Prologue
"Naruto!"
"Sasuke!"
The two figures collided, Chidori hitting Rasengan. Both yelled as the Jutsu's fought for power and soon they were completely shrouded in the energy of the collision. Instantly the area was enveloped in a black energy. It grew, disrupting the normally peaceful flow of the waterfall, making it cascade in random directions. Naruto's eyes closed, a slight smile on his face. He had never wanted to hurt Sasuke, only to bring him back. At the last moment he had chosen to divert his Rasengan from Sasuke's heart to his forehead protector. Even if he himself could survive a direct hit from the Chidori, he knew his friend could not hope to survive his attack.
He had managed to scratch Sasuke's forehead protector, that was enough. Why Sasuke? All I want is to bring you home, home to the leaf village. Your my best friend, don't do this.
The two boys hit the ground at the same time, one crumpled in a bloody heap, the other standing precariously. Sasuke's breathing became even more erratic as the effects of the curse marks kicked in causing him to cry out in pain and fall to his knees. He looked into the eyes of his team mate, his rival, and even more importantly, his friend. How could Naruto ever understand? Slowly the Uchiha rose to his feet.
Sasuke stood grimacing over Naruto's body, one day he would see him again, one day they would fight again, that much he was sure. That day the rain fell in sheets, dripping from the heavens. Konoha itself was crying, Sasuke stumbled away in the rain. I must find the power to kill my brother, Itachi must die!
When Naruto woke he was slung over Kakashi's shoulder. The tall Grey haired Ninja looked at him with sadness, and relief.
"Kakashi Sensei?" Naruto asked, still slightly unconscious. Where is he?! Why don't I see him... "What about Sasuke?"
FLASH FORWARD-
Naruto stood near the gate's of Konoha, a very tall man with a distinctive horned forehead protecter and long whitish gray hair stood at his side. Jiraya looked down at Naruto and couldn't help but smile to himself. No question, that's Minato's boy.
Naruto himself was fixated on the faces of the Hokages, proudly carved into the stone of the mountainside over looking the leaf. I won't mess around any more, I won't be the dead last. I will get stronger, I will find Sasuke, I will become Hokage... And I won't ever give up!
I'll find you Sasuke, and I'll bring you home.
Naruto grimaced in determination. He held him arm out towards the faces carved into the mountain. Gritting his teeth Naruto dug his finger nails deep into his palm, causing the blood to flow freely. That day he made a promise to himself, a promise signed in blood.
With that final thought Naruto and Jiraya started off on there journey, the blond boy raised his bloodied hand in farewell to his friends, before setting off into the world.
FLASH FORWARD 3 YEARS-
"Naruto!" Jiraya called as he ran towards his surrogate son. It was a sunny day, the sky was almost a perfect shade of blue. Small clouds dotted the sky here and there, but none of them threatened rain. He look's so much like his father... Jiraya thought as he stopped ten feet away from Naruto.
Naruto looked up and smiled at his mentor. "Are you ready to spar?" He asked as he dusted off his pants.
He had been meditating in this clearing for what had seemed like minutes, but had actually been several hours. Jiraya at the beginning of their journey had told Naruto about the powers of being a sage, and ever since Naruto had started to train. 3 days of the week he spent in Mount Myoboku, training under the toads.
The training came naturally to him, after 6 weeks with the toads he was able to complete a perfect sage transformation. Unlike Jiraya's Sage transformation, none of Naruto's features were altered except for his eyes, which appeared somewhat toadlike, and had a bright orange sheen. Since the day Naruto had completed Sage training, he had worked on making the gathering of Nature Energy faster and more efficient. Currently he could transform in a little under a minute, but even that short of a time could mean life or death on the battle field for him or his friends.
In the three years Naruto spent with Jiraya he had changed much more than obtaining the powers of the sage. Mentally Naruto was much much more mature than when he began his journey. He was no longer quite as rash and reckless, and he used his head before he had to use his fists. His demeanor was still radiating happiness, but he was more serious, and even more determined then when he left the leaf.
Much of this was due to what Jiraya had told him close to a year into their journey, about his parents. Although Jiraya knew the secret was S class, he felt it was important to tell the boy. Naruto was quite shocked to say the least, and afterwards felt angry and sad. How could his father have done this to him? Sealing a tailed beast inside his own son? What was he thinking. Did he know what kind of life Naruto would live? He was alone, all alone. How could his parents leave him an orphan. After hours alone in the woods he came to peace with his parents, and there actions. He knew they had only wanted the best for him, and for their village.
Naruto had been filled with a new sense of pride and determination, his father was Minato Namikaze, his father was the Fourth Hokage.
Physically Naruto had changed immensely as well. He now stood at the impressive height of 6"2, which was taller than most Ninja he had encountered. Ever since Naruto had been forced to changed his eating habits, and had started to train with the Sannin, he had packed on a lot of muscle. Any traces of baby fat across his body had been burned away over his years training with Jiraya. He found he could run faster, and strike with more force than he could ever before. His hair had also grown longer, and even more wild.
The fox boy had even changed his attire. He gave up wearing the orange jumpsuits, realizing they looked quite foolish. In place he wore a tight fitting short black kimono that hugged his impressive body. Not only was it not a nuisance in battle, but it enabled him to move faster than his baggy jumpsuit had. Under this he wore a mesh shirt and the necklace Tsunade gave him with the crystal of the first Hokage. His arms were bound in white cloth, and over this dark red wrist and forearm protecters. He had repositioned his forehead protector which was now securely held in place over his shoulder, much like Shikamaru's. In place of the traditional blue shinobi sandals Naruto wore black combat boots, he liked the added protection they provided to his feet. He also sported dark red shin protectors over his cloth bound ankles, which allowed him to block and attack with his legs, they were specifically designed to not hinder the wearer's movement in any way.
Naruto face became serious as his mentor took up his fighting stance.
"I won't go easy on you, pervy sage!" The blond haired teen yelled. I need to show him everything I've got. I'm ready.
10 minutes later the field was completely destroyed, trees were fractured and splintered, any remaining grass was on fire and smoking. In the middle of the field lied Jiraya and Naruto. Both wore massive grins on their faces.
"Damn kid, looks like your catching up to me." The Sannin half croaked as he tried to get up but couldn't. Naruto got to his feet slowly then walked over to him and held out his hand, which was firmly clasped by Jiraya. When the two were up on their feet Naruto exclaimed, "Yeah I guess I'm getting better?" Ever since Naruto had figured out Shadow clones could be used to expedite training immensely he had been able to perfect creating the Rasengan in only one hand.
"Let's get cleaned up and start to head back." Jiraya said wiping his face on his arm.
Naruto was excited, and he had reason to be. He was about he see his friends again, he hadn't seen them in 3 years. He missed them all, well some more than others. And yet at the same time he was disappointed, disappointed his journey with Jiraya was coming to an end. Jiraya was truly one of his precious people, and although he knew who his father was now, he would always look up to Jiraya as just that.
Two figures walked toward the gates of the Leaf Village. Both were very tall, one being slightly taller than the other. The taller of the two had long spiky white hair that fell about a little more than halfway down his back. He was clad in a red and green kimono, and had his signiture horned Forehead protecter on.
The other figure was dressed in a black kimono with cloth binding his shins and forearms. The most distinctive thing about him was his unruly golden yellow hair, which almost seemed to shine in the bright sunlight. His sapphire colored eyes gleamed with anticipation, and he bore a huge smile, revealing slightly elongated canines. He was finally back, it was going to be a good day...
