they made a deal, because they were in the business to make money not give it away. Naruto could only make 500,000 a night from machines but if he played chance or card games, games where people lost large amounts of money, the house would get a cut on the larger pots. He agreed simply because he wasn't taking missions and this was only one way to earn money while traveling.
He eventually said goodbye to the friends he had made and headed out on his own leaving a blood clone with Jiraiya along with a special tracking/alert seal he had made. It allowed the clone to use it to summon him if something happened. It was instructed to act normal and he would come by every three months so his appearance wouldn't look so sudden.
With the help of his friends from the brothel Naruto was able to train and travel the elemental nations. He even visited the other ninja villages on top of all the training he did he learned various trades. From wood working, to cooking, sewing and even iron work. He was eager to learn and it seemed everyone was willing to teach. It seemed everyone he met loved him or at least liked him, he couldn't help but wonder complete strangers liked him why couldn't the citizens from his own village.
Unknown to Naruto his reputation was growing after he had foiled several bandits and saved different villages he had been given the name The Wandering Ninja in the bingo book.
He was happy, he was on his way to Suna to see Gaara when a toad summon told him that his friend had been kidnapped, and leaf Shinobi were on their way. Naruto was pissed that the atkasuki had kidnapped his friend, he also knew that this mission would force him back to the village something he wasn't quite ready to do. He grit his teeth in frustration, he would not let his friend die. He used his enhanced senses to find some sort of trail. Luckily as a tailed beast their chakra was easier to spot if you knew what you were looking for. There it was in the distance there redish purple color of demonic chakra. With a burst of speed he followed it. He only stopped when the trail did. It led him to a cave that was covered in a seal. Taking out a brush he quickly wrote an array to cancel the seal long enough for him to get in. He was quick and quiet as he entered the main cavern. There floating was Gaara, they were draining the demon chakra from him. He didn't have much time. He quickly appeared behind one of the men and stabbed him in the lungs with a poisoned kunia. The extraction process seemed to go slower once he did that. The other a puppet user tried to put up a fight but Naruto quickly crushed his body. He carefully removed Gara and stated the healing process. He could feel another presence in the cave but he couldn't pin point it.
"I don't know who you are, but if you come after the biju and I catch you I will kill you." The presence and the statue disappeared. He quickly sealed the dead bodies in two separate scrolls. Sasori and Deidra, the two were criminals but they were once proud shinobi who deserved a proper burial from their families. He placed Gaara on his back and started his way to Suna. Kakashi, Sakura and his clone should have made it by now. After traveling for hours he stopped for the night and made camp. Gaara finally began to stir.
"Naruto..what are you doing here? Where is here? What happened?" He sat up and gave the most stoic panicking face he could.
"Well you were kidnapped, I saved you and we are currently somewhere between Suna and the border of the land of fire." He gave a cheeky grin as he handed the red haired man his food. "Eat up, you need to preserve your strength, the poison that was in your system will take a few days to work itself out." The two are in silence listening to the fire crackle.
"How did you find me?" Naruto's looked up to the night sky.
"Truth be told I was on my way to Suna when I heard what happened. My clone in Konoha informed me you had been kidnapped and I followed the demonic chakra." He pulled out a scroll from his sleeve. "That's Sasori's body. While a missing nin he still was once apart of your village, let him be laid to rest by his family." Gaara took the scroll.
"I will make sure you get the bounty but his grandmother will appreciate this." The next morning the two were off. They had only been traveling for an hour or two when the Konoha team came upon them.
"Sensei..." Kakashi whispered as he first looked at the blonde.
'So that's who my father is the forth, interesting.' "Sorry Kakashi-sensei it's just me." He waved his hand.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled looking between the clone that still looked how he did two years ago and the taller one next to the Kazekage. As her eyes roamed over his exposed chest, a trickle of blood leaked from her nose.
"As amusing as this is I do have a village to check on." Gaara glared at the pink haired girl. He had never liked the way she treated his friend.
Seeing that he wouldn't be able to go back to his traveling, Naruto resigned himself to the fate of being stuck in the village.